Axl Low

Axl Low is a character in the Guilty Gear fighting game series, making his first appearance in the first game, Guilty Gear: The Missing Link, though his story and character change and develop more dramatically in the later games. He employs a strangely modified Kusarigama, which, instead of a weight at the end, has another Sickle, and a thus-far unexplained control over fire. His personality can be described as laid-back or lighthearted, and despite his consistent failure to solve his problem, he always keeps a fairly upbeat additude.

Gameplay

Axl boasts a large variety of moves, including ranged attacks, aerial attacks, confusion-based tactics, counter-attack stances, a long-ranged command throw, and dragon punches. This makes him the ideal character for switching strategies on a dime. Use of Roman Cancels can produce devastating aerial loops and, of course, more confusion. Creative use of his main overdrive "Byakuerenshou," having several invincibility frames, can break most combos without wasting a Psych Burst if used correctly.

Story

Background

Axl is a bit of an involuntary Time Traveller, and actually comes from the 20th century, over one hundred and fifty years before most of the Guilty Gear story takes place. His main goal seems to be to return to his own time period, mainly because of his desire to return to his girlfriend, Megumi. For this reason, he seeks out various ways to do so, and is continually attempting to solve the mystery of why it is that he "slips" through time in the first place.

Guilty Gear: The Missing Link

Axl enters the Sacred Knights Tournament in hopes of finding a way to get back to his own era. He was apparently led to believe that the winner of the tournament could have a wish granted them. In his ending, he defeats Justice and is hailed as a hero. This is unlikely to be canon, and Sol Badguy's ending is more likely. He also declares that he will stop actively looking for a way to get home.

Guilty Gear X: By Your Side

In the second game, Axl is wandering about, looking for Faust, in hopes of being cured by a doctor of such skill. He encounters various people on the way, and fights them, chalking it all up to bad luck. Then he meets up with Sol Badguy. After this, the path splits. In one ending, Axl fights Kliff Undersn and Justice, and then realizes that he's been once again thrown back in time. In the other (more likely) ending, he battles Faust, and then is diagnosed with involuntary timeslipping. Faust blames this on there being an alternate version of Axl in existence.

Guilty Gear XX: The Midnight Carnival

Through story mode, Axl meets up with I-No, among other people, while wandering about. As is the case with many other characters, I-No is the catalyst that causes the events that follow. In one of his three endings, he ends up fighting a future version of himself. In another, it is implied that S-Ko, the foremost spirit posessing Zappa, is actually Megumi. This is not official, but S-Ko is allegedly the spirit of a woman whose boyfriend left her, and the ending in question leaves Axl fighting Zappa, and then wondering how Megumi is doing, possibly reminded of her by S-Ko's appearance. In the third (most likely) ending, he meets up with "That Man" and finds out from him that Raven is the cause of his timeslipping, and it is implied that Raven is the alternate version of Axl that was diagnosed by Faust. This allegedly has something to do with actions performed by Axl later on. Perhaps more light will be shed on this in later games.

Connections

Axl seems to have some sort of story connection with I-No, as he consistently claims to recognize her. He also seems to know Sol quite well, and vice versa. He apparently has a photograph of Sol as a child, and talks to him like an old friend. Given Sol's age and Axl's time travelling, this is more plausible than one would think.

Music References

Axl is clearly modeled (and named) after Axl Rose, frontman for Guns 'n' Roses. Other than that, there are no music references yet discovered.

Trivia

While Axl's shirt resembles the Union Jack, it is not, in fact, an image of the British Flag.