Here are the twelve playable characters in DeStrega.
- "Get lost!"Voiced by: Hideo Ishikawa (JP), Joseph Foss (EN), Massimo Marinoni (IT)
Main character of the game. He acts as the standard fighter in the roster. Plot-wise, he works as a miner for a living, enjoying his carefree lifestyle. At least, until Zauber's army raids his village. His adventure begins as a quest for vengeance at first, and later his motives shift towards helping others, while also learning to cooperate with others as well.
- Bare-Fisted Monk: Without taking his fire powers into account, he's basically this game's Ryu.
- Call to Adventure: Well, a village that's been burned down completely is hardly a place to live in anymore, anyway. That, and revenge.
- Dub Name Change: Known as Grad in Japan.
- The Hero: The above image even says so.
- Hot-Blooded
- I Work Alone: At first. It doesn't stick.
- Jack of All Stats
- Kamehame Hadoken: The usual result of his three-button combo.
- Playing with Fire: Same as Doyle and Raone; he leans more towards the "explosion" variety.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: At first, he plans to go against Zauber's army alone. Rohzen tries to tell him not to do so, but he's blinded by rage; he changes his mind when Celia helps him fighting off a soldier.
- Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: In the Japanese and U.S. boxarts of the game, as well as at the end of the game's opening cinematic, he's seen firing a blast from his hand, aimed at the camera.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps
- Title Drop: Right at the end of the Story Mode.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist
- "I just had to win!"Voiced by: Houko Kuwashima (JP), Ashley Lambert (EN), Ilaria D'Elia (IT)
Like Gradd, Celia is one of the few surviving Strega. Gradd first meets her and Rohzen while mourning those who died in the raid of his village. Following Rohzen's plan, she aims to gather the Strega together in order to bring an end to Zauber's rule, while also clearing their name in the process.
She's also Fahlma's younger sister.
- Big Damn Heroes: She helped Gradd when he was wounded by one of Zauber's soldiers, snapping the former out of his loner attitude.
- Blow You Away: Her magical attacks are wind-based.
- Clear My Name: What she aims to do, speaking in her race's behalf.
- Dub Name Change: Known as Serea in Japan.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: The reason she gives the secret word for destroying the Master Relic to Gradd against Fahlma's wishes. Celia laments that she and her brother could've lived a normal life, and that so many lives could have been saved, if only they didn't have to carry the burdens of being Strega.
- Meaningful Name: The name Celia is thought to originate from caelum, the Latin word for "heaven" or "sky."
- Secret-Keeper: She knows the secret word required to destroy the relics which just happens to be a Title Drop.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Even more so than Gradd, so much she's best described as outright naive. Which is why she doesn't expect Rohzen to be the asshole he is.
- "Woohoo! I'm invincible!"Voiced by: Saori Kaneda (JP), Danni Wheeler (EN), Ilaria D'Elia (IT)
A young princess under the protection of Milena, her older cousin. Anjie is the sole survivor among the Imperial Family in the aftermath of the Great Offscreen War. Her status keeps her under a high security watch in a dreaded life of seclusion. As such, she often dreams of the day she could surrender her title and join the military.
- Blood Knight: Less extreme than other examples, but it's there. She loves fighting more than a fourteen year old princess should.
- Cheerful Child: One with enough awareness to exploit the perks that come with her station as a princess.
- Disproportionate Retribution: She's first seen forcing a soldier to spar with her. She succeeds because, otherwise, the poor guy would spend a month in a dungeon.
- Dub Name Change: Known as Anzeal in Japan.
- Girlish Pigtails
- Kid-Appeal Character: She's fourteen years old. Complete with a fluffy, floaty Non-Human Sidekick (Jim, her floating... um, thing).
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall/Painting the Medium: Possibly as a representation of simplified runes due to her being inexperienced, Anjie's attacks take the form of green triangles, purple squares, blue crosses and red circles.
- Rebellious Princess: Justified, as not wanting anything to do with royalty might be common at fourteen years of age.
- Princesses Prefer Pink
- "Try paying attention next time."Voiced by: Yuko Nagashima (JP), Candice Signa (EN), Benedetta Ferrero (IT)
Princess Anjie's older cousin, and her bodyguard. Additionally, she's the daughter of the former Prime Minister of Ipsen who was mysteriously killed during the carnage eleven years ago. When she is not attending to her duties by Anjie, Milena investigates the truth of her father's death.
- An Ice Person: Her powers are primarily ice-based.
- The Baroness: Sexpot variety, though a milder example than most.
- Cool Big Sis: Implied to be this to Anjie, though the story barely explores their relationship.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: So much, her ice-based powers almost look like a personality power.
- Fantastic Racism: She hates Strega with a passion. When Doyle is set up by Zauber to kill Anjie as part of Zauber's grab at power, however, she sets it aside and helps out Gradd's group for the sake of Anjie.(to Celia) "You're too young to know anything about my father, but you are still a Strega. And all Strega must die!"
- Faux Action Girl: Despite being lauded by Zauber for her abilities and accomplishments, poor Milena always ends up doing battle against opponents with serious Plot Armor: both Celia and Gradd fight her to a standstill and when players finally get a chance to use Milena against Zauber, it's a Hopeless Boss Fight.
- Freudian Excuse: Her ill-will towards Strega and subsequent devotion to Zauber's cause stem from the death of her father, allegedly at the hands of a Strega.
- Larynx Dissonance: Accidentally so. Her death cry just doesn't sound right, in the English dub at least.
- Pet the Dog: Though she could have easily killed an injured Couger when she found him in the forest after a skirmish with Zauber's men, Milena instead gives him her supplies and advises him to be more careful. Couger feels indebted to Milena because of her kindness.
- "Leave me alone!"Voiced by: Takahiro Yoshimizu (JP), Bill Smolenske (EN), Alessandro Ricci (IT)
A retired soldier, and Reyus' father. When his son gets kidnapped, circumstances force him to fight once more, even though this means taking an innocent person's life.
- Badass Arm-Fold: His victory pose.
- Dub Name Change: Known as Doil in Japan.
- Killed Off for Real: By his Brainwashed and Crazy son, no less.
- Playing with Fire: His magical attacks, just like Gradd's and Raone's. His variant is the one most closely resembling actual fire.
- Retired Badass: Then again, it doesn't stick.
- "Look, Dad, I won!"Voiced by: Junko Noda (JP), Lazer Friedman (EN), Massimo Marinoni (IT)
Doyle's son. Before the game begins, Reyus is kidnapped by Zauber's men and used as a bartering chip to ensure the former general's cooperation. Like Gradd and Celia, he is also a Strega but has not been able to awaken his powers.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Which is why he attacks Doyle, who, in turn, can't even think of fighting back.
- Break the Cutie: The boy is brainwashed into fatally wounding his own father, and only breaks free of the spell in time for Doyle to impart his final words to his son. Ouch.
- Dub Name Change: Known as Reus in Japan.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: His face is more feminine than his short hair makes him out to be.
- Making a Splash: His magical attacks are based on water.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Quoted word-for-word, Big "OMG!" aside, after he realizes he attacked his own father.
- "Nothing escapes these blades!"Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai (JP), James Taylor (EN), Andrea Piovan (IT)
Leader of the resistance. Along with Celia, Tieme is the game's deuteragonist in its Story Mode. He is a former knight of the Ipsen Empire who once served the imperial family before Zauber began his despotic rule. Banding together with the remaining knights, he leads his own resistance group under the banner of their fallen kingdom.
- The Aragorn
- Badass Normal: His projectile attacks are ethereal blades formed from his slashes. He has no magical powers whatsoever, either as a Strega or coming from a Relic.
- Dual Wielding: Being the only swordsman in the game's roster, he makes up for it by wielding two swords.
- Dub Name Change: Known as Teem in Japan.
- It's Personal with the Dragon: Tieme has a bone to pick with Raone for giving the command that led to the resistance suffering major casualties. The fourth-to-last battle of the Story Mode sees Tieme avenge his fallen allies by slaying the empire's general.
- Foil: His skepticism towards strangers is in stark contrast with Celia's naivete.
- La Résistance: Leader of the resistance against Zauber's iron fist.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Often preferring diplomacy over brute force, he tends to give his opponents a chance to surrender... if possible, that is.
- True Companions: Once someone gains his trust, Tieme acts like this. He's very loyal to his companions.
- "Another poor fool."Voiced by: Takeshi Endo (JP), Jeff Hanley (EN), Alessandro Ricci (IT)
Couger is a foreigner from an eastern country serving as one of the key members in Tieme's resistance group. He is sent by his masters to prevent Zauber's warmongering from spreading to his homeland. His specialty is espionage: he departs whenever able to work behind the scenes and gather information. Though neutral in regards to the political setting of Ipsen, his presence is nonetheless crucial in gathering half the cast together against Zauber.
- Badass Normal: His projectiles are nothing more than shurikens and small blades.
- Dub Name Change: Known as Kuga in Japan.
- Gratuitous Ninja
- The Quiet One: The guy rarely speaks his mind.
- The Stoic
- Voiced by: Yasunori Masutani (JP), David Brainard (EN), Andrea Piovan (IT)
A sage looking for the survivors of his kind, Rohzen is one of the three Strega who voiced his opposition against Relics eleven years ago. After being forced to go into hiding, he appears once more to gather any remaining Strega and rally them against the tyrant Zauber. In the beginning of the story, Rohzen acts as Gradd and Celia's ally who disappears at select times to attend to other matters.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He actually wants to be the only surviving Strega; he couldn't care less about the survival of the others of his kind.
- Dub Name Change: Known as Rosen in Japan.
- Greater-Scope Villain: He broke the Relics' seal, and helped Zauber find them. His only goal is to get the other competitors to kill each other.
- Hunter of His Own Kind: Plotted to eliminate all other Strega and was directly responsible for the death of Milena's father.
- Karmic Death: He outlived his usefulness and got offed easily by Zauber, that is, the very same man he gave the secret to the Relics.
- Manipulative Bastard: And boy, did he have fun with everything.
- Power Floats: Justified, as he wouldn't move as fast as the other characters, otherwise.
- Shock and Awe: His magical attacks are based on electricity.
- Taking You with Me: As a prophecy. Rohzen predicts Zauber will "share his fate."
- Walking Spoiler: Well, those spoiler tags aren't there for show.
- "Fool! You'll never beat me!"Voiced by: Shinichi Yamada (JP), David Brainard (EN), Alessandro Ricci (IT)
Raone is Zauber's trusted general who served his master before the latter came to power. Aside from Fahlma, he is the strongest Relic-user within the Prime Minister's forces and uses his abilities to slaughter those in his way. Since Raone is the one who ordered the slaughter of Tieme's resistance group early on in the story, former Ipsen knight Tieme holds a grudge against him.
- Blood Knight: He shows almost no restraints in combat.
- The Brute: He's the "big one" among Zauber's minions.
- The Dragon: To Zauber.
- Dub Name Change: Known as Laon in Japan.
- Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Notable in that he witnesses both ends of the treatment — namely, before his own death, he's responsible for that of Rohzen, and the player has already found out the sage's true colors by then.
- Mighty Glacier: His attacks come out somewhat slower than most other characters
- Nepharious Pharaoh: His outfit is meant to invoke the effect, what with the nemes he wears.
- Playing with Fire: Same thing as Gradd and Doyle; his variety of fire is very similar to lasers, reaching Wave-Motion Gun levels in the stronger combos.
- The Stoic
- Underestimating Badassery: See that caption beneath the image of Raone's character profile? Those are his words to Tieme right before the knight kills him in a knock-down, drag-out fight.
- You Fool!: See his victory quote.
- "You moron!"Voiced by: Shin-ichiro Miki (JP), Chris Wolf (EN), Massimo Marinoni (IT)
An additional ally to Zauber, and Celia's older brother (yeah, brother). As Zauber's loyal henchman, Fahlma is ordered to seek out the whereabouts of the resistance and has most of them eliminated.
- Aloof Big Brother: Subverted. Fahlma just happens to be The Stoic by nature and actually cares for Celia.
- Anti-Villain: Secretly plots to dismantle Zauber's plans from the inside.
- Cain and Abel: The story appears to be setting this one up between Fahlma (Cain) and Celia (Abel) when Rohzen informs Celia that her brother is a high-ranking official within Zauber's forces, but the idea is quickly put to rest when Fahlma rescues his sister from imperial footsoldiers and takes her to his room to recuperate.
- Dub Name Change: Known as Falma in Japan.
- Foil: Milena's feelings are mutual.
- He's also on the cynical end of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism, with Gradd as his polar opposite.
- Humanity Is Flawed: Sees mankind as inherently self-destructive and implores Gradd to not destroy the Master Relic and thus remove the Strega of their powers so that they can show humans a better way to live.
- Knight Templar: Despite his allegiance, his intentions aren't exactly evil.(to Gradd) "It was not I who set things in motion. They dug their own graves. Such deaths are... unavoidable. And if by those deaths, we enjoy a hundred, no, a thousand years of peace and prosperity, is it not worth the price?"
- Light 'em Up: His magical attacks are light-based; specifically, he attacks with light in tangible form.
- The Starscream: And he has damn good reasons for plotting against his master.
- "You should have known better!"Voiced by: Hirohiko Kakegawa (JP), Terry Stain (EN), Andrea Piovan (IT)
The main villain of the game, Zauber took advantage of the Great Offscreen War and rose to power. He's currently dead-set on taking down the resistance of the Strega. Before Zauber obtained Relics, he was a minor landowner. However, he soon learned the potential of the magical weapons and advocated for the Emperor to use them. With these weapons, he plans to have Princess Anjie and the Strega assassinated. Once they are out of the picture, he would then don himself Emperor and conquer other countries including Couger's.
- Ambition Is Evil: Ambition is one of Zauber's defining traits.
- Casting a Shadow: His magical attacks are darkness-based.
- The Dragon: To Rohzen, after The Reveal. Then he turns against him and comes right back to his BB status.
- Jack of All Stats: Zauber's stats are highly balanced, just like Gradd's, which enables most players to use him in any situation. His Est/Triangle attack is a bit unorthodox however.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: His magic tends to manifest in the form of red-and-black globs.
- Villains Never Lie: Claims this when Milena confronts him over his various murderous ploys ("Your days of lying have come to an end!"), stating that it's far easier to simply kill those who stood his way — Milena's father was among these people.
