Characters of the Golden Sun games.When looking at the characters, one can understand what class of Adept a character is by using these tropes as guidelines.
Isaac (Robin)Isaac is a Venus Adept, a playable character in Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age, and a main character in the overall Golden Sun series. He's the silent protagonist and party leader of the original Golden Sun, and gains a speaking role in his appearance late in Golden Sun: The Lost Age as a co-leader of the game's extended final party.In Dark Dawn, he keeps a cabin observatory which he uses to keep an eye on Mt. Aleph along with Garet, and also as a place to train his son, Matthew. He is greatly concerned over the unrest that has swept Weyard since the restoration of Alchemy, as well as eventual coming of the Mourning Moon, a devastating giant Psynergy Vortex that appears every decade.At the onset...
BFS: Ragnarok summons one. Odyssey summons four, and then a fifth that goes Up to Eleven.
Dub Name Change: Robin in the Japanese version, Vlad in the French version and Hans in the Spanish version.
"Robin" was a Fan Nickname for Matthew, the main character from Golden Sun Dark Dawn before he was officially named. Probably because fans weren't initially sure Matthew WAS a new and separate character, since he is extremely similar to Isaac.
Establishing Character Moment: His mother wakes him up and tells him to evacuate for the disaster, and he goes and rescues Garet on his way out, then runs for help when Felix gets in trouble twice. Three years later, he's helping fix the roof of the house, and by his mother's commentary he's apparently still upset he didn't do enough to help in the prologue. Chronic Hero Syndrome much, Isaac?
Right after the Saturos boss fight, Alex comments on how quickly Isaac and Friends turned badass. After the Fusion Dragon fight, Felix says that Isaac's become so powerful it frightens him.
Assist Character/A Taste of Power: He and Garet provide backup for his son and Karis in the game's first tutorial dungeon and even lend the two a few of their Djinn.
Garet (Gerald)Garet is a Mars Adept and a playable character in Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. He is the one who is tasked to personally accompany his closest friend, Isaac, on the latter's quest and endeavors all throughout the Golden Sun series, but is also a foil for the occasional comedy relief.In Dark Dawn he joins Isaac in keeping watch over Mt. Aleph while trying to keep his son Tyrell in line. He's simmered down with age, but often gets irritated at Isaac's unflappable personality.At the onset...
Dumb Muscle: To an extent. He's the most belligerent character of the party and tends to act thoughtlessly (his first scenes include him crushing his sister's flower garden without realizing it).
As the sequel illustrates though, he's less deliberate about it and has more common sense than his son, Tyrell.
Establishing Character Moment: "It's at times like these that we men have to stick together!" from the prologue establishes his closeness with Isaac.
His first scene after the prologue shows him mistakenly Moving a rock into his sister's flower garden and awkwardly trying to comfort Jenna about the loss of her entire family, which probably shows him more as a person: he's scatterbrained and inattentive and gets into trouble but he's trying his best to be helpful.
Magic Knight: He can become very magically powerful.
Mighty Glacier: By default he has an overall lower damage output than Isaac and has low PP but can take damage like nobody's business.
No Name Given: With regards to his family, contrary to what fans wanked. The first game's debug room named his family members as "Mr. Jerra," etc., leading to several fans believing he was the only character in the series with a full name. This was found to be a poor translation ("Jerra" is a bad romanization of Gerald, and the Japanese version's debug room had named his family members as "Jera-papa," etc., to signify their relation to him).
Assist Character/A Taste of Power: He and Isaac provide backup for Matthew and Karis in the game's first tutorial dungeon and let the two kids borrow a few of their Djinn.
Overprotective Dad: Garet doesn't think the kids are mature enough yet to go off on their own and fights with Isaac when he suggests that they're far more independent than Garet gives them credit for.
Papa Wolf: He shows a lot of concern for his son during the prologue and even outwardly shows more concern for Matthew and Karis than Isaac seems to do. Goes to the point that he's the only one seeing them off on their journey, while Issac is too busy sending off a messenger pigeon to wish his own son luck.
Red Oni: To Isaac's Blue, though it's notably less pronounced than it was 30 years ago.
What the Hell, Hero?: Not too happy with Isaac's behavior in the tutorial dungeons, although he has enough trust in Isaac's judgment that he doesn't resist too much.
Ivan (Iwan)Ivan is a Jupiter Adept and a playable character in Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. As a party member, he is a mage-style Jupiter Adept who has an extremely similar successor in Sheba in the second game.In Dark Dawn he lives in Kalay, the merchant city of his old caretaker Hammet the merchant. He designed the soarwing glider that allows one to fly using Psynergy. His daughter Karis is a childhood friend of Matthew and Tyrell.
Ambiguous Innocence: Since Psynergy is Invisible to Normals and he was raised by non-Adepts, he hasn't really had anybody to teach him the ethics of mind-reading: he has absolutely no qualm about reading people's minds and in fact makes you corner people in their inn room so he can read theirs. He's actually kind of a sneaky little thing, but you don't realize it because he's just so cute.
It Sucks To Be The Chosen One: There was a prophecy that Ivan would leave his village, then after many years, return to light the Jupiter lighthouse. To fulfill this prophecy, the villagers of Contigo gave baby Ivan over to Master Hammet. Ivan was raised in a foreign land, never knowing his family or why he had his powers. When he finally returned home, he learned that his mother died out of grief due to being forced to give him away as a child. To top it all off, his one surviving family member told him that he couldn't stay in Contigo because he hadn't completed the prophecy yet.
Mia (Mary)Mia is a Mercury Adept and a playable character in Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. She is the only mage-style Mercury Adept in either game, and is probably the only Adept that can be labeled the "designated healer" to the player's party.She eventually gives birth to Rief, a party member in Dark Dawn, as well as Nowell, an NPC from the same game.
Demoted to Extra: After joining Isaac's party, she largely diminishes in significance for the rest of the first game, and as stated above she doesn't get much dialogue in the second (though it's actually more than just three lines). She still plays a role regarding her relationship with Alex, but it's not even brought up until near the end of the duology. Considering even Ivan, Sheba, Piers and Kraden had more focused-on character arcs, this is especially egregious. It may be partially justified in that she doesn't talk much anyway - at least compared to Garet and Ivan
Dub Name Change: Mary (Though Mia comes from it Mary->Maria->Mia) in the Japanese version and Sofia in the French version.
Establishing Character Moment: Her first scene, healing a sickly old man with her powers, reassuring his wife, and asking our heroes if they need help before getting distracted by the intruders at Mercury Lighthouse. Grade A White Magician Girl, very devoted to her duties.
Healing Hands: "Her hands glow with a blue light... could she be an angel?"
The Messiah: Heralded as such by the people of Imil.
Not So Different/Brick Joke: The 4koma Gag Battle depicts her as wanting Babi's immortality potion... turns out Alex wanted to live forever, too.
Overshadowed by Awesome: Intellectually. Mia is a professional medic with apprentices of her own in the first game as a teenager, so she's clearly quite brilliant in her own right, it's just very subdued in comparison to Alex and Ivan.
Weaksauce Weakness: Not her as such but her element, Water, is effective against every one of the game's major villains. The Boreas Summon Magic in particular is lethal against the final bosses of the first game. Unfortunately, like 90% of all water-based characters, she's shafted with the healing role by default; which means she probably won't be taking advantage of her innately high Mercury power to attack people with.
Felix (Garcia)Felix is a Venus Adept, a playable character in Golden Sun: The Lost Age, and a main character in the overall Golden Sun series. He appears in Golden Sun as an NPC in league with the game's band of antagonists opposed to Isaac, but in The Lost Age the perspective of the narrative focuses on him as the main playable character. He is the elder brother of Jenna, and uncle to Matthew (though he's almost certainly never met his nephew).After the party returned from their quest to light the lighthouses he left on his own, and by the time of Dark Dawn, no one has seen him since.
Big Brother Instinct: Though mostly contained within Fanon, Felix is often shown as this towards Jenna. The thing is, since this is Fanon we're talking about here, it sometimes gets taken a few stepsfurther...
Dub Name Change: Garcia in the Japanese version and Pavel in the French version.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: Pretty much cast as the villain in the Sun Saga stories you find in Dark Dawn.
Some normally impossible to read text has many of the citizens of Prox mentioning this trope. They realize that despite everything Felix has done, that is, going to great lengths to save the entire world from destruction, nobody in his hometown of Vale would recognize his efforts.
Meaningful Name: An interesting case; Felix is Latin for "lucky." Now let's see: He nearly drowned, was nearly crushed by a boulder, nearly came to blows with Saturos and Menardi, nearly came to blows with Isaac and company, nearly drowned again after jumping off a lighthouse into the ocean, was nearly killed by a tidal wave, was nearly killed by Agatio and Karst, and then NEARLY killed his own parents. If all those "nearlys" didn't indicate, he has survived every single one of these deadly situations. So, yes, he is very lucky! In an ironic subversion, stat-wise, his luck is the worst.
Took a Level in Badass: At the end of the first game, Felix himself states that he's no match for Isaac (due to Isaac's levels in badass, natch!). Typically by the time the first party joins the group, Felix is almost as powerful as Isaac is, if not more so due to the longer and more annoying dungeons, the trickier and more frequent bosses, and the subsequent Level Grinding.
Jenna (Jasmine)Jenna is a Mars Adept and a playable guest character in Golden Sun that becomes a main playable character in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. A childhood friend of Isaac and Garet's and the younger sister of Felix, Jenna quickly becomes a conventional damsel-in-distress character early on, until The Lost Age when she joins Felix's quest in full.In Dark Dawn she is said to live in Kalay along with other Vale survivors. She is the mother of Matthew, the game's protagonist.
Combat Medic: She'll eventually learn the Aura line of healing psynergy, but it isn't nearly as good as Mia's Wish spells.
Distressed Damsel: In the first game. When Felix takes over in The Lost Age, she becomes a full-fledged party member and is more than able to hold her own, and even has a solo role in the game's prologue.
Dub Name Change: Jasmine in the Japanese version, Lina in the French version and Nadia in the Spanish version.
Luminescent Blush: When Sheba asks if she and Isaac are an item.. Hoo boy.
Magic Knight: While Jenna will probably be equipped with a staff through most of the game, she can also equip short swords. Every so often there will be an artifact sword that is a downgrade for Piers and Felix, but an upgrade for Jenna. By the end game your will get a VERY powerful one for her.
Missing Mom: In Dark Dawn. Apparently she lives in Kalay, but she isn't with Matthew and doesn't appear in-game.
Sheba (Shiba)Sheba is a Jupiter Adept introduced as an NPC in Golden Sun and becomes a playable character in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. As a party member, she is a mage-style Jupiter Adept in an extremely similar vein to Ivan in the first game.
Happily Adopted: She's only mildly disappointed not to learn where she came from. Her adopted folks are also very devoted to her, as shown in the first game.
Shipper on Deck: One particularly funny moment in the second game features her mentioning Valeshipping (Isaac/Jenna) with Jenna turning red in embarrassment.
She then immediately jumps on Jenna's follow-up comment of wondering about how Garet is doing.
Piers (Picard)Piers is a Mercury Adept and a playable character in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. He is the only warrior-style Mercury Adept in either game and the only playable character in The Lost Age that is completely new to the series, in contrast to the other playable characters Felix, Jenna, and Sheba who appeared in the first game in NPC and minor gameplay roles.By the time of Dark Dawn he sails around Weyard in his ship and is considered a hero to the seafaring world for sailing the Sea of Time surrounding Lemuria, and is also friends with the Champan pirate Briggs, who ironically was unintentionally responsible for him being imprisoned in The Lost Age. While he never appears to Matthew's party, he is instrumental in helping them obtain a sea-worthy ship.
Establishing Character Moment: The prison scene. He's innocent, but he'll wait for the mayor to prove that, instead of breaking out or trying to establish an alibi... because he thinks using his powers that way would be wrong, and because his alibi would only raise more questions. Secretive, but law-abiding.
Intergenerational Friendship: Being Lemurian, he gets this with a lot of people, albeit technically. It's funny to consider how he's a lot older than Briggs, or even Kraden. The sequel amps this up even more - like Kraden and the other Warriors, he's had his lifespan permanently affected. Lord knows at what rate he'd age if he ever moved back to Lemuria...
Irony: The first half of The Lost Age is getting Briggs the pirate to prove that law-abiding Piers isn't his accomplice. In Dark Dawn, it's mentioned that they've since become best friends.
Magic Knight: Piers is primarily a warrior-type Adept, going by stats and equipment options. This bites him in the butt when it comes to class options other than his default, since Mercury Adepts are mostly limited to mage-type classes.
May-December Romance: According to Kraden in Dark Dawn, Mia's daughter Nowell has a crush on Piers, and this is why she bailed on Kraden and Rief. No comment on whether her affections are reciprocated, though.
Nice Guy: The prison scene shows him to be patient and considerate enough to sympathize with an abuser, and these traits remain evident throughout the game.
Punny Name: A pier is a dock for ships. Piers is a sailor.
Ironic Name: A peer is someone in the same age and social category as oneself. Piers doesn't have any peers due to his ageissues.
Put on a Bus: Spends Dark Dawn sailing the seas on his own. NPC gossip says that you barely missed him while he was in Tonfon and Port Rago. Dialogue and NPC gossip hints that Nowell and Takeru have hitched a ride with him.
Driven to Villainy: The world is dying and Vale refused to let them restore it for fear of what Alchemy might bring. Understandably, they didn't take it well.
Dual Boss: While Saturos fights on his own at one point, they clearly prefer to work in pairs.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: They're all more than willing to do what needs to be done but just think about what they're fighting for.
SaturosSaturos is a Mars Adept who along with his partner Menardi is a main antagonist in Golden Sun, and is typically considered the primary antagonist in the duo. He leads along with Menardi the original effort to break the seal on Alchemy and bring it back to the world of Weyard, and is opposed by Isaac's party all throughout the first game.
Affably Evil: With shades of Laughably Evil. Cheerful and friendly towards the heroes in a much more casual, easygoing way than Alex is, and even gets a few snarky quips in.
Badass: His holding off the party single-handedly at Mercury Lighthouse while Menardi escapes with their 'hostages', establishes him as Badass. It's pretty clear that if not for his being weakened by the light of Mercury Lighthouse, and/or if he'd had Menardi's help, he likely would have won. Alex himself was moderately surprised that Isaac's party managed to pull a victory.
Big Bad: He's explicitly referred to as the "leader of [his] raiding party" in the second game during Kraden's summary.
Climax Boss: Is fought alone about a third of the way through the game.
Disney Villain Death: He and Menardi fall inside the beacon after Isaac & Co. defeat them. More specifically, they cast themselves in there after their failure to stop the heroes even after their dragon fusion.
Game One Final Boss: Along with Menardi - after beating them, it's quite noticable that you still have quite a bit of the world left to explore (and the final two lighthouses not even being reached yet is rather conspicuous)..
Poor Communication Kills: He's trying to SAVE the world, not destroy it. His lack of communication gets him and his partner killed by Isaac and company.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Crafty trickster with a definite blue theme in his design. He's the blue oni to Menardi's red, but there's a case to be made for both of them as the red oni to Alex's blue.
MenardiMenardi is a Mars Adept who along with her partner Saturos is a main antagonist in Golden Sun. She along with Saturos leads the original effort to break the seal on Alchemy and bring it back to the world of Weyard, and is opposed by Isaac's party all throughout the first game. She is the elder sister of Karst, who becomes an antagonist in a similar vein in Golden Sun: The Lost Age.
Combat Medic: Casts from the Wish series of Psynergy... to be fair, fire-based healing didn't exist in the first game.
Cool Big Sis: She seemed to be this towards her little sister Karst.
Disney Villain Death: She and Saturos fall inside the beacon after Isaac & Co. defeat them. More specifically, they cast themselves in there after their failure to stop the heroes even after their dragon fusion.
The Dragon: Less obvious in the first game, where it appears that she and Saturos form a Big Bad Duumvirate. The sequel makes it clearer that she was his Number Two.
Dub Name Change: Phoenixia in the French version and Adexia in the Italian version.
Game One Final Boss: Along with Saturos - after beating them, it's quite noticable that you still have quite a bit of the world left to explore (and the final two lighthouses not even being reached yet is rather conspicuous).
Poor Communication Kills: Noted by the others, Saturos and Menardi weren't very smart or at least terrible at communication. They were trying to SAVE the world, but they get killed by Isaac and company for it. Her sister on the other hand...
AgatioAgatio is a Mars Adept who along with his partner Karst is a main antagonist in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. The pair nominally follows in the footsteps of the original game's Saturos and Menardi and shares their goal of lighting the four Elemental Lighthouses and restoring Alchemy to the world, but seek vengeance upon Isaac in response to the deaths of Saturos and Menardi at his hands at the end of Golden Sun. Of the two, Agatio appears to have the higher authority because he is more powerful.
Bare-Fisted Monk: He doesn't go into combat with a weapon, though he does have the largest psynergy attack pool out of the fire clan members you fight.
... which is roughly the definition of a Kung-Fu Wizard!
The Brute: Not as strong as Saturos, but still powerful overall and the biggest of the Proxians. Also crosses over with Genius Bruiser.
Climax Boss: Alongside Karst at Jupiter Lighthouse. Twice, if you wanna get technical.
Combat Pragmatist: He sets a trap using Jupiter Lighthouse's mechanics to split up Isaac and company. When called on this, he justifies himself by pointing out that four-on-two isn't exactly fighting fair, either, especially since Mia has a type advantage.
The Determinator: Despite Karst being the one with a bigger beef against Isaac (and Felix, by association), he's the one who insists on battling Felix to death at the top of Jupiter Lighthouse.
Driven to Villainy: Since the people of Prox are actually pretty nice people and speak highly of their warriors, there are implication that Agatio's brutality is simply a result of how desperate he's become trying to save his people.
Elemental Punch: In character art only. In the game, he doesn't need it because he can shoot Fireballs the size of a friggin' person from them.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones/Jerkass Façade: He'll shove Felix around when he has to and isn't afraid to backstab people whom he deems are no longer useful to him but the Proxians respect him and he clearly loves his people. The implications are that his bitterness and rage are a side-effect of everything they've had to suffer, what with the world ending and all.
Genius Bruiser: His Genre Savvy behavior shows that he's no dumb muscle, as well as having the largest Psynergy movepool of the Mars Clan antagonists.
Hot Blooded: More so than all the other Proxians, considering he's the least easy-going even from the start. To his credit, he knows to reign himself in when it's necessary.
Informed Flaw: The Nintendo player's guide claims that Agatio is stupid, possibly based on Alex calling him Dumb Muscle and admitting to using him as such, and his refusal to abandon the fight with Felix. Clearly, Nintendo missed Agatio's reply to Alex about being used, his impressive variety of Psynergy powers, and his weapons-grade Genre Savvy.
Pragmatic Villain: He's willing to work with Alex, who treats him like Dumb Muscle, and to bully around Felix, if that's what it takes to get the job done.
Considering how Saturos balked at Felix showing any initiative, Agatio is also far more willing to put up with Felix's detours, provided he remembers what's at stake.
Story And Gameplay Segregation: Agatio is mentioned to be second to Saturos in Prox's strength-based heirarchy. Agatio has more robust stats, a wider variety of offensive Psynergy, and is all-around a tougher boss to fight than Saturos.
The Unfettered: Saturos and Menardi were willing to cross a few nasty lines but Agatio takes it a step further. Pretty much nothing will get in the way of his goals.
Unwitting Pawn: Both averted and subverted. Agatio is well aware that Alex is using him to strong-arm Felix around, he just doesn't care as long as the Lighthouses get lit. This makes Agatio one of the very few people to canonically give Alex a Take That, to his face.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: While significantly more brutal and cruel that Saturos, his end goal is the same.
Looks like it's just purple, with dramatic highlights from that fireball he's waving around.
KarstKarst is a Mars Adept who along with her partner Agatio is a main antagonist in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. The pair nominally follows in the footsteps of the original game's Saturos and Menardi and shares their goal of lighting the four Elemental Lighthouses and restoring Alchemy to the world, but seek vengeance upon Isaac in response to the deaths of Saturos and Menardi at his hands at the end of Golden Sun. Of the two, Karst is the more personal side, for Menardi was her sister.
Genre Savvy: She knows that letting her Roaring Rampage of Revenge get in the way of restoring Alchemy will be a Very Bad Thing, and so sets the issue aside. For now, at least.
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Only by proximity— compared to Agatio, anybody would look tiny. Karst's battle sprite puts her about as tall as Felix, if not slightly taller.
Stronger Sibling: She's got most Menardi's attacks, including the one-hit-kill attack, an elementally-correct multi-target healing spell, and the Djinn Fest attack, which can put a serious hitch in your Djinn-related strategies.
AlexMia's cousin and fellow Mercury Clan disciple, and the closest thing the games have to a Big Bad. Very little is known about his motivations until the end, where it is revealed that he is playing every side in an effort to obtain the Golden Sun, which will grant him godlike power.
A God Am I: Appears to be his goal, and he came very close to achieving it in Golden Sun 2. The ending implied he in fact obtained a good chunk of the Golden Sun's power, which says a lot about what he should be capable of now...
Big Bad: Kinda? Maybe? He is the consistent antagonistic force between all three games but he appears subservient to Saturos in the first game; has every reason to wish the protagonists success in the second game, even if he is manipulative and his motives considerably less altruistic than theirs; and the third game does little to clear up his Hidden Agenda. Still, when it comes to examining the series as a whole, he's the closest we've got.
Big Bad Friend: Mia's friend/cousin/fellow apprentice; the game was never really clear about just how they are related beyond belonging to the Mercury clan. The Sun Saga books in Dark Dawn, however, out him as Mia's cousin. If you didn't pick up the Sun Saga books, careful analysis of a mistake Tret makes in Dark Dawn about Amiti's parentage cements the aspect.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He betrayed the Mercury Clan before the game began, then he betrayed Felix's group by running off without them, then he hired Karst and Agatio just to rub salt in the wound before betraying them by healing Felix's group but ultimately betrayed the heroes a second time by running off to Mt. Aleph to gain the Golden Sun's power. Considering that Karst and Agatio were just replacements for Saturos and Menardi in his eyes, it's extremely likely that he would have betrayed them too had they not been killed.
And in the sequel, he betrays Amiti's mother before the story begins by leaving the nation. Later on, he openly backstabs Blados and Chalis, who were in turn planning on betraying Tuaparang and its High Empyror (something which Alex was implied to have already done) and then he betraysyou by saying he'll handle Blados and Chalis while you fire up the Apollo Lens which he very clearly never does.
Drunk on the Dark Side: Defied. In the ending of the second game, after obtaining the Golden Sun's power, he decides that the best way to test it out is to annihilate Vale with a storm. However, a certain somebody steps in to prevent this.
The Evil Genius: Definitely so in the first game. The sequel hints that he's being elevated to the status of Big Bad, or perhaps was all along.
Face Heel Turn: It's not known whether Alex was ever a "Face" to begin with, but it's established before the Mercury clan is even introduced that he's a bad guy.
Immortality: This was revealed to be his goal at the Apollo Sanctum in Dark Dawn. It's possible that it was just one of many, however. Similarly, whether he's still aiming for the same thing or has an entirely new plan is also unknown.
It's All About Me: Which is pointed out by Jenna and Sheba several times.
Magnificent Bastard: This is one of those rare in-universe examples, because it's actually acknowledged in the second game. The Wise One tells the heroes at Mars Lighthouse that, should Alchemy be restored to the world, someone will try to obtain its power and rule the world. When they retort that they'll be able to stop it and ensure that Alchemy can be used for good, the Wise One informs them that the scenario is already taking place. So, where's the acknowledgement? Because the heroes admit amongst themselves that they've been completely used and that Alex has forced them into a situation in which they really don't have a choice than to do exactly what he wants.
Meaningless Villain Victory: Instead of getting the full force of the Golden Sun infused into his body, the Wise One tricks him into getting sealed at the bottom of the earth for a great while. He gets an unexplained recovery in time for Dark Dawn, though
Smug Snake: Very smug in the first game, when he mostly hangs back and lets everybody else do the work for him. Then he begins to graduate to chessmaster status.
The Unfought: Three. Bloody. Times. If the last third of whatever the final game in the series isn't just a rolling boss battle with him, there's likely to be a fandom outrcry.
There are also fans who think he never should be fought, just because at this point our expectations may be too high for any boss battle to live up to.
KradenThough not an Adept of any kind, Kraden is a wise old sage who lives in Vale to study Alchemy and tutor Isaac and his friends. He is not a playable character, but he accompanies Felix throughout the entirety of Golden Sun: The Lost Age and is vastly important to the plot. In Dark Dawn he continues his Alchemy studies, and is the teacher of Mia's children, Rief and Nowell. (As with the heroes of the first two games, the Golden Sun slowed down his aging as well, which is why he lived as long as he did without anything else to slow it down. He just ended up with this effect after he was already of old age.)
Blessed with Suck: Having been exposed to the Golden Sun like the rest of the party his aging has slowed down immensely, meaning he's not likely to die any time soon. But it didn't do anything about all aches, pains, and other issues that arise with being an old man. He is not very thrilled about this.
Cool Old Guy: Sadly not playable. Of course, considering that he's a Muggle, this does make sense.
Determinator: He's willing and able to travel across monster-infested lands, trap-filled dungeons, and active war zones to help the player characters, despite being a feeble old man with no powers or combat skills whatsoever.
Eccentric Mentor: He sometimes shows signs of this, mainly a certain lack of danger awareness (Dark Dawn) and fixation with food (The Lost Age).
Intergenerational Friendship: With every hero in every game so far, and with quite a few NPCs. Probably justified since he's so old that there just aren't many people his age (Obaba, Ikan, and possiblyPiers).
Irony: His entire scholarly life was started by trying to find the secret to immortality for Babi. By Dark Dawn, Babi is dead of old age while Kraden has stopped aging due to his travels trying to find the secret for Babi. Whoops.
Motor Mouth: Though not necessarily quick-speaking, he certainly talks a lot and likely has the most lines in The Lost Age. And, of course, he's the one with the Easter Egg line that results from answering "no" to every question in the game.
Mysterious Past: Implied in the first game and discovered in the second as you uncover clues and details about his life. He was a scholar for Lord Babi ever since he was four, and was sent to Vale on his behalf to study Alchemy.
Nightmare Fetishist: "All right, so I lied! I'm glad we found werewolves! Are you happy?"
Party in My Pocket: He seems to be able to avoid combat, leap across hazardous terrain, and traverse dangerous dungeons simply by walking into Issac (during the Sol Sanctum section of the first game), Felix (in all of The Lost Age), and Matthew (in Dark Dawn) beforehand.
Running Gag: In Dark Dawn, everybody who was in The Lost Age comments on the fact that Kraden hasn't aged a day since then. Kraden gradually starts getting annoyed by this.
It's not polite to stare at the elderly, you know.
Possibly recurring in Dark Dawn, where he claims that Nowell is in love with Piers. No definite information to confirm, however; at least not until the 4th game is released.
Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: Until Dark Dawn, Kraden lacked any promotional art releases despite being a fairly major character.
Urban Legend of Zelda: A joke was spread that involved Kraden joining the party and, of course, being one of the most powerful characters in the series universe.
Dark Dawn's Heroes
MatthewA young Venus Adept, the son of Isaac and◊ Jenna, and the main playable character and party leader of Dark Dawn. He lives with his father in a cottage in the Goma Highlands west of Bilibin, which overlooks the ruins of Mt. Aleph, training for the day he's expected to step up and take on his father's mantle. That day comes when his friend Tyrell breaks Ivan's soarwing, and he's sent on a journey that begins with the goal of obtaining the Mountain Roc feather and ends up involving the fate of Angara and Weyard.
BFS: Aside from boasting the Ragnarok and Odyssey spells, improved graphics allow for different weapons to actually be shown; long/broad swords are big enough to be comparable to Cloud's and are apparently so heavy he holds it down by his leg.
Dub Name Change: His Japanese name is Muuto (Likely intended to be the German name "Mut").
Heroic Mime: Just like his father and uncle before him, though this time there are a few "emotional responses" (emoticons) that the player can pick for him to provide some variety.
Lampshaded and played with much more than with Isaac or Felix
And then there's the encounter with Arcanus at the Apollo Sanctum - where Matthew swears. Though this is only applicable to the US version; the Japanese and European versions have him reacting with the same old "?!" he normally responds with.
There's also an instance where if the angry emote is used as a response to Karis' comments about Ryu Kou stealing the Magma Orb, Karis will respond, "Wow, graphic!", implying that Matthew had some very choice words for the situation.
Identical Grandson: Son, rather, but he looks so similar that many early previews confused him for a redesigned Isaac at first. This led to his being dubbed "Robin", Isaac's Japanese name, for a while.
The Leader: Type IV and maybe Type II also according to fan's inpretation.
Made of Iron: He's just knocked unconcious without any injuries after falling over and over three times, attempting to switch on the Apollo Lens. Then after awakened he's so fast that he ran and caught Sveta before anyone else could.
Nice Guy: The general Fanon interpretation and, optional reactions aside, there seems to be an element of truth to it, too.
Passing the Torch: His father makes a big deal about how it's now Matthew's turn.
Punny Name: His Japanese name is Mute, and he is stated to be not very talkative.
Scarf Of Ass Kicking: It looks to be the same one as his father's, for that matter.
Ship Tease: He was paired with Karis within days of their official names being revealed. And thanks to several scenes near the end of the game shippers also tend to pair him with Sveta.
Ship Sinking: He's the torpedo that sank Mudshipping (Isaac x Mia) and Flameshipping (Garet x Jenna).
Silent Bob - Several lines of reactionary script. No words - except for one scene at Apollo Sanctum where he swears (and even then it was dubbed in) - but still... for people who played Golden Sun and The Lost Age, Matthew seems damn talkative compared to his father and uncle.
Lampshaded in the conversation with Tret, where Tret asks for Matthew's name, only for Matthew to reply with his classic "...", followed by Tret asking him to speak up, and Amiti pointing out that he doesn't talk much.
Played with when Briggs identifies him on sight... because of how strongly he resembles Jenna. To be fair, Briggs never met Isaac.
KarisA young Jupiter Adept who is Ivan's daughter and a childhood friend of Matthew's and Tyrell's. She decides to accompany the two on their quest to obtain a Mountain Roc feather. She is strong-willed, reliable, and clever.
Action Girl: She can hold her own in a physical fight.
Missing Mom: The game never mentions who Ivan hooked up with though Karis does mention her parents in the plural sense, so it's at least implied that her mother is part of her life.
Silk Hiding Steel: She seems to act as the face of the party for most of the game, but isn't above punching out Tyrell to get his attention.
The Smart Guy: Manages to to claim this role despite the apprentice of theSmart Guy being in the party (primarly because the script chose to use her to do any exposition due to Matthew's disability). Usually she's the first one to figure out puzzles, while Rief is reliable for providing information.
TyrellA young Mars Adept who is the son of Garet. Like father, like son; he is a mischievous character, but is loyal and a close friend of Matthew's and Karis's. His making off and subsequently breaking the soarwing glider that Ivan had made becomes the trigger for their quest.
Missing Mom: Like Karis, Tyrell's mom/Garet's wife is never mentioned. Some fan speculation suggests that this plays into his attitude issues and constant acting out.
Power Incontinence: Has been banned from Patcher's Place for nearly burning it down. He almost does it again in a fit.
Strong Family Resemblance: Not quite as strong as it is between Isaac and Matthew, but his face does look like a younger Garet and his hair and body structure are extremely similar.
Although his hair is much redder than Garet's - besides his sprite in the original duology, Garet's hair was actually brown. Tyrell's at least gained the ability to mimic daddy's gravity-defying hair-style ... sort of.
RiefThe fourth party member is a Mercury adept, as well as the younger of Mia's two chidren. Along with his sister, Nowell, he is an apprentice of Kraden, now a traveling Alchemy scholar. He joins the party after being captured by Tuaparang in order to bait Matthew's party south to the Ei-Jei region of Angara.
Badass Bookworm: Rief is following in Kraden's footsteps as a scholar and Tyrell dubs Rief as a nerd, but in combat, Rief can hold his own and has access to lots of powerful water and healing Psynergy as he levels up.
Bound and Gagged: It's said that he is in the offical strategy guide, when you find him inside the crate. However, his in-game sprite doesn't appear to be gagged, simply bound.
Carry a Big Stick: Like his mother, Rief wields staffs and maces... and ankhs, which have somehow been differentiated from staffs.
Boy In A Crate: The party finds him upon seeing a hopping crate.
Dub Name Change: Crown in the Japanese version, Ricky in Italian and, amusingly, Robin in French.
Woolseyism: Crowns are a Tarot suit, the theme used for the villains' dub names in the English-language games. The translators were thinking ahead to avoid confusion.
Hair Color Spoiler: Rief's game sprite has the exact same shade of blue as Alex/Arcanus, giving away their relationship. It's also very close to Amiti's hair color, foreshadowing the latter's connection to the Mercury Clan.
Name's the Same: His name in the French version is Robin, which was Isaac's name in the Japanese version.
Overshadowed by Awesome: Intellectually, since Karis gets more exposition talk and by extension looks smarter. In the healing department, since Karis can also cast multi-target healing spells, cheaper, and without needing half a dozen Djinn set to her. And as a Water Adept, he's overshadowed by Amiti, who by default has more offensive powers, near-equal healing capacity, and knows how a sword works.
Ship Sinking: Like Matthew, he and his sister also serve as a mudshipping torpedo, and unless Tyrell turns out to be their brother, they sank steamshipping too.
Strong Family Resemblance: Not as drastic as Matthew or Tyrell, but his similarities to Mia had some peg their relationship immediately after his reveal. He also looks a lot like Amiti.
AmitiA Mercury Adept who joins Matthew's party. He is the young prince of the Ayuthay kingdom who is said to have been an immaculate birth on account of his mother's strong Mercury powers. However, his uncle King Paithos reveals that this is not the case, that his father was actually an unknown Mercury Adept of considerable power. It is confirmed that his father is Alex.
Chick Magnet: An NPC notes that he has plenty of women fawning all over him; implying that our little Bishōnen here is quite the ladies man. May also double up as Chivalrous Pervert as there's nothing to say it's an Unwanted Harem.
Chocolate Baby: Played with. Amiti's skin is clearly light but he apparently only had one parent. From Ayuthay. Where everybody has a darker complexion. Nobody thinks that this is somewhat suspicious. Justified, however, in that the story about Amiti being a virgin birth turns out to have been a lie told by his uncle. His father was a Mercury Adept specifically, Alex.
Deadpan Snarker/Meta Guy : Probably the most rampant distributor of lampshades in the entire game. And yet he's very mild-mannered and sweet about it.
Disappeared Dad: His father apparently left Ayuthay as quickly as he arrived, so quickly that only his mother knew his father's exact identity, and she took the secret with her to the grave (which wasn't long after Amiti was born). It's confirmed that Alex is the daddy.
Dub Name Change: It was Harumani in Japanese, which led to Haru in French. The Italian version has him named "Jao"
Punny Name: From harmony to amity. We see what you did there, Camelot.
Hair Color Spoiler: Much of his storyline is given away by the simple fact that he's a blue-haired Mercury Adept in an area otherwise exclusive to dark-haired non-Adepts.
Amiti's game sprite has the same shade of blue hair as Nowell, though this is difficult to tell since they never share screentime. It's also very close to the color shared by Rief and Alex. This foreshadows that he's related to the Mercury Clan.
Heroic Bastard: Considering the circumstances, it is safe to assume that Amiti's parents never married.
MacGuffin Guy/The Chosen One: Is chosen as the bearer of the Insight Glass, which has the power to see solutions to most problems. This power is needed to enter and navigate the Ouroboros labyrinth, which results in Amiti joining the party officially. Also, he is somehow able to communicate telepathically with the sentient Sand Prince gem.
Magic Knight: A variation. He uses mage equipment, but has a wider variety of weapons than usual for them, and has access to the Diamond Dust and Diamond Berg spells.
Messianic Archetype: Amiti was raised to believe he was one. His mother was a magical virgin who revitalized a civilization and gave birth to a magically gifted son by her own power alone. Turns out it's all a lie. His mother had no psynergy at all, and Alex did everything she was credited with, including fathering Amiti.
Spell My Name with an S: The katakana for his Japanese name, derived from the Hindu deity Hanuman, is very similar to "Harmony", so this was used as a name until his dub name was released. This didn't help the Viewer Gender Confusion any.
Strong Family Resemblance: Enough so that one NPC in Tonfon outright mistakes him for Arcanus and asks where his mask is.
A much earlier cutscene has Tret notice Amiti's resemblance to the Mercury Clan and ask if he's another of Mia's children. Amiti and Rief are both somewhat alarmed by this observation.
WalkingShirtless Scene: Since his kingdom is essentially in a oasis region in constant sunny weather, a lot of people are shirtless, including him and his uncle. Once Amiti announces his intention to join the player party, they ask him to Please Put Some Clothes On, which he does. The whole thing is lampshaded by Eoleo later, when he comments that this is the first time he's ever seen someone from Ayuthay "wearing real clothes". Amiti is not amused.
Interestingly enough, it wasn't until the first screenshot showing him shirtless was released that his gender was confirmed.
What's Up, Prince Dude?: In the middle of a siege by Kaocho, he's informed that some Adepts sent by Kaocho's army have broken into the sanctuary. He goes to meet them personally and offer them Sacred Hospitality.
Considering his uncle and his late mother were also happy to talk to strangers, this probably runs in the family.
SvetaA member of a new race of man-beasts who have evolved since the restoration of Alchemy, Sveta is a Jupiter Adept who joins Matthew's party, her natural animal senses being boosted by the precognitive abilities of the wind element. Her older brother, Volechek, is the king of Morgal.
Action Girl: As opposed to using blades to attack like Jenna and Karis, she fights with physical punches and kicks. Confirmed to be the series's first warrior-type Wind Adept and the first female warrior of any element.
Animal Motifs: She's a werewolf, but she's mentioned to be nicknamed "The White Deer".
Awesome Moment of Crowning: She becomes queen of Belinsk after Volechek's death, albeit offscreen. Tyrell notes how quickly the proceedings were done, probably because they are only beginning to recover from a continent-wide disaster.
Bare-Fisted Monk: Sort of. She uses a unique weapon set containing knuckles and claws.
Barefoot Cartoon Animal/Does Not Like Shoes: As her character art makes plain. She can equip boots, but is never shown actually wearing them. How this works is anyone's guess.
Casting a Shadow: The Umbra Gear was worn by ancestral beastmen to protect them while they built the Apollo Sanctum. You need a set to get in, and given the measurements, she's the only one who can wear the full suit.
Cute Monster Girl: She's easily the most human-looking of the beastmen of Morgal.
Dub Name Change: from Stella to Sveta. The French version kept Stella, while the Italian one went with Aryuna.
Establishing Character Moment: Being encountered as a fleeing figure in Te Rya sets her up as a shy person. Her kindness and responsibility are apparent when she starts discreetly guiding you through the Teppe Ruins, and then she makes a speaking appearance, confirming all of those while introducing her Kung Fu Adept angle.
Expressive Ears: They twitch while she's idle and during some cutscenes.
EoleoFirst appearing as the infant son of the pirate Briggs in The Lost Age, Eoleo is now the prince of the pirate nation Champa and a Mars Adept. He first appears imprisoned by the Belinsk beastmen and sentenced to death, but is freed by Matthew's party. He joins their party after his father's death in the Grave Eclipse, whereupon he swears revenge on those responsible for it.
Break the Haughty: His initial attitude towards the party is dismissive, even after they've rescued him. Then Briggs dies trying to rescue them all. Ouch.
Dark-Skinned Redhead: Fits the personality, and his character art is definitely tanned, but his in-game model doesn't really reflect this. His skin is just slightly... yellower compared to the other characters.
Distressed Dude: You have to break him out of prison after he's arrested for piracy and sentenced to a Cruel and Unusual Death. Because of his powers, he's being kept in a suspended cage.
Later, he gets confronted by a group of powerful monsters while unarmed and you have to rescue him again.
Dub Name Change: Leoleo in Japanese; notable as the star sign Leo is associated with fire (which the game itself nodded at), while his English name brings to mind Eolus, Latin god of the wind.
It is possible that his US name is a combination of both, as both his tool of trade (you can't sail a pirate ship without wind) and some of his Psynergy (notably Thermal) seem to incorporate just as much wind as they would fire (or more).
Establishing Character Moment: In The Lost Age, checking out the Alhafra Prison while Briggs is in it results in a cutscene where Eoleo first displays his Psy powers in an attempt to steal the key. This sets up his lawlessness, his resourcefulness (he wasn't born an Adept), and his loyalty to his father, all of which he retains in Dark Dawn.
Expy: He's the equivalent of Piers for Dark Dawn as he's the party's ship expert and older than most of the cast. His weapon preferences and stats are also mostly similar. The main difference is element type, and Eoleo can't use long swords.
Arguably justified by Fridge Brilliance. Since Obaba is a non-combatant and the rest of his family are non-Adepts, Eoleo was probably trained by the only combat-capable Adept around... his dad's friend, Piers.
Green Rocks: A blink-and-you-miss-it encounter with his mother in Alhafra in The Lost Age reveals that his powers started showing shortly after he was hit by randomly-falling "strange rocks" (probably Psynergy Stones launched by the eruption of Mt. Aleph in the first game, going by comparisons to what happened in Xian).
Reality Ensues: She also mentions that it gave him a nasty concussion before it gave him superpowers.
Intergenerational Friendship: The other Dark Dawn party characters are in their teens. Eoleo is a little over thirty.
Also arguably present in The Lost Age, where as a tyke he helps out Felix & Friends, who are late teens/adults.
It's Personal: He is determined to help Matthew out after the dark creatures of the Grave Eclipse kill his father Briggs.
Little Professor Dialog: In The Lost Age, though you have to Mind Read it out of him since he can't speak yet. Lampshaded by an NPC kid, who complains that his "grown-up attitude" is making her "really cheesed off at him".
Magic Knight: Heavier on the "knight" end of things, at least armor-wise.
Mighty Glacier: In his default class, he's substantially more powerful than Tyrell, but he's so slow.
Missing Mom: His mother Chaucha is never seen in Dark Dawn, even though Briggs mentioned her. Cue Fridge Horror after seeing what happened to their hometown.
No Infantile Amnesia: Apparently the last time he encountered Kraden was during the events of The Lost Age, and he stillcomments on Kraden's agelessness. Kraden lampshades the likelihood of him actually remembering enough detail to do so.
Not Helping Your Case: One of his first actions upon being rescued is to make a rude remark to Amiti, who'd already had enough moral dilemmas about rescuing a pirate.
Not Quite Flight: Thermal Psynergy, which converts areas of warm air into updrafts capable of carrying the entire party.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: A little odd, since everyone else in his family has dark brown eyes.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Even before he joins your party, everyone who played The Lost Age knows why the Champa are pirates— they have no resources of their own, and the people are starving. Indications in TLA suggest that royalty in Champa is a recent development, and that Briggs's family are the country's leaders because they actually did something for their people, even if it was robbery. So it's definitely justified here.
Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Nobody seems to care that the "Scourge of the Eastern Sea" is cruising around with an old guy and a bunch of teenagers. In some areas, it's justified by bigger concerns, but places like Tonfon and Yamatai don't quite have that excuse.
With This Herring: He joins the party with a Cotton Shirt and the cheapest possible axe. Given that he is from a dirt-poor nation and was in prison for the last several days (weeks?), this is justified, albeit a little disarming under the circumstances.
You Killed My Father: As noted above, he swears vengeance upon those who were responsible for Briggs's death.
HimiA Venus Adept and the final party member. She is the princess of Yamata, a city on Nihan founded by refugees from the city of Izumo, which was destroyed following the return on Alchemy, and has the power to see into the future. Her parents are Susa and Kushinada, both of whom met Felix's party in The Lost Age, and she also has an unseen older brother named Takeru.
Ascended Extra: Well, sort of - her parents turned up for the Gaia Rock bit of The Lost Age
Badass Princess: She gets up from being effectively bedridden for several days, and immediately takes off with a bunch of random strangers to go save the world... and she's just so calm and matter-of-fact about it.
Black Magician Girl: The first mage-style Venus Adept! Also the first playable female Venus Adept.
Eleventh Hour Ranger: She's basically around for collecting the Umbra Gear and the final dungeon. Half-lampshaded during the final dungeon where, upon seeing Arcanus, everyone in the party expresses shock and anger - except her. She just asks, "Who?"
Flat Character: Not her fault, since she joined the group too late for any meaningful interaction. Golden Sun games have never been known for character development. Himi just happened to get the shortest of a bunch of short straws.
Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja: One of her best class options for combat, and one she alone inexplicably accesses in lieu of Samurai classes, giving her multiple methods of using it.
Lady of War: Has light swords among her available weapons and can rock the "Magic" aspect of her part-Mercury and part-Jupiter Magic Knight classes.
MacGuffin Girl/The Chosen One: Chosen as the bearer of the Third Eye, which grants her the power to Search for things unseen, leading her to join the party.
Necromancy: Her exclusive Curse Mage classes use a lot of necromancy-influenced powers, and at one point she seeks guidance from the spirit of her dead aunt Uzume.
Strong Family Resemblance: Not to her parents, but to her late aunt Uzume who, if you examine the character portraits in TLA, had the red eyes and black hair. It's mentioned in NPC gossip that Lady Uzume also had precognitive powers.
Summon Magic: Both of her exclusive classes have psynergy lines that resemble this.
Youngest Child Wins: Back in The Lost Age, Kushinada said (via Mind Read) that her son Takeru will rush to help the children of Felix's party (which includes Jenna) should they ever be in danger. It is her younger daughter Himi that actually helps out Matthew and company.
Takeru actually left because Himi had visions of Isaac being in danger causing him to seek out the first game's hero. Because of this, fans presume that he will appear in the next game.
Dark Dawn's Antagonists
BladosA swordsman from the military nation of Tuaparang who Matthew's party encounters several times over the course of the story. He is always eager for a fight, and along with his partner Chalis manipulates Matthew's party into fulfilling their desires.He is an Adept who can wield a new type of darkness Psynergy, and attempts to gain control of the Apollo Lens.
The BrutalDragon: Works more closely with the actual Big Bad on more occasions than Chalis does, and he's the superior fighter.
Card-Carrying Villain: It's actually kind of surprising how...gleeful he is in taking an antagonistic position towards Matthew's party. He's clearly having a lot of fun.
Casting a Shadow: He's actually a Dark Adept from the hidden Umbra Clan.
Climax Boss: In Belinsk Ruins, right before the Alchemy Dynamo is activated.
Dual Boss: With Chalis and in the game's finale, with the Chaos Hound as well.
Expy: Appearance-wise, he seems to be based somewhat off Saturos from the first game - likely invoking said character's popularity with the fanbase. His personality, on the other hand ...
ChalisA commander of Tuaparang who also confronts Matthew's party several times over the course of the story. She gets close to leaders of foreign nations in order to obtain secret information and is in league with Blados in some fashion.Like Blados, she is also a darkness Adept, and works with him in order to gain control of the Apollo Lens.
Above Good and Evil: She claims that they don't exist, and mocks Matthew openly for thinking that he's "on the side of angels".
Affably Evil: Unlike Blados, she's rather polite and "enticing" around others. Even when Alex is, predictably, betraying her, she never loses her cool.
In an example likely to be missed by many; even her name is an example. Chalices are associated with a certain bit of female anatomy. Chalis is a Femme Fatale.
Heel Face Turn: Appeared to have one of these during the ending, telling Sveta to give her the Umbra Gear to activate the Apollo Lens so Sveta wouldn't have to die. However, if you use Spirit Sense on her, she reveals that she still intends on using the Apollo Lens for their own designs to the bitter end.
The Starscream: Same as Blados. If you speak with her during the finale, she offers to take the Umbra Gear, but reading her mind reveals that she was going to satisfy her own ambitions.
Theme Naming: After playing cards in Japanese, after the Tarot deck in English.
Arcanus/AlexA third member of Tuaparang who is seen working with Blados. Seems to be connected with the original Warriors of Vale. Is absolutely not a certain Mercury Adept from the previous games. Of course he is. Now working under Tuaparang's High Empyror, Alex works with Blados and Chalis in order to bring about the Grave Eclipse, and in the end reveals that he plans to use the Apollo Lens to disperse it, and turns against the other two when they try to seize the weapon for themselves. As always, his motives and allegiance remain ambiguous, but suggestive.
More so in this game than anyone in the series. He remains downright polite even when the heroes are antagonizing him.
Big Bad: Takes this role between himself, Blados and Chalis, especially considering how his "Ace"/"Arcanus" moniker implies that he might be their superior (though where exactly the three of them fit into the hierarchy of Tuaparang isn't really clear). And since he's really Alex, he's manipulating everyone for whatever purpose he's plotting. Of course, seeing as this is Alex we're talking about, we still don't know whether there's any benevolence to his goals or if he's nothing more than a self-serving asshole.
Meaningful Name: Ace, the highest card in the deck. In English, "Arcanus" references the group of Tarot cards called the Arcana, with the exact explanation depending on the translation: the US uses the same "high card" analogy*
Kraden refers to the "Most important cards", so perhaps the Major Arcana?
, while the UK version takes it to imply him "holding all the cards" since it refers to the name of the entire deck.
Older Than They Look: He doesn't seem to have changed a bit since his last appearance in TLA.
Which makes sense considering that the Golden Sun affected the original eight party member's life spans, drastically slowing their rate of aging. Alex absorbed quite a bit of the Golden Sun's power.
Paper-Thin Disguise: Anyone who's played the GBA games (or hell, looked further up this very page) will instantly recognize who he is. And at the Apollo Sanctum, if you still haven't figured it out, Kraden blows the lid wide open. Somewhat subverted when you consider how he isn't exactly trying to conceal his identity.
Kraden even lampshades this at one point early in the game wondering who would fall for that.
Theme Naming: Again, from the cards. Lampshaded obliquely when his alias is mentioned to Kraden, who comments he must have chosen that name to match his Tuaparang allies (albeit upstaging them with the most impressive item in the theme - see Meaningful Name above).
Unexplained Recovery: When Karis expresses disbelief at him surviving the destruction of Mt. Aleph, Alex's only response is the "overjoyed" emoticon.
◊ Jenna, and the main playable character and party leader of Dark Dawn. He lives with his father in a cottage in the Goma Highlands west of Bilibin, which overlooks the ruins of Mt. Aleph, training for the day he's expected to step up and take on his father's mantle. That day comes when his friend Tyrell breaks Ivan's soarwing, and he's sent on a journey that begins with the goal of obtaining the Mountain Roc feather and ends up involving the fate of Angara and Weyard.
