Leadership and heroes
Aife
Firstborn Sylvari and Luminary of the Cycle of Dawn.Faolain
Firstborn of the Sylvari, and Grand Duchess of the Nightmare Court. She and Caithe were once lovers.- Asshole Victim: Taken into a Mordrem prison camp because she would not submit to Mordremoth, along with Eir Stegalkin, and is eventually transformed into a Vinetooth. However, there is very little sympathy for her even then: even at the brink of death she continues to bring misery to people just to ensure her escape.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Initially, she clarifies that the Nightmare Court doesn't want to serve Mordremoth any more than they want to serve the Pale Tree or Ventari's teachings. When we meet her again after she got turned into a vinetooth, she is praising Mordremoth's name, yet still wants Caithe to join her.
- Butterface: An inversion after getting corrupted by Mordremoth. Her face is still relatively attractive and sylvari-like, while the rest of her body is Vinewrath.
- The Corrupter: She wants to corrupt every Sylvari and make them join the Nightmare Court. But, above all, she wants Caithe to join her, still deeply in love with her... in her own twisted way.
- Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: See Hoist by His Own Petard below. Doing everything For the Evulz is not a good idea.
- Discount Lesbians: With Caithe.
- Doppelgänger: Faolain summons clones of Destiny's Edge (minus Snaff) as the final fight of the Twilight Arbor story mode.
- Evil Counterpart: To Caithe.
- Fantastic Racism: Flashbacks in Living World Season 2 show that even before she joined the Nightmare Court, Faolain was quite a xenophobic Jerkass with very negative views of other races (such as calling Asura "imps" and the centaurs "savage beasts" and "animals"). Her hatred of the Asura at least is understandable, as they conducted horrific experiments on many captured sylvari that ended up killing a number of them. However, her attitude towards the Maguuma centaurs was not, as those centaurs had been nothing but friendly and had viewed the sylvari race as a whole to be kindred spirits due to their shared connection to Ventari's teachings.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Eir should have known better than to stop to help a noble of the Nightmare Court...
- Hoist by His Own Petard: When she is freed by the Pact Commander from a prison camp along with Eir and flees from the Mordrem, she stabs Eir to ensure her escape, leaving her as a distraction. However, this backfires when Eir repays her in kind, causing her to stumble and allowing the Mordrem to abduct her.
- Killed Off for Real: She meets her final end in the penultimate chapter of Heart of Thorns.
- Red Right Hand: Her left hand is distorted and covered in thorns from taking in a deadly poison to cure Caithe (from a poison she had inflicted Caithe with in the first place).
- Reforged into a Minion: A variation. Unlike most examples of this trope, Faolain was already evil, and just happens to be A) too proud to submit to an Elder Dragon voluntarily and B)
Chaotic Evil as she is ideologically opposed to Mordremoth. As such, it forcibly transforms her into a gigantic vinetooth that embraces Mordremoth entirely. - Ungrateful Bastard: When she and Eir were trying to escape from Mordremoth, a vine pinned her down and trapped her. Eir, apparently mistaking the situation for an Enemy Mine, stopped to pull her free, only for Faolain to stab her with a long daggerlike thorn. This came back to bite her immediately, though, as Eir pulled the thorn out and threw it into Faolain's back, causing her to fall and be caught by the vines.
- Yandere: For Caithe.
Riannoc
A Firstborn armed with the legendary sword Caladbolg, he was sent to destroy the lich Mazdak the Accursed but never returned. He died saving a cowardly human named Waine, who then stole the blade and used its power to become champion of a brawling ring. With the help of the three orders of Tyria, the hero traces his footsteps, claims Caladbolg and slays the lich, fulfilling Riannoc's mission.- BFS: Caladbolg.
- Cool Sword: Caladbolg.
- Named Weapons: Caladbolg.
- Public Domain Artifact: Caladbolg, which you get to wield for the defeat of Mazdak.
- At a later stage in the storyline, the sylvari Trahearne will eventually inherit Caladbolg.
Killeen
A Sylvari born in the cycle of Night, and a member of the group that retrieved the Claw of Khan-Ur from Ascalon. Sadly, she didn't make it to Ascalon, since she died helping Gullik when he foolishly attacked a Branded monster.Personal-story only
Tiachren and Ysvelta
Player characters who chose the Shield of the Moon as part of their Dream will encounter Tiachren, the Sylvari known as the Knight of the Moon. After curing him from Nightmare Court poisoning, he enlists the hero to help him rescue his love Ysvelta from their clutches. However, he is too late to stop Ysvelta's corruption by the Nightmare, and in his desperation runs off to try and change her back. Should the hero accompany Tiachren, he fails to restore Ysvelta and regretfully kills her. If the player does not follow him, he is twisted by the Nightmare as well and dies alongside Ysvelta in their assault on the Pale Tree.- Yandere: Ysvelta for Tiachren. You'll see this if you choose to accompany him in his last attempt to get her back to the Dream.
Carys and Tegwen
Wardens of the village of Annwen, Carys calls on the hero to help find her mentor and girlfriend, Tegwen. After rescuing her from Krait jailors, the pair continue their mission to retrieve a mirror originating from the dragon-cursed lands of Orr. The mirror's curse pulls Tegwen into the nightmarish province, but with either the Pale Tree's magic or Asuran technology, the hero and Carys open a portal into Orr and rescue Tegwen once more.Depending on your order, Carys and Tegwen may also be recruited to assist you in the retaking of Claw Island.
- Action Girl: Carys.
- Brains and Brawn: Tegwen is the intelligent scholar, Carys is the strong and not so intelligent warrior.
- Break the Cutie: Tegwen gets really shaken up after a Magic Mirror transports her to Orr.
- Cute Bruiser: Carys has a childish demeanor, and as a Sylvari, a not-all-that noticeable build. But she lays the smack down with a big ol' warhammer.
- The Ditz: Carys is strong, brave, and devoted. She's just not very bright.
- Heroic Sacrifice: If the player opts to escort the tanks on Orr, Tegwen stays behind in a temple to set off a bomb with a significantly shortened timer, knowing full well she won't have enough time to get to safety before it goes off.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Carys. When Tegwen is captured by Krait slavers, she and the Player Character agree to meet nearby to make their battle plan. The mission begins with her charging ahead, much to the latter's annoyance.Player Character: You were supposed to wait. Rushing off like that could have gotten you captured or killed. What were you thinking?Carys: Thinking? I was thinking I should wait. Then I stopped thinking that because there were Krait.
- Took a Level in Badass: Tegwen hardens up after her early experience in Orr and goes on to form the Pale Reavers, a squad of Sylvari that specialize in scouting Dragon-corrupted territories.
Gavin
If the player character chooses the White Stag option of the Dream, they later meet Gavin in a Risen-filled cavern while hunting for the stag. Gavin will accompany the player character throughout the hunt for the stag, but when they find the stag, Gavin reveals himself to be a member of the Nightmare Court. He counts you as a friend throughout the story, and is quite friendly, complimentary and encouraging, even during your duel. He is last seen on the assault on the Pale Tree, having challenged the player character to an honorable duel: the winner keeps the White Stag, the loser dies. He loses, comforted in his last moments by the knowledge that he will be remembered in the Dream.- Affably Evil: Despite being intent on corrupting the Pale Tree and the Dream, he seems genuinely regretful that he has to kill the player character, and constantly considers them a friend. He also spends most of the duel enthusiastically complimenting the player character's skill.
- Badass in Distress: When you meet him, he's badly injured, having been overrun by undead beings in a cave. And as you learn later, he's not bad in a fight, and is actually a member of the brutal Nightmare Court.
- Face Death with Dignity: After losing the duel with the player character, Gavin says nothing other than that he will be remembered in the Dream, and dies quietly.
- The Fettered: Despite being a member of the Nightmare Court, which murders anyone they happen across, kidnaps and tortures other Sylvari, and kicks puppies, Gavin still has a sense of honor and fair play.
- Friendly Enemy: Considers the player character to be a friend till the end, and mourns the necessity of killing them after they refuse to join the Nightmare Court.
- Noble Demon: Perhaps. He seems to hold on to the Sylvari ideals of honor and good deals, even if he's helping a completely deranged cause. He refuses to stab the player in the back, apologizes for the behavior of another courtier, and honorably duels the player character.
- Suicide by Cop: One interpretation of his insistence on a duel to the death. Considering the other most likely possibilities were death by Faolain (for failing to recover the stag) or death by Caithe (who had already shown she wouldn't let a member of the Nightmare Court walk away, no matter what promises were made), going out quickly in an honorable duel to someone he respected was the best option.
- Token Good Teammate: By far the most pleasant and decent member of the Nightmare Court in the entire game, and one of only a bare handful that are ever not antagonistic, even if only for a while.
- We Can Rule Together: Offers the player the chance to join the Nightmare Court, stating that their actions will surely earn them a knighthood.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Gavin seems to represent the part of the Nightmare Court that sincerely believes that they're doing the right thing, and aren't just in it because they're crazy or For the Evulz. He wants to free the Sylvari from the morals forced upon them by the Tablet, so that they will be free to choose their own paths. If only he wasn't kicking puppies and torturing people to do it...
Bercilak
If the player chooses the Green Knight option of the Dream, they meet Bercilak, an arrogant member of the Nightmare Court who challenges young, untrained Sylvari to duels and inevitably kills them, as his armor makes him invulnerable. After investigating the workshop where it was forged, the player learns that it only works if he's wearing every piece, and can choose whether to rescue the smith (kidnapped by the Nightmare Court) or join forces with the object of his affections, Gairwen, to finally defeat him.- Achilles' Heel: His armor only works if he's wearing every piece.
- Alternately, you can smash him to death with the smith's hammer.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy
- Murder the Hypotenuse: He killed Gairwen's boyfriend Evart.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Leaving the player character alive after their first fight allows them to discover the secret of his armor and kill him.
- Stalker with a Crush: To Gairwen.
Malyck
An amnesiac Sylvari encountered when the player chooses "Where Life Goes" as the most important of Ventari's teachings. He is pursued by the Nightmare Court, who believe he is instrumental to the Pale Tree's downfall. The end of the arc reveals that he was born to a sister of the Pale Tree.- But Now I Must Go: To discover his birthplace and keep the Nightmare Court from knowing his origins.
- Easy Amnesia: He had some sort of traumatic injury before meeting the player character, and can't remember anything.
- Foreshadowing: His tree is to the west, in the Magus Falls region of the jungle. What else is there? Mordremoth. And much later, ArenaNet added a 'Harbinger of Mordremoth' costume to the online store...
- Aborted Arc: Despite Mordremoth being in the Heart of Maguuma and there being ''plenty of Mordrem, we're never given any hint whatsoever that they're Malyck and his people.
