Holy Gustava Empire
A long time ago, in a poor and desolate northern area deprived of the blessings of Mana, Asid Gustav led a group of wanderers displaced by other countries, forming a nation now governed by the Gustav clan that inherited his will.
The country’s locality, history, and lack of Brigandine was the source of much scorn from other countries, but the Gustav clan unified itself through the worship of their hero Sin Gustav and the Zoar religion, building itself up into a mighty empire
Tim Gustav (Voiced by Takuya Eguchi)
The ruler of the Holy Gustava Empire. The 13th Emperor desires to conquer the continent to vindicate the beauty and power of the Gustav Clan.
- A Glass of Chianti: He's shown holding a glass of wine in the ending where the player sides with the Rune God.
- Affectionate Nickname: He's been called 'Timbo' by Hazarov and 'Timmy' by Jazz. He's... not really amused at the first, but ignores the latter, apparently having gotten used to it when he studied in Mirelva.
- And Then What?: After defeating another nation for the first time during his campaign, the narration notes that he has no idea what to do with the Brigandine he just acquired.
- Animate Dead: After promoting to Grand Kaiser he gains the spell Necro Rebirth, letting him raise a fallen monster unit as a zombie. The re-animated monster is destroyed at the end of the battle, so you still need a revival stone if you wish to add the monster back to the party.
- Arch-Enemy: Rubino of Norzaleo and Eliza of Guimoule are his, due to their nations long history of conflict with Gustava.
- Badass Cape: Rocks a pimped-out fur cape befitting an emperor.
- Badass Normal: The only ruler without a Brigandine, and he kicks just as much ass without one as the others do.
- Battle Cry: While this applies to everyone in his kingdom, he's one of the frequent users of the trope for the country which you will hear a lot if you select him before issuing commands to them: "SIN ZOAR!!"
- Berserk Button: He gets pissed when Hazarov so much as implies that Gustava could use a Brigandine of their own, drawing his sword at him.
- Casting a Shadow: Has an affinity with black elemental magic.
- Cold Ham: Very rarely raises his voice, even when angry, but that doesn't stop him from making lengthy speeches about the beauty of his family's blood or how his enemies lack the lineage to defeat him.
- The Comically Serious: This is especially noticable when he's interacting with his rather crazy family.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Played With. He specializes in dark element and comes from the country designated as the villainous faction responsible for incidents like the Gustava Incident. However, he's a decent and honorable man unless dealing with his enemies and from his POV, his country is basically a victim of slander and Historical Villain Upgrade just because they didn't have a Brigandine. And all things considered, he comes off as more moral than someone like Rudo of Mana Saleesia.
- Dual Wielding: Uses two swords of varied sizes (one long and the other thick) in battle.
- The Emperor: His title, and also his unique class (Kaiser = Emperor in German).
- Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: His nation has been vilified by the rest of Runersia, but no matter what, Tim puts a great emphasis on the people of Gustava being linked with familial bonds, even outside blood. They're united and all get along just fine and dandy.
- Expy: He can be considered Runersia's answer to Vaynard. Both rule the northernmost region of the continent, have a bad reputation amongst the rest of the nations and were defeated in the past by the token 'good kingdom' note . Tim even enforces this further by wielding the dark element.
- Famed In-Story: If Gustava falls, he goes down in Runersia's history as a powerful fighter and leader who raised Gustava into a mighty country.
- Gravity Master: Has the spells Dimension (forcibly transfers a single enemy in a random space) and Gravity (reduces a single enemy's AGI stat and negates their terrain bonuses).
- Hero-Worshipper: Towards Sin Gustav, his ancestor and founder of the Gustava Empire, whom he wishes he could meet. He eventually does.
- Lonely at the Top: Feels this way as the ruler of Gustava. Sin Gustav's second coming late in his campaign considerably takes the weight off his shoulders.
- Magic Knight: Not especially tanky, but wields both sword and dark magic with equal proficiency in battle.
- Magic Wand: The Wand of Sin Gustav, passed down to every emperor of Gustava since the days of Sin Gustav himself.
- Mercy Kill: He's forced to kill a possessed Sin Gustav if the player sides with Aurora.
- Not Distracted by the Sexy: Much to Jazz's frustration.
- Only Sane Man: Much more level-headed and saner than his boisterous, battle-happy relatives.
- Poisonous Person: Can cast the Venom spell, which has a 20% chance of poisoning enemies.
- Rage Against the Heavens: After the Rune God forces him to kill a possessed Sin Gustav, he flies into a rage and proclaims his desire to kill him.
- The Stoic: Zigzagged. Outside of battle he's a rather taciturn and introspective fellow, with his much more talkative (and considerably louder) relatives doing most of the talking. On the battlefield however he's as much of a ham as pretty much every other rune knight in the game.
- Thicker Than Water: Places a huge importance on the blood that links the Gustav family together, considering it not only the true source of their strength but also a power greater than mana itself.
- This Is Unforgivable!: He flies into a righteous fury when the Rune God possesses the body of Sin Gustav, forcing Tim to Mercy Kill him.
- Tom the Dark Lord: He's an Emperor of an underdog but powerful Empire. There are those (everyone) who call him... Tim?
- Uncertain Doom: If Gustava falls his fate is left entirely up in the air, with some theorizing he might have gone into hiding.
- Villainous Underdog: He himself is not evil, but Gustava is counted among the three "Evil" factions of Runersia and is the only one without a Brigandine. The other nations revile Gustava as a land of bandits and monsters and dismiss them for their lack of Brigandine, and Tim's primary motivation for conquering the continent is to vindicate his family after centuries of the other nations looking down on them. Should the player pick Gustava, he succeeds.
Hazarov (Voiced by Shigeru Chiba)
Commander of the northern region of the Holy Gustava Empire and the uncle to the 13th emperor Tim Gustav. Highly reowned in his country as one of the strongest warriors, he belittles Tim, claiming he wouldn't have achieved his position without his help.
- Boisterous Bruiser: He's a big burly man that enjoys a good scrap and generally being a rather wacky uncle for Tim and Ginger.
- Crutch Character: He has rather low Rune power and growth, but he at least makes up for it with his impressive stats.
- Dirty Old Man: It doesn't define his characters, but there are times that this trope shines on him. When Jazz mentions that she had a hard time trying to get Tim naked (for her skin-painting arts), Hazarov offers to get naked gusto.
- Expy: He's basically a much more story important and slightly saner Bagdemagus from the previous game, the wacky Boisterous Bruiser guy with axe.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Gets mad in a battlefield conversation because Ginny dares to... observe he's also a really big dude.
- Strong, but Unskilled: If he hits, he'll hit like a truck. But he has such a low AGI that he has a hard time hitting unless someone gets him a Halo or he uses a Herd-Hitting Attack that never misses but risks on friendly fire.
Coco (Voiced by Ryōka Yuzuki)
Commander of the southern region of the Holy Gustava Empire and aunt to 13th emperor Tim Gustav.
A prideful and power-hungry woman, she is attracted to younger men but is merciless towards younger women.
- Creepy Aunt: She's Tim and Ginger's aunt and tends to make comments that borders on sexual assault...
- The Immodest Orgasm: She has a tendency to moan out and making sexually aroused noises.
- White Magician Girl: Inverted: She has the healing power, but in addition of her more prideful attitude, her moaning can get really distracting and do not befit the typical personality of the trope.
Ginger Gustav (Voiced by Emiri Katou)
The younger sister of Tim Gustav.
Rumored to be blessed with Zoar's protection and the gift of foresight due to a legend that states that her mother gave birth to her in the Zoar Shrine after being struck by lightning.
Her love for her brother going beyond normal sibling love, she ruthlessly deals with those who dares to resist the emperor and on the battlefield, she is a cold and calculating demon that strikes fear towards her enemies.
- The Baroness: Despite her youth, she fits in the Sexpot type, as she's less villainous and more defined with her loyalty with Tim.
- Berserk Button: Anybody not showing her brother proper respect is sure to earn her ire. If she's deployed alongside Jazz she won't hesitate to chew her out for calling him Timmy even as they're standing on a battlefield.
- Big Brother Worship: She absolutely adores her big bro Tim and doesn't take trash-talking about him well.
- Black Magician Girl: One of the more prominent ones in Runersia, despite dressing like a dominatrix. Ginger is an excellent mage and has some of the highest Rune Power for Gustava.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She does not like it when Jazz is making moves towards her bro.
- Dressed Like a Dominatrix: She has a pseudo-dominatrix outfit with a Navel-Deep Neckline, ruthless and uses a whip. Uh... yeah.
- Whip of Dominance: She is a cold and ruthless officer who often brings out a whip to intimidate others and keep them in line, especially her wacky uncle and aunt. It also complements her Dominatrix motif. Notably, she doesn't actually use the whip in actual battle.
Alsin (Voiced by Shigenori Sōya)
Commander of the Holy Gustava Empire's secret service and the right-hand man of Tim Gustav who served previously as the previous emperor's grand chamberlain.
An accomplished martial artist and distinguished as one of the strongest knight in the empire, he is also renowned puppeteer, using his puppets in his small theater to educate the history of the empire and the teachings of the Zoar Religion.
- Cultured Badass: If he's not bashing your face in, he's a skilled puppeteer and held many successful puppet shows.
- Crutch Character: He's a much more sustainable crutch compared to Hazarov, seeing that he has decent Rune Power as well.
- The Dragon: The more definite right hand man and advisor of Tim.
- Only Sane Man: Amongst Tim's men, he's the only one who lacks some sort of wackiness that Tim's men provides, which may be why Tim trusts him greatly.
Jasmine 'Jazz' Swift (Voiced by Madoka Asahina)
A rune knight from the United Islands of Mirelva and a schoolmate to Tim Gustav from his time at Mirelva Academy as a teenager. A tattoo artist, she loves to give tattos to beautiful people and thus, she joins the Holy Gustava Empire in hopes of tattooing Tim.
- Childhood Friend: Went on the same academy with Tim during his time in Mirelva and has been trying to get him naked so he can be her next model artist.
- Defector from Decadence: She's supposed to be on the side of Mirelva, but prefers hanging around with her old friend Timmy
- The Tease: A generally teasing girl, especially for Tim, to the ire of Ginger.
Scymerius
A Rune Knight with a checked past, she has unfortunate reputation of bring destruction to every master she serves, causing her to lose her standing. She is has sworn absolute loyalty to Gustava after Tim accepted her without prejudice.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Defeating Gustava means that she can join whoever beats it, asking if they're curious about the bad karma she brings.
- The Faceless: She's wearing her armor 24/7 and no one knows what her face looks like.
- Fatal Attractor: According to the backstory, any whom she serves will meet unfortunate end which gave her quite a gloomy look.
Iyona
A veteran singer who once performed all over Gustava, she caught the eye of the Gustav family and she became their exclusive singer. While pious to the Zoar religion, she misses being able to sing whenever she pleases and desires to have her songs heard in every city once peace is achieved.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: She is the gentle girl when compared to the brooding Noll.
- Nice Girl: She's generally a genuinely pleasant woman who aims for peace and also only fights as a last resort.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: She wears such, most likely part of her singer getup.
Sylvie
An adventurer and a mercenary who around the vast wildlands of Gustava, she joins the empire once war breaks out, wanting to take advantage of her position in order to take all of the treasures of Runersia.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Defeating Gustava will make her join the conquering nation because she still had to hunt more treasures.
- Magikarp Power: Joining at Level 9 Hunter might not seem much, but she has one of the biggest Rune Powers in Runersia and eventually, she'll also grow into an expert and deadly sniper.
- Only in It for the Money: Or rather... the treasure. She's a pure treasure hunter and cares more about getting them than actually the defense of her own nation.
Ivan
The bodyguard captain of the Holy Gustava Empire. He is serious and courteous but is utterly ruthless in executing dissidents among the populace under Tim's command.
- Consummate Professional: He takes his job as a knight very seriously.
- Officer and a Gentleman: He's dressed like a professional officer, and generally conducts himself with courtesy... just as long as you're not on the bad side of Tim.
Noll
A boy from a clan of assassins contracted to do the dirty work behind Gustava's expansion. He once killed all his siblings in accordance to a code that his family's skills may be passed down to one successor. He has a secret attraction to Iyona due to being the only one who approached him.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: He's generally a moody and brooding boy, but has an attraction to Iyona for being genuinely pleasant to him regardless of his background.
- Child Soldier: He's an assassin at such young age.
- Professional Killer: And his job is to kill off anyone marked with Gustava. Not to mention, he killed his own siblings to prove his adherence to his family code.
Gaspar
A Zoarune fanatic. Ever since his family was killed by rune knights, he desires revenge on any rune knights can find. He believes that if he kills enough rune knights, the Rune God himself will appear.
- Ax-Crazy: From his quotes, it's clear that his head has some screws loose...
- Barbarian Long Hair: To go along with his craziness, he has some unkempt hair.
- Revenge: Became a Zoarune Knights because normal Rune Knights killed his family, and hoping for the appearance of the Rune God. Knowing him, he might try to elevate it to killing the Rune God...
Finrall
Once an upper-class member to the Mana Saleesia Theocracy, he is forced into a life of being a con artist due to his family suffering from a massive debt and breaking up. After being exiled from the Theocracy for his actions, he is recruited by Gustava and hopes to start over a new leaf.
- The Atoner: He wants to make up his time for being a Con Artist and start anew in the Empire.
- Con Artist: It's his previous past.
- Riches to Rags: He used to be rich, but then misfortune happens and he had to resort to dirty acts to even survive.
Rensei
A member of Hazam clan that stayed in a remote land for necessity. When war broke out, he and his children went separate ways to restore the clan's honor. Rensei chose to join Gustava, while he's nonchalant about it, he's quite worried about his children's welfare and how they fare in restoring the honor of the clan that he headed.
- Defeat Means Friendship: He'll join the country that defeated Gustava and had one of his children. Inversely, defeating any nation that has his children will have Rensei vouch for that child to join Gustava, though he made it clear that it's not out of Nepotism.
- Master Swordsman: As a member of the Hazam clan, he's really good with swordplay.
- Old Master: He's old and he's a Level 18 Swordsman, a potent mid-game ally.
- Permanently Missable Content: Rensei is the last of his family to appear, so if you, as Shinobi or Mirelva, somehow managed to wipe out Gustava fast enough before either Ann or Yuki offered their services to you, then Rensei won't appear.
- Recurring Element: While the exact match is unclear, it's quite clear that he and his children take after Forsena's Rand Siblings (Miguel, Castor and Liguel), the family that separated to serve different countries and restore their Family Honor. Thankfully, deploying Rensei and having him encounter his family members will yield nothing like Rensei ditching your nation.
Sin Gustav
Ancestor of the Gustav family. A young boy that became famous for slaying the Mana-consuming monster Zoar and deified at the age of 10, especially after the blood of Zoar became a resource for Gustava people to sustain themselves via trade. He's made popular via puppet plays, and one day, he inhabits the spirit of a puppet played by Alsin and helps Tim's conquest...- Badass Adorable: He's a frickin' 10 years old, and then he killed a tremendous monster by himself, making him a legend.
- Living Legend: ... Well, sort of. He might have lost his original body, now just inhabiting a puppet. But he's basically a legendary hero amongst Gustava people.
- Living Toy: He's a puppet brought to life, inhabited by the spirit of a legendary hero. Of course, being a puppet means that some of his human skills became limited.
