This page details the inhabitants of the city of Gran Soren in Dragon's Dogma.
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Nobles
A fair if lax ruler, well-known across Gransys as a brave warrior and hero in his youth. He's said to have once slain the Dragon himself. Though older than 70, he retains a youthful appearance, and holds strength far beyond that of a normal man...
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He earned his duchy by defeating the Dragon. It's complete bullshit.
- Anti-Villain: Though his own dragonslaying was a fraud, he seems to have known that the dragon would return, and spent much of his time as Duke commissioning forts and garrisons to try and prepare Gransys for his return, though they were ultimately ineffective.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The Duke is well-mannered and likable in the public eye. But behind closed doors...
- Cassandra Truth: He vehemently refuses to believe that the Arisen defeated the Dragon. That would be because he himself didn't defeat it.
- Cassandra Did It: He accuses the Arisen of having made a deal with the Dragon to curse him with old age in an attempt to usurp the duchy, and sics his soldiers on them.
- Dirty Coward: He chose to sacrifice his first wife to the dragon rather than fight it.
- Easily Forgiven: The Duke has you thrown in prison after he catches you in his bedroom with Aelinore (whether or not you stop him from strangling her) if you do that quest. After you escape, you can talk to him and continue to take the main story quests from his chamberlain without any issues. He doesn't even acknowledge that it happened.
- Fake Ultimate Hero: The people of Gran Soren gave him the title Duke Dragonsbane for defeating the Dragon... which is a complete lie. He never even fought the Dragon.
- Fallen Hero: He was an Arisen who chose to sacrifice his true love to the Dragon instead of fighting it.
- Jacob Marley Warning: After learning the truth about him "slaying" the dragon, the player will probably not want to make the same decision that he did.
- Jerkass: The Duke becomes this pretty quickly towards the end, framing you mostly out of rage and spite.
- The Lost Lenore: Literally. The Duke sacrificed his wife Lenore so he could gain the power of sovereignty over Gransys. While it never shows during the story itself, you'll have to do the sidequest to see the Duke's insanity go full circle.
- More than Mind Control: The bargain that Edmun made with the Dragon not only granted him Dukedom, but it also gave him full control over the armies. As soon as the Duke declares that the Arisen is an enemy, the soldiers, regardless of how high their affinity is, will attack the Arisen. It's even noted in the Chronicles that the soldiers appear "possessed".
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: Duke Edmun may look like a frail old man when you first meet him, but should you choose to attack him, the Duke won't run away as countless other Non Player Characters do, he'll take up arms and Soul Skewer your ass.
- Rapid Aging: The Duke suddenly goes from looking around forty to looking more around one hundred forty after you beat the dragon. He manages to convince the guards that you are the one who made a deal with the dragon and cursed him to age, rather than slaying the dragon and simply letting time catch up with him.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: While not exactly ugly and actually Older Than They Look, he is much older than his wife.
- Villain with Good Publicity: While the entire populace is convinced he slew a dragon years ago, the truth is that he made a deal with the dragon, granting him immortality at the cost of his first love.
Duke Edmun, the Wyrmking and ruler of all Gransys, defeated a dragon in the same way as Godking Leonart before him. He sought to marry into the House of Biquard, and the closest woman to Leonart in their bloodline was Aelinore. So Aelinore was sent to be Edmun’s bride, though not of her own desire. She had not even seen the face of her future husband prior to the day of their wedding ceremony. The hero’s marriage was heartily welcomed by the people of Gransys. Everyone believed that it meant the birth of a successor would follow quickly, carrying on their hero’s bloodline. But there would be no reports of an impending heir to hearten the people of Gransys. Even after the exchange of their marriage vows, Aelinore remained as pure and untouched as she was the day that she was delivered to Edmun. But behind the duke’s frigid demeanor, a dark secret is hidden within his heart...
- Damsel in Distress: Twice in side quests - once she's nearly strangled by the crazed Duke, and the other time imprisoned (if she wasn't killed by the previous quest) - and potentially a third time if she's the Beloved.
- False Rape Accusation: If the Arisen saves her from being strangled by Duke Edmun in "Arousing Suspicion", she is forced to make up an excuse for their presence in her room and accuses them of breaking into her bedchamber and trying to force themselves on her, then calls for the guards to have the Arisen tortured and imprisoned.
- Hot Consort: Seems to have little to no royal duties beyond companionship for the Duke.
- Love at First Sight: Speak to Aelinore just once and she'll instantly have the pinkish glow which signifies someone with a very high Affinity.
- Meaningful Name: By way of The Lost Lenore: the prefix a meaning "without", and Lenore being a shortened, alternative spelling of "Elinore". She is literally not Lenore, and the Duke does not care for her in the slightest because she is not the woman he truly loved.
- My God, What Have I Done?: At the end of "Arousing Suspicion" she's shown weeping as she watches the Arisen get tortured due to her False Rape Accusation, and later breaks them out of jail while apologizing profusely.
- Older Than They Look: Canonically 22 years old, but barely looks a day over 18.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: In the sidequest "Duchess In Distress," the camera pans out as your Arisen and the duchess make sweet love.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: She practically begs the Arisen to make love to her in "Arousing Suspicion" before Duke Edmun's arrival puts a kibosh on that. It's noted that she's terribly lonely, as the Duke has no interest whatsoever in her and didn't even sleep with her on their wedding night.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: While the Duke isn't exactly hideous, she's still much younger than him.
A jester and trickster with no goals other than a life of ease under others’ protection. Willing to betray, use, or hurt others to succeed (supposedly).
- Court Jester: His role in court.
- Deadpan Snarker: Talking to him will cause him to quip about you and everyone else (but mostly you).
- Depraved Dwarf: He's the shortest human character in the game, and (in the online material) very much immoral.
- Gonk: Along with being short, he's also plenty ugly.
- Informed Attribute: The outside materials portray him as having made a career out of being a disloyal boot-licking Jerkass who will do anything for his own benefit. In-game, this never comes up - at his worst, he's The Gadfly to everyone (including the Duke), and perfectly willing to offer you a warning about the Duke not taking it well if you were to slay the dragon...within earshot of the Duke and other (more loyal) members of the court.
- The Mole: According to the expanded lore, he's one for basically anyone who has a grudge against the Duke, including Salvation.
Fournival is a salesman and nobleman, the father of Symone, and the main subject of the quest "Trials and Tribulations." A shrewd businessman, he is a wealthy and magnanimous man with a high-class bearing. Due to his economic influence, he counts many important Non Player Characters as friends, such as Ser Daerio of the northern watch and the Chamberlain of the Gran Soren Cathedral. Some authorities, however, suspect some of his profit is acquired from activities that are less than legal. Even if so, he seems to have had a positive influence on the growth and maintenance of Gransys's economy, leaving the Arisen with an interesting moral dilemma should they involve themselves with his trial.
- Affably Evil: Towards you, at least.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: He's a greedy individual who has certainly gained his wealth through unscrupulous means. Nonetheless, the fact that he's also a unique vendor who sells very special items probably means that you're going to want to get him acquitted.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He is, by all accounts, an amoral and slimy businessman who's very much guilty of the crimes of which he stands accused. However, he clearly loves his daughter, who can reflect only that he is, in turn, a kind and loving father.
- Fat Bastard: One of the fatter characters of the game.
- Hidden Depths: He's looked upon quite fondly by the church, whose bishop is willing to believe him innocent.
- Permanently Missable Content: If you find Fournival guilty during the "Trials and Tribulations" quest, you lose out on the Magmanimous cloak, which is a useful accessory that allows all curatives to be shared with your pawns.
Having been born to a good family, Julien believed without a hint of reservation or irony that everything was for the sake of the people, exactly as he had said to his ruler. Such was his duty as a knight, as it had been the duty of his father and his grandfather before him. However, upon arriving in Gransys, he was faced with the dirty truth, for there he met with the decadent, fallen statesmen. They had forgotten that which should have been their priority — the defeat of the dragon — and instead their heads were filled only with the desire to protect their own positions.
As he beheld the great leader who stood at the head of such men, the purity in his heart began to slowly but surely blacken. He can no longer find any value in the continued existence of the country. The idealism to which he had clung for so long grows more and more distorted, and he along with it.
- The Atoner: If he's alive, he turns himself in.
- Badass in Distress: If he's the Arisen's love interest and gets captured by the Dragon. He'll be chased and tormented by goblins just like every other love interest, though unlike Mercedes (the other major love interest with a warrior background), he at least has the excuse of being caught without his weapons or armor.
- Best Her to Bed Her: You have to kill and revive Julien in a duel in order to start a 'romance' with him.
- Cool Mask: Wears a masquerade-style mask when acting as the Night's Champion. Something of a Paper-Thin Disguise, in all honesty, but still.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Although he collaborates with Salvation, he mentions to Mercedes during their confrontation that he gives their pagan beliefs no credence and simply used them for his own ends.
- The Extremist Was Right: His actions against the Duke, at least, are cast in a far more favourable light at the end of the game.
- Graceful Loser: If you kill and revive Julien, he'll acknowledge that he's been bested and immediately turns himself in for his crimes.
- Ignore the Fanservice: Follow him to Madeleine's shop late one night and you'll witness an interesting exchange between the two. Madeleine tucks a slip of paper into her cleavage and taunts Julien with it, but he just angrily snatches it up and reads it, completely ignoring her flirtation and an offer to help him with "other matters".
- Jerkass: He's abrasive from the moment you meet him (bordering on Obviously Evil if you've play the early sidequests involving him), though his attitude is somewhat justified due to concern over the impending doom represented by the Dragon.
- Karma Houdini: If you don't interfere with Mercedes' duel against him, he'll defeat her and escape.
- Kick the Dog: It'd be so much easier to see things from his point of view if his harsh and sexist comments towards Mercedes weren't so utterly mean-spirited.
- Knight in Sour Armor: After meeting with the local lords in Gransys.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: The man has some luxurious locks of hair.
- Love Redeems: He becomes a good person again and is freed from the castle dungeon if you manage to romance him.
- Magic Knight: He is of the Mystic Knight class and carries a unique Magick Shield.
- Pet the Dog: If spoken to in the palace, he encourages the Arisen to support Ser Mercedes and seems to sympathize with her struggle. Although, when set against her, he is not above kicking her instead.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Most of his comments to Mercedes during their duel are about how, as a woman, she makes a very poor knight. This can be rather odd if the Arisen is female. However, it's entirely possible that his comments are made purely out of spite and not any genuine sexism on his part.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He's evidently working with Salvation in order to undermine Gransys for his nation.
A straitlaced, principled tomboy with an inferiority complex, Mercedes idolizes knights and knighthood. Following their example, she's become a capable warrior and military leader. Sent to Gransys by her father, lord of the neighboring demesne of Hearthstone, Mercedes is determined to prove herself as a capable knight and leader to the same extent as her two brothers. However, she receives opposition from the more traditional segments of the Gransys court who object to both her gender and her status as placebo support, and the Arisen's rising glory only serves to remove her from the spotlight even further.
- Action Girl: She fights alongside your character during certain segments.
- Expy: She's an amalgamation of both Casca and Farnese from Berserk, with her appearance borrowing more from the former, while her backstory and character traits borrow more from the latter.
- Faux Action Girl: She's an in-universe example in that she fears she is only pretending to be a knight and can't actually back up her claim. This feeling gets worse after losing to Julien. If she's the Beloved, she can be seen running helplessly from goblins like all other characters, something that she'll curse herself for.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Becomes this over the course of the story.
- Lady of War: Mercedes is a noble lady who was expected to be wed by twenty. She asked for a platoon of knights to lead so she could work on her skills as a commander instead.
- A Mother To Her Men: If you speak with her before the Griffin's Bane quest, she asks you to take care of the men of the Enlistment Corps, those under her command, and to bring them back safely. If you actually manage to kill the Griffin fast enough to do this, she'll be quite happy.
- The Lancer: Serves as this to the Arisen through the story.
- Put on a Bus: After the duel with Julien, Mercedes is forced to return home to Hearthstone. While she states that she'll eventually come back with reinforcements, she only returns if she's the Beloved.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: She wants to slay the Dragon to please her father, the Lord of Hearthstone.
- Bratty Half-Pint: She's incredibly picky when you try to babysit her. She's outspoken and thinking a race is a fun way to pass the time, rather than just shopping (which she also enjoys).
- Fallen Princess: If her father is found guilty, she's forced to relocate to the slums unless the player buys back her manor.
- Jerkass: The game itself remarks in her quest that you've faced hydras who were more pleasant than her. From the start, she's clearly looking forward to getting to boss the country's hero around and she will understandably put you in your place if you tell her to her face you're not going to do as she says. It also doesn't take much to piss her off during the quest as simply bumping into her will diminish your potential rewards at the conclusion of the quest.
- Jerkass with a Heart of Gold: ....yet despite her spoiled nature, careful attention to some of her dialogue while walking with her indicates she's plenty aware of your quest and the difficulty in being expected to face a monster as fearsome as the Dragon, even commenting that you're effectively worth more (read: as her servant) than sacrificing your life against a seemingly impossible task. Backhanded as it may be, it's surprising that she assigns value to you instead of just the hope of the world to send off to die for everyone. She also is more pleasant the better you do at keeping her happy and, as Fournival mentions, sings your praises if you go out of your way to help her enjoy her day.
- Tiny Tyrannical Girl: Being the child of a wealthy merchant, she's very demanding and bossy.
- Took a Level in Kindness: She is noticeably kinder to the player after completing her side quest, and will make more of an effort to keep her tongue in check.
Citizens
As one of the pawn legion, Barnaby has no emotions. However, because he has been in Gransys for untold decades and interacted with generations of mankind, he has developed something very close to an emotion: a wish for pawns and humans to coexist peacefully.
- Nice Guy: Goes along with being a Pawn, really, but he's quite polite and humble.
- Really 700 Years Old: He looks to be in his twenties or maybe early thirties at most. Add a zero or two to get his real age.
- What Measure Is a Humanoid?: It is entirely possibly to romance him, despite him being the Pawn Guild leader and technically emotionless.
Greedy, self-reliant, cunning. Madeleine looks out for herself and her goals first, though she does display a limited degree of loyalty when it comes down to it. Play your cards right and you may just earn that loyalty — for a price. Of course, such naked opportunism can often backfire in a land so politically volatile as Gransys...
Madeleine was raised as an orphan by the sisters, but in complete contrast to her gentle guardians, she came to hate being poor and to hate modest living. While she was grateful to the sisters for raising her, she also vowed that she would never serve the Faith as they did.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: The bustiest character of the game, with a breast size larger than even the character editor allows, fitting her sultry and flirtatious personality. She seems well aware of their appeal, wearing an outfit with cleavage to emphasize them, and leaning over when she's trying to be 'persuasive'.
- Giant Poofy Sleeves: Her outfit includes prominent poofy sleeves.
- Gold Digger: A little bit, although a humorous and generally harmless version of one. Her affinity is bought really fast by giving her money to travel and open her store; if the Arisen gives her the first thousand gold she needs to get to Gran Soren, her response is to say sweetly, "I am so in love with you right now."
- I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: Her general approach when she wants something is to simply lean over a little more when asking for it.
- Impractically Fancy Outfit: When you meet her, she's a traveling merchant. In what amounts to a tutu. And one of the earlier designs was even skimpier.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful!: She prefers to resort to her looks to get away with things.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Julien is revealed to be working for Salvation, Madeleine tries to leave Gransys, since she's now wanted by the guards for affiliating with him.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: She tries tucking a slip of paper in her cleavage to taunt Julien. He isn't amused.
A seemingly jolly fellow who wanders around the main plaza of Gran Soren and who is close to the owner of the Alehouse. He immediately takes an interest in the Arisen, and there is more to him than meets the eye.
- Creepy Good: He is the player's main ally in unveiling Salvation's plot, but he is also cold, calculating and not afraid to kill to reach his goals.
- Pet the Dog: Despite his ruthlessness, he lets the player knows he can help Quina gain admittance in the Faith's Grand Cathedral and asks for nothing in return.
- Scary Black Man: His carefree demeanor is actually an act, and he can be very intimidating, as one of the Salvation cultists finds out. If you refuse to kill the man, Mason will simply kill him himself. And if you do kill him, Mason will clap and praise you for it.
- Secret Identity: He's actually a high-ranking agent of the Faith, who has come to Gransys to deal with the Salvation cult.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He disappears once the player reaches the Post-Game.
Steffen is a citizen of the capital of Gran Soren who seeks the magick tome known as Salomet's Grimoire. Aiding him in his search leads to consequences in the Arisen's future quests.
- Big Damn Heroes: Potentially, during the battle against the Griffin. If you fetch a grimiore for him in a completely unrelated sidequest, he'll appear and cast some powerful magic to help out.
- Messy Hair: It's about shoulder-length and quite scraggly. You'd think the man would ask you for a comb instead of an old book.
