#order sol

it’s July, we just finished watching the Lucy trailer and it’s peak

then, it fades to black.

we see the field from the very first trailer appear.

then we hear THIS theme quietly and slowly start playing as a figure walks into the area.

and we get the surprise reveal of the first character for Guilty Gear -Strive- Season 5: Order-Sol.

What is the difference between Sol Badguy and his past self, Order-Sol in terms of gameplay?

HISTORY is the difference!

Order Sol as he is called is actually Sol Badguy as he looked and fought during his 2 year stint within the Sacred Order of Holy Knights circa 2172 A.D.

His story in Accent Core is also partially covered in Guilty Gear XX in Justice’ backstory when she was sealed away by the Knights in 2175.

The most obvious difference is that he is wielding his infamous “concrete slab” sword as opposed to the more iconic Firesealed Sword (Fuuenken) that later games depicted Sol with, but this is only partly how Sol fought back then. This weapon is going to be DLC as part of Strive’s Battle Pass expansion soon!

In some illustrations, Order Sol is depicted as dual wielding a cog blade sword and a small hand axe. The axe bears mention as it was literally the first weapon Sol learned how to fight with, as far back as the Guilty Gear Begin Novel.

But, to go in to finer details, Sol’s fighting style back in 2172 was a bit rough around the edges, as he didn’t have his OutRage weapon to focus his Magic Arts in to, and mostly relied on brute strength (and rage) to get through most fights on any given “bad day”.

Gears during the Crusades were brutal and ruthless, and while most Knights were trained to distract and belay the beasts with tactics and finesse, Sol had absolutely NONE of that training and used his Gear powers instead as a one man army Raiding Knight.

His methods were rough, violent, and destructive, but he did save a few lives along the way, as his history was acknowledged by the elderly man in the Dual Rulers anime!

Sol’s movelist predates some of his more traditional kit of attacks, and is actually a Prototype form of the combat we would eventually see out of him in later years.

Blockhead Buster: would eventually evolve in to Gun Flame and Tyrant Rave version Alpha (but also Sidewinder Ignited, his latest technique).

Rock It! : this move would evolve in to Fafnir, his powerful rush punch, and of course Tyrant Rave version Beta!

Bandit Revolver Prototype: obviously this became Bandit Revolver, but it also created Bandit Bringer, Breakdown his Dive Kick, and some of his various jumping attacks (jumping Slash, jumping HeavySlash, and jumping Dust). Some later versions of Bandit Revolver also influenced Riot Stamp and his running jump Kick (a Breaker Dash attack in GG1).

Storm Viper: This was actually a kick sequence initially, but he eventually developed Volcanic Viper from it!

Gunblaze: This move alone helped him roast his opponents but it later evolved in to his classic Instant Kill: All Guns Blazing! It also somewhat inspired his later IK Branding Breach as well. Needless to also say it later evolved in to Ground Viper Night Raid Vortex!

Savage Fang: This move is actually a very powerful version of Gun Flame if you can believe it. Sol later refined it in his EX style and it doubled as a Gun Flame charge attack Force Break, inspired (somewhat) by Ky’s Stun Edge Charge Attack.

Flame Distortion: on especially bad days, Sol would use this move as a last resort. It is actually a Prototype form of his more Iconic Dragon Install. It enhances his Magic, Speed, Power, and Healing Factor for a short amount of time, but leaves him drained after a while.

Dragon Install: Killing World Rave: Unlike Flame Distortion, this move is actually an attack combo sequence that ends in his other Instant Kill called Napalm Death. Most foes die when they get hit by this combo. Historically it is based on Geese Howard’s infamous Deadly Rave in Fatal Fury. In addition, it seems Unika decided to make her own version of this combo in the form of Hands Free!

Tyrant Rave version Omega: This move has three stages depending on how much energy Sol has stored up. The first stage is a single flaming punch. The second is a variant of Tyrant Rave version Beta, while a fully charged version is a full combo of Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Tyrant Rave moves! Nothing hit by this is gonna live for very long afterwards.

Most Gears who fought Sol never lived to tell the tale, save for Justice on her first encounter with him. Ironically, it was because of that inconclusive fight that Sol decided to leave the Sacred Order and steal the Fireseal.

By the way, at the time, Kliff Undersn was leagues stronger than Sol, so it was a real pain whenever the Commander challenged Sol to spar with him. It wasn’t until Sol stole the OutRage and deserted the Sacred Order that he could fight Kliff more evenly. Though Kliff fought him as a “test” to see if he had the strength to wield the Anti-Gear weapon, it was also to check and see where Sol’s loyalties were.

It was after this grueling fight that Kliff reminded Sol that he was going to be relying on him to put an end to the Crusades War, and also that, no matter what others thought of Sol (Ky included), Kliff saw him as part of his family and that he should never forget it, and entrusted the OutRage to Sol.

Sol took Kliff’s advice to heart, as some 3 years later, when the Order had pinned Justice down in a bottleneck in Rome, Sol secretly ambushed her. His ambush worked and weakened Justice to the point that Ky and his men could finally activate a seal on her for good!

Ky had plenty of reservations towards Sol (for stealing the sword and deserting), but he would eventually come to understand Kliff’s intentions and Sol’s methods when the evidence (and lava) presented itself to him on a platter!

Still, Ky wouldn’t fully understand Sol until he would kill Justice some 5 years later after the war, and even then, plenty of questions were on his mind about Sol that were a mystery at the time.

Sol would later confess that he was actually quite scared of Ky confronting him about being a Gear, as he had expected Ky to show him as little mercy as he had shown other Gears during the war.

Of course, Ky saw Sol differently by then, and their positions were no longer as different, but Sol was still being unreasonable and provoked Ky in to the latest of their fights and ended up losing spectacularly!

It was quite the plot twist to lose to Ky after all the times he beat him, but Sol was trying to figure out how to beat Asuka, though Ky’s advice eventually helped him outsmart I-No in the end. Sol never did fully settle his grudge with Asuka until after he lost the Flame of Corruption Seed that defined a large portion of his strength.

Sol goes by an alias these days, and is technically supposed to be retired. But he is still a hero, even if some nations don’t publicly admit it. But his history is that he genuinely fought as a Knight, even if his methods were rough and brutal.

For the past he lost, he did get something resembling family back for it, even if he still can’t get along with Ky all the time.

Incidentally, part of the reason he deserted the Sacred Order (besides hating authority) was because both Axl Low and Slayer teased him for how out of character he looked in his Knight fatigues!

I’m sure he still has that old uniform, though I imagine Jack-O’ would find him quite handsome if he ever wore it again!

As a bonus, here’s a video of Order Sol in action.