With Halloween just around the corner, I will be doing a Pure Good Proposal from one of my favorite video games: Soulcalibur.
We will be taking a look at Kilik, the protagonist of the second game. I originally did a NPG Proposal for him a little over a year ago that was successful, however, I feel that the preventions I mentioned don't really hold up, so I thought I'd bring him here and see if he stands a chance with this category.
It's been a while since I made one of these, so my writing may be a little rusty in some sections.
What is the Work?[]
Soulcalibur is a series of fighting games that debuted in 1996. The plotline revolves around two powerful that possess otherworldly powers: Soul Edge and Soul Calibur.
Many characters are introduced throughout the seven installments, some of which wish to seek out Soul Edge for its legendary power, while others wish to destroy it after learning its true intentions.
Who is He? What has He Done?[]
Note: This section is largely recycled from the original proposal I made for Kilik on the Near Pure Good Wiki. I wrote the entirety of it, so it's in my own words.
Kilik is a recurring character who serves as the main protagonist of the second installment Soulcalibur, he continued to serve as a major character in later games as well.
Orphaned at a young age, he was taken up by a group of Shaolin Monks. For years, he trained under the art of Kung-Fu whilst maintaining spiritual balance. Eventually he became so skilled with the art that he was nominated to inherit one of the temple's three scared treasures: a Bō staff called Kuri-Yuga. His sword sister at the temple Xianglian also as nominated for inheriting another treasure: a mirror called Dvapara-Yuga (she was originally going to inherit a sword called Krita-Yuga, but it was stolen by her father many years earlier, and she felt that she was unworthy of inheriting it due to her family's dishonorable deed). However, the night before the ceremony, the second Evil Seed fell upon the temple, causing everyone except Kilik and Xianglian to turn insane and murderous. Kilik had no other choice but to take Kuri-Yuga prematurely and was forced to kill the members of the temple, Xianglian noticed Kilik was beginning to fall under the influence of the Evil Seed, and gave him Dvapara-Yuga to negate its effects, but in doing so caused her to desend into insanity. Kilik, though hesitant, was forced to kill his "sister", an act he would deeply regret for the rest of his life.
Afterwards, Kilik fell unconscious, he was rescued by the Edge Master, who told him that he had been exposed by Soul Edge's influence for too long, which had rendered him permanently insane, the only thing holding it back of course was Dvapara-Yuga, and that removing it would cause him to become insane once more. The Edge Master trained Kilik for three years to prepare for a major journey: to locate and destroy Soul Edge.
After passing his final test, Kilik set forth on his journey, along the way, he met the cocky but good-hearted pirate captain Maxi and later a member of the Ming Dynasty Imperial Guard Chai Xianghua, both of which agreed to assist him on his quest.
Eventually, the three of them reached Ostrheinsburg Castle and infiltrated the fortress, during the battle Maxi successfully killed Astaroth whilst being presumably killed as well, later on Kilik successfully defeated Nightmare, but in the process Dvapara-Yuga was destroyed, causing Kilik to grow weak without its power sustaining him. Xianghua proceeded to defeat Inferno (Nightmare's true form) whilst trapping Soul Edge in the Astral Chaos and putting an end to the second Evil Seed.
Kilik returned to the Edge Master and continued to train under the master's guidance to perfect his ability to destroy and purify evil energy. Four years later, he sensed Soul Edge's presence and once more left to pursuit the location of the evil sword to destroy it. He also reunited with Xianghua along the way.
Eventually, while purifying a town from evil, Kilik came across Zasalamel. Kilik challenged him to a battle, but lost. As he fell unconscious, Zasalamel warn him that if he challenged Soul Edge unprepared, he would be trapped in its dark abyss for eternity. When Kilik woke up, he found himself back at the Edge Master's home (he was saved by Xianghua who carried him back there to safety). The Edge Master sensed an evil energy in his body and healed him with a special ritual. Kilik also came to the realization that in his current state, he would not be able to destroy Soul Edge, and required more training to reach that point. Edge Master agreed, but this time trained him in a unique exercise involving trying to free his corrupted mind from an evil influence similar to the cursed sword. It took three months, but Kilik eventually managed to free his master's mind with a purifying blow, but in doing so serious injured the Edge Master in the process. The Edge Master noted that while he skill lacked the proper skill to stop Soul Edge without harming one's body, he made significant progress nonetheless. He gave him a fragment of the mirror Dvapara-Yuga and a letter from Xianghua, who encouraged him through the writing that with their powers combined, they could potentially stop Soul Edge.
Kilik decided to set out once more in search of Soul Edge, along the way, he reunited with Xianghua once more. During their travels, the two started to fall in love with each other, but Kilik tried his best to be unrequited by her feelings, as she reminded him of Xianglian. Also on the journey, he learned that Soul Calibur was not too dissimilar to its evil counterpart (foreshadowing what would happen in Soulcalibur V) and felt that he must bring balance between the two swords.
Not much is known after that, but at some point just before the 17th century began, the two eventually made love, before he disappeared without a trace the following morning. Xianghua would later go on to bare his son Xiba whilst Kilik learned the fighting styles of those he had defeated or killed in the past in order to perfect his skills to keep the Astral Chaos from leaking the two swords' powers into the mortal plane.
In the Alternatle Timeline established in Soulcalibur VI, Kilik once again relives the events of the second game. After the Evil Seed caused the members of his temple to turn insane and murderous, he was forced to take Kuri-Yuga and kill him, alongside his sister Xianglian. He trained under the Edge Master to prepare for his quest to destroy Soul Edge, before leaving on his journey, eventually meeting up with Maxi and Xianghua respectively, the three stormed Ostrheinsburg Castle, where he proceeded to defeat Nightmare, but in doing so destroying Dvapara-Yuga in the process and rendering him unable to battle Nightmare in his true form. Xianghua finished Inferno off, before sending Soul Edge back into the Astral Chaos and averting the second Evil Seed.
What will come of Kilik's fate is yet to be determined when or if another installment is released.
Admirable Standards[]
Kilik easily passes the standards for the second and seventh games, as the story heavily focuses on him over Maxi and Xianghua, and details the struggles he went through over the course of the storyline.
He goes to great lengths to protect his friends and prevent Nightmare and his minions from succeeding in their plan for omnicide.
After the events of the Second Evil Seed, he spent much of his life devoted to protecting villages. When he mysteriously disappeared, he continued to devote his work to protecting Earth to prevent further atrocious events from happening.
The only person in this particular storyline that likely surpasses him would be his love interest Xianghua, whom as I mentioned in her reproposal back in the day, saved billions of lives when she trapped Soul Edge in the Astral Chaos, thus averting the second Evil Seed. While Kilik wasn't the one who a=saved those lives, over the course of the later games, he makes up for it by protecting innocents, saving villages, and bringing balance. It can be argued that he at least saved a few dozen to hundreds of lives.
Mitigating Factors[]
So there are two issues that I am most concerned about.
The first happens to be the fact that unless he is wearing Dvapara-Yuga or carrying a fragment of it, he will be rendered insane and lethal due to his exposure to Soul Edge during the incident at the Shaolin Temple. In one such bout of this, he actually attacked Maxi violently. While I initially thought this was a prevention, I now think this isn't the case. Kilik was possessed by Soul Edge whenever these episodes occur, so it shouldn't be counted against him.
The second issue that could be more preventing is his standing when compared to Xianghua. During the climax of the two games that focus on him, he does confront Nightmare and defeat him, however in doing so, he is weakened when Dvapara-Yuga is destroyed. As a result, Xianghua had to travel to the Astral Chaos and defeat Inferno, whilst trapping Soul Edge inside the otherworldly plane. If these actions are taken into account, this would prevent him from qualifying. My rebuttal to this is that in later games though no longer a protagonist, he dedicates his life to saving villages and cleansing them of evil, in doing so he does save anywhere between several dozen to a few hundred lives.
After he disappeared, his spirit continued to maintain balance between the mortal and Astral planes by using his powers to prevent the latter from leaking into the former, thus releasing both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur onto Earth, and bring about further catastrophes, this period of time however could present another mitigation regarding his resources.
Kilik does kill several monks as well as Xianglian during the tragedy that befell the temple in both timelines, however he had no other choice, as like the first point, they too were possessed and attacked him out of their own will, thus his actions can be argued as self-defense. He also felt clear remorse for this, as it became a memory that haunted him during the later games.
Final Verdict[]
A Weak Yes, but if you disagree, I fully understand.