Maxi

Maxi is one of the supporting characters in the Soulcalibur series. He is the [former] pirate captain of an unnamed pirate vessel who is skilled in the art of nunchaku. First appearing in Soulcalibur, he has appeared in every game since then.

He is voiced by Doug Boyd in Soulcalibur II, and by Steve Van Wormer from Soulcalibur III onwards.

Personality
Initally, Maxi was a well-meaning and jovial, but also arrogant and ambitious pirate. In battle, he often uses sarcastic remarks against his opponents, but nonetheless is honest in revealing what they need to improve on if they lose against him.

After being healed and embedded with a shard a Soul Edge, Maxi starts to become somewhat insane and vengeful. This personality however fades away after learning to coop with it in Soulcalibur V, and he begins returning to his jovial self once more.

Soulcalibur
For years, Maxi was a wondering pirate across the Indian Ocean. He would sail alongside his father, the ship'scaptain, and partner Kyam for years, pertaining in various jobs and adventures they were offered.

One day, Maxi came across a stranger named Zhang Wu, interested in the man's nunchaku, Maxi hastily challenged the stranger, but was quickly overpowered and defeated. Despite losing, the stranger nonethe less agreed to train Maxi to better improve his skills with the nunchaku.

After his father died, Maxi inherited the ship from him and became the new captain. On one fateful day while his ship was docked in an Indian port, Maxi told Kyam that he would run a few errands before returning. During his absence however, the shipwas attacked by many of Nightmare's henchmen, led by the golem Astaroth, who slayed nearly everyone, including Kyam. Maxi, alongside Kilik (whom he had just met), fended off Astaroth's forces, but during the battle, Kilik lost hold of the scared mirror Dvapara-Yuga, and began attacking Maxi out of insanity. Maxi managed to suppress Kilik and return Dvapara-Yuga to him, causing him to regain his sanity.

Under a dying Kyam's breath, Maxi agreed to travel with Kilik on his quest to locate and destroy Soul Edge, the cursed sword. Along the way, they metand befriended a Ming Imperial guard named Chai Xianghua, who unbeknownest to all of them wield a disguised Soul Calibur.

Three eventually made it to Ostrheinsburg Castle, and defeated all the creatures that had slaid Maxi's crew. Afterwards, the trio came across Astaroth, wholocked the way towards Nightmare and Soul Edge. Maxi distracted the axe-wielding golem while Kilik and Xianghua bypassed him. He suceeded in killing the golem, but an angered Ares commanded the ground to open under him, causing him to fall into a riverbed below, resulting in life-threating injuries.

Maxi managed to recover from his injuries, thanks to the healing provided by an unnamed man from an unfamiliar village he was taken to; however his injuries were found to be too severe for him to continue his duties as an adventure... at least for now.

Soulcalibur II
Four years after being incapacitated, Maxi began to hear rumors that a strange golem wielding a giant axe was terrorizing the area he was living in. Believing it was Astaroth, Maxi attempted to track down and kill the golem again, but his injuries hadrendered him too weak to travel far. In an attempt to recover faster, Maxi visited a village medicine man, who agreed to heal Maxi by means of a secret ritual using a strange metal fragment (which was really a shard of Soul Edge). The ritual managed to heal Maxi fully, and the former pirate captain left the villagein search for the golem,promising to return to it once the job was done, but littledid Maxi know that the fragment had eventual consequences...

Soulcalibur III
Maxi's search evenutally led him to the ruins where Astaroth was first created, there he met Kunpaetku, whom Maxi soon learned was Astaroth's creator. Maxi, killed Kunpaetku for creating such a destructive monster, only to learn that Soul Edge had embedded itself into his body.

Maxi then began to have visions of a man who had also fallen under the influenceof Soul Edge. Nonetheless, Maxi was unphased by these visions, and continued on his search for Astaroth.

Soulcalibur IV
Maxi returned to the port where his crew was murdered by Astaroth's forces, there he briefly with Kilik and Xianghua, but because Soul Edge was repelled by Dvapara-Yuga, he was forced to leave them behind.

He eventually met up with Tira, a disciple of the cursed sword who revealed to himthat the only possible way to stop Astaroth is to locate and harness the power of Soul Edge itself. Realizing that he did have the strength to stop Astaroth on his own, Maxi took up Tira's offer (even though it was likely a trap in disguise)  and traveled back towards Osthreinsburg.

Maxi manages to obtain Soul Edge, but in doing so Astaroth appears, throwing aside a defeated Kilik and carrying an unconscious Xianghua and demanding Maxi give him Soul Edge. Maxi scolds his friends under his breath, telling them that they "always need his help", but nonetheless agreesto defend his friends. The cursed sword's power then flows through his body, before charging at Astaroth.

Soulcalibur V
Maxi manages to kill Astaroth, but in doing so came at a horrible price. Even after succeeding in killing the monster and avengeing his crew, Maxi still felt that his revenge hadn't been furfilled.

In a desperate attempt to appease the evil sword's influence, Maxi came across Kilik's old mentor the Edge Master, who teached him how to live with the shard embeddedinto his body. Overtime, Edge Master's teachings managed to effectively counter the shard's influence, and Maxi began to return to his jovial and sarcastic self.

Eventually, Edge Master asked Maxi for a favor. His old friend Kilik's life was in danger and that the only way to save it was to bring his old weapon Kali-Yuga to his son Xiba, and to train him on how to use it. Maxi at first was hesitant, but realizing that he must save his old friend, he agreed to take on the task.

Soulcalibur VI
In an alternate timeline, Maxi is once again the captain of his late father's ship. Like in Soulcalibur, his crew is killed by Astaroth and his forces, and vows to avenge him. He travels Osthreinsburg with kilik and Xianghua and confronts Astaroth. He manages to kill the golem, but is implied to have been mortally injured and collapses as a result.

In the Libra of Souls Campaign, Maxi is the first traveling companion the protagonist comes across in there eventual quest to kill Azwel and stop the Evil Seed. They eventually meet another traveling companion before having to part ways with him at a nearby Indian Port. Maxi also tasks the protagonist on an optional job to stop a group of bandits who have been attacking his ship.

Afterwards, Maxi, alongside the protagonist leave the portand travel down to a new port in Southeast Asia. Maxi then tells the Protagonist that he is unable to continue travelling with them and bids them farewell on their quest.

If the protagonist's alignment leans towards good during Chapter 4, they will eventually reunite with Maxi(alongside Kilik and Xianghua) and have to battle them in order to obtain the power to summon Soul Calibur tokill Azwel. The protagonist manages to defeat him, alongside Kilik and Xianghua, and afterwards the three of them wish the protagonist good luck once more.

Trivia

 * Maxi's outfits throughout the series, as well as his hairstyle, bear a strong resemblance to the late and famous Rock & Roll singer Elvis Presley.