Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura / Characters

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Player Character

The Living One

You were one of the passengers aboard the airship IFS Zephyr when it was shot down by Molochean Hand ogres. Amidst the wreckage, you encounter a dying gnome who gives you a strange ring and implores you to "find the boy". Not long after, you learn that you are in fact the reincarnation of the Panarii hero, Nasrudin. So begins a journey that will soon determine the fate of all Arcanum...

Actual Pacifist: One of the hardest self-imposed challenges the game has to offer, but definitely possible. There's enough ways to escape battle or incapacitate enemies without maiming or killing them for the protagonist to be played as such.
Bad Powers, Good People: You can be this as a mage, as Black Necromancy, Mind Rape and demon summoning is considered neutral in this game.
Badass Bookworm: You can be this by choosing the corresponding background.
Badass in a Nice Suit: This is the default look for male characters at the beginning of the game.
Badass Normal: If one hasn't made any investment in magic or the technological skills that opens up possibilities for making stuff, and opts instead to maximize stats and combat skills.
The Butcher: If the Living One completes the Dark Elves' quest to massacre Stillwater (or does it on his own will), he will be known as the Butcher of Stillwater.
Came Back Strong: If you bring offerings to the Ancient Gods in the correct order and come to Vendigroth to gain blessing from Velorien, the All-Father, he will bring the Living One back to life after they offer themselves on their altar (unless the character has too much technological aptitude for the spell to take effect) and increases their stats greatly.
The Chosen One: Or so does the prophecy regarding Nasrudin's reincarnation imply.
The Corrupter: Virgil's alignment is dependent on your own, so when you do evil deeds and involve Virgil into it, he becomes as evil as you are. As the culmination of your evil influence, if you together commit a genocide in Stillwater by the orders of M'in Gorad, he will abandon everything that Joachim teached him and turn against his former master when you meet him in Caladon.
Dark Is Not Evil: You can be this with use of Black Necromancy.
Deadpan Snarker: Can be played as one, as there is always option in dialogue for those, especially when meeting specific stat or skill requirement to unlock such option.
Deal with the Devil: The "Sold Your Soul" background trait. You receive a 20% bonus to your Magic affinity, but you start with -20 Alignment and you can't go higher than that.
Even the Guys Want Him: Beauty score increases reaction with characters of any gender.
Godhood Seeker: You may become this at the end of the patched game if you sides with Kerghan until the very last moment and then declare godhood when he demands to know the reason for the betrayal.
Guile Hero: With high enough Persuasion skill it's possible to talk your way through all quests and entire main plot, not having to fight even once.
Multiple-Choice Past: You can give yourself a more general background, or pick from several pre-made characters who all have more detailed backstories.
Non-Specifically Foreign: On several occasions you may declare yourself a visitor from another continent, but that's about the most specific you get.
Omnicidal Maniac: The Bad End option, just like siding with the bad guys in general, require to kill copious amount of innocent people who did absolutely nothing to earn their fate. You are killing them because.
Physical God: Arguably after completing the ancient gods’ quest. You’ll receive massive boosts of heath, fatigue and several skills and attributes.
Right Man in the Wrong Place: You start as nobody who by pure luck survived a zeppelin crash. You end up reshaping the political map, pulling rightful kings back onto their thrones, establishing alliances between world powers and cleaning cities from bandits and monsters. Or intentionally screwing that all up beyound repair. And, ultimately, either saving the world or extinguishing all life.
Science Hero: To allow for this is pretty much intrinsic to the idea behind this game.
Schrödinger's Player Character: In a sense. At the start, you will find the dead bodies all of the preset characters that you did not pick (and if you made your own, all of them will be dead).
Sole Survivor: Of the zeppelin crash. Carried to the extreme in the evil ending, where you are left the only living thing in the entire world (including microbes and all), although certainly not for long.
Technical Pacifist: If you opt to let your allies do the fighting for you.
The Unchosen One: As Pelojian points out, it doesn't actually matter whether you're The Chosen One or not; you've taken on the role of the hero and you're playing the part.
Warrior Poet: You can become knowledgable in dwarven and elven philosophy, and the Cold-Blooded Dream of the Bedokaan through the course of the game, while still administering beatdowns to whoever dares stand in your way.

Premade Player Characters

Merwin Tumblebrook

"Merwin Tumblebrook was raised in a small halfling town, where he showed a proficiency in various technological disciplines, but was also prone to random acts of theft and pilfery. Although not an evil child, his dresser was often full of the ill-gotten possessions of his friends and neighbors, as well as the occasional gold-leafed religious relic from a temple in the nearby human village. When young Merwin's tastest began drifting to explosives and the contents of the local treasury, his parents thought it time to take action.

Merwin has boarded the IFS Zephyr en route to Tarant, where he is enrolled in the spring semester at the Westrel Military Academy for Promising Young Men. Needless to say, he is less than exuberant over the whole affair."

A Troublemaker halfling, who was on way to join military academy against his own will.

Gadgeteer Genius: He learns mechanic discipline up to engineer degree.
Trap Master: Part of his background and also starts with proper skill.

Godfrey Castleburger

"Godfrey Castleburger grew up on the rolling hills of his family's estate. The son of a wealthy and influential businessman, Godfrey was tutored daily by the best teachers, and excelled in economics and the dialectic method. In his free time, he was trained by a master in the technological discipline of Gunsmithy, and is well trained in the making of firearms and hopes to become an expert marksman.

Having finished his compulsory education, young Godfrey is being sent to Tarant on the IFS Zephyr to broaden his experience in the new world, as well as to sow any of his proverbial wild oats before he returns to assume control of the family business."

A wealthy gnome merchant's son, Godfrey was sent abroad on a learning journey.

Arms Dealer: His family's business is based on this, and his selected skills seem to be along the lines of him following in their footsteps.
Do You Want to Haggle?: Due to his eloquent nature, he starts with haggle bonus.
Guile Hero: Intelligent, eloquent, persuasive and with a knack for haggle.
The Gunslinger: What he aspires to be, and eventually becomes. Bonus points for crafting his own guns.
Magnetic Hero: Eventually Godfrey will have from five to six companions, due to high charisma score.

Horace McGinley

"Horace McGinley was born under a bad sign. An orphan from birth, he found himself in a daily battle with life and its peculiar quandaries. After running away from various homes and institutions, Horace found himself on the streets, homeless and hungry. Carving a niche for oneself in such an environment is difficult, but Horace was anything if not determined. After falling in with a group of local street toughs, Horace began to learn the ways of combat and thievery, and even began dabbling in the ways of magick.

With the money from a few successful heists, Horace has booked passage on the IFS Zephyr to Tarant. It's not that life won't give you anything, he thinks, it's just all in the way that you ask."

A half-elven thief, Horace grew up an orphan. The money he stole he used to buy airship tickets.

Bow and Sword in Accord: Comes with both melee and archery skills.
Orphan's Ordeal: He did not get along in orphanages, and thus ended up on the streets. This led to him becoming a thief.
Magic Knight: He combines combat skills with magic and archery on top of being sneak thief.

Muck Evil Eye

"Muck Evil Eye was born in a remote ogre village, the offspring of an unusual union between a human male and Histreg Wide Thighs, an ogre female whose appetites tended toward the exotic. Muck grew up an outcast, scorned by his fellow ogre because of his human heritage. He frequently found himself fighting because of aspersions cast at his family and his character; in time, he became the most feared, if not the most despised, warrior in his village.

Muck, because of his human blood, is a tad smarter than the common ogre. Upon hearing of employment opportunities in the new world for half-ogre bodyguards, he's taken a job in the boiler room of the IFS Zephyr in exchange for passage to Tarant."

A tough half-ogre raised among ogres, he's working aboard the airship to pay his way.

Developer's Foresight: Muck Evil Eye is the only pre-made character who has an unique line of dialogue somewhere. During the Siamese Twins skull quest line, Tyron, the Conspiracy Theorist of Caladon, assumes that the half-ogre player character was born as a part of half-ogre breeding program of the Gnomish Industrial Council. Muck, who was born under exceptional circumstances of a "natural" union between a female ogre and a male human, can take offense and deny those assumptions.
Tyron: You're an half ogre, haven't you ever wondered why you never knew your parents? A hundred years ago, an half ogre was a rare thing, usually the result of raping and pillaging. But human women aren't... equipped to birth a baby the size of an half ogre.
Muck Evil Eye: I knew my parents, and I was not the result of rape, sir!
Dumb Muscle: Left to his own devices, Muck grows to be a powerful fighter, but he doesn't spend a single point into Intelligence, thus making him unable to hold comprehensible conversations with most of NPCs.
Half-Human Hybrid: While all half-ogres are this by definition, Muck's case is remarkable in that he was born under very rare circumstances of a relationship between a full-blooded ogre woman and a human man.

D'ren Le'lor

"D'ren Le'lor is a dreamer. The son of an elven hunter, D'ren found himself more interested in the history of Arcanum than he did in bowmanship, although he was quite proficient in the latter as well, and was often found in the library, poring over the ancient texts and manuscripts. Magick came easily to him, and he spent much time studying the ancient runes while his friends were off engaging in contests of physical skill and horseplay.

To D'ren the world is a large and wonderful place. So tonight, after leaving a heartfelt note to his parents saying he would return soon, he has stolen away to the nearest town, where he's booked passage on the IFS Zephyr, bound for Tarant at first light."

A daydreamer, D'ren left his hunter father behind in order to look for adventure.

Jumped at the Call: As soon as he felt ready, he left his home to seek adventure in Tarant.
Mage Marksman: His basic build, blending archery and magic spells.

Solomon Doone

"Solomon Doone was born the 13th son of Derzin Doone, the most evil necromancer in a long line of evil necromancers. It was the night of the full moon, and Solomon's mother, a frightful witch whose body was covered in strange birthmarks of the most evil shapes and configurations, died in childbirth at the stroke of midnight. Bezzle Gerts, the twisted, one-armed midwife who delivered the child, remarked that Fergel, the Doone's black housecat, had crossed the threshold into the room just as Solomon uttered his first cry.

Oftentimes fate is not subtle. After a family dispute that left most of the Doone clan unrecognizable or immobilized, Solomon has purchased a ticket for Tarant on the IFS Zephyr. He doesn't bother looking at the seat number."

A scion of an evil clan of necromancers, Doone left his kin behind after an ugly family dispute.

Badass Bookworm: Highly-educated in black magic and will kill you with the use of those skills.
Death by Childbirth: His mother suffered this giving birth to him.
Evil Sorcerer: His spell selection and backstory give him this theme, but his actual alignment depends on Player.
Last of His Kind: Played with. A number of his family are still alive, but they were all horribly crippled or maimed. He's the only one who was able to walk away...literally.
The Minion Master: Eventually, Solomon will be powerful enough to summon hordes of fearsome monsters.
Necromancer: His entire family is made of them, and Solomon is no exception.
Playing with Fire: Among other things, Solomon studies the Fire Magick.

Merik Luggerton

"The story of Merik Luggerton is not an unfamiliar one. Born into abject poverty, Merik lived with his family in a one-room shanty, working at odd jobs in the factory district of the city in which he lived. Orcish wages being what they were, the family had a lot of trouble putting food on the table.

As in many orcish ghettos, there was a great demand for pugilists, and many were the men who placed bets on the outcome of a brawl between two strapping young half-orcs. Merik found himself in the ring one night, and, upon winning, had more than a month's wages.

Merik fought, and Merik won. Having taken care of his family, he's purchased a ticket for the IFS Zephyr, in hopes of finding a new and better life in the great city of Tarant."

A poor half-orc who lucked into winning in an underground fighting ring. He used the money to go to Tarant.

Acquired Poison Immunity: Merik eventually upgrades his Constitution to full, making him immune to all poisons in the game.
Bow and Sword in Accord: He studies the Bow skill along with Melee.
Do You Want to Haggle?: It allows Merik to buy things without price increase for being half-orc.
One-Man Army: He's forced to be this for most of story due to low charisma.

Lugard Bloodstone

"Lugard Bloodstone is a miner's son, and over the front door of his home is a plaque that reads: Any Work Not Done With Your Hands Is No Such Thing. Unfortunately, as a child Lugard seemed to excel at what his father dubbed 'senseless tinkering', and a young Lugard's birthday gift to his father of a steam-powered shovel went over like stone shoes at the swimming hole. Still, regardless of his father, Lugard studied long and hard, and looked at the day when he might study among the great inventors and scientists of Tarant.

Lugard's father is old-fashioned, but he is also wise. Upon completing the dwarven rights of adulthood, Lugard has been permitted to enroll at Tarant University, and he's booked passage on the IFS Zephyr, bound for the greatest industrial city in all of Arcanum."

The son of a dwarven miner, Ludgard preferred tinkering with advanced machines. He's traveling to go study at Tarant University.

Why Couldn't You Be Different?: Subverted. While his father disapproved of his son's tinkering (valuing manual labor himself), he ultimately let Ludgard follow his own path and arranged for him to attend the university.

Victoria Warrington

"Victoria Warrington was the daughter of nobility, one of the lesser families who lost both land and power in the aftermath of the great wars. As the years have passed, the Warrington name has come to mean less and less, but the family has survived, and holds on to as much of its past glory as society will permit. Victoria is the youngest of three daughters, beautiful and quick-witted. Having been educated in the finest schools of knowledge and magick, she is the model of strong character and good breeding.

But Victoria craves adventure. Many nights, she frequents the local taverns in disguise, hungry for stories, a strong glass of ale, and a game of dice. Tonight she's been lucky, and the poor soul across from her has lost his last remaining possession... a ticket on the IFS Zephyr to Tarant..."

Daughter of a noble family since fallen into disgrace, Victoria craves adventure above all else.

Guile Hero: She specializes in speech-based skills.
Jumped at the Call: When she had a chance to win an airship ticket in a game of dice at the local tavern, she took it.

Bel'an T'seraa

"The T'Seraa family name is an old one, and Bel'an has been raised with one standard: elven honor above all. She has been taught the true elven ways from birth, and holds them in her heart like a gemstone. Magick and warcraft are as familiar to her as the sun through the leaves of her treetop home, and she feels a strong kinship with Nature and Her mysteries...

But all is not right in Arcanum, and Bel'an has been chosen by her people to go out into the world, and see what is to be seen. And although her heart breaks to leave the deep elven forests she has always known, there is a peculiar excitement she feels at boarding this... airship?... the IFS Zephyr, and traveling to someplace called Tarant..."

An elven noblewoman, fulfilling her duty by going out into the world and finding out what is happening.

Forest Ranger: Her default skill set is based on this archetype.
Sheltered Aristocrat: She's never seen the lands beyond her forest home, and part of her wants to be back there.

Clarisse Vorak

"Until a little while ago, Clarisse Vorak had a bright future. Having recently moved to the city from a small town, she had apprenticed herself to a well-respected doctor and was well on her way to earning advanced degrees in the Anatomical and Therapeutic disciplines. She was a gifted student, and a quick learner.

That all changed when it was discovered that the small town she was from was actually an orcish tribe. Times and attitudes being what they are, she has been asked to leave her apprenticeship. All of her friends have abandoned her, and her landlord has evicted her on "social" grounds.

In the hopes that the new world has shed such prejudices, she has purchased a ticket on the IFS Zephyr, bound for Tarant..."

A half-orc woman who hid her orc blood in order to apprentice herself to an apothecary, she was kicked out when the truth was found out.

Badass Bookworm: Has science degree in herbology, chemistry and therapeutics, can still fight various monsters and assassins you'll meet during journey.
Healing Herb: Starts already knowing basis of Herbology
Persona Non Grata: Due to being a half-orc (although the fact that she hid it by passing as full human also may be part of it).
Playing with Syringes: Her Therapeutics skills, which involves brewing all sorts of infusions and contotions and then administrating them.
Science Hero: Starts with medical skills and knowledge, with higher than usual Intelligence score for her race.
Super Serum: The combined effects of various potions she can make has this effect.

Ke'ree Melange

"Ke'ree Melange has always lived in two worlds. Her father was a human politician, and her mother an elven sorceress, and she has learned to be a little like them both. Having grown up in both elven villages and bustling cities, she has come to appreciate the powers of adaptation and persuasion. She has always excelled in everything she has done.

Ke'ree also remembers arguments between her mother and father concerning the nature of magick and technology, and why one was better than the other. After studying them both, she has concluded that both have merit, and that each has its place. After all, she thinks, if you can't live in two worlds, then you're obviously trapped in one...

Having come to that conclusion, this very afternoon she has purchased a ticket on the IFS Zephyr, bound for Tarant. If there is a new world, she wants to be in it..."

A half-elven daughter of a human politician and an elven sorceress, she set out for Tarant on her own.

Master of None: Due to starting with skill points in both magic and technology, she will never achieve the maximum power of either.
Meaningful Name: "Melange" is derived from a French word meaning "mixture". It's doubly fitting for a half-elf who seeks to blend magic and technology together.
The Medic: Her default skill selection is mainly about having healing for every situation, be it magical or technological.

Party Members

Virgil

Voiced by: Rino Romano

A young initiate of the Panarii religion, and your first party member. He's the one who tells you about Nasrudin's prophecy and your role in it. Although kind and loyal, there may be more to his past then he's willing to tell...

Accidental Misnaming: A dumb PC constantly can't get his name right, to the point that this becomes a Running Gag when you ask him what to do next.
The Anti-Nihilist: If brought to Kerghan after returning from the dead, he'll agree with Kerghan that yes, the afterlife is peace and comfort and that life is suffering, but he still believes that life is worth living.
The Atoner: He made "friends" with a really bad lot, was a thief and a gambler. This eventually led to his brother being killed. Virgil joined Panarii religion and ever since tries to atone for his sins and death of own brother.
Back from the Dead: At certain point he will leave the party to sort his own personal business. When searching for him, he player will find his dead body, killed by group of thugs he was "dealing with". There is always nearby spell and technological means to bring him back.
Badass Bookworm: Both trained with melee skills and White Necromancy.
Boring, but Practical: At least as far as game mechanics are concerned, since he's a colourful character with tonnes of unique dialogues and interesting story on his own. But stat-wise, he's a so-so melee fighter with healer capabilities. While he never truly shines in any discipline, he also never gets fully obsolete as a follower, even when the Living One is a technologist immune to Virgil's healing magic.
Came Back Strong: Not his physical body, but his mind and spirit become much stronger after he deals with the murderers of his brother and comes back resurrected.
Came Back Wrong: In earlier versions, after his resurrection in the Caladon tavern, Virgil, irregardless of his previous experience, got the 25th level and lost all items you gave to him.
Crutch Character: Starts with healing spell and basic combat proficiency. Without his help it is almost guaranteed to die while rummaging through the wreckage of the IFS Zephyr, not to mention trying to get out of Shrouded Hills.
Combat Medic: He is a decent fighter and can support your party with his Healing Hands.
Covert Pervert: He's quite enthusiastic about checking out the "festivities" in the town of Stillwater.
Dark and Troubled Past: He has some questionable past, but he would rather not prefer to talk about it with you. He used to be a thief that ran up a huge debt to the local mafia, who eventually decided they'd forget about the debt...after they killed his brother.
Dork Knight: At the beginning, Virgil comes across as very awkward and clumsy in his conversations with the Living One, who he considers a deity reincarnated, and he doesn't appear to have a grasp on his own religion when he tries to explain it to you. Nevertheless, he is a loyal and competent fighter and healer who, depending on your walkthrough, can grow wiser and more collected as a person.
Face–Heel Turn: If you go the evil path, he'll accept his villanious side and completely abandon Elder Joachim's teachings.
First-Name Basis: He doesn't refer to himself by anything other than his first name, and as events in late game show, he has personal reasons to not make his surname, which is Brummond, known.
Healer Signs On Early: He's the first person you'll speak to after the game begins, and has a basic healing spell that will make the game much easier for anyone not playing a heavily tech-aligned character.
Hidden Depths: As you are about to leave the Crash Site, you are encountered by a Molochean Hand assassin who seeks to interrogate you before attempting to kill you. If you let Virgil to take charge of the conversation at his request, he will take the offensive at the would be assassin and demand to cut the cryptic language, forcing him to leave empty-handed. This is the first indication that Virgil has something more in him than being a meek, confused religious fanatic and has far more complicated past than he would want to admit.
Ink-Suit Actor: Virgil's portrait bears a passing resemblance to his voice actor, Rino Romano◊.
Jack of All Stats: Decent in combat despite his relatively low strength, learns a few magic spells and also becomes decent at picking locks (though other lockpicking characters like Sebastian and Vollinger will eventually surpass him).
Jerkass: Before he found religion and even moreso if the main character takes the evil path.
The Lancer: He is the very first party member you can get and joins literally within first 5 seconds of the game. Due to his build he is a viable follower till the very end of the game and one of the least problematic ones.
Magic Knight: Both trained with melee skills and White Necromancy.
Necromancer: Starts the game with a basic healing spell from the white necromancy college, and learns more healing spells as he grows in power. Once he reaches a high enough level he will branch out into black necromancy as well.
The Paladin: A religious Magic Knight specializing in combat and healing. However, his magic itself isn't divine and there's nothing forcing him to be good, because Nasrudin isn't really a god.
Shout-Out: As Virgil is your follower in the mysterious world of Arcanum, poet Virgil was the guide to the protagonist of The Divine Comedy in the Hell and the Purgatory.
Surrounded by Idiots: Just one idiot in case of dumb PC, but that's more than enough, though Virgil will sincerely try (and comically fail) to cover his irritation.
That Man Is Dead: A bit literal variation. After his resurrection, he is calm and enlightened. He claims that he met his brother on the other side, and was able to free himself from his past, to leave the man he used to be behind.
Took a Level in Kindness: After he was converted to the Panarii religion, he abandoned his... questionable ways of life. After the resurrection in Caladon, he becomes much softer and kinder in his manners.
Took a Level in Jerkass: If you commit a massacre of Stillwater on the quest of M'in Gorad, he'll be more rude and uncaring.
Undying Loyalty: As he himself proclaims, he'll be with you till the very end. In game, it's manifested in his alignment, which is directly dependent on those of the Living One. He, however, attacks you if you decide to join Kerghan in the end.

Sogg Mead Mug

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sogg.png

A simple, but friendly half ogre that loves a good ale. He is encountered in Shrouded Hills' tavern, and can be convinced to join the player with a decent charisma. If he joins, he quickly becomes a great fighter and tank.

The Alcoholic: Fortunately, a fully functional and jolly one. Or it's just the amount of alcohol it takes to knock this guy down.
The Big Guy: A half-ogre that has no qualms about joining the party, just by promising him some good fun and fights.
Drunken Master: He's one step from outright alcoholism, being drunk half of the time.
Gentle Giant: Very polite and soft-spoken, especially for someone who's permanently drunk.
Lightning Bruiser: Since he's a half ogre and a dedicated melee fighter, he quickly ranks up Dexterity, Strength and Constitution to maximum. He ends up dealing crapload of damage, while running around like a madman and having 300 HP.
Walking the Earth: This guy has been drinking in every single bar in Arcanum. Although he can't tell much about the towns around them...

Jayna Stiles

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jayna.png

A young fledgling herbalist that lives in Dernholm. She is struggling to try and help the Dying Town, but feels she is too inexperienced to be of any use. If the player has a high enough technological aptitude, they can offer to let her join so that she can learn what she needs to to be of help.

Badass Bookworm: She's perfectly capable of standing her ground in combat, while in the same time being a highly-trained physician.
Combat Medic: A tech-based version compared to the magickal healers, though she takes a while to get good at combat.
Half-Human Hybrid: She's a half-elf. Not that it's rare in this world, but almost all of your followers are pureblood.
Healing Herb: Her build focus first and foremost on improving both Herbology discipline and Healing skill.
Healer Signs On Early: Playing a technologist and can't benefit from Virgil's healing spells? You can travel to Durnholme as soon as you've finished business in Shrouded Hills and recruit Jayna instead.
The Medic: The only technological one from all followers, as she learns both Healing skill and Herbology discpiline.
Playing with Syringes: A heroic example once she starts indulging in Theurapeutics.
Science Hero: She dedicated her life to study of medicine to improve the life of people around her.
Square Race, Round Class: Downplayed: as a half-elf, she has natural affinity to magick but still takes interest in technology. Also justified: her parents succumbed to the plague because magickal cures were ineffective, and she decided to become a tech-doctor.
Squee: Try talking to her about the area while in Tarant.
Sweet Tooth: She likes sweet cakes. To the point you can increase her reaction by just giving her some.

Magnus Shale Fist

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magnus_0.png

Voiced by: Julian West

A (relatively) young dwarf from Caladon, bent on finding his lost clan. His quest leads him to one particular jewelry trader, where player can meet him and get him join.

Awesome Moment of Crowning: His lost clan turns out to be the legendary Iron Clan. He restores it and is proclaimed chief. And later, if Loghaire doesn't return, even the king of all dwarves.
Berserk Button:
- "NEVER ask a Dwarf the name of his Clan!" Because he doesn't actually know what it is. Shalefist is apparently just his last name (Schulefest) made to sound dwarfy.
- Also, if you want to keep good relations with him, don't take his bracelet or his Almanac.
- Necromancy also becomes one for him, when he discovers the Schuylers have defiled a dwarven tomb and are using dwarf zombies to carry out manual labour. Because of this, he's unwilling to be in the same party as Torian Kell unless the Living One has persuasion mastery.
The Blacksmith: He learns Smithy discipline and he can craft some (rather useful) weapons and gear for you.
But I Read a Book About It: Magnus tries to behave as "true" dwarves do... well, at least as "Roan's Almanac of All Things Dwarven", which was written by a human, says they do.
Disappointing Heritage Reveal: He's a city dwarf born and bred and is secretly ashamed of this (his real name is Malcolm Schulefest), as he really wants to live up to the Our Dwarves Are All the Same ideal (live under a mountain, be good at mining, etc.). He can be taken along an early quest involving a dwarf clan and is severely disappointed, since the dwarves in question are hideously mutated, but keeps going and he eventually finds out he's related to a legendary lost dwarf clan.
Do Not Call Me "Paul": There are hints that Magnus' real name is Malcolm Schulefest, but he will rather cut his beard than admit it.
Gadgeteer Genius: Can build devices from the mechanical college.
The Good King: If he finds the Iron Clan, he will restore and become the king of the restored clan. If Loghaire doesn't return, he will become the king of Dwarves, and his rule will be known as the Golden Age.
Have I Mentioned I Am a Dwarf Today?: He is very boastful about his Dwarven origin, mostly because he's overcompensating due to not knowing anything about his roots.
Hero of Another Story: When you first meet him, he is on his own quest much like your own. Because your searches happened to lead you to the same place, you decide to join up together.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is arrogant to a comical extent, but he sincerely wants to discover his roots and is otherwise kind-hearted.
Meaningful Name: His "clan name" is demonstrative of his own ignorance in the Dwarven culture. The Dwarven philosophy rests on the principles of "Stone" and "Shape." Under that philosophy, Shale and Fist are incompatible (you wouldn't want your fists to be made out of shale, compared to other rocks/minerals).
Orphan's Plot Trinket: His dwarven gauntlets, which is the only thing that was left to Magnus from his ancestral clan.

Gar

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gar.png

Voiced by: Jim Ward

"The world's smartest orc", who lives in a museum in Tarant, amusing people with his kindergarten-level intelligence.

Arbitrary Equipment Restriction: He can't wear any other armour than barbarian one. It's hand-waved in-story, as he wants to keep the masquerade going to save any further disgrace to his family. After all, he's an orc, but managing his gear can be a hassle.
Artifact Alias: Even though his real name is Garfield Thelonius Remmington III, and tricking him into revealing this is a necessary stage of recruiting him, the Living One continues to call him "Gar" for the rest of the game.
Blessed with Suck: Has orcish strength and vitality, but also the appearance, in a world where Fantastic Racism flourishes.
Cultured Badass: He comes from a high class family and received all the proper education any wealthy gentleman could get.
Fantastic Racism: He shows nothing but disdain for orcs despite posing as one, believing them to be a race of savages and criminals who deserve their lot in life.
Genius Bruiser: By orcish standards. And still above-average by human standards.
Hiding Your Heritage: He deliberately plays up the lie that he's a full-blooded orc rather than a human to protect his family from prejudice, and because the freak-show act he puts on needs people to believe he's an orc to be convincing.
Hulk Speak: Until you goad him into blowing his cover... or are just dumb enough that he doesn't bother to pretend.
Human All Along: Despite that he is completely indistinguishable from an orc, he is a full-blooded human.
Indentured Servitude: Considers himself an indentured servant of Parnell, who saved his family from poverty in exchange for having Gar work as an "exhibit" in his museum.
Interface Spoiler: Moving the cursor over him reveals the crossed pistols icon of a human character in the status window.
Living Museum Exhibit: He works as a "freak-show" exhibit in Parnell's museum of oddities when the Living One first meets him.
Noble Bigot: He is very bigoted against actual orcs. Considering his appearance, it is not hard to see why.
Obfuscating Stupidity: The entire act of the "smartest orc" is based on the fact he's in fact a quite intelligent human with a looks of an orc.
People Zoo: Gar essentialy acts as a living orcish exhibit, which isn't considered very disturbing by the prejudiced Tarantian society. However, exhibition of a sentient human, as the Living One points out to Parnell, would make a great newspaper story.
Quintessential British Gentleman: Loves tea, has a somewhat stiffish attitude and coming from a wealthy family, even though he has absolutely inappropriate looks for a nobleman.
Serious Business: He will take it almost as a personal insult if you suggest that green tea is better than black tea. He won't even spare eloquent phrases in attempts to prove you otherwise, blowing his cover as a stupid orc.

Dante

A former head of Cumbrian church, now an exile drinking at Blackroot's tavern after an argument with King Praetor. Despite this, he's still fiercely loyal to the country and the king and seeks the way to regain the latter's favor. He will join if you are on the quest to collect taxes from Blackroot.

Arbitrary Headcount Limit: Subverted. Like Jormund, he'll join you regardless of current amount of your followers due to a bug in his dialog script.
Badass Preacher: Not just some low-ranking preacher, but the head of a church.
Blow You Away: Besides the White Necromancy, he specializes in the Air school.
Chaste Hero: One of the interpretations why he's one of few characters not affected by Beauty score.
Combat Medic: Just like Virgil, but Dante is much more competent in the combat part.
Drowning My Sorrows: He's busy getting drunk when you meet him for the first time, trying to get over being banished from Dernholm.
Fantastic Racism: Hates orcs and will make a satisfied remark each time an orc is killed.
Healing Hands: Knows White Necromancy and it's the first magic school he masters.
Magic Knight: Knows few schools of magic and is a very apt melee fighter.
My Country, Right or Wrong: He's still loyal to Cumbria. Even if he's not welcomed there anymore.
Not Distracted by the Sexy: Dante is one of few sentient characters in the game who is not affected by Beauty score.
Patriot in Exile: Dante remains loyal to King Praetor and the nation of Cumbria despite having fallen out with the king and being exiled to the city of Blackroot (which is trying to sever ties from Cumbria and join the Unified Kingdom). He will join your party if you accept a quest to collect taxes that Blackroot owes to King Praetor, which allows him to earn his way back into Praetor's favor and return home.
Simple, yet Awesome: Dante is a highly competent melee fighter (eventually reaching 20 Strength for that sweet, sweet damage bonus), while also proficient user of three magic schools: White Necromancy for all sort of healing and Force and Air with mid-tier combat spells. On top of that, he doesn't take a follower slot^note. All while being an easily missable old guy in a bar.
Shock and Awe: He's programmed to extensively use lighting bolt spell.
Shout-Out: Along with Virgil, to The Divine Comedy.

Dog (Worthless Mutt)

Dog

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dog_2.png

A literal dog who gets in trouble after stealing someone's dinner in Ashbury. Despite his name, he is definitely worth saving as he is one of the best fighters in a game.

Arbitrary Headcount Limit: Unlike Dante or Jormund, who are simply bugged, the dog was always intended as not counting to the party limit to further emphasis his loyalty to player's character.
Character Tic: Every now and then, he'll lower his head and howl into the ground for no evident reason.
Charles Atlas Superpower: Dog can tear wooden chests, metal doors, stone golems and fire elementals to pieces in couple of bites. To put this in perspective, he outdamages a human character wielding an electric sword with a strength of 20 (maximum for humans) before he becomes a melee master.
Crippling Overspecialization: Mutt bites things to death. Very well. But that's it. No magic, no technology, no support skills, no ranged attack, no dialogue, no associated quest, no item use, no inventory.
Cutscene Incompetence: When you first see this lightning fast killing machine, he has been kicked unconscious by a weak civilian with absolutely no combat skills. He was evidently very hungry, but if anything that should have made him more determined unless he was near-death.
Disproportionate Retribution: Ends up on the receiving end of this, nearly being beaten to death for stealing someone's steak and knocking down a bottle of wine, which when put together cost less than two dozen bullets in the game. The Living One can lampshade this while compensating for the ruined dinner, or repay it in kind by murdering the assailant, although a single vague threat is enough to scare him away.
A Dog Named "Dog": Literally so.
Epic Fail: Due to game mechanics, Dog critically failing an attack results in him biting his own head off.
Glass Cannon: At low levels, occasionally leading to the Epic Fail described above. Even at high levels, his passive defense and health pool aren't particularly impressive, though he compensates with high Dodge skill.
Good Counterpart: The dog is visually identical to the most vicious canine enemies in the game, Brute Fangs.
Heroic Dog: The most trusting companion capable of defending his master or mistress from all sorts of dangers. He also happens to be a dog.
Lightning Bruiser: Eventually, like all melee-dedicated followers, Dog will hit the cap in Strength, Dexterity, Dodge and Melee. The first two provide sizable boosts to health, damage and speed, which add up to Dog's already fast and powerful bite, and the latter two ensure that Dog will give out way more hits than receive. He will also become a Master of Melee, which removes the chance of critical attack failure so he will no longer spontaneously self-destruct on a bad RNG.
Non-Human Sidekick: His prowess actually comes from this. Since he isn't human, his "natural weapon" is much faster and more damaging than fists, and he's got no ways to invest skillpoints beside stats and fighting, meaning he gets to max STR and DEX (huge damage and action point bonuses) very quickly, becoming a real terror.
Not the Intended Use: His bite is an universal key to any door or crate, especially if you have Virgil around to cast minor heal spell once the Dog is done with biting the thing down.
"Open!" Says Me: In addition to fighting, Dog can also be used as an walking impromptu lock-pick by siccing him onto a door or a container, then watching him rip it open. He receives damage when biting anything hard or hot, just as other characters' fists and most of the weapons do; however, Dog deals much more damage than fists and is much easier to heal than fixing wrecked weapons.
Permanently Missable Content: Should you fail to rescue Dog in time during your first visit to Ashbury, he'll be simply beaten to death and that's it. Since in Arcanum, death is (relatively) cheap, it's possible to revive him afterwards via magic or technology as long as the body is present, but he will no longer join. In fact, it's rather easy to lose him on the first playthrough, since the beating only takes a couple of minutes and takes place well off the town's center, so unless you're using a guide or making a bee line from the train station to the wharf, you're really unlikely to happen upon him until it's too late.
Recruitment by Rescue: You find Dog unconscious and being kicked by a gnome, who will eventually kill the animal if you don't intervene. Once the gnome is paid or scared off, Dog automatically joins the party with no prompt.
Shout-Out:
- He's probably another shout-out to the Fallout series, which has a habit of including killer canine companions.
- Interestingly enough, the appearance of the Dog in the game was based on the dog from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (compare with the portrait above◊), which, in its turn, was the inspiration of Fallout's Dogmeat.
Taught by Experience: Fighting with his teeth is literally all Dog does in the game, and as he levels up, he also gains Melee training, all the way up to Master level, entirely on his own - unlike both the protagonist, who has to find a specific trainer for any level of any skill and either pay them or complete a quest for them (and sometimes, both) in exchange for training, and the other followers who either come pre-trained to a set level or can be trained by a protagonist with a very specific background.
Undying Loyalty: He won't leave or attack even if he hates you - he's a dog, after all. Although, if he hates you and you tell him to wait, you'll be unable to get him back - he'll just growl at you then.

Geoffrey Tarellond-Ashe

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/geoffrey.png

Voiced by: Richard Tatum

A necromancer who has travelled to Ashbury in order to study the large number of zombies that have begun rising in the cemetery. He will hire the PC to investigate the mausoleums to determine what is animating the zombies, and can be convinced to become a party member if the PC is evil or persuasive enough.

Aristocrats Are Evil: Geoffrey is a scion of a rich aristocratic family who decided to commit himself to the dark arts of the Black Necromancy for the fun and thrill of it.
Bad Powers, Bad People: He is the only follower who practises the Black Necromancy, and he is also evil-aligned.
Deadpan Snarker: He’s an evil aligned British talking fellow, so this is a given. Snarking back at him is a good way of gaining reputation with him during your introduction.
Even Evil Has Standards: He will turn on you, should you side with Kerghan.
Evil Brit: He's got the accent, but he sounds more snobby than outright evil.
Evil Versus Oblivion: Even though Geoffrey agrees with Kerghan's point of view, he turns on him and will attack you if join him, simply because there isn't much fun if any living thing ceases to exist.
It Amused Me: He commits evil deeds and acts like a complete jerk solely for his amusement.
Jerkass: He really enjoys acting smugly at any given chance.
Large Ham: His voice actor apparently had a lot of fun with all the lines.
Mutually Exclusive Party Members: With Perriman Smythe, who absolutely hates necomancers for both personal and philosophical reasons. Which prompts Geoffrey to boast his profession right in Smythe's face.
Necromancer: Not only he knows Black Necromancy, but shows a great interest in all the weird things going in Ashbury's cementary and the possible cause of it.
Playing with Fire: Aside of necromancy, he is also apt fire mage.
Pragmatic Villainy: Even though he agrees with Kerghan, he rejects to join his side, since it's hard to have fun with tormenting of (non-)living creatures in the world without any life.
Sarcastic Devotee: Once he is in your team, expect him to make at least one sardonic remark at your expense in most of your interactions with him.
Geoffrey: [when asked what he knows about the place when on Thanatos] This? Oh, it's only the Isle of Thanatos. Monster Island, I think they call it. Can't say as I'm extremely happy to be here, considering that's more than likely the most dangerous place in all of Arcanum. Have I thanked you for the wonderful holiday, my friend?
Shock and Awe: Geoffrey studies the Force school of magick along with Black Necromancy and Fire.
Wine Is Classy: Geoffrey is an aristocratic snob who enjoys Chateau de Be'ron Brandy and a bottle of it can be used to improve his attitude if he starts to dislike you.

Vollinger

A mysterious gnome in Dernholm, who shows suspicously high interest in the protagonist if the latter reveals himself as the survivor of Zephyr crash. He offers his service as the companion, refusing to explain his motivation. Whatever his true intentions are, he does seem as a good fighter to add to your party.

Death Glare: His avatar is portrayed this way.
Even Evil Has Standards: As hardened a killer as he is, he'll be deeply shocked and sickened if you take him to Half-Ogre Island. Makes sense, as the Molochean Hand rebelled when they learned of Derian-Ka's necromantic experiments, while what was going on the island is much, much worse.
The Gunslinger: He is the one of the best gunslinger companions in game. Though he knows melee too.
Interface Spoiler: Even if you don't know why exactly he is willing to join you, his evil alignment can suggest that his intentions aren't good.
The Mole: For the Molochean Hand. Eventually he will try to assassinate you if the player doesn't become friendly with Molochean Hand and reveals The Conspiracy.
Professional Killer: He's a Molochean Hand member sent to get the Chosen One killed.
Science Hero: He knows gunsmithing and chemistry.
Stealth Expert: Eventually becomes very skilled in Stealth.

Chukka

The personal bodyguard of Gilbert Bates. Bates can allow you to take him as your companion before departure to the Isle of Despair, but Chukka would agree to join you if you have 12 or more Charisma.

Badass in a Nice Suit: Wears the only ogre-sized smoking jacket found in the game.
Battle Butler: To Bates, who saved his life once ago. Bates may lend him to you as you set off to investigate the Isle of Despair.
The Big Guy: Alongside with Sogg and the Dog, Chukka, due to his mastery in melee and natural Ogre strength, is one of the strongest fighters you can get in your party.
Genius Bruiser: By Ogre standards. He has 6 Intelligence while the standard for Half Ogres is 4. This doesn't show so this is a case of Informed Attribute.
Good Is Not Nice: Chukka is good-aligned, but he is very distrustful to the PC and joins you only in the case if you have enough Charisma.
Hulk Speak: Despite having enough intelligence (6, namely) to allow fluent speech. This also contrasts with Sogg Mead Mug, who, despite having only 3 Int and being drunk most of the time, is quite eloquent.
I Owe You My Life: Chukka serves as the Bates's bodyguard after the latter saved his life.
Lightning Bruiser: In the same way as aforementioned Sogg, though even stronger.
Our Ogres Are Different: He is noticeable for being one of the few full-blooded ogres you can actually meet in game.
Super-Strength: Levels up to 26 ST, while the maximum for playable half-ogre characters is 24.
Undying Loyalty: Will turn on you if you try to harm Bates.

Jormund

A dwarf who, unlike his kin, wants to study magic. He went to Qintarra, but no elf wanted him as apprentice, until Wrath, a local jerk, agreed to teach him in exchange for life-long servitude. Decades later, Jormund became fed up with the elves and Wrath in particular but still couldn't leave due to his contract. Good news: Wrath has been conveniently murdered. Bad news: Jormund is now accused in his murder.

Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: Why he was a primary suspect. There's still a reason why elves do not kill other elves, though.
Arbitrary Headcount Limit: Subverted. Like Dante, he'll join you regardless of current amount of your followers due to a bug in his dialog script.
Awesome, but Impractical: He masters some of the most powerful Magick schools in the game (Fire and Force), but his race penalty of double fatigue cost for every spell makes him much less useful in combat than he potentially could have been.
Clear Their Name: What you do for him.
Idiot Ball: Signing a life-long contract with someone who can easily outlive you by several centuries doesn't seem a good idea...
Inept Mage: Played with. He's actually quite competent, fully knowing Force and Fire (yes, he even knows the Disintegrate spell). But he's a dwarf, meaning each his spell has double mana cost ^note. He does occasionally smite his foes with fireballs or lightning bolts, but more often he turns into a Fire Elemental (the single most mana-draining spell) and drops unconscious in half a minute.
Magic Staff: The Staff of Xoranth, not very powerful, but the fastest weapon in the game, and has a huge accuracy bonus.
Our Dwarves Are All the Same: He averts it by being a dwarven mage.
Playing with Fire: An apt fire mage.
Shock and Awe: His speciality.
Square Race, Round Class: He's dwarven mage and really competent at that. Sadly, he still operates under the standard penalty all dwarves have, making his spells cost double, and it's not uncommon for him to cast a spell that immediately dissipates because he fainted on casting.
Wreathed in Flames: His preferred tactic.

Torian Kel

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/torian.png

Voiced by: Mark Klastorin

An ancient warrior from Kree, who lived somewhen at the Age of Legends, but was raised from the dead a millenium later as part of Derian-Ka's Gray Legions to fight the Molochean Hand who rebelled against the order after learning about the horrible deeds of Kerghan, its founder. After their defeat, Torian was among a few surviving Legionaires who returned to the temple of Derian-Ka. They stayed there for centuries, and eventually their flesh rotted away, reducing them to crumpling skeletons and later to dust...

Affably Evil: Very polite for an evil aligned companion. Justified because you save him from a terrible fate.
Ancestral Weapon: His "Ancestral Sword." Sadly, it is now in the hands of Bane of Kree, beyond the Point of No Return.
The Ageless: He's undead and considers things that happened thousands of years ago as if they took place last month.
And I Must Scream: Torian himself was lucky enough to escape this fate, but his fellow Legionaries whose bodies decayed to dust weren't.
Back from the Dead: Not exactly from death, but due to the passage of time his physical body turned into a dust and requires dragon blood to restore it.
Berserk Button: His skeleton will attack you if you enter his chamber equipped with a Molochean Hand Medallion.
Dem Bones: When he's found, he's half-pulverised skeleton.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Torian has strong feelings for his homeland, Kree, and his fallen brothers-in-arms.
Evil Sounds Deep: Has a really deep voice.
Fish out of Temporal Water: Twice. He was raised as Gray Legionaire a millennium after his death; the PC restores him again after another millennium slides by.
Mangst: He is very emotional when he sees the ruins of his homeland, Kree.
Mutually Exclusive Party Members:
- With Bane of Kree, to the point that Torian attacks him on sight, since Bane destroyed his homeland and stole his sword.
- With Magnus, since the dwarf has a particulary hard relationship with the undead. However, if you are the Master of Persuasion and have 20 charisma, you can have two of them in the party without much trouble.
The Undead: As part of the old necromancy experiment, he and his men were granted "eternal life". Well, sort of...
Undying Loyalty: Not to the Living One, but to the cause of Derian-Ka, who revered Kerghan as their forefather. No matter how persuasive you are, Torian will always side with Kerghan in the final battle and will turn on the PC if they refuse to join him as well.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: At the end of the game, he will join Kerghan regardless of PC's choice, as only Kerghan can "free" his undead friends.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: After his resurrection he's on a hopeless quest trying to find a way to release his trapped friends. But what makes him a Destroyer of Worlds? Besides being evil-aligned, he's willing to side with Kerghan's quest in exterminating all life so said friends can be released, making him a literal example of this trope.

Waromon

A Bedokaan recruited when dealing with poachers stationed nearby his village. It takes a considerable effort to first persuade the chief of his tribe not all "warm-bloods" are the same greedy bastards killing and skinning Bedokaans for pelts and then there is Waramon himself. Being a cold-blooded lizard who spent his entire life as a hunter in wilderness, he can at times provide a really unique insight on world around him, especially after leaving his native forest. He's also a great fighter, picked by the chief precisely because of his combat prowess.

Arbitrary Equipment Restriction: Averted. Bedokaan biology and stature is considerably different from other humanoid races of Arcanum, to the point it justifies why he can't wear armour, but hats are fine.
Badass Native: Not counting the dog, he's by far the best combat-oriented follower in the game, with self-earned Mastery in Melee and really good statistics. He also becomes an expert archer, making him very flexible.
Good Pays Better: He can be only recruited after stopping a feud between elves and Bedokaans and finding the real culprits. If player decides to just save the elf held captive by the lizards, chances are Waramon will end up killed in the process.
Lizard Folk: Bedokaans are Arcanum's variation of those.
No-Sell: His bare skin has better Armor Class than certain high-end armours.
Not Distracted by the Sexy: Justified. He's a member of different biological class than every other race presented in the game. Beauty score doesn't affect him.
The Savage Indian: He starts as one and the entire point of his recruitment is to show his tribe they can coexist with outside world.

Perriman Smythe

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/perriman.png

A graduate of Tulla, powerful mage and friend of Edward Willoughsby, he can be met near the latter's house after the party visits Qintarra. He's fascinated by your journey and will join if asked.

Berserk Button: Perriman is strongly prejudiced against Black Necromancy and will not tolerate being in one party with Geoffrey. The fact that Geoffrey finds being necromancer fun only makes it harder. Compared to other incompatible characters (Raven and Z'an Alurin, Magnus and Torian Kel), you can't have these two together even if you are the master of Persuasion and have 20 charisma.
Destructive Savior: A recent background event that got into newspapers involved Smythe and Willoughsby being attacked while riding the train. With his powers, Perriman beat the attackers but derailed the train in the process with his magic field alone. Thankfully, no one got killed.
In the Hood: Depicted like this on his portrait and, of course, starts wearing wizardry robe.
Light 'em Up: The school of Phantasm is one of his specialities.
Master of Illusion: Apt illusionist.
The Medic: Comes with White Necromancy and regular Medic skills.
Nice Guy: He's one of few NPCs who will join a dumb player. And he won't snark or get angry about it, ever.
Playing with Fire: One of his specialities. Keep you distance from his fire balls.
Secret-Keeper: He knows the location of Tulla, but he won't tell you unless it becomes necessary as the plot demands.
Walking Techbane: Being a powerful mage, Perriman isn't welcomed in the technologist places, specifically in the train stations. Considering that his use of magic led to the rail accident when he tried to defend himself from attackers, it's understandable.
Wizarding School: Graduated from Tulla, a sort of Wizarding Oxford. No, he won't tell you where it is located until you come there yourself, that's the rules.

Weldo Rubin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/weldo.png

A halfling adventurer whom you meet near the entrance to Vendigrothian Wastes. He has a full thief skillset but unfortunately is too low-level to be of any use at this point of the game.

Adventurer Archaeologist: More of a tomb raider than archeologist, but still has at least some education in this field.
Collector of the Strange: Asks you to bring him an old Vendigrothian mechanism from the ruins in the desert.
Crutch Character: Should the player decide to infiltrate Vendigroth ruins the sneaky way but lack the skills for it.
Gentleman Thief: Highly-educated, high-class halfling, who also happens to be a well-trained thief and a really jolly fellow.
Master of Unlocking: Starts with pretty high Locksmithy.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: If you comment on the fact that most halflings enjoy the comforts of home and how rare it is to see one living a life of adventure, he'll respond that he finds most halflings stuffy and boring.
Overrated and Underleveled: Not only you meet him late in the game after probably hitting Arbitrary Headcount Limit, he's only level 25 and his skills are not something extraordinary. The fact that he doesn't even raise his stats after level-ups doesn't help.

Z'an Al'urin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zan.png

Voiced by: Philece Sampler

An Elven woman who, despite being a Dark Elf, is prone to question the philosophy and the path of Dark Elves. She joins an evil or Master of Persuasion Living One to search for the new way of life for Dark Elves all around the world. She is also a powerful mage and a seer, and will tell about visions she has in every city if asked.

Affably Evil: She isn't that evil, if at all, but she's sweet and soft spoken as long as you have high enough reputation with her.
Ambiguously Evil: She has evil alignment, and doesn't even join the good player if he isn't the Master of Persuasion, but it isn't clear why she is evil, except her being a Dark Elf. If something, she tries to help her people to abandon the ways of elven supremacy and blind worship of Arronax.
Broken Pedestal: To Arronax. She, like any Dark Elf, used to worship Arronax and had no doubts about the natural advantage of Elves over other races, but at some point became disillusioned with his teaching and the Dark Elf philosophy in general. Becomes a Rebuilt Pedestal once she meets Arronax in person, sees that he has changed for the better, and learns that the one to continue corrupting the Dark Elves was in reality Kerghan posing as Arronax.
Dark Is Not Evil: She is anything but evil at this point. While once she believed strongly in dark elves and their philosophy, she is now disillusioned with all of it, but still retains all her training and skills.
Dishing Out Dirt: Apt earth mage.
Enraged by Idiocy: She becomes physically repulsed if a dumb character attempts to start a dialogue with her.
Heel–Face Turn: Though only technically, as she really isn't as evil as her character sheet can tell. She must have had it before meeting the PC and not atoned enough yet. After all, an evil aligned Living One can go good with enough effort.
Minion with an F in Evil: She long lost any interest in supporting the cause of dark elves, but is still within their ranks.
Mutually Exclusive Party Members: With Raven. It takes Master of Persuasion (earned for successfully conducting diplomatic mission between two kingdoms) to make the ladies stop hissing at each other.
Mystical Waif: She's a quite powerful seer and can help with minor quests by giving clues if asked.
Only Sane Woman: Of the Dark Elves. Being a seer, she's on to that there's something wrong with their philosophy and reverence of Arronax. In the end-game, you learn that Arronax has been imprisoned for 2000 years, has denounced his supremacist views and that Kerghan has been impersonating him and manipulated the Dark Elves into doing his bidding.
Shut Up, Kirk!: If you bring her to Loghaire, he'll try to blame her on everything done by Dark Elves. She'll retaliate by reminding him that Lorec was of the same clan as himself, and it's not race or clan that makes a person evil.
Time Master: The only follower with temporal magic in her sleeve.
Waif Prophet: Has a minor insight in the future, which is part of being increasingly weary of dark elves - she knows their efforts are and will be futile.

Sebastian

A mysterious man, perhaps a mercenary, who is sent by Willoughsby to "clean" the Boil, the criminal part of Tarant (this means "to kill leaders of both main gangs"). He will appreciate any help and joins you if you manage to remove one of the leaders.

Badass Bookworm: He has an engineering degree, while being perfectly capable of fending his own in a fight and blowing his opponents to pieces.
Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: Inverted. He's a demolition expert hired to put order in the Boil. And by "order" it means getting both criminal families wiped out.
Gadgeteer Genius: Can build devices from the electrical and explosives college.
Goggles Do Nothing: They only exist on his portret.
Master of Unlocking: Eventually comes with high enough Locksmithy skills.
Professional Killer: Hired to kill leaders of The Boil's gangs.
Science Hero: Expert of explosives and electrics, capable of making bombs out of random scraps and pieces.
Stealth Expert: Eventually he becomes skilled in Stealth.
Throw Down the Bomblet: Well, he knows how to make bombs and how to throw them.

Tollo Underhill

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tollo.png

A halfling imprisoned in the Dernholm Pits.

Author Avatar: His appearance based on Tim Cain, the project leader of the Arcanum development team.
Evil Counterpart: He can be seen as this to Weldo Rubin, both are halfling adventurers who traveled extensively in Vendigroth Wastes, but while Rubin is Gentleman Thief, Underhill is The Sociopath thief who was on payroll of Dark Elves and imprisoned in Derholm Pits for being too violent.
Hellhole Prison: In order to recruit him, you have to bust him out from one of these.
Late Character Syndrome: Tollo Underhill is one of the few companions with Thievery skills, but if you don't rush to his location early in spite of game progress, you'll obtain him only very late in game, right before the Final Battle, where his skills don't have any use.
Psycho for Hire: He's a career thief and killer.
Thieves' Guild: He's a member of the Thieves Underground.

Raven

Voiced by: Tasia Valenza

The princess of Qintarra, who helps you uncover the Dark Elves' plot and later joins your group.

Clever Crows: Her name emphaises her wisdom well, as well her deep understanding of magic, Elven culture and her ability to interept her mother's vision.
Combat Medic: She's adapt in White Necromancy and will heal during fights.
Clingy Jealous Girl: If she learns that M'in Gorad is a woman, she'll be a little surprised. But if she learns this when she fell in love with the PC, she'll become very worried.
Death of a Thousand Cuts: Her "perfect" set of gear deals pitfully small damage for that part of the game... but the sheer volume of fire makes the low damage of single attack completely moot.
Love Interest: She can have a romance with the Living One if he or she is a human, elf or half-elf with beauty 10 or above.
Mage Marksman: Prefers bows over melee weapons, and learns spells from the Water and White Necromancy colleges of magic.
Making a Splash: With water magic.
Mayfly–December Romance: Both with Renford A. Terwillinger and with any (non-elven) PC.
Mutually Exclusive Party Members: With Z'an Al'urin. It takes Master of Persuasion (earned for successfully conducting diplomatic mission between two kingdoms) to make the ladies stop hissing at each other.
Princesses Rule: Justified as her mother retired due to her incredible age, preparing to Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence and becoming kind of an oracle. It is Raven who now attends to the administrative and ceremonial matters that would usually be the Queen's job.
Rain of Arrows: Just give her a certain magic bow and certain magic gloves and boots, and she will fire 60 arrows per turn (or 15-20 per second). Finding enough arrows for her starts to become the limiting factor.
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Her portrait depicts her with pale skin and black hair. Fitting considering her name.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: When you first meet her, she is busy with some administrative work. She joins the party after learning that the fate of the world is at stake.
Squishy Wizard: At least on lower levels, she has a lot more power than endurance.
Warrior Princess: She's the heiress of Quintarra and queen-to-be for all free elves, while being also embarking on the quest to prevent the end of her world.

Franklin Payne

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/franklin.png

Voiced by: Michael Gough

A world-wide known adventurer, explorer and hunter, who always seeks for some trouble and will follow you gladly to the island of Thanatos — just to shoot a hundred more of a lethally dangerous beasts.

Adventurer Archaeologist: He's Allan Quatermain of the setting.
Badass Normal: Your other followers are either Gadgeteer Geniuses, powerful mages or non-human Lightning Bruisers. Payne is just a man with a gun.
Berserk Button: Ol' boy Franklin is a very friendly and good-natured person. But if you have the audacity to doubt in the reality of his adventure tales...
BFG: His trusty "Old Mary"
Cultured Badass: A gentleman who also happens to be an adventurer, well-known hunter and author of countless books about his (real) adventures.
Famed In-Story: The tales of Franklin Payne are very known in the Unified Kingdom and even beyond. You will likely hear a few of them before you actually meet Mr. Payne in person.
Great White Hunter: The reason why he joins your quest to stop an evil sorcerer from causing The End of the World as We Know It? You are going to visit Thanatos island, and he always wanted to hunt there.
I Call It "Vera": His elephant gun is named "Old Mary".
Large Ham: He's well-aware of his status in the verse as famous hero and explorer.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: His portrait is based on appearance of Daniel Day-Lewis as Cecil Vyse◊ in the 1985 movie adaptation of A Room with a View.
Master of None: He has one point invested in each of the technological disciplines, allowing him to craft several basic items, but making him less useful than the other technologist followers who each specialise in two disciplines.
Quintessential British Gentleman: So much so that the official strategy guide claims: "Franklin Payne is British. Never mind that there is no Britain in Arcanum, they don’t need it because they’ve got the whole empire condensed into one man."
Weak, but Skilled: Though game describes him as quite a physically powerful man, gameplay-wise he is too weak to use his BFG properly... but then he proves surprisingly effective with it.

Loghaire Thunderstone

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/loghaire.png

Voiced by: Barry Dennen

The King of all dwarves, who was forced to sentence the entire clan to banishment under the threat of a world war between dwarves and elves (whose woods are now being destroyed with dwarven technology, which was given to human by said clan). Soon after he begun to suspect that he was deceived and felt himself a traitor. The guilt finally broke him and drove him to exile.

The Atoner: Realized too late that, as the king of the dwarwes, he should have defended the honor of the Black Mountain Clan. This made him believe he betrayed his Stone (i.e. his very essence) and drove him into exile. After being convinced by Living One that it was rather a Shape conflict (a repairable mistake) and told to "bear his own Stone", he returned to king's duties and later embarked on the rescue mission to save the banished clan.
Badass Boast: If you act insulting upon meeting him for the first time in the Dredge, he will respond with a quite impressive threat:
Loghaire: YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME? I'VE SPILLED OCEANS OF BLOOD WITH THIS AXE. THE BODIES OF THE FALLEN WOULD MAKE A MOUNTAIN TO HIDE THE SUN. AND YOU DARE...?
The Exile: Sent himself into Exile as atonement for banishing the Black Mountain Clan. However, his chosen exiled spot is right under the throne, and he continues to help his son without others knowing.
The Fettered: Strongly adheres to his duty as the king of the dwarves, as evidenced by his willigness to take the full burden of responsibility for what he perceives was the betrayal of the Black Mountain Clan.
Full-Frontal Assault: Loghaire doesn't wear any clothes while in the Dredge. He is still a very capable melee fighter.
Genius Bruiser: One of the largest and strongest dwarves; an excellent fighter; wise, eloquent and experienced.
The Good King: He was one and depending on how you play the events of the game, he might return - or utterly fail - as such again.
Guide Dang It!: Recruiting him is tricky without a guide, notably because you only get one chance to do most of the steps. First you have to talk to Randver to learn the basics of Dwarvern philosophy. Next when you talk to Loghaire as part of the main quest you have to use this to convince him that sending himself into exile violates this. Finally you have to come back and talk to him after discovering the truth about the Black Mountain Clan at which point he will offer to join your party.
Large and in Charge: His in-game sprite is noticeably bigger than those of other dwarves.
Lightning Bruiser: Combines high Strenght, Dexterity and Constitution with equally high melee and dodge skills.
Long-Lived: He's a dwarf and an old one; 598, venerable even by the standards of a race with an average lifespan of 600. In fact, he's old enough to personally remember the last dwarven civil war. And in the ending where he retakes the throne, he lives exceptionally long even by Dwarven standards, reaching an age of 800 before passing away.
Old Soldier: He was around during the time of the last dwarven civil war and is still a mighty foe on the battlefield.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: He is one of the best melee characters in the game and also happens to be the dwarven king.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: As the king of the dwarves (one of the world powers), he considers himself responsible for each and every dwarf, the dwarves as a whole, and Arcanum itself.
Sadistic Choice: He was presented with one which turns out to be pivotal to the events of the game: Should he strip the BMC of their honor by allowing the elves to punish them for allowing technology to spread amongst humans, or antagonize the elves and risk plunging Arcanum into a war it might never recover from? He chose the former, and exiled himself from the dwarves to ponder his shame.
Self-Punishment Over Failure: When the player character first meets him, he's living in a self-imposed exile to the Dredge for violating dwarven philosophy and the honor of one of his clans.
Shoot the Dog: He was forced to commit what he sees as an unforgivable crime against dwarf-kind in order to resolve the Sadistic Choice described above.
War Is Hell: He knows that better than anyone, having lived through the dwarven civil war.
Warrior Poet: You need to know the Dwarven philosophy behind the Stone and the Shape (which Loghaire is intimately familiar with) to have him join you. Or convince him to return to the throne.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: He exiled himself because he did succumb to this temptation once, trying to protect his people from the horrors of war by sacrificing a single clan.

The Bane of Kree

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/baneofkree.png

A powerful Barbarian warrior who gathered an immense army and rampaged over Arcanum till he was banished.

11th-Hour Ranger: Can join your party if you promise to bring him back to Arcanum (whenever if you lie or not).
Badass Normal: Sure, the Bangellian Scourge is a powerful magical sword, but Bane himself is just a very skilled warrior who fought one-on-one with Nasrudin.
Berserk Button: He wants his Bangellian Scourge back. He will demand it if he sees it in your hands and attack if you refuse. And if you mention you destroyed it, he'll go totally ballistic. If you give it to him, he'll also attack you.
Blood Knight: He is an infamous raider from the past, who find greatest joy in killing, looting and pillaging. It's what get him exiled to the Void.
Evil Weapon: He used the Bangellian Scourge in the past.
I Have Many Names: Bane mentions that he was refered in many cultures by many different names, but the history of Arcanum remembered him only as the Bane of Kree.
Know When to Fold 'Em: Blood Knight or not, he's not going to try to take Kryggird's Falchion from a Master of Melee.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Bane of Kree.
Red Baron: "Bane of Kree" isn't his real name, but it is the name under which he was remembered in the history of Arcanum for the destruction of Kree, one of the most prosperous city of the Age of Legends.
Social Darwinist: He'll openly deride you if you show any sign of weakness.
What the Hell, Hero?: If you return the Bane from the Void, he will grab the Infinity +1 Sword and go on a rampage again. You are the one to blame.

Kraka-tur

Once he was a cowardly man, but one day an ancient scroll containing powerful spell of transformation fell in his hands. The man killed Arcanum's last dragon with a poisoned cow, took his blood and used it with the spell to transform into a monster. He took the name Kraka-tur and "avenged" the world for his fears for ten years, but finally was confronted and banished by the Elven Council.

11th-Hour Ranger: He can be recruited by giving him his eye, giving his journal, or for promise to free him from the Void.
Artificial Hybrid: He was once a human, but mutated himself into a Draconic Humanoid with a magic ritual involving dragon's blood.
Cowardly Lion: He's a Master of Melee and Dodge and yet he is too scared to actually fight the Living One.
Dirty Coward: To say he's skittish is an understatement. Even though his dialogue tree has lines where you can threaten or insult him, you can't provoke him to aggression through talk, simply because he is too afraid to fight the main character.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Using a sample of dragon's blood and magic, he turned from a lowly, craven human into a dreadfull draconid himself.
Large Ham: Loves to boast how powerful and dangerous he is.
Laughably Evil: His boastfulness combined with his cowardice is simply laughable.
Miles Gloriosus: He pretends to be a formidable fighter and dangerous beast, while being a massive coward who prefers to avoid any serious confrontation.
Plucky Comic Relief: His hamminess is just plain funny.
Red Right Hand: He lost one of his eyes. You can get it from priest Hadrian in the Panarii temple in Caladon, who can give it (along with other artefacts) for resolving his quest.
Scaled Up: Turned himself into a mighty draconid.
Scare 'Em Straight: A single threat is enough to deflate him. Moreover, even if you bring him back from the Void he will never cause any harm again.
Third-Person Person: Take a drink when he refers to himself by his name. Take two when he refers to himself as "mighty Kraka-tur" or with any other adjective.

Gorgoth

A mindless bestial demon from the Age of Legends, Gorgoth's sole purpose in life is to feed his insatiable hunger. He was banished by Nasrudin and the Elven Council after dozens of attacks on defenseless villages with the goal of devouring the inhabitants.

11th-Hour Ranger: Can join you if you give him some lizard carcass food. If you can provide him with food every time when he demands it, he can stay in your party for a longer time.
Hulk Speak: He speaks in such a way that makes most ogres look articulate.
I Am a Humanitarian: In his futile attempts of satisfaction of his hunger, Gorgoth doesn't disregard the meat of the sentient races. Specifically, he was banished to the Void after devouring an entire Halfling village.
One-Track-Minded Hunger: His only motivation seems to be attempting to sate his appetite.

SPOILER CHARACTER

Arronax

See Major NPCs.

Temporary Party Members

Cynthia Boggs

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cynthia_9.png

A human woman living on the Isle of Despair who is a descendant of criminals that were imprisoned there many generations ago. After years of being mistreated and abused by her fellow detainees, she asks the player to escort her to a nomadic tribe of women who can hopefully help her lead a better life.

Implied Rape: It isn't outright stated that she's a rape victim, but she breaks down in tears when trying to tell you how she's punished whenever she tries to escape the camp, in a way that suggests rape could be involved.
Real Women Don't Wear Dresses: The female nomads consider her unworthy to join their ranks unless she will fight for freedom herself.
Sins of Our Fathers: She isn't guilty of any crime, but she is still treated as a criminal because she is a daughter of a convicted woman.

Doc Roberts

A respected gunfighting doctor from Shrouded Hills, Doc is the town's actual law, as the official sheriff is a coward.

Badass Bookworm: Experienced both in healing and gunfighting.
Bank Robbery: Hires the protagonist to help him stop one.
Combat Medic: A town's doctor, and a good one, who's ready to take on a gang of robbers with a revolver (and pretty capable of killing all of them by himself). In fact, he can give you an Expert training both in Healing and Firearms. He also mentions having a small collection of trophies from idiots who tried to avoid paying for his services through violence.
The Gunslinger: A very good shooter and he can teach the Living One to be an Expert in Firearms.
No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Doc Roberts' character is based on Wyatt Earp (whose portrait he shares) and Doc Holiday.
The Sheriff: He acts as an unofficial sheriff, since the current constanble is terrible at his job. If Shrouded Hills doesn't become a Dying Town, he will become an official sheriff who keeps order in the town.

Lady Druella

A strikingly beautiful half-elf noblewoman from Dernholm who was engaged with Adkin Chambers. Unfortunately, her beauty attracted the attention of "sir" Garrick Stout, who, out of jealousy, challenged Adkin to a duel for her arm and blinded him. Druella, who watched all this and thought Adkin was killed, fled in despair and terror and managed to run into a lair of creatures preying on human emotions, where she remained since then, put into a trance by the creatures. Stout, however, has a plan to get her back, which he recruits the Living One to carry out.

Damsel in Distress: You do have to rescue her from the monsters' lair and later from Stout.
Happily Ever After: With Adkin in a neat house in Roseborough after you bring him the potion and tell him her whereabouts.
Healing Herb: Interestingly enough, she has a couple of points invested in tech discipline of Herbology, probably in tone with her "Fair Lady" image.
I Surrender, Suckers: Agrees to marry Stout so she can get the cure for Adkin and you can get your Master training which you then put to good use by killing Stout.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Stout knows she will do anything for Adkin, that's why he tries to blackmail her with the eyes-restoring potion. However, now she hates him with a passion and he doesn't realize that "anything" may also mean "arrange for his death as soon as he parts with the potion".
Lady and Knight: the Lady to three Knights, no less. First, sir Garrick, an actual knight, but she wants nothing to do with him. Second, Adkin Chambers, her beloved one. And finally, the Living One themselves, if briefly: while she's in your party, you get the "Companion of a Fair Lady" reputation which comes with bonuses to Beauty and Charisma.
Lotus-Eater Machine: The Gyr-Dolours, small reptilian creatures she ran into, kept her entranced with happy dreams while feeding on her emotions. Downplayed in that she actually knew it was fake but did not want to wake up, thinking Chambers was dead, and actually complains a little after being rescued.
Murder the Hypotenuse: Inverted. Stout attempted one on her fiancee, now she's just returning the favor.
Silk Hiding Steel: While an abysmal fighter, she will participate in any battle you get in while escorting her. An she's not going to be just Stout's prized possession. If you start the "two Masters quest" from Garrick's side, she'll actually ask you to kill Stout after he's no longer useful for the both of you. Otherwise, the idea comes from your character but she's happy to play along.
So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Her good looks attracted the attention of a very dangerous and ruthless stalker who got her fiancee blinded and, as she thought, killed, and nearly forced Druella herself into a marriage.
World's Most Beautiful Woman: Stout refers to her as such. Gameplay-wise, she has 20 Beauty, you can't get more beautiful than that. Her beauty even spreads onto people around her!

Murgo

A half-ogre living and working at Halcyon temple in Vooriden who may help you bring a replacement altar stone from Torin Quarry.

Dumb Muscle: Seems to be strong and dim-witted even by Half-Ogre standards.
Human Pack Mule: Halcyon priests allow you to take Murgo so he can carry a huge stone for you.

Swyft

A young elven girl living in Qintarra, Swyft is bored with the elven villages and wants to start a new life in the great city of Tarant.

Thorvald Two Stones

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thorvald.png

A dwarf from the Wheel Clan who spent last century on the Isle of Despair, eventually becoming the chieftan of the island's main settlement.

Accidental Murder: When some random drunken gnome in a tavern insulted the honor of the Wheel Clan, Thorvald, infuriated, punched him too hard and killed him. Unfortunately, the gnome had some really influential relatives who got Thorvald on the Isle of Despair.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He became the leader of the convicts not only because he spent the longest time in the Penal Colony, but also because he's really strong and could beat down most of them. The downside is, naturally, that his authority over criminals is as strong as his ability to enforce it, and showing any sign of weakness will end badly for him. Later he hired even stronger half-orge Oldin as his personal bodyguard.
Cool Shades: Wheel Clan Spectacles with green octagonal lenses cut from Cattorn crystal.
Goggles Do Something Unusual: They are used to reveal the secret entrance to the Wheel Clan, so you need them. In Thorvald's case, they're also the symbol of his authority over the camp, so he's reluctant to part with them. Depending on your persuasion skill, you may convince Thorald to leave with you, get just his glasses, craft yourself a pair using the schematic from Thorvald's drawer, or order them from Ashbury's optic for 1000 gold.
Had to Come to Prison to Be a Crook: Used to be a decent fellow but a century of ruling the prisoner camp certainly took a toll on him, if his treatment of Cynthia is of any indication.
The Old Convict: Spent more than a hundred years on the prison island. While, being a dwarf, he's still in his prime, mentally he became quite adapted to the island - to the point he has to be actively presuaded to leave the god-forsaken place with you. Althrough he's totally fine if you tell his whereabouts to the Wheel Clan so they can rescue him, so he may just really doubt your chances to get off the island.
Visual Pun: He always wears his green Wheel Clan spectacles and a century in The Alcatraz has made him incredibly cynical and pessimistic. He's literally wearing Jade-Colored Glasses.

Major NPCs

Elder Joachim

A high ranking member of the Panarii religion, and Virgil's mentor. Seeking him out is the first leg of the player's journey.

Living MacGuffin: Zigzagged. It is entirely possible to play the game without meeting Joachim at all, but Virgil nevertheless insists that searching for him should be a priority. It helps that Joachim's adventure trail corresponds with yours and that sometimes he leaves behind useful clues for your quest.
The Mentor: Virgil highly venerates Joachim for being the person who introduced him to the Panarii teaching and who uplifted him from his... previous ways of life.
Playing with Fire: He has entire Fire School of Magick mastered.
So Proud of You: Joachim expresses his pride for Virgil upon the latter's rebirth in Caladon and says that the Living One couldn't have a better companion.
What the Hell, Hero?: Joachim will appear in Caladon and thoroughly berate both you and Virgil before attacking in retribution if you massacre Stillwater on behalf of the Dark Elves.

Gilbert Bates

Voiced by: Nick Jameson

A genius inventor of the steam engine, the primary cause of Arcanum's industrial revolution, one of the world richest men.

The Atoner: He feels extremely guilty due to his being indirectly responsible for the disappearance of the Black Mountain Clan, which is the reason why he helps out the Player Character during their journey. Although it turns out he wasn't really responsible at all.
Berserk Button: Anyone who shows any amount of sympathy for labor organizers and union men in general, and Donn Throgg in particular.
Big Good: The go-to quest-giver for most of the game.
Death by Childbirth: This was the fate of his mother, and it saddened his father so much that he committed suicide when Gilbert was only eight.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Gil Bates, an eccentric millionaire, inventor of revolutionary technology. Oh, and his rival is called Appleby.
Enraged by Idiocy: Bates doesn't try to hide his contempt for the low-intelligence protagonist in the slightest and only tolerates to keep them around as far as the Living One remains his only source for the information regarding the Black Mountain Clan's disappereance.
Gadgeteer Genius: Even though the whole history of his 'invention' is shrouded with darkness, he still deserves some credit for the successful introduction of the steam engine for humanity and his other technological innovations.
Lonely Rich Kid: As a young man, he had no friends aside from dwarves, who regarded the young man with affection but also with contempt.
My God, What Have I Done?: He's rather saddened by the revelation that the Black Mountian clan were banished for allowing technology to spread amongst humans, making him responsible for their current predicament.
My Greatest Failure: Blames himself for the disappearance of the Black Mountain Clan. The player can introduce Loghaire Thunder-Stone to him, who puts his guilt to rest.
Noble Bigot: His orcish factory slaves work under conditions that are "almost human!" And as far as he's concerned, he doesn't owe them any more than that. A half-orc PC who sympathizes with the labor movement will get a particularly pointed response from him.
Orphan's Plot Trinket: His ring, which is the starting point for the entire adventure.
Uncle Pennybags: Unless you mention labor unions to him.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Explicitly states this is what he wanted from the dwarves after his father committed suicide, and not getting it spurred him to work on ever-better versions of his steam engine.

Nasrudin (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Nasrudin

Voiced by: Jim Ward

A legendary Elven hero who fought and banished Arronax the Destroyer long ago. He is revered by the Panarii religion, and the player character is believed to be his reincarnation.

Big Good: Nasrudin becomes the Living One's guide and prepares them for the battle against the Big Bad in the final stretch of the game.
Fish out of Temporal Water: After cloistering himself in a regenerative shell for a thousand years, he discovers that the world is very different. He is also nonplussed about being the object of worship of the Pa'nari religion.
Heroic Sacrifice: He sacrifices himself to banish you to the Void for the last fight. He also uses the same power if you defeat him.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: He isn't very proud of himself after what happened between him and Arronax.
He Who Fights Monsters: He saw himself and his Elven Council as the champion protectors of the world and the "lesser races". Once they discovered the power to banish their enemies to the Void, they got extremely trigger-happy with it.
Luke, I Am Your Father: He is the father of Arronax.
My Greatest Failure: After Arronax's banishment, he became extremely disillusioned with his deeds and resigned from any further public activity.
Noble Bigot: His reputation as a hero of the Panarii is well earned, but he was motivated by a belief in Elven supremacy and considered it his duty to shepherd what he regarded as lesser races.
The Older Immortal: He was considered the oldest living being at time when the Silver Lady, who would be The Older Immortal now if not for the fact that Nasrudin is still around, was a mere child.
Stop Worshipping Me: After emerging from his regenerative shell he briefly returned to the main continent of Arcanum and learned about the Panarii religion and his own role in their beliefs. It was enough to drive him into seclusion on the Isle of Thanatos, where, to his annoyance, the natives started worshipping him as well.
Taking You with Me: If you beat him to near-death, he uses his remaining power to banish you to the Void.
Time Abyss: He's the oldest living being in the game, having lived for at least four thousand years.
Walking Spoiler: Granted, since you're believed to be his reincarination, the reveal of his true fate would be a major spoiler.
Wizards Live Longer: Elven life expectancy is about a millennium. He's seen at least four through the use of a healing shell, and he's pushed said lifespan about as far as it'll go, dying shortly after banishing you to the Void.

Arronax the Destroyer (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Arronax the Destroyer

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arronax.png

Voiced by: Jim Ward

A frighteningly powerful Dark Elf sorcerer that once tried to plunge the world into chaos, but was defeated and sealed in the Void by Nasrudin. His plots (allegedly) to escape drive the plot of the game. In reality, he has nothing to do with it - he has long tired of war.

And I Must Scream: He spent the last two millennia imprisoned in a magical shell, as punishment for attempting to destroy Kerghan when he was first banished to the Void.
Antagonistic Offspring: As the son of Nasrudin. He gets better, though.
The Atoner: If he stays alive by the end of game, he will restore Vendigroth and bury his father on Thanatos.
Big Bad: Subverted! You're led to think he is for most of the game, but he's actually still stuck in the Void, and Kerghan's the one you've been tracking down the entire time.
Cutscene Power to the Max: His power in the Back Story is far, far greater than his power in the game proper. This seems to be mainly because of a programming error. He has 50 unspent character points, which if they were spent would make him one of the most powerful characters in the game.
Dark Messiah: For the Dark Elves, who wholeheartedly suppport his crusade against technology, the war against the weak-willed Elven Council and his ideology of the Elven supremacy over other races.
Deadpan Snarker: Especially the first time you talk with him.
11th-Hour Ranger: Joins you after you free him to stop Kerghan.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Subverted, in that he's ceased to be evil - he never lost his respect for his father, though.
Evil Redeemed in a Can: At the time of his banishment to the Void, he was an arrogant, hot-headed, dogmatic bigot who was prepared to commit genocide against those who disagreed with his worldview. He's mellowed considerably in the several thousand years since then.
Expy: Of Malekith from Warhammer, both being sons of the greatest, most revered elven hero, and both are the founders of Dark Elves, who caused the sundering of elves in their universes. How the Panarii religion presents him is very similar to Satan fom reall life Abrahamic religions. However, Arronax has since become more of a Good Counterpart in the interim, having come to sincerely regret what he views as a series of enormous mistakes.
Freudian Excuse: His father Nasrudin elevated him to the Elven Council before he was mature enough to appreciate the responsibilities the role carried, and imparted too much of his arrogance to his son without the experience to temper it.
Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: As Arronax himself points out though, Nasrudin isn't the person who committed the various atrocities thar resulted in his banishment. If anything, Arronax blames himself.
Heel–Face Turn: He's had almost 2000 years to contemplate his actions and conclude that he didn't do the right thing.
Karmic Nod: He's done enough self-reflection since his banishment to realise he was wrong to destroy Vendigroth and that his father's decision to banish him was justified.
Overrated and Underleveled: Despite the stories you heard about mighty Arronax, he doesn't seems a very strong companion; in fact, he only knows two magic schools (and not completely), due to the programming error.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: Arronax doesn't regret getting Kerghan banished to the Void, but he admits that he was concerned less with morality of his "experiments" and more with the fact that Kerghan was a human.
Satanic Archetype: He fits the archetype in the Panarii teaching, as he is seen as the manifestation of evil, who once was one of the closest followers of Nasrudin, but later turned against him and was banished to the Void.
Walking Spoiler: Sure, you hear about him a lot before you meet him, but by the end of the game you can realize that what you believe who Arronax is and who Arronax actually is are two completely different persons.
You Killed My Father: Given how their last encounter ended, one may think that Arronax isn't particulary fond of Nasrudin. However, if the Living One gets in the Void by killing Nasrudin and tells Arronax about it, the elf goes mad with rage, desperately trying to tear through his prison shell with his bare hands in an attempt to get to the protagonist's throat, before refusing to talk to them again. If then freed, he'll attack on sight.

Kerghan the Terrible (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Kerghan the Terrible

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kerghan.jpg

Greetings. Long have I waited for your arrival, and finally this moment has come. I am Kerghan, first of the necromancers, voyager in the lands of the dead.

Voiced by: Jeff Coopwood

The only human ever to serve on the Elven Council in the Age of Legends. Banished to the Void for unrepentant experiments with necromancy.

Affably Evil: He is very polite and genuinely respects the PC.
The Ageless: Lived for over 200 years before he was banished to The Void, and because of the effects of the Void lives for more than 2,000 years when he meets and explains his plans and philosophy to the PC.
Alas, Poor Villain: If you manage to point the flaws in his philosophy, he will submit himself to be permanently killed, and it's hard not to feel somewhat sorry for him, for not having any chance to taste the goodness of life.
Kerghan: [He bows his head, his shoulders sagging] So many years I've raged against the living. All those years, and the distortion was in my own soul. No man can see the nature of his flaws with diseased eyes... the contradiction lies within me. I thank you... and I'm sorry. So very, very sorry. Perhaps some souls are born into death... they never knew how to live... Goodbye, traveler. My road ends here... I wish you luck on yours...
Ambition Is Evil: His experimentations with the Black Necromancy which resulted in his fall from grace were motivated by his desire to be admired by the Council.
Anti-Villain: He is undoubtedly the antagonist of the game, but he does have a genuine reason for the evil acts he commits.
The Archmage: Not only he's a powerful mage on his own right, he's also the inventor of the Black Necromancy school, thus making him a proper Archmagus description-wise.
Bad Powers, Bad People: As Arronax mentions, his study of Black Necromancy made him hideous, both in body and spirit, going from an open-minded and noncomformist human mage to Omnicidal Maniac at the moment the Living One faces him.
Berserk Button: Although he mostly talks in a calm and reserved manner, he doesn't try to hide his ire towards Nasrudin and Arronax for their decision to banish him. Suggesting that his experiments were immoral (and thus implying his banishment was justified) is a good way to break his cool as he will angrily attempt to tell you otherwise.
Big Bad: For being the man who orchestrated the banishment of the Black Mountain Clan by the hands of Dark Elves and, as the consequence, started the entire plot, Kerghan, not Arronax, is the main villain in the game.
The Chessmaster: He managed to manipulate Dark Elves in arranging his return, convincing them that they execute the will of Arronax.
Clipped-Wing Angel: He deals small damage in his transformed form, since he is coded as humanoid and thus can't deal strong damage unarmed.
Contractual Boss Immunity: Kerghan is one of the few characters in the game who is immune to the Disintegration spell altogether.
Cutscene Power to the Max: When you meet him for the first time, he fully absorbs yours and your party's fatigue. He doesn't have this ability when you actually fight him.
Death Seeker: Deep inside, he just wants to stay in the afterlife, which, as he discovered, is eternal peace and enlightment, but the fear that one day he will be reincarnated or resurrected subconsiously drives him to prevent that in the only way he can, which he then rationalizes as the mission to end all pain and suffering. If the Living One both points this to him and provides the means of irreversible death, Kerghan will thank them and go out peacefully.
The Dreaded: The 1st and most feared of the necromancers of the world of Arcanum. The most powerful and deadly and intimidating of them all as well.
Fallen Hero: He studied healing and resurrection magicks for 200 years before he turned to black necromancy. Imagine what he could have discovered if he spent 2000 years in the void solely on healing magick.
Flunky Boss: He summons blue zombies (who cause fire damage).
For Science!: His research into the depths of Black Necromancy was motivated by the desire to push the boundaries of the known magickal knowledge as much as his desire to prove himself to the Elven Council.
Enlightened Antagonist: Kerghan has spent the two thousand years observing and contemplating the afterlife, and his ultimate goal is shaped by this experience.
Evil Genius: Arronax points out that Kerghan has a brilliant, twisted mind if you talk and hang out with him.
Evil Is Bigger: Is like 7' something, in his human form and is taller than most of the heroes and other villains of Arcanum Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura.
Evil Makes You Ugly: His studies of Black Necromancy have disfigured him in some way, according to Arronax.
Evil Sorcerer: Well he is an evil and dark necromancer.
Expy: To The Master in Fallout. They’re both Well Intentioned Extremists with admittedly well-reasoned goals. There are three ways to complete the game with them: (1) Simply fight them, (2) join them and (3) point out the flaws of their argument.
Go Mad from the Revelation: Before his banishment to the Void, Kerghan's actual evilness didn't amount to much other than his disregard for ethics in the way of his personal ambitions. It is not until his experience with the otherworld that he became convinced in the necessity of his homicidal quest.
Heel Realization: He can realize the error of his plan to the point he becomes horrified of himself if you can convince him in that.
Kerghan: Perhaps it is my own arrogance, my own bravado, that has brought us here, to this crossroads. The question is... where to go from here? We've spoken of fate, of prophecy. Have I traveled this road too long to turn back? Perhaps I have no choice but to continue on to the end...
Hidden Villain: Kerghan's role as the Big Bad of the story isn't revealed until the very end of the game. Until then, you are made to believe that the main threat to Arcanum is Arronax.
Humans Are Advanced: Despite being a powerful mage and a member of the Elven Council, Kerghan retained his kin's impatience and the urge to achieve the quick results at expense of ethical concerns in the face of the race's short lifespan, and it is exactly those traits that led him to discover a whole new school of the Magick. But, as it usually goes with humans, the school in question was the Black Necromancy...
Hypocrite: For someone who loves talking about the suffering of life, Kerghan isn't above subjecting the entire Dwarven clan to the horrible working conditions for the fulfillment of his purposes.
Knight Templar: His vision to destroy all life in Arcanum, based on his convincing but flawed philosophy, doesn't leave a place for opinions of those who don't want to leave the world of the living voluntarily.
Large and in Charge: A very big guy, who commands the dead and undead, manipulates the dark elves and the Molochean Hand into doing his bidding.
Leitmotif: Kerghan's Castle, which plays during his first appearance, in his location and during his Motive Rant.
Long-Lived: Kerghan lived more than 200 years during the Age of Legends, a lifespan exceptionally large for a human, even for a human mage.
The Man Behind the Man: After all, he managed to deceive people that his actions were the actions of someone whom he imprisoned by spell thousands of years ago.
Motive Rant: His impressive description of his study of death to the player.
Necromancer: Although White Necromancy (the healing of spirit and flesh, and resurrection magic) was common magic beforehand, Kerghan discovered the entire school of Black Necromancy (harming spirits and flesh, raising souls against their will, and animating soulless bodies).
Omnicidal Maniac: Or Omnicidal Sane as he has a well-thought-out argument for it.
One-Winged Angel: Takes a form of the skeleton snake-dragon during the final fight.
Start of Darkness: Relatively standard Mad Scientist fare — from For Science!, through Just Think of the Potential!, leading to Drunk on the Dark Side. You can witness it through a journal you can find during one side-quest.
Suicide by Cop: If you persuade him that his philosophy is wrong, he asks you to free him of his pain by your own hands, using either the Vendigroth Device or Kryggird's Falchion.
Technical Pacifist: All of his experiments in Black Necromancy were on people who were already dead. He also never harms anyone directly until the final confrontation with the player, instead manipulating the Dark Elves and the Molochean hand to do his bidding.
Token Human: He was the only human member of the Elven Council.
Villain Has a Point: Virgil (who experienced the afterlife at that point) and Geoffrey (who is a Black Necromancer himself) can confirm some of Kerghan's words. They don't agree with his methods, however.
Villainous BSoD: He doesn't take it well when he is convinced that everything he did was wrong.
Visionary Villain: He wants to destroy the world not for some petty reasons, but rather because he believes that this is the only way to achieve the eternal peace and harmony for the suffering souls, trapped in the world of living.
Kerghan: My reasons for returning aren't what you'd think... I have no aspirations for power or domination like your companion Arronax did... aspirations that I became the victim of. No, those are the motivations of the living, and I no longer place myself among them...
Voice of the Legion: His low voice has some unearthly reverberation in it, a trait he shares with Silver Lady.
Walking Spoiler: Speaking about any of his actions past his banishment to the Void would reveal a good chunk of the plot.
Wicked Cultured: His years of studying and philosophy and that he's a genius too truly makes this clear.

The Molochean Hand

An ancient, enigmatic assassin's guild that has agents throughout the world. For reasons unknown, they are determined to prevent you from finding the mysterious "boy".

Always Chaotic Evil: Not. Most are actually fairly decent folk.
Ancient Conspiracy: With a little twist. The original order is thought to have gone extinct, after a long period of their apparent inactivity, so most assume they're copycats.
Even Evil Has Standards: They fought against and defeated Kerghan's necromancer order when they learned of their plans. You can cause them to repeat this when everything breaks loose a second time.
Hypocrite: They still have a grudge against the Derian Ka practicing Necromancy, but many high level Random Encounter assassins use Necromancy themselves.
Murder, Inc.
Sigil Spam: Every one of their members carries a pendant with their symbol, which conveniently makes for easy identification of the mysterious assassins.

K'an Hua (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

K'an Hua

Voiced by: Kay E. Kuter

High Priest of the Panarii religion.

The Chessmaster: He's been playing both sides against the middle for millennia. He, however, doesn't realize that he himself is played by Kerghan.
Evil Counterpart: He's Nasrudin's counterpart among the Dark Elves, giving you exposition and quests in the game's last third if you're working the evil side.
Living Relic: He's a survivor from the Age of Legends.
Killed Offscreen: If you take the quest to retrieve the Vendigroth Device from both him and Nasrudin at the same time and arrive at the Ring of Brodgar once you are done, you will find K'an Hua's corpse lying next to Nasrudin.
Mole in Charge: He was a high priest of Panarii while being the head of Dark Elves for several hundreds years.
Mr. Exposition: He'll tell you the story of Arronax's banishment instead of Nasrudin if you go the evil path.
Number Two: For Kerghan, without even realizing it.
Obviously Evil: The guy is described as incredibly ugly and reeking of evil and his speech mannerisms resemble Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.
One-Hit Kill: He knows the Disintegration spell and doesn't hesitate to use it.
Sssssnaketalk: You sssee...
Taking You with Me: Like Nasrudin, if you defeat K'an Hua in combat, he will use the rest of his power to banish you to the Void.
Uncertain Doom: If you reveal the truth about Mannox's death and K'an Hua's actual role in the Panarii Church to Alexander, the latter will go to deal with him personally. It's unclear, however, if K'an Hua dies by the hands of Alexander or escapes his wrath, since you can't see him and he is never mentioned again after that.
The Unseen: Unless you work for the Dark Elves.
Unwitting Pawn: He's working for Kerghan, not Arronax, and he doesn't realize it.
Verbal Tic: Yessssss...
Walking Spoiler: His true role in the plot and Panarii's church is a good reason you don't see him personally in a regular walkthrough.
Wizards Live Longer: He's a survivor from the Elven Council three thousand years ago, though younger than Nasrudin. Unlike Nasrudin, it's not explained how, but one could surmise that he knows the healing-shell spell.

Preston Radcliffe

A dying gnome whom you find in the burning wreckage of the IFS Zephyr shortly after waking up. Before dying, he gives you a ring and pleads you to tell its owner that he escaped from mysterious evil ready to destroy everything, thus setting the whole plot in motion.

Almost Dead Guy: The only thing he can do is beg you to find "the boy".
Beardness Protection Program: He shaved his precious dwarven beard to pose as a gnome. This works especially well because nobody in the world can believe that any dwarf would willingly do such a thing.
Bring News Back: He asks you to inform some mysterious "boy" about the incoming "evil". It's unclear, however, what does this "evil" actually represent...
Distinguishing Mark: His identity is confirmed by the scar over his eye.
Godzilla Threshold: Stennar shaves his beard to look like a gnome in order to hide from the Molochean Hand's assassins. Given that shaving is absolutely unacceptable in the Dwarven culture, one can wonder how desperate he was....
Great Escape: He's the first one ever to escape from the Void.
I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: A ring which he gives to you is the only clue in the searchings for the mysterious boy.
Make It Look Like an Accident: Though shooting down the whole zeppelin to kill just one guy was a little over the top...
Sacrificial Lamb: He escapes the Void and put his life in danger in his attempt to inform the world about the incoming evil.

Skill Masters

Adkin Chambers

The blind master of Dodge, who lives in seclusion in a shack near Stillwater. He was engaged with a beautiful young woman named Druella, but Garrick Stout, who had a crush on the lady too, challenged him on a duel, overpowered him and, when he surrendered, blinded him with a sword. Adkin managed to flee, now all he can think about is revenge. He will teach you Mastery only if you kill Stout and bring the latter's eyes to him.

Blind Weapon Master: He was blinded by Stout, yet he is still a capable fighter and his mastery of Dodge isn't undermined even a bit.
Deadly Dodging: Critical success in dodging makes an opponent injure themselves.
Eye Scream: His blinding. Also, he demands Stout's eyes and, if you bring them, crushes them in his hand.
Happily Ever After: With lady Druella, after she and you pull a scheme to restore his eyes.
Sense Loss Sadness: Thanks to you, he may get better.
Sink or Swim Mentor: He determines whether you are worth training by sucker-punching you and "seeing" if you dodge. Apparently, the whole training is also like that.
Who's Laughing Now?: He laughs madly and says the line verbatim to Stout's eyes (figuratively and literally) if he's given said eyes by the Living One, before crushing them into goo.

Master of Prowling (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Albert Leek is an enigmatic Master of Prowling who will teach you his art... if you can find him.

Bragging Rights Reward: In addition to Master's title, he gives you the Ring of Silence, which grants you +2 Prowling - you know, that very skill you just have maxed out to finish the quest.
Can't Hold His Liquor: Figuring out his true identity is possible by having few drinks with him and then asking him directly, while he's half-drunk.
Criminal Mind Games: A non-malicious example. He left behind a trail of clues to his current locations, to test his potential apprentices.
Cutting the Knot: If you got your Expert training from Mr. Razzia, you can directly go to Mr. Leek next room and ask him for confirmation if he's the master. This saves a lot of time when compared with standard approach of finding him.
Hidden in Plain Sight: He's drinking in "The Sobbing Onion", in the next room to one of Expert trainers.
Snipe Hunt: Finding him using given clues (and solving them first) is a serious time investment, deliberately so.

Clarissa Shalmo

A half-orc Master of Throwing, she's a weapon enthusiast and dreams of mastering one particular weapon - Azram's Star. Unfortunately, she's also a professional bodyguard whose current contract prevents her from acquiring the star herself.

Fetch Quest: Like Kietzel Pierce, she asks you to bring her an artifact weapon in exchange for training.
You Are Not Ready: Unlike other skill masters who require fully developed skill and an Expert training, her quest may be initiated as long as you are the Apprentice, but after you complete it she'll refuse to actually train you if you still don't meet mastery requirements. And if you try to complain she'll be insulted and add 1000 gold fee on top of that.

Daniel Mcpherson

World's foremost security and anti-thieving measures expert. His inventions and security protocols captured J.T. Morgan himself. Now he's Caladon's Chief of castle security.

The Anticipator: Being this and Crazy-Prepared allowed him to design such protection measures that defeated even master thief J.T. Morgan.
Cutting the Knot: Fastest way to get the training is to run like hell through his basement, triggering all the traps on your way. Just have enough healing items prepared in advance. But if you did so, why bother with the training in the first place? Alternately, just click on the door that exits the trap course, which will the quest as completed.
Deadly Training Area: His basement is deadly trap room, navigating it from one point to other rewards Living One with experience that counts as mastery of disarm trap skill.
Reformed Criminal: He was a burglar and infiltrator in his youth.
Trap Master: Implied from his security system expertise and his basement.

Dr. Edmund Craig

The Mastery trainer of Backstabbing skill, wanted by Tarantian authorities for multiple murders. Currently taking refuge in a distant house on the outskirts of Roseborough.

Backstab: Naturally. This skill allows you to deal additional (and quite substantial) damage when attacking from the back, and the mastery adds a massive bonus to Critical Hit chance.
Backstab Backfire: While you seem to convince him that you have no intent of turning him in and are there only for the training, his paranoia finally takes over as you are about to leave, and he literally and figuratively backstabs you, with a thrown dagger. However, that fails to kill you, and the resulting fight ends poorly for him.
He Knows Too Much: Attacks you out of fear you may betray his location to the law. See the above entry for how it turned out.
Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Whatever field his degree is in (though Anatomy seems to be the most likely), he is far from a good person.

Edward Willoughsby

The current chairman of the Tarantian Industrial Council, Mr. Willoughsby will appear after you've been to Qintarra. If your Persuasion skill is high enough, he'll offer you a job negotiating for an alliance between Tarant and Caladon, and he'll train you to be a Master of Persuasion if you succeed.

Big Good: He's the chairman of the Industrial Council and thus the leader of the Unified Kingdom. Despite the nasty reputation of the Kingdom itself, Willoughsby is an excellent administrator that cares about something more than just raw profits for himself or his country.
Cool Old Guy: Elderly, incredibly polite professional diplomat. And one of the few people that won't treat you poorly if you have below-average Intelligence or come from orcish or ogre stock.
Crimefighting with Cash: Tired of Tarantian police being unable to do anything against the crime in Boil, Willoughsby has secretly hired a demolitions expert known as Sebastian to assassinate the leaders of two most dangerous gangs.
Honest Corporate Executive: He has his shady moments, but in general Willoughsby sees the big picture beyond immediate profit and does not back down from his word. He's also a good friend of Perryman Smythe, one of the most good-aligned people in the game, and jumps onto the occasion to stop a conspiracy from assassinating King Farad. When the Boil gangs are decapitated, he has the slums torn down and rebuilt as prestigious residential district, but doesn't drive off its more or less honest residents and gives them new homes instead. In particular, Caleb Molloy has his rickety tavern rebuilt into a luxurious hotel.
Token Good Teammate: A newspaper article describes the political aftermath of Captain Wheeler gunning down unarmed protesters from orcish labor union. While most of the Industrial Council outright cheered for Wheeler and considered rewarding him a medal, Willoughsby was notably among the very few vocally appalled by the act.

Fawn

The master trainer of the Heal skill. She's located in Quintarra.

Friendly Shopkeeper: She counts as a Magic Merchant. She even offers her services to technologist PC's, should you need them without any fuss and with a smile (as opposed to simply not being scripted to shoo technologists).
Humble Hero: She's remarkably humble and lacks the haughtiness that most elves in the game have.
Meaningful Name: The fawn symbolize innocence and purity, befitting her pleasant nature and profession as a healer.
The Medic: The best in the game and is more than willing to teach you if you have high enough skill and rank in Heal.
Nice Girl: She's very kind compared to most elves and will likely treat you with respect, unless your Beauty stat is that low.
White Magician Girl: Again, she's the Heal Master and is adept in White Necromancy on the side.

Sir Garrick Stout

The captain of the guard of Dernholm, a close confidant of the king of Cumbria, and the mastery trainer for the Melee skill. On the surface, he is an arrogant, elitist snob, but he does his job of keeping the peace well. In reality, however, he's a depraved psychopath who uses his position to stalk a noblewoman and remove her fiancee from the equation ... by any means necessary.

Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: He bears the title of the best fighter in the world and treats everyone else like dirt beneath his feet.
Bad Boss: Most of people in Dernholm, even his own underlings, fear him, but no one respects him.
Combat Pragmatist: He carries a vial of the game's most potent poison on him, which he will almost certainly use as his opening move if you fight him.
If I Can't Have You…: Once he realised there is no way Lady Druella would ever fall for him, he maimed Chambers out of spite and did his very best to drive them apart. It's implied that the only reason Chambers survived was his mastery of dodging.
Jerkass: Oh yes. He leaves no puppy unkicked, just because, while being completely oblivious to what sort of a prick he is.
Karmic Death: He ruined the planned marriage between the woman he's stalking and her fiancee (who happens to be the Dodge master) by blinding the fiancee after the latter already surrendered in a duel. The good-aligned ending for the Melee Mastery quest has you killing him on behalf of the vengeful woman.
Mentor Occupational Hazard: The good-aligned resolution of his quest requires you to challenge him to a duel and kill him right after he trains you to be the Melee Master.
Obliviously Evil: A monumental tool that sees himself as a Knight in Shining Armor.
Pay Evil unto Evil: Killing him is treated as a good thing by game morality meter.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: He may be the Melee Master, but he's terribly incompetent at his job as captain of the guard, and the only reason he still has it (and does whatever he wants in general) is because he's King Praetor's personal friend.
Stalker with a Crush: Was obsessing over Lady Druella, even if she was a fiance of Adkin Chambers and they were planning to marry together.

Hieronimus Maxim

A factory owner in Caladon, the inventor of a zeppelin, an airplane, and a machine gun. Unfortunately, his factory was robbed and trashed, planes were stolen (and crashed after being used to shoot down the zeppelin), and the worst, he's going to have his funding cut unless he finds a proof that his heavier-than-air-machines actually flew.

Chekhov's Gun: The camera from the crash site. It doesn't appear to be something important at the beginning, but camera is the only item which can serve as the proof that Maxim's machines can actually fly.
Disproportionate Reward: Downplayed. From Maxim's perspective, giving the person who saved his life's work a healing robot, a powerful gun and Mastery training in Repair is far too little. From the Living One's point of view, it's slightly disproportionate because the PC only has to keep that broken camera from crash site with him.
Gadgeteer Genius: Besides being the master of Repair, he also invented airplains and produces advanced technological devices, such as a mechanized gun and a medical arachind.
No Historical Figures Were Harmed: He was based on the real-life inventor of the machine gun Hiram Maxim.
Mr. Fixit: He's the Master of Repair after all.
They Called Me Mad!: After his flying machines were stolen, Maxim was left without any proofs that his machines can actually fly and is ridiculed by the people. However, if the PC gives him the camera from the crash site, Maxim can prove them wrong.

J.M. Morat

Bribing Your Way to Victory: He's a master haggler that for his training... haggles out of you ten thousands coins.
Nice Guy: He's very polite.
Secret Test of Character: There are two ways to finish his basic quest and receive the training: gather the funds he asks for and pay for it, or arrive with the funds already on you before even talking with Morat. Doing so will make him congratulate you for being resourceful and calculating, giving you your ten grands back after the training session.

J.T. Morgan

A halfling master thief, who tried to infiltrate Caladon's castle, but was captured, due to Daniel Mcpherson's new protection measures, now imprisoned in Caladon's maximum security prison.

Bragging Rights Reward: Discussed. After being freed by the Living One in exchange for mastery training, he admits he's not sure he can do much for them outside formally giving them the Master title, since just by breaking into his cell they've proved to be ''at least'' as good as himself. Still, the title does come with gameplay bonuses so apparently J.T. did have new tricks to teach his rescuer.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: His mother is only person who is allowed to see him.
Master of Unlocking: He's the best one and trains Living One to be one too, if they help him escape.
Tailor-Made Prison: His prison cell, designed by Daniel Mcpherson no less.

Kietzel Pierce

The master trainer for Bow skill.

A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: Downplayed. When you first meet him, Kietzel asks you to tell him the whereabouts of his missing apprentice, Dudley Crosston, if you happen to find out anything. Turns out, Dudley became dissatisfied with Pierce's training and eventually abandoned his master and joined the Dernholm Guard (which has quite a shady reputation nowadays) in hopes of making a quick career there. Upon learning this, Kietzel is clearly upset but doesn't say much.
Fetch Quest: Like Clarissa Shalmo, he asks you to bring him an artifact weapon in exchange for training.
Punny Name: Arrows are known to pierce their target.

Sammie White

A halfling pickpocketing Master who loves to insult people.

Hand Cannon: Carries the Hand Cannon (two-inch bore pistol) as his weapon of choise.
Humiliating Wager: In exchange for training you, he wants you to run naked along the main street of Tarant, much to the shock and disgust of the citizens. Why? Well, first, he wants to make fun of you; second, to insult the socity as a whole; and third, to rob the Tarantians blind while they are distracted.
- That is to say, the mastery bonus is almost pointless and completing this "quest" forever grants you the reputation of a "Tarantian Pervert" so you may just leave the little bastard alone. Or blow him up for the aforementioned Hand Cannon.
Volleying Insults: Taunts and insults anyone who tries to speak to him. You'll have to indulge in this trope with him for several rounds before you can properly talk to him.

William Thorndop

The master trainer for the Firearms skill. Formerly a bandit, he now lives the simple life of a hermit on the outskirts of Ashbury.

Actual Pacifist: As a part of the Order of Halcyon.
The Atoner: After he joined the Order of Halcyon, he vowed to never harm anyone again, to the point that he cut off his fingers so he can't hold a weapon anymore.
Crippling the Competition: A self-inflicted example; he cut off his trigger fingers with a blunt knife to make sure he could never hold a gun again.
The Gunslinger: He's not proud of it though.
Heel–Faith Turn: The Order of Halcyon helped him atone when he decided to leave his old life behind him.
My God, What Have I Done?: His decision to leave the bandit life behind him came after he shot a young man in cold blood because the young man wanted to challenge him to a gunfight in order to prove his worth.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: He stopped killing, reformed, atoned and paid for all the evil he did. Thing is, Thorndop didn't kill all his enemies and left some of them alive, with monumental grudge against him.
The Perils of Being the Best: Asking him for Master Firearms training will cause him a severe moral quandary, since he sees aiding another in committing violence as breaking his vows as an Actual Pacifist.
Retired Gunfighter: Formerly Arcanum's finest marksman, now he never wants to hold a gun again.
Shout-Out: He's William Munny, but rather than finding love, he found God.
Violence Really Is the Answer: Turns out, if you are a cold-blooded killer and gunslinger, better be sure to kill everyone and their dog, or they will come after you with a vengeance.
What the Hell, Hero?: To get him to train you as a Firearms Master, you must force him to break the oath of non-violence he took when he joined the Halcyon order. If you're a good-aligned character, he'll try to make you feel terrible about this.

Other NPCs

Alexander, the First Acolyte

A Number Two and military leader of the Panarii church, and also direct descendant of St. Mannox, the most respected Panarii prophet and the first First Acolyte.

Ancestral Weapon: You get to return St. Mannox's sword to him.
Badass Preacher: Virgil describes him as one of the most dangerous men in Arcanum, and one of the Panarii refers to him as "the strongest of us". Gameplay-wise, reading his aura shows that nearly all his stats are maxed out, he's the Master of Melee and Dodge and has a crapload of offensive spells in his roster.
Church Militant: Due to the tradition started by Mannox, the First Acolyte is also Panarii's military leader. Most of them had only formal training. Alexander willingly put himself through years-long Training from Hell.
I Should Write a Book About This: In the good ending, The Living One moves to Caladon and meets Alexander, by that time the head of Panarii. Alexander afterwards writes a new chapter to the Archaeon (Panarii's Bible), describing the story of the game.
Magic Knight: Stated by Virgil to be a capable battle-mage and melee fighter.
Training from Hell: He'd inherited the position of First Acolyte, the military leader of the Panarii religion, which normally means that the Acolyte in question trains with the Caladon guards a bit so he can fight if it comes down to it. Instead, Alexander went to Level Grind in the Vendigrothian Wastes for years before he felt himself ready to take up the role. See Badass Preacher for how it turned out.
Tranquil Fury: You can tell that he's royally pissed at K'an Hua for murdering Mannox and corrupting the church, yet he doesn't even raise his voice.
You Killed My Father: Towards K'an Hua, if Alexander learns that he killed his ancestor, St. Mannox.

Captain Edward Teach

A badass skipper hired by Guilbert Bates to get you to the Isle of Despair and back.

Chekhov's Gunman: Is this himself and introduces another two, Franklin Payne and Stringy Pete.
Crazy Is Cool: In-universe: he's the only captain crazy or awesome enough to sail to the places he did.
The Drunken Sailor: How he lost his ship in the dice game.
Foreshadowing: One of his tales is about the Isle of Thanatos, where you'll have to go much later
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The prisoners' leader assumes that you've been on the prison island long enough for your ship being hijacked and her crew slaughtered. When you rush back to the ship, you find her where you left her, surrounded by corpses. Teach casually explains that those dumbasses thought they could take his ship.
Pirate: Never proved, and he's honest enough for Bates repeatedly hiring him, but his reputation is not perfectly clean.
Sea Stories: He will tell you about his most outstanding voyages if you ask.
Shout-Out: To Blackbeard, obviously.

Lukan the Witless

A self-proclaimed intellectual, university drop-out, wannabe thief and leader of the band consisting of himself and two half-ogre thugs who took control of the only bridge out of Shrouded Hills and demand passage fee.

Beef Gate: Dealing with him, one way or another, is required to get out of tiny patch of land between two rivers and a mountain range where the game starts.
Card-Carrying Villain: He won't shut up about what great and magnificent criminal genius he is.
Chef of Iron: The two ogres who will utterly crush an unprepared character used to be cooks at the University.
The Corrupter: His half-ogre companions were just harmless cook's assistants whom Lukan persuaded to join him on the way of crime. In fact, they appear too dim-witted to even realize what's going on.
Easy Level Trick: The main danger of fighting Lukan's gang are the half-ogres' fists, which deal a ton of damage to your health and fatigue. However, those can be neutralized by gathering several railroad spikes (the crappiest Improvised Weapons in the game) from trash and scattering them around the band. Eventually, they will pick them up and "arm" themselves, drastically decreasing their damage output.
Flunky Boss: Lukan himself is a joke, but his half-ogre henchmen will make short work of most low-level characters.
Honor Among Thieves: Dreaming of becoming a member of Thieves Underground, Lukan does his best to abide to their rules. The Living One can not just get him leave, but also shake 200 gold of "reparations" out of him by convincing him he's "trespassing" onto another thief's territory.
Malaproper: He tries to present himself as Wicked Cultured through the use of long and complex words, but problem is, they're too long and complex for him to remember them correctly.
Meaningful Name: He named himself "Witless", for he is merciless and without humor (e.g. wit). The name still remains pretty meaningful, just not for the reasons he thought of.
Small Name, Big Ego: He's a moron terrorizing a small town (whose only defense is a doctor with a revolver) and a laughingstock for all of Thieves Underground, but thinks of himself as of a criminal mastermind.
Wake-Up Call Boss: His band is the first serious treat to the PC and serves to test how familiar the player got with the game mechanics. Fighting them won't be easy for most characters and requires strategy and use of the resources you have (like grenades you can find at crash site, or recruiting Sogg Mead Mug). Alternatively, you can invest in crafting, thieving (to steal the key) or diplomatic (to trick him into leaving) skills. Finally, you can just pay the fee by raising money through said crafting or stealing, or even cooperate with Lukan to destroy the materials for the new bridge, but to earn a good ending for the Shrouded Hills (and a Fate point), you have to get them off the bridge once and for all.
You Just Told Me: Arguably the best way to get him off the bridge involves the Persuasion skill. With the right choice of words, the Living One can pretend to be an emissary from the Thieves Underground immediately after learning of their existence from Lukan, which not only will make him leave without fight, but also grant the PC some more money.

Maximillian

An old man who lives in a distant house in the middle of Isle of Despair and clearly has more in his past than he's willing to tell.

The Aloner: Chose to live separately from the island's main settlements.
…And That Little Girl Was Me: The conclusion of his story about the prince who was framed up and imprisoned on the island.
Badass Army: After returning to the throne, he reformed the Dragon Knights (who were already this) with modern weaponry and technology, including steam horses.
Cool Old Guy
Curb-Stomp Battle: If you fail to persuade Black Root's mayor to return to Cumbria officially, Tarant will attempt to take conflicted city by force, only to have their troops smashed by Maximillian's Badass Army from the above entry.
Drowning My Sorrows: Regulary uses the services of local Hillbilly Moonshiner, but his manners and the ending indicate he hasn't allow the habit to take over him a bit.
Frame-Up: Framed for treason and exiled by the Kangaroo Court.
The Good King: Unlike his brother, he is willing to embrace both magic and technology in a way similar to Caladon. After his return, the dying country started to rise to its former glory.
Rightful King Returns: With a little help from the Living One.
The Wise Prince: What he used to be.

Stringy Pete

The most cruel, ruthless and Ax-Crazy pirate of all times, feared all over Arcanum. He died more than two centuries ago, but rumors are that his spirit still sails the seas, punishing anyone who plays with his name...

Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Pete's most horrible sins are: sadistic murder of an innocent for his silver bootstrap buckles, breaking a pirate oath by slaughtering his fellow pirates under control of an Evil Weapon, and peeing on the altar stone. It was the altar of a Greater God, however.
The Atoner: He asks you to right the various wrongs he's committed over the years so that his soul can be at peace.
Catch-22 Dilemma: He's not allowed to rest or step on land until he atones for his three greatest sins, but that requires going inland, so he's stuck unless someone does it for him. Slightly justified, since he was actually cursed by himself, during a huge My God, What Have I Done? moment, and probably wasn't in the most logical state of mind then.
Death Equals Redemption: Literally, since he is already dead for 200 years.
Dem Bones: In the present, he's nothing more than a skeleton with eerie flames glowing in his eye-sockets. His crew is also skeletal.
Drunk on the Dark Side: He went from already ruthless and cruel pirate to the stuff from nightmarish Sea Stories under the influence of the Bangellian Scourge.
Even Evil Has Standards: Bangellian Scourge is too evil even for Pete, and he found the will to throw it and run away after he killed all his crew when controlled by the blade
Flying Dutchman: Cursed to sail the seas around Arcanum until he atones for his sins. Trouble is, he has to go deep inland to do so, which he's apparently not allowed to, so he needs someone to do that for him.
For the Evulz: Why he defiled Halcyon's altar. It backfired spectacularly in his face, as he ended up as a cursed wraith and can't reach the Afterlife until atoning for his sins.
Superboss: Himself and his crew, in case you decide to forgo his quest and try to take his ship by force. Having very high character levels (and thus, health, stats and combat skills), insane damage resistances, clad in top tier gear and outnumbering your party (unless you go for max Charisma) in a small space of the ship, the undead pirates are probably the toughest confrontation in the entire game.

Randver Thunder Stone

The son of Loghaire Thunder Stone and the King-in-Waiting of the Dwarves during his father's exile. He feels unworthy of and unready for the responsibilities that his father thrust upon him.

The Good King: If King Loghaire returns to the throne, then dies in the final battle, Randver will be able to rule over the dwarves without a civil war. He is at least as good a ruler as his father would have been.
Reasonable Authority Figure: A subversion. He tries to be this, but due to his inexperience, is prone to making bad decisions. He also can be somewhat unhelpful when the PC asks him to help them find his father; there's a tunnel leading to his father's exile, but unless persuaded, he won't reveal it.
Reluctant Ruler
Unfit for Greatness: Randver is very intelligent, but he doesn't have the steel needed to be a strong king, and if his father doesn't return to the throne, a civil war will break out among the Dwarves because of his inexperience.
The Wise Prince: He understands the Dwarven way of life better than anyone else (including, quite possibly, his father). The tragedy comes from having too much responsibility put on his shoulders, too soon; while he has the potential to grow into The Good King, he isn't there yet.

Characters / Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura

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Player Character

The Living One

Merwin Tumblebrook

Godfrey Castleburger

Horace McGinley

Muck Evil Eye

D'ren Le'lor

Solomon Doone

Merik Luggerton

Lugard Bloodstone

Victoria Warrington

Bel'an T'seraa

Clarisse Vorak

Ke'ree Melange

Party Members

Virgil

Sogg Mead Mug

Jayna Stiles

Magnus Shale Fist

Gar

Dante

Dog

Geoffrey Tarellond-Ashe

Vollinger

Chukka

Jormund

Torian Kel

Waromon

Perriman Smythe

Weldo Rubin

Z'an Al'urin

Sebastian

Tollo Underhill

Raven

Franklin Payne

Loghaire Thunderstone

The Bane of Kree

Kraka-tur

Gorgoth

Arronax

Temporary Party Members

Cynthia Boggs

Doc Roberts

Lady Druella

Murgo

Swyft

Thorvald Two Stones

Major NPCs

Elder Joachim

Gilbert Bates

Nasrudin

Arronax the Destroyer

Kerghan the Terrible

The Molochean Hand

K'an Hua

Preston Radcliffe

Skill Masters

Other NPCs

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