Raphael is not technically one of my favorite fighters in SoulCalibur II, but he is a fairly decent character in my opinion. He is supposed to be a French nobleman wielding a rapier sword, which is not exactly my favorite type of warrior.

He sometimes feels like a non-duel fighter when he moves. That classic European fencer stance is really dominant in his form and can feel somewhat strange versus other characters in the game.

But he definitely has some good sword combinations and techniques once you start to get the hang of him. Though I do not typically perform well with some aspects of his style, especially against certain characters.

However, he actually has a grab move that makes him one of the better characters in the game if you want easier wins. All you have to do is be facing the edge of the ring, grab your opponent, and he will stab them a few times before striking them with a powerful final thrust to knock them out of the ring. I imagine this move is probably banned in official tournaments for being too much of a cheap shot, but maybe it is not.

And for that reason, it is enough to like him a lot. I skipped the third game out of protest and did not quite like SoulCalibur IV, but I have briefly read about what his character has gone through since then, and it has gotten pretty strange. He has become the new vessel for Nightmare and also has some kind of unusual development with vampirism. I would have never guessed it.