Which character will join the Guilty Gear Xrd cast next? Arcade-goers in Japan will decide that by way of the upcoming Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- Playable Character Election. The voting period is set to start on September 24 and run through October 13, with a midway report on October 2 and a final results on October 16 courtesy of an Arc System Works broadcast on Niconico Live.

But the question remains: how would each character play if they end up being selected? Guilty Gear battle planner Pachi recently broke down the ways in which the returning fighters could potentially be adapted to fit into Guilty Gear Xrd, along with brief profiles for folks unfamiliar with them.

We’ve taken the liberty of translating this information, but please take note that these are speculative comments and may not reflect how the characters will play in their finished forms.

A.B.A First Appearance: Guilty Gear Isuka A female homonculus whose entire body is wrapped in bandages. Because she was locked away alone in a testing facility for a long period of time, she is very wary of strangers. She fell in love her key-shaped axe Paracelsus at first sight and treats it has her spouse. If she joined the cast? A.B.A is a character that uses a weak normal mode and a powerful but high-risk, high-return Moroha mode. Blood packs are limited, giving her a clear periods of when she’s good and when she’s bad, but it might be interesting if blood packs had a blood type property that changes her personality.

Izuna First Appearance: Guilty Gear 2 A spirit born in the Backyard. He lives with other spirits in the underworld plane between the Backyard and the real world. He has a keen sense of observation but is detached and elusive individual. He has a unique, hybrid way of speaking mixing together different dialects. If he joined the cast? Izuna is a relatively all-purpose character, but because has a unique double dash ability called Nanba Step, he seems like he would be a character with short range but able to fight with a hit-and-run style with his dashes. He would want to place a Daruma doll on the opponent’s wake-up to apply pressure.

Valentine First Appearance: Guilty Gear 2 A life form born from the “Merciless Apocalypse”, modeled after a human (Sol’s former lover Aria). She appeared in the present world and brought about the Baptism 13 Incident, bringing ruinous damage to the capital of Illyria, but was subjugated by Sol. She keeps a balloon named Lucifero as her companion. If she joined the cast? Valentine was originally a projectile-based, long-range character, but since some of her moves like Zest and Calvados have been taken by other Valentines (laughs), if she appears we might want to give her a different fighting style. She has great air mobility, so maybe making her a character that’s weak on the ground but specializes in fighting in the air.

Kliff Undersn First Appearance: Guilty Gear Commander of the First Sacred Order of Holy Knights and a frontline warrior wielding his sword Dragonslayer. Though he left active duty for a time, after hearing of Justice’s revival he returned to battle. In the Second Hold Order Recruitment Tournament, he perished in a fight to the death with Justice. If he joined the cast? Kliff is a character with long reach and high firepower but heavy movement, but it would be interesting if he fundamentally kept that style but had stamina allotments. He is an old man after all. Personally I think that we could present young Kliff even better in 3D, so I’ll like him to have young Kliff moves.

Zappa An extremely ordinary youth possessed by the apparition S-Ko. After being possessed he frequently fell into poor health, so he continued his journey in search of Faust, the famous doctor capable of curing any disease. However, Faust told him that spiritual diseases were out of his field of expertise. He has no memory of when he is possessed. If he joined the cast? Zappa is the tricky character who possesses three types of evil spirits in ghost, sword and dog forms with the ultimate goal of possessing the powerful Raoh. If he makes it in I think it be alright to keep that trickiness but updating the three types of spirits.

Justice First Appearance: Guilty Gear The most powerful and most evil Gear, created by That Man. Using her ability to control all Gears she rebelled against humankind, starting the hundred-year-long Holy War. Though she brought humanity to the brink of destruction she was defeated by the Sacred Order of Holy Knights and the secret maneuvering of Sol. Afterward, she was revived as a result of the Holy Order Recruitment Tournament front, but was again destroyed by Sol. However, in the previous game SIGN, she was being revived by the hands of the Senate. If she joined the cast? In Guilty Gear Accent Core Plus R, she seemed like a fortress with her usage of projectiles, but if we add her to GGXrd I’ll like to give her a fighting style with a bit more mobility. That said, she wouldn’t have free mobility, but I’d to make her capable of creating mix-ups using N.B. and herself.

Holy Order Sol First Appearance: Guilty Gear XX Slash Sol during his time with the Sacred Order of Holy Knights. He joined the order after being scouted by Kliff, commander of the Holy Order. There he meets Ky Kiske. Unable to grow accustomed to the actions of the order, he shortly after leaves the organization, taking with him the sword Fireseal. If he joined the cast? Order Sol is a character with speedy battle style that uses a charge system to strengthen his specials and activate them in succession. I think it would be interesting if we could capture that fundamental style but make it so that when he does a Roman Cancel the decrease in charge slows, allowing him to do more powered-up special moves than before.

Dizzy First Appearance: Guilty Gear X A half-Gear born of a human and a Gear. She has a kind heart and gentle personality, but as she is a Gear, she is targeted with a large bounty on her head. While taken in by the Jellyfish Pirates, she falls in love with Ky Kiske and the two are blessed with a son, Sin. Afterward, when the Valentine invasion begins, in order to protect her from sublimation she is sealed away in a space with an extremely slow flow of time. However, in SIGN, that seal was broken. If she joined the cast? Dizzy is a mobile character that has a variety of mix-ups stemming from her abundance of projectiles. With her usual style I think her set-play and Roman Cancels would synergize well, but I’d like to give her a style where she appears in your face rather than retreats away. Plus she’s a mother now, I think her move names would be great (laughs).

Testament First Appearance: Guilty Gear A kindhearted young man willing to sacrifice himself for others. He was raised as the adopted son of Holy Order commander Kliff, and though he joined the Holy Order, he became wrapped in the scheme of a certain country and was modified into a Gear. Following this, he devised a plan to revive Justice using the Second Holy Order Recruitment Tournament as a front, but it resulted in failure. After regaining a human soul with the destruction of Justice, he led a peaceful life away from human civilization in the Devil’s Forest, serving as Dizzy’s guardian. If he joined the cast? Testament is a character that sets the pace by applying abnormal statuses to the opponent with poison and crow summons while setting multiple traps. I have the feeling that his complexity has increased with each game, so I want to make him a little easier to understand. For example, making it easier to judge his crow mix-ups yourself.

Dr. Paradigm First Appearance: Guilty Gear 2 A Gear in the form of a bird. He himself is insistent that he is a dragon, and despises being called a bird. He is diligent and logical. At first he looked down on humans, avoiding contact and living on a remote island with other Gears, but he finally opened his heart after coming into contact with Ky. Currently he is working with Ky to bring coexistence between human and Gear. He’s a perfectionist but is a poor finisher. If he joined the cast? In Guilty Gear 2, Dr. Paradigm was a character that used his minions to allow him to run about, but I think it would be interesting if he could keep the minions but fight in a more conventional style. I think it would be neat if Roller was a rush move, Bower was an anti-air move and Bone Biter was a move that allowed him to do decoy attacks. I want you to feel the universal gravitation (laughs).

Baiken First Appearance: Guilty Gear A one-armed, one-eyed swordswoman of Japanese decent. A master of the Japanese sword and hidden weapons. She is hot-headed, short-tempered and strong-willed. During the Holy War she suffered severe injury and lost her family and friends. She journeys in search of the mastermind behind the Holy War, That Man, swearing revenge. If she joined the cast? Baiken is a character with short range but who takes the initiative with her abundance of guard cancel moves. It would be interesting if she kept that fundamental style but we updated her approach from her guard cancel moves. Instead of connecting directly to return, letting her seize the pace.

Fanny First Appearance: Guilty Gear Petit Feeling a debt of gratitude towards the famous physician Dr. Baldhead, who once saved her life, she pursued a path in medicine and became a nurse in order to assist him. She journeys in search of Dr. Baldhead, whose whereabouts are unknown. If she joined the cast? Fanny has moves similar to Faust’s but more of a close-range style. If Fanny is selected, she’d undergo a full model change and become a different character practically. She has a lot of medical moves, so maybe mixing medicines to make herself stronger or affect the opponent.

Bridget First Appearance: Guilty Gear XX A boy who was raised as a girl in order to protect him from the village law that male twins bring calamity about the land. His speech and behavior are feminine. He loves fun and his extreme actions stand out, and though he often brings trouble around him, he always seems to be be enjoying himself. He’s a yo-yo expert and uses it as a weapon. He cherishes his teddy bear Roger. If he joined the cast? Bridget is a mid to long range hit-and-run character that sets his yo-yo and uses it to rush about the screen. It would be interesting if he had a greater variety of tricks using his yo-yo, while keeping his trademark mobility to a certain degree. I’ll like to increase his yo-yo recall types and Roger moves.

Aji Mito A hot-blooded man who follows intuition over reason. He is of Japanese descent but hating colony life, he journeys. He has the divine weapon Zessen in his possession and pursues That Man out of intellectual curiosity. A specialist in the ancient tradition of Japanese dance, he makes use of this skill in battle. If he joined the cast? Anji’s specialties are his guard point moves that attack while blocking the opponent’s attacks and his various mix-ups from his rush moves. I want to change his style while keeping the interesting parts of his guard point moves like Kou. It seems like he would be good with a style centering around close-quarters fighting using his guard points to approach.

Raven First Appearance: Guilty Gear 2 A close aid of That Man. He was born in the Middle Ages but due to his undying body he lives eternally. For this reason it is different for him experience real feeling, so he attempts to obtain that feeling through pain. To others, he appears to be an extreme masochist. His body is pierced with needles throughout. If he joined the cast? In Guilty Gear 2 Raven had a style to fluster the opponent by attacking the opponent from long range with projectiles, slowing them, and attacking them from behind. I think in GGXrd with the addition of some updates he would be able to do so at mid range. And fitting with his personality, I’d like to give him a move where he intentionally takes the attacks.

Robo-Ky First Appearance: Guilty Gear XX #Reload A humanoid weapon developed by the Post War Administration scientist Crow. It was designed using sample data from Ky’s battle records from his time in the Holy Order. Despite being a robot it does not heed the words of his master and is egotistical and selfish. Nevertheless it somehow has a sense of charm. It is looking for a wife. If it joined the cast? Robo-Ky has a unique mechanic called the Electric Gauge that strengthens its special moves when it builds charge. It’s a character with slow movement while have some damage, but I think it might be interesting to increase the breath of its power-ups through electricity. Giving it a temporary mobility increase, or allowing it to electrocute, for example.

Source: Arc System Works via GREATFERNMAN, all translations original.