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     Protagonists 
Samwell Han (Samuel Han)
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guardian_heroes_han.jpg
A cocky warrior mercenary who set out in search of the Muramasa in hopes of attaining fame and fortune. He was previously the lieutenant commander of the Kingdom's Blue Order but was fired from his position after he was caught taking Princess Lucia outside of the castle.
  • Anti-Hero: He's cocky and somewhat selfish, but he has a good heart and always does the right thing.
  • The Big Guy: The most physically formidable of the main protagonists, he also has the rowdy personality to match.
  • Blue Is Heroic: A former member of the Blue Order, wears predominantly blue clothing and is almost always front and center among the other heroes in group shots.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: He's loud, cocky and loves to brawl.
  • Boring, but Practical: His attacks are nowhere near as flashy as the other heroes' are, but they make up for it by being easy to perform and reliably strong.
  • BFS: All of the swords that he can wield are enormous.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: He's something of a flirt when it comes to dealing with attractive women, but he always treats them well. The entire reason he lost his position in the Blue Order is because he felt bad for Lucia having to be stuck inside a castle for her entire life.
  • Cool Sword: Wields the Undead Hero's sword throughout the first level, but loses it as soon as the Hero himself appears. He can later obtain the Undead Rogue's sword on certain story paths.
  • Decoy Protagonist: Pretty much always front and center in promotional artwork, and is the most prominently featured of the heroes in the opening movie, but it's really Serena who has all of the plot significance while Han himself is no more important than the other three.
  • Defector from Decadence: A mild example. He was discharged from the Blue Order for going against royal rules and taking the princess out of the castle to have fun with him, so while he stopped being affiliated with the Kingdom due to not agreeing with its policies, he didn't start to actually oppose it until a long while after he had already left it.
  • Dub Name Change: From "Samuel" to "Samwell" in the English version of the 360 remake.
  • Fighter, Mage, Thief: The fighter to Randy's mage and Ginjirou's thief.
  • Glory Seeker: Only went searching for the Muramasa in order to become rich and famous.
  • Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He has blonde hair and is a kindhearted, if narcissistic, guy all around.
  • Heroes Prefer Swords: He wields a huge sword and is generally presented as the game's main hero. His actual fighting style consists just as much of punches, kicks and tackles as it does sword swings, though.
  • Hot-Blooded: Tends to scream the most out of the main five in combat and is generally the easiest to anger.
  • I Shall Taunt You: Some of his combos end with him performing a taunt. This can be a problem, as it leaves him open for attacks for a second or two.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's self-centered, arrogant and quick to anger, but he's overall a well-meaning and heroic guy.
  • Last-Name Basis: Only every called by his last name by other characters.
  • The Leader: He was the leader of the initial party that found the Undead Hero's sword. His position as leader becomes somewhat contested after Serena joins the team, however.
  • Magically Inept Fighter: While he can use magic, it's limited entirely to launching small fire balls at his enemies or lighting himself on fire. In comparison, all of the other heroes are capable of several more powerful and effective magical attacks.
  • Midseason Upgrade: Can obtain the Undead Rogue's sword immediately before confronting Kanon at the game's halfway point on certain paths. It gives a massive boost to all of his stats and adds the fire element to all of his attacks that involve using it.
  • Mighty Glacier: He has the highest strength and vitality of the main heroes, but the lowest agility and intelligence.
  • Playing with Fire: He uses fire as his element, and can launch fire balls and his own flaming body to attack enemies. With the Undead Hero's sword equipped, all of his attacks that involve using it will set enemies on fire.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The loudmouthed red oni to the laid back Gash's blue oni.
  • Screaming Warrior: He's the team's resident warrior and also the one who does most of the screaming.
  • Supporting Protagonist / Supporting Leader: While he's the leader of the initial party and presented as the main character of the game, it's Serena who has all of the plot importance.
  • Top-Heavy Guy: Downplayed. While he does have reasonably long and muscular legs, his torso is still much, much bigger.
  • Wreathed in Flames: One of his techniques "Han Maximum" involves lighting himself on fire and barreling toward his enemies.

Randy the Green (Randy M. Green)
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guardian_heroes_randy.jpg
Top: Nando, Bottom: Randy
A young mage-in-training who became an adventurer in order to improve his abilities. Smart and sensible, but also mild-mannered, he often plays the straight man to the rest of the party. He is never seen without his rabbit familiar Nando by his side.
  • Badass Adorable: A cute young boy with an even cuter rabbit familiar who is capable of performing devastating magical attacks.
  • Blow You Away: Can summon a massive tornado to attack surrounding enemies.
  • Butt-Monkey: Tends to get picked on more often than the other characters.
  • Child Mage: The youngest member of the party as well as its resident mage.
  • Difficult, but Awesome: He takes practice and patience to develop and play as properly, but at his most effective he'll be flooring entire groups of enemies left and right with every attack.
  • Dub Name Change: "Green" goes from being his last name to his title in the English version of the 360 remake.
  • Fighter, Mage, Thief: The mage to Han's fighter and Ginjirou's thief.
  • Fire, Ice, Lightning: He is capable of performing fire, ice and lightning spells and is more resistant to all three than the other heroes are.
  • Fragile Speedster: His physical attacks are weak, but quick and easy to chain together into long combos.
  • Kamehame Hadoken: Capable of launching a screen-clearing beam of fire from his staff.
  • Kid Hero: While Han and Ginjirou are adults and Nicole and Serena are in their late teens at the youngest, Randy looks about 12.
  • Kung-Fu Wizard: While he's not very strong, he is capable of performing quick and effective martial arts moves with his staff to attack enemies when he isn't casting spells with it.
  • Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards: While Han's normal attacks are way stronger than his are, Randy's high intelligence stat, massive mana pool and extensive list of powerful spells gives him a much higher damage output when played properly.
  • Magic Staff: Whacks enemies with spinning staff strikes for most of his physical attacks.
  • Meaningful Name: He's still in training, so he's quite green.
  • Only Sane Man: Seems to be his place in the group. Han is an arrogant glory hog, Nicole is a ditzy Love Freak and Ginjirou has a penchant for long-winded and confusing metaphors. Meanwhile, Randy merely reacts in confusion to the antics of all three.
  • Pintsized Powerhouse: He's pretty short and scrawny, but he can dish out damage like no one's business.
  • Precocious Crush: Said to have one on Serena in supplementary materials, though this is an Informed Ability in-game.
  • The Smart Guy: He has the highest intelligence cap of the main group, as well as the largest pool of spells that he is capable of casting.
  • Squishy Wizard: He has the lowest attack and vitality of the main heroes, but has the widest range of spells at his disposal along with the the highest intelligence stat.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: He appears to only be in his early teens, but he's already a skilled mage and is the most sensible member of the party.

Ginjirou Ibushi
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guardian_heroes_ginjirou.jpg
A mysterious ninja from an eastern land who traveled to the Kingdom in search of the ancient blade the Muramasa. While mature and reliable, he is prone to speaking in long-winded and near-incomprehensible metaphors.
  • Ambiguously Brown: He's quite a bit more tanned than the other members of the party.
  • Anime Hair: His haircut is rather improbable, looking like half of a broken purple plate glued to the top of his head from certain angles.
  • Bare-Fisted Monk: Fights exclusively with punches and kicks.
  • The Comically Serious: He's a cool, focused ninja warrior through and through, but the way he talks tends to be rather ridiculous.
  • Cool Old Guy: It's hard to tell exactly how old he is, but his hard-lined face makes him appear to be middle-aged. He's also a totally awesome ninja warrior.
  • Death of a Thousand Cuts: His normal attacks don't do very much damage, but he is capable of performing them several times in quick succession to rack up massive amounts of damage.
  • Eyes Always Shut: Never opens his eyes even a crack throughout the entirety of the game.
  • Fighter, Mage, Thief: The thief to Han's fighter and Randy's mage.
  • Funny Foreigner: The only character explicitly said to be from another country, and has quite a bit of humor derived from his strange way of speaking.
  • Flash Step: His "Shadowless Dash" technique allows him to do this. He damages whatever enemies are in his path while doing it.
  • Highly-Visible Ninja: Seems to have traded stealthiness for deadly fighting abilities, as he not only wears a garish green costume but also screams at the top of his lungs whenever he fights.
  • Ice-Cream Koan: Tends to speak like this at all times.
  • Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja: He's a ninja in an otherwise western fantasy setting. He is said to come from an eastern land, though, so presumably there's a whole Wutai part of the setting that we just never get to see.
  • Kung-Fu Wizard: Ginjirou leans much more closely towards the "Kung Fu" end of the spectrum than Randy does, but he knows a large array of powerful lightning spells alongside his physical attacks.
  • Lightning Bruiser: He's reasonably strong and has the highest agility of the main heroes, allowing him to quickly deal out dozens of hits to enemies at once. As an added bonus, he is associated with the lightning element.
  • Ninja: He's an agile warrior from an eastern land who knows several magical techniques. He's a classic ninja.
  • Noodle Incident / Mysterious Past: We don't know why he was searching for the Muramasa or how it ended up in another country, and since the heroes never actually find the Muramasa, we'll likely never know.
  • Perpetual Frowner: He does smile a few times throughout the game, but his default expression is a frown.
  • Screaming Warrior: He becomes a lot louder when fighting.
  • Shock and Awe: He uses lightning as his element, and is capable of summoning a massive thunderstorm to destroy his enemies.
  • The Stoic: Remains calm and composed at all times, which makes his bizarre metaphors even funnier.
  • Team Dad: The oldest member of the main team as well as the most mature one.

Nicole Neil (Nicore Neil)
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guardian_heroes_nicole.jpg
A ditzy cleric who is a devout follower of a strange religion revolving around the healing power of smiles. She became an adventurer in order to spread the power of smiles throughout the world. In battle she is able to summon smiles to aid her in various random ways.
  • Barrier Warrior: Her barrier spell is actually incredibly effective at continuously damaging enemies, so long as there's a wall to push them up against.
  • Big Eater: She's more concerned about getting dinner than potentially dying when the main party's inn is attacked at the beginning of the game.
  • Cloud Cuckoolander: Believes that smiley faces are the most powerful force in the world. To her credit, gameplay actually supports this.
  • Combat Medic: The only character in the game capable of performing healing magic, and is also naturally able to fight as well.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Nicole is a force to be reckoned with in battle... once she stops tripping over herself.
  • Cute Clumsy Girl: She's very cute, stands knock-kneed in battle and can randomly trip over herself when running.
  • Difficult, but Awesome: She's the weakest of the main characters in all stats but luck, as well as the hardest to learn how to play properly, but is arguably the most powerful of them all when used correctly.
  • The Ditz: She seems to be the dimmest of the main party.
  • Fighting Clown: She's just as viable of a character as the rest of the heroes are, but her playstyle is both somewhat confusing and very ridiculous.
  • Healing Hands: The only character in the game to possess healing magic. Not only does it heal Nicole and her allies, but it also damages any enemies who are touched by it.
  • Inept Mage: Compared to Randy, Nicole seem to have much less control over her magical powers. This isn't always necessarily a bad thing.
  • Lethal Joke Character: Can appear to be close to useless when first being played as, but her healing magic, barrier projecting and smiley summoning can make her near invincible when used properly.
  • Light 'em Up: All of her magic is considered to be of the light element. Additionally, she takes more damage than the other characters when hit by attacks of the dark element.
  • Love Freak: Believes wholeheartedly that smiles can conquer over all.
  • Luck Stat: Nicole has the highest luck cap in the game, and the outcome of her signature spell is highly dependent on how high her luck is.
  • Magical Girl: Seems to be a parody of one.
  • Magikarp Power: She has the lowest initial stats of the main heroes, as well as some of the lowest caps in all stats other than luck, but can become a near-invincible death machine with enough work.
  • Mechanically Unusual Fighter: While all of the other main characters have fairly conventional playstyles, Nicole's relies heavily on manipulating luck.
  • Nice Girl: She's the friendliest member of the main group, as well as the kindest.
  • Random Effect Spell: Her signature "Smiley Summon" technique can summon anything from a single small smiley face, a massive screen-covering smiley face, or a storm of dozens of small smiley faces to attack her enemies. The higher her luck stat is, the more likely one of the more powerful outcomes is to occur.
  • Rose-Haired Sweetie: Has bright pink hair and is a pure-hearted and kind girl.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: The girly girl to Lady of War Serena's tomboy.
  • White Magician Girl: The party's white mage as well as its sole female before Serena's introduction.

Serena Corsair
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guardian_heroes_serena.jpg
The former commander of the Kingdom's Red Order who left her position to lead a rebellion against the royal family. She assists the main party in escaping from the Royal Army in the game's beginning and continues to travel alongside them from then on. She seems to hold some kind of secret.
  • Action Girl: While Nicole fights in a strange, unconventional and clumsy way, Serena uses the much more standard sword and shield combo to battle her enemies.
  • All-Loving Hero: Everything she does is for the good of the people of the Kingdom, and on certain routes she's able to show mercy to even Kanon.
  • An Ice Person: She uses ice as her element, and is capable of freezing enemies in their tracks with a powerful ice beam.
  • Big Good: At least in the first half of the game, due to being the leader of the rebellion.
  • Defector from Decadence: Left her position as commander of the Red Order to form the rebellion. In reality, she never had any loyalty to the current royal family, and was just working from the inside to gather the power and resources necessary to construct a rebellion.
  • Foil: She and Han are both former members of the Kingdom's army who defected, but while Han is crass, self-absorbed and lighthearted, Serena is refined, selfless and serious.
  • Guest-Star Party Member: Assists the player character in stage 1 and later during the fight with Kanon if she isn't the character being played as.
  • The Hero: The closest thing the game has to a true main character.
  • Heroes Prefer Swords: While Han tends to receive more focus in advertisements, Serena also uses a sword and has more ties to the main plot than anyone else in the party.
  • Jack of All Stats: Begins the game with perfectly balanced stats, and has relatively high caps for all of them.
  • Knightly Sword and Shield: Wields a shield alongside a sword.
  • Lady of War: Serena is elegant, polite and poised, but also a highly skilled military leader.
  • The Lancer: She serves as a foil to Han's leader.
  • Magic Knight: A skilled ice magic user along with being a trained knight.
  • The Mole: She served as this throughout her time in the Red Order. She never had any loyalty to the current monarchy and merely served in its army in order to gain the necessary means to stage a rebellion.
  • Non P.O.V. Protagonist: She has the most plot relevance of the main characters, but can only be played as after clearing the game once.
  • Out of Focus: Has much more plot relevance than the other main characters throughout the game's first half, only to get reduced to being no more important than the other four after confronting Kanon. She regains her importance in some of the endings, but not all of them.
  • Really Royalty Reveal: Revealed to be the princess of the original royal family that was ousted from power by Kanon at the game's halfway point, making her the true heir to the throne. Whether she ends up actually taking the throne depends on the ending.
  • Rebel Leader: She's the leader of the resistance in opposition to the monarchy.
  • Red Is Heroic: Wears predominantly red and is the closest thing the game has to a main hero.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The composed blue oni to the rowdy Katrina's red oni.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: The rightful heir to the kingdom and a badass rebel leader.
  • Sixth Ranger: Joins the party at the very beginning of the game, but fights alongside them throughout it. As if to cement her position as this, she only becomes a playable character after playing through the game once.
  • Statuesque Stunner: Serena is very tall, standing only slightly shorter than Valgar, and very beautiful.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: The serious tomboy to the ditzy White Magician Girl Nicole's girly girl. She's also the elegant girly girl to Katrina's fiesty tomboy.
  • Warrior Prince: A gender-swapped variation. She's strong, charismatic and compassionate to even her enemies.

The Undead Hero
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guardian_heroes_undead_warrior.jpg
A zombie warrior from an ancient age who the main party inadvertently restores to life after bringing his sword to his grave. While mostly a mindless beast, the party has some control over his actions, allowing them to use him to assist them in their travels.
  • Achilles' Heel: As a playable character he's strong against all attacks other than ones of the light element, which he takes extra damage from.
  • Anti-Hero: He's extremely violent and close to being totally mindless, but proves to still have a spark of heroism inside of him in several of the endings.
  • BFS: His sword is enormous.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Frees himself from his magic bindings just in time to save the party from Kanon on all paths where they directly confront him.
  • The Brute: The Undead Hero will mindlessly attack anything regardless of whether they're friend or foe if the player characters don't specifically order him not to, and he's easily one of the most powerful things in the game.
  • Cool Sword: He has a super-powerful one that emits a red energy at all times and is capable of shooting flames.
  • Creepy Good: A large, scary skeleton knight who nonetheless possesses the heart of a hero deep inside.
  • Crutch Character: Deliberately invoked. The developers believed that, as all enemies are as capable of dodging and blocking as the main characters are, the game would be too hard for most players without a powerful ally assisting them.
  • Dem Bones: All that's left of his body are bones.
  • Gold and White Are Divine: Wears golden armor and is revealed to have been used as an indirect messenger for the Skyborn to guide the heroes towards defeating the Earthblood.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Gave his life long before the events of the story defending his king from Kanon's soldiers. He can do it again in ending 5, where he sacrifices himself in order to assist Valgar in destroying God.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Strong, fast and incredibly durable. While he's only totally invincible in the game's story mode, he's still incredibly tough in its versus mode.
  • One-Handed Zweihänder: He swings around the same sword that Han requires two hands to use with just one.
  • One-Man Army: He's immortal, ridiculously strong and capable of creating a screen-covering explosion to obliterate all enemies at any given time. The main party having to do anything at all with him around is basically a formality.
  • Our Zombies Are Different: He's the revived corpse of a loyal knight who served Serena's ancestors hundreds of years ago.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: His eyes glow red.
  • Red Is Violent: His glowing red eyes reflect his destructive nature.
  • Revive Kills Zombie: Takes severe damage from all light magic, including Nicole's healing spells.
  • Screaming Warrior: Only seems to be able to scream after being revived.
  • Sealed Good in a Can: A hero from the age of swords brought back to life when brought into contact with his weapon. He's distinctly a Creepy Good Anti-Hero, though.
  • The Berserker: One of the available commands can turn him into this, causing him to aggressively rush at any enemy within his line of sight and recklessly spam his special and magic attacks at them, usually ending in him using his most powerful atack: a huge energy explosion that covers the entire screen in a radius of light.
  • Turned Against Their Masters: As he was given a second life by the Skyborn, he does this in all endings where the heroes fight against them.
  • Undying Loyalty: In the end, his loyalty lies solely with the royal family. He will only follow his orders from the Skyborn if Serena, that last living descendant of the royal family, agrees to do as they say. If Serena chooses to oppose them, he will gladly assist her in doing so.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Had no awareness or control of his position as the Skyborn's messenger. Whether he does his duty or turns against them after learning this depends on the path taken.
  • The Voiceless: Speaks only through screams, and never seems to directly communicate with anyone.
  • Weakened by the Light: Light-based attacks are one of the only things that can seriously hurt him in versus mode.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: His fate is only explicitly shown in ending 5. While he's suggested to have returned to being dead in each of the other endings, there is never any confirmation of this.

Nando M. Conyance
Randy's familiar. A small rabbit-like creature with a mischievous personality. During the story mode, he follows Randy around, mimicking his every action, allowing Randy to slightly extend his own reach when attacking.
  • Assist Character: In the story mode, Nando follows Randy around and mimics his movements, extending the reach of Randy's attacks slightly in the process.
  • Badass Adorable: A small cute rabbit-looking creature who is surprisingly deadly in combat.
  • Fragile Speedster: As a playable character, he's very fast and hard to hit, but he can't take many hits when they finally land.
  • Informed Ability: While he's apparently mischievous, we never get to see him do much.
  • Killer Rabbit: A tiny rabbit-like creature who can kick your ass if you aren't careful around him.
  • Lethal Joke Character: He's actually quite tricky to fight in versus mode due to his tiny hitbox and fast movement speed.
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter: A tiny, furry and adorable little animal.
  • Team Pet: The token cute animal on the heroes' team.
  • Wreathed in Flames: His one and only attack in versus mode is to light himself on fire and launch himself at his enemies.

     Major Characters 
Reinhart Valgar
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guardian_heroes_valgar.png
Prince of the Kingdom and the commander of the Black Order, the most elite group of knights in the nation's military. An arrogant and stubborn young man with a deeply patriotic spirit, he begins to question his worldview over the course of the game.
  • Anti-Villain: As smug and rude as he may be, he's not at all a bad person and is only doing what he feels is right throughout the game.
  • The Atoner: While he has shades of this in each of the routes where he turns good, this is especially noticeable in ending 4, where he chooses to begin Walking the Earth in order to atone for his crimes.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: His attempt at becoming an independent threat results in him being killed by either Xenovia or Zur.
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: He has large, thick ones.
  • Black Knight: As the leader of the Black Order, a group full of these.
  • The Champion: Becomes this for the Skyborn in the path to the fifth ending, though only because the main characters refused to earlier.
  • Chick Magnet: Claims to be one in one of his victory quotes in versus mode. To his credit, Katrina at least is into him.
  • Despair Event Horizon: The revelation about his family's lineage (or lack thereof) ends up doing this to him on the route to ending 5, where he becomes so discouraged that he ends up becoming the servant of the Skyborn in a moment of weakness in order to become more powerful. He ends up recovering from it just in time to pull off a Heroic Sacrifice.
  • The Dragon: He's this to his father, due to being the leader of the Kingdom's elite fighting unit.
  • Dual Wielding: Wields a pair of short swords to deadly effect.
  • Final Boss: Of the path to the fifth ending.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Ends up assisting the heroes in the routes to endings 3, 4 and potentially 1. This is especially true of ending 3, where he ends up joining the heroes' team.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Pulls one off in ending 5, where he gives his life to destroy God and free humanity from his control.
  • Hidden Depths: He's shown to be a much more conflicted and sympathetic character than he initially appears to be no matter what, though the outcome of this varies heavily depending on what route the player takes.
  • Jerkass: Generally rude, arrogant and spiteful to everyone he interacts with, the exceptions being his sister Lucia and his maybe girlfriend Katrina.
  • Karmic Death: In the route to ending 2, where he decides to turn against everyone to launch a coup of his own and become King only to be killed by having all of his life energy drained by Zur, the master of Chronic Backstabbing Disorder. This can also potentially happen on the route to ending 1 for the same reasons, though with Xenovia in the place of Zur.
  • Last-Name Basis: Like Han, he's only ever referred to by his last name.
  • Leitmotif: "Rough and Ready", a hard rock track which plays almost every time he's on screen.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Fast, strong and knows a good bit of magic. Valgar's a dangerous foe for sure. Like fellow Lightning Bruiser Ginjirou, he also specializes in lightning magic.
  • Magic Knight: Like Serena, he's a strong physical fighter who also knows several powerful spells. He leans more heavily towards the "knight" half of the trope than she does, though.
  • My Country, Right or Wrong: Valgar puts the state of the Kingdom above all else. While his actions vary across the different routes, they each are done because they are what he believes is best for his country at that point.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: He experiences a mild case of this no matter what after Kanon reveals the truth about his family's legacy midway through the game, but his reaction to it varies depending on the route:
    • In ending 1, he either decides to screw everything and go against his father, the heroes and Kanon's wishes in order to launch a coup to take the throne for himself, only to be instantly killed by Xenovia, or sees the error of his ways just in time to agree to destroy the remainder of Kanon's forces above ground while the party takes on the Earthblood.
    • In ending 2, he plans the same coup that he potentially can in ending 1, only to have all of his energy drained by Zur, killing him.
    • In ending 3, he realizes the error of his ways and assists the heroes in defeating the Skyborn in order to prevent humanity from being manipulated in the same way he was. He permanently joins their party afterwards.
    • In ending 4, he assists the party in defeating Kanon's mech army, but is unable to forgive himself for assisting Kanon with his scheme, and vows to become a wanderer in order to atone.
    • In ending 5, he jumps at the opportunity of becoming The Champion for the Skyborn in order to make up for his actions working under Kanon, only to realize that doing so has just made him a puppet to another person. Unwilling to let any other human be manipulated in the same way he was, he gives his life to destroy God and free humanity from his control.
  • Out of Focus: Ending 1 is the only ending that he doesn't play a major role in. This is likely because he can potentially have been killed by Xenovia earlier depending on which levels were played to get to it.
  • Pet the Dog: He has several across the game's various routes to show that he isn't all that bad of a guy. Most of them involve his interactions with his younger sister Lucia.
  • Recurring Boss: He can be fought several times over the course of the game, though whether he actually is depends on what route you take.
  • Redemption Equals Death: Kills himself to destroy God almost immediately after realizing that he was being manipulated by him in ending 5.
  • The Rival: Serves as one to the entire party, though he seems to share some particular animosity with Serena.
  • Sixth Ranger: Permanently joins the heroes' party in ending 3. This is carried over into Advanced Guardian Heroes, where he is counted among the original heroes.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Like the rest of the Kingdom, Valgar has been unknowingly assisting Kanon in his effort to destroy the Skyborn. Unlike the other members of the Kingdom's army, though, he actually gets to find out. He doesn't take it well. On the route to ending 5, he ends up becoming one again, this time to the Skyborn themselves.
  • Walking the Earth: Ending 4 has him decide to become a wanderer in order to atone for his crimes after assisting in eradicating Kanon's mech army.
  • Warrior Prince: He's the prince of the Kingdom and the leader of its most elite army. He doesn't actually have any royal blood in him, though.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: If he survives the route to ending 1, we never get to learn what becomes of him.
  • The Worf Effect: If a character defeats him easily, you know you're in for a fight. Examples include Kanon, Xenovia and Zur, of all people.
  • Worthy Opponent: Develops a begrudging respect for the heroes over the course of the game. This can potentially lead him to assisting or even joining them in certain routes.

Kanon the Grey (Kanon G. Grey)
The Kingdom's Royal Advisor. A mysterious old mage with incredible magic power who advocated for the development of mechanized weaponry to replace humans in the military. Serena has a personal grudge against him and believes that he holds all of the true power within the Kingdom.
  • Anti-Villain: Arguably so, to the point of attracting Alternate Character Interpretation in-universe across the various routes. Basically, whether or not you consider him to be one boils down to whether you think the Skyborn's control over humanity and the Earthblood is oppressive enough to justify his radical actions.
  • Arch-Enemy: Serena views him as hers due to him being responsible for driving her family out of power. By extension, he is also this to the Undead Hero.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: Technically succeeds in accomplishing his plans in endings 3 and 5, though he is killed before they are accomplished in either.
  • Bald of Evil: He's as villainous as he is hairless.
  • Big Bad: Of the first half of the game, where he is the primary villain as well as the one seemingly pulling every other antagonist's strings. He's also this for the route to ending 4, where his machine army become the primary antagonists.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: Xenovia plans to betray and kill him the second his machine army finishes its production. On all routes where the heroes don't get to him first, she easily follows through with it.
  • Climax Boss: The battle against him will always happen at the game's halfway point. While the player can avoid fighting him, he will immediately get killed in the level afterwards. The confrontation with him introduces the Earthblood and the Skyborn to the plot, both of whom can potentially become the final antagonists.
  • Disc-One Final Boss: Killing him isn't anywhere near enough to resolve all of the plot's conflicts, though it does open several doors that offer solutions that potentially can.
  • Dub Name Change: From "Kanon G. Grey" to "Kanon the Grey" in the English version of the 360 remake.
  • Enemy Mine: Formed an alliance with the Earthblood in order to gather the means necessary to wage war against the Skyborn. Both he and Xenovia planned to betray the other once they acquired all they needed from the partnership, though only Xenovia is ever able to carry it out.
  • Evil Chancellor: The Kingdom's Advisor who secretly holds all of the country's power, and uses it to fulfill his own ambitions.
  • Evil Genius: As the Kingdom's Royal Advisor, this is his official position.
  • Evil Old Folks: He's an old man, and a manipulative, callous person. Even if you believe his actions were justifiable, there's still no denying that he went about them in the most extreme way possible.
  • Failure Is the Only Option: Kanon will always end up being Out-Gambitted by either the Earthblood or the Skyborn no matter the route. Either the Skyborn lead the heroes into killing him by using the Undead Hero as a guide, or Xenovia kills him after he is no longer of any use to her.
  • Fire, Ice, Lightning: Knows a vast array of spells of all three elements.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: While Golden Silver and the Machine Army in general become the main antagonists of the route to ending 4, they are still following the orders that Kanon gave them.
  • Karmic Death: No matter how he dies, there's a clear tint of poetic justice to it. Either he is killed by the descendant of the original royal family that he drove out from power to achieve his ambitions and the legendary hero that he killed to do so, or he is killed by the leader of the race he planned to manipulate and enslave under the guise of the Puppet King of the nation that he secretly drove to ruin.
  • Kung-Fu Wizard: An all-powerful mage who, due to the nature of the game, also kicks ass in a physical fight.
  • The Man Behind the Man: All of King Valgar's orders are given to him by Kanon, who holds all of the true power in the Kingdom.
  • Manipulative Bastard: A national-level one. Hundreds of years ago he drove out the real royal family and replaced it with a puppet monarchy in order to use the Kingdom's resources to construct a Magitek army to destroy the Skyborn. During this time, he also forged an alliance with the Earthblood to assist him in defeating the Skyborn, and he plans to enslave them immediately after accomplishing this. Valgar is decidedly not happy when he finds out that his entire bloodline basically existed solely to help Kanon accomplish his goals.
  • Meaningful Name: As an old man, he's quite grey. Once you learn the motivation behind his actions, so are his morals.
  • Mr. Exposition: Delivers a loooong rant that reveals the existence of the Earthblood and the Skyborn, while also giving a history lesson on the end of the Age of Swords and the rise of the Age of Magic during the final confrontation with him.
  • One-Man Army: It takes three of the heroes, Valgar and the Undead Hero to finally put him down. Of course, Xenovia is capable of killing him in a single attack.
  • Out-Gambitted: Turns out the Earthblood and the Skyborn are both way ahead of him when it comes to evil schemes. Xenovia plans to kill him the second he finishes producing a mechanical army for her, while the Skyborn gave the Undead Hero life in order to guide the heroes into destroying him, the Earthblood and the machine army before they are able to mount their attack on him. The Earthblood succeed in accomplishing this in the routes to endings 2 and 5, while the Skyborn accomplish it in the routes to endings 1, 3 and 4.
  • Really 700 Years Old: He comes from the same era as the Undead Hero, making him likely hundreds of years old.
  • Redemption Rejection: Trying to reason with him during the final confrontation will at best result in him storming off in a huff and at worst in him attacking you.
  • Skippable Boss: It's possible to avoid having to fight him, though he will still get killed by Xenovia shortly afterwards.
  • Smug Snake: Incredibly sure of himself, but ends up eating his words in every route.
  • SNK Boss: He's notoriously brutal, especially for new players.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Ending 3 takes this stance on his character. While manipulating an entire nation to accomplish his goals, causing the suffering of countless innocents in the process, was certainly wrong, he was right to want to free humanity from the Skyborn's control.
  • The Worf Effect: Will be effortlessly killed by Xenovia if the player doesn't kill him during their confrontation with him.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Will be killed by Xenovia as soon as the Machine Army is completed, assuming the heroes don't already do it before her.

Zur Pa Iyah
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guardian_heroes_zur.jpg
An eccentric maniac who was made commander of the Zur Order, his own special division of the Kingdom's army designed for secret operations, by Kanon. A power-crazed coward, his allegiance lies solely with whoever is strongest.
  • Ambiguously Gay: Extremely effeminate and heavily associated with roses. His crotch laser as Super Zur certinly doesn't help matters.
  • Ambiguously Human: May or may not actually be a vampire.
  • Big Bad: Manages to become this on the route to ending 2 by draining Valgar of his power and launching a coup to become ruler of the Kingdom after Kanon's defeat.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Sucks up to every one in power that he can, and then betrays them the second they're of no use to him.
  • Dirty Coward: Will use any dirty trick he can to win, and will immediately run away with his tail between his legs when they fail. When that doesn't work, he begs for his life. This carries over into combat, where he generally spends more time running away from you than he does fighting.
  • The Dragon: To Kanon, due to being the only commander in the Kingdom's army who answers directly to him.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: Pretty transparently wants to seize control away from Kanon at the first chance he gets. He does exactly that in the route to ending 2.
  • Dragon Ascendant: Eventually takes over for Kanon as the main antagonist if the route to ending 2 is taken.
  • Expy: It's hard not to think of Kefka when looking at him.
  • Fangs Are Evil: Has a large, single fang that indicates both his goofiness and his status as a villain. It also possibly reveals his nature as a vampire.
  • Fighting Clown: While Super Zur's moves are all ridiculous-looking, he is actually a deadly fighter, and is a perfectly viable choice in versus mode.
  • Final Boss: Of the route to ending 2, as Super Zur.
  • General Failure: While Valgar, Katrina and Gash are all skilled commanders, Zur is highly incompetent, and basically relies solely on throwing as many of his men at the heroes as he can to defeat them.
  • Goldfish Poop Gang: Compared to the other most frequently occurring villain, Valgar, Zur is laughably incompetent and more annoying than threatening.
  • Gonk: He is not a handsome man, to say the least.
  • Gosh Dang It to Heck!: In the English version of the 360 remake, he frequently utters these. His most favorite is "Holy Schnitzel!".
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: Prone to making bad jokes in this style.
  • Joke Character: Zur is close to useless as a fighter, with only a weak jab and an annoying-but-harmless rose throw as his attacks. Whenever he's fought in story mode, he mostly lets his grunts do the fighting for him.
  • Karma Houdini: Doesn't suffer from any visible punishment for his crimes in any of the endings besides the second one.
  • Laughably Evil: An evil bastard through and through, but he'll still make you laugh at his antics.
  • Laughing Mad: Loves to let out an evil cackle whenever he thinks he has the upper hand, and is a heartless psychopath through and through.
  • Monster Clown: His flamboyant and colorful clothing certainly evokes this aesthetic, at least.
  • Noble Womans Laugh: Has a screeching cackle that he utters frequently.
  • Not So Harmless: Goes from a despicable-but-ineffectual pest to the Final Boss in the route to ending 2.
  • Our Vampires Are Different: Valgar refers to him as a vampire before having his power drained by him. His fangs and power-draining abilities support this, but no concrete evidence is ever provided to confirm it.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: The main source of laughs throughout the game.
  • Power Dyes Your Hair: His hair turns from brown to blonde when he becomes Super Zur, possibly in a Shout-Out to Dragon Ball Z.
  • Psycho for Hire: He has no formal affiliation with the Kingdom's military, and was simply hired as a subordinate by Kanon.
  • Recurring Boss: Can potentially be fought several times throughout the game, though it is also possible to avoid fighting him entirely.
  • Screams Like a Little Girl: Shrieks in a high-pitch whenever hit by a strong attack.
  • Sissy Villain: An effeminate and psychotic villain.
  • Sixth Ranger Traitor: The commander of a custom-made unit hired from outside of the military. His goals are about as far from being in the Kingdom's best interest as they possibly could be.
  • Something about a Rose: Carries a rose around with him and can throw hundreds of them in quick succession in battle.
  • Super Mode: Super Zur functions as one for him, wherein he becomes several times more powerful than he is in his normal form and gains countless new attacks. He activates it after draining Valgar of all of his power.
  • Skippable Boss: It is possible to play through the story without directly fighting him at all, though he will always send some of his troops to attack you in the second level.
  • Token Evil Teammate: The only truly evil commander in the Kingdom's military.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: We only ever get to see what happens to him in ending 2, where he is killed by the heroes after draining Valgar of his power and taking charge of his coup.

Katrina
The commander of the Kingdom's Red Order. A vicious and driven young woman who desperately strives to prove herself as superior to her predecessor Serena.

  • Advertised Extra: The opening sequence sets her up to be a member of the game's Quirky Mini Boss Squad alongside Valgar, Zur and Gash. In reality, she only appears in a single, completely optional level.
  • Ambiguously Brown: She's noticeably more tan than most of the other characters.
  • An Ice Person: Like Serena, she has a variety of ice spells at her disposal.
  • Anti-Villain: While unpleasant, at the end of the day Katrina is just a soldier doing her job, and otherwise has no ties to the Kingdom's more sinister machinations.
  • Boyish Short Hair: Her short, spiky hair reflects her rough and rowdy image.
  • Fragile Speedster: Trades Serena's more balanced stats for slightly more speed and slightly less strength.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Katrina is immensely jealous of Serena's legacy as commander of the Red Order, and is almost entirely motivated by her desire to show her up.
  • Hot-Blooded: Loud and quick to anger.
  • Implied Love Interest: While it's never gone into specifics, something seems to be going on between her and Valgar. Both of them act noticeably less obnoxious when speaking with each other, with several of their lines coming across as flirtatious, and both of them are willing to risk their lives in order to protect the other.
  • Jerkass: Katrina is generally arrogant and rude to everyone she interacts with.
  • Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Wields a shield in battle alongside a sword.
  • Magic Knight: Fights with a combination of physical attacks and ice magic.
  • Moveset Clone: Katrina fights identically to Serena, with only a slight statistical difference separating them from each other.
  • More Deadly Than the Male: She's the only female member of the current Red Order that we see, and she's much, much stronger than any of her soldiers.
  • Only One Name: Unlike most of the rest of the cast, Katrina's last name isn't given.
  • Optional Boss: Only encountered in stage 3, meaning that it is very possible to avoid running into her entirely in a playthrough.
  • Pet the Dog: Rushes to Valgar's aid in order to protect him when the heroes start beating him down.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The fiery red oni to the more controlled Serena and Gash's blue onis.
  • The Rival: Katrina is primarily motivated by her desire to show Serena up. While it's mostly one-sided on her part, Serena seems to acknowledge her as a genuine threat.
  • Rose-Haired Sweetie: Subverted. Katrina has pink hair, but she's anything but a sweetheart.
  • The Smurfette Principle: The only female character affiliated with the Kingdom's military.
  • Statuesque Stunner: Like Serena, she's only slightly shorter than Valgar.
  • Tomboy: She's a generally violent and unfeminine woman.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Serena's more elegant girly girl.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Like the rest of the Kingdom, she has no idea that she's actually working for Kanon.

     Mooks 

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