Isabella "Ivy" Valentine
Isabella "Ivy" Valentine is a video game character in the Soul series of fighting games. Ivy made her first appearance in Soul Calibur and has returned for both Soul Calibur II and Soul Calibur III.
Biography
Ivy was raised in the home of the Valentines, prominent nobles in London, England. However, her father, Count Valentine, died a madman, driven to insanity having squandered the family fortune with his obsession for alchemy in pursuit of the Soul Edge. Soon after the fall of the Valentine family, her mother fell gravely ill and told Ivy, on her death bed, that she had been found on their doorstep years ago and was adopted; but Ivy had no interest in finding her biological parents. Ivy eventually learned about her father's search for Soul Edge in his secret diaries and began to follow in his footsteps, thus becoming an alchemist herself. In her research, Ivy had learned that Soul Edge was evil and vowed to destroy it. She succeeded in creating a weapon suited for this purpose through ancient sorcery, but the snake sword was completely devoid of life. She drove herself to great frustration and rage trying to bring life to "Ivy Blade", but no amount of alchemy or witchcraft would succeed. On her journey, she crossed paths with the azure knight, Nightmare, and his companions, the golem Astaroth and Lizardman; and Nightmare breathed life into her snake sword. Because of this, she agreed to help them in a ceremony to summon souls, oblivious to the fact that she was part of Soul Edge's plan.
Eventually, she began to feel guilty for taking the lives of innocent people, repulsed that the other members of her group even took joy in it--especially Astaroth. When trying to escape from the group in Ostrheinsburg Castle's underground passage, Astaroth caught up with her, revealing to her that the sword Nightmare was holding had been Soul Edge all along; and the only reason she had been allowed to join their group was that the sword had instructed Nightmare to keep her nearby in case anything would happen to him, so that she might be a spare host for the sword's evil intentions. Astaroth defeated her in battle and was about to murder her when Kilik, Xianghua and Maxi, stormed the castle; and as he left to deal with them, he commanded his clay golems to finish her off. But she managed to defeat them all, albeit just barely. In denial of Astaroth's story, she decided to ask Nightmare for the truth directly when Taki confronted her. She attacked Taki in her frustration but was too weary and was defeated again. Taki, familiar with the energy of Soul Edge, affirmed Astaroth's story in telling Ivy that the snake sword had been infused with some of Soul Edge's power; and sensing the evil aura surrounding Ivy's entire being, she proceeded to tell Ivy that the last time she had felt such evil was when she had defeated the previous owner of the evil sword, Cervantes de Leon. Ivy had the blood of evil in her, as she was Cervantes' daughter; and shaken by the horrible truth, Ivy sealed herself away in her laboratory. After four years of soul searching, Ivy returned with a renewed drive to destroy Soul Edge and everything connected to it, including Cervantes and eventually herself. There would be no hope for those seduced by the sword and no cure besides her death. Her resolution would result in spilled blood, both guilty and innocent; but nothing could sway her determination. She renamed her sword which shared her fate, Valentine.
Over the course of her journey, her snake sword began to change. Seeing it becoming more unstable than it had ever been, she returned to Valentine Mansion to investigate. On her way back, she stopped at an academic city in England to buy texts and books of secret arts from around the world; and she read over them extensively upon her return, especially one volume that was of particular interest to her. It was much older than the other books, and contained detailed descriptions and accounts regarding the nature and origin of the Soul Edge. This was the deepest information written about the sword she had ever known. But within the texts she learned of a second spirit sword, the holy blade Soul Calibur, which restrained the power of the evil sword and lent its power to fight against it. The story was hard to believe to her, but the description was so precise that she eventually accepted it as truth. After a month of work, she had managed to decipher every single detail concerning the Soul Calibur's description, and was totally convinced it existed. She fell into a hypnotic state of thought, interrupted by the sound of the laboratory door opening. Startled, she looked to the entrance, where an enigmatic dark-skinned man was standing. She firmly demanded his identification, but he quietly answered her only with another question as to whether or not she had read the book. Ivy grabbed the book and, taking her distance, drew her weapon. From seemingly nowhere, the man had produced a large scythe. They began their fierce combat immediately, each deflecting every deadly strike that the other had produced. But her sword's instability began to show itself, leaving a slight opening in her defense; and she was struck down with a heavy blow. She managed to regain her distance, but the book was no longer in her hand. The man had picked it up, calling it a mistake from his past, and then proceeded to set it on fire. He dropped the burning book on the floor, and the flames spread with unusual fervor, separating her from him. As he turned to leave, she called for him to stop. He only turned around to tell her that if she wished to know everything about the swords, she must seek out the knight she knows so well; and the enigma known as Zasalamel disappeared behind the curtain of flames. Ivy put out the fire and thought over the information she had read on the Soul Calibur, now etched permanently into her memory. With such power, she may be able to destroy the Soul Edge once and for all, and her own snake sword's instability may be explained. She cursed the man for how he treated her, but strangely felt that everything he had said was true. Ivy was determined to find the truth. If the Soul Calibur existed, she would obtain it for herself.
Weapons
-- Valentine (Ivy Blade)
A snake sword with the ability to expand and contract at will. Ivy made countless research to find a suitable weapon to aid in her quest to destroy Soul Edge. She based her design in an Asian multi-segmented whip. The first attempts were mechanical whips, based on mechanical principles, but she rejected those ideas and began using black magic to create the perfect weapon. She summoned the hand of Nightmare to give life to "Ivy Blade", but she was ignorant that this power was from Soul Edge, the same power she sought to destroy. After she found out her blood and weapon were also linked with the wicked sword, she changed her weapon's name to "Valentine".
Stages
-- Valentine Mansion (SC)
With his vast wealth from the profit of trades Count Valentine used his fortune and lifeline of personal contacts to built his great mansion. It was designed to be purely modern and the near daily parties held in the ballroom and its expensive rose marble floors were proof of the Valentine's prosperity. However the Valentine's eventually fell into ruin as Count Valentine was possessed by the mysteries of Soul Edge. He did anything to obtain the sword and scattered his wealth. The Valentine's fortune vanished, the cheerful laugher from the grand halls disappeared and the servants and maids left. What came into Isabella's mind as she stood in the dark and empty room?
-- Egyptian Crypt (SC2)
This crypt lies underneath the old ruins that house the murals surrounding Soul Edge. The ruins have many mysteries, such as the Pharaoh's tomb, shrine of worship, and a seal to lock away some evil being, but the true goals of these structures remain unknown. One thing is certain, however--the entire structure, including the shrine at the entrance, was created using the very best technology available to ancient Egypt. It is clear that these ruins were of vital importance. Future generations have named this place "Crypt" out of convenience, but this structure has numerous features that warrant such a name.
-- Valentine's Mansion (SC3)
The mansion of Count Valentine appears dark and abandoned, but a light flickers in one corner of the building. Ivy, adopted daughter of the late Count, now uses it as an alchemic workshop and a place for her experiments with magic. The Count had pursued Soul Edge as the key to immortality, but his daughter ascertained that what her father had sought was an evil sword that devoured souls. She swore to destroy it, and in this place the peculiar weapon dubbed the "Ivy Blade" was born. And now, having learned of the existance of a sword that opposes Soul Edge, Ivy has holed up in her room. There, she pores over her books, making use of all of her knowledge to research the spirit sword, Soul Calibur. Surely it will not be long before she sets out on a journey in search of further knowledge.
Character Analysis
Ivy is depicted as a tall, silver haired woman wearing purple lipstick. She is frighteningly beautiful. Her costumes usually resemble one-piece bathing suits, and are very revealing. Most gamers liken her to a "dominatrix" of sorts, because her main costume always resembles bondage outfits. Her whip is another, obvious sign. Not only this, but her moveset includes moves such as "Sweet Domination," "Punishment Change," and "Pleasure Change." Sadly, Players often poke fun at her and call her the "Sluttiest game character of all time". As a character, she is slightly insane, and hopes to destroy anything related to Soul Edge, including herself, which may explain her recklessness in combat.
Ivy's strange weapon is based on the traditional Chinese seven-section staff, more commonly known as a "chain whip." This weapon was used largely by the Shaolin fighting monks of China's Shaolin Temple. The seven-section staff is just that; a staff made up of seven metal sections connected with articulate links. This essentially forms a chain, and is used in a very similar fashion to Ivy's sword in it's whip form. This is even more apparent in the Weapons Demonstration Theatre in Soul Calibur 2. Unlike Ivy's sword/whip, the monks of Shaolin stored the seven-section staff in the beltlinks of their pants for ready deployment in the case of confrontation.
Due to her whip-sword, Ivy has the longest attack range of any character in the game. However, her long range game is largely nullified by the fact that her effective attacks at this range strike "high" or "mid", allowing a patient opponent to easily block her attacks. Her long range attacks do serve a purpose for spacing the opponent since almost all of them push back the opponent when blocked. Perhaps Ivy's largest weakness is the fact that she can fight at every range, but does not dominate at any.
Ivy is considered to be a top-tier character. Her strengths include her large (side) "step", damaging combos, command throws, and spacing game. Her two signature command throws, Calamity Symphony and Summon Suffering, are respectively the first and second most damaging throws in the game and have "break" times of 1/12 seconds.[1]
The winner of the National Soul Calibur tournament Harold "Kageh" Hess used Ivy to defeat Spencer "FetZ" Brisson's Cervantes to capture the championship.[2]
At the Evolution 2003 fighting game championships, Andrew "X_SC2" Shin took 5th place with Ivy, establishing himself as one of the premier Ivys.
Series' Appearances
Tournament Match Videos
- Read Me First!!! Instructions on how to view Team Crooked Jester X264 videos
- Scha vs X_SC2 at 10/29/05 Team Crooked Jester Tournament (external login required)
- PRShark vs JasonL at 11/26/05 Team Crooked Jester Tournament (external login required)