So Gamersyde got the first official screen shots of Soul Calibur IV's most mysterious character, Algol. The first new character in the game with out a set of tits might just be the final boss. Hell, he certainly looks final boss worthy. Along with that speculation, it is a very high chance that Algol was in fact the creator and original owner of Soul Edge, which could be backed up by the third picture featuring a very premature looking Soul Edge. And if he doesn't use Soul Edge in the game, the weapon he's using that seems to take up the whole screen, pretty awesome I might say.

So far there are 33 (34 if you count Vader and Yoda) confirmed characters for the game. And quite honestly I WANT MOAR! There are rumors that there are 2 to 3 characters yet to be revealed and with E3 around the corner, shortly followed by the game's release, we might just be seeing some new or possibly old faces soon.

The following is some info from the character designer as to Algol and his orginis.

Answered By Hideo Yoshie, Character Designer

We aimed to make a character that is the “king” of an ultra ancient civilization and a character that obviously proves the setting of being the strongest character ever in SC series.

So, he’s wearing a costume from the ancient kingdom that isn’t recorded in history, and it was really difficult and troublesome to make the design of his costume as so just by looking at it.
The final motif of the amour ended up being the “bird,” but there were many other ideas like the lion, cobra, dinosaur and more.
I believe the design combined dynamism and splendor, and is very cool.

His right hand glows red and his left hand glows blue because he holds the Soul Edge in his right and the Soul Calibur in his left.

Also he has 10 kinds of weapons built in his body and shows a variety of fights never seen before, including flying in the air and sitting in the throne.

I want people to have fun by his buzzard actions.

There was an idea for an additional option which he causes an off-site brawl with a pipe chair instead of the throne, but we were not able to put the idea in the game this time.

By the way, the Algol that shows up in the opening demo is Algol when he was still a human.. That’s why his hair has a different color from within the game. There are some more detailed differences, so please go on and find more differences on him for fun through the game.