The Alternate Cast of Soul Calibur V: Silver and Rihma

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…

Qillakiak ”Silver” Madell
Age: 29/46
Birthplace: Thule, Greenland
Height: 158 cm
Weight: 56 kg
Weapon: Seong Mi-Na/Xiba

Backstory (Soul Calibur III and IV):
Silver was a skilled seal hunter, often making long journeys in her kayak in the waters of Baffin Bay, south of her home town Thule. One day she came across a ship larger than she had ever seen. She approached and climbed aboard. The ship was a northern expeditionary ship from Cervantes de Leon’s fleet which had gotten lost. It’s supplies were low and the men diseased and of low morale. Silver shared her food and soon taught the crew how to find nourishment in the cold waters.

Having recovered, the crew instead became fascinated by Silver’s peculiar blue skin and silver hair, from which she got her Inuit name. Instead of showing much gratitude, they sunk her kayak and took her prisoner, intending to bring her as an exotic present to Cervantes. The Basque crew gave her a new name, Kim, ironically with the same meaning as her real name. But when they eventually arrived back in their old base on the northern coast of Spain, they found it deserted. The crew, weary after many years at sea and realizing that their employer was nowhere to the found, turned on their captain. In the confusion, Silver escaped and swam to shore, carrying only her hunting spear. She decided to track down this Cervantes herself and give him a present of her own. She was confident. After all: she had already learned the language of these people, so finding her way around this new land would surely be easy…

Rihma Alazhe
Age: 22/39
Birthplace: Zimbabwe
Height: 174 cm
Weight: 63 kg
Weapon: Yun-Seong/Leixia

Backstory (Soul Calibur III and IV):
Great Zimbabwe, one of the greatest cities in Africa at the beginning of the 16th century. The city was in decline after hundreds of years of history, but it was still a bustling centre for commerce and a gathering place for hunters and warriors. This was soon to change, however.

One day a group of Portuguese explorers arrived in the area, having travelled through Mozambique from the coast. They were well received by the local lord and given rooms high on the hill among the nobles. The lord, convinced that the newcomers could provide new technology and give him an advantage over nearby areas, as well as turn the tide for the city in decline, showered them with gifts.

Along with the explorers was a trader, a weird man. He was very pale and stayed inside his room most of the time. Sometimes, passersby could hear him whispering faintly to himself… or someone else. A group of kids became curious and snuck into the trader’s room when he was out. They found an elaborate weapon box, marked with Greek letters. One of the kids touched the box, and a haunting moan was heard. As if summoned, the trader returned, and in a rage he almost killed the children. After that, the group was no longer welcome, and they left soon thereafter.

This event became the beginning of the end for the city. The next visitor in the room fell ill and died within days. The children who had entered the room went insane and disappeared into the forest. Soon many of the nobles were also ill, and in a few weeks so were people from all over the city. Local sorcerers claimed that the foreigners had brought a powerful spirit that now lingered in the room and spread its evil. Following their advice, Great Zimbabwe was abandoned and soon fell into ruin.

Rihma Alazhe knew all about this story. It had been told for decades, and some of the oldest members of her Shona tribe claimed to have been to the city, before it became taboo to visit. She was an excellent hunter, but she became obsessed with the old story and the mysterious item that must have spread the curse. She decided to travel east in search of the people who had brought this calamity upon her homeland.

Arriving in a small port town, she managed to convince a Portuguese captain returning to Europe to hire her as a bodyguard after demonstrating her skill with a bow and cutlass. The fact that she was colour blind didn’t stop her from becoming an excellent lookout as well, as she had an almost eagle-like range of vision, and she eventually won the respect of the crew. During the long journey, she spoke to the sailors and learned all about the legends. They had been to India and just barely avoided an attack by weird lizard-men. There had also been reports of monsters appearing in Europe, even before they left, more than a year ago. Surely something was happening, and Rihma was convinced that these events had something to do with the mysterious item in Great Zimbabwe. Finally arriving in Lisbon, Rihma started her real journey to find the evil source of the legend… and destroy it.

Backstory (Soul Calibur V):
Having failed to track down Cervantes, Silver eventually found herself in the region of Navarre, just across the border from Spain. There, she came to know the locals and soon joined the army. There, she followed the troops on their campaigns to unite France under their leader, Henry of Navarre. She also became friends with another mercenary, the exotic warrior Rihma. After finally having conquered Paris a few years later, both Silver and Rihma were given comfortable positions in the court. Being a benevolent ruler, Henry bestowed them with many gifts and both of them learned the ways of royal life, even though Silver preferred to travel when possible. Rihma became proficient with horns and joined an orchestra.

However, as the years went by they realized they were mostly seen as curiosities, Rihma being dark-skinned but especially Silver with her peculiar looks. They felt increasingly distanced by their peers, and word began to spread that Silver was not human. As they got word of the attacks in the east, Rihma realized that she once again had a lead on the evil that had ravaged her country. At this point, it wasn’t hard to convince Silver to leave.