The characters who populate the world of Heroine's Quest
open/close all folders
The Heroine
The Heroine
The heroine of the story. She arrives in Fornsigtuna at the beginning of the game, with no explanation given regarding where she has come from, and is immediately thrust into a plot to bring about Ragnarok.
- Action Girl: Natch. Her title is "The Heroine" after all.
- Badass Cape: Sports a fashionable cape during her journey.
- The Chosen One: Downplayed. While the Norns mention her fate is to come into conflict with Egther, the heroine was already doing this before she learns her destiny, having been called by Jarl Ylfing.
- Cleavage Window: Has a small one. Rather impractical for the climate, at least.
- Expy: Of The Prince of Shapeir, albeit a female one. She has the same character classes, the same missing background, the same swell adventuring garb and even the same hair and eyes. Unlike the Prince, however, she's not a Silent Protagonist, being fully voiced.
- Possibly an Almost Identical Daughter; naming her after one of the potential spouses form Dragon Fire has Hera's Ring show up in her inventory, implying she was named after her mother who gave the ring to her.
- Fighter, Mage, Thief
- Action Hero: The Warrior. Takes a very direct route to solving most of the game's problems, which often revolves finding whoever is causing the problem and then beating the tar out of them.
- Guile Hero: The Rogue. One of the classes' signature skills is "Fast Talk" and there are several moments in the plot where it's necessary to talk your way out of deadly situations. It's possible for a Rogue to get through the entire game without ever fighting anyone, and you'll get a special cutscene near the end and an achievement for doing so.
- Science Hero: The Sorceress. Whatever problem comes up, she has a spell for it. She also uses alchemy.
- The Heroine
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Depending on how she's played, the heroine can do some pretty scummy things: but her scripted dialogue is always polite and selfless to those she's trying to help. And, hey, she does save the world.
- Killed Off for Real: The Stinger of the game has the heroine, after a long life of successful adventuring, killed in battle and taken to Valhalla. Of course, for a viking, this is a Happily Ever After
- Spectacular Spinning: The whirlwind blow a warrior can learn.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Get caught stealing anything or hurting anyone in Munarvagir and the villagers' reaction is "How dare you abuse our hospitality!" before they throw you in the stocks.
Villains
Thrivaldi
Strongest of the trolls of Jarnvidr, which also makes him their leader, Thrivaldi has twice the heads of a normal person and half the smarts. Functions as The Dragon to Egther the jotunn, seeking to bring about Ragnarok so he eat all the human he wants and rule over the ruins.
- All Trolls Are Different: A fairly traditional fantasy sort: two heads that argue with each other, really dumb, turns to stone in sunlight, enjoys eating humans.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Seems to think that this is the way that villains are 'supposed' to act, and adapts his simple plans into needlessly complicated ones that fail because of this. "No, Ms Blonde. I expect you to die."
- Carry a Big Stick: A morning star.
- The Dragon: To Egther.
- Dumb Muscle: He's unbelievably stupid, but actually one of the most powerful fighters in the game (which is pretty much the only reason Egther keeps him around).
- Evil Laugh
- The Dragon: Most of the plot is caused by his actions, but he is taking orders from Egther the whole time.
- I'm a Humanitarian
- Loophole Abuse: The seals on Gastropnir keep prevent all humans and Jotunn from entering or leaving. Whoever wrote that spell hadn't considered trolls though...
- Multiple Head Case: Two heads.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: He's perhaps the dumbest character in the game. That said, he does nearly kill both the heroine and Sigurd, the greatest warrior of Munarvagir, near the beginning of the game. At the beginning of the Point of No Return he ambushes the heroine and would neatly have killed her then, if he hadn't forced a moment of Bond Villain Stupidity on himself.
- Puny Earthlings: His opinion of humans.
- Taken for Granite: His final fate, regardless of the heroine's class. The heroine ends up tricking him into staying outside Egther's castle too long, and the sun comes up and turns him to stone. How each class does it is different- Warriors fight with him after he knocks her down, and they fight for so long that the sun comes up, Sorceresses escape from the locks he restrains them with and then fight him, and Rogues talk with him for long enough that he doesn’t notice the sun coming up until it's too late.
- Too Dumb to Live: Nearly kills the heroine in the opening credits. But leaves her alone after half-burying her in an avalanche, as he assumes that humans turn to stone in the sunlight. This is the first in a long string of Thrivaldi's plans failing due to his monumental inability to think anything through.
- It is implied that Egther had an earlier troll who erased himself from existence through Temporal Paradox, so Thrivaldi may actually be an improvement in terms of intelligence. Not that that's saying much.
- The Unfought: Rogues don’t fight Thrivaldi like the other classes do, they instead distract him with idle chatter long enough for the sun to come out.
- Verbal Tic: One of his heads frequently ends his sentences with "Oho, yes!"
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: After his party is defeated by you and the people of Munarvagir, he runs away.
Egther
The last jotunn on Midgard, sealed inside his castle by humans two generations ago when he tried to destroy them, now out to start Ragnarok and bring about the end of the world.
- Beard of Evil: Have you ever seen a frost giant without a beard?
- Big Bad
- The End of the World as We Know It: Hates the Aesir and the humans, and wants to wipe both out by bringing about Ragnarok and ruling over the frozen ashes.
- Evil Sounds Deep
- An Ice Person: Standard for all jotunn, but Egther's powers are greater than the standard frost giants found in Jarnvidr; he is the cause of the unnaturally long winter that starts the plot.
- Informed Attribute: He's supposedly the last of the frost giants, but around Chapter 3, other frost giants will start showing up as random monster encounters.
- Load-Bearing Boss: After he dies, his castle collapses.
- Magic Knight: A powerful spellcaster (as every class of the Heroine will find out), he is also skilled with a sword (as only a Warrior will find out).
- Orcus on His Throne: Since he can't leave the castle, he has no choice but to rely on underlings.
- Our Giants Are Bigger: Take a wild guess.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Often feels this way towards Thrivaldi, which is entirely justified.
- Small Name, Big Ego: While most of the world considers him a mighty and legitimate threat, Loki thinks this about him, calling him a "fool among frost giants" and claiming he has no right to end the world. A few drops of the poison that has been tormenting Loki for ages are all that it takes for a Rogue to kill Egther, so Loki has a point.
Humans
Jarl Yfling
The man who asked the heroine to come to Fornsigtuna
- Brainwashed and Crazy: By the huldra.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Fair and equitable, and all the people speak highly of him.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: He rides out to find Heime when he's kidnapped.
Volund Arkvithson
The blacksmith who rescues the heroine when Thrivaldi attacks in the opening.
- Good Parents: Devoted to his son.
- Plot Coupon: Holds the Eye of Thiassi although he gives it to Aruvandel when the heroine needs to claim it.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: He is the calm, rational Blue Oni to comrade in arms Snorri's loud boisterousness.
- Secret-Keeper: He has Hervor's wings and hasn't told her.
- Ultimate Blacksmith: He forged the ultimate sword in the tree.
Hervor
Volund's wife and caretaker of the Adventurer's Guild.
- Forced Transformation: Is actually a swan.
- Forced Tutorial: Runs one. You can avoid it if you pick the wrong thing, but points will be lost.
- Good Parents: She deeply loves her son.
- Shapeshifting Lover: Like the fairy tale, Hervor was once a swan and Volund claim her as his wife by magically taking her wings away.
- Shrinking Violet: Just try to shake hands with her.
- Silk Hiding Steel: She's quiet and demure, but she will fight for her son. She even bends a sword when Heime goes missing.
Heime Volundson
Volund and Hervor's sprightly young son.
- Cheerful Child: Far and away the nicest person in the game.
- Cowardly Lion: He tries to fight Thrivaldi despite being scared. It doesn't work.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He's so nice, he won't be bad to the heroine if she steals Andvari's ring. You can give it to him to remove the curse.
- I Just Want to Be Badass: Wants to be a great hero.
Lithrasir
Owner of the Slepnir tavern.
- Babies Ever After: What she is hoping for after her Matchmaker Quest. She claims she will name a daughter after the heroine.
- The Bartender: Her job.
- Deadpan Snarker: In a very straight-laced world, she's the only sarcastic one.
- Matchmaker Quest: She can get hooked up with Liff.
- Supreme Chef: She can turn even almost-rotten meat into fine cuisine.
Aruvandel
Arcane advisor to the Yarl, and takes a Sorceress heroine under his wing.
- Department of Redundancy Department: He always talks like this when speaking.
- Forced Transformation: If he catches a thief in his office, he'll turn her into a chicken.
- Plot Coupon: He'll hold the Eye of Thiassi after Volund gives it to him.
- Purple Is Powerful: Aruvandel wears purple and is one of the most powerful wizard in the game.
- Riddle Me This: His challenge to the Sorceress before he'll teach her the Lightning Bolt spell is to answer his riddles and give him a riddle to which he does not know the answer.
- Wizard Classic: Looks like your standard wizard, with the staff, cape, and pointed hat.
Of course, the wizard classic trope was based on Nordic myth in the first place.- Wizard Beard: And the long white beard.
Snorri
The captain of the guard in Forsigtuna.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Loves drinking, gambling, and bragging, and is a master archer.
- Honorary Uncle: He is Heime's, and is training him to fight.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: He can one-hit kill a thief who sneaks into his home.
- Noble Bigot: Snorri claims that stopping the Fimbulwinter is man's work, but at no point will he hinder the Heroine in her task, and he'll praise her once she rescues Heime.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Has this dynamic with Volund, being the fun-loving rowdy one to Volund's dutiful family man.
Arngrim
The former head of the guild, before he became sick. He lives out of the village so as not to give anyone else his plague.
- Despair Event Horizon: He has crossed it, because, as a Viking, someone who dies of plague does not go to Valhalla, which pains Arngrim greatly.
- Retired Badass: Forcibly retired due to plague, but all those heads in the guild were killed by Arngrim.
- Victorian Novel Disease: It's not clarified as to what it is, but he has all of the symptoms. His skin is even paler than anyone else's in-game.
Liff
Resident healer in Munarvagir.
- Badass Bookworm: He's quiet and demure by nature, but threaten his home, and he'll charge out with a spear screaming "Ours is the fury!"
- Combat Medic: He's the town healer and he knows a bit of magic, but he will fight and fight hard if cornered.
- Matchmaker Quest: He is in love with Lithrasir, and there is a quest to get them together.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Liff has no problem kicking ass and taking names. He also sleeps with a teddy bear.
Kraka
An orphan who lives in Munarvagir. She also partners with a rogue heroine.
- Adam Smith Hates Your Guts: She'll sell fish (needed to retrieve the cat from the tree at an outlandish price.
- If you try to start a conversation with her without giving her money or something to help survive the winter (food, warm clothes, etc), she'll be ruder and less helpful to you.
- Graceful Loser: If she is caught stealing the heroine's things, she'll return them without a problem.
- In the Hood
- Loveable Rogue: Her accent and charm pleases many in Munarvagir, and she's a thief as well.
- Pragmatic Hero: She has no qualms about stealing from the heroine.
- Stealth Expert: Subverted. She is good, but she gets caught because Volund is out at night checking on Hervor's wings.
- Street Urchin: Wander the streets and beg for coin. She's actually pretending and is really a thief.
Regin
A retired adventurer with a mysterious past who has settled down in Munarvagir.
- Cain and Abel: With Fafnir. When he first meets the Heroine, he asks her to kill Fafnir and retrieve the chest that Fafnir had stolen.
- Glamour Failure: His human disguise is pretty good, but his eyelids give him away as a Svartalf, as does the fact that he takes pains not to be outside during the day.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: He is much more comfortable among the humans of Munarvagir than among his fellow Svartalfar.
- Walking Spoiler: That he is a svartalf disguised as a human makes pretty much everything about him a spoiler.
Sigrun
The owner of the item store in Munarvagir
- Beware the Nice Ones: Bar Liff, she's possibly the nicest person in the city. But she's more than willing to grab a weapon and get into the fray.
- Odd Friendship: She is a upright and honest woman, and is friends with Lovable Rogue Kraka.
Sigurd
Leader of Munarvagir and one of the owners of the Eye of Thiassi
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He nearly beat Thrivaldi in single combat. Only a warrior heroine can do that, and only at the end of the game.
- BFS: He sports it if a warrior Heroine challenges him for the Eye, or when Thrivaldi attacks.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Fun-loving and wild, and says he loves a good raid if the heroine tells him that she is a pirate.
- Easy Amnesia: He has forgotten he loves Byrnhilde the valkyrie. Of course, this is caused by the magic of the Aesir.
- Plot Coupon: Keeps the Eye of Thiassi.
- Supreme Chef: His cooking is described as some of the best food the Heroine has eaten in a long time.
The Librarian
The town librarian of Munarvagir.
Svartalfar
Strange-Syntax Speaker: About half the Svartalfar speak in unusual and distinctive ways. Of those that fall under this trope, no two use it the same way. Every sentence from Alviss is a question, for example.
Alviss
A Svartalfar traveler last seen in Jarnvidr.
- Forced Transformation: You find him by using the eitur on the strange pile of rocks in eastern Jarnvidr.
- Permanently Missable Content: If you don't do things properly when rescuing him, you won't be able to finish certain side quests that require him.
- Weakened by the Light: He turns to stone in sunlight. This is true of all Svartalfar, but he's the only one we see having gotten caught in daylight.
Andvari
The greatest craftsman among the Svartalfar, quite possibly throughout the Nine Realms.
-
Doing It for the Art: He's quite offended if you offer to buy something from him. Similarly, he mentions that, while he's crafted some truly fantastic weapons, he's unwilling to sell, give, or trade them to someone who wants to actually use them. - Jerkass: He's needlessly rude and condescending to the heroine, and tries to back out of a deal when she proves too efficient at meeting her end of it.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: He can turn into a fish. This proves especially useful when he decides to say Screw This, I'm Outta Here.
- Ultimate Blacksmith: Though you get Infinity+1 Armor rather than an Infinity +1 Sword from him.
Eitri
A Svartalfar collector.
- Ambiguous Gender: While the game uses male pronouns, Eitri's voice and portrait are quite androgynous. If you ask about female Svartalfar, Eitri informs you that Svartalfar frequently use magic to appear as they wish and their actual gender is considered private.
- Collector of the Strange: At least from the perspective of his fellow Svartalfar. He collects objects from all over the Nine Worlds, though his lack of experience in those worlds means he ends up with a lot of junk.
Fafnir
A Svartalfar who considers himself the ruler of Nidavellir. No one else seems to take this self-appointed title seriously.
- Cain and Abel: With Regin
- Third-Person Person: He always refers to himself as "one".
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: He turns into a dragon if you refuse to return the magic chest when he catches you with it.
Skrymir
The greatest warrior among the Svartalfar.
- Epic Flail
- Genius Bruiser: He's the mightiest warrior among the Svartalfar and is also a highly skilled alchemist. He's even managed to recreate the legendary mimisbrunnr. He also uses magic while fighting and if you challenge him personally, it's as much about outwitting him as anything else.
- Punch-Clock Villain: He keeps Heime captive as part of a bargain with Thrivaldi, but he has no loyalty to Egther and will not even hold a grudge against the Heroine for rescuing Heime.
- Terse Talker
Non-humans
Fremont
A troll that ask for a toll to anyone who cross 's Munarvagir bridge at night.
- All Trolls Are Different
- Amazing Technicolor Population
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Carry a large wooden tower shield.
- Troll Bridge: Force anyone who cross the bridge to pay a toll. Otherwise, you have to take a long detour.
Rinda
A Huldra, a forest creature that lure men.
- Censor Box: She's annoyed to be forced to use them. It's for keeping Moral Guardians off the game.
- Charm Person: She hypnotize the Jarl to lure him to her.
Brynhild
A Valkyrie who sleeps in a circle of magical fire.
- Action Girl: Comes with being a Valkyrie. If you rescue her before Thrivaldi's assault on Munarvagir, she lends her blade to the cause.
- Ambiguously Bi: She is clearly in love with Sigurd, but at the end of the game she also walks hand-in-hand with the Heroine onto the rainbow bridge to Valhalla, which may be interpreted as a Les Yay moment.
- Valkyries: Without a doubt.
- Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: Speaks this way.
Ratatosk
The Doom Squirrel, who plans to gnaw through the roots of Yggdrasil, but is generally just an annoying nuisance. Turns up at several points to taunt the heroine.
- Deathbringer the Adorable: Ratatosk, with shades of Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain. He might threaten to gnaw through the World Tree, but damn if he isn't cute.
- Doomy Dooms of Doom: Seems to find it difficult to speak a sentence that doesn't involve the word "doom" in it somewhere. He explains that he just really loves the word. it's possible to give him a change of heart by convincing him to change it to "bloom" instead.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Tries hard to be just as evil as the main villains, and really is immortal, but lacks the intelligence and the size to do anything important. The heroine's reactions to him range from annoyance to pity to just thinking he's cute.
- Heel–Face Turn: It's possible to convince him to do this when he reaches a low-point of despair about how terrible a villain he is. He decides to become the Bloom Squirrel instead.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Not much warning, mind.
- Killer Rabbit: Averted. Attempts to set himself up as this, but he's really got no game. Arngrim does describe him the same was as the trope namer though.
Loki
The trickster god, imprisoned and cursed by Odinn for challenging the gods.
- Fate Worse than Death
- Riddle Me This: He'll tell a sorceress the riddle that Aurvandel doesn't know the answer to.
- Walking Spoiler
