SoulCalibur VI's character creator is fun, inspirational, and disturbing

SoulCalibur VI released last week, and by all reports it's an excellent fighting game. In Tom's review, he wrote that it "creates absorbing, satisfying battles with a simple set of commands", making special mention of the "bonkers character creator". The internet moves fast however, and I'd advance the argument that "bonkers" is not a strong enough word to describe what's been happening of late.

Browsing the SoulCalibur VI-obsessed pockets of social media, you'll find the usual recreations of famous characters. Let's start with a few of those.

Here, courtesy of reddit user not-me_irl, is Sonic the Hedgehog villain Eggman. Notice how his moustache is made of feathers: given that his whole thing is harming animals, it makes perfect sense:

...and here, courtesy of javsomeclass, is a very solid attempt at recreating Hollow Knight's eponymous character. Perhaps not as cute as the original, but I like it.

I've scrolled through hundreds of SoulCalibur VI character creations today: it's been wild. My emotions have varied dramatically, but I don't think I've laughed at a video game character quite so much as I did when I encountered this version of Minecraft Steve

I've long been fond of Minecraft Steve, for the simple fact that his name is Steve. This SoulCalibur VI version of Steve isn't as welcoming and benign as I've always imagined A hypothetical IRL Steve to be, but as long as his head is shaped like a block, I can cope.

The subreddit SoulCaliburCreations is where I've found the bulk of these, and as you'd probably expect, it's full of anime characters, fighters from other fighting games, and Bowsette. A lot of the creations are truly admirable, and then a lot of them are terrifying. The most amusing and interesting creations, I think, are the ones that let you play as, say, Ronald McDonald:

...or the one that lets you play as a sickle-wielding Josef Stalin (who'd win in a fight between Ronald McDonald and Stalin?)

All of these are pretty cool: you have to admit that, when it comes to creating recognisable figures from other media, SoulCalibur VI is a great toolset. But it's also very sinister. People are creating things that are truly disturbing.

For example, what the hell is this, spangonia

Note that this poor soul's name is 'Cuddles'. Note that its character card is a parody of a soft pornography magazine cover. I think the insinuation here is clear: Cuddles is more of a lover than a hater. Probably not a fighter to take into Ranked, then.

Elsewhere, this lizard has a giant penis:

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Lizards feature prominently on reddit, and it's little wonder: SoulCalibur VI boasts a character called "Lizardman". It's definitely a game for lizard appreciators, whether nice looking lizards, or this (courtesy of Twitter user @JetGoshiEx):

Enough about lizards for now. You can play SoulCalibur VI as a giant apple if you want. Here's a screenshot by Twitter user @_kumaking . And here's a video of it. Watch the video, please.

Speaking of otherwise inanimate objects partaking in grisly fights to the death, you can apparently play SoulCalibur VI as a giant rainbow cube as well.

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That's enough nightmare fuel for one day. If you've seen or created any cool SoulCalibur VI characters, please do let me know in the comments. Seriously, do. 

Shaun Prescott

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.