Why Faust is my Favorite Fictional Character of All Time

Me too (I’ve never played guilty gear)

i think Faust would be ecstatic to hear he somehow helped someone who isn’t even on his plane of existence by just living and being relatable to someone

My favorite Faust running gag is when most of the GG characters assume he's a Gear, an Alien or anything else but human

One thing I love about Faust is how his story begins and ends. It starts with a young girl being killed in his care, causing him to go crazy. In Strive's "Another Story", Faust risks his life in order to save Delilah, a young girl, possibly killing himself and turning into what he is now. It started with a young girl, and it ended with a young girl. A beautiful and poetic bookend for his story.

you know a character has been made right when i like him so much even though i havent touched a single guilty gear yet

The thing about him going insane after just one surgery makes sense to me tbh. I imagine there are a lot of cases where doctors think they're prepared for the possibility of their patient dying, until it happens. Even just one life is a pretty heavy weight to bear, I couldn't imagine what it's like to lose a patient. And on top of that he's said to have miraculous medical talent, which is a TON of pressure for anyone to bear. I can see all of that stress getting to someone's head after a catalyst like losing a patient. Also, tysm for getting me into Guilty Gear, fantastic vid!

I love this video and Faust so much! But one thing Fausts outfit in strive is not a patient uniform. It’s called a scrub uniform and that is what surgeons wear during surgery so they probably picked it cause it’s more horror like compared to a normal doctors uniform

Faust is a user of very rare spacial magic that allows him to essentially warp reality to some extent. Being the best doctor in the world, Faust uses his knowledge of human body to warp his own body in any way

The only reason I want Fanny in Strive is for narrative purposes... Having her find the man who saved her life and helping him through his struggles in return would be really nice... Bonus points if she still doesn't know Baldhead became Faust and she's doing it purely out of her need to help.

Faust is not only the most fun character I've ever played as in a fighting game, but he's also the drippiest. My mans is rocking the J's in strive

Faust is one of the few fictional characters that has made me unironically go "HE JUST LIKE ME FR". And his arc just hits me sumn fierce as someone who has cllinical depression Something alot of people who konw Faust on a surfance level (sorry if this sounds sobbish but it irks me), is that Faust "became depressed" or randomly became super edgy when really, Faust has been depressed THIS ENTIRE TIME. He just hides it with his sillinesss and masks it well (with the mask finally falling off in Strive) and that struck a cord with me so hard.

Good stuff! :D

I’m pretty sure the only other way to heal in the whole gg series besides Faust’s food is Nagoriyuki’s bloodsuck in strive

I find it funny how similar we got into faust and guilty gear as a whole. During the time I got the game I was going through a really abusive relationship where I kept going back to it to get hurt worse. During that time I saw a funny doctor and I thought I might try guilty gear. I was game shared it, and I fell in love with him. same as you. I got into his story and learned of the self-sacrifice and relapse into depression. I felt for him and he helped me through the worst time this year put me through. Thank you for the video it's great to see faust get some credit for once!

I am soooo thankful that you covered Faust. After you said that Faust was your #1 favorite character, I hoped that your next video would talk about our fav boi.

Strive Faust aesthetic wise is maybe the most fantastic thing to ever grace media, the way he moves, the nonsensical attacks, the expression it's all just so masterfully done

36:00 That piano section is taken from "No Surprises" by Radiohead in case you didn't know. It's a song about a slow or quiet death, so it's inclusion in the Faust theme adds a really cool layer to it

I'm surprised you didn't talk about Square One when you were talking about relapsing. I feel his climactic scene in the DLC story pretty much spells out to us that he was willing to do anything for a young girl that reminded him of his patient, but in the process, likely destroyed everything in his own head to do so, just like when he went manic back in ML

34:54 Honestly I like this interpretation because it makes Dr. Baldhead's story in Missing Link less silly. This is all speculation of course, but this "back to square one" (as he calls it) form of himself could very well be an exaggerated version of what he was like before he found his calling as a doctor and a healer. Imagine having no will to live or purpose in life as you lethargically shamble through it, before you suddenly find something that you're passionate about and it pulls you out of your funk. For Faust that was medicine, and he quickly became one of the most brilliant physicians the world has ever witnessed. And then one day, he failed. A young girl died in his care before he could even process where it all went so wrong. After years spent aimlessly searching for his calling, he (in his eyes) even managed to ruin the one thing he was supposed to be the best at. Assuming his mental state prior to his career resembled anything like his Strive appearance, it's no wonder that the sheer grief and frustration after this event drove him over the edge. He does seemingly get over it later, but his unusually cheery demeanor is just a facade. Even with his sanity (mostly) intact he hasn't really moved on. We even see this confirmed when Ramlethal confronts him about it in Strive's 2nd story, that even after all this time he hasn't forgiven himself for something that was never really his fault, and that he sees dying saving people as his only way out before Ram talks him out of it. I'm pretty sure in Xrd he also reaffirms to Johnny that he doesn't deserve the title of doctor after all the things he's done. With Faust supposedly going back to the beginning in Strive right after the events of the second story, I wonder if they're setting him up to move over the tragedies of his past life properly this time. I'd honestly love to see him reappear an installment or two from now sporting his true identity without the mask, as a healed (or healing) man truly no longer ashamed of himself or his unfortunate past. He'd lose some silliness sure, but I think it'd all be worth it just to see him truly happy for once. This comment is probably a mess, but all I'm saying is that I hope ArcSys has something nice planned for funny bag man. Pls.

While as a lore head, I could go about all the stuff that was omitted (Like Another Story), unclear, or incorrect, but it looks like people in the comments have already taken care of that ^^; What's also important is how the characters we love affect and Impact us. And your passion for the doc touches me just as much as the character himself. It always makes me so happy to find more Faust fans both old and new. This August 27th will mark 20 years since Faust became one of my favorite characters of all time. I was initially drawn to him because his silly antics made me nostalgic for the Looney Tunes I watched growing up. Then I went through his story mode in XX and learned he was so...much...more. As I grew older and changed, so did my admiration for him. I found new ways and reasons to relate with and love him. And while there were points where I focused on other media, every time I came back to Guilty Gear, Faust never failed to make me fall in love with him all over again. Then came his reveal in Strive and the agonizing couple years we had to wait before we could learn what was really going on with him. My friends and loved ones can attest how worried I was over if he was even going to survive in the story. And, admittedly, said anxiety spilled over into my everyday behavior and...let's just say I'm not proud of some of the ways I lashed out at people trying to ground me back to reality. Ofc as it turned out, Faust was gonna be just fine (even if he's a bit worse for wear PHYSICALLY). Something I've always had a hard time coming to grips with is living with the mistakes I made without utterly hating myself for making them. Faust's arc in Strive actually helped me realize that even if I make a HUGE mistake or do something that some (or MANY) would consider unforgivable...Life goes on. Even when I'm at my lowest, life STILL goes on. And I'll always have the ability to choose! I can either dwell in the darkness for the rest of said life...or light a torch and move forward. The path may not be well lit, making me stumble, but I'll get back up and keep moving, keep living, and forgive myself regardless of how other people feel about me or how things will change due to my actions. I don't have to let my past define me as long as I hold myself accountable, learn from my mistakes/wrongdoings, and always STRIVE to be a better person today than I was yesterday. Eventually, I'll open a new door. Thank you, Doctor Faust, for reminding me of that fact.