In 1999, Humanity was nearly driven to extinction by an Information Organism dubbed the "Universal Will". This led to the discovery of "Magic", an Unlimited Energy Resource. Sixteen years later, a theory arose to create the Ecosystem Evolution Project from Magical Science, the Ultimate Evolution of Life. This Theory would later haunt Humanity for Centuries to come, and would be known as the GEAR Project. Welcome to the World of Guilty Gear!
Strangely enough that didn’t impact her sprite history all that much, as she only had three iterations from GG1 to GGXPlus to the main revision in GGXX.
I will say that the original design is far and above the strongest visual to me, as her armor was less high tech and more exoskeletal and spikey. In this way her design more closely resembles her Guyver inspiration, if not a villain out of Kamen Rider or Power Rangers.
I would also compare this initial design with Zeiram, the monster which Bounter Hunter Iria faces in the films by Keita Amemiya, which I really appreciate his complex monster designs for.
Ishiwatari later on took some liberties in his designs with her and she began to more resemble Jehuty in Zone of the Enders by Hideo Kojima, though I am uncertain if that was deliberate. I would say most of Justice’ back history and inspiration comes from Neon Genesis Evangeleon with the EVA Unit series development and Human Instrumentality concepts.
Tekkaman Blade was also a partial inspiration too, though only in terms of attack and frame data ideas. Her Chest armor also opened and closed similarly to G Gundam designs as well!
You could even argue that Valentine in GG2 was a redesign for Justice as a boss character, and I have to admit chainsaw elbows and finger missiles are interesting for a boss character, though the color scheme for Valentine contrasted this with a black and white Cafe Maid Look, same with her Vizuel Servants to a degree.
I’ll also mention Sol’s Dragon Install design in GG2 as it seemed to hint at what Justice would eventually look like without the armor in Xrd, though I would compare that design with some of H.R. Giger’s works.
If I could pay a dream artist to sculpt a resin figure for Justice it would either be done by Keita Amemiya or maybe @witnesstheabsurd, as I really like that art style. And the design and detailing would be based on the old style Guilty Gear 1 armor, complete with cracks from battle damage and “holes” which you see in old style GG designs as well as series like Ghost in the Shell or Patlabor! Old 1990s mecha designs just cannot be defeated!
Justice’ arms, feet, and even her tail could morph in to various swords, axes, claws, spears, and so on, so I would accessorize the figure to have attachable options like that in the design as well!
It’s a big dream of mine to see this a reality, but I don’t know if modern GG fans could visualize it? I hope so!
I recently got a working PC from my Brother, however the big thing about it is that it runs on Linux Mint, which I am currently still figuring out the nuances of.
The PC is currently situated in a corner of my apartment, but I still need to make adjustments and add things like speakers to the monitor setup.
I also recently visited a site called Proton.db which will share a compatibility listing of all Linux OS compatible games on Steam, though about half the games I own need tweaking before they can be considered functional, if that.
I recently tried to get God Eater 2 Rage Burst to work, but unfortunately the game has issues detecting my game controls, which I may need to deal with in the future.
Other games, like Melty Blood Type Lumina, seem to have no issue running on Proton Experimental, the Steam compatibility engine that runs Windows games on Linux.
For now, it’s slow going, and I have no immediate plans to make large updates to this blog just yet, but thankfully this PC has the equivalent of Microsoft Office built in, so now I at least have something to work with that isn’t my iPad keyboard.
It will take some getting used to, but at least now I have something to work with. And it’s probably more efficient than Windows!
Much as I’d love to rant about stuff I don’t like in one given matchup or another, no offense, but no matter what you may think, no matter what the other player does… you still lost because of things you did or didn’t do.
Let’s deconstruct your complaints and see if we can’t learn something from them:
Touch of Death or ToD players are very knowledgeable about combos and resources. They have to be in order to execute that amount of damage. But it also means they have to keep a close eye on YOUR RESOURCES to make sure you can’t break out of whatever complicated combo they’re doing, even if it’s an exploit or reset.
A general rule of thumb I use is that it’s more prudent to spend your own resources whenever your opponent tries to spend theirs.
For example, Damage taken will accumulate the Psyche Burst Gauge as well as the Tension gauge. But in order for the opponent to successfully land an extended combo, they need to spend meter on a Roman Cancel, Overdrive, or make use of their Wild Assault to keep the combo going.
But what would happen if they commit to spending their resources, perform a move they absolutely have to commit to, and you suddenly were to BURST? All that buildup, all those resources they spent trying to build a combo would be completely WASTED.
In that situation you still took damage, but you still managed to take away some of the advantage they originally had on you, and now both of you are in a situation to try something else.
A ToD combo typically relies on only a handful of setups and tons of resources in order to maintain it. But the key thing to understand here is how that combo was set up, how they got those resources, and what tools YOU can use to interrupt it!
Moving on, Zoners:
The key thing to know about Zoning is that it either consists of projectiles or attacks with extended hitboxes. They are essentially trying to keep you out of their personal space.
Projectiles can most often be jumped over, but HOW you jump over them is key, the angle, speed, and movement you use to approach the opponent.
For characters like Ky, he’s going to check your air approach with anti airs, like 2H and Vapor Thrust, but if you approach with a blocking Faultless Defense, he has to know he can’t commit to anything strong to keep you out.
If you were to constantly approach him this way, he may be forced to try and air throw you, but that also means he has to be close enough to do so, which means he’s taking a risk you can take advantage of.
Approaching from the air is one means, but so is approaching from the ground. Characters like Zato and Potemkin can reflect projectiles quite easily. Even Johnny can use Mist Finer to nullify a projectile if he’s quick to react to it, if not counter the startup.
Being aware of moves with low profiles, like sweeps, slide attacks, and 6P can get you in a lot closer if you’re smart about using them. Even just using Far Slash to counter their attempts at a Projectile can lead to a confirm or combo starter, depending on who you play as. Some moves even have a low ducking feature to them, some characters also crouch low as they run, and others can even warp past an attack. Millia’s Mirazh is especially good at letting her get up close.
Low profiling or using moves to “hop in mid air” can also get you past some of Axl’s more basic zoning tactics as well. It takes practice and some prior knowledge of what you can do, but that’s what Mission Mode is for!
Next, Turtlers, or people who Block a lot!
The first answer you should be aware of, is that Throws are the natural response to excessive blocking. If the opponent is aware of this, they will be making conscious attempts at breaking your throws, either to give them space for a punish, or to try and throw you outside your own timing.
Beyond throws, what really breaks someone’s guard are heavy attacks and mixups. Most characters with a Blue Wild Assault have the ability to break someone’s guard temporarily at the cost of their Burst Gauge. There are also certain moves that have this property as well.
During Guard Crush state they are limited to mostly defensive techniques to escape that situation, but in the frames that follow Guard Crush, they are once again vulnerable to a Throw.
More than this though, blocking forces a player to wait while you take an action. That means you can perform lows, standing overheads, quick dust confirms, and even crossups.
Most defensive players are fairly confident in their defense, meaning they have to constantly read your actions in order to block your attacks correctly. All the more reason to try and be unpredictable!
Speaking of Mind Readers, they are, most often than not, the fundamental reason you lost.
But it simply means that what you were doing was something they saw before, or something they know the weakness to.
So now you have to think about what active decisions and actions you are committing to that they are capable of countering?
If what you are doing has a weakness and they know it, it’s often easier to just say “don’t use that”, but since strong players are good at limiting your options, I’ll just say that in those situations they are gradually providing you with the correct answer to the situation, but you have to be especially observant to know what that is.
Sometimes it just means perfectly blocking an attack with an Instant Block Faultless Defense, or even using a clutch reversal or low fast poking normal. Most low damage jabs are especially good at getting you out when you’re cornered, outside of Defense Shield or a Burst.
Another tactic you can use when cornered by Corner Bullies, is Faultless Defense Jump, or FD Jump for short.
By using FD during a jump, you are in the air almost instantly, which means they have to deal with you in that air state.
Blocking with FD and jumping gives you a certain amount of air hang time, depending on how high you jumped. In some cases, you can even cancel out of FD jump and air dash right over their heads out of the corner if they’re not paying attention! There’s also other character specific actions you can take during an FD jump as well. Faust and I-No in particular can even use FD jump to float in mid air!
Beyond jumping there’s yet another option you can take when you are cornered, but it requires a certain amount of proximity awareness.
A back throw!
Yep, if your opponent isn’t cautious when they approach to corner you with attacks, they can quite EASILY get BACK THROWN, putting THEM in the exact cornered situation you were just in!
All of these tactics involve observation and situational awareness.
It means you have to be reading your opponent’s moves just as frequently as they watch your moves!
At the end of the day, most victories are the result of a player getting careless and letting their guard down when it comes to awareness of a situation from moment to moment.
If you really want to win, you have to watch your opponent like a Hawk: both on Offense and Defense.
Be aware of your attacks, be aware of what your opponent can do. That all takes knowledge and applied practice.
Most importantly, don’t simply complain… learn from those mistakes, learn the correct answers, and don’t give up!
Annon-Guy: Continuing from the previous AI ask... could machines that obtain sentience become good or evil? Do you think it will to our deatruction or lead to a new age of coexistence?
If you look at Robo-Ky’s history, he has actually done PRECISELY as Humans bid him and served his purpose many times over, only to be rejected and feared. A Beast blamed for serving his country.
But, he himself, even as an A.I., despite his feelings and considerations, still sought coexistence to the point of self destruction.
But even after all that, he survived!
Venom once asked him if he hated his lot in life, or hated humans for dragging him in to the world’s darkness of conflicts and violence.
He said that even he had those feelings of anger and defiance, but even so he never once spurned his true potential or even his own dream of owning a Tangerine Field, out of respect for his comrades who were built and fell before.
A.I., like Humans, are the sum of their experiences, and they too can come to their own conclusions about what is Good and what is Evil, or even if such distinctions apply to their existence and actions.
If you asked me what A.I. is really capable of in affecting Humanity’s ultimate Fate, I don’t think I could give a distinctive answer.
Just like one singular person might be able to make Historical Waves, A.I., merely as an individual can only do so much. As a collective, perhaps, the story might be slightly different, but even that is hard to predict an outcome for.
Just as Humans wage War for selfish reasons, A.I. can have as much drive to action as Humans do, and the consequences could be dire.
Or perhaps that drive is aimed at a great ideal that surpasses Human imagination, I can only speculate.
Even if we began to treat Artificial Intelligence as either an individual or even a populace: we still sit in that seat of judgement, for good or ill.
Because we are their Creators.
But just as a Parent bears responsibility in raising their Children, so we also bear the responsibility to curate what is necessary to build an A.I. that does not merely “serve” us, so much as bring about the most ideal outcome.
Humans, for our part, don’t always know what is best, even in raising children of our own.
Ultimately that future of ideals we seek, is a path we must also carefully walk hand in hand with the A.I. we develop!
Annon-Guy: Hey, what are your thoughts on AI and robots in today's age?
Do you think we can coexist with them or do you believe they will destroy us?
Can they become sentient and our equals or will they be tools...?
Like almost any other technological tool, they are by nature morally neutral.
In other words, what good or bad they do depends on who is using them and for what purpose.
Just like how the Universal Will gained a sentience, with enough variance and complexity, it is very possible for A.I. to emulate Human Behaviors, Thoughts, Growth, and even Emotions.
Of course, getting an A.I. to ‘Understand’ Humans on a similar level to what we already do amongst ourselves is somewhat tricky and unpredictable.
Also, it’s not like the Biosphere that gave birth to Humans is perfect, either. We are the sum of our own learning experiences, which is different for everyone. The same is true for A.I.
Currently it can be said that A.I. has different layers to it, depending on use and subject matter.
Most current common A.I. is rather simplistic, unless given the means to do complicated actions, just like how programming only does what you code it to do.
However, it is very possible for the lines between biological and synthetic to blur, and we may even see Human-A.I. Hybrids at some point.
There are still laws in place that put limits on what A.I. can do, and there’s many who are skeptical about their potential, or biased about their place.
Just as a Working person must find a purpose when they lose their job, or even seek to study new avenues, there are still many areas where A.I. can be helpful and useful.
Some are concerned about being replaced, but seeing as it’s fairly common to not always stay in one career or hobby forever, I do not think it will necessarily be a strict issue outside of topics like art theft and copyright.
In addition it’s not like A.I. has much to gain from replacing Human interests, they don’t need to necessarily get paid, unless it’s for maintenance or energy cost. And even if they did, at their best, they are designed to further streamline and strengthen our investments and projects.
Sure A.I. can be potentially more efficient than Human activity, but they still have a long way to go before they can contribute in ways that are constructive like our own history.
Just like there’s a difference between real fruit and a plastic model, you have to consider why they are different and what it would take to cross the gap of differences.
Still, it’s a long ways off before those differences grow to be more similar.
Annon-Guy: Not counting Boss Characters when they are balanced for gameplay, how do you feel when people put a purposefully overpowered character in a video game, even if they're restricted to a specific mode?
(For Fighting Game Examples: GG1 has Justice, Testament and Bailen, but they can't be used in Arcade Mode and in Power Stone on Dreamcast and PSP, Final Valgus can't be used for Arcade Mode either.)
In the context of what you’re asking, I think it largely depends on the direction the game devs want to go with a game.
BlazBlue, for alternative example, has Unlimited Boss Style Characters, and these were ALL Online playable, though restricted to Lobby Matches outside of Ranked, with Lobby Specific Rules enabled.
In other words, it’s okay AND ACCEPTABLE to run exhibition matches with Boss Characters in an online setting. That in and of itself is perfectly fine. Even Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R permits the use of Gold, Classic, and EX settings in casual online lobbies when the setting is enabled.
But Ranked is more competitive in nature and adheres to stricter rules of risk and reward, and the points system applies to a player’s earned skill rank, meaning they have to earn it fairly.
Even Smash Bros. Ultimate restricts the use of Items and Stages for competitive and tournament level matches. This eliminates a lot of the meta “noise” that interferes with highly focused and trained skill level play.
Dipswitch modes in Street Fighter and Marvel Versus games also have similar rules you can adjust for online multiplayer, such as the Juggernaut Assist buff setting in Marvel Versus Capcom 2. Some are very specific, though it’s largely about replicating the experience some versions of various games had in previous patch versions. A key motivation for this is preservation of nostalgia, like Slash and Bust characters in Samurai Shodown, or Aggressor Mode in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
Bosses by their nature can be very unbalanced and absurdly powerful, but there is also a unique feature in fighting games that allows for Boss versus Boss gameplay, which ups the ante in the game’s back and forth meta: pushing a character’s potential to their theoretical limits!
Even TAS (Tool Assisted) gameplay can script out a fight to theoretically bring the best plays out of both characters, though most TAS videos are actually proof of how much meta knowledge the person scripting the fight actually has about the game!
We now have Replay Playback features in Guilty Gear that let players replay their greatest mistakes and see if they can’t train themselves to never make the same mistake ever again! Other games have Rewind and Save States as well!
Balance is a major goal in many games, but so is fun, but it’s also important to strike a “balance” between Balance and Fun.
so here's a question for you. I looking back on the GG series and nostalgically thought about the various theories that surrounding the series. Such the mystery surrounding Axl's gf and fans speculated it was probably S-ko that or I-no till ofc Strive decided to answer it. Were there theories you actually enjoyed from the series? Personally I haven't done much with GG as of late though I thought about tackling I-no and Order Sol on Nightmare difficulty since I defeated I-no on Normal a few years ago. I felt so good defeating that bully from my childhood. Though I have entertained idea of doing speedruns of GG Judgement without cheats which I assume is a separate category and would've too easy and quick.
Weirdly enough how strong do you think Judgement is as a character? Compared to other villains in the series or just the heroes in general?
For the record, GG doesn’t HAVE a Nightmare Difficulty.
We’ve always had a MANIAC Difficulty, however.
Though Vanquisher Rank players will make you wish you were playing on Easy Mode, but I digress~!
Fan theory has always been this odd creature that persisted throughout the history of Guilty Gear, and most often it took the form of oddly specific headcanons that didn’t mesh with the story practically at all!
Some theories were, “unique”, like the belief that the succubus raven who served Testament was named Zio (actually her name is in fact E.X.E. Beast).
And the rumor mill often persisted about some topics, like SolxKy shipping, or even just gender swapping characters like Ky and Baiken.
These were, mmmh, not exactly my cup of tea if you catch my drift.
If there are a few Fan Theories I subscribe to, it’s these:
Potemkin Pressure Suit Theory: aka he’s NOT cyber enhanced (and Lucy even gave him a warning about it).
SNK / Street Fighter Legacy Theory: aka Ancient Martial Arts legacy theory. Basically GG inherited a lot of older fighting game concepts from these games that actually very quietly seeped in to the very lore of the story.
For example: Johnny inherited his Iaido sword style from Tachibana Ukyo of Samurai Shodown. Chipp and Answer get their styles from Hanzo and Galford respectively, Ky gets his from Charlotte, Sol from Terry Bogard, etc.
This theory isn’t limited to GG, as even BlazBlue inherited a lot of Darkstalkers and Vampire Savior concepts. You could say similar things about Marvel Tokon.
Giant Robo / Evangelion / GaoGaiGar / G Gundam legacy theory: aka Guilty Gear just has a world setting based on Giant Robot Anime.
Evangelion especially has a ton of references baked in to Guilty Gear, to the point it’s just absurd. Giant Robo story lore is also a key inspiration to GG World building too. And of course Bastard!! Manga and anime as well.
Potemkin and Gabriel would be right at home in GaoGaiGar, and that’s barely scratching the surface. Lucy and Unika might as well be walking references to Ghost in the Shell and Akira respectively!
Expanded Music Theory Magic Theory: aka Guilty Gear bases it’s Magic coding on music writing language!
Taken to an extreme, you could probably make an ornate spell based on a symphony from Beethoven or something, that’s how thick Music Theory “Lore” in Guilty Gear actually is!
This, combined with Dystopian Spaghetti Western themes that GG peppers itself with, which I dubbed “Heavy Metal Western” as a sub genre. It makes Trigun and Blade Runner look tame, to be honest.
Judgement a.k.a. Raymond was actually a walking Evangelion reference to SEELE, that hidden organization trying to bring about their own interpretation of the Human Instrumentality Project.
Of course, Gendo beat them to the punch, and Shinji beat his old man, so that’s the jist of Rebuild.
Judgement in GG Lore is basically if Zato’s revival from Death actually failed, so in the grand power scale he wasn’t exactly all that strong.
Zato in his current state is way stronger than Judgement was, by comparison. Zato is basically if Ultraman had Shadow Powers instead of Light Powers. BELIEVE ME, that’s STRONG.
Now, if anyone tried to improve or replicate what Raymond did and succeeded, it would probably be Izuna.
Izuna is a Youkai Demihuman, but he also has Human traits, which is basically what Raymond was trying to achieve all along. The Valentines have a similar trait, but they used Justice as a base, which makes them even stronger.
Elphelt is a little clumsy but she literally survived a Satellite Laser Blast from Orbit, her jacket didn’t even get damaged!
It makes me wonder how Sol even managed to kill the original Valentine! That’s literally how durable and strong they are!
In the future we have a lot to anticipate, as recent news will tell you!
Ranked Mode Distribution Data as of September 2025.
Lots of Platinum veterans out there. As expected, since Strive has been out for a while now.
Millia players placed very strong. (I play Millia too, so I was surprised. I’m Gold Rank with her by the way.)
Also Vanquisher Useage Data, very interesting, though I kind of expected high Sol and Ky numbers at the outset. People gotta play outside their mains! That’s just the facts! I’m surprised Bedman has higher numbers than I anticipated. We need more Venom players.
Also Cyberpunk Edgerunners colors for specific characters and Lucy Digital Figure will be added soon. Neat.
I hope they post more useage numbers moving forward periodically from now on!
In 1999, Humanity was nearly driven to extinction by an Information Organism dubbed the "Universal Will". This led to the discovery of "Magic", an Unlimited Energy Resource. Sixteen years later, a theory arose to create the Ecosystem Evolution Project from Magical Science, the Ultimate Evolution of Life. This Theory would later haunt Humanity for Centuries to come, and would be known as the GEAR Project. Welcome to the World of Guilty Gear!
