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[Ridureyu]

Warning: The following post contains a lot of images. dial-up users will hate this thread.


Guilty Gear is one of the few 2-D fighting games that is still having new games regularly made (aside from Capcom's vs. series, and SNK's really obscure games). Guilt Gear is known for its excellently-balanced matrix-fast fighting, very complex story, good 2D sprite graphics, and general creativity - the latest installment allows for four people to beat one another up Smash Brothers-style. One of the major distinctives in the series is its excellent heavy rock soundtrack - chances are, just as many CDs are sold as the games themselves. The other major thing about this game is that Daisuke Ishiwatari, the man behind the plot, characters, artwork, and music, is verifiably insane. No, seriously. The characters that he designs get steadily stranger and stranger as the games are produced. So strange, in fact, that I'm making this post celebrating them. The weirdest characters are at the end of the list.

Legend:

GG = Guilty Gear (the first in the series, also the least creative)
GGX = Guilty Gear X (the first sequel, which really took the game off the ground)
GGX+ = Guilty Gear X+ (An "expansion" to the original game that returned a couple of missing characters)
GGX2 = Guilty Gear X2 (The third game in the series - very similar to X, but added more characters, themes, and moves.)
GGI = Guilty Gear Isuka (A massive revamp that allows up to four people to fight at once. Not many new characters, though).




SOL BADGUY



Appears in: ALL
Arguably the hero of the game, Sol is also voiced by Daisuke Ishiwatari. As a character, he's cocky, fun-loving, fairly mean-spirited (notice that he flips you off when he taunts), and wields a tongue depressor-shaped sword that behaves more like a flamethrower. Sol is unbalanced in the game - you can win just by button-mashing because of the sheer amount of fire he tosses arouns the arena. As far as the character's background goes, he's a 200+-year-old scientist who's responsible for pretty much everything in the game, and is still alive because he turned himself into a magical/biomechanical being called a "Gear." hence, "Guilty Gear."


KY KISKE


Appears in: ALL
Arguably the other main character of the series, Ky is a member of the "Holy Knights," and is one of the characters who genuinely tries to keep the peace and stop all of the rampaging and fighting that this game is about. he's a very serious, very Catholic, no-nonsense type of character, and as a result is turned into a flaming homo in fanfiction and fanart. Ky wields a lightning sowrd, is best when fighting from a distance, and he and Sol are the two most normal characters - think of them as a counterbalance to all of the weirdness that's in this series.


CHIPP ZANUFF

Appears In: ALL
Yes, I am trying to get the "normal" characters out of the way first. Chipp is the AMERICAN NINJA. He was actually a sleeping pill-addict before an old ninja master taught him how to fight. Chipp is the fastest and weakest character in the game, and basically plays like a hyperactive roadrunner. He walks as fast as some people run, runs almost faster than the screen can catch up, and is capable of insane combos. of course, nothing that he does actually hurts unless chained into a combo, so he's not as powerful as he sounds.

Edited by Ridureyu, 26 July 2005 - 04:07 PM.

[Ridureyu]

AXL LOW

Appears In: ALL
Axl Rose - er, Axl Low is one of the only other "normal" people in the series. He's a time-travelling British punk stereotype who flirts with the women and fights using infinitely extendable chains. Axl's hard to get used to, but once you take advantage of his range you'll find that he's pretty effective. He also has some of the best dialogue in the game - he seems to know everybody personally, and has a specific greeting for most of them. When fighting Sol Badguy, he says, "I still have that CD I borrowed from you." When fighting I-No, he says something along the lines of "Wow, look at all that cleavage!" I think that Axl is the incarnation of the average fan of this series.


JOHNNY

Appears In: GGX, GGX+, GGX2, GGI
Johnny is da man. Johnny is cool. Johnny is the captain of a ship of air pirates - think Don carnage but with less fur. Everything that Johnny says or does is like a less-awkward imitation of Johnny Bravo - seriously. By the way, his crew consists of 12 girls, ages ranging from 10-20. This might mean that Johnny's a pervert. Gameplay-wise, he's difficult to get used to - Johnny fights best when he's standing still and maing his opponents pay for trying to attack him. His defense is great, but his offense sucks. He can throw money at his opponents, though.


MAY

Appears In: ALL
The "senior member" of Johnny's Crew is 13, 14, or 15, depending on the game in question. May has a gigantic crush on Johnny, and about 99% of her win quotes are a variation of "STAY AWAY FROM MY JOHNNY!!!" (oddly enough, she says this to the guys, too). May fights with a gigantic anchor, her pet dolphin, and in at least one attack, the entire crew (they trample you). She's loud-mouthed, annoying, rude, and actually a grappler character. PH33R THE ANCHOR.


ANJI MITO

Appears In: GGX, GGX+, GGX2, GGI
And now we begin our trend of "straight men who appear gay. In the plot of the Guilty Gear series, Japan was destroyed and nearly all of the ethnic Japanese people were wiped out. As a result, the remaining Japanese are kept in special camps and communes so that their ethnicity won't disappear. Anji's response to this was to leave the camp, grab two magical fans, and wander the world killing bad guys. in the game, Anji is incredibly creative - most of his moves have "invincibility frames," so the trick to playing as him is learning how and when to steamroll through your opponents attacks and take them down. He also has the single largest attack, in which he rides on a blue dragon that's longer than my screen resolution. Anji Mito looks effeminate, has a wussy voice, and behaves like a fop, but he's definitely heterosexual - he has the hots for Baiken. On second thought, that really doesn't say much...


BAIKEN


Appears In: ALL
Most fighting games have a "ninja chick" or a "samurai chick." Guilty Gear did this, but decided to be realistic. Baiken has one eye, one arm, a voice like a man and a personality like sandpaper. She wants REVENGE for the death of her parents and the loss of her arm, and won't rest until she personally skewers "THAT MAN," who apparently is the OTHER 200+-year-old individual who's responsible for the creation of all of the Gears. Baiken is one of the most creative characters in-game. There are two separate ways to play her - you can either use her regular moves for offense and power, or stick on defense and use a really tricky set of special moves that counter attacks and wreck opponents. It's also kind of funny that she has at least seven weapons tucked up that empty sleeve of hers. I counted a fanned spear, a spiked club, an anchor-shaped blade, a pinwheel blade, a bladed fan, a hook and chain combo (the one most-often depicted), and a dragon-shaped gun. Yes, that's right. She stuck a gun to her severed arm stump. We are slowly entering the Realm of the Weird.

Edited by Ridureyu, 26 July 2005 - 06:17 PM.

[Ridureyu]

POTEMKIN


Appears In: ALL
All fighting games have a prerequisite "Big Guy." 99.9% of those games make that big guy a grappler or wrestler. in Guilty Gear, the big guy is a giant with an explosive collar. He only has ONE grpapling move, and it does more damage than most character's super moves. Actually, everything he does is insanely powerful - a normal punch can outdo one of Chipp's combos. Potemkin is insanely slow, though, and can barely walk - his attacks are also telegraphed. it's just that four good hits can win a fight. As far as the story goes, he's a failry well-read loyal soldier of a flying Russia-like robot city. He also works for the Cookie Crisp cop, it would seem.


JAM KURADOBERI

Appears In: GGX, GGX+, GGX2, GGI
Her name is Engrish! Seriously - she's supposed to be named after the band, "Cloudberry Jam," but something screwed up. Jam is a gourmet chinese chef who for some reason is also an expert kung-fu fighter. She first appeared in the game when she wanted the money for her own restaurant, so she volunteered to hunt down Dizzy for the bounty. Since then, she's mainly hung around because she has a crush on Ky. Jam is annoyingly ditzy and has the single most high-pitched voice ever recorded - Alvin and the Chipmunks seem like baritones compared to her. Jam fights using specifically-linked combos that send both her and her opponent flying - it's tricky, but actually a lot of fun when you get the hang of it.


MILLIA RAGE


Appears In: ALL
On the surface, Millia looks normal. Then you fight her. Millia rage is an ex-member of a guild of assassins, and has mastered the ability to fight with her hair. yes, you heard me. her hair can take the shape of anything - and in the game, that ranges from surfboards to spears to a spinning crescent moon. Millia has a lot of range and a lot of speed, but is a little easier to play with than Chipp - she also has better aerial moves. As a character, Millia is supposed to be quiet, shy, and modest - how that connects with the fact that she forgot to wear pants, I do not know. Still, don't get your hopes up - if her hair is a lethal weapon, well... um... I'll just stop right here.


ZATO-1/EDDIE



Appears In: ALL (Sort of)
This is techncially two characters - Zato-1 and Eddie. Zato-1 is the name of the man, Eddie is the name of his sentient shadow. Zato's voice actor died after X was finished, so they hired a new VA and declared that the character himself had died, but his living shadow had taken control of it. Thus, Eddie in Guilty Gear Isuka fights exactly the same as Zato from Guilty Gear X. Anyway, Zato is a member of the same Assassin's Guild as Millia, and actually led it for a while. He traded his eyesight in an occult ritual for the ability to control his shadow, but it ended up coming to life and turning on him. Millia killed Zato out of mercy, but Eddie his shadow now controls his body. Zato is a very difficult character to learn - he specializes in "trap" and "zoning" moves, and his high amount of power is offset by his unorthodox attacks - the shadow will turn into pretty much every kind of demon that you can think of while he fights. it can also cover him entirely when he dashes or flies- yes, the character flies. He actually offsetts Millia's character strengths pretty well, and the two are a good match.

Edited by Ridureyu, 26 July 2005 - 06:44 PM.

[Ridureyu]

VENOM

Appears In: GGX, GGX+, GGX2, GGI
Venom marks a turning point in the game: The first truly freaked out insane character design. Although Faust predates him by a little bit, he wasn't this insane at first. Venom is a member of the Assassin's Guild, and took over for Zato after Zato's death. Venom fights with a pool cue and multiple psychically-controlled cue balls. He wears his hair backwards and has an eye painted on it. Playing as Venom is incredibly complicated - his main power stems from his ability to summon multiple cue balls in the air and either control them directly or use his stick to knock them all over the place. When played right, venom is untouchable. However, his moves have a lot of necessary setup, so he's difficult to learn. Still... Venom is strange. I can't begin to explain him - he even has a move where he turns his enemies into pool balls and knocks them around for a bit.


SLAYER


Appears In: GGX2, GGI
One of the latter editions to the series happens to bear a startling resemblance to ony of my political studies professors , although he's probably meant to look like ALberto the Impact from Giant Robo - there are certainly a lot of similarities. Slayer is the founder of the Assassin's Guild, and is an immortal vampire. As a character, he's one of the most fun in the whole series - everything he does is laced with sarcasm, he boxes like an old englishman, he attacks people with pipe smoke, and he's married. When you defeat Slayer, since he's immortal, he doesn't die - he just props himself up on his elbow and looks bored. He fights a little like Dudley from Street Fighter 3 - a lot of dodges and fake-outs. Slayer is actually one of the most effective characters when played right, and he's one of my best. Just watch out for that pipe.


I-NO


Appears In: GGX2, GGI
I-No is the Ho of Guilty Gear. She is also, strangely, the endboss of Guilty Gear X2. Her dialogue is obscene (she propositions everyone), her attack names are worse (one of them is called "Stroke the Big Tree,") and she takes off her shirt if she wins a fight (Don't get too excited, guys, her back is turned. You see nothing). Aside from that, I-No has a definite cruel, sadistic streak to her - when she's not talking about having sex with someone, she's thinking of tearing them limb from limb. In the Story mode of X2, she directly says that she'd have fun ripping Dizzy's wings off and leaving her to bleed to death. I-No is a servant of "THAT MAN," and either is a Gear or a time traveller - she's over 200 years old, and knows Axl from way-back-when. She's also a musician, although I dare say the girl mistreats her guitar. YOU DO NOT HIT PEOPLE WITH MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. Gameplay-wise, I-No has very few specials and some weird regular moves - she's tricky to figure out, but she's actually good at playing keep-away and alternately moving onto offense. Her offensive game can wear down people's guard and trip them up severely. As an endboss, they gave her a brand-new INSANELY POWERFUL super that has to be avoided according to specific patterns. She's still easier than justice, though.

Edited by Ridureyu, 26 July 2005 - 06:10 PM.

[Ridureyu]

TESTAMENT

Appears In: ALL
This is a guy. No, really, it's a guy. Testament has an extremely masculine voice, and likes girls. He just resembles Marilyn Manson. Testament is the son of Kliff, and was turned into an eeeevil Gear by Justice. After Justice's defeat, Testament turned good again, and became Dizzy's protector. After Dizzy joined Johnny's crew, he just started more or less stalking her and threatening Johnny. Testament is another character with complex, off-the-wall attacks, and is slightly similar to Zato. A lot of his moves poison or otherwise hinder his enemy, and his regular attacks are frighteningly powerful. This is balanced by the fact that if you're not already familiar with how he fights, you will get slaughtered.


DIZZY


Appears In: GGX, GGX+, GGX2, GGI
For a character who's supposedly modest and shy, Dizzy sure dresses like an S&M freak. It's actually a running joke that Testament must have dressed her, and then burned all of her other clothes before getting his camera. Dizzy is half-gear half-human - Justice is her parent, believe it or not. In the second game, Dizzy was the scenter of the plot as half of the characters wanted to kill her fo rbeing a gear and half of them wanted to protect her because hse's nice and loves animals. Dizzy's two wings, named Necro and Undine, have their own separate personalities and powers. undine protects and nurtures Dizzy while Necro goes for the kill. In most of her super moves, Necro takes over - one of them is a massive laser that's almost as powerful as Justice's. Plot-wise, Dizzy eventually joins Johnny's Crew, and is kept safe while being surrounded by friends. In the game, Dizzy is another frighteningly powerful character if you know what you're doing - her ranged moves are STRANGE, but they can keep enemies from coming near. She can't combo well, but her regular attacks are good at tripping enemies up. her super moves are also horrendously powerful, too. In one of them, she sticks you in a bloody coffin before shooting you full of arrows. Dizzy also has one of the best pieces of music in the series (Awe of She).


JUSTICE


Appears In: GG, GGX+, GGX2
For a character who died in the first game, Justice really makes a lot of appearances as a hidden character. Before I go any further, do you notice anything... odd about Justice's apperance? let me put it this way: Justice fights with a big sword, large and long lasers, big explosives, and a long, pointy tail. Now do you see it? The blue spike? Now, think about this little detail: JUSTICE IS FEMALE. JUSTICE IS DIZZY'S MOTHER. No, seriously. Justice is the Gear who started the whole war and corrupted the rest of the Gears after "THAT MAN" gave her the ability to rebel and force other Gears to do the same. It took about 100 years of war to finish her off. Justice is insanely powerful in the game, too - her regular attacks are strong, have high priority, and can be comboed. her specials are big, usually have good range, and are nasty. And her supers... well, one of them is a laser that takes up 2/3 of the screen and can remove 3/4 of your health, easily. And yet, I see people play as Justice and lose miserably. it's kind of scary how this game is genuinely balanced in some ways. It's all about the crotch spike.

Edited by Ridureyu, 26 July 2005 - 04:09 PM.

[Ridureyu]

KLIFF

Appears In: GG, GGX+, GGX2
Kliff and Justice are similar in that, aside from the first game in the series, they're used extensively as hidden characters. Although Justice died, Kliff just retired. Kliff is the senior member of the Holy knights, and is Ky Kiske's mentor. he also defeated Justice once in the past. Aside from that, kliff has the biggest freaking sword I've ever seen. Although he's slow (he IS an old man, after all), he packs a lot of power - some of his attacks are stronger than Potemkin's! The one big drawback is that because he's old, Kliff's not always up to snuff. His back tends to go out in mid-attack, and his attacks fail - it gets frustrating when you're trashing your enemy only to lose to arthritis. Kliff is also quite the curmudgeon, and can actually hurt his opponents by insulting them. The "old mentor man" stereotype has officially been turned upside-down.


FAUST/DR. BALDHEAD




Appears In: ALL (sort of)
Faust is THE BEST CHARACTER EVER! He is DA BOMB! Faust fights like Daffy Duck on speed. He throws pink donuts, flies in on an umbrella, hides under blankets, makes flowers grow from his head, extends his tongue about three feet, gives people scalpel enemas (seriosly), and uses TNT to give his opponent an afro. Faust is completely, totally unpredictable - many of his attacks have random outcomes. if you throw a projectile, it could be a hammer, doughnut, candy bar, bottle of poison, bomb, mini-Faust, meteor, or miniature Potemkin. His Scalpel Enema move occasionally backfires (don't ask). Faust is actually my best character - when you know what you're doing, people just can't defend against his craziness. He technically first appeared in the original Guilty Gear as "Dr. Baldhead," sans the bag - but he wasn't very wacky at all, and the similarities are really only in plot. he truly came into his own in GGX. Faust is actually supposed to be a kind and intelligent doctor who can cure nearly everything - and strangely, in Story mode, he makes perfect sense. Even though Faust is perfectly illogically insane, though, he still pales in comparison to some of the other characters' weirdness in this series.


BRIDGET

Appears In: GGX2, GGI
Bridget is official proof that Daisuke Ishiwatari is a pervert. forget I-No, this character is the scary one. Bridget is a 13-year-old BOY. Apparently, in his hometowqn it's considered bad luck for twins to be the same gender, so his parents raised him as a girl. Since he's about to enter puberty, Bridget has decided to prove that he can be a real man by becoming a bounty hunter.
Yes, you heard that. A cross-dressing 13-year-old bounty hunter with killer yo-yos.
And a murderous teddy bear.
Bridget fights with yo-yos and is assisted by roger, his psychotic teddy bear. He is one of the most difficult characters to learn, as EVERYTHING he does is based on trapping and tricking your opponent. Bridget is also borderline obscene - he behaves like a jailbait anime girl. I swear, sometimes these characters are invented just so the doujinshi artists can draw pornography with them.

Edited by Ridureyu, 26 July 2005 - 06:38 PM.

[Ridureyu]

ZAPPA




Appears in: GGX2, GGI
If you thought that Faust was weird, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Zappa is possessed by a multitude of ghosts - the most prominent one being an obvious rip-off of Sadako from The Ring. Zappa himself never fights - it's the spirits that are possessing him. His regular attacks are wussy, but you can randomly summon any of his henchmen - a ferocious demon dog, a blood sword, or three goofy ghosts that trip up your opponents. If you summon enough, you will get to call in Raoh, a gigantic lightning demon who takes over zappa's entire moveset and can turn him into the strongest character, easily - only thing is, Raoh fights for a limited time before he disappears. Playing as Zappa takes an INCREDIBLE anmount of practice, as you need to master using all of his ghosts. He can be extremely effective, but he's easily more random than Faust. And certainly creepier. Zappa and Faust actually know each other - Faust is trying to cure Zappa of his demons, and Zappa just wants help. A funny little piece of trivia is that Zappa desperately wants a wife, so he proposes to most of the female characters. Thanks to the demons, however, he has roughly the same chance as an adult toy collector


ROBO-KY



Appears In: ALL
Until GG Isuka, Robo-Ky was an unlockable hidden character. His first real plot appearance was in GGX2, though. Robo-Ky is the robotic "clone" of Ky Kiske, and was invented by a mysterious post-war organization. Despite the fact that he has a sheet metal face, lightbulb eyes, a wind-up key in his head, and talks through a really bad synthesizer, people keep mistaking him for Ky. Jam, in particular, has a lot of trouble telling them apart. There are actually a lot of Robo-Kys - in Story Mode, there are literal ARMIES of drones. GG Isuka also introduces Robo-Ky Mk II, who is colored red and can imitate other character's attacks (There is one gif of him up there). Gameplay-wise, Robo-Ky has become less and less like Ky in each game. originally he was just a speedier, spazzier version of Ky, but by this time he shares maybe one or two similar attacks - and spends the rest of his time venting steam, firing missiles, and producing really odd weapons. Fighting as Robo-Ky is a hilarious experience, and he's actually more effective than he looks - although instead of a "power meter," he actually has to build an electric charge, and you need to blow off steam periodically to keep Robo-Ky from overheating. And somehow people still mistake him for the real Ky Kiske.


ABA


Appears In: GGI
One of the two newest characters in the Guilty Gear series is one of the absolute strangest. ABA is a biological experiment by some random scientist. She constantly bleeds, and has a strange obsession with keys. No, really. In fact, she found a gigantic sentient key named Paracelcus, and has FALLEN IN LOVE WITH IT. Now, look at that situation, and tell me if you don't see a few, er... odd details in it? Her key also changes shape if she pours blood on it. ABA is also pretty hard to play as - she's normally very weak, but if you add a little bit of blood she gains temporary speed and power. I still haven't figured her out yet, but she seems less complicated than bridget, so that's a good thing. But really... how many things are stranger than bleeding zombie girls who carry on a conjugal relationship with a giant key?

And I've saved the weirdest for last:


LEOPALDON

Appears In: GGI
The endboss of Guilty Gear Isuka is, without a doubt, the weirdest creature to ever appear anywhere. Ever. He even beats the cast of The Yellow Submarine! In his battle intro, Leopaldon hides in a snow drift shaped like Moses' head (as in, Michaelangelo's statue of Moses)! He fights mainly by throwing meteors, although those massive paws also do plenty of damage, and he can spit a MASSIVE beam at a 45-degree angle. The problem is, you can't hurt Leopaldon unless you hit the doggie or the gray knight, which means that you usually have to jump and make yourself vulnerable. Unless you're fighting him with a team of two, Leopaldon is nearly invincible. Story-wise... well, detials are sketchy. Leopaldon is actually the gray knight and his pet talking dog (the dog is female, which apparently satisfies the "girl boss" trend of the game series). The big white beast is a gear that Leopaldon has tamed, and he uses it to PROTECT TRUTH AND JUSTICE, or something like that. Why you fight him is anybody's guess.
But just look at him! WEIRD!




Anyway, that is the cast of characters in Guilty Gear. One of the handheld games added a nurse named Fanny, and there are several NPCs - like "THAT MAN," for example. The gameplay is really great, the story is complex, the music is awesome... and the characters are so freaking insane that there is no logic whatsoever.

For more GIFs like this, go to http://ggxlol.highervoltage.net

Edited by Ridureyu, 26 July 2005 - 04:17 PM.

[Chibi Riya]

Some of the characters looks interesting and some are just.. plain weird. When I first saw Leopaldon, I was wondering what the hell it was. That character really takes the cake. o_o

Though I don't own any of the games but I would like to play any of them someday. If I can get to play any character, I want to try Aba and Testament because they look cool.

[xxJaegersDollxx]

Even though i haven't played the game at all, i still give it a thumbs up because it is weird!!! I f i do end up buying the games i would want to play as Dizzy or Sol. They rock!!!

[Ridureyu]

As far as NPC-types go, "THAT MAN" dresses in a black cloak, and you can't see his face. one of his henchmen, Raven, looks like a very tall, skinny, goth-thing with bone-colored armor and a horn through his forehead. But, since you only see his face in a story mode portrait, I chose not to count him.

[dankingery]

the new game from the franchise on the nintendo ds, guilty gear dust strikers, has a new boss. gig, a gigantic demon with multiple eyes and a huge mouth rowed with sharp teeth. his tail appears to be an angel. very cool character. i'll have to see if i can find a pic of it.

[Ridureyu]

Here's Gig.

Attached Files

•  gig.gif   57.76K   12 downloads

[dankingery]

excellent. i wasn't able to find a pic of him and had put off drawing him to work on my fac 19 entry. thanks ridureyu.