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Devil May Cry 4 is coming to the XBOX 360. It will be the first installment of the series to be released on a Microsoft console. The Devil May Cry series had been a PlayStation exclusive, but last year Devil May Cry 3 appeared on the PC. For the full story check the link below:

http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6167678.html?action=convert&om_clk=latestnews&tag=latestnews;title;1

Devil May Cry 4 is also being released on the PS3 and PC.

Ryu is one of the main characters in the Street Fighter series. Ryu is the archetypical fighting game protagonist, and he has provided the basis for many other fighting game characters.

Ryu is a Japanese stock character, the wandering warrior: a person whose life is entirely devoted to spiritual perfection through the art of the fist. He does not care about winning or losing so much as the moment of the fight and the opportunity for spiritual advancement.

Ryu is loosely based on a real-life karate practitioner, the late Yoshiji Soeno, nicknamed "the Tiger of Kyokushin", and founder of Shidokan Karate. In the 1970's, Soeno was the only warrior with the courage to challenge Reiba, the strongest Thai kickboxer in the world, and dubbed the "Dark Lord of Muay Thai (Sounds like Sagat to me).

Previous winners can be found here: character of the week summary

As you all may already know, AzelKosMos has stepped down as leader of The Capcom Realm Union and the leadership has been automatically passed on to me.

I think it's safe to say that I have not been as active as I used to be in this union, mainly due to time restraints.  But I will endeavour to be a good leader and post regularly like I used to.

Character of the week will continue as normal from the point that the next one is done.

I look forward to speaking to you once again, and if you are new and have no idea who I am I will re-introduce myself in the Introduction thread.

Happy New Year (better late than never )

-Kitsune

Hidemitsu Samanosuke Akechi is the main protagonist for Onimusha: Warlords and Onimusha 3: Demon Siege, and a supporting character for Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams. He also appears in the fighting game Onimusha Blade Warriors. Samanosuke is a ronin (masterless samurai) who has played a major role in the Onimusha game series in his quest to stop the Genma clan's ambitions for world conquest. Samanosuke's face is that of the Japanese/Taiwanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro in the first and third games. Kaneshiro also did the Japanese voice talent for Samanosuke in both Onimusha: Warlords and Onimusha 3: Demon Siege. He is also known as the Red Onimusha and later, as Nankobo Tenkai.

 Trivia
Samanosuke is the nephew of Akechi Mitsuhide (Akechi is the surname), the man historically credited to have actually killed Oda Nobunaga over 20 years later. It is rumored that Samanosuke is an alternative name for one of Mitsuhide's actual nephews and may have been born in 1536 or 1538. It is also rumored that he went by the name Hidemitsu Akechi, which is used in Onimusha 3. Some speculate that he is nephew or cousin to Mitsuhide, others say brother-in-law, but not much is said about Samanosuke (Hidemitsu), just that he helped Mitsuhide in the attack on Nobunaga, and lived somewhat longer than Mitsuhide. His death is also a mystery; it was either seppuku or death in battle against Hideyoshi's troops. In the game, Nobunaga is "killed", to be later resurrected by demons, in the Battle of Okehazama. Historically, he was actually mistakenly reported to have been felled by an arrow in the Okehazama battle.

 In the English localization of Onimusha: Warlords, the word Oni was translated to Ogre. However, in all subsequent games in the series the word Oni has remained intact in the English scripts. It was the only game within the series that gives players the option of hearing the voice acting and subtitles in either English or Japanese until the fourth installment, which also had this feature.

Previous winners can be found here: character of the week summary

According to news previews and press releases, the premise for this game sounds similar to the movies Starship Troopers and Total Recall. Set against the backdrop of an arctic wasteland on a frozen planet, the main character fights off an army of bugs in a war over precious thermal energy, while trying to regain his memory, with the Neo Venus Construction Corporation hatching diabolical plots in the middle.

Dante is a fictional character that is the main protagonist of the video game franchise Devil May Cry. He is the offspring of a human mother Eva, a demon swordsman father Sparda and brother to the half-devil Vergil.

Dante's past is fragmented, and broken down among the games in the DMC series. In the early age of humans, they worshipped evil and darkness. Humans became demonically possessed, and labored to create a demonic tower to link themselves to the unholy Demon World. This tower was called Temen-Ni-Gru. One demon, named Sparda, was against this. Sparda fought a valiant one-man war against the forces of the unholy realm, and the demons known as 'gatekeepers'. These gatekeepers were, in order, Cerberus, Agni & Rudra, Nevan and Beowulf. Beowulf also holds a violent grudge against Sparda, for his left eye was taken in the battle. Sparda also defeated Mundus' servants Phantom and Griffon, and also the demon king Argosax the Chaos. Upon defeating Mundus, the Emperor of Demons, he traveled to the depths of Temen-Ni-Gru and let his blood flow along with a human priestess and sealed the Demon World away, sealing all of his demonic power into his Force Edge sword which he left deep in the Demon World. In doing so, he became a human in most respects before dying in the Human World. The Force Edge is the very sword he used to save the human world. He sired the twins, Dante and Vergil. Afterwards, Dante and Vergil split at one point (though they meet again in DMC3 as enemies). They were apparently close during childhood, as fragments of DMC3 reflect this. Eva is murdered at some point by demons, most likely in Dante's and Vergil's late childhood. This in turn contributes to Dante's decision to make devil hunting his life's work.

Rebellion [Default]: A keepsake sword left by Sparda, carrying no actual elemental alignment. Although the true power of Rebellion is dormant for the first quarter of the game, its full abilities are unleashed when it tastes Dante's blood at the hands of Vergil.

Cerberus: An ice-aligned sansetsukon (a nunchaku with three rods) born from the soul of the three-headed guardian hound Cerberus. Location: Mission 3—Brutally housebroken by the half-devil, Cerberus willingly transforms his soul into this weapon for Dante's use.

Agni & Rudra: A pair of sentient blue and red serrated scimitars aligned with the elements of fire and wind. It's interesting to note that, while most of the weapons Dante receives in Devil May Cry 3 are born from the souls of powerful devils conquered in battle, the devils Agni and Rudra have always been swords: their heads are interwoven into the pommels, granting them the ability to speak; the demons who initially wielded them in combat against Dante were just demon hosts. Location: Mission 5—Showing Agni and Rudra's wielders who the real master at swordplay is earns Dante the swords.

Nevan: A lightning-aligned electric guitar born from the soul of the alluring succubus Nevan. Although capable of fierce combat use, Nevan is actually put to best use while Dante is stationary, enabling him to play a rockin' dirge for his hellish opponents. Another note to be made about this weapon is that Nevan may have had a different relationship with Dante's father than the rest of the devilish dwellers of Temen-ni-gru, referring to Sparda as "a handsome devil" before she gives up her soul for Dante's use. Location: Mission 9—Dominating Nevan in combat earns Dante the right to really play with her.

Beowulf: A set of light-aligned greaves and gauntlets forged by force from the soul of the vengeful devil Beowulf. In contrast to the other devil arms won by Dante, the power of Beowulf is quite literally stolen by Vergil when he defeats the blinded devil in combat. Location: Mission 14—Disarmed and defeated by Dante, the Beowulf armor can be found at the edge of a precipice north of the mission's starting point.

Ebony & Ivory [Default]: A pair of powerful, customized handguns, black and silver respectively, both with golden grips and triggers. They are said to be based on the firearms Luce and Ombre wielded by the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda (alternate costume for Dante in Devil May Cry made available upon beating the Hard difficulty).

Shotgun: The classic sawed-off shotgun which Dante easily aims and fires with one hand; the shotgun can be fired either in the air or on the ground with ease. Location: Mission 3—Wall-mounted in the bar room of the Love Planet night club.

Artemis: A demonic firearm similar in design to the Nightmare-β of Devil May Cry fame, differing primarily in the fact that it does not consume Devil Trigger energy in order to fire. Additionally, in contrast to the Nightmare-β, its projectiles do not ricochet off of surfaces; instead, when using the multi-lock functionality, they home in on their targets unerringly. Location: Mission 5—Pass all three trials, offering up the three essences to the goddess statue.

Spiral: A large hybrid anti-tank/sniper rifle. Supplemented by the Gunslinger Style, the Spiral can take up the role left by the Nightmare-β of Devil May Cry, firing off trick shots that ricochet off multiple surfaces and penetrating potentially multiple targets. Due to the sheer size and finesse necessary to control such a precise and powerful weapon, the Spiral can only be fired while grounded. Location: Mission 9—Higher level accessible by a trio of steadily-taller columns...

Kalina Ann: A large rocket launcher and bayonet combination initially put to deadly use by the devil hunter Lady; the name of Lady's mother is inscribed on the weapon, from which it gets its name. In addition to firing devastating, short-ranged rockets, the Kalina Ann can also be set up like a mortar using the Gunslinger Style, releasing a volley of small homing missiles; going beyond that, it can also use its bayonet as a pseudo-grappling hook, piercing distant enemies and reeling them in. Like the Spiral, the Kalina Ann is too unwieldy a weapon to be used in the air. Location: Mission 16—Lady loans Dante the Kalina Ann after he defeats her in combat.

Previous winners can be found here: character of the week summary

Week 7

Ada Wong

Ada Wong is a recurring video game character appearing in the Resident Evil video game series. A mysterious red-clad American woman of Asian descent, Ada is a cunning and formidable secret agent. Although she is mentioned by name in the very first Resident Evil, she made her first actual appearance in Resident Evil 2 as a partner character in Leon S. Kennedy's portion of the storyline. She claims to be looking for her missing boyfriend, an Umbrella researcher named John. Her other major appearance was in Resident Evil 4, where she once again has a chance encounter with Leon years later. Ada Wong was portrayed by actress Sally Cahill in her appearances to date.

Not much is known about Ada Wong's past or motives. What is known is that Ada is a corporate spy working for an unnamed competitor of Umbrella, often referred to as "The Organization" or "The Agency", that intends to procure all sorts of biological weapons and specimens. She is also a trained assassin, who is proficient with several types of weapons and fighting techniques. Presumably, Ada joined the Organization for personal reasons outside of her company's interests, though she has yet to reveal what they are.

Trivia
It's no secret that series creator Shinji Mikami is a big time film buff, so it may be with little surprise that the character of Ada Wong has quite a few similarities to the protagonist of Nikita (La Femme Nikita).Both Ada and Nikita are women who have been "reborn" in one way or another, signified by a scene where both women look into a mirror and vow to leave their past behind. Both women are femme fatale archetypes, skilled chic assassins and super spies who work for a mysterious organization. They're deadly in more ways than one, equally adept at weaponry, combat, and assassination as they are with using their feminine wiles to catch unsuspecting men off guard. Both Ada and Nikita also share one major flaw in their assassin career, a love for a man. Both Ada and Nikita often find themselves unable to go through with certain orders due to a conflict with their feelings for a certain man. Both women even have a very shady superior they answer to, Bob for Nikita and Wesker for Ada. Both Bob and Wesker are black-clad men whose cool exterior hides a ruthless nature. The title screen for Separate Ways even resembles the original poster for Nikita (La Femme Nikita) right down to the title character being in the same pose. Although the characters and storylines share obvious differences as well, it's impossible to not notice the similarities. This could offer some insight into Ada's mysterious past and place in the world as well.

An interesting link is that Nikita was directed by Luc Besson, who in turn made Léon (the gun Matilda is a big hint). He was played by Jean Reno, who was also in Onimusha 3: Demon Siege, another Capcom game.

Previous winners can be found here: character of the week summary

more info in the union: link

Mega Man (alternatively spelled "Megaman") is a video game character and the star of the main Mega Man series created by Capcom. He was designed by Keiji Inafune. In Japan, he is known as Rockman (ロックマン Rokkuman). Because of his popularity, Mega Man is Capcom's official mascot. He has appeared on the NES, SNES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Sega Genesis, Game Gear, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStatio Portable, and Xbox platforms, as well as in arcades.

Mega Man's personality and intelligence are equivalent to that of a ten-year-old boy. He is without the capacity for further maturation that some future robots, like X, would have. However, he is loyal to Dr. Light and has a strong sense of justice, always trying to stand up for humanity.

Trivia

~ Mega Man has robotic pets: a dog, Rush, a cat, Tango, and a bird, Beat. Dr. Light has robotic assistants, Auto the mechanic (called Rightot in Japan) and Eddie the walking suitcase, sometimes called Flip Top.
~ A proposed name for the character was Rainbowman, because after defeating the six Robot Masters he would have seven different forms each with a different power. It bears mentioning that in Japan there was a superhero named Rainbowman with seven different forms, each with a different power.
~ The Classic MegaMan and Omega X mk.II of the Zero series are the only MegaMan variations to have blue eyes, the others all have Green eyes. (exlcuding Omega X mk.I, who has red eyes.)

Other week winners can be found here: Character of the week summary

Vergil is the twin brother of Dante and one of the two sons of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda. 

Although Vergil is not entirely evil, due to his desire for more power he turned his back on mankind and even his brother, Dante. At the end of Devil May Cry 3, Vergil plummeted to the lowest region of the Demon Realm after a frustrating defeat by Dante, and realized that Mundus was waiting for him. He decided ultimately that "it will be fun to fight the prince of darkness." However, due to the previous battle with Dante, he was weakened and thus was defeated by Mundus. As a result, he was subsequently brainwashed as the Dark Emperor's servant. This was how he became Nelo Angelo. Which is the product of a transliteration error of "Nero Angelo" meaning "Black Angel" in Italian.

Trivia
One may notice that Dante and Vergil share their names with Dante Alighieri and Publius Vergilius Maro, poets of epic works. In Dante Alighieri's work The Divine Comedy, Dante (the author) is guided through Hell by Virgil (the Roman poet), and Heaven by Beatrice Portinari, Dante's idealistic vision of the perfect woman. Both sons of Sparda mirror the characters in the poem; Vergil as Nelo Angelo continuously confronts Dante as he delves further into Mundus' castle (Hell), egging him on and drawing him closer to Mundus himself. Trish can be seen as a parallel to Beatrice, his saviour that helps Dante finally defeat Mundus and escape the castle. Mundus can be viewed as Satan, trapped at the center of his castle, and some of the enemies and areas in the game could be seen as metaphors for the concentric circles of hell and their populaces described in Alighieri's work.

Other week winners can be found here: Character of the week summary

BirthplaceChinaBirthdateMarch 1st, 1968Height169cm (SFA)
170cm (SF2)Weight?kg (she'll never tell)Blood typeAThree sizesB84, W59, H89 (SFA)
B88, W58, H90 (SF2)Fighting styleChinese Martial ArtsSpecial skillShooting (ranked 6th in an international contest)LikesFruit, American CandyDislikesCrime, Indecisive People, M. Bison

Chun-Li (チュンリー or 春麗, chūn-lì "beautiful springtime") She is part of the Street Fighter game series, and is the first female playable character to appear in a mainstream fightin game. Introduced in Street Fighter II in the 16-bit era, Chun-Li was the only female character in the game, and while not as physically powerful as the other characters, she was by far the quickest. Her most famous attack is the Hyakuretsukyaku (known in English as Lightning Leg/Lightning Kick), where she repeatedly kicks her opponent from a standing position with incredible speed.

Trivia
~The British rock band Arctic Monkeys have an instrumental song titled "Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Kick".
~Princess Fiona executes a Spinning Bird Kick, followed by a Shoryuken, while fighting bandits in Shrek 2.
~Chun-Li has appeared in cameo in various settings from the manga Fairies' Landing to a background scene in the U.S. cartoon Jackie Chan Adventures. She is also a regularly-used cameo character in other Capcom games, such as the RPG Breath of Fire and in the first stage of Final Fight 2.

Other week winners can be found here: Character of the week summary

Team Xbox review

Dead Rising may not be a game for everyone, but it for those that have enjoyed past Capcom games and zombie games of the past will definitely want to check this out as it’s completely dissimilar from anything you’ve seen before. The astounding level of variety that is packed into the game is wonderful to see. While side missions can be tedious at times, there’s nothing that’s truly forcing you to complete them so feel free to steer clear if you like. The story is engaging and semi-comical at times, it definitely heads in a different direction than you’re expecting at the beginning. In short, this is the game that you should own in the interim between now and the holiday season’s onslaught of gaming bliss.

Ako is a member of the Karasu Tengu clan, whose people have aided the oni for ages. Minute Ako stands a mere foot tall in human shape but lends invaluable support in battle, nethertheless. Her supportive skills depend on her clothing. Ako can even travel through time and space to enable communication between past and present. Her pronounced magic abilites allow her and those nearby to empathically understand each other.

Trivia
Ako has a secret ending in Onimusha 3 if you collect all 8 of her vests. She also makes an appearence in Onimusha 4, though with a different name.

We are now level 6! Congratulations people and keep it up!

She is the daughter of Belial, one of the rulers of the Makai, or "demon world". She became head of the Aensland family after the death of Belial.

Morrigan is a succubus and the adopted daughter of Belial Aensland. When she was born, Morrigan was extremely powerful (an "S Class" according to some Japanese source books), so much so that Belial sealed away part of her power, one-third in himself to be returned upon his death, and one-third in a pocket dimension, which eventually became a being of its own, a succubus named Lilith. Without knowing this, Morrigan grew up. She found her life in the Aensland castle dull, and so she visited the human world many times to look for some kind of entertainment. One night, she was drawn to a strange power (later identified as Pyron) and ventured into the human world once again.

After she returned from the human world, she was told that Belial had died and that she is the next successor to the throne of the Aensland family. Although she is rightfully the ruler of Makai, she keeps avoiding her responsibilities and continues her life as before. But when Jedah created the Majigen, she and her castle were pulled into Jedah's dimension. Sensing Lilith, Morrigan sets off hoping to find some sort of enjoyment. After she met Lilith, the two become one again.

A fan favorite from Resident Evil 3. Go Jill!

Team Eidos

Thought about how to kill someone silently? or perhaps there is a nearby ruin you wish to adventure into? Then ask Hitman187. An officer here who runs the Team Eidos union. This Union covers (surprise, surprise) all Eidos games from Tomb Raider to the Legacy of Kain series. Check it out troopers!