Cassandra Alexandra

Cassandra Alexandra
Cassandra concept art for Soulcalibur IV
Series	Soul series
First game	Soulcalibur II
Designed by	Aya Takemura (Soulcalibur II-IV), Takuji Kawano (Soulcalibur II-IV)
Voiced by (English)	Debra Jean Rogers
Voiced by (Japanese)	Reiko Takagi
Fictional profile
Birthplace	Athens, Ottoman Empire
Fighting style	Athenian
Weapon	Digamma Sword & Nemea Shield (xiphos and aspis)

Cassandra Alexandra (カサンドラ・アレクサンドル, Kasandora Arekusandoru) is a fictional character in the Soul series of video games. Created by Namco's Project Soul division, she first appeared in Soulcalibur II and its subsequent sequels, and later appearing in various merchandise and promotional material related to the series. She is voiced by Debra Jean Rogers in English, and Reiko Takagi in Japanese.

Cassandra has been heavily compared to Sophitia in terms of fighting style, though with acknowledgment that they were two different characters. Sources such as IGN have noted a fan following for a character, while others have praised her as highly attractive.

Conception and design

Cassandra was designed in mind to have greater determination than Sophitia, with greater physical abilities and skills. Unlike her sister whose skills originate from her weapons and Hephaestus, Cassandra is not as humble and cannot hear him, relying instead on her own strength. To further the contrast between the characters, concept artists emphasized a dress and tights for her instead of traditional Greek attire. Though the rest of the team was initially skeptical of the tights, they warmly received the finished model and heavily praised the decision. The development team noted Cassandra as an extremely popular character in Soulcalibur II, discussed on fan sites and bulletin boards. Several of Cassandra's animations were done manually by hand and blended with the motion capture-based animations done prior. As a result, the series' production manager noted that it gave some of her movements an uncomfortable appearance, and her proportions seem different than a human being's.

In video games

Cassandra is the sister of series character Sophitia, and in Soulcalibur II set out on her own to destroy the cursed sword Soul Edge, continuing her quest in Soulcalibur III after realizing the sword still existed and getting a new set of weapons from her brother-in-law, Rothion. She returns in Soulcalibur IV, encountering a man who sensed the fragment of Soul Edge that she carried. After defeating him, he fled, but told her of a "holy stone" with the power to dispel evil. Hearing rumors of a man with a large mass of crystal on his way to Ostrheinsburg, she reasoned he carried the "Holy Stone" and sought to destroy some great evil, which must have been Soul Edge, and followed him.

In Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny's Gauntlet storyline, a side story set after the events of Soulcalibur IV, the plot revolves around Cassandra and her ally Hilde, who search for ingredients to develop a potion to cure Hilde's father. To this end force the protagonist to assist them, and later recruit another person, Dampierre, after Hilde is briefly kidnapped.

Gameplay

Though initially using the same fighting style as predecessor character Sophitia, by Soulcalibur IV it was changed to instead rely moreso on close-ranged combat. However, as a result mid- and long-range attacks were negated or reduced in effectiveness. Two of her attacks, Angel Step and Angelic Twirl, compensate this by allowing her to deflect incoming attacks and shorten the distance between herself and the opponent. Other attacks were also given deflection properties to a similar effect, serving as a defensive measure as well while.

Promotion and reception

Yujin released a four inch tall immobile figurine of Cassandra after the release of Soulcalibur II, based upon her artwork for the title as part of their "Namco Girls Series #1" line of gashapon figurines. In 2006, Namco released a second Cassandra figurine as part of a Soulcalibur III set based upon her promotional artwork for the game. While not posable, the PVC figure came with three interchangeable weapons for it to hold; an alternate color version was later released in a secondary set. To explain the new features of Soulcalibur IV, Namco released an omake manga featuring Cassandra and Hilde. Written in a humorous tone, Cassandra, representing a veteran of the series, "taught" Hilde about the game's features, while introducing the audience to aspects of Hilde's character.

GameSpy noted her similarity in Soulcalibur II to her sister in terms of fighting style, but added "thanks to some intelligent changes she feels like a whole new gal in many important respects". IGN commented on the similarity as well, but added that regardless she played "noticeably different"; they later listed Cassandra as one of the series' top ten fighters at number eight, noting a large fan following and admiration for her "spunk." PSM praised her appearance, featuring her in their 2003 "Girls of Summer" video game character "swimsuit" special, as well as on the issue's cover. GameDaily described her as a character that "grew into her own" since her appearance in Soulcalibur II, and later stated her appearance in Soulcalibur IV "looked better than ever" and described the character as "gorgeous". Edge praised the changes to her character in Soulcalibur IV, adding that they made her feel like "a fresh addition to the series". Michael McWhertor of Kotaku also praised her design in Soulcalibur IV in contrast to other females in the series, stating Namco "Thankfully [...] exercised a tad more restraint" and further calling her the female character "you'll be picking when Mom comes over".