She is one of the most used characters when it comes to promoting the Soul Calibur series, which has caused problems before; the North American packaging had to cover up Ivy's breasts for the obscenity of it - not that it has stopped any other inappropriate ads about her.
As if that wasn't enough to show how much her character is all about being sexy, in the story she, along with all of the other females, have to be relatively young to be in the game. A lot of the other female characters have been replaced with younger versions, but Ivy stays the exact same, with the excuse of alchemy and black magic - there's no way that could have an older lady being the mascot for the game, now is there? All of the other males in the game have aged as expected, and have not been replaced by younger characters at all.
If her backstory did involve being a dominatrix or a sex worker, then there would be a slight bit more justification for it - although not a whole lot. Her wiki is as follows:
"The House of Valentine was once one of the most wealthy families in London. Isabella 'Ivy' Valentine had been raised with love by her parents. However, her father, Earl Valentine, was driven insane by his pursuit for what was called the "Key to Eternal Youth." By the time of his death, his efforts to search for immortality had drained his family's fortunes and left one of London's most distinguished families in ruins. As if to pursue her husband into death, the Countess fell ill and passed away soon after Earl Valentine's death. This left Ivy as the sole surviving member of the Valentine family." ...
"To honor her father, Ivy chose to become an alchemist and investigate Soul Edge." ...
"Filled with rage and despair, Ivy vowed to avenge the death of her father by using all of her knowledge to destroy Soul Edge. Ivy realized she needed to create a weapon powerful enough to destroy Soul Edge. Her knowledge led her to successfully create a weapon capable of shifting back and forth from a whip to a sword. This weapon was merely mechanical though, and Ivy believed the only thing which could stand against a living weapon is another living weapon. She attempted to use alchemy and her own blood to give the sword life, but all attempts were unsuccessful.
Finding her alchemic skills useless, she turned to studying ancient sorcery. Every midnight, she would attempt summoning rituals, hoping to call upon a being who would grant her sword life. With every failed attempt, Ivy became more desperate and angry"...
None of this so far gives her any particular reason to dress a certain way, and even surely her upbringing contrasts with her style of dress - a noblewoman would not dress as a dominatrix, and there is nothing here to suggest that she is rebelling against her family which wold be one flaky but almost acceptable excuse. In fact, it's the exact opposite - I would say that she would be more likely to honor her family if anything, and I do not think that that sort of clothing style does in the slightest.
One of her alternate outfits, however, does actually make sense.
Here, you can actually tell more about her history and demeanor than her standard outfits. This is more practical, even if still isn't the most armor she could have, but it makes sense as an outfit for female in every day life. Of course there is a lot less fanservice - not that she doesn't look any less busty - so it is likely to be used less often, but the fact that she even has an outfit like this is slightly more redeeming. The pose still isn't the best, but compared to the few above and her other usual ones, it is an improvement.
I would like to make a more practical version of her usual outfits as they are a lot more iconic and easier to identify, but I will keep the one above in mind as possible inspiration.
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