Taki (Soulcalibur)

general VG character
name = Taki


caption = Taki as she appears in "Soulcalibur IV"
series = "Soul" series
firstgame = "Soul Edge"
creator =
artist =
voiceactor = Desirée Goyette ("Soulcalibur II" and "III")
japanactor = Fujiko Takimoto ("SE-SC3")
Sachiko Kojima ("SCL", "SC4")
motionactor =
liveactor =
inuniverse = Soul character
birthplace= flagicon|Japan Fu-Ma no Sato, Japan
bloodtype=A
weapon=Rekki-Maru and Mekki-Maru (Dual Kodachi)cite web |url=http://www.soularchive.jp/tmr/soulcalibur/wwsc/04_fuma.htm |title=封魔の里～妖怪退治のエキスパート集団: |accessdate=2008-02-17 |format= |work= ]
fightingstyle=Musō-Battō-Ryūnihongo|Taki|タキ|Taki|also written as 多喜 is a fictional character designed for the Soul series of fighting games, making her debut in the first game on the series, "Soul Edge". She is one of the only playable characters in the series to appear in all versions of all the games, including "Soulcalibur IV".

Conception and history

Design

In video games

Taki started as one of the eight original characters from the Arcade game "Soul Edge", and remained as such in the successive upgrade "Soul Edge: Version II" and PSX port, gaining slight gameplay upgrades along the way. Her "Edge Master Mode" in-game story states that, after a hard fight against a demon who haunted a temple, she discovers her beloved weapon, the magical "ninjatō" she named Rekkimaru, was considerably weakened. Discovering the source to be Soul Edge, Taki decides to travel west to save her treasured sword, and to hunt down Soul Edge as well.

Taki returned as a starter character on "Soulcalibur", both on the Arcade and Dreamcast port. Her style went through a substantial change: originally using a single weapon, she is given a second ninjatō to wield, changing her style to dual-wielding. Besides the gameplay upgrades she gained, her story fleshed out considerably as well.

The Prologue of the stage explains how Taki confronted the main villain of "Soul Edge", Cervantes, and obtained a fragment of the shattered sword. In the process, she also saved another character, Sophitia, who was the one who shattered the smaller of the Soul Edges. Her in-game profile follows her story as she tries to merge the fragment with her Rekkimaru without success. But when she fused it with her other weapon, Mekkimaru, it shed a powerful evil aura. In order to destroy this new evil weapon, Taki sought to pit it against Soul Edge, hoping both blades would destroy themselves.

However, the official profile released on the official website expanded on the backstory of her new weapon Mekkimaru, and how she obtained it. It starts with the revelation, from her leader Toki, that former Fu-Ma leader Hachibei stole the mysterious sword and escaped. Turned a "nukenin" (fugitive), she is ordered to kill both him and his daughter Chie, a childhood friend of her, and bring back the blade. With her network intelligence, Taki locates Hachibei quickly, and she is informed about Toki's obsession with the powers of the blade. Hachibei urges her to not let Toki get ahold the Mekkimaru and gives Taki a "kodachi" (short sword). Taki later gives a false report to Toki, leading his forces in pursuit of Li Long, Chie's lover, under the idea he has Mekkimaru after killing both Hachibei and Chie. However, Taki is eventually found out by Toki's right hand man, a ninja known as Geki. Surviving the encounter, Taki becomes a "nukenin" herself, being pursued by her former allies as she tries to destroy Mekkimaru.

Taki returns as a starting character in the game's sequel, "Soulcalibur II". Mostly unchanged from her last appearance, it marks the first instance in which her primary outfit appears unmasked. Her profile states that, after hearing Soul Edge was destroyed by a group of warriors, she decides to try to tame the evil "kodachi" instead. Four years after, several Fu-Ma ninja tried to capture her without success. Taki discovers then that they carry Soul Edge fragments, and reaches the realization Toki has many more of them, and was looking for her to gather information. Taki decided to keep both Soul Edge and Mekkimaru from Toki, but became worried of him as well.

Taki appeared in the fourth installment of the saga, "Soulcalibur III", with minimal changes in both appearance and playstyle, the most prevalent being her new magic-based attacks. Fittingly, her playstyle becomes available to use in the Create-a-Character feature to characters using the "Ninja" job setting. Her story followed from her last profile, showing Taki decided to travel back to Japan, discovering that the Fu-Ma village was suffering from internal conflicts due to Toki's madness. Taki contacted the rebellious part of the Fu-Ma and discovered Toki's location on the Great Buddha Shrine. Sneaking there, Taki faced her master Toki, who recently absorbed the Oni spirits within the shrine. Taki defeats her master with the techniques he taught her, but then the spirits dwelling within him came out from him and traveled west. Knowing they are going for Soul Edge, and that the sword's presence was weak enough to allow its destruction, Taki starts a new journey to end Soul Edge at once.

Taki returns in "Soulcalibur IV" in her first edit color costume in "Soulcalibur III" with some minimal changes made to its design.

In 2005 Taki appeared in the crossover game "Namco x Capcom". Taki, alongside Mitsurugi, appears as a playable character. She is eventually paired with Waya Hime, an enemy from the videogame "Bravoman", and teamed up with fighting game protagonists Jin Kazama (from "Tekken") and Ryu (of "Street Fighter" fame). In addition, Taki's third costume in "SCII" was in fact modeled after the one worn by Waya.

Gameplay

Taki's original weapon from "Soul Edge" is Rekki-Maru, and one of the few original weapons to have never been replaced in the following games. The games labels Rekkimaru as a "ninjatō" (a ninja sword). According to its "Soulcalibur" profile, Rekkimaru is Taki's preferred weapon. She made it herself and infused its blade with mystical powers.Taki's secondary weapon is Mekki-Maru, added in "Soulcalibur" as her new dual-wielding style. Mekkimaru is the lower blade on Taki's back, and is used less often than Rekkimaru gameplay-wise. Even though Taki uses a single weapon in "Soul Edge", Mekkimaru can be found in her Edge Master Mode quest as one of her unlockable weapons. According to Taki's Text Adventure mini-game, Taki's Mekki-Maru apparently was once property of Yoshimitsu's deceased Manji clan.

Promotion and reception

Yujin released a four inch tall immobile figurine of Taki 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/51917/4504853142577577775.html NAMCO GIRLS MINI-FIGURES SERIES #1: TAKI FIGURE] . twenga.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-09-07] A second figurine was released by them for their "Namco Girls Series #4" collection, utilizing her secondary outfit. [ [http://www.tisinc99.com/nam053922.html Namco Girls Series 4 Set of 3 Mini Figures] . tisinc99.com. Retrieved on 2008-09-07] A 1/18th scale resin kit of Taki was also released by Wave in November 2003 for the game. [ [http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10034556 Taki (Resin Kit) Wave Soul Calibur II] . Hobby Search. Retrieved on 2008-09-07] In 2006, Namco released a second 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]

Taki was listed by "Tom's Games" as one of the fifty greatest female characters in video game history. [Wright, Rob (2007-02-20). [http://www.tomsgames.com/us/2007/02/20/the_50_greatest_female_characters_in_the_history_of_video_games/page14.html The 50 Greatest Female Characters in Video Game History] . Tom's Games. Retrieved on 2008-08-02] She also appeared twice in GameDaily's Babes of the Week article and an article of her own. IGN listed her at number five in their "Soulcalibur: Top Ten Fighters" article, stating "Everyone loves a good ninja, and Taki just so happens to be one of the best...it's hard to imagine a Soulcalibur game without Taki. It just wouldn't be the same." [Schedeen, Jesse (2008-07-30). [http://stars.ign.com/articles/895/895160p6.html Soulcalibur: The Top Ten Fighters] . IGN. Retrieved on 2008-09-13]

References

External links

* [http://cgshrines.rydia.net/_taki.html CGI Shrines] Taki gallery