Necrid

Necrid
Soul character
Necrid from Soulcalibur II, artwork by Takuji Kawano.
First game	Soulcalibur II
Designed by	Todd McFarlane
Fictional profile
Fighting style	Original Style
Weapon	Maleficus (Enigma)

Necrid (ネクリッド, Nekuriddo^?) is a playable character in the Soul series of weapon-based fighting games. Designed by comic book artist and toy designer Todd McFarlane through a collaboration with Namco, the character appeared in console ports of Soulcalibur II and later as part of an action figure set created by McFarlane Productions. Though designed and named by McFarlane, Necrid's concept and physical build were outlined by Namco, who aimed to target North American audiences with the character. Necrid's spoken lines in the game are unintelligible, and no voice actor has been credited.

According to the game's back-story, Necrid was once a human warrior. He sought and found the cursed sword Soul Edge, only to be pulled into the dimension that the sword's spirit inhabits. Escaping the dimension with his body drastically mutated, his memories and sanity initially lost, he now wields various forms of energy as weapons, while searching for fragments of the shattered Soul Edge that soothe the pain caused by his separation from the dimension's energies.

The character has received a divisive response. While some sources criticized the character's design for clashing with the game's aesthetic, some others praised the visual appeal of the character when in motion. Some have called Necrid one of the best characters introduced to the series; others deem him one of the worst.

Series producer Hiroaki Yotoriyama learned that comics creator Todd McFarlane was a fan of the Soul series and that McFarlane had praised their characters' designs. In 2003, McFarlane was interested in creating a new video game based on the Spawn comic book franchise; his search for a developer resulted in a deal with Soul publisher Namco. When the topic of toys arose in discussions, McFarlane and Namco reached an agreement to release a line of action figures based on Soulcalibur II characters. Afterward, Namco proposed that their company design a new character for video game console ports of the game, an idea that McFarlane accepted because he considered it an opportunity to create a toy based on Necrid's finished design.