Fire-Forged Friends: In one way or another, they all have a stake in the larger plot. Ragnar wants to find the mastermind behind the villain of his chapter, Alena and her retainers are hunting down the the same guy, Taloon is looking for the weapon that the Hero will need, and Maya and Meena are looking for the same higher power Ragnar is. As for the Hero (who had their village torched and their adoptive parents and village murdered), all of the above are aware of his/her existence to some greater or lesser extent, and they band together to accomplish al ofl their above goals.
Multinational Team: One Scottish guy (Ragnar), one Irishman (Taloon), three Russians (Alena, Kiryl, Borya), two dark skinned French gypsies with some Indian ancestry (Maya and Meena), and your Hero, whose nationality equivalent is a bit unclear.
Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: And how. If it wasn't for the fact they all oppose the same evil and are hunting the same villains, it would seem very odd that a soldier, a priest, a princess, a magic tutor, a merchant, two gypsy entertainers, and some young boy/girl are all traveling together.
Although to be fair, it is an RPG.
Chapter One: Ragnar McRyan and the Case of the Missing Children
Ragnar McRyan, Royal Knight (Ryan)
A royal knight who has served faithfully under the king of Burland for several years. Along with the rest of the knights, he is dispatched to investigate the mysterious disappearances of several children from Strathbaile/Izmit.
Only One Name: In the Japanese version and the NES version's English localization, this trope applied to him, but no longer does in the DS remake's English localization, where he was given a last name.
A helpful healslime who hopes that one day he might become human. Takes a real shine to Ragnar and offers to help him out. Though Ragnar wasn't the first soldier he made that offer to.
Verbal Tic: All Slimes have a slight slur to their voices, crossed with a bit of Smurfing given how many words in their sentences tend to be slime related puns.
Chapter Two: Alena and the Journey to the Tourney
Tsarevna Alena
The Tsarevna of Zamoksva/Santeem. Her father disapproves of her Tomboyish ways, and would much prefer she become a prim and proper lady. But Alena's more than ready to start adventuring, whether her father approves or not — nothing's going to stand in her way, not even the castle walls—!
Little Miss Badass: She escapes from the castle by kicking a hole in the wall of her third-story room and jumping out. It's also stated that this isn't the first time she's done it.
Glass Cannon: Her damage potential is very high, but her HP only middling, with an equipment selection that often leaves her more vulnerable than your medics. For Alena, the best defense is a good offense — she's not designed to soak up hits.
Lightning Bruiser: In the post game, this changes a little. She's a little less glassy without losing any of the cannon. Her Strength hits the game's cap about 2/3 of the way to level 99, and she finishes with maxed out Strength, Agility, and Luck. Her Resilience stat is best in the game, but her total defense still suffers from a lack of decent armor and shields.
Stay in the Kitchen: Alena's dad seems to have this attitude at the start of her chapter. Of course, Alena's the strongest physical fighter in the game, so...
Tomboy: Repeatedly called this, perhaps because it flows well with Tsarevna.
Well Done Daughter Girl: She states in the party talk that she wishes her father respected her fighting ability and would praise her a little. She gets her moment after curing her father of a curse.
The long-suffering Court Magician of Zamoksva/Santeem. Originally, he was supposed to serve as Alena's tutor, only to find she was completely hopeless with magic. This may be just as well, however; they have enough trouble keeping her from getting into too much trouble as it is...!
Team Dad: More towards Alena than Kiryl, often wishing he could do more to get Alena to act like a lady.
Kiryl (Clift/Cristo)
A childhood friend of Alena's who's currently training to become a Priest. Despite her incredible strength, he can't help worrying himself sick over her safety, and just has to come along...
Artificial Stupidity: Probably the game's most infamous example, your Combat Medic who loves nothing more than to spam his insta-death spells rather than, say, heal your Mighty Glacier who's standing at 3 HP. Including against bosses! The DS version thankfully added a Manual command.
This is even lampshaded in Monster Battle Road Victory.
Covert Pervert: In the DS remake, having him look into the mirror can result in him making a rather questionable comment. It's not clear whether it's meant to be suggestive or just a very unfortunate turn of phrase, but either way it's pretty funny.
Distressed Dude: When you meet Alena's party in chapter five, he's desperately ill and Alena is out searching for a cure.
Chapter Three: Torneko and the Extravagant Evacuation
Torneko Taloon
A cheerful merchant who dreams of owning his own store, rather than working under his ill-tempered boss. After all, how can he support his loving wife and son on minimum wage? Thus, he sets out in search of the perfect place to settle down, hoping to find fortune and a little fame along the way.
Determinator: Lampshaded. He's always following a dream, and his zeal is often remarked on.
Fairy Battle: During Torneko Taloon's chapter, he sometimes runs into fellow traveling merchants.
Fan Disservice: Dammit Taloon, keep your cross-dressing fetish to yourself please, especially when evaluating my equipment, will you?
He even enters Blatant Lies territory if you have him appraise the Dancer's Clothes, during which description he says he's not a crossdresser. At about the same time, every piece of horse manure you can find in the game just smelled a little worse.
Happily Married: His wife Tessie/Neta seems to be perfectly happy with him (and apparently is attracted to his drive to follow his dreams instead of his looks), and his comments about her lunches using the appraise command indicate he's just as satisfied.
Joke Character: Once you have the full party, he becomes more useful for what he can do outside your party (appraisal and treasure finding) rather than in combat. In Chapter 5, he begins doing random goofing-off much like the Jesters of Dragon Quest III. Unlike the Jesters, however, Torneko's goofing-off nearly always results in something beneficial. However, he may occasionally stare off into space or scare off metal slime types. On the other hand...
Lethal Joke Character: Some of Torneko's "goofing-off" actions include stealing items from the enemy (being the only way in the game to do so), performing a leg sweep to nullify some of the enemy's turns, calling in an army of fellow merchants he's befriended in his travels (who proceed to beat up on the enemy for a few rounds), covering an enemy's mouth to prevent spellcasting, and tripping. (Yes, tripping. His weapon somehow lands a critical hit on the enemy in the process.) The only thing keeping this power in check is that, again, these goof-offs are completely random.
Only One Name: Used for his name in the Japanese version (just Torneko) and the NES version's localization (just Taloon), but this trope no longer applies to him in the DS remake, in which he's referred to as Torneko Taloon.
Spoony Bard: Only starts growing into this during Chapter Five; during his chapter, he's a serviceable fighter. Especially if you pick up the Disc One Nuke. His random battle moves in Chapter Five are sometimes a waste of time, and sometimes bizarrely effective (such as when he summons a random army of merchants who swarm the enemy for substantial damage each turn, for 2-4 turns), but the fact that he's even more random than other AI-controlled party members makes him an unreliable and risky choice.
A wandering poet who dabbles in magic and is more than willing to lend his spells to anyone willing to pay the price. Just 600 gold nets you four days of traveling with your own personal minstrel!
Chapter Four: Meena and Maya and the Mahabala Mystery
Meena (Minea/Nara)
A composed, meticulous Fortune Teller who has been searching for Balzack, the man who betrayed and murdered her father Mahabala/Edgar. After years of traveling under the radar, she believes it's time for them to make their move...
Tarot Motifs: Each card in her Silver Tarot Deck has a different effect. This was actually rebalanced in the DS version to include many more positive effects. She can even give somewhat-accurate one-card readings if the Cards are used outside of battle!
You Killed My Father: She and her sister are attempting to get vengeance for him.
Maya (Manya/Mara)
Meena's exuberant and far-flashier twin sister, Maya has earned quite a reputation and a considerable fan-following as a Belly Dancer. However, she's also an incredibly talented spellcaster who's all about Stuff Blowing Up. Like Meena, she wants revenge on her father's murderer; she just tends to keep a brighter attitude about everything to offset her sister's serious nature.
Bag of Spilling: Hilariously invoked at the start of Chapter 5 by her. Even if you ended Chapter 4 with tons of money, they will have none because, apparently, Maya goes through money like water.
Sibling Yin-Yang: Cheerful and far more carefree than her straight-laced sister.
Sidetracked by the Gold Saucer: Between the end of Chapter Four and Solo/Sofia meeting her in Chapter Five. This is the in-game explanation for why none of the sisters' money carries over from Chapter Four to Chapter Five.invoked
You Killed My Father: She and her sister are attempting to get vengeance for him.
Oojam (Orin)
An apprentice alchemist who used to work with the twins' father. Like Meena and Maya, he's set out in search of revenge, hoping to track down his master's killer and bring him to justice.
The Chosen One whom the forces of evil are currently scouring the world for, in hopes of putting a premature end to that pesky prophecy. Until the day destiny comes a-calling, however, they're enjoying a peaceful, easygoing life, playing with their best friend Elisa/Celia and practicing their swordsmanship...
Battle Bikini: Solo wears long sleeves and pants, while Sofia looks like she's wearing a swimsuit under a off-the-shoulder short tank, oneDetached Sleeve, and a Detached Pants Legs/Tights... thing.
Of course, one reason to pick Sofia over Solo is that she can equip the female-only gear... including a bikini, among other things.
Magic Knight: However, it takes a few levels to get them to this point.
Most Common Superpower: Averted for the heroine, if the catty comments of a woman in Bath are to be trusted. Though the artwork indicates hers aren't that much smaller than Maya's, so take that as you will.
Purely Aesthetic Gender: Averted in the remake. The dialogue changes notably depending on your gender, and certain equipment options become available or unavailable.
Solo/Sofia's best friend, who just happens to be a magically talented elf. Lighthearted and mischievous, she loves playing pranks on the whole village, and likes jerking the hero's chain.
Until the DS remake, where Rose is revived in the same way Elisa was, implying that your friends went and did the Bonus Dungeon to get the MacGuffin to bring her back to life.Aww...
The son of an innkeeper, Hoffman is sharp-tongued and short-tempered at first, refusing to help anyone out. Poor guy has some serious trust issues, though there's a pretty good reason for that... Perhaps he just needs a little help, and a little more information about what exactly happened to him — surely then he'd be willing to return the favor, right?
A wandering entertainer reputed to be one of the best comedians in the world. He may not be strong or swift or much of a spellcaster, but at least he's funny, right...? ...Right?
Joke Character: Could be a Lethal Joke Character in the original, given how useful his Sword of Lethargy/Dream Blade was against Keeleon/Marquis de Leon.
Only Sane Man: In order to progress, you need to make a king laugh. Hence you hiring Tom. Tom tells the King that honestly, the world is too screwed up right now for the heroes to be held up to make a joke, and they can laugh once the world is safe.
A beautiful woman stranded far from home, requiring a special escort back to her faraway country. An accomplished healer, she also knows how to sap her enemies' magical strength and claim it as her own, making her a fantastic backup... though her physical strength is sadly lacking. Oh, and she also happens to be a Zenithian. And heavily implied to be the Hero's mother, though neither of them actually figures it out.
Karma Houdini: He was never actually sorry for trying to killing off humans, even in the DS version's sixth chapter. He just directs his hate at the villain instead, and gets congratulated. Then again, he was clearly not in his right state of mind during his time as a villain...
Moreso, his Heel Face Turn is only a result of your actions. You kind of have to go out of your way to get the Plot Coupons required for it. If you think he deserves death, it's entirely within your power to kill him. ... but you can't bring Rose back, because she desperately wants him to live, and you can't go back on your decision once you've made it.
Morality Chain: Though she has trouble actually functioning as one, since Psaro tends to ignore her protests about his Roaring Rampage of Revenge. Still doesn't help when you help shatter her. Go, team. She gets better at it after she is brought back from the dead, though.
Rescue Romance: Psaro introduced himself to her by vaporizing a human thug threatening her.
The Man Behind the Man: Every villainous action in the plot, from Balzack's rise to power, to the sacking of Alena's kingdom, to Psaro's Start of Darkness, are all the result of his scheming.
