Opera Singer Guesses who FAUST is From the Music Alone || Guilty Gear OST 

Zato is next

“Bruh I have no idea what the f*ck is going on here” Once again, our boy MarcoMeatball has perfectly ascertained the character

Love the genuine "What the..." when the song, does its thing

"I think Faust may be mentally ill" Marco nails it right away again.

I know that this isn’t Faust’s actual lore but the idea of a terrifying, undead, zombie doctor lurching and skittering around in the slums and healing people is a fantastic character idea.

Faust is definitely one of the harder ones here because his character is really complex and his music is so wild that it's hard to glean a ton unless you already know the character.

I don't know for certain, but I'm pretty sure the phrase "blue, red and black paranoia" is a reference to hospital codes, given his medical background. A code blue means someone is suffering from cardiac arrest or a similar medical emergency, a code red means a fire or probable fire, and a code black means a threat to the hospital or its staff, such as a mass shooter or bomb threat.

So Faust, to put it bluntly, is fucking insane, literally. Faust use to be a practicing doctor but lost his mind when he failed to save a patient, taking up the personality of Baldman and going on a unhinged murder spree until after the second holy order selection tournament, that he realizes he was once a doctor and comes to his senses, ditching the Baldman persona and changing his name to Faust to begin atoning for his sins. He is often seen around Johnny, May and the rest of the Jellyfish Pirates when they are in need of his services.

Faust is going through a major depressive episode here, he is the messiah referenced in the song as he is a miracle healer. Im not going to show the whole lore but hes been through several rough times. Its his alone infection and he cant really cure himself, he needs outside help this time.

To add some more context on the lore since the part Marco read was only from the first game out of quite a few His actual name is presumed to be Dr. Baldhead and after one of his patients dies he becomes a serial killer / insane. He at some point realizes what he's done is wrong and returns to helping people, now using the name "Faust" and wearing a paper bag on his head Only then does he find out that the patient's death wasn't his fault and resisting the urge to seek revenge he instead saves thousands of people from a terrorist attack (it's complicated). However he is still a very troubled person, despite appearing cheerful and aloof, he hides his pain behind a fake smile/ He then moves to live with a few other characters on a ship, changes clothes to a medical garb (from his previously very flashy outfit) and is generally a lot more reflective and calm During this time, a young girl named Delilah is caught in a horrible spot, endangering the lives of a lot of civilians and herself Faust then proposes a plan to save her, viewing this as a way to redeem himself (his first patient was ALSO a young girl) but his plan is reckless and basically suicide for him. He gets called out that he's trying to save himself and his guilt, not the girl at which point he promises to survive at all costs The plan itself is an insane feat of magical skill (Faust is a genius magic user) but by pulling it off he was severely damaged. He describes it as "going back to square one" but accidentally "going too far" This is also the reason why he is so lanky and deformed, he was spaghettified as if near a black hole All of that is why Faust who he is today. Very troubled and damaged, he has found peace and redemption but is still haunted by his past. Despite being unable to even form full sentences he's still dead-set on helping others at all costs. So the song is a jumbled mess because that's what Faust is right now. Many voices screaming in chaos. Joy, grief and fear all at once. The happy ending is in the final chorus, where all voices unite and he speaks to himself, implying there is hope for him to get better

One important note is the Faust's powers come from him glimpsing the Backyard, which is essentially the framework that props up reality. From that, he learned many secrets, including how to bend reality to his will. However, his insanity means that his reality bending powers manifest in eccentric and unpredictable ways, hence his penchant for throwing out random items and transforming mid-attack.

The ending of this song gives me such insane chills knowing everything Faust has been through in his life. He's definently one of the darkest and most interesting characters in the series, which is ironic when compared to the way he plays in game. His playstyle is very comedic, for instance his signature move called "what could this be?". Using it makes him throw out a random item like a banana peel or a bomb or a 100 ton weight. His gameplan revolves around the idea that the Faust player should know how to adapt to whatever item has been thrown out better than the opponent can.

in conclusion: fausts been through some shit

The absolute confusion on his face as Alone Infection changes into like five different songs, that was exactly what everyone felt at first

I actually love this song, even though he isn’t a main. The fight between his UNHINGED INSANITY and his DESIRE TO HELP, perfectly described in this song! Guilty Gear has a BANGER OF A OST!!

I think a very important detail about Faust's abilities you might've missed is that he's a reality-warper. Through his life, he acquired knowledge that exceeded all else, allowing him to see the "Backyard", a dimension containing the logic of the entire universe, conveniently decipherable through in-universe logic reminiscent of musical theory (it's weird, but it somehow works). His studies of the backyard have continuously eroded his soul, and his behaviour could randomly swing into sadistically violent, but also just goofy nonsense. Due to his love for kids, he also employed a lot of wacky slapstick in his combat routine, like throwing pans, slamming dimensional doors into someone's face, or giving people afros and facial makeovers. In other words, he started out as a slasher, then reformed into a benevolent travel doctor, and has now regressed into a shadow of his former self, with his previously funny techniques having morphed into twisted horror variations. It's actually really sad to look at, but a genius design twist regardless.

Fun fact: the calm transition in the end of the song is literally Radiohead's "No Surprises"

This is probably one of the harder songs because Faust has gone through a LOT of development since the last game. Right now, he is stuck in this rut that he can’t get himself out of, so he needs someone else’s help to get back into shape. He is stuck with this “alone infection” and needs someone else to help him

"paradigm will attack" is funnier when you realize thats a characters name

Strive's OST is a modern day Masterpiece of a Rock Album just kinda casually tucked away into a fighting game. There People get hype for a new character drop just for the new single that comes with it.

I love Faust! He's such an interesting character. A patient died on his operating table, a young woman. That broke him, feeling like he killed her. End of GG1, he has a vision of her forgiving him. He has been on the "good side" since. I say that in quotation because it's a fighting game. He's such a fun fighter, though.

He came so close. Faust is a broken man who can’t shake the fact that a life was lost while in his care but despite that he continues to try and cure this world of sadness. For a better future, he Strives.

Guilty Gear Strive's OST is such a treat for those who've been with the series since day 1. The lyrics paint the story of these characters you've basically known since day 1 all the while making lovely music. Daisuke deserves to be recognized for his amazing music and I'm happy more and more listeners are giving this series and game music in general a shot. As always Marco thanks for the reaction.

I read this song as faust relapsing. sense he did a lot of good things for people in the story to pay back for all the murders hes, in the other games he's far sillier and peppy showing love and care, but the past has caught up to him now and is now crashing back into despair.

To add further context to the current state of Faust, he basically destroys his own mind to save someone in the story. The calm part is a moment of lucidity from him realizing what he's become, shown with how all the extra voices mostly stop cutting in

This is probably my favorite track in all of guilty gear, with The Circle as a close second these tracks just hit so hard emotionally... If its just about sounding good then id say my favorite is storyteller but that one dosnt make me feel things it just sounds good.

the expression change at 5:02 i just love how much you enjoyed his theme

the messiah will not come part was actually one of the turning points of him regaining his sanity. It's a reference to his ending in the original guilty gear where he essentially murder's a rampaging war machine and is treated as a messiah by a hoard of grateful people. This act however pushes him away, initially intended to slaughter the entire group he instead runs away panicked saying "messiah will not come"

this song is basically on the verge of prog death, I don't particularly like harsh vocals but this one uses them sparingly and pulls it off. it's very proggy and I like that. also great characterization of current faust

Oh, dear. Here it comes. This game's OST is phenomenal. You're in for a ride. It's one of the best metal albums out there that comes with a free game

I'm not sure how much of the wiki you read, but a lot of things happening at once actually drove Faust mad, and if you know them all it starts to make a lot of sense, and may relate to the opera maybe? (I also think just boiling it down to he lost a patient makes his reaction seem a bit overblown.) The patient that is talked about seemed to have a reoccurring and potentially terminal illness, so her family probably came to know Faust better because their kid was often in the hospital. (There's actually a really cute illustration of Dr. Baldhead, which was his old name, reading 'Snow White' to the paitent while she's in a hospital bed, I assume not able to do anything.) So Faust had an emotional connection with these people. He knew that the only way to cure her and save her life would be through surgery, but he was constantly refused that option. Turns out that's because if he would've successfully preformed it, he would find out a way to resurrect the dead, and the Conclave (which I've seen described as this universe's Illuminati) didn't want that. He decided to do it anyway, and the Conclave sent an assassin (Zato-1) to botch the surgery up, so Faust not only dealt with the first death of someone under his care, but he had a connection with this patient as well, and believed it was all his fault. After everything went wrong, his failure was spread in newspapers and broadcasts apparently _everywhere,_ accusing him of malpractice, and I'm guessing that was due to the Conclave's influence as well. Anyway, his name, face, reputation, everything was dragged through the mud, so even if he eventually recovered from this death, he would no longer be able to practice medicine anyway, and that was his life, the thing he seemed to be made to do! So all of those factors is why he snapped and went mad. He's still a little looney, but not as angry and murderous as he used to be. Also, HE'S 9'2 AND I WILL NEVER GET OVER THAT, HOW WOULD YOU EVEN EXIST LIKE THAT?

I don't think Faust is actually insane, but he's very well qualified to express insanity he sees around him. And, well, he's having a long and bad day.

Oh I've waited for this. Am I'm soo excited. Thanks man! Love your work!

I love your content so much, binged all your strive videos, some genshin streams and music etc, love your insights as you go more than other people do into detail and meaning behind lyrics and music in general, love it

Still surprised he didn't cover Zato yet

I really want to see Drift, that one is... a journey, just as much as this one.

Really like this style of video, with the blind take followed by looking up more about the character. Hope you do a ton more strive, hard to miss with Guilty Gear

"We see many many many different versions of Faust throughout history" Boy ain't that the truth

seeing somebody guess the lore about a character and ENTIERLY get it right from just listening to the theme song is always so amazing to watch

Faust gameplay: haha funny paper bag man Faist lore: *every possible sadness expression*

To this day, knowing Faust's entire story and hearing the theme get to that slow piano part never fails to emotionally wreck me. The man has gone through things no other man should have to suffer. And all it took was the death of a child to trigger everything.

This made my day, I was hoping you would eventually look at alone infection and the fact that Zato's theme is next is even better! Looking forward to it Marco.

I am once again, FOAMING AT THE MOUTH

Something cool you could do is also listening to the songs of the characters from the past games to see how they evolve. You'd also notice some cool details like melodies and leitmotifs being reused and stuff like that

I knew you were going to have a WTF moment when the song reached that part, and your reaction didn't disappoint (I myself had a similar reaction), but that's the fun of these Guilty Gear Strive themes. You never know what to expect. As for recommendations I have two: Necessary Discrepancy and Armor Clad Faith. The former is my favourite of the themes I've listened to, and the latter is pretty high on the list. Have fun.

Would love to see your thoughts on Potemkin's theme " Armor-clad Faith"

Faust is a Sergent who lost his mind because he had power to save people but couldn’t save one of his patience and the song reflects on his regret since people looked at him as a special doctor that could be relied on but failed to help that one patient

I know I'm late, but I really love Faust's song and story! When it says "Messiah will not come," it can be taken in multiple ways, but there are TWO interpretations that I feel hold the most weight. 1.) At the end of the first game, Faust-- then Dr. Baldhead-- was hailed as "the messiah," and now he refuses the title, perhaps due to the belief that he is no longer in a state to be helping people. Faust has a strong theme in Strive of returning to square one, back to when his mental illness was at its peak. The extent of this is vague and unknown, but it is generally accepted that Faust has relapsed into depression. 2.) There is the other interpretation of this song where people think Faust is singing to *himself*, where the lines "Messiah will not come" and "What is it like to you? No one can see the colors but you" are the thoughts that nobody is coming to save him, and introspecting on himself, realizing that the only person who can save him is himself. I feel like there's a lot lost in translation with Faust, as it's being ported over from Japanese, but these themes are still relatively apparent and quite powerful. Faust was doing his best in pretty much all of the games between the original Guilty Gear and now Strive, so it's safe to assume his story is being taken the route where instead of healing others, he needs to heal himself. Square one.

that "what the" and blank broke me

Such a great reaction to such an incomprehensible song. Also not sure if people have mentioned Omega Strikers a fairly new game has a few tracks that bend classical and edm together quite well such as “Baroque Banditry”

It should be noted that as far as we know, Faust (Guilty Gear) named himself, cause it doesn't seem to be his birth name - and since Goethe's Faust (and the historical figure that originated the legend) *could* have also existed in this universe, Faust might've even named himself for him! As for direct connections between the two, obviously Guilty Gear Faust is a doctor and a powerful sorcerer, but I think the biggest connection might be in the idea of guilt and wether one is worthy of redemption or not. Guilty Gear Faust has been canonically suicidal since his first official appearance, believing he needs to die in order to atone for his past sins- and his plot in Strive is kinda about him confronting his personal depression directly for the first time, being forced to realize that it has a negative impact on his ability to help people with his skills (which is the more ideal redemption)

Amazing video. Hoping you do "Drift" soon, the theme for Happy Chaos

messiah part relates to his arcade completion in the very first game, where crowd cheered on about him being the messiah

I love Guilty Gear's music and how it always manages to keep me off guard as to what they will incorporate next.

the problem with analyzing gg character themes in Strive is that there's so much context and history that's been built over the duration of the series that it's difficult as a newcomer to really unpack the lyrics of the songs since they're so intertwined with the character's history and story relevance and tend not to make much sense anyway likely due to translation funkiness

If you're ever in the mood for something a little calmer, Endless Space 2's ost has some beautiful themes for its various races. I would recommend Across The Drift (Riftborn Theme).

This song is an insane masterpiece, one of my favourite Strive tracks.

Love for Faust, I hope he can be happy in his story

The sky is blue at morning, red at evening, and black at night.

Hey Marco, I think seeing you interpret the story of The Binding of Isaac through its OST would be very enjoyable! The Soundtrack by Ridiculon is one of my favorites and I think you would enjoy it too!

Just so you know Faust is an absolute goofball and literally no one says anything about his previous looks and style compared to now where he was a lanky and charming doctor going around helping people because he can to now where he shambles on the battle field, with his glowing eye he tried to help people but can’t explain form him only being able to make out fractions of sentences

Before Strive, Faust used to be a more goofy cartoonish character. Like, in Xrd, in his victory pose, after beating your ass he would just open an umbrella and Mary Poppins away. In the jump between Xrd and Strive, he drastically shifted into to the j-horror design you see now. He still does some wacky things in his moveset, like giving you a huge afro, so that you're easier to hit. Deep down his personality's still the same, he's still trying to help everybody while being reality-bendingly cartoonish, but his aura has gotten significantly more sinister.

"We've got only one sky Blue, red, and black paranoia." I think it's a simple translation. It's blue during the day, red during sunset, and black during night time.

I have this song on my work playlist, and in my head I imagine singing this in Karaoke at an anime/games convention in the most theatrical fashion, while everyone looks on critically confused as to what the hell is even happening.

Let's gooo my favorite thing about the Guilty Gear tracks is how a character's theme ties into themselves or their story.

SPOLIER ALERT You can say that this particular version of Faust in Strive is like a Demon since he sacrificed his life for Delilah at the end of Strive Second Story and became like this. If you see his previous versions like Xrd, he is a more goofy character rather than the creepy one you see here.

Cannot wait for Play the Hero

I really like the No Surprises part of the theme

this is my kind of content

Just a matter of time before he gets to Drift...

Yes!!! Guilty gear has such awesome music!, super excited to watch this!

My favorite theory on this is that it is about the old personality he had (dr. baldhead, who was insane) coming back and he doesn't want it to, shown best by the line messiah will not come, referring to the win screen of dr. baldhead which shows a crowd shouting "our messiah!"

Faust was an average doctor until one of his patients tragically died and he wasn’t able to help them. He fell into madness and became a serial killer but after a while clicked back into reality and went back to trying to help people as a doctor. For a while he was doing great, top of his game, eccentric and fun, up until a few years later in Strive where he’s relapsing. He’s slowly descending back into his cold and depressed time of insanity and bloodshed yet his core directive of helping people still remains. He’s falling apart and is refusing help from others because he wants to help people. “Joy, grief, fun, paranoia.” That’s Faust’s story right there. The man is fighting his own mind and can’t even recognize he’s breaking down all because he exclusively wishes to become good.

watching you go through the cast of guilty gear waiting for you to get to my favorite

Marco listening to some of my favorite songs ever made??

I personally see this song has a duet being sung by the two different sides of Faust (The miracle messiah doctor who could cure even death/Deranged serial killer who desperately tries to forget his past to forget his pain) as they argue and attempt to reach a compromise about how to go forward in their life. You can see this in his lyrics "We see eye to eye, we see eye to eye, I told me without you we've got only one sky" and in the lines "Messiah... Will not come" like a question and answer. Faust went from a healer to mass murder while out of his mind, but he still feels deeply responsible to the point of wanting to commit suicide. In the current lore he sort of has wrapped up all his personal questions and is now like "What now? I'm still a murderer, no amount of good is going to wash away the pain I've caused. I'm deeply afraid of slipping back into madness and suffering from a spiraling depression to the point of looking for a way to die a hero." This song is sort of a reflection that inner struggle, with the final portion being the two sides coming together in their mutual fear (What is fear but paranoia?) and basically resolving to end things once and for all.

I love how Macro has this genuinely confused face throughout the whole song. You can see this hope for the next lyrics to make things more clear, only for them to make everything only more confusing.

Heyyy, love your content! Could we maybe get a video about the Diablo 4 Kyovashad theme? Like, its one of the most disturbingly sad and emotional "instrument only" soundtracks i've ever heard, thought you might appreciate it a lot! :D Much love from Germany!

Would love to see him cover Happy Chaos now

God one day I’m gonna be listening to this casually on headphones and someone is gonna ask what I’m listening to. It’ll be neat

You should really check out some of the Fantasymphony by The Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

Faust in guilty gear strive is going through a rough patch, his psyche was essentially fractured, the jarring changes in tone try to convey that, and if you listen close, in the final part of the song, they all seem to converge.

i love Faust and i think his theme is so beautiful i love it

My interpretation of faust in strive is of him relapsing into the guilt driven depression ending up in this...

I love Daisuke's song writing philosophy, which is to make the players experience the most transcendent guitar riffs and vocals mankind has ever heard, and also make them say "what the f*" within the same sixty seconds of each other. Song design like this will leave a person with no context and only a desire to kill people.

YES, HE DID IT, HE REACTED, WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED

You have got to look into happy chaos next

I love Faust, my main and my favourite character of all fighting games

Marco realizing mid song Faust isn't a bad guy heheh.

YOOOOOO NO WAY HE DID GUILTY GEAR AND IM ONLY HEARING ABOUT IT NOW!?!?!?

Oh man, I sincerely hope you check out all of the tracks from at least Strive (but the earlier games' soundtracks are worth checking out too). I will lose my entire mind if you get to Rock Parade. That's my favorite one.

The rag tiny song qualities is how he was before he lost himself. Because he was usually a goofy, more cheerful character than in this rent dish. And he is very depressed and probably put himself. Back to square one with murderous intent.

One problem trying to decipher meaning from Strive and Granblue songs is that although we're much more globalized than in the 90's, there's still a thick layer of Engrish going on from time to time. Just like with a lot of Spanish metal bands who write songs in English, you sometimes have to read some sentences backwards because the lyrics are translated by not grammatically corrected.

I actually think that Faust gave himself the name because after regaining a fraction of his sanity he realised the big mistake he made, just like the classical Faust.

I believe the chorus is like faust talking to the young patient he could not save

"....Wut?" -MarcoMeatball I love faust. My absolute favorite (and my best) character in the GG series.

My personal favorites if you keep on going on Guilty Gear for a while is Baiken, Nagoriyuki, and May. Definitely easier to understand lyrically than Faust but Faust's theme is still pretty cool.

i just love how marco went from suggesting an opera to borderline black metal nah but ggst faust has one of my favourite themes in guilty gear history imo tbf the song describes his character so well both musically and lyrically and im a fan of metal anyway so its the full package lol

this feels like grief

BACK TO SQUARE ONE.