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Yggdrasill is the BigBad of Symphonia, a FallenHero who lost his mind and his idealism when the people he risked everything to save decided to betray him by murdering his only family, only to find a new and darker purpose by gorging on the power of souls. As the leader of Cruxis and the Desians, this self-righteous false messiah has the entire world bowing to his PathOfInspiration. For the past four millennia, he has hoarded technology and experimented on his chosen sacrifices, waiting for the day his magnum opus bears fruit.\\
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Yggdrasill is the BigBad of Symphonia, a FallenHero who lost his mind and his idealism when the people he risked everything to save decided to betray him by murdering his only family, only to find a new and darker purpose by gorging on the power of souls. As the leader of Cruxis and the Desians, this self-righteous false messiah has the entire world bowing to his PathOfInspiration. For the past four millennia, he has hoarded technology and experimented on his chosen sacrifices, waiting for the day his magnum opus bears fruit.\\
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* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Mithos' backstory can be summed up in two sentences: Risk everything to make the world a better place, and the people you saved will betray you by murdering your family. Become an evil, soul-devouring bastard, ''and you get to become the TopGod''. This absolute failure of karma has utterly warped him into the narcissistic villain he has become today.
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* ChildishVillainMatureHero: In stark contrast to Lloyd, who is willing to yield when it's clear he's in the wrong and actually learn from his mistakes, Mithos refuses to accept his unhealthy obsession with getting his sister back no matter what is wrong, [[spoiler:to the point that when Martel intervenes to call out Mithos for his actions, he refuses to accept her words and deliberately misinterprets her final request just so he can keep her at his side forever regardless of what she wants, no longer caring about the world]].
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* ChildishVillainMatureHero: In stark contrast to Lloyd, who is willing to yield when it's clear he's in the wrong and actually learn from his mistakes, Mithos refuses to accept that his unhealthy obsession with getting his sister back no matter what is wrong, [[spoiler:to the point that when Martel intervenes to call out Mithos for his actions, he refuses to accept her words and deliberately misinterprets her final request just so he can keep her at his side forever regardless of what she wants, no longer caring about the world]].
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* HateSink: If they have any redeeming qualities, they never share it with the party, and demonstrate the bloodthirsty pettiness of the world's FantasticRacism. Even Forcystus' more noble qualities are only [[InformedAttribute brought up after his death]].
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* HateSink: If they have any redeeming qualities, they never share it with the party, and demonstrate the bloodthirsty pettiness of the world's FantasticRacism. Even Forcystus' more noble qualities are only [[InformedAttribute brought up after his death]].death]] and Pronyma's moral standards are only revealed in a spin-off novel.
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!!! Voiced by: Takahiro Yoshimizu (JP), Andre Sogliuzzo (EN)
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!!! Voiced by: Takahiro Yoshimizu (JP), Andre Sogliuzzo Creator/AndreSogliuzzo (EN)
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* ChildishVillainMatureHero: In stark contrast to Lloyd, who is willing to yield when it's clear he's in the wrong and actually learn from his mistakes, Mithos refuses to accept his unhealthy obsession with getting his sister back no matter what is wrong, [[spoiler:to the point that when Martel intervenes to call out Mithos for his actions, he refuses to accept her words and deliberately misinterprets her final request just so he can keep her at his side forever regardless of what she wants, no longer caring about the world]].
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* WellIntentionedExtremist: He started off well-intentioned, but eventually becomes a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist. [[spoiler:Everything he did was for the sake of creating a world where he and his sister could leave free of discrimination. Until he undergoes his VillainousBreakdown and goes '''batshit insane''', leading to him trying to create a new world on Derris Kharlan for himself and his sister while abandoning any pretense of saving the old one, thus proving that now he only cares about being alongside his sister forever regardless of what she wants.]]
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* WellIntentionedExtremist: He started off well-intentioned, but eventually becomes a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist. [[spoiler:Everything he did was for the sake of creating a world where he and his sister could leave free of discrimination. Until he undergoes his VillainousBreakdown and goes '''batshit insane''', leading to him trying to create a new world on Derris Kharlan for himself and his sister while abandoning any pretense of saving the old one, thus proving that now he only cares about being alongside keeping his sister at his side forever regardless of what she wants.]]
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* ManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:He's the leader of both Cruxis and the Desians.]]
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* ManBehindTheMan: TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:He's the leader of both Cruxis and the Desians.]]
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[[center:[-''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' | ''[[Characters/TalesOfSymphonia Main Character Index]]''\\
[[Characters/TalesOfSymphoniaPlayableCharacters Playable Characters]] | '''Antagonists''' | [[Characters/TalesOfSymphoniaSupportingCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld Dawn of the New World Characters]]-]]]
The antagonist characters from the game ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia''.
'''SPOILER ALERT''': NOT ALL SPOILERS ARE MARKED.
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Lord Yggdrasill]]
!! [[spoiler:Mithos]] '''Yggdrasill'''
!!! Voiced by: Creator/HideyukiTanaka (JP), Creator/JamesArnoldTaylor (EN)
!!! [[spoiler:Mithos voiced by: Creator/MinamiTakayama (JP), Creator/BrianneSiddall (EN)]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yggdrasill.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see his true appearance. '''(MASSIVE SPOILERS)''']]
Yggdrasill is the BigBad of Symphonia, a FallenHero who lost his mind and his idealism when the people he risked everything to save decided to betray him by murdering his only family, only to find a new and darker purpose by gorging on the power of souls. As the leader of Cruxis and the Desians, this self-righteous false messiah has the entire world bowing to his PathOfInspiration. For the past four millennia, he has hoarded technology and experimented on his chosen sacrifices, waiting for the day his magnum opus bears fruit.\\
[[spoiler:He's also Mithos, the young half-elf the heroes "rescued" from a burning village - who becomes Genis' first half-elf friend, who worries for Raine when she looks tired, who makes jokes at Zelos' expense like everybody else... until he [[TheReveal reveals himself to the party]] when one of his most trusted lieutenants, one of [[TrueCompanions his companions from 4000 years sooner]], proves himself to be a traitor.]]
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Tropes associated with him:
* AdorablyPrecociousChild: He ''looks'' the part. Sure doesn't ''act'' the part.
* AGodIAmNot: He has godlike power but never develops the full-on complex. In the end, he still views himself as a half-elf who's just trying to make the world a better place... [[WellIntentionedExtremist through some extremely questionable means]].
* BadassAdorable: [[spoiler:Both stages of the FinalBoss are him alone versus the party.]]
* BeamSpam: The [=PS2=] version of the game onward gave his Yggdrasill form the "Yggdrasill Laser" move, which he likes to spam in the third battle, a lot. Coupled with his Outburst arte and he really starts to seem like a [[VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia Dhaos]] clone, gameplay-wise.
* BecomingTheMask: He genuinely seems to grow to like [[spoiler: Genis, even taking a hit from Pronyma that was meant for him]], though it doesn't stop him fighting him later on.
* BigBad: Of the first game.
* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler:Especially from Genis' point of view.]]
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:What turned him into a villain was his sister Martel dying.]]
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Symphonia is a prequel to ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' and Mithos is deliberately written to contrast Dhaos, a villain who has similar angelic powers and laser spam. Both fear for the world tree's mana depletion, but Mithos is primarily motivated by his goal to revive his sister and end discrimination, in that order, while Dhaos is primarily trying to obtain a seed to plant a new world tree, making the former more selfish. At the same time, Mithos is able to maintain better [[VillainWithGoodPublicity publicity]] due to his control over the Church of Martel while Dhaos is only ever seen as a generic EvilOverlord by humanity. Finally, Mithos dies unable to accept that he was in the wrong while Dhaos dies realizing that he became no better than the humans he hated.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler:He and his sister were the victims of a lot of overt racism due to being half-elves.]]
* DarkMessiah: He sets himself up as this, believing that everything he has done is necessary in order to save the world from its inevitable destruction. Judging from what happens in the sequel and ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'', he's not entirely wrong, but the end result would have been eternal stasis of civilization and consciousness, which was likely worse.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:During a skit, he actively questions his goals and says that if he is wrong, then he has no reason to continue living.]]
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the StockShonenHero. In the past Yggdrasil was his own RPG protagonist, going on an epic quest to save the world, believing everyone could put aside their differences and work together and end discrimination forever, and convincing rivals and enemies to work with him. But when reality refused to follow his ideals [[spoiler: and murdered his sister]], Yggdrasil couldn't handle it and went insane, completly inverting the archetype.
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Martel being murdered. Doubles as his StartOfDarkness. He becomes disillusioned with the idea of voluntary coexistence after this, and believes that the only way humans, elves, and half-elves will ever get along is if the differences between them are artificially removed and they all become emotionless, lifeless beings.]]
* {{Determinator}}: Deconstructed. [[DetrimentalDetermination In fact, it's treated as his]] FatalFlaw. He never, ever gives up, and will do anything to save his sister. Unfortunately for the rest of the two worlds, we do mean ''anything''. [[spoiler:Including splitting the world asunder, getting countless people killed and trying to force everyone to become lifeless beings to end the discrimination that killed Martel. When Martel herself finally intervenes and tells him to stop what he's doing, his response is to go LaughingMad and refuse to accept her words, before finally deciding to take his sister and all of Derris-Kharlan into space so they can finally be alone, even if it causes TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. When he's finally killed for good, his last words are that he wouldn't change a thing if he could do it all over again.]] His FallenHero status is fueled [[PsychopathicManchild by his determination to never grow up]].
* DisproportionateRetribution: He kills [[spoiler:Pronyma]] for [[spoiler: calling him by his first name.]]
* DudeLooksLikeALady: The fact that his [[spoiler:younger self]] is voiced by a female actress doesn't help matters.
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:After the final boss battle, he has a HeelRealization where he realizes he doesn't want to be trapped in a soul gem for eternity, much like he forced thousands of his victims into. He is still unrepentant though, as his Cruxis Crystal is destroyed before his consciousness fades.]]
* EvilLaugh: Has a rather unnerving one when [[spoiler:his child Mithos form is revealed as the BigBad and starts kicking Yuan around for betraying him.]]
* EvilLuddite: [[spoiler:His World Prolongation Plan involves keeping the world in a MedievalStasis, because he believes that the development of technology inevitably leads to wars that waste resources. Unlike most Evil Luddites, he has no qualms about using technology himself.]]
* TheExtremistWasRight: About ''one'' thing; [[spoiler:one part of his plan, the splitting of the world in two and putting a limiter on mana flow, genuinely worked as far as it prevented new {{magitek}} wars. As ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' reveals, a renewed free flow of mana led to the proliferation of {{magitek}} weapons, another Mana Cannon, and another war that destroyed civilization a few centuries after the game ends. Incidentally ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'''s storyline involves the creation of yet ''another'' Mana Cannon [[HistoryRepeats that ends up damaging the new Tree of Mana]]... Even before the events mentioned in ''Phantasia'', ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'' has the Vanguard, who planned on using the Mana Cannon against Tethe'alla.]]
* FallenHero: [[spoiler:Was once idealistic and, like Lloyd, believed the factions of the ancient war could live in peace. Everything changed when Martel died]].
* FantasticRacism: First a victim, then a perpetrator; especially when he obtained the power to ''change peoples' races'', but used it to turn humans into monsters and HumanResources. The party comment on how he might have been a victim, but, as Zelos says, "it doesn't even come close to justifying all the things [he's] done."
* FauxAffablyEvil: Zigzagged. On one hand, his regal demeanor is a [[MaskOfSanity facade]] to hide how deranged he is to his followers. On the other hand, [[spoiler:he shows a more genuinely [[AffablyEvil affable]] side when befriending Genis and helping to treat Raine when she's sick]].
* FinalBoss: Though he's fought several times before then, this is the only time it's not a HopelessBossFight.
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Even after the party comes to understand the experiences that made him the person he is, they don't believe it justifies it. Most explicitly spelled out when Zelos says that what he suffered doesn't even come close to justifying his actions.
* GetItOverWith: [[spoiler:Asks Lloyd to destroy his Cruxis Crystal so he won't be taken over by it. He admits defeat but refuses to accept Lloyd's ideas to the end.]]
* GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler:Yggdrasill's primary goal is to use a suitable Chosen as a host body for his sister's mind.]] He also [[spoiler:takes control of Colette so he can make her fly to the sacrificial area.]]
* HalfHumanHybrid: And the discrimination he received because of it changed the entire world.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: [[spoiler:He was famed as a hero during the Kharlan War, before becoming a FallenHero]].
* HopelessBossFight: The first two times you meet him, physical attacks all deal single-digit damage, though magic still works fine. Both fights will end without a results screen after a certain amount of time, or if you somehow manage to reduce his HP to zero.
* HumansAreBastards: His primary belief.
* IRegretNothing: [[spoiler:When Mithos tells Lloyd to MercyKill him, he admits that he doesn't regret committing any of his atrocities to get Martel back and he would do them all over again if he could, thus proving to the very end that he will never let go of his hatred for humans and move on his sister's death.]]
* IRejectYourReality: [[spoiler:When Martel calls out Mithos for his atrocities and refuses to accept his plans, pointing out that this goes against everything they strived for, Mithos refuses to believe Martel would say that to him and goes LaughingMad. When she leaves Colette's body and begs Mithos to return the world to the way it was, he delibertaly misinterprets her words and decides to take her and Derris-Kharlan into space without caring that this will destroy the world, even going so far as to refuse to believe that Martel would tell Colette to stop Mithos from doing so.]]
* TheIdealist: [[spoiler:4,000 years ago]], he believed it was possible for humans, elves, and half-elves to live without FantasticRacism. He was apparently so much of a WideEyedIdealist that [[spoiler:he managed to get his jaded MentorArchetype Kratos, and Yuan, who was [[CommanderContrarian deliberately trying to prove him wrong]] to work with him]]. Unfortunately, that idealism died when said humans murdered and tortured the people he loved the most.
* IgnoredEpiphany: [[spoiler:When Martel briefly possesses Colette and gives Mithos as massive WhatTheHellHero speech, he chooses to interpret it ''entirely'' differently from how Martel actually meant it.]]
* KickTheDog:
** [[spoiler:Killing Pronyma, while she begged him to save her after being defeated by Lloyd and Co. Presea even calls such an act cruel.]]
** [[spoiler:Attacking Tabatha and calling her a failed vessel.]]
* KnightTemplarBigBrother: ''Hoo boy''. He does everything for the sake of Martel. She's not impressed.
* LackOfEmpathy: For all his talk about how much he loves [[spoiler: his sister Martel, he doesn't seem to care about what she wants and becomes furious when she calls him out for all of the atrocities he's committed in her name. After she leaves Colette's body, he's willing to take the Great Seed (which contains Martel's soul) to Derris-Kharlan in order to be with her forever, knowing that it'll destroy the worlds, not caring in the slightest that this goes directly against his sister's wishes.]] He also injures or outright kills people who piss him off and shows no remorse for it.
* LightIsNotGood: He's an angel and uses some light-based techniques like Judgment, Holy Lance, and Prism Sword, but he's the main villain.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:Sibling love, though, to be exact. Unless you [[BrotherSisterIncest read too much into it]].]]
* LovingAShadow: Despite how much he claims to love [[spoiler: Martel, it turns out Mithos loves more of his idea of her than his sister himself. When he successfully manages to merge Martel with Colette, Martel gives him an epic TheReasonYouSuckSpeech over the atrocities he's committed in the name of resurrecting her and tells him in no uncertain terms that it's not what she wanted, musing that maybe things would have been better if the elves never left Derris Kharlan. When she leaves Colette's body, Mithos is furious and when Colette tries to tell him Martel wants the suffering to stop, he purposefully misinterprets this as Martel wanting the world ''destroyed'' and retreats to Derris Kharlan to "go home" with his sister.]]
* ManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:He's the leader of both Cruxis and the Desians.]]
* MaskOfSanity: He acts like a calm and composed leader, but according to the spin-off novel, Pronyma thinks he's too blinded by grief to think rationally. His crazy side starts to come out [[spoiler:when he laughs maniacally while kicking Yuan, attacks Tabatha for being a failed Martel vessel [[MoodSwinger despite earlier]] saving her because of her resemblance to Martel, and kills Pronyma for calling him by his first name. When Martel temporarily possesses Colette's body and admonishes him, Mithos starts going into denial and tries to take the Great Seed to Derris-Kharlan in a mad attempt to be with his sister forever.]]
* MeaningfulName: Mithos, as in "mythos", referring to both a set of stories -- Mithos being the legendary hero at the heart of the worlds' narrative -- and also to "myth", alluding to Mithos's carefully-constructed image all being a lie.
* TheMole: [[spoiler:In his "Mithos" guise.]]
* MotiveDecay: [[spoiler:He started out wanting to end half-elf discrimination, save the world from mana depletion, and revive his sister. Somewhere along the line, he became the main perpetrator of all discrimination, turned the world into his playground, and sacrificed thousands of chosen ones for his experiments. By the end of the game, he's willing to doom the world to be with his sister forever, all while disregarding her criticism.]]
* {{Narcissist}}: By the time you meet him, Yggdrasil has been consumed by his own ego. He casually spreads the racism he once fought against because it ensures he stays at the top of the hierarchy. He turned his dead sister into the goddess of his PathOfInspiration, and painted himself as the perfect hero. He also responds to a lieutenant calling him by his former identity (which he now derides as weak) by ''murdering'' them. By the end of the game, Yggdrasil is finally called out by the one person he wanted the praise of the most, and the blow to his ego causes him to abandon everything he's built to die just so he can be left alone.
* NecessarilyEvil: PlayedWith. On one hand, [[spoiler:him dividing the world into two with the Eternal Sword was definitely this, since as bad as the situation with the two worlds was, they would die without the Kharlan Tree if they were one. He argues that keeping them this way prevents another Kharlan War. Sadly, this is eventually proven true centuries after his death.]] On the other hand, it becomes clear that his cruel cycle was ultimately unsustainable due to his thirst for power, and if he wasn't replaced with something better, than the world would ''definitely'' die completely.
* OneSteveLimit: [[spoiler:Despite Raine's insistence that Mithos is "a common boy's name", Mithos the Hero, Mithos who holds the pact with all the Summon Spirits, and Mithos the tagalong half-elf orphan from Ozette are one and the same.]]
* OlderAlterEgo: [[spoiler:He used the Cruxis Crystal to give him an adult form so he would have "an appearance befitting the leader of Cruxis."]]
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:An amalgamation of three mecha-like mini-bosses from Welgaia; reflecting his inability to accept others, come to terms with the past, or forgive people.]]
* PlayingTheVictimCard: He tries this on the party right before the FinalBoss fight. He calls himself the victim for all the racism that he and his sister suffered, and that his solution would still work. The party doesn't buy it for a minute, with Zelos in particular saying "it doesn't even come close to justifying all the things you've done."
* PsychopathicManchild: [[spoiler:Martel's death drove him so completely over the edge that, for all of his power and intelligence, he never really grew up mentally.]]
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: He's the leader of Cruxis and the Desians and is the most powerful among them, being the strongest enemy in the game barring a couple {{Superboss}}es.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Like the rest of his companions.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:When Martel shoots down his AssimilationPlot, he decides to just take her and Derris-Kharlan and fuck off to space. Unfortunately, taking the giant mana source that is Derris-Kharlan with him would doom both worlds, so the heroes still have to stop him.]]
* ShutUpKirk:
** Shortly before the third battle with Yggdrasill, he responds to Lloyd calling him out on all the people he's killed by saying. "Human. Don't tell me what's right and wrong!"
** During the final confrontation, he asks where the half-elves should live. When Lloyd says they can live anywhere they like, he says "Don't make me laugh." Lloyd, not missing a beat, insists that if they're not doing anything wrong, they can live proudly in the open.
** In response to Colette asking him to seek redemption, he says, "Do you think I'm going to beg for forgiveness? Ridiculous!"
* ShadowArchetype:
** [[spoiler: He's what Lloyd could have become if the latter never owned up to his mistakes. He even says as much.]]
-->[[spoiler: "Farewell, my shadow, you who stand at the end of the path I chose not to follow." ]]
** He shares a lot of the same insecurities as all of the party members, [[spoiler:as shown by the illusions he uses to prey on their insecurities. He runs away from his problems like {{the mole}}s and Sheena, has issues with forgiveness and valuing his own life like Presea and Regal, and suffers from InternalizedCategorism over his race like Genis and Raine. This trope is especially true for Colette, who can be trapped in any of these illusions depending on whichever character is chosen in Flanoir, due to her guilt in not completing the pilgrimage and feeling ostracized for being a HumanSacrifice. Unlike Mithos, the party members ultimately choose not to accept the easy solution to their problems, which baffles him because he always chose the [[EvilIsEasy easier path]].]]
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:Pushes Tabatha out of the way of a landslide (as Mithos), and takes a shot of dark energy Pronyma aims at Genis (as Yggdrasill). It's implied he resents Tabatha for being a "failed vessel" that couldn't accept Martel's soul (which he in fact outright says when Raine calls him out for hurting her) but her uncanny resemblance to Martel could be why he saved her. As for Genis, the game basically states that Genis was exactly like Mithos once was, and since Genis and Mithos became friends after the group "found" him in Ozette, it's possible Yggdrasill felt genuine kinship towards Genis, or was trying to persuade Genis to pull a FaceHeelTurn.]]
* TeleportSpam: This is why his first form is considered harder than his second. He does it in both of his {{Hopeless Boss Fight}}s, too.
* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:Only his former comrades are allowed to call him "Mithos". Interestingly enough, this may extend to Lloyd and Co., since he wasn't seen to have any specific problem with any of them calling him by his old name though its justified by the fact that when interacting with them, he calls himself Mithos.]]
* ThereAreNoTherapists: [[spoiler:Subverted. It's implied that Kratos ''did'' want to help him but it either didn't work, or Mithos didn't let him.]]
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler:What he thinks of himself and Martel once this happens. For Martel, this works. For himself, not so much.]]
* UsedToBeASweetKid:
** [[spoiler:Was revealed to be a lot like Lloyd and Genis (if a bit of a brat towards Yuan) as a kid in the anime and the manga. [[DespairEventHorizon And then Martel was murdered...]]]]
** This is also shown in the UpdatedRerelease, [[spoiler:where a phantom of his past self is in Niflheim as a {{Superboss}}. His phantom is still idealistic about equality for half-elves and encourages the party to carry on his work. The party can't bear to tell him the truth about his [[FallenHero present self]].]]
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: How he justifies the things he's done. No one buys it. [[spoiler:Not even Martel after she briefly resurrects.]]
* VillainDecay: A deliberately invoked and justified by-product of this. [[spoiler:After Martel rejects his plan, he basically decides to abandon the world and build a new life for himself and his sister on Derris-Kharlan.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: After [[spoiler:Martel rejects his plan]]. Complete with LaughingMad.
* VocalDissonance: It is ''very jarring'' hearing [[spoiler: Mithos' voice]] coming out of his mouth.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Shifts between the tall, intimidating angel Yggdrasill and [[spoiler:the young, innocent-seeming Mithos.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: Learning more about him turns the entire second half of the game on its ear.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He started off well-intentioned, but eventually becomes a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist. [[spoiler:Everything he did was for the sake of creating a world where he and his sister could leave free of discrimination. Until he undergoes his VillainousBreakdown and goes '''batshit insane''', leading to him trying to create a new world on Derris Kharlan for himself and his sister while abandoning any pretense of saving the old one, thus proving that now he only cares about being alongside his sister forever regardless of what she wants.]]
* WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises: [[spoiler:During his VillainousBreakdown in the anime. [[http://i44.tinypic.com/18zupi.jpg Take a look]].]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: It's hard not to feel sorry for him after all that's happened to him, but he loses any sympathy he might have gained after all of his horrific actions. The party even says as much before their final battle.
* WorthyOpponent: Eventually comes to regard Lloyd as one. The respect is mutual.
* {{Yandere}}: [[spoiler:For Martel, though in a more familial love kind of way. Again, unless you [[BrotherSisterIncest read too much into it]].]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Five Grand Cardinals]]
The five leaders of the Desians.
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Tropes associated with the Grand Cardinals:
* BattleThemeMusic: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uv8WdGFkHU The Law of the Battle]]".
* DirtyCoward: While they have plenty of physical courage when butting heads with the party, often to the point of arrogance and contempt, they only operate in whatever is The Declining World at the time. This means they're picking on humans who are too weak to fight them due to mana depletion in their world, instead of fighting the stronger world to liberate half-elves suffering under FantasticRacism.
* FantasticRacism: They all hate humans, and some of them even hate elves.
* FlunkyBoss: Tend to have a few minions fighting alongside them, except for the first battle with Pronyma, Magnius, and Rodyle.
* FreudianExcuse: Half-elves are abused by humans to a horrifying degree, leading them to hate humans. Then Cruxis promotes them to positions of power over captive humans. As expected, they did not grow up to be nice and understanding about the trauma.
* HateSink: If they have any redeeming qualities, they never share it with the party, and demonstrate the bloodthirsty pettiness of the world's FantasticRacism. Even Forcystus' more noble qualities are only [[InformedAttribute brought up after his death]].
* MoralMyopia: None of them express or seem to notice any {{Irony}} over their treatment of humans and how it seems similar to their own past treatment ''by'' humans.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Zigzagged. They are the strongest of the Desians, except for Rodyle, who is a DirtyCoward. However, it is implied that Forcystus is actually stronger than Pronyma, but she is the leader due to some off-screen plotting.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Pronyma]]
!!'''Pronyma'''
!!! Voiced by: Creator/YukiMakishima (JP), Creator/MasasaMoyo (EN)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pronyma.png]]
The leader of the Five Grand Cardinals and Yggdrasill's right hand.
----
Tropes associated with Pronyma:
* AlasPoorVillain: The party is taken aback at how [[spoiler:Yggdrasill mercilessly kills her when she is begging for help]].
* CastingAShadow: Most of her attacks are dark-based.
* DarkActionGirl: She's the only female of the Desian Grand Cardinals.
* DarkIsEvil: To contrast with the rest of Cruxis' LightIsNotGood.
* TheDragon: To Yggdrasill. Downplayed in that she is both much weaker than him and a ''distant'' second in his esteem compared to the Four Seraphim.
* EarlyBirdCameo: We first see her in Kvar's ranch as a hologram.
* ElementalPowers: Includes CastingAShadow, MakingASplash, and AnIcePerson.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: According to Kratos's spin-off novel. Despite her UndyingLoyalty to Yggdrasill, even she is disturbed by his increasing insanity, especially when he states that he doesn't care about the out-of-control world tree.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: All of the other Desians resent her because she apparently usurped the leadership of the Five Grand Cardinals. Notably, Magnius' first instinct when he suspects that there's a traitor in their midst is to contact Forcystus rather than her.
* IgnoredEnamouredUnderling: It's strongly implied Pronyma's UndyingLoyalty is because she's in love with Yggdrasill- she even threatens [[spoiler:[[HalfHumanHybrid Genis]]]] when the latter attacks Yggdrasill saying, "You may be one of us, but you will pay for your treachery!" Of course, Yggdrasill couldn't care less and only keeps her around because she's the strongest of the Cardinals.
* LadyOfBlackMagic: The cold, serious leader of the Five Grand Cardinals with powerful darkness attacks.
* RecurringBoss: She's the only one of the Grand Cardinals you fight more than once. [[RuleOfThree Three times, actually.]]
* RedBaron: Twilight Pronyma
* RescueRomance: Her one-sided love for Yggdrasill started when he saved her from being used as a living weapon.
* SamusIsAGirl: Before she's introduced to the story proper, you fight Kilia, her underling, who brags about how she was sent to keep an eye on things in Palmacosta by Pronyma and once killed, cries out, ''"Lord'' Pronyma!", so it can come as a surprise to first-time players that Pronyma is a woman.
* SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains: Subverted; her thigh-length boots, leotard and ExcessiveEvilEyeshadow isn't what you'd call subtle, but she is constantly surrounded by a set of artificial bronze wings on a ring, which means most of the time you only ever see her face and possibly her feet.
* SheIsTheKing: [[TheCasanova Zelos]] is the only one that refers to her as "Lady Pronyma"; the others all call her "Lord Pronyma".
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: She detests Kratos for his human origins and because she blames his earlier betrayal for Yggdrasill's SanitySlippage.
* TheStarscream: It's implied that she was one to the previous leader, though she's completely loyal to Yggdrasill.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Yggdrasill. [[spoiler: Killia, her subordinate, has this to Pronyma, screaming her name when she gets defeated.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: She's trying to protect her people from discrimination by humans.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Mithos no longer cares about her after she's defeated by the heroes and Martel is about to be revived. In fact, he actually kills her himself when she calls him [[ThatManIsDead Mithos]] while begging for his help after being defeated by the party]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Forcystus]]
!!'''Forcystus'''
!!! Voiced by: Takahiro Yoshimizu (JP), Andre Sogliuzzo (EN)
The Grand Cardinal in charge of the Iselia Ranch.
----
Tropes associated with Forcystus:
* AdaptationalWimp: In the game, he survives Marble's self-destruct attack, but in the manga, he's ''vaporized'' by that same attack.
* ArmCannon: It shoots out gusts of wind. He also uses it as sort of a giant metal club.
* ArtificialLimbs: His left arm has been replaced by a cannon. It is either this or a gauntlet-like accessory. Given that he's also lost his eye, it's probably the former.
* BlowYouAway: His attacks are wind-based and he's adept at wind magic.
* DiedStandingUp: Fades away while still standing.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Rather literally, he's the last boss you fight in the Platform/GameCube version before you're forced to switch to Disc Two. More thematically speaking, while Pronyma is still alive at that point, The Desians are more or less destroyed as a faction and are largely no longer relevant to the story going forward.
* TheDragon: He appears to have the most authority among the Cardinals in charge of the ranches, making him this to Pronyma. It makes sense, considering he's in charge of the most important of the Human Ranches, and is the strongest of them all by far.
* EyepatchOfPower: It probably alludes to his past as a half-elven hero.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: He put an end to a human-led genocide against half-elves in his past. He [[MoralMyopia doesn't seem to see any irony with his current situation]].
* KilledMidSentence: Not killed, just incapacitated by a [[spoiler:self destructing Marble]] when Lloyd says he won't give up his exsphere to the Desians that killed his mother, Forcystus actually seems surprised and says "What are you talking about, your mother was killed by..." before he's cut off.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: By Lloyd.
* InformedAttribute: We learn nothing of, nor get a hint to the fact that Forcystus was a hero to half-elves everywhere until ''one'' skit shortly after he dies.
* KickTheDog: Transforming Marble into a monster just to spite Lloyd. When he learns of Kratos' betrayal, he yells that humans cannot be trusted and aims his arm cannon at [[DamselInDistress Chocolat]], making Colette push her out of the way.
* KnightTemplar: He started out just trying to protect his fellow half-elves. Now he does many horrible things to defend them.
* MagicKnight: He splits the difference between Magnius and Kvar. While Magnius prefers physical strikes and Kvar exclusively uses magic, Forcystus fights with both with equal competence.
* MrExposition: Averted. When Forcystus is first introduced, he nearly drops two ''very'' big reveals in the game's first act. [[spoiler: Namely, the existence of the Renegades and that Lloyd's father is the one who killed his mother.]] However, he's interrupted both times, so we don't find them out later.
* NobleDemon: He's the only Grand Cardinal who ''doesn't'' go out of his way to provoke the village he's overlooking and honours the non-aggression treaty until he has reason to believe that Iselia has violated it. It's also discovered posthumously that he was a defender and champion of his people. That said, it's implied that the [[PragmaticVillainy real reason]] he didn't antagonize Iselia [[spoiler: was so that Colette could grow up unharmed to continue the ViciousCycle Yggdrasill has in motion.]]
* RedBaron: Forcystus the Gnashing Gale
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler: Attempted, after being revealed to be NotQuiteDead.]]
* VillainHasAPoint: Despite how cruel and unnecessary his attack against Iselia was, he was completely correct that Lloyd violated the non-aggression treaty first, so he was simply retaliating. This is tempered by the fact that 1) Lloyd only killed about 3 Desians, while Forcystus led a massacre and 2) Lloyd [[spoiler: mistakenly, as it turns out]] believed that Forcystus violated the treaty first by attacking Colette.
* TooManyBelts: His undershirt is just a mass of belts (or belt-like straps, anyway).
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He is a hero to his people and comes off as a soldier fighting a racially-motivated war.
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Praised by the Desians but reviled by the humans. Lloyd wonders whether he could have gotten along with him in a world where humans and half-elves could coexist.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Magnius]]
!!'''Magnius'''
!!! Voiced by: Creator/ShinjiKawada (JP), Chris Edgerly (EN)
The leader of the Palmacosta Ranch.
----
Tropes associated with Magnius:
* BloodKnight: He's the most violent of the Grand Cardinals. In stark contrast to Forcystus, who leaves his area alone unless provoked, he's more than willing to kill the citizens of Palmacosta with his bare hands.
* BoisterousBruiser: He's got the other Grand Cardinals beat in the volume department, that's for sure.
* TheBrute: When your EstablishingCharacterMoment is executing a teenage girl's mother and snapping a bystander's neck with your bare hands, you're probably this.
* DisproportionateRetribution: He snaps a guy's neck for not calling him "Lord Magnius".
* DumbMuscle: He's plenty strong, but he's not very smart. Rodyle manipulates him with a minimal amount of effort.
* DumbassHasAPoint: He calls out Lloyd in the Palmacosta Human Ranch when Lloyd declares the party will kill him and free the captives by pointing out how he failed to do just that in Iselia, and that several people died as a result.
* FantasticRacism: He's one of the few half-elves that hate their elven half as much as their human half.
-->'''Magnius''': Fine, I'll take care of you myself! I'll put an end to the Chosen, right along with you fools who can't let go of your elven blood!
* FieryRedhead: Literally and figuratively.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Has a scar over his eye.
* GroinAttack: When Magnius attacks Palmacosta, Lloyd's response is to deliver a swift [[SwordBeam Demon Fang]] to his crotch.
* HairTriggerTemper: In his very first scene, he's trying to kill at least 3 people, just because they mildly annoyed him. And the people of Palmacosta live in fear that one day he'll be in a bad mood and just destroy the city.
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: Seems to have shades of this towards Chocolat.
* LargeHam: His voice actor was obviously having a great deal of fun, especially with the word 'vermin'.
--> '''VEEEEERRRMIIIIIIIIIN!'''
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When he realizes that Rodyle used him, he doesn't take it very well.
* NeckLift and NeckSnap: Does this to a random human who doesn't use his title.
* PlayingWithFire: His main element.
* RedBaron: Magnius the Pyroclasm
* SlouchOfVillainy: He's got a pretty impressive one going on when the party catches up with him in his ranch.
* SirSwearsALot: More prone to screaming and cursing than the other Cardinals. He actually doesn't swear quite as often as, say, Lloyd, but he seems to use the word "VERMIN!" in copious amounts to replace the swear words he would use otherwise.
* TheStarscream: He seeks to replace Pronyma as the leader of the Grand Cardinals.
* StupidEvil: It's ultimately PlayedForDrama. It's ''because'' he's so StupidEvil that Rodyle was able to manipulate him.
%%* UnwittingPawn: To Rodyle.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He seeks to protect his people from discrimination by humans by [[StupidEvil murdering the crap out any of them who get in his way]]. Needless to say, he probably wasn't hired for his brains.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kvar]]
!!'''Kvar'''
!!! Voiced by: Shigeru Ushiyama (JP), Chris Edgerly (EN)
The leader of the Asgard Ranch.
----
Tropes associated with Kvar:
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Comes off as ''very'' similar to Josef Mengele.
* AbsurdlySharpBlade: The unassuming bladed portion of his magic scepter is actually absurdly sharp, enough to impart a wound on Colette that horrifies the party.
* ArchEnemy: For Lloyd and Kratos. For Lloyd, it's because he's responsible for his MissingMom. For Kratos, it's ''even more'' personal because [[spoiler:said MissingMom was his lover]].
* BodyHorror: Not him, personally, but [[spoiler:as the brains behind the Angelus project, he ''induced this'' in Lloyd's mother.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: His own underlings pull this on him, as they seem to be somewhat scared of him. He's even considered the cruelest of the Five Grand Cardinals, which is ''really'' saying something.
* TheEvilGenius: One of two, Rodyle being the second. Rodyle appears to be the superior of the two.
* EyesAlwaysShut: His sprite has a perpetual squint. In the OVA, this is changed to having very narrow eyes with black sclera.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: He knows who Kratos is and the two seem to have a very, ''very'' bad history. ''Hrm''...
* ForTheEvulz: Unlike the other Desians, Kvar doesn't seem to need much motivation to be a complete bastard.
* GoodHairEvilHair: He has slicked-back hair, which is a common hairstyle for bad guys.
* HilariousOuttakes: His voice actor [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPrgsqPc_5g somehow managed to have this little gem slipped into the game's files]]...
* LackOfEmpathy: He casually [[spoiler: tells Lloyd about his father killing Anna with no change in tone or facial expression. He even seems amused when Lloyd gets angry.]]
* MadScientist: He seems to be responsible for the Desian's scientific research in Sylvarant. Which naturally means he kills humans by the dozen for the sake of science.
* MeaningfulName: KVAR is an acronym that stand for [=KiloVolt=]-Amperes Reactive, a unit of reactive power, which is a reference to to his Lightning-related powers.
* PosthumousCharacter: Somewhat. [[spoiler: He's alive at the game's beginning but you don't find out ''quite'' how far the depths of his depravity go until after you've killed him.]]
* RedBaron: Kvar the Fury Tempest.
* ShockAndAwe: He uses lightning magic as his weapon of choice.
* SmugSnake: You'll find yourself wanting to punch him in the face in every scene he's in.
* SquishyWizard: He relies on magic to a much greater extent than the other Grand Cardinals. His only physical attacks involve him ineptly bashing his opponent with his staff. His magic is more than enough, though, especially his [[MagicMissileStorm Guardian Shield]], which can seriously fuck you up if you're not expecting it.
* TheStarscream: Like Magnius, he seeks to replace Pronyma as the leader of the Grand Cardinals. May also be one to Yggdrasill, since he was involved with [[spoiler:Rodyle's plan to rebuild the Mana Cannon and use it against Cruxis. It's never stated exactly how much he knew about the plan, but the game implies that Kvar and Rodyle were working rather closely together. Rodyle even refers to him as "Lord Kvar."]]
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: It sounds like a mix of Indian and an upper-class British accent.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Rodyle]]
!!'''Rodyle'''
!!! Voiced by: Creator/TakeshiAono (JP, game), Creator/BinShimada (JP, OVA), Creator/DaranNorris (EN)
The leader of the Remote Island Ranch and one of the main Desian researchers.
----
Tropes associated with Rodyle:
* ArcVillain: For the first half of the Tethe'alla portion of the game, he's the main antagonist.
* ArchEnemy: For Presea. And Regal to a somewhat lesser extent.
* BigBadWannabe: Plans to overthrow Yggdrasill. As far the player can tell, Yggdrasill doesn't take him for a threat. [[spoiler: Mithos decided to go and let Lloyd and his friends deal with him as opposed to killing him himself.]]
* DirtyCoward: For the most part he runs rather than fights.
* DishingOutDirt: Most of his attacks are non-elemental, but the once that do have an element are Earth-based.
* DragonRider: Not in battle, but uses one as his main mode of transportation.
* EvilGenius: The second one after Kvar. Rodyle is apparently the superior of the two.
* GigglingVillain: Madly giggling is almost a second language for him.
* MadScientist: He's the one responsible for the Desians' Exsphere technology. Then, of course, is his hobby of human experimentation, which really messes with Presea's life.
* ManipulativeBastard: He's playing ''everybody'', from Lloyd's group to the other Desians to the Pope of the Church of Martel. [[spoiler: Ironically, he himself was manipulated by the Renegades into building the Mana Cannon, and Pronyma tricks him into killing himself by giving him a defective Cruxis Crystal.]]
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:He mutates himself into an Exbelua when you fight him... [[UnwittingPawn albeit not willingly]].]]
* RedBaron: Iron Will Rodyle. Doubles as an IronicNickname, given that he's a DirtyCoward.
* SmugSnake: Believes himself to be the cleverest of the Desian Grand Cardinals but ends up [[spoiler:being manipulated by the Renegades into building the Mana Cannon for them, as well as tricked by Pronyma, who gives him a Cruxis Crystal that [[BodyHorror turns him into an Exbelua when he equips it]].]]
* SpeakIllOfTheDead: [[spoiler:After Kvar's death, a hologram of Rodyle appears and communicates to the recently deceased that he's going to take the rest of the data about the Mana Cannon, culminating with Rodyle laughing at his fellow Grand Cardinal's untimely demise.]]
* TheStarscream: [[spoiler:He seeks to take over Cruxis.]]
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:He fails, but manages to force Botta into a HeroicSacrifice and successfully manages to drown the humans at the ranch to spite the party]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Remiel]]
!!'''Remiel'''
!!! Voiced by: Creator/WallyWingert (EN)
An Angel sent down from Cruxis to guide Colette on her Journey of Regeneration, Remiel is said to be Colette's true father and tells her of the locations of the seals in Sylvarant.
----
Tropes associated with Remiel:
* AintTooProudToBeg: [[spoiler: He asks for Kratos' help after the party defeats him, but Kratos refuses.]]
* ArmourPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler: When Lloyd protests about Colette being taken away, Remiel answers, "The Chosen's soul will save the world. Are you saying you would choose one soul over the entire world?"]]
* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: The only reason he claims to be Colette's father is because he noticed Colette about to ask about him in that relation, and realized it'd be a perfect way to manipulate her into doing what he wants.]]
* CharacterCatchphrase:: "Colette, my daughter." [[spoiler: Invoked in-universe to make Colette trust him more.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler: His defeat marks the end of the Journey of Regeneration and gives the party an idea of just how big a mess they have to clean up.]]
* DragonWithAnAgenda: [[spoiler: What Remiel ''thinks'' he is- he only took the role of guide to Colette because he thought that Yggdrasill would then make him one of the Seraphim. But in the end, he was just another pawn to Yggdrasill.]]
* DudeLooksLikeALady: He's very feminine-looking and wears long, flowing robes.
* EvilLaugh: [[spoiler: Once he shows his true colors.]]
* EvilIsHammy: [[spoiler: His voice gets ''much'' deeper and more dramatic after he reveals he lied to everyone.]]
* GuardianAngel: Acts as this towards the group. Downplayed in that he only gives hints about where they need to go next, and gifts Colette with her angel powers. [[spoiler: And ultimately subverted, in that he's actually been lying to the party and facilitating Colette's death.]]
* HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler: He's not really an Angel, he's a half-elf that evolved using Cruxis Crystals.]]
* KarmicDeath: He tries to pull a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness on [[spoiler:Lloyd on his party once Colette was taken, mocking them for believing he was her father]]. They wind up beating him to an inch of his life instead, and he succumbs after having his plea for help rejected by [[spoiler: Kratos]].
* LightIsNotGood: [[spoiler: He's the first taste of this trope that the party gets.]]
* LukeIAmYourFather: To Colette.[[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope He's not.]] He just went along with it because it made him seem more trustworthy. He even calls Colette and Lloyd out on it, although Colette admits she guessed he was lying]].
* TomatoSurprise: [[spoiler: Surprise! He's not really an Angel. One of the first big ones of the game]].
* TranquilFury: At the second seal, he's ''really'' annoyed with Colette for some reason, but plays it off extremely well. It's not until TheReveal that we find out why: [[spoiler: He's angry because Colette's group destroyed the Palmacosta Ranch]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kuchinawa]]
!!'''Kuchinawa'''
A ninja from Mizuho, Kuchinawa is a childhood friend of Sheena's and brother of Orochi.
----
Tropes associated with Kuchinawa:
* BadassBoast: When he finds the party at the Otherwordly Gate:
--->'''Raine''': [[spoiler: I'm positive Genis and I were left here when Genis was just a newborn...and we ended up in Sylvarant.]]\\
'''Kuchinawa''': Then this time, let me send you to hell instead!
* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler: He leaves Mizuho in disgrace after he loses to Sheena. It's implied by Orochi that he might change his ways.]]
* TheDragon: [[spoiler: To Vharley. And later to the Pope when Vharley is killed.]]
* DuelBoss: [[spoiler:Sheena duels against him in an optional sidequest.]]
* EvilFormerFriend: [[spoiler: Exactly when he became evil is unclear, but he starts working for the Pope right around the time Sheena makes her pact with Volt.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Subverted, he was only pretending to be on Sheena's side at first to plant a charm on Sheena, allowing the Papal Knights to keep tracking the party.]]
* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler:He tries to finish himself off when Sheena beats him, but he's stopped by herself and Lloyd.]]
* ItsPersonal: [[spoiler: He blames Sheena for failing to control Volt, even though she was incredibly inexperienced at the time and couldn't understand Volt's language. He also bears anger towards her because she couldn't go through with killing Colette.]]
* NobleDemon: [[spoiler: He appears to agree when Sheena asks he spare the party in exchange for allowing him to kill her, although Zelos says the Papal Knights probably would have taken everyone else out, anyway.]] [[spoiler: He also returns the document containing important information of how to make a Rune Crest in exchange for Corrine's Bell, [[RevengeBeforeReason even if it directly helps the party]]. He agrees to fight Sheena alone in Mizuho, according to village customs.]]
%%* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Like all of the other ninjas in Mizuho.
* RedOniBlueOni: Red to Orochi's Blue. They even wear their respective Oni colours.
%%* TheResenter: [[spoiler: To Sheena. BIG TIME.]]
* SiblingYinYang: With Orochi. [[spoiler: Orochi never blamed Sheena for the Volt incident, and even congratulates her when she successfully makes a pact with him.]]
* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler: Not about Volt- that was a case of PoorCommunicationKills, but he is right in saying that Sheena's failure to kill Colette put Mizuho in danger.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Vharley]]
!! '''Vharley'''
An exsphere broker, he is working with both The Pope and Rodyle to distribute exspheres around Tethe'alla.
----
Tropes associated with Vharley:
* AnimeHair: Sports a rather ridiculous-looking Mohawk.
* ArchEnemy: Both to Regal and Presea- it was Vharley who [[spoiler: was responsible for turning Alicia into a monster, then he had Regal sent to prison because Regal's gave Alicia a MercyKill, and then tried the same project on Presea and introduced her to Rodyle.]]
* TheCartel: A one-man version, considering that he's got the illegal exsphere market cornered. Doesn't sound like much, until you consider that Tethe'alla quite literally runs on exspheres.
* TheDragon: To both Rodyle and the Pope.
* FatBastard: The most rotund character in the game, and by far one of the worst.
* JerkassHasAPoint: He's an absolutely vile human being, but he's not wrong when he gloats about how easy Regal made it for him to get away with [[spoiler: Alicia's death]], since Regal blamed himself and turned himself in while Vharley, who was responsible for the whole mess, didn't care at all and casually moved onto his next experiment - Presea.
* LackOfEmpathy: Arguably one of the worst cases in the same (after perhaps Rodyle and Kvar), he taunts Regal over [[spoiler: Alicia's mutation]], completely doesn't care when the party kills Rodyle, his employer, because he still has the Pope to work with. [[spoiler: And he assists the Pope in obtaining some poison to assassinate the King of Tethe'alla. Luckily, Lloyd, Raine, Zelos and co put a stop to it.]]
* TheUnfought: The party run into him in the Meltokio sewers [[spoiler: at first, it looks like a fight will happen, but Presea promptly cuts him down with her axe.]]
* TheManBehindTheMan: He's the middleman between Rodyle and the Pope, which allows the former to control Tethe'alla from behind the scenes and brings the latter ''dangerously'' close to ruling Tethe'alla in name.
* WouldHurtAChild: Has no problem [[spoiler: using a sixteen-year-old girl in horrific experiments, then tossing her aside when it fails and using her sister instead.]]
[[/folder]]
----
[[Characters/TalesOfSymphoniaPlayableCharacters Playable Characters]] | '''Antagonists''' | [[Characters/TalesOfSymphoniaSupportingCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld Dawn of the New World Characters]]-]]]
The antagonist characters from the game ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia''.
'''SPOILER ALERT''': NOT ALL SPOILERS ARE MARKED.
-----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Lord Yggdrasill]]
!! [[spoiler:Mithos]] '''Yggdrasill'''
!!! Voiced by: Creator/HideyukiTanaka (JP), Creator/JamesArnoldTaylor (EN)
!!! [[spoiler:Mithos voiced by: Creator/MinamiTakayama (JP), Creator/BrianneSiddall (EN)]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yggdrasill.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see his true appearance. '''(MASSIVE SPOILERS)''']]
Yggdrasill is the BigBad of Symphonia, a FallenHero who lost his mind and his idealism when the people he risked everything to save decided to betray him by murdering his only family, only to find a new and darker purpose by gorging on the power of souls. As the leader of Cruxis and the Desians, this self-righteous false messiah has the entire world bowing to his PathOfInspiration. For the past four millennia, he has hoarded technology and experimented on his chosen sacrifices, waiting for the day his magnum opus bears fruit.\\
[[spoiler:He's also Mithos, the young half-elf the heroes "rescued" from a burning village - who becomes Genis' first half-elf friend, who worries for Raine when she looks tired, who makes jokes at Zelos' expense like everybody else... until he [[TheReveal reveals himself to the party]] when one of his most trusted lieutenants, one of [[TrueCompanions his companions from 4000 years sooner]], proves himself to be a traitor.]]
----
Tropes associated with him:
* AdorablyPrecociousChild: He ''looks'' the part. Sure doesn't ''act'' the part.
* AGodIAmNot: He has godlike power but never develops the full-on complex. In the end, he still views himself as a half-elf who's just trying to make the world a better place... [[WellIntentionedExtremist through some extremely questionable means]].
* BadassAdorable: [[spoiler:Both stages of the FinalBoss are him alone versus the party.]]
* BeamSpam: The [=PS2=] version of the game onward gave his Yggdrasill form the "Yggdrasill Laser" move, which he likes to spam in the third battle, a lot. Coupled with his Outburst arte and he really starts to seem like a [[VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia Dhaos]] clone, gameplay-wise.
* BecomingTheMask: He genuinely seems to grow to like [[spoiler: Genis, even taking a hit from Pronyma that was meant for him]], though it doesn't stop him fighting him later on.
* BigBad: Of the first game.
* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler:Especially from Genis' point of view.]]
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:What turned him into a villain was his sister Martel dying.]]
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Symphonia is a prequel to ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' and Mithos is deliberately written to contrast Dhaos, a villain who has similar angelic powers and laser spam. Both fear for the world tree's mana depletion, but Mithos is primarily motivated by his goal to revive his sister and end discrimination, in that order, while Dhaos is primarily trying to obtain a seed to plant a new world tree, making the former more selfish. At the same time, Mithos is able to maintain better [[VillainWithGoodPublicity publicity]] due to his control over the Church of Martel while Dhaos is only ever seen as a generic EvilOverlord by humanity. Finally, Mithos dies unable to accept that he was in the wrong while Dhaos dies realizing that he became no better than the humans he hated.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler:He and his sister were the victims of a lot of overt racism due to being half-elves.]]
* DarkMessiah: He sets himself up as this, believing that everything he has done is necessary in order to save the world from its inevitable destruction. Judging from what happens in the sequel and ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'', he's not entirely wrong, but the end result would have been eternal stasis of civilization and consciousness, which was likely worse.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:During a skit, he actively questions his goals and says that if he is wrong, then he has no reason to continue living.]]
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the StockShonenHero. In the past Yggdrasil was his own RPG protagonist, going on an epic quest to save the world, believing everyone could put aside their differences and work together and end discrimination forever, and convincing rivals and enemies to work with him. But when reality refused to follow his ideals [[spoiler: and murdered his sister]], Yggdrasil couldn't handle it and went insane, completly inverting the archetype.
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Martel being murdered. Doubles as his StartOfDarkness. He becomes disillusioned with the idea of voluntary coexistence after this, and believes that the only way humans, elves, and half-elves will ever get along is if the differences between them are artificially removed and they all become emotionless, lifeless beings.]]
* {{Determinator}}: Deconstructed. [[DetrimentalDetermination In fact, it's treated as his]] FatalFlaw. He never, ever gives up, and will do anything to save his sister. Unfortunately for the rest of the two worlds, we do mean ''anything''. [[spoiler:Including splitting the world asunder, getting countless people killed and trying to force everyone to become lifeless beings to end the discrimination that killed Martel. When Martel herself finally intervenes and tells him to stop what he's doing, his response is to go LaughingMad and refuse to accept her words, before finally deciding to take his sister and all of Derris-Kharlan into space so they can finally be alone, even if it causes TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. When he's finally killed for good, his last words are that he wouldn't change a thing if he could do it all over again.]] His FallenHero status is fueled [[PsychopathicManchild by his determination to never grow up]].
* DisproportionateRetribution: He kills [[spoiler:Pronyma]] for [[spoiler: calling him by his first name.]]
* DudeLooksLikeALady: The fact that his [[spoiler:younger self]] is voiced by a female actress doesn't help matters.
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:After the final boss battle, he has a HeelRealization where he realizes he doesn't want to be trapped in a soul gem for eternity, much like he forced thousands of his victims into. He is still unrepentant though, as his Cruxis Crystal is destroyed before his consciousness fades.]]
* EvilLaugh: Has a rather unnerving one when [[spoiler:his child Mithos form is revealed as the BigBad and starts kicking Yuan around for betraying him.]]
* EvilLuddite: [[spoiler:His World Prolongation Plan involves keeping the world in a MedievalStasis, because he believes that the development of technology inevitably leads to wars that waste resources. Unlike most Evil Luddites, he has no qualms about using technology himself.]]
* TheExtremistWasRight: About ''one'' thing; [[spoiler:one part of his plan, the splitting of the world in two and putting a limiter on mana flow, genuinely worked as far as it prevented new {{magitek}} wars. As ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' reveals, a renewed free flow of mana led to the proliferation of {{magitek}} weapons, another Mana Cannon, and another war that destroyed civilization a few centuries after the game ends. Incidentally ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'''s storyline involves the creation of yet ''another'' Mana Cannon [[HistoryRepeats that ends up damaging the new Tree of Mana]]... Even before the events mentioned in ''Phantasia'', ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'' has the Vanguard, who planned on using the Mana Cannon against Tethe'alla.]]
* FallenHero: [[spoiler:Was once idealistic and, like Lloyd, believed the factions of the ancient war could live in peace. Everything changed when Martel died]].
* FantasticRacism: First a victim, then a perpetrator; especially when he obtained the power to ''change peoples' races'', but used it to turn humans into monsters and HumanResources. The party comment on how he might have been a victim, but, as Zelos says, "it doesn't even come close to justifying all the things [he's] done."
* FauxAffablyEvil: Zigzagged. On one hand, his regal demeanor is a [[MaskOfSanity facade]] to hide how deranged he is to his followers. On the other hand, [[spoiler:he shows a more genuinely [[AffablyEvil affable]] side when befriending Genis and helping to treat Raine when she's sick]].
* FinalBoss: Though he's fought several times before then, this is the only time it's not a HopelessBossFight.
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Even after the party comes to understand the experiences that made him the person he is, they don't believe it justifies it. Most explicitly spelled out when Zelos says that what he suffered doesn't even come close to justifying his actions.
* GetItOverWith: [[spoiler:Asks Lloyd to destroy his Cruxis Crystal so he won't be taken over by it. He admits defeat but refuses to accept Lloyd's ideas to the end.]]
* GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler:Yggdrasill's primary goal is to use a suitable Chosen as a host body for his sister's mind.]] He also [[spoiler:takes control of Colette so he can make her fly to the sacrificial area.]]
* HalfHumanHybrid: And the discrimination he received because of it changed the entire world.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: [[spoiler:He was famed as a hero during the Kharlan War, before becoming a FallenHero]].
* HopelessBossFight: The first two times you meet him, physical attacks all deal single-digit damage, though magic still works fine. Both fights will end without a results screen after a certain amount of time, or if you somehow manage to reduce his HP to zero.
* HumansAreBastards: His primary belief.
* IRegretNothing: [[spoiler:When Mithos tells Lloyd to MercyKill him, he admits that he doesn't regret committing any of his atrocities to get Martel back and he would do them all over again if he could, thus proving to the very end that he will never let go of his hatred for humans and move on his sister's death.]]
* IRejectYourReality: [[spoiler:When Martel calls out Mithos for his atrocities and refuses to accept his plans, pointing out that this goes against everything they strived for, Mithos refuses to believe Martel would say that to him and goes LaughingMad. When she leaves Colette's body and begs Mithos to return the world to the way it was, he delibertaly misinterprets her words and decides to take her and Derris-Kharlan into space without caring that this will destroy the world, even going so far as to refuse to believe that Martel would tell Colette to stop Mithos from doing so.]]
* TheIdealist: [[spoiler:4,000 years ago]], he believed it was possible for humans, elves, and half-elves to live without FantasticRacism. He was apparently so much of a WideEyedIdealist that [[spoiler:he managed to get his jaded MentorArchetype Kratos, and Yuan, who was [[CommanderContrarian deliberately trying to prove him wrong]] to work with him]]. Unfortunately, that idealism died when said humans murdered and tortured the people he loved the most.
* IgnoredEpiphany: [[spoiler:When Martel briefly possesses Colette and gives Mithos as massive WhatTheHellHero speech, he chooses to interpret it ''entirely'' differently from how Martel actually meant it.]]
* KickTheDog:
** [[spoiler:Killing Pronyma, while she begged him to save her after being defeated by Lloyd and Co. Presea even calls such an act cruel.]]
** [[spoiler:Attacking Tabatha and calling her a failed vessel.]]
* KnightTemplarBigBrother: ''Hoo boy''. He does everything for the sake of Martel. She's not impressed.
* LackOfEmpathy: For all his talk about how much he loves [[spoiler: his sister Martel, he doesn't seem to care about what she wants and becomes furious when she calls him out for all of the atrocities he's committed in her name. After she leaves Colette's body, he's willing to take the Great Seed (which contains Martel's soul) to Derris-Kharlan in order to be with her forever, knowing that it'll destroy the worlds, not caring in the slightest that this goes directly against his sister's wishes.]] He also injures or outright kills people who piss him off and shows no remorse for it.
* LightIsNotGood: He's an angel and uses some light-based techniques like Judgment, Holy Lance, and Prism Sword, but he's the main villain.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:Sibling love, though, to be exact. Unless you [[BrotherSisterIncest read too much into it]].]]
* LovingAShadow: Despite how much he claims to love [[spoiler: Martel, it turns out Mithos loves more of his idea of her than his sister himself. When he successfully manages to merge Martel with Colette, Martel gives him an epic TheReasonYouSuckSpeech over the atrocities he's committed in the name of resurrecting her and tells him in no uncertain terms that it's not what she wanted, musing that maybe things would have been better if the elves never left Derris Kharlan. When she leaves Colette's body, Mithos is furious and when Colette tries to tell him Martel wants the suffering to stop, he purposefully misinterprets this as Martel wanting the world ''destroyed'' and retreats to Derris Kharlan to "go home" with his sister.]]
* ManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:He's the leader of both Cruxis and the Desians.]]
* MaskOfSanity: He acts like a calm and composed leader, but according to the spin-off novel, Pronyma thinks he's too blinded by grief to think rationally. His crazy side starts to come out [[spoiler:when he laughs maniacally while kicking Yuan, attacks Tabatha for being a failed Martel vessel [[MoodSwinger despite earlier]] saving her because of her resemblance to Martel, and kills Pronyma for calling him by his first name. When Martel temporarily possesses Colette's body and admonishes him, Mithos starts going into denial and tries to take the Great Seed to Derris-Kharlan in a mad attempt to be with his sister forever.]]
* MeaningfulName: Mithos, as in "mythos", referring to both a set of stories -- Mithos being the legendary hero at the heart of the worlds' narrative -- and also to "myth", alluding to Mithos's carefully-constructed image all being a lie.
* TheMole: [[spoiler:In his "Mithos" guise.]]
* MotiveDecay: [[spoiler:He started out wanting to end half-elf discrimination, save the world from mana depletion, and revive his sister. Somewhere along the line, he became the main perpetrator of all discrimination, turned the world into his playground, and sacrificed thousands of chosen ones for his experiments. By the end of the game, he's willing to doom the world to be with his sister forever, all while disregarding her criticism.]]
* {{Narcissist}}: By the time you meet him, Yggdrasil has been consumed by his own ego. He casually spreads the racism he once fought against because it ensures he stays at the top of the hierarchy. He turned his dead sister into the goddess of his PathOfInspiration, and painted himself as the perfect hero. He also responds to a lieutenant calling him by his former identity (which he now derides as weak) by ''murdering'' them. By the end of the game, Yggdrasil is finally called out by the one person he wanted the praise of the most, and the blow to his ego causes him to abandon everything he's built to die just so he can be left alone.
* NecessarilyEvil: PlayedWith. On one hand, [[spoiler:him dividing the world into two with the Eternal Sword was definitely this, since as bad as the situation with the two worlds was, they would die without the Kharlan Tree if they were one. He argues that keeping them this way prevents another Kharlan War. Sadly, this is eventually proven true centuries after his death.]] On the other hand, it becomes clear that his cruel cycle was ultimately unsustainable due to his thirst for power, and if he wasn't replaced with something better, than the world would ''definitely'' die completely.
* OneSteveLimit: [[spoiler:Despite Raine's insistence that Mithos is "a common boy's name", Mithos the Hero, Mithos who holds the pact with all the Summon Spirits, and Mithos the tagalong half-elf orphan from Ozette are one and the same.]]
* OlderAlterEgo: [[spoiler:He used the Cruxis Crystal to give him an adult form so he would have "an appearance befitting the leader of Cruxis."]]
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:An amalgamation of three mecha-like mini-bosses from Welgaia; reflecting his inability to accept others, come to terms with the past, or forgive people.]]
* PlayingTheVictimCard: He tries this on the party right before the FinalBoss fight. He calls himself the victim for all the racism that he and his sister suffered, and that his solution would still work. The party doesn't buy it for a minute, with Zelos in particular saying "it doesn't even come close to justifying all the things you've done."
* PsychopathicManchild: [[spoiler:Martel's death drove him so completely over the edge that, for all of his power and intelligence, he never really grew up mentally.]]
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: He's the leader of Cruxis and the Desians and is the most powerful among them, being the strongest enemy in the game barring a couple {{Superboss}}es.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Like the rest of his companions.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:When Martel shoots down his AssimilationPlot, he decides to just take her and Derris-Kharlan and fuck off to space. Unfortunately, taking the giant mana source that is Derris-Kharlan with him would doom both worlds, so the heroes still have to stop him.]]
* ShutUpKirk:
** Shortly before the third battle with Yggdrasill, he responds to Lloyd calling him out on all the people he's killed by saying. "Human. Don't tell me what's right and wrong!"
** During the final confrontation, he asks where the half-elves should live. When Lloyd says they can live anywhere they like, he says "Don't make me laugh." Lloyd, not missing a beat, insists that if they're not doing anything wrong, they can live proudly in the open.
** In response to Colette asking him to seek redemption, he says, "Do you think I'm going to beg for forgiveness? Ridiculous!"
* ShadowArchetype:
** [[spoiler: He's what Lloyd could have become if the latter never owned up to his mistakes. He even says as much.]]
-->[[spoiler: "Farewell, my shadow, you who stand at the end of the path I chose not to follow." ]]
** He shares a lot of the same insecurities as all of the party members, [[spoiler:as shown by the illusions he uses to prey on their insecurities. He runs away from his problems like {{the mole}}s and Sheena, has issues with forgiveness and valuing his own life like Presea and Regal, and suffers from InternalizedCategorism over his race like Genis and Raine. This trope is especially true for Colette, who can be trapped in any of these illusions depending on whichever character is chosen in Flanoir, due to her guilt in not completing the pilgrimage and feeling ostracized for being a HumanSacrifice. Unlike Mithos, the party members ultimately choose not to accept the easy solution to their problems, which baffles him because he always chose the [[EvilIsEasy easier path]].]]
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:Pushes Tabatha out of the way of a landslide (as Mithos), and takes a shot of dark energy Pronyma aims at Genis (as Yggdrasill). It's implied he resents Tabatha for being a "failed vessel" that couldn't accept Martel's soul (which he in fact outright says when Raine calls him out for hurting her) but her uncanny resemblance to Martel could be why he saved her. As for Genis, the game basically states that Genis was exactly like Mithos once was, and since Genis and Mithos became friends after the group "found" him in Ozette, it's possible Yggdrasill felt genuine kinship towards Genis, or was trying to persuade Genis to pull a FaceHeelTurn.]]
* TeleportSpam: This is why his first form is considered harder than his second. He does it in both of his {{Hopeless Boss Fight}}s, too.
* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:Only his former comrades are allowed to call him "Mithos". Interestingly enough, this may extend to Lloyd and Co., since he wasn't seen to have any specific problem with any of them calling him by his old name though its justified by the fact that when interacting with them, he calls himself Mithos.]]
* ThereAreNoTherapists: [[spoiler:Subverted. It's implied that Kratos ''did'' want to help him but it either didn't work, or Mithos didn't let him.]]
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler:What he thinks of himself and Martel once this happens. For Martel, this works. For himself, not so much.]]
* UsedToBeASweetKid:
** [[spoiler:Was revealed to be a lot like Lloyd and Genis (if a bit of a brat towards Yuan) as a kid in the anime and the manga. [[DespairEventHorizon And then Martel was murdered...]]]]
** This is also shown in the UpdatedRerelease, [[spoiler:where a phantom of his past self is in Niflheim as a {{Superboss}}. His phantom is still idealistic about equality for half-elves and encourages the party to carry on his work. The party can't bear to tell him the truth about his [[FallenHero present self]].]]
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: How he justifies the things he's done. No one buys it. [[spoiler:Not even Martel after she briefly resurrects.]]
* VillainDecay: A deliberately invoked and justified by-product of this. [[spoiler:After Martel rejects his plan, he basically decides to abandon the world and build a new life for himself and his sister on Derris-Kharlan.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: After [[spoiler:Martel rejects his plan]]. Complete with LaughingMad.
* VocalDissonance: It is ''very jarring'' hearing [[spoiler: Mithos' voice]] coming out of his mouth.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Shifts between the tall, intimidating angel Yggdrasill and [[spoiler:the young, innocent-seeming Mithos.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: Learning more about him turns the entire second half of the game on its ear.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He started off well-intentioned, but eventually becomes a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist. [[spoiler:Everything he did was for the sake of creating a world where he and his sister could leave free of discrimination. Until he undergoes his VillainousBreakdown and goes '''batshit insane''', leading to him trying to create a new world on Derris Kharlan for himself and his sister while abandoning any pretense of saving the old one, thus proving that now he only cares about being alongside his sister forever regardless of what she wants.]]
* WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises: [[spoiler:During his VillainousBreakdown in the anime. [[http://i44.tinypic.com/18zupi.jpg Take a look]].]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: It's hard not to feel sorry for him after all that's happened to him, but he loses any sympathy he might have gained after all of his horrific actions. The party even says as much before their final battle.
* WorthyOpponent: Eventually comes to regard Lloyd as one. The respect is mutual.
* {{Yandere}}: [[spoiler:For Martel, though in a more familial love kind of way. Again, unless you [[BrotherSisterIncest read too much into it]].]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Five Grand Cardinals]]
The five leaders of the Desians.
----
Tropes associated with the Grand Cardinals:
* BattleThemeMusic: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uv8WdGFkHU The Law of the Battle]]".
* DirtyCoward: While they have plenty of physical courage when butting heads with the party, often to the point of arrogance and contempt, they only operate in whatever is The Declining World at the time. This means they're picking on humans who are too weak to fight them due to mana depletion in their world, instead of fighting the stronger world to liberate half-elves suffering under FantasticRacism.
* FantasticRacism: They all hate humans, and some of them even hate elves.
* FlunkyBoss: Tend to have a few minions fighting alongside them, except for the first battle with Pronyma, Magnius, and Rodyle.
* FreudianExcuse: Half-elves are abused by humans to a horrifying degree, leading them to hate humans. Then Cruxis promotes them to positions of power over captive humans. As expected, they did not grow up to be nice and understanding about the trauma.
* HateSink: If they have any redeeming qualities, they never share it with the party, and demonstrate the bloodthirsty pettiness of the world's FantasticRacism. Even Forcystus' more noble qualities are only [[InformedAttribute brought up after his death]].
* MoralMyopia: None of them express or seem to notice any {{Irony}} over their treatment of humans and how it seems similar to their own past treatment ''by'' humans.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Zigzagged. They are the strongest of the Desians, except for Rodyle, who is a DirtyCoward. However, it is implied that Forcystus is actually stronger than Pronyma, but she is the leader due to some off-screen plotting.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Pronyma]]
!!'''Pronyma'''
!!! Voiced by: Creator/YukiMakishima (JP), Creator/MasasaMoyo (EN)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pronyma.png]]
The leader of the Five Grand Cardinals and Yggdrasill's right hand.
----
Tropes associated with Pronyma:
* AlasPoorVillain: The party is taken aback at how [[spoiler:Yggdrasill mercilessly kills her when she is begging for help]].
* CastingAShadow: Most of her attacks are dark-based.
* DarkActionGirl: She's the only female of the Desian Grand Cardinals.
* DarkIsEvil: To contrast with the rest of Cruxis' LightIsNotGood.
* TheDragon: To Yggdrasill. Downplayed in that she is both much weaker than him and a ''distant'' second in his esteem compared to the Four Seraphim.
* EarlyBirdCameo: We first see her in Kvar's ranch as a hologram.
* ElementalPowers: Includes CastingAShadow, MakingASplash, and AnIcePerson.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: According to Kratos's spin-off novel. Despite her UndyingLoyalty to Yggdrasill, even she is disturbed by his increasing insanity, especially when he states that he doesn't care about the out-of-control world tree.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: All of the other Desians resent her because she apparently usurped the leadership of the Five Grand Cardinals. Notably, Magnius' first instinct when he suspects that there's a traitor in their midst is to contact Forcystus rather than her.
* IgnoredEnamouredUnderling: It's strongly implied Pronyma's UndyingLoyalty is because she's in love with Yggdrasill- she even threatens [[spoiler:[[HalfHumanHybrid Genis]]]] when the latter attacks Yggdrasill saying, "You may be one of us, but you will pay for your treachery!" Of course, Yggdrasill couldn't care less and only keeps her around because she's the strongest of the Cardinals.
* LadyOfBlackMagic: The cold, serious leader of the Five Grand Cardinals with powerful darkness attacks.
* RecurringBoss: She's the only one of the Grand Cardinals you fight more than once. [[RuleOfThree Three times, actually.]]
* RedBaron: Twilight Pronyma
* RescueRomance: Her one-sided love for Yggdrasill started when he saved her from being used as a living weapon.
* SamusIsAGirl: Before she's introduced to the story proper, you fight Kilia, her underling, who brags about how she was sent to keep an eye on things in Palmacosta by Pronyma and once killed, cries out, ''"Lord'' Pronyma!", so it can come as a surprise to first-time players that Pronyma is a woman.
* SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains: Subverted; her thigh-length boots, leotard and ExcessiveEvilEyeshadow isn't what you'd call subtle, but she is constantly surrounded by a set of artificial bronze wings on a ring, which means most of the time you only ever see her face and possibly her feet.
* SheIsTheKing: [[TheCasanova Zelos]] is the only one that refers to her as "Lady Pronyma"; the others all call her "Lord Pronyma".
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: She detests Kratos for his human origins and because she blames his earlier betrayal for Yggdrasill's SanitySlippage.
* TheStarscream: It's implied that she was one to the previous leader, though she's completely loyal to Yggdrasill.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Yggdrasill. [[spoiler: Killia, her subordinate, has this to Pronyma, screaming her name when she gets defeated.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: She's trying to protect her people from discrimination by humans.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Mithos no longer cares about her after she's defeated by the heroes and Martel is about to be revived. In fact, he actually kills her himself when she calls him [[ThatManIsDead Mithos]] while begging for his help after being defeated by the party]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Forcystus]]
!!'''Forcystus'''
!!! Voiced by: Takahiro Yoshimizu (JP), Andre Sogliuzzo (EN)
The Grand Cardinal in charge of the Iselia Ranch.
----
Tropes associated with Forcystus:
* AdaptationalWimp: In the game, he survives Marble's self-destruct attack, but in the manga, he's ''vaporized'' by that same attack.
* ArmCannon: It shoots out gusts of wind. He also uses it as sort of a giant metal club.
* ArtificialLimbs: His left arm has been replaced by a cannon. It is either this or a gauntlet-like accessory. Given that he's also lost his eye, it's probably the former.
* BlowYouAway: His attacks are wind-based and he's adept at wind magic.
* DiedStandingUp: Fades away while still standing.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Rather literally, he's the last boss you fight in the Platform/GameCube version before you're forced to switch to Disc Two. More thematically speaking, while Pronyma is still alive at that point, The Desians are more or less destroyed as a faction and are largely no longer relevant to the story going forward.
* TheDragon: He appears to have the most authority among the Cardinals in charge of the ranches, making him this to Pronyma. It makes sense, considering he's in charge of the most important of the Human Ranches, and is the strongest of them all by far.
* EyepatchOfPower: It probably alludes to his past as a half-elven hero.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: He put an end to a human-led genocide against half-elves in his past. He [[MoralMyopia doesn't seem to see any irony with his current situation]].
* KilledMidSentence: Not killed, just incapacitated by a [[spoiler:self destructing Marble]] when Lloyd says he won't give up his exsphere to the Desians that killed his mother, Forcystus actually seems surprised and says "What are you talking about, your mother was killed by..." before he's cut off.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: By Lloyd.
* InformedAttribute: We learn nothing of, nor get a hint to the fact that Forcystus was a hero to half-elves everywhere until ''one'' skit shortly after he dies.
* KickTheDog: Transforming Marble into a monster just to spite Lloyd. When he learns of Kratos' betrayal, he yells that humans cannot be trusted and aims his arm cannon at [[DamselInDistress Chocolat]], making Colette push her out of the way.
* KnightTemplar: He started out just trying to protect his fellow half-elves. Now he does many horrible things to defend them.
* MagicKnight: He splits the difference between Magnius and Kvar. While Magnius prefers physical strikes and Kvar exclusively uses magic, Forcystus fights with both with equal competence.
* MrExposition: Averted. When Forcystus is first introduced, he nearly drops two ''very'' big reveals in the game's first act. [[spoiler: Namely, the existence of the Renegades and that Lloyd's father is the one who killed his mother.]] However, he's interrupted both times, so we don't find them out later.
* NobleDemon: He's the only Grand Cardinal who ''doesn't'' go out of his way to provoke the village he's overlooking and honours the non-aggression treaty until he has reason to believe that Iselia has violated it. It's also discovered posthumously that he was a defender and champion of his people. That said, it's implied that the [[PragmaticVillainy real reason]] he didn't antagonize Iselia [[spoiler: was so that Colette could grow up unharmed to continue the ViciousCycle Yggdrasill has in motion.]]
* RedBaron: Forcystus the Gnashing Gale
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler: Attempted, after being revealed to be NotQuiteDead.]]
* VillainHasAPoint: Despite how cruel and unnecessary his attack against Iselia was, he was completely correct that Lloyd violated the non-aggression treaty first, so he was simply retaliating. This is tempered by the fact that 1) Lloyd only killed about 3 Desians, while Forcystus led a massacre and 2) Lloyd [[spoiler: mistakenly, as it turns out]] believed that Forcystus violated the treaty first by attacking Colette.
* TooManyBelts: His undershirt is just a mass of belts (or belt-like straps, anyway).
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He is a hero to his people and comes off as a soldier fighting a racially-motivated war.
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Praised by the Desians but reviled by the humans. Lloyd wonders whether he could have gotten along with him in a world where humans and half-elves could coexist.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Magnius]]
!!'''Magnius'''
!!! Voiced by: Creator/ShinjiKawada (JP), Chris Edgerly (EN)
The leader of the Palmacosta Ranch.
----
Tropes associated with Magnius:
* BloodKnight: He's the most violent of the Grand Cardinals. In stark contrast to Forcystus, who leaves his area alone unless provoked, he's more than willing to kill the citizens of Palmacosta with his bare hands.
* BoisterousBruiser: He's got the other Grand Cardinals beat in the volume department, that's for sure.
* TheBrute: When your EstablishingCharacterMoment is executing a teenage girl's mother and snapping a bystander's neck with your bare hands, you're probably this.
* DisproportionateRetribution: He snaps a guy's neck for not calling him "Lord Magnius".
* DumbMuscle: He's plenty strong, but he's not very smart. Rodyle manipulates him with a minimal amount of effort.
* DumbassHasAPoint: He calls out Lloyd in the Palmacosta Human Ranch when Lloyd declares the party will kill him and free the captives by pointing out how he failed to do just that in Iselia, and that several people died as a result.
* FantasticRacism: He's one of the few half-elves that hate their elven half as much as their human half.
-->'''Magnius''': Fine, I'll take care of you myself! I'll put an end to the Chosen, right along with you fools who can't let go of your elven blood!
* FieryRedhead: Literally and figuratively.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Has a scar over his eye.
* GroinAttack: When Magnius attacks Palmacosta, Lloyd's response is to deliver a swift [[SwordBeam Demon Fang]] to his crotch.
* HairTriggerTemper: In his very first scene, he's trying to kill at least 3 people, just because they mildly annoyed him. And the people of Palmacosta live in fear that one day he'll be in a bad mood and just destroy the city.
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: Seems to have shades of this towards Chocolat.
* LargeHam: His voice actor was obviously having a great deal of fun, especially with the word 'vermin'.
--> '''VEEEEERRRMIIIIIIIIIN!'''
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When he realizes that Rodyle used him, he doesn't take it very well.
* NeckLift and NeckSnap: Does this to a random human who doesn't use his title.
* PlayingWithFire: His main element.
* RedBaron: Magnius the Pyroclasm
* SlouchOfVillainy: He's got a pretty impressive one going on when the party catches up with him in his ranch.
* SirSwearsALot: More prone to screaming and cursing than the other Cardinals. He actually doesn't swear quite as often as, say, Lloyd, but he seems to use the word "VERMIN!" in copious amounts to replace the swear words he would use otherwise.
* TheStarscream: He seeks to replace Pronyma as the leader of the Grand Cardinals.
* StupidEvil: It's ultimately PlayedForDrama. It's ''because'' he's so StupidEvil that Rodyle was able to manipulate him.
%%* UnwittingPawn: To Rodyle.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He seeks to protect his people from discrimination by humans by [[StupidEvil murdering the crap out any of them who get in his way]]. Needless to say, he probably wasn't hired for his brains.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kvar]]
!!'''Kvar'''
!!! Voiced by: Shigeru Ushiyama (JP), Chris Edgerly (EN)
The leader of the Asgard Ranch.
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Tropes associated with Kvar:
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Comes off as ''very'' similar to Josef Mengele.
* AbsurdlySharpBlade: The unassuming bladed portion of his magic scepter is actually absurdly sharp, enough to impart a wound on Colette that horrifies the party.
* ArchEnemy: For Lloyd and Kratos. For Lloyd, it's because he's responsible for his MissingMom. For Kratos, it's ''even more'' personal because [[spoiler:said MissingMom was his lover]].
* BodyHorror: Not him, personally, but [[spoiler:as the brains behind the Angelus project, he ''induced this'' in Lloyd's mother.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: His own underlings pull this on him, as they seem to be somewhat scared of him. He's even considered the cruelest of the Five Grand Cardinals, which is ''really'' saying something.
* TheEvilGenius: One of two, Rodyle being the second. Rodyle appears to be the superior of the two.
* EyesAlwaysShut: His sprite has a perpetual squint. In the OVA, this is changed to having very narrow eyes with black sclera.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: He knows who Kratos is and the two seem to have a very, ''very'' bad history. ''Hrm''...
* ForTheEvulz: Unlike the other Desians, Kvar doesn't seem to need much motivation to be a complete bastard.
* GoodHairEvilHair: He has slicked-back hair, which is a common hairstyle for bad guys.
* HilariousOuttakes: His voice actor [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPrgsqPc_5g somehow managed to have this little gem slipped into the game's files]]...
* LackOfEmpathy: He casually [[spoiler: tells Lloyd about his father killing Anna with no change in tone or facial expression. He even seems amused when Lloyd gets angry.]]
* MadScientist: He seems to be responsible for the Desian's scientific research in Sylvarant. Which naturally means he kills humans by the dozen for the sake of science.
* MeaningfulName: KVAR is an acronym that stand for [=KiloVolt=]-Amperes Reactive, a unit of reactive power, which is a reference to to his Lightning-related powers.
* PosthumousCharacter: Somewhat. [[spoiler: He's alive at the game's beginning but you don't find out ''quite'' how far the depths of his depravity go until after you've killed him.]]
* RedBaron: Kvar the Fury Tempest.
* ShockAndAwe: He uses lightning magic as his weapon of choice.
* SmugSnake: You'll find yourself wanting to punch him in the face in every scene he's in.
* SquishyWizard: He relies on magic to a much greater extent than the other Grand Cardinals. His only physical attacks involve him ineptly bashing his opponent with his staff. His magic is more than enough, though, especially his [[MagicMissileStorm Guardian Shield]], which can seriously fuck you up if you're not expecting it.
* TheStarscream: Like Magnius, he seeks to replace Pronyma as the leader of the Grand Cardinals. May also be one to Yggdrasill, since he was involved with [[spoiler:Rodyle's plan to rebuild the Mana Cannon and use it against Cruxis. It's never stated exactly how much he knew about the plan, but the game implies that Kvar and Rodyle were working rather closely together. Rodyle even refers to him as "Lord Kvar."]]
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: It sounds like a mix of Indian and an upper-class British accent.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Rodyle]]
!!'''Rodyle'''
!!! Voiced by: Creator/TakeshiAono (JP, game), Creator/BinShimada (JP, OVA), Creator/DaranNorris (EN)
The leader of the Remote Island Ranch and one of the main Desian researchers.
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Tropes associated with Rodyle:
* ArcVillain: For the first half of the Tethe'alla portion of the game, he's the main antagonist.
* ArchEnemy: For Presea. And Regal to a somewhat lesser extent.
* BigBadWannabe: Plans to overthrow Yggdrasill. As far the player can tell, Yggdrasill doesn't take him for a threat. [[spoiler: Mithos decided to go and let Lloyd and his friends deal with him as opposed to killing him himself.]]
* DirtyCoward: For the most part he runs rather than fights.
* DishingOutDirt: Most of his attacks are non-elemental, but the once that do have an element are Earth-based.
* DragonRider: Not in battle, but uses one as his main mode of transportation.
* EvilGenius: The second one after Kvar. Rodyle is apparently the superior of the two.
* GigglingVillain: Madly giggling is almost a second language for him.
* MadScientist: He's the one responsible for the Desians' Exsphere technology. Then, of course, is his hobby of human experimentation, which really messes with Presea's life.
* ManipulativeBastard: He's playing ''everybody'', from Lloyd's group to the other Desians to the Pope of the Church of Martel. [[spoiler: Ironically, he himself was manipulated by the Renegades into building the Mana Cannon, and Pronyma tricks him into killing himself by giving him a defective Cruxis Crystal.]]
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:He mutates himself into an Exbelua when you fight him... [[UnwittingPawn albeit not willingly]].]]
* RedBaron: Iron Will Rodyle. Doubles as an IronicNickname, given that he's a DirtyCoward.
* SmugSnake: Believes himself to be the cleverest of the Desian Grand Cardinals but ends up [[spoiler:being manipulated by the Renegades into building the Mana Cannon for them, as well as tricked by Pronyma, who gives him a Cruxis Crystal that [[BodyHorror turns him into an Exbelua when he equips it]].]]
* SpeakIllOfTheDead: [[spoiler:After Kvar's death, a hologram of Rodyle appears and communicates to the recently deceased that he's going to take the rest of the data about the Mana Cannon, culminating with Rodyle laughing at his fellow Grand Cardinal's untimely demise.]]
* TheStarscream: [[spoiler:He seeks to take over Cruxis.]]
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:He fails, but manages to force Botta into a HeroicSacrifice and successfully manages to drown the humans at the ranch to spite the party]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Remiel]]
!!'''Remiel'''
!!! Voiced by: Creator/WallyWingert (EN)
An Angel sent down from Cruxis to guide Colette on her Journey of Regeneration, Remiel is said to be Colette's true father and tells her of the locations of the seals in Sylvarant.
----
Tropes associated with Remiel:
* AintTooProudToBeg: [[spoiler: He asks for Kratos' help after the party defeats him, but Kratos refuses.]]
* ArmourPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler: When Lloyd protests about Colette being taken away, Remiel answers, "The Chosen's soul will save the world. Are you saying you would choose one soul over the entire world?"]]
* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: The only reason he claims to be Colette's father is because he noticed Colette about to ask about him in that relation, and realized it'd be a perfect way to manipulate her into doing what he wants.]]
* CharacterCatchphrase:: "Colette, my daughter." [[spoiler: Invoked in-universe to make Colette trust him more.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler: His defeat marks the end of the Journey of Regeneration and gives the party an idea of just how big a mess they have to clean up.]]
* DragonWithAnAgenda: [[spoiler: What Remiel ''thinks'' he is- he only took the role of guide to Colette because he thought that Yggdrasill would then make him one of the Seraphim. But in the end, he was just another pawn to Yggdrasill.]]
* DudeLooksLikeALady: He's very feminine-looking and wears long, flowing robes.
* EvilLaugh: [[spoiler: Once he shows his true colors.]]
* EvilIsHammy: [[spoiler: His voice gets ''much'' deeper and more dramatic after he reveals he lied to everyone.]]
* GuardianAngel: Acts as this towards the group. Downplayed in that he only gives hints about where they need to go next, and gifts Colette with her angel powers. [[spoiler: And ultimately subverted, in that he's actually been lying to the party and facilitating Colette's death.]]
* HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler: He's not really an Angel, he's a half-elf that evolved using Cruxis Crystals.]]
* KarmicDeath: He tries to pull a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness on [[spoiler:Lloyd on his party once Colette was taken, mocking them for believing he was her father]]. They wind up beating him to an inch of his life instead, and he succumbs after having his plea for help rejected by [[spoiler: Kratos]].
* LightIsNotGood: [[spoiler: He's the first taste of this trope that the party gets.]]
* LukeIAmYourFather: To Colette.[[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope He's not.]] He just went along with it because it made him seem more trustworthy. He even calls Colette and Lloyd out on it, although Colette admits she guessed he was lying]].
* TomatoSurprise: [[spoiler: Surprise! He's not really an Angel. One of the first big ones of the game]].
* TranquilFury: At the second seal, he's ''really'' annoyed with Colette for some reason, but plays it off extremely well. It's not until TheReveal that we find out why: [[spoiler: He's angry because Colette's group destroyed the Palmacosta Ranch]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Kuchinawa]]
!!'''Kuchinawa'''
A ninja from Mizuho, Kuchinawa is a childhood friend of Sheena's and brother of Orochi.
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Tropes associated with Kuchinawa:
* BadassBoast: When he finds the party at the Otherwordly Gate:
--->'''Raine''': [[spoiler: I'm positive Genis and I were left here when Genis was just a newborn...and we ended up in Sylvarant.]]\\
'''Kuchinawa''': Then this time, let me send you to hell instead!
* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler: He leaves Mizuho in disgrace after he loses to Sheena. It's implied by Orochi that he might change his ways.]]
* TheDragon: [[spoiler: To Vharley. And later to the Pope when Vharley is killed.]]
* DuelBoss: [[spoiler:Sheena duels against him in an optional sidequest.]]
* EvilFormerFriend: [[spoiler: Exactly when he became evil is unclear, but he starts working for the Pope right around the time Sheena makes her pact with Volt.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Subverted, he was only pretending to be on Sheena's side at first to plant a charm on Sheena, allowing the Papal Knights to keep tracking the party.]]
* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler:He tries to finish himself off when Sheena beats him, but he's stopped by herself and Lloyd.]]
* ItsPersonal: [[spoiler: He blames Sheena for failing to control Volt, even though she was incredibly inexperienced at the time and couldn't understand Volt's language. He also bears anger towards her because she couldn't go through with killing Colette.]]
* NobleDemon: [[spoiler: He appears to agree when Sheena asks he spare the party in exchange for allowing him to kill her, although Zelos says the Papal Knights probably would have taken everyone else out, anyway.]] [[spoiler: He also returns the document containing important information of how to make a Rune Crest in exchange for Corrine's Bell, [[RevengeBeforeReason even if it directly helps the party]]. He agrees to fight Sheena alone in Mizuho, according to village customs.]]
%%* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Like all of the other ninjas in Mizuho.
* RedOniBlueOni: Red to Orochi's Blue. They even wear their respective Oni colours.
%%* TheResenter: [[spoiler: To Sheena. BIG TIME.]]
* SiblingYinYang: With Orochi. [[spoiler: Orochi never blamed Sheena for the Volt incident, and even congratulates her when she successfully makes a pact with him.]]
* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler: Not about Volt- that was a case of PoorCommunicationKills, but he is right in saying that Sheena's failure to kill Colette put Mizuho in danger.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Vharley]]
!! '''Vharley'''
An exsphere broker, he is working with both The Pope and Rodyle to distribute exspheres around Tethe'alla.
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Tropes associated with Vharley:
* AnimeHair: Sports a rather ridiculous-looking Mohawk.
* ArchEnemy: Both to Regal and Presea- it was Vharley who [[spoiler: was responsible for turning Alicia into a monster, then he had Regal sent to prison because Regal's gave Alicia a MercyKill, and then tried the same project on Presea and introduced her to Rodyle.]]
* TheCartel: A one-man version, considering that he's got the illegal exsphere market cornered. Doesn't sound like much, until you consider that Tethe'alla quite literally runs on exspheres.
* TheDragon: To both Rodyle and the Pope.
* FatBastard: The most rotund character in the game, and by far one of the worst.
* JerkassHasAPoint: He's an absolutely vile human being, but he's not wrong when he gloats about how easy Regal made it for him to get away with [[spoiler: Alicia's death]], since Regal blamed himself and turned himself in while Vharley, who was responsible for the whole mess, didn't care at all and casually moved onto his next experiment - Presea.
* LackOfEmpathy: Arguably one of the worst cases in the same (after perhaps Rodyle and Kvar), he taunts Regal over [[spoiler: Alicia's mutation]], completely doesn't care when the party kills Rodyle, his employer, because he still has the Pope to work with. [[spoiler: And he assists the Pope in obtaining some poison to assassinate the King of Tethe'alla. Luckily, Lloyd, Raine, Zelos and co put a stop to it.]]
* TheUnfought: The party run into him in the Meltokio sewers [[spoiler: at first, it looks like a fight will happen, but Presea promptly cuts him down with her axe.]]
* TheManBehindTheMan: He's the middleman between Rodyle and the Pope, which allows the former to control Tethe'alla from behind the scenes and brings the latter ''dangerously'' close to ruling Tethe'alla in name.
* WouldHurtAChild: Has no problem [[spoiler: using a sixteen-year-old girl in horrific experiments, then tossing her aside when it fails and using her sister instead.]]
[[/folder]]
----
