Characters / Lords of Magic

Order Faith characters

In General

• Bows Versus Crossbows: Order characters with a ranged weapon exclusively use crossbows, befitting their brute force military style.
• Humans Are Average: All the Order characters are humans and are mostly average for their champion-type.
• Purple Is Powerful: Order Lords have additional purple accessories & decoration compared to their generic counterparts.
• Stay in the Kitchen: Implied, as every Order character is male.
• White Male Lead: Every Order character is a white male.

Paladin Lord

Sworn to protect the weak and slay the unjust, the Champion warriors of Order carry the sharpest steel and wear the toughest mail to advance their holy mission. With intensive training, and divinely inspired, they are unequaled in personal combat.

• Church Militant: The Flavor Text for the Paladin says he is divinely inspired and on a holy mission.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: The Paladin attacks with a sword, in contrast to generic knights who use lances and footmen who use flails.
• Knightly Sword and Shield: The Paladin Lord complements his sword with a heater shield and can use one of several different shield artifacts.
• The Paladin: He has among the highest Defense potential of any Lord and can utilize artifacts that improve the combat stats of his army. However, he lacks healing powers.

Ranger Lord

The Champion scouts of Order know well the value of current news. None are better at finding the vital bit of wisdom that can save warriors' lives, and tip the scales of battle to victory.

• In the Hood: The Ranger is the only Order character oriented towards stealth and he wears a hooded cloak.
• Machete Mayhem: The Ranger's melee attack has him swing a blade that is much larger than the daggers used by other thieves, and it most closely resembles a machete.
• Jack of All Stats: The Ranger performs well in both melee and ranged combat while maintaining decent durability and stealth abilities.

Wizard Lord

The Champion mages of Order have methodically mastered the arts of of magic, and can call forth unseen powers to better defend, organize and inspire armies in their bloody fight against chaos and destruction.

• Brainwashing for the Greater Good: The Wizard Lord's ultimate 'Attack' book spell is "Possession" and the spell allows the Wizard's player to directly control the target enemy like one of his own units. The Flavor Text for several other Order spells implies that the Wizard uses more subtle brainwashing to inspire his allies to heroic effort.
• Non-Action Protagonist: The Wizard Lord is easily the most helpless of Lords when fighting alone. His power mostly comes from spells that improve his units.
• Status Buff: The Wizard's spells specialize in improving the combat abilities of his party.
• Summon Magic: The Wizard is the only Mage that can cast a spell that creates a new unit from nothing, "Summon Warrior Spirit".

Sir Lancelot of the Lake

From the annals of history and legend comes a warrior of unsurpassed skill and excellence. Once he served the great King Arthur Pendragon. Now Lancelot will lend his deadly blade to the cause of any worthy Lord of Order.

• Adaptational Heroism: Lancelot disgracing his knightly vows through adultery and betraying his King's trust are major elements of his character, traditionally. Lords of Magic's Lancelot has none of these unheroic traits.
• Boring, but Practical: Compared to other Legendary Creatures Lancelot lacks any distinct qualities; he is simply a more powerful version of the Paladin Lord. However, with enough Experience points and the right artifacts Lancelot can quickly kill anything he attacks while being practically impervious to most forms of retaliation.
• Gold-Colored Superiority: Lancelot is a Palette Swap of the Paladin Lord and the dominant color of his armor is gold. Lancelot is even more powerful than the Paladin Lord is, if both are equal Levels.
• Knight Errant: Per Lancelot's Flavor Text: "Once he served the great King Arthur Pendragon. Now Lancelot will lend his deadly blade to the cause of any worthy Lord of Order."
• Level Grinding: Unlike most other Legendary Creatures, which are created at their maximum Level, Lancelot must gain a lot of Experience points to reach his maximum potential.
• Public Domain Character: Lancelot is taken directly from ancient tales of King Arthur and his knights.[1].
• Tactical Superweapon Unit: Lancelot is Order's "Legendary Creature" and, like most other such units, is an example of this trope. Lancelot requires expensive building upgrades, is expensive himself, and can only be created once per game.
• World's Strongest Man: Lancelot's Flavor Text describes him as "a warrior of unsurpassed skill" and, if he reaches his maximum Level, Lancelot is undoubtedly the mightiest human character in gameplay.

Merlin

Merlin is the Wizard Lord protagonist of Order's first Legends of Urak quest which is based on Arthurian Legend. "The lore of the Archon peoples of Urak tells of a golden age of Order...their tales of the sorcerer Merlin, the sword Excalibur, the boy king Arthur, and the noble knights of the Round Table were told long before they became known to this world. Merlin, the first of the Archon mages, wandered the paths of Urak when the land of men was called simply Logres. Even the loremasters don't know precisely how he came into this world. Some say his sire was a Demon, others say he had no father at all. At times he visited the realm of the infamous Lady of the Lake, to the north of Logres, or the Isle of Avelion, in the west. Merlin never sought to rule Logres himself, but instead looked to unite the petty, sundered kingdoms of men under the firm hand of their true King."

• Abhorrent Admirer: The Paladin Gawain is obsessively desired by the hideously ugly woman Dame Ragnell. The player can have Gawain leave the party for her to get a Prisoner Exchange for the Paladin Bors.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Rather than being a Trickster Mentor who issues a Secret Test of Character, as he is typically portrayed, in Merlin's Legend Lord Bertilac (aka the Green Knight) is merely an isolationist Dwarf Warlord who wishes the player returns his magical girdle as it really does make the wearer impervious to his ax and he fears it will fall into the hands of an enemy.
• The Beastmaster: The Ranger Ywaine fights alongside several lions that are loyal to him and when he joins Merlin he comes with three units of lions, which is notable since there are practically no other opportunities in the game for the player to fully control these creatures.
• Damsel in Distress: Several quests Merlin and King Arthur's Paladins can venture on involve rescuing a damsel.
• Defeat Means Friendship: The Paladin Uriens is initially unwilling to recognize the "beardless boy" Arthur as King, but after being defeated in combat he admits King Arthur is truly of royal blood and joins Merlin's side. The same is true of the Ranger Ywaine.
• Distressed Dude: The Paladin Persides was taken prisoner after refusing to become the paramour of an "uncourteous lady" and Merlin's party can rescue him by killing said lady and her soldiers at her castle.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: After slaying the false King Lot King Arthur has a dream where his people are menaced by monstrous griffins and serpents whom he ultimately kills, but is grievously wounded in doing so. Merlin and King Arthur then seek Dubric the Seer to understand the meaning of this vision.
• Driven to Suicide: The fiancé of King Arthur's loyal Knight 'Miles of the Launds' fatally stabs herself with Miles' sword after he is killed by Mordred's warrior Lorain Le Savage.
• Enlightenment Superpowers: In order to successfully retrieve the Holy Grail Merlin must gather Paladins with a high Wisdom stat.
• Evil Is Bigger: Many of the unique named enemies in Merlin's Legend are giants (Stone Giant, Cyclops, or Fire Giant units) and every giant encountered is hostile.
• Final Boss: After his Paladins retrieve the Holy Grail Merlin will immediately be victorious when Mordred (a max Level 12 Dark Warlord) is killed.
• Forced Transformation: The Ranger Marrock is cursed to take the form of a wolf so that his unfaithful wife can run off with her lover. Merlin can give the wolf Marrock his human clothing back to break the curse, after which he will join Merlin's party.
• Good Wears White: Merlin wears the bright white robes of a Wizard Lord and the very first combat of the quest pits him and a loyal white dragon (an Air 'Thunder Drake' unit) against the usurper King Vortigern who fights alongside a red dragon.
• Gorn: After Merlin's party slays the Giant of Michael's Mount the player is given this lovely description, "You have hit this giant so hard that ye carve his belly and cut off his genitors,(sic) that his guts and his entrails fell down to the ground, and then is he slain...and lightly departeth he the giant's head from his body, and seteth it upon the truncheon of a spear..."
• Gotta Kill Them All: King Arthur and Merlin's first overall goal is killing or running off the many pretender Kings who divided the land after Arthur's father died.
• Hanging Around: If Castle Perilous wasn't ominous enough the text describing it note that many knights have been left hanged from the surrounding trees after being defeated by the Knight of the Red Lands.
• Happy Ending: Merlin's Legend lacks the typical tragic elements of Arthurian Legend and, if the player plays well, the Knights of the Round Table retrieve the Holy Grail and kill Mordred without losing any of their number.
• Holy Lance: It's all-but-stated that the 'Spear of Vengeance' artifact is the spear that stabbed Jesus on the cross. The hermitage in which the Spear is found is described with a scene lifted straight from the Book of Revelation
• I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: One quest Merlin can go on is rescuing Sir Persant's daughter, Dame Lyonors, from the 'Knight of the Red Lands', Sir Ironsides, at Castle Perilous.
• Non-Action Guy: Merlin is even weaker by himself than a regular Wizard because he is unable to learn Order's damage spells, leaving him practically dependent on his allies to do any damage at all.
• Not Completely Useless: In standard gameplay the Wisdom stat is completely useless on units that cannot utilize Mana, such as Paladins. In Merlin's Legend raising Paladins' Wisdom is mandatory as it is the only stat that allows them to retrieve the Holy Grail.
• Schmuck Bait: At Castle Nigramous a "kindly maiden" will ask Merlin for the Sword of Gilbert the Bastard and a single kiss. If the player chooses to give her these she'll reveal herself to be Hellawes the sorceress (a Witch unit in-game) and immediately attack.
  • 'Morgan's Mantle' is an armor artifact which is stated to give +20 Attack and +10 Defense to its user, a far larger bonus than even the best Greater Artifacts in the standard game. Merlin is given the Mantle after killing Morgan Le Fay's lover Accolon who flat out admits that Morgan hates King Arthur more than any man in the world and wants him dead. Predictably, her Mantle's stated effects are a lie and it actually harms any warrior who uses it.
• Sibling Rivalry: Merlin must protect King Arthur from Arthur's homicidally jealous sister, Morgan Le Fay.
• Standard Hero Reward: When Merlin and King Arthur slay King Ryons Lord Leodegrance grants his daughter Guenevere's hand in marriage to Arthur and also grants him control of the legendary Round Table and the Order Great Temple to house it in.
• Starter Villain: The vicious King Ryons is the first foe Merlin faces with King Arthur by his side.
• Sudden Intelligence: Completing side-quests and certain plot points will permanently raise Wisdom stat of Merlin's Paladins.
• Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: Merlin's Legend presents its narration in this writing style, in contrast to the normal English of the other Legends.

Siegfried

The protagonist of the 'secret' Order Legend of Urak (begun by clicking the center of the character select circle) based on the Nibelungenlied. "From long ago...from the age of myth and legend comes the adventure of mighty hero Siegfried and the beautiful Valkyrie Brunhilde...of the wicked dragon Fafnir, and the golden treasure of the Nibelung dwarfs."

• Ancestral Weapon: Seigmund, Siegfried's father, retrieved a magical sword hidden by the God Woden and named it Gram. Enraged at Seigmund, Woden shattered Gram during a key battle which resulted in Seigmund's murder. Siefried eventually retrieves the shards of Gram and reforges the blade to wield himself.
• Blood Magic: Siegfried gains powers, including clairvoyance, by drinking Fafnir's heart-blood.
• Broken Pedestal: Siegfried's mentor Regin abandons him and flees rather than face the dragon Fafnir, then plots to kill Siegfried and take the now unguarded treasure himself.
• Cool Horse: With the help of the Earth Magician Regin, Siegfried is able to capture a white horse from Woden's Ford to use as his mount. Per the quest text, "These equines are the finest in the world and so fleet of foot that will (sic) be difficult to subdue even one of these steeds without help." The specific horse Siegfried uses is described as "Woden's most prized stallion" and is named Grant.
• Dragon Hoard: The dragon Fafnir guards the stolen gold of the Nibelung Dwarfs.
• Historical Domain Character: Siegfried will be pitted against Attila the Hun in addition to monsters and enemies of myth and fantasy.
• Male Might, Female Finesse: The two most major protagonists are Siegfried, who has the skills of a Warrior, and Brunhilde, who has the skills of a Thief.
• Sealed Good in a Can: Woden imprisoned the Valkyrie Brunhilde in a circle of magical fire underneath a mountain for many years. Brunhilde joins Siegfried after he slays Woden's Demons guarding her.
• Token Heroic Orc: In Siegfried's Legend the dwarfs are greedy and hostile to humans, except for the Dwarf Warrior Gunther who sees Attila the Hun as a threat so serious to both Dwarf and Man that he allies with Siegfried to defeat him.
• You Killed My Father: The Dark Warrior Lyngvi was a rejected suitor of the woman who married Seigmund and killed him in a jealous rage. One of Siegfried's first goals is killing Lyngvi.
• War God: Woden is "the God of Fire and War" who hid the Nothung Sword within a tree and Seigmund was the only man able to remove it.
• Wicked Witch: The Witch Grimhilde imprisoned the Wizard Hildebrand and joined Attila the Hun, being thematically an Evil Counterpart to Brunhilde. Although in gameplay she isn't actually a Witch unit but a Chaos Shaman.

Chaos Faith characters

In General

• Barbarian Hero: The Chaos characters are Champions of a Barbarian Tribe on a campaign to kill the Evil Sorcerer Balkoth (just like every other Faith besides Death in a standard campaign.)
• Entropy and Chaos Magic: This is the theme of most of the artifacts aligned to the Chaos Lords, as well as the overall theme of Chaos' spell library.
• Glass Cannon: Chaos characters can often deal damage faster than their counterparts from other Faiths, but usually take damage more quickly due to their low Defense and high-risk tactics.
• Nature Hero: The Flavor Text and fighting styles of the Chaos Lords implies that all of them are some variant of this trope.

Beast Lord

These Champions of Chaos become crazed in battle, overtaken by a violent predatory instinct that allows no doubt or hesitation.

• Ambiguously Brown: The Beast Lord has brown skin but, considering the other Chaos Lords are lighter-skinned, this may be meant to represent a deep suntan.
• The Berserker: The Beast Lord's Flavor Text states, "These champions of Chaos become crazed in battle, overtaken by a violent predatory instinct that allows no doubt or hesitation." He also has by far the worst Defense among warrior Lords, so he's best served killing his enemies before they get many chances to strike back.
• Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Unlike most warrior Lords, who use some type of sword, the Beast Lord fights with a large ax.
• Crutch Character: The Beast Lord's Attack and Hit Points increase very fast for his first 5 Levels, during which he is close to best in those stats, but he becomes relatively less impressive at higher Levels.
• Horns of Barbarism: The only obvious piece of body-armor the Beast Lord wears is a metal helmet with horns jutting out from the left & right sides. He can also use the "Helm of Asymmetry" artifact, which is a similar horned helmet.
• Loyal Animal Companion: The giant tiger he rides is why he is called the "Beast" Lord.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Despite his abysmal Defense stat the Beast Lord is shown using a shield and giving him a shield artifact can increase his Defense.
• Muscles Are Meaningful: The Beast Lord is a musclebound man and he also has above-average Attack and Hit Points.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: The Beast Lord wears the least armor of the warrior Lords, leaving his torso bare.

Huntress Lord

Quiet yet deadly, the women of the tribes are equals of the men of their warrior's society. Champion trackers and armed scouts, they lend a war party much-needed intelligence and fight with Berzerk energy if provoked.

• Close-Range Combatant: The Huntress has the shortest range of any unit that can launch projectiles, shorter even than Chaos' own pitiful Stickthrowers. She does have above-average melee attack for a thief though.
• Deadly Disc: She throws a chakram as her ranged attack. The Huntress is unable to use the bow artifacts favored by most thieves but she is the only champion that can use the Greater Artifact "Chakram of Entropy".
• Fiery Redhead: The Huntress Lord is the only human character that has red hair and her Flavor Text says she will "fight with berserk energy if provoked."
• Kick Chick: Her melee attack shows her hitting the enemy with a high kick.
• Scarily Competent Tracker: According to her Flavor Text the Huntress is one.
• Tomboyish Ponytail

Shaman Lord

Immersed in omens and portents, these Champions of Chaos understand much mystical lore dealing with the strange rules of luck and chance. Their harsh life has toughened them, and their power brings great respect.

• Cool Old Lady: The Shaman is the only elderly (visibly at least) woman among the various Lord options and she can put up quite a fight with the right Experience and equipment.
• Never Mess with Granny: The Shaman Lord can raise her Attack stat much higher than other human spellcasters and she can also attain decent Hit Points and Defense for a Mage, making her surprisingly capable in a melee.
• Pelts of the Barbarian: Her outfit appears to consist of fur and hide from several animals.
• Random Number God: Chaos spells operate on this trope and the Shaman's Flavor Text says she, "understands much mystical lore dealing with the strange rules of luck and chance." As a Shaman Lord increases Level her spells typically become more reliable but, even at her maximum Level, several still have a chance of resulting in a self-defeating backfire effect.
• Self-Damaging Attack Backfire: Chaos is the only category of magic that has spells that can unintentionally harm the caster due to bad luck, and it is the magic the Shaman specializes in.
• Skeletons in the Coat Closet: She wears the skull of some sort of horned animal as a hat.
• Teleport Spam: The Shaman is the only champion in the game that can teleport at-will with the spell "Blink", which costs only one Mana point and casts very quickly. The Shamans potential to abuse this teleportation is somewhat hindered by the spell's Random Transportation.

Fire Faith characters

In General

• Evil Counterpart: The Fire Giant Lords are evil counterparts to the Storm Giants while the Dwarf Thief Lord is an evil counterpart to the Earth dwarves, at least according to the game's Flavor Text.
• Evil Is Hammy: Fire's Flavor Text indicates they're the most evil Faith besides Death, and every Fire Lord has exaggerated voiceovers.
• Incendiary Exponent: Fire-aligned equipment can allow any Fire Lord to shoot fire from their weapon.
• Red Is Violent: The Fire Lords outfits have more prominent and vibrant red than their generic champion counterparts. They also can also attain the highest Attack of any champions, Lord or otherwise.

Fire Warlord

A single blow from the flame-edged blade of a champion Fire Warrior can often send an opponent quickly to his death.

• Difficult, but Awesome: Due to his slow combat movement speed and very slow attack rate and hit recovery it can be difficult to even land a hit with the Fire Warlord but, if you can, he is one of the only Lords that can achieve a One-Hit Kill with a normal attack (although he still must be properly equipt to do so).
• Flaming Sword: The Fire Warlord wields a fiery sword nearly as tall as he is. Weapon artifacts that specifically favor the Fire Warlord, such as the "Burning Blade" and "Sword of Flames", also presumably fit this trope.
• Paper Tiger: The Fire Warlord can attain near-peerless Attack and Hit Points but his slow speed often makes him a pushover in any battle where his opponents fight back, especially due to how long he's stuck in his getting-hit animation. He can become extremely lethal but this is either Difficult, but Awesome or requires the player exploit one particularly overpowered artifact along with Artificial Stupidity.

Dwarf Thief Lord

Having turned away from their brethren in ages past, these dark dwarves have been twisted from the ways of honor and truth toward the ways of nastiness and pain. Armed with crossbows and cruelly spiked knuckles, they live for larceny.

• Highly-Visible Ninja: The Dwarf Thief Lord has a greater chance of being detected while moving in stealth than her counterparts from the other Faiths. It doesn't help that her outfit is bright red.
• Mighty Glacier: The Dwarf Thief Lord can hit hard with both melee and ranged attacks while also surviving hits thanks to her superior Hit Points. Her major drawbacks are slow attack rate and combat speed along with low movement points.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's a short dwarf but, like all dwarves, is tough and hits very hard. These dwarven attributes especially stand-out among Thief Lords as most are a Long-Range Fighter that can't survive many hits or deal much damage in melee.
• Power Fist: The Dwarf Thief's melee attack is a simple punch and her Flavor Text states she's, "armed with...cruelly-spiked knuckles". Her Attack stat can easily surpass all other thieves so these punches are deadly.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Fire's Dwarf Thief is often mistaken for male since she is far from feminine and female dwarves are rare in High Fantasy fiction. However the fact she has a female voice actress, is the only dwarf character without facial hair, and Word of God from Creative Director Chris Beatrice all indicate she's female.

Sorceress Lord

This brutal Champion has mastered the element of Fire. She delights in striking down enemies with fire and brimstone, and is most at home wreathed in smoke and shimmering heat.

• Fantastic Nuke: The ultimate Fire Attack book spell is "Inferno" and it will rapidly deal Fire damage to every unit on the battlefield after being cast. A max-Level Sorceress Lord can kill everything which lacks Fire Resist in a matter of seconds, although doing so against high Hit Points targets often turns Inferno into a Suicide Attack.
• Glass Cannon: Her Defense is low even for a Mage but her Attack is as high as some warriors and her Fire magic can deal damage faster than any other kind on a crowded battlefield.
• Meteor-Summoning Attack: The Fire spell "Meteor Shower" is said to do this in the Flavor Text (the spells animation is generic). Meteor Shower is one of the few spells cast on the world map that can damage enemy units.
• Power Glows: Her staff brightly lights up when she uses it for her melee attack, and this attack is much deadlier than other Mages' melee strikes.
• Pyromaniac: In addition to casting a variety of spells that burn anything and everything on the battlefield her Flavor Text states, "She delights in striking down enemies with fire and brimstone, and is most at home wreathed in smoke and shimmering heat."

Crispin

Crispin is the Sorceress protagonist of Fire's "Legends of Urak" storyline. "Crispin, the now legendary Fire Giant Mage was among those who sought to save the Fire people from the evil which tormented them. Though she was of limited means, she beseeched the help of other adventurers she encountered, and always used her limited resources shrewdly. Despite her many noteworthy adventures, she never came to be Lord of Fire, for the throne was already held by by a wise and noble King named Emberaken, who, it was said, in time came to honor her name."

• Evil Is Deathly Cold: The Fire Legend's opening narration describes it as, "...the bitter tale of a cold and ancient evil...
• Fed to the Beast: Crispin can do this to one of the units in her party if the player so chooses, feeding a Kraken blocking an underground river she must sail through. Doing so will get rid of the Kraken, making it a practical alternative to slaying the monster using Fire's very weak ships.
• Final Boss: Air's Legendary Creature, the Ice Drake, is the final enemy of Crispin's quest and victory is granted immediately following his destruction.
• Fisher King: When Crispin retakes "Mount Etrnln" (sic) by slaying the Ice Drake underneath it the mountain's volcano becomes active again and Fire's region returns to normal.
• Glacial Apocalypse: Crispin's quest begins because someone from the Fire Faith must figure out why their desert region is freezing over, and hopefully fix it.
• Have a Nice Death: "You have failed your people and doomed them to an age of misery and cold" is the message played when Crispin is defeated.
• Humble Hero: Her introductory text describes Crispin as being of humble origins and she never seeks glory or unnecessary spoils throughout her quest.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Crispin herself never becomes Lord of Fire but the King who is Lord during her Legend helps her succeed in her quest, granting Crispin a party of allies and access to enhanced equipment.
• Sundial Waypoint: Crispin receives the "Sundial Key" after defeating The Undead within the Fire Great Temple. The Sundial reveals the Gateway of Urak, which leads deep into the earth, on the first morning of each week. Naturally, Crispin must use the Key to find and enter the Gateway.
• Token Heroic Orc: After she rescues prisoners from a mob of trolls and orcs planning on eating them a "man-beast" among the freed folks will join Crispin's party out of gratitude. This new ally unit is a Grendel and this is the only time in the game where the player can normally control one.

Water Faith characters

In General

• Amazon Brigade: All the Water Lords and champions are female.
• Ambiguously Brown: All the Water Lords have brown skin but their character portraits and the low-resolution sprites are ambiguous if they're meant to represent any particular ethnicity.
• Matriarchy: In addition to every Lord option being female the voiceover lines from Water's buildings make it clear the Faith is run by women.
• Water Is Womanly: Water has the most female characters of any Faith.

Amazon Warlord

Water's Champion warriors meet combat with a feral intensity which lends awesome power to their flashing swords. Only loyalty to defending the faith keeps their battle rage from overflowing, allowing them organization in war.

• Action Girl: The Amazon Warlord is the only female warrior Lord.
• Gold-Colored Superiority: The Amazon Warlord's chainmail and mount are golden-colored to distinguish her from generic amazon warriors.
• Horse of a Different Color: The ostrich-like bird she rides is arguably the most bizarre of the various warrior mounts.
• Male Might, Female Finesse: Compared to other warriors the Amazon has nearly the lowest Attack power but she has the fastest attack rate and hit recovery, making her among the most maneuverable and hardest for enemies to pin down.

Amazon Thief Lord

With their steel tipped javelins and fast reflexes, these Water Champions are as much warrior as thief, except that they understand the value of stealth and the potential of a well-laid ambush.

• Blow Gun: Her ranged weapon shoots blow-darts and she is the only thief to use this, giving her exclusive access to the Greater Artifact "Blowgun of the Amazons".
• Cool Crown: The Amazon Thief Lord wears a silver tiara which is an accessory generic Amazon thieves lack.
• Minidress of Power: Her outfit mainly consists of a short cut blue dress.
• Primal Stance: She assumes such a posture when moving.

Priestess Lord

The Champion mages who channel Water's power share their element's ability to take on varied forms. With spells ranging from icy destruction to healing, they follow the flow of battle and contribute as best they may.

• Heal It with Water: She's one of only two Mage Lords that can cast direct healing spells.
• Ice Magic Is Water: Two Water 'Attack' spells are "Ice Bolt" and "Freeze".
• Seashell Bra: She appears to wear one, although the low-resolution sprites make it hard to be certain. Certainly her outfit includes some type of bikini-style top.
• White Magician Girl: Her Water spells offer a variety of Status Buff and healing spells, as well as support spells that cripple enemies, but her damage spells are among the weakest of any Mage Lord (except against Fire Creatures).

Earth Faith characters

In General

• Green Means Natural: The Earth Faith worships nature, at least those aspects of it related to soil and plants, and every Earth Lord has the color green prominent on their outfits.
• Little People: All the Earth Lords and champions are from the shorter fantasy races.
• Stone Wall: All Earth Lords have some sort of superior defensive options but struggle to deal damage quickly.

Dwarven Warlord

Clad in the heaviest dwarven armor, and bearing the double-headed axes that are the hallmark of the dwarven clans, these Champions are nearly unstoppable on the battlefield with legendary strength and tenacity.

• The Berserker: According to the Flavor Text from Air's library dwarven warriors are "Battle Ragers" who are brutally aggressive in a fight. Earth's own information makes the dwarves seem closer to Proud Warrior Race Guy.
• Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Dwarf warriors are difficult to use with any finesse due to their very slow movement but are brutally powerful when they do get into melee. They fight while, "...bearing the double-headed axes that are the hallmark of the dwarven clans...", unlike most other warriors.
• Horns of Barbarism: The dwarf warriors wear armored helmets with horns on both sides and can use the same horned helmet artifacts as the barbarian Beast Lord.
• Mighty Glacier: The Dwarven Warlord moves substantially slower than any other warrior but his combination of high Defense and Hit Points make him very durable, and his strikes are deadly if he manages to get into melee.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He is the shortest of all warriors but the Dwarven Warlord can attain nearly the highest Attack stat.

Burglar Lord

Quiet and resilient, Halfling Champions have made themselves invaluable to the Lords of Earth. With their knack for sneakiness and burglary, they mystify and confuse foes simply by following their own nature.

• Badass Longcoat: While the Burglar Lord is relatively un-badass, his coat is pretty cool.
• Low-Tier Letdown: Long-time fans of the game consider the Burglar Lord one of the worst Lord choices since he not only has poor personal stats but no synergy with other Earth units. It doesn't help the Burglar's case that the Dwarven Warlord is easier to use, more combat-effective, and also improves Earth's outstanding melee troops.
• Non-Action Guy: The Burglar Lord has both the worst melee Attack and Range Attack totals of any thief Lord as well as being the slowest; his superior Stealth is his only significant advantage. He also fits this trope personality wise, being an Expy of the peaceable Hobbits from Lord of the Rings
• Power Up Letdown: Only one artifact in the entire game is specifically aligned to burglars, the "Bow of Balladrine", and it's a below-average Greater Artifact to begin with. The mere +1 Range Attack specific to burglars is especially pitiful since they have the lowest base Range Attack potential to begin with.
• The Sneaky Guy: Overall Earth units are the least stealthy of any Faith, but burglars have the best stealth available.
• Stealth Expert: The Burglar Lord can move with a lower chance of detection than any other thief.

Magician Lord

The lore of the land belongs to the clever Gnomish Champions, who are the primary practitioners of Earth magic. Theirs is power to control stone, sand, earth, and mineral which they can use to protect or to destroy.

• Crippling Overspecialization: The Magician Lord's Earth spells offer far more ways to reduce or remove enemies' ability to act than any other Mage, but he is lacking in more general areas like damage spells, team support spells, personal stats, and even total Mana supply.
• Escape Battle Technique: Earth magic offers the Magician Lord the utterly unique ability to flee instantly from anywhere with the spell "Earthmeld", which is a very useful ability to have for your Lord.
• Forced Sleep: Earth's best combat spell "Sands of Sleep" puts every enemy in an area of the combat map to sleep until they're hit. Since the area effected by the spell increases with caster Level the higher Level Cap of a Magician Lord makes it extraordinarily effective.
• Non-Action Guy: Many of the Magician's voiceovers are comedically cowardly and as a solo combatant he is even less capable than Order's Wizard Lord (although the Magician has an easier time escaping alive).

Beow

The protagonist of Earth's "Legends of Urak" quest, which is a loose retelling of the ancient tale of Beowulf. "Beow, a humble Halfling, lived like the rest of his kind, in simple comfort, at a time when his folk had no discernable Kingdom. They had no Capital to pay Truage to, no costly military buildings to support and maintain, and no dusty mage libraries filled with endless tomes. He has not seen much of the world, preferring rather to wile away the sunny afternoons in a modest home on the estate of his uncle, Hrothgar. One day, however, an adventure befell him..."

• Adaptation Personality Change: In Beowulf the character Wiglaf was a close relative to the titular hero and the two were True Companions. In this story Wiglaf is a Ranger for the Kingdom of Men (while Beow is a Halfling rather than human). He angered the dragon Vyrm by stealing some gold and he joins Beow only because his superiors ordered him to do so.
• Ancestral Weapon: Beow retrieves the sword Nagling (clearly meant to be Nægling from the original epic of Beowulf) shortly into his quest. It is described as a "slender blade...made long ago, during the ancient wars between the little people and orcs. Nagling will grant Beow +7 Attack against orcs, making his normally weak melee strikes quite deadly. "Ivald's Axe" is also an example stated to have been "Forged in the smithy of his ancestors..." and gives +2 Attack always and +3 against orcs.
• Bad Boss: The final stretch of Beow's Legend sees him wiping out the orcs. While approaching an orc-controlled Thieves' Guild the dialogue box states that the goblins training with crossbows within are forced by their orc masters to be living targets for the rest if they miss too many shots.
• Dragon Hoard: The large barrow holding Hermod's treasure is guarded by a dragon named Vyrm and the King Onela entreats Beow to kill Vyrm in exchange for alliance with the Kingdom of Men. Vyrm isn't a normal Dragon unit but identical to Fire's Legendary Creature, making him perhaps the deadliest individual enemy in Beow's Legend.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Lord of Life in Beow's quest is named Lord "Elven Guardian" and this generic description seems to be a Developer Oversight since it's unlikely Beow will ever encounter him unless the player takes the rather difficult path of slaughtering all the elves.
• Flunky Boss: The Orc Chieftain who is the Final Boss of Beow's Legend is much weaker than Vyrm the dragon who is fought earlier, but the Chieftain is aided by a Shaman, Assassin, and many high-level military units.
• Giant Spider: Beow has to rescue Ivald from a lair of giant spiders, and they appear as enemies far more frequently here than in any other Legend or even normal gameplay.
• The Horde: After Beow gains the loyalty of King Onela and control over the human Kingdom the final objective is to kill the Orc Chieftain because he has organized overwhelming numbers of orcs and other monsters to conquer the land. Literally endless waves of these marauders and monstrous creatures will march towards the human city, attacking any Faiths on sight, so long as the chieftain lives.
• Men Are the Expendable Gender: Beow (the player) has the option to loot a Barbarian village and he'll have to kill almost two dozen male Chaos Barbarian units in the ensuing combat. After victory the text informs, "The streets run red with the blood of the village's defenders, but their women and children seem to have escaped while you fought."
• NPC Roadblock: When Beow first reaches the Elves city the guards won't let him in, although the player is presented the option of killing them in a fight to get in. However choosing to fight will result in all the other Elves units in the area rushing to attack the player, which is nearly a hopeless fight unless the player immediately creates a large army of mercenaries from Life's buildings.
• Ring of Power: Beow can retrieve the artifact "Gontherine's Ring" from a cave of trolls and it is extraordinary compared to most other ring artifacts. Based on the Ring's description it seems to have been directly inspired by "The One Ring" from Lord of the Rings , "A seemingly simple ring made of gold, this ring makes all stealth activities much easier. It is coveted by all who hear of it, and has caused wars between nations in the past, for it slowly lowers political states between all Faiths when wielded."
• Too Dumb to Live: As soon as Beow's party enters the Kingdom of Men a max-size party of knights will approach and ask what he is doing there. One of the options Beow can reply with is, "We seek to conquer this region", which immediately causes the knights to attack him.
• Treasure Map: Subverted Trope A map to Hermod's treasure is mentioned and when Beow rescues the dwarf warrior Ivald he mentions he had the map but had to trade it to elves for provisions. Despite being an obvious set-up to retrieve the map from the elves Ivald simply guides Beow to the treasure by memory.
• Treasure Room: After Beow deals with Grendel the dwarves he rescues tell him the rest of their band has gone in search of the treasure of Hermod, a looting grave-robber who horded his stolen wealth in a hidden cache.

Air Faith characters

In General

• Blue Means Cold: All Air Lords feature blue as a major part of their color scheme and they hail from icy towers on snow-covered mountain peaks.
• Force and Finesse: The Storm Giants fight with brute force while the Faerie rely on finesse. Despite following the same Faith the Flavor Text of some Air spells indicate that they occasionally scuffle due to the Faerie love of mischief.
• Fragile Speedster: All Air Lords move faster than typical but all are extra-vulnerable when getting hit, although only the Faerie Lord exhibits this weakness in the typical low Hit Points way.

Storm Warlord

Tall and powerful, these Storm Giants are expert in the art of war, and live to wield their Champion's blades for their Lord. Their long strides and robust constitutions take them quickly over great distances.

• Amazing Technicolor Population: The blue skin of the Storm Giants is the only shade among the playable Lords that doesn't even come close to any real skin tone.
• BFS: The Storm Warlord wields a simple but exceedingly long steel sword nearly as tall as he is.
• Captain Obvious: One of the Storm Warlord's voiceovers when given a combat command is simply, "I am Lord of Air."
• Damage-Sponge Boss: The Storm Warlord can raise his Hit Points significantly higher than any other Lord and attain nearly the highest Attack.
• Level Grinding: The Storm Warlord requires the most Experience Points to reach his Level Cap of any standard Lord choice.
• Mystical White Hair: Storm Giants are perhaps the most mysterious, or at least unusual, of the playable races and they all have white hair.
• Paper Tiger: Like his Evil Counterpart from the Fire Faith, the Storm Warlord can achieve impressive stats but his pitifully slow attack rate and hit recovery makes it difficult to use him in a straightforward way without him being overwhelmed by a humiliating Death of a Thousand Cuts.
• Shock and Awe: The Greater Artifact "Thunderblade" is specifically aligned to Storm Warriors and allows him to use a special ability once a turn that stuns any enemies in an area with bolts of lightning.

Faerie Lord

Flitting silently through the air and scouting the foe's movements are this Faerie champion's strength. He defends well enough with his bow, but when alone is wise to rely on stealth.

• Fairy Trickster: The Faerie Lord's exceptional speed and stealth, combined with his unique ability to fly, make him better at Spying on and Stealing from enemies than any other thief.
• Glass Cannon: His maximum Range Attack is among the highest but his maximum Hit Points are by far the lowest.
• Long-Range Fighter: The Faerie Lord has nearly the lowest melee Attack of any Lord, even lower than most Mages, but above-average Range and the speed to keep distance.
• Winged Humanoid: The Faeries are the only champions that have wings and flight.

Storm Lord

These champions' long studies have brought them the control of lighting and thunder, as well as knowledge of self-defense using giant crystalline spears.

• Amazing Technicolor Population: The blue skin of the Storm Giants is the only shade among the playable Lords that doesn't even come close to any real skin tone.
• Blow You Away: As a master of Air magic the Storm Lord can use several spells that manipulate wind, although such spells are mostly Status Effect support rather than direct attacks.
• Genius Bruiser: The Storm Lord has long studied magic according to his Flavor Text and he has the highest Wisdom stat of any Lord. He also has some of the best Attack, Hit Points, and movement speed of any Mage, although his abysmal attack speed prevents him from being an outright Magic Knight.
• An Ice Person: Although not nearly as prominent as Wind or Lightning themed spells the Storm Lord's Air-magic repertoire includes "Cone of Cold" (Herd-Hitting Attack damage) and "Ice" (Geo Effects that create snowy terrain).
• Power Crystal: His Magic Staff is topped with a large blue crystal which lights up when he casts a spell.
• Mystical White Hair: Storm Giants are perhaps the most mysterious, or at least unusual, of the playable races and they all have white hair. The Storm Lord is especially mystical thanks to having near the highest maximum Wisdom and Mana stats in the game.
• Shock and Awe: Lightning is the theme for many of the Storm Lord's aggressive Air spells.

Life Faith characters

In General

• Beauty Equals Goodness: All the Life Lords are conventionally beautiful Tolkien-style elves and Life is the Big Good Faith, according to the game's backstory. This makes them especially contrast with their Evil Counterpart, the Dark Elves.
• Gold-Colored Superiority: The Life Lords have more and richer gold color in their outfits compared to their generic counterparts.
• Gold and White Are Divine: The Life Faith is the Big Good of the game; while all other Faiths oppose Death, Life has no rival but Death and its Dark Elves are an Evil Counterpart to the Life elves. The color scheme for Life units and buildings is mostly gold and white.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Life is the most conventionally heroic Faith according to Flavor Text and all Life Lords have blonde hair.

Elven Warlord

Mounted on a reptilian beast, armed with an iron bound staff, and armored in light Elven mail, this Champion epitomizes his people's speed and skill. His favored tactic is to strike fast, then fade into the woods.

• Armored But Frail: The Elven Warlord can attain among the highest Defense stat of any unit but he has the least Hit Points of any warrior Lord by a wide margin.
• Cool Crown: The tall crown he wears visually distinguishes the Elven Warlord from generic elf warriors.
• Carry a Big Stick: The Elven Warlord fights with a staff, unlike all the other warrior Lords. He can even use some of the same Magic Staff artifacts as a Life Mage.
• Lightning Bruiser: This Warlord has the fastest movement available for a non-flying unit and, although his Attack is lowest among warrior Lords, he can hit harder than any rank-and-file military unit.
• Rule of Cool: His mount more closely resembles popular depictions of velociraptor than any extant reptiles. This dinosaur mount obviously has no real-life equivalent and isn't especially popular among heroic characters in High Fantasy fiction where most of the time Reptiles Are Abhorrent. This art-design choice seems to have been made so that the Elven warriors would look more macho and to visually distinguish them from generic elf cavalry, as well as just looking cool and unique.

Elven Thief Lord

These Elven Champions are rarely noticed, but their cold blades and unseen arrows project an undeniable presence on the field of battle.

• Game-Breaker: The Elven Thief Lord has exceptional ranged combat powers and her stealth and speed are also good, so she can easily avoid close-combat. Additionally she can improve Life's best military unit, the Elven Archers. While other Lords can also achieve Game-Breaker status doing so usually requires the right equipment and very specific tactics. In contrast, the Elven Thief Lord is a Game-Breaker even when playing normally.
• Long-Range Fighter: She has the longest Range of any thief and can reach near the highest Range Attack stat of any unit, period. While not a complete pushover, the Elven Thief Lord's melee abilities are mediocre at best.
• Minidress of Power: The main garment in her outfit is a dress that ends before her knees.
• Sacred Bow and Arrows: The Greater Artifact aligned to Life thieves is the "Bow of Bakal" and it allows them to cast the Life 'Attack' spell "Spirit Arrow".
• Underhanded Hero: While all thieves can steal, spy, and interrogate prisoners the Elven Thief is from the Big Good Life Faith, which makes her skill at subterfuge standout.

Enchantress Lord

Privy to nature's mysteries, and infused with the power of Life, Elven mage Champions are great healers and protectors. Their command of the powers of Life lends vital support to other troops of the faith.

• Armored But Frail: The Enchantress Lord can reach quite good Defense, especially when casting her Life protection spells on herself, but little can be done about her horribly low Hit Points.
• Healing Magic Is the Hardest: The Enchantress Lord is the only Lord that can truly specialize in healing as Life magic has by far the most healing spells, which especially stands out since 6 of the 8 Faiths offer negligible healing magic.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: She has the longest hair of any Lord and is the most feminine female Lord option.
• White Magician Girl: The Enchantress Lord's Life spells include the best healing and defensive abilities in the game. Unusually, her attack spells also do above-average damage.

Death Faith characters

In General

• Evil Counterpart: All Death Lords are Dark Elves, evil elves who defected from the Life Faith to worship the God of Death, Golgoth.
• Gotta Kill Them All: The goal of any and every Death Lord is to kill every other Faith's Lord and if the player chooses a Death Lord doing so is the only way to win the game.
• Villain Protagonist: The goal of Death is to kill the Lords of all other Faiths and thus Take Over the World of Urak. Therefore choosing to play the game as a Death Lord certainly makes them this.
• Yellow/Purple Contrast: The Death Lords feature this color scheme, which contrasts them from typical Death units who drop the yellow for a typical Dark Is Evil palette.

Dark Warlord

Only the mightiest Champions of the Dark Elves have the strength and stamina needed to ride the giant lizards that serve as steeds for the Death Warriors of Urak.

• Armored But Frail: The Dark Warlord has a higher innate Defense stat at Level Cap than any other Lord, even Balkoth. However, among warrior Lords only the Life Elven Warlord has lower maximum Hit Points.
• Malicious Monitor Lizard: His mount resembles a Komodo Dragon large enough for a man to ride.
• Soul-Cutting Blade: The Greater Artifact aligned to Death warriors is the "Soul Stealer" sword, which grants a Death warrior a small chance to inflict a One-Hit Kill and bonus Experience Points when he does so.
• Tin Tyrant: The Dark Warlord wears more armor than most warriors and, like all Death Lords, is unable to win the game without destroying every other Faith.

Assassin Lord

• Close-Range Combatant: The Assassin has the shortest Range of any unit that can launch projectiles but is extremely lethal when within that range.
• Devious Daggers: The Assassin uses knives, even for his projectile attack, and is even stealthier than most other thieves.
• In the Hood: The Death assassins all wear hoods which make them resemble Nazgul or classic depictions of The Grim Reaper.
• Master of All: The Assassin Lord can attain the best innate Range Attack of any Lord, as much Defense as the best warriors, as much melee Attack as the deadliest infantry, has good speed and movement, has the best Sight area in the game, and is able to move in Stealth which even Balkoth can't do. His only weakness is his lowish Hit Points, which are still solidly average for a non-warrior, and his short Range.

Balkoth

• Bat Out of Hell: During gameplay Balkoth flies around by riding a giant bat.
• Clifftop Caterwauling: Every cutscene that plays when another Lord dies begins with Balkoth standing on a narrow cliff and shouting "Great Master of the Necropian Abyss, I summon thee" and typically ends with him having an Evil Laugh on the same cliff.
• Demonic Possession: In the victory video when playing as Death it is implied that Golgoth takes over Balkoth's body.
• Evil Sorcerer: Balkoth is literally called an evil sorcerer during the game's intro video and takes the spot of Death's Mage Lord.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Balkoth has the longest Range projectile attack of any unit in the entire game and said projectile is his hand scythe. Like all projectile shooters Balkoth will always hit his target unless it moves out of the way or is obstructed by terrain, but with his extreme range and bizarre weapon choice he definitely qualifies for this trope.
• Killed Off for Real: The player's goal if he plays as any non-Death Faith is to kill Balkoth. Balkoth is the only Lord that doesn't leave behind a corpse upon reaching 0 Hit Points, so he can't be revived using the Resurrection Life spell even if Death somehow got the ability to cast it.
• Master of All: Balkoth has the most Mana of any Mage, moves fast and flies, and can put up an impressive fight with both ranged and melee attacks.
• Sinister Scythe: Balkoth is the only character that fights using a scythe and he starts each game with the artifact "Balkoth's Scythe".

Golgoth

The God of the Death Faith, worshipped by the Dark Elves and master of Lord Balkoth.

• Ancient Evil: Golgoth has existed for millennia and, a thousand years after his last defeat, once again has his followers launch a campaign to Take Over the World of Urak.
• The Corrupter: Implied, as the corrupted Dark Elves who abandoned the Life Faith worship Golgoth.
• Eternal Villain: Nothing truly destroys Golgoth even when the player is victorious and the victory cutscene hints that he may one day return yet again.
• Evil Brit: His English voice-acting gives him the voice, at least.
• Evil Gloating: Every time another Faith's Lord dies a video plays of Balkoth summoning Golgoth who then gloats about his foe's demise.
• Flying Face: The cutscenes may not show much of Golgoth's face, but they show no body whatsoever.
• God Is Evil: Golgoth is the only deity that the player witnesses and the only one obviously influencing Urak and he is evil.
• God of Evil: The Death Faith is pure evil by any conventional standard and Golgoth is the God of it.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Golgoth is depicted as a vague face shaded by shadow and fog, with only his glowing eyes standing out distinctly.
• Large Ham: While Golgoth isn't as loud as Balkoth his line delivery is even hammier.
• Meaningful Name: Golgoth's name is obviously derived from Golgotha which is the name of the hill on which Jesus was crucified according to the Gospels: befitting a God of death and evil. Golgotha translates to something like "place of the skull" and Death's Great Temple, an altar to Golgoth, prominently features a giant skull seemingly carved from a mountain.
• Non-Action Big Bad: Golgoth never directly participates in any of the game's action and no one besides Balkoth ever even meets him directly. Given that he is explicitly described as a God, it is likely that Golgoth has Complete Immortality and probably possesses Intangibility since he never even attempts to take direct action himself.
• Prophet Eyes: His eyes are glowing white with no pupils or iris.

Zefnar

The Necromancer Lord Villain Protagonist of Death's "Legends of Urak" storyline. "One of the more vile and despicable legends of the Golgothans, later known as the Dark Elves of Urak, tells of their quest to unleash the power of the Lich, and thus begin their age-long war to subjugate and enslave the bright Eldren of Life. Only the most contemptuous adventure seeker would embark upon this journey... Like all Necromancers, you seek the glory of absolute power by embracing the forces of the underworld, and serving the will of Golgotha. The region of Death has not yet been engulfed by swamp, and the Eldren are not yet your accursed enemies. You cannot research spells in the library, but the lore of how to summon an army of skeletons is already at your command, and the Altar of Sacrifice is nearby..."

• Bodyguard Betrayal: The Death King's vampire bodyguards let Zefnar kill him and then join Zefnar's party.
• Catharsis Factor: During the first portion of the Legend, before Zefnar retrieves the Scepter, the Death King will send several nagging, passive-aggressive messages insulting his decisions and lack of progress. Getting a chance to kill the Death King can be satisfying simply because of how annoying those messages were.
• Friend-or-Idol Decision: Zefnar (and the player) is presented a choice at the Palace to give the Lich Sceptre to the King or keep its power for himself. Unusually for this trope the right choice is killing the King and keeping the Sceptre.
• Hero Antagonist: The Life elves and their Lord only fight Zefnar because he intends to use them as Human Resources for his undead army.
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: A literal example of this trope occurs when Zefnar kills Valdenar the Lich and becomes a Lich himself soon afterwards. This also fits the trope plot-wise as Zefnar loses what little loyalty he had to anyone besides Golgoth upon acquiring the Sceptre of the Lich.
• "Just So" Story: The "Legend" Zefnar is the protagonist of explains the beginning of the Death Faith's war against Life and how the Dark Elves and their land was corrupted.
• Mission from God: Golgoth tells Zefnar in a dream that he must retrieve the Sceptre of the Lich and return it to the Palace of the Death King.