Characters / Odin Sphere

The characters of Odin Sphere.

Playable Characters

Valkyrie Gwendolyn

Gwendolyn

Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (JP), Karen Strassman (EN)

"I will serve my responsibility as the King's daughter and fight."

The main character of the first book, Valkyrie. The second princess of Ragnanival and daughter of the Demon Lord Odin. Gwendolyn loves her father dearly, but she feels neglected as he shows greater favor to his other children. Throughout the story, she struggles with her feelings towards him, her sister's death and her own worth.

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• Action Girl: Valkyries are known to be capable warriors, and she's supposed to be one of the strongest, even before she obtained her Psypher spear. Afterwards, she's basically a One-Woman Army.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Late in her book, after demonstrating herself fully willing and able to storm Ringford single-handed, Gwendolyn could demand that Mercedes hand over the ring Titrel - but instead she humbly beseeches the fairy queen to give it to her, explaining that it was a gift from her husband. Only when Mercedes refuses does it turn into a fight. Gwendolyn takes the same approach with Odette when she invades the Netherworld to rescue Oswald, with similar results.
• An Ice Person: In the remake, her Psypher can unleash ice-based attacks to freeze and damage her opponents.
• Arranged Marriage: She was originally promised to Onyx in order to unite his and Odin's kingdoms. Then Odin backs out on the deal and gives her to Oswald instead as a bargain for slaying a dragon.
• Asleep for Days: Not noticeable in her own story but if the player views the entire timeline, it turns out that she was asleep for a really long time.
• Badass Boast: Has a pretty awesome one during an exchange with Onyx, after the latter starts badmouthing her new husband.
  Onyx: Leave that doomed soul and take my hand.
  Gwendolyn: Your majesty, if you persist in insulting my husband, my spear will take your hand!
• Batman Gambit: Gwendolyn winds up being the subject of one from her father when she's given to Oswald as a bride. Odin explains to both her and Oswald that she's under a spell forcing her to love him, despite no such spell even existing. Odin (correctly) deduced that Oswald, being smitten with her, would give her Titrel as a token of his affections, after which her sense of duty would compel her to return it to Odin. Unfortunately for him, he didn't count on Gwendolyn actually falling in love and becoming a Spanner in the Works.
• Battle Ballgown: Complete with Fluffy Fashion Feathers.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Gwendolyn is downright dangerous when the people she loves are threatened.
• Birds of a Feather: She has a lot more common with Oswald than she thinks. Gwendolyn, like Oswald, desperately seeks the love of her father, and goes to extreme lengths to please him, even putting her own life in danger. Like Oswald, both were used by their fathers and were thought of as little more than expendable. They're also their own armies' most powerful soldiers and looked down upon by their peers (Gwendolyn's kindness is seen as a weakness by the other Valkyries, and Oswald's power and status as a human in a Fairy land makes him an outcast).
• Blind Obedience: Suffers this big time with her father, Odin, only because she wants his approval.
• Blow You Away: In the original, Gwendolyn's Cyclone can hit and lift up enemies on a line and can even hit some airborne attackers to knock them down.
• Book Ends: She's the first playable character of the game. By making the correct choices for the Boss Rush of the Armageddon chapter, she's the final character players control before obtaining the best ending.
• Broken Bird: At the beginning of her story, she watches her older sister die and later learns her father has an illegitimate daughter he loves more than her. In an attempt to help said illegitimate daughter, all for the sake of pleasing her father, she betrays her country, effectively sacrificing her position as a valkyrie and is forced to marry a stranger by said father. This makes her feel like an object in Oswald's hands, telling him to do what he wants with her. A combination of factors help her recover.
• Chickification: Inverted. A Valkyrie who has disobeyed her King has to leave the battlefield, marry and have children. Everyone expects this of her when she is married off, but she kicks even more ass with The Power of Love.
• Composite Character: Partially of Brunhilde from Wagner's Ring Cycle and Líf of Norse Mythology.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Usually, a valkyrie being forced to wed is a Fate Worse than Death. That said, the dude she gets wed to is very courteous to her.
• Death Seeker: Starts off wanting to die in battle to earn her father's respect, especially compounded by the death of her beloved sister Griselda. She throws herself recklessly into battle and if not for Oswald's mercy she would have died before the end of her own prelude. She improves later thanks to her husband's words and actions, but not without having to endure much pain and sacrifice.
• Decoy Protagonist: She's the first Player Character, a sizeable chunk of the story surrounds her and Oswald's romance, and she's the one who canonically kills the Final Boss. That said, considering Velvet's the one with the biggest ties to the Big Bad (him being her grandfather), is the one actively attempting to Screw Destiny, and is the one who ultimately turns the Apocalypse into something more akin to Ragnarok, Velvet's more the main hero to an extent.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: She kills death. Let that sink in for a moment. She also kills a Kaiju dragon at the end of the game.
• Dude Magnet: Onyx repeatedly attempts to take her as his wife, Brigan ponders taking her as his mistress if he were to conquer the kingdom, and Oswald is her husband.
• Foil: Somewhat, to her own sister. She is compassionate and willing to give Cornelius a fair chance when Odin tests him vs. Griselda having been willing to kill him on sight. However, she shares her sister's fiery passion and thirst for honor.
• The Hero: She's the first player character, she has the closest connection to the titular Odin (being his daughter), a decent chunk of the story (even the Audience Surrogate that descends from her) revolves around her and Oswald's romance, and, if you choose the correct order in the Book of Armageddon, she's the one that fights the Final Boss of the entire game.
• Hero Antagonist: From the point of view of Velvet (initially) and Mercedes.
• In-Series Nickname: Gwendolyn is occasionally called "Odin's Witch" by characters from other nations, particularly Ringford.
• It Was a Gift:
  • Her spear was a gift from her dying sister Griselda. She's very hurt when she realizes that Odin handed it over to Oswald as part of his reward.
  • More significantly, this is also her motivation for single-handedly storming Ringford to retrieve the ring of Titrel and refusing to give it back to Odin. In this case, however, her actions are motivated more because her initial failure to properly value the ring as a gift from Oswald led directly to Oswald's suicide, and she's not planning on making the same mistake twice.
• Jack of All Stats: Gwendolyn is good with both ground and air combos, but actually becomes closer to a Lightning Bruiser once you get the hang of using her gliding, and especially when she learns Shadow Ally to double her attack power. In the remake this is still true, although all playable characters have been better balanced out so her play style and abilities stand out slightly less.
• Lady of War: A graceful and demure, yet fiery and passionate valkyrie that flies through the skies and dances in battle with her spear.
• Love Epiphany: After dreading marriage as all Valkyries do, Gwendolyn slowly discovers she really does love her new husband.
• Love Hurts: Despite all of Odin's neglect and manipulation, she does truly love him and yearn for his approval and stoically takes on all manner of burdens for it. Even when she decides that she would rather have Oswald's unconditional and equal love, it's clear that she takes no pleasure in forcing Odin to choose between her life or the Ring of Titrel and is noticeably saddened as he leaves.
• Love Potion: Not a true potion per se, but a spell that forces her to fall in love. Ultimately subverted when we find out in Oswald's chapter that Gwendolyn wasn't under a spell at all, as no such spell exists.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Uses her tiny shield to great effect, being one of two characters that can block. In the remake, all characters can block but Gwendolyn can acquire the ability to bash and stun enemies after successfully guarding enemy attacks.
• Magic Feather: Gwendolyn's convinced that her love for Oswald is because of a spell. As shown in Oswald's chapter, she is under no such spell. Her eventual love for him is her own.
• Mama Bear: Some of her most spectacular feats are performed in the defense of Velvet, Oswald and Odin after all. She shows compassion to Cornelius near the beginning of his story, as well.
• Mini Dress Of Power: Her battle attire.
• Missing Mom: Who was Gwendolyn's mom, anyway? The only reference made to her occurs in Oswald's book, in which Gwendolyn mentions that the dress she wears when not in her armor belonged to her mother.
  • Subverted to a degree in Leifthrasir, as in-game notes reveal that her mother was Ragnanival's late queen and that the castle in Elrit Forest was built for the purposes of housing her after she became ill.
• Morality Pet: For Oswald. His treatment of her is in large part what spurs him into being a more heroic character.
• Moving the Goalposts: Pulls this on Odin at the end. She promises to give him the Ring of Titrel if he shows her the way to the Netherworld. When he does that, she says she will only give it to him once she returns with Oswald in hand. Then when she succeeds, she says that Odin can only take it if he ends her life as well: according to her, the ring represents Oswald's love, so if she loses it, her life will be devoid of meaning. In the end, the Demon Lord can't find it in himself to kill his daughter, and has no choice but to leave empty-handed.
• Nice Girl: Gwendolyn is genuinely one of the nicest characters of the cast. She's the only one that mourned Griselda and treasured her last gift to her, her Spear, and was saddened that Odin gave it away at the first chance. She spared Cornelius's life and brought him to Ragnanival instead of killing him, and she treats him the kindest of all its residents. She also is the only hero who actually tries to come to an agreement with her enemies before being forced to fight them. And, unlike Odin, she was concerned about the soldiers that were sent out to basically die fighting a losing war. She was also not that interested in said war and her primary motivation to get involved was to make her father happy. It's also implied that she helps the other Valkyries when not in the battlefield. That she wore her mother's dress because she thought Odin would be moved by it speaks volumes about Gwendolyn.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By killing Odette, Gwendolyn leaves the Netherworld's throne open for Gallon to take over. Also, the whole deal with (re)acquiring the Ring of Titrel definitely counts.
• Out-of-Character Moment: Has a self-realization inner monologue when she realizes that this may be the case regarding her actions early in her relationship with Oswald.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: She was forced to wed Oswald as a punishment. That said, he's a pretty good dude compared to other men she met, and she eventually warms up to him.
• Pimped-Out Dress: The dress she wears at "home" in the second half of her book.
• Poor Communication Kills: A lot of trouble could've been avoided if she'd just talked to Oswald about her feelings. Because she didn't, he's left to conclude that she's been trapped in marriage to him against her will and that she despises him, which sends him over the Despair Event Horizon.
• Pretty Princess Powerhouse: One of two daughters to the ruler of Ragnanival, and a verifiable One-Woman Army who wants to get married and kick ass with the power of Love.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: She is strong-spirited and means well, and focuses on fixing her wrongdoings instead of dwelling on them. Too bad some of her actions end up royally screwing over Erion.
• Silk Hiding Steel: She's a princess, she dresses nicely (when not in combat attire) and speaks very diplomatically and, if tensions run high, feeds off of her rising emotions in a pinch. She'll also run you through with her spear if you get between her and her goals.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She warms up to Oswald after he points out that he sees her as an equal, instead of an object.
• Spirit Advisor: The bird that appears to her at certain points of the game. Throughout her story, the bird appears to be a manifestation of her inner conscience, and she struggles against it often. It berates and blatantly talks down to her, throwing out nagging truths that eat at her from the inside. It turns out to be the spirit of her late sister Griselda.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: With Oswald. She was promised to Onyx; he had his soul pledged to Odette. Both of them try to collect multiple times throughout the game and Gwendolyn and/or Oswald must fight to remain together.
• Sword Plant: When opening the inventory, Gwendolyn plants her spear to the ground.
• Tareme Eyes: Illustrated best when she's standing with Griselda in Chapter 2 of Cornelius's story.
• Spectacular Spinning: Twirls her spear when attacking upwards from the ground. In the remake, she acquires several skills that have her drilling and spinning in various directions.
• True Blue Femininity: Both the armor she wears in battle and the dress she wears are blue.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She kills Odette and clears the way for Gallon to take over leadership of the Netherworld, unwittingly allowing him the opportunity to lead his army to Armageddon and tragically kill everyone in Ragnanival, including Odin.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Well, wife, but if you mess with Oswald, Gwendolyn will make you pay for it.
• Weapon-Based Characterization: Her unnamed^note "Gungnir" according to the art book released with the remake Psypher spear, befitting her personality as a passionate, fiery Lady of War on the battlefield. Used mainly for slashing, and lots of stabbing in the remake.
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: To make matters worse, Odin takes full advantage of her inferiority complex. And by the time he truly comes to start to appreciate her, her love has been given to Oswald.
• Winged Humanoid: Though, strangely enough, her (and all the other valkyries') wings seem to be located at her hips. (They're part of her armor.)
• You Are Worth Hell: Let's be clear, she was the only member of the main cast who went to the Netherworld with the very clear intention of cutting down everything and anything between her and her goal (Oswald), up to fighting and killing Queen Odette herself to make that a reality.

Prince Cornelius

Cornelius

Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (JP), Yuri Lowenthal (EN)

"Someone called me prince...but alas, I am no prince. I am but a beast."

The main character of the second book, The Pooka Prince. The Prince of Titania who loves Velvet. Was turned into a Pooka and left in the Netherworld.

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• Artistic License – Physics: Him using his sword as a helicoptor blade would be realistically impossible at any speed too slow to break his arms.
• Badass Adorable: The Pooka are just so damn cute, and Cornelius, despite being turned into one, can still fight with the best of them.
• Berserk Button: Velvet getting harmed. He had no problem with beating the tar out of Mercedes when she attacked Velvet to get the Ring of Titrel from her. He also clashes quite handsomely with King Valentine in a similar manner, again with Velvet's life in danger.
• Big Damn Heroes: The main perpetrator of the trope.
• Big "SHUT UP!": Shouts this at Velvet , who is actually Ingway disguised as her, when she claims she was only using him.
• Cultured Badass: He may be an extremely polite and reasonable wise prince, and very quick to assist others with their troubles (despite his own), but occasionally finds opportunities to release some very impressive threats when baring his fangs:
  Attempting to interrogate a fake Cornelius that is actually Ingway: "My sword and mind are sharp. I will force you to tell me."
  To Mercedes: "You hurt the Princess. You're acting like a child. I'll let it slide. Go away!"
• Cursed with Awesome: Over time, he starts to consider that being a Pooka may have its perks, not the least of which is immortality. However, Velvet reminds him that Pookas can never rest after death either, and he becomes convinced that it would be better for them both to regain their humanity.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Male example. His father isn’t terribly fond of Velvet because of her status as an illegitimate child, but Cornelius himself clearly loves her.
• Dynamic Entry: To match his tendency to be a Big Damn Hero.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After much trials and tribulations, including Armageddon itself, he's reunited with his lover Velvet. Centuries later, they are able to undo the Pooka curse cast upon them, allowing them to live the rest of their lives in peace in the new world.
• Eaten Alive: If he fights King Gallon during Armageddon, he is swallowed off-screen and eaten by the maggots inside King Gallon's stomach, like his father King Edmund before him.
• Expressive Ears: He has these in his pooka form. Other Pooka have ear reactions occasionally, but it's most noticeable with him.
• Flash Step: In the remake, his Streak Slash skill allows him to disappear and reappear far ahead, with damaging slices trailing behind him. Complete with invincibility frames!
• Forced Transformation: He was transformed into a Pooka by Ingway and the Wise Men. But even as a Pooka, he is still perfectly capable of fighting.
• Fragile Speedster: Not fragile to an extreme degree (he isn't a full-blown Glass Cannon, although he does have lower health than most other playable characters), but he flies across the screen often while brandishing his Psypher sword.
  • In the remake, he really puts the 'Speedster' in 'Fragile Speedster' with skills that have him soaring and leaping across the battlefield or off the side of the screen. He even gets a nifty damaging Flash Step!
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Easily the most noble of the five main characters, as he is a typical honor-bound, courteous prince with no mentioned or depicted prior transgressions or problems.
• Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: His transformation into a Pooka took some of his clothing with it, leaving him only with a breastplate, two gauntlets and a hood.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: His weapon is a Psypher broadsword named Almacia, a gift from Ragnanival to King Gallon. He receives it from the now-fallen King Gallon after landing in the Netherworld as a Pooka, so it's not like he had a choice of weapon to begin with.
  • Ancestral Weapon: Said sword was once used by his father to fight against King Gallon, Cornelius' grandfather when he lost control of the power of Darkova. However, this act was apparently very traumatic for his father, as, upon seeing the Psypher broadsword he used to kill Gallon, immediately goes into a Heroic BSoD.
  • BFS: The sword is actually normal by human standards, and only large by comparison to his Pooka body, but he adapts to it very quickly.
• I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Cornelius showed signs of this since he was turned into a Pooka, believing Velvet will no longer want to be with him due to his new form. Thankfully, this was never the case.
• Interspecies Romance: With Velvet while he's in his Pooka form. Subverted later in the good ending, where Velvet gets turned into a Pooka as well. Then they both are returned back to human form.
• Jack of All Stats: Especially in the original game, where he excels at maneuverability and is one of two playable characters that can block attacks. His attack power is roughly average, and while his ground combos are the most awkward of the cast, his air combos are easily among the best. His play style requires mastering his "jump and strike" strategies.
  • In the remake, he gets even more combo-heavy with a plethora of multi-hitting sword skills but loses the ability to momentum-cancel his aerial twirling sword attack and double jump. Upgrades to a full-on Lightning Bruiser if he can perform his Lightning Saber skill, which boosts his attack and speed massively.
• Killer Rabbit: Literally.
• Knight in Shining Armor: He's partially armored in his Pooka form, and is very knightly in nature.
• Marry for Love: His father wishes otherwise, but he wishes to marry Velvet.
• Missing Mom: His mother is never brought up. He and Mercedes are the only playable characters who never have their missing parent brought up.
• Nice Guy: He's very courteous and reasonable. He, like Gwendolyn, is also never fought as a boss by other playable characters. In fact, aside from Mercedes, he technically never fights any of the other protagonists, since his fight with Velvet was actually Ingway disguised as her. He tries very hard to reason with many hostile characters throughout his story. Unfortunately, most of these conversations end in boss fights. It finally pays off when Wagner carries him to his kingdom.
  • He also helps the Pooka in any way he can, even risking his life in some circumstances, despite only just barely meeting them beforehand and initially cursing his new Pooka body at the start of his story (it probably helps that they are allies of Velvet though).
  • However, he shows very little tolerance towards anyone who threatens Velvet.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Cornelius unwittingly leads King Valentine's spirit out of the Netherworld on his way back to Titania. Unlike some of the other examples on the part of the protagonists, it was a genuine accident (Valentine would only show him the way to Odette and freedom if he would take him with him, and Cornelius, knowing nothing of Valentine at the time, just decided it was a fair enough request and accepted), and he spends much of his story trying to make up for the collateral damage this causes. Less forgiveable is not killing the recently-hatched Leventhan after beating him despite hearing straight from Valentine's mouth he's one of the Five Disasters. Unfortunately, it can't last, and Armageddon comes along anyway.
• Official Couple: With Velvet.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: As a Pooka, he's the shortest of the protagonists. Doesn't mean he can't hold his own in fights against large groups of enemies.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Him and all the Pookas.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: He's particularly concerned about his homeland of Titania. He's also probably the nicest person in the cast, always being courteous and usually asking for what he needs...and then beating the crap out of the people who refuse and try to kill him.
• Sheltered Aristocrat: He is this in spades due to having lived the palace life as a prince, but meeting Velvet (and the events that occur throughout his story) make the harsh realities outside the royal court very clear to him.
• Shock and Awe: In the remake, his Psypher can conjure electricity to strike his foes or power up his own attacks.
• Spectacular Spinning: His signature horizontally-controllable aerial. Gains additional drilling and spinning skills in the remake in Arc Wheel and Spiral Claw, to name a few, and spins his own body for a series of dash attacks. Also in the remake, he spins his sword like a helicopter to descend slowly.
• Stab the Sky: And in the remake, he does this to absorb phozons and activate his Super Mode.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: With Velvet. His father actively tries to discourage the relationship in favor of a political marriage between Cornelius and one of Odin's legitimate daughters. Velvet's own brother significantly disapproves of their relationship, as well, although he warms up to Cornelius much later in the game.
• Super Mode: In Leifthrasir, Cornelius can find the Psypher Skill Lightning Saber. Lightning Saber causes Cornelius to point his Psypher skyward until it receives a lightning strike. If the skill is successfully performed without being interrupted, Cornelius enters a pseudo-super state where his movement speed increases to insane levels, his attack speed goes up, all of his attacks fire electric shots that have a high chance to stagger or inflict Dizzy, and his dash attack transforms Cornelius into a redirectable bolt of electricity that leaves behind a trail, inflicting damage over time to enemies that come into contact with it.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: In his Pooka form with Velvet.
• Violently Protective Boyfriend: One of the best ways to get under his skin is threaten Velvet in some form.
• Warrior Prince: Cornelius starts as this, but develops into The Wise Prince by the end of his book.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: He briefly considers otherwise, but Velvet convinces him to become mortal again.
• Would Hit a Girl: Or slash at a girl, especially if Velvet is harmed in front of him (Mercedes learns this lesson the hard way). Early in his story, he even encounters a suddenly-hostile Velvet and feels like violence is the only option (although he firmly believes it isn't actually her). Turns out it was just her brother Ingway in disguise, trying to break them apart.

Fairy Queen Mercedes

Mercedes

Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (JP), Stephanie Sheh (EN)

"I am Mercedes, daughter of Elfaria. As long as I am alive, I shall always keep my weapon pointed at you."

The main character of the third book, Fairy Land. The daughter of the Queen of the Fairies. She's also the main protagonist of the spin-off manga Odin Sphere Leifthrasir: Little Fairy Queen.

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• A Child Shall Lead Them: Eventually she grows a spine, learns lessons in responsibility and begins to successfully lead the nation of Ringford.
• Action Girl: The youngest playable character (assuming fairy years are roughly the same as human years), but still a deadly fighter with her crossbow.
  • In the remake, she feels much more able and action-y as a playable character due to the ability to fly quickly, as well as being able to dodge while flying and blocking attacks on the ground and in the air. That, and she no longer dies when sneezed on.
• All for Nothing: While all the protagonists get hit with this on some level, Mercedes definitely gets the short end of the stick. By the end of Armageddon, nearly everything she's achieved has been undone. Defeating Odin, avenging her mother, and getting the Ring of Titrel back? Odin's (estranged) daughter Gwendolyn storms her kingdom in its moment of triumph, defeats her, and takes the ring back. Saving her kingdom from being destroyed by either Odin or the Cauldron's Phozon draining as an indirect result of his actions? Armageddon comes in with the three-fold punch of Valentine using the Cauldron to drain life from the world, the Beast of Darkova rampaging through the forest, and King Onyx and his army burning up what's left and killing all her subjects. A possible future romance with Ingway? He's the Darkova, now being controlled by the undead Beldor to attack Ringford, and ultimately dies free of his curse only for her to come across his lifeless body unable to fulfill their promise. At most, all she's able to do to her knowledge is avenge her burning kingdom by slaying Onyx (and neither she nor Onyx knew that was possible when Mercedes began to call herself "Yggdrasil"). Thankfully, she and Ingway are able to reunite in a fashion.
• Androcles' Lion: When she fights Belial the dragon and spares his life, showing him compassion and kindness after his long period of slavery, he is deeply moved. When Beldor tries to sic him on her later in the story, the dragon repays the favor by resisting his commands until the pain causes him to pass out.
• Automatic Crossbows: Wields the Psypher crossbow Tasla, which is later given an upgrade (that has no effect on gameplay whatsoever) and renamed to Riblam. It fires showers of ammunition and only occasionally has to be "reloaded."
  • In the remake, her crossbow is this even moreso. Her ammunition gauge automatically refills slowly on the ground, and reloading is no longer required when the bow is completely out of ammo. The reloading function is still present, though, and if you unlock certain skills she reloads very quickly, far faster than if you waited for the gauge to fill.
• Badass Adorable: She is as powerful as she is cute, and only gets stronger throughout her story. The manga takes it up to eleven.
• Battle Couple: While the Frog Ingway certainly helps Mercedes in the game by defending her on two separate occasions from Beldor, the Little Fairy Queen manga plays it up with Ingway shown protecting Mercedes from Belial when she almost gave up out of despair. They also work together to fight against Beldor when chasing him in Titania's sewers
• Big "WHAT?!": It starts as a Flat "What", but it quickly turns into this when she realizes that the reward the helpful frog (Ingway) wants is a kiss to break the curse on him...and he's being completely serious.
• Bottomless Magazines: The POW potions effectively turn her crossbow into this. Also, in certain stages where you can't land, her POW meter never runs out.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Starts out as one. Her first appearance in her own book has her preparing to hunt frogs with her mother's magical crossbow (though admittedly justified since frogs eat young fairies), and she wants to go to war while she doesn't even know the reason for their conflict. She even shows childish naivety regarding the motives behind the war, and is called out for this by her own advisers. Her book is basically a Coming of Age Story, where she matures into a true queen.
• Break the Cutie: Whew, nelly. She goes through a lot during her story. And it doesn’t end well for her.
• Coming of Age Story: Out of all the playable characters, Mercedes arguably undergoes the most growth, especially in her own story. She starts off as an immature and indecisive princess who was left begging for advice when The Chains of Commanding was suddenly thrust upon her after her mother's death. But by the end of her story, she's giving a rallying speech to her army as they make one final battle against Odin's forces and has the Demon Lord himself at her mercy.
• Cycle of Revenge: She ultimately decides not to perpetuate one against Odin for killing her mother. This turns out to be a good idea, since Gwendolyn comes to call not long after, and there's no telling if Mercedes would have made it out alive if Gwendolyn had the death of her father on her mind during the fight.
• David Versus Goliath:
  • She's the smallest and most fragile of the playable cast, and her last boss battle pits her against Demon King Odin in all his might. She defeats him and destroys his Epic Flail.
  • In the true Armageddon ending, she squares off against Inferno King Onyx. It seems like even more of a one-sided battle. A tiny Glass Cannon fairy has to fight an extremely large, quicky and deadly warrior that is in the process of burning her entire country to ashes, with Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors seemingly in full effect. Turns out she is destined to defeat him anyway, being the World Tree that stops him in the prophecies.
• Death from Above: Her Ultimate Move from Leifthrasir allows Mercedes to rain fireballs from the sky.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: If you choose to fight the first Darkova (Ingway) with Mercedes.
• Disappeared Dad: Mercedes’ father is never mentioned. She and Cornelius are the only playable characters who never have their missing parent brought up.
• Dying Alone: In the True Ending, she dies without any of her allies close to her.
• Dying Declaration of Love: Same as the above; if she fights the six-eyed beast during Armageddon, she confesses her feelings to Ingway with her last breath.
• Flowers of Femininity: As with her mother, though it's a sign of youth in Mercedes' case. She is also shown to have worn other crowns before becoming queen in the manga, as she wore one with smaller flowers as a child and starts off the story with a crown of leaves.
• Foreshadowing: Her ultimate skill in Leifthrasir is a big hint towards her Meaningful Name.
• Girlish Pigtails: Mercedes has two braided pigtails that reach her shoulders. She loses them near the end of the manga when her growth into a true queen is complete.
• Glass Cannon: She has the worst health out of all playable characters by far, cannot guard attacks and is not particularly mobile. Even outside of more difficult game modes, she dies very easily to a few mook attacks or single miniboss and boss attacks. However, the range of her bow coupled with her high offensive power and the unique nature of her weapon makes her suited for attacking. Add in an Unlimited Power potion for an instant Game-Breaker.
  • However, she is much more balanced in the remake. Her new skill set and mechanics make her a much safer long-range fighter, and she still packs the same ranged offensive punch as in the original. Also, her inability to guard and lack of mobility have been remedied.
• Hero Antagonist: Mercedes is the only person to get in a fight with every other playable character, though in the case of Oswald the player's controlling her rather than the other way around.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She can be a little insufferable and bratty, but despite not being on the rest of the heroes’ side, she’s still a good person.
• Magic Kiss: Mercedes meets a talking frog wanting a kiss from her in order to regain his true form. She is initially disgusted by this and keeps drawing it out. Eventually, Mercedes gives the frog a kiss, turning back into Ingway.
• Meaningful Name: Her true name is Yggdrasil, the World Tree.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Every other character has some form of melee combo. Her story basically turns the game into a side scrolling Shoot 'Em Up.
  • In the remake, she's the only character whose regular attacks still consume POW, since she'd be pretty broken otherwise.
• Morality Pet: To Ingway.
• Mutual Kill: In the best ending, she kills Onyx at the cost of her own life. In her alternate ending with Ingway as well.
• Never Got to Say Goodbye: To Ingway, in the good ending. However, they are shown Together in Death in an exclusive scene in Leifthrasir.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Directly, by destroying Odin's Balor, which was created specifically for the purpose of averting The End of the World as We Know It (although how much it would have actually ended up helping is unclear, but it definitely would have been a trump card against the Netherworld army as Odin himself bemoans). She also fails to turn off the Crystalization Cauldron again once she has the Ring of Titrel in hand, despite Odin restarting the Cauldron and causing Ringford's forests to start withering being one of the main reasons she initiated the final assault and put in her Rousing Speech allowing Valentine to use it to start Armageddon and start destroying nature on a level Odin couldn't have dreamed of or desired. Indirectly, by confronting Beldor and causing Ingway to curse him into the form of an immortal Pooka, ensuring the sorcerer was able to survive his future ordeals and goad Gallon into returning from the Netherworld and to mind-control poor Ingway once he fully transforms into Darkova during the start of Armageddon.
• Out-of-Character Moment: She's considerably more antagonistic during Gwendolyn's (though their encounter happens fresh from her victory against Odin and she could have seen Gwendolyn's request as a ploy by the Demon Lord to get the Ring of Titrel without technically breaking his word), Cornelius' and Velvet's stories. Her portrayal in Oswald's story, while very brief, is consistent with her portrayal in her own story, however.
  • To be fair, in Velvet's story she snuck into Ringford to steal Titrel (which Mercedes was guarding) in order to shut down the Cauldron. Mercedes then chased Velvet down to the Battlefield, where Cornelius got to witness Velvet being shot In the Back by Mercedes, which, as mentioned above in his bio, slams down hard on his Berserk Button.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: If she doesn't, her kingdom is doomed to collapse. It was still doomed in the end, but at least she succeeds in getting revenge for it.
• Sheltered Aristocrat: She starts off as this at first; the most combat she has ever done was frog-hunting. But after her mother's death, she forced to quickly grow out of this.
• Ship Tease: Although they never officially get together because of their deaths, Mercedes is heavily implied to have romantic feelings for Ingway and even confesses them to him in one of the False Endings. That said, in the good ending, they reunite in death.
• Speaking Like Totally Teen: Nearly everyone in Odin Sphere speaks using rich medieval and Shakespearean words, yet Mercedes' use of modern dialect makes her seem like an immature american school girl. This changes once she assumes the position as Fairy Queen after her mother's death yet she occasionally breaks this for the game's rare moments of comic relief.
  Mercedes: What a greedy little frog. He probably has some stupid pointless wish anyway!
• Spectacular Spinning: Even Mercedes gets in on this in the remake, effortlessly performing entire body flips when dodging in the air.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Ingway has to leave as soon as the spell that changed him into a frog is broken. In the true ending, Ingway is dead for their next meeting. If you choose the bad ending by fighting the first Darkova with Mercedes, they end up essentially killing one another.
• Summon Magic: In the remake, she can summon butterflies that fire projectiles, essentially turning the screen into a Bullet Hell.
• Together in Death: With Ingway in the true ending of Leifthrasir.
• Tragic Hero: She gets the shortest end of the stick out of all playable characters; Gwendolyn and Oswald, Cornelius and Velvet ultimately are rewarded with love for each other at the very end of their struggle, living with such happiness till the end of their lives; while a blooming romance was basically certain for Mercedes and Ingway, both did not live to make it happen. However, the true ending in Leifthrasir shows that Mercedes as the World Tree extended her roots all the way down to where Ingway is in the Netherworld, with a single flower attached to the root right next to him, providing them with a happier ending where they can be Together in Death (and quite possibly reincarnated as Alice's parents later on).
• Witch with a Capital "B": Calls Gwendolyn “Odin’s witch” when she comes to get the Ring of Titrel. It’s pretty clear what Mercedes was going for.
• World Tree: Erion has no World Tree in the literal sense, but her true name is Yggdrasil, and the credits show a huge tree growing in the spot where she died, indicating that she's responsible for creating it, with it possibly even being her reincarnated form.

Oswald, the Shadow Knight

Oswald

Voiced by: Susumu Chiba (JP), Derek Stephen Prince (EN)

"As long as I have this Belderiver...even the dragons shall fear me."

The main character of the fourth book, The Black Sword. A human warrior raised by the Fairie noble Melvin to be the ultimate weapon.

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• Above the Influence: Oswald wants, more than anything, for Gwendolyn to love him - but he refuses to wake her from her enchanted sleep if it means she'll be forced to love him by a spell, and goes looking for another way to wake her up.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Everyone in the world hates him for being the Shadow Knight.
• Anti-Hero: Easily the darkest of the five protagonists.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: In both personality and fighting style. In the remake this is still the case; even though he gains several defensive abilities, they have offensive traits or allow him to be even more offense-oriented.
• Birds of a Feather: He has a lot more common with Gwendolyn, and is the main reason he falls in love with her. Gwendolyn, like Oswald, desperately seeks the love of her father, and goes to extreme lengths to please him, even putting her own life in danger. Like Oswald, both were used by their fathers and were thought of as little more than expendable. They're also their own armies' most powerful soldiers and looked down upon by their peers (Gwendolyn's kindness is seen as a weakness by the other Valkyries, and Oswald's power and status as a human in a Fairy land makes him an outcast). In fact, the very first scene where Oswald meets her is when Gwendolyn tries to please her father by wearing her mother's dress, only to be cruelly dismissed by Odin, in which Oswald realizes they're not so different. Even later he says Odin is just like Melvin.
• Berserk Button: Threatening Gwendolyn in his presence will be the last thing you ever do. More generally, he tends to have an immediate and violent reaction to anyone who seems to treat another person as a tool or object.
  To Skuldi after slaying him: "You have absolutely no idea how it feels to be used!"
• Black Knight: Minus the helmet.
• Black Swords Are Better: Well, technically it's red too thanks to the Psypher crystal, but the Belderiver is stated to be one of the most powerful Psyphers in the game, which themselves are already considered the strongest weapon types, and is the reason Odette's Halja can't collect on his soul. It takes him actually dropping the blade during his Despair Event Horizons for them to finally get him.
• Blessed with Suck: The Belderiver gives him incredible power, enabling him to even slay dragons with an ease other Psypher users can't match...but his soul will be given to the queen of the dead. Former wielders of the sword are seen wandering the mountains as mindless Revenants.
• Casting a Shadow: Evident best with his Shadow Form, though only in the remake can he start firing off darkness spells even in regular form.
• Composite Character/Expy: Partially on Siegfried from the Ring Cycle and Lífþrasir of Norse Mythology.
• Counter-Attack: His Phantom Killer in the remake has him strike a pose and if an enemy attacks him, he teleports behind them and slashes them.
• Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: Occasionally drawn as this in official artwork, and specially in the manga.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Oswald simply uses the dark powers of the sword as a means to defeat his enemies. Deep inside, he still shows signs of kindness in ways such as going on a quest to break the spell cast on Gwendolyn, which does not exist in the first place.
• Death by Despair: Twice. He came Back from the Dead both times, though not quite dying by himself; more like he couldn't muster up the will to fight off the Halja the next time they came for him.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: In the remake, his skill Vile Rush can catch multiple enemies in a flurry of forward-moving slashes. It can also be chained until his POW gauge is too low to use it further. Ouch.
• Despair Event Horizon: Twice. The first time was when he went to the Netherworld after Melvin's failed rebellion, and the second was when he found out that Gwendolyn had given away the ring of Titrel to Odin.
• Desperately Craves Affection: First from his adopted father, but especially from Gwendolyn.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: After Melvin reveals the truth of his feelings towards him (being he had none), Oswald spends some time afterward trying to find some purpose in his life. He cuts a swath through the Netherworld not to escape, but because he sees a strange blue bird (who's actually Griselda's spirit) that managed to ignite a small spark of hope and he's compelled to follow it since he has no other real goal. He fights for Odette and tries to kill Odin on her orders because he can't kill her and he doesn't see any way to escape, and he's quick to spare Odin's life in exchange for showing him the secret path out of the Netherworld. Once they're out, he fully intends to just leave Ragnanival to do more soul-searching and ignore Odin's offerings until he mentions Gwendolyn.
• Determinator: On the true ending route, he slays King Gallon, uses the last of his dark power to catch a falling Gwendolyn, and goes beyond his remaining strength to carry her who knows how far to find any other survivors and get help, ending up running into Cornelius and Velvet before finally passing out from exhaustion.
  • In general as well, several times throughout his own story. Notably when he fights off the Halja and continues to assist Melvin even as his body starts getting heavier. His resulting first trip to the Netherworld sucks every ounce of hope from him, but he still manages to find a reason to go on.
  • Also, his rather Hopeless Boss Fight against the baby dragon Leventhan in Gwendolyn's story. He can't even scratch it with his weakened Belderiver, yet still fights on and presumably would have continued until either party's expiration had Gwendolyn not arrived to deal with it properly. Determinator indeed.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: In the recent artwork and in the manga, his eyes don't reflect light and his face is constantly shadowed.
• Establishing Character Moment:
  • Oswald's first-ever appearance in the story is his ruthless slaughter of the enemy Aesir on the battlefield and his easy defeat of Gwendolyn, proving he's The Dreaded for a good reason. His ensuing hesitation to kill Gwendolyn when he has her at his mercy and instead choosing to let her live when the battle is clearly over then hints that he has deeper motivations than simply being a killer.
  • One of the things that firmly establishes that Dark Is Not Evil when it comes to him is that, unlike the rest of Gwendolyn's would-be suitors, he's the only one who treats her like an equal rather than as an inferior or an object. Since Single Woman Seeks Good Man, this also sows the seeds that bloom into their romance.
• Evil Weapon: Belderiver, his Psypher-tipped sword. While every Psypher turns out to be disrupting the cycle of souls and draining the life energy from Erion via their use, Belderiver is the only one among the Psypher weapons which grants its wielder the power of Queen Odette and eventually turns them into ghostly Revenants.
• Fate Worse than Death: Remember those spooky Revenant boogeyman from Hornridge Mountain? Well, those were former wielders of the Belderiver. And this happens to Oswald too if he fights Onyx during Armageddon.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: Literally! In the remake, he acquires a skill in which he lunges forward, grabs and tosses foes behind him to deal tremendous damage.
• Foil: He serves as one to Ingway. Both are cold and aloof Anti-Heroes who desire to serve their fathers (Melvin and Odin respectively), only to be disillusioned by the revelation of their fathers' true natures. Both are also the orphaned sons of a prince/princess who were disgraced for having an illegitimate relationship (Oswald's biological father Edgar married a commoner; Ingway's mother Ariel had a relationship with the king of an enemy nation). However, the two chose different paths that decided their fates:
  • Ingway grew up to despise his father Odin for his scornful attitude towards him, and even plotted revenge on his father. Oswald, on the other hand, showed no ill will towards his adoptive father Melvin despite being heartbroken by his betrayal, and even wondered if Melvin actually saw him as more than just a weapon.
  • Oswald's feelings for Gwendolyn helped him overcome his Despair Event Horizon, as opposed to Ingway who did not diverge from his path of revenge despite his newfound feelings for Mercedes. While Oswald ultimately found happiness and a new life with Gwendolyn in the new world, Ingway and Mercedes' relationship resulted in tragedy.
  • Both end up having their lives cursed in exchange for power. But while Oswald's soul was sold without his knowledge by Melvin, Ingway willingly gave up his own soul for the Spell of the Darkova.
  • While Ingway ultimately became one of the Beasts of Armageddon who would unwillingly bring destruction upon the world, Oswald would become one of the "crownless lords" who would bring about the world's rebirth.
  • All in all, Ingway is what Oswald could have been had the latter succumbed to his despair and hatred.
• Friendless Background: In the manga it is stated that he's unsociable and aloof. It doesn't help everyone in Ringford are terrified of him.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: When in his Shadow Form, one of his eyes disappears and the other glows red.
• Good Is Not Nice: He's aloof, won't kill without provocation, and behind his exterior he is a good person. However, when he does have murderous intent, he does so ruthlessly.
• Happily Adopted: By Melvin. Or so he thought, both regarding the 'happily' and 'adopted' parts. However, it’s implied this used to be much more straightforward.
• Heartbroken Badass: When he heard Gwendolyn gave the ring he had gifted her with to Odin. Results in his Death by Despair.
• Heel–Face Turn: He starts off as Melvin's willing slave who's more than happy to kill whoever the Faerie wants dead without question. It's only after the coup fails and Melvin expresses his disdain towards Oswald where the black knight starts to consider the morality of his actions.
• Hero Antagonist: From the point of view of Mercedes.
• Heroic RRoD: His use of the Belderiver is chewing away at his life and soul, turning him into a Revenant. It really plays up during the bad ending in which he fights Onyx, in which the transformation is complete. Horribly, unlike the other Revenants, a part of him is still aware inside of it, able to whisper Gwendolyn's name as it wanders away.
• Heroic Second Wind: In the remake he can gain the abilities "Avenger" & "Revive" which increases the damage that he does up to 30% depending on how low his HP is & something that revives him once per battle with 10% HP respectively.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Upon finding out that Gwendolyn would fall unconditionally in love with him upon waking from her curse, he refuses to wake her without first going on a quest to find a way to circumvent that part, wanting the decision to love him to be her's, even if it means losing her.
• James Bondage: Gwendolyn has to save him twice during the latter parts of her story.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He only shows his nice side to people he truly trusts.
• Kick the Dog: He's unrepentant for killing Hindel and derisively calls the dragon a lizard to Wagner's face, which really ticks the wyrm off.
• Knight in Sour Armor: While his cruel upbringing has made him ruthless and pragmatic, by the end of his story he's become a compassionate person who wants to make the world a better place.
• Lightning Bruiser: He has the highest attack power (without buffs), attack speed, HP growth and the fastest walking speed. However, his momentum means it takes time for him to slow down and he can't block — instead, he gets a Super Mode which makes his attack power even better and increases his rate of attacks., but quickly depletes his POW gauge when he's not being struck by something (it's also difficult for him to make even the weakest mooks flinch, meaning he'll be the victim of a lot of cheap shots).
  • In the remake, he is slightly more balanced with his new skills and mechanics balanced primarily around his reworked Shadow form (renamed 'Berserk Mode'). He is no longer the fastest runner, but is still very responsive and gains several movement and attack tools including an alternate dimension teleportation portal that he can move safely inside.
• Living Shadow: Oswald's Shadow form.
• Long-Lost Relative: He's Cornelius's cousin, since his father was King Galleon's first son. That said, they don’t really interact.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: He fights using a Stance System that involves transforming into a Super Mode. In said Super Mode, various attacks have different properties, as well as enhancements in some cases. Even more so in the original release, where he couldn't block.
• Moses in the Bulrushes: The fairy noble Melvin adopted a very young Oswald, whom he found near a dying couple. The dying father turned out to be Prince Edgar of Titania, who had eloped with a commoner against the wishes of his father King Gallon (and were later killed when said King sent people to kill them). Oswald doesn't find out until the good ending, though he (and the player) knows his father's name from the very start of his story.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: At the beginning of his story, he pretty much admits that he does whatever Melvin tells him to do and doesn't concern himself with whether or not it's morally or ethically right, save for a few brief moments such as when Brom is being taken to the Netherworld unjustly. Once Melvin tells him to his fate that he was just a tool for his ambitions, only then does Oswald begin to decide for himself what he wants and the morality of his actions.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By killing Wagner, Oswald allows the Ring Titrel to once again be found and eventually used to restart the Cauldron, allowing King Valentine to start Armageddon. Additionally, his feud with Onyx and decision to spare him out of pity not only lets the Inferno King have a chance to take him down try to claim his wife as his own, but to also fulfill his destiny as one of the five Disasters.
• '90s Anti-Hero: Let's see...cold and hostile towards everyone except the one person he cares about? Check. Kills his enemies without mercy? Check. Evil Weapon? Check. Darkness based superpowers? Check. His power makes him a target of supernatural attacks? Check. He can turn into a monster and angsts that this makes him a monster? Check. Black armor with impractically placed blades/spikes? Check. His powers are slowly killing him? Check. His love interest is the only one who can bring peace to his dark heart? Check.
• Nothing Personal: He kills Hindel only because Melvin told him to, no more or less. He also holds no real enmity with Wagner; it's just that Odin offered him Gwendolyn's hand in marriage in exchange for his death.
• Official Couple: With Gwendolyn, even after Armageddon all but succeeds.
• Perpetual Frowner: His sprite's default expression. Also pointed out by other characters and some merchants.
• Pet the Dog: After his battle with Onyx, he can't bring himself to kill the Inferno King: in the end, even if Onyx's desire is unhealthy and obsessive, he can't hate a man for loving the same woman as himself. This doesn't go great for anyone on two levels; Onyx not only does not return the favor during Armageddon but goes on to help destroy the world out of desperation when his kingdom starts crumbling into the sea and he ignites the faerie forest ablaze to keep things going a little longer as one of the Five Disasters.
• Poor Communication Kills: They could have avoided all that trouble if he only asked Gwendolyn to reaffirm his belief before going off to kill himself (or rather, leave himself in a position to be killed).
  • Subverted in another manner: Cornelius never finds out that Oswald is his cousin.
• Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh...: Upon seeing Queen Odette, Oswald attacks her in a fury, but the attacks do nothing as his power is derived from her. She simply laughs at his attempts and mockingly asks if he has finished his temper tantrum. Partially averted, as he is not particularly afraid of her even after the string of No-Sell attacks.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: There's a good reason he's one of the most feared warriors in Erion...
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Although he doesn't find out the royal part until the endgame.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: He fully intends to just leave Ragnanival after Odin leads him out of the Netherworld, and is only barely convinced by Odin to slay Wagner after he offers him Gwendolyn's hand in marriage.
• Standard Hero Reward: As reward for slaying the dragon Wagner, he receives a castle, a magic spear, and Gwendolyn's hand in marriage. Slight twist in that the only thing he was actually interested in was the latter part.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: With Gwendolyn. She was promised to Onyx; his soul promised to Odette. Both of them try to collect multiple times throughout the game and Gwendolyn and Oswald must fight to remain together.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Aloof and detached from anyone but Melvin (at first). Reveals a kinder and affectionate side with Gwendolyn.
• Super Mode:
  • His shadow form, which he can assume at any time. However, it depletes his POW in a hurry even when he's stockstill (which is why the Power Stone and Unlimited Power potions are so important to him), and it also prevents him from casting spells or using items (so power up first). Furthermore, Shadow Knights who abuse the black sword's power too much die and become Revenants, the miserable phantoms that haunt Horn Mountain in Winterhorn Ridge. In one of the bad endings, this becomes Oswald's fate.
  • In the remake, his Shadow form mechanics were reworked into 'Berserk Mode' and the Berserk Meter was introduced. Every attack that successfully lands increases the meter, and he has several new tools to build the meter at a greater rate. Once the meter is full, he can enter his Shadow form (Berserk Mode). He can also use a new skill, Madness, which changes him to his Shadow Form using PP but it will not last as long as transforming from a full Berserk meter the normal way. The remake also introduced abilities that extend and power up the Shadow form even more by doubling POW recovery, making him immune to standard status effects and cutting the damage that he receives in half while in Shadow form. He can now also cast spells and use skills in this form (with the obvious exception of the Madness skill), but items are still out. Not that he needs them.
• Sweet and Sour Grapes: He refuses to accept Gwendolyn's love if it is magically compelled, instead embarking on a quest to save her without enslaving her to his will. But in so doing, he helps to ensure that she comes to love him freely and openly.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: His new darkness-infused dash attack in the remake has him throwing the Belderiver a healthy distance in front of him, and then dashing forward through all enemies to reach it. It can be delayed, allowing the Belderiver to spin in place at its max range to rack up damage with proper timing before he completes the dash to it.
• Time Stands Still: His Ultimate Move in Leifthrasir allows Oswald to freeze all enemies in place as he delivers a barrage of slashes around the screen.
• Tyke Bomb: Raised to be Melvin's Dragon.
• Warrior Prince: He's the son of Edgar, the first son of King Gallon, which by technicality makes him the rightful heir to Titania instead of Cornelius. Of course, by the time he learns this Gallon has already reduced Titania to rubble and the population is pretty much dead, so there wouldn't have been much to rule even if he had wanted the throne.
• Worf Had the Flu: It's explained later that the reason Oswald lost to Mercedes during the Ringford rebellion was because his power was weakening due to the Belderiver's curse, and he lost his power entirely when trying to fight baby Levanthan.
• You Are Too Late: He's unable to aid the Vanir against the Aesir's second assault because he's accosted by the Halja who try to claim his soul for Odette in the middle of the battlefield. In the time it takes him to fight them off, Gwendolyn defeats Belial and Odin fatally wounds Elfaria, routing the Vanir.
• You Didn't Ask: He never tells Gwendolyn that she was never under a love spell even after learning that it's a hoax, and presumably lets her go on believing that her feelings for him are magically-induced. Granted, he didn't know about the ruse until the end of his story, and the end of the world keeps the two of them rather busy; it's subtly implied that by the time Oswald knows the truth, Gwendolyn is on her way to figuring it out for herself anyway.

Princess Velvet

Velvet

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (JP), Michelle Ruff (EN)

"I am of King Valentine's bloodline."

The main character of the fifth book, Fate. A young witch who is often found in the Forest of Elrit.

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• Action Girl: Goes hand-in-hand with her status as Princess, as is standard in this game.
• Ancestral Weapon: The Graveryl chain once belonged to her mother Ariel, and was the first red (forged, not harvested) Psypher ever created.
• Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: Velvet is the most sultry of the female protagonists wearing a top exposing her belly all around.
• Bastard Angst: Not brought up too much, but it’s clear that she’s a little insecure about her status as Odin’s bastard child.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Beauty that she inherited from her deceased mother. Velvet's Informed Attractiveness is brought up many times throughout the game and helps her escape capture and execution/death several times.
• Boobs-and-Butt Pose: As you can see by the image.
• Broken Bird: A childhood full of abuse and seemingly earning her mother’s hatred has made her detached from others. It’s even implied her grandfather molested her on more than one occasion. She fortunately grows out of this thanks to her boyfriend Cornelius and her half-sister Gwendolyn.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Does this to Odin after finding out that he banished Gwendolyn from his kingdom and put her in a deep sleep just for rescuing Velvet from execution.
• Chain Pain: Her weapon is a Psypher chain called Graveryl. Her style of fighting revolves around lashing it out like a whip. In the remake, she gains skills that allow her to snag and throw foes with it.
• Damsel in Distress: Gets rescued by Gwendolyn at least once, and multiple times by Cornelius, who spends most of his story following her around.
• Dance Battler: Her whip combos consist of a lot of spinning that resembles an elegant dance.
• Dark and Troubled Past: This picture◊ gives a ghastly clue.
• Doppelgänger: She has a skill in Leifthrasir which allows Velvet to summon a shadow copy of herself, and teleports to that copy's location as the skill's duration ends.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After centuries of trials and tribulations, she and Cornleius are able to undo the Pooka curse cast upon them, allowing them to live together in peace in the new world.
• Exposed to the Elements: Lampshaded by some of the merchants on Winterhorn Ridge.
  "A half naked woman on this mountain?"
• Expy: According to the Leifthrasir artbook, Velvet is modeled after the Vanir goddess Freyja. It makes sense seeing as Freyja also had a twin brother and was associated with love, beauty, and magic.
• Fallen Princess: Although the fall happened years before the events of the game.
• Fragile Speedster: Although her damage-dodging, chain-swinging triple jump aids the former.
  • In the remake, she is less fragile but still has the slowest running speed, and even has the shortest slide attack. However, as she levels up and progresses through her story, she quickly assembles (debatably) the most pragmatic and well-rounded skill set introduced in the remake, even compared to Gwendolyn's, and uses it to great effect to confuse and smash through foes and dance around the battlefield as necessary.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Despite everything else going on, she tries her best to avert the end of the world and assist others in need. just like the other golden-haired protagonist and her Love Interest, Cornelius.
• Half Identical Twin: Sort of, with Ingway.
• Hartman Hips: She's got a huge butt. Further emphasized by her exposed thighs, notably during jumps and her running animation, and when she idly rests her Psypher chain on her hips (and during her ground charge attack in the remake).
• Head-Turning Beauty: Many characters have noted her beauty, with Odin, in particular, noting how much she resembles her deceased mother.
• Hero Antagonist: From the point of view of Gwendolyn (initially) and Mercedes.
• Heroic Bastard: She and Ingway are the bastard children of Odin.
• Heroic BSoD: She becomes absolutely terrified once she learns her grandfather escaped the Netherworld. Whenever she hears his voice during the first half of her story, she can only freeze in place and tremble in fear.
• Hot Witch: Despite her very moral personality, she shows off her body in a revealing dancer/witch outfit which, combined with the sensual attire and use of a chain weapon, puts her firmly in this category.
  • Further lives up to the 'Witch' half in the remake, as she can now cast many incendiary spells and can even 'curse' enemies with one of them.
• Identical Grandson: A major plot-point. She looks a lot like her mother. That is why Odin favors her over his other daughters and, in the true ending, this is what keeps King Valentine from killing her.
• Idiot Ball: She's very quick to outright tell the Aesir where she hid the Ring of Titrel, which all but destroys her plan to prevent Armageddon from happening.
• In-Series Nickname: Gwendolyn and a few other characters from Ragnanival call her "The Forest Witch."
• In the Hood: She wears one over her head most of the time, but when it's removed, her beauty just enhances.
• Interspecies Romance: With Cornelius when he's a Pooka. Even finding out that it's really him, she still wants to be with him.
• Lady of War: A calm, elegant young woman who uses her chains in a dignified manner.
• Last of Her Kind: Subverted when it turns out that the people of Valentine survived, but as Pooka.
• Magic Skirt: Despite the front of her Showgirl Skirt being easily short enough to give panty shots AND her acrobatic dancerlike fighting style, the player never gets a good look what if anything is under that skirt.
• Ms. Fanservice: She's a Hot Witch who dresses like a Sultry Belly Dancer, and her animations tend to have her sizeable breasts bounce with every movement she makes, even when she's standing still.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Velvet originally treats Gwendolyn with disdain, both for getting in her way of stopping Armageddon and being Odin's daughter who she has her own issues with. After Gwendolyn willingly goes against Ragnanival to stop her execution for Odin's sake, Velvet becomes much kinder towards her half-sister, and deviates from her original mission to stop Armageddon upon learning of her punishment and only relents upon learning from Odin the love spell doesn't exist.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: For all her efforts to stop Armageddon, she does make a crucial blunder or two. By allowing Ingway to live after he uses the Curse of Darkova the first time, she inadvertently allows one of the Five Disasters to come into being, which also causes King Gallon to go berserk and start his march on the living world. She also freely tells the Aesir that she entrusted the ring Titrel to Wagner, believing that Odin could not harm Wagner due to the blood pact between them. Thanks to this, Odin knows to send Oswald after Wagner later on.
• Official Couple: With Cornelius.
• Only Sane Man: Unlike everyone else, Velvet seems to be the only one concerned about trying to avert the Apocalypse while everyone else is too busy with their own agendas to notice or even care. To be fair, she never really bothers to tell or convince anyone to help her outside of giving her what she might happen to need from them.
• Playing with Fire: In the remake, this is her Psypher's special power, complete with pillars of fire and explosions. She also can release bombs as she dodges once the skill to do so is acquired.
• Rape as Backstory: Heavily, heavily implied that Valentine molested her.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: She's the color-reversed Blue oni to Gwendolyn's Red Oni.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: She's the one who most attempts to clean up all the incidents of Nice Job Breaking It, Hero and prevent The End of the World as We Know It that risk triggering Armageddon, although...
• Screw Destiny: She's got this as a motivation behind most of her actions, particularly towards the start of her story. She wishes to avoid a curse cast on herself and Ingway by their doomed mother years ago that they betrayed, and goes to great lengths to try to understand and get around their destiny to die horrible deaths. This task is made difficult by her brother who, in contrast, very firmly accepts his inevitable demise and constantly nags her about it. The two of them are initially seen passing a scroll detailing their shared fate (written by their own mother) between each other as a reminder that they may meet their end at any time. Yikes!
  • Later she discovers that they only knew half of the story. Another scroll reveals that her mother did not curse the two of them due to their betrayal, but instead gave them her full understanding of the necessity of their actions, although they were doomed by fate anyway, since her mother had the gift of prophecy—she was informing them of their fate in the first scroll, instead of cursing them to suffer.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Cornelius is a pretty good dude in the end. That said, Velvet pledged to still love him even as a pooka.
• Spectacular Spinning: Twirls her chain when attacking in the air and as part of her basic ground combo, and performs a full body flip for her second jump. In the remake, she also flips during the end of her dash attack and has several new skills that have her spinning her chain around.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: King Edmund's not too happy that his son's interested in a "Princess of the Forest". Neither is her own brother, at least initially.
• Stripperiffic: The game takes every opportunity to show off and draw attention to her attire (or lack thereof). To the point several shopkeepers comment on it.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Despite her quiet and aloof personality, she’s actually a very kind woman.
• Strong Family Resemblance: It's been repeatedly pointed by others, particularly her father and grandfather, that she's a dead-ringer for her late mother. This resemblance actually saves her life on numerous occasions; it is implied to be the reason why Odin practices favourable treatment towards her, and when King Valentine was just moments from finishing her off when she collapses from exhaustion in her battle against the Cauldron, he couldn't bring himself to do it because he sees Ariel in her.
• This Cannot Be!: She can only stare and stammer in horror and denial when Ingway reveals he was the one who destroyed Valentine.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: With Pooka Cornelius. They end up the same height after Velvet herself takes the form of one. At least until the epilogue.
• Variable-Length Chain: Her Graveryl Chain looks compact, but it can extend when attacking, giving her the longest attack range of the other characters. Taken to extremes in her ultimate move where the chains extend long enough to criss-cross the entire screen.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: The reasoning behind her going through with breaking the Pooka curse rather than staying immortal in the True Ending.

The Armies of the Aesir

Demon Lord Odin

Demon Lord Odin

Voiced by: Fumihiko Tachiki (JP), Jim Gallant (EN)

"Observe this blue orb. Behold the might of the wicked eye Balor. Queen, accept defeat. With this, I will become absolute ruler of the world."

The king of the nation of Ragnanival. He is the father of Gwendolyn and Griselda, and he is also the father of the Valentine twins. His ambitions drive much of the conflict in both the backstory and main game, and, whether directly or indirectly, he is the ruler all the characters owe some of their hardships to. Heck, his name's in the title!

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• Abusive Parent: While not outright physical like most examples of this trope, Odin has no problem using his children to achieve his goals and inflicting emotional scars in the process. Most notably to Ingway and Gwendolyn.
• Alas, Poor Villain: His death scene has him finally having his Heel Realization, and spending his last moments embracing Griselda's spirit and apologizing for not being the father he should have been.
• All for Nothing: Where his ambition ultimately leads him to: his country in ruins, his prized weapon lay broken and none of his children by his side at the end. Except for Griselda who is already dead.
• Anti-Villain: Arguably he could be one...how close he is to villainous versus not depends on the book you're playing in; in Velvet and Gwendolyn's books what good sides he has shown more often than not, while he's more neutral to Cornelius and Oswald but leaning more toward villainy, particularly in Oswald's case. In Mercedes' story he's the primary antagonist.
• Arc Villain: He's the Big Bad of Mercedes's story.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: He's fought in several boss battles throughout the game, although when Gwendolyn fights him, he is possessed by the spirit of Lord Brigan.
• Badass Boast: Loves to make these. To be fair, by the time the game starts he's got enough accomplishments under his belt to justify being proud of himself.
• Badass Cape: So badass that it can hurt you if he smacks you with it.
• Batman Gambit: Has two intertwining ones going on at the same time with Oswald and Gwendolyn. He promises the latter as a bride to the former while claiming to both that Gwendolyn is under a spell forcing her to love her new husband, despite no such spell even existing. He correctly predicts that Oswald, being smitten with Gwendolyn, will give her the ring Titrel and that Gwendolyn, being the Well Done Daughter Girl she is, will pass it along to her father. Unfortunately for him, he failed to account for Gwendolyn actually falling in love down the line and taking it back.
• Big Damn Heroes: Despite being so antagonistic prior to doing so, he comes to rescue Gwendolyn and Oswald from Endelphia after Odette's demise. He also storms the Netherworld to save his daughter Velvet.
• Boss Subtitles: Demon Lord Odin.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In Gwendolyn's story, he's possessed by Brigan's ghost. This was after Ingway used the Darkova Curse to try and kill him, which left him weakened and unprepared.
• Cruel Mercy: Deconstructed. He spares King Valentine, who begs for a Mercy Kill, so that he can suffer for eternity. This eventually gives King Valentine the opportunity to use the Cauldron to destroy the world so that he may finally get the death he longs for.
• Deceptive Disciple: He disguised himself as a young boy and apprenticed under the Three Wise Men in order to learn the secrets of the psyphers. He succeeded in robbing them of their knowledge and briefly turned them into frogs as an extra humiliation. When word of this got out, it ruined the Wise Men's reputation, thus earning Odin their eternal enmity.
• Dying Alone: Played with as by the time the Halja come for him, no one else in Ragnanival (save for Gwendolyn, Brom, and Myris as they were planning to escape the Old Castle) is alive, which contrasts with his daughter Griselda, who at least died with Gwendolyn by her side. However, he's not truly alone when he dies as Griselda's spirit was there to the very end.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Part of how he became so powerful is because Wagner’s blood runs through his veins.
• Epic Flail: Wields a gigantic morning star Psypher, called the Balor, the most powerful of all and whose forging was literally considered a national undertaking for Ragninval. Possibly this is the Odin Sphere?
• Even Evil Has Standards: Face it, he's definitely not a nice guy but still more decent than King Valentine or Onyx.
  • He also makes it apparent he hates Brigan.
• Eye Beams: Several variations of one of his attacks.
• Face Death with Dignity: When the Halja approach after his Aesir had been slain in battle, he doesn't fight back, simply holding the spirit of Griselda and spending his final moments acting like the father she always wanted.
• Fatal Flaw: His inability to separate and find a balance between his roles as a ruler and a father. In the end, it cost him the woman he loved, the love and respect of his children, and ultimately his own happiness.
• Final Boss: In Mercedes's story.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: He learns the error of his ways far too late to do anything positive with it aside from letting Gwendolyn be with Oswald, and dies with no redemption.
• Heel Realization: Before his death, he seems to finally realize that all his schemes and ambitions ultimately weren't worth what he lost (the life of his loved one and the love of his children) and he goes to his end embracing the ghost of Griselda, sadly admitting that only now could he be the father she wanted.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Everything he did come back to bite him by the time of Armageddon, notably his callous way of treating his children who aren't Velvet. It blew up spectacularly with Ingway especially and Gwendolyn to a lesser extent.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: At the end of Gwendolyn's story, he reluctantly acknowledges that Gwendolyn's love for Oswald surpasses the love she has for him and allows her to leave with him and the Ring of Titrel. Particularly sad since it becomes apparent from seeing the other stories afterwards that by this point in the overall narrative he geniunely has come to realize what Gwendolyn means to him, but now the only thing he can do to let her truly be happy is let her leave him.
• Jerkass: He acts like this outwardly most of the time.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: But he does have a strong sense of honor, keeps his word, and ultimately does love all of his children even if he is far from an ideal parent to them.
• Large and in Charge: The biggest guy in Ragnanival.
• Lightning Bruiser: Physically huge and powerful. Wields an enormous Psypher morningstar. Calculatingly smart and cunning. Knows a thousand spells.
• Love Hurts: It definitely does when everyone you love ends up dying, hating you, or deciding that they would accept another's unconditional over your hesitant one.
• Manipulative Bastard: He uses anyone to achieve his own ends, even his own daughter Gwendolyn. Documents in the Updated Re Release reveal that he's using a very liberal interpretation of the Armageddon prophecy to justify his military build-up and attempts to seize the Cauldron.
• Maou the Demon King: Demon Lord Odin, which is often emphasized. Though it's also implied, give his magical prowess, that it also translates to "Wizard King" per the Japanese meaning. He truly lives up to it in Mercedes' story, where he's the Big Bad in her story arc complete with You Killed My Father motivation.
• Mask Power: Whenever you fight him. Interestingly, it often gets knocked off to signify he's been beaten except after Velvet's battle with him, where he appears to be beaten to trick King Valentine to coming close enough to be seized in his giant hand.
• Megaton Punch: When not using the Balor, he will simply punch you really hard.
• Mercy Kill: He almost deliver one to King Valentine, but eventually he decides that he doesn't deserve one. This will bite him in the ass a while later.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: With a big helping of You Can't Fight Fate. His chief motivation throughout most of his life is to amass enough power for himself and his kingdom to face the prophesized Armageddon. Almost every single action he takes in the pursuit of this goal ends up contributing to creation of the Five Disasters. Odin's seduction of Princess Ariel triggered King Valentine's descent into insanity, eventually resulting in the latter's plan to use the Cauldron and Leventhan to destroy the world. Odin's scorn towards Ingway after the latter chose to save him at the expense of the entire nation of Valentine, led Ingway down the path of revenge and seeking the power of the Beast of Darkova. Tricking and humiliating the Three Wise Men made them work for King Gallon, which eventually gave them the idea to "win" the Armageddon by releasing undead Gallon from the Netherworld. Odin's attempts to cheat Oswald - by omitting the fact that he actually needed the ring Titrel from Wagner, and pretending to sell Gwendolyn to him, but not actually putting any sort of love spell on her, so that she would remain loyal to Odin and bring Titrel to him - trigger the final chain of events leading to the Armageddon. Not only Odin quickly lost Titrel again, after reactivating the Cauldron and thus allowing King Valentine to use it, Gwendolyn initially doing as he expected and giving Titrel to him resulted in Oswald's (temporary) death and destruction of Queen Odette, which made releasing King Gallon actually possible. For that matter, Odin only had to go through the trouble of using Oswald because of the pact he made with Wagner before, to gain yet more power. The only Disaster that is only indirectly related to Odin's actions is King Onyx, who was slighted by Odin as well (Gwendolyn was initially promised to him) but didn't consider that a sufficient reason to burn the world. Basically the extent to which he channeled this trope is probably the reason why the game is named after him.
• Offing the Offspring: Zig-zagged all over the place. He allows Velvet's execution only because he needs to save face before his people. When she confronts him later on (and forced by King Valentine to try and kill him) in private, he deliberately pulls his punches until he can fake his defeat and grab Valentine. When Ingway transforms into the Beast of Darkova to try and kill him, he helps Velvet to subdue him and noticeably hesitates and orders a halt when his men try to apprehend both Valentine twins before the Pooka rescue them. Finally, when Gwendolyn refuses to hand over the Ring of Titrel and tells him he'll have to kill her to get it back, Odin in a rage lifts his fist, but Oswald's call-out makes him hesitate long enough to come to his senses and tiredly stand down and leave. The only time he attempts to unhesitatingly kill one of his children is when he's possessed by Brigan who tries to murder Gwendolyn.
• Our Giants Are Bigger: The Berserkers of Ragnanival are a race of men that never stop growing throughout their lives, and Odin, as the eldest amongst them, is massive.
  • It could also have something to do with Wagner's blood flowing through his veins, after Odin made a pact with the former.
• Papa Wolf: The Halja found out that threatening his favorite child isn't wise at all. He also shows up at Onyx's kingdom when Gwendolyn's kidnapped and taken there. He leaves only after letting Onyx know no spell can really make Gwendolyn love him.
• Parental Favoritism: Out of his four children, he obviously shows more love to Velvet than the others. It's more than hinted that this is because Velvet resembles her mother. He does seem to start seeing Gwendolyn more favorably as her story goes, but his own conflict with his personal desires eventually drives her to accept Oswald's unconditional love over him, and he himself solemnly laments to Griselda's spirit that only on death's door could he be the father she always wanted.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: He led his army personally against Valentine and Ringford, and personally kills Elfaria. He's also marched straight into Volkenon to confront Onyx as well as charge into the Netherworld and confront Odette, both for Phozon Crystals and his daughters.
• Shout-Out: To the Allfather of Norse Mythology himself.
• Slave to PR: As he points out to Velvet, as a king he has a duty to uphold the laws of his land, even if he doesn't personally like it, because he must always appear as a strong ruler to his people. This causes problems when his beloved children start getting on the wrong side of said laws.
• Sorcerous Overlord: His Japanese title (Maou 魔王) means "Demon King" but can also means "Wizard King" or "Magic King", and he himself states that he is capable of a thousand spells.
• Spectacular Spinning: In the remake he gains two new attacks with Balor, one where he swings it around his body like a flail and the other where he throws it in front of himself and makes it spin in place, creating a vacuum that draws his opponents in.
• Spell My Name With An S: Owing to the fact that "di" is an unusual syllable that does not exist in standard Japanese, Odin's name in the Japanese version of the game is spelled (and pronounced) "Odein".
• Star-Crossed Lovers: With Princess Ariel of Valentine, who gave birth to his children Velvet and Ingway.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers two epic ones in Mercedes's story, though the second one ends rather poorly for him. He also delivers one to King Valentine and deems him one who must suffer for what he's done in the past.
• This Is Unforgivable!: Says it word-for-word when Gwendolyn refuses to hand over the Ring of Titrel as long as she's still alive, but ultimately subverted since Odin can't bring himself to hurt her and admits he's lost the fight for Gwendolyn's love to Oswald.
• To Be Lawful or Good: In regards to balancing his own ambitions and duties as king against the love he possesses for his children. More often than not he chooses ambition and duty, and in the end it only brings him sadness and regret, as he laments as he holds Griselda's spirit before the Halja finish him.
• Together in Death: With Griselda. He literally holds her spirit in a hug as the Halja come for him.
• Too Clever by Half: Odin is a legitimately crafty schemer who is capable of manipulating others into doing his dirty work without them even realizing it. But his undoing comes from his inability to become a better parent to any of his children. His manipulative nature and lust for power end up burning bridges with all his children, with even his most loyal daughter Gwendolyn cutting ties with him once she realizes that her marriage with Oswald granted her the unconditional love she desperately craved, something that Odin could never give. The result is that his children, intentionally or not, end up undermining his goals.
• Top-Heavy Guy: Huge chest and arms, combined with tiny legs.
• Xanatos Gambit: His plan to manipulate Oswald into getting the Ring of Titrel for him is one. He exploits Oswald's infatuation with Gwendolyn to get the Shadow Knight to slay Wagner for him. Even though Oswald keeps the ring for himself, Odin isn't all that miffed because he knows that Oswald would give the ring to Gwendolyn as a gift. Gwendolyn, knowing the ring's value, would then give it to Odin due to her loyalty to him. It does work, but what Odin failed to account for was that Gwendolyn would end up genuinely falling for Oswald to the point that she would openly defy him.
• Weapons That Suck: Balor can be used to suck Phozons into it like any other Psypher weapon.

Lord Brigan

Lord Brigan

Voiced by: Shōzō Iizuka (JP), Richard Epcar (EN)

A huge Berserker who serves under Odin as his vassal and army general. Despite his rank, he's an incompetent oaf who aims to take Odin's place. He gets killed by Gwendolyn on the top of Horn Mountain, but reappears in the following chapter possessing Odin. Fortunately, Gwendolyn defeats him and he's vanquished once and for all.

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• Ax-Crazy: He’s very unhinged. He will kill for the sake of killing even if it’s unnecessary.
• Bad Boss: He once crushed one of his own warriors for daring to pointing out his desire to make dramatic entrances caused them to be late to the last battle and was in part why Griselda died. In his boss battles, he can also harm his own men with his attacks.
• Big Eater: Cornelius finds him surrounded by a whole feast's worth of food.
• Booze-Based Buff: He can drink liquor in order to breathe fire or augment his strength. He can also pour said liquor on the characters, stunning them.
• Boss Subtitles: General Brigan.
• The Brute: He's a giant Berserker holding the title of Army General.
• Deader than Dead: Killing him atop Winterhorn Ridge apparently wasn't enough to stop him from going after Ragnanival's throne. So Gwendolyn does it again while he's possessing Odin.
• Demonic Possession: Possesses Odin after his first death. Gwendolyn promptly hands him his ass.
• Dirty Old Man: While his age is unclear, he does seem to be on the older side, and he very much lusts after Gwendolyn, who is much younger than he is.
• The Dragon: To Odin, though he's more of The Starscream.
• Evil Red Head: Or at least Redbeard.
• Expy: It's really hard to not see him as an Asgardian Yosemite Sam, especially with his hatred of the rabbit-like Pooka.
• Fantastic Racism: He can't stand Pooka for some reason.
• Fur and Loathing: He wears the hides of a pair of skinned bears(?) on his back. He also stated that he would have made a fur cap out of Cornelius.
• General Failure: One wonders why Odin put him at the head of his Vassals. This is a guy who thinks making a dramatic entrance into the fight is more important than actually being on time to relieve struggling soldiers. It's heavily implied the first major battle between the Aesir and the Vanir went bad for the former because he wasted valuable time trying to invoke a Big Damn Heroes moment, and it definitely got Griselda killed. Then he tried to do it again in the next fight, with one of his own men questioning him about it and getting whacked, and he only allows some Valkyries to go ahead to the fight to keep them from arguing with him.
• Hated by All: Every character who meets him can make it clear that they don’t care for him.
• Hate Sink: He's a smug and misogynistic gasbag who treats his soldiers poorly, and that was before his plan to overthrow Odin was revealed. While Odin is definitely by no means a nice guy, he ends up coming off as a saint in comparison to his Jerkass of a general.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: He openly lusts after Gwendolyn and puts her in a similar situation twice. She hands him his ass both times.
• It's All About Me: Brigan thinks of no one but himself, seeing his allies as pawns and pointlessly sacrificing them for the littlest reasons.
• Jerkass: An even bigger asshole than Odin, and without the latter's rounding qualities.
• Kick the Dog: Tells Gwendolyn that Griselda’s death was her own fault, never mind that it was his.
• Killed Off for Real: Gwendolyn kills him for good after he possesses Odin.
• Large and in Charge: He's the captain of the Berserkers and the biggest of them. Only Odin is larger.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: He wears four shields on his large chest that render him Immune to Flinching and unable to be damaged. If you blast him hard enough said shields will fall off one at a time, though his Valkyrie servants will eventually swoop in to try to replace them.
• More Despicable Minion: While Odin is a Manipulative Bastard who treats his children as pawns, he comes off as a saint compared to Brigan who lacks any redeeming qualities or even loyalty to his king.
• Never My Fault: Refuses to accept the fact that his refusal to move in during a critical moment caused his men to be late and got Griselda killed, first blaming Griselda for not waiting for reinforcements to Gwendolyn's face and, in Velvet's story when one of his men points out he's making the same mistake, attacking the poor guy pointing this out.
• Our Giants Are Bigger: The second largest Berserker in the game.
• Pet the Dog: It's a very minor moment, but he does allow several Valkyries to go on ahead to aid Gwendolyn in the second battle for the Cauldron if only to keep them from grumbling behind his back at how he's holding back the bulk of his forces again.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Believes women are better as servants than warriors. Gwendolyn and Velvet prove him wrong on separate occasions with the former doing it twice.
• Precision-Guided Boomerang: His hammer.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: After guzzling some drink from his flagon, his eyes glow red and he gets a crazed expression on his face. He also happens to hit much harder and faster while in this state.
• Seven Deadly Sins: He embodies all seven.
  • Lust: Lusts over Gwendolyn, who is undoubtedly much younger than he is.
  • Gluttony: Is rarely seen not stuffing his face.
  • Envy: Jealous of Odin for his positioning.
  • Pride: Believes he is a great general, but fails to realize that he is producing casualties of his own.
  • Wrath: If someone dares question him, he wastes no time killing them.
  • Greed: Wants to get Odin’s position.
  • Sloth: When not in combat, he’s lazing about and when he is, he barely does anything.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He constantly boasts about his power and his loyalty to King Odin. However, he is defeated five times in all throughout the game by just about every main character. Mercedes is the only one not to defeat him, because the two don't even meet. Gwendolyn defeats him twice, though, living and undead.
• Smarter Than They Look: While he is a legitimately dumb brute, he's shown to be capable of low cunning, such as when he deliberately withholds his knowledge of Odin's affair with Princess Ariel so he could blackmail and discredit him when the time is right.
• Smug Snake: While he is antagonistic already to our playable protagonists, he secretly hides the fact that he wants to take Odin's place, despite following his orders.
• The Starscream: He plans to take Odin's place by killing Velvet and then revealing to the people how Odin sent his own daughter to her death..
• Stay in the Kitchen: His attitude towards Valkyries, and that's him at his most respectable towards them.
• Straw Misogynist: His repulsive attitudes towards women are revealed long before his treachery.
• Too Dumb to Live: He often holds back his troops during critical battles because he want to make a dramatic entrance.
• Top-Heavy Guy: Like all Berserkers. It's amazing watching him walk around, really. His legs are so comparatively small that it seems like a miracle he can actually walk, much less jump.
• The Unfought: On Mercedes’ end as she never meets him.

Valkyrie Griselda

Griselda

Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (JP), Tara Platt (EN)

"This spear has slain many enemies, making a mountain of corpses."

Odin's daughter and Gwendolyn's elder sister, she was the strongest valkyrie of Ragnanival and the favorite of the Demon King. However, she was slain in battle. She reappears to Gwendolyn taking the form of a little bird and her ghost appears to Odin right before his death.

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• Cool Big Sis: She's very much this towards Gwendolyn.
• Jerkass: During Cornelius' book. She says to his face that if it were up to her, she'd have him killed. This contrasts strongly with her sister, who lends some assistance to the Pooka.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Then again, her hostility to Cornelius was because he was seen as an intruder. Her interactions with Gwendolyn especially when she's revealed to be the blue bird, shows her to be a supportive and loving sister.
• Posthumous Character: In most of Gwendolyn's story. She makes a few appearances in the Cornelius's prior to the battle in which she perishes. Then again, The Reveal that she is the blue bird that tells Gwendolyn that she should be happy herself rather than act to please her father changes things a little.
• Shipper on Deck: As the blue bird, she encourages Gwendolyn's budding feelings for Oswald.
• Spirit Advisor: As a ghost bird to Gwendolyn.
• Tsurime Eyes: Illustrated best when she's standing with Gwendolyn in Chapter 2 of Cornelius's story and highlight her sharper personality.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: She doesn't get much characterization before she dies, though the bird provides more.
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Due to her being killed at the start of Gwendolyn's story and only getting brief cameos in Cornelius's, we don't get to see much of her characterisation. However, its implied by Gwendolyn that she too sought the love and approval of her father. It's only in Odin's final moments upon meeting Griselda's spirit does he finally act like the father she and Gwendolyn had always wanted.

Myris

Myris

Voiced by: Miki Itō (JP), Tara Platt (EN)

Gwendolyn's pooka lady-in-waiting. She serves as a surrogate mother or sister for the princess, who feels ostracized and unloved by her family.

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• Ineffectual Death Threats: Once Gwendolyn is turned over to Oswald, she tries to put on a brave face and use threatening words to keep her charge safe from her new husband. Being as Myris is a pooka servant, and he's a Psypher-wielding warrior with two dead dragons under his belt, it rings pretty hollow.
• Mama Bear: She tries to protect a sleeping Gwendolyn from Oswald, before realizing that he genuinely loves her.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Accidentally lets slip to Oswald that waking Gwendolyn with a kiss is said to force her to love him. Fortunately, Oswald isn't that kinda guy.
• Parental Substitute: It's made clear from their interactions that Myris acts and sees herself as a mother figure for Gwendolyn, something that they both treasure far more than a simple master-servant relationship.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Like all pookas, Myris is a small, fluffy rabbit-person.
• Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Despite working to earn money and end the curse of Valentine, like all Pookas, Myris is genuinely fond of Gwendolyn and accompanies her into exile after her marriage, even telling Velvet of her intentions. Velvet, still on some level guilty about her role in that exile, has no issues whatsoever in granting Myris her request.
• Shipper on Deck: She tries to get Gwendolyn to accept her feelings for Oswald during her story. Oswald‘s own story reveals that this is because she has seen firsthand that he is a good man who refuses to do anything to try to manipulate her.
• Sole Survivor: Briefly, during the bad endings, as she stands on the last, tiny piece of ground on Erion, and whispers that it is a terrible ending.
• Uncertain Doom: Probably perishes during Armageddon, even in the good ending, as Gwendolyn sees Winterhorn collapse into the sea.

The Forces of the Vanir

Queen Elfaria

Queen Elfaria

Voiced by: Takako Honda (JP), Wendee Lee (EN)

The beautiful queen of the Fairies and rival of the Demon King Odin. She's also Mercedes' mother. She appears only in the first parts of Mercedes', Gwendolyn's and Oswald's stories as a good-natured ruler. She's killed in battle by Odin. Her true name is Fimbulvetr.

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• Big Good: Compared to the other rulers, she's by far the most well-intentioned and sensible. And she's savvy enough to keep an eye on her nephew Melvin and to refuse the mass-production of Red Psyphers suggested by the latter. The cruelest she's seen acting is when she mocks Gwendolyn and sics Belial on her, and it should be remembered that not only are they on opposite sides of a war, but Gwendolyn is the daughter of Odin and has just finished slaughtering her way through Vanir forces fully ready to kill her too.
• Giant Poofy Sleeves: Seriously, look at those shoulders.
• Impossible Hourglass Figure: Goes well with her fellow fairies.
• Informed Ability: Before her death, Elfaria was considered the owner of the Tasla Bow and was apparently skilled in its use. She's never shown using it, however, and while she does loan it to Mercedes so she can go frog hunting, her daughter also uses it to fight Velvet and Cornelius well before her story even starts, making it seem like it was hers from the start. There is a scene in the manga where she uses it to fight Odin, but it was only during a dream sequence Mercedes was having.
• Killed Off for Real: A Kick the Dog moment for Odin.
• Meaningful Name: If you are well versed in Norse Mythology you should know why just by looking at said name. ^note The Fimbulwinter is the three-years long winter which comes before the Ragnarok.
• Ms. Fanservice: Really slim waistline? Check. Wide hips? Check. Dazzling butterfly-like wings? Check. Freaking huge boobs? Oh yes, check.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: She was apparently a master with the crossbow she leaves to Mercedes.
• Sacrificial Lion: She exists to die so that Mercedes can be forced to grow up fast.
• Sorry That I'm Dying: Essentially this is how her final moments play out.
• The Unfought: Of the able-bodied and combat-capable rulers in the game, she's the only one who does not become a boss fight at any point. Leifthrasir passes on the chance as well.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: It's a miracle she garners as many tropes as she does; she dies very early in Mercedes's story, and cameos only once in Gwendolyn's and a scattered few times in Oswald's.
• Winged Humanoid: As a female fairy, she has a pair of large, multicolored butterfly wings.

Melvin

Melvin

Voiced by: Show Hayami (JP), Doug Erholtz (EN)

"This is a turning point. Royalty is handed down as judgement of the Gods. The crown still awaits its perfect master."

One of the Fairy nobles, nephew of Elfaria, and cousin of Mercedes. Is a smug, ambitious prick who is vying for the throne. He also adopted Oswald and gave him the Belderiver sword.

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• Abusive Parents: The way he treats his adoptive son Oswald during his story, manipulating his desire to please his father to get him to do self-harmful things for Melvin's benefit.
  • However, considering he did adopt Oswald, it does suggest he might’ve been a better person once.
• Adaptational Ugliness: In the game, he has the appearance of a Long-Haired Pretty Boy. However, the manga adaptation Little Fairy Queen gives him a more craven look with a Sinister Schnoz, making him appear more Obviously Evil.
• Ambition Is Evil: He started out as a good and loyal soldier, but the more he thought about being passed over in royal succession for Mercedes, who seemed like a useless Spoiled Brat, the more attractive a coup sounded.
• Arc Villain: To both Mercedes and Oswald at first, though he bites it pretty early on in each of their stories.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Likes to remind Oswald that he is just a lowly foundling, while Melvin is a scion of royalty.
• Asshole Victim: In the game, it's never shown how he suffered his fatal wounds. In the Little Fairy Queen manga however, he is stabbed by the Belderiver after Oswald loses his grip on it during his battle with Mercedes.
• Broken Pedestal: To Oswald once Melvin confesses in his dying moments that Oswald was simply a tool for him.
• Calling Parents by Their Name: Well, aunt. He never refers to Elfaria as his aunt (or anything else similar). Considering the time period, it makes sense.
• Dirty Coward: He's seen on the battlefield only once, and all he does is piss his pants at the sight of Odin's Epic Flail, and hide behind Elfaria, no less.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: In the manga, he is mortally wounded when Mercedes knocks the Belderiver out of Oswald's hands and it lodges itself in his chest.
• Informed Ability: He's supposed to be the Head Commander of the Shadow Knights, but apparently he's anything but a warrior.
• Jerkass: Thankfully he doesn't survive for long...
• Jerkass Has a Point: Very unpleasant, but he was right about Mercedes when she first became Queen not having the wisdom or experience for the title in wartime... except for the fact Elfaria specifically asked him to help her do so, not take power for himself.
• Kick the Dog:
  • He ordered Oswald to kill the Dragon Hindel just to test out his capabilities.
  • He really had to deliver that last "The Reason You Suck" Speech to a dying Oswald, hadn't he?
• Lack of Empathy: Doesn’t show a lot of empathy or care when his aunt dies and when his cousin grieves.
• Large and in Charge: Unlike other male Fairies, he's very tall and muscular.
• The Man Behind the Man: Not to Elfaria, who was savvy enough to keep an eye on him, but is briefly one to Mercedes.
• Meaningful Name: Nidhogg. The dragon who chews the roots of the cosmic tree Yggdrasil (aka Mercedes). It's an important hint that she's supposed to be the one to kill Onyx at Ragnarok.
• Non-Action Guy: Mortally wounded offscreen by some paladins. Good riddance.
• Pet the Dog: He still adopted Oswald, saving him from sure death. He also seemed to genuinely care for the well being of Ringford, as part of his reason for betraying Mercedes was because he assumed (correctly) she wasn't ready to lead the country in a time of war. Ironically, responding to his revolution helps her come into her own.
• Power Corrupts: He was implied to be a far better person in his youth, when he adopted Oswald and didn't think of him as a tool for his own ambitions.
• Smug Snake: His revolution ultimately collapses thanks to internal problems and external pressures.
• The Starscream: To Mercedes once she becomes Queen; however, he was very much loyal to Elfaria, if incensed at the fact she refused to heed his advice about utilizing the Belderiver's power more.
• Tom the Dark Lord: A scheming snake who's in charge of the Shadow Knights... whos' name happens to be Melvin.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Although he's a power-hungry Jerkass, he does have the kingdom's best interests at heart.
• Winged Humanoid: Like all male fairies, he has grasshopper wings. They aren't strong enough for him to fly though.

Brom

Brom

Voiced by: Fumio Matsuoka (JP), Nolan North (EN)

"I never should have crafted that weapon. It will part the heavens and tear the earth assunder."

A dwarf blacksmith from Ringford, who served Melvin and his Dark Knights and forged Psypher weapons for them, though many of them were lost. He's exiled to the Netherworld by Melvin and later rescued by Mercedes, so that he can power up the Tesla crossbow. He also supports Oswald a lot, probably feeling guilty for creating the Belderiver sword that Melvin had him wield.

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• The Atoner: Towards Oswald after his escape from the Netherworld, blaming himself for Oswald's cursed life as a result of the Belderiver.
• Distressed Dude: During the first half of Mercedes' story he's stuck in the Netherworld and must be freed.
• Oh, Crap!: In Mercedes' story, when he realizes the undead Pooka in front of him is his old liege, King Valentine. He immediately tells Mercedes to start running.
• Only Sane Man: Apparently he's the only follower of Melvin who realized how dangerous the red Psyphers were.
• Our Dwarves Are All the Same: He's far more grim and serious than your average dwarf. And, technically, he's a lilipat, as one of the dwarves of Ringford Forest that stayed behind and made peace with the fairies instead of emigrating to Ragnanival.
• Ultimate Blacksmith: Even Queen Odette and King Valentine themselves praised his skills, and he's one of the few people able to create a Psypher. Documents in the Updated Re Release reveal whole teams of Ragnanival dwarves armed with superior technology are needed just to match his prowess... and that's after the fairies had him swear off his forge for years. Still, even he admitted he couldn't create a Psypher as powerful as Odin's Balor...but one able to destroy it, on the other hand...
• Uncertain Doom: Probably perishes along with the pookas during Armageddon, even in the good ending, as Gwendolyn sees Winterhorn collapse into the sea.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: When he dared to oppose Melvin, the latter exiled him in Endelphia. Oswald encounters him down there and Mercedes has to go there to free him.

Titania

King Edmund

King Edmund

Voiced by: Fumio Matsuoka (JP), Nolan North (EN)

The human king of Titania, and father of Cornelius. In the past he fought and slayed his father Gallon when the latter abused the Darkova spell. Uh, also his brother Edgar is Oswald's father, so he's Oswald's uncle.

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• All for Nothing: During Cornelius's story, he throws off the Wise Men's yoke, becomes a strong king again, and sets about repealing their oppressive laws and winning back the hearts and minds of the Titanian people. Then his insane undead father returns from the Netherworld at the head of an army of ghosts, slaughters the entire population, and eats poor Edmund alive.
• Cool Sword: In the past.
• Freudian Excuse: His opposition towards Cornelius's relationship with Velvet was due to his own brother's illegitimate marriage with a commoner, which resulted in their father King Gallon disinheriting and assassinating his brother.
• Gag Nose: He has a pretty long one.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: He was once a revered hero for slaying the demon beast as it threatened to destroy Titania, and even saved the kingdom from Valentine's invasion. But as age and past traumas catch up with him, he's reduced to a helpless Puppet King whose kingdom succumbs to crime and poverty.
• I Have No Son!: Briefly to Pooka Cornelius, not helped by seeing the Psypher sword. He acknowledges him in the end though.
• Informed Ability: Justified by his age and his trauma. He just can't show off the ability he had in his youth.
• Miniature Senior Citizen: He's really small compared to his strapping-in-human-form son.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Apparently after killing Gallon, so much that he refused to ever look at the Titania Royal Sword again.
• Patricide: Forced to Mercy Kill his own father King Gallon to save Titania from destruction. It's left a mark on him ever since, and King Valentine takes special pleasure in revealing this to Cornelius.
• Puppet King: Turned into one by the Wise Men. He asserts himself during Cornelius's story, and things apparently improve for everyday Titanians before Armageddon.
• Retired Bad Ass: He once killed Darkova Gallon all by himself. Talk about Badass Normal.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: It's clear the trauma of fighting and killing the Demon Beast who was actually his own father has left its marks on his psyche, to the point the very sword he used to do so has become a Trauma Button.
• These Hands Have Killed: He mentions near the end of Cornelius' story that he can still remember Gallon's blood all over his blade and hands after killing him, and that "the blood won't come off".

The Three Wise Men

The Three Wise Men

Voiced by: Urzur: Shingo Hiramatsu (JP), Skuldi: Ikuo Nishikawa (JP), and Beldor: Fumihiko Tachiki (JP)

"Only a man without fear dares to outwit a Wise Man."

Consisting of Urzur, Skuldi and Beldor, these three wizards scheme to manipulate every major player in Erion for their own benefit. Though based out of the sewers of Titania, they can be found sowing dissent in Odin's court (Skuldi), rubbing shoulders with the nobles of Ringford (Beldor) or advising King Edmund (Urzur). They also have a shaky alliance of sorts with Ingway and Velvet. The trio are actually responsible for at least part of Odin's magical power, having been duped into taking him as an apprentice when he disguised himself in his younger days. They believe they can direct the flow of destiny with liberal interpretations of the prophecies and the right amount of coercion, treating anyone and everyone as pawns. This ends very, very badly for them.

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• Adaptational Jerkass: Beldor in the Little Fairy Queen manga is even worse than he is in the game, at least with how he treats Belial. Mercedes sees him needlessly bully the dragon by throwing food at him. And when he's losing his battle against Mercedes, he forces the dragon to become a meat shield and gives a Psychotic Smirk when she's forced to shoot through Belial.
• Ambition Is Evil: They're already among the most powerful sorcerers in all of Erion, but that's just not enough for them. Instead of using their power to avert or minimize Armageddon, they plot about how to lord over all creation once the dust settles.
• Arc Villain: Urzur is the overriding Big Bad of Cornelius's story.
• Backstab Backfire: Oswald held Skuldi at swordpoint, demanding Gwendolyn's whereabouts. When told, Oswald turns his back, in which Skuldi attempts to attack him. Unfortunately for him, Oswald was smart enough to anticipate this and run Skuldi through. It didn't help Skuldi had also pressed Oswald's Berserk Button by saying Gwendolyn is nothing more that a tool to use.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Although King Valentine eventually takes the cake as the ultimate architect of Armageddon, these three have some impressive Big Bad credentials of their own.
• Big Bad Wannabe: For all their efforts to kickstart Armageddon, none of them would live long enough to witness it. Even with the undead Beldor controlling the transformed Ingway, they are the first of the Five Beasts to be dispatched.
• Boss Subtitles: (Beldor or Skuldi) the Sorcerer.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: They're not really on anyone's side but their own, so it's to be expected, but the most pronounced example comes in Mercedes' chapter. She seeks out Beldor to support her for the throne just as he supported her mother, but Oswald has already been by to persuade him into backing Melvin.
• The Dog Bites Back: All three of them come to sticky ends at the hands of people they've dismissed as pawns.
  • Belial chows down on Urzur after the former's fight against Cornelius. This is after each of his appearances that consisted of him being forced to act as Urzur's attack dog.
  • Oswald guts Skuldi after the Wise Man tried to use he and his fiancee as tools in their plot to cause Armageddon on their terms.
  • Beldor actually manages to have this happen to him twice, first turned into a pooka and imprisoned by Mercedes and Ingway for intriguing against them, a process that ends in his death. Then, upon returning from death as a pooka-ghost and enslaving Ingway, he's permanently devoured by Ingway's Darkova form after losing control in the normal resolution to Armageddon.
• Dual Boss: Velvet has to put up with the teeth-gnashing task of fighting off both Beldor and Belial in Chapter 6 of her book. This probably makes them qualify as a rare two-in-one example of That One Boss.
• Early-Bird Cameo: While they're relevant to the plot only from book two onward, Beldor appears in the first chapter of Gwendolyn's book when he summons Belial against her.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Urzur genuinely seemed disgusted at King Edmund's stubborn refusal to disclose the royal family's secret power even as Urzur had Belial attack Titania's citizens.
• Evil Chancellor: They manipulate more than one side to prepare for Armageddon.
  • Urzur manipulates the Titanian royal family by acting behind the King and trying to send Cornelius to his death to obtain the book of Transformation and learn the secrets of Darkova.
  • Beldor is initially allied with the Fairies, but after Elfaria's death, he turns against Mercedes and even tries to leave her stranded in the Netherworld.
  • Skuldi tries to play with the powers between Odin and Brigan, while also scheming about Odin's children.
• Evil Old Folks: The trio are behind many schemes of Erion and actively try to bring forth Armageddon thinking they can become the masters of the new world.
• Faux Affably Evil: They all speak in a mockingly polite tone.
• Flunky Boss: They have a tendency to harass the heroes with Slimes and such in addition to their usual repertoire of spells. Furthermore, Beldor is escorted by some Axe Knight while Skuldi summons Oswald's "former comrades". A.K.A. a group of Desecrators.
• Gender Flip: As noted in Meaningful Name below, their names indicate they're based on the female goddesses of fate from Norse mythology.
• "Get Back Here!" Boss: Like the common Wizard enemies you face in Titania, the Wise Men are fond of teleporting away from you. In the original game, deflecting their floating swords back at them is the only way to stun them and preventing them from teleporting away if you try to hit them.
• Humiliation Conga: Beldor suffers one following his defeat against Mercedes; He's turned into a Pooka by Ingway, stripped of his magic and humanity, imprisoned by Mercedes, forced to lead her to the Netherworld, and ultimately killed by a Halja in the Netherworld. Things improve for him a bit during Armageddon however, when he returns from the dead (undead Pooka seem capable of using magic) and enslaves Ingway, but goes right out the window again when he's killed all over again, usually by the freed Ingway or Cornelius in the True End.
• Insufferable Genius: Skuldi really indulges in this in Velvet's story, where he butts heads with Velvet's mentor Krois by asserting the superiority of the Titanians over the Valentinians. Becomes all the more ironic in hindsight when it was Krois who manages to decipher the prophecies, in contrast to Skuldi's own delusional hypotheses.
• Jerkass: All of them. Beldor is really pushing it when he zaps Belial when he refuses to attack Mercedes again.
• King Mook: They're aren't any bigger than normal, but the three are really just heavily upgraded wizard Mooks from Titania when fought as bosses.
• Lean and Mean: They're awfully thin.
• Meaningful Name: Each of their names is a corruption of one of the names of the Norns from Norse mythology.
• Palette Swap:
  • Urzur and Beldor share the same design, just with different colours. Averted in the manga adaptation, which gives them distinct designs.
  • The undead Beldor also shares the same design as the revenants, though he has a different colour scheme.
• Smug Snake: To their credit, their schemes very nearly succeed, but they go about it with such overwhelming superiority complexes that it's hard not to think of them this way. There's also the simple fact that for all of their near-victories, they fail. Odin lampshades this to Onyx, stating that those who would so boldly title themselves as "Wise" are often anything but.
• Spell My Name With An S: As seen on the image to the right, some instances spell Skuldi's name as "Skuldy" and Beldor as "Veldor".
• Taking You with Me: As mentioned, Belial uses his final moments take bloody vengeance on one of the wizards who enslaved him.
• Treacherous Advisor: Urzur to the Titania royal family and Beldor to the Ringford royals Specifically, it was Urzur who dumped Corenlius in the Underworld so Ingway could take his place and charm the Darkova spell out of King Edmund. On the Ringford side, Beldor switched sides as often as he changed socks. Skuldi also coaxed Brigan's The Starscream tendencies and kept an eye on the Valentinian twins.
• Undying Loyalty: They have this as a whole towards King Gallon, who gave them refuge in Titania after their original debacle with Odin. All of them speak of him with respect, with Skuldi promising to someday free him, Urzur eagerly waiting the day Gallon would return from the Netherworld, and Beldor revealing to Gallon the way to escape the Netherworld after Odette sealed the path off.
• The Unfought: Urzur is the only Wise Man who doesn't get a boss fight, due to fighting Ingway instead while Cornelius deals with Belial alone.
• Villain Ball: It certainly wasn't doing them any favors that they manage to piss off all four active PCs (Gwendolyn being asleep still at this time) near simultaneously, which ends up getting the three divided and having to face Cornelius, Mercedes and Oswald alone, where the three together (Belial helping, of course) were able to defeat Velvet with minimal trouble.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: In the true ending, it's never clarified as to what happened to Beldor after Ingway's death. It is possible that Velvet killed him.

The Fire Kingdom

King Onyx

King Onyx

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (JP), Nolan North (EN)

The king of the Fire Kingdom in the Volkenon Lava Pit. Previously engaged to Gwendolyn and not at all happy to learn Oswald is muscling in on them. He is also known to be one of the Five Disasters of Armageddon, and his refusal to leave his kingdom with his army is one of the few things keeping it from happening. He takes his army inland once the sea begins to rise with Armageddon, burning Ringford to the ground, but ultimately falls in battle to Mercedes, who reveals in her final moments her true name as Yggdrasil, the World Tree prophesied to end him.

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• Authority Equals Asskicking: He's not the boss of the Fire Kingdom for nothing, you know...
• Big Red Devil: His true form may lack the wings, but his horned appearance and fiery attacks wouldn't look out of place in the pits of Hell itself.
• Boss Subtitles: Inferno King Onyx.
• Chekhov's Gunman: He appears briefly in Gwendolyn and Oswald's stories, and really only comes across as someone trying to muscle in and create a Love Triangle (and Murder the Hypotenuse). Turns out he's also one of the five catastrophes from the legend.
• Didn't See That Coming: Says it word for word when he realizes just who Mercedes really is.
• Dishing Out Dirt: One of his attacks involves creates lava hoops that harden into solid rock, and if a character is caught inside the hoop, Onyx can shatter it to make it collapse on top of them.
• Driven to Suicide: If he goes up against Gwendolyn in Armageddon.
• 11th-Hour Superpower: Before Volkenon collapses into the sea during Armageddon, he absorbs all the hottest magma into himself to sharpen his abilities, which translates to a stat increase in both health and attack for his battle during Armageddon compared to when Oswald fought him during his story.
• Evil Counterpart: To Oswald. White Hair, Black Heart? Check. Bad reputation? Check. Able to transform? Check. Royalty? Check. Hidden Heart of Gold? Haha, no. In fact, this is the root of Onyx's hatred for Oswald, as he can't understand how Gwendolyn could love someone so similar to himself when by all rights she should shun him as well.
• Evil Is Burning Hot: Played with. He's easily the least malevolent of the five disasters, since he just wants to help his people survive, but doing so means burning what's left of the world.
• Expy:
  • Not only his relationship/obsession with Gwendolyn, but their respective Japanese voice actors make it obvious that he's one for Gilgamesh.
  • His role in the prophecies is very similar to that of Surtr, king of the fire giants, both of whom will bring forth the flames that will scorch the world. "Surtr" also translates to "black", which is a synonym of "Onyx". However, where Surtr torches Yggdrasil the World Tree at Ragnarok's climax, Onyx instead perishes at the hands of Mercedes, whose true name is Yggdrasil and whose psypher grows into a mighty tree in the rejuvinated new world that follows Armageddon.
• Final Boss: In both Oswald's story and Mercedes's role in Armageddon.
• Game Face: His true form.
• Graceful Loser: After being defeated by Mercedes and discovering her identity as the World Tree destined to defeat him, Onyx takes his final moments with grace and even expresses respect for the Fairy Queen for defeating him.
• I Am a Monster: The true reason for much of his hatred for Oswald; beneath his Jerkass and If I Can't Have You… attitude Onyx genuinely cares about Gwendolyn and wants her to love him, but he sees himself as a monster unworthy of her affections and despises the fact that Oswald, for all their similarities, is willing to not only act on that love, but be accepted in turn.
• If I Can't Have You…: Attempts a soft form of this on Gwendolyn, to keep her sleeping body as a possession forever, but is immediately thwarted by Oswald. If she fights him during Ragnarok, he works himself into a snarling, jealous rage before their battle, ranting about how disgusting he finds the thought of her letting Oswald touch her, only to come to his senses once he actually kills her, and end his own life shortly thereafter.
• Immortal Immaturity: It even gets mentioned in game that he acts like a Jerk Jock for someone centuries old.
• Jerkass: Mockingly calls Oswald a Knight in Shining Armor before mentioning the repugnant "stench of that domineering wench from the Netherworld" that clings to him. Even leaving aside his feuds with the protagonists, he's a proud and entitled ruler who throws violent temper-tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. And while he's easily the least malevolent of the five disasters, since his incineration of the land is born of a desire for survival, for himself and his people, he's a real prick about it to the fairies he encounters.
• Kick the Dog: If Oswald is overcome by the curse of his weapon during their battle at Armageddon and transforms into a Revenant, Onyx laughs and and mocks him, sending him off to wander the dying world clinging to the last piece of Oswald's identity that remains as he repeats Gwendolyn's name over and over. This is especially cruel considering during their battle Oswald chose to spare his life because he couldn't bring himself to hate another man for loving the same woman as him.
• Large Ham: "WELCOME!!!".
• Loving a Shadow: It's heavily implied that his attraction to Gwendolyn is because of her supposed purity as opposed to any physical attraction. When Odin confronts Onyx at one point, the latter will gush about how Gwendolyn is so pure that it's hard to believe that she's Odin's daughter. Should Gwendolyn fight Onyx in Armageddon, Onyx will say that Gwendolyn's purity had been tainted by loving someone like Oswald. He sharply contrasts with Oswald, who genuinely loved Gwendolyn as a person rather than as an object.
• Magma Man: When transformed.
• Megaton Punch: One of his more basic attacks in his true form.
• Metaphorically True: He tells Gwendolyn in her story that Oswald, in exchange for letting the matter of Gwendolyn's previous engagement to himself go, promised Onyx his unconditional service for one time only. While that is true, as revealed in Oswald's story "letting the matter go" involved the two fighting to the death over keeping Gwendolyn eternally asleep or not and Oswald offered that promise out of sympathy for the Inferno King's situation.
• Mutual Kill: He ends up getting killed by Mercedes in Armageddon, but not without mortally wounding her in the process.
• My God, What Have I Done?: What happens if he fights Gwendolyn in Armageddon. He kills her, and basically commits suicide afterwards.
• No Indoor Voice: When he's trying to be friendly. See Large Ham above.
• Noble Demon: He is an immense jerk but Onyx is also quite reserved in his actions; he wanted Gwendolyn as an object but considering his power he wasn’t that focused on taking her for himself, knowing full well she would never love him. At first he wanted no business in war, living quietly in his Fire Kingdom, and only deciding to enact evil when his Kingdom sank into the ocean. Onyx also shows restraint in humiliating his foes any further, stopping the Vulcans from desecrating the fallen enemy; to top it off he also isn’t above sneaking compliments with a touch of disdain, such as getting killed by Mercedes, he was in disbelief for it happening but also impressed by Mercedes managing to slay him.
• One-Winged Angel: Transforms into a miniature Balrog to fight.
• Omnicidal Maniac: He intends to burn down the whole world and all who live in it during Armageddon, albeit for an understandable reason since it's the only way he and his people can survive now that they've been flooded out of their home.
• Playing with Fire: He is the Inferno King.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: It's essentially a faster Megaton Punch.
• Rocket Punch: With the added twist that not only do they shoot around for a while, he can still punch you with his elbows.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: His belief that Gwendolyn could never truly love someone like him leads him to decide just keeping her eternally-slumbering body as a beautiful object d'art in his treasure-room is an acceptable replacement. Ironically, what Gwendolyn desires most is to be loved and appreciated as a person rather than an object, meaning Onyx's obsession is self-defeating.
• This Cannot Be!: Said word-for-word when beaten by Mercedes and he hears her true name.
• Top-Heavy Guy: In his true form, his legs are much smaller than his upper body and arms. His idle animation even has him hunched over with his fists on the ground.
• Villainous Crush: Twisted as said love is, his feelings for Gwendolyn are genuine, but a combination of Gwendolyn rejecting him, his own Jerkass behavior, and his hidden belief that she could never truly love a monster like him leaves it a romance doomed to failure.
• Voice of the Legion: In his monster form.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Not that any of the fire elementals of Volkenan seem all that keen on too many clothes.
• Weaksauce Weakness: He might seems a uber-powerful minotaur made of lava with both speed and raw power, but if you hit him with a Ooze potion he's as good as dead. This exploit was clobbered in Leifthransir, so have fun.

Dragons

Belial

Belial

Voiced by: Shōzō Iizuka (JP)

"Stay away, puny one. Those who approach, will meet my fangs."

One of the last dragons, he's a huge, serpent like wyrm who was enslaved by the Three Wise Men, and is forced to do their bidding. He fought the main characters on different occasions (all of them) but is finally killed by Cornelius in the sewers under Titania.

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• Abnormal Ammo: He can spit armor pieces from his stomach. It's possible to slam the pieces back into him for damage and, if he shoots a large clump, stun him briefly.
• And I Must Scream: He's forced to obey to his masters and it is implied that he was forced to devour innocent humans while lurking in Titania's dungeons.
• Androcles' Lion: When Mercedes spares his life and shows him compassion and kindness after his years of slavery, he is deeply moved. When Beldor tries to sic him on her later in the story, he repays the favor by resisting the sorcerer's commands until the pain of fighting the spell causes him to pass out. Note that while he also acknowledges and appreciates Cornelius's sympathy for his plight, this is the only time Belial willingly tortures himself in this way for one of the protagonists.
• Boss Subtitles: Raging Dragon Belial.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Towards Mercedes, who showed him mercy and compassion.
• The Dog Bites Back: Quite literally. Urzur is so used to treating Belial like a glorified attack dog that he's blindsided and helpless when a mortally-wounded Belial is freed of the Wise Men's control, and mauls him to death.
• The Dragon: Literally for the Wise Men. He does the heavy fighting as they've bound him to their will as an attack animal. He's a boss in every character's scenario.
• Dying as Yourself: He finally gets released from bondage thanks to a fatal wound by Cornelius.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: He may have just gotten schooled by Cornelius, but Belial accentuates the positive by pointing out that the Psypher stab wound to his heart has broken the magical spell forcing him to be the Wise Men's slave. He uses the opportunity to go to town on Urzur.
• Final Boss: Of Cornelius's story.
• Gentle Giant: Was this when he was still free. Said to be the dragon most compassionate to humans.
• I Die Free: He's at peace after Cornelius kills him, no longer a slave and attack animal for the Wise Men. The fact that he got to horribly maul one of them to death before actually kicking the bucket helps.
• Irony: His love for humans led to his imprisonment at the vile hands of the Wise Men, who promptly use him to slay and dispose of their human enemies.
• Just Eat Him: One of his main attacks. If he eats enemies that spawn in, he can actually regain health.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Has a very long body, can't fly and can suck anything in his mouth.
• Recurring Boss: The ONLY boss in the game that everyone fights, though he's a Dual Boss with Beldor in Velvet's story.
• Taking You with Me: He chomps Urzur in half in his final moments. A huge Oh, Crap! for the latter.
• Tragic Monster: A noble, compassionate dragon tricked and enslaved by evil sorcerers into acting as their muscle for years, forced to devour so many of the humans he used to love that some of his major attacks involve sicking up their armor.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: A strange example in that he's the final boss of Cornelius' story, but since he was last seen as a Warm-Up Boss in Gwendolyn's story, most players were probably expecting an easy rematch with him.
• Warm-Up Boss: In Gwendolyn's and Mercedes's stories, since he's the first boss in both.
• Weapons That Suck: He has an amazing ability to suck things in his maw and eat them.

Wagner

Wagner

Voiced by: Fumihiko Tachiki (JP), Jamieson Price (EN)

"I am Wagner, Ruler of the Sky. Not even the Beast of Armageddon can reach me above the clouds."

The other Dragon and the "King of the Skies", he's so powerful that few dare to attack him. He lives on the top of Mount Ridgehorn and is pissed at humans for what they did to dragons, but ultimately falls to Oswald, slayer of his friend Hindel.

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• Armor-Piercing Question: After their battle, Mercedes tells Wagner that she swears to never use her Psypher for evil. Wagner then simply asks her what she'll use it for then, to which Mercedes has to pause for a moment before stating her intent to defeat Odin.
• Berserk Button: DON'T SHOW this guy a Psypher. Unless you like pain.
• Blow You Away: He can summon several tornadoes at once with his wings.
• Boss Subtitles: Raging Dragon Wagner.
• Breath Weapon: The only full-grown Dragon capable of spitting fire.
• Conflict Ball: Seriously, though he was fully justified to want Oswald dead and decided Mercedes would have to do in his place for being the one who fought him last, he had no legitimate reason at all to want to try to kill Cornelius and Velvet, especially since both only came to ask for help (and Cornelius in particular wanted to talk to Hindel).
• Defeat Means Friendship: Defied. He quickly repays one favor for each character who bested him in combat and spared him, to clean that slate so that he doesn't have to befriend any mortals.
• Fantastic Racism: You'd think Dragons are the pinnacle of existence, the way he talks.
• The Ghost: In Gwendolyn's story, as while mentioned multiple times he doesn't appear on Mt. Ridgehorn when Velvet is brought there to be sacrificed and he's long been Killed Offscreen by Oswald by the time she wakes up. Averted in all other stories, as he personally meets and fights the other heroes.
• Giant Flyer: He's based on a Wyvern.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Holy shit yes. Just saying the wrong word (usually involving a Psypher) is enough to get him into a murdering mood
• Honor Before Reason: Despite his bad temper and tendency to conflict, he will keep his word when given.
• It's Personal: With Oswald, due to the Shadow Knight killing his best friend Hindel. Oswald really couldn't care less about a "lizard"; however, and only fights him because he was hired to.
• Jerkass Has a Point: He's skeptical of Mercedes's intentions, pointing out that the Fairies treated one of his fellow Dragons as a glorified attack dog and killed another just because they could.
• Killed Off for Real: Slain at the hands of Oswald, thus allowing the Ring of Titrel to fall into the hands of the enemy.
• Large Ham: You'd be hard pressed to find a single time he's not bellowing his lines. Even his calmer moments have his voice coming through clearly.
• Magically-Binding Contract: He made one with Odin, giving the Demon Lord some of his blood for greater power, but in exchange Odin can no longer personally harm Wagner, similar to how Oswald wielding the Belderiver can't harm Odette, the source of its dark power.
• MacGuffin Guardian: After fighting him, Velvet makes him agree to keep the Ring of Titrel safe, as Odin can't harm him due to a pact. However, he ultimately falls to Oswald, whom Odin tasked with killing him in exchange for Gwendolyn.
• No-Sell: He made a blood pact with Odin by giving him some of his great powers. However, now Odin is powerless against Wagner and can't fight him directly himself. However, that doesn't stop Odin from sending someone (Oswald) who can.
• Recurring Boss: Fought by four characters save Gwendolyn, who doesn't encounter him on her journey up Mt. Ridgehorn and awakens from her slumber long after he dies.
• Shout-Out: Named after Richard Wagner, who wrote Der Ring des Nibelungen, upon which Odin Sphere itself was based upon.
• Tragic Bigot: He despises anyone who isn't a Dragon, but considering what the other races did, his hatred is pretty understandable.
• Underestimating Badassery: He underestimates Cornelius and Velvet and is rewarded with his defeat (granted, neither of them really wanted to fight him in the first place). He also expresses disbelief that Mercedes was the one who defeated Oswald (granted, neither of them were aware of Oswald's weakening power at the time). The only time he doesn't underestimate someone is when Oswald himself comes calling because It's Personal.
• You Killed My Father: The reason why he hate Psypher wielders: Oswald slew Wagner's best friend, the harmless Hindel, just to show off the Belderiver's powers on Melvin's behalf. When he and the black knight finally meet face to face, Wagner is absolutely excited to finally get his revenge.

Hindel

Hindel

Voiced by: Norio Wakamoto (JP) Doug Erholtz (EN)

"Death cannot be avoided, but fate can be redirected."

The All-Knowing dragon, able to see the future. He used to be Velvet's teacher and a seer. He allows Oswald to slay him with the Belderiver, before giving him some last advice.

---

• Foreseeing My Death: He's already foreseen his death at the hands of Oswald by the time Velvet has sought him out at the start of her book.
• The Ghost: In Cornelius' and Mercedes' stories, as he's long been slain by Oswald. Cornelius goes up the mountain to get advice about his fate, but meets only an irate Wagner who exposits on Hindel's death and decides to pick a fight at the sight of his Psypher sword (as far as Urzur was concerned, it was going All According to Plan). Mercedes gets the story of what happened when Wagner races down to Ringford to set it aflame and demand Oswald be brought to him. Averted in Oswald's and Velvet's stories, where we see Oswald do the deed in the former and Velvet meets with him shortly before he dies and later sees his corpse when she goes to seek Wagner's aid in the latter.
• Ineffectual Loner: Well, he lives at the top of a giant, frozen mountain surrounded by lots of trolls, gryphons and revenants... except for Wagner and Velvet he doesn't have many visitors.
• Obi-Wan Moment/Face Death with Dignity: He foresees his death at Oswald's hands, but accepts it gracefully and warns Velvet not to try to interfere.
• Odd Friendship: With Wagner, as what little of is seen of Hindel's calm and fatalistic personality puts him with sharp contrast to Wagner's boisterous and Hot-Blooded attitude.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Except for the color scheme (he's golden) he's the Blue oni to Wagner's Red Oni.
• Seers: Many people came to him to learn the future.
• You Can't Fight Fate: The reason why he eventually stopped informing people of their fates, since it happened anyway, despite their attempts to change their own destiny.

Leventhan, the Last Dragon

Leventhan

The last dragon and one of the five disasters of Armageddon. Was kidnapped when still an egg and hatched in Volkenon Lava Pits by King Valentine in order to use him for his revenge. Despite his tiny size, it's incredibly powerful and dangerous and the crown of Valentine grants him power. During Armageddon he's put inside the Cauldron where he absorbs the Phozons and becomes a gargantuan wyrm, bringer of chaos. He's finally killed by Gwendolyn who uses her spear to slash his horn, removing his crown and killing him.

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• Achilles' Heel: The Crown of Valentine. If knocked off his head, he can't use his powerful breath attacks without it. It also becomes embedded in the horn of his final form, forming a weak spot.
• Boss Subtitles: Leventhan, the Last Dragon.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: From his very birth.
• Breath Weapon: A Huge, Wave-Motion Gun ray, capable of one-shotting anyone and anything.
• Colossus Climb: The final battle requires climbing up his massive body to reach his head.
• Composite Character: His names comes from Leviathan and Laevantin and his final form is an Expy of Jormungandr.
• Cute, but Cacophonic: In Leifthrasir, his baby form gains the ability to emit a loud cry that summons other enemies to fight you.
• The Dragon: To King Valentine. Figuratively and literally!
• Final Boss: If you get the best ending, of the entire game.
• Flat Character: Leventhan literally has no characterization at all. He has no speaking roles and exists only to cause destruction wherever it flies. He's only a cub and during Armageddon he's just a living Ragnarok Machine.
• Glass Cannon: He's tiny and falls to the ground after being hit enough times, but can easly One-shot you even with its weakest charge attack.
• Goo-Goo-Godlike: Celebrates just hatching by kicking the crap out of three of your five playable characters with his Frickin' Laser Beams.
• Killer Rabbit: He looks harmless and cute... until he fires his breath laser...and then subverted when he is accelerated into adulthood, where he turns into a giant, Chinese-style badass able to encircle the continent.
• Last of His Kind: He's even known as "The Last Dragon". He doesn't become one however until after Cornelius kills Belial.
• Meaningful Name: Seems to be a portmanteau of "Leviathan" and "Laevatein." The former is a giant snake (snake-like dragon, which also fills in nicely for Jormungandr) and the latter is a weapon that would burn the world (Leventhan's breath of destruction).
• Non-Indicative Name: Leventhan is referred to as "The Last Dragon" even while fought as Cornelius; at a point in the story where Wagner and Belial are both still alive. However, King Valentine does refer to him as the last dragon egg before hatching him.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: As a cub. He even has a piece of egg-shell on his head!
• Shout-Out: Adult Leventhan resembles Shenron.
• Soundtrack Dissonance: During his boss battle, that same music from when you use the minimap plays.
  • During the bad ending it turns into Sad Battle Music instead with this.
• Super-Empowering: While Leventhan would be naturally powerful as a dragon, he's even stronger since King Valentine's crown grants him all of the undead king's remaining magical power. Then during Armageddon, devouring the massive Psypher crystal made from the Cauldron's absorbing Phozons all over the world lets him instantly grow to Kaiju sizes.
• Tragic Monster: Poor little whelp, he was manipulated by King Valentine since he hatched from his egg.
• Tyke Bomb: Hatched and empowered by King Valentine to bring about the Apocalypse.

The Netherworld

Queen of the Netherworld, Odette

Queen Odette

Voiced by: Takako Honda (JP), Paula Tiso (EN)

The queen of the Netherworld, Endelphia. Normally has little care for the living world, but the acts of Odin incense her and she has found new fascination with Oswald, whose soul was promised to her by Melvin.

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• 0% Approval Rating: Just about everyone in the living world fears and/or hates her, her "subjects" are left to wallow in their misery at best and actively tortured by her forces more likely, and even her army is a firm believer of I Fight for the Strongest Side! given how quickly they rally to King Gallon after her death and Armageddon starts.
• Barrier Maiden: Of a sort. The only thing keeping Gallon from becoming king of the Netherworld is the fact that Odette's still alive to control the Halja that restrain him.
• Boss Subtitles: Odette, Queen of the Dead.
• Casting a Shadow: Not quite evil, but definitely a cruel, jealous, and vindictive queen. And she's fought in a room full of skulls and bones, from whence she summons a variety of spiky blades and spider-parts. Her teleportation animation involves her flesh melting.
• Even Evil Has Standards: She is a royal bitch who rules the place in cruelty and views anyone among the living, royals or otherwise, as inferior. But she detests the idea of letting the world be destroyed, and she wants to keep King Gallon secure, knowing how dangerous and vile he was when he was alive, and how he hasn't become otherwise even after death. Of course, she was also the one who made him an immortal corpse to torture him.
• Expy: A clear analogue of Hel from Norse mythology, the mistress of the land of the dishonored dead in Niflheim whose body was half beautiful and gorgeous and half rotten and disgusting. Odette just has a split along her back rather than down the middle.
• Fan Disservice: She's a pale gothic beauty with huge assets. She's also rotted away to a skeleton on parts of her body, and in the fight against her she can transform into a hideous, multi-legged, spidery... spider thingy. That comes from under her skirt.
• Fantastic Racism: Deconstructed. Her refusal to see the living as equal to the dead only brings her no end of grief and even leads to her death, allowing two evil kings to escape her domain and kickstart Armageddon.
• Final Boss: of Gwendolyn's story, being her final obstacle in saving Oswald.
• Flunky Boss: She's always surrounded by a generous number of ghosts and other undead.
• Giant Spider: She can summon one on the background in order to stab the character. Apparently it's also the lower half of her body.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: While she has no desire to end the world by leaving the Netherworld, she rules over the dead with great cruelty and caprice.
• Groin Attack: If that huge spider monster is actually her lower half, you may cause this if you attack its chest.
• Impossibly-Low Neckline: You can see quite a bit of her chest due to her outfit.
• Jerkass: Odin constantly intruding on her realm to steal her crystals might have something to do with it, but it's made clear that she's not a nice person. She freely turns the Pooka who enter her realm into ghouls that must wander the lands unendingly while being attacked by the ghosts, she does seemingly nothing to improve the state of her subjects regardless of their sins in life, and she while she was justified in punishing Gallon for his crimes as both human and Darkova, she seems to take great joy in torturing him daily with his unending curse. Most notably, she doesn't care at all that Cornelius was thrown into the Netherworld unconscious and cursed into a Pooka and views his desire to leave and find answers as an insult before trying to kill him and only backing down when Cornelius fights back.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: As bad as she is, she's this to King Gallon after the latter relapsed back into insanity. Odette at least keeps her realm barred from the living world and is mainly hostile towards intruders, while Gallon wanted to use the army of the dead to kill any living thing in sight just to satiate his bloodlust.
• No-Sell: She's the one who gave Oswald the dark powers of the Belderiver, hence she can't be harmed by the sword.
• Noblewoman's Laugh: Has a very rich one, complete with hand-over-mouth gesture.
• Pimped-Out Dress / Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: All characters fight her in a regal full dress, and she puts up a good fight anyway.
• Playing with Fire: She can shoot fireballs from her lantern in the remake.
• Ship Tease: A little with Oswald in his story mode. He's apparently the first human who's ever managed to interest her. Documents reveal that her fondest desire is for a living human soul, yet most of them wither away at her touch.
• Sinister Scythe: She can turn the large crescent attached to her into a humongous, dual bladed scythe. Fitting, considering her role
• Spider People: The lower half of her body is implied to be a huge spider, which she keeps neatly hidden underneath her skirt. This raises some disturbing implications for what the face and mandibles are supposed to constitute.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: For all that she wants to prevent Armageddon, she does a bad job at stopping it. Had she looked at Cornelius' case more carefully she would have realized King Valentine was trying to use him to return to the living world and put the kibosh on it (hopefully while still letting Cornelius pass since he was actually sinless). She also should have spent less time lusting after Oswald, otherwise she would have recognized he now had a wife willing to risk hell just to save him. Had she taken Gwendolyn seriously, she wouldn't have been killed, thus allowing King Gallon to take her place.

King Gallon

King Gallon

Voiced by: Joji Nakata (JP), Douglas Rye (EN)

"There is a royal secret... the only one to kill me... is someone of royal blood. So the prophecies state. Even if you are the shadow, a common warrior like you will never be able to kill me!"

Once a great king from Titania, he used the forbidden spell of the Darkova kept in the Book of Transformations and went mad with power. He ravaged the lands of Valentine for seven days before getting slain by his son Edmund. He gets imprisoned in the Underworld of Endelphia and tortured forever for his deeds. He eventually gets out when Odette is killed and starts the Armageddon, but gets killed by Oswald, who possesses both his royal blood (due to being the son of Edgar, Edmund's older brother) and the power of Queen Odette.

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• And I Must Scream: For his sins, Odette made him immortal but constantly rotting away. FOREVER. Of course, thanks to his curse, it's not quite as bad as it sounds.
• The Atoner: Attempted this when he helped Velvet and gave the Titanian Royal sword to Cornelius and told him never to let him come back. Unfortunately, between Ingway's use of the Darkova spell, the encouragement of the Halja, and Beldor's machinations, it doesn't last and he goes mad once more.
• Big Good: Of Cornelius's story, having given Cornelius his Psypher, and indirectly tasking him with stopping Urzur's plan to resurrect him.
• Boss Subtitles: Gallon, King of the Netherworld.
• Cerberus: As the first Darkova. He's still one down in the Netherworld, and undead to boot.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Those expecting a fight similar to Ingway's due to Gallon also having the Darkova curse will get really tripped up by Gallon's largely unique move set.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: One of his attacks consist in him shaking his rotten body and showering you with a rain of small bones and maggots, which are really hard to avoid, can stun if enough connect, and, while they deal little damage, quickly add up if you're left unable to defend yourself.
• Demon of Human Origin: Once a very human king of one of the least powerful nations of Erion, he eventually becomes the undead Cerberus King of the most unstoppable army of the land.
• Did Not See That Coming: Despite knowing Oswald possesses Odette's power, Gallon remains confident in his victory since the prophecy states that only one with Odette's power and of his own bloodline can kill him. He's completely blindsided when he realizes he's not regenerating and demands to know who Oswald really is as he's dying, bitterly musing fate has cheated him again before finally succumbing.
• Disproportionate Retribution: His falling out with Edgar started before Edgar married a commoner. According to an in-game text, he never forgave Edgar for accidentally giving him a very minor cut while brandishing Titania's royal sword after it was given to him. It's implied that he already knew of the prophecy concerning his death at the hands of his own blood and feared Edgar would be the one to do it, which is why he sent assassins after him after he was banished.
• Drunk On The Darkside: When he was alive, after turning into the six-eyed Beast, since the Darkova spell transforms all pain into pleasure. He's more regretful in the Netherworld, but it comes back full-force during Armageddon and even bigger since he also has Odette's curse of immortality on top of it, setting out to drink in the sick joy of slaughtering and devouring his own family and people.
• Eldritch Abomination: An undead Cerberus who is the second most powerful being in the Netherworld, with only Queen Odette's influence keeping the Halja from siding with and freeing him.
• Evil Feels Good: Nightmarishly so; the Darkova curse transforms all pain into pleasure. And what could hurt more than killing your family and kingdom?
• Evil Sounds Deep: Although not always, at least presumably if his voice was the same when he was alive.
• Expy: He's a combination of Cerberus and Garm from Greek and Norse Mythology respectively.
• Fallen Hero: Outright admits he's this if Cornelius fights him during Armageddon, the Curse of Darkova degenerating him physically and morally from a hero of Titania to nothing but a feared beast.
• Final Boss: In Oswald's role in Armageddon.
• Flunky Boss: He's guarded by a small army of ghouls, dog and fish spirits, and Halja.
• Foil: To King Valentine. Both are fallen, undead kings who killed their own children due to their children being in a relationship that they were opposed to. But while Valentine never let go of his hatred even in the afterlife, Gallon seeks to be The Atoner and his Jumping Off the Slippery Slope was due to Ingway's abuse of the Darkova curse that drove Gallon back into insanity. Valentine eventually became feared by his people as he became a tyrannical despot falsely assumed to have cursed them into Pooka, Gallon still retained a positive legacy among his people as no one outside of his son, the Three Wise Men, and later grandson was aware that he was the demon beast that nearly destroyed the kingdom and instead was just an innocent casualty of the monster.
• Godzilla Threshold: Outmatched by King Valentine's army and facing the subjugation/possible destruction of his kingdom of Titania, Gallon chose to utilize the power of the six-eyed Demon Beast to turn the tide. It worked and he routed Valentine's army...and then he went Drunk on the Dark Side and started laying waste to both Valentine and Titania before finally being killed by his own son.
• The Good King: Implied to have been this while still alive and before using the Darkova curse, his falling out with Edgar notwithstanding. He also gave refuge to the Three Wise Men after Odin tricked them, which is one of the reasons they seem more respectful to him than anyone else.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: Is always hiding in the shadows, and refuses to let anyone look at him. He finally shows himself during Armageddon, and it's pretty easy to see why he was hiding.
• Hell Has New Management: With Odette's death, the Halja swear service to him because he's the most powerful being in the Netherworld now. He immediately sets out to the land of the living to start a killing spree.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: After Ingway turns into the Darkova, he goes hopelessly mad and start his march to the world of the living. Apparently, one of the reasons he stayed in the Netherworld even after her death was that the air in the ordinary world drives him back into a killing frenzy.
• Nigh-Invulnerable: Only the powers of Odette and the blood of Titania's royal family can slay him for good. Oswald is the chosen one for this job, since he has both.
• Omnicidal Maniac: In the generic bad ending to his boss fight, he reveals he wishes nothing less than to destroy humanity, seeing it as the source of love - which he blames for his current state. It doesn't help that the pain of destroying humanity is something the Darkova curse feeds on.
• Offing the Offspring: He gleefully immersed himself in the pain and pleasure of devouring his son Edmund in Armageddon, detailed in the unique cutscene by having Cornelius fight him instead of Oswald, and actually shown in the generic cutscene by having anyone else fight him.
• This Cannot Be!: Is left in utter disbelief he's not regenerating after fighting Oswald, flying right in the face of his self-proclaimed invincibility.
• The Tooth Hurts: Notice how his skulls lack any teeth? That's because Edmund shattered his fangs in life during their battle.
• Tragic Mistake: His choice to use the Darkova curse to save his homeland from the armies of Valentine caused horrific destruction, made him go insane, got himself killed, traumatized his son Edmund, and in the end, he destroyed Titania and slaughtered its people himself with the armies of the Netherworld.
• Violation of Common Sense: The best way to avoid the head-burying move is to stay close to him. Unfortunately, you'll have to watch out for the Halja's scythes...

The Kingdom of Valentine

Prince Ingway

Ingway

Voiced by: Showtaro Morikubo (JP), Liam O'Brien (EN)

"Aye. Unpleasant, isn't it? The cowardly prince who destroyed his country will now give his life to save it."

Velvet's elder twin brother. Although he is not a playable character, he plays an important role in the game nonetheless, be it as an enemy, ally, or the first of the Five Disasters of Armageddon, being the second Darkova. In the end he attempts to destroy the Cauldron with the forbidden power only to lose control of his body, and is eventually slain and returned to normal by Cornelius, who, due to being cursed himself, is no longer a "man". He uses his final moments to give Velvet the clue she needs to stop Armageddon and thinks of Mercedes before dying.

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• An Ice Person: One of the fully realized Darkova's Breath Weapons.
• Anti-Villain. Type II.
• Attack Its Weak Point: The Darkova's only weak spots are its three heads.
• Attractive Bent-Gender: His magic disguise as Velvet is just as Stripperific and sexy as the real one.
• Battle Couple: During his time traveling with Mercedes as a frog, Ingway protects her on more than one occasion. The manga takes this farther with them shown fighting side by side and he is even somehow able to briefly transform back into a human to save Mercedes after she falls off a bridge due not being able to fly because of her hurt wing.
• Blow You Away: As the Darkova, a single swing of his claws can create a cyclone.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Really hates Odin for abandoning his mother and coldly brushing off his effort to save his father's life by using the Cauldron to destroy Valentine. Unlike Velvet, who settled for rejection at every opportunity, he decided to learn a forbidden magic, gather an army of the dead, storm Ragnanival, call out Odin, and then use said magic to try and kill him.
• Cerberus: The Darkova spell.
• Chain Pain: As shown during his battle with Cornelius as Velvet's imposter, he's just as skilled with Graveryl as his sister.
• Chronic Back Stabbing Disorder: He has worked with and turned against both Odin and the Wise Men... though the same could also be said of them. He even manipulates his own twin sister from time to time as well.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: The Darkova spell, again.
• Deadpan Snarker: Of the Jerkass kind. Most notable during his time traveling with Mercedes as a Forced Transformation victim. The manga even gives him some rather amusing expressions to emphasize it!
• Dying Alone: In the true ending, this is his fate. Velvet would have been willing to try and save him or at least be there as he passes, but he tells her to take the heavily injured Cornelius, stop the Cauldron, and leave him. He spends his last moments thinking of Mercedes before succumbing, and Mercedes only finds his body.
• Expy: His role as the Darkova is one to Fenrir, whose purpose during Ragnarok is to devour Odin and kickstart it. He learns the spell specifically to kill his father Odin and winds up kickstarting Armageddon for real when he attempts to destroy the Cauldron with it.
  • If Kamitani's comment on Velvet in the Leifthrasir artbook is anything to go by, his human form is a nod to the god Freyr, the twin brother of the goddess Freyja (Velvet) and one of the Vanir gods.
• The Fatalist: Moreso than every playable character, especially his sister (who actively searches for ways to avert her foretold fate). He believes very firmly that the deaths he and Velvet will face as a result of his mother's curse will happen, and repeatedly hammers this into Velvet throughout the story. Despite this, he himself seems to dance the line between accepting fate and fighting it sometimes, especially when it comes to helping Mercedes out.
  • Sadly, he later discovers that his mother did not in fact curse himself and Velvet to suffer gruesome deaths, but instead simply informed them of their destiny using her gift of prophecy as they were missing a vital piece of their departed mother's note. And by the time he learns of this, he is already too far gone as the Beast of Darkova and ends up not only kickstarting Armageddon, but satisfying his own foretold destiny as well. Oops.
• Final Boss: As Darkova in Velvet's story and Cornelius's role in Armageddon.
• Foil: He serves as one to Oswald. Both are cold and aloof Anti Heroes who desire to serve their fathers (Melvin and Odin respectively), only to be disillusioned by the revelation of their fathers' true natures. Both are also the orphaned sons of a prince/princess who were disgraced for having an illegitimate relationship (Oswald's biological father Edgar married a commoner; Ingway's mother Ariel had a relationship with the king of an enemy nation). However, the two chose different paths that decided their fates:
  • Ingway grew up to despise his father Odin for his scornful attitude towards him, and even plotted revenge on his father. Oswald, on the other hand, showed no ill will towards his adoptive father Melvin despite being heartbroken by his betrayal, and even wondered if Melvin actually saw him as more than just a weapon.
  • Oswald's feelings for Gwendolyn helped him overcome his Despair Event Horizon, as opposed to Ingway who did not diverge from his path of revenge despite his newfound feelings for Mercedes. While Oswald ultimately found happiness and a new life with Gwendolyn in the new world, Ingway and Mercedes' relationship ended in tragedy.
  • Both end up having their lives cursed in exchange for power. But while Oswald's soul was sold without his knowledge by Melvin, Ingway willingly gave up his own soul for the Spell of the Darkova. Oswald's curse was also lifted when the Belderiver was sacrificed to the Cauldron, while Ingway's curse stuck with him till death.
  • While Ingway ultimately became one of the Beasts of Armageddon who would unwillingly bring destruction upon the world, Oswald would become one of the "crownless lords" who would bring about the world's rebirth.
  • All in all, Ingway is what Oswald could have become had the latter succumbed to his despair and hatred.
• Forced Transformation: He turns out to be Mercedes' newfound frog ally, cursed by the Wise Men due to a falling out.
• Freudian Excuse: Poor guy... he was afraid of his grandfather, so he feels guilty he was unable to protect Velvet from his madness. He also feels awful about declaring he didn't love his mother to save himself and his sister from King Valentine, causing her to curse them with death. But his greatest guilt is causing the Cauldron run amok to ensure Odin wouldn't die in the battle against Valentine. What makes it worse in his mind is that he escaped the cataclysm unscathed, even though he feels it was his fault.
• Half Identical Twin: Subverted. He's not exactly identical to Velvet, though the two have similar features and share hair and eye colors, enough that Cornelius believed him pretty quickly when he told him he's Velvet's twin brother. He also spends a great deal of time masquerading as her with the help of a spell and her Graveryl chain with no one the wiser.
• Hero of Another Story: He is essentially the sixth protagonist of the game and has a running plot throughout out it that is just as significant as the other five's are, but his lack of a psypher and his ultimate fate as one of the five disasters mean we only get glimpses of what he's up to through other heroes' eyes. Word of God reveals that he was considered to have his own playable chapter, but the idea was dropped due to worries that it would have a negative impact on the narrative.
• Hidden Depths: Ingway is presented as entirely villainous in Cornelius' story, and a constant headache for Velvet in her own. In Mercedes' story he's remarkably kinder and more helpful; admittedly, he is trying to get into her good graces enough that she'll de-frog him, but he also helps her a few times in ways she's not even aware of, possibly due to Character Development, and fully believes he's going to die right before she gives him a kiss.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Deeply cares for Velvet and eventually grows to love Mercedes despite his callousness. Played with in that his love for Velvet is the motivation for a sizable portion of his antagonism.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: If he hadn't decided to curse Beldor into a pooka, the sorcerer wouldn't've been able to return from death at Armageddon and enslave him before he can destroy the Cauldron and stop it.
• I Am Your Opponent: Says this almost word-for-word to Urzur before their scuffle in Cornelius' story.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Unwillingly becomes one after his first Darkova transformation. The sixth book opens with him trudging through the wastelands that were once his home country, bitterly monologuing about how the thirst for human flesh is beginning to overwhelm him.
• Jerkass/Jerkass Woobie: Cold, manipulative and condescending to nearly everyone, but had an awful life growing up that generally justifies his behavior. He is especially harsh with his own twin sister at times. Strangely, he acts the most gentle with Mercedes, although that's because he's fallen in love with her by the time they part ways in Titania's sewer.
• Second Last Of His Kind: He's the other Valentine survivor. It's worth noting that he and his sister are the only survivors of the Valentine disaster to remain in their original forms, as the rest of the population was cursed into Pooka form and carried on living afterwards.
• Love at First Sight: While it doesn't appear to happen in the game, the Little Fairy Queen manga suggests that Ingway fell in love with Mercedes the first time he saw her. It comes complete with an obvious blush on his face.
• Mr. Fanservice: Similar to his sister, he wears very little clothing and has his chiseled physique on display at all times. Mercedes certainly approves once she kisses him in frog form, causing him to revert to his real form.
• Mutual Kill: If you pit Mercedes, Gwendolyn, or Oswald against the Darkova during the Armageddon, this is the result. He'll also pull this on Beldor with his last breath during said endings as well.
  Ingway: You control me no longer...
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: Being The Fatalist that he is and not wanting to see his sister suffer, he does not approve of her getting involved with anyone due to the destiny they both carry. When he finds Velvet in a relationship with Cornelius, he goes as far as cursing and impersonating the latter in order to remove him and ruin his reputation as Prince of Titania to keep him away from her (although he also had his own reasons for impersonating Cornelius). When that doesn't work, he opts for murder. That said, he grows to respect Cornelius over time and even expresses some regret at having transformed him into a Pooka. (It's hard to tell if he's being sarcastic, though considering he said this to Velvet it probably wasn't).
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The beginning of Armageddon, where he faces down King Valentine and transforms into the Darkova. He contributes extensively to the events of Armageddon in other ways (turning Beldor into a pooka, starting the chain of events that traps Cornelius in the Netherworld, losing control of the Cauldron in his childhood, etc.), but that's the one where he's trying to do the right thing for purely altruistic reasons at no small risk to himself... and he ends up unleashing two of the five disasters at once in the process.
• Not Me This Time: He was the one who cursed Cornelius into a Pooka, but when Cornelius confronts him about how he woke up in the Netherworld, Ingway expresses surprise and denies being behind that particular bit. It was actually the fault of the Wise Men.
• Patricide: Tries to do this to Odin, learning the Curse of Darkova just to be certain he would be able to kill the Demon Lord, but is ultimately beaten by both Odin and Velvet while his transformation aborts in an incomplete form. Ironically, he indirectly causes Odin's death during Armageddgon since his second complete usage of Darkova drives King Gallon into a killing frenzy and he goes about leading the Netherworld's armies out, slaughtering Ragnanival in the process.
• Pet the Dog: Despite everything he put Cornelius through, when Velvet is about to be sacrificed to Belial, he uses his magic to heal the Pooka Prince's wounds and holds off Urzur so Cornelius has a shot at saving her.
• Playing with Fire: When he impersonates Velvet, he can uses many of her Psypher magic skills. It's also one of his main powers as the Darkova and the ONLY element he has in the incomplete form.
• Poor Communication Kills: He's The Fatalist in part due to thinking his mother, who had the gift of prophecy, cursed her children to die. In reality, Ariel was only warning her children of their destiny, but her note was missing a piece of information that would have made that clear. By the time he does learn the truth, he causes two events needed to start the Armageddon and is on his way to fulfilling the destiny his mother tried to warn him about.
• Prehensile Hair: The Darkova can force the hair on its back to form into spikes that deal damage if the character is near them while airborne.
• Pretty Boy: Handsome enough to leave a suddenly blushing Mercedes speechless at the sight of him. It helps that he's got the muscles to show for it.
• Purple Poison: One of the fully realized Darkova's Breath Weapons.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: For all his faults, he is hands down one of the most proactive characters, being one of the only NPCs who actively does his own dirty work instead of relying on the playable characters to do it for him. The handful of occasions we see him fight show that he can hold his own as well, as Urzur runs away from their fight bemoaning that he's too powerful.
• Ship Tease: With Mercedes. By the time they part ways in Titania's sewer after Mercedes has kissed him to break the frog curse on him, Ingway has greatly warmed up to her and treats her gently, even more so than with Velvet. During the True Ending of Armageddon, his last words have him wishing he could see Mercedes one more time while, in the False End if Mercedes is pitted against the Darkova, he screams for the heavens to kill him, as he only then realized that he loved her.
• Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter: If you face him with Mercedes in Armageddon, this is the result.
  Ingway: O heavens strike me down! Smite me, please...
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Played straight, with both his and Mercedes' deaths.
• Together in Death: With Mercedes in the true ending of Leifthrasir.
• Tragic Hero: While he does have many positive qualities, his quest for revenge and regret for his past actions drive him to do many evil things, and play a key part in the end of the world. To be fair though, he did all of it because he believed that his mother had cursed him to meet his end and she had died after he and Velvet betrayed her.
• Tragic Monster: After his first Darkova transformation.
• Voices Are Not Mental: He easily replicates the voice of whoever he's magically disguised as. Except, bizarrely, when he was turned into a frog, though that was an induced transformation, not a disguise.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Before the player even sees his true form, he transforms into Human!Cornelius and Velvet on separate occasions. Not to mention Darkova...
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: His main motivation, which eventually lead to the destruction of Valentine.
• Where I Was Born and Razed: The whole deal with setting the Crystallization Cauldron on his own country of Valentine and reducing it to nothing. It was an accident, but he sincerely feels bad about it—especially because he regrets saving his father, King Odin, over it.

King Valentine

King Valentine

Voiced by: Shingo Hiramatsu (JP), Keith Silverstein (EN)

"Take a good look at me. All I want...is oblivion."

The late king of the destroyed nation of Valentine. He is the father of Princess Ariel, which makes him the grandfather of Velvet and Ingway. Reduced to a mere shell of his former self, he seeks to destroy Erion and all those who inhabit it.

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• Abusive Parents: Towards Ariel and her children Velvet and Ingway.
• Big Bad: Of Velvet and Cornelius's stories in particular, but also holds this distinction for the game as a whole.
• Dem Bones: He's basically a skeletal rabbit.
• Evil Sorcerer: Though putting his power into the Valentinian coins greatly reduced said power, he still has enough to pose a threat to many characters, at least until he gives said powers to Leventhan.
• Fate Worse than Death: Apparently suffered this in the Netherworld.
• Faux Affably Evil: It doesn't take long before his seemingly polite exterior shatters. Just ask Cornelius and Velvet.
• Freudian Excuse: He claims that he infused not only some of his magical power into the coins of his country, but also put all of his "virtuous spirit" into them as well. It was after this that his citizens noticed a change for the worse in him. And the interactive echo of his past self summoned by the coins gives the impression that his claims are true, and he might actually have been a decent guy, once.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: He tried to bless his people's currency in order to bring Valentine prosperity. Unfortunately, doing so drained his own generosity and kindness, transforming him from a Benevolent Mage Ruler into a monstrous, abusive tyrant, and led directly to the abuse of the Cauldron that caused Valentine's downfall.
• The Good King: Before his descent into madness, he was once revered as a benevolent and magnanimous king. We get to see this side of Valentine from an image of the past when Cornelius and Velvet managed to collect all the coins.
• Gruesome Grandparent: He treats his illegitimate grandchildren like toys and implied to have molested Velvet.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Gets vaporized by Leventhan's breath right after freeing him from the Cauldron. However, this is exactly what he wanted. On a similar note, all the nations of Erion play right into his hands, giving him everything he needs to orchestrate Armageddon.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: From the sorceror king of the most powerful nation in Erion to a mad cursed beast trying to destroy the world. Ingway lampshades it in Armageddon when they confront each other face-to-face for the first time.
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: His justification for bringing about the end of the world. He wants to die and if the only way to do that is to take everyone else down with him, so be it. He asks Odin to kill him at one point, as he won't rest until his heart is completely destroyed.
• Ignored Epiphany: King Valentine has several of these. He even gets a "The Reason You Suck" Speech from King Odin, who calls him out on selfishly murdering his daughter. However, when Odin refuses to kill him to spare his agony, he goes right back to ending the world.
• Kick the Dog: He's very amused in telling Cornelius about how Edmund commited Patricide on Gallon, chuckling several times during the explanation.
• Killer Rabbit: Just before his death, he was turned into a Pooka.
• Love Hurts: Strangled his beloved daughter because he couldn't believe she could love both him and Odin at the same time.
• Love Makes You Crazy: Crazy enough to attempt to eliminate all of Erion.
• Love Makes You Evil: Notice a pattern yet?
• Not Me This Time: Nearly all the people of Valentine blame him for the Cauldron going berserk, destroying Valentine, and turning them into Pookas, even Velvet herself, due to horrific acts before his death. Turns out, he didn't do that, but rather Ingway. He's actually rather pissed about that particular false allegation as shown during his ranting to Cornelius.
• Offing the Offspring: He strangled his own daughter when he found out that she fell in love with Odin and gave birth to his children. He threatened to do this to his own grandchildren too, but he balks when he finally has the chance to do it in Armageddon to Velvet, due to her resemblance to Ariel making him hesitate.
• Oh, Crap!: Several times, such as when he realizes Odin wasn't quite as injured as he pretended to be, or when Ingway reveals he knows the Darkova spell.
• Omnicidal Maniac: His soul is unable to find peace, making destroying Erion with the Cauldron his sole purpose.
• Psychopathic Manchild: He's clearly an old man, yet acts like an immature teenager.
• These Hands Have Killed: In one of his more memorable scenes, he chants "these hands" when he's reminded of what he did (bringing about the end of the world).
• Parental Incest: Implied with Ariel and Velvet; he will wax poetically about how much he loved Ariel and strangled her out of mad jealousy, but the way he talks to Velvet is just damned creepy, referencing having her dance to amuse him and forcing her to kneel (ie, getting down on all fours) to show 'respect'.
• This Cannot Be!: Can only mutter a shocked "Impossible..." when Ingway reveals he knows the Darkova spell and is ready to use it against him.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Yes, he's a completely batshit skeleton rabbit who killed his own daughter in jealousy, but the way he's portrayed as being absolutely psychologically destroyed by the act can't help but garner some sympathy for the poor bastard. It's implied that his insanity is the result of an accident when trying to bless his people with prosperity and happiness.

Princess Ariel

The late Princess of Valentine, daughter of the King of Valentine, lover to King Odin, and mother to their children Velvet and Ingway. While she's never heard or seen in-game, she nonetheless plays a pivotal role in Velvet, Ingway, King Valentine, and Odin's backstories.

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• Love Hurts: During her story, Velvet says that she was crying when she and Ingway declared that they didn't love her in order to avoid execution by their grandfather. She was, however, possibly crying because she was glad that at least her children were able to live on. The second half of her note has her declaring love and forgiveness for not only her children, but also for her father.
• Posthumous Character: She's dead before the beginning of the game's chronological story and is only ever mentioned by Odin, Hindel, King Valentine, Velvet, and Ingway.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: While she's never explicitly stated to have done anything besides being the original wielder of the Graveryl chain, she's the one who wrote the note for Velvet and Ingway that ultimately gave them the clue to save Erion.
• Seers: She had the ability to gaze into the future, a gift she shared with the dragon Hindel.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: With Odin. Despite the war raging between Ragnanival and Valentine, the two fell in love with each other and Odin ended up impregnating her with the twins. He had to leave before they were born and she ultimately dies at the hands of her own father for having birthed his children. Odin has been heartbroken ever since.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: She was so good that she couldn't bring herself to justifiably curse or hate her father King Valentine even as he strangled the life out of her, something that still haunts him even in the depths of his world-destroying insanity. The second half of her note even has her praying for peace to his tortured soul.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: The only time she technically "appears" in-game is in Leifthrasir as one of the collectible in-game notes, and even then she's only a silhouette. Almost everything we knew about her is based on what's said by other characters.

Outside of the Story

Alice

Alice

A little girl who finds the books that comprise the overall story as written by her grandfather in her attic and reads through them.

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• All Myths Are True: Upon finding a Valentine Commemorative Coin on the final book, she prays that the Pooka will find it so they can return to human form, but tells her cat that probably won't happen because it's just a story. Shortly after she leaves, Pooka!Cornelius and Velvet exchange the coin for the final book.
  • Also, this official art◊ from Leifthrasir suggests that her parents are the human reincarnations of Ingway and Mercedes.
• Audience Surrogate: The story unfolds through her eyes as she reads each book in turn.
• Framing Device: Her reading some books acts as one for the game's story.
• Generation Xerox: She looks very much like her ancestors Gwendolyn (eyes) and Oswald (hair).
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: With her black cat, Socrates.
• Legend Fades to Myth: Alice reads about the adventures of the playable characters through storybooks in her attic. At one point, Cornelius and Velvet as Pookas come to take a coin attached to one of the books. In addition, she has features from both Gwendolyn and Oswald, and her parents bear a striking resemblence to Ingway and Mercedes.

Socrates

Socrates

Alice's adorable cat. Serves no purpose in the plot, but darn if he isn't cute.

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• Cute Kitten: Well... kitten is stretching it quite a lot, but he fills this purpose.