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Soul Edge
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Soul Calibur V
Cervantes traveled to Ostrheinsburg in order to reclaim Soul Edge and devour the sweet soul of his daughter, Ivy, but it was Ivy herself who foiled his plan. His body beaten and his mind shattered, Cervantes was swallowed by a dimensional rift opened by Soul Edge.
Years later, as the 17th century dawned, strange rumors began to stir among the men of the sea. They spoke of a giant ship with a skull on its bow, captained by the legendary Cervantes. No one truly believed it, of course - more than half a century had passed since the great pirate last stalked the Atlantic.
What they didn't know - what they couldn't have known - was that Cervantes had broken free of Soul Edge's control, and escaped from the other dimension. He had returned to his world at the height of his powers.
"I'll make damn sure those fools remember the name of Cervantes, Lord of the seven seas!"
Of this world once more but no longer bound by its rules, Cervantes set sail once again...
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Soul Edge
The mighty Spanish armada held supremacy over the Atlantic Ocean. But sometimes they were not enough. That is where the privateers came in. Phillip de Leon was one such privateer. He commanded a proud ship with a special commission from the Spanish King to loot in the name of Spain. He once told his son, Cervantes: "A sailor must always be strong and gentle."
Young Cervantes was proud of his father. He was devastated when his father died at sea. Phillip's ship had moved alongside an English ship in order to plunder it. Unbeknownst to him, it was a ruse; an English warship in disguise. Their cannon shells shattered the Spanish galleon. Wiping Captain Leon from history forever.
The young man received his father's hat, his only remains. He swore: "This is where his allegiances to the crown have gotten him! I will be against all countries! I'll become a pirate!" And thus, Captain Cervantes the pirate, was born. He started a reign of terror across the Atlantic in his ship, the Adrian, showing no mercy to anyone, even those in the invincible armada.
One day, a messenger of the "Merchant of Death," Vercci, entered Cervantes' haunt, an inn called the Black Tail. He told the pirate of Vercci's search for the legendary weapon, "Soul Edge."
"This Vercci wants my aid, does he?"
The messenger promised an exceptional reward for the recovery of the swords. But the pirate did not like the idea of working for anyone. What to do?...
Cervantes finally accepted the offer as a lark. For a year, he searched for Vercci. Finally, he came across some information. At a secret antiques auction, an English man made a successful bid on a "strange artifact." The ship carrying the man and the artifact was setting sail when Cervantes made plans to intercept the ship. There was no conclusive evidence that this was "Soul Edge," but then why should a pirate pass up such an opportunity?
The sea was stormy as the Adrian set sail after the passenger ship. "Get ready, me hearties! There she blows! Helmsman, hard to port! Ready the cannons...fire!"
The boom of cannons echoed across the stormy sea. Columns of water surrounded the passenger ship. The Adrian came along side. Cervantes raised his cutlass, rallying his bloodthirsty pirates.
"Soul Edge is our prize! All else goes to Hades!"
Mysteriously, the pirate Cervantes has neither been seen nor heard of since...
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Soul Calibur
Cervantes grew up full of pride over his father who was a great seaman, but became a notorious pirate because of his father's death.
He obtained Soul Edge, and it eventually drove him mad as it devoured his soul. His insanity made him destroy anyone who came seeking the sword. Cervantes' reign of terror continued for over 20 years until Sophitia and Taki defeated him.
But this was not the end of Cervantes...
Nightmare, the new master of Soul Edge, brought Cervantes back from the dead. Once again, Cervantes seeks the demonic blade with renewed fervor and strength.
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Though neither seems to care, Ivy is Cervantes' daughter.
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Soul Calibur 2
He shows himself sufficiently, although his whole body does not appear, which in all likelihood no human eye ever beheld...
-Erik Ludvigsen Pontoppidan, Natural History of Norway
Cervantes de Leon...the dread pirate who terrorized the Atlantic and struck fear into even the grandest of naval fleets. He ceased to exist as a human being the very moment he grasped the male and female swords—Soul Edge—in their original form before they lost their power. His body became nothing more than a puppet of the two swords…a servant until the day his body rotted away to nothing.
That was Cervantes’ fate. He slaughtered his entire crew and stained the streets of his home port with the blood of its people. In the twenty-some odd years that followed, his body and soul were under the control of Soul Edge. And during this time, he took the souls of swordsmen who, drawn by the rumors of Soul Edge, ventured forth to challenge him.
The demonic blades were in a dormant state at that time, so they did not thirst for massacres to satisfy their appetite for souls. But this was only temporary—it was only a matter of time before the dark storm of death terrorized Europe. And Cervantes’s destiny was to stand in the eye of that storm, with both blades in hand.
But the course of Cervantes’ fate was greatly altered before Soul Edge awoke from its dormancy. A holy warrior—sent by a god fearful of Soul Edge—destroyed one of the demonic blades during battle. By losing its companion blade, Soul Edge lost its natural equilibrium and overcompensated its powers to combat another foe. Cervantes, Soul Edge’s host, was a casualty of that encounter. Only the fragments of a Soul Edge on the verge of losing control of itself were left behind. Hellfire that burst forth from the demonic blade devoured Cervantes and turned him into ashes...
Cervantes’ soul was not freed by the destruction of his corporeal form, however.
Some time passed before Soul Edge’s new host appeared before Cervantes’ ashen remains, which now appeared no different than any others’. As the host brought Soul Edge near the remains, the fragments of Soul Edge that cut into Cervantes’ flesh at the moment of its destruction began to resonate. No one knows what Soul Edge’s thoughts were when it sensed the resonance, but it and its new victim moved on…
In the meantime, Soul Edge’s shards came to life and began to move around Cervantes’ remains. After a day had passed, Cervantes stood tall again amidst the ruins. And thus, Cervantes returned to this world.
But there were only a few fragments embedded in Cervantes’ flesh. Although he was resurrected, his mind was not whole. He had lost his memories. Cervantes barely remembered the name of his good ship, the Adrian, from his days as a pirate—his ship was now a half-derelict vessel anchored at port…
Cervantes lived amongst the ruins, unable to remember his name. But he disappeared eventually from the ruins.
Yes, he remembered one night while standing in the middle of a storm. He recalled a memory of attacking a ship in a storm just like that night. The loot he took from his hapless victims. And the two swords he held in his hands!
When all of Cervantes’ memories returned, so did his desire to possess that great power once again. Although he recalled the loss of his free will to the power, it still appealed to him. The man who was resurrected by the fragments of the evil blade sensed the resonance of the other blade. Surprisingly at first, the signs of the other blade were scattered in various locations. But this was to be expected, given that one of the blades splintered into many fragments when it was destroyed. Besides, parts of the demon blade resided within his body as well.
Cervantes set out to follow a strong sign of the evil blade, but as he closed in on that sign, he sensed that Soul Edge’s presence was splintered even more. “It couldn’t be…” thought Cervantes when he arrived at the location of the evil energy. His premonition was correct—the other Soul Edge had been shattered as well!
He picked up several pieces of the newly created shards and gazed upon them. Was his desire to possess that power again for naught?
That was when Cervantes sensed something strange. Two pieces of the sword in his palm began to resonate with his body and began to melt into one. He immediately reached out for another shard… That piece joined the other piece as well. Cervantes realized that the fragments within him caused this resonance to occur with the others. He also sensed what must have been the cry of joy that rose from the sword fragments within him. At that moment, he knew very well what was necessary to restore Soul Edge’s powers.
Four years passed. He took the souls of the strong and found new pieces of the sword to increase the power of Soul Edge. In time, the fragments assumed the shape of a sword and began to emanate an evil aura in proportion to its physical size. But unlike the first time Cervantes held Soul Edge, this time he was able to wield the demonic blade without ceding his will to it—the pieces of the sword within him gave him this ability.
Finally, Cervantes possessed his own Soul Edge. He would probably not sit idly by while strong souls and pieces of Soul Edge gathered together. Now that warriors around the world were compelled into action because of the Soul Edge fragments, Cervantes’ desires must have been reawakened again as well.
When and where will he appear from the darkness with his evil sword in hand?
There is only one person who can answer this question...Cervantes himself
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Soul Calibur 3
The Banners of the King of Hell Advance Closer to us,
-"La Divina Commedia: Inferno," Dante Alighieri
Cervantes had succeeded in restoring Soul Edge to its original form. As a side effect of the fragments of the cursed sword embedded in his body, he had also been able to maintain a hold on his own will. In the past, he had been controlled by the sword, but now that relationship was reversed. He would make the sword in his hand complete and obtain the other half of Soul Edge as well. The day when he would acquire ultimate power was not far off!
Cervantes set sail in the Adrian and terrorized the Atlantic. Control of that ocean had been shifting from his homeland of Spain to the countries to the north, but even this great wave of history was nothing more than surf upon the shore to Cervantes. No matter what flag others flew, be it merchant vessel or ship of war, all were merely prey in his eyes.
What he sought now, however, was not monetary treasure, but nourishment to help the cursed sword grow--the souls of strong men of the sea who had toughened themselves upon the raging waves!
Ships attacked by the Adrian disappeared completely into watery graves. A new chapter was added to the legend of the great pirate Cervantes: A tale of a demonic ghost ship and its inhuman captain.
Everything had been proceeding smoothly...up until that day. The unusually stormy sea was perhaps a premonition of what was to come. Cervantes avoided the tempest by mooring the Adrian in a cliff opening. That was when it happened.
The presence of the other half of Soul Edge suddenly disappeared. Recently, it had felt stronger than it ever had, and yet now he could not feel it at all. Then a terrible change began to occur in his body--his skin and the ends of his limbs changed color and, little by little, began to crumble! He could tell that the fragments of the cursed sword within his body that had acted as his source of life were losing their power. At this rate, his body would eventually turn back into a scorched corpse. The very power of the cursed sword itself he held was weakening.
Panicking, he sought after the faint remainder of evil energy. He sensed that the power given off by the other cursed sword was being held back by some great power. What entity could possibly possess such power as this?!
"Wow, looks like you're in trouble!" Suddenly, impudent words came from above his head. Turning to the voice's source, Cervantes found a girl clad in green clothes sitting on the Adrian's mast. Black birds flocked around her.
Cervantes was disturbed that he had not noticed the intruder. But what truly surprised him was not the girl's dexterity or stealth, but that she was emitting the same aura as the cursed sword.
"And just who in the hell are you?!" In response to Cervantes' intimidating voice, the girl responded calmly.
"I'm not of any concern to you, but I guess you could say that I'm a servant of the cursed sword." The girl grinned.
"It's great you managed to grow the sword so much, but that body of yours is just not going to cut it."
"How dare you mock me!" His voice was filled with violent intent.
"Oooh, scary, scary! But killing me won't do you any good. How about you take care of the one who did mean things to Soul Edge, instead?" According to the girl, an entity that opposed Soul Edge had appeared from hiding and had temporarily killed Soul Edge.
"It'll be for your own sake, too!" Saying this, the girl jumped from the mast and disappeared into the darkness.
Cervantes had no intention of binding himself to a purpose shared with the girl, but, in order to keep himself from being dragged back into the abyss of death, he had no choice but to destroy the source of his troubles.
He had never thought that his immortal self would feel the fear of death. Cervantes' face wore a troubled expression, one he had not shown in a long long time. He could probably delay his inevitable extinction for a short while by absorbing new souls. During that brief reprieve, his only hope was to revive the cursed sword!
His obsession for souls flaring, he turned the rudder of the Adrian. Its bow pointed out into the stormy waves of the great sea.
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Soul Calibur IV
Once there was a dread pirate who, upon claiming Soul Edge, became a creature of pure malevolence. Though defeated once, he managed to return to live through the intervention of the cursed sword's fragments. He gathered more and more fragments until he had enough to form one great weapon, formidable enough to be called a second Soul Edge. But one possibility had eluded him; the spirit sword, Soul Calibur, appeared and sealed Soul Edge's power away! Needless to say, his own body did not escape unscathed. Cervantes realized his flesh could decay at any moment. He had no time to lose; this spirit sword must be buried once and for all!
As Cervantes' body failed, he sought souls in vast numbers to hold it together. The souls he absorbed becamse an army in his service, and he soon found himself once again a mighty pirate in command of an undead armada. He even went so far as to attack his own daughter, Ivy; and by feasting on her soul, rich and ripe, he gained tremendous power.
But calamity struck again. An evil wave swept across the world. The cursed sword had freed itself from the spirit sword and regained it's full power! His own Soul Edge responded in turn, and tried to pull away from him and treturn to it's other half. After a brief deliberation, Cervantes decided to let it go. Once the cursed sword was whole, he would seize it for his own.
To replace his lost blade, Cervantes chose a sword that was an old friend. But no sooner had he clutched the longsword's hilt than it became a cursed weapon. Such raw, overwhelming power! Now no one could stop him.
"Wait and see, Soul Edge, I'll be the one to claim you, and all the world with you!
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