One of the great things about Soul Calibur is how it allows, no, welcomes additional characters in its universe. Based on history with a good helping of fantasy, there’s plenty of room for the imagination. Here are my entries to the stage of history…

Shaana Meneghan
Age: 25/42
Birthplace: Scotland
Height: 171 cm
Weight: 64 kg
Weapon: Siegfried

Backstory (Soul Calibur III and IV):
Shaana was the daughter and only child of a wealthy trader with a highlander heritage, although now living on the southeast coast. Her mother had died in child-birth, and her father had decided to raise Shaana as his heir, despite local opinion that he should simply marry her off. He trained her from the age of ten in using the traditional claymore and took her with him on his journeys to the continent. On one of these journeys, when Shaana was fourteen, they were travelling by cart through the German forests when suddenly an arrow came flying from the bushes and embedded itself in the canvas just above her father’s head. Before they could react, more arrows rained over them, striking her father and the horse pulling the cart. The horse panicked and took off. The road was in very bad condition and a few hundred meters down the road Shaana was thrown off the cart. Half dazed in the long grass, she watched her father disappear before she lost consciousness.

When she came to, she wandered randomly along the road, still dizzy after the fall. Eventually, she spotted a camp in the forest and went closer. As she stepped into the glade, ten pairs of eyes turned against her. A young blond man walked closer with a smile. However, Shaana took no chances and gave him a fierce punch to the jaw.

When the initial confusion and hostilities had calmed down, the man, about her age, presented himself as Siegfried Schtauffen and the people around him as the newly formed Schwarzwind. After hearing about her situation, he offered Shaana to stay with the group until she could find her father.

That wouldn’t take long, however. While stocking up on food in a nearby village, a few days later, Shaana spotted the cart. She was told that her father had been taken in and treated, but died of his wounds during the night. Griefed, she picked up her father’s claymore, Dragon’s Toothpick, and decided to join Schwarzwind.

She stayed with the group, following the charismatic Siegfried for a few years, until the fateful day when they raided a camp of returning crusaders. Siegfried took off and was never seen again. The rest of the group suddenly had to abandon their rogueish ways when the countryside was swarmed with monsters. Now, they fight to protect the people, but they still search for their former leader, in the hope that he will one day return.

Backstory (Soul Calibur V):
As Shaana raced across the battlefield in front of the Schwarzwind force, a surge of excitement filled her. This was what she was meant to be, where she wanted to be. Well, mostly. As she tore into the lines of the malfested with her razor sharp blade Dragon’s Fang, an action that was routine by now, her mind began to wander.

Ever since she joined Schwarzwind all those years ago, she had found a purpose in life. After those initial years, which she hoped to eventually forget, they had become a force for good and she had worked hard to help them stay together during those years when Siegfried had gone missing. She had expected gratitude and respect when he returned, which she got, but also maybe something more, which she didn’t. Instead, there had been this…

”Shaana!” She twirled around to see one of those huge brutes towering over her. Its club was raised high, she barely had time to cover herself with her blade but surely it wouldn’t stop it… but before the blow landed, the tip of a spear pierced the beast from behind. ”Are you okay?” Hilde asked.

Yes, this girl. This princess, with her perfect red curls somehow pristine after weeks in camp, had returned along with Siegfried and shown Shaana that all she could hope for was friendship. Shaana nodded, and once again felt a twinge of jealousy. Well, that was old history. The two of them had been comrades for years and saved each other more times than she could count (which, to be fair, wasn’t that much). Shaana rose, and charged once more. For now, there was a battle to win. For now.