List of Guilty Gear characters

This is an index of characters from the Guilty Gear fighting game series.

Creation and influences

Daisuke Ishiwatari has cited Kazushi Hagiwara's manga Bastard‼, and the fighting game Street Fighter II as influence to the Guilty Gear series.^[1][2] However, he noted that the majority of other fighting games were just recycling the character's same skins or style, and so he wanted every character "to be unique in their own way."^[2] Kazuhiko Shimamoto's characters was also noted as an inspiration for the men characters, with Ishiwatari saying they needed to be "chivalrous person-like characters", and citing Anji Mito "the most closest to this type". The female ones, on the other hand, have not followed a standard, with he only saying that they needed look like real women.^[1]

There are many musical references in the Guilty Gear series, including various characters' names and moves, which were inspired by rock and heavy metal bands like Queen, Guns N' Roses, and Metallica.^[3][4][5] For instance, the main character, Sol Badguy, was named after Queen's lead vocalist, Freddie Mercury. Both his real name, Frederick, and his last name were influenced by the singer, whose nickname was "Mr. Badguy".^[1]

Playable characters

A.B.A

Voiced by: Maki Takimoto

A.B.A (アバ Aba) is an artificial life-form, or homunculus, that was created by a scientist who lived within a mountain named "Frasco" (フラスコ Furasuko). However, before her birth, his creator was taken away by the military. A.B.A found herself alone within Frasco, and lived the first ten years of her life in total isolation until she managed to escape from Frasco. She began to collect keys to find relief from her sadness as they represented the opening of a bold new world and an escape from imprisonment. Eventually, she finds "Flament Nagel", an ancient war relic shaped like a key, and decides to keep it as her partner; she renamed it "Paracelsus" (パラケルス Parakerusu). Her new goal was to acquire an artificial body for her newfound partner, whom she refers to as her spouse.

Anji Mito

Voiced by: Toru Igarashi

Anji Mito (御津 闇慈 Mito Anji) is among the few people born of Japanese descent. Because of this, he is protected by the government since full-blooded Japanese are an endangered race. While there are those who accept this lifestyle, Anji doesn't—he compares acceptance of government to living in a zoo's cage. To regain his freedom, he escaped from his colony and pursued "That Man" for answers for his ever-curious mind. He fights with a pair of hand-held fans called Zessen (絶扇). It is implied that Anji stole the Zessen, which had been stored in the Japanese colony, before escaping.

Axl Low

Voiced by: Keiichi Nanba

Axl Low (アクセル＝ロウ Akuseru Rou) is a time traveller who comes from a 20th-century's England, over 150 years before the Guilty Gear storyline. His main goal is to return to his own time period, mainly because of his desire to return to his girlfriend, Megumi (めぐみ). For this reason, Axl enters the Sacred Knights Tournament as he thought the winner of the tournament could have a wish granted them.

Baiken

Voiced by: Satomi Kōrogi (Guilty Gear), Miho Sudo (Guilty Gear X), Chizu Yonemoto (Guilty Gear XX), Mayumi Asano (Guilty Gear Xrd REVELATOR)

Baiken (梅喧) is among the few people born of Japanese descent. When she was young, her family was attacked by the Gears, a race of magical bioweapons that plunged the world into a hundred-year war known as the Crusades. After watching the death of her parents and losing her right arm and left eye, she swore revenge on the Gears creator, "That Man". For this end, she trained herself in the use of the katana. She also has many hidden surprise weapons within the sleeve of her severed arm: a Japanese mace, a fireworks cannon, a bladed fan, a rope dart, a hook, a claw, and a spear. As of Xrd, she now wears an eyepatch goggle on her scarred eye and was brought by May to visit Kum Haehyun.

Bedman

Voiced by (English): Yuri Lowenthal^[6]
Voiced by (Japanese): Hikaru Midorikawa

Bedman (ベッドマン Beddoman) is a character who made his debut in Guilty Gear Xrd. He is really smart, but fast-talking and is known to ramble, even though he says he doesn't like long conversations. He is an assassin who lives in a dream world and executes others using their own psyche. In the physical world, his body remains unconscious, strapped to a living bed mechanism that is deadly in person, with spikes and blades all over it. Though he is hired by others, his real boss remains unknown, later revealed to be Sanctus Maximus Populi Ariels in the end of the -SIGN- story mode on console version, such as hired to capture That Man, exceeding Elphelt's fighting limit into a mindless Valentine, and attempt assassination on their former agent, Ramlethal.^[7]

Bridget

Chipp Zanuff

Voiced by (English): Edward Bosco (Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN)^[8]
Voiced by (Japanese): Takuya Zanuff (Guilty Gear), Takeshi Miura (Guilty Gear X – XX), Yoshihisa Kawahara (Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN – present)

Chipp Zanuff (チップ＝ザナフ Chippu Zanafu) was a youth who struggled to live life on the streets of America. Chipp was a drug trafficker that soon became a drug user. He seemed himself in a complicated situation that lead to him fleeing from the Mafia. Chipp had become outnumbered and was almost dying, but his pursuers were dispatched by a man called Tsuyoshi (毅). He offered Chipp into his care, and trained Chipp in the art of Ninjutsu. They lived peacefully together until an assassin syndicate ordered Tsuyoshi's killing. Chipp, in an attempt to pursue the culprits responsible, entered the second sacred order tournament in order to get him a lead in his travels.

Dizzy

Voiced by: Kazue Fujita

Dizzy (ディズィー Dizī) was abandoned by her mother Justice,^[9] and found as an infant roughly three years before the events in Guilty Gear X (her first appearance), by an old couple. However, the other villagers became afraid since Dizzy appeared to age from being an infant to her late teens in three years. This was compounded when she discovered, that she now had wings and a tail. Dizzy was now identified as a Gear—essentially, a living weapon of mass destruction, and a hundred-year war against Gears had just ended five years ago. Dizzy's foster parents hid her in a grove in the woods, but she was soon discovered and subjected to abuse at the hands of her captors. She quickly escaped, however, and the government issued a 500,000 World-Dollar bounty for her death. She was later taken in by Johnny and May, joining the Jellyfish Pirates. Dizzy has married Ky and they have a half Gear child named Sin. Dizzy made an NPC appearance in Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- before again becoming playable in Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator- as the result of a fan vote conducted by Arc System Works.

Dr. Paradigm

Voiced by: Yuji Mikimoto

Dr. Paradigm (Dr.パラダイム Dokutā Paradaimu) is yet another of Guilty Gear 2: Overture's seven playable characters. He is one of the sealed Gears from the dimensional plane Backyard (バックヤード Bakkuyādo) during the era of the Genocide Gear Justice in the Crusades. This action was done so Justice could not control his mind using her Commander Gear abilities. Paradigm was later released when the 100-year war was over. Dr. Paradigm is a strongly skilled magician with a fairly large book of magics. He has a protective bubble around him which appears to be permanent.

Elphelt Valentine

Voiced by (English): Cassandra Morris^[10]
Voiced by (Japanese): Aya Suzaki

Elphelt Valentine (エルフェルト バレンタイン Eruferuto Barentain) is a character introduced in the console version of Guilty Gear Xrd as DLC. She is first portrayed as an ally, before and after capturing her sister, Ramlethal, and during a strike against Conclave and Justice. However, in the final chapters of Story Mode, once she exceeded her fighting limit too much, as Dr. Paradigm's warned her not to engage in combat while defending the Illriya castle, it is revealed her "true" objective was originally concealed from her own mind and didn't activate until after Justice's awakening. She was purposefully created not knowing her objective so that she could get close to Sol, Ky, and other major threats to "Mother." Even though Sol had much distrust for her in the beginning, he felt the need to save her from her programming as she started to remind him of Aria, not only in appearance, but personality as well. Before she self-destruct with no other way to stop it, she is stopped and saved by her sister Ramlethal as thanks for helping her awaken to the concept of emotions. She is then brought back to the Backyard where her fate is currently unknown. Apparently, she survived in -Revelator- storyline, but suddenly undergone a drastic change on her emotion and costume appearances. She is used by the mastermind, Ariels to be a vessel of Justice and destroyed humanity, but only to be saved Jack-O' by switching their places, and thus reviving Aria.^[11][12]

Fanny

Fanny (ファニー Fanī) is a strange nurse with an unusual connection to Dr. Baldhead who saves her life from a sickness; she fights her enemies in much the same style as him, using a syringe that once belonged to her late mother. She appeared in the WonderSwan game Guilty Gear Petit and its sequel, Guilty Gear Petit 2. Her endings in both games show a big connection with Dr. Baldhead. In the first she is wondering why Dr. Baldhead disappeared; in the second she is saying goodbye because she knows she will never see him again.

Faust

I-No

Izuna

Voiced by: Toru Furusawa

Izuna (イズナ) is another playable character who made his debut in Guilty Gear 2: Overture. Along with Dr. Paradigm and Valentine, Izuna also comes from the plane Backyard. Izuna is a Japanese fox spirit who himself was exiled to the Backyard. Unlike most spirits of his kind, Izuna gained a physical form through the power of his will. Izuna states that "There are more physical spirit demons like me, but were brainwashed by Valentine". He is a very skilled swordsman and has certain magical abilities. Izuna is also the one to teach Sol Badguy and Sin how to use the tactics of the Ghost and Master Ghost system in the game as well. Most fans believe Izuna's looks were taken off of Slayer, though this is not likely because various interviews with Daisuke Ishiwatari he exclaims that Izuna along with Valentine, Dr. Paradigm, and Sin are all new children (creations) of his.

Jack-O' Valentine

Voiced by: Hiromi Igarashi

Jack-O' Valentine (ジャック-オ·ヴァレンタイン Jakku-O Barentain) is a playable character in Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator-. She was formerly That Man's third servant, who first appeared as a wanted criminal on her own. Jack-O' has mischievous attacks, utilizing Jack O'Lantern-themed weapons such as explosives. She wears a mask during a battle. Because her awakening remains incomplete, she can't function without her mask and toffee. Her past is shrouded in mystery, and her own memories are vague. Because she's in an unstable state, the tone of her voice and personality changes rapidly. One of her personalities has an intellect as the late-Aria and has a part of Justice. In the end of the story, Jack-O' sacrifices her life to save Elphelt, by switching place as Justice's vessel, thus saving the world and reviving Aria, thwarting Ariels' evil plan. However, according to Raven, there can be multiple Jack-O' Valentines somewhere who can take the place of the first Jack-O'.

Jam Kuradoberi

Voiced by: Manami Komori (Guilty Gear X – XX), Rei Matsuzaki (Guilty Gear Xrd REVELATOR)

Jam Kuradoberi (蔵土縁 紗夢 Kuradoberi Jamu) is a master chef, and longs to create her own restaurant, but lacks the means to do so. She seems to have terrible luck in this endeavor even once she gets it off the ground. She's a fairly docile character, and also relatively unimportant during the beginning arches of the storyline. However, during XX, Jam's ability to wield Ki becomes a very notable aspect. She can be described as a bit of a flirt, as she has hit on both Bridget and Ky in her story. Jam returns in Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator-.

Johnny Sfondi

Voiced by: Norio Wakamoto

Johnny Sfondi (ジョニー Jonī Sufondi), simple referred as Johnny is captain of the airship May Ship and leader of the Jellyfish Pirates. His first appearance was in Guilty Gear as a non-playable character in May's ending, and he became a playable character in Guilty Gear X. Johnny is a compulsive womanizer; his entire crew, including May, is composed of young women, but when it comes to the protection of his crew, Johnny is a selfless acting man who will protect the lives of his crewmates as well as others if need be. He is protective of Dizzy, defending her from bounty hunters in Guilty Gear X and I-No's attack in Guilty Gear XX. He fights with a wood-handled Japanese sword and uses the Iaidō style of swordsmanship. Johnny made an NPC appearance in Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- before becoming playable in Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator-.

Judgment

Judgment was originally Raymond, a mad scientist working on the remote island of Isene and exploiting its inhabitants, trying to create a living weapon that would surpass even the Gears. He believed his work was the work of God. Raymond is devoured by Inus, a dark king of the underworld, who is subsequently killed. This allows Raymond to take control of Inus's power, transforming himself into Judgment. However, because Inus wished to remain dead, Judgment was subsequently consumed after being defeated.

Justice

Voiced by: Takuya Moritou (Guilty Gear), Wakana Sakuraba (Guilty Gear XX)

Justice (ジャスティス Jasutisu) is the original Commander Gear, Justice had the power to control all other Gears, which she used to wage war against the human race. Ultimately she was brought down and exiled to a dimensional prison by the Sacred Order of Holy Knights. However, she was freed by Testament, but was quickly defeated once again, and finally destroyed by Sol Badguy.

Kliff Undersn

Voiced by: Hatsuaki Takami (Guilty Gear), Shigeru Sakano (Guilty Gear XX)

Kliff (クリフ＝アンダーソン Kurifu Andāson) was the founder of the Holy Order and wields a massive sword known as the Dragonslayer (斬竜刀 Kiryūtō). A hero of the Crusades, having clashed with Justice multiple times, he became a great mentor to Ky Kiske and personally scouted Sol Badguy to join the Holy Order. He is the foster father of Testament, whom he found as an orphan during the Crusades.

Kum Haehyun

Voiced by: Hideaki Tezuka (Jeonryeok Kum)

Kum Haehyun (琴慧弦 Kumu Hehyon) is the head of the Kum family and descendant of “Tuners” who can control the flow of energy. Kum Haehyun is a female, unknown to all, and normally rides inside of the humanoid artificial body Jeonryeok Kum (“Full Power Kum”). Only the Kum family are able to manipulate the flow of energy, but their presence in the world is scarce.

Ky Kiske

Ky Kiske (カイ＝キスク Kai Kisuku) is the chief of the International Police Force. He was made head of the Sacred Order of Holy Knights at age 16 and under his leadership, they were able to bring an end to the century long Crusades against the Gears. He is dedicated to God and works to maintain peace after the Holy War. Although he morally sees only in black and white and not in shades of grey, and is easily manipulated by unseen workers from the Holy War, he is working to adjust. His dedication to law and order puts him at odds with the free-spirited Sol Badguy, his rival. He fights with the Thunderseal sword and with his lightning magic.

Leo Whitefang

Voiced by: Tetsu Inada

Leo Whitefang (レオ·ホワイトファング Reo Howaitofangu) is a character who first appeared in the console version of Guilty Gear Xrd as DLC. One third of the triumvirate ruling Illyria. He's an old acquaintance of Ky's from the Crusades, during which they became friends and rivals. Once faced with the threat of annihilation on the frontlines, he proved his combat and leadership skills by leading his unit to survival. His raucous tone may give the impression that he lacks guile, but he's actually very discrete. He's proud and a sore loser, but he's also a hard worker, always willing to put in a little more effort. He created his very own dictionary, and privately enjoys adding people and incidents to the definitions of existing words.

Leopaldon

Leopaldon as seen in Guilty Gear Isuka

Leopaldon (レオパルドン Reoparudon) is the boss of Guilty Gear Isuka. He is a good man at heart who somehow manages to control a giant Gear, his faithful dog. A killer who shows absolutely no mercy, he is also a formidable beast.

May

Voiced by (English): Eden Riegel (Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN)^[13]
Voiced by (Japanese): Satomi Kōrogi

May (メイ Mei), a young, cute, and spunky member of the Jellyfish air pirates that is utterly dedicated to Johnny, the leader of the pirates and the man who raised her after she was orphaned. She entered the first tournament in order to bail Johnny out of prison, and fights in later tournaments for his benefit. She fights with a massive ship's anchor, which she is able to swing with ease.

Millia Rage

Potemkin

Voiced by: Hideyuki Anbe (Guilty Gear), Takashi Kondo (Guilty Gear X – present)

Potemkin (ポチョムキン Pochomukin), a massive slave-soldier of Zepp, a floating continent controlled by a military dictatorship, Potemkin was forced into the first tournament by his superiors. However, during the tournament, the government of Zepp was overthrown in a revolt led by Gabriel, his mentor. Once Gabriel was made president of Zepp, Potemkin pledged his loyalty to the new government as a special agent. The mantle he wears was a slave collar used by his superiors to keep him in check. He decided to keep it as a memento of his past.

Ramlethal Valentine

Voiced by: Megumi Han

Ramlethal Valentine (ラムレザル·ヴァレンタイン Ramurezaru Barentain) appears as a boss and later playable character in Guilty Gear Xrd. A lone girl who declared war on the entire world. She is a non-human life form born in the Backyard, which governs all of creation. Her relation to the Valentine who orchestrated the prior Baptism 13 Incident (the Illyrian Invasion) is unknown. As an assassin of the Merciless Apocalypse, her objective is the extermination of the human race, and to that end she has formed an alliance of convenience with the United Nations Senate. Waking of the “Cradle” is her sole objective and mission. Her primary target of obstacle is Sol. However, her objective failed and easily captured because of Elphelt Valentine's sudden appearance. During her "imprisoment", she began to developed more emotions, instead of gloomy, sadistic and painless, under Sin and Elphelt's surveillance. When Bedman is sent by "Mother" to eliminate Ramlethal, he agrees to do so as he sees her as a thing, not a person. He is quite shocked, however, to see she has gained emotions and thus can't bring himself to kill a "little girl". When Elphelt went to help Leo to counter the Conclave and Justice's invasion on Illriya's castle, she exceeds her fighting limit, makes her into a mindless puppet and attacks her own allies after Conclave and Justice are defeated. After Sol helps her re-assert her true consciousness, she decides to self-destruct to prevent herself from harming her allies, but Ramlethal deactivates her self-destruct sequence, in return for her kindness and introducing her to the concept of emotions. She is last seen in the company of Sol, Ky, and Sin as she watches her sister being summoned back into the Backyard. In -REVELATOR-, she is currently accompanying Sol and Sin as they search for Elphelt and Justice.

Raven

Voiced by: Shigeru Sakano (Guilty Gear XX), Hiroki Yasumoto (later games)

One of three servants to That Man. Little is known of him, but he does share some sort of connection with Axl Low which That Man describes as being "parallel existences" of each other. In the Guilty Gear novel "Lightning the Argent", Raven shows unusual battle prowess by essentially ignoring Sol's fire attacks, via regeneration, and beating Faust in an inter-dimensional battle. Raven is also present in several endings in Guilty Gear XX, in which one he is noted as the parallel existence of Axl Low. It should be noted that Raven appears as a boss character as well as was made a playable character via DLC in the game Guilty Gear 2: Overture for the Xbox 360. In Xrd second story of -Revelator, he is entrusted by That Man to carry on his mission in his absence, due to Bedman's interference while trying to stop Justice from destroying Earth, sending him into Nightmare Theater, though immune to the effect, but had him locked within isolated space, thus unable to exit real world, which That Man found it difficult to try. Raven's current tasks are to find Elphelt before she merges with Justice, and to seek out Jack-O, but first they need an assistance of Sol and his party since their objectives coincide. Raven has been announced as a playable character for Revelator in February 2016.

Robo-Ky

Voiced by: Takeshi Kusao (Guilty Gear X – XX), Yutaka Terada (Guilty Gear XX #Reload – XX Slash), Takumi Inoue (Guilty Gear XX Accent Core), Shigeru Chiba (Guilty Gear Xrd REVELATOR)

Robo-Ky (ロボカイ Robokai) is not simply one character, but in fact a line of robotic copies of Ky Kiske created by the shadowy Post War Administration Bureau. For some reason, Robo-Ky is often mistaken for the real Ky Kiske and vice versa during the game's story mode, even though his face is obviously metallic, his voice is higher-pitched and robotic, and he constantly blurts out *GIGIGI* or *BZZZT* noises during story sequences. A version of Robo-Ky, Robo-Ky Mk. II, whose moveset and technical parameters (like attack strength, defense, etc.) can be customized. Unlike the other Robo-Ky, Mk. II is built by and has loyalty to a mysterious scientist, not the Post-War Administration Bureau. Type is secret. As of Xrd, there's only one Robo-Ky left who survived its last appearance in XX Accent Core, now as a con for hire and presumably homeless, until Venom hired the robot for some urgent emergencies.

Sin Kiske

Voiced by (English): Yuri Lowenthal (Guilty Gear 2: Overture),^[14] Lucien Dodge (Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN)^[15]
Voiced by (Japanese): Issei Miyazaki

Sin (シン＝キスク Shin Kisuku) is another of the six unique playable characters in Guilty Gear 2: Overture. He is son of the king of Illyuria, Ky Kiske, and the Maiden of the Grove, who was confirmed to be Dizzy. He was left in Sol Badguy's care because of the exploitable fact of his Gear cells may be known to the public. He bears grudges towards his father for neglecting him because of his duties as a king. Though Sin is at most five years old, he has the appearance of a tall boy in his late teens—making it hard to notice his rash, childlike behavior. Through Sol's training, Sin has grown into a very strong child. Sin is playable in the console versions of Guilty Gear Xrd.

Slayer

Voiced by: Iemasa Kayumi (Guilty Gear XX – Xrd SIGN), Takaya Hashi (Guilty Gear Xrd REVELATOR)

Slayer (スレイヤー Sureiyā) is an ancient vampire who founded the Assassins Guild, he comes out of hiding when the Guild dives into chaos after Zato's disappearance. Cultured and debonair, Slayer enjoys haiku and spends his time with his wife Sharon, another immortal. He also has a personal connection with Gabriel, the president of Zepp, but seems to be acquainted with all of the movers and shakers of the Guilty Gear universe. He has the apparent motive of either observing the cast, or warning them of being targeted by the Post-War Administration Bureau. He personally knows "That Man" and that character seems to hold him in high regard since he apologizes to Slayer.

Sol Badguy

Testament

Voiced by: Takami Akkun (Guilty Gear), Katsuaki Kobayashi (Guilty Gear X – XX)

Testament (テスタメント Tesutamento) was an orphan during the Crusades, and was adopted by Kliff Undersn. When he was old enough, he desired to become a soldier in the war against Gears,and was known in the Holy Orders as the Black Knight. The Post-War Administration Bureau found him frustrated as he became mentally depressed, and offered to transform him into a Gear. He accepted, though unlike most Gears he still retained his sense of self. However, Justice turned him against humanity, and he found himself on the opposite side of the war from which he started.

Valentine

Voiced by: Chie Sawaguchi

Valentine (ヴァレンタイン) is one of six playable characters in Guilty Gear 2: Overture. Valentine is the exact copy of Aria, who is indeed one form of the genocide Gear Justice. Valentine's motives lead her to be defeated by Sol Badguy who was once in love with Aria. Her weapon of choice is a talking balloon named Lucifero (ルシフェロ Rushifero) with various amplified magic abilities. Valentine also has the power to brainwash enemies and turn them into her allies. Valentine's true form is a fake version of a Gear as yet her looks resemble an unfinished Aria.

Venom

Voiced by: Mikio Yaeda (Guilty Gear X), Junichi Suwabe (Guilty Gear XX – present)

Venom (ヴェノム Benomu) is an orphan raised by the Assassins Guild. Venom became an apprentice and the devoted right hand of Zato when he saved his from being deceased by the Guild's member who wanted to do it since Venom was reluctant to kill. Once Millia began to hunt Zato and the parasite Eddie began taking more control, Venom began his quest to save his beloved master. He fights using a cue stick in pool.

Zappa

Voiced by: Yūji Ueda

Zappa (ザッパ Zappa) is an unlucky young man, looking for a wife and writing in his diary about his new "disease" he has, which, from his point of view, consists of fainting and then waking up somewhere else, possibly with alarming wounds and fractures and no memory of how he got there. He seeks the doctor Faust to cure his paranormal ailment. When entering a battle, he is unconscious, with S-Ko (S子)—his most powerful vengeful spirit—and the other ghosts having control of his actions. These ghosts consist of three giant centipedes, several will-o-wisp-like apparitions that manipulate a broken sword, three gray ghosts, a dark chihuahua-like dog, and a manifestation of lightning called Raou. As of Xrd, he is now "cured" from S-Ko's possession and now working for a paranormal investigation team within the new Post-War Administration Bureau. By the time he reunites with Faust, Zappa soon stumbled upon what Faust had been reading, realizing the true masterminds behind manipulating the Conclave to attack humanity wants something to do on annihilating the Japanese for their extra ordinary Ki.

Zato-1 and Eddie

Voiced by (English): Matthew Mercer (Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN)^[16]
Voiced by (Japanese): Kaneto Shiozawa (Guilty Gear – X), Takehito Koyasu (Guilty Gear XX – present)

Zato-1 (ザトー＝ONE Zato Wan) was a Spanish member of the powerful Assassins Guild that allowed himself to become the host of a symbiotic creature named Eddie (エディ Edi) in exchange for his sight. Because of this, Zato-1 was able to take control of his shadow, and use it as a weapon to gain great power. With this power, he made himself leader of the Assassins Guild. However, as his body weakened, Eddie was able to take control until Zato-1's death at the hands of Millia Rage. Zato-1 was replaced by Eddie from Guilty Gear XX onward, after the death of his voice actor Kaneto Shiozawa, but returns in Guilty Gear Xrd.

Non-playable characters

Aria

A mysterious, unseen character who That Man refers to during Guilty Gear 2: Overture. Little is known about her, however she is at least an acquaintance to both Sol and That Man, and the character Valentine is stated as being a copy of her. It is also hinted that she could be Justice as when she was killed off, her final words were wishing the three of them could talk one last time. However, this was false, as Justice is one of Aria's embodiments and has one of her memories. She is revived by Jack-O' after switching her place with Elphelt as Justice's vessel in -Revelator-.

Asuka R. Kreuz

Voiced by (English): Yuri Lowenthal (Guilty Gear 2: Overture)^[17]
Voiced by (Japanese): Tomokazu Sugita

Asuka R. Kreuz (飛鳥＝Ｒ＝クロイツ Asuka R. Kuroitsu), typically referred as "That Man" (あの男 Ano Otoko) is the creator of the Gears and was originally the primary antagonist of the Guilty Gear games until it ended in Xrd. He is not playable, nor does he ever directly fight anyone, but appears in several story sequences; his face is apparently in shadow and never seen completely (although in one of Anji Mito's endings in Guilty Gear XX his hand is revealed to be a glowing blue color). Asuka appears in nearly every characters' endings of Guilty Gear XX at some point or other; his purpose appears mainly as a deus ex machina, since his purpose is largely to capture I-No or clean up the various messes she's made—she believed that most of the characters were a threat to his power, and attempted to harm or neutralize them, but he states several times that they are actually in accordance with his goals. These goals remain unclear as yet. Asuka appears as a boss character in the game Guilty Gear 2: Overture. He fights using large burst of energy, teleportation and also using robotic assistants which relay his attacks at the player. According to him in Overture, the death of Aria was his and Sol's faults, which cause the two separated in a different path, yet trying to atone something bad, which they left behind. In Xrd story of -Sign-, he helps the humanity to prevent "Justice" from entering Earth, and revealed he has a common feud with Conclaves, such as with Chronus, whose trying to use Gear for a world domination. While trying to prevent Justice, who was encased within the Cradle, from escaping to the Backyard, but ends up being obstructed by Bedman, who pulls him into his Nightmare Theater. However, in -Revelator- story, though he is immune to effects of the Nightmare Theater, Asuka is having difficulty returning to the real world due to Bedman locking him in an isolated space. While he works to free himself, Asuka entrusts Raven to find Elphelt before she is merges with Justice, and to seek out Jack-O. He also asks that Raven acquires the assistance of Sol and his party since their objectives coincide.

Inus

A dark king of the underworld, Inus is the fifth boss of Guilty Gear Judgment. Split into skeletal sections (two of them resembling skulls), he devours Raymond just before attacking the player character. After whatever character the player is controlling defeats Inus, he is subsequently killed, allowing Raymond to absorb his power to become Judgment. However, since Inus wished to remain dead, Judgment was consumed after he was defeated.

Jellyfish Air Pirates

Jellyfish Air Pirates (空賊のジェリーフィッシュ快賊団 Kūzoku no Jerīfisshu Kaizoku-dan) is Johnny's all-female air pirate crew, who travel with him on the May Ship. The members include eleven girls, one older woman, and a cat. There are several playable characters from the Jellyfish Pirates in the games; namely May, Dizzy and Johnny himself. Most of the members of the Jellyfish crew are orphaned girls adopted by Johnny, but there are exceptions; he took in Dizzy for her protection (and seclusion) from the larger world, and in one ending of Guilty Gear XX allows Bridget to live on the ship (although he is not officially a Jellyfish Pirate) when he has nowhere else to go.

The crew, whose names are derived from the English names of the twelve months of the year, includes, Janis, a black cat with a shaggy white forelock; Febby, a tall busty blonde who is the record-keeper; March, a pink-haired baby girl with a stuffed penguin; April, the ship's pilot; May, one of the crew's most capable fighters and the ship's namesake; June, the navigator; July, who is said to be the fourth strongest fighter on board, after Dizzy, Johnny, and May; Augus, a dark complexion fighter known to be fast; Sephy, a brown-haired and gentle-expressioned girl; Octy, the crew's lookout; Novel, the ship's mechanic who rides a large red mecha; Leap, an enormous white-haired woman who is the ship's cook; Dizzy, whom Johnny helped fake her death for her own protection.

Post-War Administration Bureau

The Post-War Administration Bureau (終戦管理局 Shūsen Kanrikyoku) (or P.W.A.B.) is a fictional secret society in the Guilty Gear fighting game series, making its first appearance in Guilty Gear XX. It is the organization that created Robo-Ky, and changed Testament into a Gear.

The organization was founded during the war between humans and Gears; as its name implies, it was intended to manage the affairs of the human race once the war was over. However, the war's end saw no need for them, and it was supposed to have been disbanded. Instead, they merely retreated to the shadows.

The group demonstrably has access to relatively advanced technology, as it created Robo-Ky. However, its members can also use magic; an unidentified member of the group used a crystal ball to observe Jam Kuradoberi in one of her endings.

The purpose of the organization has apparently shifted entirely to maintaining its own power and influence, as well as its own secrecy, and its members are willing to go to any lengths to do so, evidently lacking any ethics in how they go about this. Its interest in each character seems focused on whether they should be manipulated, killed, captured, or studied, and each characters' Story Mode begins with the P.W.A.B.'s profile for that character, accompanied with a "risk rating" that apparently denotes how dangerous they are to the organization. Robo-Ky was created both to impersonate Ky Kiske and as an equalizer should they decide that direct confrontation is necessary.

Solaria

A character from the novel Lightning the Argent. Solaria is a full-blooded Gear created by the Blackard Company. She was used by the company to awaken and control the world's dormant Gears as their weapons. She was later rescued by Ky Kiske where she now lives freely under the protection of the International Police Force.

Erica Bartholomew

The President of the United States in the current Guilty Gear timeline and from the novel, The Butterfly and Her Gale. An orphan, she is a child prodigy who became President at the age of 17. Chipp decided to become her bodyguard after the Assassin Syndicate tried to kill her. The reason for the attempt on her life is because the US had been under the influence and corruption of the Syndicate for many years. One of Erica's goals was to rid the US of their influence by forming an alliance with President Gabriel of Zepp since his nation was the most highly technological and powerful nation in the world. Despite attempts by the syndicate to frame each nation of an assassination attempt on their leaders, blackmailing the Senate and kidnapping her guardian and caretaker of her orphanage, the alliance was finally made thanks to the help of Chipp.

Tsuyoshi

Chipp's Sensei and the man who changed his life. Tsuyoshi was a ninja master who saved Chipp when he was about to be killed by the mafia. It was his tutelage that changed Chipp from a drug addict to the man he is now. He was killed by the Assassin Syndicate before the events of Guilty Gear. The novel The Butterfly and her Gale reveals he was killed because he was an undercover agent of the International Police Force who infiltrated the Syndicate until they found out about his true identity.

Volf

A member of the Assassin Syndicate from the novel The Butterfly and her Gale. He is the man responsible for the death of Tsuyoshi. In the novel he & the Syndicate tries to prevent President Erica from forming the US/Zepp alliance in any way and even he himself was responsible for kidnapping her guardian. Ironically, his plans were thwarted by Tsuyoshi student, Chipp. For his failure to kill Erica, Chipp and stopping the alliance, he was killed by Venom personally.

Reception

The characters have often been noted as the best element of the Guilty Gear series. IGN said all the characters are very distinguishable and interesting, and remarked they "doesn't feel repetitive, even after dozens of hours of play", citing them as the reason that separates Guilty Gear from other fighting games.^[18] IGN also mentioned the character's play styles are "even more divergent" than their appearances.^[19] Game Informer stated "character complexity and unique visual design" have become hallmarks of Guilty Gear.^[20] GameSpy cited the characters as one of three reasons Guilty Gear X is "hands-down the best 2D fighting game" as of 2001, remarking that "[t]he difference in style for each character is profound".^[21] They also stated that it "has some of the coolest character designs ever seen in a game", and "one of the best casts of characters ever assembled in a fighter."^[22] GameSpot called them "unique character" and described their move-sets as "sometimes-bizarre".^[4] IGN called them "the best [...] outside Capcom/SNK",^[23] and GameSpot found they "truly awesome", noting their diversity "keeps Guilty Gear fresh".^[24] Allgame declared "superb is the only way to describe them", asserting they are all "pretty original".^[25] GamePro praised the characters' uniqueness as each have "distinct looks and strategies."^[26]

While some characters have been criticized for being "generic",^[27] "typical characters",^[28] and "unoriginal"^[29] the cast of characters in overall have also been generally described with adjectives such "bizarre",^[18][28][30] "quirk",^[31] and "crazy",^[32] with IGN noting that the series' cast makes "the biggest freak show" of Capcom, Darkstalkers, "look like a Saturday morning cartoon".^[19] Game Informer dubbed the cast "a roster of startling characters that would make Vincent Price whimper like a kitten."^[33] GameNOW even stated, "it makes me afraid to ponder the nature of the demons that have possessed the minds of the artists who created the characters ... They are among the wiliest and most violently flamboyant ever to grace a fighting game."^[34]

References

1. ギルティギアゼクスドラフティングアートワークス [Guilty Gear X Drafting Artworks] (in Japanese). Enterbrain. January 2001. p. 5. ISBN 978-475-770301-8. Translation.
2. Sung, Lydia; Vega, Gabriel (July 22, 2009). "Anime Expo 2009". Neoseeker. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
3. Asia Pacif Arts Staff (July 17, 2009). "Anime Expo 2009: interview with Daisuke Ishiwatari and Toshimichi Mori". University of California, Los Angeles. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
4. Gouskos, Carrie (April 18, 2006). "Guilty Gear XX Slash Import Hands-On". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
5. Goldstein, Hilary (September 10, 2004). "Guilty Gear X2 #Reload". IGN. Ziff Davis Media. p. 3. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
6. https://twitter.com/YuriLowenthal/status/541730830771421184
7. "[UPDATE] Mysterious New Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- Character Named Bedman, First Image Revealed". Shoryuken. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
8. "Anime LA 2016 Guests". Anime Los Angeles. Retrieved 2016-05-28.
9. Hikaru Hanada (Sol Badguy's voice actor); Kazue Fujita (Dizzy's voice actress) (August 20, 2003). GUILTY GEAR XX ドラマCD BLACK [Guilty Gear XX Drama CD Black] (in Japanese). Team Entertainment. KDSD-00014. Dizzy: You traitor... why do you help mankind?! / Sol: That's my line. Unlike Justice... your heart should be free. So why!? Why do you kill! / Dizzy: Don't talk about mother so easily! You... I'll kill you!. Translation.
10. "Shuto Con Guests". Shuto Con. Retrieved 2016-05-28.
11. Franz Co (2014-09-02). "Firearm-Wielder Elfeldt Joining the Cast of Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- on Consoles". Shoryuken. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
12. Yamanaka, Takeshi (2014-09-02). "山中 丈嗣 on Twitter: 帰宅。スペルは Elphelt です。#GGXrd". Twitter (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-09-02.
13. http://voice123.com/edenmiller
14. https://twitter.com/YuriLowenthal/status/541260073713287170
15. http://luciendodge.com/video-games/
16. "Thaaaaaaat is correct! Tell them what they've won!". twitter.com. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
17. https://twitter.com/YuriLowenthal/status/540643194606596096
18. Goldstein, Hilary (September 10, 2004). "Guilty Gear X2 #Reload". IGN. Ziff Davis Media. p. 2. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
19. Ingenito, Vincent (December 7, 2012). "Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus Review". IGN. Ziff Davis Media. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
20. "New Guilty Gear Isuka Character Screens/Movie". Game Informer. August 12, 2004. Archived from the original on April 1, 2008. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
21. Fudge, James (December 22, 2001). "Reviews: Guilty Gear X (PS2)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. p. 1. Archived from the original on February 18, 2005. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
22. Turner, Benjamin (February 5, 2003). "Reviews: Guilty Gear X2 (PS2)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. p. 2. Archived from the original on May 21, 2009. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
23. Nelson, Randy (November 11, 1998). "Guilty Gear". IGN. Ziff Davis Media. Archived from the original on June 13, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
24. Mielke, James (August 6, 1998). "Guilty Gear Review for PlayStation". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 13, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
25. House, Michael L. "Guilty Gear - Review". Allgame. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on June 13, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
26. Fatt, Bobba (January 1, 2000). "Guilty Gear Review for PlayStation". GamePro. IDG. Archived from the original on February 13, 2005. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
27. Dunham, Jeremy (November 4, 2004). "Guilty Gear Isuka". IGN. Ziff Davis Media. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
28. Sell, Chris (December 30, 2004). "Guilty Gear X2 Reload Review". PALGN. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
29. "Guilty Gear". Computer and Video Games (200): 58. July 1998.
30. Willington, Peter. "Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
31. Liu, Johnny (February 1, 2003). "Guilty Gear X2 Review". Game Revolution. Net Revolution Inc. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
32. Parkin, Simon. "Guilty Gear Judgment review". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
33. Juba, Joe. "Guilty Gear X2 #Reloaad". Game Informer. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
34. "Guilty Gear X2 (PS2) Review". GameNOW. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on May 4, 2004. Retrieved June 28, 2014.