The {{player characters}} and important non-player characters of ''VideoGame/PathOfExile''.
----
[[foldercontrol]]

!The Exiles

The seven player characters that were sentenced to living on the devastated continent of Wraeclast.

[[folder: Tropes applying to multiple classes]]

* AlasPoorVillain: Some of them express sympathy after felling certain bosses, though which bosses vary between classes.
* AntiHero: Every single one of them is ''some'' kind of criminal--not just falsely accused, they actually did what they were convicted of. (Oriath being Oriath, not all of those crimes were actually equal.)
* BadassBoast: Mostly upon reaching certain levels or defeating certain bosses.
* CanonIdentifier: Since they have no canonical names, [=NPCs=] simply refer to them as "Exile". Certain characters give them other monikers as well, such as "Survivor" (from Einhar) and "Godslayer" (from Kirac and Zana).
* DeadpanSnarker: All of them to some extent, but the Ranger, Shadow, and Witch are easily the snarkiest of the bunch.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: NPC's call all the characters simply "Exile". Post Act-10; "Godslayer" replaces "Exile" as the usual greeting.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Even the most dangerous of the Exiles was just a relatively minor individual in the grand scheme of things back in Oriath... until they washed up on the shores of Wraeclast, grabbed their first gemstones, and started destroying everything in their path.
* HopeBringer: No matter their motivations, each of the player exiles manages to bring hope to the villages of survivors who are desperately fighting for survival in Wraeclast.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The events in Act 4 lead to Kitava's resurrection, and that of the other Gods; and all the problems that arise in Part 2. Then, them going into the Atlas ultimately leads to Sirus burning Oriath to the ground.
* OneManArmy: The Exiles singlehandedly turn around the entire fate of Wraeclast, bringing down entire armies and even ''gods'' through raw destructive power. (Even if one interprets the story as all seven characters being involved, that still means seven criminals turn the world upside down through raw willpower.)

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Marauder]]

!Marauder
-> Voiced by: Damien Caine
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/01_marauder_5191.jpg]]

--> ''I am a warrior. I was born to fight, raised to defend my tribe. Now, I have been taken from my people, chained and exiled by cowards who fear Death.''

--> ''Death is my brother. I do not fear him. I see him in the eyes of the men and beasts that I kill. I feel him travelling beside me to this new land, this Wraeclast. He will take me to meet the ancestors when I am ready, and I am not ready.''

Path of Exile's pure Strength class.

----
* BarbarianHero: How the rest of the world sees him, being Karui.
* TheBigGuy: The largest of the playable characters.
%%* BloodKnight
* CombatPragmatist: The lore states that Karui warriors are forbidden from using projectile weapons, yet he has no compunction against using such.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Despite the Karui Way forbidding Karui men from using Ranged weapons, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from equipping your Marauder with a Bow. [In fact; the Cheiftain class works particually well with the physical-to-Fire conversion bow skills]
* {{Irony}}: The Marauder thinks the Beast is the avatar of Kitava, and killing it is essentially killing Kitava and ending the corruption. [[spoiler:The actuality; killing the beast *frees* Kitava.]]
* MightyGlacier: As the resident tank, he's intended to be a big bruiser capable of dealing and absorbing a lot of damage.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: A member of the Karui people.
* ReligiousBruiser: ''The Awakening'' changed much of his and others' dialogue to show that he is very devout to the Karui Way and their gods. For example, Dominus's narration when selecting him as a character strongly implies he refused to change his religion as part of his crimes. [[spoiler:Though he starts to question the Way after seeing how King Kaom has twisted it to fuel his delusions.]]
* TemptingFate: [[spoiler:After killing Malachai, he calls out to Kitava, the Karui Way's GodOfEvil, taunting him that his champions and his kingdom are dead and that he is "Father of Corruption" no more. Guess who the BigBad of ''Fall of Oriath'' is?]]

!Berserker
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/berserker_ascendancy_class.png]]

--> ''The savage path is''
--> ''always swift and sure''

A subclass of the Marauder that thrives in the thick of the fight, gaining massive power for a trade-off.

----
* TheBerserker: The class is designed for physical attackers being in the heat of battle. The class provides a lot of offensive bonuses, but not much in defense.
* CriticalHitClass: Flawless Savagery increases his critical chance and damage, and when he scores a critical hit on an enemy, it adds physical damage to all of his attacks. Blitz gives him a blitz charge on a critical hit, and although the charges reduce his critical chance, they increase his attack speed.
* GlassCannon: Aspect of Carnage gives a monstrous damage boost but causes the Berserker to take 10% more damage from all sources.
* LightningBruiser: This ascendancy grants massive bonuses to his critical hit chance, overall damage, attack and movement speed, and life leech.
* PowerAtAPrice: The Berserker's more powerful passives all have a catch to them. Rite of Ruin makes Rage more powerful but makes Rage degen life, Blitz makes each critical strike give more attack speed but reduce crit chance, Defy Pain gives them more armour and life leech the more hits they take but makes them take a chunk of damage if they're hit too much, and Aspect of Carnage gives a straight up damage boost for increased damage taken.
* ScreamingWarrior: War Bringer grants Rage based on how much Power a Warcry gives, and at sufficient Rage, it spends some of it to give a large damage boost to exerted attacks.
* UnstoppableRage: Crave the Slaughter allows him to generate stacks of rage when you hit enemies, which makes him even more dangerous as he deals damage. Rite of Ruin makes them immune to stuns at enough Rage stacks.

!Chieftain
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chieftain_ascendancy_class.png]]

--> ''The Ancestors speak''
--> ''through your clenched fists''

A subclass of the Marauder focused on totems and fire damage.
----
* PlayingWithFire: Gains a number of bonuses to fire damage, including the ability to leech life from fire damage, increased damage against ignited enemies, and more.
* ReligionIsMagic: All of the Chieftain's significant passives are named after Karui gods and spirits.
* TheTurretMaster: Tukohama, War's Herald and its prerequisite skills make totems significantly tougher, give them a chance to taunt enemies when they hit, and retaliate against enemies that attack them.

!Juggernaut
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/juggernaut_ascendancy_class.png]]

--> ''What divides the conqueror''
--> ''from the conquered? Perseverance.''

A subclass of the Marauder that specializes in tanking and resisting enemy attacks.
----
* BoringButPractical: His Ascendancy passives aren't as fancy as the other classes, but they make him immune to stuns and slows, as well as improving his survivability, making him very difficult to kill.
* HealingFactor: Untiring causes the Juggernaut to recover life based on the amount of damage that was prevented by physical mitigation.
* TheJuggernaut: As his [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin name]] suggests. Unstoppable provides increased movement speed and immunity to stun and slow effects.
* StoneWall: Specializes heavily in defense. Unbreakable provides a large armor and regeneration bonus, Unflinching gives endurance charges when he takes damage (and the charges grant damage reduction), and Unrelenting increases the effect of his endurance charges.
* ThemeNaming: All of his perks start with "Un-": Undeniable, Unstoppable, Unbreakable, Unflinching, etc.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ranger]]
!Ranger
-> Voiced by: Sophie Hambleton
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/03_ranger_9906.jpg]]

--> ''You can't own a life. Not a deer's, not a rabbit's, and not mine. Every soul has a birth-given right to live however they will...however they can. I take from the wilderness and one day it'll take me in return.''

--> ''Not that the fat lords of Oriath believe in such things. They call me poacher and thief. Clap me in irons and haul me like cargo into exile. No matter. I'll make the forests and mountains of Wraeclast my new home. My freedom and my bow: that's all I need.''

Path of Exile's pure Dexterity class.

----
* AmbiguouslyGay: A number of comments towards female [=NPCs=] would be enough, but she's also the only character which has same-sex illusions luring her towards Merveil the Siren.
* DoesNotLikeMen: She has particular disdain for men, even telling Merveil that her love ''for a man'' was the reason for her suffering. The only man she comments on remotely positively is Fairgraves.
* FragileSpeedster: Normally dependent on Evasion-based armors and fighting from a distance. However:
* GlacierWaif: The Iron Reflexes keystone passive converts all Evasion into Armor on a one for one basis. Evasion armors and active skills give a higher value than an equal-level version for Armor due to differences in how the calculations work. Evasion also gets a bonus from Dexterity while Armor does not get a bonus from Strength (though the ability was nerfed so that Iron Reflexes doesn't count that). With the right gear it's quite possible for a Ranger to out-tank a Marauder.
* TheSocialDarwinist: She believes in survival of the fittest and likes Wraeclast for how it forces her to be stronger.
* {{Unishment}}: The Ranger spent much of her time hunting and living off the fat of the wilds while honing her body and skills with every trial she undertook. Being banished to Wraeclast, a wilderness hellhole with EverythingTryingToKillYou, is little more than an opportunity to take her lifestyle to the next level.

!Deadeye
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deadeye_ascendancy_class.png]]

--> ''A woman can change the world''
--> ''with a single, well-placed arrow.''

A subclass of the Ranger that specializes in projectiles.
----
* DamageOverTime: Rupture lets you to specialize in bleeding damage and further improve it with critical strikes.
* ExactWords: While themed as an archer, her passive nodes pertain to projectiles instead of specifically to bows, meaning they also work with {{Projectile Spell}} like Fireball and projectile melee like Lancing Steel.
* {{Multishot}}: Endless Munitions adds a projectile to all projectile skills.
* PinballProjectile: Ricochet makes her projectiles bounce between enemies and even off walls.

!Pathfinder
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pathfinder_ascendancy_class.png]]

--> ''There are venoms and virtues''
--> ''aplenty in the wilds,''
--> ''if you know where to look.''

A subclass of the Ranger that specializes in making use of flasks.
----
* ElementalPowers: Veteran Bowyer adds damage of a random element to her physical skills as well as elemental resistance penetration, and Master Alchemist gives increased elemental damage, status chance, and resistance during the effect of any flask.
* ItemCaddy: Most of the Pathfinder's passives are based around flasks, activating after using flasks or while a flask effect is active, or letting them gain or preserve flask charges.
* JackOfAllTrades: The Pathfinder's passives are compatible with a broad range of skills, melee or ranged, attacks or spells, for elemental and chaos damage.
* MasterPoisoner: Nature's Reprisal increases the damage and area of her chaos damage skills[[note]]poison effects deal chaos damage[[/note]] and spreads poison to other enemies when a poisoned foe dies. Master Toxicist is more straightforward with its name, and it adds chaos damage to her physical attacks.
* SwissArmySuperpower: In addition to health and mana, flasks provide a range of other effects, and many of the Pathfinder's skills grant her a bonus when using a flask or during its effect.

!Raider
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/raider_ascendancy_class.png]]

--> ''The huntress has much to learn''
--> ''from the wiles of her quarry.''

A subclass of the Ranger that specializes in speed and a selection of three status buffs.
----
* GatheringSteam: Way of the Poacher lets her gain Frenzy charges from killing enemies and hitting bosses. Against solitary bosses, this usually means she has to spend some time building up to maximum charges before reaching full power.
* {{Intangibility}}: Quartz Infusion gives her permanent phasing, allowing her to move through enemies. She is still vulnerable to being attacked however.
* LightningBruiser: Regardless of which of her nodes you spec into, Raider's Ascendancy tree will make you move fast and hit fast, often at a pace unrivaled by other characters without major investment. For example, the two Onslaught nodes, combined with their minor nodes, essentially gives Raider +58% attack, cast and movement speed. Getting +58% movespeed on most other characters is generally quite difficult, and Raider can take those exact same means herself to become even faster.
** While it may not initially seem like it, Raider can also be deceptively durable. Avatar of the Chase and Avatar of the Slaughter provide a sizable boost to evasion, and the Phasing section of the tree gives a large amount of Spell Suppression chance and ailment avoidance, and with a few extra points into the skill tree they can easily cap ailment avoidance for outright immunity and enough Spell Suppression chance to cap out spell dodge chance with Acrobatics for only a 1/4 chance to take damage from spell hits.
* KillStreak: Rapid Offensive and Avatar of Onslaught give the Raider significant bonuses to speed and damage after each kill, while Way of the Poacher and Avatar of Frenzy grant Frenzy charges on kill and increase the bonuses gained.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Witch]]
!Witch
-> Voiced by: Heidi O'Loughlin
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/05_witch_9231.jpg]]

--> ''They were right to fear me. If only they had listened to their cowardice. Had they not taken my home with fire, I would not have taken their children.''

--> ''Now I am banished to Wraeclast. I've heard the dark rumors... seen the terror in other exiles' eyes. But to me one land is like any other. The elements are my allies, the dead are my servants, and fear will be my closest friend.''

Path of Exile's pure Intelligence class.

----
* AmbitionIsEvil: She has a distinct distaste for those who let their power get to them. After killing Alira, she remarks that the other witch broke "the first rule:" never let the power go to your head.
* DeathGlare: Characters frequently comment on her evil eyes.
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: She's a creepy-looking brunette who in the character select menu begins floating.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: She finds Hillock and Brutus disgusting. She also insults fellow witches Shavronne and Doedre, specifically citing this trope in regards to Doedre:
--> "Oh Doedre, we witches must have ''some'' standards."
** She's also appalled by Piety and Alira's behavior, but not because it's horrific, but because [[PragmaticVillainy they let the power get to their heads and it drove them to madness.]]
* GodhoodSeeker: Upon encountering divine power for the first time becomes extremely interested in collecting it for herself, and identifies Ryslatha as an example of what to avoid if she becomes a god.
* ImAHumanitarian: It may just be the "[[EatsBabies witches eat babies]]" stereotype, but she's accused of devouring villagers' children.
* LadyOfBlackMagic: She was hated for her practice of the dark arts, leading her to become an exile.
* LighterAndSofter: Steps seem to have been taken to make the Witch less evil over time, as the [=PS4=] trailer has reworked her introductory line into one that makes her past more vague, leaving it up to the player if she's still the implied baby-killer or was simply a woman pushed to her RageBreakingPoint.
-->"Had they not taken my home with fire, I'd not have brought their fears to life."
* LoveRedeems: It's implied that at some level, the thing that keeps the Witch from falling to madness like Piety or Alira is love and passion for both life ''and'' death. Tasuni notes that while he expected her to embrace the darkness, he didn't expect her to destroy it as well out of love.
** She is quite pleased upon entering Act 2's forest and seeing there is 'still some life in this twitching corpse of a continent', a further indication that the Witch values both Life and Death.
* MadScientist: Downplayed, but she expresses an interest in the corruption covering Waecrest and tells Piety that she appreciates her work on thaumaturgy and immortality... but Piety herself has gone dangerously insane and needs to die.
* {{Necromancer}}: While all characters are capable of summoning undead, an early quest sees the Witch receive a skill gem for raising zombies, and one of her specializations is capable of making her undead minions especially powerful.
** Part of her revenge was sending hordes of zombies against the villagers who burnt down her house.
* SociopathicHero: Though a sarcastic, vindictive bitch with nightmare powers and little respect for life, Yeena notes the Witch is not actually evil. Tasuni later (reluctantly) comes to the same conclusion, and is surprised at the amount of love she shows for the world.
* SquishyWizard: While she starts off as this, it's possible to avert this by building her as a tank.
* TemptingFate: She comments that she's glad she won't be seeing Shavronne's work again after killing her inside the Beast, and admits she did this when having to climb up to the top of the prison to battle her and Brutus again.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: At the start of act 5 she's rather eager to wreak havoc in Oriath in revenge for her exile, and is somewhat put off when Kitava's rising gets in the way of that. When she enters the Ruined Square she comments
--> "This chaos ... should have been of my making."
** After killing Utula she says
--> "Oriath was mine to burn. You took that from me. Now, you will join the pyre."
* WouldHurtAChild: In retaliation for burning her home down, she proceeded to hunt down their children.
** Potentially retconned as of the [=PS4=] trailer.

!Elementalist
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elementalist_ascendancy_class.png]]

--> ''Feed a storm with savage intent''
--> ''and not even the strongest walls''
--> ''will hold it back''

A subclass of the Witch that specializes in elemental damage and status effects.

----
* ElementalPowers: The specialty of this ascendancy. The class has three different skills that lets all hits Ignite, Chill, or Shock and make them stronger, Mastermind of Discord increases the effects of the resistance-reducing Exposure debuffs, Heart of Destruction switches from increased [=AoE=] to more elemental damage during boss fights, and Bastion of Elements gives immunity to reflected elemental damage and a barrier that absorbs elemental damage.
* NotTheIntendedUse: Liege of the Primordial in its first version was meant for you to have a matching elemental golem with the element you were using. When the skill changed to giving increased golem buff effect per golem, players used the class to exploit golem buffs by stacking as many golems as possible more than anything else about the class, especially with Chaos Golem and Stone Golem, the non-elemental ones, to gain a huge boost to physical damage reduction and life regen. The current golem passives are built on this idea, granting more bonuses for each golem summoned and giving golems, including the non-elemental ones, purely defensive bonuses.
* StatusInflictionAttack: The Elementalist has passives which allow all types of damage she inflicts to cause Chill, Shock or Ignite. These ailments are also empowered, and it is entirely possible for an Elementalist to take all three nodes so regardless of how she is attacking you, she will be inflicting all three ailments, even with Physical or Chaos damage which usually cannot inflict elemental ailments.
* TheMinionMaster: Liege of the Primordial and Elemancer, though not very useful for golem-based minion builds, provide various bonuses to her golems, including providing them immunity to elemental damage and an AutoRevive, increasing the number she can summon, and increasing the effect of the buffs they grant her.

!Necromancer
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/necromancer_ascendancy_class.png]]

--> ''Embrace the serene''
--> ''power that is undeath.''

A subclass of the Witch that specializes in minions and corpse skills.
----
* HumanResources: Other than minions, the Necromancer has multiple corpse-related skills, by gaining bonuses from being near corpses or using them and other effects that indirectly improve corpse-using spells like Detonate Dead.
* {{Necromancer}}: This ascendancy focuses on summoning more powerful minions, many of which are undead. With the revision that changed her notable ascendancies from granting bonuses to specific types of undead minions (zombies, spectres, and skeletons) to boosts applicable to any minion this might have been downplayed, but at the same time it gave her other benefits for surrounding herself with inanimate corpses.
* TheMinionMaster: Other classes can learn to summon, other witches have easier access to skills that make stronger minions, but the Necromancer's minions--undead and otherwise--are more powerful. Her passives bolster the strength and defense of her summons as well as her own defenses in proportion to how many minions she controls.
* SupportPartyMember: Commander of Darkness causes their auras to give bonus damage, elemental resistance, and attack and cast speed, the last part per aura, meaning stacking multiple auras makes it more powerful. The individuals supported however are frequently her own minions rather than other players though.

!Occultist
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/occultist_ascendancy_class.png]]

--> ''Throw off the chains''
--> ''of fear and embrace that''
--> ''which was forbidden''

A subclass of the Witch specializing in chaos damage, cold damage over time, curses, and energy shield.
----
* AnIcePerson: Void Beacon reduces the cold resistance of nearby enemies, and Frigid Wake freezes nearby enemies and increases the power of her cold damage over time effects.
* {{Curse}}: Profane Bloom lets their curses affect Curseproof enemies gives cursed enemies a chance to explode on death, while Malediction lets them apply an additional curse and make cursed enemies take more and deal less damage.
* NonElemental: Void Beacon and Withering Presence both make nearby enemies take more chaos damage.
* RegeneratingShieldStaticHealth: Energy shield normally only recharges if a character has taken no damage in the past few seconds, but Vile Bastion increases her energy shield regeneration (which is not affected by taking damage) with each enemy she kills.
* WalkingWasteland: Void Beacon and its child skills debuff enemies and reduce resistances just by being nearby.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Duelist]]
!Duelist
-> Voiced by: Regan Sharp
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/02_duelist_2748.jpg]]

--> ''He had it coming. Was I supposed to bear such insults with inaction, simply because of his high birth? That lord sang a different tune with six inches of steel in his guts. Now they call me a criminal for defending my honor. I'd do the same again to anyone who crossed me.''

--> ''I care naught for riches, little for friendship. The duel is all I need. I may be an exile, but I will carve a road back to Oriath, one foe, one victory at a time. Ill fortune may have banished me to Wraeclast, but I will live to hear them scream my name in the great arenas again.''

Path of Exile's Strength/Dexterity hybrid class.

----
* AgentPeacock: As deadly and skilled as he is, every woman he encounters admits he's at the very least an extremely beautiful and handsome man, especially Piety, who even goes so far as to ask him to walk away from her while [[spoiler:she's dying, so that her last sight will be his "perfectly-formed arse."]]
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Remarkably arrogant about his skills and treats Wraeclast as the ultimate arena. That said, his characterization is more in line with that of a young hothead who at least has enough skills to back up his claims, so it doesn't totally alienate him from the audience.
* BloodKnight: His intro (quoted above) states he fights in arenas not for acclaim or money, but for the fight.
* CharacterDevelopment: At first, he keeps on thinking about his life as the Oriath celebrity prizefighter and somehow going back to it. Getting to higher levels, though, he says "I'm starting to think there's more to life than prize or perish," and "I think it's time to leave this dream of "going home," it's getting a little tight around the collar." Tasuni's commentary after the Duelist slays the Beast indicates that he was surprised at the selflessness of the act, and that the Duelist has gone from simply being an arrogant fighter to a true hero, or at least is ''acting'' like one.
* DualWielding: He can specialize in wielding two swords.
* EveryoneHasStandards: [[spoiler:After defeating Gruest/Ralakash, he briefly ponders hitting on Helena, but ''immediately'' decides against it, actually seeming ashamed that he even entertained the thought of it.]]
** He takes no joy in defeating Gruthkul, recognizing her as a grieving mother.
* HonorBeforeReason: He killed a guy who insulted him. In a theocratic regime which banishes people - those who even survive the journey - to die in a monster-ridden continent for such things as performing publicly without a license.
* RoyalRapier: Brandishes one in the starting screen, and is quite adept at using them.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Says as much right before the first battle with Kitava in Act 5.
--> ''"I'm starting to question my life's choices..."''

!Champion
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/champion_ascendancy_class.png]]

--> ''Champion that which''
--> ''you love. He who fights''
--> ''for nothing, dies''
--> ''for nothing.''

A subclass of the Duelist who specializes in tanking and taunting enemies.
----
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Worthy Foe makes every attack made against a taunted enemy into a guaranteed hit.
* CriticalStatusBuff: First to Strike, Last to Fall increases the Champion's armor and evasion when on low-life, and removes all status ailments as well.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: Master of Metal gives his attacks a chance to impale enemies[[note]]impale adds damage to the next five attacks that hit that enemy based on the damage the initial hit dealt[[/note]] and it increases the duration of his impale effects.
* DamageReduction: Fortitude makes the Champion permanently Fortified, making all hits they take deal 20% less damage. Normally you can only build Fortification by dealing damage with melee skills, which makes this skill the only reliable way for ranged or spell builds to gain Fortify.
* IShallTauntYou: His Conqueror skill makes him taunt enemies on hit and reduces their damage, and Worthy Foe makes taunted enemies take more damage and all hits against them an AlwaysAccurateAttack.

! Gladiator
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gladiator_ascendancy_class.png]]

--> ''Raise your hand to the''\\
''roaring crowd and pledge''\\
''your allegiance to glory.''

A subclass of the Duelist who specializes in blocking and the Bleed ailment, with a minor focus on dual-wielding and Blood and Sand Stance.

----
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Violent Retaliation makes their attacks ignore the enemy's physical damage reduction and roll twice for damage values and uses the higher one if they've blocked at least 20 seconds ago.
* DamageOverTime: Blood in the Eyes and Gratuitous Violence both add a bleed chance to his attacks, and the latter increases the damage of his bleed effects.
* LudicrousGibs: Gratuitous Violence causes bleeding enemies killed to explode, dealing damage to nearby enemies.
* ImplausibleFencingPowers: Gladiators gain sizable bonuses to block, including builds that use a staff or dual-wielding.

!Slayer
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/slayer_ascendancy_class.png]]

--> ''No judge. No jury.''
--> ''Just the executioner.''
A subclass of the Duelist who specializes in all-around offense.
----
* CriticalHitClass: Overwhelm increases his base critical chance with all weapons, and it increases further for each enemy near him.
* FinishingMove: Bane of Legends allows him to kill any enemy that has less than 20% of their life pool in one hit, including endgame bosses.
* KillStreak: Headsman and Bane of Legends respectively increase his damage and speed when he kills an enemy.
* LifeDrain: Brutal Fervor and Endless Hunger grant bonuses to his life leech, including allowing life leech to continue healing past full life.
* SeriesMascot: He's the class that's featured on Path of Exile's cover art and startup loading screen on the console versions.

[[/folder]]
[[folder: Templar]]
!Templar
-> Voiced by: Kevin Harty
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/06_templar_960.jpg]]

--> ''I fought, wept and bled for God and the Order. I would have died for my Templar brothers, every single one. And how do they reward my piety, my devotion? They exile me to the land of the damned. To Wraeclast.''

--> ''I know now that my brethren are merely God's tools. He has given me this path to walk, so I shall muster my strength and my power... and my faith. It is my shield against the darkness to come.''

Path of Exile's Strength/Intelligence hybrid class.

----
* AlasPoorVillain: When returning to the passage Piety blocked in Act 1 during Act 6; the Templar will wistfully say that things would have turned out better for everyone had Piety not barred the way. 'Everyone' includes Piety herself.
* BadassPreacher: He sees himself as being on a MissionFromGod and generally lends a prayer to those he kills.
* BraveScot: His voicelines are delivered in a Scottish accent, and he's a BadassPreacher, but he's not violent enough to be considered a ViolentGlaswegian.
* CoolOldGuy: The eldest of the Exiles; equally adept with melee weapons and spells.
* DefectorFromDecadence: He was a former member of the Ebony Legion until he started asking too many questions about the Cataclysm and was exiled. His exact rank and position in the Legion is unknown, but his dialogue suggests he was once good friends with General Gravicius.
* TheDevilIsALoser: Despite calling the Goatmen 'twisted and deformed' he states that even they deserve Innocence's grace, not Abbarath's.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: At one point he notes he had nightmares about what he's seeing, when he was back in Oriath.
* GodIsFlawed: When the Templar finds out his own god; Innocence, is responsible for the corruption of the Templar Order; he is more than willing to take action against Innocence himself to set him back on the right path.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: His character trailer reveals that this was the reason for his exile. He began researching the true history of the Eternal Empire and the Oriath Order's origins after having recurring dreams regarding the Cataclysm, and was declared a heretic when he tried to make his findings public.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: After killing Innocence, and Bannon asking him 'What in damnation have you done?'. His next line on the next screen: 'What in damnation HAVE I done?'
* TheHeretic: Referred to as such by Gravicius, Piety, and Dominus.
* HumbleHero: Compared with all the other Exiles, the Templar takes no personal pride in his work and deeds, proclaiming them all to be the work of his God.
* ThePaladin: Given the flexible magic system in the game, he doesn't have any straight-up healing or support abilities on his own until he gets access to his subclasses. That said, given that he's the [[MagicKnight Strength/Intelligence Hybrid class]], and the fact that he's a BadassPreacher, he's about as close to this trope as you can get.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Most characters will [[PostMortemOneLiner snark at their foes]] after defeating them but the Templar loves pointing out exactly why they're failures. They become more common as the story progresses, and in Act 4 every single boss except Voll gets one.
** With his voiceline update to include Act 5 onwards; he continues this with the other Gods he defeats, even ''Innocence himself''.
* TokenReligiousTeammate: Unlike the Marauder, the Templar [[spoiler:doesn't seem to have their faith broken by the unfolding events of the storyline]]. He does doubt after [[spoiler: Innocence's power is initially unable to defeat Kitava, but his faith is restored as Innocence battles alongside him to kill the cannibal god]].
* WhatTheHellHero: Despite seeing the events of Part 2 as a Crusade; even he is surprised that Sin is willing to sacrifice his love [Garukhan] and even his daughter [Shikari] for 'the cause'.

!Guardian
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guardian_ascendancy_class.png]]

-->''When bound by faith''\\
''and respect, the flock''\\
''will overcome the wolf''

A subclass of the Templar specialized in tanking and benefiting his allies.
----
* HealingFactor: Time of Need regenerates 30% of his maximum health every five seconds.
* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: Auras have a wide range of effects, and the Guardian's passives not only improve their effectiveness but add extra bonuses.
* IShallTauntYou: Prayer of Glory grants increased speed and damage after using a warcry skill.
* SupportPartyMember: Almost all of the Guardian's skills grant their effect to the character and their allies. However, allies also include [[TheMinionMaster minions]] and [[TheTurretMaster totems]].

!Hierophant
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hierophant_ascendancy_class.png]]

-->''Drink deeply from God's chalice, for''\\
''the faithful will never find it empty''

A subclass of the Templar that makes use of unconventional mechanics, like mana and totems.

----
* ManaShield: Divine Guidance increases maximum mana and diverts 10% of incoming damage to mana, while Sanctuary of Thought grants 20% of maximum mana as bonus energy shield.
* TheTurretMaster: Pursuit of Faith gives the Hierophant an extra maximum totem and increased totem placement speed and duration, while Ritual of Awakening gives more damage and regen for each totem placed.

!Inquisitor
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/inquisitor_ascendancy_class.png]]

-->''Truth is elusive, yet God has''\\
''provided us all the tools''\\
''necessary to find it.''

A subclass of the Templar that specializes in consecrated ground and elemental damage.
----
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Inevitable Judgement causes his critical hits to ignore all elemental resistance.
* ElementalPowers: Augury of Penitence and Inevitable Judgment both increase the elemental damage that his enemies take.
* GeoEffects: Sanctuary creates consecrated ground[[note]]which grants health regeneration to allies[[/note]] around him while he's not moving. He also gets other benefits from consecrated ground from Sanctuary and Pious Path, including making enemies on it take increased damage, granting an equal amount of energy shield regeneration, and making its effect linger when you step out of it.
* MagicKnight: The class has two skills built around utilizing both attack and spell skills. Instruments of Virtue gives more attack damage for casting spells and adds the weapon's damage to spells, and Instruments of Zeal causes attacks to build up Fanatic charges, which give a buff that provides a massive boost to cast speed, mana cost reduction, and [=AoE=] when maxed out.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Shadow]]
!Shadow
-> Voiced by: Elliot Christensen-Yule
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/04_shadow_4378.jpg]]

-->''A Simple job, I was told. Silence a big mouth. Get a big payout. And no one was going to be the wiser. Tidy. Except for one loose end. Me.''

-->''I would have kept my mouth shut. Professional integrity, it's called. Unfortunately not something my employers believed in.''

-->''They raised a toast to a job well done. I drank and next thing I know I'm on this stinking crate bound for exile. It's not a complete loss, I suppose. The way I hear it, there'll be plenty of work for a man of my talents in Wraeclast.''

Path of Exile's Dexterity/Intelligence hybrid class.

----
* CityMouse: He doesn't mind the coast or mountains, but:
-->''"Death has too many damned places to hide in a forest."''
** And, when arriving in Sarn in Act 3:
--->''"Ah, it's so good to be back in the city!"''
* DeadpanSnarker: The Shadow at least pretends to takes being exiled to Wraeclast perhaps the most lightly of any of the player characters, to judge by his constant witticisms.
%%** BondOneLiner: So many after killing bosses.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: When not snarking about them, the Shadow makes many comments about pitying other characters for ugly deaths the story (or even he) inflicts on them.
* EvilerThanThou: As the storyline takes a darker (literally and metaphorically) turn, the Shadow starts to notice which side of the equation he's on.
* ProfessionalKiller: The Shadow silenced big mouths for big payouts before his capture. He also prided himself on ''being'' professional, not just the fact that he got paid for it. Though some of the story enemies are vile enough to test that.
-->''"I try not to take my work personally, but you, [[spoiler:Piety]], are a satisfying exception."''
* SlippingAMickey: How the Shadow ended up on that ship to Wraeclast to begin with.
* WolverineClaws: Generally portrayed as using short blades, except when using claw bracers.

!Assassin
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/assassin_ascendancy_class.png]]

-->''Death is a banquet,''\\
''It's up to the murderer to write the menu.''

A subclass of the Shadow that specializes in dealing critical hits and poisoning enemies.
----
* CriticalHitClass: All of his passives boost his critical hit chance under different circumstances. In particular, Unstable Infusion lets him easily accumulate power charges (which increase his critical chance with all attacks and skills) just by hitting enemies.
* MasterPoisoner: Noxious Strike adds a chance to poison to his skills and increases the potency of his poisons.
* LifeDrain: Noxious Strike restores his health each time he kills a poisoned enemy.

!Saboteur
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saboteur_ascendancy_class.png]]

-->''The artist need not be present''\\
''to make a lasting impression.''

A subclass of the Shadow that specializes in laying out traps and mines.
----
* SmokeOut: His passives can allow him to blind enemies by releasing smoke when hit and allow him to deal additional damage to blinded enemies.
* TrapMaster: His other set of passives grant bonuses to his mine and trap laying speed and boost their damage.

!Trickster
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trickster_ascendancy_class.png]]

-->''Everyone knows how to die.''\\
''Some just need a little nudge''\\
''To get them started.''

A subclass of the Shadow specialized in energy shield and evasion hybrid defenses and damage mitigation.
----
* ComboPlatterPowers: After a series of skill tree and class rebalancing, the Trickster was all over the place. It had a mish-mash of all kinds of abilities without fully committing to any one of them, which included: damage over time, bonus chaos damage to hits, ES and Evasion hybrid defenses, mana recovery with movement skill synergy, power/frenzy charge with channeling skill synergy, on-kill recovery, and [=DoT=] mitigation. It lost its niche as ''the'' ES/Evasion hybrid class once Ghost Dance was put into the main tree. The devs acknowledged this happened once they made that change, and in 3.19 the Trickster class was reworked to add more focus to that niche once again while removing a lot of cruft.
* DamageReduction: Heartstopper alternates between granting a huge amount of damage reduction against hits or damage over time every 5 seconds.
* JackOfAllStats: Polymath encourages this by granting bonus damage and health, mana, and energy shield recovery on kill for each different categories of Mastery passives you've allocated.
* TimeMaster: One Step Ahead sets the Trickster's action speed to a minimum of 108% and caps nearby enemies' action speed to 92%.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Scion]]
!Scion
-> Voiced by: Ayse Tezel
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/07_scion_7219.jpg]]

--> ''The youngest daughter of a respected family. Dresses, dances, suitors... a fortunate life for one fortunately born. My life... had I not been different. Had I not thought more clearly, learned more quickly, dreamed more deeply and darkly than any child should.''

--> ''There seems to be no limit to what I can do, no walls containing my talents. To my parents, I was a raw nugget to be battered and moulded into a prize for admiration, for envy... for sale. That life died on a wedding bed in Theopolis.''

--> ''Today, Wraeclast offers me a new life, written not by birth, nor family, nor society. This life will be written to answer but on question: Who am I?''

Path of Exile's ''secret'' Strength/Dexterity/Intelligence hybrid class.

----
* ContraltoOfDanger: In Part 2, her voice has noticeably deepened to become this.
* GoodCounterpart: To Piety. Dialogue from multiple characters pain her as Piety's opposite in several ways; they both have supernatural powers (Piety's skill in Thaumaturgy, the Scion's strange powers) that gave them adoration from society, but the differences are that the Scion was a noblewoman while Piety was a prostitute before joining the Templar. Piety even calls the Scion a "mirror of [herself]" when fought in the Lunaris Temple.
* HealingFactor: A skill tree accessible within the first ten levels grants passive life regen.
* HumanoidAbomination: It's implied that the Scion is akin to Grigor or Tasuni, in that her mind is able to understand and comprehend otherwordly powers like the gods and the Beast. She is definitely something ''more'' than a normal human.
* JackOfAllStats: Starts in the middle of the passive skill map and can develop outward in any direction. Her Ascendant class lets her mimic abilities from other Ascendancies, and she can go even further to gain the ability to select passives from another class's starting point.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Of all the Exiles, her reaction to [[NiceJobBreakingItHero releasing the Vaal Oversoul]] is by far the most horrified.
--> Oh my god, '''NO!''' If there is ''anything'' that can make this right, I ''have'' to find it!
* NayTheist: Of all the Exiles, she is easily the most vehemently opposed to the hostile gods in Part 2, furiously deriding them as selfish deceivers who do nothing but bring pain and misery to the world.
* SecretCharacter: A hidden character in Act 3 who can only be used in later playthroughs; and as mentioned above, is a hybrid of all 3 main stats.
* StealthPun: Given her strange powers and the intent to marry her off to take advantage of her inborn abilities, it's possible the class name could also be written as [[PsychicPowers Psi-on]].
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Her first skill gem, Spectral Throw, is this; she tosses a spectral copy of her weapon at enemies; where it strikes several times along it's path. Basically, it's the cross-boomerang from ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', but uses your equipped weapon's stats and bonuses.
* TimeyWimeyBall: When you start play as a Scion, she notes that what's going on is "impossible"--possibly because you don't unlock her until chapter 3 as a prisoner of Dominus, so she presumably arrived before the other exile(s) and found her way to Sarn before being captured. She also comments numerous times on how she seems to ''know'' Wraeclast, and Wraeclast knows her, though that could be a reference to the source of her strange powers...

!Ascendant
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ascendant_ascendancy_class.png]]

-->''You are the sculptor, crafting''\\
''your destiny with the clay of''\\
''mind, body, and purpose.''

A subclass that allows the Scion to gain the perks of the other Ascendancy classes.

----
* JackOfAllTrades: Focused around choosing parts of other Ascendancy classes that will work with her skillset, being able to pick up to two passives that represents an Ascendancy class (e.g. Chance to create Consecrated ground and bonus Elemental Damage on Inquisitor passive).
* MasterOfNone: Unlike the other Ascendancy classes her skill tree is not focused towards any particular passive bonuses. In addition, she is further limited by only being able to pick the subclasses of two different classes (e.g. unable to choose both Inquisitor and Guardian passives from the Templar's section of her Ascendacy tree).
** A recent update makes an exception. With Gladiator+Berserker she can achieve more damage with Physical Damage-Over-Time spells; a BloodMagic archetype; than any other class is capable of. In addition, she gets a nice bonus to Block and gets a lower damage taken penalty than a Berserker would take.
* PowerCopying: Her ascendancy passives are partial copies of other ascendancy classes'.
[[/folder]]

----

!The Masters

!Tropes applying to the Masters as a group, including the former Forsaken Masters
* AntiFrustrationFeatures:
** Whenever a Forsaken Master tasked you to hunt down a particular target, once you completed the bounty, they would teleport next to you, removing the need to backtrack. In the case of Tora, if you find the den of beasts she would eventually ask you to cull before she gives you the quest, she would teleport right next to it, allowing you to get the quest right away.
** Masters gave an indication where their targets are, with a circular arrow on the base of their character.
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:As of Betrayal, all of the old Forsaken Masters apart from Zana joined the Immortal Syndicate. Based on what Jun says; it seems they didn't have much option in the matter however, as she saw them dead.]]
* ItemCrafting: The Forsaken Masters used to help with this - as you gained favor with them, they provided the means to modify certain types of equipment.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: While none of the Masters are particularly friends with one another, the worst thing you have to worry about from having them in the same hideout is the occasional bit of grumbling about one another.

[[folder: Alva Valai, Master Explorer]]
-> Voiced by: Genevieve Kent

An AdventurerArchaeologist who enlists the Exile into helping her go on Incursions to the Vaal Temple of Atzoatl in the past, so that she can find and loot it in the present.

* AscendedExtra: She became a permanent part of the game as one of the new Forsaken Masters in Betrayal.
* AdventurerArchaeologist: Accompanies the Exile through the temple, which is full of undead Vaal guards.
* BloodMagic: Her time portal is sustained by the blood of the Vaal. She uses her own (as a distant descendant) to get it to started, but after that it's up to the Exile to spill enough Vaal blood.
* CausalityMechanic: She offers you to go back in time to alter the design of the temple, which will change the layout, the loot you can get and the chambers you can reach once it is finished.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Accuses the player of this if they encourage the architect who's obsessed with filling the temple with traps.
* GoldFever: She likes whenever the Exile creates rooms with treasure, but she's especially thrilled if they grow the gold-filled Vault.
* PungeonMaster: The only thing she likes better than gold is dropping constant Time puns.
* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Discussed. Helena claims that maybe it's a good thing that Alva only uses her time travel abilities for [[TimeTravelForFunAndProfit personal profit]] since if anyone ever tried to use it for loftier ambitions (even good ones, like [[HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct assassinating Malachai before the Cataclysm]]) it could cause unthinkably terrible consequences.
* TimeMaster: Creates portals to the past to influence the creation of the temple so she and the Exile can loot it in the present - and then, because time in Wraeclast is twisted about, does it all over again.
* WhatTheHellHero: If the Exile keeps sparing the architect whose focus is on human sacrifice she'll point out how many people will die because of it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Einhar Frey, Beastmaster]]
-> Voiced by: Jay Simon

An eccentric hunter and survivalist who helps the Exile hunt beasts to prepare for the supposed incoming end of the world.

* AscendedExtra: He became a permanent part of the game as one of the new Forsaken Masters in Betrayal.
* BloodMagic: Creates a Blood Altar for the player to sacrifice beasts upon.
* BoisterousBruiser: He is incredibly jovial.
* TheFriendNoOneLikes: Most of the other post-''Betrayal'' Masters find him exasperating at best due to his eccentricities, constant talk of the First Ones, and his [[TakeOurWordForIt apparent]] lack of hygeine. Niko in particular makes it clear he can't stand him, [[spoiler:though once the latter's SanitySlippage reaches its peak, he actually starts to get along with him.]]
* GreatWhiteHunter: He encourages the Exile to hunt down avatars of the First Ones, the greatest of their kind.
* HunterTrapper: His motive for hunting is to harvest beasts for fur and meat.
* NiceGuy: He is incredibly friendly and has nothing but nice things to say about the other Masters.
* ThirdPersonPerson: Einhar talks like this. A lot.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Jun Ortoi, Veiled Master]]

The SoleSurvivor of the Order of the Djin, who enlists the exile into investigating and taking down the mysterious criminal organization known as the Immortal Syndicate.

* AscendedExtra: Just like the others before her, she is now a permanent addition to the game.
* AncientOrderOfProtectors: A member of the Order of the Djinn, which exists to safeguard dangerous artifacts.
* CannotSpitItOut: She admits that she has feelings for Zana, but always gets nervous and shy when she approaches her.
* ItsPersonal: Has a particular hatred for Janus Perandus, who was a member of her organization before betraying them to the Immortal Syndicate.
* LoopholeAbuse: The rules of her order bar her from knowing the touch of a man in order to avoid attachment and family. They don't mention women, and she muses about settling down with Zana and adopting.
* SoleSurvivor: Seems to be the only surviving member of her order.
* TortureTechnician: Handles interrogating Syndicate members, and they'll hold a grudge over it.
* WhatTheHellHero: Disagrees strongly with the Exile's alliance with Alva due to her greed. She also has a dim view of how Navali refuses to use her fortune telling to prevent future tragedies.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Niko the Mad, Master of the Depths]]
-> Voiced by: Jay Simon

An eccentric GadgeteerGenius who enlists the Exile into helping him explore the dangerous depths of an Azurite mine.

* AscendedExtra: He became a permanent part of the game as one of the new Forsaken Masters in Betrayal.
* CreepyGood: He's nuts and obviously so, but he's nothing but supportive and helpful.
* GadgeteerGenius: He built the Crawler out of an Eternal torture device and the machines that allow for greater resistance against the darkness in the Azurite mine.
* CatchPhrase: "Stay in the light."
* HearingVoices: He mentions this, presumably a side effect of Voltaxic Sulphite exposure.
* HypocriticalHumor: He calls Einhar a madman out of exasperation due to his constant talk of the First Ones and TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, but the deeper the Exile goes in the Azurite Mine, the clearer it becomes that he's not exactly mentally sound himself.
* NonActionGuy: He's the only Master who doesn't help you in combat in some way.
* ProperlyParanoid: Given what you uncover in the Azurite Mine, it's kind of hard to fault him for growing increasingly twitchy and nervous.
* SanitySlippage: As you delve deeper into the Azurite Mine, he gets new dialogue lines that turn more and more paranoid as he realizes just how literal DarknessEqualsDeath is.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Zana, Master Cartographer]]
!Zana, Master Cartographer
-> Voiced by: Katherine Kennard
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/master_zana_3723.jpg]]

-->''Still sane, exile?''

A mysterious woman intimately familiar with the nature and dangers of the Atlas of Worlds.

----
* ADayInTheLimelight: Previously, she had little significance to the plot, and depending on how much the player ran endgame maps, it was possible to never meet her at all. The ''Atlas of Worlds'' expansion brings her to center stage.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Very few of the original masters had positive things to say about her, with only Leo and Haku having any real respect for her talents. Vorici and Vagan had positive things to say about her, but [[EatingTheEyeCandy for other reasons entirely]]. Zana, in turn, ranged from strained tolerance to open annoyance at the other masters.
** Averted as of the ''Betrayal'' date; none of the new masters seem to hate Zana, though some of them are a bit wary of her.
* HighClassGlass: Her new model sports a monocle.
* RaceLift: Prior to patch 3.6 she was AmbiguouslyBrown. Post patch, her skin is outright white.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: As of ''Siege of the Atlas'', consumed with guilt over the fate of the Conquerors and [[YouBastard fed up with the Exiles constantly exploiting the Atlas despite knowing how dangerous it is]], Zana has gone into self-imposed exile, leaving Kirac to manage her work in her place.
* SomethingAboutARose: She's always surrounded by swirling rose petals, her (very rarely seen) combat skills have rose- and petal-related visual effects, and her custom portal is a red petal ring.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: With Kirac in ''Conquerors''. Officially, Zana is a criminal wanted for what is described as "radical extremism", and as an officer of Oriath's new government, its Kirac's duty to arrest her. However, they end up having to work together in order to defeat the Conquerors.
* TokenGoodTeammate: She's the only one of the original Forsaken Masters who didn't join the Immortal Syndicate.
* UnexplainedAccent: Played straight initially, but removed in 2.4. When first added to the game Zana had a prominent Romanian accent, in contrast to every other voiced character's fairly unaccented speech. When the Atlas of Worlds was released she got a new voice actor, who dropped the accent.
* WhatTheHellHero: She is ''not'' happy when she learns that you've started consorting with the Maven.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Commander Kirac]]
!Commander Kirac

-->''The job never ends.''

An Oriathan soldier, leader of the Citizen Vanguard. In ''Conquerors of the Atlas'', he was an officer looking for the whereabouts of his brother, Baran, as well as Zana, who he was last in close contact with. In ''Siege of the Atlas'', he acts as the commander of his militia, formed to defend Wraeclast against new threats emerging from the Atlas.

----
* AscendedExtra: After Zana's departure as of ''Siege of the Atlas'', Kirac has taken on the mantle of the guardian of the Atlas, and the source of the Atlas missions.
* BigGood: Takes this role in ''Siege of the Atlas'' as the commander of the Citizen's Militia, a volunteer force that protects Wraeclast from the threats that lurk inside the Atlas.
* DemotedToExtra: When he was first introduced in ''Conquerors of the Atlas'', he initially took on the role of selling maps and guiding you through the Atlas. This lasts about an hour at most, as reaching Tier 4 Maps would result in discovering Zana, who would immediately take his place, relegating him to identifying the location of the Conquerors and nothing more. As mentioned in AscendedExtra, this is not a permanent downgrade.
* EyepatchOfPower: Present and accounted for. He lost his eye in a fight with Cameria, who still keeps it with him.
* HearingVoices: When he gives you a "Mirror of Delerium" mission in Seige; he says he was told to send you there by a voice in a dream. Considering who that voice almost certainly is; and the track record of those who have interacted with the Atlas before; this is not a good omen for his sanity.
* RescueArc: Once he's surmised that Zana isn't as big a threat as previously thought, his motivations pivot to this, trying to find his brother in the Atlas.
* ScarilyCompetentTracker: In ''Conquerors of the Atlas'', he invites himself to your hideout and brings the Map Device there without you even asking him. He's also the one who tracks down the locations of the Conqueror's citadel when it's time to challenge them.
* TakingTheBullet: In the cutscene leading up to the Sirus encounter, he jumps in the way of a disintegration beam meant for Zana, severely injuring him. He does recover, but the wound is a permanent and painful reminder.


[[/folder]]


----

!Act One

The first story act that takes place along the coastal regions of Wraeclast. [[labelnote:CLICK for the story.]]After washing ashore, the Exile starts off taking jobs to protect the citizens of Lioneye's Watch, and is able to fight his/her way up to the dreaded Axiom prison. Here, the Exile encounters Piety, but is unable to fight her due to the appearance of Axiom's prison warden, Brutus. The Exile then attempts to catch up to Piety after bypassing Brutus, but is stalled when she summons up Shavronne's impassable barrier on the only known path to the inner regions of Wraeclast, which forces the Exile to find an alternate route by going through Merveil's Siren territory.[[/labelnote]]

[[folder:Lioneye's Watch]]

!Tarkleigh
-> Voiced by: Mark Mitchinson
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/10_tarkleigh_6780.jpg]]

An inhabitant of Lioneye's Watch, and Act One's weapon & armor vendor. Tarkleigh is considered to be the leader of the camp.

----

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Has feelings for Nessa, but due to their situation in Wraeclast, he can't really do anything about it.
* EyepatchOfPower: Lost his left eye.
* TheLeader: Of those that live at Lioneye's Watch.

!Nessa
-> Voiced by: Scarlet Hemingway
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/08_nessa_9177.jpg]]

An inhabitant of Lioneye's Watch, and Act One's magic & potion vendor. Nessa is a lady that is perhaps too good and nice for Wraeclast, and acts as the nurse for the people of the camp.

----

* BreakTheHaughty: Daughter of a rich and prosperous family who eagerly passed judgement on all the player characters. Then she was shipwrecked and lost everyone and everything in her life that ever mattered to her. She's [[TookALevelInKindness much nicer these days]].
* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler:Even after the Brine King is defeated, she's still stuck as a mermaid, meaning she can no longer return to Lioneye's Watch.]]
* InferredSurvival: [[spoiler:Despite the player not actually seeing her after the Brine King is defeated, both the story and the [=NPCs=] state that she is alive and well, albeit unable to return to Lioneye's Watch due to still being a mermaid.]]
* TheMedic: Serves as one for Lioneye's Watch, which is the primary reason she sends the Exile off to Tidal Island to retrieve a lost Medicine Chest.
* NiceGirl: She really comes off as one to the rest of the camp. Bestel even feels bad that she's too good of a girl to live in this kind of world.

!Bestel
-> Voiced by: Ross Girven
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/09_bestel_3422.jpg]]

An inhabitant of Lioneye's Watch. Bestel was once a sailor, but shipwrecked onto Wraeclast. He also has a love for writing poems as seen when he takes note of the Exile's journey through Wraeclast.

----
* TheBard: A fair poet who understands and appreciates the value of a good story.
* CloudCuckooLander: Mildly, as noted by Nessa and Tarkleigh. No one knows whether he was always like this, or the shipwreck changed him.
** TheCuckoolanderWasRight: He had his moments of clarity, such as correctly guessing that there ''must'' be a way to lower Shavronne's Barricade from the other side, as Piety would not risk herself being locked inland.
* DeadPersonImpersonation: He claims to have been a ship captain who wrecked on the Twilight Strand, using his hat as proof; Tarkleigh claims he saw Bestel take his hat off a dead man.
* ThePowerOfLegacy: He asked you to not say anything about your encounter with Fairgraves, as to not tarnish his memory.
* ProperlyParanoid: On hearing of your meeting with [[spoiler:Fairgraves]], without even seeing the man Bestel immediately deduces that since [[spoiler:Fairgraves hadn't been seen in decades, he's "either a liar, or something ''far worse''"]]. And, he's perfectly correct.
----

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Act One Story Villains]]

!Hillock
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/24_hillock_3644.jpg]]

A large walking corpse for the ''Enemy at the Gate'' quest. In life, he was a giant of a man, and a blacksmith turned murderer, who was then murdered in his sleep by frightened townspeople.

Hillock is the first major obstacle the Exile comes across after washing up on the shores of Wraeclast, and must be killed before being allowed entry into Lioneye's Watch.
----
* AscendedExtra: The only thing notable about him was that he's a tutorial boss, then he's given life and personality by the Immortal Syndicate in the Betrayal league.
* AssholeVictim: Hillock wasn't actually exiled; he was murdered in his sleep and his body thrown in the sea. Eventually it washed up on Wraeclast and he reanimated as an extremely powerful zombie. however, he was a violent brute with a bad temper who had just begun to enjoy murder when he was killed.
** Hillock's Letter of Exile can be read in Act 1 or Act 6; and his crimes include multiple counts of rape [including one fatality from it]; murder of children and desceration of corpses. However, his Syndicate apperance seems to suggest some sort of disorder.
* DeathSeeker: The majority of his quotes in the Syndicate are about him hating pretty much everything about his life.
-->'''Hillock''': Hate the Syndicate. Hate myself. Rather be dead.
* DumbMuscle: He towers over the other Syndicate members, but has clear signs of [[AmbiguousDisorder mental disability]].
* HumanPincushion: He's got multiple arrows and swords sticking out of him. He even [[LodgedBladeRecycling pulls one out of his chest at half health]].
* InfinityMinusOneSword: For players determined enough to spend hours grinding the Tidal Shore until they hit level 7, Hillock might become "Uber Hillock", who has a leap slam attack and summons waves of fast zombies. Defeat him then and he'll drop a Unique sword (the one he pulled out of him, which has a noticeably different model than the one used by normal Hillock) that will last most melee characters through the whole campaign and even beyond.
* MightyGlacier: The primary skills for Hillock is that he has high health, and hits particularly hard. He'll quickly teach you to not stand still and take hits.
* MurderMakesYouCrazy: Hillock's backstory states that he only turned into a depraved killer after he accidentally murdered someone.
* StarterVillain: The very first unique enemy that the Exile must defeat.
----

!Hailrake
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/25_hailrake_4118.jpg]]

A cannibal in the area for the ''Mercy Mission'' quest.

Hailrake safeguards a ship that had run aground on Tidal Island; finding a medicine chest that he decides to keep for himself.
----
* AnIcePerson: What makes Hailrake a very difficult early enemy is that he is a user of the ''Glacial Cascade'' gem, which can not only cause considerable damage if the Exile is hit by it, but will slow the Exile's movement and attack speed.
* OptionalBoss: Defeating Hailrake is optional.
* TheRemnant: Of the Eternal Empire, after it was destroyed by The Cataclysm.
----

!Kadavrus the Defiler
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/26_kadavrusthedefiler_9054.jpg]]

A necromancer for the ''A Dirty Job'' quest.

Kadavrus is found at the Fetid Pool raising an army of undead warriors and animals that are proving to be too much of a threat for the people surviving at Lioneye's watch.

----
* DegradedBoss: As the first necromancer you're likely to meet in the entire game, he's a full-on boss. Later on, necromancers will be a common enemy in the crypts and catacombs throughout the rest of the game.
* OptionalBoss: Defeating Kadavrus is optional.
* RaisingTheSteaks: The Exile is sent to deal with him because he's been raising animals that would not normally animate after death.
----

!The Deep Dweller
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/27_deepdweller_6510.jpg]]

A shield crab for the ''Dweller of the Deep'' quest.

Deep Dweller makes its home in a region of the Submerged Depths, and was thought to be a major threat to the Lioneye inhabitants.
----
* GiantEnemyCrab: He's gigantic, he's hostile, and he's a crab.
* OptionalBoss: Defeating Deep Dweller is optional (technically - completing his quest grants a skill point, so it absolutely ''shouldn't'' be skipped).
----

!Brutus, Lord Incarcerator
-> Voiced by: Damien Caine
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/28_brutus_314.jpg]]

A large human beast for the ''Caged Brute'' quest.

Brutus is the warden of the dreaded prison of Wraeclast who takes enjoyment in torturing those who become his prisoners. At the time of the Purity Rebellion, Brutus was experimented on by Shavronne to become a weapon to be used against the invading Karui Tribe. However, Brutus turned on her one day, which resulted in Shavronne's death. Since then, he has stayed within the prison to continue his duty as a warden...only a lot more brutal.

----
%%* BossArenaRecovery: Periodically summons skeletal minions to attack you, allowing you to recharge your flasks mid-fight by killing them.
* BossCorridor: Before you encounter Brutus, you must make your way past the prison halls, following a trail of blood and dead bodies in your wake, with no one to interfere until you enter the Warden's Chambers and encounter Brutus. Then 3.15 made some changes to the boss fight: the Boss Corridor ''is'' the new arena now.
* ChainedByFashion: He has a few bits of chain hanging from his arms.
* ColdBloodedTorture: This guy was a master at this, and is the reason that he was near-universally feared in Wraeclast.
* TheDreaded: Brutus was Wraeclast's Bogeyman. Mothers would get their kids to behave by telling them that Brutus was coming to see them, and men feared the prospect of a term inside with him.
* EmergencyTransformation: Brutus was turned into what he is today by Shavronne, in order to stop the Karui advance through the Prisoner's Gate.
* ImmortalitySeeker: Brutus sought to extend his life using dark magic, which turned him into a monster.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: In addition to the smashing and [[ThatOneAttack the hook]], he also summons spikes out of the ground to stab your character. He does it up to 5 times in a row, summons them directly underneath your character, and they hurt.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: This guy's name would be intimidating as hell even ''without'' knowing his reputation.
* SmashMook: Brutus' bossfight basically boils down to this. His fists hit hard, and his ground smash hits hard.
* WakeUpCallBoss: On top of having a [[DamageSpongeBoss ton of hitpoints]] compared to any prior enemy, he deals mean damage and has a number of abilities that force you to stay on your toes. Following Brutus, you'll start seeing many more mooks who now have new and troublesome abilities of their own.
* YouWillNotEvadeMe: Can throw a vicious hook that draws your character in close and stuns you.
----

!Merveil, the Siren
-> Voiced by: Creator/BrookeWilliams
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/30_merveil_8400.jpg]]

The mother of the Sirens for the ''Siren's Cadence'' quest, and the final boss of Act One.

Merveil was once a beautiful courtier who had a whirlwind romance with a swordsman named Daresso, who gifted her with his greatest treasure, the Star of Wraeclast, a ruby gotten in the jungles of Wraeclast. Unfortunately, the Star turned out to be cursed, and over time corrupted her mind and then her body, transforming her into a monster. When Daresso finally left her, unable to bear what his wife was becoming, it destroyed what remained of her sanity. She made her home in a cavern off the coast of Wraeclast; producing a large abundance of children that have haunted Wraeclast's shoreline to this very day.
----
* AnIcePerson: Most of Merveil's arsenal is cold-based, which can be nasty if you don't have resistance.
* ArtifactOfDoom: The Star of Wraeclast, Daresso's gift to Merveil, turned out to be cursed, and over time corrupted Merveil's mind and then her body, transforming her into a monster.
* DespairEventHorizon: When Daresso left Merveil, unable to bear what his wife was becoming, it destroyed any sanity the poor girl had left.
* EnemySummoner: In addition to her many ice attacks, Merveil summons statues in her first phase, larvae in her second phase, and two special minions that use Fire and Lightning in her third and final phase.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: She cries out in mourning when her daughters are slain.
* FourthDateMarriage: Daresso and Merveil's romance happened remarkably quickly.
* MonsterProgenitor: All the coast's sirens are her descendants.
* OneWingedAngel: After defeating her the first time, Merveil goes into her Siren form, which not only gives you more ice attacks to deal with, but has two phases where she summons larvae and then two special minions that use fire and lightning on you.
* TragicVillain: One cannot help but get a sense of sadness with Merveil, given the circumstances that turned her into a monster.
* YourSoulIsMine: Her shores are haunted by the ghosts of sailors her brood has "devoured", and which attack the player.
----

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Act One World Characters]]

!Captain Fairgraves
-> Voiced by: David Weatherley
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/29_fairgraves_4880.jpg]]

A lost sailor the Exile comes across in the Ship Graveyard.

Fairgraves tasks him/her to find, and return, his precious Allflame, [[spoiler:but turns on him/her after the Exile returns the lost item.]]
----

* BoldExplorer: A well-renowned explorer who sailed to Wraeclast many years ago.
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:He and his crew have been undead revenants for some time, seemingly reliant on the Allflame to maintain a mortal guise.]]
* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler:He shows up as a ghost in Act 3, apologizes for trying to kill you, and then gives you another quest, although it's ultimately up to you to choose whether or not to help him.]]
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: What little you hear of his past exploits strongly invokes the image of UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus.
* OptionalBoss: [[spoiler:Defeating Fairgraves is optional]]
* SwissArmySuperpower: The Allflame is said to do 'many a marvelous things'. From what can be gathered in-game, it could be used for sailing (presumably generating heat and thus, wind),[[spoiler:[[StayingAlive guards you against death, and even brings you back to full life.]]]]
* TreacherousQuestGiver: [[spoiler:He tries to kill you to fuel his Allflame after you return it to him.]]
----

[[/folder]]

!Act Two

The second story act that takes place within the inner forestry regions of Wraeclast. [[labelnote:CLICK for the story.]]Having defeated Merveil, the Exile succeeds in opening an alternate path around Piety's coastal barrier to reach the inner forests. The Exile arrives at the Forest Encampment, and is not only tasked to deal with the bandit problem that has been hounding its people, but to also find a way into the Vaal Ruins to continue his/her pursuit of Piety. However, The Vaal Ruins has its entrance blocked off by roots of an old Wraeclast tree called Lorrata, which forces the Exile to loot two powerful Maligaro artifacts from the Chamber of Sins, and the home of the Weaver spider, to kill the tree blocking the entrance. Upon traveling through the ruins, the Exile unintentionally releases an evil spirit that curses Wraeclast into eternal darkness, and impedes the Exile's journey until its defeat at the Ancient Pyramid of the Vaal.[[/labelnote]]

[[folder:Forest Encampment]]

!Greust
-> Voiced by: Barnie Duncan
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/11_gruest_143.jpg]]

-->''What troubles you bring now??''

An inhabitant of the Forest Encampment and Act Two's weapon & armor vendor. Haughty and arrogant, he firmly believes that the Encampment does not need the help of "outsiders" to survive.

----
* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:Gets possessed by Ralakesh in ''Fall of Oriath'', becoming his avatar.]]
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Even after you dealt with the Bandit Lords and lifted the Darkness, he will still talk down on you. Granted, the latter was a case of NiceJobBreakingItHero, but still.
* {{Jerkass}}: He never gives the Exile any credit for accomplishing anything, and wants the Exile gone no matter what.
* OddCouple: [[spoiler:He and Helena fell in love sometime between Acts 2 and 7.]]
* TheRemnant: Of the Azmeri people who founded The Eternal Empire.
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: He speaks with a very thick, deep German-sounding accent that he makes Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger's sound ordinary compared with him.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: According to Silk, he's terrified of spiders.
----

!Yeena
-> Voiced by: Bodelle de Ronde
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/12_yeena_4407.jpg]]

An inhabitant of the Forest Encampment and Act Two's magic & potion vendor. Yeena is a psychic who can see, and feel, the problems that are happening all around Wraeclast.
----
* AssistCharacter: [[spoiler:She helps you in the fight against Arakaali in her flaming fox form.]]
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: In her dreams, she can see images and scenes of big events happening all around her throughout Act 2 such as the suffering of the Great White Beast, and the movements of the Evil Spirit that the Exile releases from the Vaal Ruins.
* FurBikini: Her attire of choice.
* TheRemnant: Of the Azmeri people who founded The Eternal Empire.
----

!Eramir
-> Voiced by: Ken Blackburn
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/13_eramir_1702.jpg]]

An inhabitant of the Forest Encampment. Eramir is an old man who is extremely wise and knowledgeable about the lands around him.
----
* BaldMystic: One of the few bald men in the game and is characterized as being wise and knowledgeable
* MrExposition: His role for the Exile is to explain the history of certain quests and lore bits about the stuff the Exile comes across throughout Wraeclast.
----

!Silk
-> Voiced by: Sam Fraser
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/14_silk_7444.jpg]]

An inhabitant of the Forest Encampment. Silk is a man who enjoys the hunt.
----
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:By Arakaali in Act 7. [[DevourTheDragon It doesn't end well for him]].]]
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: He's deathly pale, sports a head of long stringy black hair and wears a dead spider carcass as a belt.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: His fight with the Weaver is only mentioned, and was able to escape with his life intact.
* TheRemnant: Of the Azmeri people who founded The Eternal Empire.
----

!Helena
-> Voiced by: Romy Hooper
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/15_helena_3252.jpg]]

A former Blackguard who used to travel around with Piety's group. She becomes an inhabitant of the Forest Encampment after the Exile saves her life from Fidelitas. She was later made into a Master that lets players choose between new Hideouts.
----
* AscendedExtra: She became one of the new Masters as of the Betrayal update, being put in charge of the revamped Hideout system.
* HeelFaceTurn: After you saved her from Fidelitas.
* OddCouple: [[spoiler:She and Greust fell in love sometime between Acts 2 and 7.]]
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Wants nothing more to do with Piety and the Blackguards after the incident in the Chamber of Sins
----

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Act Two Story Villains]]

!The Great White Beast
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/31_greatwhitebeast_1179.jpg]]

A large hulking white beast for the ''Great White Beast'' quest.

The creature is out for revenge due to torture it endured in the past from abusive humans; making its home in a nearby den east of the camp. The Exile is asked by the people of the Forest Encampment to finally put it out of its misery.
----
* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler:In ''Fall of Oriath'', a necromancer called the Bone Sculptor raises its skeletal remains as the Great White Bones.]]
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Really, the only reason the beast is a villain is because of what humans did to it.
* OptionalBoss: Defeating the Great White Beast is optional.
* TragicMonster: It's really just an escaped circus bear.
----

!Fidelitas, the Mourning
[[quoteright:110:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fidelitas.jpg]]

A dastardly creature for the ''Intruders in Black'' quest. Formerly Maligaro's boyfriend.

Fidelitas safeguards one of Maligaro's two precious artifacts, the Baleful Gem, which was hidden within the depths of the Chamber of Sin.

----
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Maligaro resurrects him as Fidelitas, Forever Loyal in ''Fall of Oriath''.]]
* ShockAndAwe: User of the ''Lightning Strike'' gem, which powers up Fidelitas' melee attacks with lightning that can also fire off electric projectiles towards the Exile.
----

!The Weaver
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/33_weaver_906.jpg]]

A large broodmother spider for the ''Sharp and Cruel'' quest.

Making her webbed home in the western forests, the Exile is tasked to retrieve the second of Maligaro's artifacts, the Spike, which had been stabbed, and left behind, in the spider during a previous battle.

----
* GiantSpider: A large spider-boss.
* PoisonousPerson: User of the ''Viper Strike'' gem, which allows for the Weaver to poison the Exile over time.
----

!Captain Arteri
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/35_captainarteri_4283.jpg]]

A Blackguard for the ''Way Forward'' quest.

Arteri is a dear lover of the Blackguard leader, Piety, who she leaves behind at the Prisoner's Gate/Western Forest passage to ensure that the only known road to travel from the coast, and inner regions of Wraeclast, remains closed from outside interruption.

----
* OptionalBoss: Defeating Arteri is technically optional, but again completing the quest grants a skill point and so shouldn't be skipped.
----

!Vaal Oversoul
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/34_vaaloversoul_2658.jpg]]

A dangerous construct for the ''Shadow of the Vaal'' quest, and the final boss of Act Two.

During his/her journey through the Vaal Ruins, the Exile unintentionally releases an evil spirit which sets off a curse that shrouds the land of Wraeclast in eternal darkness. To end the curse, the Exile discovers that the entity can only be fought by mortal means if the Apex artifact (a combination of 3 fragment pieces from the bandit lords) is brought to the top of the Vaal Pyramid, and placed on its dark altar to summon it into the mortal world as the Vaal's guardian construct.
----
* CastingAShadow: Blots out the sun, although in combat it relies on a combination of summoned Vaal creatures, lightning blast, chilled earth, and brutal melee attacks.
* DegradedBoss: Empowered versions of the Oversoul (called Vessels of the Vaal) appear [[DualBoss in pairs]] as [[MiniBoss mini-bosses]] in The Apex of Sacrifice and The Alluring Abyss endgame zones.
* MechanicalMonster: An ancient construct with distinctly unhuman, tentacled appearance.
* MergerOfSouls: Of the long-extinct native Vaal.
----

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Act Two World Characters]]

!Oak
-> Voiced by: Campbell Cooley
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/16_oak_8852.jpg]]

One of three bandit lords.

Oak controls the forests north of the Forest Encampment; offering the Exile benefits if he/she helps Oak become the prime lord by killing Kraityn and Alira
----

* BossInMookClothing: Easily the toughest fight amongst the three bandit lords thanks to his ''Leap Slam'' gem that will allow him to almost always fight the Exile in direct combat. He also has ''Enduring Cry'' for healing, to the point that particularly low damage characters are completely incapable of overcoming his regeneration with it.
* FighterMageThief: The three bandit lords are the classic example of the Strength/Dexterity/Intelligence RuleOfThree philosophy that most role-playing games follow after. For Oak, his attacks and skills are based around Strength.
* OptionalBoss: You don't have to fight Oak if you choose to help him become the only bandit lord.
* {{Retcon}}: Originally, Oak took the longest to get to of the three Bandit Lords due to the Wetlands zone he's located in being after the Vaal Ruins. However, the Vaal Ruins couldn't be accessed until the Lorrata tree blocking the entrance is killed using two special items that are looted from two far away dungeons. As a result, a later game-patch moved the Wetlands to come ''before'' the Vaal Ruins so that the player can find Oak before having to do the giant side-journey of clearing away the Lorrata road-block.

----

!Kraityn
-> Voiced by: Barnie Duncan, Joseph Quinn
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/17_kraityn_3709.jpg]]

One of three bandit lords.

Kraityn controls the forests east of the Forest Encampment; offering the Exile benefits if he/she helps Kraityn become the prime lord by killing Oak and Alira.
----

* FighterMageThief: The three bandit lords are the classic example of the Strength/Dexterity/Intelligence RuleOfThree philosophy that most role-playing games follow after. For Kraityn, his attacks and skills are based around Dexterity.
* OptionalBoss: You don't have to fight Kraityn if you choose to help him become the only bandit lord.
* SelfMadeOrphan: One can actually read his letter of exile in Act 1 or Act 6, and at the very end of his very long list of crimes is 'One count of Matricide for pecuniary [Financial] gain'.
* TeleportSpam: Thanks to having the use of the ''Flicker Strike'' gem, he can teleport attack the Exile.
* TheDon: Kraityn's letter of exile has a *very* large list of crimes; rangeing from growing and supplying narcotics; murder; matricide; running brothels; armed robbery; bribery; and grand larceny. He is also listed as being 'unwilling' to get a job useful to society. [Unlike some others listed as 'unable'].

----

!Alira
-> Voiced by: Danielle Cormack
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/18_alira_8132.jpg]]

One of three bandit lords.

Alira controls the forests west of the Forest Encampment; offering the Exile benefits if he/she helps Alira become the prime lord by killing Oak and Kraityn.
----

* AllThereInTheManual: Her last name is Darktongue, just like Doedre. You can only find this in the achievements list though, as it's not even on the wiki.
* FighterMageThief: The three bandit lords are the classic example of the Strength/Dexterity/Intelligence RuleOfThree philosophy that most role-playing games follow after. For Alira, her attacks and skills are based around Intelligence.
* {{Necromancer}}: Having the ''Raise Zombie'' gem skill, she can summon zombies to fight for her. Only instead of spawning from corpses, they appear out of her cauldron.
* OptionalBoss: You don't have to fight Alira if you choose to help her become the only bandit lord.

----

[[/folder]]

!Act Three

The third story act that takes place within Sarn, the once proud capital city of Wraeclast. [[labelnote:CLICK for the story.]]From the Ancient Pyramid, the Exile opens a tunnel to reach Sarn. Here, the Exile finally catches up to Piety again in Sarn's Crematorium, but escapes his/her grasp to the other side of Sarn's river. The people of the Sarn Encampment task the Exile to finally put an end to Piety, along with General Gravicius, but because the river's bridge has been blocked off by a powerful barrier, the Exile is required to seek out the Gemling Queen, who helps the Exile create an alternate route through Sarn's sewer network. After finally making it across the river, the Exile battles his/her way through Gravicius and Piety, which opens the path for the Exile to ascend the tallest tower of Sarn, the Sceptre of God, in order to fight the man who's proclaimed himself the current ruler of Wraeclast; the High Templar, Dominus.[[/labelnote]]

[[folder:Sarn Encampment]]

!Hargan
-> Voiced by: Daryl Habraken
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/19_hargan_7124.jpg]]

-->''Stay out of the shadows. They bite.''

An inhabitant of the Sarn Encampment and Act Three's weapon & armor vendor.

----
* AmazonChaser: Noted Maramo as 'intoxicating'.
* DirtyCoward: Maramoa called him as 'someone who wins wars with false promises', and Grigor said that he's 'obssessed with self-preservation.'
** LovableCoward: Regardless of what they said, Hargan was a surrogate uncle figure for Clarissa, and even Grigor noted that his cowardice is an ''asset''; once he considers someone as useful in keeping him alive, he will do almost anything for that person.
----

!Clarissa
-> Voiced by: Bodelle de Ronde
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20_clarissa_1623.jpg]]

An inhabitant of the Sarn Encampment and Act Three's magic & potion vendor. Clarissa is not at the encampment upon the Exile's first visit, but is brought back by said Exile after finding Clarissa in the City of Sarn just outside the Vaal Apex.
----
* BreakTheCutie: Her lover, Tolman, was captured and tortured (or experimented upon) to death by Piety, and she would tell stories how she used to be better off back in Theopolis, even dining with General Gravicious.
* {{Retcon}}: Originally, she was found by the Exile in the Slums zone after visiting the Sarn Encampment. However, a later game-patch moved her to the starting City of Sarn zone so that the player can have Act 3's magic & potion vendor from the start.
* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Has clearly begun losing her mind by Act 8, acting like the zombified Tolman is still alive and constantly talking to him as if he is. Thankfully, she gets better after seeing [[CameBackWrong the consequences]] of trying to use the Ankh of Eternity.]]
----

!Maramoa
-> Voiced by: Ana Corbett
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/21_maramoa_7430.jpg]]

An inhabitant of the Sarn Encampment.
----
* LaResistance: The reason why she was exiled; one can read her letter of Exile in Act 1 or Act 6; and she was exiled for 'inciting insurrection amoung the bonded workforce'; and for 'assaulting and defying a member of the Ebony Legion. She is also listed as a count of 'Hericide' which is the murder of a lord or master, suggesting she was a slave who organised some sort of rebellion.
----

!Grigor
-> Voiced by: Barnie Duncan
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/22_grigor_7240.jpg]]

An Ezomyte who had an unfortunate encounter with Piety and escaped, now inhabitant of the Sarn Encampment.
----
* BodyHorror: He is ''horribly'' deformed and characters always slip in a comment expressing their pity for him. Half of his entire body is disfigured, looking more abomination than man.
* DontYouDarePityMe:
-->'''Grigor:''' Clarissa troubles me with pity once again. There is only so much flowers, so much broth, that a man can take.
* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:When the Exile returns to Sarn in ''Fall of Oriath'', Grigor has left the encampment and returned to Ezomyr in an attempt to find a cure for his disfigurement.]]
* WarriorPoet: Like all Ezomytes. While the Warrior part is debatable (the implication that he braved the Sarn ruins before his run-in with Piety), he was undeniably a poet.
----

!Tolman
-> Voiced by: Campbell Cooley
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/23_tolman_7388.jpg]]

An inhabitant of the Sarn Encampment who was captured, and tortured to death, by Piety in the depths of Sarn's crematorium.

* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler:[[ArcWords Nothing stays dead in Wraeclast the first time]], and Tolman is no exception. By the time of Act 8, he has risen as a zombie and was found by Clarissa, who desperately tries to keep him tame while she works out a way to fully resurrect him. Unfortunately, attempting to use the Ankh of Eternity to do so turns him into a feral super zombie, and the Exile is forced to put him down once again.]]

----

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Act Three Story Villains]]

!General Gravicius
-> Voiced by: Daryl Habraken
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/36_gravicius_8736.jpg]]

A deadly Blackguard for the ''Sever the Right Hand'' quest.

Gravicius sets up his base of operations within Sarn's Ebony Barracks, and not only poses a serious threat to those in the Sarn Encampment, but acts as a powerful barrier against Piety and Dominus' enemies.
----
* AuthorityEqualsAssKicking[=/=]FourStarBadass: He's a general, and he's no slouch in direct combat.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:As of the Betrayal update, he has been resurrected as a member of the Immortal Syndicate.]]
* BarrierWarrior: Possess significant amount of Energy Shield, and bestows the same to his allies.
* DamageSpongeBoss: He's pretty tanky for an Act 3 mid-boss and has a lot of Energy Shield and Molten Shell to absorb damage, but his attacks are rather slow and easy to dodge.
* HeManWomanHater: He calls the Witch a "whore of Nightmare" and his quote for the Scion and Ranger is "God gave this world to Man, not to you, little girl!". Clarissa recounts that she dined with him twice; once when her family was still reputable, and a second time while in prison just before she was exiled and he "wasn't so polite that time", with the implication he assaulted her.
* {{Irony}}: He decries the Exile as a "heretic" and repeatedly professes his devotion to god. [[spoiler:Following his resurrection, he now worships Catarina as a goddess, which would make ''him'' a heretic in the eyes of the Templar Order.]]
* KillItWithFire: Most of his spells.
* YesMan: According to Maramoa he's surrounded himself with them.
----

!Piety
-> Voiced by: Penny Ashton
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/37_piety_1278.jpg]]

A dark thaumaturgy practitioner, the leader of the Blackguards, and Dominus' most loyal subject, for the ''Piety's Pets'' quest. Unlike a majority of the game's enemies, Piety is an adversary that the Exile comes across on multiple occasions.

In Act One, the Exile first comes across her reading Shavronne's necromantic writings at Brutus' prison, but loses her after she forces up Shavronne's barricade to the inner forest regions of Wraeclast; forcing the Exile to find another route.

In Act Two, the Exile catches up to her in the depths of the Chamber of Sin where she gets held up trying to take the Baleful Gem from its guardian, Fidelitas, in an attempt to try to further impede the Exile's progress through Wraeclast. She flees once the Exile enters the scene.

In Act Three, the Exile catches up to her once more within Sarn's Crematorium only to discover that Piety had finished torturing the man the Exile had come searching for. The two engage in combat, but Piety again escapes the Exile's grasp, and flees to her laboratories within the Lunaris Temple not only to continue with her thaumaturgy experiments, but to also ready herself for the eventual rematch with the Exile.

[[spoiler:In Act Four, she is shown to have survived her Lunaris Temple encounter with the Exile, but has been transformed into a Nightmare abomination within Wraeclast's Beast. The Exile comes across her within the Beast as the two engage in yet another fight. The Exile is able to free her from the Nightmare's influence, and now wanting revenge against Malachai, Piety decides to team up with the Exile to help take down the Beast]].

----
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: If you stop her from getting to one of her power-up portals for a certain length of time she'll instantly teleport to one and activate it, even if stunned.
* TheDragon: To Dominus, [[spoiler:and later Malachai]].
* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:In Act 4, she helps the Exile in getting into Malachai's lair, but its less a genuine HeelFaceTurn and more an alliance of convenience since she wants revenge on Malachai for brainwashing her.]]
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Was a prostitute named Vinia who sold her body to pay for her magic school tuition. Now Dominus' top enforcer / researcher.
* ElementalPowers:
** ShockAndAwe: In her human form, she likes to spam lightning spells.
** AnIcePerson: One of her OneWingedAngel forms, an archer who spams Ice Arrows.
** PlayingWithFire: Her other OneWingedAngel form, turns her into a LightningBruiser for a short while.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler:Her final fate, courtesy of Malachai]].
* InterplayOfSexAndViolence: Touched upon when [[spoiler:she returns in Act 4.]] She says [[spoiler:that's twice now]] that she's experienced a "little death" at the hands of the Duelist, as she continues flirting with him throughout the Act.
* MadScientist: The Lunaris Temple was her own personal laboratory.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:During the final battle with Malachai, she weakens him and makes him vulnerable to the Exile, prompting Malachai to impale her on a spike in retaliation.]]
* VillainousCrush: A lot of her lines towards the Duelist are very... [[EatingTheEyeCandy appreciative]], for some reason. [[spoiler:Even when she's dying after the aforementioned RedemptionEqualsDeath moment, she tells him "I want that fine arse of yours to be the last thing I see."]]
* WalkingSpoiler: [[spoiler:The fact Piety survives to Act 4 is a pretty big one.]]
----

!Dominus
-> Voiced by: Craig Walsh-Wrightson
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/38_dominus_4903.jpg]]

Wraeclast's high templar for the ''Sceptre of God'' quest, and the final boss of Act Three.

From the top of Sarn's tower, the Sceptre of God, Dominus rules over the land of Wraeclast, and stays in the shadow to allow for his subjects, such as Piety, to do his dirty work to force the people to do his bidding.
----

* AGodAmI: He greets the Exile by asking if they've ever seen the true face of God, and calls his empowered punch 'the Touch of God.' [[spoiler:The official trailer reveals that he intends to use the power of the Nightmare to ascend to godhood.]]
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: He has blue skin.
%%* BaldOfEvil
%%* BattleInTheRain
* BigBad: Not only is he the one responsible for all the exiles to Wraeclast, [[spoiler:but his desire to harness Malachai's Nightmare in order to become a god is what kickstarts and drives the plot.]]
* CollectorOfTheStrange: If you look carefully, you can find his office in the Templar Courts in Act 5, which shows that he has long had a vested interest in Wraeclast and thaumaturgy due to the items he has collected in it, including a sack of Virtue Gems, a Doryani's Fist gauntlet, and even a disassembled Ribbon.
%%* TheEmperor: Of the Empire of Oriath.
* GroundPound: One of his deadliest attacks is a ground slam that does heavy lightning damage in a large area.
* MrExposition: Becomes this in ''Fall of Oriath's'' new character creation screen, monologuing about each class's crimes against Oriath.
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Upon seemingly being defeated the first time, the Nightmare transforms him into a grotesque insect-like monster.]]
* PowerFist: He wears a bulky golden gauntlet that enables his GroundPound attack. It's also available to players as a unique item Doryani's Fist.

----

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Act Three World Characters]]

!The Gemling Queen, [[spoiler:aka Lady Dialla]]
-> Voiced by: Bodelle de Ronde
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/39_ladydialla_7402.jpg]]

A maiden of the late emperor that was directly responsible for the immense chaos Wraeclast has been suffering. The Gemling Queen is met by the Exile in the lowest level of the Solaris Temple; providing him/her with objectives to help overthrow Dominus' reign over Wraeclast. She later follows the Exile to Highgate to help put an end to the threat of the Beast.

----
* ApocalypseMaiden: Directly responsible for the cataclysm that tore through Wraeclast by defying HeroicSacrifice [[spoiler:[[JustAsPlanned as Malachai expected]]]].
-->''But I didn't want me dead! Malachai begged: for him, for the Empire. I chose me... selfish me. The Empire died, and I live. I live, and live, and live, and live.''
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: She was the Emperor's favorite until she asked one too many such questions.
-->''I talked too much, asked too many difficult questions. I was gifted to Malachai. My dear, troubled Malachai.''
* TheAtoner: This, along with revenge against Malachai, is her main motivation for helping the player.
* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler:Near the end of Act 4, she sacrifices her Gemling powers to fuel the Rapture Device and open a passage to the Beast, stripping her of her magic, her youth, and reverting her to a withered crone who needs a cane to support herself.]]
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}
* DontYouDarePityMe: [[spoiler:She refuse to let the Exile pity her once they see her state after being BroughtDownToNormal.]]
* DueToTheDead: [[spoiler:She has passed away by the time the Exile returns to Highgate in ''Fall of Oriath'', and the Maraketh honored her with an open burial and memorial.]]
* TheRemnant: [[spoiler:Of the Eternal Empire.]]
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Implied.
--> ''Now they are my ribbons forever more. Forever more... I ''hate'' forever. I could tear 'happy ever after' from bards' bleeding tongues!''
* WomanScorned: [[spoiler:She never forgave Malachai for manipulating and betraying her, and her desire for revenge is what motivates her to help the Exile destroy the Beast.]]
----

![[spoiler:Captain Fairgraves]]
-> Voiced by: David Weatherley
[[quoteright:110:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dockcaptain.jpg]]
A wayward ghost the Exile comes across exploring the Sarn docks. The ghost turns out to be [[spoiler:Captain Fairgraves; having regained his form thanks to the Allflame. Fairgraves asks the player to collect certain items that would ''kill'' him in hopes that the Allflame would fully resurrect him to his living, corporeal, form. Unfortunately, that did not succeed either]].

----
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:When you meet Fairgraves again in Act 3, he's stuck on his ship's anchor]].
-->''This current form comes with rather frustrating restrictions. It's a small improvement upon my last incarnation, but I'm a man who used to poke his sticky beak into the farthest corner of the world. Now i can barely cross the road. It was no mean feat getting here from Siren's Cove, I can tell you!''
* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler:You meet with Fairgraves again in The Docks of Act 3. All it takes was him to 'deeply apologize' for his moment of weakness, and you're on good terms again]].
* OptionalBoss: [[spoiler:His attempt to bring himself to life failed, and he's supposedly KilledOffForReal. But if you use the Mao Kun Reefs Unique map, there's a boss named 'Fairgraves, Never Dying']].
----

!Siosa
-> Voiced by: George Henare
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/40_fairgravesghost_6640.jpg]]

The ghost of a knowledgeable Karui scholar that has been bound to a painting in Sarn's library. He offers the optional ''A Fixture of Fate'' quest that rewards the player with skill gems once the Golden Pages from the library's archive are brought to him.

----
* AncientKeeper: He's been in the Library for a ''long'' time. His extensive knowledge of gems also means that he's the only NPC who can supply ''every'' normal gem in the game via his shop at once, assuming they've been unlocked via completing quests.
* AndIMustScream: His SoulJar portrait allowed him to survive the Cataclysm, but it also meant he had a front row seat to watch his friends and family slaughtered by Undying or turned into monsters themselves.
%%* MagicLibrarian
* MrExposition: He provides a lot of lore about the Vaal and the Eternal Empire.
* SoulJar: His painting has become the conduit for his soul.
----

!Izaro
-> Voiced by: Michael Hurst
Former Emperor of the Eternal Empire, the heirless Izaro Phrecius oversaw the construction of the Lord's Labyrinth to decide who would succeed him according to ancient Azmeri traditions. In death he continues to oversee the Labyrinth and its six Trials, often speaking to the player character as they pursue their Ascendancy.

----
* AGodAmI: One unique item describes Izaro as believing himself to be a divine savior trapped in a mortal man's body.
* CloudCuckoolander: Implied to not have been the sanest individual while alive. It doesn't come across in the player's interaction with him though.
* DualBoss: You fight him and an avatar of the Goddess of Justice at the same time.
* FriendlyEnemy: Izaro is respectful, helpful, and encouraging to the player even when they're fighting him, and will congratulate them at length if they kill him. The only way to annoy him is to kill his pet, Argus.
** He will; however give some negative comments if you completely fail his challenges in the Trials. For example; if one is to kill all of his Leuiteants; he will remark 'Determination overcomes Domination; this is the one rule of Sovreignity' implying he does not think you worthy due to you killing his Leuitenants instead of withstanding them. If you fail both of his Trials he can skip his congratulations at the end as well.
* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: The Goddess will bombard you with energy mortars while Izaro himself attacks with either two swords or a warhammer the size of the player.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: After Chitus Perandus became Emperor by defeating the Labyrinth, he promptly threw Izaro in it and sealed it up.
* MalevolentArchitecture: The entire point of the Labyrinth. Also, the third time you fight him, his arena has a large number of traps in it.
* MarathonBoss: You have to fight him three times, knocking off about a third of his health bar each time. And he has a ''lot'' of health.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Designed the Labyrinth to choose a worthy successor, but the only one able to beat it did so through corruption, bribery, and favor-trading, ensuring the worst candidate possible became Emperor after him.
* ResurrectiveImmortality: No matter how many times the Exiles kill him, he will always return the next day with a new Labyrinth challenge. Its unclear if this is due to Wraeclast's corruption or a blessing from his Goddess.
** Even immediately after killing Izaro and his body crumpleing; Izaro's voice will ring out in the very next room.
* RoyallyScrewedUp: Generations of royal incest rendered Izaro completely impotent. Unable to sire an heir, he created the Labyrinth to find the next Emperor.
* TheGoodKing: Not only strives to be this, but also takes measures to ensure that his successors will be equally worthy. Whether he actually achieved it himself is open to debate, and [[TheStarscream his successor certainly didn't]], but he has some fairly sound advice for would-be rulers in his scattered writings.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: His failure to account for the possibility of corruption bypassing all the Labyrinth's tricks led to the rise of Emperor Chitus, whose actions led to the Purity Rebellion and Malachai's rise, who would then go on to become a threat to the world itself.
* VaryingTacticsBoss: His moveset and arena changes daily along with the Labyrinth layout. He may wield either a sword or a hammer, his first two fights contain a mechanic that carries over if not dealt with, and on the third fight, his arena contains traps.
* WorthyOpponent: He never insults you during his fights, and when you beat him the final time, he actually congratulates you for beating him, and tells how you are worthy, and have ''earned'' the [[PrestigeClass Ascendancy Points]].

[[/folder]]

!Act Four

The fourth story act that takes place at the mountain housing the Nightmare of Wraeclast. [[labelnote:CLICK for the story.]]After Dominus' defeat, the Exile is met by the Gemling Queen, who tasks the Exile to put an end to the source of Wraeclast's nightmare, the colossal entity known as the Beast. Making their way to Highgate by way of Sarn's aqueduct system, the Exile arrives at the town, and acquires Deshret's Banner from the former Emperor Voll at the Dried Lake to break Deshret's gate-seal and enter the Beast's mountain. Fighting their way through the mountain mines, the Exile eventually comes across a Rapture Device at the outer shell of the Beast. Here, the Exile is tasked by the Gemling Queen to enter the Nightmare's dreams of Kaom and Daresso to acquire the two items required to power the device. The Exile returns from the dreams with the items at hand, and hands them over to the Gemling Queen, who uses the Rapture Device--and unwittingly, her own strength and immortality, to break a hole into the Beast's shell for the Exile to enter through. Fighting through the innards of the Beast, the Exile comes across Piety, who has been transformed into an abomination of Nightmare after her death. Upon defeating her again, the Exile is able to free her from Nightmare's influence. She decides to rebel against Malachai, once a servant of the Eternal Empire, who has become one with the Beast, and twisted it to become the source of Wraeclast's corruption. Teaming up with the Exile, Piety tasks them to first defeat Malachai's three most loyal servants, Doedre, Maligaro, and Shavronne, in order to gather up Malachai's vital organs that they've each been safeguarding. Piety then uses the organs to open up the Beast's Black Core, where its own heart lies, opening the way for the Exile, and Piety, to fight Malachai in his mortal Nightmare form. Piety dies during the battle, but the Exile is able to come out victorious over Malachai, destroying him, and the Beast, for good.[[/labelnote]]

[[folder: Highgate]]

!Kira
-> Voiced by: Chye-Ling Huang
Kira is a Maraketh warrior of Highgate. She is intensely, almost fanatically obsessed with following the laws of her people to the letter, which causes her to chafe under Oyun's progressive reforms.

----

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:In ''Fall of Oriath'', she is brainwashed by Garukhan, Queen of the Wind in order to make her help Garukhan's plot to take over Highgate.]]
* TheFundamentalist: She believes that the Maraketh laws must be followed to the letter. Naturally, this causes tension between her and the much more open minded Oyun.
* {{Jerkass}}: Much like Greust, she is incredibly dismissive towards the Exile. ''Unlike'' Greust, however, she's able to show some semblance of gratitude towards the Exile as they accomplish great deeds.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: She is openly critical of Oyun going against the Maraketh customs by allowing Exiles and former Blackguards into Highgate, but still obediently follows her due to TheChainsOfCommanding. [[spoiler:Garukhan's return in ''Fall of Oriath'' puts an end to this, tragically.]]
----
!Petarus and Vanja
-> Voiced by: Simon Ward (Petarus), Torum Heng (Vanja)
Vanja was an Exile condemned to Piety's operating table until Petarus, a Blackguard, fell in love with her. Choosing to defect from the Ebony Legion, Petarus freed Vanja and the two of them fled to Highgate.

* AdventureArchaeologist: They've taken up this profession by the time of ''Fall of Oriath'', enlisting the Exile's help in recovering several priceless Eternal Empire relics.
* TheDividual: They are always together, they act as a single NPC mechanically, they have shared dialogues (and frequently interrupt each other), and Tasuni describes them as such:
-->Petarus and Vanja. Two mouths that speak from one mind.\
When together, they express some quite interesting thoughts. When apart, well... half a thought isn't really even a thought, is it?
* FantasticRacism: As a former Blackguard, Petarus has a rather dim view of Karui. He thankfully gets over it once [[spoiler:Malachai]] is defeated.
* ItBelongsInAMuseum: They justify claiming the Fastis Fortuna partially because it could be useful for "small folk" like them, partially for pure profit, and partially that it belongs to a museum (or their own private collection) instead of buried in rubble benefiting no-one.

----

!Oyun
-> Voiced by: Helen Wong
The leader of the Maraketh settlement of Highgate. Recognizing the threat the Beast and its Nightmare poses to Wraeclast, she has cast aside her people's rigid customs and welcomes the Exile with open arms, hoping that they can slay the Beast once and for all.

----

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Has no issue welcoming the Exile into Highgate; knowing that the Exile can help protect them against the Beast.
* StealthInsult: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. For each character, she appears to openly criticise them on some unworthy aspect of their life - the Duelist's self-obsession, the Witch's lust for power, the Templar's blind zealotry - until she remarks that it is that exact trait that will allow them to kill the Beast when the Maraketh cannot.

----

!Tasuni
-> Voiced by: Yoson An
Tasuni was born with a strange ailment that left him touched by the corruption of the Beast. For this, he was to be sacrificed to the gods, but the gods refused to kill him. Now, he serves as Highgate's spiritual advisor, and manages the new Divination Card system.

----

* CreepyGood: He is a very grim and morose man, but he is genuinely noble.
* DeadpanSnarker: He can be very snarky at times, especially when pointing out each Exile's flaws.
* OfferedTheCrown: [[spoiler:After Garukhan and Kira are defeated in Act 9, he can be made the new ruler of Highgate. If chosen, he promises to introduce reforms to the stagnant and rigid traditions and customs of the Maraketh.]]

----

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Act Four Story Villains (Outside the Beast)]]

!Voll, Emperor of Purity

The first obstacle of Act 4 that the Exile must bypass to complete the ''Breaking the Seal'' quest.

In the past, Voll was the leader of the Purity Rebellion that transformed Wraeclast's Eternal Empire into becoming a nation of theocracy after overthrowing Emperor Chitus. However, his reign as the nation's new emperor was short-lived due to his decision to spare the life of Malachai, which would later lead to Wraeclast being destroyed by the cataclysm. Being reanimated by the Nightmare, and setting up operations at Dried Lake, Oyun tasks the Exile to fight Voll in order to acquire Deshret's Banner from him, which will allow for the Exile to bypass Highgate's barrier into the Beast's mountain.

----
* BrokenBridge: The Exile can't enter the Beast's mountain until he/she loots Deshret's Banner from Voll, which is required to break Deshret's seal at the Mines entrance in Highgate.
* BurnTheWitch: It's said he "soared to power on the smoke of burning witches." Despised thaumaturgy and rose to prominence by torturing and burning those with innate magical power in the Crematorium.
* TheEmperor: For about five years before HighTurnoverRate kicked in.
* HighTurnoverRate: He won the rebellion, but his rule lasted for only 5 years. The Eternal Empire had been declining, and [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The Cataclysm]] sealed its fate.
* KnightTemplar: Fanatically devoted to the eradication of magic, torturing and killing many people in his campaign to destroy it. Eventually led to his downfall.
* RebelLeader: Instigator of the Purity Rebellion.
* TragicMonster: Voll and his legions were among the countless lives lost in the Cataclysm. In the present day, the Nightmare has risen him and his legion as deformed skeletons.
** Doubly so if you read his confession. He overthrew Chitus mainly to stop Malachai and his disciples, only for [[MagnificentBastard Malachai]] to dupe him and do it anyway. He knows the Cataclysm is essentially his fault, and sometimes he'll say something as he dies that suggests he's ''still'' aware of how badly he's screwed up.
* TurbulentPriest: So turbulent that he overthrew the emperor himself.
----

!King Kaom
-> Voiced by: Andre King
One of two dream bosses that the Exile needs to bypass to complete the ''King of Fury'' quest.

In the past, Kaom's tribe allied with Voll during the Purity Rebellion to help conquer several areas along Wraeclast's coast. After the rebellion however, he ends up betraying his people as he, and those most loyal to him enter the Nightmare's mountain to become one with the Beast. Within the mountain, Koam became corrupted by Malachai, and slaughtered his loyal followers to act as sacrifices for the Beast. In the present, Kaom guards the Eye of Fury; one of two items that are necessary for the Exile to power the Rapture Device.

----
* AxCrazy: Certainly became this after being consumed by nightmare, but given that he was slaughtering women and children and adorning his tribe's houses with their bones, he doesn't seem to have been a particularly nice person beforehand either.
* BrokenPedestal: The Marauder is increasingly horrified as he learns about the increasingly insane lengths Kaom went to in order to secure his "Kingdom" in Wraeclast. [[spoiler:Doubly so when he discovers that Kaom has become a minion of the Nightmare.]]
* DecapitationPresentation: After defeating Marceus Lioneye, he decides to hang his severed head around his belt as a war trophy. Some consider this the first visible sign of Kaom's SanitySlippage.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Even while under the thrall of Malachai's Nightmare, he still cared deeply for Hyrri, naming a caste of his minions after her and calling upon her aid during his boss fight. [[spoiler:In ''Trial of the Ancestors'', if you encounter Hyrri in the Domain of Timeless Conflict and later tell Kaom about it in the Halls of the dead, he will vow to raise an army to invade the Domain and rescue her.]]
* FallenHero: The Weathered Carvings reveal that his obsession with maintaining a "Kingdom of the Karui" in Wraeclast drove him to betray everything the Karui stood for, and ultimately died in disgrace. [[spoiler:And then Malachai resurrects him as his minion]].
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: InUniverse. In the Karui homeland, Kaom is celebrated as a conquering hero who led the greatest army in their history to victory after victory, carving out a mighty kingdom before the Cataclysm destroyed it all. The bit about him sacrificing five hundred of his most loyal warriors to the Beast and becoming its servant... [[ThePowerOfLegacy kinda got left out of their history.]]
* NoManOfWomanBorn: Karui men are forbidden from wielding ranged weapons. Kaom realized this did not apply to Karui ''women.'' Combined with DefensiveFeintTrap, his army ambushed and obliterated Lioneye's Gemling Legion.
* PetTheDog: In ''Trial of the Ancestors'', while he will normally downplay or scoff at your victories over most of the Chieftans, when you defeat [[spoiler:Utula]] in a match he will grudgingly admit that it ''was'' rather impressive.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy
* ReformedButNotTamed: [[spoiler:In ''Trial of the Ancestors'', upon his defeat his soul is purified of Malachai's influence and granted entry to the Halls of the Dead. While no longer a raving, murderous megalomaniac, he is still ''exceedingly'' arrogant and makes it clear he won't go easy on you just because you saved him.]]
* UngratefulBastard: In his posthumous appearance in ''Trial of the Ancestors'', he "thanks" the exile for releasing him from [[AndIMustScream centuries of torment]] by not trying to get them thrown out from the Halls of the Dead for being an outsider.
----

!Daresso, King of Swords

One of two dream bosses that the Exile needs to bypass to complete the ''King of Desire'' quest.

Centuries ago, Daresso was a legendary Oriathan swordsman famous for his unmatched strength and agility. However, this all changed when his lover, Merveil, was driven mad by the Star of Wraeclast. Desperate to save his beloved, Daresso ventured to Wraeclast, only to meet his end there and be transformed into a champion for the Nightmare. In the present, Daresso guards the Eye of Desire; one of two items necessary for the Exile to power the Rapture Device.

----
* BloodKnight: Claims that all he cares about now is battle, glory and victory.
* AnIcePerson: Attacks primarily with ice.
* TragicMonster: Unlike Kaom, who willingly allowed the Nightmare to corrupt him in order to fuel his delusions, Daresso was a genuinely noble man who just wanted to save his beloved, only to fall under the Nightmare's thrall. The Duelist still thinks highly of him after defeating him.
--> Your glorious deeds will be remembered forever in song, Daresso. I'll make sure of it!
* RagsToRiches: The plaques that litter the Grand Arena describe him as going from a teenage hunter, to a pit fighter, and finally an arena champion.
----

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Act Four Story Villains (Inside the Beast)]]

!The Beast of Wraeclast

The Beast, the Nightmare, the Darkness...this creature has many names, but one thing is for certain. It's the source of Wraeclast's horrors. Originally created by the demigod Sin in an attempt to free mankind from the manipulations of the Gods, the Beast has existed for eons, spreading its corruption to anyone who dares venture into Wraeclast. Now, Lady Diala has devised a plan to slay the Beast for good, but unbeknownst to anyone, the Beast itself has become enslaved to a far darker threat...

----
* ABeastInNameAndNature
* BigBad: Built up to be this for Act 4, until you learn that Malachai is the TrueFinalBoss. And also subverted, as [[spoiler:the Beast was originally a peaceful creature that kept ''much'' worse things in check, until Malachai corrupted it when he took it over and the player is forced to kill it]].
* EldritchAbomination: It's called the Beast for a reason. The second half of Act 4 has the player walking through the Beast's insides where eyeballs along the walls are always looking at you. In addition, the player never actually sees the Beast in its entirety; the closest you get is descending down a mine and coming face-to-face with its outer hide and then tunneling through. The rest of the colossal creature is concealed within the vast mountain.
* EvilIsVisceral: The Beast is essentially a gigantic mound of flesh and organs. You even have to ''go inside it'' and see all its insides in their gory glory. [[spoiler:The "evil" part is subverted later on; the beast itself isn't evil, but Malachai is.]]
* GoneHorriblyWrong: [[spoiler:Sin intended the Beast to be a boon that would help guide humanity to be able to live their own lives free of the gods' manipulations. Instead, he made the mistake of making it ''too'' peaceful and it was unable to resist being controlled by outside forces. It became a nightmarish horror that's brought nothing but doom and destruction to Wraeclast and caused the fall of two separate civilizations.]]
* NonMaliciousMonster: [[spoiler:The Beast is ultimately supposed to be a guardian against rampaging gods, and Sin himself notes that he made the thing too pacifistic; it made it easy for Malachai to subdue it and force it to be his servant.]]
* RealityWarper: It's very nature is to enable magic, particularly thaumaturgy, and it can reshape the world as it sees fit. If someone can control it, they too will gain the ability to change the world according to their imagination. [[spoiler:This is a side effect of it's actual purpose, which was to force the various gods into slumber]].
* SealedEvilInACan: Although Malachai sealing himself within it was entirely intentional, as it didn't diminish his power in the slightest and prevented others from interfering. [[spoiler:And it's actually the can for a whole bunch of evils even ''greater'' that Malachai]].
----

!Maligaro, The Inquisitor

One of Malachai's loyal Godless Three servants for the ''Corpus Malachus'' quest.

In the past, Maligaro was a thaumaturgist working for Malachai within the Chamber of Sin performing experiments in an effort to connect humans with virtue gems. However, Maligaro was burned at the stake by Voll after he succeeded in becoming the new emperor. Currently, the Beast has revived Maligaro to serve Malachai once more, and safeguards his master's heart within the Beast, which is required for the Exile to open the entrance into the Beast's core.

----
* BossBanter: He's the only member of the Godless Three who has retained the ability to speak, and he takes full advantage of this during his fight.
* DepravedHomosexual: Fidelitas, a miniboss in Act 2, was his lover in life.
* MadScientist
----

!Shavronne of Umbra

One of Malachai's loyal Godless Three servants for the ''Corpus Malachus'' quest.

In the past, Shavronne worked as a thaumaturgist within the coastal Axiom prison in order to develop a counter against the Karui Tribe led by King Kaom, who was conquering the Wraeclast coastline for Voll's rebellion. Her work led her to setting up an unbreakable barricade on the only coastal entrance to the inner forests, as well as experimenting on Axiom's prison warden, Brutus, into becoming a powerful monster that would be let loose against the Karui. However, Brutus would end up turning on the one who had been experimenting on him; resulting in Shavronne's death. Currently, Shavronne has been revived to safeguard Malachai's entrails within the Beast, which is required for the Exile to open the entrance into the Beast's core.

----
* KarmicDeath: Her first death was at the hands of Brutus, her own creation.
* ShockAndAwe: As one of the Godless Three, she fights primarily with lightning.
* VainSorceress: Described as 'the Aesthete' by nearly everyone and makes lots of beauty-related comments when you fight her.
----

!Doedre Darktongue

One of Malachai's loyal Godless Three servants for the ''Corpus Malachus'' quest.

In the past, Doedre was an upcoming thaumaturgist pupil of Maligaro. One day, Maligaro decides for his next experiment to be to cut out Doedre's tongue, which the pupil embraces, and takes on the name Darktongue. Her enemies came to fear her as an innovative spellcaster that attacked without the ability to speak, which results in Voll burning Doedre at the stake for her crimes against the people of Wraeclast after he had become emperor. Currently, the Beast has revived Doedre, and safeguards Malachai's lungs within the Beast, which is required for the Exile to open the entrance into the Beast's core.
----
* BurnTheWitch: Burned at the orders of Voll after the Purity Rebellion. She still appears as one of the Godless Three
* {{Curse}}: Most of the unique items associated with her improve your curse spells. She also makes heavy use of them in her boss fight.
* FanDisservice: She's naked. She's also a horribly bloated blob of sagging flesh that doesn't have legs and attacks by vomiting blood.
* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: When [[spoiler:Sin consumes her soul]] in Act 8, he notes it's almost too disgusting even for him.
----

!Malachai, The Nightmare
-> Voiced by: John Leigh
The main consciousness of the Beast for the ''Eternal Nightmare'' quest, and the final boss of Act Four.

In the past, Malachai served as the right-hand man to Emperor Chitus as a powerful thaumaturgist that developed gemlings, a skill that would allow for Malachai to be spared by Voll after the latter succeeded in becoming the new emperor of the Eternal Empire. Voll allowed Malachai to live after he promised to the new emperor that he would be able to develop a Rapture Device, which would be powered by his Gemling Queen, that would destroy the Beast of Wraeclast for good. However, his plan took an unexpected turn when the Gemling Queen chose not to sacrifice herself to power the machine, which resulted in the Rapture Device only having enough power to break a hole in the Beast's outer shell.

Malachai took this chance to enter the cavernous insides of the Beast with a new plan in mind; to claim the power of the Beast as his own. Taking control of the Beast--easier than it sounds, as the creature is utterly quiescent--Malachai ushered in a cataclysm that destroyed all civilization across Wraeclast. Those that survived were left to fend for themselves in the now devastated empire, the entire continent becoming little more than a destination for the unwanted of Oriath to be exiled to.

In the present, he is now one with the Beast, devising plans to destroy the world in the hope of recreating it in his own image. These plans are interrupted when the Gemling Queen returns to the outer shell of the Beast, and powers up the Rapture Device once more to open up a hole for the Exile, who has come to put an end to the Nightmare.

----
* BigBad: Of Act 4. He's blamed for manipulating the Beast into a tool of destruction, preparing to corrupt the world in his image, and players are sent by the Gemling Queen to stop him.
* BigWhat: He utters one when Piety returns to human after being transformed into her abomination form during the final battle.
* BlasphemousBoast: To the templar, he spits in the face of his faith by calling himself a god.
-->"''Let me show you what a real god can do!''"
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Faithfully served as Chitus' thaumaturgist until Voll's rebellion, and then pledged his allegiance to Voll "before Chitus' corpse was even cold." His true loyalty, however, was never to anyone but himself.
* CombatTentacles: Opens a a circular portal filled with lashing tentacles from his body as one of his attacks.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: When he's on his last legs, he has a {{freak out}}, apparently unable to understand that the player character might not particularly like the sort of immortality he's offering, or why.
-->"''Why are you so in love with death?!''"
* GreaterScopeVillain: He is the true source of the Nightmare, the corruption spreading rapidly across Wraeclast, that is responsible for most, if not all of the horrors the player characters have faced to this point.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Responsible for the Cataclysm and encouraging human thaumaturgical experimentation, destroying countless lives in pursuit of power, and seeking immortality at the cost of the entire world. So what does he say when someone tries to stop him?
--> '''Malachai:''' "You are being ''selfish''!"
* ImmortalitySeeker: A large part of his motive; several of the characters comment on this after they kill him.
--> '''Templar:''' You fought against Death your whole life, Malachai, when it was the one thing that would grant you true immortality.\\
'''Shadow:''' And that's where you missed the point, Malachai. Death is the only thing that gives life any meaning.
* InTheirOwnImage: Plans to remake the world in his own image.
* KickTheDog: When it becomes apparent she is continuing to resist him, he casually murders Piety halfway through the final battle.
* MadScientist: He is the creator of the [[HumanoidAbomination Gemlings]].
* MagnificentBastard: Managed to persuade Voll, who was diametrically opposed to him on every point, to let him live even after Voll executed every one of his surviving assistants.
* TheSoulless: He's identified as "Malachai the Soulless" in a couple places. What happened to it isn't explained; perhaps he didn't have one in the first place.
* TrueFinalBoss: The Beast is built up to be the final villain of Act 4...until you find out that this guy has taken over the Nightmare.
----

[[/folder]]

!Act Five

The fifth story act that takes place in Theopolis, capital city of Oriath. [[labelnote:CLICK for the story.]]After killing the Beast, the Exile ascends to the top of the mountain above Highgate, entering a specialized portal powered by the Beast's remaining energies to travel back to Oriath--only to find themselves in the slave pits of the Templars. After everything they've endured at the hands of the Eternal Empire and witnessing the worst Oriath has done to the unfortunate, brainwashed slaves, the Exile decides that assisting the local rebels in assassinating Grand Templar Avarius would be a really good idea. And unfortunately, they couldn't be more wrong.[[/labelnote]]

[[folder: Overseer's Tower]]

!Utula

Utula is a former Karui slave and a worshiper of Kitava. When the Exile returns to Oriath, he has already launched a massive revolt against the Templars, but turns out to have his own agenda...

* BadassBoast: [[spoiler:Gives one to his followers when the Exile first enters the Burned Square.]]
* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:By the time the Exile confronts him after he reveals his true colors, Kitava has transformed him into a half-man, half-golem ''thing'' with a perpetually burning furnace for a stomach.]]
* TheFriendNoOneLikes: [[spoiler:In ''Trial of the Ancestors'', ''very'' few of the ancient Chieftans actually like him. Maata and Akoya especially hate him, Maata for being the embodiment of everything he worked against in life, Akoya for how he insults and disrespects the Karui Way.]]
* ObviouslyEvil: [[spoiler:Who would've thought an open worshiper of the setting's main GodOfEvil would be a bad guy?]]
* ReligionOfEvil: [[spoiler:Deconstructed. It's made quite clear in conversations with him that while he acknowledges Kitava is the god of cannibals, he's internally justified it to himself that means that Kitava is just the god of survival by any means necessary. He has also interpreted Kitava's imprisonment by the other Karui gods as making him the god of slaves everywhere who yearn to be free. It's through that lens that the cult was ever able to go so big.]]
* TokenEvilTeammate: [[spoiler:In ''Trial of the Ancestors'', after his defeat he can be found in the Hall of the Dead as the representative of the Kitava Tribe.]]
* TreacherousQuestGiver: [[spoiler:He was manipulating the player character so he could summon Kitava into the mortal realm.]]
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: [[spoiler:In ''Trial of the Ancestors'', he makes no secret how much he hates being in the Halls of the Dead and being forced to participate in the Trials, seeing it as just another prison similar to Oriath's slave pens.]]

!Lani

The daughter of an Oriathan noble and a Karui slave, Lani is the co-leader of the Karui rebellion the Exile stumbles upon after returning to Oriath. She quickly becomes one of the Exile's primary allies in Oriath following Utula's betrayal and Kitava's rise.

* ActionGirl: She fought in the rebellion alongside the slaves, and [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Utula]] respects her courage.
* HeroicBastard: She's an illegitimate daughter of an Oriathan noble, and a nice person through and through.
* WorfHadTheFlu: When the Exile first arrives at the Overseer's Tower, she's nursing a nasty stomach wound that keeps her out of the fighting.

!Vilenta

A Templar scientist who was "persuaded" by the Karui rebels to tend to their wounded. Arrogant and pompous, she makes no secret her disdain for the Exile and the Karui.

* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:After Kitava mutates her, she becomes a hulking, winged abomination covered in cancerous growths and the helmet she carried with her permanently fused to her skull.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Upon returning to Oriath in Act 10, Lani reveals that Vilenta, driven half-mad by nightmares, gave herself up to Kitava in a desperate attempt to save herself. Kitava accepted her... and transformed her into a grotesque abomination. While initially this was all offscreen, the Bestiary update added her mutated form as a boss in the Control Blocks.]]
* InsufferableGenius: She's a researcher and makes no attempt to hide her disdain for less intelligent people.
* MadScientist: She makes no attempt to hide her past as Piety's partner in crime. In fact, she's rather proud of it.
* TokenEvilTeamMate: She's a Templar MadScientist who is utterly unrepentant for her crimes, and is only kept around because the rebels need a medic. [[spoiler:So it's not much surprise when she turns on them in order to save her own hide.]]

!Bannon

Bannon is a member of Oriath's Templar Order, though he was always more progressive and noble than his corrupt brethren. [[spoiler:After Innocence's physical body is destroyed, his spirit comes to reside in Bannon, who becomes the weapon and armor merchant in the Overseer's Tower after Utula's treachery is revealed.]]

* DefectorFromDecadence: He was disgusted with the Templars' acts for a while, and happily joined the exiles when the opportunity arose.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:He sacrifices himself to allow the reborn Innocence to come fully into his power in Act 10.]]

! Sin
-> Voiced by: Andrew Robertt
Once upon a time, there were two brothers; the younger was obedient and kind, the elder was rebellious and abusive. One day, the elder brother stole a fish, fought the guards off, and beat his little brother so they wouldn't squeal. The younger brother eventually revealed his brother's crime, and the rest of the pantheon decided that Sin had to be burned to death. But Sin's ashes were breathed by the village he hid in, and the whole village fell into the depravity of unlawfulness. Even after burning the village, the ashes of Sin swept far and wide, and so Sin would travel forever, infesting mortals and turning them into unholy psychopaths forevermore.

As this is the story told by the church of Innocence (see below), it's obviously a work of religious propaganda. However much truth it holds, however, Sin at some point became dedicated to assisting mortals in their endeavors and protecting them from the predations of those who called themselves gods.

To that end, that he designed The Beast as a literal BarrierMaiden of the Gods, so the gods would go to sleep and rule from the collective human subconscious instead of demanding sacrifices and personally rampaging about the land. Just as importantly, he fashioned the creature to be ''kind'', to utterly lack ambition, to have the perspective that simply ''existing'' was enough. Unfortunately, the Beast was ''too'' docile and upon being discovered by humanity, was easily dominated by various humans, twisting the powers it siphoned from the gods to the benefit of an insane few, the latest of which was Malachai. Killing the Beast woke the rest of the gods up, and upon witnessing the faithlessness of the mortals, they've declared war on mortalkind...except for Sin.

In-game, Sin is the Thief of Virtue: he has the power to steal divinity from gods whose mortal forms the Exile kills, and will turn them into usable passive bonuses for the Exile to use. The power of a god is too much for even the Exile to use efficiently, but strong souls from across the world and indeed the cosmos (via the Atlas) can be captured and attuned to the divinity to increase its efficiency.

* DarkIsNotEvil: He appears to be a creature of pure shadow with large, batlike wings and cold, glowing blue eyes. However, he is probably the single nicest individual you meet, and by far the most benevolent of the gods. This ''may'' be post-redemption, or he might always have been good.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: His original plan for the Beast was for it to be a peaceful, docile creature that would force the other gods into slumber and protect mankind. Unfortunately, he didn't make the Beast able to protect itself, and while the gods were suppressed, humanity was able to learn of the Beast and harness its powers, creating something almost as bad.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: He's ultimately a very good, very kind person. Ultimately he's the SatanicArchetype in Oriath's mythology.
* InvisibleToNormals: His presence is never acknowledged by town [=NPCs=], with exception of Yeena (who communes with the Spirit) and Tasuni (who's a seer). Seems that he choose to be invisible to everyone except the Exile, as the Act 10's [=NPCs=] acknowledge his presence.
* PostMortemConversion: They call this guy "Sin" for a reason; he's Oriath's TheDevil. In-person, he's not a bad guy.
* WasOnceAMan: Sin reveals that all the gods in the setting were mere mortals who ascended through ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve in the early days of the world when magic flowed more freely, but most of them lost their minds and humanity in the process. The only ones to retain their humanity were Sin and Innocence.
* YourSoulIsMine: Each time you defeat a god, Sin absorbs their soul.

----

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Act 5 Villains]]

!High Templar Avarius

The new High Templar of Oriath following the death of Dominus. He has recently come into the possession of a tremendous Divine power that he uses to empower both himself and his followers

* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler:In Act 10, Kitava has risen him as one of his Wickermen.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: He's built up to be the BigBad of the expansion, only for Kitava to replace him as soon as he dies.
* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:Turns out that the source of his new power was Innocence residing in his body. After he is killed, Innocence himself appears to fight you.]]
* TyrantTakesTheHelm: Is described as being an even more brutal dictator than Dominus, and that is ''really'' saying something.

!Innocence, God Emperor of Purity

The god of purity and light, patron deity of Oriath, and the brother to Sin. While originally a benevolent god, the corruption and tyranny of the Templars have twisted him into just as much of an oppressive KnightTemplar as they are.

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:After his revival, he desperately desires to atone for the crimes he and his Templars committed.]]
* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler:After Kitava's defeat, he decides that he cannot remain in Oriath after everything he did while corrupted and instead decides to venture far to the south until he deems himself worthy of forgiveness.]]
* CallingYourAttacks: He prefaces every single move he makes with a bombastic declaration, such as '''"I AM THE TORCH!"''' or '''"I AM THE FLAME!"''' Once you've figured out his patterns, this will give you just a moment's warning before he starts another variation on BulletHell.
* CainAndAbel: The Abel to Sin's Cain, at least in the mythology.
* ForgivenButNotForgotten: [[spoiler:While the Exile and Lani are grateful for his help against Kitava, they make it clear that he still has a ''lot'' to make up for. He fully agrees with them.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:After Bannon becomes his new vessel, he becomes ''far'' more pleasant. Justified, as it was established by both Sin and Bannon that the evils of Avarius and the Templars had corrupted him.]]
* IAmTheNoun: Nearly all of his attacks are prefaced by him giving one, with the noun depending on what attack he uses.
* LightIsNotGood: Built up as a just god, but turns out to be just as tyrannical as the Templars. [[spoiler:This is due to the Templars' twisted beliefs corrupting him.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:After being purified and reborn through Bannon, he is absolutely ''horrified'' by what he and his Templars have been doing to Oriath and its people for years.]]
* WakeUpCallBoss: He is ''much'' harder than previous bosses, and even most of the bosses ''after'' him.

!Kitava, the Insatiable

The Karui god of darkness and corruption. Freshly reawakened by the death of the Beast, he uses his secret disciple [[spoiler:Utula]] to manipulate the Exile into killing Avarius (and through him, innocence) so he can launch a cataclysmic invasion of Oriath, with the ultimate goal of consuming the souls of all mortal life.

* ArcSymbol: A jagged red X. It appears quite frequently once he enters the plot.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: He manifests from a giant statue of Innocence in Oriath's cathedral, and thus is enormous enough that in his boss fight just his upper body takes half of the screen.
* BigBad: Of ''The Fall of Oriath''.
* TheCorruption: He has the ability to brainwash mortals and turn them into mindless, fanatical followers, indicated by them growing scar-like growths from their faces similar to his own. This is way a good number of his cultists fought in the game are former Templar. [[spoiler:Some of his followers, such as [[TheDragon Utula]] and [[TheQuisling Vilenta]], are further corrupted into nightmarish monsters.]]
* DeadGuyOnDisplay: [[spoiler:Before ''Siege of the Atlas'', his skull could be seen on display in Oriath Square in the epilogue, [[ProducePelting covered in rotten fruit]].]]
* EyeScream: As punishment for devouring the birds supposed to be served in the feast, Tukohama slashed Kitava's face with his own sharpest tooth, putting out Kitava's eyes and leaving [[ArcSymbol two red scars in the form of a cross]] on his face.
* FinalBoss: Of ''The Fall of Oriath'' and thus the game as a whole.
* GodOfEvil: His title is the Father of Corruption.
* HopelessBossFight: [[spoiler:The first fight with him at the end of Act 5 can't be won. Once his health is low enough, he destroys the Sign of Purity and unleashes a WaveMotionGun that instantly knocks you out. The only reason you survive is because Sin saves you and sees to your being ferried back to Wraeclast.]]
* HorrorHunger: Kitava gets hungry easily, and would devour copious amount of food to satiate the hunger a little bit more. In the background lore, he devoured the grubs and worms supposed to be used as fishing bait by Tukohama and Valako. And when the two proceeded to use ''him'' as bait in retaliation, ''he proceeded to eat all the fish in the lake''.
* LivingStatue: He possesses a statue, and is this at the start of his fight. Not so much later, when his real form starts breaking through.
%%* OmnicidalManiac
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: His true form.
* WorfHadTheFlu: ''Very'' downplayed, but according to Kaom in ''Trial of the Ancestors'', Kitava was nowhere near his full power when the Exile fought him for the final time and was little more than "a wild animal blindly clawing at all around him". Despite this, he still caused horrific damage to Oriath and was the Exile's greatest challenge.
[[/folder]]

----

!Act Six

The sixth story act that takes place with the Exile's return to Lioneye's Watch. [[labelnote: CLICK for the story]]After being saved from Kitava by Sin the exile takes ship back to Wraeclast. There Sin reveals his backup plan to defeat Kitava: the Dark Ember in the Beast's core. To reinvigorate the Dark Ember Sin needs the souls of the Godless Three, which escaped when the Beast died. The first target is Shavronne, who has returned to the Prison. At the same time, the old gods of Wraeclast have arisen from the Beast's slumber and are striving to claim power. Nessa has gone missing from Lioneye's Watch, and Tarkleigh and Bestel entreat the Exile to bring her back. Tsoagoth the Brine King has claimed her as his bride and turned her into a mermaid, and in search of a way to rescue her the Exile travels through the forest and Merveil's caves to find a ship that will take them to the Brine King's Reef.[[/labelnote]]

[[folder: Lioneye's Watch]]

! Lilly Roth

A ship captain found on the Oriath docks after the battle with Kitava, Lilly ferries the Exile back to Wraeclast. Lilly serves as a Virtue Gem vendor, selling almost every skill and support gem.

----

* AscendedExtra: Following Navali's retirement from the game, she has become the Divination Card vendor for your Hideouts.
* PirateGirl: Admits to being a smuggler and pirate, but prefers the term "nautical entrepreneur"
* ReformedCriminal: In ''Siege of the Atlas'', Lilly unintentionally ends up working for the Citizen Vanguard, in exchange for Kirac overlooking her previous crimes of piracy.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After killing Kitava, she elects to take the Exile out sailing from Oriath for about a year so that they can get away from everything for a while, or at very least just so they don't both get roped into helping with the rebuild effort.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Its revealed in Act 10 that the three Bandit Lords from Act 2 used to be a part of her crew before their arrest and Exile while trying to steal the Teardrop.
* YouOweMe: Fond of reminding the player character that they owe her a favor for shuttling them around before asking them to do a sidequest. By the conclusion of the epilogue, what with the player inevitably saving the world, she ''still'' considers the debt (partially) unpaid after Act 9.

----

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Act Six Story Villains]]
! Shavronne the Returned and Brutus Reassembled

After her escape from the death throes of the Beast, Shavronne has returned to her old laboratory in Axiom Prison and recreated her favorite experiment.

----

* GrapplingHookPistol: In contrast to the last fight, this time Brutus throws his hook at the wall and pulls himself across the area, trying to trample over you.
* OhNoNotAgain: She has ''not'' forgotten her previous defeat within the Beast and is ''furious'' when the Exile confronts her once again.
* SequentialBoss: The boss fight is first with Brutus with Shavronne providing support, then with Shavronne while Brutus recovers a bit, then when they're both at low health Shavronne possesses Brutus.
* TurnsRed: When possessed or empowered by Shavronne Brutus moves and attacks faster, and his slam attacks inflict extra lightning damage.

----
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Act Six World Characters]]

! Weylam Roth

The shade of an old pirate summoned by burning the flag of his ship in the fires of the Beacon, Weylam ferries the Exile to the Brine King's reef and from there to Act Seven, as well as back to Oriath for Act Ten. He is also present in town for Acts Seven and Ten to give quests.

----

* DirtyOldMan: Sends you on one quest to retrieve a locket with a picture of his wife, and immediately starts reminiscing about her bosom. He later sends you on another quest to find a love potion for him.
* FamousAncestor: Lilly's grandfather and a legendary pirate in his day.
* {{Foil}}: To Captain Fairgraves. While both are undead pirates, Weylam has no intentions of betraying you, and becomes a major ally for the remainder of Part 2.
* GhostPirate: It's not made clear what kind of undead he is, but he's certainly not alive. He still has his mind, memories, and will.
* GrumpyOldMan: Starts out grumpy about being summoned and thinks that the Brine King will kill you. Once you kill the King he declares you his friend and is happy to sail you about without being required to by the terms of his summoning.
* {{Oireland}}: Has a heavy Irish accent and uses the stereotypical speech patterns.
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Spends much of Act Seven fretting that Lilly will be horrified or disappointed by him as an undead. When he does meet up with her she's just happy to have her grandfather back, and they're making plans to go adventuring together once Kitava is dead.

[[/folder]]

----

!Act Seven

The seventh history act that takes place in the inner forest regions of Wraeclast, where Act 2 took also place. [[labelnote: CLICK for the story]]The Exile, after defeating the Brine King, is transported by Weylam Roth to the Bridge Encampment, where he meets again with some returning faces from Act 2. According to Sin's plan, the Exile's target this time is Inquisitor Maligaro, who after escaping the Beast after its death has set up shop again in the Chamber of Sins and is concocting a plan to reshape the world to his depraved tastes. Meanwhile, the gods are running amok in this part of Wraeclast. Greust has been taken by Ralakesh, the Master of a Million Faces, and as his avatar is raising an army to rule Wraeclast with an iron fist. Silk has vanished without a trace, and foul divine intervention is suspected in his disappearance[[/labelnote]]

[[folder:Act Seven Story Villains]]
! Maligaro, The Artist, Black Death, and Fidelitas, Forever Loyal

After escaping from his prison within the Beast, Inquisitor Maligaro has returned to his sanctum deep within the Chamber of Sins, and protected by his pets and bodyguards Black Death and Fidelitas, Forever Loyal, is working in creating an army of abominations to reshape Wraeclast in his revolting image.

----

[[/folder]]

----

!Keepers of the Atlas

After you gain access to the Map system, you'll discover that the sea of worlds beyond is already host to a pair of {{Dimension Lord}}s that [[EvilVersusEvil don't care much for each other]], the Shaper and the Elder. Defeating them before their mad reshaping of worlds harms Wraeclast is the focus of the post-game.

[[folder:The Shaper]]
-> Voiced by: Daryl Habraken
The dominant force on the Atlas, the Shaper is an [[HumanoidAbomination apparently human]] wizard of obscene power, capable of manipulating the VoidBetweenTheWorlds itself, chasing some mad idea of "perfection." [[spoiler:He is Zana's father, but too far gone for even her to save.]]

----

* TheArchmage: Probably the single most powerful magic user in the entire game's setting, outpacing even the gods.
* BaitAndSwitchBoss: He'll occasionally interrupt a boss fight in his territory to buff it or replace it with one of his minions.
* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:He helps you fight the Elder by casting the resealing spell and occasionally slamming the Elder to interrupt its attacks.]]
* CelestialBody: His motif is stars and outer space, with maps under his control and his themed equipment having a starry background, maps owned by him having patches of portals into space places around the area, and [[SpaceIsCold cold]] damage being his primary element.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: Played straight in the original Atlas of Worlds, where he was content to mope in the center of the Atlas. Averted in War For The Atlas, where he's fighting the Elder and will intervene personally on occasion. In addition, in particularly high-tier maps under his influence, he will periodically appear as an invincible apparition and launch several of his trademark, extremely powerful void orbs at you.
* TragicVillain: He's so lost in the Atlas' dreamworlds that he doesn't even realize [[spoiler:Zana]] is talking to him.
* TrueFinalBoss: For the game, since he can only be fought after defeating all his Guardians at the center of the Atlas, where the highest level maps are used.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Elder]]

----
* AbstractEater: Of both the worlds in the Atlas, and of memory.
* BaitAndSwitchBoss: Fights with the Elder and his Guardians start with the Elder swooping in, destroying the map's boss, and opening a portal to the actual boss arena.
* ChildEater: It favors children as prey. The Watchers of Decay, a group that fought it in the past, was composed of parents whose children it had taken.
* DiabolusExNihilo: Where did it come from? Why is it eating bits of the Atlas? Nobody knows.
* LovecraftLite: It's a SpacetimeEater with a lot of tentacle motifs that came from nothing...but it can be forced into retreat through mortal efforts and even imprisoned by them.
* ManipulativeBastard: When the Shaper first made contact with it, it assumed the guise of a friendly Shade and effortlessly manipulated him into repairing the Reverie Device so that it could feed on the Atlas and its denizens once more.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: It's perfectly capable of speech, but once it's freed sees no point in conversing with prey. It doesn't even look at the Exile as it sends guardians to kill them, until they invade its lair and attack it directly.
* SealedEvilInACan: He was sealed into a statue when Zana's father encounters him, and ends up being dragged back into the void by Zana's device.
* TentacledTerror: Their influence on maps in the endgame Atlas of Worlds is represented by a swirling mass of tentacles. Inside Elder-influenced maps, patches of grey tentacles appear on the ground, tentacled monsters can spawn, tentacles can emerge from the ground and slam the player, and tentacled portals can spawn and spew forth a stream of monsters until destroyed. Elder Items have a tentacled background.
* TrueFinalBoss: Fighting him as "Uber Elder", accompanied by [[spoiler:corrupted Shaper]], was the final battle of all PostEndGameContent for a while.
* YouHaveFailedMe: Destroys its Guardians when you beat them.
* VillainousBreakdown: When it's in danger of being imprisoned during its regular boss fight it goes wild, throwing out undirected attacks.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Elderslayers]]

A legendary group of adventurers who, years ago, worked together with Zana to defeat and imprison the Elder. However, they quickly became obsessed with and addicted to the power of the Atlas, causing Zana to seal them within it out of fear of them becoming corrupted. After Kitava's defeat and the Elder's return, the Conquerors have also broken free of their bonds and seek to conquer not just the Atlas, but all the world. Their members include Baran the Crusader, Al-Hezmin the Hunter, Drox the Warlord, Veritania the Redeemer, and their leader, Sirus the Awakener of Worlds.

!In general
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:After their initial, canonical deaths, the Maven begins to repeatedly resurrect them because she enjoys watching them and the Exile fight each other.]]
* FallenHero: This group of adventurers once saved the world from an EldritchAbomination. Now they've become little better than their original foe.
* FightingSpirit: During their fights, they manifest a floating second body that fights for them, with all but Sirus hanging limp from it. Despite being acknowledged in-universe, their nature is unexplained. It's possible the conquerors are in the process of becoming gods; being subsumed body and mind by an exaggerated and simplified version of the original person is consistent with the portrayal of both the projections and of gods.
* IShallTauntYou: They will often jump into the map you're playing, throw a few mocking words, and leave.
* SanitySlippage: Happened to all of them, as the Atlas slowly drove them mad. Baran's faith became fundamentalism, Veritania's judgmental attitude became misanthropy, Al-Hezmin's pride became pathological competitiveness, and Drox's wish for a better world became a lust for power.

!Baran, the Crusader
* AmbiguouslyGay: In his journals, dropped in succession upon defeating him, Baran writes to his "dearest" Templar Landren, albeit wihtout mentioning Landren's gender, and mentions that he wishes he could have felt Landren's hand in his just one more time. Said journal also adds that during their time in the Templar courts duty had to "come before desire", further implying that Landren was male as well and that their relationship would have been seen unfavorably.
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:After his final defeat, he seems to regain his sanity in his final moments, admitting that Zana was right to seal him and the other Conquerors away and begging the Exile to stop Sirus.]]
* HolierThanThou: In his [[IShallTauntYou brief encounters]], he often proclaims his faith or talks down to the Exile for their sinfulness.
* ShockAndAwe: He uses lightning-based skills.

!Drox, the Warlord
* BloodKnight: By the end of his SanitySlippage, he's just screaming about carnage and blood.
* FlunkyBoss: He will constantly summon minions in his fight.
* GiantHandsOfDoom: Some of his attacks summons giant fists that slams down on you.
--> Drox: '''The hand of justice!'''
* TheGoodKing: His original ambition, before the Atlas corrupted him.
* ImmortalityField: His main gimmick is summoning banners that render him and his minions invincible as long as they're up.

!Veritania, the Redeemer
* AnIcePerson: She has cold as her primary element.
* BlowYouAway: One of her moves releases cyclones, and you fight her in the center of a tornado.
* DeathFromAbove: Later on in her fight, she will fly out from the arena, leaving ice trails, then return and slam the ground in this fashion.
* HighAltitudeBattle: You fight her on top of a tower above icy fields. It's referred as "Eyrie", which means a bird's nest in a high place.

!Al-Hezmin, the Hunter
* BowAndSwordInAccord: He usually fights with a bow, but also dual-wields daggers for melee attacks.
* FlunkyBoss: {{Downplayed|Trope}} as he summons giant snakes to aid him, but they are untargetable and act more like turrets.
* GetBackHereBoss: During his phase where he summons giant snakes, he will constantly dash away from you if you try to get close.
* ImaginaryEnemy: He starts to think you're one of these as you reach the end of his quest line.
* PoisonousPerson: He and his influenced monsters deal chaos damage with attacks and can inflict poison.
* SnakesAreSinister: He is heavily snake-themed, and he summons snakes in his boss fight and maps that are influenced by him.

!Sirus, the Awakener of Worlds
* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: [[spoiler:Sirus finishes what Kitava started and burns Oriath to the ground during the final battle against him, forcing the surviving characters to relocate to the Karui Shores.]]
* DisintegratorRay: Sirus' powers melt down to a combination of this and cosmic power. His clouds apply a debuff specifically called "Deatomisation Cloud".
* DoppelgangerSpin: Two of his moves create a ring of clones to charge a big attack.
* TheDreaded: Even the other conquerors are terrified of him. When he takes over a map, they immediately get out and warn the player to do the same.
* GracefulLoser: [[spoiler:He dies content that his final battle with the Exile finally allowed him to feel something again.]]
* FusionDance: In the final phase of his fight, he merges with his [[FightingSpirit projection]], gaining a much more varied skill set.
* HeroKiller : [[spoiler: As revealed in Seige of the Atlas; Sirus canonically killed the hero of the Conquerors/Echoes era; and the 1 year timeskip between Act 10 and the current endgame. The "powerful Exile" however dealt a fatal blow to Sirus. Sirus still took down 800 members of the Citizen Vanguard before he finally went down.]]
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Sirus's appearance and attacks are exclusively red and black. This contrasts his pre-FaceHeelTurn [[LightIsGood white theme]], which can be seen in the expansion's trailer.
* SenseLossSadness: [[spoiler:In their final fight against the Elder, he made a HeroicSacrifice and fell into the void with the Elder, and instantly came back after [[YearInsideHourOutside who-knows-how-long]] as a maddened, hollow shell, which left him feeling completely empty. His primary motivation for everything he does is to finally be able to feel something again.]]
* TheBadGuyWins : [[spoiler: Sirus canonically wins the fight against the "Powerful Exile"; but not without suffering a fatal blow which allows the Citizen Vanguard to finish him off, losing 800 of their own. Sirus also manages to successfully destroy Oriath.]]
* TrueFinalBoss: He's the the new final antagonist of the game, replacing the Shaper and Uber Elder.
* WaveMotionGun: Most of his attacks are some form of this, either huge or [[BeamSpam spammed]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Maven]]
!The Maven
A strange entity from a distant universe drawn by the echoes of power caused by the death of the Elder. The main antagonist of the ''Echoes of the Atlas'' expansion, as she examines the "toys" she's found.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: She literally does not seem to understand the things she wants to collect are anything more than toys that exist to amuse and challenge her. [[spoiler:As he quest continues, she subverts this - as it turns out, she's actually her species' equivalent of a ''baby'', and when you beat her, [[GracefulLoser she recognizes you as a sentient being and hopes to play again]]. It's not so much she has an alien morality so much as didn't realize she was dealing with someone else.]]
* EldritchAbomination: A strange, inhuman alien with a [[HumanoidAbomination human doll]] she uses to talk with you. [[spoiler:An ''infant'' alien, and the Envoy warns of worse examples of her species.]]
* GooGooGodlike: [[spoiler:She's whatever her version of a lost toddler is, having wandered far away from her birthplace and wrecking the Atlas simply because she doesn't realize she's not in a giant dimensional toybox. This is reflected by her vocabulary, where she starts with only using single words and is able to form complete sentences by the end.]]
* GottaCatchThemAll: The Maven sees her recreations as a "collection". Her fight against the Exile is motivated by wanting to add them to her collection, and she is quite unhappy about the fact that she wasn't at the fight between the "Powerful Exile" and Sirus, unable to add either to her collection, rendering it incomplete.
* ItAmusedMe: Everything she does is purely out of curiosity and wanting the Exile and their opponents to entertain her. Her demeanor is likened to that of a child's multiple times by other [=NPCs=], [[spoiler:which is fitting, as she ''is'' a child by the standards of her race.]]
* LackOfEmpathy: She doesn't seem to realize that smaller creatures exist as sentient beings. [[spoiler:She catches on should you beat her, as she feels genuine pain and realizes that could only be because something alive was telling her to stop.]]
* WorthyOpponent: [[spoiler:Beating her causes her to realize the Exile is a different sentient person than her. Rather than being upset you hurt her, she shyly asks if you can play again someday before the Envoy banishes her.]]

!The Envoy
The Maven's envoy who warns the Exile of the Maven's presence in the Atlas.

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: He explicitly states his current form is for this purpose.
* TheCaretaker: His job is to warn others of the Maven's coming and also to keep an eye on her. [[spoiler:He stops the fight with the Maven when you defeat her, warning that he's saved you from attracting her progenitors.]]
* {{Herald}}: The Envoy greets the player early into mapping, warning them of the Maven's presence and her curiosity will turn towards them soon.
* MrExposition: He appears in zones randomly to talk, most of them being about the Maven and the place she came from, how he came to be, and [[CosmicHorrorStory the utter insignificance this world is to whatever lies beyond]].
* WasOnceAMan: His dialogue about himself seem to indicate he became what he is now ages ago after finding whatever lied beyond, and was made a servant of the Maven as punishment.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Powerful Exile]]

The protagonist during the Conquerors of the Atlas and Echoes of the Atlas expansions. She was the first one to make contact with The Envoy and The Maven, and the non-player character who worked with Zana and Kirac during the 1-year timeskip between Act 10 and the current expansion.

* ActionGirl: Explicitly called "her" by Kirac.
* AmbiguousSituation: Kirac hints that the Maven may have added her to her "collection" of powerful beings she endlessly revives to watch fight, but its not confirmed.
* FailureHero: They failed in their initial goal to help Kirac save Baran, and while they did manage to teach The Maven a bit about humans, potentially leading to her seeking out the player character to be Her Champion in Seige, and defeat the Conquerors; they ultimately were killed by Sirus; and failed to save Oriath.
* HeroicSacrifice: Managed to hold off Sirus long enough for Oriath to be evacuated; before giving her life to cause Sirus a fatal wound allowing the Citizen Vanguard to finish him off.
* TheNameless: Only ever referred to as "a powerful exile".

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Eldritch Horrors]]
A quartet of otherworldly creatures that have launched an invasion of the Atlas following the fall of the Conquerors to claim it for their masters, entities known as the Cleansing Fire and the Tangle. With Zana having gone into self-exile out of guilt for indirectly creating the Conquerors, it falls to Kirac and the Exile to stop this new threat. They are made up of the Black Star and the Searing Exarch, champions of the Cleansing Fire, and the Infinite Hunger and the Eater of Worlds, champions of the Tangle.

* BigBadDuumvirate: Of the epilogue storyline as of ''Siege of the Atlas''.
* CombatByChampion: According to the Envoy, the Cleansing Fire and the Tangle can't intervene directly without tearing reality apart, so they use champions in their stead. The role of the Maven's champion falls to the Exile. Some of Kirac's dialogue suggests that the fight for the Atlas is less of a conventional war rather than some kind of a ritual to determine ownership of the Atlas between the Fire, the Tangle and the Maven - because a war is liable to destroy reality.
* EldritchAbomination: The Cleansing Fire and the Tangle are unknowable and perhaps almost omnipotent beings from another reality who exist only to consume whatever life they find in the worlds they conquer.
* TheDragon: The Black Star to the Searing Exarch, and the Infinite Hunger to the Eater of Worlds, at least in gameplay terms.
* GreaterScopeVillain: The Cleansing Fire and the Tangle, the real antagonists behind the invasion of the Atlas are never seen or confronted, which is just as well considering the Envoy's suggestions that they're powerful enough to tear entire realities apart with their mere existence.
* HumanoidAbomination: All of the four bosses possess roughly humanoid forms (or at least appear to the Exile as such) but they're considerably more grotesque than the Maven.
* NonMaliciousMonster: The Tangle is described as a giant MeatMoss made of sentient beings that exist in constant agony, and can only find temporary release from torment by expansion.
* LightIsNotGood: The Cleansing Fire is described as a great mind made of stars, with the personality of a MadScientist that seeks to burn, and thus understand, everything, assimilating minds into itself in the process.
* OutsideContextVillain: Who or what these things even are and what they want is shrouded in mystery, though Kirac suspects they're related to the Maven in some way.
[[/folder]]

!The Pantheon

[[folder:In General]]
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: As revealed steadily in Part 2, the gods as we know them were once mortal until belief in their actions and creed elevated them to divinity. The reawakened gods are still weak, with Sin comparing them to infants. Part 2 focuses on snuffing them out before they regather worshipers and power.
* JerkassGods: Not one of them are actively benevolent towards the people of Wraeclast. At the very best, they see the people as worshippers and soldiers to be used, not to mention any bodily modifications they inflict on their followers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Major Gods]]

!Arakaali, Spinner of Shadows
Also known as the Mother of Spiders, she's a major deity and the final boss of Act 7. An ancient Vaal goddess who gains strength by enthralling and luring victims, and then draining their life away, she's active again and has seemingly enthralled Silk as her new "groom". The Exile is tasked with killing her before she has the chance to complete this unholy "marriage".

----
* DecapitationPresentation: [[spoiler:Wears Silk's decapitated head as a macabre "hat" during the second phase of her fight.]]
* DevourTheDragon: [[spoiler:At the start of her second phase, she eats Silk, who she had previously brainwashed into falling madly in love with her, for a power boost.]]
* GiantSpider: She takes the form of a massive spider in command of hundreds of other spiders.
* LiteralManeater: The myth behind Arakaali states she would transform into a beautiful to attract men (and likely also women) to enthrall them, suck the life out of them until they turn into a dessicated husk, and use their remains to decorate her domain.
----

!Lunaris, Eternal Moon
The Eternal god of the Moon, twin sister of Solaris. Along with her sister, she is the final boss of Act 8.
* AnimateInanimateObject: Her army is filled with ribbons plucked from the scenery and given rudimentary sentience / levitation. They're all blue.
* CainAndAbel: Seeks to kill her sister, even while you fight her.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Despite being just as evil as the other gods you face, she's shown to have a dim view of what Piety and her Blackguards did in her temple, giving the murdered Exiles burials and even allowing the surviving Miscreations into her ranks.

!Solaris, Eternal Sun
The Eternal god of the Sun, twin sister of Lunaris. Along with her sister, she is the final boss of Act 8.
* AnimateInanimateObject: Her army is filled with ribbons plucked from the scenery and given rudimentary sentience / levitation. They're all gold.
* CainAndAbel: Seeks to kill her sister, even while you fight her.
* SuperGullible: Was tricked into hating her sister from an obvious con.

!Tsoagoth, The Brine King

The final boss of Act Six and the subject of the quest The Brine King. Having lost his old lands and influence while he slept, this old god seems to be claiming the coast as his new territory.

----
* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: An old letter you can find on the beach near the Beacon shows that Nessa is not the first girl he's taken as a mermaid bride.
* DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal: Enjoys taking young women and converting them into mermaids to become his bride. The process is implied to also shatter their sanity, as [[spoiler:Nessa]] could attest.
* GiantEnemyCrab: Tsoagoth looks like several types of crustacean mashed together, but the crab motif is the most prominent and he summons little crab mooks during the battle.
* MakingASplash: Surrounds himself in a whirling water shield and at several phases of the battle will cause the water surrounding the arena to raise up into a vortex, penning you close to him.
----

!Kitava, the Insatiable

Karui god of corruption. For more information, look for his entry in Act 5 Villains.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Minor Gods]]

! Abberath, the Cloven One

The god and progenitor of the man-eating goatmen who populate Wraeclast's mountains, Abberath lairs in the Valley of the Fire Drinker near Prisoner's Gate. Bestel tasks the Exile with killing him.

----
* GeoEffects: During each phase of the fight with him Abberath will summon a handful of elite goatman minions. The minions leave behind pools of lava when they die, which can potentially make a hazard of most of the arena. The pantheon power gained from Abberath's soul appropriately gives immunity to burning ground.
* OptionalBoss: Fighting Abberath is optional, but since the quest gives a passive skill point you wouldn't want to skip it.
* PyroManiac: The flavor text for items associated with Abberath gives the impression that he really just likes to burn things.
* YourSoulIsMine: Eats humans, body and soul.
* UniqueEnemy: He's one of the few Lesser Gods who has his own unique model instead of being a KingMook.
----

!Garukhan, Queen of the Winds

----
* BlowYouAway: As befitting her title, she primarily attacks with wind magic.
* TheCorrupter: Towards [[spoiler:Kira]].
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: She has four arms, a shield in one and swords in the other three.
* UniqueEnemy: One of the few Lesser Gods who has her own unique model instead of being a KingMook.
----

!Gruthkul, Mother of Despair

Formerly an Atzmeri queen, the death of her children drove her to such pits of sorrow and despair, that she's ultimately become their living incarnation. Trapped aeons ago by the servants of Arakaali in the depths of the Dread Thicket, she's awakened again and will vent her limitless anger and sorrow upon anyone unfortunate or foolish enough to enter her domain.

* KingMook: Of the bear enemies that populate Acts 2 and 7.
* MamaBear: The reason she's so upset is her children were killed by Arakaali. Fittingly, she also looks like a bear.
----

!Ralakesh, Master of a Million Faces

An evil, elusive god with a taste for power and subjugation, he plans to take absolute control of Wraeclast, starting with the survivors at the Bridge Encampment in Act 7.

----
* BigBadWannabe: He has grandiose plans of conquest and domination, but in reality he's just a minor god, and ultimately just a stepping stone on the Exile's path to greater dangers.
* DemonicPossession: Inflicts this on [[spoiler:Greust]].
* DirtyCoward: He's the only god that doesn't [[{{Pun}} face]] the Exile directly. Upon killing his avatar, his spirit retreats to his totem, where is promptly absorbed by Sin.
* SealedEvilInACan: He was trapped for untold years inside a Vaal relic... until [[spoiler:Greust]] decided to mess around with it.
----

! Ryslatha, the Puppet Mistress

While foraging in the woods, Tarkleigh encounters packs of animals infested by parasites that have taken over their bodies and minds. In the interest of keeping them from spreading further, he asks the Exile to track down their source and destroy it.

----
* BoringButPractical: Her God Power automatically refills your flasks over time. While certainly not as flashy as other God Powers, it is still ''very'' useful well into endgame tier maps.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Ryslatha herself isn't mentioned until act 6, but enraptured crabs appear in the Wetlands in act 2. No explanation is given for who or what has enraptured them, or even what enraptured means, but looking carefully reveals they use the same model as the possessed creatures under Ryslatha's sway in act 6.
* KingMook: Of the Carrion Queens.
* OptionalBoss: As above, the quest is optional but rewards you with a passive skill point. Ryslatha's den is also a bit more out of the way than the other gods.
* PoisonousPerson: Her attacks cause heavy chaos damage, the pools in her arena cause chaos damage over time, and her minions can poison with their hits or leave poison clouds on death.
* PuppeteerParasite: Ryslatha's spawn latch on to various animals and take over their bodies. In some cases the parasite will survive the death of the host animal and attack you independently.
* WasOnceAMan: Like all of the gods Ryslatha was once human but has become an insectile horror.
----

!Shakari, Queen of the Sands

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Sin mourns her after her defeat.]]
* AntagonisticOffspring: She is Sin's daughter, and just as evil as the other gods you fight.
* BewareMyStingerTail: A stinger tail with ''the screaming torso of a woman'' on it!
* UniqueEnemy: One of the few Lesser Gods who has her own unique model instead of being a KingMook.

!Tukohama, Karui God of War

The first god encountered in Wraeclast, Part 2, and the first soul taken for the Pantheon. Tukohama has established a fortress near the Mud Flats and raised a tribe of revenants to serve him. The Exile has to defeat him to pass through his fortress and reach the Prison.

----
* KingMook: Of the Karui Revenants.
* TheTurretMaster: Has an invincible fire beam totem, smaller fire mortar totems, and creates a set of totems to shield himself when he goes below half health. Appropriately, his pantheon power gives physical damage reduction while you are standing still.
* UnPerson: The wooden carvings from Act 1 that recorded Kaom's invasion have all been burned, suggesting Tukohama was not pleased with him (presumably for his bringing his entire tribe under the sway of Kitava).
* WarGod: The revered War God of the Pantheon.
----

%%!Yugul, Reflection of Terror
%%----
%%* DopplegangerAttack
%%----

[[/folder]]


!Posthumous Lore Characters

You never get to meet these characters in person [[spoiler:at least, not all of them...]], but they were instrumental in the history of Wraeclast. Much of the information here is gathered from the various lore bits you find in-game and the flavor text of Unique items.

[[folder:The Vaals]]

The original inhabitants of Wraeclast, some even call them as the very first civilization.

----
* HumanSacrifice: Although they practice this, the Vaals were otherwise noted as a peaceful civilization.
* {{Precursor}}: They were the first to utilize Virtue Gems, and had such mastery over their use that the Eternal Empire's methods were largely rediscovering these ancient techniques a thousand years later. ''Incursion'' even reveals that they even had their own version of the Atlas of Worlds.
** BenevolentPrecursors: They helped the fledgling Azmeri civilization to develop and prosper.
** NeglectfulPrecursor: Presumably, they were the ones who created the Vaal Oversoul. Their ruins are also full of still-functioning and murderous constructs.
** AbusivePrecursors: When Queen Atziri took the throne.
* {{Transhuman}}: They were the first ones to implant the Virtue Gems into humans with successful results.
----

!Atziri, Queen of The Vaal

----
* GlassCannon: Atziri's attacks and abilities, particularly her fire and lightning spells, are some of the most damaging, if not THE most damaging, in the game. However, she has quite a bit less health than any other boss with remotely comparable damage output.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: The last queen of the Vaal, her quest for eternal youth resulted in 'pages upon pages' of names sent to Doryani for 'processing', culminating with the destruction of the Vaal civilization.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While Dominus and Malachai are the main villains, Atziri is revealed to have laid the groundwork for their evil by creating the Virtue Gems.
* {{Multiboobage}}: Pictures of her during the loading screen shows she had 2 pairs of breasts.
* OffWithHisHead: Consider the flavor text of [[https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Atziri%27s_Disfavour Atziri's Disfavor]], an end-game [[{{BFS}} Two-Handed Axe]].
-->''"I do not believe in disguising my disappointment."''
* {{Pride}}: She "wished to see her likeness reflected in the still waters of history". That did ''not'' end well.
* {{Superboss}}: One of the most challenging end-game bosses in the game. And then there's the Alluring Abyss version, dubbed 'Uber Atziri'.
* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: History noted how beautiful she was, and how she had many [[RoyalHarem consorts,]] either from her natural beauty or from a certain LovePotion.
----

!Doryani

----
* CourtMage: The Vaal's most eminent Thaumaturgist under Queen Atziri.
* MadScientist: His research resulted in a bloodbath, and culminated with the destruction of the Vaal civilization.
-->''Doryani's ingenuity raised the Vaal Empire to unprecedented heights. His curiosity reduced it to ruins and bones.\\
The result of the catalytic reaction would be either immortality for all, or death for all. It was a risk Doryani was willing to take.''
----

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Eternal Empire]]

The second civilization on Wraeclast led by Chitus, the Eternal Empire was founded approximately 400 years after the fall of the Vaal by the Azmeri people.

----
* TheEmpire: Obviously.
* {{Transhuman}}: Researches on the Virtue Gems and rediscovering the Vaal's techniques led to these 'Gemlings'.
** TheAgeless: Gemlings can live for ''very'' long time. Most of the monsters in act 3, The Undying, were the Gemlings from so long ago. [[spoiler:Lady Dialla, The Gemling Queen, was unique in that she did not (fully) lose her mind or became feral, in contrast to the other Gemlings.]]
** SuperSoldier: The Empire fielded Gemling Legions in its heyday. They were noted to be extremely powerful, able to [[CurbStompBattle curbstomp]] any who dared to face them in direct combat. [[spoiler:Much effort were required to defeat them; one legion fell to NoManOfWomanBorn DeathFromAbove, another fell to BatmanGambit for HostileWeather, and another fell to ZergRush full of {{Determinator}}s.
----

%%!Emperor Chitus

!Malachai

Emperor Chitus' right-hand man, and a powerful thaumatargist that had been spared by Emperor Voll. For more information on Malachai, look up for his entry in Act Four Story Villains.

----

!Maligaro, The Inquisitor

A thaumaturgist who performed experiments for Malachai within the Chamber of Sin in an effort to connect humans with virtue gems. For more information on Maligaro, look up for his entry in Act Four Story Villains.

----

!Shavronne of Umbra

A thaumaturgist who worked within Axiom prison to come up with counters against Kaom's coastal rampage. For more information on Shavronne, look up for her entry in Act Four Story Villains.

----

!Doedre Stamatis (Darktongue)

A thaumaturgist pupil of Maligaro who was seen as a major threat by Voll against his empire. For more information on Doedre, look up for her entry in Act Four Story Villains.

----
!Marceus Lioneye
* IncomingHam: You'll know he's spawned on a Legion map if you hear a sudden grandiose cry of "TRAITORS!"
* LastStand: After his SuperSoldier legion was decimated, he made his last stand in Lioneye's Watch. Didn't save him, but King Kaom respected his bravery.
* NoManOfWomanBorn: What brought his downfall. Marceus Lioneye pursued the [[DefensiveFeintTrap retreating]] Karui warriors not out of recklessness, but from experience and knowledge that Karui warriors are forbidden to use any projectile-based weapon. What he failed to take into account was this sacred prohibition did not extend to women...
* OffWithHisHead: His ultimate fate against King Kaom.
** WorthyOpponent: From that day onward, King Kaom wore Lioneye's head on his belt as a sign of honor.
----

!Hector Titucius
* GenuineHumanHide: His ultimate fate against Sekhema Deshret.
* BatmanGambit[=/=]HostileWeather: What brought his downfall.

----

!Gaius Sentari
* BatmanGambit: After his defeat against Thane Rigwald, he retreated and came back with a much larger force drawn from other places, weakening their defense. Which was exactly what Voll wanted...

----

!Lady Dialla[[spoiler:, aka The Gemling Queen.]]

Once Emperor Chitus' favorite consort, but fell out of favor. [[spoiler:For more information, look up her entry above under 'The Gemling Queen'.]]

----

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Purity Rebellion]]

People and factions led by Voll who rose up against the Eternal Empire, and succeeded in creating a new empire under said leader. This new empire however was short-lived; only lasting about 5 years due to Malachai destroying Wraeclast with the cataclysm.
----

!High Templar Voll of Thebrus

The former emperor during the time of the Purity Rebellion. For more information on Voll, look up for his entry in Act Four Story Villains.

%%!Victario, the People's Poet
-> Voiced by: Sam Fraser

%%!Lord Mayor Ondar of Sarn

%%!Archbishop Geofri of Phrecia

%%!Governor Kastov of Stridevolf

%%!Commander Adus of Highgate

!King Kaom of the Karui

An ancient leader of the Karui. For more information on Kaom, look up for his entry in Act Four Story Villains.

----

!Thane Rigwald of Ezomyr
* {{Determinator}}: His Ezomyte army faced Gaius Sentari's [[SuperSoldier Gemling Legion]]. Even with the Gemlings inflicting a 1:3 casualty to his men, he ultimately won the battle through 'sheer fury-driven courage'.
** ZergRush: Account of the battle implied that his army at least outnumber the enemy three to one.
* SanitySlippage: He made a pact with the First One known as the Greatwolf to aid him during the Purity Rebellion, but this would change him, eventually causing him to leave the Ezomytes and becoming feral and in fear of the First Ones.
* WarriorPoet: It took Victario the Poet to rouse him into action instead of a politician.

----

!Sekhema Deshret of Maraketh
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Her spirit has been imprisoned by the Beast ever since the Cataclysm. Tasuni tasks the Exile with freeing her.]]
* GenuineHumanHide: Turned Hector Titucius into her Rhoa saddle.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Rather than slay the Beast when she had the chance, she chose to have it sealed away in Highgate's mines, allowing it to grow in power and leading to the current crisis. Ultimately subverted, as [[spoiler:it turns out that killing the Beast would have much worse ramifications on the world; Malachai was a horrible monster but he's only a pale shadow compared to what Kitava and the other gods would inflict]].
* TheSneakyGal: Her people had long lived on and mastered their desert home. Their ability to predict incoming sandstorms and fighting under its cover were instrumental in decimating Hector Titucius' Gemling Legion.

----
[[/folder]]

!League Characters

Characters that were originally introduced for a specific league.

[[folder:Cadiro Perandus]]
* BargainWithHeaven: Made a deal with Prospero, the Azmerian god of wealth and the underworld, for immortality.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: When Izaro created the labyrinth, Cadiro used his family's immense wealth to buy his nephew Chitus the schematics, bribe servants to smuggle provisions in for him, and ultimately got his nephew crowned emperor.
* PracticalCurrency: A notable aversion, unlike all other currency items in the game, Cadiro's coins have no use except to buy items.
* PurposeDrivenImmortality: His deal requires him to seek out the coinage of the empire for Prospero, and implicitly will die if he fails to do so.
* RetGone: He along with the entire Perandus Coin mechanic was removed in ''Scourge''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Navali]]
* AscendedExtra: Prophecies proved a popular enough mechanic that Navali was made a regular part of the game once Prophecy League ended.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: In ''Trial of the Ancestors'', [[spoiler:she brings Utula into the Halls of the Dead after his defeat, claiming that he "earned" his spot among the honored chieftans by leading Karui to freedom and striking a major blow to the Templar. The fact that said acts involved summoning [[GodOfEvil Kitava]], caused the deaths of countless innocents, and nearly got the entire world destroyed are merely incidental.]]
* TheBusCameBack: After Prophecy was removed from the core game, she eventually returns in ''Trials of the Ancestors'' as the host of the titular tournament. She admits in dialogue that she ''does'' remember her prior encounters with the Exile, even if they themselves do not.
* RetGone: She was the second league NPC to be removed from the game, right behind Cadiro.
* RevenantZombie: Was sent back to her deity, the Mother of Death, as a guide.
* ScrewDestiny: Allows you to seal prophecies so they never come to pass. Admittedly, this is usually done because a prophecy is difficult to achieve (such as requiring a rare item the Exile doesn't possess) rather than because they want to avoid it.
* SelfFulfillingProphecy: A number of her prophecies are things you're unlikely to have done if you didn't know you'd be rewarded for doing them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Immortal Syndicate]]
An organization of fighters made immortal by its mastermind, the Lifegiver, consisting of a variety of unscrupulous people.

For tropes relating specifically to Hillock, Gravicius, Leo, Haku, Tora, Vagan, Elreon, Vorici, and Catarina, see their respective character pages.

* AristocratsAreEvil: The Perandus family were already infamous for what Chitus did, and Janus' betrayal only enforces it.
* BlueBlood: Rin prides herself in being a "pure-blooded" Mutewind and "muckblood" is her favorite insult.
* EasilyForgiven: One of the bargains a Syndicate member offers is to remove all rivalries. As far as game mechanics go, since anyone can betray each other and have their rivalries removed over and over, the whole Syndicate is this combined with ChronicBackstabbingDisorder.
* TheFarmerAndTheViper: Janus was taken in by Jun's tribe when no one else would accept him because of his Perandus lineage. He sells them out by stealing the artifact used to immortalize the Syndicate and leaving Jun and her order for dead.
* HumanoidAbomination: It That Fled is some kind of creature from the Breach who [[MeaningfulName fled]] from the Breachlord's domain, and that's all we know about It.
* MightMakesRight: As a hardcore Ezomyte, Jorgin cares only about strength and who is the strongest.
* TheNicknamer: It That Fled doesn't call the others by their names, but calls them "It [of some descriptor]", like "It That Dismembers" for Aisling and "It That Is Hairy" for Jorgin.
* PsychopathicManchild: Besides Hillock, Cameria is borderline one, as he combines the tendency of a BloodKnight with an envious greed.
* SerialKiller: Aisling is a serial killer who dismembers her victims into pieces and collects their parts.
* SiblingMurder: Jorgin was banished for killing his brother, although he claims he was framed by the Brotherhood of Silence.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Everyone in the Syndicate are plain freaked out by It That Fled. Nobody likes Janus because he's a Perandus ''and'' a twit.
* UpperClassTwit: Janus has all the personality of one. Despite being the one who delivers the artifact needed to create the Immortal Syndicate to the mastermind, the mastermind doesn't treat him with any respect.
* VillainsOutShopping: The members that are not presently part of the Syndicate can sometimes be seen in the Rogue Harbour, and if you take a look at the contracts, the client may be them.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Cavas, Lost Spirit]]
''As Cavas is the focal character of his league, and his mechanic is all about reconstructing his memories, consider yourself duly warned as his status as a WalkingSpoiler.''

* AmnesiacDissonance: Due to the broken nature of his mind, he jitters between this back and forth a fair bit. [[spoiler:He eventually settles on evil.]]
* DemotedToExtra: Most ''Synthesis'' mechanics were not added to core game, so Cavas's storyline is absent. He only appears in special boss battles with no explanation about who he is.
* TheExtremistWasRight: [[spoiler:The reality where he managed to [[TheBadGuyWins successfully bring the world under his heel]] is revealed to be the ''only'' reality aside from the main one to be able to resist the Scourge's advance. The Last to Die is quick to add though that this reality is ''not'' a good place to live.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: This is an unfortunate side effect of him rediscovering his past: [[spoiler:He is High Templar Venarius, having undergone the same memory-destruction inflicted upon the Shaper. Unlike the Shaper, he gets better... and then tries to bring the entire world under his rule.]]
* IdentityAmnesia: He has zero idea who he is, and can barely hold onto any memories he gains, until far later on.
* TomatoInTheMirror: It becomes quite obvious a few memories in that not all of the lost memories you find are his.
* WistfulAmnesia: Is fully aware of his broken memories.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sister Cassia]]
-> Voiced by: Jodie Rimmer
An exiled nun/inventor who tries to fight the mind-controlling Blight that endangers Wraeclast.
* EarWorm: As she explains, she keeps singing Templar hymns because they are just too catchy.
--> And the unrighteous were turned to ash...\\
And the unrighteous were turned to ash! To ASH!
* GadgeteerGenius: She has created many devices during her service to the Templar (which were mostly repurposed as torture devices). She also built the purification pump and the towers you use to defend it.
* TheFundamentalist: Despite her exile, she is still a die-hard follower of the Oriathian faith.
* KnightTemplar: Was not only a Templar before her exile; but was in Piety's position, indicating she was *very* high up the ladder. Further, she was regarded as a comrade by Baran.
* LargeHam: She announces the events of Blight encounters very dramatically.
--> It's BRANCHING, exile!\\
Let's see what this tower can REALLY do!
* SympathyForTheDevil: After you kill Piety and Dominus, she can't help but feel sad despite all the evil they have done. She has personally known Dominus, and she figures Piety had her own demons to fight.
* TowerDefense: Her missions require you to defend the purification pump while it's neutralizing a Blight growth.
* UngratefulBastard: PlayedForLaughs. When you succeed in your first Blight mission, she eagerly praises God, then gives a begrudging "I suppose you helped too" to the exile.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tane Octavius]]
A Karui slave exiled for killing his abusive master. He is studying the malignant Darkness that infests Wraeclast and its fauna in the hopes of finding a way to destroy it for good, and enlists the Exile to help him by having them procure samples of Nightmare infected tissue from their enemies.
* TheDogBitesBack: He killed his master after years of abuse. His monologues in the laboratory also reveal that [[spoiler:Metamorph goo is his master's essence, and Tane mocks it and relishes the exile killing it over and over again]].
* TheFaceless: We never see how he looks under his helmet. [[AllThereInTheManual Concept art]] gives us a glimpse though.
* MadScientist: A surprisingly benign example. His research into the inner darkness of the creatures of Wraeclast is based on his genuine desire to better understand the cursed continent.
* NearDeathExperience: Tane recognizes (and fears) Navali from a near-death experience from when he was badly beaten by his master one day, where she told him [[ItIsNotYourTime he wasn't fated to die that day]] and that they'll meet again.
* SeeksAnothersResurrection: In a way. His ultimate goal is to purify his master's essence/soul, which may or may not bring him back to life. [[spoiler:Subverted; turns out the Metamorph is the remains of his master, and he's perfectly fine with you killing [[AssholeVictim the bastard]] over and over again to examine how the Darkness works; his purification is for the sake of Wraeclast.]]
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Not him, but his former Master put up a public appearance of a kind, fatherly philanthropist, but his true nature was that of a deranged sociopath who took a demented glee in brutally abusing his family, ''especially'' Tane.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: He's rather surprised when the Exile tells him of Piety's [[RedemptionEqualsDeath final moments]], musing how if someone as cruel and twisted as her could try to change for the better, ''anyone'' can.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:"Strange Voice"]]
The spirit of the mirror of Delirium, a malicious entity that seeks to destroy the Exile or drive them to total madness.

* BedTrick: Dialogue with the Karui chieftains in the Halls of the Dead imply Tangmazu impersonated Ramako to seduce Lani Hua (seemingly the Karui version of Lunaris), leading to her feud with Sione/Solaris. Lani Hua's child Arohongui had no powers relating to Ramako's light, but darkness and illusions instead.
* CopycatMockery: Sometimes copies the lines of other characters but in a way that changes their implication, for example Zana's "Still sane, Exile?" becomes a taunt and threat.
* {{Gaslighting}}: Makes various claims to the player, including that they have fabricated their entire memory or all their allies plan to destroy them, in an attempt to make them doubt their reality.
* EnemyWithout: The voice claims to be the Exile's own self, although this is likely another lie.
* FogOfDoom: Touching its mirror unleashes the fog of Delirium, where new monsters lurk and existing ones gain additional abilities.
* HearingVoices: Speaks directly into the Exile's head, although it assures them they're not mad...yet.
* LeakingCanOfEvil: Ahuana in the Halls of the Dead indicates he was imprisoned by Karui elders, but with the Beast dead is still able to influence matters from his mirror.
* SealedEvilInACan: Alludes to having been trapped in slumber by the Beast, like the other gods, and once added to core his mirror only appears after the Beast is dead. In Delirium league the mirror appeared earlier but displayed no intelligence, simply whispering things like "Run" or "Kill them".
* TricksterGod: Is strongly implied to be a god, and speculated to be Tangmazu, the one responsible for tricking Solaris and Lunaris into their conflict. He explicitly refers to Ralakesh; a Vaalish God; as his Brother.
* TheUnfought: Once the Exile defeats all their minions in Simulacrum, it simply declares their actions will still serve it and disappears.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Oshabi]]
An Azmeri mystic exiled from the Forest Encampment. She discovers the Sacred Grove and develops it with the Exile's help.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: She has dark skin unlike other Azmeri we've met.
* BilingualBonus: Oshabi translates to 'The Enemy' from Zulu. The fact she does a FaceHeelTurn when the Heart of the Grove is ready to harvest should therefore not be a large surprise...
* DemotedToExtra: While Harvest league content was reintroduced to the game later, Oshabi herself only gives the player a tutorial and some exposition on their first visit to the Grove and then disappears to become the Heart of the Grove as soon as you complete it. This has since been extended to until you harvest a Tier 4 plant, same as when she does so in the Harvest league.
* TheExile: She was banished from the Forest Encampment, and refuses to speak about them because of that.
* GetBackHereBoss: In her boss battle, she can teleport over the entire large arena without any telegraphing. It's made only slightly easier by her having a dedicated minimap icon.
* GodivaHair: Her clothes leave half of her chest bare, so it's covered by her hair instead.
* GreenThumb: Implied as she speaks to the earth and maintains the Grove. Most definitely when she becomes the Avatar of the Grove and wields plants in combat.
* PlantPerson: As the Avatar of the Grove.
* TreacherousQuestGiver: She ultimately becomes an avatar of the Grove and tries to kill the Exile. It's unclear though whether this was her original goal or if the Grove brainwashed her into it.
* WouldHurtAChild: She sacrificed a child when the earth asked for it, which led to her being exiled.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Ring]]
A criminal organization that invites the Exile to join them. Led by a mysterious figure known only as "the Boss", they specialize in "procuring" valuable goods at the behest of anonymous contractors.

* TwentyFourHourArmor: Huck is always seen wearing platemail at all times, the reason he said being Templar training made him feel uncomfortable out of armor. The only time he takes it off is when he goes to bed... [[DoubleSubversion to put on his chainmail]].
* TheBigGuy: Tibbs is the largest member of the Ring, wields a massive sledgehammer for a weapon, and specializes in forcing open doors that can't be lockpicked.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: A number of Ring members have significant oddities that don't stop them from being capable members, such as Niles' atheism or Vinderi's fume-addled rambling.
* CainAndAbel: One of their League's endgame bosses, Nashta, is Adiyah's sister who seeks to forcibly unite the Maraketh under her banner.
* CaperCrew: The basic premise. As the Exile progresses through the league, they assemble an eclectic group of thieves with individual quirks and specialities to carry out a grand heist.
* FacialHorror: Nenet's face looks partially melted.
* FlatEarthAtheist: Niles doesn't believe in the gods, and is pretty vocal about it, to the point of telling the Exile their own experience of killing Kitava was a hallucination and his attack a hoax by the templars. He manages this even though he's a ''mind reader'', meaning he knows people who talk about it aren't lying. Even when seeing a blessed object do something miraculous, he [[ScullySyndrome makes up explanations for it]].
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Most rogues tolerate Niles at best for his creepy mannerisms, [[AbhorrentAdmirer constant attempts at flirting]], and MindOverManners tendencies. Some, like Vinderi, openly want to destroy him.
* GentleGiant: Despite being the Ring's muscle, Tibbs is shown to be a rather pleasant fellow who doesn't actually enjoy having to kill people as part of the job.
* TheGhost: You don't see the Boss, and most members of the ring never have either.
* GuestStarPartyMember: Kurai and Adiyah accompany you in their quest contracts, taking place of regular rogue companions. Unlike regulars, they can't use equipment and don't have any generic dialogues.
* HatesBeingNicknamed: Tullina introduces herself insisting to only call her Tullina. Not Tully, Tul, Tee, or whatever else.
* HearingVoices: Nenet is the only one aside from the Exile who can hear the Strange Voice.
* ImpossibleThief: According to Karst's account of the Boss, the Boss once broke into the bank of Theopolis in broad daylight, shuffled each noble house's money amongst each other, then destroyed all records of who actually owned the money. When the bank tried to save face by having each noble family bring in their deposit receipts, it turned out the Boss had ''them'' destroyed too.
* KnowledgeBroker: Whakano the Barber's role in the Ring. In exchange for Rogue Marks, he can sell you specialized Contracts and decipher Grand Heist blueprints.
* MadScientist:
** Isla talks like a sweet old lady, but has NoSocialSkills and has to be regularly talked out of using her new and most likely deadly inventions on the other members.
** Vinderi is an alchemist/DemolitionsExpert who's gone {{Cloudcuckoolander}} from working with dangerous chemicals for years ''and'' [[ScatterbrainedSenior being old]].
* MasterOfDisguise: Gianna's title is literally this. In practice, it lets her copy enemies' appearance to trick their allies into opening doors from the inside.
* MultipleChoicePast: Each member of the Ring has their own theories as to who the Boss is and how he came to power. According to Faust, the truth is ''even weirder'' than anything the rest of the Ring's thought up.
* NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters: Kurai notes that unlike their rival criminal organization, the Vox family, the Ring is above resorting to more unscrupulous acts like bribery, extortion, and [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil debt slavery]]. The Boss would be happy to get rid of them not only to remove competition, but also to free their victims.
* NoodleIncident: Tullina and Tibbs occasionally mention some old jobs they've been on that have gone particularly awry. Tibbs still has nightmares about the spiders. And the ghosts.
* NoSympathy: Adiyah bluntly tells the Exile that Nenet is a survivor from the children her people leave to die in the desert, that she doesn't care about her, and that she won't find a home in the Ring either. She's quick to add that she's not being cruel, simply stating facts.
* PerfectDisguiseTerribleActing: When trying to convince guards to open doors for her, Gianna's acting is of very dubious quality and extremely hammy, not helped by the fact that most if not all of the people she impersonates are of the opposite gender. [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy Fortunately, the guards are far less perceptive than the players.]]
* ShroudedInMyth: Every crew member has their own story about The Boss, but all agree he's mysterious and reclusive, most of them only trust him so far, and few have even seen him.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Karst's personal Contracts involve helping him get revenge on his old gang who betrayed him, beat him to an inch of his life, sold him out to the Templars, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking stole his prized lockpicks]].
** When Kurai orders you to steal something from the Vox Twins and refuses to kill you in recompense, [[spoiler:they abduct and kill Hana, her cat, to show "what happens when someone crosses them". She does not take this well, declaring outright war upon them and eventually setting up an assassination contract on the two that she requests your help in fulfilling.]]
* TeleportersAndTransporters: Adiyah's role in the Ring is to create portals to whatever location the heist is occuring.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Trialmaster]]
An immortal Vaal who serves a primordial entity known as Chaos. He invites the Exile to challenge Chaos' trials for the chance of obtaining great power and rewards.

* DeadpanSnarker: He will dryly comment on your past failed or ended early trial attempts on occassion.
* DeathIsCheap: [[spoiler:He actually ''does'' die when defeated in his Map. When you next encounter him at a Trial, he explains that he is in fact a separate Trialmaster from a timeline where the Exile failed and was killed.]]
* DoNotCallMePaul: He reacts to the name "[[WasOnceAMan Ixchel]]" with disgust, treating it as if he's being mocked and insulted.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: When you switch between characters in the league, the Trialmaster still remembers your last win streak. The Trialmaster also speaks of Chaos' "Anathema", an even more unknown entity who subtly weaves the fates of mortals to oppose him. That entity is ''you'', the player.
* LuckBasedMission: Unlike previous challenge league bosses, there is no way to guarantee a boss fight with [[spoiler:the Trialmaster]]. You just need to keep running Trials of Chaos in red tier maps and hope you get offered one. There is no item that triggers the boss fight and it's not possible to get the boss fight through other players.
* RandomNumberGod: Chaos itself is literally this, presiding over all forms of luck, both good and bad. In this way, pretty much ''anything'' the Exile does, win or lose, serves its interests.
* SoreLoser: Though he initially claims that whether you win or lose a Trial is the whim of Chaos, he starts to become noticeably agitated if you manage to fully clear several trials in a row. If you're on a win streak, his dialogue portrait will even change to be a lot more red, with bright, angrily-glowing red eyes.
* {{Superboss}}: [[spoiler:He can eventually be fought as an endgame Map boss as the "ultimate Trial".]]
* WasOnceAMan: FlavorText of Ultimatum scarabs tells about a Vaal man named Ixchel, who was a member of the [[AncientOrderOfProtectors Order of the Djinn]] until he was captured by Chaos and turned into its servant. It's all but explicit this is the Trialmaster's origin.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: There are hints that he's not exactly happy with his position and would love nothing more than to finally be able to die.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Kalguuran Expedition]]
A group of four from the distant land of Kalguur who came to Wraeclast to find their ancestors' lost settlements and uncover their history. They consist of Gwennen, Tujen, Rog, and Dannig.

* CultOfPersonality: The group straight up refuses to say anything about the king of Kalguur, even if they're as far away as Wraeclast, saying he'll know if they did. Whatever it is, they probably don't have good things to say.
** Their dislike of talking about the King gets to the point where Gwennen [Who will say you are pushing your luck] and Tujen will even threaten you.
* DevelopersForesight: The devs were aware many players would try to get Headhunters out of Gwennen, so they gave her lines specifically involving buying Leather Belts.
* DoYouWantToHaggle: Tujen offers items at prices you can negotiate. He'll make a counteroffer if you're too stingy or even retract the item if you go too far.
* TheGambler: Gwennen loves chance, the point she admits it's practically a religion to her. She became obsessed with luck after an incident where a stray arrow hit an arrow that was heading straight towards her, both of them landing squarely with her in between.
* TheNapoleon: Tujen is a peg-legged dwarf and is the most irritable of the bunch, but [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he's risked his life and several limbs for his team many times over]].
* NoodleIncident: Gwennen and Tujen accidentally mention being part of a failed rebellion. Ask them about it and they'll pretend they never said anything.
* SerialProstheses: A non-villainous example with Tujen. The group worries about how many times Tujen got himself permanently scarred or lost a limb from saving the rest of the group's lives, yet he seems to be doing fine without them.
* SupportPartyMember: Rog is proud of being the guy who helps from the back, and as far away from danger as possible. He even has ambitions of being the world's most renowned supplymaster.
* WrongContextMagic: The Kalguur don't use thaumaturgy and instead use RunicMagic. Dannig tried using Virtue Gems himself, but he couldn't get them to work.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Last to Die]]
A mysterious woman from an alternate Wraeclast that was overrun by the Scourge. She suddenly appears before the Exile and grants them the Blood Crucible, begging them to use it to stem the tide of Scourge before they invade.

* AlternateSelf: There are small hints here and there that suggest she's [[spoiler:an alternate Alva Valai. Like Alva, she is a descendent of the Vaal and she does like to bring up being out of ''time''...]]
* BarrierMaiden: The Blood Crucible requires a living descendant of the Chaos worshipping Vaal to function, so if she dies, the Crucible is destroyed too. This is why she gives you the Crucible and has you do the fighting.
* CallBack: She is a follower of Chaos, just like the Trialmaster is. In fact, the Blood Crucible is powered by Chaos.
* TheEeyore: Her experiences have left her rather dour and cynical, to say the least.
* LoyalPhlebotinum: She notes that the Blood Crucible requires someone from the bloodline of the Vaal high priests that made a pact with Chaos during its creation for it to function, and that she's their last descendent.
* SoleSurvivor: As her name implies, she was the only living being of her reality to survive the coming of the Scourge.
* YouDoNotWantToKnow: Of all the worlds she visited, the only one to not fall to the Scourge was one ruled by High Templar Venarius. Of that world she only states "You do not want to go there".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Scourge]]
A ravenous horde of otherworldy horrors that are rampaging across the multiverse, devouring all in their path. They consist of three main "castes": Demon, Flesh, and Pale.

* AlienInvasion: They are essentially aliens invading any reality they come across, killing and eating anything and everything they can get their hands on.
* BlindWithoutEm: The Pale are stated to be blind. This does ''not'' impede them in any way.
* EldritchAbomination: Every single one of them is a misshapen horror whose very presence spreads corruption.
* HordeOfAlienLocusts: They seem to have no other goal beside destroying and feeding. The Last to Die even questions whether or not the Demons are actually sentient and not just mindless attack dogs for the rest of the Scourge.
* LightIsNotGood: The strongest Pale resemble angels, but there is nothing divine or holy about them.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The Demons are easily recognizable by their pitch black skin/fur and volcanic red mouths.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kalandra]]
The goddess of reflection. In the Kalandra league, you travel to her mystical lake, which manifests reflections of the real world.

* BirdPeople: Kalandra's form is that of a bird with a veiled head.
* TimeAbyss: Kalandra is older than humanity and gods (as a matter of fact, she dislikes the concept of gods overall), existing as far back when the planet was primordial ooze and magma.
* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: Once, there were humans who worshipped Kalandra and vowed to free her from her prison, but after realizing the truth of the lake, they destroyed all knowledge of Kalandra and the lake, including themselves, [[UnPerson condemning her to obscurity]].
* TheWatcher: Though trapped, Kalandra is able to observe the outside world, and watching time pass and life grow in the outside was the only thing that kept her sane.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Long before the dawn of man, Kalandra discovered the lake and it has kept her trapped in there for countless ages. She can't physically leave the place, all other outside interference has failed, and all she can do is bide her time until everything lines up perfectly for her escape.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sister Divinia]]
A Templar scholar researching the origins of their religion. In the Sanctum league, you assist her with her research, and then to reach the depths of the Forbidden Sanctum.

* AscendedExtra: Divinia and the Sanctum were added to the core game.
* DungeonShop: She serves the role of merchant within the Sanctum, resupplying the Exile if they've collected enough coins.
* ISeeThemToo: Had thought she was hallucinating Sin until the Exile mentions him.
* ResurrectiveImmortality: Those within the Sanctum all gain this. She hopes to undo Lycia's so she can be permanently killed.
* TomeOfEldritchLore: Possesses the ''Mortinomicon Exitio Immortalis'', a forbidden tome containing ancient secrets of the Templars and rituals that enable her to manipulate the energies of the Sanctum.
* TrueSight: She can see the magical energies of the Sanctum and Sin. She's greatly disturbed to discover the devil figure of her religion waiting around town and that the Exile is working with him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Karui Chieftains]]
The honoured dead of the Karui, who battle each other eternally within Hinekora's halls of the dead. Some have individual entries elsewhere: see Act Four Story Villains (Outside the Beast) for Kaom, Act Five for Utula, and above for Navali.

* ApocalypseHow: Each tribe has a different story for how the world will end.
* BadassPacifist: Maata takes as much pride in his skills at diplomacy as others do in combat prowess, pointing out that they brought the Karui great prosperity and avoided an unwinnable conflict with the powerful and [[HumanSacrifice sacrifice-happy]] Vaal. He'll fight in the trials though, where death is temporary.
* CessationOfExistence: Supposedly awaits what souls Hinekora does not claim for the halls.
* CurbStompBattle: While Akoya is happy to describe the lengthy and hard-fought battle she had with Kaom as he challenged her for control of her tribe, Valako just complains that he was 74 years old when Kaom came for him and says he was basically bullying an old man.
* GreenThumb: Maata can lash out with vines, one of few characters in the game to display such abilities.
* HealthyInHeaven: Kaom and Utula are freed of their Nightmare and Kitava-induced mutations, while Kiloava is [[DeagedIndeath restored to youth]], and the rest are cured of any injuries they had. Maata remains an old man however, as that [[ResidualSelfImage reflects his true self]].
* ImmortalityPromiscuity: Kiloava claims to have gone through "the traditions" with everyone except Ikiaho.
* MysticalJade: Akoya and the Tukohama tribe make substantial use of jade in their weapons and can animate it, trapping enemies inside jade shells and even animating beasts made of it.
* PersonalityPowers: Ikiaho is AnIcePerson with a self-admitted frozen heart, though she seems to just be referring to not being interested in sex or romance and is otherwise quite nice.
* PluckyGirl: Ahuana is relentlessly positive, sometimes to the others' annoyance or confusion, though Akoya mentions it gives her hope.
* PoorPredictableRock: Averted, while the chieftains will favor warriors of their own tribe, they'll use any of the units from the others too.
* SoreLoser: Of all of them, Kiloava takes defeat with the least grace, curtly saying you got lucky.
* TransTribulations: Rakiata faced hostility and rejection from the other chieftains on arriving, with only Ikiaho vouching for them and giving them the chance to fight and earn their place.
* WhatTheHellHero: As the representative of his tribe, Akoya is naturally ''not'' happy when you kill Tukohama, stating that while she understands ''why'' you had to do it, she still doesn't know if she can ever forgive you for it.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: While dead, some chieftains view their afterlife in this fashion. The Trials of the Ancestors were created to spare them from eternal boredom, and even so they worry about how they'll last until "the end of time", however long that takes.
* WrongContextMagic: The Karui have their own magic rather than using thaumaturgy. Even being around virtue gems can cause a contagious blood fever and trying to use one can drive them into a mindless frenzy, though given the Marauder presumably modern Karui no longer suffer this effect.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Viridian Wildwood and its Wanderers]]
An eldritch wood inhabited by three Azmeri wanderers called the Warden of Eaves, the Breaker of Oaths, and the Primal Huntress, as well as their enemy the King in the Mist.

* AlwaysNight: They've heard of the sun, but find it an odd concept.
* BloodMagic: The Breaker of Oaths is encountered sacrificing a deer, and can teach the Exile Sanguimancy, which causes them to spend life instead of mana on skills.
* ChangelingTale: Children who aren't named are at risk of being replaced by changelings.
* DontGoInTheWoods: The Wildwood is a forest of eternal night inhabited by vicious beasts and voracious insects.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Everybody, as names hold great power in the Wildwood, and are not to be shared with anyone who isn't fully trusted.
* IKnowYourTrueName: The Incarnation of Agony and the King in the Mists can't be truly slain because no one knows their names.
* TheOathBreaker: The Breaker of Oaths, obviously, who broke his oath to the Maji and turned to forbidden arts seeking the power to destroy the King in the Mists.
* OneWingedAngel: When the King completes his ritual to steal the power of the Wildwood he assumes the form of a particularly grotesque [[{{Treants}} treant]].
* PathOfInspiration: The King in the Mists has a cult he's deceived into helping him, and a unique item relating to what he gets out of it beyond minions.
--> '''That Which Was Taken:''' Faith given under false pretenses still [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve carries the same power.]]
* ScaryStingingSwarm: Everywhere the wisps don't illuminate is swarmed by flesh eating insects as a result of the King's affliction.
* {{Superboss}}: The Incarnation of Agony is one the deadliest enemies in the game due to her ability to completely and easily shut down health recovery, and the challenge related to her is to ''survive'' the encounter without gaining too many stacks of her death aura, which can mean running for the hills as soon as she engages. The King in the Mists is comparatively a pushover.
[[/folder]]

!The (Former) Forsaken Masters

->''Seven men and women, masters in their fields, stood against Dominus' tyranny. Some with words, others with steel. Seven masters forsaken, sent to die in a corrupted land. Seven masters who lived, learned, and now thrive in Wraeclast. Seven Forsaken Masters who can train you... if you choose to help them.''

Characters from the ''Forsaken Masters'' expansion, now part of the Immortal Syndicate.

[[folder: Elreon, Light's Judge]]
!Elreon, Light's Judge (formerly: Loremaster)
-> Voiced by: John Sumner
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/master_elreon_4814.jpg]]

-->''Today's a fine day to kick corruption's filthy arse!''
----
* DarkIsNotEvil: He holds the view that thaumaturgy and the Virtue Gems are a gift from God. It's [[HumansAreFlawed Man's]] abusing of that gift that is evil, not the gems themselves. [[spoiler:Turns out he's partially right; the gems and the Beast that made them aren't evil, but the ambitions of Man, both mortals and the ones who ascended to godhood, made a much greater mess.]]
* TheFundamentalist: Other masters often express disdain of Elreon's overzealousness. At the same time he is an unusually tolerant fundamentalist as he has no problem with [[{{Necromancer}} Catarina's work]] and outright states that thaumaturgy is not a sin or inherently bad.
* TheHeretic: He holds some very [[{{Pun}} unorthodox]] views on thaumaturgy, and on Voll's Rebellion, and was exiled for preaching those views "loudly and often."
* ProtectionMission: A staple of his missions. Protect the relic by killing all enemies, or protect the relic for a set period of time.
* SophisticatedAsHell: He regularly uses some decidedly ''un''-religious language in discussing his religious precepts.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Haku, Warmaster]]
!Haku, Warmaster (formerly: Armourmaster)
-> Voiced by: Randal Meikle
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/master_haku_4793.jpg]]

-->''No spirit deserves to be abandoned, no matter how far he has fallen.''
----
* EscortMission: All his missions involve delving into a dungeon, find the lost Karui Spirit, and escort it back to the entrance.
** ThatOneLevel: Often considered the most annoying mission, since the Karui Spirit in question often harm you by resurrecting nearby dead enemies, explode repeatedly for fire damage, summon enemies to pester you, or just plain falling rocks dealing significant damage. Once you got the Spirit, it is best to make a mad dash to the entrance using Quicksilver Flasks, as using Movement skills would dislodge the Spirit. And that's not counting the TimedMission variant...
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Subverted. While he is exceptionally proud of his culture and heritage, he respects people of bravery and courage no matter where they're from and mo matter how they fight. He also acknowledges that he can't accomplish his goal on his own.
* SherlockScan: [[EstablishingCharacterMoment The very first time you meet him]], he does one of these, deducing from the way you carry yourself that you're the sort of person that could help him.
-->Yes, I call you 'Warrior'. Your eyes have already swept your surroundings, identifying threats and escape routes. There is anticipation in your stance, deadly focus in the easy ebb and tide of your breath. Yours is a heart that fights with every beat. I have need of a heart like that.

[[/folder]]


[[folder:Catarina, Master of Undeath]]
!Catarina, Master of Undeath (formerly: Master of the Dead)
-> Voiced by: Katrina Browne
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/master_catarina_1534.jpg]]

-->''The art of Death is by far the most demanding!''
----
* DarkIsNotEvil: She's rather obsessed with death and makes creepy corpse sculptures, but she has genuinely good intentions.
** [[spoiler:Subverted in Betrayal: She's the leader of the Immortal Syndicate and it's implied their ability to come back from the dead is a direct result of her experiments. She still has genuinely good intentions though, but now it's a case of WellIntentionedExtremist.]]
* {{Necromancer}}: In tune with death and the hideout she offers is a graveyard.
** [[spoiler:Since Jun says she saw at least some of the other members of the Syndicate cold and dead on the sand, it's heavily implied their service comes as Catarina brought them back. The final dungeon starts with her ressurecting Jun's comrades to attack you.]]
** [[spoiler:Jun eventually states Catarina uses an artifact she stole from Jun's organization, the Horn of Kulamath, to ressurect people.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Well, "evil" is partially stretching it since she's a well-intentioned extremist, [[spoiler: but even in the context of a teeth-clenched teamwork organization like the syndicate where everyone is using each other and beholden to Catarina due to her power over their lives, Catarina shows she genuinely cared for some of the members if they're with her in the final battle (who is with her is determined by who the safehouse leaders are at the time). This is seen in her dialogue as you kill them and she siphons their souls away one last time. She sincerely calls Haku her "old friend" and apologizes he won't get to see his ancestors in death, allows the assassin Vorici to see his death coming in spite of all the people he sent to an unexpected death, sincerely apologizes to Elreon that he won't get to see his god, etc. Notably, almost all of the ones that get treated like this are the original Hideout Masters (IE, her comrades before the Betrayal League retconned them into villains). Most of the other syndicate members get much less pleasant send-offs from her.]]
* MadArtist: Her missions are all about helping her fix / refine her sculpture made of corpses. Subverted in that the sculpture itself seems sentient, and better statue makes her more in tune with death, making her stronger and able to offer better enchantments / items.
* TreacherousQuestgiver: Some of her quests suspiciously neglect to mention the "and then they'll try to kill you" aspect in whatever she asks for. It's possible she simply expects this to be taken for granted.
** For context, some of them do in fact tell you that you will need to put down the monsters you raised for her next to her sculpture, and that they wont very much agree with doing so; the problem is that they usually end in Catarina killing the monsters for you, and as such the missions usually don't ''need'' you to re-murder the monsters. It's when they do, and she doesn't tell you they do, that it gets dangerous.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:According to the Lifegiver's manifestos found throughout the syndicate safehouses, she believes society falls into chaos whenever the current ruler dies. Thus she's researching immortality no matter the cost to usher in a utopia via an immortal ruler. That immortal ruler will be her, of course.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tora, The Culler]]
!Tora, The Culler (formerly: Master of the Hunt)
-> Voiced by: Mia Blake
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/master_tora_1227.jpg]]
-->''Be proud of yourself, culler. Who else would be prepared to squeeze the pimples on the hindquarters of creation?''
----
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Blatantly attracted to Vagan. Vagan admits she's pretty to look at, but...
-->'''Vagan:''' ''...[[DestructoNookie I'm not a fan of claw marks on my arse]], thank you.''
* NatureHero: She's made it her personal mission to fight back against the corruption overtaking Wraeclast, even if it means [[ShootTheDog putting down every single infected animal]] to do it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Vagan, Victory's Herald]]
!Vagan, Victory's Herald (formerly: Weaponmaster)
-> Voiced by: Andrew Robertt
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/master_vagan_2683.jpg]]

-->''You there! let me bend your ear a moment.''
----
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: His signature mod makes your hits cannot be evaded (although it can still be Dodged or Blocked).
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: His talent in combat is only matched by his sheer ego.
-->'''Vagan:''' "So here's how this works. You take a crack at me. Your very best shot. I win, you die. You win and... I'm not actually sure, to tell the truth. Doesn't happen very often."
* BloodKnight: Whereas the other Masters' missions have you helping them in some manner or another, Vagan tasks you with defeating him either in battle or in a dummy-crushing contest.
* BodyCountCompetition: One type of mission he offers is to see which of you can destroy more training dummies in a set amount of time.
* HopeSpot: It's not unusual for him to drink potion that would recover his health to full during his duel missions.
* MasterOfAll: He chooses a random set of weapons and skills every time you fight him - possibly even employing {{bow|AndSwordInAccord}}s and/or {{magic|Knight}}. His title ''is'' "Weaponmaster", after all.
* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: Vagan... does not return Tora's affections, to put it mildly.
-->'''[[ActionGirl Tora:]]''' "The way he moves, the way he gets all sweaty and glowy when he fights... I'd not complain were Vagan to find his way into my den."
-->'''Vagan:''' "As fine as she is feral. That's Tora. Nice to watch from afar. Up close? I'm not a fan of claw marks on my arse."
* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: Unabashedly fanboys over Daresso, to the point where a good portion of his dialogue is praising Daresso's virtues. [[spoiler:Luckily(?) he never gets to actually meet his idol in the flesh, [[TragicMonster such as it is]].]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Vorici, Silent Brother]]
!Vorici, Silent Brother (formerly: Master Assassin)
-> Voiced by: Calum Gittins
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/master_vorici_2261.jpg]]

-->''A civilized life is the product of a primitive death.''
----
* AbhorrentAdmirer: Has the hots for Zana. She thinks he's creepy.
* AntiFrustrationFeatures: While other masters add enchantments to items, Vorici mainly deals in adding and modifying skill gem sockets for slightly above the median, being an excellent, if more expensive, alternative to sinking untold numbers of chromatic or fusing orbs into an item to no avail. (For reference, it takes 1500 fusing orbs to link six sockets using his help, but it's estimated by theorycrafters after a test involving 100000 fusing orbs that you only have about a 77% chance of getting a six-link fusing within 1500 orbs. This is to say nothing of saved time.)
* BrilliantButLazy: All the other Masters ask for your help doing things they can't. Vorici is the only one who asks you to do something he's perfectly capable of doing himself, and he's actually supposed to be better at it than you.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Vorici is a shadowy figure who deals in death... but his end goal is to use his violence and brutality to build a new civilization on Wraeclast, one slain criminal and villain at a time.
* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: A common problem when attempting his Daily Mission for high-level characters. His missions often include SheatheYourSword conditions, and when you can clear an entire screen of enemies in 2 seconds, this can become ThatOneSidequest.
* {{Irony}}: The ''assassin'' gives the only tasks in the entire game that you can fail by killing your target.
* ProfessionalKiller: His stock in trade, though he focuses his efforts on killing those preventing the other Exiles in Wraeclast from building a new civilization from the ruins of the old ones.
* StickyFingers: Not shown, but other Masters, Vagan in particular, remarked that Vorici is a thief, stealing 'everything, including lives'. He also all but states he got his interest in gems and gemcraft from burglarizing the wealthy.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: Definitely fits in terms of his appearance and manner. Vorici does not appreciate Vagan's manner of speaking, but has some respect for his skill with a blade at least. In Vorici's own words;
-->'''Vorici:''' "I have never heard a man waste so many words on saying nothing. Vagan is a linguistic mass murderer, yet put a sword in his hand and he becomes a disturbingly efficient communicator."
* TimedMission: Vorici sometimes orders you to assassinate his target within a time limit.
** ThatOneLevel: Every *other* mission. Vorici can order you to keep a target at low health for a while, leave only one guard alive, or open a chest (which takes five seconds of not being attacked) while the target is alive.
* UnexpectedGameplayChange: for a game that consists entirely of killing enemies only Vorici offers you missions you will fail if you kill enemies.
* WeaponTwirling: He twirls his 2 knives around as his idle animation.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Leo, Wolf of the Pit]]

!Leo Redmane, Wolf of the Pit (formerly: Master of the Arena)

----
* HookHand: It's on his left hand.
* SixthRanger: Leo was added after the ''Forsaken Masters'' expansion. He was a Master with a focus on [=PvP=].

[[/folder]]