Tira

Story

The Bird of Passage was a European group of assassins known for their exceptional cruelty. One of their members, Tira, was born and raised to be a killer. Tira was on a mission when the Evil Seed event took place and drove her group's leader insane, forcing others to scatter, leaving young Tira lost and alone. Fortunately, some strangers took her into their family. This peace was short-lasting. Due to Tira's unstable personality, she flew into a rage over mundane things and ended up murdering her entire adoptive family. This incident shook Tira's mental state, shattering her personality in two. Over time they came up with names for each other. The euphoric half became known as Jolly, and the dark one was Gloomy.

Without a specific goal in mind, Tira set out on a path of bloodshed, claiming one life after another. Jolly was incredibly sadistic and set up complicated ambushes to trap and torture her victims, enjoying every second of their anguish and suffering. This style of murder was much despised by Gloomy, who preferred straightforward slaughter and often looked for ripe killing grounds. The two personalities continually bickered with each other until finding a common enemy. Tira's trail of blood attracted the attention of the Bird of Passage, and one of their agents approached her with a request. Angered Tira, she defeats the agent. Jolly proclaims that she only cares for murder, but the sudden call for help piques Gloomy's attention. Upon interrogating the agent, they learn of Nightmare, the evil warrior harvesting souls and causing mayhem wherever he goes. 

After witnessing carnage left by Nightmare first-hand, Tira is inspired to go after him and meet a kindred soul, or perhaps someone to aspire to? After beating another agent of the Bird of Passage, she discovers the location of Nightmare's castle and immediately travels there. Unexpectedly, in Azure Knight's absence, she is met by Zasalamel, who promises to share what he knows about Nightmare if he deems Tira worthy. She beats him in a fight, and Zasalamel reveals that Nightmare is nothing more than a puppet of Soul Edge. The cursed sword corrupts the mind of any who wields it, forcing them to engage in constant bloodshed. Jolly and Gloomy are suddenly ignited with passion, setting out on a new path to discover and acquire the Soul Edge.

Personality

Possessing a split personality, Tira tends to switch between two significantly different, albeit similarly bloodthirsty and cruel, states. When Jolly, she's a cheerful maniac, relishing in her victim's suffering and constantly planning her subsequent extravagant murder. When Gloomy, Tira doesn't spare too many words and cares not for aberrant torture metho. She simply seeks another battlefield to quench the desire for blood and murder. Due to the clash of personalities, they often argue about their methods, only united by mutual bloodlust.

Playstyle

Tira is an eccentric character with a versatile toolkit and complex game plan. Her main gameplay quirk comes from the unique state mechanic. Tira can either be in Jolly State or Gloomy state and after a certain number of state changes, she can achieve the ultimate Gloomy Coda state that makes her one of the strongest characters in the game. The states have various pros and cons associated with them on top of outright different moves. For example, the Jolly state has better movement and good strings, while the Gloomy state is more damaging and can lead to more substantial whiff punishment. Tira has a fantastic variety to her playstyle with the two of them, allowing players to adapt to any situation and express themselves.

While her strengths lie in her states, her weaknesses also come from them. On top of moves that alter her state, Tira has a random chance of switching between Jolly and Gloomy. This can cause unfortunate situations that force Tira players to lose out on some damage or other advantages. Her lows are not especially threatening, and her Gloomy state is a double-edged sword due to the health drain from attacks. Her range is also somewhat lackluster, making fights against characters with good zoning and keep-out moves quite challenging.

Appearance

Tira is a young girl with black and teal short hair tied in a crown braid that ends in upward ponytails. Over her face and body, she has several streaks of purple bodypaint. Tira wears a short black rugged cape with a green feather collar, black and green sleeves, golden gauntlets, green and purple torn crop-top, rugged mini-skirt, torn black tights, and black boots with a green feather top. Her cape and boots also feature a prominent skeletal motif, both having designs that resemble a spinal cord and a bird skull.