Astaroth as he appears inFirst appearance(1998)Designed byAya Takemura ( Soulcalibur II-IV), Takuji Kawano ( Soulcalibur II-IV, Soulcalibur Legends)Voiced byEnglish( Soulcalibur II)Japanese( Soulcalibur)(later games)InformationFighting styleGykulkusWeapon(Kulutues)OriginHeretical Order Fygul Cestemus, Grand Shrine of Palgaea,Astaroth ( アスタロス, Asutarosu) is a fictional character in the series of video games. Created by 's division, he first appeared in the original and its subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise related to the series.Introduced in the original Soulcalibur, Astaroth is a created by a cult worshiping the Greek god of war to locate a cursed sword named 'Soul Edge'. Though Astaroth has consistently pursued the sword, his character has changed as the series progresses, eventually transforming into a power hungering creature desiring to consume the sword. Regarded as an iconic character of the series, Astaroth has been noted as fitting a large character seen in fighting games, featuring strong attacks but slow speed. Astaroth has been described as having easy-to-master gameplay and being popular with fans of strong, hard-hitting characters in fighting games.

Returning Characters. Astaroth - Barbarian. Cassandra - Sage. Cervantes (can be unlocked by defeating him in Tales of Souls Mode or fighting 625 times) - Pirate. Ivy - Pirate. Kilik - Monk. Lizardman (can be unlocked by defeating him in Tales of Souls Mode or fighting 675 times) - Assassin. Oct 25, 2005  Nightmare returns to wield the evil sword Soul Edge in Soul Calibur III. This new edition to a legendary franchise pits classic and new characters in lethal battles for the two legendary swords. Continue the timeless saga of these epic battles in the 'Tales of Souls' mode.

During development, care was taken to keep Astaroth's look uniqueAs a character introduced in Soulcalibur, Astaroth's weapon, a giant axe, was decided upon before other aspects of the character were. His design revolved around it, starting with gender, then physical measurements, and lastly background details.

Once established, his appearance and movement were fleshed out by the team's Aya Takemura and rendered as a by a design team that worked solely on the character. Astaroth was then animated mainly by Nobuko Nimura using and working directly with the team, while other motion designers created the movements for his grapple attacks.

During this phase the team additionally worked with the Soulcalibur story creators, refining the character's own role in the plot as needed throughout development. Soulcalibur IV lead programmer Masaaki Hoshino called Astaroth his favorite character, stating that because he is 'so powerful there's always a chance to make a comeback'.During development, a golem devoid of facial features, armed with a sword and shield, and accompanied by a small girl was considered as a possible character, but scrapped. Before finalizing his appearance several other designs were considered, ranging from a -inspired character to a medieval. Despite having a male voice and physical build, Astaroth was referred to as 'it' in terms of gender for the character's Soulcalibur background information. However the background information in other character profiles instead refer to him as male, and his background information in later titles followed suit. Astaroth was completely redesigned forAstaroth is shown to be a large, muscular, bald, dark-skinned humanoid with solid white eyes.

A black mask wraps around and covers the lower portion of his head, while a black open covers the nape of his neck and spiked cover his shoulders. Black spiked braces and boots cover his hands to the elbows and feet to the knees respectively, and black wrap around the middle of each thigh. A large black belt surrounds his abdomen supporting a and cloth loincloth. Two black straps of leather crisscross the vertical center of his chest from the gorget to the belt, in between which lies his exposed, protruding heart. During development of the design, a flame positioned over his head alongside flaming eyes were considered, but were cut from the finished product. Astaroth stands 7 feet 3 inches tall, making him the largest character with a recorded height in the series.In subsequent titles of the series Astaroth's appearance changed, showing more signs of damage and armor loss in II and in III shifting to a dark maroon skintone. By Soulcalibur IV, Astaroth's appearance was completely changed, altered to resemble a 'rugged rocky' golem.

Facial features were completely removed, replaced with a large-mawed fractured head design with a headscarf covering the area around his forehead, eyes, and the back of his head. The remaining areas of his body featured several cracks over his build with red veins glowing from within.

Large stone spikes jutted from each shoulder, while a similar pair jutted from each knee. Broken metal armor pieces protected his arms, legs, and chest, while a fauld surrounded his waist. Fans reacted negatively to the character's modified appearance once unveiled, complaining it was 'monster-ish'.In most Soulcalibur titles, Astaroth's secondary character models contrast heavily against his primary design. Amongst these have included designs with several bone or spike protrusions from Astaroth's body, to designs inspired by fashion. This trend was discontinued in Soulcalibur IV, where his appearance from Soulcalibur was reused instead. In video games Introduced in Soulcalibur, Astaroth is a golem created by a cult of to retrieve the cursed sword known as Soul Edge. Upon finding the blade, Astaroth realizes that it is damaged and allies himself with its wielder to harvest living souls necessary to restore the blade, planning to steal the blade once completed.

Boson sampling is considered as a strong candidate to demonstrate ‘quantum computational supremacy’ over classical computers. Here, we develop two central components for high-performance boson sampling: robust multiphoton interferometers with 99% transmission rate and actively demultiplexed single-photon sources based on a quantum dot–micropillar with simultaneously high efficiency, purity and indistinguishability. However, previous proof-of-principle experiments suffered from small photon number and low sampling rates owing to the inefficiencies of the single-photon sources and multiport optical interferometers. We implement and validate three-, four- and five-photon boson sampling, and achieve sampling rates of 4.96 kHz, 151 Hz and 4 Hz, respectively, which are over 24,000 times faster than previous experiments.

However, before he can complete this task, he is confronted by a survivor of his attacks, and is slain. Revived by Ares in Soulcalibur II, Astaroth continues after the sword. However, the cult that created him regards this as a betrayal, and places a curse on the golem to dominate him. Astaroth resists and counterattacks the cult, learning in the process his design is not original but instead modeled after a human being,. To assert himself as unique, Astaroth finds and nearly kills Rock at the conclusion of Soulcalibur III, breaking free of Ares' control and transforming in the aftermath. Now hungering for power, he is offered it in return for servitude to Nightmare during the events of Soulcalibur IV, an offer he accepts with the secret goal of devouring Soul Edge itself.

Destroyed instead by Maxi, Astaroth's heart is retrieved by the cult responsible for his creation, and from research conducted upon it.Outside of the main games in the Soulcalibur series, Astaroth also appears in a mini-game called 'Cannon Dare', in which the player must shoot him out of a cannon by guessing the correct fuse, and later as a playable character in Namco's. Astaroth also appears briefly in 's Gauntlet storyline, a set after the events of Soulcalibur IV, tearing through a forest and challenging the protagonist and allies after they defeat a rampaging Maxi. In the a similar golem, Astaroth α, is discovered by game protagonist. Upon defeat, he joins Siegfried's party as a playable character. Gameplay Astaroth's gameplay was developed around the concept of a powerful fighter that struck at a distance, and has been noted as one of the strongest characters in the Soulcalibur series, requiring few mistakes to be made when fighting against Astaroth to defeat him. Measures were put into effect to make the character unique by allowing the player to hold attack buttons in order to strengthen attacks, to contrast against other large character fighting styles in Soulcalibur such as Nightmare's multiple fighting stances.Though noted as having slow attacks, Astaroth has been described as being an easy-to-learn character capable of dealing high amounts of damage, though his advantages and disadvantages have been described as part of the 'big guy' role he has in the game's roster. Several of his attacks cover a wide range, while several of his grapple attacks allow room to deal with various defensive measures by opponents.

Other attacks such as 'Poseidon Tide' allow Astaroth to control the opponent's distance from himself while simultaneously dealing damage, with the additional feature of offering defensive measures of their own. Promotion In 2000, Epoch C-Works released a series of based on characters from the original Soulcalibur, amongst them Astaroth.

The semi-posable figure of Astaroth was packaged with equipable weapons from the title. In August 2003, released an Astaroth amongst a set of five based on characters from Soulcalibur II. The figure was modeled after his secondary outfit and stood six inches tall with a base. Promotion and reception Astaroth has been described as one of the 'staple' and 'stalwart' characters of the Soulcalibur franchise. He has been noted as being a stereotypical large character villain in the series by author Rachael Hutchinson. Named him one of their favorite heavily muscled characters in video games, noting his strength and the impact of his weapon.

Insert Credit 's stated 'It takes a certain kind of gamer to prefer Astaroth', noting him as a character popular with fans of 'kickass' or 'evil' characters. Noted his size and appearance alongside Nightmare's as standouts in the series, adding 'they offer characters made for the sort of player who would have preferred to, or to '. In 2013, enlisted the 20 best characters from the series, ranking him the tenth best character. Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 16 September 2019.

A green check mark indicates that the role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of the title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information. (2005-12-07).

Archived from on 2013-02-21. Retrieved 2008-07-30. De Marco, Flynn (2007-09-20). Archived from on 4 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-30. Archived from on 2001-07-09. Retrieved 2008-11-24.

Archived from on 2001-07-09. Retrieved 2008-11-24. Archived from on 2001-07-09. Retrieved 2009-06-28. CVG staff (2005-10-10). Computer and Video Games.

From the original on 18 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-05. Mielke, James (2007-09-17). UGO Networks. Retrieved 2008-08-22.

(in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-09-06. ^ (in Japanese).

Retrieved 2008-12-06. ^. Archived from on 2001-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-27. Archived from on 2001-04-26. Retrieved 2008-11-27. ^ (in Japanese).

Retrieved 2008-08-21. Namco (1998-07-30). Level/area: Astaroth 1P model. (in Japanese).

Archived from on 2001-06-23. Retrieved 2008-11-06. (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-08-13. Namco (2003-03-27). Soulcalibur II.

Level/area: Astaroth 1P model. Namco (2005-10-25). Soulcalibur III. Level/area: Astaroth 1P model.

^ Sakasi, Katsutoshi (2008). Soulcalibur IV Artbook. P. 19. Namco Bandai (2008-07-29). Soulcalibur IV. Namco Bandai.

Level/area: Astaroth 1P model. (in Japanese).

Retrieved 2009-06-28. Namco (2005-10-25). Soulcalibur III. Level/area: Astaroth profile.

Namco Bandai (2008-07-29). Soulcalibur IV. Namco Bandai. Level/area: Astaroth profile. Ike, Yukiyoshi Sato (1999-12-17).

Retrieved 2009-04-08. Davis, Ryan (2002-09-04). Retrieved 2008-12-04. (2009-09-13).

Level/area: Gauntlet. Staff (2007-11-22). (in Japanese). Dengeki Online. Retrieved 2008-12-07. Staff (November 2003).

'Afterthoughts: Soul Calibur II'. Electronic Gaming Monthly (172): 46–47. Archived from on 2001-07-09. Retrieved 2008-11-24.

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Retrieved 2008-08-21. Hutchinson, Rachel (October 2007). 'Performing the Self: Subverting the Binary in Combat Games'. 2 (4): 283. Buffa, Chris (2009-05-12). From the original on 15 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-12.

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Soulcalibur III is the best game in the Soulcalibur series. It may seem a little counter-intuitive to claim such a thing just before the latest entry in the series releases, but that’s how we’re gonna go! Think of it as throwing down the spiky gauntlet for Soulcalibur VI to come along and prove me wrong. Remember who you really are!

Or something.Anyway, Soulcalibur III is the best game in the Soulcalibur series. What it mostly boils down to is that Soulcalibur III added plenty of great new features without taking out any of the best content from Soulcalibur II (except Team Battles).For one thing, this was the first entry where character creation was possible, and Soulcalibur III handles it beautifully. There’s plenty of range when it comes to clothes and hair for your character, and there are even some Custom Disciplines that are reserved for characters made in Create-A-Soul, like Valeria’s Grieve Edge feet-blades, which I would dearly like to see make a comeback. The concept of created character-only fighting styles carried over into Soulcalibur V, where Devil Jin is not playable as a full guest character but can be used as a moveset for your original characters.Allegedly, more fighting styles like this were planned, but they sadly didn’t make the cut. They’re a nice way to add some variety without having to drastically alter the moves of previously established and much loved characters, and they make using Create-A-Soul worthwhile.

Not that it really needs them as a reason, as it’s a mode weirdly addictive all by itself. The repeating chain of create character, fight, unlock more equipment, create character doesn’t require any reining in. It’s really fun! I haven’t dedicated this long to one specific cause in the game since trying to unlock Amy!Soulcalibur III also has two story modes – one for playing as the canon characters and all the, y’know, real story, and one where you take one of your created characters into a lengthy series of battles with warring factions and real-time strategy elements expansive enough to make some fully-fledged strategy games blush. Chronicles of the Sword was a perfect way to let players run amok with their own (often ghastly) creations without it needing to spill over into the main plot and mess things up.

Other games experimenting with user-created characters take note. I stand by this being the best and only implementation of such a feature that has worked so wonderfully smoothly.Create-a-Soul is one of the obvious outstanding features brought to the series in Soulcalibur III, but is by no means the only one.

Soulcalibur III saw the introduction of multiple great new characters, including Setsuka, and Zasalamel and Tira who have gone on to become series mainstays. Not only did this considerably bulk up the roster’s number, but it introduced a variety of cool new fighting styles and weapons to experiment with and master. Giant ring blade? Iai sword style with a blade concealed in a paper parasol? Check!Bring back my girl!Unpopular opinion though it may be, Soulcalibur III’s use of QTEs was a really nifty touch.

Button prompts during cutscenes in the character-focused Tales of Souls mode could influence your stats going into a battle as well as determine such things as whether you got a character’s good ending or bad ending. While there are still some scenes and battles on alternate paths determined by your decisions, it’s relatively nice and simple.

At any rate, it’s far from needing a visual novel style route guide, which is more than we can say for some other fighting games that have had a stab at character stories with multiple paths.Guilty Gear is guilty as charged.So, the elephant in the room. Released back in the halcyon days before DLC had its grubby little fingers all over the entire gaming industry, Soulcalibur III is brimming with content ripe for the unlocking through your own hard work. Racking up enough in-game currency to buy yourself something nice is an element that’s sadly lacking in fighting games these days, but Soulcalibur III had it in spades.

So much so it included multiple in-game shops with playable shop assistants. Go big or go home!

Give me something to work for! It’s better for a game’s longevity than a bulky, staggered DLC plan and that’s that.Soulcalibur III had a staggering amount of content, building on the already incredible Soulcalibur II and going above and beyond when it came to new additions. Ever since Soulcalibur III, new features have been less impressive, and many great elements have been removed entirely. Many of the new characters haven’t had the appeal or originality of, say, Setsuka. Modes such as Chronicles of the Sword have been removed entirely, as has the entrancing Exhibition Theatre, and the sparse and lacklustre character stories of SCIV and SCV have nothing on the onesin earlier entries. You’d think individual character endings would be a must, not something so expendable!Also, while I can appreciate the removal of some characters in later games due to them no longer being in the story, I’ve never understood why they couldn’t still be included for use in free modes. Soulcalibur V was a particular culprit for this, and while its attempts at replacement characters with the same fighting styles were admirable, they just weren’t up to scratch.

Despite its size, Soulcalibur V‘s roster just feels surprisingly small.On the subject of rosters, Soulcalibur III had a huge amount of characters, with 25 base characters and a whole load more when you include the ones that use Custom Disciplines or are unlockable NPCs from Chronicles of the Sword. Soulcalibur III may not have had any direct guest characters, but it didn’t really need them. There’s already a huge amount of variety in play styles and even designs in the sizeable cast of Soulcalibur III.This screen is permanently etched into my brain.Soulcalibur VI sees us going way back to time of the first Soulcalibur for a fresh new approach to the story. It’s easy to take this as a solution to Soulcalibur V being a dead end in terms of story, as well as just generally a bit of a disappointment as a game. Things were slowly dwindling in the lead up to Soulcalibur V ( Legends anyone?) and I’d say Soulcalibur III was probably the peak of the series’ glory before its eventual fall. If Soulcalibur VI can come even close to the splendour of Soulcalibur III, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the series’ continuation in a new direction.

I’ll also be playing it forever. I’m OK with that!SOON.So, I stand by what I said: Soulcalibur III is the best game in the series. For now, at any rate.

Hey, Soulcalibur VI! Come over here and change my mind!Do you agree that Soulcalibur III is the best game in the series or do you think a different one should take that title?

Let me know in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook!