Talim (Soulcalibur)
| Talim | |
|---|---|
| 'Soul series character | |
Talim in Soulcalibur IV | |
| First game | Soulcalibur II |
This article is about the video game character. For the Typhoon, see Typhoon Talim (2005)
Talim (タリム, Tarimu) (meaning edge or sharp in Tagalog) is a fictional female character designed for the Soul series of fighting games as the first Filipina character in any game of this genre.
Talim made her first appearance in Soulcalibur II,[1] introduced as a pacifist priestess seeking to destroy or seal Soul Edge for the sake of peace. She returns for Soulcalibur III, teaming up with Hong Yun-seong during her travels, even though they both disagree regarding their objectives, as Yun-seong seeks to possess Soul Edge. She is set to return in Soul Calibur IV in a newly combined design of her Soul Calibur III costume.
Her necklace references Pac-Man, another famous Namco game.
Background Story
In the Village of the Wind Deity (Nayong Anito ng Hangin), there lived a tribe of people who could control the winds. Talim was the granddaughter of this village's elder, Kalana, and daughter of its shaman, Lidi.[2] Due to turmoil caused by the influences of Spanish and Portuguese culture, she was reared to be its last priestess (Babaylan). The day that the Evil Seed spread across the world, Talim felt the winds, and an evil aura that devoured everything in its path surged into her body, causing her to lose consciousness for days. Years later, when Talim was fifteen years old, a man from the west brought with him a strange metal fragment, claiming it to be a vitality charm. Talim, however, recognized the evil energy as the same energy she had experienced years before and left on a journey, believing that if she were to return the fragment to its rightful place, peace would eventually be restored, despite the elders' misgivings.
Having collected several of the fragments, she eventually learned that the source of the evil energy was an evil sword called Soul Edge. Sensing another source of evil energy, Talim traveled to a mountain range. She arrived at a small watermill, where a group of small children lived. Learning that one of the children was ill, Talim entered. Talim realized that the boy himself was giving off the evil aura. Talim could not just leave him, so she decided to tend to the boy.
A young man paid them a visit about the time that she had grown accustomed to life in the watermill. He was a cheerful young man who carried a long sword and went by the name of Hong Yun-seong. He announced that he was searching for clues regarding Soul Edge. Upon hearing this, Talim warned him about the dangers of the sword. At first, the young man made Talim apprehensive, but she felt no evil from the young man and eventually came to accept him as he chose to stay in the watermill.
After much thought, Talim came up with the idea of passing the evil energy through her own body and out into the wind currents flowing through the sky. Through days of treatment, the evil energy was released little by little, but the impurities that remained behind in Talim's body slowly piled up. Talim's ability to read the wind grew weaker and weaker...
It was the first and greatest suffering she had ever experienced. She was losing something that had always been with her, something more important than words could express. Seeing her sunk in sorrow, Yun-seong said to her, "There are some things you can't do anything about. When that happens, you just have to do what you can!" His words were largely meaningless, but hearing him say them somehow gave her courage.
Despite her best efforts to treat him, the boy's symptoms worsened, and he was running out of time. Talim pondered the risky idea of releasing all of the evil energy from within the boy into the wind at once. But, the boy flatly refused her idea. His body hurt too much, and he just wanted to stop placing the burden on all of them. It was Yun-seong who finally stepped forward to convince him.
When the ritual ended, not a single remnant of evil energy was left in either of their bodies. In the instant that Talim had opened the boundaries of her heart, something had exorcised the evil energy.
After watching over the boy to make sure he had recovered, Talim set out on a new journey, with the children's many thanks echoing in her ears. Something waited for her to the west...[3]
Weapons
Syi Salika & Loka Luha
- A pair of tonfa-like weapons called Elbow Blades, used by the wind-worshipping people of Southeast Asia in ceremonial dances. They are more ritual items rather than weapons. In Soulcalibur III, these weapons, and Talim's "Wind Dance" fighting style are available under the discipline Soul of Talim to characters created under the Saint class.
- Note: They are spelled "Syi Sarika" & Loka Luha in Soulcalibur II.[2]
Stages
Village of the Wind {Soulcalibur II)
- This is Talim's home village in the Philippines. It commands a startling view of the mountains and the sea, and the number of windmills within the village signify their devout faith. The villagers here are some of the few indigenous people left who still worship the Wind Deity while Southeast Asia becomes more influenced by Spanish and Portuguese culture every day.[2]
Water Mill Valley {Soulcalibur III}
- The valley is lined with many gigantic water mills that generate power and provide fresh water to nearby inhabitants. It is also drawn through a nearby aqueduct and carried to the other side of the mountain to be used for crop irrigation. Talim seems to have grown fond of this area for its symbolism of the harmony for man to work with nature. Or, possibly, because this form of nature (water) was different from that which her own village had grown to cherish (wind).[3]
Trivia
- Talim's Destined Battle in Soulcalibur II is Yun-seong and in Soulcalibur III her Destined Battle is Raphael.
- Talim's nationality or country of origin was never actually mentioned by Namco but the names of her moves are mostly in the Tagalog language.
- Talim could mean 'sharp', 'blade' or 'the tip' of something sharp in Tagalog
