A list of characters from Maximo: Ghosts to Glory and its sequel Maximo vs. Army of Zin. Watch out for unmarked spoilers!
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Main Characters
Maximo
The main hero of the story, while he was out of his kingdom on a quest, his nefarious advisor Achille spread news of his death to take the crown and marry his betrothed Sophia. Sent to the underworld by Achille's magic, he struck a deal with Grim: he can return to the world of the living, but in exchange he must stop Achille and his Drill. In the sequel, his journey to discover the whereabouts of Sophia leads him to the barony of Hawkmoor, where a sinister army of malevolent automata has appeared.
- Ancestral Weapon: His sword, Parilla, was the treasure of his family, handed down in his family line. It's even referred to as "Treasure Sword" in the Japanese text.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: King Maximo is an excellent warrior capable of toppling armies of undead on his own, though his throne is usurped by Achille at the start of the game.
- Body Armor as Hit Points: Like Arthur from Ghosts And Goblins, Maximo's armor is relative to his health: he can have up to three bars of health, losing one bar will reduce his armor until he's in his boxers.
- Choice of Two Weapons: In Vs Army of Zin, Maximo can wield massive two-handed hammers instead of his sword: the weapon is slower and held in both hands, but packs a bigger punch.
- Cool Helmet: On three or more health bars, Maximo gets a cool helmet with a massive crest similar to a Corinthian helm in design. He gets a better, golden one when his armor level is at its top.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Maximo has dark hair and a frowning expression, can wield powers of darkness and is buddy buddy with Death, but he's a generous and noble soul through and through.
- David Versus Goliath: All the bosses are noticeably taller than Maximo, ranging from a head taller to towering over him to the point that not even by jumping he can reach their faces.
- The Determinator: Fights across hordes of undead, braves the local equivalent of Hell and attacks an entire castle on his own to save his queen. In the sequel he doesn't stop, ready to take down a legendary, seemingly invincible army to help a friend.
- Dueling Scar: Has a noticeable scar over his right eye. In Vs Army of Zin, we learn that Baron Hawkmoor did it to him.
- Elemental Powers: In the first game, obtaining the right power up can enhance his sword and shield with elemental powers: the sword upgrades include Flametongue (Fire), Pure Blade (Holiness), Frostbite (Ice) and Armageddon (Darkness/Arcane). Shield upgrades (present in both games) have the Shield of Thunder (Lightning) and the Shield of Storms (Wind).
- Goofy Print Underwear: When reduced to one healthbar, he's left in his underwear, complete with goofy heart prints. You can actually buy special boxers with unique powers.
- Heartbroken Badass: At the end of the first game, upon believing that he killed a demon-turned Sophia. He recovers when Grim reveals that the Demon Queen wasn't Sophia at all, who's still alive.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Zigzagged, most artworks depict Maximo in his level 2 armor, which lacks a helm. Upgrading armor to level 3 or more rewards Maximo with a crested helmet.
- The Hero: The main character of the story with an heroic quest to undertake in both titles. He's also noble and virtuous.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: He mostly uses a sword as his weapon of choice, a family heirloom. In Vs Army of Zin he gets to wield a sledgehammer as well.
- Lady and Knight: To Sophia, who's also his betrothed, and in minor way to the four sorceresses he has to rescue, who can even reward him with a kiss.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Maximo can use his shield to block any attack, though it has limited durability. Elemental enchantment will cause electrical sparks or sudden gusts of wind upon impact.
- Magic Knight: Maximo is mostly a warrior, but the magic he can imbue in his sword and shield to use elemental attacks as well.
- Mr. Fanservice: He is very handsome and muscular, and wears only his underwear when you're down to one hitpoint.
- Not Afraid to Die: Shows nothing but defiance and dignity when Grim appears before him.
- Odd Friendship: With Grim, the amiable if morbid Death figure of the realm of the dead.
- Red Baron: As of the second game, he's known as "The Man who walks with Death".
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: King or not, he's a man of action and the playable protagonist.
- Scarf of Asskicking: In his basic armor, Maximo's lower face and neck are wrapped in an heroic red scarf.
- Spin Attack: One of his sword upgrades, he learns it as a permanent move in the second game, where it can be performed with hammers too.
- Sword Plant: While in midair, Maximo can perform a devastating dive attack which plunges the sword into the ground, causing a small shockwave (which can be powered up by expanding the range and causing scythe blades to pop out of the ground). In Ghosts to Glory he needs to use it to activate checkpoints.
- Throwing Your Shield Always Works: Maximo can attack from afar by throwing his shield (which, when upgraded, can sprout blades, hover in place, attract coins and move like a boomerang). Each attack though decreases the shield's durability.
- Walking the Earth: At the end of the first game and into the second, seeking for the real Sophia.
Grim
The Grim Reaper in charge with monitoring the balance of life and death... balance disrupted by Achille boring into the underworld with his Drill to syphon souls for his undead army. He allows Maximo to return to the world of the living in exchange for Death Coins and his help in restoring order. In the sequel, his debt causes him to journey alongside Maximo, when he notices that recently souls stopped coming into the realm of the dead...
- Badass Boast: When he appears in the second game, he retorts to Maximo's claim that he's late with "I always come up... in the end."
- Berserk Button: Grim's a rather chilly guy, but he absolutely hates people messing with the balance of life and death or trapping souls which should go to the Underworld.
- Big "WHAT?!": His reaction at the end of the first game, when Maximo uses Exact Words to force Grim to help him seek Sophia.
- Don't Fear the Reaper: He's tasked with reaping souls and looks like a robed skeleton eager to do his job, but he's actually a rather pleasant fellow to be around, always keeps his word and genuinely cares for the souls under his care.
- Enemy Mine: In the first game, both him and Maximo have a common enemy in Achille, though for different reasons. Hence why Grim is willing to lend him Death Coins so that he can come Back from the Dead and help him.
- Game-Over Man: He shows up in the Game Over screen, asking for a Death Coin: if you don't have enough or don't press the button soon enough, he'll reap Maximo's soul for real.
- The Grim Reaper: He's tasked with reaping souls, and hates when someone interferes with his jop to create zombies and undeads. Looks like the classical depiction as a robe-wearing hooded skeleton with a scythe.
- Pet the Dog:
- When Maximo finally defeats the Big Bad, Grim sounds genuinely joyful and happy for his triumph, and even inquires in a worried way when he sees that Maximo is sullen over Sophia's apparent death.
- In Vs Army of Zin, he handles the lost soul with great care, and tells her to go free with genuine kindness.
- Ghosts To Glory ends with Grim's Big "WHAT?!" as a result of Maximo's request. Come Army of Zin... and he's still doing it anyways and seems to be doing a very thorough job in his search, even coming to Maximo's aid when he seems to be in trouble.
- Promoted to Playable: In Vs Army of Zin, Maximo's new Super Mode allows him to temporarly call upon Grim, who can wreck havoc upon enemies with his scythe.
- Sinister Scythe: As expected, carries a long handled scythe and isn't afraid to use it.
Sophia
A princess and Maximo's betrothed, the fair Sophia was tricked by Achille and forced to marry him, believing that Maximo had died in combat. Maximo's goal is to save her from Achille's clutches and be reunited with her.
- Damsel in Distress: She was forced to marry Achille against her will and is forced in the throne room of the Keep.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: She's a princess and Maximo's betrothed and wears an highly elaborated purple dress.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She has blonde hair and from the manual's description she was sweet and well-liked by people.
- Kill and Replace: Averted, she's seemingly a victim of this by the Demon Queen, but Grim reveals that she's still alive.
- Ms. Fanservice: Like all the female characters, Sophia is a tall beautiful woman with a hourglass silhouette, fair face and large breasts.
- Statuesque Stunner: She's slightly taller than Maximo and quite a looker.
Evil King Achille
Once the wise and trusted advisor of King Maximo, something drove him into power-hungry madness and desire to rule. Wielding a magic staff, he can summon the dead to do his bidding and ordered the construction of the Soul Drill, a massive machine digging all the way into the Realm of the Dead, so that he could gain more power through souls and create an endless army of living dead. His kidnapping of Sophia and intrusion into the circle of life and death made him an enemy of both Maximo and Grim.
- Bad Boss: When one of his undead generals report his failure in dealing with Maximo, he revives him... only to order his minions to torture him back to death.
- Barrier Change Boss: During the boss battle, he will occasionally summon a floating, laser-shooting copy of his head to float around the arena while he covers himself in a magic barrier. The pattern on the barrier shows which technique must be used to break it, leading him to change barrier until it shatters.
- Big Bad: He's the main villain of the first game. Secretly controlled by the Demon Queen. In the sequel he's masquerading as Lord Bane.
- Deader than Dead: By the end of the second game, Grim had enough of his trickery and destroys his soul once and for all.
- Evil Old Folks: He's noticeably older than both Maximo and Sophia.
- Evil Overlord: He rules over an army of skeletons, zombies, ghosts, ghouls and black knights from his fortress and digs into the netherworld to obtain more souls and power. He's even called "Demon King" in Japanese.
- Evil Sorcerer: He's out of shape and old, so he mostly attacks with magic and sorcery.
- Face–Heel Turn: He used to be a loyal advisor to King Maximo, but something changed him into a power-hungry madman. Implied to be caused by the Demon Queen.
- Fat Bastard: He's massive and portly, not to mention cruel to everyone.
- Genre Savvy: He tries to throw a wrench in Maximo's plans by sending Sophonie to the realm of the dead before her time.
- Hijacked by Ganon: The villain of the sequel, Lord Bane, is actually Achille, back again.
- Magic Staff: Wields a staff tipped with a soul-powered teal gem he can use to cast spells.
- The Man Behind the Man: To the Army of Zin in the sequel.
- Orcus on His Throne: Mostly doesn't leave the Keep and the Drill of Souls, though he does leave to kill the last sorceress and foil Maximo's quest.
- Serrated Blade of Pain: Achille's spear, fitting such a cruel tyrant, has a series of barbed blades on the top.
- Soul Power: Implied that Achille uses the extra souls drained by the Drill to empower himself and his magic.
- Super Mode: When wounded enough, Achille will channel soul power to turn into a huge teal Energy Being who's completely invincible and regenerates health. By destroying the four catalyzers in the arena he's forced to turn back to normal.
- Would Hit a Girl: In the opening alone he violently slaps Sophia when she tries to confront him on Maximo's presence.
Ghosts To Glory Characters
Lenore
The Graveyard Sorceress, she's the first of the four sorceresses Maximo must rescue to obtain enough power to reach the Keep and save Sophia.
- Dark Is Not Evil: She's in charge of the Boneyard, has pale skin and wears only black with a hood and cape, but is just as nice and helpful as the other Sorceresses.
- In the Hood: She wears a black tunic with a cape and raised hood, making her the most modestly-dressed of the Sorceresses.
- Meaningful Name: She resides in a dark realm of graves which has ravens as enemies, and her name is Lenore, a nod to Edgar Allan Poe perhaps?
Mamba Marie
The Jungle Sorceress, she's the second of the four sorceresses Maximo must rescue to obtain enough power to reach the Keep and save Sophia.
- Action Girl: Manual only, it states that Mamba Marie actually killed a giant cat for its fur and skull herself, still wearing the remains as a proof.
- Alliterative Name: Mamba Marie, the Jungle Sorceress.
- Fur Bikini: Living in a steamy jungle, Mamba wears a bikini made from the fur of a massive cat.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: She also wears the skull of said cat as a helmet.
Aurora Lee
The Ice Sorceress, she's the third of the four sorceresses Maximo must rescue to obtain enough power to reach the Keep and save Sophia.
- Blue Means Cold: She's in charge of the Frozen Wastes and her outfit is mostly blue.
- Meaningful Name: Aurora as in "Aurora Borealis", the sky lights often appearing in cold enviroments.
- Pretty in Mink: Her robe is complemented by rims of fur.
Sophonie
The Desert Sorceress, she's the last sorceress in need of rescue, but because of Achille's interference, she's been sent into the Realm of Spirits, which Maximo must brave to rescue her.
- Back from the Dead: She's killed by Achilles and sent to the Iron Tower in the Realm of Spirits.
- Stripperific: She wears the least of all the sorceresses, having a skimpy cloth bikini.
Ghastly Gus
Boss of the Boneyard, resides inside the Tomb Tower, where he's holding Lenore prisoner. He's a massive, lumbering zombie gravekeeper who's all the more willing to put Maximo into the grave he just dug.
- Agony of the Feet: Normally, Gus is invincible, but the toes of both his feet don't fit in his shoes and are exposed: striking them with the downward attack will cause Gus to jump in pain and fall on his back, allowing Maximo to reach his head and hit him there.
- Dishing Out Dirt: One of his attacks involves tossing chunks of earth using his shovel.
- Dumb Muscle: He's massive, muscular and doesn't have outstanding tactics outside of "hit hard with shovel".
- Shovel Strike: Ghastly Gus wields a large shovel he uses as an impromptu bludgeon when he's not using it to toss dirt chunks at Maximo.
- Top-Heavy Guy: Gus is towering and has humongous shoulders coupled with a small waist and lean legs.
Bokor Labas
Boss of the Great Dank, lives in the Magic Tree and keeps Mamba Marie hostage. This repulsive witch doctor can use voodoo and hexes to fight against Maximo.
- Creepy Doll: Can summon straw dolls to attack Maximo.
- Giggling Villain: He'll often giggle during the battle against Maximo.
- Hollywood Voodoo: His name is Bokor, lives in a hut in a swamp and can use voodoo spells, hexes and curses in combat.
- Incredible Shrinking Man: Can shrink Maximo in order to stomp on him.
- Self-Duplication: When he becomes vulnerable he'll summon copycats of him and run around the shack, forcing Maximo to find the real Labas.
- Witch Doctor: He's a voodoo sorcerer who uses hexes and curses.
Captain Cadaver
Boss of the Frozen Wastes, he's holding Aurora Lee hostage inside the Dark House. This ghostly pirate captain not only is seemingly impossible to hurt but can also fight with a massive anchor and his gun.
- Achilles' Heel: Being a ghost, he's mostly immune to all damage... but his pegleg is still solid and vulnerable.
- Anchors Away: Wields a massive anchor in combat, either swinging it or slamming it into the ground.
- Artificial Brilliance: Captain Cadaver doesn't actually aim at Maximo's position, but he aims at where he's going to be, based on Maximo's current speed. As a result, rather than running in circles, you have to use a creative pattern.
- Boss-Arena Idiocy: The captain would be nearly invincible if he didn't fought in a place with massive grates in which his pegleg can get stuck.
- Ghost Pirate: Included in the package there's a skeletal parrot.
Lord Gutterscum
Boss of the Realm of Spirits, dwelling inside the Iron Tower where he's keeping Sephonie prisoner. The ruler of the local demons, this obese braggart can attack with a variety of ways and even use the tower's own layout to murder Maximo.
- Boss Arena Urgency: After some time, he'll divebomb into the floor, breaking it and sending both himself and Maximo to a lower lever of the tower. Once all four floors have been destroyed, Maximo will fall into deadly lava.
- Boss Banter: He'll occasionally smack his backside and yell: "Come and get some!"
- Breath Weapon: He can either breathe a stream of flames or spit out several fiery chunks of slime. The former actually leaves his weakspot wide open.
- Literal Ass-Kicking: He can be damaged by hitting his backside when he's breathing fire.
- Our Demons Are Different: He's an obese, disgusting demon who flies through tiny wings and attack with fire.
- Tail Slap: If you're too close he'll attack by slapping Maximo with his tail.
The Demon Queen (Spoiler!!!)
Monstrous demon from beyond, she gave Achille the immense power he craved and takes the form of Sophia to keep an eye on him.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The biggest boss in the game, making even the previous bosses look small compared to her.
- The Corrupter: Highly implied to have turned Achille from a good advisor to a cruel tyrant.
- Evil Laugh: She lets out one as she transforms from Sophia to her true giant skeletal-like form.
- Fan Disservice: In her transformation sequence she goes from looking like Sophia to gradually turning in a colossal, bony, lizard-like demon with three eyes and sharp teeth.
- Final Boss: She's the final enemy fought in the game.
- Go for the Eye: She can only be damaged by hitting her third eye as she's about to pounce on Maximo.
- I Am a Humanitarian: Upon taking her real form she makes no secret of her desire to devour Maximo alive.
- Lightning Bruiser: Despite being bigger than all the other bosses combined, the Queen is still faster than Maximo.
- One-Winged Angel: Subverted, "Sophia" was merely a disguise, the giant clawed beast form is her real appearence.
- Purple Is Powerful: She has purple skin and is the strongest monster Maximo has to face.
- Stealthy Colossus: In spite of her gargantuan size, she can move pretty fast and take advantage of the room's pillars and darkness to approach Maximo unseen.
Vs Army of Zin Characters
Gearmaster Tinker
A mysterious girl who's actually a genius inventor and resides in Oakmead Hollow, she begs for Maximo's help against the myserious machine monsters, but seems to hide something...
- Action Survivor: In the penultimate level, she join Maximo and can whack the Zin with her wrench.
- Disney Death: She's seemingly killed by Achille's ghost, but Grim, realizing that her soul is damaged, revives her using a fragment of Maximo's own soul.
- Fiery Redhead: She has red hair and a temper to match.
- Forced into Evil: Lord Bane is forcing her to use her skills to reinforce his army.
- Motor Mouth: She tends to speak in a rushed way, especially when she's explaining how a new machine works.
- Ms. Fanservice: She's rather attractive and has large breasts. While she dresses rather conservatively, her official artwork shows her in her underwear.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When Maximo releases her, she express her anguish at being forced to create and improve the Zins for Lord Bane, even creating the Maximo-based Zins.
- Robot Master: She's a master of mechanisms and gears, being able to identify a Zin construct by its mangled head alone.
Baron Hawkmoor
Current Baron of Hawkmoor, long ago his ancestor Morgan sealed the Army of Zin in a magic vault. He and Maximo have a bitter past behind, which resulted in Maximo getting his scar from him.
- Climax Boss: He's the third boss and his defeat leads the player to the domain of the Zin and the endgame areas.
- Cool Sword: Wields a plain broadsword with a handguard and surely knows how to use it.
- Dark Is Not Evil: He mostly wears black and gray and is antagonistic and condescending towards Maximo at first... but genuinelly loves his wife, cares for the wellbeing of his barony and respects his ancestors.
- Defeat Means Friendship: By the end of the game, he has promised to help Maximo find Sophia.
- Guardian Entity: During his boss fight he can occasionally invoke the power of his ancestors, manifesting as massive aetherial warriors (either a massive bearded man with an axe or a warrior woman with bow and shield) around the Baron.
- Hold the Line: Inside the Great Vault, he'll try to fight back the enemy Zins while Maximo looks for a way out... though if you don't act fast enough he will die, causing a Non-Standard Game Over.
- Honor Before Reason: He initially refuses to help Maximo getting into the Great Vault, in part because his ancestor Morgan forbade his descendants from ever doing so, in part because of the bad blood between himself and Maximo.
- Mirror Boss: He fights in a very similar way to Maximo, using analogue sword techniques and summoning an otherwordly entity to fight.
- No Name Given: Hawkmoor is his domain, but we don't get to learn his own name.
Elizabet
The Baron's wife and a good friend of Maximo, much to the dismay of the Baron himself.
- Damsel in Distress: You run into her prisoner in the cocoon chamber of the Bore Beetles. She was expecting help from her husband or his soldiers, but she gets Maximo instead. Later on she's kidnapped by Lord Bane, though you rescue her by defeating the Final Boss.
- Morality Pet: To Baron Hawkmoor, who genuinely loves her and is willing to listen to her.
- The Tease: While she and Maximo are friends, said "friendship" has vaguely romantic undertones from them both, though they ended up with different people (Baron Hawkmoor and Sophia respectively).
The Army of Zin
A giant army of mechanical monstrosities of all types, they're powered by compressed soul stones and can revive at will even if they're destroyed. They were sealed in the Great Vault 500 years before by lord Morgan Hawkmoor, but now someone has released the army.
- Airborne Mook: Buzzards are small, wyvern-like Zins that attack from the sky.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Standard Zin Reapers have massive scythe-like blades replacing their right arms.
- Creepy Centipedes: Some late-level Zins include centipede-like robots armed with dual daggers.
- Elaborate Equals Effective: Stronger variants of the basic Zins tend to be larger with more armor and better weapons.
- Evil Knock Off: Late-level Zins will start mimicrying Maximo, both with his sword and his hammer.
- Mecha-Mooks: An entire army of them, though some of them resemble bugs or wolves or other non human beings.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: Each Zin is energized by a soul stone containing an actual soul.
- Sealed Army in a Can: Baron Morgan of Hawkmoor defeated the entire army in battle with his soldiers, then he had the entire army sealed in the Great Vault alongside himself.
- We Can Rebuild Him: As long as their soul core is intact, they can reform again and again.
The House Crusher
The first boss of the game, this massive automata resembles a bad-tempered ostrich of humongous size.
- Achilles' Heel: The core located on the top of its head.
- Feathered Fiend: Resembles a gigantic ostrich and mostly attacks by rushing.
- Gatling Good: In the second phase it will use gatling guns to attack.
- Turns Red: At half health the house around it will collapse, revealing rotating shoulder-mounted miniguns.
The Cyclocks
The second boss of the game, a gargantuan one-eyed behemoth who's first introduced attacking Tinker's home.
- Go for the Eye: The only way to damage Cyclocks is to attack the main eye screen, which it'll occasionally cover up with a set of metal lids.
- Shock and Awe: Mostly attacks through electricity, either shot out of the eye or channeled through its pincers.
- Spider Tank: Cyclock is a tiny eye-like automaton riding a much bigger spider-like chassis.
The Guardian of the Depths
The fourth boss of the game, this massive sea serpent has somehow ended up inside the cistern of Lord Bane's Soulcrusher, where it must be fought by Maximo to enter the structure.
- Boss Arena Urgency: The fight takes place on a series of breakable wooden platforms floating on electrified water. During the battle, the Guardian will destroy the platforms by smashing through them or setting them on fire, reducing the space Maximo can stand on.
- Breath Weapon: The Guardian can breathe fire to burn not only Maximo, but also the wooden platforms, causing them to sink.
- Giant Space Flea From No Where: The first two bosses were giant war machines of the Zin, the third was The Rival and Climax Boss, then there's this giant sea serpent in a giant cistern. It is implied (but not confirmed) that it used to live in the Sunken City, but the Soulcrusher drained all the seawater and the beast with it.
- Sea Monster: Resembles a typical sea serpent with fins, a lure and spikes on its head.
- Your Head Asplode: When Maximo delivers the final blow, the serpent's head explodes into meaty chunks.
Lord Bane
The mysterious ruler of the Army of Zin, this armor-clad tyrant wants to overrun the entire country and possibly the world with his soul-powered machines. He's the main antagonist of the game.
- Achilles' Heel: Hitting his chest hard enough makes its armor pop open, exposing his weakness.
- Bad Boss: He doesn't falter when it comes to absorb his own Zins to power up against Maximo. He also kills Tinker just to spite Maximo.
- Big Bad: The main antagonist of the story and the Final Boss to be fought. He's also Achille's undead form.
- Fate Worse than Death: Upon finding out he's actually Achille's ghost, Grim decides he had enough trouble for one man and promptly extinguish his soul, depriving him of the afterlife.
- Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: Only a pair of glowing green lights can be seen deep within the helmet.
- Kick the Dog: After revealing his identity, he murders Tinker.
- Large Ham: He tends to speak in a bombastic way.
- Orcus on His Throne: In a notable aversion of this trope, he seems to be always on the move, rather than wait for Maximo inside the Soulcrusher.
- Puny Humans: Looks down on both Maximo and the Baron, claiming that they can't win against the superior Zin.
- Sequential Boss: First phase, he's a Flunky Boss who summons many types of Zins to fight Maximo alongside him. Then, he absorbs the Zins to get a power up and hit harder and with bigger shockwaves. As the Ghost in the Machine, he teleports around the arena shooting a soul-absorbing beam of red light and can only be damaged by Grim.
- Tin Tyrant: He's dressed from head to toe in silvery armor, complete with a cape.
- Wrecked Weapon: He fights with a massive but broken sword.
