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Years before
Siegfried's
birth, oppressed German peasants revolted against the Holy Roman Empire.
The Empire's forces had been weakened by the Italian Wars, and this was
finally the peasant's chance for freedom. One of their champions was Sir
Frederick, a brave knight who led the peasants' forces into battle. While
on one campaign, Frederick met a lovely young woman named Margaret and
spent the night in her arms. After nine long months of battle, Frederick
returned to find that Margaret had given birth to their son. They named
their son Siegfried, after a legendary hero, and then the two were married.
As Siegfried grew, his father taught him swordsmanship. Siegfried loved
his father, but the "gentle knight" had many duties to perform. Frederick
embarked on a foreign crusade, promising to return soon.
Without his father's
gentle hand to guide him, young Siegfried fell into the wrong crowds and
soon joined a band of outlaws. His strength grew and he formed his own
band of thieves known as the Schwarzwind (Black Wind). One day, Siegfried
hatched his master plan. The Schwarzwind could hunt down the knights who
had run away from the crusades and steal their armor and loot. This would
make the Shwarzwind rich, and Siegfried a very powerful man. That night,
a group of war-weary knights approached, and the Schwarzwind ambushed them.
The knights, fatigued from battle and the long march home, were no match
for the thieves and were defeated easily. Siegfried hunted down and killed
the knight's commander himself, and chopped off his head with his proud
Zweihander. He held the decapitated head up in triumph for the rest of
the band to see, and it was then that Siegfried finally got a good look
at the commander's face. It was his father! Siegfried let out a horrified
scream, and his mind snapped.
He fled into the forest
in grief and fear. He spent days in solitude, grieving for his father.
His insanity grew, and in denial he was able to convince himself that someone
else slew his father. He grew determined to find the killer and avenge
his father's death. When he emerged from the woods, he heard a tale of
the invincible sword, Soul Edge, and he came to believe that his father's
imaginary killer could only be defeated by this weapon. Thus, he pledged
to never rest until he found the sword and avenged his father. His first
lead was the legendary sword of Sir Stephan, which was quite well known
in the region. In order to get closer to the sword, Siegfried traveled
to Ostrheinsburg castle and became the commander of Stephan's mercenary
knights. During his time as commander, the forces of Marquis Andre layed
siege to the castle. The castle was nearly destroyed by Andre's cannonfire,
but Siegfried and his army held off the invaders.
During the final battle,
however, Siegfried saw that an opportunity had arisen. Stephan was alone
in his chambers, so Siegfried went and slew the powerful knight. He then
escaped from the castle undetected with Stephan's legendary sword Grimblade.
He ran far into the Black Woods so that no one would find him and connect
him with Stephan's murder. Holding Grimblade high, he asked the sword to
grant him invincible power. Nothing happened, and Siegfried realized this
was not the right sword. In disgust, he discarded the sword and resumed
his search. Siegfried spent weeks searching. The longer his search continued,
the more manic he became.
He finally found a
trace of the real Soul Edge and tracked it to a port town in Spain. As
he entered the town, he witnessed a female ninja carrying another female
warrior away from the docks. Going in the direction that they had come
from, Siegfried came upon the dead body of the pirate
Cervantes
and one of the twin blades of Soul Edge laying beside him. His search was
finally over! With this sword, he could find and defeat his father's killer.
He reached to pick up the sword but was stopped when Cervantes' body became
enveloped in hellfire. The burning corpse rose up as the essence of Soul
Edge consumed Cervantes' body. With a flash, Soul Edge and Seigfried began
a savage battle. With madness in his eyes, the determined Siegfried emerged
victorious and claimed the remaining sword as his own. The instant he touched
it, the history of massacre within Soul Edge traveled into Siegfried. Siegfried
felt his flesh being seared away as Soul Edge devoured his emotions.
He realized too late
that the sword was merging with him. He screamed as his body turned red
as blood and the sword exploded with evil energy. A massive column of evil
power shot up into the night sky and rained the Evil Seed down on all humanity.
It was in this instant that Siegfried ceased to exist and his body became
Nightmare.
The next three years were spent in a dream-like state. He was vaguely aware
of his alter-ego harvesting hundreds of souls to refuel the depleted Soul
Edge. Little did he know that his own desires had been driving the demonic
creature: Nightmare was making his way to Ostrheinsburg castle to return
to the spot where his journey had begun. Once his minions had collected
enough souls, Nightmare used the power of the Soul Edge to resurrect Siegfreid's
father Frederick.
When his "father"
asked Siegfried to pierce him with his sword, Siegfried knew it was nothing
more than an illusion created by his weak mind. His father admonished Siegfried
for his evil actions. This finally broke Siegfried from the mental control
the Soul Edge had over him. He found himself under attack by three warriors,
Kilik,
Xianghua,
and Maxi. Their battle did not last
long, as the weakened Nightmare was easily defeated by the warriors. The
Soul Edge was knocked free from Nightmare's grasp, and Siegfried's body
was returned to normal. As he had done many years ago, he once again fled
the castle while a battle raged out front. Feeling like he had been given
a second chance, Siegfried set out to make right all of the things that
he as Nightmare had done.
He first returned
home to visit his mother, Margaret. Her life had became completely barren
in the three years since she lost her husband and son. This was the first
time Siegfried had been home since he murdered his father. He made his
way up the walk and prepared to knock on the door when he heard his mother
praying inside. He froze as he heard her pray that her son's soul may find
peace. He realized that he was unworthy to see his mother at this time,
that he must make peace with his soul before he could ever face her. Not
wanting to leave without saying goodbye, he spoke a farewell to her and
ran away before she could notice. Siegfried had now grown into a man, and
he left his childhood home refreshed. With renewed vigor, he set out to
put out the flames of unholy hellfire that he had spread throughout the
world. He gathered together a new Schwarzwind, one devoted to the destruction
of demons. The path that lay before him was uncertain, but Siegfried knew
that now because his cause was truly righteous that he would prevail.
    
    
 
 
 
  
 
 
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Page Updated:
Sept. 26th, 2022
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Siegfried has
certainly come a long way... but ever since his debut, he's been an effective, cool, and fun character to use. Everybody loves a knight in shining armor who knows how to swing a sword - that latter part is important, btw. I have to admit it was kinda sad seeing Siegfried slowly transform into Nightmare... but damn cool at the same time. ;D
It was also pretty epic to see him return back to "normal" in SC3. His SC4 incarnation was no disappointment either, even though Siegfried players would
tell you he became noticeably slower. In any case, his SC4 moveset and armor
design is badass to say the least and probably my favorite of the series.
In closing, Siegfried's quite the badass for being a "good guy".... Not too many
heroes can pull that off quite so well. If you didn't know, Siegfried's weapon,
moves, and voice are all very similar to that of Guts/Gatsu from the Berserk
manga/anime (which I'm also a huge fan of). Siegfried could very well be inspired by
Guts.
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