|
|
|
Soul Edge
|
![]()
|
Soul Edge
He it a giant living on the Savannah of the New World.
He was born "Nathaniel William Adams" in England. He was nicknamed "Rock" because of his strength. His father ran a curio store specializing in rare weapons and was always taken with strange antiquities. He had a loving mother and with it, an idyllic childhood; until that fateful day...
"Rock, look at the 'Soul Edge'. Isn't it a beauty?"
His father's wish had finally been fulfilled. He showed his son the sword in the ship's cabin. "At last, 'Soul Edge', the hero's sword..."
The storm that buffeted the ship scared young Rock to the point of tears. His Father was too excited to even notice. His mother, frustrated, led Rock to the hammock. Just then, cannon fire sounded and the ship rocked from a direct hit! Rock screamed in terror. His Father and Mother held him tight as the cries of the crew echoed: "Pirates!"
The Spanish pirate Cervantes, confederate of Vercci, the Italian "Merchant of Death," had started his attack. His goal was none other than "Soul Edge." Father ran to the ship's storeroom to hide the"Soul Edge," After another explosion, Rock's Mother ran after to stop him.
"Rock, stay here until we return!" His parents never did. Before they could, the ship sank. Rock awoke on an unfamiliar shoreline, alone
At first, Rock cried out, looking for his parents. Eventually he learned to live off the land to survive; discarding former habits and language.
It was at this point that he first came upon other living people, a tribe native to the area. Afraid of the "white giant," they would not approach him. The child Bangoo, an orphan of tribal warfare, was the sole consolation for Rock, who was now an adult. From the natives, Rock re-learnt about the "people across the ocean." Faded memories of his parents and even "Soul Edge" returned.
He remembered having heard the words "Soul Edge." It was a word he had heard often as a child. At bedtime, mealtime, while being held in someone's arms ... a hazy image formed in his mind. If he could find the "Soul Edge," perhaps he could recover his own past. He might even find his parents!
With his giant ax in hand, Rock set out for the land across the sea.
|
|
|
|
Soul Calibur
As a young child, Rock was cast adrift at sea after a shipwreck and landed in the New World, an orphan without parents.
Many years later, he came across an orphan named Bangoo, who lost his kin through tribal warfare. Rock felt sympathetic to the boy and became his guardian.
Rock had once travelled abroad in search of Soul Edge, a distant memory and a fleeting clue to his past. However, he realized that by doing so, he was subjecting Bangoo to the same loneliness that he had suffered as a child, and so he returned home to Bangoo.
But one day, Bangoo disappeared.
Kunpaetku, the grand priest of a heretical order called Fygul Cystemus, was responsible for Bangoos kidnapping. The abduction of Bangoo by his Lizardmen was part of his plan to lure Rock out into the open with the ultimate goal of taking his soul.
"Bangoo, I will never abandon you!" Rock cried out as he crossed the sea again in desparate search for Bangoo.
|
|
|
|
Soul Calibur 3
..he who is patient, free from hatred and fear, he is called learned.
-"The Dhammppada," Gautama Buddha
Several years ago, Rock successfully rescued Bangoo from the clutches of the evil cult that had kidnapped him. The cost of that battle was his trusty ax, but he did not regret it for a moment.
The two of them were once again free, but they did not immediately return to the New World. The journey across the sea was a long one, and Rock decided that the journey might be too difficult for the young Bangoo. He decided to wait until Bangoo was of age to return home.
The two of them headed north along the coast and settled in northern Europe. There, they were greeted by fierce winters and a different environment from that of the New World.
Nature is the best teacher. It holds limitless knowledge, and there is always something one can learn if one approaches in good faith. And, if necessary, nature will grant harsh but accurate lessons. Rock wished for Bangoo to learn and strengthen himself amidst Mother Nature's world.
The act of facing nature's power head-on is sometimes accompanied by danger. Bangoo's young body could not always handle the frigid cold or fierce storms. During those times, Rock gently supported Bangoo. Occasionally interacting with hunters and fishermen, the two of them continued their life in this land.
Some things are strong and reliable; others, fragile and dangerous. An important part of life is learning to recognize the true nature of things that cannot be observed through sight alone.
During one stormy winter night, Bangoo broke though some thin ice while crossing the snowy valley. He fell into a crevice and spent the night with no way to warm himself. When the sun rose and he was rescued by Rock, he was exhausted, but the light had not faded from his eyes. Rock asked Bangoo if he was frightened of nature. Bangoo answered slightly bashfully,
"Yes, it's scary. But I can't bring myself to hate it..."
Upon hearing this answer, Rock felt that Bangoo's time had finally come. For his rite of passage, Bangoo chose an act he had been unable to accomplish before--to cross the sea on his own. Rock saw Bangoo off on his solitary journey with a multitude of emotions in his heart. Bangoo had become like his own son.
Alone once more, Rock closed his eyes in thought. Bangoo had returned to the land of his birth. But he himself...this was something he may have been thinking about, little by little, as he watched Bangoo grow up. Rock's true homeland was not the wide plains across the great ocean before him. It was somewhere in this land upon which he now tread. The only clue he had connecting him to his parents was Soul Edge. He had traveled before in search of its whereabouts, but had never successfully reached it.
He stopped his thoughts at that point and lightly shook his head. Now that he and Bangoo had separated, had old regrets and attachments resurfaced? No, that wasn't it...He, too, had to become a man Bangoo could be proud of.
He once again laid a task upon himself. He had stopped in the middle of his search for Soul Edge, but now he would continue that search. Only when his search was complete, could he proudly call himself Bangoo's father.
He was not like he used to be, back when he had searched for Soul Edge with doubt in his heart about who he really was. Rock had matured as well during the time they had spent in this harsh northern country. This journey would be one in which he reaffirmed his own strength and will. And this time, he had a home to go back to.
The image of a boy floating in his heart, Rock looked one last time across the great sea before him, then quietly turned to leave.
|
|
|
|
Soul Calibur IV
Was he truly a father Bangoo could be proud of? Rock needed proof, and so he continued his hunt for Soul Edge. However, an unexpected road block had cut that search short. As he crossed the Alps and headed south, he had been ambushed by a gargantuan man, and lost.
By throwing himself off the cliff into the river below, he had narrowly escaped his unknown foe, and found his way to a secluded hot spring where he could heal his battered body. During the time he spent recovering, Rock's thoughts wandered toward his assailant, the "Black Giant." It bothered him that the assailant's fighting style was so similar to Rock's own. Then there was the attacker's merciless nature. He was dangerous, too dangerous to be allowed to run loose. With new resolve, he waited for his wounds to heal and the strength to return to his limbs, and then left the hot spring.
As he continued his journey, he discovered a startling fact; his attacker, named Astaroth, had entered the service of the Azure Knight, who was headuartered in Ostrheinsburg Castle, and the Azure Knight was none other than the wielder of Soul Edge.
Was fate the architect of all this? To Rock, the journey becamse not only about finding "proof," but instead something much bigger.
|