Taki

Overview

Taki is a character that was designed for the Soul fighting game series. She is a ninja who has appeared in all of the Soul games so far except for Soul Calibur V.

Origin

Taki was orphaned at a early age after her parents died of sickness. She was taken in and raised by a ninja master called Toki, who trained her in the ways of the ninja and adopted her into his secret clan. Taki eventually grew into a skilled spy and schemer and rose through the ranks of the clan. She even discovered that many members of the clan had extraordinary abilities that has been forgotten and that she too had supernatural powers of her own. Taki decided to use her powers, which was a sixth sense, to travel through Japan to destroy evil demons that threatened people. To help aid her in this task, Taki forged her own weapons which included a short sword that possessed magical powers.

Toki summoned all of the clan member for a meeting of which he explained that a former clan member named Hachibei had stolen a spiritual sword named Mekki-Maru and had ran away with his daughter Chie. By code, ninja's were not allowed to leave their clan until they died due to clan secrets so Toki tasked the clan to hunt down and kill Hachibei and Chie and return the sword. Although this was a normal task for a ninja clan, there was something in Toki's eyes that make Taki doubt her master for the first time.

Taki had trouble finding Hachibei as he was one of the finest members of the clan, but using her sixth sense and intelligence she managed to find leads. Chie was one of Taki's childhood friends and by following her trace, she was able to locate Hachibei who was living with Li Long at the time. Taki managed to sneak in when the old man was out and he revealed that Toki has been possessed and that Mekki-Maru had a dangerous power over him and that if Toki were to come in contact with the sword again, it would kill him. Hachibei gave the blade to Taki, warning her of what would happen if it were to get into Toki's hands. Taki decided to let Chie go and she hid Mekki-Maru where no one would find it.

When Taki returned , she made up a story about Li Long taking the sword and killing both Chie and Hachibei. When Toki heard of this, he ordered the clan to kill Li Long and that is when Taki realized that Toki was no longer the man she knew. She come to a realisation that something outside was affecting Mekki-Maru which caused it to warp Toki. After hearing rumours about an evil sword, Taki decided to set out on a journey to destroy it.

Game Appearances

Soul Blade

Taki began to noticed that her favorite sword, Rekki-Maru, had been acting differently. The sword's power had weakened considerably when she was sent to kill demons which had possessed a temple, she had al lot of trouble defeating them. Taki comes to the conclusion that the evil blade, Soul Edge was affecting her own sword as well as Mekki-Marru. Taki managed to track down Soul Edge to a town in Spain. When she came across the docks, she found the extremely weakened pirate, Cervantes ready to deliver the final blow to a injured Sophitia and in his hands was the demonic sword that Taki was looking for, so she challenged him to a duel. This battle was one of the hardest she ever fought because the armor she had been improving for years began to crack and her sealing spells proved useless against the pirate. However, Cervantes was extremely weakened after the previous battle and Taki was able to deliver a fatal blow, killing him. Even though she was exhausted after the battle, she still managed to carry Sophitia away from the harbour just before the release of the Evil Seed. Taki tended to Sophitia's wounds and removed the shards of Soul Edge from her body and accompanied her back to her family. Taki took the shards with her and hoped that with Soul Edge destroyed that Mekki-Maru would return to normal and that her master would be himself again.

Soul Calibur

When Taki returned to her home in Japan, she found that Toki was still under the influence of evil and she was attacked by his assassins. After she defeated them, she found out that their mission was to recover Mekki-Maru, which only meant that Toki realized that Taki knew where the sword was located. Taki quickly retrieved the sword from its hiding place and took it to her home so that it would stay out of the hands of Toki and his clan. She decided to try and restore the sword's lost power by attempting to bond a shard of Soul Edge into Rekki-Maru. However, they were both resistant to each other and would not join so she tried the same process on Mekki-Maru only to find that the two easily joined and began to produce a dark aura. This aura was incredibly strong and even normal people could see it, so Taki closed the sword in its sheath and sealed it with magic. This did not stop the power of Mekki-Maru breaking through the seal, which attracted the attention of Toki's assassins. They managed to overpower Taki and she was captured by Toki's right-hand man, Geki who took Mekki-Maru to Toki. Taki warned Geki not to undo the seal, but he ignored her and his right arm was blown off from the shockwave that was released. Taki used this opportunity to take the sword and escape and she became a enemy of the clan.

Soul Calibur II

Taki was still being hunted day after day by Toki's assassins and she knew that she could not hold out against the continuous attacks forever. Taki was still confused as to why Toki was still being influenced by evil even though Mekki-Maru had no power left in it. It was then that she remembered that Sophitia only destroyed one of the evil swords and that the other was still about. Taki heard rumours about a azure knight called Nightmare had been ravaging Europe with an evil sword and Taki became positive that this was the remaining part of Soul Edge. Taki made up a plan to track down Nightmare and pit Soul Edge and Mekki-Maru together so that the evil powers would destroy each other. However, her plan was delayed when the ghost Gel-o- Fury broke through the seals in the forest and escaped to the Temple in Kyoto. Taki defeated him however and decided that she would share her fate with Mekki-Maru as she searched for the cursed sword.

Namco X Capcom

Taki appears as a playable character in this game along with Mitsurugi.

Soul Calibur III

A clan that opposed Toki gave Taki information that Toki was located in the Hoko Temple in Japan. After being given this information, Taki faced off against her master in the shrine. Taki managed to use her Fu-Ma techniques that Toki taught her and in the end she defeated him. As she was about to deliver the killing blow, she saw a hint of Toki's former self emerged and then a evil entity came out of his mouth and disappeared. Taki was sure that Toki would be heading for Soul Edge so she decided to find the blade and destroy it before Toki did.

Soul Calibur IV

Taki came across the Lost Cathedral and witnessed the fierce battle between Siegfried who had Soul Calibur and Nightmare who had Soul Edge. She expected the two swords to obliterate each other but the opposite happened and they unleashed a powerful cataclysm that destroyed the cathedral and she barely make it out in time. even with the cathedral destroyed, Taki knew that the two swords had survived and that they would most likely clash with each other again. Taki learned that Soul Edge was in Ostrheinsburg and that Siegfried was heading there with Soul Calibur. Taki decided to follow Siegfreid and see if the had the will to control the spirit sword's power.

Soul Calibur V

Taki does not appear in Soul Calibur V, which is set seventeen years after Soul Calibur IV. However, her apprentice Natsu, who fights using the same style, appears in the game as a playable character. Natsu's official backstory is that she is seaching for Taki, who left on a mission and hadn't returned. As of Soul Calibur V, Taki is 47 years old.

Personality

As she is a ninja, Taki puts her given mission above everything else and she will end evil her own way. She shows some concern towards people who are connected with Soul Edge and tells them of the dangers that it can bring. She is shown to be emotionless and serious and she can easily see through deceptions.

Appearance

Taki has many distinguishing physical characteristics from other Soul Calibur characters. Taki's breast size and nipples size are exaggerated as well as breast bounce during movements. Unlike other Soul Calibur female characters, Taki's default clothing are skin tight as opposed to the more loosely flowing clothing other Soul Calibur women wear.

Weapons and Fighting Style

Taki wields twin short blades: Rekki-Maru and Mekki-Maru. Rekki-Maru is her main weapon, sheathed high on her back, while her secondary blade, Mekki-Maru, is sheathed at her waist. She uses both weapons in all games in the Soul Calibur series, with the sole exception of Soul Edge, where only Rekki-Maru is used. Mekki-Maru is unlockable in Soul Edge's Edge Master Mode, however.

Taki created Rekki-Maru herself, giving it mystical powers. Mekki-Maru, on the other hand, was once the property of Yoshimitsu's Manji clan. Taki is the female ninja in the games, and as such is a character known for her agility and speed on both movements and strikes. She is also recognized for her many acrobatic movements, exaggerations of ninjutsu skills, and the use of magic-based unblockable attacks.

Critical Finish

In Soul Calibur IV, Taki has a critical finish move called Blades of Vanquishment. It is a unbreakable move of which Taki triples herself into three and slashes the target in the air.

Trivia

• Since Natsu was introduced in Soul Calibur V, many fans believed that she would be a replacement for Taki. However Hisaharu Tago confirmed that Taki would be returning but it is unknown at this point when this might be.
• Taki's favourite colours are red and navy blue as she is often seen wearing tights of the same colour.
• Taki was given the nickname "Shadow Huntress of Demons" in Soul Edge and Soulcalibur.
• Taki, at 5' 7" which makes her the second tallest female character, first being Ivy.
• Taki's name means "Much Rejoicing" in English.