Charade (Soulcalibur)

General CVG character
name=Charade


caption=Charade from "Soulcalibur II"
series="Soul" series
firstgame="Soulcalibur II"
inuniverse=Soul character
birthplace=Unknown
bloodtype=None
weapon=Imitative Power
fightingstyle=Mind Scannihongo|Charade|シャレード|Sharēdo is a fictional character designed for the Soul series of fighting games. Charade made its first appearance in "Soulcalibur II", and also appears as an unplayable opponent in "Soulcalibur III". A reference is made to him in Nightmare's background story in Soulcalibur IV.

Conception and History

Designed by Takuji Kawano [ [http://www.creativeuncut.com/art_soul-calibur-2_b.html Soul Calibur II artwork] . Creative Uncut. Retrieved on 2008-08-16] and Aya Takemura,OPM staff. [http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3146108 Behind the Game: Soul Calibur III] . 1Up.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-30] Charade was developed similar to fellow Namco character Mokujin in that it used a randomly selected movelist from the game's other fighters exclusively. However, the developers intended him to be a unique character too, and created different animations for certain mimicked attacks. Charade was meant to be a tribute to Edge Master's role in "Soulcalibur", and to be seen as a "valiant character for who all his body parts do their best to fight" instead of a "move thief". [ [http://ussr.jp/modules/tinyd0/index.php?id=7 鉄拳5を通して垣間見るソウルキャリバー3のあるべき姿] (in Japanese). USSR.jp. Retrieved on 2008-08-15]

Design

In its "Soulcalibur III" incarnation, Charade lost the red and blue flames that emerged from its body. It can also emit growls for both attacks and pain, despite it not producing sound in its "Soulcalibur II" incarnation other than heartbeat.

In video games

Charade is the name of a creature introduced in "Soulcalibur II", formed from Soul Edge's fragments and various reshaped human body parts. It has no intellect, relies on instinct, and has a desire to absorb other pieces of Soul Edge. It mimics fighting styles and weapons by scanning the minds of its opponents. In the arcade version of "Soulcalibur II", Charade appeared as the game's final boss, [CVG staff (2002-06-12). [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=76768&skip=yes Soul Calibur II takes on final boss] . "Computer and Video Games". Retrieved on 2008-08-12] and was a time-released unlockable character for players to use. [GamePro staff (2003-04-30). [http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/24963/soul-calibur-ii-hits-japanese-arcades/ Soul Calibur II Hits Japanese Arcades] . GamePro. Retrieved on 2008-08-14] For home ports of the title Charade was replaced by Inferno as the game's final boss, and was made into a regular unlockable character. A Charade appears as a boss in "Soulcalibur III" in a three round match in which it progressively loses components of itself between each round, changing its fighting style from a wave sword to a grieve edge until reduced to its eye.

Several Charades appear in the game "Namco x Capcom" as recurring unplayable enemies, mimicking Sophitia's fighting style from "Soulcalibur II". These Charades are unique in that Soul Edge creates them directly, [cite video game
title = Namco × Capcom
developer = Monolith Soft
publisher = Namco
language = Japanese
date = 2005-05-26
quote = (Translated) KOS-MOS: No trace of Dimensional Transfer or its build-up. I believe the Soul Edge "gave birth" to them. / Ki: The evil sword... gave birth to them?!] an ability it lacks in the "Soul" series. Called Soul Edge's "avatars" by the game's protagonists, [cite video game
title = Namco × Capcom
developer = Monolith Soft
publisher = Namco
language = Japanese
date = 2005-05-26
quote = (Translated) Cammy: W-what kind of monsters are those?! / Taki: This sorcery... Those are the Soul Edge's avatars!] they are created by Soul Edge as foot soldiers and as a means to protect itself. When defeated, they will melt and dissolve into nothing. [cite video game
title = Namco × Capcom
developer = Monolith Soft
publisher = Namco
language = Japanese
date = 2005-05-26
quote = (Translated) Arthur: What are those things? They just melt away when defeated!]

Gameplay

Charade is a character that immediately assumes the form of its opponent. All controls are also shifted to match a different character. The only thing that changes is visual appearance.

Critical reception

Because of Charade's ability, the character has been described as difficult to master. "Xbox Nation"'s editors called Charade a "God character" and a character to be popular with expert players. [XBN staff (April/May 2003). "Warriors of Darkness". "Xbox Nation"] GamePro in their preview of the console ports of "Soulcalibur II" drew direct comparisons between Charade's ability and that of new character Necrid. [ [http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/27760/soul-calibur-ii-console-versions-revealed/ Soul Calibur II Console Versions Revealed] . GamePro.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-23] Similar comparisons between the character and fellow Namco characters Mokujin [ [http://stars.ign.com/objects/142/14235803_biography.html Mokujin (Tekken) Biography] . IGN. Retrieved on 2008-07-23] and Edge Master [ [http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3061362&p=2 Soul Calibur II Review] . 1Up.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-23] have also been made.

Reception to Charade has been mixed. Netjack's Steve Lubitz described Charade as "Weapon Master, only uglier" and cited a lack of creativity with the design. [Lubitz, Steve (2003-09-02). [http://www.netjak.com/review.php/404 Soul Calibur II (GameCube)] . Netjak. Retireved on 2008-08-03] The sentiment was shared by Deeko's review of "Soulcalibur II", who said that Charade and fellow new character Assassin "feel like new characters that use old character moves and tactics." [ [http://www.deeko.com/xbox/reviewdetail.asp?id=134 Soul Calibur II Review] . Deeko. Retrieved on 2008-08-03] Other reviewers of "II" repeated the sentement, noting Charade as one of several "doppleganger" fighters in the title that filled in another character's role. [Nbrid staff (2003-09-15). [http://www.nbrid.net/node/490 Soul Calibur 2 (review)] . Nbrid. Retrieved on 2008-08-12] [Hamer-Morton, James (2003-10-21). [http://www.boomtown.net/en_uk/articles/art.view.php?id=1916 Soulcalibur II review] . Boomtown. Retrieved on 2008-08-18] On the other hand UGO's Doug Trueman cited Charade as a character that " [added] something spectacular to the "Soul Calibur" pantheon."Trueman, Doug. [http://www.ugo.com/channels/games/features/soulcalibur2/review.asp Soul Calibur 2 review] . UGO.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-12] and additionally received mention in UGO's "Top 11 Soul Calibur Fighters" article, losing to Olcadan only due to Olcadan's owl-inspired design. [ [http://www.ugo.com/games/soulcalibur-best-characters/?cur=olcadan Top 11 Soul Calibur Fighters] . UGO.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-14] Gaming Age in their retrospective on the characters in the series called Charade "unique", noting his ability to create weaponry from his own body. [Chadwell, Dustin (2008-07-28). [http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/specials/page2.pl?spec=sc_retrospective&pagenum=8&pages=8&title=Soulcalibur%20Retrospective Soulcalibur Retrospective - Characters] . GamingAge. Retrieved on 2008-08-18] Polish website gram.pl in an article on guest characters within the "Soul" series cited Charade alongside Mitsurugi as noteworthy characters that appeared in titles outside of the series. [ [http://www.gram.pl/art_8A3fHu4_Na_skrzyzowaniu_swiatow.html Na skrzyżowaniu światów] pl icon. gram.pl. Retrieved on 2008-08-17]

References

External links

* [http://www.soularchive.jp/tmr/calibur2/gc/15charade/c15.htm Soul Archive page on Charade (Japanese)]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20021220082355/http://www.soulcalibur.com/history/charade.php Web archive copy of Charade's english profile]