Author: Matthew Mather (---.Level3.ne)
Date: 10-24-2003 09:40
One of the best examples of gentle stealing in popular media that I can think of is the Soul Edge/Calibur series. The Soul Edge is *clearly* just like Stormbringer, and yet it's not. The Soul Edge is a soul sucking demonic sword, but the details are very different.
For example, The Soul Edge is relatively easily broken (compared to Strombringer) and each peice has a powerful evil aura that provides a convenient motivation for each fighter in the games to obtain it, destroy it or do something else involving it. In the Soul Calibur game(first sequel to Soul Edge, the game), the Soul Calibur was introduced as a sort of anti-Soul Edge.
Obviously Soul Calibur is much like Excalibur, but again the details are changed. Soul Calibur doesn't give anyone the right to be king, it simply is the Anti-Soul Edge. It's also indestructible
A neat twist introduced in the third game (Soul Calibur II) is that the Soul Edge can change into the kind of weapon preferred by those who collect all the peices(and you can obtain those weapons in the home versions of the game). Two characters, Nightmare and Cervantes actually begin with "versions" of the Soul Edge, though their arcade-mode-endings are very different.
So although Soul Edge is Stormbringer, it's not, and the Soul Calibur brings an interesting twist to the mythos.
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