Morrigan Aensland
Encyclopedia
is a video game character
from the Darkstalkers series of fighting game
s developed by Capcom
. She is voiced by Yayoi Jinguji
in many of her video game appearances, except in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
where she was voiced by Rie Tanaka
.
Morrigan is a succubus
who is very vain and lives for little more than the excitement of battle. She appears as a beautiful young woman with long, light-green hair, large breasts, a tight leather leotard with fur trim, purple sheer nylons with bat patterns, black knee-length boots, and bat-like wings on her back and on the sides of her head. Morrigan can reshape these wings into spikes and blades when attacking her enemies, as well as using them to shield herself from enemy attacks. Her wings can also separate from her, and form into a cloud of bats. She uses a variety of magical attacks as well.
While Demitri officially fills the role, it has often been suggested and implied that Morrigan is the main character of the Darkstalkers series, due to her importance in the overall story as well as her many appearances outside of her game series. She may even be considered a protagonist
ic anti-hero
, because despite her demonic appearance and nature, she is not evil.
and Morrigan, respectively. Initially, Felicia was intended to be the "sexy" female character of the title, while the vampire would be the "cute" female character. However, Morrigan's design took on a tone that emphasized sexiness, causing Felicia's character concept to be altered accordingly.
and the adopted daughter of Belial
Aensland. When she was born, Morrigan was extremely powerful (an "S Class" according to some Japanese source books), so much so that Belial sealed away part of her power, one-third in himself to be returned upon his death, and one-third in a pocket dimension, which eventually became a being of its own, a succubus named Lilith. Unaware of Belial's action, Morrigan grew up and found her life in the Aensland castle dull, so she frequently visited the human world to look for entertainment.
On one occasion, Morrigan was drawn to a strange power (which would turn out to be the fire demon Pyron), and ventured into the human world once again. Upon her return, she was informed of Belial's death and that she was the next successor to the Aensland throne. Although she is now rightfully the ruler of the Makai, she shirks her responsibilities and seeks to continue her life as before. Morrigan eventually meets Lilith, and the two beings merge into one, fully restoring Morrigan's power.
. Morrigan's Darkness Illusion was the first super move to use the button press sequence that is now commonly associated with the Shun Goku Satsu. One of the many running jokes (and points of criticism) among fans is that she has had exactly the same sprite set as far as Capcom vs. SNK 2
(2001
) as she did in the original Darkstalkers (1994). Her sprites looks especially out of place in the Capcom vs. SNK series as they gain a black outline in the borders. While not technically a sprite, she finally received an updated 3D rendered character model in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars.
.
Morrigan acts as the sole representative of the Darkstalkers series in the Capcom vs. SNK games, making appearances in both Capcom vs. SNK
and its sequel
. Morrigan represented the series along with Felicia and B.B. Hood in SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium
for the Neo Geo Pocket Color
. Morrigan would resume being the Darkstalkers representative for fighting crossovers with Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
. Morrigan has also represented Darkstalkers in non-fighting roles, appearing in the Namco collaboration-RPG Namco x Capcom
and the multi-company crossover tactical role-playing game Cross Edge
, in both cases appearing with other Darkstalkers personalities. With all of her appearances in Capcom crossover projects, Morrigan is the single most common Darkstalkers cast member to appear outside of the origin series.
However, Morrigan doesn't always appear in every Capcom Versus' crossover games. The only games Morrigan was not present are SNK's SVC Chaos, who was replaced by Demitri Maximoff and Capcom Fighting Jam
, which featured Anakaris, Demitri, Felicia, Pyron, and Jedah.
version of Darkstalkers, Morrigan is a brash 300-year-old succubus who wants nothing more than to visit the human world and have a good time, often at the expense of the men she seduces
, and completely ignores her duty as future ruler of the Makai Realm; this annoys her father, Belial, and gets her two servants, Lucien and Mudo into heaps of trouble. Eventually she hears of Demitri's restoration, and goes to her father to warn him, only to find that he is in no position to fight. For the first time, she takes on the responsibility that she has often put aside, and returns to the human world to fight Demitri, and prove herself worthy of the Makai Realm and the power that Belial sealed away many years ago. In the special Morrigan vs Demitri issue which only became widely available in the TBA of the six part comic book series, it is implied that had Belial not sealed away her power, Morrigan might have evolved into a being similar to Pyron and destroyed the Earth.
In the American Darkstalkers cartoon, Morrigan received a drastic change in character and was changed into a villain. Morrigan's character in the cartoon was a typical cartoon female villain (jealous, rude, power-hungry, and despises men). She was also stated to be a direct descendant of Morgan le Fay
, and not the daughter of Belial or a resident of the Makai. Her appearance was also drastically altered, making her much older and less revealing.
The Japanese-produced Night Warriors: Darkstalker's Revenge anime
featured Morrigan more like her game appearances, portraying her as a semi-innocent demon world inhabitant, a member of the royal family who was more interested in going to Earth than in her duties. The picture of idle rich, she would often leave at will out of mere boredom, much to the frustration of her guardians, elder men of the Aensland family. Her father, Belial, is not mentioned. Morrigan's role as a hero was a focus, with her activities as a succubus downplayed; although the OVA
depicts Donovan Baine as the main hero of the story, some say that Morrigan was also a little more stoic
and pretentious than her usually upbeat personality depicted in the games. She is also shown fighting Jon Talbain in the episode intros for the first three episodes. She battles Demitri Maximoff when he attempts to return to Makai but when they are sensed by the Huitzil's, their battle is interrupted. In the last episode, Morrigan goes to Earth after Demitri was bested by Pyron and she encounters him unconscious in the ruins of his castle. Demitri suddenly awakens and attempts to vampirise Morrigan, but she does not resist, much to Demitri's surprise. Morrigan tells Demitri that he may become the leader of Makai after all, since a change of leadership is needed to help its current disarray from falling into destruction. They both later observe Donovan's victory over Pyron.
's "Top 50 Chicks Behaving Badly List", describing her outfit as "one that would make even Jenna Jameson
blush." Play magazine featured her in their "Girls of Anime" issue, later bemoaning her absence in Capcom Fighting Evolution in volume 2 of their "Girls of Gaming" special. GameSpy
listed her at number three on in ther "Top 10 Babes in Games" article, calling her "Capcom's answer to Mai Shiranui
." GameDaily
included her in a list of "Ten Babes Who Should and 10 Babes Who Shouldn't Meet Your Mom", stating that she is not only nearly undressed almost all the time, but she also has wings that can be used as weapons.
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
from the Darkstalkers series of fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
s developed by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
. She is voiced by Yayoi Jinguji
Yayoi Jinguji
is a Japanese voice actress. She is recognized for her role in voicing Morrigan Aensland from Capcom's Vampire/Darkstalkers franchise. Jinguji currently works for Arts Vision.-External links:* - Yayoi Jinguji page on Arts Vision...
in many of her video game appearances, except in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It features Capcom's own characters and characters from American comic book company Marvel Comics. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel vs...
where she was voiced by Rie Tanaka
Rie Tanaka
is a singer and voice actress . Notable among her numerous roles are Lacus Clyne in Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny, Chii and Freya in Chobits, Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke in Strike Witches and Suigintou in the anime adaptation of Rozen Maiden.-Personal life:As a child, Tanaka took singing classes...
.
Morrigan is a succubus
Succubus
In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus...
who is very vain and lives for little more than the excitement of battle. She appears as a beautiful young woman with long, light-green hair, large breasts, a tight leather leotard with fur trim, purple sheer nylons with bat patterns, black knee-length boots, and bat-like wings on her back and on the sides of her head. Morrigan can reshape these wings into spikes and blades when attacking her enemies, as well as using them to shield herself from enemy attacks. Her wings can also separate from her, and form into a cloud of bats. She uses a variety of magical attacks as well.
While Demitri officially fills the role, it has often been suggested and implied that Morrigan is the main character of the Darkstalkers series, due to her importance in the overall story as well as her many appearances outside of her game series. She may even be considered a protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
ic anti-hero
Anti-hero
In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
, because despite her demonic appearance and nature, she is not evil.
Conception and design
Early in the development of Darkstalkers, the development team decided to have two female characters: a catwoman and a female vampire, characters who would become FeliciaFelicia (Darkstalkers)
is a fictional character in the Darkstalkers series of fighting game by Capcom She first appeared in the 1994 game Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors and its subsequent sequels, later appearing in other Capcom games outside of the Darkstalkers series and related media and merchandise.-Conception and...
and Morrigan, respectively. Initially, Felicia was intended to be the "sexy" female character of the title, while the vampire would be the "cute" female character. However, Morrigan's design took on a tone that emphasized sexiness, causing Felicia's character concept to be altered accordingly.
In video games
Morrigan is a succubusSuccubus
In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus...
and the adopted daughter of Belial
Belial in popular culture
The demon Belial, or characters named for him, have appeared in many examples of modern culture.-Literature:*In Philip K. Dick's The Divine Invasion, Belial is The Adversary, whose influence around Earth obfuscates reality and interferes with Yah's powers...
Aensland. When she was born, Morrigan was extremely powerful (an "S Class" according to some Japanese source books), so much so that Belial sealed away part of her power, one-third in himself to be returned upon his death, and one-third in a pocket dimension, which eventually became a being of its own, a succubus named Lilith. Unaware of Belial's action, Morrigan grew up and found her life in the Aensland castle dull, so she frequently visited the human world to look for entertainment.
On one occasion, Morrigan was drawn to a strange power (which would turn out to be the fire demon Pyron), and ventured into the human world once again. Upon her return, she was informed of Belial's death and that she was the next successor to the Aensland throne. Although she is now rightfully the ruler of the Makai, she shirks her responsibilities and seeks to continue her life as before. Morrigan eventually meets Lilith, and the two beings merge into one, fully restoring Morrigan's power.
Gameplay
Morrigan has moves based primarily on Ryu and Ken from Street FighterStreet Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...
. Morrigan's Darkness Illusion was the first super move to use the button press sequence that is now commonly associated with the Shun Goku Satsu. One of the many running jokes (and points of criticism) among fans is that she has had exactly the same sprite set as far as Capcom vs. SNK 2
Capcom vs. SNK 2
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001, known as Millionaire Fighting 2001 in Japan, is a sequel to the fighting game Capcom vs. SNK. This game was released on NAOMI hardware in the arcade...
(2001
2001 in video gaming
-Events:* Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts John Carmack of id Software to the AIAS Hall of Fame...
) as she did in the original Darkstalkers (1994). Her sprites looks especially out of place in the Capcom vs. SNK series as they gain a black outline in the borders. While not technically a sprite, she finally received an updated 3D rendered character model in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars.
Crossover games
Morrigan was the original Darkstalker to break out of her original fighting game series and be transplanted in to the Marvel vs. Capcom series. In the first Marvel vs. Capcom game, not only was Morrigan present, but an alternate "Lilith-style" Morrigan was a secret character. In her intro-sprite, Lilith appears and merges with her. This is a nod to when the two merged in Morrigan's ending in Vampire Savior, and thus, shows Morrigan's maximum power. In Marvel vs. Capcom 2, she is joined by fellow Darkstalkers Anakaris, B.B. Hood, and FeliciaFelicia (Darkstalkers)
is a fictional character in the Darkstalkers series of fighting game by Capcom She first appeared in the 1994 game Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors and its subsequent sequels, later appearing in other Capcom games outside of the Darkstalkers series and related media and merchandise.-Conception and...
.
Morrigan acts as the sole representative of the Darkstalkers series in the Capcom vs. SNK games, making appearances in both Capcom vs. SNK
Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
is a head-to-head fighting game produced by Capcom originally released as a coin-operated arcade game for Segas NAOMI hardware and later ported to the Dreamcast...
and its sequel
Capcom vs. SNK 2
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001, known as Millionaire Fighting 2001 in Japan, is a sequel to the fighting game Capcom vs. SNK. This game was released on NAOMI hardware in the arcade...
. Morrigan represented the series along with Felicia and B.B. Hood in SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium
SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium
is a fighting game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. It features a total of 26 characters from SNK and Capcom, eight of which are hidden. Play options includes 2-fighter tag teams, 3-fighter queue teams, and of course, one-on-one...
for the Neo Geo Pocket Color
Neo Geo Pocket Color
The Neo Geo Pocket Color , is a 16-bit colour handheld game console by SNK. It was the last console they produced in the Neo Geo family...
. Morrigan would resume being the Darkstalkers representative for fighting crossovers with Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It features Capcom's own characters and characters from American comic book company Marvel Comics. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel vs...
, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It is an updated version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. After the events of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disrupted the development schedule for downloadable content for the original game, the additional content was made into a...
. Morrigan has also represented Darkstalkers in non-fighting roles, appearing in the Namco collaboration-RPG Namco x Capcom
Namco x Capcom
is an action RPG/tactical RPG hybrid game for the PlayStation 2 console, developed by Monolith Soft and featuring characters from games produced by companies Namco and Capcom.- Storyline :...
and the multi-company crossover tactical role-playing game Cross Edge
Cross Edge
, is a role-playing video game for the PlayStation 3. The game was developed by Idea Factory with characters from games by Capcom, Nippon Ichi Software, Namco Bandai and Gust Corporation...
, in both cases appearing with other Darkstalkers personalities. With all of her appearances in Capcom crossover projects, Morrigan is the single most common Darkstalkers cast member to appear outside of the origin series.
However, Morrigan doesn't always appear in every Capcom Versus' crossover games. The only games Morrigan was not present are SNK's SVC Chaos, who was replaced by Demitri Maximoff and Capcom Fighting Jam
Capcom Fighting Jam
, released in North America as Capcom Fighting Evolution, is a head-to-head fighting game from Capcom. It was originally released as a coin-operated arcade game for the Namco System 246 hardware and ported to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox...
, which featured Anakaris, Demitri, Felicia, Pyron, and Jedah.
In other media
In the UDON ComicsUDON
UDON Entertainment Corporation is a studio of Asian-influenced comic book creators that provides creative services to the entertainment industry. The company is a publisher of comic books, graphic novels, and art books, as well as English editions of Japanese manga and Korean manhwa titles. Erik...
version of Darkstalkers, Morrigan is a brash 300-year-old succubus who wants nothing more than to visit the human world and have a good time, often at the expense of the men she seduces
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
, and completely ignores her duty as future ruler of the Makai Realm; this annoys her father, Belial, and gets her two servants, Lucien and Mudo into heaps of trouble. Eventually she hears of Demitri's restoration, and goes to her father to warn him, only to find that he is in no position to fight. For the first time, she takes on the responsibility that she has often put aside, and returns to the human world to fight Demitri, and prove herself worthy of the Makai Realm and the power that Belial sealed away many years ago. In the special Morrigan vs Demitri issue which only became widely available in the TBA of the six part comic book series, it is implied that had Belial not sealed away her power, Morrigan might have evolved into a being similar to Pyron and destroyed the Earth.
In the American Darkstalkers cartoon, Morrigan received a drastic change in character and was changed into a villain. Morrigan's character in the cartoon was a typical cartoon female villain (jealous, rude, power-hungry, and despises men). She was also stated to be a direct descendant of Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay , alternatively known as Morgane, Morgaine, Morgana and other variants, is a powerful sorceress in the Arthurian legend. Early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay or magician...
, and not the daughter of Belial or a resident of the Makai. Her appearance was also drastically altered, making her much older and less revealing.
The Japanese-produced Night Warriors: Darkstalker's Revenge anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
featured Morrigan more like her game appearances, portraying her as a semi-innocent demon world inhabitant, a member of the royal family who was more interested in going to Earth than in her duties. The picture of idle rich, she would often leave at will out of mere boredom, much to the frustration of her guardians, elder men of the Aensland family. Her father, Belial, is not mentioned. Morrigan's role as a hero was a focus, with her activities as a succubus downplayed; although the OVA
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
depicts Donovan Baine as the main hero of the story, some say that Morrigan was also a little more stoic
STOIC
STOIC was a variant of Forth.It started out at the MIT and Harvard Biomedical Engineering Centre in Boston, and was written in the mid 1970s by Jonathan Sachs...
and pretentious than her usually upbeat personality depicted in the games. She is also shown fighting Jon Talbain in the episode intros for the first three episodes. She battles Demitri Maximoff when he attempts to return to Makai but when they are sensed by the Huitzil's, their battle is interrupted. In the last episode, Morrigan goes to Earth after Demitri was bested by Pyron and she encounters him unconscious in the ruins of his castle. Demitri suddenly awakens and attempts to vampirise Morrigan, but she does not resist, much to Demitri's surprise. Morrigan tells Demitri that he may become the leader of Makai after all, since a change of leadership is needed to help its current disarray from falling into destruction. They both later observe Donovan's victory over Pyron.
Critical reception
In 1998, Morrigan was named the 17th best character of 1997 by Gamest magazine. Sega Saturn Magazine praised both her design and abilities in the series, stating "the she-vampire is awesome". The book 500 Essential Anime Movies: The Ultimate Guide cited her as an example of the popularity of the Darkstalkers character designs, with fans frequently cosplaying as the character at various conventions since the original game's release. UGO.com ranked Morrigan at number eleven in the "Top 50 Videogame Hotties" article, stating a preference for her appearance and attire. In a later article covering the "Top 11 Girls of Gaming", they described her as "an anatomic wonder" and iconic, adding "her appearances across the Capcom fighting franchises prove that the company has an excellent eye for the female form." She ranked number 43rd on IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's "Top 50 Chicks Behaving Badly List", describing her outfit as "one that would make even Jenna Jameson
Jenna Jameson
Jenna Jameson is an American entrepreneur and former pornographic actress, who has been called the world's most famous adult-entertainment performer and "The Queen of Porn."...
blush." Play magazine featured her in their "Girls of Anime" issue, later bemoaning her absence in Capcom Fighting Evolution in volume 2 of their "Girls of Gaming" special. GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
listed her at number three on in ther "Top 10 Babes in Games" article, calling her "Capcom's answer to Mai Shiranui
Mai Shiranui
is a player character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting games by SNK and in related media, also appearing in a large number of other games...
." GameDaily
GameDaily
GameDaily was a video game journalism website based in the United States. Launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads, The site changed its business model from a flat fee per download CDN distributed service network to an...
included her in a list of "Ten Babes Who Should and 10 Babes Who Shouldn't Meet Your Mom", stating that she is not only nearly undressed almost all the time, but she also has wings that can be used as weapons.