Chronomancer

-----BACKSTORY-----
In an event that would later become known as the Temporal Catastrophe, time and space were suddenly warped and distorted at various points around the world. Once distantly-separated locations became adjacent. Various regions became "stuck" in certain time periods, allowing the past, present, and future to interact with each other in unintended ways.
The cause of this paradox was eventually revealed to be the work of a powerful wizard known only as the Chronomancer, possessing the ability to manipulate space and time as he sees fit. For reasons known only to himself, the Chronomancer sent out a message: If anyone from any point in time in any timeline could find and defeat him in combat, he would put an end to the Temporal Catastrophe and make the victor's timeline the true one. He would also allow the victor to change one thing about his or her own personal past, for better or worse.
Twenty fighters from throughout history and the future of various timelines have accepted this message as a challenge, and are willing to take each other on if it means a chance at erasing the mistakes of their own pasts, and changing the course of history as we know it.

-----CHARACTERS-----
Besides the standard assortments of unarmed combat manuevers, most characters also have unique weapons they can use as part of their fighting style, and can mix up their moves between fisticuffs and weapons. Each character also has a designated "rival" character which they must confront at a certain point in Arcade mode.

---Thura---
Native Time Period: Pre-History
Bio: A skilled huntress from a timeline where man and dinosaurs evolved alongside each other. She fears and despises technology, and desires a future where the dinosaurs never went extinct.
Weapon: Giant Club
Stage: Lava River. Atop a flat rock floating on a river of lava from a recently-erupted volcano through a now ash-covered jungle.
Rival: Eliza

---Pugnax---
Native Time Period: Ancient Rome
Bio: Formerly a soldier in the Roman army, he lost his name and his family when they were dishonored and sold into slavery. He now fights in the Collosseum to please a bloodthirsty crowd and one day earn his freedom. One day, a shining warrior entered the arena and sparked a series of events that allowed him to escape and seek the Chronomancer.
Weapon: Gladius
Stage: Collosseum. The blood-soaked arena has gotten a lot more interesting since the Temporal Catastrophe.
Rival: Chrome Golem

---Sezutki---
Native Time Period: Medieval Japan
Bio: A mysterious assassin disguised as a Shinobi warrior. Working under an unknown client, she was assigned to assassinate the Emperor of Japan, a trivial task for her skill level.
Weapon: Kunai, Shuriken, Smoke Bombs
Stage: Palace Garden. A massive garden surrounding a Japanese palace.
Rival: Zanken

---Zanken---
Native Time Period: Medieval Japan
Bio: Bodyguard to the Emperor of Japan. Or at least he was, until he failed to prevent his assassination. The samurai now seeks redemption by searching for the assassin as well as the Chronomancer to give him another chance at restoring his honor.
Weapon: Katana
Stage: Japanese Village. A fight breaks out on the streets of medieval Kyoto.
Rival: Sezutki

---Nassir---
Native Time Period: Ancient Saudi Arabia
Bio: The young leader of a band of thieves whose legendary heists are said to be chronicled by the storyteller Scheherezade. He has taken advantage of the Temporal Catastrophe to steal from the future, such as the treasure of a famous pirate...
Weapon: Dagger
Stage: Thieves' Den. A massive desert hideout containing the various treasures and artifacts from heists. The collection has only gotten more interesting with the Catastrophe.
Rival: Morgana

---Alexander---
Native Time Period: Medieval Europe
Bio: A knight in service to the Roman Catholic Church, tasked with conquering holy cities. The Temporal Catastrophe is believed by the church to be a sign of the end times, and the Chronomancer is the devil himself.
Weapon: Lance
Stage: Courtyard. The open courtyard of a medieval castle, currently under siege by an unknown force.
Rival: Black Wolf

---Grandmaster---
Native Time Period: Medieval Eurasia
Bio: Once a master martial arts teacher, this warrior disappeared into the mountains to meditate in a life of solitude. Though his name has been forgotten, the Temporal Catastrophe awakened something in him, and now he travels the mess the world has become, seeking enlightenment through intense fighting.
Weapon: Quarterstaff, Ki Blast
Stage: Monastery. A secluded monastery in the Himalayan mountains.
Rival: Magnum

---Morgana---
Native Time Period: Age of Exploration
Bio: The daughter of a legendary pirate, she upholds her father's legacy by intercepting merchant ships on the high seas with her dreaded crew. She couldn't ignore the Temporal Catastrophe, however, when a certain thief made off with a portion of her treasure...
Weapon: Cutlass, Flintlock Pistol
Stage: The Amphitra. On the deck of a massive galleon on a stormy night, now under attack by the Spanish Armada.
Rival: Nassir

---Rolland---
Native Time Period: Medieval Europe
Bio: Hailing from an alternate timeline where magic and science are one and the same. As the young apprentice of a powerful wizard, Rolland one day found a forbidden spellbook called the Chrononomicon, containing the secrets of time and space manipulation. With the Temporal Catastrophe occuring, Rolland starts to wonder if he already started to use this magic.
Weapon: Elemental Magic (Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Earth)
Stage: Magic Tower. On one particular floor is a massive library containing spell tomes detailing all sorts of arcane arts.
Rival: Aaron Steel

---Black Wolf---
Native Time Period: Unknown
Bio: An enigmatic traveller afflicted with lycanthropy. His name is only known as Black Wolf due to his ability to become one. He has been spotted at various points throughout history, leading to some believing him to immortal. It is speculated that he feeds off of the life force of the earth itself, as every region he stays in long enough deteriorates into uninhabitable wasteland. Due to the Temporal Catastrophe, he is now pursued by the crusader Alexander.
Weapon: Claws, Fangs
Stage: City Streets. The dark streets of an unknown renaissance era city at night, lit up by a full moon.
Rival: Alexander

---Joseph---
Native Time Period: 1850s
Bio: When his dreams of making it big off the California Gold Rush were crushed after a run-in with a band of outlaws, Joseph became a bounty hunter, travelling the frontier lands and bringing his own flavor of justice to those that thought they could escape it. The Catastrophe has since given him more bounties to pursue, and a chance to start over.
Weapon: Tomahawk, Revolver
Stage: Desert Train. The rooftop of one of the cars of a steam locomotive travelling across the desert.
Rival: Subject X

---Eliza---
Native Time Period: Victorian England
Bio: The niece of a talented gadgeteer who invented a steam-powered airship. In this timeline, England has experienced a revolution driven by steam-based technology. However, another one of her uncle's inventions was destroyed by a savage with a club, and now she looks to return the favor.
Weapon: Steam-Powered Gadgetry
Stage: Zeppelin. Her uncle's greatest invention (besides the one that was wrecked) now soars over London.
Rival: Thura

---Tommy Two-Guns---
Native Time Period: Roaring Twenties
Bio: A gangster involved in a massive smuggling ring fronted by one of Chicago's most notorious crime families. If anyone claims to have any dirt on this closely-guarded secret, Tommy's job is to make sure it never gets out. Now some travellers from other times have found out too much...
Weapon: Ice Pick, Baseball Bat, Tommy Gun x 2
Stage: Speakeasy. Tommy is often hired as a bouncer of sorts at this one, and doesn't hesitate to use force when it comes to unwelcome guests.
Rival: Agent Viper

---Agent Viper---
Native Time Period: 1960s
Bio: A special agent working on a joint project between the CIA and MI6. The Temporal Catastrophe is believed by them to be caused by Soviet scientists, and are investigating the matter further. One thing that can be done to take advantage of this is to eliminate a certain smuggling ring from the past...
Weapon: Classified gadgetry disguised as ordinary items
Stage: Secret Base. Believed to be somewhere in Russia, this heavily-guarded base contains experimental weaponry based on technology far ahead of its time.
Rival: Tommy Two-Guns

---Aaron Steel---
Native Time Period: 1980s
Bio: The proverbial black sheep of his family, Aaron ran away from home following the death of his older brother. He became a musician, and one day signed on to a major record label owned by a corrupt ex-lawyer who promised to make him a real rock star. So he did, attaining all the fame, fortune, and women one could ask for, but he slowly came to realize that what he wanted all along was the love and acceptance of his parents, who have long since disowned him. He looks to the Chronomancer to stop his path of self-destruction.
Weapon: The Crimson Idol, Aaron's guitar. After a run-in with Rolland early in the Temporal Catastrophe, the Idol is now extremely durable, fit to be used as a blunt weapon. It's enchantments allow the one that plays it to control the forces of fire and lightning.
Stage: Arena of Pleasure. Two fighters duke it out on the stage of this ampitheater while the band plays on before a crowd of thousands.
Rival: Rolland

---Lionel---
Native Time Period: Present Day
Bio: Formerly the heavyweight champion of boxing, Lionel eventually discovered that the league's matches were rigged. When he won a match that he was supposed to have lost, he was stripped of his title and kicked out of the league. With the Temporal Catastrophe, he looks to gain a new type of title by KO'ing the Chronomancer in a fair fight.
Weapon: His own fists
Stage: Training Room. Lionel has a private gym in the mansion he had built with his prize money, complete with its own ring.
Rival: Cygnus

---Cygnus---
Native Time Period: Late 21st Century
Bio: The head of an organization specializing in the development of cybernetic implants. Despite being over 100 years old, Cygnus has survived by replacing his vital organs with synthetic ones, and has become more machine than man. He believes that his work has allowed him to become more than human by cheating death. With the Temporal Catastrophe, he has sent out his followers to recreate the human race as immortal cyborgs, whether they're willing or not, starting with the boxer he bribed the league to rig a match against in the past.
Weapon: Cybernetic Limbs
Stage: CygnusCorps Rooftop. The helicopter landing pad overlooks a neon-lit cyberpunk city.
Rival: Lionel

---Subject X---
Native Time Period: 1940s
Bio: A being from another world, she was the leader of a group of intergalactic scientists who picked up readings of abnormal temporal activity on the fringe of the Milky Way Galaxy. Their interstellar vessel was not prepared to handle the effects of the Temporal Catastrophe, and crash-landed in Roswell, NM, which was stuck in the 1940s. Though her team was captured and dissected by the US military, she managed to escape, and wandered into California, itself stuck in the 1850s, and got the attention of bounty hunters, who have started calling her Subject X.
Weapon: Unknown Energy-Based Weapon (U-WEB)
Stage: UFO Hangar. A military hangar in the desert that currently houses the wrecked vessel of Subject X and her crew.
Rival: Joseph

---AU-79 "Magnum"---
Native Time Period: "Year Zero"
Bio: Eventually, the Cygnus Corporation branched out to robotics and started mass-producing self-aware machines. These robots were disgusted at the thought of humans trying to turn themselves into the superior machines, and initiated a holocaust against organic life. With the Temporal Catastrophe, the machines can now retroactively erase humanity from existence. Magnum is just one of many heavily-armed mechanoids bent on establishing machines as the superior race.
Weapon: Eye Lasers, Plasma Cannon, Vulcan Cannon, Flamethrower, Grenade Launcher, Cluster Missiles. I wasn't kidding when I said heavily-armed.
Stage: Robot Factory. The fighters battle on a conveyor belt moving along the assembly line where Magnum's kin is forged.
Rival: Grandmaster

---Chrome Golem---
Native Time Period: Unknown
Bio: A humanoid construct made of chromium, polished to a mirror-like sheen. The original chrome golems were created and given life by Rolland's mentor to study and copy the various fighting techniques of the world. In the wake of the Catastrophe, the golems have gone rogue, learning and practicing fighting styles from throughout all time.
Weapon: The chrome golem assumes a random character's fighting style each round, complete with all the weapons he or she would use.
Stage: Open Field. A grassy plain in an unidentified region of the world, with nothing but mountain ranges on the horizon.
Rival: Pugnax

---Chronomancer---
The Chronomancer is not playable in most circumstances.
Native Time Period: All Eternity
Bio: Formerly the apprentice Rolland, the Chronomancer learned to bend time and space to his will. Now, the entire universe and all possible timelines throughout eternity are but playthings to him. He has created the Temporal Catastrophe on Earth to see if anyone would challenge his seemingly infinite power, and intends on extending the warps out to the rest of the universe in his search.
Weapon: Elemental Magic, like Rolland, but his spells are more powerful, have greater priority and reach, and have additional effects. He can also slow down, speed up, and even reverse time.
Stage: Time Void. At the very core of the Temporal Catastrophe is a massive vortex where one can see both backwards and forwards into the abyss of eternity. Mere mortals, however, cannot comprehend its true nature, and to them it only appears as a field of relics from throughout time floating in an endless, colorful void.
Rival: Everyone

-----GAME TYPES-----
The following game modes are available, though not necessarily immediately.

---Story---
A series of specified battle scenarios connected by scenes explaining the story of Rolland and the results of his discovery of the Chrononomicon. Most stages have their own leaderboards for specified objectives.

---Arcade---
One player selects his character and battles through 8 stages on a difficulty level of his choice. Stages 1 through 6 consist of a random opponent on their associated stage. Stage 7 is a battle against the player's character's specified rival, and Stage 8 is a battle against the Chronomancer, after which the character's ending can be viewed. The player is awarded points after each round based on his remaining health, time, and the difficulty level. Each character has their own high score board.

---Versus---
Two combatants (either of them being humans or AI) select their characters and battle on a stage of the player's choosing. Rules such as the time limit per round and the number of rounds per match can be modified.

---Practice---
A player can train his skills with a character and opponent of his choice, being able to adjust his opponent's behavior to practice a variety of situations.

---Team Battle---
Comes in single and multiplayer varieties. A single player can form a team of three different characters and battle his way through six stages, the first five of which contain randomly assorted three-man teams of the characters the player did not choose, and the sixth stage's team consisting of two chrome golems (or one chrome golem and another character the player did not choose) and the Chronomancer. In the 2-player version, each player takes turns selecting characters to build teams of up to 8, then battling in a similar manner as Versus mode.

---Survival---
One player battles an endless line of random opponents to see how many consecutive wins in a row he can achieve. The stage changes after every 10 victories, and the Chronomancer will show up on every 50th battle. The player recovers a portion of their health after each win.

---Time Attack---
Choose from a list of pre-determined sets of opponents to fight in single-round matches. After all opponents are defeated in the specified order, the player's clear time will be recorded for that particular set.

---Tournament---
Create and play out a tournament bracket with customizable rules and any combination of human and AI entrants. Up to 32 entrants are allowed in single and double elimination tournaments, and up to 8 are allowed in round robin tournaments.