Why Hellfire from Guilty Gear Strive is a Masterpiece 

Leo is borderline suicidal. I mean he is literally at his storngest when he is turning his back at you. Like gekko said, "he came to that fight, in your match, to DIE"

if I had a nickel for every time I fell in love with a song named hellfire that uses irony in its lyrics to recontextualize how a person in a position of power processes and attempts to justify the actions they have taken ultimately leading them to pursue self destructive behavior. Id have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

man guilty gear strive sure does have some good music to bad I can only hear about 10 seconds before the match is over

My favorite description of Hellfire as a song I've seen is "I have intense PTSD & Survivor's Guilt *guitar solo*"

Another detail I love about Leo is the fact that his main win condition involves him turning his back on you, just as he felt turning his back on the men he led into battle.

I’m surprised you didn’t mention the build up to the bridge, with the lyrics “I am the reaper, I took my friends to the netherworld, that’s why I have to go home.” The first half is obviously reinforcing what the rest of the song is telling us; I lead my men into battle and got them killed. As for the second half, if we take what we know from the first half as literal, we can safely say that the reaper represents Leo, and if he took his friends to the netherworld, he must join them. Under this assumption, the only place that Leo can call home is Hell. Leo not only wants to die, he feels like he needs to suffer for what he’s done to those who died.

4:35 It’s really interesting that you brought up Faust and Zato’s themes to compare to Leo, because of how similar the messages they are conveying are (I.e, fighting an uphill battle against themselves emotionally), however, within Faust and zato's themes near the end there's a significant shift in tone, almost to indicate that despite how they are now, there's a chance in the future they're going to get better and recover. But with HELLFIRE, there is no such hope. Leo has completely and utterly accepted that what he has done is completely unredeemable and the only way he can atone for it is through death

"Hellfire" is how Leo refers to war, he considers himself and his soldiers damned from the start ("Those who dream of heaven never last very long") and wants to give a meaning for the raw violence he's seen to somehow justify the pain he went through. Also the reason he hides his pain is to not waste the lives of the fallen that created the current peace as well as to spare his subjects the pain of war. Leo is a very responsible man who puts the happiness of others above his and takes pride in his position as king, always giving his all.

Another point to Leo's way of dealing with trauma is the fact that the lyrics also portray the REASON as to why leo fights in GG he comes to battle you to die and have a warriors death to somehow justify it all and die as another soldier, the bombastic way in wich he fights is to make it easier for you to kill him but even then he is so badass that fighting in that careless maner only makes him stronger, the whole Brynhildr Stance is the perfect way to showcase that. So fucking awesome!! i love when people dive deep into character themes Great vid dude :)

I can also say another thing I personally think causes so much survivor's guilt on Leo, which is expressed on this part of the lyrics: "We're going home alive, I'm a terrible liar Forgive me, that's not the Arc de Triomphe" Ky Kiske is french (that's why all his specials have french names), and Ky was another soldier of the Holy Order. However, Ky was such a skilled warrior that he alone could take on multiple enemies, so it's to be expected any troops listed on his command would survive. He knew while leading those men that he was not strong enough to do what Ky did. He knew they were all walking to their death, but they had to keep going forward.

Huh, I always heard "Will I be on the right side of history?" as "A liar on the right side of history." which, while incorrect, still hit me as him saying that his victory only served to cover up his failures.

The moment in Xrd's story when he tells Sol not to die, when Sol was inmortal allways resonated with me, and this song tells you why he is the way he is. The songs with lyrics for every character might have been the best design decision in Strive sincerely.

A fellow Hellfire enjoyer, you love to see it One thing I love about Leo's theme is how unlike Zato-1, Bedman?, or Faust, where it's clear they want to find forgiveness in themselves or others by the ending of the song, Leo's ending actively overpowers that part of the song. He hasn't forgiven himself, and if anything, only seems to have further vindicated himself to keep going down this self-destructive path, as if taking the time to reflect on himself more deeply just makes it worse. Leo will never forgive himself, the poor guy.

Leo needs a hug: The song

God that "BRING IT YOU BASTARDS" is so fucking bone chilling its actually fantastic Hellfire is definitely up there as one of my favorite songs in all of guilty gear

I remember reading somewhere that the repeated chanting of “hellfire” during the chorus could potentially representative of some sort of military chant. I personally like to think this was an intentional choice to show that Leo does have PTSD and is constantly haunted by not just visions do war but the sounds of it too. Excellent video btw you got a new subscriber. Also please do more Strive songs I love this game so much

Having Part 4 play “Name of Heaven” was such a beautiful touch to the motif of hope and how Leo’s theme is a direct contrast to it.

me, personally, i see the "i faked out, call me out. who can say that?" as Leo telling someone that he still remembers that he is guilty, yet he doesn't know the one who called him out is himself. that's a very common thing for a lot of people with guilt of their past action yet a somewhat still slightly healthy self-esteem. they know they did wrong, they always apologize for it, but when someone but themselves reminds them of their wrongdoings they get frustrated

Every song in ggst is great, the way they capture the emotion of every character is perfect, I love themes like bedman? Where he fights to protect his sister while trying to survive inside the bed but failing to do so, but still giving the best life for her sister as said in the line “NO, you can’t see the radiant light, you can’t hear the beautiful chant, you can’t feel a tender warmth, if you can give someone something”

Guilty gear song analysis and reactions are always super entertaining and this is another great example

One thing I would of touched on is the fact he fights incredibly hard with reckless abandonment of himself in battle. In hopes of dying. Hes trying to go down in a way that reassembled the wars his troops died for. To die like the solider he lead into combat. You did touch on it a little I know, but it'd have been super powerful to put it all out on display. Great video over all, I love the work

Leo is my personal favorite character in Guilty Gear and I love how everything about him is basically just a mask for a broken man. From personality to gameplay to music. In Xrd it was kinda teased and hinted at briefly but in Strive they fully embraced that he is someone with a pretty strong case of ptsd. Plus the mix is a lot of fun to do.

The instruments of Hellfire communicate how Leo appears on the surface, loud and prideful. The vocals and lyrics communicate how he is beneath the surface, devastated by PTSD and survivor's guilt.

Ky after a sparring match: man are you... ok...?

another notable song that doesnt how its true meaning straight up is armor clad faith, love that song

Guilty Gear strive is pretty much a music album with a free fighting fame attached to it

This is one of collest mechanic concepts i have seen in a fighting game, a character who wants to die honorably so bad to just stop his suffering that he fights without any self-preservation sense, and yet by giving his all into a fight it only makes him even more dangerous

Love the essay but the faust player called NUT FLOGGER got me so hard

I'm surprised you didn't touch on the lyric Swing the sword! Swing the sword! SWING THE FREAKING SWORD DOWN! It's reminiscent of orders being barked at him or his orders to those under his command. Edit: When I think of a sword being swung down, I picture an executioner.

Gotta lovw these new edits are getting really good.

This is very good work here. If I can make a suggestion though. To reinforce your point on how Leo's theme tells his story, you could have use the examples of Faust's and Zato's themes to reinforce this. As they also cover their own stories but the music almost always matches the tone of their lyrics even when the music itself takes a drastic change. Leo's doesn't. It helps Hellfire stand out even in Strive, because like you said, it's lyrics directly contrast it's instrumentation. Granted, this is up for debate.

Man, this video is freakin gamazing, the tempo MAN, the tempo on the script, it´s amazin just as one of my favorite all time songs

And of course, his main battle gimmick being his backturn stance. Both symbolizing him running away from the battle and leaving his soldiers to die, AND considering he cannot block during it, a fighting style with absolutely no self preservation. He thinks the only way he can be redeemed is by dying during battle. GOD I love how the story, music, and gameplay all intertwine like this.

dear god I wish every video on RU-vid was this good well edited, well paced, good writing, good line delivery. the video knows EXACTLY how to deliver its message and does it amazingly. pat yourself on the back

sweet can’t wait to see one of these for all the other characters :)

great video man seriously oh but also about his song gituar solo near the end of the song I think it's like him war flashbacks of all the men he lost and all terror of war he witness.

This is a criminally under rated song from the soundtrack. Great video!

Great video dude

Another way that he plays with his survivor’s guilt is through his gameplay itself: Brynhldr Has Leo face his back to the enemy, making him un able to block in exchange for devastating damage options. It’s synonymous with his lack of self preservation and his desire to just destroy anyone who stands in his way (or worse, stands to hurt his men) damn the consequences.

Incredible video.

leo's been my main in strive (and pocket main in xrd) until asuka was finally released. and yeah this video is just facts, definitely one of the best songs strive added to daisuke/NAOKI's discography. The Circle, however, has to take the cake for best strive song ever. bedman's lore goes so damn hard, would love to see your thoughts on it.

Wish the gameplay footage in behind wasn't of a floor 4 Leo.

The music inserts are pretty loud in relation to the voiceover. Great video overall! 👍 I love this song for all the same reasons

I think you need to throw Impostor Syndrome into the clustercuss rattling around in Leo's head. The music screams it.

True masterpiece, Guilty Gear (or literally any other game) music and this guys make the most interesting combo. Keep it up with these vids man 💪. KUDOS!! Side Note: Pls do Goldlewis's theme (Kiss of Death) next. I wouldn't wanna see anyone else but you review it

Banger analysis

Cool video I just wish your mic volume was higher compared to the other sounds in the video (if I put the volume higher then when the song plays at full volume my ears die)

a point a 8:43 is that line is similar to ky's theme where i think both are doubting if the crusades and the war against gears was for the best, especially as gears aren't their enemy anymore ky's even married one, and the bloodshed was nessecesary

Toby FUller baked back again to fully fuller bake omg

I would really love to see an in-depth analysis on both The Circle and Mirror of the World

also another thing, the first 16 or so seconds are supposed to be leo's outer thoughts or his mask, going any deeper than surface level even in the song reveals his true thoughts.

I'll never get over your username being 'Nut Flogger' while trying to make a serious point about the fighter you're using lmao. Also Hellfire sounds as 80s Hard Rock as possible, which is my only reason for it being my fav GG OST.

My King

And his stance where he shows u his ass is his way of saying look i am defendless u can unalive me with ease

These vids are getting better but I would suggest that you gotta balance the audio more, you talk too quiet and when the music comes in it’s so loud lmao

also it's fun to yell along with mob lyrics

so when i first saw leo …i didn't like him, honestly i think i hated him, but when i heard his them for the first time …i still didn't care, mostly because i wasn't paying much attention to it, eventually i went to click off the lyric video that had come up on autoplay and ironically finally noticed the lyrics and just how much they didn't match the song or what i'd thought about leo until then, it simply baffled me so much i had to restart the song just to make sure i wasn't misunderstanding something, only for my entire perception of leo as a character to change. hellfire alone made leo go from possibly my least favourite guilty gear character, to one of my favourite fighting game characters ever, and if it weren't for symphony it'd probably be my favourite song on the soundtrack.

Give Leo a hot brazillian queen (literally) and a hug, the man needs it.

There's also just him litterally screaming at his foes to just come at him and "BRING IT ON" so that he can die. His playstyle is litterally to be as reckless and unguarded as possible, the guy legit turns his back to his opponent allowing for him to be struck down. Of course, he won't just fall over and die, he'll still fight because he needs to die in battle like the rest, but he is going to do it as recklessly as possible in hopes of dying (Which ironically makes him stronger and makes so he doesn''t die)

I believe the Lyric you cut off "Those who dream of heaven- Those who dream of heaven never last very long!" is very important. The first "Those who dream of heaven" sounds somewhat hopeful even lofty, immediately smashed down by the reprise which adds "never last very long" it almost comes off as judgemental of the weak, but in retrospect shows how being hopeful is something he does not afford himself. He's seen too many new soldiers with hope die, almost as if surviving is his pennance. I think this is a call to Ky, who on top of dressing like a textbook paladin, admits to being a religious man in Xrd. I think that's why he's so vehemently in Ky's corner for the entirety of the story, Ky is the one man who never let go of hope but embodies it. Leo fights alongside Ky because he doesn't want to see him lose hope.

I guess you about to be stuck in this rabbit hole

I clicked on this thinking it'd be about the forgettable mechanic from Xrd, and was pleasantly surprised

HELLFIRE HELLFIRE

my friend what mod are you running for bridget?

But hardly anyone plays Leo..

I like smoke weed for this theme song.

all songs from ggst are exelent (expept jack-os theme) thats why they all sell for 60 bucks

Good now do drift

Mericans discovering basic music trivks is so interesting to watch

=kr D

When I first listened through all the GGS themes, Hellfire was one of my least favorites. I think It was the fact that it comes off as so one-note, not showing any emotion. On my second listen-through of the OST, months later, I found myself enjoying the track a lot more, especially the lyrics. At that time, I still didn't know Leo's lore, so I didn't know exactly why the lyrics were resonating with me, just that they were. This video ties everything together. I'm happy to say that I can really dig this track now, especially since it was not one of my favorites initially.

I don't think Leo masks his pain, more of he attempts to remove it from himself entirely. He fights and pushes forward because that is his duty as a king and soldier. Saying that he masks it kind of undermines him as a character, almost as if he's too weak to accept it, which is not true, he simply doesn't care about it.

LMFAO SUBTLE