Morrigan Aensland

Morrigan Aensland (モリガン・アーンスランド) is a fictional character and the female protagonist in Capcom's Darkstalkers series. Having debuted in 1994's Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, she has since appeared in every game in the series and in various related media and merchandise, as well as in multiple video games outside the Darkstalkers line, including most entries in both Marvel vs. Capcom and SNK vs. Capcom.

Morrigan is a succubus and a powerful princess (later queen) of the demon realm Makai, who is very vain and lives for little more than the excitement of battle, but slowly begins to take her royal responsibilities more seriously despite her obsessive fascination with the human world. She has a sister-like split part named Lilith and a rival named Demitri Maximoff, and her moveset is reminiscent of Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter.

Concept and creation
Early in the development of Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, Capcom had decided to include two female characters: a cute female vampire and a catgirl with massive breasts, the latter of which was originally intended to be the game's "sex appeal". According to story planner Haruo Murata, the former was planned to be the female figurehead of the game, similar to Chun-Li for Street Fighter II. Akira "Akiman" Yasuda oversaw the development process, and expected a character similar to the comic book character Vampirella. During the design process, Capcom producer Alex Jimenez suggested they instead make her a succubus, as the game already had a male vampire planned. As a result the characters' roles shifted, with the catgirl Felicia becoming a cute character to offset the game's darker tones, while the succubus Morrigan became the game's sex symbol.

Her finalized appearance came from Hiroshi Shibata, a member of the game's Objects team. Morrigan is a woman with long green hair and bangs, and wears a black leotard that cups her breasts with a heart-shaped cutout beneath her cleavage. The upper straps of the leotard are lowered around her shoulders, with a white feather trip extending around her shoulders and cleavage. Her legs are covered by tan tights with a bat pattern on them, while matching sleeves extend from the leotard straps to her middle finger, and black high heel boots cover her feet. Two large bat wings extend from her lower back, while a secondary smaller set extends from the sides of her head. In an early version of her design a white skull decal was intended to cover the crotch of the leotard, but was later removed. She stands 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) tall, and has measurements of 86–56–83 cm (34-22-33 in).

Her initial standing sprite and several basic poses were designed by Yasuda, while the remainder of the animations were developed by a team member known as "Mori". According to Yasuda, Mori was so impressed by her standing pose he paid a lot of attention to detail when animating the character, particularly giving her fingers movement during it. For her attacks and several of her movements, her wings were made to be a collection of shapeshifting bats that could form blades, drills and other items such as jetpacks to give her increased range and mobility. Her facial expressions when hit meanwhile were made more comical and less refined, something the development team felt suited the atmosphere of the Darkstalkers games. Meanwhile, her character portrays were designed by freelance illustrator Bengus, who added bags under her eyes to give her a more "Gothic" aesthetic. Though the development team was hesitant regarding this detail, Yasuda heavily praised it as exactly what he had been looking for with her design.

The name Morrigan was also suggested by Jimenez, who felt it would fit nobility. Elements such as her rivalry with fellow character Demitri Maximoff were conceived when Gamest magazine asked for additional details about the characters and their backstory after the release of the first game. Meanwhile, her home location was placed in Scotland to tie into the ancestry behind her character's name. According to Murata, he felt Morrigan did a great job "playing out the seductive succubus role", while Yasuda expressed he was pleased with the results as it provided Capcom with a character they could use again and again in other titles.

Morrigan's character has been voiced in most games by Yayoi Jinguji until 2011, when the role was taken over by Rie Tanaka. Morrigan's English voice was provided by Erin Fitzgerald for Cross Edge and by Siobhan Flynn for the Marvel vs. Capcom series. In most of her appearance, Morrigan has had exactly the same 2D sprite set as far as Capcom vs. SNK 2 (2001) as she did in the original Darkstalkers game (1994). As such, Morrigan was featured in Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition as "Most reused character sprite in a fighting game" for her 10 appearances between 1994 and 2001. Her sprites look especially poor and out of place in the Capcom vs. SNK where they got visibly pixelated and gained a black outline. She received an updated character model in 2008's Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, which was the first game in which she was featured as a 3D polygonal model. Morrigan and Felicia were two particularly hard characters to implement in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 due to their constantly changing forms. An altogether different super deformed style design sprite is used in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo and Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix, in the latter of which she has an alternative nurse costume. In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Femme Fatale Pack, which has been also available for free with pre-order from GameStop, Morrigan received a DLC "casual outfit" costume based on her human form from the Darkstalkers games and the anime series. Morrigan has several additional alternative costumes in Cross Edge. In Onimusha Soul, she was redesigned to fit its feudal Japan theme.

Darkstalkers games
In the Darkstalkers series, Morrigan is a succubus and the adopted daughter of the demon king Belial of the Aensland House, one of the three major houses of Makai (魔界, lit. "Demon World"), who prophesied her birth in Scotland in the year 1678. Belial also foresaw the dangers of the incredible power residing in Morrigan. If she could not properly control her power, it would consume her body and the world would suffer catastrophic damage. To prevent this event from unfolding, Belial sealed two thirds of her soul away until she was able to endure her full power. One third was sealed within himself, to return to Morrigan upon his death; the other one third was sealed within a pocket dimension that eventually became a being of its own, named Lilith. Unaware of Belial's action, Morrigan grew up, tended after by two lesser demons named Lucien and Mudo. She found her life as a sheltered princess in the Aensland castle dull, so she frequently visited the human world to look for entertainment, tempting humans regardless of their sex and fighting for her own pleasure. She is capable of crossing into the human dimension without the use of the gates but simply relying on her own translocation ability.

Centuries later, during the events of Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (Vampire) and Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge (Vampire Hunter), Morrigan is drawn to a strange immense power (which would turn out to be the alien fire demon Pyron) and ventures into the human world once again. Morrigan finds and challenges Pyron to battle, but is defeated, as he turns out to be too strong for her to beat. Instead, victory goes to the banished vampire lord Demitri Maximoff, her father's sworn enemy, who absorbs Pyron's power. Sixteen years later, Belial passes away and Morrigan is informed she is the successor to the Aensland throne to rule for next 1,200 years. Although she becomes rightfully the ruler of Makai as Queen of the Night, Morrigan still shirks her responsibilities and seeks to continue her hedonistic and thrill-seeking life as before. Meanwhile, Demitri has returned to Makai shortly after learning of Belial's death and challenges Morrigan for the right to rule the demon realm. Morrigan gradually accepted the insistent vampire's demand prior to the events of Darkstalkers 3 (Vampire Savior), with Jedah Dohma appearing after his century-long nap and creating the Majigen which sucked Morrigan and her castle into it. Jedah freed Lilith, who is compelled to find Morrigan, eventually merging back into her as depicted in both their endings.

Other games
Morrigan was the first Darkstalkers character to break-out of the original fighting game series and cross over into the Marvel vs. Capcom series. In Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (1998, remade as Marvel vs. Capcom Origins in 2012), not only was Morrigan present, but an alternate "Lilith-style" Morrigan was a secret character; in her intro cutscene, Lilith appears and merges with her in a nod to when the two merged in Morrigan's ending in Vampire Savior. In Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), she is joined by fellow Darkstalkers characters Anakaris, B.B. Hood and Felicia. She was later accompanied by Felicia and Hsien-Ko for Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011) and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011) and by Jedah in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (2017); in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Morrigan's rival is Iron Man. She is the playable sole representative in Tatsunoko Production universe crossovers Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes (2008) and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (2010). Morrigan also acts as the sole playable representative of the Darkstalkers series in the SNK vs. Capcom series' entries Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 and Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001; she was joined by Felicia and B.B. Hood for SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium (1999).

Morrigan has also represented Darkstalkers in non-fighting games, appearing in the crossover tactical role-playing game Namco × Capcom (2005) and the multi-company crossover tactical role-playing games Cross Edge (2008), Project X Zone (2012), and Project X Zone 2 (2015), in all cases appearing with other Darkstalkers personalities, as well as in puzzle games Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (1996), Street Fighter Puzzle Spirits (2015), and Puzzle Fighter (2017), in a fighting game Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix / Pocket Fighter (1997), in card games SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash (1999) and Street Fighter × All Capcom (2013), in a mobile game Street Fighter Battle Combination (2015), and in a browser-based social card game Onimusha Soul (2014). With all of her appearances in Capcom crossover projects, Morrigan is the single most common Darkstalkers cast member to appear outside of the origin series.

Morrigan is a playable guest character in the Sega Dreamcast port of Psikyo's shoot 'em up game Gunbird 2 (2000), in the North American version of We Love Golf! (2008), and in the Japanese version of action role-playing video game Monster Hunter Frontier (2011). Furthermore, she has her own mobile game, titled Osanpo Morrigan (お散歩モリガン), and made cameo appearances in games such as Street Fighter Alpha 2, Capcom Fighting Evolution, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game. Her collaboration guest appearances in mobile social games have included Samurai Kingdom and The Knights of Avalon among others, and her costume can be worn by Chun-Li in Street Fighter V and by Frank West in action-adventure game Dead Rising 4.

Gameplay
Morrigan's "Soul Fist" special move (a giant flaming skull projectile) is very similar to the iconic "Hadouken" fireball from Street Fighter. She is noted to be easy to use and her "Valkyrie Turn" is an especially damaging special move, but is difficult to connect. Her other specials include "Shadow Blade", "Vector Drain", "Shell Kick", "Vernier Dash", "Soul Eraser" and "Darkness Illusion".

Sega Saturn Magazine wrote about Morrigan in Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge: "Those thinking that Demitri was the Ryu of the [game] should consider Morrigan to be distinctly Ken-like, as she imitates [his] Dragon Punch expertly ... Easy to use, and with a Valkyrie Turn that'll inflict more damage than you thought possible (despite being difficult to connect), Morrigan remains a firm Saturn Mag favourite, not least because of her costume change cheat [code]." MAXIMUM opined Morrigan is "a particularly flexible character" whose "speed and power will often overcome the toughest of enemies. That coupled with a special attack that inflicts up to 17 hits on its own makes her a powerful adversary." According to the Sega Saturn Magazine guide to Darkstalkers 3, her "Dragon Punch ripoffs and fast fireballs put her in the Ryu clone corner, but her flight powers, speed and strength make Morrigan the equal of [the game's boss] Jedah. More powerful than her sister and faster than Demitri, this she-vampire is awesome."

EGM2 called Morrigan in Pocket Fighter a "well-balanced character," having good Supers with "a lot of hits" and "decent" flash combos. Spanish edition of Official Dreamcast Magazine opined Morrigan in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is "skillful and strong, but doesn't stand out in any way. The Soul Eraser is her best attack, although the rest of Hyper Combos are not bad." In the original Marvel vs. Capcom, Morrigan calls upon Lilith to perform her Hyper Combo "Silhouette Blade". In Marvel vs. Capcom 3, this is replaced by "Shadow Servant", where Morrigan a split version of Morrigan copies all of the attacks of the original one. She also summons Lilith for her Marvel vs. Capcom Hyper Combo "Eternal Slumber" wherein Morrigan seduces her opponent behind a stage curtain.

Other media
The 1997 anime OVA series Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge features Morrigan like her game appearances, portraying her as an idle rich member of a royal family who is more interested in going to Earth than in her duties. She often leaves at will out of mere boredom, much to the frustration of her guardians, elder men of the Aensland family. Her father, Belial, is not mentioned. Princess Morrigan is shown fighting the werewolf Jon Talbain in the opening of the first three episodes. She seeks to battle the vampire lord Demitri Maximoff when he attempts to return to Makai, but their duel with erotic undertones is interrupted when they are sensed by Huitzil. In the final episode, Morrigan goes to Earth after Demitri was bested by Pyron and she encounters him unconscious in the ruins of his castle. Demitri suddenly awakens and attempts to vampirise Morrigan, but she does not resist, much to his surprise. Morrigan tells Demitri that he may become the leader of Makai after all, since a change of leadership is needed to help its current disarray from falling into destruction. They both later observe Donovan's victory over Pyron. The anime's Morrigan was voiced by Rei Sakuma and dubbed into English by Kathleen Barr.

In the UDON Comics series Darkstalkers, Morrigan is portrayed as a malevolent, evil and amoral succubus unlike the games, who wants nothing more than to visit the human world to eat human souls and dreams, and completely ignores her duty as future ruler of the Makai Realm. Morrigan's attitude annoys her father Belial and gets her two servants, Lucien and Mudo, into trouble. Eventually she hears of Demitri's restoration, and goes to her father to warn him, only to find that he is about to die. She takes on the responsibility that she has often put aside and returns to the human world to fight Demitri, and prove herself worthy of the Makai Realm and the power that Belial sealed away many years ago. In the special issue Morrigan vs Demitri, it is implied that had Belial not sealed away her power, Morrigan might have evolved into a being similar to Pyron and destroyed the Earth and Makai. In the comics, Morrigan's bats are the souls of her human victims, which are not destroyed but remain alive inside her body in a state of eternal bliss and pleasure after she drains them. Aside from consuming souls, Morrigan has no qualms about murdering and taking advantage on humans yet despite this, she sees herself as simply taking people's souls in exchange for eternal bliss." She is also prominently featured in the followup series Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, in which she, Demitri, Donovan, and Pyron all fight each other. In the later crossover series Street Fighter vs Darkstalkers, Morrigan keeps killing humans until she meets Lilith and finds out about Jedah's plan. Together with her enemy Chun-Li, as well as other uneasy allies, Morrigan and Lilith fight and defeat Jedah, and then they merge, finally restoring Morrigan to her full power. Despite everything she's done, Morrigan gets away with her crimes and is crowned queen of Makai.

Morrigan also appears in the comedic Darkstalkers drama CDs Vampire Knight (ヴァンパイア・ナイト), Darkness Mission (ダークネスミッション) and Dengeki CD Bunko EX: Vampire (電撃CD文庫EX ヴァンパイア), voiced by Rei Sakuma, Kikuko Inoue and Yumi Tōma, as well as in multiple yonkoma parody comics for that were largely compiled from fan submissions. She is often a lead character in various adaptations of Darkstalkers, such as the 1995 manga anthology Dark Angel (闇天使) and Akihiko Ureshino's series of gaiden novels, in particular in 1995's Witch of the Crimson Moon (紅い月の魔女) and 1996's Where the Souls Go (魂の還るところ). Morrigan stars in Run Ishida's 1996 manga which was published in English by Viz Comics in two different versions in 1998 and 2000 as Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge, spending the entire second half of the 2000 tradeback edition fighting Donovan, as well as in Mami Itou's 1997 Darkstalkers/Red Earth: Maleficarum, a Red Earth crossover manga published in English by UDON Comics in 2010 and was re-released in Japan in 2015. Hiroaki Wakamiya's 1996 manga Victor: Messenger of Doomsday (終末の使者 ビクトル) has Morrigan use her secret identity human persona of the biotechnology researcher Professor Mori to study the human world.

In the U.S. made non-canon cartoon series Darkstalkers, Morrigan was redesigned as character and changed into a villain, voiced by Saffron Henderson. Morrigan's character in the cartoon is jealous, rude, power-hungry and despising humans, especially men. She is implied to actually eat her victims and stated to be a direct descendant of the evil sorceress Morgan le Fay (with the series' protagonist, an original character named Harry Grimoire, being a descendant of Merlin). Her appearance was also altered, making her look slightly older and wear a less revealing costume; GamesRadar commented USA "gave her a look more appropriate for the Wicked Witch of the West than a sexy, soul-sucking, battle-loving demon."

Promotion and reception
Scores of various figures and statuettes of Morrigan were produced by different manufacturers. These include the figures released by Capcom themselves,   Diamond Select Toys, E246, Marvel, Max Factory, Pop Culture Shock Collectibles,  and SOTA Toys among many others. Other Morrigan-themed merchandise include Capcom's wall scrolls and posters,   T-shirts,   covers, a large microfiber towel, and so forth.

Since her debut, Morrigan has been a popular character, resulting in the creation of large amounts of fan works, such as statuetes, cosplays and fan art. In 1996, Mean Machines Sega described her as "one of the most bewitching girl characters ever to appear in gaming", noting her large Japanese fanbase which included men and women. Morrigan is widely seen as the most iconic character of Darkstalkers, arguably even more than the franchise itself, and one of the most popular female characters of video games in general.

Morrigan has featured in many doujinshi unofficial self-published content, including erotic comics and pornographic films. Manga artist Hiroaki Samura, creator of the manga Blade of the Immortal, released his own doujin of the character titled Night of the Succubus. Korean video game artist and Shift Up founder Kim Hyung Tae meanwhile stated her design led him to "see the unique allure of women wearing tights", something that heavily impacted his character designs afterward.

Anthony Gramuglia of CBR noted that Morrigan's popularity not only stemmed from her character, but also the character's popularity in cosplay and fan-art communities. Helen McCarthy's 2009 book 500 Essential Anime Movies: The Ultimate Guide additionally cited Morrigan as an example of the popularity of the Darkstalkers character designs, with fans frequently cosplaying as the character at various conventions since the original game's release.

M. Mar Martínez-Oña and Ana M. Muñoz-Muñoz cited Morrigan as an example of iconography of Lilith, who has been traditionally depicted as a "as a highly eroticized devil, usually figured with horns and wings". They further cited a statement by Dr. Vicent Francesc Zuriaga Senent, who argued modern depictions of devils often showed them as not something to be feared, but to be desired.