Maxi

Overview

Maxi is an ex pirate and a main character whom has been present in every Soul Calibur game.

Maxi is best used as a short-range fighter in "Soul Calibur" and its sequels.  While the quick, long combos that his signature nunchakus allow for are easy to string together.  Despite this, he is not generally the best choice for beginning players because of his relative short reach compared to many of the other characters in the franchise.  With an almost-Elvis-like appearance attributed to his hairstyle and costumes, Maxi stands out amongst many of the other fighters in the arena.  His battle cry "Whhhhhhaaaattttaahhhhhhh!!!" is similarly striking.

His nunchakus are named Soryuju, at some times, Maxi is seen fighting with another pair called Fatibal.

Maxi was not the first character in the "Soul" franchise to use nunchakus, though he is currently the only character in the game to use them. In Soul Edge, Li Long stepped onto the "Stage of History" using a fighting style that highlighting nunchakus, though it proved to be his first and last appearance.  In the second game of the franchise and onwards, Maxi replaced Li Long and has remained in the games ever since.

History

Maxi was a wandering pirate from Shuri in the Ryūkyū Kingdom (present-day Okinawa). Maxi's father was a confident merchant of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, but he wasn't allowed to commerce to the foreign countries, forced to commerce with his country only. Maxi spent most of his first years traveling from harbor to harbor with his father. He also learned to use the nunchaku as a way to defend himself, eventually turning into a strong youth.

During one of his father's travels, he met a man from Ming known as Zhang Wu. The man carried a bladed nunchaku, which Maxi noticed. He, full of pride, challenged the stranger to a fight. Not hearing Kyam (his sworn brother)'s pleas, Maxi faced the man and was defeated. Recognizing the world was wider than he thought, he asked the man to be his teacher for the remainder of the travel. The man agreed and for the time Maxi studied his style, and despite being different from his, he was able to improve further his abilities. Zhang Wu left after reaching port, but Maxi kept studying his work.

After his father's death, Maxi took his vessel and decided to turn into a freelance pirate, to see the world his father couldn't because of his ties to the country. He embarked with the crew, his "new family", and Kyam and sailed towards the west. They docked on an Indian port town and, while Maxi was out, Kilik approached the ship searching a way to go west. He argued with a pirate of the ship, who wanted Dvapara-Yuga as fee for the trip, until Kyam stepped in. Kyam sympathized with Kilik and let him stay until Maxi, the captain, would return.

But when Maxi returned, he found his ship under attack by a hoard of golems and lizard-like creatures led by Astaroth. With Kilik, both joined forces in the battle against the monsters. Eventually, they had repelled the golems, but not before Astaroth had temporarily snatched the holy mirror Dvapara-Yuga from Kilik, causing him to lose his sanity and savagely attack Maxi. Maxi was able to suppress Kilik and return the Dvapara-Yuga to him, but only after Maxi's sworn brother, Kyam, had been murdered and most of the other members of the crew were dead or missing. With his dying words, Kyam told Maxi of Kilik's quest and, having lost everything, Maxi decided to travel with him, swearing an oath of revenge against Astaroth. Eventually, the two met Chai Xianghua, a member of the Ming Dynasty Imperial Guard, who also aided them in their travels.

With Kilik and Xianghua's help, Maxi stormed Ostrheinsburg Castle, where the creatures that had killed Maxi's crew were waiting for them. After defeating the creatures, Astaroth presented himself and blocked the entrance to the castle. As Kilik and Xianghua ran past Astaroth, Maxi stayed behind to fight him to the death. He succeeded in killing Astaroth, but the god Ares, in bitter rage, commanded the ground to open up and swallow Maxi. When Maxi woke up, he was on a riverbed near an unfamiliar village, where an old man rescued him. Due to the severity of his wounds, Maxi's traveling days were over, and he stayed behind in the village, quickly becoming popular with the local residents. Four peaceful years passed, until a rumor of a horrendous man wielding a large bearded axe reached the village. Maxi had a horrible feeling that that man was Astaroth. He wanted to chase after him, but his body was too weak. Maxi went to see the village medicine man, who performed a secret ritual using a strange metal fragment, which was actually a fragment of Soul Edge, and several days later, Maxi left the village, promising to return some day. He did not realize, however, that all memory of his traveling companions had been lost as a result of the ritual.

Maxi's search for Astaroth led him to the ruins of the shrine where the golem had been created. While inspecting the ruins, he found a man in tattered clothing at the ruins, clutching something and muttering incoherently. This man was Kunpaetku--Astaroth's creator, who had managed to escape the shrine's destruction at the last minute. Kunpaetku mostly ignored Maxi until he asked him about Astaroth. Kunpaetku cursed Astaroth, calling him a failure. It was then that Maxi realized that Kunpaetku created him.

A strange urge to kill Kunpaetku began rising within Maxi. As he drew his weapon, the object in Kunpaetku's hand, a fragment of Soul Edge, began to glow with a faint red light. Kunpaetku then looked at Maxi madly, noticing that he had Soul Edge inside his body. Upon hearing this, Maxi killed Kunpaetku and kicked the fragment of Soul Edge into the ruins below. He felt an uneasy throbbing in his heart, born from his desire to kill Kunpaetku. Maxi then suddenly remembered a man who became lost to evil after having lost everything, and how he suffered after returning to his senses. But Maxi couldn't remember who this person was, no matter how hard he tried. Despite this, he decided to continue his search for Astaroth.