| Raphael Sorel |
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Information AboutRaphael Sorel |
Raphael Sorel is a Fictional character designed for the '''''Soul'' Series''' of Fighting Games . Raphael made his first appearance in '' Soul Calibur II '' and returns for '' Soul Calibur III ''. BIOGRAPHY Raphael, the young master of the Sorel family, grew up with the Rapier and Medicine as his playmates. His cool, unemotional demeanor created many enemies, but his quick and precise decision-making and execution skills were prominent features of his family amongst the Nobles . Unfortunately, Raphael made a critical mistake during the year of the notorious Evil Seed and killed an insane noble in self-defense--a noble supported by his family. His family cast him out of their household and even aided the town in their pursuit of the murderer. Raphael hid himself in a poor town to escape from his pursuers. There he met a young girl named Amy who hid the weakened Raphael from his enemies. For Raphael, this marked the first time he had ever owed his life to someone else, causing him to feel emotions he had never experienced before--Amy became an irreplaceable presence in his life. Convinced that the chaos of the war in France at that time was no place to live a meaningful life, Raphael took Amy and left the town. But even with the new surroundings, he could not get Amy to open her heart to the world. One day, in the library of a mansion in southern France that he had acquired after killing its master, Raphael found a letter with references to the Evil Seed. It wasn't long before he could make the connections between Evil Seed and the insanity of the noble that had attacked him; and he knew that the source of all this evil was a cursed sword called Soul Edge . He pondered over the consequences that could occur if the pathetic nobles were to have the sword thrust into their possession; they would destroy themselves from the inside. Raphael decided to retrieve the sword himself so that the war-mongering nobles could be eliminated and a meaningful future could be secured for his foster daughter Amy. He was determined to obtain the Soul Edge by any means necessary for the sake of this young girl, and concocted an insane scheme to help him achieve his end. In his quest for the Soul Edge, Raphael tracked down and pursued its possessor, the Azure Knight , Nightmare , at Ostrheinsburg Castle. At the end of the fierce battle, Nightmare stood victorious. His body weakened and his consciousness fading, Raphael looked up towards the azure Knight, who was just about to administer a finishing blow, and muttered the name of his foster daughter, Amy. For an instant, emotion overcame Raphael's entire being, and he forced his body to move. The desperate strike he unleashed hit its mark, piercing the center of Soul Edge's eye; and his opponent writhed in pain. That was all he remembered of his battle with Nightmare before he lost consciousness. He should have been dead yet, for some reason, the Azure Knight had left without ever finishing him off. Raphael dragged his wounded body back to his mansion in southern France. He spent several days on the brink of death, but eventually recovered. He did not notice, however, the evil energy that had radiated in his Soul Edge induced wounds. He had come across the phenomenon of maglinity transformation before in his research, but by the time this knowledge had occurred to him now, the transformation was already completed. The symptoms even spread to Amy, who had undoubtedly become infected when she was treating his wounds. No symptoms indicated that their minds had been infected, but cursed blood pulsed through their bodies nevertheless, their skin turned pale and their eyes shone with wicked light. By day, they felt weak and sluggish; but by night, they felt a powerful thirst. They were no longer human. Before long, the people living nearby had learned of their strange behavior. They must have considered it a form of Plague , for they attempted to drive away their lord--the second time the Soul Edge had been responsible for such social humiliation. Furious, Raphael contemplated taking revenge on the peasants, but his priority was with Amy's safety. He took her away from that mansion in France for good. They traveled to Wallachia , and taking advantage of the war throughout the land, he purchased a castle ruin in the mountainous terrain to begin a new life separate from the outside world. However, Raphael had no intention of living life constantly on the run. Amy had been transformed into a being that could no longer interact with the world, and in his own twisted logic, he rationalized that it was neither he nor Amy who required change, but the rest of the world around them. He spread his evil plague in secrecy, and it eventually moved on to a grand scale, starting only within the castle and moving on to nearby villages and even a neighboring city. Eventually, he would be able to corrupt the entire world. But one day, something strange had occurred, and many of the citizens he had transformed had been returning to their original state. It seemed that something called the "Holy Stone"--a Charm brought by a recent visitor--was the source of these reversals. Raphael tried to steal the stone from the villagers, but upon touching the faintly glowing item, his hand surged with pain, blistering as if it had been burned. In a fit of rage, he had it destroyed. But he still wondered as to whether or not any other such "Holy Stones" or charms with similar powers existed. Feeling threatened by the prospect, Raphael concluded that he must venture away from his beloved foster daughter again to seek out the true nature of this "Holy Stone" and obliterate all of its traces from this world. Nothing would be allowed to interfere with the new world he wanted to create for Amy. But just as he had made this decision, an army who had noticed the region's abnormality appeared at the base of the castle; he would need to kill them first. Raphael bid farewell to young Amy and descended to the outside world that refused to accept them--and the taciturn girl who watched him leave betrayed no hint of what lay hidden in her heart. WEAPONS -- Flambert Raphael, after being defeated and pursued even by friends and family, was able to take Flambert from the Sorel Family home and departed with it. Being an extremely sharp and easy to handle rapier, it has turned into Raphael's preferred weapon, using it long after his departure from aristocracy. STAGES -- South France Mansion - Library (SC2) The master of this domicile is no longer alive. The rich lord that lived here was poisoned, and the man who lived here since left this place recently. Other than the wing where the servants and the child that the man brought reside, this mansion is in desolate silence. It is said that the man did not come out of this library until the day he left on his journey. Surprisingly, there are no traces on the bookshelves or anywhere else in the room that give a clue to what the man was doing in this place. The silent mansion awaits the return of its master... or the visitor. -- Romanian Valley - Castle Siege (SC3) It has been more than 100 years since Vlad the Impaler lead his army against the Ottoman Turks and crossed swords with the Sultan in order to protect this land and his home country of walachia. Located somewhere in the deep mists of the southern Carpathian Mountains, this castle was not originally designed for a battle of that nature, but it was now about to face exactly that. The army of the Duchy of Walachia surrounded the castle and, seeing that the master of the castle was not going to give up without a fight, began their attack. No one knows why the national army initiated such a large-scale move, but the rumors say that a contagious desease that brings with it mysterious symptoms was spreading from beneath the castle, and the country had moved to destroy it at the source. CHARACTER ANALYSIS Because his movelist doesn't require much practice to perform several techniques, Raphael seems to be in between upper-mid tier or mid-tier. Many of the moves in his movelist have a fairy long range, such as 66B and attacks from his stances, such as B+K from Preparation. He is also able to dodge attacks with A+K and B+K, and may go into certain stances depending on wether he was attacked high, mid or low. He can then attack from the dodge. This has a fairly long execution time and may be used as an alternative to guard impact. However, he doesn't appear to have that many safe lows or horizontal attacks in both of the games, and is fairly linear. Still, many of his moves are fairly fast and powerful at the same time. 236B is an excellent example, as it covers great range, executes quickly and inflicts good damage. In conclusion, it would be safe to assume that he is mid-teir, and a fairly good choice for beginners. TRIVIA
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