We think That Man is going to be announced as Guilty Gear Strive's next DLC character... but which one and what will he play like?
For over two decades now, Guilty Gear players have been left waiting to see just what "That Man" can do in a real battle after years of teasing and build up, but that wait may soon be coming to an end.
With Tokyo Game Show right around the corner, we believe Guilty Gear Strive's next DLC reveal is very likely to drop this weekend, and That Man is the best candidate to be showcased for the event... but that can technically refer to more than one person. Story spoilers for Strive ahead though we'll warn you again when we get to them.
Obviously, the one we've called That Man for years and have known the longest is Asuka R. Kreutz, who is often referred to as the Gear Maker in newer entries.
As the first two DLC characters to show up in Strive were used quite heavily in the game's Story Mode, being Goldlewis Dickinson and Jack-O Valentine, Asuka is one of the few remaining holdouts who isn't playable now, and fans are dying to see him in action.
Asuka is generally considered the strongest magic wielder in the world, and perhaps beyond it, having been taught by The Original himself, so we presume that will make up a large part of his move set as well.
Most of what we've seen of his big displays in battle have actually been on the defensive where he'll immediately erect massive barriers that deflect pretty much all physical and magical attacks.
Since he's used them so much, Asuka would almost surely have them in some form for his playable form though we're not exactly sure how.
Fighting against a literal wall would be no fun, but perhaps he could make barriers that absorb one or two hits to give him a few seconds to cast some of his larger spells.
For his weapon, Asuka likely retains his tome and quill to freely use magic to defend himself.
Previous games and other media have shown That Man to be able to fire magical blasts, summon a giant energy blade and busting out some big arms to beat people up.
Although he's shown fairly easily fending off Sol Badguy's Dragon Install and even choking him out, we suspect Arc System Works would make Asuka a mid-long range fighter... but he could certainly throw hands if they really want him to.
So now that we've pretty much covered the That Man most people know about, who's this other one? This is where the spoilers begin if you couldn't tell.
The mid-late game twist in Strive's story reveals a good bit of what players were led to believe about the prior lore was false, and there's been another shadowy figure pressing people's buttons since before the beginning.
Happy Chaos announces himself as The Original, so his magical prowess surpasses even our good friend Asuka's, especially after gaining omniscience from bearing half of I-No's soul / power.
Many, but definitely not all, of the bad stuff That Man is blamed for causing was actually done at the hands of Chaos, including the deaths of Baiken's clan.
As to what he could do with those abilities, well... he could probably do whatever he wants.
Staying within the confines of fair video game design, however, we suspect Happy Chaos would be very much a trickster.
In this sense, he could end up being a mixup and / or trap monster.
Chaos' main weapons would almost assuredly be the handguns we see him wielding throughout the Story Mode. Maybe they'll fire bullets, or maybe they'll fire off spells / portals to mess with his opponents.
Since he has the ability to mess with space and time like I-No, we can easily see Chaos implementing a special that allows him to teleport across the screen and potentially mix people up hard, especially if they're already locked down in a trap.
We don't think ArcSys will actually do it, but it'd be super interesting if they were to bring in Happy's mind control powers to perhaps mess with an opponent's inputs in a way — similar to Valentine from Skullgirls.
The possibilities of what he could do as a fighter seem essentially endless because they kinda are, and it certainly doesn't help that he doesn't do all that much hand-to-hand fighting in the story either.
That's all we've been able to extrapolate from Asuka and Happy Chaos as to how they could appear in Strive, so you can vote below on whether you think either of them is coming next or perhaps someone else.
If ArcSys is announcing DLC fighter number three, it'll come at their TGS presentation on Saturday, October 2, at 9 p.m. PT.
