Cassandra (Soulcalibur)

General CVG character
name=Cassandra Alexandra


caption=Cassandra as she appears in Soulcalibur IV.
series="Soul" series
firstgame="Soulcalibur II"
voiceactor=Debra Jean Rogers
japanactor=Reiko Takagi
inuniverse=Soul character
age=21
birthplace=
birthdate=birth date|1570|7|20|mf=y
height=5 ft 5 in (164 cm)
weight= Refuses to reveal
bloodtype= B
weapon=Digamma Sword & Nemea Shield (xiphos and aspis)
fightingstyle=Athenian Stylenihongo|Cassandra Alexandra|カサンドラ・アレクサンドル|Kasandora Arekusandoru "- Valiant Princess -" is a fictional character from the Soul series of fighting games, debuting in "Soulcalibur II". The younger sister of "Soul Edge" character Sophitia Alexandra, Cassandra's main goal is to relieve her sister from the burden of the Soul Edge and the oracles of the blacksmith god Hephaestus. She's also well known for her sarcastic and arrogant comments before and after fighting.

Cassandra has been mentioned as early as Sophitia's Soul Edge profile, though her name was mistranslated as "Kathandra". She's also briefly mentioned on Sophitia's "Soulcalibur" profile as well, witnessing Taki bringing her unconscious sister home.Besides her appearances in the fighting sagas, she has made a cameo appearance in Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2 as an unlockable character.

Creation and conception

Design

In video games

As stated earlier, she witnessed Taki bringing back an unconscious Sophitia and pulling a shard out of her body. So when Sophitia left again some time later, Cassandra was convinced that she went out to destroy Soul Edge. A few years later, after she finished some errands at her father's bakery, Cassandra visited Sophitia's home. There, she found Pyrrha and Patroklos fighting violently over a fragment of Soul Edge and Sophitia with a distraught expression on her face. Cassandra immediately grabbed the shard and ran to the shrine of Hephaestus and began screaming at the god why he was putting such a burden on Sophitia. She then passed out. After she recovered, she discovered that Soul Edge was still alive, but she didn't want her sister to carry out something burdensome as this again. Stealing the sacred sword and sheild from the temple, Cassandra began her journey to cast away Soul Edge.

Cassandra returned in "Soulcalibur III", as a starting character. She remained largely the same, with slight upgrades on her fighting style that sets her apart from Sophitia, and new costumes.

Her profile follows her travels towards the east, where she finds a town covered in evil energy. Trying to help the habitants, much like Sophitia did in her last trip, Cassandra tracks the core of the evil in a castle atop the mountains. However, she discovers the sacred weapons she carried to have cracks all over. Forced to flee the city after being surrounded by the corrupted city-folks, she travels back to Greece to ask her brother-in-law, Rothion, to forge her new weapons. Once there, she was informed by Rothion that Sophitia left to destroy Soul Edge on her own. After receiving a new pair of weapons from Rothion, Cassandra sets out to search and join her sister in this quest.

Cassandra returned in Soulcalibur IV, the latest installment, as a starting character again. She sports a complete overhaul on her visual design, and she still has most of her moves and attacks from the previous games.

Her profile states that she went back to the town that she visited from her previous journey. There, she encounters Raphael, who sensed the fragment of Soul Edge that she carried. The two fight, and in the end, Cassandra managed to deliver a blow on him. As he retreats, Raphael comments that she has the power to dispel evil, although she is not as powerful as the Holy Stone. Cassandra calls him a coward, but he tells her that he already had what he wanted. She then realized that he had taken her fragment of Soul Edge. She was unnerved at first, but she managed to get over it. Cassandra then found some townspeople that had their sanity thanks to a shining blue crystal. She wondered if they were referring to the Holy Stone that Raphael told her about. As she continued investigating, she heard rumors of a man with a mass of crystal (Siegfried) that was on his way to Ostrheinsburg. Cassandra wondered if the crystal he carried was the Holy Stone. And if it was, there was probably something evil in Ostrheinsburg. Believing that the evil was Soul Edge, she decides to follow the man to the ruined castle, thinking that he's going to use to the crystal to dispel the evil sword. Cassandra does not know that she's following Soul Calibur, the spirit sword that was made to destroy Soul Edge.

Promotion and reception

"Yujin released a four inch tall immobile figurine of Cassandra after the release of "Soulcalibur II", based upon her artwork for the title as part of their "Namco Girls Series #1" line of gashapon figurines. [ [http://www.twenga.co.uk/offer/51917/163697087463353007.html NAMCO GIRLS MINI-FIGURES SERIES #1: CASSANDRA FIGURE] . twenga.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-09-07] In 2006, Namco released a second Cassandra figurine as part of a "Soulcalibur III" set based upon her promotional artwork for the game. While not posable, the PVC figure came with three interchangeable weapons for it to hold; [ [http://dol.dengeki.com/data/news/2005/12/06/7405eca63d5958caa5be32234f8ab7fb.html 『鉄拳5』＆『ソウルキャリバーIII』の キャラクターたちがコレクションフィギュアに！] . Dengeki Online. Retrieved on 2008-07-31] an alternate color version was later released in a secondary set. [ [http://www.toywiz.com/vsoulcaliburiiiseries1namcofigures.html Namco Game Character Collection Soul Calibur III Series 1 Set of 6 Figures (2nd Colors)] . ToyWiz.com. Retrieved on 2008-09-07] To explain the new features of "Soulcalibur IV", Namco released an omake manga, in which Cassandra "taught" new character Hilde about the game's features. [ [http://www.otadesho.com/soul-calibur-4-omake/ Soul Calibur 4 Omake (archive)] (Japanese, [http://www.otadesho.com/soul-calibur-4-omake-translation/ English translation] ). Otadesho.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-13]

"Tom's Games" included her in an article on sexism in video games, as a stereotypical lolita design that exploited females in games. [ [http://www.tomsgames.com/us/2005/11/23/finding_the_middle_ground_between_porn_and_sexist_games/page6.html Finding The Middle Ground Between Porn and Sexist Games] . Tom's Games. Retrieved on 2008-08-16] IGN listed Cassandra as one of the series' top ten fighters at number eight, noting a large fan following and admiration for her "spunk." [Schedeen, Jesse. [http://stars.ign.com/articles/895/895160p3.html Soulcalibur: The Top Ten Fighters] . IGN. Retrieved on 2008-08-01] GameSpy noted her similarity in "Soulcalibur II" to her sister in terms of fighting style, but added "thanks to some intelligent changes she feels like a whole new gal in many important respects"; [Nutt, Christian (2003-08-26). [http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/soulcalibur-ii/6114p1.html Soulcalibur II Review] . GameSpy. Retrieved on 2008-08-24] IGN repeated the sentiment in their review of the title. [Hwang, Kaiser (2003-08-26). [http://xbox.ign.com/articles/435/435314p2.html Soulcalibur II review] . IGN. Retrieved on 2008-08-30]

References