Did you know that the name Sabrewulf dates all the way back to 1984? Ten years before Killer Instinct released in the arcades? In 1984, Ultimate: Play the Game (later to become known as Rare!) released a game called Sabrewulf for the Spectrum ZX. In the Sabrewulf game, players take on the role of Sabreman, a traveller who mistakenly falls into a deep chasm on his adventure and must battle all sorts of wild creatures to make his escape. During his quest for survival, the guardian Sabrewulf will appear from time-to-time, forcing Sabreman to escape as his trusty sword has no effect against the wild beast.
Unlike his Killer Instinct counterpart, there isn’t any indication that Sabrewulf is a human suffering from Lycanthropy. He appears to be a wolf simply guarding his territory. He can, however, induce the disease to his victims, as evidenced in the third entry of the Sabreman series, Knightlore, which has Sabreman searching for a Lycanthropy cure caused by Sabrewulf in the first game. The original Sabrewulf title later received a remake and re-release on the Game Boy Advance in 2003.
While Killer Instinct’s Sabrewulf may be an original fighter with his own distinctive and unique moves, the origins of his name goes far deeper. So the next time you sit down to play any of the KI games or are, perhaps, simply reading up on the character, then know the basis of his name comes from a game developed nearly thirty years ago. Interesting, yes?
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Yes, indeed. It IS very interesting