A demon "Honor Student" out to kill his father and take his place as Overlord. Reading far too much manga for his own good, he concludes that the best way to do this is to become the Hero, because heroes always kick Overlord ass.
Tropes associated with Mao:
Accidental Innuendo:invoked An unintentional master of this, whether it's panting heavily and literally drooling over the developments in Almaz's body, demanding for Almaz to teach him about love, or telling Beryl's Girl Posse: "I'm not interested in praise. Reward me with something physical." See also Memetic Molester.
Anti-Hero: He'd never admit it, but He really does calm out a bit after the story. Of course, the interpretation varies from player to player. He'll drop an evil plan if his "friends" bug him enough about it.
What are you doing here, Beryl? Are you trying to interrupt my research again? I'm about to conduct a physics experiment on skirt lifting. Get out of here.
Closet Geek: He is the closet about liking heroes, truth is he might be as big a fan of them as Almaz and Flonne, if not more.
A really, really big jerk with a heart of gold. Several times in the game, we meet the embodiment of Mao's "True Heart," and he's basically what Mao would be if Mao were more mature and kind. The irritating jerkass Mao is entirely an affectation, a "surface".
Kick the Morality Pet: In the worse ending he mocks Almaz after he dies which is seen as an in universe Moral Event Horizon instead of him grieving making everyone turn his back on him. He then attacks them, but once Beryl is gone, he loses it.
Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He'll repeatedly mention his "1.8 Million E.Q." (evil quotient?) which is absolutely worthless for understanding basic concepts like love and truth and psychology and friendship. He makes mention of being able to turn people into giant robots or cyborgs but we never see him follow through on that, either.
Scars Are Forever: Has a crescent-shaped scar on his forehead, which is obscured by his bangs, but can be seen in his Super Move Portrait Attack and his character design notes.
She Is Not My Girlfriend: Mao has this reaction to everything, not just Raspberyl. Any time he acts with a crumb of kindness or friendship, and someone else points it out, he throws a mini-tantrum about how he has no friends and he's never opened up his heart. See also I Read It for the Articles, which is how he explains his love of superhero comics as mere "research."
Too Kinky to Torture: Mao's biggest disappointment upon learning that his butler Geoffery has been experimenting on him while he's unconscious is that he wasn't awake to remember any of it...Well, the total breach of trust too, but mostly the former. When he confronts him about it, he demands video.
Torture Technician: Comes natural with his love for experimenting and reconstructing his victims.
Tsundere: Much like Laharl, if he does something good, he'll try to deny it.
What Is This Thing You Call Love?: His research has left him convinced that roughly 70% of a hero's power comes from 'Love', but he doesn't comprehend it at all.
Why Don't You Marry It?: The rest of the group is pretty convinced that Mao likes mad science in that sort of way. He doesn't exactly help his case against it.
A guardsman in the human world who goes to the Netherworld to fight the overlord to protect the princess. Gets his title stolen and all sorts of bad stuff comes his way.
Curtains Match the Window: Not so unusual in real life, but in the Disgaea universe the color of his hair and eyes is as unusual as any other wacky color.
Cute Little Fangs: Acquires these as he starts turning into a demon.
Break the Cutie: The Almaz ending. Also a minor example near the end of the game when he finds out that his superhero isn't all that it seems.
Kill the Cutie: Near the end of the game, he gets killed shortly after protecting Sapphire. Naturally,it doesn't last long. Only in the worse ending does he stay dead and it triggers a string of unfortunate events.
Gameplay and Story Integration: In Dark Hero Days, Hanako apparently summons him from the future after He and Sapphire are married, and as a result the two have a 99% chance of pulling off a combo attack at all times.
The Heart: Functions as the member that keeps everyone together. It shows in the worse ending where his death triggers everyone to turn on Mao because he refused to grieve for him.
Karmic Transformation: Almaz eventually realizes that his transformation into a demon was one of these.
The Knights Who Say Squee: Almaz is a tremendous Super Hero Aurum fanboy, and admits to owning a tremendous amount of merchandise based on him. Naturally, he has the most trouble out of the main characters in accepting that Aurum is really evil.
Man in White: White uniform and very much genuinely good.
The Messiah: Minus that one moment in chapter 4, Almaz fits the qualities of one. Kind and caring, always willing to help someone out even if he doesn't know them and is willing to see the good in people no matter how cruel they are. He was even willing to stay with Mao and convince him to stop his plan in attacking the human world and depending on the ending depends on whether or not he is successful.
Morality Pet: Not to the extent of Beryl but also serves as one to Mao as shown in the worse ending where his death contributes part of Mao's Face Heel Turn and turns everyone against Mao.
My God, What Have I Done?: His reaction to what he does to Mao in chapter 4. Thinking he did a good thing by pulling the plug and shutting down his father inside of his heart, Almaz didn't realize that he mentally destroyed Mao in the process.
The Power Of Trust: He constantly talks about trust and friendship toward Mao. Depending on the ending depends on if his talk about trust gets through.
Spanner in the Works: Because of Almaz' presence, the Big Bad could not accomplish his goals of turning Mao into the perfect Overlord that he wanted him to be. Almaz is the reason that Mao opens his heart effectively ruining his plans to have Mao go to the dark side. This is the reason why Aurum wanted him dead the most, but Almaz managed to cheat death at the very end resulting in a Villainous Breakdown the beginning of chapter 8.
In a sense, Almaz is the very reason why Aurum fails to get everything he wants in multiple endings. In the worse ending, Almaz may have stayed dead as he planned, but it resulted in Mao being too powerful for Aurum to kill (Beryl also contributed to this). I the Almaz ending, Almaz prevents Mao from killing Aurum meaning he's alive to see that the hero he failed to kill not only prevents his death but also is the new Overlord. And in the normal and Super Hero Mao ending, Mao refuses to kill him and either experiments on him or forces him to be his butler again. In other words, Almaz is the very person that screws him over with everything he planned for 200 years.
Tender Tears: Sheds them for Mao after everyone recognizes him as the freshman leader given Mao won't cheer on the outside. Naturally, Mao is disturbed by this act.
He does it again when he realizes how much Mao is suffering because of his father's death.
What the Hell, Hero?: While Almaz didn't know that pulling the plug would make Mao's mind revert back to a baby, announcing his attentions after he promised Mao he would stay by his side and then later using the Princess as an excuse for wanting to leave the Netherworld while Mao was in that infant state gets him chewed out by Geoffrey, Champloo and Sapphire with Sapphire being the one that sends him into a minor Heroic BSOD but quickly recovering thanks to Champloo's lecture that makes him go back into Mao's heart to set things right.
Yank the Dog's Chain: In the cruelest way possible during the Almaz ending. Ouch.
Princess of her kingdom. Very aggressive despite her appearance. Probably best described as a Cloud Cuckoolander raised by Machiavelli. Has decided that the best way not to be a Distressed Damsel is to kill via preemptive strike anyone who might kidnap her.
Save the Princess: Inverted. She watched a countless stream of servants and heroes get themselves killed in her name. Now she's going to kill anything and everything that might threaten a hero. And she can. Also the reason she's Ax Crazy.
Secret Test of Character: When chewing Almaz out in chapter 4, it was a test to see if he was really the kind of person she thought he was, thus worthy of her affection.
Shipper on Deck: If the drama CD's are anything to go by, seems like she ships Beryl and Mao.
Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish: Subverted. She doesn't really understand what regressed Mao is saying — she's just kinda hoping that he's allowing them to murder the residents of his heart.
Mao's childhood friend and the school's resident delinquent (a position which she maintains by being an almost Messianic Do-Gooder) who tries to talk Mao out of the whole "Hero" thing because she thinks he might end up stealing her thunder. Calls herself Beryl and comes with her own posse of Technical Pacifists.
Tropes associated with Raspberyl:
Alpha Bitch: Beryl is the demonic verion of this, which is an inversion.
Anti Anti Christ: Okay, not nearly as dramatic as most examples, but she's a demon who's rebelling against the perceived notion of "demonness."
Delinquents: An inversion as she is considered a delinquent because she's an unashamed Goody-Two Shoes; yet glories in opposing her society's standard for its own sake.
The Fettered: By her dedication to being a delinquent, to the point that she's forced to bow out of fighting Mao several times because she has to hurry off to class or make it home before her self-imposed curfew.
Never Trust a Trailer: The opening shows demons raising their arms and singing as Beryl runs down the halls into class, as if they're praising her. Two big problems with this, a) All of Evil Academy seem to despise her for being a Noble Demon, and b) She would never even consider running down the halls. She even tells Kyoko and Asuka not to ever dare do it practically at the very beginning of the game, before we even know who she is.
Trailers Always Spoil: While she would never run in the halls, it turns out her demonic peers actually respect her and are grateful for her help, even if they're mostly too obsessed with appearing properly evil. When she's kidnapped, several express concern, and Mao actually doing something about it earns him high regard.
Older Than They Look: 1578 years old, but if you take into account the 100 years = 1 year Demon/Human age exchange rate, she should not look like she's ten, other than the fact that the character designer is a shameless Lolicon.
Onee-sama: How Kyoko and Asuka address her in Japanese; translated as 'my lady'.
Shipper on Deck: She just loves pairing Adell and Rozalin up; in both the DLC in Disgaea 3 and the extra content in Dark Hero Days. She also enjoyed watching Almaz and Sapphire develop into a couple throughout the main game. Being a Shipper on Deck is a requirement for being a delinquent it seems.
Evil Academy's legendary, strict Home Ec teacher, an incredibly enthusiastic practitioner of the deadly Fire Chaos Style Kitchen Fist. He has a tendency to make wise observations wrapped in cooking metaphors, but he's also surprisingly competent and notably altruistic. Tags along with Mao for his own reasons, but seems to know an awful lot about a variety of things despite not being on the school's payroll or its insurance.
Tropes associated with Mr. Champloo:
Batman Gambit: Not the orchestrator, but the prime agent of it. The orchestrator is Mao's dad.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Who knew that various cooking styles could translate so well into deadly martial arts techniques?
Chekhov's Gunman: Has elements of this that are revealed in the final episode.
Ice Cream Koan: Any life-lesson can be explained with cooking metaphors. He and Almaz get into quite a lengthy conversation using nothing but these in chapter 4.
The Sophomore Class Leader. A good-looking gentleman who does a fantastic job at being a leader, and looks down upon Mao for lacking good leadership traits.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: He asked the developers himself after his unfortunate letter event to fix his name but he said that they told him that they refused the five times he reported it because it was supposed to look like that in the scene.Not that you should feel surprised.
Full Name Basis: Starts regretting it after someone steals the space and letter "a" in his name, and could only afford a new "e", changing his name to Master Bigster. He asks the cast to stop after this, but they refuse.
Mr. Fanservice: One of his abilities even increases the stats of adjacent female allied units.
Never Trust a Trailer: The opening shows him fighting Mao alongside Salvatore. However, not only is he never fought until the post-game, but he and Salvatore were in an all-out war against each other.
A member of the Diez Gentlemen. She is an military woman who gives (impossible) orders to her enemies as well as her own men. Quits the Diez Gentlemen soon after she discovers she was working for Super Hero Aurum the whole time.
Tropes associated with Salvatore:
The Baroness: Mostly the Sexpot variant, although she has elements of the Rosa Klebb (Almaz's reaction to her statement that Baal stole her "womanliness" is basically, "what womanliness?")
BFG: Great Gun King, a skill where she summons a Big Freaking GOLDEN Gun out of nowhere, shoots a Big Freaking BULLET out of it, and rides the bullet as it speeds toward the targets.
Talking To Herself: With Etna in the English version. They don't actually talk to each other in the scenes where they're both onscreen, but you can use Salvatore during the fight with Etna.
Mao's loyal and incredibly efficient butler, capable of creating devices on the fly to aid Mao or open dimensional gates that are supposedly incapable of being opened. He does it all so Mao can be the strongest Overlord. And once that happens, he plans on doing battle with him and in the end either defeat him or die in battle against him. In reality, he is Super Hero Aurum, a legendary hero who had battled numerous Overlords, including Mao's father who he killed.
Tropes associated with Geoffrey
Catch Phrase: "I thought this might happen, so..."
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Upon revealing himself, the gang get ready to battle him as the final boss; he decides to let you save before finally facing him.
Death Seeker: He's not just looking to die...he's looking to die in a blaze of glory to something unimaginably powerful, the only way a proper hero should die.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Like Vulcanus before him, he doesn't understand that good and evil aren't what you're called, they're what you do. He's got the label of "Super Hero" but he's really just a man devoted to fighting more and more powerful enemies.
Villainous Breakdown: He has a minor one at the beginning of chapter 8 upon finding out that Almaz was still alive after that curse was supposed to kill him and another one at the end if Mao refuses to kill him.
Asuka Cranekick and Kyoko Needleworker
Kyoko and Asuka
Asuka and Kyoko are two female demons, a Lady Samurai and Ninja respectively, who work alongside Raspberyl as "demon delinquents". They join the team along with Beryl after their graduation.
Highly Visible Ninja: Justified with Kyoko as being stealthy is not the delinquent way, preferring to fight in broad daylight instead. It's also probably so that her outfit matches with Raspberyl and Asuka.
Rapunzel Hair: Like all Shrine Maidens/Lady Samurai, Asuka wears hers in a ponytail.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Subtle, but still present. Kyoko is generally the first of the pair to speak up and shows her emotions more strongly, particularly when it comes to her Onee-sama Beryl. Asuka, meanwhile, is more soft-spoken and calmer, though she shows Raspberyl just as much respect.
Tomboyish Ponytail: Kyoko's sweeps upwards, while Asuka's sweeps back and downward. Both styles keep it out of the way.
The Vato Bros. - Chewie, Cholo and Churro by name - are a trio of Orc honor students who (in the English dub) speak with heavy Latino accents. They serve the same game role as Mid-Boss and Axel, as recurring comic relief characters.
Tropes associated with the Vato Bros.:
Flunky Boss: Stages with them usually have the Vato Bros. standing up on a platform away from the action while their lower-level friends attack.
Verbal Tic: Each one has a different copula. (Ese for Chewie, homes for Cholo, and weddo for Churro)
Lampshaded later when they temporarily drop it, and Mao can't tell the difference between them.
When All You Have Is a Hammer: They have one strategy: calling upon their friends for help. They just apply this in different ways.
BeyondX
A bizarre girl with the ability to shape shift. She, like Salvatore, is a member of the Diez Gentlemen.Tropes associated with BeyondX:
Strong as They Need to Be: While not the first Disgaea boss to change levels from different times, it's probably worth noting that when you talk to her in the hub area when she's Ms. Machiko, she's listed as level 500, which puts her as being more powerful than the final boss. Both times you fight her, she's nowhere nearly that powerful.
Fridge Brilliance: A big part of this game's plot is that things like a character's title can actually be seen by others, and even transferred. Disgaea 2 makes it explicit that they are aware of their character levels as well. So shape shifting would be useless as a disguise unless you can fake this information too.
Cosplay Otaku Girl: Due to her shapeshifting ability others view her as such, although she denies it.
Though when you run into her in the Item World's Innocent towns, she sometimes does ask about Mao's opinion on cosplaying girls.
Horny Devils: One of her "disguises" is that of Ms. Machiko, a succubus.
A 15-year old halfling Nekomata raised on Earth. She's unfamiliar with the ways of the Netherworld, so she transfers to Evil Academy to learn more. Though gentle and trusting, she packs a lot of power into her small frame. She's one of two new characters exclusive to the PS Vita re-release.
Delinquents: Inverted example, much like Raspberyl. She's basically touted as being more of a Delinquent than Raspberyl, even though all she did was pay her school fees.
Does Not Know Her Own Strength: Another reason for her transfer to the Netherworld is to get a better hold on her strength, as she's accidentally destroyed stuff in the Human World schools, causing her to be ostracized.
The sole daughter of the Chief Director of Death Institute, Majin Academy, a rival school to Evil Academy, and also its acting Student Body President. She raises monsters, with slimes and zombies being her favorites. She has a spoiled, uppity attitude, which is strangely countered by an immature, prank-loving side. The second of the two new characters.
