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The release of Goldlewis Dickinson in Guilty Gear Strive has been met with incredibly positive feedback, with fans speculating intensely about future DLC characters. The best evidence that players had to go off of so far was a datamine in the month of June done by a Twitter user (@Lean_Buscaglia_).
A screenshot of a folder seemingly containing files pertaining to every playable character in the game went viral in the community. The files were categorized by acronyms used to describe different characters in the game.
Some of these acronyms were for characters that were not playable yet and seemed to imply their future addition to the game. These include Jam, Goldlewis, Jack-O, Asuka & Happy Chaos.
Guilty Gear Strive: Season 1's returning characters could be Slayer and Baiken
In light of Goldlewis' release, it is safe to conclude that this datamine was legitimate and a good piece of information to speculate based on. But in a surprise twist, another datamine done by the same Twitter user has revealed unused battle voice lines against Slayer and Baiken in Guilty Gear Strive.
There are also voice lines against Happy Chaos and Jack-O, but there was already a mild indicator of their future addition to Guilty Gear Strive. This new information points to two completely new characters that were not part of the initial leak.
It's interesting to note that Slayer and Baiken both have 3D models in Guilty Gear Strive's story mode. It is possible that they will be added into the game. The existence of voice lines against them adds weight to that.
The same data-miner is also responsible for unearthing the existence of Baiken in Samurai Shodown. A double reveal made by SNK and Arc Sys for Baiken in their respective game is quite possible.
It is safe to say that this is far more concrete evidence to speculate upon, and players can discard the earlier screenshot people relied upon to make predictions. Why there aren't voice lines for Jam is hard to say. They're either hidden elsewhere, or Jam won't be a part of Season 1.
From the perspective of a storyteller, Slayer and Baiken are definitely worth building upon in the world of Guilty Gear Strive. The return of Anji and the addition of Nagoriyuki both reveal the existence of stories about Slayer and Baiken that have never been told before.
The next DLC character for Guilty Gear Strive is scheduled for release in August and is very likely to be a returning character. It won't be too long until it becomes clear what exactly will be the direction of Season Pass 1.
