Slayer (Guilty Gear)

Slayer is a character from Guilty Gear series, he makes his debut in Guilty Gear XX as one of the playable characters of the game.

Background
Slayer founded the Assassin's Guild, but disappeared shortly thereafter. His original intentions, like many notable founders of Assassin's Guilds in fiction, were altruistic. Unfortunately, he finds, upon returning, that his syndicate is far from his original idealistic view of it, and decides to dismantle it. He seems to be connected to Gabriel in some significant way, and seems to know quite a lot about various political affairs, most notably the Post-War Administration Bureau (P.W.A.B). Slayer is married, his wife a woman named Sharon. They appear to have a good relationship, as she appears by his side in several of his poses, as well as his endings. She also seems to be a source of blood for Slayer.

Slayer is also a descendant of Nosferatu. With his unyielding attacks and special vampire abilities, he makes mincemeat of his opponents in minutes. When his old organization now in chaos as a result of Zato-1's absence, Slayer emerges from retirement to "tidy" things up.

Night of Knives Drama CDs
Slayer first appears at the party where Millia Rage and Zato arrive on a mission to assassinate the General, who is resting upstairs at the Venue. After Zato leaves Millia alone to mingle and discuss logistics with Venom, Slayer approaches her, and the two begin to lightly converse. Slayer invites Millia out onto the balcony to enjoy the beauty of the night sky, to which she gladly agrees. The two continue to talk, with Slayer making a few accurate reads concerning Millia's current predicament, causing her to note he is very perceptive. The two then toast to the night sky, per Slayer's request. He then comments that he takes great pleasure in observing the wonders of human life, including the eyes of a woman like her. She is flattered but unsure how to react. Slayer goes on to note that her eyes are young, and as she no doubt knows, the young must fight and struggle, and that even though her eyes have lost life, they still possess a radiant beauty. She comments that she is not interested in life, only death, a comment which Slayer finds quite curious and a bit morbid. He assures her that she will find significance and meaning her life, before taking his leave to dance with Sharon.

After Millia succeeds in assassinating the General, Slayer again shows up. She attempts to fight against him, but Slayer succeeds in rendering her unable to fight before commencing to ask her questions out of concern as her Elder. He asks her if she is aware the man she just killed was a good man, and then quotes a bit of pre-text from the original Assassin's Code, outlining its former purpose: To maintain order by taking care of corrupt leaders in the interest of preserving a good social order. She dismisses it as silly, saying that the purpose of the order now is profit and survival. Slayer declares that such an organization which kills only for money and causes pain and sorrow to its own members does not have the right to exist, before leaving her with the question "Are you truly happy with being a murderer?" This question begins to maurinate within her. Millia is then captured by Leon.

Slayer appears again at the Assassin's Guild head-quarters, where he delivers the news that the Elder founders are not happy with the direction Zato has taken the Guild, and Slayer makes a few rare personal comments on the matter, finding their choice of target and their shady practices "cowardly", and far removed from his original vision for the organization. Zato engages Slayer, but is thoroughly crushed, and Slayer taunts Zato by asking him if he fights for anything important, like Millia. Slayer then leaves, and Zato blacks out.

Slayer then appears and speaks to Millia in her cell, proclaiming that he is concerned for her future. Millia is unsure how to feel about this strange man, as he continues to explain his various concerns to her. He takes out a dagger, an Outrage powerful enough to cut even her hair, and offers to free Millia if it is what she wishes for herself. Millia thinks about the consequences of freedom compared to death, and this time she chooses life, declaring that her fight is not over. Slayer warns her the dangers of continuing to use a forbidden power to fight, and of being thrust back into the world which was cruel to her. Millia says that this time it will be different, the way she lives will be her decision, a critical point in her own personal journey towards freedom from her life as an assassin, and her feelings towards Zato. Slayer cuts the hair binding her to her chains, praises her and encourages her to stand alone, defiant against any difficulties she might face. As she departs, she addresses Slayer as “Fuuga ri na Dandy”/“Dandy Elegance”, a sign of respect for the help he has given her.

Guilty Gear XX: The Midnight Carnival
Slayer's Story Mode begins with a visit to Ky Kiske, claiming that it is "customary for the king of the night to ask for permission from the protector of the day before venturing into the sunlight". He has the apparent motive of either observing the cast, or warning them of being targeted by the P.W.A.B. He has three endings: in one, he defeats Eddie, who wanted to possess Sharon. In the second, he faces Venom, and explains that his victory was because of hesitation in Venom's heart. In the third, he defeats I-No, and has a brief conversation with That Man about current events.

Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core Plus
He appears to be returning to retirement, stating he has spent enough time in this world, and would like to leave it to the younger people. He acknowledged that he is becoming sentimental, as he finds it somewhat difficult to leave the world behind, even though he believes he no longer has a place within it. He is shown talking with his wife Sharon after returning to his own World.

Another ending, however, has him meet Baiken and, reinvigorated by the current generation of fighters, starts a gentleman's fight club alongside Baiken as they spring an attack on the P.W.A.B.

Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-
Slayer enjoys his retirement until a being from the Backyard showed up and declared war. With this, he feels uneasy.

While on the mission, he's one of the three Assassin's Guild members (save for Zato-1) who was ambushed by Bedman. Although he managed to survive with an injury he had from Bedman and warns Chipp, the Jellyfish Pirates and Faust how dangerous Bedman is like he did to Venom and Millia, as Faust got knocked out by Bedman with a single attack. Chipp buys the others some time by holding off Bedman, while Johnny and the other Jellyfish Pirates takes the unconscious Faust, Venom and Millia away from Bedman before he reached the May Ship.

Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-
Reconvening at Slayer's destroyed mansion, The Assassins decide that they will avenge their loss and take measures to defeat Bedman. Slayer personally denies Zato-1's information behind the "trick" of Bedman's abilities as his pride won't allow him to take advantage of it, as he feels ashamed for being taken off-guard by Bedman's power.

Guilty Gear Appearances
Guilty Gear X-3

Slayer is one of the veteran characters who returns in this installement.

Guilty Gear Warriors

He is one of the characters of the game.

Crossover Appearances
GearBlaze: Birth of the Calamity Carnival

Slayer is one of the characters from Guilty Gear side.

Trivia

 * Unlike other characters in-game, Slayer is not knocked out if he loses. Instead, he simply lays down, looking annoyed. Other characters from many of the Arc's fighting games follow this trend. Such as Rachel Alucard from the BlazBlue series (another vampire) & Elizabeth from the Persona series in Persona 4: Arena.
 * Additionally, during Dizzy's Instant Kill in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, Slayer seems to brush off Dizzy's astronomically destructive power. He responds by shrugging, while every other character reacts with terror or shocked awe.
 * As one of the "unarmed" characters in the series, Slayer's Slash and H-Slash attacks produce stronger punches and kicks.
 * It is unknown where and how Slayer managed to acquire his Sacred Treasure, its name, nor what capabilities it has other than slicing through Millia's Angra with ease. It is also unclear if Sol is aware of it being in Slayer's possession.
 * In Guilty Gear Xrd, it is revealed in Slayer's diary that he gave Frederick the name "Sol".