Claudio Serafino (クラウディオ・セラフィーノ Kuraudio Serafīno?) is a character in the Tekken series who was introduced in Tekken 7 as one of the new characters. Claudio originates from Italy and is said to be "the world's strongest exorcist."
Biography
Personality
Claudio is somewhat sarcastic and cocky, suggested by his intro quotes that see him calling his opponents either amateurs or an easy win, all while flicking his hair. One of his victory poses may suggest that he is friendly as he lends a hand to his opponent (after they lose against him) in a manner similar to Alisa. However, he is also shown to slow clap sarcastically. In both his and Xiaoyu's ending, Claudio shows his sinister side towards his main targets, particularly Devil Gene users such as Jin. After Heihachi exposes Kazuya in his devil form during his battle against Akuma, Claudio shows his disgust and becomes frustrated when the Mishima Zaibatsu dismisses the exorcists from their service.
Appearance
Claudio has almost slate blue asymmetrical eyes, black hair and pale skin. He is noticeably muscular but is somewhat leaner, having a more slim figure in comparison to some if the more bulky male characters like King and Feng Wei. His hairstyle seems to somewhat resemble that of Steve Fox, albeit in black and having a different hairline. He also bears a massive tattoo on his right arm, which is partially visible through the black bandages (which are secured by a single chain and lock). A similar tattoo can also be seen under his left eye.
Outfits
- Main article: Claudio Serafino/Outfits
Claudio's main outfit has him wearing a collared, white frock coat adorned with gold lining and embroidering and black patterning, worn over a formal suit made up of white pleated trousers, which have a ram head buckle, and a formal gray buttoned vest over a torn black undershirt. He also wears white gloves and gray and white loafers, also adorned with ram's head decorations, as well as an undone gray tie and a silver chain necklace as accessories.
Story
Tekken 7
The Archers of Sirius are a group of exorcists who have been banishing supernatural entities from this world since ancient times. A highly secretive organization, its existence is unknown to the public. Although it is not known how their existence was revealed, the Archers of Sirius were suddenly approached by the Mishima Zaibatsu. They were heavy-handedly requested by the Mishima Zaibatsu to join their conglomerate but naturally refused. This did not stop the persistent pressure from the Mishima Zaibatsu, however.
Eventually, the news of this approach from the Mishima Zaibatsu reached the de facto leader of the Archers of Sirius, Claudio Serafino. Determined to uncover the motives behind the Mishima Zaibatsu’s actions, Claudio begins to investigate the powerful conglomerate.[3]
TEKKEN 7 - Claudio Serafino Ending & Intro (TEKKEN 7 Character Endings)
Character Episode Prologue: The Sirius Marksmen, a secret society of exorcists, has exerted a profound influence on European history for hundreds of years. The most powerful exorcist of the current generation is Claudio, who was visiting the Mishima Zaibatsu as their groups join forces to subdue a certain evil.
After sharing information on the targets, Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama, Claudio left the control room only to be confronted by a young girl. He was about to call the guards when she demanded to be taken to Jin. A plan sprung to Claudio's mind.
He led her to the roof, and with a grin prepared to face her in combat.
Ending Description: After defeating Xiaoyu, Claudio tells the unconscious girl that she will make wonderful bait for his prey, and activates his powers while ominous music is heard.
Story Mode
After Heihachi Mishima reclaims the Mishima Zaibatsu, the Archers of Sirius had constantly declined his demands for an alliance. But their base is soon infiltrated by both Heihachi and Nina Williams. Claudio restates that he declines, stating that the exorcists will not bend to the corporation's whim. But, after Heihachi defeats him in battle, Claudio realizes that they have the same goal: the elimination of the Devil Gene's curse.
At the Mishima Zaibatsu headquarters, Claudio states he has heard that the devil inside Jin might be more powerful than that of Kazuya's. He then shares with Nina and Heihachi that something "inhuman" has been witnessed in the Far East, believing it to be Jin. But his hunch is proven incorrect when the Tekken Force discovers that Lars has saved Jin in the Middle East.
After Heihachi exposes Kazuya's devil form and destroys G Corporation tower via satellite, Claudio's service is dismissed, much to the exorcist's disgust.
Gameplay
Claudio uses a solid moveset based on his Sirius abilities. He's relatively fast and has a decent amount of safe moves. He excels in the mid-range, with strong whiff punishes and approach tools.
A mechanic unique to Claudio is Starburst. After hitting the opponent with specific moves, Claudio enters Starburst, granting him access to an array of powerful moves. The attacks MUST hit in order for Claudio to gain Starburst, and performing a Starburst move will consume the powerup and has to be activated again. It also resets upon a new round.
Claudio's offense is highly effective. He has two fast counter hit moves that lead to a full combo. He has strong pressure tools, especially in Starburst. He has good defense as well, with a handful of his moves (like his hopkick) ducking under highs, and a Power Crush move that hits mid. Finally, he has a great sidestep game. He has effective tracking moves to deter sidestepping, and his combo out of a hopkick still hits consistently even when off-axis on either side.
Claudio's hopkick deserves further elaboration. It has a high range and Claudio ducks slightly while performing it, making it go under many high attacks and some mid attacks as well. Additionally, despite its high range, Claudio barely moves forward, making it safer compared to other hopkicks which move the character forward.
However, Claudio also has distinct weaknesses. His lows do decent damage, but has specific drawbacks - For example, his sidestepping right low kick does good damage and is relatively safe on block, but is slow and leaves him standing, thus making it easy to interrupt. Another low he has makes him duck under highs and also has good tracking, but is very unsafe when blocked at close range and does not give frame advantage even on hit. He also has a low that leads to a full combo and is relatively safe on block, but he needs to consume Starburst and it can be blocked by perceptive players. In addition to that, his grabs, wall game, combo strings, and options when the opponent is on the ground is mediocre.
One thing to note is that he has the smallest movelist in Tekken 7. While most of his moves are effective, Claudio players need to be creative as to not be predictable.
In conclusion, his style is solid and provides good damage and effectiveness on both offense and defense as well as having good range but he suffers from mediocre low attacks, grabs, combo strings, and okizeme. His moveset, in general, is effective but limited. Despite this, he stands out as a pretty good, solid character that is relatively easy to pick up and use without much trouble.
Fighting Style
Claudio utilizes a discipline called Sirius-Style Purification Sorcery (シリウス流祓魔術 Shiriusu-ryū Harai Majutsu?) which conjures the holy power of Sirius within him to overwhelm his enemies in battle. The style includes punches, kicks, elbow and knee strikes, and shoulder tackles, done in a showy and flamboyant manner.
Moves
Character Relationships
- Heihachi Mishima - Defeated by him and forced to work for him in Tekken 7.
- Nina Williams - Briefly works alongside her.
- Ling Xiaoyu - His opponent in Tekken 7. Plans to use her as "bait" to lure in Jin.
- Eliza - Eliza seeks his blood.
- Jin Kazama - One of his main targets.
- Kazuya Mishima - One of his main targets.
- Akuma - Claudio's organisation had received information about something "inhuman" in the Far East, which Claudio and Heihachi first presumed to be Jin Kazama. However, the source of this power was later revealed to be Akuma.
- Zafina - Zafina seeks to obtain the services of his group of exorcists in order to help her deal with Azazel and to hunt for Kazuya and Jin.
Quotes
Trivia
General:
- The surname "Serafino" is the Italian word for "Seraph", a celestial being in Judaism and Christianity.
- The character debut trailer which introduced both him and Katarina gave him the title of "Nova Exorcist" (新星のエクソシスト Shinsei no Ekusoshisuto?).
- The tattoo on his right arm looks similar to the tattoo of Tekken: Blood Vengeance character Shin Kamiya. It also bears some similarity to the marks that take over Jin Kazama when he becomes a devil.
- Claudio's 'devil'-like tattoo, the motif of chains on his right arm that seal away more tattoos and from which the power for his Sirius-Style Exorcism Sorcery eminates, along with some of his voice lines where he notes that he may have "gone too far" could suggest that his power is demonic in origin. It is possible that the Archers of Sirius harness the power of the demons they exorcise and use these powers against the demons themselves. The English and Japanese for Claudio's fighting style ("sorcery"/"Ma-jutsu ", 魔術) have connotations of evil magic.
- Claudio's white-clad appearance and the light arrow projectile that he fires during his Rage Art are both reminiscent of Quincy, a type of character from the manga and anime series Bleach.
- Claudio bears a striking resemblance to Maxi from Namco's Soulcalibur series.
- Claudio's Judgment Screw resembles Setsuka and Patroklos' Sakura Twister (also from Soulcalibur).[5]
- His Sky-End Nova move resembles Raphael's Vicious Moon.[6]
- He also resembles the minor, bonus character Chester from Soulcalibur III.
- His fighting stance looks similar to that of Goenitz from The King of Fighters.
- Seven of Claudio's moves[9] are named after the Seven Deadly Sins in Latin. Namely: Superbia (スペルビア Superubia, Pride), Ira (イラ Ira, Wrath), Luxuria (ルクスリア Rakusuria, Lust), Gula (グラ Gura, Gluttony), Avaritia (アワリティア Awaritia, Avarice), Invidia (インヴィディア Invidia, Envy) and Accedia (アケディア Akedia, Sloth).
- On the other hand, many of Claudio's moves are named in reference to astrological terms such as Roche Limit (ロッシュリミット Rosshu Rimitto) and Lagrange Needle (ラグランジュニードル Raguranjyu Nīdoru),
- Changing Claudio's hit effects (except the comic effects and Taiko no Tatsujin effects) will change the color of his Starburst energy, this is better seen during his Rage Art.
- Claudio seems to have quite a few moves derived from Anna Williams. His db3 is very similar to Anna, however his is weaker since it will only knock down on counter hit. His sidestepping 4 kick is also quite similar to her df4 Wine Opener move as well.
- Claudio has the smallest number of moves in the game with a total of 57 moves not including sample combos.
- Claudio stands as "ITA" ("Italian") in the game files.
- A direct continuation of Claudio's ending with Xiaoyu can be found in Tekken Pachislot 4. In the game, Claudio attempts to purify Jin Kazama of his devil with Ling Xiaoyu's help.
- In Tekken Pachislot 4, Claudio speaks in Japanese, despite only speaking Italian in Tekken 7. It is likely that this is because the Pachislot machines are Japanese-release only though, rather than this being a language Claudio can speak.
Gallery
See also
References
- ^ a b http://www.tekken-official.jp/tk7ac/character/claudio.php
- ^ http://www.avoidingthepuddle.com/news/2016/8/17/tekken-7-new-stage-story-mode-details-from-gamescom.html
- ^ http://www.avoidingthepuddle.com/news/2016/9/8/tekken-7-famitsu-site-opens-story-background-for-new-charact.html
- ^ http://wearetekkenrp.tumblr.com/post/102789203045/small-tidbit-about-claudio-his-face-tattoo-only
- ^ https://youtu.be/SKFxEsOlDC4?t=3s
- ^ https://youtu.be/Fr7LgUbd0fk?t=1m9s
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weSHxXDfgcg
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VkyJ-Wx1FE
- ^ http://www.sunlightyellow.com/tekken7/character/claudio.html