Kliff Undersn

"Old soldiers never die! Prepare, youngsters!"

- Kliff Undersn

Kliff Undersn is a hero from Guilty Gear. He was formerly a leader of the Sacred Order of Holy Knights before Ky Kiske took up his position for him. He first appears as a default character in the first game, and later appears as an unlockable character in later games.

Stats

 * Origin: Switzerland
 * Birthday: September 9
 * Hobbies: Sailing
 * Likes: His priceless Japanese teacups
 * Dislikes: Fashionable, voguish words

Background
As a young child, Kliff was nearly killed by a rampaging Gear, but was saved by Sol Badguy (who was still going by the name Frederick). The sight apparently inspired him to do greater things, because he then joined the Sacred Order of Holy Knights. It's unknown who the leader was before Kliff, but they eventually made him the leader of the Order. He led the Sacred Order of Holy Knights during the Crusades, and was even given a gift in the form of a sword of his choice, for being the leader of the Order. He chose the Dragonslayer; a gigantic blade that was said to have the power to kill dragons with a single stroke.

Kliff was undoutedly the strongest soldier in the army, being able to fight a Gear like Hydra who leveled London, England: Hydra had 5 heads and a great many sword limbs that tore the city to rubble. The Sacred Order couldn’t do anything against it for a day and night before their leader Kliff Undersn finally arrived. He fought the beast for seven days and nights…managing only to cut off 3 of it’s 5 heads and only 4 of it’s sword limbs. Though the struggle and loss was great, the Order wrapped Hydra in 13 Chains, put two large boulders on the remaining heads and sealed it... as they had many other legions of Gears to fight at that time to route their forces…and for a long time, the buried Gear lay dormant and the location became a No-Man’s Land. Though despite the Hydra, humans drifted back in and built a village on top of it.

Kliff during the Crusades even found time to foster a son in Testament. Testament was a pacifist, but held much respect and admiration for his foster father and this drove him to seek a way to get stronger and fight. He was approached by the Post-War Administration Bureau who claimed they could do something to Testament to make him a better fighter. Testament was deperate and agreed. He did not know that PWAB were actually using him as a subject to test and see if they could correctly create Gears themselves Shortly after being converted, Testament then lost control of himself to Justice. Kliff was forced to fight his son at one point, and afterwards, Testament began to remember his foster father, but lost himself in Justice's control again, and ran off.

Around 2160, Kliff came across Ky Kiske, who was mostly likely battered and barely surviving, like most orphans who came from the Crusades. Eventually Ky decided he wanted to make a difference and joined the Order as a young boy. Ky was a natural at using the sword and Magic as he grew under Kliff's teachings. Eventually he came to a commanding rank (Lower Captain most likely).

At some time in 2172, the Order began to hear rumors of a notorius bounty hunter taking out Gears with relative ease. Kliff immediately tracked this man down and recruited him into the Order. This man was Sol Badguy. After many years, Sol confronted Justice for the first time, and even though he put up a good fight, he lacked a small bit of power to wound her enough to seal her. Left with no other options, Sol stole a piece of the OutRage; his own creation made at least 100 years ago when he still considered himself a scientist: the Fireseal. Ky caught Sol during the act, and felt he wasn't worthy of one of the Order's treasures, and fought him, though Sol easily defeated him. Ky was about to call reinforcments to catch Sol for betrayal and being a deserter, but Kliff stopped him, and told Ky not to say a word of this incident to anyone. Kliff caught up with Sol and explained he will let Sol have the Fireseal, as he was going to give it to him anyway, but first, Sol has to prove himself with the sword. After the fight, Sol went on his way.

Kliff realized he could invest his trust in both Sol and Ky. Ky had reached the rank of "Guardian God" (a rank directly below the commander), and eventually Kliff handed the postion of leader over to Ky at the young age of 16. As a symbol of that leadership, Ky was given the Thunderseal, yet another piece of the OutRage. Kliff seemingly retired after this.

Guilty Gear
Five years after the Crusades, Kliff lives his quiet life of retirement in sheer boredom. His only diversion now is the study of various cultures’ fighting techniques, the most interesting of which stemmed from the lost, legendary nation of Japan. However, one day while walking through the streets, he notices a placard announcing a tournament for a proposed Second Sacred Order. Sensing a disturbance in the natural flow of energies, Kliff suddenly suspects something so terrible that he dare not speak it aloud: Is Justice being resurrected? Kliff immediately decides to return to the battlefield…and enter the tournament.

Kliff had been fighting his way through the tournement until he came across Justice. Out of a form of respect for Kliff due to their many clashes in the past, she offered him the chance to save himself and leave, but Kliff refused and the two fought. Unfortunetely, Kliff's age had finally caught up with him; he couldn't even scratch Justice anymore. She struck him with a killing blow. At this moment, Ky Kiske arrived to find his dead master, and in a rage, attacked Justice. Though Ky put up a decent fight, she still defeated him and went on her way, until she was killed by Sol.

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus
His Story Mode in this game apparently chronicles his days as director of the Holy Order, his struggle with Sol Badguy, and finally his fight against Justice. His story is set apart from the "present" of the game, and seems to be more a review than a new story about Kliff.

Gameplay
Kliff wields a large sword that appears throughout legend. In GGX2, he is introduced as a playable character. In battle, he is exactly the kind of fighter that you would expect someone wielding a huge sword to be: Very slow. Kliff is very slow, but his attack power is higher than the other characters. However, he has some oddities. First off, when you jump into the air, he takes time to fall to the ground, "floating" his way down. Second, whenever you activate his main taunt, Japanese Katakana symbols materialize and inflict up to 3 points of damage.

Musical Themes

 * Pride and Glory - Guilty Gear
 * Pride and Glory II - Guilty Gear XX
 * Vengeance is Mine - Guilty Gear XX: #Reload Korean OST

References & Allusions

 * His name could be an homage to the late Cliff Burton. Cliff played bass for Metallica from 1982 to 1986.

Trivia

 * In GGX2, he is a secret character unlocked by beating him on Level 440 in Survival Mode, completing all sixty story paths, completing fifty missions in Mission Mode, or accumulating up to ninety-six hours of normal gameplay.
 * In the original Guilty Gear, Kliff could not dash at all while on the ground. Back dashing instead activated his dodge move.
 * Until GGX2, he was the only character capable of using Dust in mid-air.