


Also, see his official artwork in IV above. Blade Across The Shoulder: One of his victory poses has him waving his sword across his shoulder, and looking down on his opponent.In the 17-year time gap between IV and V, he gave up fighting because anything less than a god-king just wasn't enough of a challenge anymore.

In III, it is noted that he defeated several enemies of the Murakami navy with his sword and was a key part of their victory. He is consistently a powerful fighter who is noted to have a great fighting prowess in-universe. He's made up for this by being so skilled that entire armies of normal men, including ones with guns, can't beat him, and he's considered a worthy adversary to blatantly supernatural fighters like Nightmare, Olcadan (who killed a god's messenger), and even Algol, a man so badass Soul Edge has no power over him. The katana he uses is perfectly ordinary metal. Badass Normal: Mitsurugi, so far as we can tell, has no special powers and no connection to either spirit sword.Badass Long Robe: Some iterations of him sport them.Badass Boast: "You will be a stain on my sword." Another notable one is "Not even the king of hell could stand against my blade." And these aren't his most badass boasts.Awesomeness by Analysis: During his training after his defeat against the rifle, Mitsurugi sought to fight as many varied fighting styles as he could so he could implement their fighting tactics into his own style.He still gets bones thrown at him every once in a while, however, such as fighting Physical God Algol to a standstill, fighting Darth Vader in the crossover trailer for IV, and being prominently featured in the first trailers for VI. After Soulcalibur II, he's basically only fighting because he's seeking a challenge, which has virtually no impact on the main story. The Artifact: Mitsurugi was arguably the main character of the first game, even though he was not the one to defeat Cervantes by III, he is almost completely irrelevant to the plot, mostly serving as the motivator of Setsuka's Standalone Episode.He's not pompous, he just knows how strong he is and doesn't mince words. Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: More confident and blunt than outright arrogant, but he comes off thi way in many of his pre- and post-battle comments, most of which are unabashedly braggadocious, impatient, or dismissive.In the input ending, Mitsurugi kills the man and frees the woman. Either way, he comes into town looking for people to fight, but sees a man grabbing a woman and holding a knife. Always Save the Girl: His input ending in III.

He can also switch styles between holding his sword at his shoulders, or using Iaido (only the shoulder stance remains in 5, however). Many of his attacks can also track the opponent's movements, making him difficult to guard against effectively at times. His katana strikes have great range, speed, and priority. Mitsurugi is usually the Ryu of the games a well-balanced character with no glaring strengths or weaknesses.
