Soma Schicksal

"If you don't want to die, just stay out of my way as much as possible..."

- Soma, God Eater Burst

"Surely, there is more than one correct answer. And more than one way to reach it..."

- Soma, God Eater 2 Rage Burst

Soma Schicksal is a character introduced in God Eater Burst. He is a God Eater veteran at the age of only 18 and a member of the 1st Unit. Son of Johannes von Schicksal and Aisha Gauche. In God Eater 2, he joined the traveling branch Cradle along with Alisa, Lindow, and the Protagonist. Soma is the main character in God Eater Prologue.

God Eater Resurrection
Soma is introduced during an early mission in God Eater Resurrection. He is aloof and lonely, and many God Eaters try to avoid him due to the high number of casualties that seem to take place near him. True to the rumors, during the Protagonist's first mission with him, Eric der Vogelweid is brutally killed by an Ogretail.

Soma's already a veteran God Eater by the time of the game's events, but he is revealed to be the basis for all God Eaters, since he was the first human to be injected with Bias Factor. The test proved to be both a success and a failure, for even though Soma possessed superhuman abilities even at an early age, his birth caused the death of his mother, something that made him blame himself for her death.

When the 1st Unit captures Shio, Soma is at first distrustful and wary of her, calling her a monster and avoiding any interaction with her. However, as time goes on, they develop a strong friendship. Eventually, Johannes (Soma's father) captures Shio as part of his plan to unleash a Devouring Apocalypse, Soma and the rest of the 1st Unit converge on Aegis Island and fight him as he explains how his plan has come to fruition. However, against all odds, Shio takes Nova away to the moon, saving the world.

Soma is then designed by newly-appointed Director Paylor Sakaki as the man in charge of searching and collecting leftover Nova fragments, so as to avoid any incidents. However, an Aragami forms from those remnants: Arius Nova. Soma is quick to blame himself for the Aragami's outbreak, and rushes to fight it during the 1st Unit's first encounter with it. He is easily defeated by the mighty Aragami, and he spends some time in the Den's Healing Bay. Unknown to him at the moment, however, a girl similar to Shio appears and saves the entire 1st Unit, driving away the Aragami. It is later theorized that the girl isn't Shio, but actually just a remnant of Nova who took on her form.

Eventually, after acquiring several rare Bias factors, the 1st Unit finally manages to defeat the Arius Nova. From the dead Aragami's Oracle Cells, another "shadow" of Shio appears, and the entire 1st Unit says goodbye to her as the Oracle Cells vanish and go to the moon, where the real Shio was.

After the events of the game, Soma seems to have lost much of his taciturn behavior, and he comes to terms with the actions of his father and the death of his mother, no longer seeing himself burdened by either of those.

God Eater 2 Rage Burst Soma is now a member of Cradle and also conducts research on Aragami like his father before him. The Kyuubi is one of his main interests at the time that he, the remainder of Cradle sans the protagonist of the first game, and the remaining members of Blood meet up, due to its Retro Oracle Cells.

God Eater Burst
Soma (18)

''Joined Fenrir Far East Branch in 2064. A Gods Eater in the 1st Unit.''

''Has been fighting on the front line since he was 12. His God Arc boasts an exceeding compatibility rate.''

His combat ability is superior to other leaders, but because he is a frequent rule-breaker and often acts alone, his rank is not high.

God Arc: Buster Blade (older model/close-combat)

Soma Schicksal: 2 (18)

Joined Fenrir Far East Branch in 2064.

''The son of Aisha and Johannes, he is a human being born with a bias factor embedded in his cells, part of a Managarm Project experiment. The plot failed, but the foundation for God Arc technology was built by studying Soma himself.''

Unlike other Gods Eaters, he is able to produce his own bias factor, so there is no need for him to manually inject himself with bias factor.

God Arc: Buster Blade (older model/close-combat)

Soma Schicksal: 3 (18)

''Joined Fenrir Far East Branch in 2064. A Gods Eater with the 1st Unit.''

''As he rarely breaks rules or goes off on his own anymore, he is slated to be promoted to Unit Leader soon. Helped thwart the former Director's Ark Project.''

God Arc: Buster Blade (older model/close-combat)

Soma Schicksal: 4 (18)

Joined Fenrir Far East Branch in 2064.

''Though he wishes to remain a member of the 1st Unit, many have suggested he become leader of other units. He is trusted by all Gods Eaters of the Far East Branch. It is noted that the teams he's joined missions for in the past few months have the lowest casualty rates.''

God Arc: Buster Blade (older model/close-combat)

God Eater 2
Soma Schicksal (21 y.o.)

Joined the Fenrir Far East Branch in 2064.

A member of the remote support unit Cradle.

''Often away from the Far East to research Aragami with special abilities, he occasionally returns to the Den to requisition necessary supplies. Among the 1st- generation God Eaters, his physical prowess, endurance, and strength are without peer.''

Personality
Being so taciturn, Soma dislikes interacting with others; this standoffish attitude he takes to those around him causes others to view him as anti-social. He believed he was above rules, breaking them often and arrogantly thinking they don't apply to him. He shares a bond with Shio, as he considers himself a monster, which makes him the counterpart of Shio, one of the few things he feels he has something in common with.

He eventually grows out of his tactiturn, anti-social behavior after Shio takes Nova to the moon, though shades of his old self show through from time to time out of annoyance at the things his peers say. In God Eater 2, he even smiles a bit more often in his Character Episode.

He seems to be interested in reading/studying historical or mathematical books as evidenced by his free-time moments and character episodes in Resurrection and God Eater 2: Rage Burst; this is likely because of his new position as a researcher, and is thus a way for him to spend his downtime.

God Eater Burst
Soma is a dark-skinned young man with platinum blond hair and blue eyes. He wears a dark blue hoodie, underneath of which he wears a half tucked yellow shirt with a black tie. He wears blue boots and black cargo pants with some type of chain attached to it.

God Eater 2
In God Eater 2, Soma's hoodie has been replaced with the jacket standard to all members of Cradle. His cargo pants have been replaced with blue pants. He seemingly keeps his boots from Burst.

Character Relationships

 * Protagonist (God Eater) - Soma, at first, is incredibly cold to the Protagonist when they first go on a mission together, even jabbing his God Arc in their general direction. As time passes, however, Soma grows to trust them, and even thanks them later on after they rescue Lindow, saying that they gave him a chance to pay back his due.
 * Lindow Amamiya - His long-time comrade. While Soma doesn't show it too much, it is clear that he's concerned about Lindow, and he feels like he needs to remind Lindow of his own orders from time to time.
 * Shio - His close friend. Soma considered Shio a monster like him, and Shio saw Soma as her friend. Shio's unique bond with Soma managed to soften the latter's heart.
 * Johannes von Schicksal - His deceased father. Both of them were not on good terms until he urged Soma and the rest of the 1st Unit to ride the Ark and the Devouring Apocalypse triggered. Understanding that his father actually had the best for humanity in mind, even if he went about it in the worst possible way, Soma gained a degree of respect towards his father after the incident on Aegis.
 * Aisha Gauche - His deceased mother. Soma considers himself a monster because his birth caused her death.
 * Sakuya Tachibana - His other long-time comrade in the First Unit. The two rarely talk to one another due to Soma's attitude of ending each chat as quick as he could, but in the end they are on friendly terms.
 * Kota Fujiki - At first, Kota was agitated by him due to him being blunt and resentful. After a few events, Kota decided to have a chat with the Protagonist about him opening up a little. Over time, Soma then gives Kota a new degree of respect towards his caring actions for his family. In the end, both have been on friendly terms, as evidenced by in-game events and manga adaptations.
 * Alisa Illinichina Amiella - His friend. Their relationship is similar to that he shares with Sakuya and Kota, although in God Eater 2/ God Eater 2 Rage Burst and in some of the manga adaptations, he opens up a little towards them, even joining them in their group chats.
 * Eric der Vogelweid - Little is disclosed about their relationship in GE and GEB, but both Erina and Soma himself confirmed that they were (close) friends in their respective character episodes in GE2. In the animated adaptation, their relationship is made slightly more explicit, as Soma talks to an injured Eric and tells him to rest, with much less of the bark he saves for other people.
 * Erina der Vogelweid - In one of her character episodes, Erina says that she once blamed Soma for her brother's death, but doesn't think that anymore once she became a God Eater. However, she feels that he still blames himself for Eric's death and thus became overprotective of her, to the point that she is reluctant to take missions with him. Their relationship improves with the aid of Blood 1.
 * Shun Ogawa - Not much is known towards their relationship, although Shun sees him as a "Death God" in the early events of Gods Eater Burst. It is unknown whether Shun still sees him as a "Death God" up to date, but presumably, Shun no longer sees him like that hinted by his (Soma) 4th account registered in NORN in Gods Eater Burst.

Trivia

 * In God Eater 2, Soma's Blood Art is Charge Crush: Boosted, but he only uses the normal Charge Crush due to his AI not charging his blade to the Boosted Charge Crush. After the 1.2 update, Soma can properly use the Full Boosted Charge Crush, but mostly uses normal Charge Crushes. His AI now tends to use the Boosted CC when the enemy is downed.
 * The Evil One and Rejector are revamped into a different color; as such, they now are the same white color as Soma's in God Eater 2.
 * In God Eater 2, Soma will use Restore Posts two times for all to use when the Protagonist's HP drops to low levels.
 * Soma is a playable character in the crossover game Project X Zone, with Alisa as his partner for his unit. Interestingly, their introduction scene has them mistake Vashyron from Resonance of Fate as Lindow.
 * His first name comes from that of a Vedic ritual drink in Indian mythology. His last name means "fate" in German.