Galford D. Weller

Galford D. Weller (ガルフォード＝Ｄ＝ウェラー, Garufōdo Dī Werā), better known as Galford, is a character in the Samurai Shodown series. He has consistently been in the roster since his introduction in Samurai Shodown with the exception of Warriors Rage. He fights alongside his pet husky, Poppy, and is accompanied by her puppies. His "Rasetsu/Bust" form appears as a separate character from him in Samurai Shodown VI.

Development
Yasushi Adachi originally created Hanzo Hattori first, and was thinking about creating another, similar ninja character. Galford's origin came from the manga Animal Doctor/Doubutsu no Oishasan, in which the main character has a Siberian Husky. He mentions that his wife was reading the manga at the time and he wanted to make Galford a character that would be popular with the female market.

A "Samurai Spirits Team" was originally scheduled to participate in The King of Fighters '95 and The King of Fighters '96. This idea was eventually dropped due to time constraints. Galford was intended to team up with Haohmaru and Nakoruru.

In the 1997 Gamest Hero collection, Galford was tied at fifteenth place as the staff's favorite character (along with Street Fighter Ken and Fatal Fury character, Ryuji Yamazaki). In the character popularity poll on Neo Geo Freak's website, he was voted as the twentieth favorite character with a total of 568 votes.

Story
His father was a kind and just sheriff. An iron hand against evil and injustice, many outlaws sought to end his life. He was shot and killed by a criminal while covering a young Galford with his body. His father's dying words were to "become strong", and he swore to fulfill his father's last wish. Galford took the bullet that killed his father and carried it with him.

After the murder of his father, Galford left his home to become a sailor, where he learned about the ninja of Japan. Fascinated by their stories of heroics and mysticism, he decided to learn from them. He completes his training in the Koga style under Ayame, the wife of Hanzo's master (Earthquake trained with him too, but quit early). In the process of making his ninjato, Justice Blade, he fused the aforementioned bullet into the metal, and later carved names of rest of his family on the blade. Throughout the series, Galford seeks to uphold justice throughout the land eventually as a superhero of justice.

In Sen, he learns the location of his father's murderer and goes to seek revenge. In his ending, Galford feels homesick and spies on his home. He sees his mother talking to a man he doesn't recognize and smiling, a sight Galford hasn't seen in years. Assured of her happiness, Galford leaves to continue his life as a ninja.

Personality
Contrary to the seriousness of his fighting style, Galford is an optimistic and cheerful person, and is the most lighthearted of franchise's ninja characters. He exhibits good sportsmanship, though there are times when he won't hesitate to take someone's life for the greater good. He also regrets leaving his mother and sisters, aware that he was supposed to help the family's income and protect them as the "man of the house", but knows that he cannot rest until justice has been served.

He has strong romantic feelings for Nakoruru, even after her sacrifice. This is somewhat debatable after his ending in Samurai Shodown VI, where he states that he'll let go of said feelings via stopping midway a love confession and focusing on his battles against evil. His other half, however, retains said feelings and is all but stated to actually confess to her (and have his confession accepted). For her part, whether Nakoruru returns Galford's romantic love or not, she still cares greatly for him and even recalls him fondly in her SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy ending.

Powers
Aside from these powers, he also has all the skills perceived to be had by ninja (stealth, swimming, climbing, ect.)


 * Use of Kunai - Galford is the only character in the series to use kunai.
 * Electrokinesis - Galford can infuse his attacks with electricity.
 * Teleport - Galford can teleport short distances above his opponent.
 * Bushin - With Poppy, Galford can create a mirror image of himself and attack his opponent from both sides.

Fighting Style
When first introduced, he and Hanzo nearly mirrored each other in several aspects such as confusing foes with teleportation, illusions, and surprise piledriving. His main deviation from Hanzo is the addition of his dog, Poppy. In Samurai Shodown III, his "Shura/Slash" form integrates a heavier reliance on Poppy, creating a quick, hit-and-run style of fighting. His "Rasetsu/Bust" form, however, relies on grappling and aggressive up-close combat. As the series progresses, Galford becomes faster but slightly less powerful than Hanzo. His lightning projectile, or "plasma" as it is dubbed by the creators, differentiates from Hanzo's fire as it only flies horizontally straight rather than traveling along the ground in a slinky-like motion. In the later games this projectile is changed to a quick execute but long recovery move and Hanzo's to be the opposite.

Music

 * Maguro (Tuna) - Samurai Shodown
 * Kuro Maguro (Bluefin Tuna) - Samurai Shodown II
 * Shoujin no Ryuu (Purifying Waterfall) - Samurai Shodown III
 * Incarnation of the Tuna - Samurai Shodown IV, V
 * Kuro Maguro (Bluefin Tuna) - Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden
 * Reunion - Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden
 * Hi Tension - Samurai Shodown 64
 * Shin Maguro (True Tuna) - Samurai Shodown 64-2
 * Melt - Samurai Remix VA

Voice Actors

 * Kay Inage - Samurai Shodown ~ Samurai Shodown III, Sen, Samurai Shodown VI (re-dub voice)
 * Mantarō Koichi - Samurai Shodown IV~V, 64 series, RPG
 * Junji Majima - Samurai Shodown VI
 * Wataru Komada - Samurai Shodown (2019)
 * Wataru Takagi - Samurai Shodown: The Motion Picture
 * Kurt Stoll - Samurai Shodown: The Motion Picture (English voice)
 * Toshihiko Seki - Samurai Shodown Dengeki drama CD series

Game Appearances

 * Samurai Shodown
 * Samurai Shodown II
 * Samurai Shodown III
 * Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden
 * Samurai Shodown IV
 * Samurai Shodown!
 * Samurai Shodown 64
 * Samurai Shodown! 2
 * Samurai Shodown 64-2
 * Samurai Shodown V
 * Samurai Shodown V Special
 * Samurai Shodown VI
 * Samurai Shodown Sen
 * Samurai Shodown (2019)

Mobile Appearances

 * Days of Memories (third title) - in-text cameo; participates in Nakoruru's story
 * The SAMURAI Kingdom
 * Kingdom Story
 * Kimi wa Hero
 * Samurai Shodown Tenkadaiichi Kenkakuden
 * Samurai Shodown: Oborozuki Densetsu

Cameo Appearances

 * Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage - in Tashon Mao's ending; passing mention
 * Samurai Spirits (pachinko)
 * Samurai Spirits Gaiden: Cham Cham
 * Samurai Spirits Oni
 * The King of Fighters XIII - in the USA stage
 * SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy - in Nakoruru's ending

Anime Appearances

 * Samurai Shodown: The Motion Picture
 * Samurai Spirits 2: Asura-Zanmaden (OVA)

Similar Characters

 * Galford (Rasetsu)

Trivia

 * His nickname amongst the Samurai Shodown II staff is "Galuzo" (ガル蔵).
 * Nakoruru and Galford are the first fighting game characters who fight alongside their pets in battle.
 * When asked "The path of the sword is?", Galford's response is "A way to realize justice in the fight against evil."
 * His favourite type of mate is a Yamato nadeshiko.
 * When he first came to Japan, his primary objective was to separate the facts and myths about ninja. He also wanted to try eating octopus.
 * In Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage, the Rasetsu/Bust version of Galford shares the same scars as Poppy.
 * Galford is at the time, one of the few non-Japanese characters in SNK-produced fighting games to speak exclusively in English despite being voiced by a seiyuu, and while he does speak some Japanese, he uses phrases easily recognizable by non-speakers. This was averted in Samurai Shodown VI where he wholly speaks Japanese. Said trait returns in the game's reboot, though he speaks mostly in Japanese in cutscenes and win quotes.