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These are descriptions of the various mystical weapons in the Soul series of video games.

Soul Edge

Soul Edge was originally created by human hands. At first, it was just an ordinary sword, but after being bathed in blood and hatred countless times, the sword turned into a demonic weapon and gained a wicked soul called Inferno. Those without strong wills are unable to escape the curse of its evil powers, as its spirit invades the mind and drives its wielder mad. Its single eye burns fiercely with the regret of lost souls, but its blade shines with an icy gleam.

Early History

The first known bearer of Soul Edge was a king, whose strong will conquered the malign intelligence of the blade. However, his son was not so strong, and quickly fell under the influence of Inferno. Jealous of his father's power, he stole Soul Edge and instantly came under the possession of the evil sword. In a desperate battle against the deranged prince, the mighty king defeated Soul Edge, but at the cost of his son's life. Swearing vengeance against the cursed blade, which disappeared after the encounter, he forged from purified fragments of Soul Edge the holy blade Soul Calibur.

The second known bearer of Soul Edge was Zasalamel, during one of his many lifetimes. Trying to break the curse of his eternal reincarnations, Zasalamel obtained the cursed blade, but instead, his soul was possessed by the evil will of the sword, and he turned into the host of the blade until the end of that life. After that, record ceases until several hundred years later.

Then, in the 16th century, Soul Edge mysteriously appeared once again in a secret antique auction. While it is unknown why it now existed as two blades instead of one, the evil Spirit of the Sword could not be mistaken. The swords were obtained by an English curio dealer, whose ship was attacked by the dreaded pirate Cervantes. Possessed by the will of the wicked swords, Cervantes slew the crew of the ship and then slaughtered the population of a spanish port-town, where he stayed the next twenty-five years, waiting of the birth of the "Child of the Cursed Sword". But then a holy warrior sent by Hephaestus, Sophitia, confronted him and was able to destroy the smaller of The Two blades. AbOUT to kill her, Cervantes was stopped and killed by a demon huntress named Taki, who helped the terribly wounded Sophitia home.

Soul Calibur 1 and 2

It was at that point that Siegfried Schtauffen, a young German knight, arrived seeking the legendary Soul Edge. When he tried to take the blade lying beside the dead Cervantes, Inferno, in an attempt to restore itself, flowed into the corpse and fought Siegfried for the possession of the evil sword. Siegfried won that battle, and when he grasped the hilt of Soul Edge, it was unable to control its power, and released the Evil Seed on the world.

Soul Edge now had a bearer worthy of its taint - Nightmare. Completely consumed by the sword, Siegfried went on insane [...] sprees, murdering without distinction to feed the evil blade. By absorbing souls and gathering fragments of Soul Edge, the cracks in the blade began to heal. It was almost complete when two brave souls, Kilik and Xianghua stormed Ostrheinsburg Castle. After a vicious battle, Nightmare lay defeated, and Xianghua used Soul Calibur to shatter Soul Edge. But due the abyss created by the destruction of the void created by Inferno, both swords and Nightmare were sucked into it. Siegfried awoke on a different place, now free of the control and with the realization of his multiple slaughters.

Siegfried was himself again, but The Effects Soul Edge had left on him were strong. Every time he slept, Siegfried would awake to the corpses of those he had slain in the night. Gradually, he slipped into Nightmare once again, and began reforging Soul Edge. After succeeding in restoring many of the sword's original powers, Nightmare was challenged by a swordsman searching for the legendary blade, Raphael. Their battle was intense, but Nightmare stood victorious in the end. With his last strength, Raphael made a desperate attack, and managed to strike his sword into the very center of the cursed blade. Screaming in agony, Nightmare fell back, and within his mind, Siegfried reawoke. After a fierce mental struggle, Siegfried regained his sanity. Suddenly, shining from the core of Soul Edge, the holy sword Soul Calibur appeared to him, released from its entrapment within the evil blade. Taking Soul Calibur, Siegfried drove it into the cursed blade, piercing the eye and silencing the power of Soul Edge. However, it was not enough to destroy the cursed sword, and now both blades lay locked in an embrace, seemingly annulled of all power...

Soul Calibur 3

Inferno, thrust out of Soul Edge by Soul Calibur, transferred itself into the remnants of Nightmare's armor, but could not manipulate the bodiless husk. It is then that a strange man named Zasalamel appeared. Agreeing to help Inferno if it assisted him in finding the two swords of legends, Zasalamel used his ancient powers to bind it to the armor. At this moment, the evil spirit of Soul Edge became the new Azure Knight. Born from the memory of its old shape, the Phantom Soul Edge is dwarfed by the real cursed sword, but as Nightmare once again begins his quest to search for his missing form, this weapon begins to grow stronger.

The real Soul Edge, silent with its counterpart Soul Calibur, was now in the possession of Siegfried Schtauffen, seeking a way to seal the evil sword forever.

Even if Soul Edge is seemingly powerless, there are still many of its fragments scattered throughout the world, expanding Soul Edge's influence far beyond the sword itself. Notably, Cervantes de Leon carries another version of the cursed sword, born from fusing several fragments together. Even though the sword was sealed, its fragments still emit the evil energies of the cursed blade.

Soul Calibur

Soul Calibur is the spirit sword created to combat Soul Edge. A king that once wielded Soul Edge and lost his son because of the demonic sword vowed to create a holy sword from the purified shards of Soul Edge that would oppose the demon sword, being its equal in strength and opposite in intent. The king enlisted the help of the greatest sage in the land, who used purified fragments of the cursed sword to forge Soul Calibur. After many failed attempts, the holy sword was born. The king died after the creation of Soul Calibur, but the sword was protected until the day Soul Edge returned by a sect of guardians created to carry out the late king's will. The guardians lived in seclusion, passing the sword from generation to generation in secret. Whenever a warrior vowed to take on Soul Edge on his own, Soul Calibur appeared to PReVENT the cursed sword from causing any more damage. Soul Calibur finally appeared, in disguise, as one of the Ling-Sheng Su Temple treasures, a sword called Krita-Yuga. The other treasures, Kali-Yuga and Dvapara-Yuga, are linked to the holy sword. Kali-Yuga, a holy staff, is capable of absorbing different energies in order to strengthen Soul Calibur. Dvapara-Yuga, the holy mirror of the Ling-Sheng Su Temple, is used to help keep the purity of Soul Calibur intact and has the power of purifying the corruption of Soul Edge.

Krita-Yuga had been stolen from the temple by one of the monks, Kong Xiuquiang, and handed to his lover Chai Xiangfei, the mother of Chai Xianghua. She will inherit the battered sword, unaware of its original form. Eventually she, alongside Kilik, fights with Nightmare at Ostrheinsburg Castle, and uses the holy blade to shatter Soul Edge. However, Inferno, the evil will of the blade, takes Soul Calibur and plunges with it into an abyss of its own making.

Although it is not clear whenever it is canon or not, if the Evil Soul Calibur ever existed, it would have been created in the void of Chaos, shortly after Inferno's defeat at Xianghua's hand, when the sword of light is lost in the abyss created by Soul Edge. Surrounded and consumed with the ambience of evil from the Soul Edge and Inferno's flames, the Soul Calibur eventually succumbs to the darkness and bonds with Inferno.

However, when Nightmare almost completed Soul Edge, Raphael appeared and pierced the eye of Soul Edge during his battle against the Azure Knight, it was weakened considerably. Soul Calibur was freed from the darkness and so was Siegfried, who regains sanity. Soul Calibur appears from where it was trapped within the cursed blade, and Siegfried drives it into the core of Soul Edge. Now both blades are silent, seemingly powerless, locked in a fateful embrace.
Trivia

• Evil Soul Calibur's Weapon Gallery description states that this form of Soul Calibur contains great power, but it is incredibly unstable.
• Evil Soul Calibur can be wielded only by Inferno and Xianghua, but in canon, neither of the two actually wield it, as it was bonded inside Inferno/Soul Edge.
• While it is unknown if Evil Soul Calibur has a canon role in the series' historyline, the weapon has a role in the Weapon Master mode, in which the main character would take the Tainted Soul Calibur and go to a place to purify it in order to use it to fight against Soul Edge.

Soul Embrace

Shortly after Siegfried's mind was freed from the grasp of Soul Edge, he set both swords silent when he struck Soul Edge with the sacred sword, Soul Calibur. He currently holds it, but does not use it, preferring to use his sword Requiem. Zasalamel uses its power to achieve his death, but it could have (or possibly has) created Night Terror, because Soul Calibur was made from a purified fragment of Soul Edge, and as such, wields the complete Soul Edge. Apperently, after Zasalamel's failed attempt, the swords became separated once more and returned to their previous stages.

Note that officially "Soul Embrace" is the name of the current state of both swords, not a new weapon. "Soul Embrace" is also the name of the artwork, and story-wise,this state was known as "Embrace of Souls".

It can be theorized that Soul Embrace (being the complete Soul Edge) can return Soul Edge to its former self when it was truly complete, since Soul Calibur can be tainted. But something worth mentioning is that the Soul Embrace is actually not truly complete, since there exists many fragments in the world (including the living Charade and Astaroth), and even another blade (Cervantes's Soul Edge).