History Characters / DragonQuestXITheParty

* ImportantHaircut: She does this near the end of the game [[spoiler:when she discovers that her twin sister Veronica sacrificed herself to save the party]]. Later, [[spoiler:in the postgame scenario, the haircut is undone (in several different ways).]]

* KingIncognito: With a mix of ModestRoyalty, he blends into life among common folk quite well. The only people who recognize him are those who knew him as a king, such as the Sultan of Gallopolis and King Carnelian.

** Early on, [[spoiler:he brings Rab and Jade the first bit of hope they've had in their quest in sixteen years just by dint of ''being alive'' - they thought he was long, long dead.]]

** The Official Character book takes this even farther -- featuring [=Q&As=] from after their adventure, every known character age as of Act I --and therefore, Act III-- is listed, but the Luminary's is ''not''. His is the ''only'' one where it's not even a listed category.

* StealthPun: He's a cool thief whose dance moves of choice evoke Music/MichaelJackson- [[spoiler: he's a smooth criminal!]]

* CripplingOverspecialization: Despite having access to the healing spell Staff of Salvation in her Heavy Wands tree, Veronica's base Magical Mending is 0, and she gains no points in the stat naturally--a trait otherwise shared only with characters who have no healing magic at all.

* FountainOfYouth: Quite unintentionally, at that - when one of the Lord of Shadow's minions tried draining her magical power, her age went along with it. It doesn't come back when she reclaims her power, but by then she's not as fussed about it.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Despite gaining several attack spells naturally and in her skill trees, Serena's base Magical Might is 0, and she gains no points in the stat naturally--a trait otherwise shared only with characters who have no attack magic at all. Near the end of the game, [[spoiler:she gains Veronica's magic attack stat along with her skills...]] but [[spoiler:her DiscardAndDraw brings it back down to 0.]] Thankfully, the high base power of her spells and the Magical Might on her equipment mostly remedies the problem.

* PurposefullyOverpowered: [[spoiler:After her ImportantHaircut, Serena's added spells, skills and stats inherited from Veronica make her the strongest member of the party in offensive, defensive, and support magic, in addition to gaining double the skill points of any other member per level (until she reaches a pretty high level, at which point, it peters out into a normal rate but by then you should have maxed out her more essential trees) and having the most variety in her skill trees, [[MasterOfNone to the point where one can think of it as a detriment]]. This doesn't last through the postgame, however--see DiscardAndDraw.]]

* SilkHidingSteel: Just because she's gentle doesn't mean she's weak - she even [[spoiler:holds it together during Veronica's funeral, only finally letting herself cry when she's alone with the Luminary]]. Her BigDamnHeroes moment against the Auroral Serpent shows just how dangerous it is to underestimate her.

-->'''Sylvando''': Here we are in beautiful Lonalulu - a seaside paradise that Shell tells me is home to the prettiest pearls in all the world!

* EyeScream: [[spoiler: Heavily implied he almost had his eyes pecked out by the elysium bird that attacked his family's villa and stole and Silver Orb years before the game began. This explains his fear of them -plus other similar bird monsters- in the Eerie Eyrie and elsewhere.]]

* FlowerMotifs: Roses are his. [[spoiler: A lesser-seen one are gerberas -his mother's namesake- in his character emblem, as seen in the official art book.]]

** [[spoiler: In Octagonia Act One, when fighting as Sterling Sylva, he uses Grand Stand - a move that is only unlocked when Sylv completes the Kingsbarrow Trial in act three and unlocks the Chivalry skill tree. Said trial is only open to the best knights.]]

** Out of the three types of weapons he can wield, whips -especially the best one in the game- give Sylv his highest attack power. While not outright stated, he trained for a long time with the circus, even staying as an entertainer after leaving; he's been an entertainer for longer than he was a knight.

** Parts of Sylv's past, while easily missed, are scattered around Erdrea. One such example are his comments in the Eerie Eyrie about him hating birds, as well as his Party Talk comments therein. In the mini medal academy's library, there's a book that tells the tale of an attack on a local manor house for the [[spoiler:Silver Orb. The manor house is in Puerto Valor - Don Rodrigo's villa. Sylvando says in one Eerie Eyrie Party Talk: "I don't know why, but the naughty things always try to peck my eyes out. Perhaps they think they're precious, glittering jewels... I suppose it's an easy mistake to make! Tee hee!" It's not hard to put two and two together.]]

** Given that he's a millionaire (or even a multimillionaire, given how much it must have cost him to have the Stallion built and maintained over many years), he's proven he's got a good head for money - which is perfect for him going into business and starting his own line of merchandise, as mentioned by an NPC in Act One Gallopolis.
* InSeriesNickname: Close friends call him "Sylv"; Erik, Dave and his parade members make liberal use of.

* IronicFear: Given how much he likes to dress as birds -see as well the aforementioned peacock and rooster attributes- Sylvando is terrified of large bird monsters: Eleysium birds, hades condors, and garudas. Overlaps with WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes

* JackOfAllTrades: While avoiding MasterOfNone, to boot. Sylvando does a whole bunch of things really well - he has a good, varied selection of weapons, good skills and good skill tree layouts, unique and powerful skills in his [[spoiler:unlockable]] tree, and his default magic list is a cornucopia of useful buffs and debuffs (including very early access to the ever-valuable Oomph). He lacks standard healing spells but instead has Hustle Dance, which is a cheaper Multiheal. The only common status ailments he can't cure are poison and death.

* MagicKnight: Knows plenty of sword techniques, coupled with the spells he learns.

* MysteriousPast: Sylv does his best to keep his past hidden, and while parts are revealed in-game [[spoiler: such as him being the son and heir of Don Rodrigo]], there are still things we never learn about him outright - things that have to be put together through context and dialogue. Could overlap with InternalReveal if one is able to put together the clues from Act One.

* ATasteOfTheLash: Besides swords and knives, Sylvando can also fight with whips, for players that want him to take more of a crowd control role.

** [[spoiler:Sylv is 29 in acts one and three, and 30 in act two; using the fall of Zwaardsrust as a starting point - as well as Hendrik's age (36) - we know that that happened thirty years before the game's events, thanks to a Party Talk at the end of act two with Hendrik at the Warrior's Rest Inn. In it, he says it's been three decades since that day. We also know that Sylv's mother led most of the survivors out of there afterwards, and that she went to Puerto Valor and married Don Rodrigo, thanks to what the ringmaster says in Sylv's side story. Given the distance between Zwaardsrust and Puerto Valor, as well as the time she spent in getting survivors to Octagonia, Dundrasil and Heliodor, it can be assumed it took her a while to get there after getting them to safety, as well as the (assumed) nine months she spent pregnant. There's also a Party Talk line from Sylv at the end of act two in the Viking Hideout, wherein he says he was around Mia's age when Hendrik went to train at Puerto Valor. Given that Mia was encased in gold for five years, and that Erik was fourteen when that happened, it's safe to assume that Mia was thirteen when she became a statue; being turned to gold is the same as being frozen in time. His age -thus everyone else's ages- in act two is thanks to a comment Faris makes about selling the Forging Hammer to fund that year's Sand National. A whole year had passed between the fall of Yggdrasil and the party reaching Gallopolis.]]

* TheGoodKing: Back when he was the ruler of Dundrasil before ceding the throne to Irwin and Eleanor, he was beloved by his people and knights - he even came up with a royal duty to go out and help his subjects with mundane tasks.

** Curiously, there's a moment she can appear as an ''enemy'' in the battle engine [[spoiler:during the Octagonia TournamentArc]], and for that appearance she actually has a completely unique idle stance and basic attack that ''is'' this trope in full - she doesn't use a spear or fist weapons, she attacks exclusively with kicks.

* MissingMom: [[spoiler:Her mother died not long after she was born, and as a result Queen Eleanor of Dundrasil - the Luminary's mother - was the closest thing to a mother figure she ever had, by her own admission. Needless to say, Eleanor being ''murdered'' was utterly devastating to the poor girl.]]

* FunPersonified: He's a circus performer; it's a part of the job description. Even during act two, when everything has gone to hell, he continues this. In fact, he doubles down on this attitude because the world needs laughter even more in the face of all the tragedy.

* GratuitousItalian: Surprisingly in the Japanese dub, and only heard during Sylv's side story; when jumping, Sylv will sometimes say "Amore!"

* HiddenDepths: It's clear from the get-go that he's got some and that the "flamboyant jester" thing isn't the totality of his character, but even early in the game, there are some optional moments that can make other aspects of him peek out:
** Once you get [[spoiler:his ship]] and go back to Cobblestone, the rest of the team is a bit quiet and supportive in Party Chat, but Sylvando is ''literally'' quivering with uncharacteristic, barely-contained rage at the situation. [[spoiler:As a man who trained his whole life to live up to the ideal of a knight and still holds the Knight's Pledge dear to his heart even if he isn't a "knight" anymore, the behaviour of Jasper and his men and what they did to Cobblestone offends him to the absolute core of his being.]]
** On the Luminary receiving [[spoiler:Rab's invitation to meet him and Jade in the ruins of Dundrasil]], Sylvando comments that they're "going back to where it began, hm?" [[spoiler:This is the first hint at Sylvando being much more aware of the wider situation than he first let on and that his accompanying the party is in no way an accident.]]

* IronicName: In the Japanese version, his birth name is [[spoiler: Goliath]]; a very masculine-sounding name that you'd more likely associate with a bulky bruiser than a slim and effeminate jester like him. Averted in the English version, where his birth name is the slightly more neutral-sounding [[spoiler: Norberto]].

* TheUnchosenOne: The only member of the party who isn't explicitly linked to the hero through some sort of higher power, prophecy, or family ties[[note]]Erik is sent by the Seer, Serena and Veronica are the reincarnations of Serenica, Hendrik is the reincarnation of Drustan, Rab is both his grandfather and implied to have inherited Morcant's magic, and Jade is essentially his sister[[/note]]; he's just a courageous good Samaritan who wants to make the world a happier place and believes that helping to defeat the source of all evil is the best way of doing it.

* UnclePennybags: Sylvando is ridiculously rich -the fact he [[WealthyYachtOwner owns the biggest ship in Erdrea says as much]]- and he's a really nice guy. Overlaps with SecretlyWealthy, to an extent.

* MsFanservice: {{Downplayed|Trope}} compared to Jade, as her normal outfit is pretty conservative and she isn't usually played for sex appeal, but many of her alternate costumes bare a good amount of skin, especially when it comes to emphasizing her legs. The very first one available is a rather pointedly {{Stripperiffic}} BellyDancer getup.

->'''Voiced by:''' Rasmus Hardiker (English), Creator/MitsukiSaiga (Japanese) [Definitive version]

[[folder:Hendrik]]

* MythologyGag: One that is more or less LostInTranslation: the [[NoExportForYou Japanese-exclusive]] [=PlayStation=] remake of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'' reveals that coliseum competitor Prima Donna [[WholesomeCrossdresser is actually a crossdressing man]]. In the Japanese script, Sylvando competes in the Masked Martial Arts Tournament under the alias "Lady Massive", [[SamusIsAGirl with the player being led to believe that he is a woman until they finally encounter him in the ring]].

* SamusIsAGirl: Gender-inverted. In the Japanese version, Golden Boy describes his partner in the MMA tournament as a "wonderful lady". It isn't until the Luminary faces him in the ring that he learns the mysterious "Lady Massive" is actually Sylvando. It's still present in the English script to an extent, as Golden Boy avoids using gendered pronouns when discussing his partner.

* PurposefullyOverpowered: [[spoiler:After her ImportantHaircut, Serena's added spells, skills and stats inherited from Veronica make her the strongest member of the party in offensive, defensive, and support magic, in addition to gaining double the skill points of any other member per level (until she reachs a pretty high level, at which point, it peters out into a normal rate but by then you should have maxed out her more essential trees) and having the most variety in her skill trees, [[MasterOfNone to the point where one can think of it as a detriment]]. This doesn't last through the postgame, however--see DiscardAndDraw.]]