A mercenary for hire working for the empire. L'Arc is a stubborn swordsman who does what he wants to do. And once he is revealed to be a Child of Eesa, L'Arc has a hard time dealing with everything that's being forced on his shoulders. To make matters worse, his Childhood Friends become his sworn enemies, his Clingy Jealous Girl does a NASTY Face Heel Turn, and he has almost no idea what to do but to look for a solution to solve everything. L'Arc's encounter with Ryfia is the first event that changes everything he has stood for.
Broken Aesop: L'Arc destroys Eesa so that people can go back to living without gods... except they made gods because they were lost without them. So, really, who's to say that it's not going to start all over again?
Heroic Sacrifice: In order to purify the Hozone, the party needs the power of the Singing Stone, but they also have to destroy the core as a result. But without the core, their objective would be pretty much impossible to achieve. Therefore, L'Arc is secretly instructed by Dr. Sonia to become the new core (as he's the only person left with the Eesa Factor), meaning he has to say goodbye. Don't worry though, he's only going to sleep. He wakes up 500 years later, his goal achieved, in the epilogue.
Idiot Hero: Mostly averted, as shown from the Wise Beyond Their Years trope below. L'Arc's not stupid by any means. Just a tad ignorant.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Naturally, he's the red oni to Alf's blue. Eventually, the roles seem to get reversed, with L'Arc being the one to think things through more near the end of the game.
Refusal of the Call: He's pretty relunctant into doing his Child of Eesa job at first and still struggles to understand it fully till the end.
Tsundere: And very, very bad at hiding his dere side.
Turn The Other Cheek: He rarely holds a real grudge, despite the number of people who betray him/screw him over. Particularly notable with Weiss, whom L'Arc admits that he can't bring himself to hate, because even though he didn't know, L'Arc is Weiss's half-brother.
Wise Beyond Their Years: When offered the chance to take revenge on Rastan, the man who killed his father, he refuses because he states it will only continue the cycle of revenge.
Ryfia
A very naive young girl whom L'Arc finds wandering in the forest. Ryfia pretty much behaves like a young child as she has no idea what her words mean to others like saying she likes L'Arc a lot. This is one of the reasons Adele hates her guts so much. She happens to be a Diva meant to direct the Child of Eesa to offer Imaginal's Law to Eesa to help the world and its people. She doesn't really know the full extent of Imaginal's Law, though.
White Magician Girl: She initially has a level one water orb, and the only spells that provides are a healing spell and a water resist buff. Her first excel act is also used for healing. Plus, she equips staves.
The very good and benevolent second prince of the Empire and L'Arc's best friend. Alf worries too much about what goes with the Empire whenever it looks like it's trying to Take Over the World. As it turns out, he's a Child of Eesa like L'Arc. Once the Empire launches a surprise attack on Antrax, Alf defects from the group to fulfill his role by siding with Adele, considering L'Arc as his sworn enemy. His benevolence is thrown out the window just for the sake of proving Real that humanity can live without Ray for a year, though it greatly twists his old self.
Crazy Jealous Guy: He has been hiding his feelings for Adele for a very long time now, but he acts a bit restless whenever her romantic partner L'Arc doesn't give her much respect. In case you haven't noticed, Alf has way too many scenes and skits worrying about Adele the most.
Deal with the Devil: He makes a pact with Real; that if he can prove humans can live without Ray for a year, Real will stop all Hozone pollution.
I Just Want to Be Badass: He believes that he's the inferior one out of himself, L'Arc, and Weiss.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He's well aware that Adele doesn't return his feelings, and so tries to support her with L'Arc. Then things get... complicated.
Karma Houdini: He's let off scott-free at the end of the game despite everything he's done.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Somewhat subverted in that he's Blue for the most part, but has a few Red traits (namely when it comes to Adele. Eventually goes even farther into Red Oni territory, with L'Arc being more of a Blue Oni.
The most cowardly soldier of the entire empire, Niko is quick to flee during most dangerous situations though he still manages to be a loyal friend to L'Arc and company, having some undying admiration to L'Arc. It's beyond many people how he still works for the empire to these days.
La Résistance: Joins up with them after leaving the party.
The Load: While he can be useful in battle due to his long-range attacks and high AP gain, his cowardly acts during cutscenes often end up with one of the team members getting hurt. L'Arc is pretty much at the end of his rope about it by the time he leaves the party.
The Mole: His special pardon from the stockade involved him following L'Arc and telling Weiss and Freya what is going on. Overcome with guilt (which the team just assumed was him being a coward all the time), he left the team and joined the resistance.
Opt Out: After the events of Carbunculus and Leslie's sister Angie, Niko asks to go to the lightship, apologizing. The group is wary that he is ashamed of being a coward all the time though that might have been only part of it. By the time they get back, he leaves a letter saying he isn't cut out to help the group fighting Rogress and saving the world, and has returned to Diamant.
A very energetic girl who is a very skilled fighter despite her age. Cecille thinks of herself as a Hero of Justice, and she idolizes anyone in the world recognized as a master. She is Dynos' older twin sister. However, Dynos grew older than Cecille because he woke up from his magic-induced sleep earlier than she did, thus he aged first.
I Call Her "Vera": Yep, she named the 1000 year old lightship after herself: Cecille the Brave. That's even the name highlighted just before you click to get on making it official, replacing Old Lightship.
Justice Will Prevail: Ayup. She even quotes it verbatim during the final battle. She sounds like she's channeling Bang Shishigami half the time she's with you.
A mysterious man that helps the party to escape death. Serge is a man who only follows those who hire him to do anything regardless what the job might be. He turns out to be Leon but changed his name to forget about his troubled past. He has an ill sister that he loves with all his heart.
Paper-Thin Disguise: Averted and justified. He's really "Lightning" Leon of the Lord Knights, but since you can count the number of people who know this on one hand he doesn't feel the need to conceal his identity.
Rastan is a skilled swordsman who wanders the land seeking revenge for the death of his family. For some reason, he travels with L'Arc. That reason being his atonement for having killed L'Arc's father due to Ignacy's blackmailing him. Much later, L'Arc finally brings himself to pardon Rastan, welcoming him as a loyal friend.
Barrier Warrior: Comes with two Excel Acts that provide self protection status. He also starts out with Earth Magic (primary defensive buffs) and some of the weapons skills he unlocks in his swords lean towards this.
Cassandra Truth: Nobody believes him when he says he isn't the legendary Leon. He really, really isn't.
My Greatest Failure: In his own words, betraying the trust of a friend. In other words, leading Rex to his death, all to save his family... who end up dead anyway.
A woman with lots of intel about many things. She was once a general for the Republic until she dropped out, but she still supports her nation and her best friend who happens to be the governor.
My Country, Right or Wrong: Subverted. She's very loyal to the Republic, but knows that there's something wrong with it and takes it upon herself to investigate.
Noodle Incident: Nothing's ever stated clearly, but there is a serious dominatrix vibe to some of her conversations with Serge that makes one wonder just what they were doing during their time in Alf's party.
Adele is one of L'Arc's childhood friends. She harbors shy but strong feelings for L'Arc, and everything goes down the toilet for her when Ryfia gets into the picture. She turns out to be the next Real's Diva, her mother having been killed moments before she got promoted.
Awesome, but Impractical: The dress she wears as the Real Diva. Seriously, how does she even sit down in that thing?
Ax Crazy: And how! The fact she has a few nice moments with L'Arc (like saving him from being crushed by a boulder) post Face Heel Turn don't balance the rest of her bitchyness as the story progresses.
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: She goes batshit insane when L'Arc summons Simmah to protect Ryfia Weiss from Girtab, assuming that it means he doesn't care about her. In her viewpoint, L'Arc would save Ryfia from an army of undead, but could care less if she got hit by a Rogress attack.
Manipulative Bitch: Sure, it was for revenge on Weiss for what happened at Antrax, but if she never had Dynos stir up confusion by having Undead Meridian Soldiers attacking Batrachites, the treaty would have gotten off without a hitch and the Meridian citizens wouldn't have the need to raise a rebellion.
A retired general in the Empire who is very fond of L'Arc and Alf. He is in charge of Jada. He eventually joins Alf in his quest to propose Real's Law to Eesa, but he feels that only L'Arc can make Alf change the error of his ways. That doesn't mean he'll disobey Alf for the better, though.
Granted, the party CAN survive the blow if they can take out the soldiers using Mighty Charge on Clyde.
My Master, Right or Wrong: A very maddening example. It's obvious he wants L'Arc to snap Alf out of his senses...but at the same time, he fights them all for Alf's misguided honor.
Reasonable Authority Figure: The soldiers at Jada greatly admire him judging how they can't take their new leader seriously after Clyde leaves without saying anything behind their backs.
Undying Loyalty: Yeah... See where we're going with this one?
Dynos Garcia
AKA Deathchanter, Dynos roams the world looking for Real's Diva. He eventually finds the next Real's Diva (Adele) and decides to protect her. He's also Cecille's (age-wise) younger brother who got out of his sleep, resuming his aging earlier as a side-effect.
Bare-Fisted Monk: Worth mentioning is that he can't initiate combo attacks. This is balanced with the fact that he is equipped with some of the deadliest Arm Forces.
Emo Teen: A rare version where his angst is actually justified and Played for Drama rather than just being the subject of ridicule. See "Offing the Offspring" for further details.
Failure Knight: It's heavily implied that the reason Dynos is so loyal to Adele is because he failed to prevent the assassination of Rafil, Adele's mother and the previous Real Diva.
I Owe You My Life: The basis of his loyalty to the former Real Diva.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite being quite the Jerk Ass, especially in the beginning, he does have some positive traits that mean Alf keeps him around in his party. The main one is his loyalty to Adele.
Offing the Offspring: His father tried to get him to be an assassin. That didn't work out, so his dad tried to take his Dragon Gem. If a member of the Divine Race loses that particular stone, then they turn into a Feldragonwhile being totally unable to stop the change from happening. When that didn't work, his dad turned himself into a Feldragon just so he could kill Dynos for his failure. Yeah, Dynos' dad was kind of a douche.
“Well Done Son” Guy: Dynos did not have a good relationship with his father.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: In his own words: "If the world wants to keep betraying me, then now it's my turn to betray the world!"
Yin Yang Bomb: His "Doubly Dark" Excel Act has him merge a mass of Dark magic with a mass of Light magic into a beam of mixed power. Wait, this sounds familiar...
To be fair, Dynos learned his technique before Cecille learned hers. You could use it during the Ruins of Ebur where you controlled Alf's party for a portion of the stage.
The prince who rules over the Empire with an iron fist, brother to fellow prince Alf and L'Arc's half-brother. He is totally obssessed with world domination.
Ax Crazy: Done very subtly. He's not completely insane, but it's still clear from his expressions and inflections during battle that he's a kill-crazy bastard.
Bastard Bastard: Ayup. There's quite a few people who believe that he shouldn't be on the throne because he's a concubine's son, but his response to them is pretty much "Up yours".
Blessed with Suck / Cursed with Awesome: Sure, Eesa's Curse gave him a pretty cool wing that gives him a buffing Excel Act, but it was that same curse that was used on him when he tried saving his own mother. Not to mention it made his father, the other victim of the curse, deadly sick to the point of committing suicide. Okay, sure, the Meridian Bible that cursed him had been tampered with, but it's a bit harsh.
Cain and Abel: Given the personalities, you'd think Weiss would be the one that offs Alf, he even attempts so back at Antrax. However, in the end, he dies by Alf's hand. By that point, their roles in this have been switched; Weiss the fallen Abel, and Alf the traitorous Cain.
Easily Forgiven: Does the party forget that he tried to genocide the crap out of a religious order, in which there were bound to be lots of totally innocent people who didn't have ulterior motives? Apparently so.
Even Evil Has Standards: He agrees to a peace treaty. Considering how, until that point, he's expressed very strong imperialistic sentiments, it's something of a surprise to the party.
The Evil Prince: Let's see here... Invading a nation to kill their religious leader through a sneak attack with no formal declaration of war no less, manipulating his half-brother to help carry out said plan, fully intending to kill his other, younger half-brother after he (quite rightly) tried to stop him, taking pleasure in slaughter and conflict in general, being an unrepentant militaristic bastard... are we missing anything here?
He Who Fights Monsters: He spends a lot of time talking about how religious types are Manipulative Bastards and that he doesn't think their gods are much better. However, it's very clear to anybody who sees him that he's become exactly the kind of insane tyrant he believes himself to have been fighting against.
Hypocrite: He claims to want to "free" people from the rule of gods, but since his modus operandi comes across as nothing short of "Take Over the World" he'd really just be replacing the rule of Eesa with his own. However, this istotallyin-character for Weiss.
Moral Myopia: He considers fratricide more than once in order to fulfil his goals, yet he's outraged when his brother's decided he's had enough and turns on him.
Obviously Evil: Come on, his theme tune sounds like a Pantomime villain's! Also? His Excel Act is named Dark Flames.
Ignacy is a dangerous criminal; the person who forced Rastan to kill L'Arc's father by blackmailing him with keeping his family hostage. He also works for Hosea to accomplish his goals.
Big Bad: Due to the story having multiple villains, it's not quite clear who's the real Big Bad of Arc Rise Fantasia. Ignacy's list of atrocities means that he's a more worthy candidate for the title than most, however.
The Chessmaster: Attempts to invoke this trope through manipulation of the Senate and use of the Aion Unit. Things don't go so well when the heroes catch on, however.
Fantastic Racism: Let's just say that he doesn't seem to be the biggest fan of the Common Race.
One of Ignacy's henchwomen. Paula works alongside Luna by killing anyone who opposes Ignacy. After being defeated again, the two of them disband from Ignacy by taking quests to make a living.
Brainwashed and Crazy: According to her, Ignacy put a spell on her and her sister, only recalling the faces of the people they have killed.
The second person who works for Ignacy. Just like Paula, Luna is a very deadly woman. Just like her fellow companion, she leaves Ignacy behind to pursue better goals.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Due to a spell put on the two by Ignacy, if they are to be believed.
The Rival: Forms a mercenary group with her sister that wishes to defeat the "Lagoon Mercenary Group".
Rogress
Simmah
The Rogress of Light that joins L'Arc. He is the one who sets L'Arc on the quest to bring peace to the world. He also turns out to be Ryfia's father transformed into a Rogress.
The Rogress of Darkness. He only obeys the Real's Diva's Child of Eesa, who happens to be Alf himself, until L'Arc obtains his power almost at the end of the game.
Bishoujo Line: She's the leader of the Rogress and the most powerful. Her Rogress form consists of several ice crystals, but she still retains her human characteristics.
One of the generals from the Empire. Though it doesn't look like it, she worries about Niko's well-being behind all the harsh punishment she issues on him.
A God Am I: Justified in a very sympathetic way. She was made to be a god by people, so she's understandably upset about how they're now trying to kill her.
Anti-Magic: Prevents the use of the Rogress during the first fight with her.
Because Destiny Says So: Insists that L'Arc chooses a Law even when he starts to disagree with them.
Break the Cutie: Played with. She was broken before the story even began. The events of the game see her trying to get better. It doesn't take.
