Sophitia

Sophitia Alexandra (ソフィーティア・アレクサンドル) is a fictional character in the Soul series of video games. Created by Namco's Project Soul division, she first appeared in Soul Edge and its subsequent sequels, as well as appearing in various merchandise related to the series.

Creation and conception
As a character introduced in Soul Edge, Sophitia's weaponry, a sword and shield combination designed to be unique amongst the other weapons in the game, were selected before other elements of the character. Her design and concept were then built to revolve around it, starting with gender, then physical measurements, and lastly background details. After her appearance and movement were fleshed out by a concept artist, her character was rendered as a 3D model by a design team that worked solely on her, and then animated by Tomoe Yamashita using motion capture to create her in-game movements. Tomoe, who additionally created the "struck" movements for many other characters in the game, noted particular fondness for Sophitia while designing her.

During her creation, designers focused on maintaining an innocent appearance for her face, to give the character a sense of feeling fresh and young. Freedom of movement between the sword and shield were also emphasized, with the intention to allow for the blade to rotate around the shield for cyclonic attacks. An alternate character called Azula was conceived during the development of Sophitia's secondary outfit in Soul Edge, but was abandoned. The character concept would later be revisited in Soulcalibur IV, appearing as an ally character in Sophitia's story mode and using her fighting style.

In video games
Sophitia's life as a warrior began when she met the Olympian god of fire and forge, Hephaestus. Hephaestus told her of the evil blade Soul Edge: that the existence of such a powerful blade would put shame to his name, as he had not created it, and that if anyone were to discover it, it would bring much pain to the world. Hephaestus ordered her to come to the Eurydice Shrine and receive a holy weapon, the Omega Sword, so that she could destroy the Soul Edge. Sophitia eventually found the Soul Edge in a port in Valencia, Spain; and she fought its possessor, the dread pirate Cervantes de Leon, destroying one of the twin blades. However, shards of the evil sword flew with great force from her powerful blow wounding her too greatly to finish the fight. Just as Cervantes was about to deliver a finishing blow to the endangered Sophitia, Taki arrived to save her and proceeded to kill Cervantes. After the battle had finished, Taki carried Sophitia back to Athens, where her sister, Cassandra, had been waiting for her. Cassandra was the only member of her family or group of friends to believe her story at the time.

After recovering from her wounds she suffered from the sword fragments, she returned to her life as the daughter of a baker and spent her days peacefully. However, one day, when she was out for shopping with Cassandra, Sophitia had a vision of Nightmare and the true Soul Edge. She collapsed and rescued by a local swordsmith named Rothion, they fell in love, and got engaged. Later, she received a second oracle from Hephaestus to destroy the remains of Soul Edge. Hephaestus then supplied her with holy metal, which Rothion used to forge a new Omega Sword and shield; she set out on a second journey to destroy the cursed sword. Sophitia destroyed Soul Edge once again and returned home, where she married Rothion and gave birth to both Patroklos (son) and Pyrrha (daughter). However, four years later, Rothion received a shard of Soul Edge from a mysterious customer, and his and Sophitia's children began fighting over the shard. The evil aura the fragment emanated caused Sophitia's old wounds to ache, as they had been undoubtedly infected with the evil energy of the Soul Edge seven years previous, explaining her children's predilection for the bizarre aura. Cassandra, desperate to save her sister, proceeded to grab the shard from her grasp and run out the door, running away from home soon afterwards. A couple of weeks later, Sophitia decided that if she was to free her children from the evil sword's curse and ensure her sister's safety, she had to embark on a third journey. Because Cassandra had stolen Sophitia's previous weapons, which she had stored at Eurydice Shrine, Rothion forged her a new set to destroy the cursed Soul Edge once and for all.

Her journey took her to Ostrheinsburg Castle, where she encountered Tira. Tira told Sophitia that Soul Edge was not in the castle and later kidnapped Sophitia's children in order to set them up as sacrifices for Soul Edge. Sophitia therefore resolved to destroy Soul Edge for the sake of her children until she found out about Tira's kidnapping.

Sophitia appears in all the Soulcalibur games, with the exception of Soulcalibur V; it is stated that Sophitia died 17 years after the events of Soulcalibur IV and is replaced by her children, Pyrahh and Patroklos.

Promotion and reception
Yujin, released a four inch tall immobile figurine of Sophitia as part of their "Namco Girls Series #3" line of figurines for gashapon. Other commercial items bearing Sophitia's likeness have also been released, such as a resin kit designed by Hiroshi Satou for manufacturer Kurushima.

In a 2002 poll by Namco prior to the release of Soul Calibur II regarding their favorite character, Sophitia placed second with 18% of the tally, behind Seong Mi-na. UGO.com praised Sophitia in their "Top 11 SoulCalibur Fighters" article, placing her at seventh place and describing her as "a regular little spitfire". She additionally placed thirty-eighth on their "Top 50 Videogame Hotties" article, which stated "Sophitia Alexandra...is a force to be reckoned with in the Soul Calibur series." Maxim named her one of the hottest video game females of 2008, calling her "literally, the best thing since sliced bread." She was listed by Tom's Games as one of the fifty greatest female characters in video game history, stating "She's a virtuous heroine who's as brave as she is cute. And she can cook, too." Race, Gender, Media: Considering Diversity Across Audiences, Content, and Producers used her as an example of most female characters in video games, describing her body and clothing as being created solely for the viewing pleasure of players, often males.

WomenGamers.Com praised her strength as a character in the series, noting of her role in the original Soulcalibur, "Sophitia is probably one of the most important and pivotal of all the seekers of the twin blades." Additional praise was given to her personality in contrast to more common anti-hero characters, as well as the realism of her fighting style approach, stating that all combined made her role in the game "uniquely positive." GameDaily described her appearance as "angelic", adding "despite looking homelier than the other girls, [she] is still jaw dropping"; she additionally ranked number five on their "Top 50 Hottest Game Babes" list, and received mention and praise in similar articles for her character strength and evolution along the series. GameSpy named her one of their top ten women in gaming at number five, stating Sophitia "became one of the most easily recognized characters in the series. She remains one of Soul Caliber's most memorable babes since the days of her swimsuit debut in Soul Blade."