Relationships (Further) - Kilik

Kilik is quite easily the most important figure with 'good' alignment in Maxi's story. Over SC1 and SC2 Xianghua and Kilik occupied his profile equally, but come SC3 Kilik has come out as the most important of the two. In Maxi's SC3 biography a little incident occurs:

Cold sweat poured from his entire body, and he began shuddering in fear. He felt like he was about to let go of his own will. A certain figure flashed though his mind. There was someone who had lost himself, and then turned to darkness when he had lost everything. Maxi remembered the suffering figure of the man, after the man had returned to his senses. But now, Maxi couldn't remember who it was. It wasn't someone from his family, but it was definitely someone important to him...

That suffering figure is none other than Kilik! Maxi clearly loves Kilik very much - he considers him to be like family, like a brother. Out of all the memories he recovers, it is one of Kilik that comes to mind. Namco emphasise this by putting Kilik, but not Xianghua, in Maxi's 'correct input' ending.

In a way, I think this has much to do with Maxi coping with the loss of his sworn brother Kyam. Kyam is dead, having been killed by Astaroth. Maxi seeks revenge on Astaroth, but in a way he also seeks another man to be like a brother to him. Kilik has come to fill those shoes, and although Maxi doesn't remember him properly yet he will, and he when he does he'll stick by his side. Kilik might be fully capable of taking care of himself, but having lost one brother Maxi will do everything he can not to lose another. Personally, I think that by the time Soul Calibur ends they'll become sworn brothers (Kilik himself having lost a sworn sibling before).

In a purely symbolic manner, Kilik also represents the good side of Maxi. In one Tales of Souls path Kilik's purifying arts keep Maxi from either dying or losing his mind, and in Maxi's ending it is Kilik that has the ability to free Maxi from Soul Edge's grip. Whereas Astaroth influences Maxi's darker emotions, Kilik promotes the good ones. So, hooray for Kilik! ^_^