Nerd Mentality

End Boss 2006, Day 13: Inferno (Soul Calibur II)

Posted June 13th 2006 by J Edison Thomas.

The Ultimate Wicked Sword, the Hellfire of Despair, Inferno is the physical embodiment of the evil sword, Soul Edge. In the Soul series, the true enemy is the Soul Edge blade itself, and its power to corrupt and steal the souls of warriors foolish enough to try to harness its mighty power. The One Ring meets Dracula. You don't want to mess.

Inferno himself stands out in a crowd, assuming said crowd doesn't contain Ghostrider. His body is a heap of bones and innards held together by the Soul Calibur blade caged within its body and burning with the power of an untold number of reaped souls. If you want to get to that Soul Calibur blade (and you know you do), you'll have to journey to Ostrheinsburg Chapel, the gateway to the hellish realm of Tartaros where Inferno is said to be unbeatable.

So just how do you fight a guy like this? Well, Inferno is the end boss of a fighter after all, which means he takes one of two paths to victory:

Being traditional, Inferno chooses Route A and never looks back. The Soul Edge harnesses the abilities of past warriors its defeated, and as such Inferno can emulate the moves of virtually every character in the game, as well as manipulating his body to copy the weapons used by those characters. So when you go up against Inferno, you're really facing a sequence of three random Soul Calibur II warriors, each with a third of a normal fighters' health bar. As you wear down Inferno's health with your flurry of attacks, the fire that surrounds his body loses its strength, and he will stop the match momentarily to regain his flame and change his fighting style.

Inferno is actually no stronger than any other Soul Calibur II fighter, and you can knock him around just as easily, so there's no need to play any more defensively than you would with whatever character he mimics. If you can change your strategy on-the-fly and watch out for his special attacks, victory is yours. Upon delivering the final blow, Inferno flies into the air, experiences what looks to be a bitchin' migraine, and explodes into flame. The Soul Calibur falls to the ground at your feet, the light returns, and you have the decision to take the sword for yourself and let it corrupt your soul or experience what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity and swear off your quest for power entirely.

The latter is highly recommended, although you don't really have a choice in the matter; it all depends on what character you selected to beat the game. In the interest of Link, the GameCube's exclusive protagonist, he makes the right choice like a good lad and returns to Hyrule richer for the experience.

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