open/close all folders

Black Mage and Commanders

Black Mage

A magician who was originally from the town of Magatia. He was once a human (and was known as the White Mage) until he was blinded by his search for power in the light, and cast a spell that removed all his humanity. He decided that Maple World needed a ruler to keep it in peace, and began his war against all of Maple World. One by one, cities and even gods fell to him until a group of six heroes managed to seal him. Hundreds of years later, the Black Wings are trying to resurrect him, which when done will cause Maple World to fall into despair and chaos once more.

The Black Mage was released as a boss during the Black Mage update, fought at the end of the Limina story (and the end of the Arcane River overall) and challengable as a monthly boss after level 255.

Tropes associated with the Black Mage:

The Ace: Was a genius and excelled in magic from a young age. Even the fairy queen, Ephenia, respected and liked him.
A Form You Are Comfortable With: He appears in the Friendstory universe as his White Mage self and uses it to talk to Kinesis.
Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: The third phase of his boss battle leaves his throne room and transitions to a space field with the galaxy behind it.
Background Boss: Sits in his throne in the background of the first phase of his boss fight while he makes you fight his knights of creation and destruction instead. Even in phase two where you can attack him directly, he still remains stationary in his throne.
Broken Ace: Became this as the magic that was known in the world was too little to fulfill his ambitions and there was nothing left for him to learn once he reached the top.
Became Their Own Antithesis / Face–Heel Turn / Fallen Hero: Used to study the light. He founded Aurora, the same organization Luminous belongs to, and became the Transcendence of Light. However, the immense power of the light, his studies into the power of darkness, and his disillusionment with the lack of unity in Maple World corrupted him, making him the entity that he is now. Unfortunately, he's still the Transcendence of Light.
Big Bad: In one way or another, he is the reason behind many of the disturbances the player will inevitably encounter over the course of the game. Said disturbances also include the reconstruction of Victoria Island during the Big Bang update, as well as mobs that spawn normally on some of the regular maps.
Chain Pain: Chains are a huge motif for him and he uses them heavily in his boss fight. They represent the chains of fate binding both him and all of Maple World that he is trying to break.
The Chessmaster: Everything that has happened has been all to his machinations. Grendel the Really old explains he likely posses a near divine ability to see all of probability and understand even the tiniest influences that can alter fate to his liking. All he needed to do to set into motion the events that would lead to his defeat by the heroes is utter a single sentence.
Co-Dragons: Has eight commanders total; at the time of his confrontation with the Demon and Legends, seven were loyal and one deserted him. Another commander may have also deserted him following the destruction of Black Heaven.
Cutscene Boss: Every hero will confront him this way in their storyline at least once at different stages of his plans. Until the Black Mage update, there were no quests or storylines that involved fighting him directly.
Duality Motif: By the time he is faced as a boss, he has absorbed the power of Tana and wields both the power of Creation and Destruction. In every phase of his boss fight he attacks with these two light and dark elements. Being hit with both at once will instantly cost a player their life.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": His actual name is never stated, and every character only refers to him as the White/Black Mage. His backstory comic implies that he was never given a name in the first place.
Evil Counterpart/Foil: To Freud himself, in multiple ways:
- Powerful mages that awed many with their prowess and knowledge, gaining the approval of two powerful beings (Ephenia and Afrien).
- The White Mage found himself alone at the top, disappearing to establish Aurora and eventually allowing himself to become corrupted by the light, while Freud stayed humble and was never alone due to his pact with Afrien.
- Both were leaders of a fellowship, the Black Mage of his evil Commanders while Freud gathered the Heroes.
- Both would eventually have successors (Luminous and Evan)
- The Black Mage would survive to the present day, while Freud would soon die of natural causes.
Final Boss: He is this in the Tenebris Expedition, and many Alliance-related mechanics unique to it are disabled once he is defeated.
Final Solution: Attempted to raze Maple World to the ground to get rid of the disharmony and rebuild it from nothingness. Alicia herself calls it "the end of the world".
Foreshadowing: His Chessmaster abilities aren't just something he randomly picked up, controlling the fate of Mortals is what the Transcendents were created by the gods to do.
God's Hands Are Tied: While his goal is to rid the world of Transcendents, the laws that govern Transcendents means that he himself is powerless to act against them. That's what his Commanders are for.
Hoist by His Own Petard: The Black Mage defeated Rhinne, the Transcendence of Time, and stole her powers to enhance his own. This allowed him to wage an apparently one-sided war on the rest of Maple World. However, the same powers he took from Rhinne were eventually used by Freud and Luminous to seal him during the Legends' confrontation with him at the Temple of Time hundreds of years ago.
Hot Teacher: He poses as a student teacher in the friendstory quests, and the female student body fawns over him to the point that there is a fan club dedicated to him not long after he arrives!
Humanoid Abomination: He was human once, but now he, well, isn't. The epilogue of Heroes where his actual face is seen kind of proves it.
In the End, You Are on Your Own: Visually invoked in the fourth phase of his boss fight, where everyone appears to fight him alone. Mechanically though, the party members are simply hidden from each other, and everyone is fighting the same boss and can even still buff each other. Even if you were fighting him solo, this trope is still invoked as you lose the support of Orchid who was fighting alongside you in phase three.
You: This void... am I the only one left...?
Large Ham: Most of his speech bubble text is in all caps and bold.
Light Is Not Good: Corrupted entirely by the power of the Light. In fact, the study of Light magic was taboo in his day explicitly because the study of light is a slippery slope that can easily lead to dark.
Lonely at the Top: The Grand Athenaeum story mentions that he grew lonely once he mastered all forms of magic, as no one else would approach him.
Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Before he became corrupted by the power of the Light.
Merged Reality: This seems to be a universal goal for him, as his Maple World self is hoping to merge Maple World with Grandis, while his Friendstory counterpart is hoping to merge Seoul with Maple World.
- Of course, this is isn't his true plan.
Near-Villain Victory: Genesis is occuring during his boss battle, and even when he is defeated, it's too late to stop without the power of the Adversary.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: WHERE TO START?
- When the White Mage cast aside his goodness and became the Black Mage, the Light inside him had to go somewhere. Where did it go? It became Luminous. That’s why he was tainted so easily. And as if that weren’t enough, when Luminous was tainted, the Black Mage’s Evil Gloating after Luminous “killed” his friend made the hero swear revenge, and then go off to become stronger so he could. (And he did.)
- He promised the Demon he would not harm his family, but Arkarium broke that promise; when the Demon discovered his master’s betrayal, he turned against the Black Mage, becoming a powerful member of the Resistance.
- When he captured Rhinne, she shed magical tears, which created a child and successor, Zero. The Black Mage found out, and had his commander, Will, magically split the child into two beings and imprison them in the Mirror World. But the twins eventually managed to escape and obtain full power. Unfortunately, this is actually all in accordance to the villain’s plan to merge Maple World and Grandis together to become the Transcendence of both worlds.
- Just when it looks like the only way to restore Maple Island is the old fashioned way (with mops, buckets, and elbow grease) the Black Mage sends a shadow of himself to stop you, determined to not let you even try that. This attack allows Sugar to finally assume her true godlike form and the Seal of Maple Island, restoring the place to its true glory.
- His attempts to recruit Kinesis only turns Kinesis against him, giving him another enemy to deal with.
- The officially-approved web animation New Leaf Saga even points out that his initial changes to Victoria Island after the Big Bang only make it easier for players to get from town to town by simplifying all of the paths.
- In the end, all of these reasons are deconstructed, as doing all of this were just reasons to take his commanders off the board (bar Will) and prevent them from stoping his world ending genocide.
"Not So Different" Remark: He uses a speech like this in an attempt to both warn and coerce Kinesis, telling him that while he may be loved and respected by his kin now, he will eventually be hated and feared, likely referring to his own Start of Darkness. The hero's reply is a not-very-subtle way of telling him where he can to shove it.
Physical God: Is a Transcendence, one of three beings created by the gods who made the Maple World to represent the aspects of Light, Time, and Life individually. The Black Mage is the Transcendence of Light. As a result, he's able to casually raze Maple Island and it took the Demon and the Legends to seal him away rather than outright defeat him. It is repeatedly said in game that Maple World would be doomed if the Black Mage were to regain his full power. This gets even more threatening when it's revealed that his domain is metaphorical, with "light" representing creation and "darkness" representing pure destruction. Hence he plans on completely wiping out all of the known worlds before remaking it as he pleases.
Pretty Boy: As the White Mage, to the point where the fifth Friendstory chapter involves the female student body obsessing over him and the boys turning into squid as a result.
Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Seems to be the only being in Maple World unaffected by Shade's Retgone condition. He even taunts him about it.
Screw Destiny: His ultimate goal in removing all the Transcendents from Maple World, because their presence fixes the future in place and removes all free will.
Set Right What Once Went Wrong: It turns out he was the one who sent Kao back in time, as completing Genesis still didn't make him strong enough to break the chains of the Overseers. The only way to truly achieve his goals is for the Adversary to defeat him.
Spanner in the Works: The reason the Adversary is a threat to the Black Mage is because the god sealing power of the Seal Stone used on them at the end of Black Heaven grants the Adversary the ability to defy the Path of Destiny. They ultimately manage to take one step off of his plan by refusing to kill Tana, counter-intuitively allowing the Black Mage to consume her and become stronger, but leaving him vulnerable enough during the process of absorbing her power to be defeated.
Thanatos Gambit: Allowed himself to be defeated by the Heroes as depriving Maple World of all three Transcendences would start a process that would cause Maple World to fuse with Grandis, allowing him to rule both at once when he returns. This of course is just a ruse for his true plan
- In the end, his entire goal to create a world without transcendents includes a world without him, as well. Seemingly the only reason his path of destiny doesn't lead to his death by default is the only way he could be defeated is by the Adversary's ability to defy fate and step off of the path.
  - And even that was according to plan. As Kao, the Adversary from the future, was sent back in time by the Black Mage himself so that the present Adversary could even take that first step.
This Was His True Form: When he is finally defeated, the player meets him in his original form as the White Mage in the Erda Flow for one last conversation.
Was Once a Man: Started his life as an exceptionally gifted human. During the third and fourth phases of his boss battle the player is drawn inside his cloak to reveal his true form has become a mass of pure light only vaguely human shaped
We Can Rule Together: He doesn't kill Kinesis or Zero despite them being capable of growing to be complete thorns in his side, and even offers them positions as a commander and his fellow Transcendent ruling over the merged worlds, respectively.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: At the end of it all, the Black Mage's motivation is to do what he planned to do since he was the White Mage: recreate the Maple World in a way that was harmonic and unified. His methods just include destroying the existing world and making one without Transcendents
Who Wants to Live Forever?: When defeated, he thanks the player for freeing him from his former state and his immortality, unable to kill himself due to his status as a Transcendent.
Xanatos Gambit: If he won the fight against the heroes? He could go and destroy the Maple World before remaking it in his image. If he lost? He would be sealed away, causing Grandis to merge with the Maple World, so he could rule both.

Tropes applying to the Black Mage's Commanders

Dragon with an Agenda: Of all of them, only Will is confirmed to be in complete alignment with the Black Mage's goals and the only one not to betray him in the various futures he witnessed.
It's Personal: Almost all of them have a specific bone to pick with the main classes, such as Magnus's history with the Nova and Hilla having had tried to usurp Cygnus and her knights.
Good Colors, Evil Colors: In contrast with the blue/white that the heroes are usually in, the commanders are usually in red, black, or both.
Living on Borrowed Time: Be it by the Black Mage's magic (Hilla, Damien, Arkarium, Will, and Lucid) or a different power (Magnus and Guwarr), none of the commanders actually "die" when defeated, despite how badly the player beats them.
Really 700 Years Old: Each of them (with the exception of Lucid and Damien) are shown to have been serving the Black Mage during his first rise to power, which took place at least a century prior to the main story's time, give or take. Mentioning that, none of them look a day older than how they appeared then.

Von Leon

The King of the Lion King's Castle. After the Black Mage murdered his wife and planted a Cygnus Knight crest on her body, Von Leon went mad and allied himself with the Black Mage. He then cast a spell on his castle, murdering all its residents and making it disappear. The Adventurers eventually found his castle and defeated him.His official title was 'The Volcanic Darkness'.

He can be fought as a boss after clearing the Lion King's Castle theme dungeon, starting from level 125.

Tropes associated with Von Leon:

Anti-Villain: His questline portrays him as at least somewhat sympathetic, and the NPCs around the castle elaborate that he's the way he is simply because he's grieving, rather out of pure malice.
Attack Reflector: He's likely the first boss encountered where this incredibly annoying ability will be a problem. (Far more will follow.) Trying to attack while it's active will damage (and probably instantly kill) the attacker rather than him. Fortunately, he can only hold it a few seconds at a time.
Badass Longcoat
Berserk Button: The player sets him off multiple times during his questline by mentioning Ifia.
Boss Arena Recovery: Every few minutes or so during the battle, he'll banish your character to a room full of chests, where you have to break them and find a key to return. This is also the only room during the boss fight where you can use potions without any cooldown penalty, so it's a good chance to heal up.
Combat Pragmatist: Sometimes. Like a few other Bosses, if facing a group, he focuses on the highest-Level enemy first, or the one who has dealt him the most damage, determined every minute or so. Whether this plays the Trope straight or not depends on who that is.
Convection, Schmonvection: His throne room is above a lava pool, likely a run-off from the Dead Mines on the same map; it's just for show and does not hurt your character.
Deal with the Devil: Sold his soul to the Black Mage for peace. It did not end well.
Devour the Dragon: The mooks he summons likely aren't a threat to your characters, but he can consume them to heal himself.
Energy Weapon: From his eyes, another AoE attack.
Fallen Hero: He used to be the quiet but kindhearted king of a village close to El Nath, until the his wife was murdered and the Cygnus Knights were framed for it. His servants around the castle have come to the conclusion that he's so far gone that he needs to be put down.
Evil Counterpart: To Aran, as powerful warriors from frigid lands.
Interface Screw: Again, the first boss who'll use this stunt. Once you use any sort of potion, you cannot use another for 30 seconds, limiting your ability to heal or buff yourself.
Killed Off for Real: But you can fight him again as many times as you want.
King of Beasts: Evil, sure, but still majestic.
Master Swordsman: One of the Grand Athenaeum archives involves its protagonist (a highly skilled mercenary) losing a swordfight to him. The thoughts of the mercenary implied that Von Leon's swordsmanship skills were further honed by his Deal with the Devil.
Meaningful Name: Leon, as in lion.
Mighty Roar: Being a lion, he has a powerful sonic roar that's an AoE attack.
One-Winged Angel: Turns into a giant were-lion during his boss fight.
Out of Focus: His involvement in the plot is almost entirely restricted to his theme dungeon and he's not seen with the other Commanders in any blockbusters afterward implying he really is Killed Off for Real when you defeat him.
Pet the Dog: Praised Ryude on his death throes after he pulled off a Last Stand and delayed Von Leon's forces long enough for the beacon at the Dragon Master's Tower to be lit, alerting the rest of Maple World to the plight of Lion King's Castle.
The Quiet One: Ifia mentions that he never talked much, as he believed actions spoke louder than words.
The Worf Effect: Xenon rips a clone of Von Leon to shreds with ease as part of his Taste of Power introduction.
Tragic Villain: Joined the Black Mage for revenge after thinking his wife was murdered by the Cygnus Knights.

Arkarium

A commander of the Black Mage. He was the one that created the entire Future Henesys and Dark Ereve and made it into an illusion. He currently resides in an alternate dimension of the Temple of Time where the Time Goddess was just recently sealed.

His official title is 'The Fang of Darkness'

He is fought as a boss in the middle of the Silent Crusade questline, starting from level 140.

Tropes associated with Arkarium:

Actually a Doombot: When fought in the past, he seems to be defeated deceptively easily. As tells you, that was just a decoy; the real Arkarium, who you have to fight in the Dimensional Schism, is much, much harder.
Arc Villain: Of Morass. He was the High Priest who headed the experiments on Tana in the past, eventually kickstarting a chain of events which would lead to the curse placed on the city.
Boss Banter: Honestly, he never shuts up.
Boss Arena Recovery: Every now and then during the battle, he tries some psychological warfare, sending the player to a dark void where he/she is confronted by a dying, wounded duplicate of himself/herself. This duplicate is harmless; however, the player is safe from his Interface Screw, so this is the perfect chance to heal yourself.
Bullying a Dragon: He tries to get Damien tell him where he hid Alicia, thinking that Damien plans to be The Starscream and use the Transcendent Stone to kill the Black Mage and trying to coerce him with the threat of exposing his betrayal. However, when Damien holds out on him, he reveals the Awful Truth that he was the one who killed his mother and he never intended to help revive her. However, Damien's plan wasn't to betray the Black Mage, but to become the Transcendent of Life by stealing Alicia's power. And given that he already started the process...
The Dragon: To the Black Mage.
Evil Counterpart: To Evan. A Powerful Mage who fights alongside a familiar.
Expy: When one considers the revised plot of the Silent Crusade storyline, he is a Captain Ersatz of Mankar Camoran from Elder Scrolls
Face–Heel Turn: He used to be one of Rhinne's priests in the Temple of Time until seeing a vision that lead him to joining the Black Mage.
Familiar: A Snake/Python.
Green-Eyed Monster: In Friendstory, his counterpart is a lonely bachelor who is jealous of Magnus and Hilla's perceived relationship; this jealousy is amplified by the Motes, and eventually spawns a Troublemaker.
Interface Screw: Like many powerful bosses, he can disable your ability to use most inventory items and Skills for a few seconds.
Killed Off for Real: At the end of the Morass storyline.
One-Hit KO: One of his attacks has a charge up time before hitting all adventurers for 999,999 damage. The only way to avoid this is to have a skill that renders your character or other characters invincible like the Shadower's Smokescreen.
Our Liches Are Different: He seems to be a variant; in Act 4 of Heroes, his body is destroyed, but he had the foresight to use his snake familiar as a Soul Jar.
Reptiles Are Abhorrent: He continually summons lizard men during the fight which not only attack enemies, but heal him and each other.
Smug Snake: Pun aside. He thinks that he can control Damien with the promise of resurrecting his mother, even as he starts putting his own plans into motion in Heroes of Maple. As the spoiler entry above in Bullying a Dragon proves, he's completely wrong.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: At the end of the Morass storyline, Arkarium, who is weakened severely by Tana in the past version of Kritias, goes to the Black Mage of the past to ask for his powers to be restored. However, the Black Mage of the past tells him "I am not the one you seek. The Black Mage commanded me to relay this message to you: You have done well. Rest.", and promptly kills him.

Hilla

A commander of the Black Mage. She tries to usurp Empress Cygnus's position as ruler of Ereve, and takes over the ancient city of Azwan when she fails.

She is fought as a boss at Aswan starting from level 120, with a hard variant starting from level 170. On top of that, a resurrected form known as Verus Hilla is fought as the end boss of the Labarynth of Suffering, starting from level 250.

Tropes associated with Hilla:

Attack Reflector: She's much better at using this ability than Von Leon is.
Back from the Dead: For the Grand Finale, of course.
Belligerent Sexual Tension: Her Friendstory version has this with Magnus, with the goal of one arc of the story being to ship them together in order to get them off the students' backs. Do Friendstory a second time, and The Stinger for that chapter reveals they are still dating in secret. If you use your final call at the end of Chapter 5 on her, Magnus would be the one to answer it, believing that it was his phone, and tells you to not tell anyone about it.
Cutscene Boss: She's the one responsible for Gollux being corrupted, but in that scenario, she just threatens you, sics her familiars on you, then flees.
Dem Bones: Her mooks comprise mostly of skeletal soldiers, although there are some anthropomorphic wolves in the mix.
Even Evil Has Standards: Implied, but she's noticeably offput by the size of Black Heaven when Gelimer presents it to the commanders, questioning what exactly he has in mind.
Evil Counterpart: To Empress Cygnus herself. Controls the underground city of Azwan by force and has an army of skeletons and wolves at her disposal. Could also be one to Mercedes, as both are queens of lost cities.
Evil Redhead: She has bright red hair and is very much a wicked woman.
Flunky Boss: Not only can she summon Mooks, a skeletal creature on a tower-like platform appears every minute or so during the battle. It can't attack physically, but it can draw players to it like a magnet to protect Hilla.
No Immortal Inertia: Only lightly implied to be why her hair turns white as she becomes low on health in her normal hard mode. Made more explicit in her death animation as Verus Hilla.
Killed Off for Real: She is canonically killed when she is defeated by the player at Aswan, however she is resurrected with enhanced power and gray skin, as "Verus Hilla", a boss before the Black Mage fight.
Killed Offscreen: Kinda, given that her fate after beating her on Hard was never really specified and she appears to be alive right after Heroes of Maple.
Familiar: She has a pair of cute imp-like pets called BlackHearts. If defeated in the Boss fight, she may drop a box that lets your character get one. (These are very rare in Normal Mode, more common in Hard, but a good chance to get a free Pet, which is something usually only obtainable in the Cash Shop.) In the Dimension Invasion she will occasionally sic a giant Blackheart on you.
Ms. Fanservice: Hilla is a wickedly alluring woman whose dress showcases a lot of skin.
Reasonable Authority Figure: In FriendStory she's the school nurse, and far more approachable than her Maple World self; in chapter 6, she gives a more honest score to Damien's performance (unlike Magnus, who's under Damien's spell) resulting in Damien scoring high but not perfect, giving the player's band a chance.
Necromancer: She can summon undead mooks to help her, create dangerous tombstones on the ground during the Boss Fight, and in Hard Mode, drain the life from one unlucky opponent to heal herself.
One-Hit KO: One of her attacks is an AoE attack that can potentially do 999,999 damage. (Even more in Hard Mode.) If she's about to use it, Medina will scream a warning and set up a protective dome; your players are safe from the blast if they get under it in time.
Only Sane Man: She's the only "main" commander who never really had ulterior motives, personal grudges, or strayed from the objective the Black Mage gave them.
Our Werewolves Are Different: The aforementioned anthropomorphic wolves. On higher difficulties on the Azwan maps, a single wolf can cause as much trouble as an entire column of skeletal soldiers.
Skewed Priorities: In hard mode, if reduced to half her HP, she gets angry at you for ruining her hair, then says it's time for her beauty nap. (Of course, this is justified by her Grey Maiden transformation when reduced to half her Life Bar, where her hair turns grey, and she gains the ability to fall asleep and summon Aswan Ghosts; in Grey Maiden form, she cannot be harmed while asleep, and cannot be woken up until the Aswan Ghosts are killed.)
Shapeshifter: In Phantom's storyline, her attempt to usurp Cygnus would have worked had the Phantom not had the true Skaia^note; hers being fake was the only flaw in her disguise.
Turns Red: Hard Hilla looks like normal Hilla at first, but once her health gets low, her hair turns white and she gets new moves.
Vain Sorceress: Her primary reason for joining the Black mage? Eternal youth and beauty.
Vampiric Draining: Only usable in Hard Mode, she can trap an opponent in a cage-like altar and drain his HP until he's dead, potentially restoring her own to maximum. The only way to rescue a victim of this attack is for another party member to attack the altar with normal attacks. (Not skills.) Because of this mechanic Hard mode comes with a disclaimer that she is extra difficult to fight solo as a result.
Would Hurt a Child: In the Tynerum storyline, she's taken a group a demon children hostage, intending to sacrifice them for an evil ritual. The player's goal is to lead them to safety.

Magnus

A winged commander of the Black Mage. He appears in Luminous's story intro, and is the prime antagonist in Kaiser's and Angelic Buster's stories. He took over Heliseum with the help of the Transcendent of Life in the Grandis world, Darmoor.

His official title is "Magnus the Betrayer".

He is fought as a boss at the end of the Helisseum Reclamation questline starting from level 155, with a hard variant at level 175, and a false simulated version of him is avalible for easy mode training from level 115.

Tropes associated with Magnus:

All Your Powers Combined: His own combat abilities combine those of his three chief henchmen, Victor, Treglow, and Velderoth.
Ambiguously Brown: It's subtle, but compared to his fellow commanders his skin is actually quite tan and is closer in shade to Aran or Illium.
Archnemesis: To the Nova Heroes. Kaiser is destined to defeat him as it was the role he inherited from the previous Kaiser and has a grudge against Magnus for what he did to the other Nova and Helisium. Angelic Buster has a similar axe to grind. Cadena's is even more personal, as she is the last surviving member of the Helisium Royal Family, with her parents being killed by Magnus.
BFS: His weapon, Kaiserium, which was the previous Kaiser's sword. Wields it one-handed too.
Black Speech: In the Kritias Invasion scenario, his handwriting is recognizable to the player because of "how evil it is". Clearly, it's not normal script.
Combat Pragmatist: Knows he can't beat Kaiser in a straight fight even with the backup of two Transcendents, so he poisons his sword and backstabs him instead. Also, in the Boss Battle, he uses the same selection process as Von Leon, targeting whatever player hurt him the most recently, or the highest level player.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Betrayed the Nova, his own race, and the Black Mage Commander Guwarr.. It's even lampshaded by Hilla.
Hilla: That fool could not keep his allegiances straight if they were made of unbendable steel.
Dark Is Evil: Just him wielding the Kaiserium sucked out the power it derives from the sun and turned it black.
Death from Above: Magnus rains meteors all throughout his boss battle. These meteors do percentage damage, meaning that they ignore whatever armor you have, dealing 10%, 50%, or 100% of your health bar depending on which type you get hit with.
Disc-One Final Boss: In a way. Magnus is the only commander every player class is required to beat for their Fourth Job advancement, as requested by the Goddess of Grandis, which allows them into the endgame location of the Arcane River.
Dragon with an Agenda: "Agenda" is a bit of a stretch, but it's clear that his allegiances lie not in Darmoor or the Black Mage but what route he can take that leads to the most destruction. This leads to him sparing Luminous and seemingly killing Guwarr.
Evil Counterpart: To Kaiser. Nova Jerkass who wields a massive sword, which also happens to be the sword of the previous Kaiser. Their colors are inversions too, with Kaiser's armor being bright red accented with gold while Magnus' armor is black and accented with a sickly blue-green.
For the Evulz: We don't know how or why Magnus became who he is. We just know that he's horrendously evil, revels in being a raging murderer, and changes allegiances the way most people change their socks if it gives him more chances at obtaining power. He goes out of his way to be obnoxious as possible, leaving Kaiser alive in their first encounter just so he could taunt him about it later, and stirring up terror and panic wherever he goes.
Hard Light: Because your character will start quests in Helisium long before he/she is high enough Level to enter his castle (and hope to survive) fighting him on Easy Mode is actually a simulation set up in Heliseum Reclamation HQ.
Hated by All: Magnus is an utter bastard who commits his atrocities for no apparent reason and is loathed by everyone who knows him, even by his fellow Black Mage Commanders.
Hero Killer: Killed the previous Kaiser and nearly did the same to Kyle, Velderoth, and Tear.
In the Back: Seemingly kills Guwarr in this fashion.
Jerkass: Probably the single most obnoxious villain in the entire game, with no sense of honor or decorum and only working towards making himself more powerful.
Kick Them While They Are Down: If all players fighting him reach their last life, he enters an enraged state and begins doing nothing but his strongest attacks.
Living on Borrowed Time: While all Commanders are, it's explicitly stated that Magnus should very well be nothing but a corpse after the previous Kaiser's last effort attack in Heliseum and is only still kicking because of his alliance with Darmoor.
Made of Iron: Not even getting into his HP pool as a boss, you can pelt his Friendstory counterpart with a hundred soccerballs, and he doesn't come out with so much as a bruise. Lampshaded by Hilla afterwards.

Hilla: What happened to him!? Oh, he looks like he could eat concrete and be totally fine!

Marathon Boss: One of the toughest in the game at the time of his release with 200 billion health on Hard Mode.
Meaningful Name: Magnus, as in "great", and the name of the person who attempted usurping Roman emperor Maximinus Thrax.
One-Winged Angel: Magnus the Betrayer◊, in which his sprite becomes larger and his wings and tail become especially pronounced, not unlike Kaiser's Final Figuration.
Put on a Bus: He's taken down when being beaten on Hard for the first time, and is apparently cast out from Heliseum once more story-wise. Considering he's no longer part of the Black Mage's forces and the story doesn't seem to be interested in focusing on Darmoor for a long time, it's up in the air for when he's going to be plot important again, provided he's not been Killed Off for Real.
- The Bus Came Back: And rather bombastically at that. The trailer for the Grandis Saga is focused entirely on him and his rise to power.
Stern Teacher: His FriendStory equivalent is the school gym teacher, and downright mean, leaning towards the Sadist Teacher area; the player's dialogue shows him/her to be more nervous after talking to him than whenever he speaks about the Magnus he's familiar with!
Sudden Name Change: He's called Varrekant/Barkhant in MapleStory 2.
Technicolor Fire: The fire he shoots is either green or purple.
Turncoat: It's in his title! He also assaults his fellow commander Guwarr and spares Luminous.
Ungrateful Bastard: The opening of Kaiser's story implies that Magnus was either supposed to be executed instead of exiled and was only spared because the Nova council took pity on him, and/or he was only let back into Heliseum for the same reason. Guess what he did next.
Winged Humanoid: Like the rest of his race.
Would Hurt a Child: The main antagonist to the Nova heroes, who are in their late teens at best.
Wounded Gazelle Gambit: How he gets Kaiser to come near him in the story prologue.

Guwaru

Least human of the Black Mage Commanders, this creature is one of his most loyal servants.

Tropes associated with Guwarr:

Can't Argue with Elves: He's very arrogant and aloof, even looking down on the "mortal" player when requesting help during the Colossus scenario.
The Dreaded: Apparently, the threat of Guwarr's revival is what sparked the birth of The Alliance.
Evil Mentor: Given the epilogue of Black Heaven, he seems to have been this to Orchid once, possibly Lotus too.
Golem: Does not appear to be a normal living being.
Heel–Face Turn: Sort of. He's doesn't do anything heroic, but he also doesn't attack Luminous upon seeing him at Ellin Forest. He seems more concerned for the planet once Magnus kills him and "severs [his] connection to the Black Mage."
In the Back: Gets taken out in one hit by his fellow commander Magnus.
Nature Spirit: His official title is Guardian Spirit of the Forest. Whether this applies only to Ellin Forest or all of Maple World's forests isn't clear, but he also has some connection to the Colossus in the Minar Forest.
Not Quite Dead: Despite Magnus seemingly killing him in the past, his revival in the future results in the Maple Alliance, so he's still kicking.

Damien

^{Click here}to see his Heroes of Maple appearance.

The newest commander of the Black Mage, and the Demon Slayer's long lost brother. He is responsible for sealing the World Tree inside the Root Abyss and killing Shinsoo (temporarily). Other than that, not much is known about him, although some of his backstory is relieved in the official Webtoon comic . You can read an English translation of it here.

He is fought at the end of the Heroes of Maple blockbuster, afterward he is avalible as a boss encounter starting from level 190.

Tropes associated with Damien:

Back from the Dead: Hilla resurrects him to serve her in the Tenebris labyrinth.
Big Brother Worship: When he was younger, at least. Nowadays, not so much.
Broken Tears: When he thinks he was the one who killed his mother. Which actually turns out to be a lie, since it was Arkarium who killed her.
Cain and Abel: Cain to Demon's Abel, naturally, and sadly, there's no reconciliation at the end.
Combat Pragmatist: His is a little different than other bosses that fit this Trope. He focuses on the player who is doing the most damage first, but if none qualify, he focuses on whoever has the least number of Brands, in effect, trying to increase them.
Cool Sword: His black sword is sharp and tough enough to chip Maha and he doesn't even have to wield it during his boss fight, as it runs circles around his foes and tries to stab them from behind.
Delicate and Sickly: According to the official Webtoon comic when he was a child.
Die or Fly: Awakens his demon powers properly when Arkarium sent his minions to Demon's home to kill Damien and his mother. Damien killed them, but Arkarium kills his mother and makes it seem like it was Damien's fault.
Dying as Yourself: When beaten in Heroes, his true personality briefly emerges, and he begs Demon to put him out of his misery. Demon sadly obliges.
Evil Counterpart: To the Demon. Half-demon warrior who serves the Black Mage and also his brother.
Eyepatch of Power: Due to being born with one blind eye. Before joining the Black Mage, he just had bangs covering it instead.
God-Eating: Tries to absorb and devour Alicia, the Transcendent Goddess of Life, and succeeds at doing so.
Hellfire: In stage two of the battle, he can spin into a flaming tornado and blast flames in both directions; stage three, he can rain deadly fire on the whole party.
Hero Killer: Managed to infiltrate Ereve and kill Shinsoo, but was thwarted by Cygnus awakening her powers. He later defeats and tries to brainwash Afrien, who collapses the cave they're in as part of his attempt to pull a Taking You with Me on Damien
Interface Screw: Mercifully, the cooldown on potions while fighting him is only 5 seconds, as opposed to the 30 second cooldown on other bosses.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Shinsoo's death, which he is responsible for, caused Empress Cygnus to awaken to her full powers, enabling her to resurrect the Divine Bird and empower the Cygnus Knights. This may have been intentional though, as the powers of the empress were meant to mature and awaken in a descendant of Cygnus, and forcing them to awake prematurely isn't necessarily a good thing.
One-Winged Angel: In the second stage of the Boss Battle, he turns into something that looks like a huge bird made of black fire; he loses some of the attacks he had in the first stage, but gains far more potent ones.
Power Degeneration: At the end of the webtoon featuring him, Alice confronts him with the revelation that his power is destroying his body.
Teleport Spam: He can teleport around the arena, and can do this from the start.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: With Damien, you have to wonder if his weapon was ever intended to be used the way swords usually are. His standard attack is to throw it, and he can make a called shot by charging it for a second or two. During the second wave, the blade can turn into several at once as he throws them, and during the third, it can lock onto a target.
Time-Delayed Death: Every time a player is hit by one of his attacks, that player gains a Brand; if a player has 7, they explode, causing automatic death. (They can be removed by using the shrine that appears during the battle.)
The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: The influence of the dark spirit of his sword gradually turns him as power hungry as his ancestors for the power of a Transcendent. By the end of Heroes of Maple, he comments that he can't even remember his mother's name and appearance and the only regret that he feels is that his evil plans have failed.
The Power of Rock: In Friendstory, he can do this, his band turning most students and some faculty (even Cyrus) into blindly loyal "rock zombies". Your weapon is converted into a Healing Shiv in order to fight them.
Turns Red: Rather than having multiple health bars like other multi phase bosses, Damien shifts to his second, more aggressive, phase either by lowering his health to 30%, or maxing out his brand mechanic.
Redemption Rejection: Demon tries to convince Damien to stop his plan to become Transcendent of Life, telling him it will only lead to the same tragedy that befell their home Masteria. However, by this point Damien is too Drunk on the Dark Side to stop and attacks Demon.
Red Eyes, Take Warning
Sequential Boss: The Boss Battle has three stages, and he gets stronger with each one, gaining new attacks each time.
Sore Loser: He becomes one in Friend Story after your band wins, refusing to apologize to 100 Boggies, his Pride creating the last (to date) Troublemaker. (He does, at least say her song was pretty good, the closest he comes to something nice.
Taken for Granite: Third wave only, but it's more dangerous than most versions in this game, as you have to enter an Action Command to break free.
The Unfought: As of right now, there have been no quests or storylines that involve fighting him directly, but given The Stinger for Black Heaven, that may change soon.
- Subverted now since He can be fought now in the last Korean MS patch. And is really hard.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Was absolutely adorable as a kid as seen when he sees snow for the first time. Flashbacks in Heroes show a happier time.
Walking Wasteland: First of all, his influence corrupts and rots the World Tree, turning the into a horrible Womb Level with monsters that resemble cancers. Then there's the Boss Battle. Starting at stage two, Damien can create a zone where opponents will gradually lose HP, potions and other consumables will be less effective, and Damien himself will take less damage.
The Workaholic: Again, he's one in Friend Story, holding down at least four part-time jobs simply to prove himself better than everyone else.

Will

Click ^here to see his boss form.

The commander responsible for splitting the successor of the Transcendent of Time into two and trapping them in the Mirror World.

His official title is "Spider King".

He is first fought by Zero at the end of their story line, and appears as a boss proper at the end of Esfera, starting from level 235.

Tropes associated with Will:

All Webbed Up: Can bind his foes by lacing the area with spider webs.
Ambiguously Human: Assuming the spider legs in his reflection and One-Winged Angel form aren't just magic for show. He's also the only Black Mage commander to be categorized as "Devil" as a boss.
Animal Motifs: Spiders. Apparent in his magic with his dark spider appendages and spider webs. Taken to its logical conclusion with his One-Winged Angel form.
The Bad Guy Wins: Although you defeat him in the depths of the Mirror World, he ultimately survives his battle and escapes even deeper into the Mirror World while leaving the player to fight against hordes of spiders that would love to eat a weakened hero alive. Meanwhile, Will was only stalling so that the Black Mage could complete his ritual to become an entity even more powerful than a Transcendent, which the Black Mage completes due to the player's failure to murder Tana, an innocent girl who was necessary for said ritual. Only the Cygnus Knights' Big Damn Heroes with Neinheart at the front managed to save the player from dying, leaving them to deal with the consequences of having to deal with an even more powerful Black Mage. On the other hand, a mysterious masked individual somehow managed to follow Will and begins to fight him as the scene ends.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: At the beginning of the story, Nine knows Will as a Captain who cannot fight. He is surprised to learn that Will is actually a powerful wizard and one of the Black Mage's commanders. As the story progresses Will's composure and patience with Alpha slowly dwindle until he shows his true colors in his boss fight.
Convenient Coma: Gets put into one following the Esfera arc. According to Neineart, he was found floating unconscious in the sea and was taken into custody. He didn't wake up until shortly before the Cernium arc.
The Dragon: Seems to replace Arkarium after his demise.
Evil Counterpart:
- Arguably to Kinesis. Both are powerful mages who enter another world, with Will trying to keep someone in and Kinesis trying to get people out. Will is also a case of White Hair, Black Heart while Kinesis has jet black hair and is undoubtedly on the good side. Will levitating his book is reminiscent of Kinesis levitating the cube in his official art, and he eventually takes up a matching mainly-black and white color scheme. Both are also "chessmasters", Will metaphorically and Kinesis literally.
- In a more straightforward way, one to Neinheart, as the most devoted follower of the Big Bad and Big Good respectively, who carries out most of the heavy lifting for them and supports them regardless of the consequences.
Faux Affably Evil: He's quite polite and kind to the Shadow Knights and Alpha at first. Even after Alpha escapes him he remains sociable and open until he drops the act near the end of the story, and he greets them calmly and politely upon meeting them again at Esfera.
Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Has no qualms repeatedly erasing Alpha's memories and lying to drive a wedge between the Zero. He has even fewer qualms with giving the player the Sadistic Choice of murdering Tana, an innocent girl who was trapped in a crystal for years, or allow the ritual which would give the Black Mage power beyond the Transcendences to complete itself.
- Scary Shiny Glasses: As a boss.
The Glasses Come Off: Loses his glasses during the last stage of his boss fight.
The Maker: He weaved the Mirror World as a tailor-made prison for the Child of God. When Alpha and Beta defeat him at the end of their story, the Mirror World goes with him before it's remade by the twins using their power as Transcendents.
The Medic: Acts as this to the Shadow Knights.
The Mirror Shows Your True Self: The reflection on the water in his final phase reveals that he has spider legs sprouting from his back that can actually attack you, forcing you to dodge attacks from both Will and his reflection. The real Will gains them in his final phase.
My Master, Right or Wrong: Like Lucid, he's fully aware that the Black Mage intends on wiping out reality and recreating it. Unlike Lucid, he still gladly does the ritual that kills Tana, and the only thing he does is lament that he couldn't beat the player in a proper fight before awaiting the Black Mage enacting his plans. During the GLORY event, Neinheart explicitly singles him out as the sole Black Mage Commander that had absolutely no qualms with the Black Mage's plan of annihilating existence.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Vocal example- he may sound like Mark Hamill in the spoken cutscenes but it's merely an impersonator.
Not So Stoic: He snaps at Fang and nearly impales him on a spider leg when he presses his buttons and says he's no longer under Will's control.
Ominous Multiple Screens: He has a room full of these where he keeps data on Zero and their priests.
One-Winged Angel: For the final phase of his boss fight, he transforms into an enormous spider for several of his attacks.
Outside-Context Problem: Zero is the only class that will recognize Will in the Esfera storyline. To every single other class, he's a completely unexpected development.
Parental Substitute: Alpha mentions that he originally saw Will as a type of gentle and wise mentor and brother figure. Of course, he realizes that it's far from the actual case.
Power Floats: Levitates above the ground for the first two phases of his boss fight and is indubitably powerful as a Black Mage Commander.
Puzzle Boss: In his first phase, health bars are divided up amongst his body in the real world and his body in the Mirror World. You have to damage him in both worlds simultaneously if you want to beat him, since he can restore his other health bars to the same condition as the highest one remaining. The only way to do this is to divide up your party to battle him in both the real world and the Mirror World at the same time by using the Moonlight Energy you obtain while fighting him to open a portal between them. His second phase also blocks all forms of recovery, forcing you to use the Moonlight Energy you obtain from fighting him to heal up.
Purple Is Powerful: Has purple eyes in his first few forms.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: His spells are all darkly colored, primarily being blood red and pitch black with some purple for good measure.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: His eyes glow red during the final phase of his boss fight.
Smart People Wear Glasses: Alpha recalls that Will loves puzzles.
Spell Book: Wields one as part of his magic in the first two phases of his battle, but he ditches it completely in the final phase.
White Hair, Black Heart: Has white hair and is obviously evil after revealing his status as a Black Mage Commander.
Would Hurt a Child: Has no qualms about being the one to sacrifice Tana.

Lucid

Lucid is a powerful dream manipulator who came in contact with the Black Mage through his dreams while he was still sealed. She was also an elf from Elluel and left shortly before the battle between the Black Mage and the Legends centuries ago. Her primary use of her power is to break apart the Maple Alliance by plaguing Maple World with nightmares of a Bad Future where the members of the Maple Alliance have turned against Maple World and allied with the Black Mage.

Her official title is "Queen of Nightmares".

She is fought as a boss at the end of Lachelin, starting from level 220.

Tropes associated with Lucid

And I Must Scream: Much like Zero Beta, Lucid was fully awake during the centuries she spent physically frozen with the rest of the Elluel elves. Unfortunately, she's no Transcendent, and the experience drove her slightly crazy.
Bullet Hell: The second phase of her boss fight is this, where she fires lots of projectiles and lasers that are almost impossible to dodge and often insta-kill any player who gets hit.
Dream Weaver: Lucid is so skilled at manipulating dreams, she can even manipulate those of the gods.
Early-Installment Weirdness: Lucid's early sprites used at around the time Shade was released◊ show her with long hair and wearing a completely different dress as well as a headband instead of a hat.
Elegant Gothic Lolita: There's the full-black outfit, and then there's the frilly dress.
Evil Counterpart: Possibly to Shade. Both were victims of causing a memory wipe, but Shade's case was involuntary while Lucid's was invoked by her own hand. Shade also caused his Ret-Gone through Heroic Sacrifice while Lucid erased the elves' memory out of selfishness.
Even Evil Has Standards: She reads the Black Mage's mind in an attempt to see the new world he intends to create, but all she sees is nothingness. Having come to the conclusion that the Black Mage actually intends to bring the world to nothingness, she decides to use his borrowed power to create a dream city with endless festivals, without sadness or pain, in an attempt to convince the Black Mage otherwise.
Happiness Is Mandatory/The Evils of Free Will: In the dream city of Lacheln, most of its citizens are perpetually enthralled with the endless festivities. Those that "wake up" from the dream are hunted by Lucid's minions and captured and turned into butterflies. And Lacheln has no exit.
Meaningful Name: As in lucid dreaming, the ability to realize one is in a dream and thus control it.
Reality Warper: Due to the unusual nature of the Arcane River, Lucid is able to use her powers to forge a "waking dream" in the form of the city of Lachelin. Her ultimate goal is to grow her powers and extend her reach beyond even the Arcane River and plunge all of Maple World into her waking dream.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After eavesdropping on Mercedes appointing Athena Pierce as the guardian of the Mistelteinn, she erased herself from everyone's memory and left the elves out of jealousy towards Athena.
Slasher Smile: Take a look at her image, which shows her giving one. This is the only way she ever smiles post-thaw and is a rather clear indication that her mind has gone awry somewhere.
Talking in Your Sleep: The Black Mage uses Lucid to confront Shade in their dreams so that he can laugh at their misfortune.
Token Good Teammate: Compared to the rest of the commanders, trying to convince her boss that maybe the world isn't so bad and he shouldn't destroy everything is as good as it gets.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Mercedes wasn't her mother, but she is shown to have wanted her respect and attention. Athena Pierce winning it over instead of her prompted Lucid to run away from Elluel.

Guard Captain Darknell

The leader of the Elite Bosses that ocassionally attack the player in maps when training.

He is fought as a boss at the end of Limina, starting from level 255.

Black Wings

An evil group that was created with the goal of resurrecting the Black Mage. They are based in Edelstein and are in control of that town, making them the reason the Resistance exist.

Tropes associated with the Black Wings:

Affably Evil: The lower ranking ones are this at best, and can be quite approachable at times. However, just how evil each is can depend on which character you're using. For instance, Le Tierre comes across as a ditzy type who is overburdened by a workload given to her by the higher-ranking Black Wings (who she is deathly afraid of) and either doesn't know or doesn't care that your player is an intruder. However, she's far more competent and dangerous to players using a Mercedes or Phantom character, as she attempts to lead both into a trap for one quest for each character.
Bad Boss: It's heavily implied that the higher ones often mistreat the lower ones; for example, when Le Tierre asks you to catch Eleanor's pet cockatrice, she's terrified of what Eleanor might do to her if it gets away.
Dating Catwoman: Almost, but not quite. Resistance member Elex has a crush on Black Wing watchman and technician Leonore, but his attempts to woo her become Epic Fails. (For example, he cooks Serpent Tails for her and tells the player to bring them to her, but she's disgusted because she thinks Serpents are "cute loveable creatures".) Though this is mostly a ploy to try and get close to her in order to extract information out of her.
A Death in the Limelight: They are the major antagonists of Black Heaven, and nearly all of its major leaders make an appearance; all fall to the player and the story ends with the Black Wings all but completely dismantled.
The Guards Must Be Crazy: Not only do most of the Black Wings in the mine trust the player entirely (most of the time) their biggest asset is also a liability. They keep the Council President of Eidenstein in line by holding his daughter Gabrielle hostage, but Gabrielle is feeding the Resistance information while still a prisoner, going so far as to refuse rescue in order to keep most of the villains put.
Mooks: Rabbit mooks!
- Mecha-Mooks: Used primarily in Black Heaven.
In Name Only: Contrary to popular belief, Orchid is the only Black Mage Commander with any real affiliation with them.
Those Wacky Nazis: The occupation of Edelstein, a country with seemingly German inspiration, mixed with the general uniforms of the Black Wings seems to invoke this. Orchid, the general, even has a German officer hat with a small winged brooch on the front.
Would Hurt a Child: Xenon and Baryl were kidnapped as children to be converted into androids. Not to mention poor, poor Vita. Black Heaven takes this one step further, as Gelimer is willing to bomb a park full of innocent children.

Orca/Orchid

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maplestory-orchid_503.png

The defacto leader of the Black Wings and also a commander of the Black Mage. Has a brother named Lotus who is also a commander. Her and her brother's backstories are relieved in the official Webtoon comic. You can read an English translation of it here.

Her official title is 'Wing Master'.

Tropes associated with Orchid:

Ambiguously Human: Formerly she and her brother was an incorporeal shadow-spirit, given a human form by the White Mage. While she was overjoyed to have such a new body, he was more cautious, seeing a downside. (As it turned out, he was more correct than even he knew; this was why Gelimer was able to control him.)
Animal Motifs: Rabbits seem to be a thing with her. She wears rabbit hair decorations and employs uplifted rabbits as the primary mooks in her army.
Badass Adorable: She looks like the most harmless of all the Commanders, and she even has cute hair decs to match, but in reality, she is almost as scheming as Arkarium and just as ruthless, only sparing thought for her twin brother. A cutscene in the Black Heaven update gives the player a glimpse of how far she takes the badass part of this trope when she single-handedly stops Gelimer from carpet-bombing Edelstein by psychically intercepting all the warheads fired from his warship before making them explode harmlessly in the sky.
Became Their Own Antithesis: Before Lotus was reanimated by Gelimer, she was incredibly bossy and often made death threats to Gelimer when she felt that he needed to accelerate Lotus' resurrection. She was also strong enough to match Mercedes in fair combat. After she was Depowered and right until Francis broke into the Resistance base to find her during the Black Heaven update, she was completely shattered and incapable of even leaving the Resistance base on her own.
Cast from Lifespan: Guwaru explains in Tenebris that using her powers as a spirit of darkness without Lotus chips away at her lifespan. After she, the Adversary and Cygnus defeat the Black Mage, the Adversary confronts her about this and she reveals that while she did burn alot of her lifespan, she's still an ancient spirit of darkness, which means that she's only down to about 100 years, which is still implied to be far less than what it should be, but Orchid herself is content with it as she muses it might be interesting living like a human.
Coat Cape: Taken to ridiculous lengths in Friends Story, where she does exactly the same with her school jacket but wears a pullover on top of her school uniform. Averted after she escaped from the Resistance base during the Black Heaven update.
Cooldown Hug: Delivers one to Lotus during the climax of Black Heaven.
Depower: Orchid temporarily lost all her powers after Gelimer tried, but failed, to kill her using Lotus' body, leaving her critically wounded. She was hit by this trope so hard that despite technically being a prisoner of the Resistance, she was allowed to move around freely in their base because she had absolutely no power to escape.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Her twin brother Lotus.
Guest-Star Party Member: Contributes in Phase 3 of Black Mage's boss fight, occassionally attacking to deal extra damage to him.
Half-Identical Twins: With Lotus.
Heel–Face Turn: Although she does still seem to be interested in returning to the Black Mage so he can turn her and Lotus back into spirits during Black Heaven, afterwards she's come to realize that the Black Mage has been orchestrating all of the events in Maple World so far, which means to an extent that arranged Lotus' death.
Morality Adjustment: Officially, the Black Wings was founded by her to resurrect the Black Mage, but her real reason for founding them was to resurrect her twin brother, Lotus. When Gelimer reanimated Lotus and used him to attack her, temporarily stripping her of her powers and leaving her for dead, she was discovered by the Resistance and resided in their underground base until the Black Heaven update. Even though there is no in-game information specifically stating that she has joined the Resistance, she still gave them and, by extension, the Alliance, the information they needed to locate the Evolving System and single-handedly stopped Gelimer from carpet-bombing Edelstein, implying that she is no longer that much of a villain.
Older Than They Look: Hasn't seemed to age at all since she looks the same now as she did hundreds of years ago. Might have something to do with the fact that she's actually a spirit of darkness in a human body.
Power Floats: Prior to the Black Heaven update, the only time you see her standing on the ground is in an old photo that the Demon found in Francis's diary during one of his storyline quests, a tutorial quest for Monster Life and after she was Depowered. She seems to have lost this entirely as of the Black Heaven update.
Rich Bitch: Her counterpart in Friend Story is one, but when you talk to her, you discover she has Hidden Depths. Like the Maple World Orchid, she mourns her deceased brother.
Third-Person Person: Often refers to herself by her own name. She seems to refer to herself in first person more often following her recovery.
The Bus Came Back: She is revealed to be the Masked Figure in the Arcane River in Tenebris.

Francis the Puppeteer

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/francis_7.jpg

Resident Butt-Monkey and Orchid's most loyal subordinate. As his title implies he uses puppets in combat but... he's not very good at it to say the least.

Tropes associated with Francis

All Love Is Unrequited: Orchid could likely care less about his affection towards her, although she does appreciate having a Professional Butt-Kisser around.
Asian and Nerdy: His Friendstory counterpart is just as, if not even more awkward than the mainstream version.
Butt-Monkey: His defining trait. He gets kicked around in nearly every story arc he appears in and is often sent running off in tears. He's barely a villain and is mainly there for comic relief. It's even acknowledged in-universe.
Neinheart: Francis? the Puppeteer? The one everyone picks on?
Cutscene Incompetence: He's actually a rather difficult boss for low-level characters, using the incredibly annoying move Seduce to paralyze your character for a few seconds. In the storylines, however, he's a complete joke.
Cutting the Gordian Knot: He attempts to play the shell game with the Alliance by hiding himself amongst several clones, only for Oz to blast all of them with fire, making him panic and causing the illusion to wear off.
In the Hood: He even wears it in Friendstory!
Stalker with a Crush: His Friendstory self.
Terms of Endangerment: In Friendstory he keeps screwing up his proposal notes due to his clumsiness and sweaty, nervous hands, making him come off as a creepy stalker to everyone but the player.
Throw the Dog a Bone: While he gets beaten up by just about everyone, Evan instead helps him recover from a previous beating.
Undying Loyalty: His other defining trait. He is 100% loyal to Orchid and no amount of punishment, torture, or insults will ever change that. Orchid finally acknowledges this in the ending of Black Heaven. It even carries over to his alternate universe counterpart in Friendstory where he's Orchid's #1 fan and is just too shy to ask her out.
Villain Decay: When he was first introduced when the Cygnus Knights came out, he was at least portrayed as a major threat to Victoria Island and the at the time low-level player. By the time of Phantom's release however, it's apparent that he's the lowest rung on the Black Wings and most of his Butt-Monkey traits become more apparent from then on.

Suu/Lotus

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maplestory-lotus_5959.jpg

^{Click here}to see his Black Heaven appearance.

Twin brother of Orchid, a commander of the Black Mage that has fallen into a permanent sleep after Phantom battled him after he killed Aria. For a time, he existed as a free-roaming soul, working to eliminate all knowledge of the Black Mage from history, but was slaved to Gelimer's commands after the latter reanimated his body. After he was defeated by the player character and Orchid severed Gelimer's control over his body during the Black Heaven update, Gelimer hit a killswitch that shut down his body, presumably sending him into a Cessation of Existence. However as of the Black Mage update, his soul is summoned to fight again by Hilla during her boss battle.

Lotus (Suu in the original Korean version) and Orchid's backstories are relieved in the official Webtoon comic. You can read an English translation of it here.

He is fought as a boss at the end of the Black Heaven blockbuster, after which he can be challenged starting from level 190.

Tropes associated with Lotus:

Ambiguously Human: Same deal as Orchid.
Astral Projection: The state he existed in from the time Phantom defeated him until Gelimer reanimated his body.
An Astral Projection, Not a Ghost: His body was still alive, preserved by Gelimer.
Back from the Dead: Hilla resurrects him to serve her in the Tenebris labyrinth.
Background Boss: The first phase of his boss battle he is still plugged into Black Heaven and you attack his containment while the defense systems fight back. Once you clear the first phase, you break him out and can start fighting him directly proper.
Body Snatcher: His method of combat without a body is to seize total control over another person and use their body instead.
Cessation of Existence: It is very heavily implied during the conclusion of Black Heaven that he has simply ceased to exist. Unlike the time when Phantom sent him into a deep sleep, his body now disappears with him. This would ultimately subverted as Verus Hilla summons his soul during her boss fight.
Defeating the Undefeatable: Meta-Example, believe it or not. At present, no party has ever defeated him on Hard Mode, and those who have done so on Normal Mode are few and far between.
Dub Name Change: Suu to Lotus.
Dude Looks Like a Lady: See this image◊. In the Korean version, he also has a female voice actor.
Dying as Yourself: He breaks free of his mind control after the players beat him in Act 6 of Black Heaven. He even manages to hug his sister one last time before Gelimer uses a device to force him to fade from existence.
Evil Counterpart: To Phantom. Looks quite similar to Phantom and is also a thief. Also became sort of a phantom himself for a time.
Half-Identical Twins: With Orchid.
Heel–Face Door-Slam: He dies after telling Orchid about his desire to stay human, which might imply this.
Irony: His body ended up under the control of Gelimer.
Symbiosis: The Black Heaven is pretty much a magical airship with him as the engine, his powers fueling the core via a type of that combines technology with unholy black magic. This is why attempts to sneak up on the giant craft fail; Francis outright states that Lotus is the Black Heaven, making the whole enormous airship an extension of his powers.
Marathon Boss: Was the hardest boss in the game when first introduced in the Black Heaven update. How hard? Try 8.1 Trillion Health! See his entry for That One Boss in the YMMV tab for more details.
Mind Control: But severely limited to the Weak-Willed. The strength of the domination increases the closer the person is to his real body, leading him to successfully possess Phantom when the thief barges into Orchid's chambers.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Bubbly, curious, and happy-go-lucky during his days as a spirit of darkness. He became cold and unfeeling after gaining a human form, murdering Empress Aria on a whim despite being specifically ordered to only meet with her.

Gelimer

The Black Wings' resident Mad Scientist. He's responsible for most of their scientific advancements.

Tropes associated with Gelimer:

Accidental Discovery: One of his initial inventions was supposed to be a hair tonic for his baldness. He ended up creating a mind control gas that would either turn whoever breathes it into a mindless puppet or kill them. And his plan in Black Heaven is to drop bombs loaded with the stuff on the Maple World.
But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When confronted about his murder of Vita by the Resistance classes, he merely dismisses the fact and can't even remember her name, much to the Resistance's anger.
Crazy-Prepared: Just in case Lotus was somehow beaten, he lined his control room with poison gas emitters so he could incapacitate any who tried to chase him while he got away due to his gas mask.
Fatal Flaw: He undermines emotions and attempts to remove them from his creations, but more than once his own creations either develop emotions or access emotions that he thought he had suppressed, causing them to turn on him. This especially bites him in the ass at the end of Black Heaven when his robots, who he had just set to self-destruct, latch onto his escape pod because of their emotional attachment to their "father". This makes one wonder why he even bothers creating such intricately intelligent robots. In fact, it's reasonable to assume that many A.I.s that develop emotions do their best to hide it, so there may be many more than Gelimer is aware of...
Hoist by His Own Petard/ Karmic Death: By killing Suu/Lotus, Orca/Orchid gained his powers, allowing her to save Edelstein from Black Heaven's bombs. And shortly afterwards, after setting his Generoids to self-destruct, he attempts to escape, only for the Generoids to latch onto his escape pod and beg their "father" to take them with him. The player has no qualms with using the last of their strength to launch Gelimer and blow him up in midair.
Hate Sink: Definitely is intended to be this, seeing as he is less likable than even Arkarium.
I Was Quite a Looker: Seriously.◊
Mad Scientist: A particularly cruel and sadistic one for such a cutesy art-style.
No Historical Figures Were Harmed: From his experimentations on children to being a mad scientist working for discount Nazis, It's hard not to make comparisons to Mengele in regards to Gelimer.
Security Blanket: This guy carries a teddy bear with him, and has done so since he was a young man. Not much attention is given to it, so one can only assume this is why he needs it.
The Starscream: He has his own ambitions in the works, which all come to head in Black Heaven, where he constructs a giant battleship in order to conquer the Maple World. As per usual with the trope, he ultimately fails.
Unwilling Roboticisation: Did this to Xenon and Beryl. Black Heaven shows that he made more.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Gelimer started his path to where he is today when urged by his commanding officer to expand his work onto living subjects. Irvin feels that maybe Gelimer might have turned out a better person if he had done more to prevent this.
Irvin: No one is evil from the start, but one wrong step can change everything.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: His notes seem to suggest his original goal was to accelerate the evolution of humans; however, the same notes also show a gradual descent into madness where he likely forgot any good intentions.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Technically, this Trope has little meaning for Gelimer, as he considers humans, nonhumans, and robots equally worthless. As far as robots are concerned, however, he tries to prevent his own from developing emotions, destroying any whom he suspects are starting to. Ironically, this policy comes back to bite him twice in Black Heaven, once when the player gets aid from two fugitive robots who escaped being scrapped for this reason, and again at the conclusion, when his loyal Generoids turn out to be too loyal, and beg him not to leave, leading to him caught in their self-destruct blast.
Would Hurt a Child: Aside from experimenting on Xenon since he was a child in order to turn him into a cyborg, during the Resistance storyline, he uses Vita to lure the player character into a trap with the intention of killing them both.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Has a tendency to inflict this.
- When Vita is discovered to be a Manchurian Agent, he rigs her up to a bomb with the intent of blowing up both her and the player.
- When Beryl fails to apprehend Xenon for the last time, she fully expects this to happen to her once she returns.
- When Suu/Lotus breaks free of his mind control, he kills him on the spot in his sister's arms.
- This gets turned against him in the end when he sets his cyborgs to self-destruct while he escapes, only for the cyborgs to latch onto his escape pod.

The Root Abyss

Four powerful demons placed in the Root Abyss by Damien as jailers to guard the spirit of the World Tree. Defeating all four is necessary to rescue her.

They can be fought starting from level 125, with their harder Chaos difficulies unlocking after level 180.

Tropes Associated With All Four

Alice Allusion: Much like the World Tree herself, there's a definite Wonderland theme present, including being at the bottom of a hole known as the Root Abyss.
Axe-Crazy: Vellium seems to be the sanest of the lot and even he pushes the limits.
Chaos Is Evil: Their Chaos forms are far more powerful than their Normal ones.
Four Is Death
I Can't Do This by Myself: Fighting these bosses required a party of more than one, due to the large amount of XP granted. They can now be done in a party of just one, although a player not in a party will still state it's too dangerous for them if they try to enter.
Obviously Evil: Yeah, pretty easy to see that these guys mean the player no good.

Von Bon

Occupying the Temporal Crevasse, Von Bon is said to be the weakest of the four, not that this makes him a pushover.

Tropes associated with Von Bon

Affably Evil: If you die during his last phase of Chaos mode, unlike similar bosses like Magnus, Von Bon will stop the meteors and step out of the battle to give you time to rebuff. This seems fairly generous of him until you realizes waits for much longer than anyone would reasonably need to rebuff before starting the battle again, in a battle where running out of time is highly likely to happen...
Expy: Of the White Rabbit, given his suit and obsession with time.
Ground Pound: A vicious one that kills the player instantly if they're not in the air.
Spin Attack: He does this when reduced to about a fourth of his health; this does damage, knocks his foes backwards, and makes him almost impossible to hurt. In Chaos Mode this also causes meteors to begin raining down.
Time Master: Sort of; he can alter the flow of time, but not very well. Frequently during the Boss Battle, a glowing clock appears in the arena; if Von Bon steps into the fast-forwarding clock, one minute is subtracted from the timer; if he steps into the rewinding clock, one minute is subtracted. He stops doing this when he uses his spinning.
Total Party Kill: In Chaos Mode, he sometimes summons a phantom duplicate of himself. If this Disembodied Von Bon is not destroyed in a certain amount of time, all players will die instantly.

Pierre

A Monster Clown residing within the Afternoon Tea Table, and the most brutal of the bosses.

Tropes associated with Pierre

Cats Are Magic: His cat Tricky perches outside his arena, and is a Quest Giver for quests concerning Pierre, like "inviting" the players to his parties.
Combat Pragmatist: The other three Root Abyss bosses don't appear or wake up until you interact with something, but with Pierre, the fight starts as soon as you enter the arena. Also, he always focuses his attacks on one player, and tries to choose one with the same color hat as his, if he can.
Expy: Of the Mad Hatter, given his obsession with hats and tea parties.
Faux Affably Evil: He gives the players a warm, exuberant "WELCOME!" before attacking them.
Kill It with Fire: When he switches to his blue hat, he can spin and cause flames to rise on the floor.
Kaizo Trap: Those hats are still dangerous even after he's reduced to zero HP.
Laughing Mad: He has a guttural, throaty, laugh, and laughs throughout the Boss Battle.
Me's a Crowd: When Chaos Pierre's health gets low, he splits into two Pierres of opposite colors and continue to fight like that, swapping every so often. They can revive each other so they must be killed at the same time and since the hat mechanic is always in play here, a solo player is going to have to use some kind of Loophole Abuse to actually kill them because they will always be in a state where their attacks will only hurt one and heal the other. ^note
Nasty Party: His cat Tricky often invites the players to his master's tea party, which is, of course, a Boss Battle.
Teleport Spam: When he switches to his red hat, he can teleport next to a player and make three attacks with his umbrella.
Parasol of Pain: His weapon, it can stun a foe
Weaponized Headgear: His hat can be used two ways:
- The first drops five or six hats from above; a player hit has about ten seconds to break free before being Petrified.
- He can also place a red or blue hat on players; if attacked by a player wearing the same color hat, he is healed of any damage he would have taken.

Crimson Queen

The wicked queen sleeps within the Queen's Castle until "guests" awaken her; she entertains them with quick death.

Tropes associated with Crimson Queen

Attack Reflector: In Sorrowful Mode only, but it's hard to crack.
Boss Banter: She has several lines, and quotes one before switching faces; these can serve as a warning. "I'll be your opponent" comes before she changes to Simmering, "I'll destroy you all!" for Joyous, "Feel my pain!" comes before Sorrowful, and "To Ashes!" before Wrathful.
Breath Weapon: Her Wrathful Face breathes powerful fire that does 50,000 damage to the player, but is reduced dispersed evenly among players hit by it (for example, if 2 players take damage, they will take 25,000 damage each).
Combat Pragmatist: In Wrathful mode her claws cause Blindness, which gives the player limited vision, a deadly combination with her Breath Weapon, which she also uses in Wrathful. (It's far harder to avoid it if you can't see her.)
Cool Crown: Not only does she wear one, she might drop the Queen's Tiara, a powerful piece of equipment.
Evil Is Bigger: She's a giant, even taller than Vellum.
Expy: Of the Queen of Hearts.
Femme Fatalons: Her main weapons are her claws, and they have a different effect depending on which face she currently has. Simmering Seals your Skills, Wrathful causes blindness, and they Poison in Sorrowful and Joyous.
Forced Transformation: Countess Porkina is a victim of this; she was a common Maple Pig before the Queen turned her into a half-pig-half-woman creature to be her servant.
God Save Us from the Queen!: Although, she isn't really the queen of anything except her garden and chamber.
Hypno Ray: In Simmering mode, she creates a mirror which will force players to walk towards it, instantly killing them on contact and healing the Crimson Queen. This can be prevented if the mirror is destroyed by another member of the party.
Faux Affably Evil: When woken up, she gives a warm welcome to her guests, followed by, "Please allow me to mourn over your imminent demise!"
Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: The royal ballroom gown she wears is pretty cool, and doesn't impair her at all.
Kill It with Fire: In Chaos mode, she can set an enemy on fire, dealing a certain amount of damage over time, and she can do it multiple times, repeatedly for additional damage.
Kaizo Trap: The mirror still works after she's reduced to zero HP, potentially becoming this. Also, her damage over time prevents you from switching into drop gear until you let yourself die. Thankfully, these deaths don't count against your 5 lives.
Mad Bomber: In Chaos mode, she can hurl explosive "Heart Bombs" at you.
Monstrous Cannibalism: It is strongly hinted that she keeps Countess Porkina in line by threatening to cook and eat her.
Multiple Head Case: She has four faces, Joyous, Wrathful, Sorrowful, and Simmering, each with its own attack.
Shockwave Stomp: In Joyous Mode, she makes the ground tremble, slowing enemies down.
Tears of Blood: In KMP, she does this when beaten; it was taken out for GMS.
You Shall Not Evade Me: In Chaos mode, Joyous Crimson Queen can use her breath to "vacuum" players towards her to be diced with her claws.

Vellum

The leader of the four, Vellum is a true monster guarding the altar that holds the World Tree captive.

Tropes associated with Vellum

Achilles' Heel: While his breath is deadly, he cannot move or adjust his aim while making this attack, and is thus vulnerable to a player's attacks.
Breath Weapon: He breathes a powerful blast of flames that is usually enough to kill most players in one hit; in Chaos mode, he has a variant that can wipe out every player on the field who is not directly under him, the one safe spot. When he is reduced to about a fourth of his health, he can breath several smaller bursts at once.
Collapsing Ceiling Boss: This is another guy who causes rocks to fall during the whole fight.
Cowardly Boss: He spends much of the fight burrowing underground where the player's can't harm him, surfacing only to attack. As a result he actually gets a little easier as his health starts getting low and he starts using more attacks, because those attacks keep him above ground and vulnerable for longer.
Deadly Gas: He creates this when his health is reduced significantly; it can inflict Poison.
Dig Attack: When he surfaces, he deals damage to anyone under him, and can inflict Stun; he can also leap out and dive back in a large distance, dealing as much damage as the fire attack.
Expy: Of the Jabberwok.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Boy can this guy get angry... His threats make the whole cavern shake.
Improbable Aiming Skills: Vellum has perfect Accuracy, making Evasion skills worthless against him.
Kaizo Trap: If you reduce him to zero HP while he's in the middle of an attack, he still gets to finish the attack, and can potentially kill your character. This guy is just too mean to know he's beat.
Rock Monster: He looks like a huge dragon-serpent hybrid, made of stone.
Wakeup Call Boss: Chaos Vellum is likely to be the first major roadblock a player will face in their bossing progression, even being a noticable step up from the other three bosses, Vellum is the first boss in power progression to have a signifigant amount of defense, which will stop players in their tracks if they haven't acquired a high defense ignore stat.

Black Mage's Elite Bosses

This folder is under construction.

Mogadin the Black Knight

Khaliain the Mad Mage

Jurai the Vicious Hunter

CQ57 the Rampant Cyborg

Freyd the Bad Brawler

Grandis Villains/Darmoor and Apostles

Gerand Darmoor

Grandis world's own Transcendence of Life. He reigns over Heliseum with Magnus and various others as his commanders.

Tropes associated with Darmoor:

Big Bad: Of the Grandis saga.
Evil Counterpart:
- To Edea, both being the heads of armies trying to claim the land around them for the good of their races; however, while Edea is leading a siege to take back Heliseum with the assistance of multiple races and has relatively little firepower, Darmoor possesses a gigantic army of High Flora looking to take over Grandis through genocide and fear.
- On a lesser note, to Mercedes, as she's the Queen of Elves while Darmoor is the King of the High Flora, seeing as how the Flora are the Grandis equivalent to elves.
The Dreaded: Keep in mind that according to the Grandis saga teaser, this guy managed to instill true fear into Magnus.
Four Eyes, Zero Soul: When he is posing as Aaron at least, he wears glasses.
The Ghost: Though mentioned often in plot, especially when playing a Nova character, we have never seen Darmoor. While he has began to appear more often as of late, it's in a Face Framed in Shadow situation.
- Not anymore as of the Cernium arc, where he is actually shown!
Greater-Scope Villain: Magnus may be the one calling all the punches for the Nova storylines, but Darmoor is the one commanding him in the first place. He's also the one supplying Magnus with tools to destroy things.
Last of His Kind: He was stated to be the last (known) High Flora after the war between them and the Verdant Flora, having revived because of his Transcendent abilities. Eventually retconned, as there's now an army of them in present time.
Light Is Not Good: Like the Black Mage before him. Darmoor is constantly haloed in bright light, even when discussing genocide or ominously talking to himself.
Omnicidal Maniac: According to him, the only way to achieve "peace" in Grandis is to cause a complete genocide of whichever race won't submit to the High Flora's "superiority".
Power Gives You Wings: Whenever he's shown with his Face Framed in Shadow, it is always due to the blinding light of his immense and strangely shaped High Flora wings. If his own story he gives while posing as Aaron is to be beleived, he once tried to rip his own wings off, only for them to grow back bigger than ever due to his immense power, hence the unusual shape of them.
Sanity Slippage: While he likely wasn't that all there in the head to begin with, it's implied that being horrifically killed and revived in the battle that all but nearly wiped out the High Flora was the last push he needed to become an all out Omnicidal Maniac.
Spell My Name With An S: "Gerald" or "Gerand"? It varies from dialogue to dialogue.
Tyrant Takes the Helm: The previous Flora king was usurped and killed by Darmoor. All that followed occurred.
Would Hurt a Child: Remotely, anyway. It's stated Darmoor was so desperate for soldiers during the early states of the war that minors were allowed to enlist in the High Flora army. Specific ones would be Albaire and Ark.

Velderoth

Kaiser's and Angelic Buster's childhood friend. After being trashed by Magnus even with the backup of Kaiser and Angelic Buster (though there weren't near their full power yet), he leaves Pantheon to become stronger to defeat Magnus. Unfortunately, he loses sight of his goal and instead joins Magnus's forces, becoming what he hated most.

Tropes associated with Velderoth:

Became Their Own Antithesis: Started the Helisium Force to liberate the home of the Nova from Magnus the Betrayer's grasp. He eventually betrays his friends and joins Magnus in his occupation of the city before finally fighting Kaiser in a duel to the death. Though Kaiser ultimately lets him run off in shame, never to be seen again.
Can't Catch Up: Gets hit with this hard over the course of Kaiser and Angelic Buster's stories. Your accomplishments don't look like much when your friends have been bestowed with the powers of a legendary hero and a Dragon God respectively. His feelings of frustration are even displayed on his sprite, which gradually goes from smiling, to disappointed, to flat out depressed, to full on scowling after his Face–Heel Turn.
Defeat Equals Friendship: A rare villainous example. He joins Magnus's forces after being beaten by him during Kaiser's and Angelic Buster's storylines. However, this fact is not apparent until much later.
Face–Heel Turn: One of the most tragic ones in the series.
Gameplay and Story Integration: As mentioned earlier, his expression changes as Kaiser and Angelic Buster's stories continue. His evens sprite vanishes from its usual spot in Pantheon after he leaves.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: Velderoth's sprite still shows up in Pantheon if you're playing anyone other than Kaiser or Angelic Buster though, even years after the Nova storyline was released.
Green-Eyed Monster: He was envious of Kaiser's powers, spurring him to leave on his training trip in the first place. Unfortunately, this jealousy turned into hatred, making him join Magnus's forces.
Hard Work Hardly Works: Has this opinion upon seeing Kaiser and Angelic Buster in action. No matter how hard he tried, he was never able to catch up to the two who had their powers bestowed upon them, leading to his Face–Heel Turn out of jealousy and misunderstanding.
Light Is Not Good: He seems to coat his sword strikes in white light in some of his attacks.
Lightning Bruiser: Hits hard and fast. While many bosses have to stop moving to attack, he can hit you from half way across the room while dashing to close the distance so he can land more hits. He also has an above-average amount of health for a boss at this level.
Mirror Character: To Magnus, both being turncoats who betray their allies to defect to another side and gain more power.
More than Mind Control: He willingly joined Magnus' side after being defeated by him.
Purple Is Powerful: Inverted, he ends up as the weakest of his friends due to not being bequeathed any additional power until his Face–Heel Turn.
Put on a Bus: He escapes his fight with Kaiser/Angelic Buster alive and is last mentioned to be leaving Heliseum. Whether or not he'll come back is up in the air.
Spin Attack: Many of his attacks involve spinning in a circle.
Technicolor Fire: He can also cover his sword in black flames.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Used to be an idealist who dreamed of freeing Helisium and becoming a hero, but his jealousy overcame him after repeated defeats at the hands of Magnus and his feelings of powerlessness due to Kyle inheriting the powers of Kaiser instead of him.
Wake-Up Call Boss: Of Magnus's Lieutenants. While the other two could be handled without much trouble, Velderoth is much harder at the level you're supposed to be fighting him. Don't be surprised if he hits for 9000-15000 damage per hit, enough to 2-Shot most Kaisers at that stage of the game. His health bar is nothing to sneeze at either. Hope you brought your potions, you're going to need them. Don't even get started about how hard ''his'' boss is.
We Used to Be Friends: With Kaiser and Angelic Buster.
Winged Humanoid: All the Nova are this.

Victor and Treglow

Magnus' other lieutenants. Originally the guards of Heliseum, they were tricked by Magnus into pledging their allegiance in exchange for what they desired the most; something Magnus took advantage of, driving Treglow insane in his pursuit of creating life and trapping Victor in a magic canvas.

Dismantled Macguffin: They both carry pieces of the key to the upper levels of Heliseum castle.
Face–Heel Turn: They were originally two of the three Heliseum Guardians, alongside Edea. Magnus managed to trick both of them into serving him.
I Die Free: Possibly. Victor's spirit seems to leave the canvas once he's defeated.
Mad Artist: Victor.
Mad Scientist: Treglow.
Sanity Slippage: It's implied with Victor and all but stated with Treglow that Magnus' schemes drove both of them to insanity.
Was Once a Man: Victor was originally a Novan artist. He's now trapped within the canvas Magnus gave him.

Mr. Hazard

Darius

Les Collaborateurs: Is a Verdant Flora, but side with Darmoor.

Sinaria

Les Collaborateurs

General Limbo

A specter taking the form of a high flora working under Darmoor.

Humanoid Abomination: He looks like a regular high flora, but he is actually a specter.
Slasher Smile: Gives a pretty disturbing one in one of the CGs for Ark's flashback cutscenes (to the point it's the page image for Maplestory's nightmare fuel subpage).
Was Once a Man: Likely was a mere high flora before becoming a specter.

Albaire

Ark's former companion and friend, still working under Darmoor's army.

The Dragon: Brigadier General Limbo's lieutenant.
I Gave My Word: He said he'd protect Ark, no matter what. When Ark was about to be turned into a Specter for going AWOL, he intervened and stopped it mid-transformation.
We Used to Be Friends: Best friends, in fact. Upon meeting Ark again, he tries to kill him.

Kaling

A (seemingly) young Anime girl who runs an information-brokering agency in Cheong-woon, secretly an Apostle of Gerand Darmoor.

She can be fought as a boss at the end of Shangri-La, starting from level 275.

Berserk Button: Do not call her short.
Black Eyes of Crazy: It's difficult to see, but the eye furthest from the camera has black sclera and a yellow iris.
Collector of the Strange: She collects powerful monsters so she can use their powers for herself. Hoyoung's final class quest reveals that she's "collected" at least one of the remaining three Perils.
Evilutionary Biologist: It's implied that all of the hybrid creatures in Yum Yum Island are the result of her experimenting. And it's explicitly revealed that the Four Perils were her creations.
Foreshadowing: She takes interest in Hoyoung once he brandishes his master's fan, and her stamp appears on the screen every time Taotie consumes an escaped spirit. The former indicates that she knows who Hoyoung's master is and his relation to Taotie, and the latter foreshadows her appearance at the end of his class storyline, suggesting she was watching Hoyoung's journey and waiting for them to fully restore Taotie's power.
Little Bit Beastly: She appears to have animal ears and came from an Anima village suggesting she is, or at least was one, however fellow anima Gri no longer recognizes her as one likely due to the experiments done to her.
Parasol of Prettiness: She's always seen with a parasol that resembles a panda.
Was Once a Man: She was involved in a failed experiment to create an artifical Adversary, leaving her ageless and unstable.
Wolfpack Boss: In the first phase of her boss fight, the player has to face three of the four perils in sperate simultaneous instances, dividing their time and/or the party to fight them all, in the third phase of her boss fight, the player fights her and the three perils all at once.

Veronica

Havoc

Darmoor's First Apostle of Lightning, and the Arc Villain of the Cernium questline.

Angler Company

A business dedicated towards dealing arms around Grandis, known for their cruelty. Lead by the patriarch Alter Angler, with his children Senya and Nicky/T-Boy, and formerly Laha and Cosim.

Arc Villain: Senya of the Detective Rave questline, Nicky of Reverse City, as T-Boy.
Unexplained Recovery: Barr shoots T-Boy in the face with a sniper rifle during Reverse City, with blood noted to be on the monitor when given to the player. Nicky however appears later with only a scar.

Other Monsters and Antagonists

Lord Balrog

A demonic beast that was once sealed in the Underground Temple in Sleepywood long ago, it has been resurrected from the darkness via unknown means. If not sealed again, Maple World is in grave danger.

He can be fought as a boss starting from level 65.

Tropes associated with Lord Balrog

Attack Reflector: Only when reduced to 50% HP, but when that happens, it can be lethal, given the level of players at the time.
Breaking the Bonds: It’s trying to do this. When each limb is reduced to zero HP, the chains around it are re-secured, and when all limbs are secured, the body is vulnerable.
Cognizant Limbs: Its arms and body are separate, and you have to defeat all of them in turn.
Healing Factor: It can heal itself of a massive amount of damage every few minutes; hitting the nearby pillars can halt this.
Hero Killer: The legendary hero Tristan defeated it in the first place, but sacrificed himself to do so. He lives on as a benign spirit.
Lone Wolf Boss: It seems to have no connection to the Black Mage at all. In fact, it wants to rule Maple World itself.
Monster Progenitor: While not outright stated, he's a huge version of a Barlog, smaller demons that are seen often in the game.
Obviously Evil: Guy's got horns, wings, big claws, the whole Evil package.
Sealed Evil in a Can: And the players have to keep it sealed.
Stationary Boss: This guy is way too big to move, so he stays still, attacking the players with magic.
Unintentionally Unwinnable: Currently, there are two quests involving it that are impossible to complete due to the level cutoff. Both require defeating it 200 times, which cannot be done without passing the cutoff level and no longer having access to the quest.

Zakum

Once a peaceful tree spirit who lived deep in the minds of El Nath, Zakum was corrupted by the greed of humans who tore the caves apart in search of ore. After subjugating the townsfolk, it forced them to build it a powerful body out of stone. Since then, the now-evil spirit resides in the statue, and has recently woken up once more.

The upgrade into v.172.2.0 has greatly changed Zakum, making him far more powerful in Chaos Mode, but made the experience and treasure rewarded better.

He can be fought as a boss starting from level 90, with an easy mode for training at level 50.

Tropes associated with Zakum

Bad with the Bone: His attacks not only drop rocks but large ribcages (from some large, unknown animal) on the players.
Collapsing Ceiling Boss: Originally, this occurred through the entire fight; after the upgrade, only when his arms are blown off, but they do much more damage.
Convection, Schmonvection: Ironically enough, his lair is one of the few places in the Dead Mine where lava can’t hurt you at all, being there just for show.
Didn't Need Those Anyway!: He's actually far more dangerous without its arms.
Elemental Powers: Originally, he attacked with lightning, fire, and ice. He uses mostly physical attacks after the revamp, but can still set the floor on fire, which can kill you quickly unless you hop on the platforms.
Giant Foot of Stomping: Giant hands of stomping! And once he loses them, he doesn’t need limbs to do it at all! He can also smash a player between them once he loses about 50% health.
Mook Maker: Originally, he could summon waves of small, flying Moai to attack the players; seeing as they were more of an annoyance than a threat to most players, this stopped post-revamp.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Zigzagged. Originally, his six arms were destroyed fast, and he could only be hurt afterwards. However, after the revamp, they cannot be blown off until his health is reduced to about 25%, and before that, are lethal, able to squash even high level characters flat instantly.
Lone Wolf Boss: Maybe. When defeated on chaos Mode, two of the Black Mage’s henchmen appear and make an ominous threat. Possibly, he was planning to recruit him.
Starter Villain: Seeing as you can access Easy Mode as early as Level 50, he’s likely the first major Boss you’ll come across.
Stationary Boss: Originally, he was this, given its size and shape. Post-revamp, he can move clumsily once its arms are blown off, and can crush a player under his bulk.
Took a Level in Badass: AND HOW! Originally an unintentional joke villain, the latest upgrade made his Chaos form far deadlier, far harder to hurt and able to crush six foes at once with all his arms.
When Trees Attack: Well, uh, the spirit of a tree in a Golem’s body, sort of.
Wreaking Havok: His revamp serves to take advantage of a new animation technique which allows for a greater range of movement for larger bosses. For Zakum this means he can now move his arms and use them to attack when he used to simply sit stationary and cast spells isntead.

Horntail

An evil, three-headed dragon who lairs deep within Minar Forest, it rebelled against the Nine Spirits' rule and distorted the area with evil in order to kidnap an egg of the benign Nine Spirit Dragon and consolidate its power. Lurking inside the Cave of Life, it now desires to rule the forest and subjugate the peaceful Halfingers.

He is fought as a boss starting from level 130, which a harder Chaos difficulty unlocking at 135.

Tropes associated with Horntail

Breath Weapon: Fire from his central head, ice from his left, and lightning from his right.
Cognizant Limbs: It’s three heads, legs, two arms, and tail must all be defeated separately, and each has its own function. You have to fight the left and right head before fighting Horntail as a whole.
Collapsing Ceiling Boss: You have to deal with falling rocks through the entire fight.
Deadly Gas: He lashes his tail frequently, sending out gas that can inflict the Poison condition.
Dragons Prefer Princesses: Well, Morai isn’t a princess, but she’s still an attractive young woman that is being held hostage by Horntail; while you cannot free her, she can give you some good advice and information.
Flunky Boss: Summons swarms of Drakes during the Battle.
Healing Factor: So long as his wings are intact, they can heal every part of him.
Hypno Ray: So long as his hands are intact, he can inflict the Seduce condition, an annoying ability that keeps a character from moving, attacking, or using skills, which is hard to undo.
Giant Foot of Stomping: His feet can do a lot of damage so long as they are intact.
Lone Wolf Boss: Maybe again. Much like Zakum, two Black Mage minions appear when he’s defeated on Chaos Mode.
Stationary Boss: He's even bigger than Zakum, and doesn't move from his spot once the main battle starts.
Taken for Granite: Happens to him when defeated.
Walking Wasteland: Minar Forest was a nice place before it showed up, and while some of it still is, half of it is a scarred badland with savage reptilian beasts and undead monsters close to the Cave of Life, which now is anything but.

Pink Bean

A strange being accidentally summoned summoned through the Goddess' mirror by a wizard named Kirstun, who was actually trying to bring back the Black Mage. Don't let his adorable appearance fool you!

He is fought as a boss at the end of the Temple of Time starting at level 160, with a harder Chaos difficulty unlocked at level 165. On top of that, he is also availible as a limited tmie playable class during certain events, often around April Fools Day.

Tropes associated with Pink Bean

April Fools' Day: As an April Fools prank Pink Bean was announced as the next upcoming playable character. The idea was popular enough that Nexon decided to go ahead and make Pink Bean an actual playable class, albeit as a semi-recurring time-limited event.
100% Completion: As a playable character the Pink Bean Diary is a kind of achievement system that awards prizes to him and other characters in the player's account. The reward for clearing all of these (Which includes among other things, reaching level 200 as Pink Bean) is one of the statistically best titles in the game; Holy Pink Beanity.
Awesome, but Temporary: As a playable character, players only got to keep him for a few months, and this was fortunate, as he was Purposely Overpowered.
Attack Reflector: Both him and the statues can do this. Ironically, many of his Skills as a playable character can avoid this annoying defense.
Background Boss: You have to defeat the five statues in the arena before he joins the battle.
Breakout Character: Seriously, the players love this guy. Pink Bean costumes, chairs, mounts, and equips (Cash and in-game) are everywhere in Maple World. He's even a playable character in special time-limited events!
Brought Down to Badass: He's far less powerful as a playable character, of course, due to a curse cast by Black Bean. Despite this, he is still far more powerful than any other normal class of an equivalent level.
Combat Medic: While in a party, his Everybody Happy! Skill buffs the whole party with bonuses to EXP, Speed, Attack Power, and Magic Attack Power.
Comedy as a Weapon: Among the gadgets he uses in a fight are pogo sticks, umbrellas, and yo-yos.
Evil Counterpart: He has one named Black Bean, although little is known about him.
Green Thumb: As a playable character, his Instant Garden Skill grows a Man-Eating Plant to help him.
Lethal Joke Character: He was originally intended as an April Fool's character, but was so popular the designers made him permanent, even having an event where he was a playable character.
Level Drain: As a playable character, a curse by Black Bean causes this when he travels to Maple World. It's noted that this also happens to him when he travels through the normal portal that summons him for his boss battle.
Light Is Not Good: A lot of his attacks are Light-based, including his own version of Genesis.
Marathon Boss: Before you can even fight Pink Bean directly you have to battle the five statues surrounding him, in five rounds that revive the statues you just fought and adds one more statue to the mix. Chaos Pink Bean plays with this as he appears to have about the same amount of health as normal, but when you kill him he just eats a meat to fully restore his health, requiring you to kill him 14 times before he finally actually dies.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: As a playable class he is even more time limited than most, with all player created Pink Beans being deleted with the event is over. He has a restricted ability to interact with the player economy, he doesn't have any SP and instead just gets new skills at points where job advancements would happen for normal classes and he wears equipment but none of it reflects on his sprite and all Elite Monsters he fights are re-skinned as Maplers summoned by Black Bean to torment him.
Mook Maker: He can create Mini-Beans to attack the players, and during events, players can get them as Pets!
No-Sell: The statues take half-damage from all attacks except Physical; Pink Bean himself is tougher, resisting that too.
Obliviously Evil: Come on, this guy just wants to have fun! Problem is, his idea of "fun" can be lethal.
Odd Job Gods: Most likely, he's a Transcendent much like the Black Mage is, and Kirstun simply summoned the wrong one. Exactly what his purpose is remains unspecified.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: So much that one of his Skills as a playable character is Pink Powerhouse.
Shout-Out: The four statures are named Solomon, [[Rex, Hugin, Munin, and Ariel.
Skewed Priorities: He doesn't take the fight seriously; as he watches the statues fight, he enjoys himself by snacking on Meat, sipping lemonade, playing an electric guitar, cooling himself with a motorized fan, and simply lying back and dozing.
Sore Loser: When beaten, he cries like a baby, throws a tantrum, and flees.
You Shall Not Evade Me: One of his attacks can pull opponents towards him.

The Big Boss of Showa Town

A demonic criminal gang leader who rules Showa Town with an iron fist

Tropes associated with The Boss

Ambiguously Human: The Showa Town crooks look human at first, and the Boss is assumed to be such, but are classified as Devils in the Creature Codex. The actual Boss Battle with him (showing him to be clearly not human) hints that the whole gang is more infernal than they look.
Combat Hand Fan: Uses one as a weapon, might drop one too.
Flunky Boss: How many members are in this gang? The Mooks constantly spawn when you fight him, even after he is defeated.
Lone Wolf Boss: Has nothing to do with the Black Mage or any other villain from Maple World, and isn't even required for any real quest, although the Quest Giver gives you 100 Elixers for defeating him, making the fight worth it for low Level players.
Sequential Boss: Bodyguard A, who has physical attack that can stun, appears first. When you get rid of him, Bodyguard B, who has a BFG and a powerful mana draining effect, appears. Once he's defeated, he shifts to his true form that can use very powerful magic.
Treasure Room: Where the Boss Battle occurs; to enter, you need the Lady Boss' comb, which you then have to drop on a chest. (Luckily, it's reusable.]]
Yakuza: He and his gang are based on this

Oda Nobunaga

The main villain for the Sengoku heroes. The "6th Demon Sky King", He's fated to be beat in battle by Kanna and Hayato, eventually allying with the Black Wings alongside his right-hand man Mori Ranmaru.

Tropes associated with Nobunaga:

Demon King Nobunaga: Yep.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: No, the Oda Nobunaga in the Sengoku storyline is not the same Oda Nobunaga that owns a high school and mandates the Sengoku High events.
Generic Doomsday Villain: Is evil, is with the Black Wings, and... that's about it. It's said that he wants to take over Japan, but he isn't in Japan anymore and is a very, very minor villain compared to rest of the Black Wings, the Black Mage commanders, and even Ranmaru, Nohime, and Mitsuhide, who are at least fightable as bosses.
Historical Domain Character: Like most of the Sengoku NPCs.

Burke

Jett's storyline villain and childhood friend. Motivated by envy, he steals Jett's core and joins the Black Wings.

Anti-Villain: He genuinely wanted Jett to stay safe during his deal with the Black Wings, but disregarded the fact that he was framing her for the assassination of the king of their planet.
Death Equals Redemption: Sacrifices himself for Jett during the last stretch of her story.
Fatal Flaw: Envy.
Green-Eyed Monster: He was insanely jealous of Jett's ability because of her core, which pushes him into villainy.

Naricain

The main villain of the Masteria Through Time blockbuster. An ancient mage from Versal who yearns to take the Antellion.

Anti-Villain: He genuinely doesn't like how far he's been pushed in his struggles to get the Antellion, including killing his father and his brother, Subani.
Cain and Abel: The Cain to Subani's Abel.
Meaningful Name: Naricain. Naricain kills his brother Subani in the alternate timeline.
Morality Pet: Dr. Jang, to whom he has quite a Ship Tease with. Her death sends him into a fury.
Self-Made Orphan: Kills his father Crimsonheart in the original timeline, and his brother Subani in the rewritten one.

Characters / Maple Story Enemies

Edit Locked