The characters of the Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous video game. See also Characters.Pathfinder Adventure Path: Wrath of the Righteous for characters from the tabletop campaign this game was adapted from.
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Allies
Anevia Tirabade
"Either Fate is having a right old laugh at your expense... or Lady Luck sent you to us for a reason."
A scout for the Eagle Watch who investigates cult activities in Kenabres. Married to Irabeth Tirabade.
- Action Girl: An extremely skilled and deadly archer, even with a broken leg.
- Badass Normal: Among the Commander's primary non-playable allies, Anevia is a normal person fighting alongside people with powerful magic, holy power, or otherworldly abilities, yet she holds her own no problem, and regularly keeps up with your party.
- Battle Couple: She's married to Irabeth, the commander of the Eagle Watch and they often fight together against the demon forces.
- Boyish Short Hair: She has short black hair to go along with her Tomboy attitude.
- Crutch Character: Despite her broken leg, she's a 4th-level rogue when your party consists of 1st-level adventurers. As a result, she is extremely capable of carrying new players who are just learning the ropes of the game engine in the tutorial area.
- Demoted to Extra: While Anevia is a recurring and important character, she doesn't have as much importance here than she does in the original adventure path. In the AP, she could be a constant ally in most fights, including going to the Abyss. By comparison she largely doesn't get usage after Drezen is retaken.
- Downer Ending: In the True Aeon ending, Anevia never meets Irabeth and dies in obscurity at the hands of some beast or cutthroat, never having found any real happiness.
- The Drifter: Spent most of her life aimlessly drifting Golarion while doing odd jobs for a living. But the lifestyle was so lonely she was almost Driven to Suicide. It wasn't until she met Irabeth that she found purpose in her life.
- Easy Sex Change: Anevia was canonically assigned male at birth while identifying as female. Irabeth got her an elixir of sex shift
as a wedding present. Neither one will outright address it in-game without an extremely difficult Diplomacy check in Chapter 5note , but when you bring Irabeth the scabbard of her family sword she mentions that she pawned it to pay for a 'medicine' for Anevia. It's likely that the Elixir and this Medicine are one and the same, given that Anevia's 'sickness' is too personal for her to share the details with someone she hasn't known for at least a decade. - Guest-Star Party Member: She accompanies and fights along with the Commander, Seelah and Camellia during the tutorial until they reach Neathholm. Unlike the rest of the party, the player can't control her... but, realistically, that's not much of a problem.
- Handicapped Badass: Her leg ends up broken when she falls down into the Kenabres underground after Deskari opens a chasm in the city. It doesn't stop her from being a Guest-Star Party Member for the tutorial. After all, she doesn't need her leg to shoot. She gets back in shape by the time the party is back in Kenabres.
- I Did What I Had to Do: She knows about Camelia being a Serial Killer but lets the Commander decide their fate. As she says, dividing their forces and depriving the Commander of a skilled companion trumps the lives of a few Crusaders.
- Lovable Rogue: She's very easygoing and likes to crack jokes and goof around.
- Love at First Sight: She describes she fell hard for Irabeth right when they first met. The save from a bunch of Kuthites who were going to sacrifice her certainly didn't hurt.
- Parental Abandonment: Her mother was forced to abandon Anevia when she was twelve in a temple of Desna in order to keep her safe from the Silent Shroud monks who came to take her. Anevia never saw her mother again.
- Real Women Don't Wear Dresses: Discussed. She normally wears a Boring, but Practical tunic and breeches, but at one point in about the middle of chapter 3, she models for Sosiel, who paints her in a dress. She comments that she's never really considered trying a dress on, but she likes how she looks in the painting.
- Rebel Relaxation: She is often leaning against walls or objects in this manner, and is even doing so in her portrait.
- Reformed Criminal: She used to be a thief and a rogue for hire, but now uses those talents to help the crusade to snuff out cultists.
- Rescue Introduction
- Doubles with Rescue Romance with her wife Irabeth, whom she meet when Irabeth rescued her from Kuthite cultists who were about to use her as a Human Sacrifice.
- The Commander first meets Anevia when they encounter her in the Kenabres underground, trapped below some debris and they assist Selah in rescuing her.
- Son of a Whore: Was born to a prostitute in the slums of Nidal. She never met her father, but her mother did care for her and she had a lot of "uncles and aunts" that helped raise her.
- The Spymaster: She's the Eagle Watch's primary scout and intelligence officer. Since she's not a knight or a paladin, she specializes in doing the Dirty Business they can't afford to do, such as illegally sneaking in people's houses and questioning the nobility.
- Street Urchin: She wasn't homeless, but she was raised to be a thief from an early age and was picking pockets at an age where most children picked their noses.
- Suicide by Cop: In her backstory, she was so lonely from her drifting lifestyle with no family or friends that she eventually began taking high risks jobs without a care. It was during one of these that she was rescued by Irabeth, who gave her life a purpose and led her away from suicidal thoughts.
- True Sight: Implied to have something of the sort as she consistently sees through Arueshalae's perception filter, something even the commander struggles with.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Contrary to pretty much every other NPC, she gives exactly zero fucks about calling out the Commander when they take any overly evil decision - including an unavoidable cutscene that borders on a "The Reason You Suck" Speech if they begin the Swarm path that explains in no uncertain terms what they're in for if they pursue that endeavor.
Queen Galfrey
"Hope is a priceless resource — I had no choice but to give it wings."
The queen of Mendev and leader of the war effort against the demons of the Worldwound.
- Adaptational Personality Change: Like in the original adventure path, Galfrey is still a paladin, good, and completely devoted to closing the Worldwound and saving Mendev. Unlike in the adventure path, her relationship to the Knight-Commander is much more personal than with the heroes of the adventure path (with whom she acts more like the Big Good and main employer) and having to spend decades keeping up a Tough Leader Façade and being a rallying point of a nation is shown to have taken a toll on her confidence and faith in a way it hasn't in the adventure path. As part of this, while the AP hinted she may be a Death Seeker, here it's explictly stated to be present.
- The Ageless: A very expensive potion, supplied to her by her kingdom's mages, has kept her in her late twenties/early thirties for many decades.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: She's a high-level paladin who leads a nation of paladins.
- Badass Creed: Her oath to Iomedae during the First Crusade. A century later, she still remembers it word for word.Queen Galfrey: No matter how arduous, no matter how dark the skies, no matter how much blood flows from my wounds, I shall stand with you. We shall fight for our loved ones and our friends, for the right to live and die free. We shall do everything we possibly can and after that, we shall begin to do the impossible. And if the hour should come when our arms can no longer raise our swords, our bodies will become a shield to cover those who still have strength to fight. I, Galfrey, Queen of Mendev, swear this to you. This is my vow.
- Broken Pedestal: Her cousin Daeran crushed on her as a child, but got over it after he got older and realized she wasn't nearly all she was cracked up to be.
- Courtly Love: Her romance with the Commander (available to both male and female PCs) is framed in this way.
- Death Seeker: She admits that she's simply tired of leading the Crusades and her Idiot Ball last charge was at least partially done in the hope that she could either find victory or death.
- Didn't Think This Through: She exiles the Commander to the Abyss, even if they are doing things as optimally as possible and doing it in a way on paper she should approve of, due to jealousy. Doing so nearly ends the Crusade, because the Abyss operates in such a chaotic way that reality it self can be twisted, causing the Commander and party to go missing for months instead of vanishing for a few days due to one such anomaly. This causes her to hastily do all she can to lead the crusade with the loss of their leader and major figures, which nearly fails until the Commander returns. If she survives, you can call her out on such making such a poorly thought out idea, and she apologieses for doing so.
- Easily Forgiven: She takes the Sword of Valor out of Drezen on a poorly-planned charge to Iz that left the city vulnerable to being invaded and costing the lives of dozens if not hundreds of people. This is the same crime that left Staunton on a seven decade Heel–Face Door-Slam. Despite the consequences of this no one — not even Daeran — ever brings this up and she's never called out on it except for possibly the Commander. At most an Aeon PC can strip the Queen of her immortality, reverting Galfrey back to her true elderly age. Galfrey does at least own up to her mistake and try to right it, but most characters don't make a big deal about it.
- 11th-Hour Ranger: She can potentially join the party as a companion just in time for the very final dungeon.
- Fatal Flaw: Jealousy. She's been at the head of the Crusades for nearly a century and is their most prominent hero. When the Commander comes along and starts racking up victory after victory, leaving their own indelible stamp on what has been the most successful Crusade since the First and credibly threatening her status as the greatest hero of the Crusades, she starts to get bitterly jealous of being pushed to the side. Her attempt to push her way back into the spotlight and reclaim 'her' crusade touches off a cascade of disasters for Mendev.
- Foil: To her cousin Daeran. Daeran presents himself as a shamelessly evil Jerkass noble who indulges in all manner of vices and doesn't care about anything except himself while Galfrey presents as a wise, studious, compassionate noble who does everything she can to help people and win the war. Daeran has many Pet the Dog moments making one question how evil he really is while Galfrey's actions often give cause to doubt her righteousness. Daeran is an Excellent Judge of Character while Galfrey isn't. Daeran serves the Crusade only because Galfrey made him but still gives it his all and tries his best to be a good Crusader. Galfrey is exhausted of crusading but is unwilling to turn over command, with her jealousy of the Commander causing her later actions to resemble those of the worst Crusaders. While Daeran will be upset if Galfrey dies later in the campaign and glad if she survives, Galfrey's first reaction to his surviving the stint to the Abyss she indirectly sent him on is mild annoyance. Finally, their fates in most endings where both survive are opposite, as while the previously Universally Beloved Leader Galfrey starts rapidly losing popularity with the Mendev's nobility the previous Black Sheep Daeran becomes more popular to the point some feel he should be in charge instead of her.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: A downplayed example in her ending if she survives. While she doesn't become a tyrant, many of her people desire a change from the semi-immortal wartime leader but she refuses to abdicate her throne. The ending even notes that at least some wanted Daeran to inherit the throne over her.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Admits that at least part of the reason she sent the Commander into the Abyss is because she became jealous of their powers and sudden importance.
- Horrible Judge of Character: She doesn't make great choices about who she assigns to help you. Lady Konomi puts the "Ass" in Ambassador and tries to boss the Commander around which can potentially destroy Mendev if the Commander pushes back, Captain Harmattan is a Sycophantic Servant of Galfrey's and a borderline Psycho Supporter who undermines your army's morale because he wants her to lead, and Nurah Dendiwhar is a cultist of Baphomet. You can call her out on the last one. In the backstory she also appoints the leaders of Eagle Watch, including the one before Irabeth who was a cultist of Baphomet.
- Hypocrite: Will call you unthinkably reckless for taking Arueshalae along with you right before doing something unthinkably reckless herself. You can also call her out on not trusting Arueshalae by pointing out that Nurah, who Galfrey personally appointed to help you, was a cultist of Baphomet.
- I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: If the player has been flirty with her, she very clearly begins to develop feelings for the Commander, but a combination of her concerns about her age, duty as a queen, and focus on stopping the demons has her hide it to the best of her abilities. If the Commander admits to feeling attracted to her in spite of everything, she's surprised and confused why they would be, but is flattered and embarrassed at having someone who likes her in spite of her flaws and worries, having not felt such a way since she was young.
- Idiot Ball: If you do not give her the codex you found in Arleelu's lab, she takes the Sword of Valor with her on a poorly-planned charge into Iz, thus leaving Drezen ripe for the demons to take again. Even more egregious given that she should be well-aware of how idiotic this is after Staunton did the same thing. If you gave her the codex, she still attacks Iz but her underlying reasoning for doing so (trying to find a library in Iz that may contain information on the nature the Worldwound) is much sounder, turning the whole thing into more of a Desperation Attack after realizing the Commander has not come back after several months.
- I'm Standing Right Here: Regill will snarkily call her 'idealistic' before the assault on Drezen. If you convinced her to join you, she'll ask him if he feels comfortable saying that while next to her. He says he is, then further mentions she told them to ignore her presence, so he did.
- Informed Attribute: She's built up as a great leader and tactical genius who was so important that her counsel refuses to let her age and die. In practice she sends the Commander on a dangerous mission to the Abyss, almost/actually strips them of their rank before said mission to lead herself at least partly out of jealousy, and in the six months the Commander is gone she makes multiple poor tactical decisions, the biggest among them taking the magical Sword of Valor banner with her in a disastrous march that leads to Drezen being retaken by the demons and the queen's army being pinned down in Iz before the Commander returns to save them.
- It Amused Me: Downplayed. She's still a noble, goodly, upstanding leader who seeks to close the Worldwound, but she does genuinely enjoy messing with people in harmless ways if they give her an opening. Irabeth and Daeran are both on the receiving end of this in Chapter 1 alone. Romancing her requires finding moments of levity during conversations with her that amuse her, such as making a light joke about Daeran being your advisor early on.
- King Incognito: Sneaks into the Defender's Heart celebration without introducing herself and without being recognized. She only reveals who she is to jokingly side with Anevia in a conversation, embarrassing Irabeth. You can later convince her to do this during the march on Drezen.
- Mirror Character: From Staunton Vhane. She's an exhausted crusader who's been fighting for far too long and desperately wants to see it end, so much so that she makes a rash judgment call to grab the Sword of Valor and lead an ill-advised attack that causes the fall of Drezen just like he did. It's especially ironic considering she's the one who passed judgement on him for this exact thing seventy years ago, and unlike Staunton she didn't even need a demon to tempt her into it. The main difference is that because the Fifth Crusade ultimately succeeds she's Easily Forgiven while Staunton's failed and he became The Scapegoat.
- Moment of Weakness: The end of Act 3, especially on a Good character. This is where her Fatal Flaw is on full display — She's already decided to take the Crusade from the Commander no matter what and she'll criticize anything and everything she can think of to try to justify the decision she's already made, looking less like the Reasonable Authority Figure you knew her as and more like an over-the-top Prelate Hulrun. Depending on how obvious it is your party members might call her out on it and she may apologize for it later.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Exiling the Commander to the Abyss, especially if on a romanced path, quickly becomes this for Galfrey. Done impulsively out of jealousy, she realizes that something is off when the Commander goes missing for months and not days like she planned, and tries to salvage the situation as best as she can. If she survives and is on one of the good aligned Mythic Paths, she apologizes for her actions. If being romanced, she very quickly regrets her actions because of her feelings for the Commander, and the Storyteller's letters indicate she feels awful for such a short-sighted decision, to the point of accepting that you may never forgive her.
- Overrated and Underleveled: Downplayed, as Galfrey joins only a few levels short of the level cap, meaning she can be at best higher level than your party, at worst lower level, and can be leveled up right away to match your level. That said, for someone who is not only a long-lived Paladin, but also a champion for a god, she starts off with barely anything unique equipment wise, and she is a straightforward Paladin without any unique abilities, and likely is going to be worse off than Seelah if you still have her, which clashes slightly with the game's portrayal of her as a powerful warrior.
- Promoted to Playable: She can potentially join the commander as a companion for the very final stretch of the game.
- Rapid Aging: An Aeon PC can potentially retaliate against her by stripping her of her immortality and restoring her to her true century-plus age in an instant. Likewise, a Lich PC can kill her in Iz and resurrect her as a ghostly servant — an action that drains her of her youth in seconds.
- Really 700 Years Old: Galfrey looks like a woman in her thirties or early forties, but canonically ascended to the throne of Mendev in 4601 AR, several years before the Worldwound opened. The Adventure Path and therefore the game begins in 4713, which makes her a minimum of 112 years old, likely closer to 130. She's kept young by an Immortality Inducer procured by the church of Iomedae on behalf of her council.
- Reforged into a Minion: If she dies in Iz, a Lich Commander can raise her as an undead servant. She very much does not take it well.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Not only is she a general in the fight against the demons, she also fights in the frontlines — and can even accompany the players in some of their adventures.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Count Daeran Arendae, her cousin. The two will rarely pass on chances to snark at each other if they're in the same room for more than an instant and Galfrey will freely abuse her authority as Queen to try to embarrass Daeran while Daeran will freely abuse his family's closeness to hers to embarrass her in turn.
- Spanner in the Works: To the player at one point. If convinced to come along on the march to Drezen, she will flatly veto the suggestion to use vescavor slime to sic the Horde of Alien Locusts on the city during the assault, which is a requirement to pursue the Swarm-That-Walks Mythic Path.
- Too Desperate to Be Picky: She hides it well, but she's exhausted of the Crusades and wishes she didn't have to deal with them anymore but keeps getting pulled back in by her position and the Church of Iomedae. She admits if pressed that this is her reason for appointing the player the Knight-Commander of the Fifth Crusade. It also explains why she's so willing to charge headlong into danger and why she has so many Idiot Ball moments later on.
- Universally Beloved Leader: Just about everyone save Daeran and Regill have nothing but praise for her and she's kept young due to her being seen as the face of the Crusade. If she survives to the ending then this tapers off. Now that peace has arrived people want a change and her refusal to abdicate the throne causes some of her approval to lower.
- Walking Spoiler: There's a lot going on with Galfrey that doesn't become obvious until later in the game.
- What the Hell, Hero?: If the Commander has performed their job well and remained Good, her mistreatment of the Commander at the end of Act 3 gets her reproached by Daeran, Greybor, Regill, and the Herald himself.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: She expresses this sentiment. Having lived longer than entire human lifetimes as a war time leader, she's both worn out by this — admitting humans are just not made to live this way — but also completely unable to contemplate how else she'd live her life when the war ends. By her own account she doesn't even really remember what being a normal person feels like, and she's grown tired of the war and conflict.
Horgus Gwerm
Pah. Kind words are for people with hours to fritter away on pleasantries.
"Yes, I care about my city. Yes, I wished to see its defenders — my defenders! — were well-fed, healthy, and well-armed. But to make those donations openly was unthinkable — I might as well hang a sign outside my door welcoming every sponger, leech, and parasite in the city!"
Camellia's father, a wealthy Mendevian noble and one of the main financiers of the crusades.
- Accidental Murder: When Camellia's mother tried to smother Camellia in her sleep, Horgus intervened. During the struggle, she hit her head on a piece of furniture and died.
- Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed, but still very much present. Like in the original Adventure Path, he is not the real Horgus Gwerm, but his former childhood friend who has taken his identity for himself, though he is dedicated to upholding the good name of the Gwerm family by faithfully aiding the crusades. However, in the game he also knows that his daughter Camellia, who does not appear in the original Adventure Path, is an Ax-Crazy Serial Killer and instead of stopping her, he merely ineffectively tries to keep her worst urges in check by sheltering her and turning a blind eye to her occasionally murdering criminals, making him at the very least complicit in her crimes.
- Adaptational Wimp: While he starts off basically the same as he did in the Adventure Path, Horgus in the Adventure Path could gradually be convinced to join combat more as the story went on, eventually becoming a Rogue who can directly fight alongside the heroes. Here, he's a non-combatant the entire game, likely to give Camellia focus instead.
- Adipose Rex: He's an overweight nobleman. It's implied he used to be in shape before, but years of a privileged lifestyle had him gain weight in his old age.
- The Atoner: He's very guilty about the fact he took over his friend's identity, and helps the crusades financially in order to placate his guilt.
- Becoming the Mask: He used to be a servant and the Best Friend of the real Horgus Gwerm, but the latter was killed with the destruction of his parent's manor, and in a panicked haze he pretended to be Gwerm. He's since grown into the role.
- Blue Blood: Played With. Despite being a Jerkass with a Heart of Gold, he's still fairly pompous and arrogant and looks down on people of lower class. This is despite the fact he's not a real nobleman himself.
- Brutal Honesty: He claims to be a man of facts and doesn't bother hiding what he thinks. For example, while he thinks the mongrelmen are being very nice, he still laments how awful Neathholm is and how unsightly the mongrelmen are.
- Commonality Connection: From Seelah, of all people, as the latter may point out. Both made a choice they feel extreme regret for, Seelah for stealing a paladin's helmet, causing that paladin to later die of a head wound, and 'Horgus' for mistaking the real Horgus's friendship for condescension out of envy until after the real Horgus was dead. Both would try to atone for it by stepping into the role the person they spurned no longer could, with Seelah becoming a paladin and 'Horgus' becoming Horgus to carry on the Gwerm name after the family was killed in a demon attack.
- Dark Secret: He's got skeletons in the closet alright.
- Besides his true identity, he also kept Camellia's secret of being a Serial Killer. He justifies it by saying she's his daughter and the ones she killed prior were Asshole Victim types such as burglars and thugs who would've been executed anyway.
- Camellia's mother tried to smother Camellia in her sleep after realizing she was a budding Serial Killer. Horgus accidentally killed her while preventing the attempt.
- Drowning My Sorrows: He breaks down into an alcoholic mess in Act 5 when Camellia calls him back to their mansion to 'talk' knowing full well it means she plans to murder him. If you kill her in Act 3, he admits it's for the best but still chooses to get very drunk since she was still his daughter.
- Fat and Skinny: His overweight body sharply contrasts the slender physique of his daughter.
- Fat Bastard: Downplayed. He a fat and arrogant Jerkass with a Heart of Gold.
- Foil: With his daughter Camellia. He's a fat, gruff, overweight middle-aged jerk who never helps in a fight because he's so out of shape but is actually a Jerk with a Heart of Gold trying to atone for a past decision and she's a cheerful young good-looking aristocrat who is one of your main party members and is also a
Chaotic Evil Serial Killer posing as a Well-Intentioned Extremist. He also worked his way up from the bottom (relatively speaking) while she started with every advantage. He's exceptionally good at keeping secrets, since the player's party are the only people who know he's not Horgus Gwerm and that's only because he told them, while Camellia's insanity approaches an Open Secret at times — both Horgus and Anevia are aware of it at a minimum, most of your companions are suspicious of her, and the player would practically have to be blind to not notice it themselves. Additionally, Horgus doesn't dote on his daughter but genuinely loves her while Camellia openly professes affection for her father but doesn't really love him. Finally, Horgus is saddened if you kill Camellia but understands it had to be done while Camellia will eventually add Horgus to the list of her victims because she wanted to. - Insufferable Genius: He's genuinely knowledgeable and intelligent, but a combination of stress and feeling helpless puts his already prickly personality on edge throughout the first adventure, and even beyond that he's a bit of a blowhard.
- Interclass Friendship: He was a servant boy to the Gwerm family, but still was a Childhood Friends with the real Horgus Gwerm. When he was a child, he actually envied and disliked Horgus, thinking their "friendship" was merely condescension and pity on his part. It wasn't until he was older that he realized that Horgus was truly his friend, which caused him to feel very guilty of having assumed the identity.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's quite the jerk when you meet him, but he later uses his fortune to aid the crusaders without asking for anything, happily works in helping to rebuild Drezen and is willing to join the player characters in their crusade and even into the Worldwound.
- The Load: Despite not even being injured when falling n the underground Kenabres, he's of no use to anyone save for his promises of future payment, and is so out of shape he can barely trail behind the player.
- Non-Action Guy: The only training he's had in combat is show-fighting with rapiers, and he knows it, which is why he hires the player in escorting him home when they're stuck in the underground Kenabres and stays behind in Neathholm with the injured Anevia while they clear the path to the surface.
- Parents as People: One of the ways the player can describe him. While Camellia talks about her childhood in fond terms examining her room shows that she lived in a gilded cage with barred windows, a locked door and almost no freedom. Despite this she also claims that her father was the only one who truly loved her and she talks about how he'd hold her and understand when she broke down, showing that there was care underneath it all.
- Rich Bastard: He's rich, and acts very condescending and entitled to the player character. Although he turns out to be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, compensating for the fact he stole his identity from the real Horgus Gwern.
- The Scrooge: Played With. He makes generous donations to the crusades, but he personally fusses over the details so his money isn't squandered and still leaves a lot of money to himself. He justified this because the previous Gwerms always wasted their fortune on careless donations. As a servant of Abadar, he also greatly values honest work, and will refuse to let the player work for him for free (but he won't like it if they ask for a raise).
- Secret Identity: His real name is Darian Wytt, who used to be a servant to the Gwerm family, and a friend to the real Horgus. When he was the Sole Survivor of a demon attack that wiped out the whole family, he claimed to be Hourgus Gwerm to the crusaders who rescued him, thus inheriting all the family fortune.
- It should be noted that this began without any real desire to deceive on his part. He was literally a child at the time and Horgus's name was the first thing that came to his panicked lips when his rescuers asked for his identity. When he found himself delivered to Horgus's distant family who had never seen their nephew, he didn't have the heart to tell them that he was dead.
- Secret Relationship: Had one with Iris, Camellia's mother, who worked as a gardener in his mansion. As a result, few people know Camellia is actually his daughter. This is because he doesn't want to sully the name of his friend by having people think Horgus Gwerm had a bastard, especially since he is trying to find a noblewoman to marry, so that the Gwerm name will live on.
- Sole Survivor: When he was a child and a servant to the Gwerms, he was the only survivor of the demon attack that wiped out the family, including the real Horgus Gwerm. When the crusaders who found him asked him who he was, he told them he was Horgus, and the rest is history.
- Spotting the Thread: There are several times in conversations with him where the Commander can, with a successful perception check, notice that he feels differently than he tries to appear. This is because he is used to hiding his philanthropy and his true identity.
- Thicker Than Water: He loves his daughter Camellia and is willing to put up with her antics. To an alarming degree. He's known about her sociopathy and has been covering for it for years now because of that love, and will eventually let her kill him once he becomes aware she's decided he's next.
- Third-Person Person: Horgus Gwerm sure does refer to Horgus Gwerm as Horgus Gwerm a lot, although not exclusively, and cares a lot about how the name Horgus Gwerm is perceived by others. He wants Horgus Gwerm to be well-received and thought of because he is paying homage to his childhood friend.
- Uncle Pennybags: Took this role in the Adventure Path once the player characters integrated him into their army as a supplier, pulling strings at regular interval to provide extra funds. This role has been toned down but is still present in the game, where he occasionally gifts the Commander with finance points or extra units.
- Undying Loyalty: As the man himself says, he still serves Horgus Gwerm.
- Wealthy Philanthropist: Has been using his business sense to fund Mendev's crusades for decades, even though his paranoid nature leads him to fuss over the handling of those funds down to the last copper piece.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Should the Commander kill Camellia in Act 3 and tell him, he'll remain in Drezen for the chapter, but after the Commander returns in Act 5, he's nowhere to be found, and he isn't mentioned again.
- You Did the Right Thing: Though he will naturally be left emotionally devastated by the decision, he won't blame the Commander should they kill Camellia in Act 3, acknowledging that it was the right thing to do given the horrific nature of her crimes.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: If the player character is a follower of Norgorber, they can praise Horgus' guile in stealing the real Horgus' identity, station, and wealth when they find out about his secret. Horgus Gwerm will say that the praise of a follower of Norgorber stings more than the harshest condemnations righteous men would give him.
Irabeth Tirabade
"Kenabres bites back, and our teeth are sharp!"
The Commander of the Eagle Watch and defender of Kenabres. Married to Anevia Tirabade.
- Action Girl: This lady isn't going to back off from a fight when needed.
- Battle Couple: She and Anevia are married and they often fight together against the demon forces.
- Big Good: For Chapter 1, as she's the one leading the defense of Kenabres.
- Broken Bird: Right before you reach Drezen, demons organize a surprise attack against the Crusade's camp, carrying off many of the crusade's soldiers including Irabeth with the intention of turning them into ghouls. By the time you find Irabeth, she has been tortured, impaled on a hook, and bitten by a ghoul to be turned into a ghoul. Fortunately for her, as a paladin, Iomedae's blessing prevents her from being infected by any sort of disease. Unfortunately, this doesn't go for the rank and file soldier that was with her. She is helpless to do anything but vainly try to comfort him and watch him turn into a ghoul seconds before your party arrives. During the war council afterwards to prepare for the siege of Drezen, her faith in the Crusade has been completely broken and she is convinced they are all going to die. You can choose to either have her removed from her command for her own health, have her arrested for cowardice, or demand that she lead as she is obligated to. If you support and encourage her, she will eventually recover and return to her previous level of confidence.
- The Captain: She's the commander of the Eagle Watch, a small order to combat corruption within the crusader ranks.
- Child by Rape: Discussed but averted, despite Pathfinder's general past for half-orcs. Her father was a full-blooded orc but both he and Irabeth's mother were crusaders who settled down together after their own crusade was over.
- Demoted to Extra: While Irabeth is a recurring and important character, she doesn't have the same role as her AP version. In the AP, she could be a constant ally in most fights, including going to the Abyss. Here, she primarily assists only during the fights to Drezen, before largely being situated in Drezen.
- Despair Event Horizon: Falls into one after the gargoyle attack when she was hung on a meathook and had to see another soldier die in agony next to her. The Commander can help her out of it when they retake Derizen.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: Paladins are immune to disease of any kind. This prevents Irabeth from being turned into a ghoul when she is captured by demons. Her fellow non-paladin captive, if it's not Regill, isn't so lucky.
- Gentle Giant: Is the largest humanoid in the Commander's entourage bar none, and also one of the most heroic, caring people in it.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: An option for the Commander to snap her out of her shock when she's despairing after the gargoyle attack. It's a punch that leaves a huge scar on her face rather than a slap, but it works nonetheless.
- Half-Human Hybrid: She's among the half-orcs to be born from an interspecies coupling than from two half-orcs — in her case, a happily married human mother and orcish father.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In Act 5 on an Angel playthrough, she stays behind at the gates of Drezen to hold off a massive army of Demons while the Commander takes back the city, fully aware it will likely mean her death. She only survives if Halaseliax was convinced to aid the Crusade in Act 3, in which case he'll come to her rescue just as she's about to be overwhelmed.
- Interspecies Romance: She's the product of one, and she's in one with the human Anevia.
- Killed Off for Real:
- Unless the player is on one of the paths that let the Commander keep their rank after their falling out with Galfrey at the end of Act 3 (and it's easy for an Azata to screw up and lose it), Irabeth is doomed regardless of the player's choices. She joins Galfrey's disastrous charge into Iz and is ultimately overwhelmed and mortally wounded by Deskari's forces. She hangs on just long enough to apologize to the Commander for doubting them and to share a Last Kiss with Anevia.
- Unless the Commander rushes to save her and the Queen in Iz, leaving the Library and the Sword of Valor for the demons to destroy and steal.
- Even in those paths, if you didn't befriend Hal back in Act 3, then Irabeth (alongside the Storyteller) sacrifices herself to hold the gates of Drezen against demonic reinforcements.
- Unless the player is on one of the paths that let the Commander keep their rank after their falling out with Galfrey at the end of Act 3 (and it's easy for an Azata to screw up and lose it), Irabeth is doomed regardless of the player's choices. She joins Galfrey's disastrous charge into Iz and is ultimately overwhelmed and mortally wounded by Deskari's forces. She hangs on just long enough to apologize to the Commander for doubting them and to share a Last Kiss with Anevia.
- Knight in Shining Armor: Spent her early years as a paladin traveling the world to help people in need. Anevia says she even looked the part.
- Knightly Sword and Shield: Fights with the classic sword and board.
- Lady of War: She's a paladin who holds herself in a dignified manner.
- The Paladin: She's a paladin of Iomedae who fights in melee with her holy magic.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Due to having suffered from Fantastic Racism due to being a half-orc, she's prone to being more open-minded and trustful of others, being far less paranoid than Prelate Hulrun. She's the only officer in the crusades that treats Staunton with respect, isn't prejudiced towards tieflings as most in Kenabres and take seriously the advice of odd sources such as the Storyteller.
- Square Race, Round Class: Half-orcs are often perceived as brutes and tend towards chaotic alignments. She's not only Lawful Good but a paladin. It runs in the family — her father, a full orc, was a crusader and devout follower of Iomedae.
- Supporting Leader: She's the one in charge of the remaining crusaders in Kenabres, and sends the Player Character into various missions around the city while she stays at the Defenders Heart to coordinate with the other crusaders.
- You Kill It, You Bought It: She came to be the Commander of the Eagle Watch when she ousted the previous commander as a cultist. The Queen was so impressed, she offered the position to Irabeth.
The Storyteller
"I wish you interesting adventures."
A very mysterious (and mysteriously old-looking, elves tend to look rather young even on their deathbeds) elf bearing the power to see the history of any object he touches. To see his involvement in ''Pathfinder: Kingmaker", see here.
- Age Without Youth: He is perhaps the only Elf that has any sign of actually aging, and it shows. Turns out that the famed Elven Youth wears out sometime between the end of a natural elven lifespan and 10,000 years.
- Ambiguously Gay: One of his memories reveals that he had a half-elf friend who also worked with him in his attempts to stop Earthfall. They are explicitly shown to be very close friends, but some of the lines imply that the Storyteller was attracted to him, such as him paying attention to how his friend's hair falls upon his face before getting embarassed and looking away.
- Amnesiac Hero: His power allows him to see the history of any object he holds in his hands. Ironically, he cannot remember his own memories. You can assist him recover them over a series of quests that involve finding pages from his journal that have gotten scattered around the land.
- Ascended Extra: His role in Wrath of the Righteous is greatly expanded compared to Kingmaker: rather than merely being a source of Gotta Catch 'Em All sidequests, he has a storyline all his own this time.
- Damsel in Distress: Gender Flipped. The Commander gets a preview of his abilities in Chapter 1 when he shows up at the Defender's Heart. He disappears for all of Chapter 2, only to reappear during Greybor's recruitment quest having been taken prisoner by a red dragon that took up residence in his own former wizard's tower, whom he placated by using his psychometry powers to tell it stories about the artifacts in its hoard.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: From his memoirs it turns out he even tricked demon lords, from stealing Baphomet's knowledge to even briefly using Deskari's Riftcarver — right from under their noses.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Bordering on Guide Dang It! since four things have to be done by the Commander in a specific order to achieve it. First you have to collect enough pages from the Storyteller's book to learn about Kiny's story. Then you have to complete Secrets of Creation and realize the Thief of Secrets is Kiny, and tell him about the Storyteller. Then you have to share Kiny's parting words with the Storyteller. Finally you have to finish the Storyteller's quest and encourage him to accept Pharasma's bargain. Do all this, though, and Pharasma will make sure the two are reunited in her realm.
- Informed Attribute: His alignment is listed as Neutral Evil, but he's actually one of your noblest and most stalwart allies in the Crusade and never actually does anything villainous.
- Last of His Kind: The last true Archmage of Kyonin.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: The first page you find from his journal reveals that when he was much younger, in the lead up to the Earthfall cataclysm that darkened the sun for 1000 years, all the elves of Golarian chose to flee to another plane and leave the rest of Golarian to deal with what came next. The Storyteller, feeling that his people were cowards for abandoning the rest of the world to their fate, chose to stay behind to find a way to stop Earthfall, or else mitigate the damage. In turn, his people considered him a fool for leaving his people for a "hopeless" cause.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He is normally rather calm and subdued (at least when he isn't reading a memory with intense emotions attached), but when he holds the dagger that you find near where Deskari attacked at the beginning, he sees a vision from the future rather than the past, something that has never happened to him in his rather long life. He is rather shaken by the implications of this and is a fair amount more energized from the shock of it.
- Psychometry: As in Kingmaker, this is his main power: he is able to take broken artifacts and assorted Noodle Implements and draw their stories from them, repairing them for player use.
- Really 700 Years Old: Turns out he personally watched the Earthfall. Making him over 10,000 years old by the time the game starts.
- The Spook: He's the Storyteller, and that's it. Nobody knows anything else, himself included. Getting past this is the root of his personal quest.
- The Unfettered: In the past, he was willing to do just about anything to stop Earthfall, including working for Noticula, a powerful demon lord, for many years.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He created the process Areelu used to open the Worldwound and she learned it from him, albeit indirectly. He almost did it himself, going blind in the process, but aborted at the last second, which earned him Pharasma's attention.
Nurah Dendiwhar
"I'm so tired of sitting in a library reading books about history. It's time I took part in it!"
A chipper halfling bard with an interest in chronicling the lives of those dedicated to fighting demons and closing the Worldwound. She joins the Fifth Crusade in act 2 as an advisor and observer, wanting to be the one to tell the potential story of the re-taking of Drezen.
- Braids of Action: She wears her hair in one.
- The Bus Came Back: If set free she will later show up again in Act 5 at the demonic invasion of the Pulura's Fall. If befriended as a trickster, she will even save you from having to make a Sadistic Choice by backstabbing the demons at the right moment.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: The rather brutal life that any Chelaxian halfling faces can do a number on anyone's morals... and to Nurah, it's done a whole equation.
- Double Agent: If you catch on to the fact that she's The Mole, there's a Trickster option that functionally flips her and turns her into this.
- Expy: To Linzi, Kingmaker's resident chipper halfling bard and writer, though she joins the Commander's camp later and in a strictly advisory capacity rather than as a party member.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: She's also The Mole, a longtime demon collaborator who sold out her former master and is eager to do as much damage to the Crusade as she possibly can. She is somewhat like Linzi if the former had never been rescued from her troubled upbringing by someone kind. Her perkiness is not an act, however — she's simply gleeful in her desire to Break the Haughty and destroy the so-called "good" societies which allowed her slavery to stand because it was within the bounds of her homeland's law.
- Graceful Loser: Resigns herself and is somewhat cooperative when interrogated if she's caught and imprisoned at the end of Act 2.
- Heel–Face Turn: A possible ending for her. Nurah is not yet beyond redemption, and a Commander who has unlocked the Trickster path can recruit her prior to the Battle of Drezen. To do this, they need to visit her tent after Leper's Smile and discover her (Vescavor Pheromone) perfume and talk to her about it. Then, during the gargoyle assualt on the camp, they need to immediately head west when exiting their tent to see her carrying a flask of alchemist's fire and ask about it. After the Lost Chapel is resolved they can speak to her and use a Trickster-path dialogue.
- Made a Slave: As she'll discuss, this was her early life; being a Chelaxian-Isgerian halfling, she spent much of her early life in (educated) bondage and was basically brought to Mendev to be her master's chronicler and walking encyclopedia. This was the absolute worst mistake he could have made, as it showed Nurah her freedom could come from aligning with the chaotic, and freewheeling in its way, Abyss.
- The Mole: She's currently working for agents of the Worldwound and spying on the party.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Her allegiance and main motivation is rooted in her belief in this, which is strong enough to make her side with demons — who openly oppress and kick around anyone not strong enough to fight back — over anyone willing to ignore the issue for convenience's sake.
- Put on a Bus: One way or the other, she leaves the plot of the game at the end of Act 2.
- Tagalong Chronicler: Her role in the crusade. The fifth Crusade is only the latest subject, and the one juicy enough to make her leave the safety of the warded cities and personally join it. In reality, it's because she's been ordered to sabotage it.
- Walking Spoiler: Yeah, there's rather a lot going on with her.
- Wild Card: The process of recruiting her as an ally using an unlocked Trickster Path consists of convincing her to play this role in order to screw over both the Crusaders and the demons, though in practice after that point she only helps you.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Her life as a Chelaxian slave convinced her anything to undo the brutality of slavery, and any potential for it, was worth selling the planet to the Abyss — demons are Chaotic Evil, and respect freedom and self-determination, after all. That everyone who has ever made her suffer will suffer infinitely worse is a perk of the job. The Trickster Mythic Path can subvert this, however, showing her there is something worth saving in the world.
Terendelev
"Pry loose the grudging grip of pain. Cast off the veil of suffering flesh. Let light and life go forth in triumph to repel the skulking shade of death."
The draconic protector of Kenabres, and one of those who rescue the Main Character in the prologue.
- Back from the Dead: Gets raised as an undead dragon in Act 5 by Deskari. A Gold Dragon commander can re-awaken her noble spirit, making her switch sides back to the Crusade, where she'll join the attack on Threshold alongside Halaseliax. Her death can also be undone via time travel by an Aeon commander. If this is done before visiting Iz, a different undead dragon is encountered.
- Combat Medic: Like all silver dragons she packs high-level clerical spells, one of which is used to heal the main character in the introduction. She has to resort to a Greater Restoration to even partially help them, which tips her off immediately that something weird is going on with the Commander-to-be and leads her to ask them to see her the next day in the Kenabres Cathedral for a more thorough examination. Alas, Deskari cuts that idea short before she gets a chance to really examine the Commander.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: She attempts to stop Deskari when he attacks the Market Square and gets decapitated for her trouble.
- Heroic BSoD: In her back story, she was injured helping crusaders, and the wound infected her with demonic corruption. Ashamed of her impure form, and retreated to her lair. The corruption giving her bouts of madness where she wanted to attack others. The Gold Dragon Halaseliax found her, and helped her get over it — sometimes having to wrestle her down, other times talking her out of her madness. Eventually Terendelev recovered.
- Hot in Human Form: Her human guise is described as being incredibly beautiful.
- Mystical White Hair: She has silver-white hair in her human form, which is appropriate for a silver dragon.
- Off with His Head!: Deskari lops her head off with his scythe.
- Sacrificial Lamb: She's killed off in the first five minutes trying to make a Last Stand against a demon lord.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Interacts directly with the MC for all of five minutes, but if they set on the Gold Dragon Mythic Path, she becomes the source of their powers.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: She's among the first victims of the invasion of Kenabres, being decapitated by Deskari.
- The Worf Effect: Those unfamiliar with Pathfinder will have no idea who or what Deskari is... but a dragon? Dragons are iconic enough in media that nearly everyone knows how powerful and fearsome they are. So to demonstrate how insanely powerful Deskari is, he cuts Terendelev's head off in a single swing.
Prelate Hulrun Shappok
None will escape my all-seeing eye.
"I am here to pass judgment. And the sinners before me are numberless."
Race: Human (Taldan)
Class: Inquisitor
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Deity: Iomedae
Voiced by: Wayne Grayson
Class: Inquisitor
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Deity: Iomedae
Voiced by: Wayne Grayson
The Prelate of the inquisitor forces in Mendev and the one in charge of protecting Kenabres along with Terendelev.
- Anti-Hero: He's firmly opposed to the demons, but his Knight Templar methods can put him at odds with his allies and even the player character.
- Big Damn Heroes: If he survives all the way into Act 5 and the player hasn't completely alienated him then he'll show up with a squad of Crusaders in Iz. If you pass on Areelu's warning that Deskari is planning to assault the camp, he'll rush back there. If you then rush to save one of the other objectives, Hulrun will pull an Offscreen Moment of Awesome and save the Sword of Valor for you.
- Burn the Witch!: He led several witch hunts to ferret out demonic corruption in Mendev, which ended killing cultists and innocents alike. Including Ember and her father.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: He has no real memory of burning Ember and her dad when she brings it up, though he doesn't use that to pretend he didn't do it. He just assumed that if it happened she deserved it.
- Character Development: The longer he survives and the more successful the Crusade becomes the more tolerant he is towards the Commander and the better he gets at his job. By the time you retreat from Iz in Act 5 he's even willing to put up with Arueshalae, though he still doesn't trust her.
- Church Militant: He's an Inquisitor of Iomeade and leads many of her forces in the battle against the demonic forces.
- The Dreaded: He's feared by the cultists and the population of Mendev for his ruthlessness.
- Easily Forgiven: Ember is quick to forgive him for having put her and her father on a pyre, despite him being unapologetic about it. The player character may disagree and still attack Hulrun over it.
- Establishing Character Moment: The first two things he does when you first meet him at the start of the game is that he attempts to heal the player's wounds, and then interrogates the Commander regardless of the reason they're in town and while they are still severely wounded.
- Fantastic Racism: He's prejudiced against half-orcs, mongrels, and tieflings.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Despite being steadfast in his opposition to the demonic forces, his Jerkass manners and Knight Templar methods make many of the crusaders dislike him, such as Irabeth. No one will say anything if the Commander kills him in Act 1, only commenting that his usefulness is the only reason not to do so.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: His face is horribly scarred, a hint to his ruthless demeanor.
- Improperly Paranoid:
- His conflict with Ramien and the young Desna worshippers is due to them having tampered with the Kenabres wardstone shortly before the demons invasion. He believes they were the ones who corrupted it, but they were actually attempting to protect it, having been forewarned of the wardstone's corruption by Arueshalae.
- It's also mentioned by the loading screens and other characters that his Crusade was the most ineffective due to his paranoia and penchant for burning and jailing innocent people rather than actual cultists.
- He thinks Ember is suspicious because of her continued survival and the crow that's always following her; this leads him to believe she's under some kind of sinister outside influence. He's right about the influence, but it's not sinister.
- In his very first appearance he is immediately suspicious of the protagonist, but completely ignores the unfamiliar guards who brought them in. The guards who are actual disguised demons...
- Jerkass Has a Point: He does a poor job of distinguishing between innocents and cultists, but this is invariably also true of the Commander. Much of the troubles that befall the Fifth Crusade in Acts 2 and 3 can be attributed to spies, infiltrators, and traitors. The main difference between the likes of him and, say, Anevia is that he'll execute people who aren't actually cultists while the latter won't get their hands on a cultist until the damage has already been done. A recurring comment made by people when discussing him is pointing out that, for all his zeal, he's not only helpful, but isn't wrong about some of the concerns, and characters tend to agree on some level with him at times, just not fully.
- Karma Houdini: If the player allies with him, then he essentially gets away with burning numerous innocent people or torturing them out of paranoia. A good aligned player can do their best to keep him check, but due to being so useful, characters often push to make sure he stays on your side.
- Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Choosing to kill him is never considered an Evil act, only a Chaotic one. In fact, if you wait to attack him until after he insults Ember, its considered a Lawful act.
- Knight Templar: Due to his paranoia, religious zeal and mercilessness, his methods of eradicating the demonic taint in the Mendev has caused often caused more harm than good, with several innocent people suffering or dying during his witch hunts in the Third Crusade. He's so convinced of his zeal, that being told by a Commander with the Light of Heaven he's going too far doesn't change his mind at all.
- Memetic Badass: Invoked In-universe. It's mostly why the people of Kenabres put up with him as their governor: because he's fought and slain all sorts of terrible demons and if needed he'll hold the line for them. Even the Desna priests admit that for all his flaws Hulrun is a terrifying champion against the demons. Ramien even admits he saw when he was younger Hulrun standing against a massive demon and slaying it, and that image won't leave him. If you let him live he gets a chance to show it, curb-stomping a room full of cultists and demons while accompanying the party in the Grey Garrison, and later mounting a successful defense of the crusader camp at Iz in Act 5.
- Never My Fault:
- If the player calls him out on burning Ember, her father, and numerous innocent people at the stake, he just tells them to shove it.
- If you save the Wardstone you can ask him later on if he was wrong about the Wardstone being corrupted. He admits he was, and that in his faith he failed to consider how one of the Goddess's artifacts could be corrupted. He then admits he probably should have tortured the Desnans to learn about it and promises to do better next time.
- Old Soldier: Despite looking a little younger than he did in the AP, he's still one of the most veteran soldiers in Mendev, having served in both the Third and Fourth Mendevian Crusades.
- The Paranoiac: Due to the demonic force's constant attempts at corrupting and infiltrating the crusading forces, he has grown to be extremely paranoid is constantly on the lookout for threats, which has often caused him harm to innocent people.
- The Peter Principle: As noted under
Memetic Badass, Hulrun is a highly effective warrior and excels at fighting demons. His Burn the Witch! and Knight Templar tendencies (the same which make him such a good soldier) make him wholely unsuited to running Kenabres, however. If he lives to the end-game, he can again prove his competence under the command of Queen Galfrey and the Knight-Commander. - Pet the Dog:
- In the intro, he's surprisingly kind and encouraging when treating the player. Downplayed, since afterwards he'll insult them for being attacked by demons or accuse them of being a spy dependent on dialogue options.
- If the player rescues Trever then he'll greet him when the party goes to Iz. Hulrun actually compliments Trever for doing his job well and it's a shame that he didn't join Hulrun's Inqusitors but right now that's water under the bridge.
- Properly Paranoid: It's easy to see how he became The Paranoiac when you see how often he's right:
- In the prologue, he is afraid during the festival that hordes of demons have already infiltrated the town and are just waiting for the right opportunity to strike. He is quickly proven correct. And he's even more correct than he realizes, since at one point he's standing all of six feet from Areelu Vorlesh without even realizing it.
- He constantly bickered with Anevia about the cultists having an underground base under Kenabres, and Anevia has to admit he was right when the party encounters the Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth.
- He doesn't trust Camellia and will urge the Commander to turn her over to him for interrogation, believing that she is hiding something from the Crusaders. He turns out to be entirely warranted in believing so.
- And it turns out he's perfectly warranted in being suspicious of you, since you are one of Areelu Vorlesh's experimental subjects.
- He thinks Iz feels like a giant trap. As the player already knows at that point, he's entirely correct.
- Spared by the Adaptation: In the original adventure path, Hulrun actually dies off-camera in Chapter 1 and is taken over by a vermlek demon, his corpse made to stand guard to the entrance to the Gray Garrison; in the PC game, this does not happen and he can be a presence well into the game (unless the Commander kills him to resolve the conflict between him and the Church of Desna).
- Tautological Templar: As far as Hulrun is concerned, he does not make mistakes. Anyone opposing him is automatically a traitor simply for opposing his methods. He also outright tells Ember that if he had her put to the torch, then she had to be guilty of something. Notably, the moment Hulrun says this, the option to attack him goes from being chaotic to non-aligned, as he's admitting to abuse of power and murder. Notably he's so convinced of his own moral correctness that he's able to stare directly at the Light of Heaven without being awed by it, though it's still enough to get him to begrudgingly change a verdict from 'death' to 'exile.'
- We ARE Struggling Together: His combination of extreme paranoia and legal authority cause almost as many problems for the city's defense as the demons do, since he distrusts every possible ally you can make and tells you to kill the city's highest-ranking surviving priest for treason without evidence. His obstructiveness will test even a Good-aligned player's patience.
- Worf Had the Flu: He's a high-ranking Inquisitor with decades of experience. However, a perception check will show that he's been level drained prior to meeting him in Act 1, allowing the player's low level party to kill him.
Staunton Vhane (spoilers)
See the Warden of Drezen under Demonic Armies.
Joran Vhane
"Wherever I am, that's where my forge is. A true master of the craft will always find the tools they need."
Staunton Vhane's long-suffering brother, and the army smith during Chapter 1.
- Face–Heel Turn: He mysteriously disappears from the army without explanation after end of Chapter 1, even if asked to make a scabbard for Radiance. He defected to the demons to be with his brother.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Unlike his glaive-swinging brother, he wades in with a warhammer and tower shield.
- Nothing Personal: He'll fight to the death to protect his brother no matter how much he likes the Commander, and will even hand over the scabbard for Radiance beforehand if asked about it.
- Stone Wall: He has a sword-and-board fighting style and is tanky as hell with his pre-battle buffs. You're advised to try to dispel at least a couple of them. That said, as a pure Cleric of Torag, his damage is... fairly anemic, and unless you put your casters in melee with him, he's not likely to hurt you very much. Hell, for the first five rounds or so, he'll just spend time buffing and won't even hurt you, and doesn't even have attack spells prepared. This actually makes the whole situation hit even harder, because his spell selection makes it clear that hurting people isn't his first priority. He has Heal at the ready, for Torag's sake!
- Thicker Than Water: No matter what his idiot brother has done, Joran sticks with him to the end. He goes down fighting against the Commander during the assault on the Drezen citadel. And no, there is no way to spare him. He'll fight no matter what you do.
- Ultimate Blacksmith: He immediately recognizes Yaniel's sword Radiance if recovered by the Commander, and forges a scabbard for it that instantly upgrades it from a mere masterwork cold iron longsword to a +2 version. And this is the first step on unlocking Radiance's full potential.
The Hand of the Inheritor
"And as I stare into the flames of the rift itself, the answer still eludes me. What is the secret to this canker festering at the very heart of our world? How can we heal it?"
Iomedae's Herald, creator of the Wardstones and leader of the goddess' celestial armies.
- Badass in Distress: Is kidnapped by Baphomet at the end of Act 4. He can be rescued and potentially redeemed in Act 5.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: Accompanies the Commander, who by then is definitely more powerful than him, into the Abyss, healing them with spells and leaping out into battle if they are downed in combat in the city.
- Broken Pedestal: He's in disbelief and disappointed when he finds out the Commander's Mythic powers came from Areelu Vorlesh. Depending on the player's choices it can be a Rebuilt Pedestal, especially if they stick to the Angel path and redeem him.
- The Cavalry: When the Commander is ambushed on two sides by hordes of mythic demons in the Ivory Sanctum, he teleports in with a group of angels to cover their rear and prevent them from being flanked.
- Crutch Character: In part of Act 4, he hides himself alongside the player. This gives the player a buff that causes the Herald to enter combat if the Commander is reduced to 0 hit points. The herald's arrival also restores the commander to full health.
- Early-Bird Cameo: He's first seen when the commander gets their first vision when picking Lariel's sword - while sifting through Lariel's memories they briefly see a gigantic golden Angel with his head hidden in a golden helm.
- The Faceless: He wears a golden helm with no eyeslit or openings.
- Face–Monster Turn: Baphomet turns him into a demon and pits him against the party at Act 5. If the player retrieves his heart they can restore him to his angelic state.
- The Good, the Bad, and the Evil: Still offers his support to an evil-aligned Commander, making him the Good of the trifecta.
- Hypocrite: Nocticula seems to think so. Soon after he leaves to warn people about your Abyssal taint she tells the story of Ragathiel, an Empyreal Lord and General of Heaven whose father was an Archdevil and whom the Hand of the Inheritor used to serve. Though Nocticula never states it outright, she implies that he's a hypocrite for judging you based on your Abyssal taint alone when he used to serve a literal half-fiend and should know better.
- Invisible to Normals: While in the Abyss he travels alongside the commander, invisible to all its denizens. It does not work on Nocticula who actually could see him the entire time - but it does work on Areelu.
- Large and in Charge: He's like 9 feet tall, and the leader of Iomedae's host of Angels. He towers over them.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: His loyalty to Iomedae is absolute, despite the relative youth of the once-mortal goddess.Hand of the Inheritor: I do not test her will with my doubts, nor crave answers to my questions. I simply trust and serve.
- Nice Guy: As expected of an angel. He's kind, brave, supportive and helps the Crusade due to his love for the mortal races. He and a good-aligned Commander, especially one going through the Angel path, can get on swimmingly.
- Relationship Values: His trust of the Commander is dependent on their actions in the Abyss. While he's upset about the origins of the Commander's powers, he takes it a lot better if the Commander did a lot of good things while he was watching. Freeing slaves, using Good dialogue options, etc.
- Spanner in the Works: Him being at the commander's side when Areelu answers the commander's questions at Nocticula's palace. Areelu couldn't see him, and when she realizes what he heard about the origin of the commander's powers, she deduces it's only a matter of time before Iomedae knows, and Iomedae figures out what the key to the Worldwound is. This completely changes Areelu's plans, forcing the confrontation with Iomedae and Nocticula at the start of Act 5 where Iomedae reveals her deductions to the commander, and Areelu breaking her alliance with Nocticula.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Once he hears that the player character, especially a Good-aligned one who worked to gain his trust, is Areelu Vorlesh's creation, he assumes it was all a huge trick of the Abyss and impulsively rushes off. If he had stayed another five seconds he would have heard Areelu say she wants to close the Worldwound, followed by both Areelu and Nocticula explaining how pleasantly surprised they are that the Commander has surpassed the origin of their power and is truly their own person. If he hadn't have rushed off Baphomet would have never captured him and he wouldn't have (possibly) died. Doubles as a Third-Act Misunderstanding given its timing about two thirds of the way through the main story.
- What the Hell, Hero?: If the Commander has performed their duties admirably and stayed on a goodly path, the Hand has this reaction to Galfrey stripping them of their rank at the end of Act 3.
- You Shall Not Pass!: Prevents a horde of demons from following the commander down a bridge at one point.
Lady Konomi
Race: Kitsune
The diplomatic envoy from Nerosyan, sent to Drezen to represent the interests of Mendev and the other crusaders... in theory, anyway.
- "Ass" in Ambassador: She's a very well-spoken jerk. She can potentially lighten up if you navigate the troubled waters of Mendevian politics.
- Deal with the Devil: The Royal Council wants to improve relations with Cheliax, a nation of devil-worshipers, by cozying up to their protectorate Isger. Konomi greatly encourages this as a result. It can backfire horribly if Mendev's political instability results in Isger annexing Mendev.
- Establishing Character Moment: She's the only advisor who will push back if you side with someone other than her. You have the option to call her out on it, which results in at least two other companions laying into her too and ends with her leaving in a huff. This not only establishes that she's pushing an agenda but that she's also a jerk.
- Freak Out: If Queen Galfrey dies in Iz then the Royal Council gets attacked and several members are executed. Konomi, bereft of direction, breaks down if this happens and pleads with you for help. Helping her out gets you her full respect and a very helpful item for getting the Secret Ending.
- Mauve Shirt: The other council heads mostly exist to bring forward a situation, ask for advice, and do what you say. Lady Konomi is the only one to have deeper characterization unless you catch on to Captain Harmattan.
- Mouth of Sauron: She's basically a mouthpiece for Mendev's Royal Council. If you ask Queen Galfrey to attend your council meetings she'll decline, saying you should treat Konomi's word as her own.
- That being said, should Galfrey survive Iz she joins the Diplomatic Council for the rest of the game. If you manage to do this before you upgrade your Diplomacy to Rank VI, Galfrey is less than pleased that things in Nerosyan deteriorated so rapidly just from her going to the front lines. Not only that. but when she realizes that Konomi has been trying to direct the outcomes of the Diplomatic Council meetings despite Galfrey's clear instructions to just aid the Commander, she makes her displeasure quite evident to Konomi.
- Pet the Dog: It's implied she's nice to Nenio even as she thinks Nenio is insane.
- Shame If Something Happened: Occasionally uses this line of reasoning when telling you why it's a good idea to remain on the Royal Council's good side.
- Smug Snake: She looks down on the Commander and the rest of the Diplomatic Council, especially initially, because she sees the Commander as subordinate to Galfrey and the Royal Council. As the Council's representative that makes her, in her mind, less your equal and more your handler so she sees no real need to be nice to you. There are a spectacular number of ways this attitude can bite her in the ass.
- Wrong Assumption: She assumes that the Commander is simply a subject of Queen Galfrey and the Royal Council who happens to have been put in charge of a military force and therefore they are required to abide by the decisions of the Council; she's just there to get the Commander's rubber stamp on decisions the Council has already made. All of this is legally true. Later events underscore how wrong it is in practice since, as Daeran points out in an unrelated conversation, Mendev and the Crusade are inseparable and as the Crusade's leader you have more political pull in Mendev than anyone, even Queen Galfrey, as long as you're succeeding. You can use this power to singlehandedly destroy Mendev or just declare independence if you feel like it during Act 5 and there's nothing Konomi can do about it.
Captain Harmattan
Race: Oread
The head of the Commander's Staff Council, a professional soldier who is very concerned about the well-being of the troops.
- Alien Hair: The crystals adorning his head are a vivid blue.
- And Then What?: Everyone aware of Harmattan's plan is also aware he has no idea what to do if it works, especially if Galfrey is dead.
- Call-Back: To the beginning of Seelah's personal quest. Remember when Elan briefly goes off on a rant about how you getting appointed head of the Crusade frustrates him because you didn't work your way up through the ranks? That's Harmattan's motive for wanting to remove you from command.
- Evil Counterpart: Well, less-good counterpart, to Quartermaster Wilcer Garms. They're both folks who are legitimately concerned with the morale of your troops and whose jobs require them to help with that morale. While Garms is loyal and accurately reports on the morale of the troops while making smaller suggestions on how to help out, most of the problems Harmattan reports to you and recommends big changes to address are ones he is directly responsible for causing because he's loyal to Galfrey and wants to see her in charge instead of you.
- Fangirl: Despite being a man who is over a hundred years old, he acts like a fangirl whenever Queen Galfrey comes up.
- Irony: He's so loyal to Galfrey as head of the Crusade that he's willing to disobey her instructions and potentially sabotage the Crusade to make sure she maintains authority and respect. A second layer of irony is that Galfrey does the same thing.
- Meaningful Name: The harmattan is a dry, dusty season and the accompanying northeasterly trade wind in west Africa, characterized by a haze of dust particulates. Captain Harmattan mentions he comes from a family of desert caravaneers back in Osirion.
- Mole in Charge: He's the leader and primary organizer of the group causing morale problems in your army. His adjutant finds this out and reports back to you immediately.
- Psychological Projection: The 'morale problems' he's tasked with dealing with are largely his own.
- Undying Loyalty: To Queen Galfrey. Passing several Perception checks will reveal exactly how bad it is. He won't even stop trying to replace you if Galfrey is dead.
- Walking Spoiler: He'd be an utterly boring and uninteresting advisor if he weren't plotting to replace you and most of his characterization spoils what he's ultimately doing there.
Captain Odan
Race: Half-Elf
The veteran soldier in charge of the Military Council, a decorated war hero who is too injured to take field command.
- Career-Ending Injury: Downplayed. He used to be a front-line officer, but he got promoted to Desk Jockey after nearly being killed at Vilareth's Ford because he was too much of a hero to send away but too physically and emotionally scarred to serve on the battlefield. This saves his life in Act 5 since he can't go to Iz with Galfrey.
- Last Dance: Asks to be put on the frontline for the final attack against Khorramzadeh's army. His request can be approved, adding him to your army as a high-level general.
- Normally, I Would Be Dead Now: Deconstructed. He managed to survive flames intense enough to melt his armor in battle. It was considered a miracle he survived. It also left him with a crippling fear of fire, a massive case of Survivor Guilt, and lasting injuries severe enough that he can't return to the battlefield.
- Sole Survivor: One of the only Crusaders to walk away from Vilareth's Ford Outpost and the only one from his command.
- Survivor Guilt: Massively.Captain Odan: I am guilty of receiving the glory that their valor made rightfully theirs.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Maintains a stoic professionalism, but talking to him in how downtime reveals he's very much this.
Dorgelinda Stranglehold
Race: Dwarf
Alignment: Lawful Good
Alignment: Lawful Good
The chief administrator of Drezen and head of the Logistics Council for the Fifth Crusade.
- Career-Ending Injury: Like Captain Odan, she got promoted to Desk Jockey after her time in the infantry was ended, in her case due to a crippled and now withered arm.
- The Generic Guy: She doesn't stand out in any way.
- Red Baron: 'Stranglehold' isn't her surname, it's a nickname given to her by other Crusaders due to her meticulousness and tight-fistedness, making her The Dreaded of Mendev's logistics corps. You'll never see her called anything else.
- Sergeant Rock: Though not a front-line officer she shows all the traits, being a tough, stalwart officer who is willing to take harsh measures but never unwilling to deal with the consequences first-hand. Offer to regenerate her withered arm and she'll dismiss the offer by saying you should save it for someone more injured than she is, since she doesn't need her arm to do her job.
- To Be Lawful or Good: Though nicer than Lann she still favors Lawful actions, leaving Arueshalae to advocate for Good.
Targona
Race: Astral Deva
Alignment: Lawful Good
Alignment: Lawful Good
An angel of Iomedae. Lariel's partner, she followed him to Golarion, as one of the first angels to help the crusade. She vanished around the same time as him. The Hand of the Inheritor is interested in what happened to her and will task an angel Mythic Path Commander with finding her.
- Bash Brothers: With Lariel originally. If the player is on the Angel path she accompanies the player through a few quests too, and also fights alongside the Hand of the Inheritor.
- Damsel in Distress: When you find her she's being kept in stasis in Areelu's abandoned lab.
- Oxymoronic Being: Due to Areelu Vorlesh's experimenting on her, she now has one demonic wing, and her nature is both demonic and angelic. It's done nothing to her good spirit, but she reacts to certain things differently from angels. She's greatly ashamed of this and refuses to return to Heaven in her "corrupted" state.
- Mystical White Hair: She has large mane of pure white hair.
Halaseliax
Race: Gold Dragon
Alignment: Neutral Good
Alignment: Neutral Good
Also known as "Hal", Halaseliax was Terendelev's mentor, when she was cursed by demonic corruption that threatened to turn her into a rabid mindlessly violent monster. He may also become the Commander's mentor upon the Gold Dragon mythic path.
- Angel Unaware: He usually takes the form of a healer going by the name of "Hal". In reality he's a gold dragon, a font of goodness and wisdom.
- Atop a Mountain of Corpses: When you return to Drezen in Act 5, you'll find him by the Citadel's steps, atop a giant pile of burned demons.
- Awesome McCoolname: Dragons append more syllables and appellatives to their names as they grow older or achieve feats they're proud of, hence why older, stronger dragons tend to have longer and more imposing names. The player however can complain his name is too long and ask to just call him "Hal"Halaseliax glares at you. His soft voice transforms into a roar like Thunder. "Ignorant Child! How dare you shorten my name!"
Suddenly the dragon bursts out laughing. "I am merely teasing you. You can call me whatever you want. Warmbloods often call me "Hal". They're always in a hurry, and they don't have time to pronounce my long, beautiful name." - Big Fun: He's jovial, and like all gold dragons is possessed with a lust for life and a sense of humor. And well, being a gold dragon, they don't often come bigger.
- Easily Forgiven: Much like Ember, Halaseliax promotes forgiveness towards those who have wronged you. The first step to gaining his approval is being willing to let a unrepentant cultist of Baphomet go free.
- Gentle Giant: He's forgiving, compassionate, empathic. But as the demons in Drezen learn, if he gives you an out, take it. If you don't, well, you'll be reminded you're dealing with a gigantic holy fire breathing lizard.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: His shtick. He tells a unrepenting cultist of Baphomet that they are already strong, and when they realize this, they won't need Baphoment. In the past he did the same to a corrupted Terendelev, helping her get the courage and strength to overcome her corruption. He also does the same to the commander, telling them that they have a Dragon's spirit.
- You Shall Not Pass!: If you met him in Act 3, in Act 5 he comes to Drezen and defends the fortress gate, preventing the Storyteller and Irabeth from being overwhelmed by reinforcements.
Iomedae
The goddess of righteous valor, justice, and honor. See Characters.Pathfinder Deities for her character tropes in Pathfinder at large.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: She is considerably nicer to the Knight-Commander than to the heroes of the original adventure path, where she will outright interrogate them for information (rather than try to collate it through conversation) and punish defiance or lies by outright hurting them. This is almost certainly intentional on Owlcat's part, since this encounter was pretty much universally reviled by players of the original AP.
- Big Good: She is the main patron goddess of the Mendevian Crusades, with her forces directly assisting them in fighting the forces of the Abyss.
- Boyish Short Hair: Iomedae appears as a short-haired swordswoman with a tomboyish appearance.
- Deity of Human Origin: The fact that she used to be mortal is brought up and used against her by her critics, especially Nocticula in Act 5.
- Freudian Trio: With Nocticula and Areelu in Act 5. Surprisingly, she's the Id. By her own admission she doesn't really know what's going on with the Commander's powers but instinctually distrusts them because of their origin alone and is basing her entire evaluation of the situation on extremely limited information, appealing to the Commander's emotion and (probable) dislike for Areelu and the Abyss. Her plan is also potentially the most reckless, though she doesn't realize it until Areelu starts contributing.
- God's Hands Are Tied: Discussed several times as to why Iomedae does seemingly so little to stop the Demonic invasions — right now only three Demon Lords are working together. Sending forth the forces of heaven en masse would be the one thing that'd convince every demon lord to work together, and the resulting conflict would destroy Golarion (and a little reading between the lines of Hand's dialogue gives the implication that, for older celestials, this is informed experience talking, rather than pure theory). Thus Iomedae has to limit her involvement to a few angels and her Herald.
- Hypocrite: Subverted. Although she advocates for embracing the path of mortality when she is herself a mortal who chose to be something more, what's she's actually arguing against is the demonic source of your power, not the power itself; the two are just bundled together. And if the player goes against her suggestion to embrace mortality, as long as they're not Swarm-that-Walks, she doesn't take action against them.
- Jeanne d'Archétype: She's not named Jeanne or Joan, but everything else fits. The haircut, being born from humble beginnings, a quintessential divine woman in heavy armor.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Of the Freudian Trio in act 5, Iomedae is the one that knows the least about the Commander's powers, having nothing but what the Hand overheard in act 4 and her own intuition to go on. She is nonetheless correct about several of her hypotheses, including that the Commander's powers are harming them and will eventually prove fatal, and that the Worldwound is now tied to the Commander's soul and cannot be closed unless the Commander sacrifices themselves to close it. Like Nocticula, she is also unaware of Areelu's true motives or that she's done the same modification to herself. By her own admission, one of the reasons she's so sparing with information is that there are a great many things she doesn't know, and she'd prefer not to share too much when it's all built on conjecture.
- Power Floats: She's a goddess, and when she appears she hovers about a foot off the ground, never landing.
- What the Hell, Hero?: If the commander changes to the Gold Dragon mythic path, Iomedae will criticize them for offering the demons a chance to run, complaining that the compassion offered by Gold Dragons isn't offered in kind by those same demons to their next victims.
- Will Not Tell a Lie: She claims she does not ever lie. That said, she's fully okay with letting her minions be misled or mistaken even if she knows different and could tell them. She confirms she chose to not correct her Herald when he assumed the commander to be her chosen one, even though it was not true and while she didn't know the origin of the Commander's powers at the time she knew they had nothing to do with her. What's interesting is that this is clearly her choice, as the Hand of the Inheritor does confirm he tried to check with her, but she was not answering him.Nocticula: She doesn't lie. She merely withholds the truth. For the noblest of reasons of course...
Pharasma
Race: God
Alignment: True Neutral
Alignment: True Neutral
Pharasma is the goddess of birth, death, and prophecy. See Characters.Pathfinder Deities for her character tropes in Pathfinder at large.
- Berserk Button: She loathes the undead, seeing them as a perversion to the circle of life. She will react quite poorly to a Commander who becomes a Lich.
- Judgement of the Dead: Her entire job. The game's framing device is her judging Areelu's life, with the final epilogue being her judgement. The commander can argue in favor or against Areelu, though some arguments will resonate with Pharasma more than others.
- Mystical White Hair: Her hair is pure white as befitting a goddess associated with death and rebirth.
- Power Echoes: Pharasma's voice has a reverberation to it, unlike that of fellow goddess Iomedae.
Demonic Armies
Deskari
Let the feast begin.
"Nothing to say, impostor? One day I will knock on the doors of Heaven, and you will have to answer."
The Lord of the Locust Host, Deskari is the Demon Lord in charge of the demonic invasion of Golarion and the one who created the Worldwound.
- Arch-Enemy: He has special enmity and hatred towards Iomedae, the one god who opposes his demonic invasion. He considers the Commander, especially an Angel-aligned one, to be this as well by the time they repel him in Iz.
- Big Bad: He's the main antagonist of Wrath of the Righteous, as The Leader of the demonic invasion. At least nominally. While he and his armies are the primary malevolent force you fight for most of the game, even as early as Chapter 1, it begins to become clear that the one you, the Commander, really need to deal with is Areelu Vorlesh.
- Composite Character: Much of what Khorramzadeh the Storm King, Deskari's favored general, did during Chapter 1 of the original Adventure Path (attacking Kenabres, killing Tarendelev, collapsing the plaza the PCs are standing in) is instead done by Deskari himself now, making him more of a direct antagonist than the Greater-Scope Villain the original was.
- Demon Lords and Archdevils: Deskari's the Demon Lord's of chasms, infestation, and locusts and is known as "The Lord of the Locust Host".
- Disc-One Final Boss: He is defeated and banished back to his realm at the Battle of Iz, leaving Areelu as the final obstacle between the Commander and closing the Worldwound.
- The Dreaded: Deskari is perhaps the most prominent and feared demon lord known to Golarion, as he's the one who tore open the breach to the Abyss known as the Worldwound.
- Evil Mentor: He becomes this on the Swarm-That-Walks path, recognizing you as a rival that he will one day face to determine who is the Swarm and who is food.
- Expy: Of Abaddon from the Book of Revelation. The fact that there's already an Abaddon expy in Pathfinder named Apollyon means Deskari's position is expendible from a storytelling perspective.
- Final Boss Preview: Shows up right at the start of the game, leading a demon invasion in Kenabres and personally kills their protector Terendelev in a single strike. He then opens a crater in the town's square, which sends up dropping the Commander underground. An Aeon Commander revisits this battle during their last Mythic Quest. The Commander isn't able to kill Deskari in this fight since Deskari banishes the party back to the present, but they do save Terendelev.
- Hates Their Parent: He hated his mother, blaming her for the fact he was born without wings and killed her himself once he was strong enough to do it, then made his scythe out of her body.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: In the Swarm ending, after trying to control the commander and make them part of his swarm, the commander eventually devours him.
- Killed Off for Real:
- In the secret ending, as part of Areelu's Ascension plan. As she's technically his High Priestess by Klingon Promotion since he never bothered to cut the connection, she can summon him whether he wants to or not. You can then kill him a second time within a year, thus destroying him.
- In the angel ending, after having killed him a first time during the battle of Iz and closed off the Worldwound, you can go to his realm to finish him off and end his threat.
- In the Swarm Ending, you can call him forth after fighting Areelu. He won't back down for a Swarm Off. There can be only one Swarm.
- Orcus on His Throne: Despite making a terrifying showing in the intro he never shows up again till Act 5 where he sits and waits for the Commander's party to come to him.
- Sinister Scythe: His main weapon, Riftcarver, is a gigantic scythe formed from the remnants of his own mother.
- This Cannot Be!:Deskari: Impossible. I am chaos and death, I am the End of Times —- I cannot be defeated!
- True Final Boss: He can return as the Final Boss in the Swarm and Angel endings. He is also fought one last time with Baphomet in the secret ending.
- Truly Single Parent: He can implant batches of eggs into a victim, which swiftly hatch and emerge out of their body as a swarm of locusts.
- Unknown Rival: It's fair to say that Iomedae is aware of Deskari, but she has never addressed him, despite almost all of his dialogue being pointedly spoken to her, calling out the Impostor to face him in person. By the same token, Deskari almost never speaks directly to anyone else, followers and victims alike. Especially notable when you answer his challenge at Iz, where he spends several minutes monologuing at the sky, and paying zero attention to the Commander and their party — unless you happen to be an Angel or Gold Dragon.
- You Have Failed Me: If he's not permanently slain, then the epilogue shows that he blames his followers exclusively for his failure against the Commander and spends the next several centuries subjecting them to brutal torture.
Areelu Vorlesh
You think you will be our doom. But you've never been anything more than a source of power.
"You have walked a long path, one where shadows constantly flicker at the edge of your vision and questions multiply like flies above carrion. It is time for answers... at least some of them."
Race: Human (half-succubus)
Class: Witch/Demoniac/Archmage
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Voiced by: Mary O Brady
Class: Witch/Demoniac/Archmage
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Voiced by: Mary O Brady
The so-called Architect of the Worldwound, a Sarkorian archmage who collaborated with the demons to open the interplanar breach in the year of Aroden's death.
- Above Good and Evil: Despite her official Alignment being Chaotic Evil, her actual stance on morality is this. Nothing she does or has done is for the sake of cruelity or to further malicious goals. They are all means to an end, that end being to become a capital-D Divinity, which is a fairly specific state of being in this universe. And even this is in service to a greater aim: the resurrection and restoration of her child.
- Adaptation Expansion: In the tabletop campaign, she was essentially a generically evil villain with no real background who is killed before the party faces Deskari for the final battle. This adaptation fleshes her out much more and turns her into the true Big Bad of the game, with Deskari becoming a Climax Boss rather than the Final Boss (outside the Angel path and the Secret Ending).
- Adaptational Modesty: In the AP's original art, she had a huge Cleavage Window from her gown's neck clasp down to almost her navel. In the game, she is significantly more modestly dressed.
- Adaptation Personality Change:
- In the original AP, Vorlesh, when she appeared, was a fairly typical power-hungry mage type with a bit of a megalomaniacal streak. In the PC game, she's a fair bit more collected and detached, with the idea of her being a Mad Scientist (of a magical sort) emphasized a great deal more. This even extends to their visual design; in the print version, she had a very ornamental, showy outfit◊ that is clearly intended, in-universe, to emphasize her immortal body and make her appear powerful, seductive and appealing; the game version, shown to the right, is significantly more practical (while remaining reasonably appealing) and comfortable-looking, and places a greater emphasis on her keeping her spellbook and certain experimental reagents at hand.
- The scope of the changes become obvious as early as the end of Chapter One: in the original AP, Vorlesh is absolutely furious when the player characters destroy the Wardstone, uses an imago lens to project herself over to Kenabres and try to remotely slay the PCs, gloating all the while, gets a ton of mythic blowback for her trouble, and the whole reason she's not around to mess with the rest of the early, pre-Drezen adventure is because said blowback forces her to focus on recovery. In the Owlcat version, she's already at the Grey Garrison in person, doesn't do anything to stop the nascent Commander, and it's easy to see even then that she is responsible for concealing you and Minagho from one another and, assuming you are strong enough to get to it, wants you to destroy the Wardstone as part of her experiments on the Commander. Her narration of the events is unfailingly cool and collected.
- Furthermore, in the AP, the Suture was a mythic Dretch formed by the first Deranki demon, a direct underling of Deskari, attempting to cross the Worldwound and receiving a bunch of blowback as a result; it could be used to help close the Wound, and Vorlesh sees it as nothing but a threat and tries to destroy it, and when that proves impossible keeps it imprisoned, tortured and crippled to prevent its escape. In the game, Suture — no definite article — appears alongside Vorlesh during the Perspective Flip flashback to the start of the game as Vorlesh's right-hand man and is none other than the "halfling" who "helped" you after you took cover from Deskari's attack. He talks amicably with Vorlesh, is more than happy to serve, and most importantly, Vorlesh values his exuberance and input and trusts him with special tasks like delivering the special crossbow to the Commander-to-be. If you pass a hidden perception check while talking to her in Act IV, it’s revealed she was somewhat emotional over having to abandon Suture in her old lab. All this would be unthinkable in the printed adventure path.
- In the original AP, Vorlesh, when she appeared, was a fairly typical power-hungry mage type with a bit of a megalomaniacal streak. In the PC game, she's a fair bit more collected and detached, with the idea of her being a Mad Scientist (of a magical sort) emphasized a great deal more. This even extends to their visual design; in the print version, she had a very ornamental, showy outfit
- Affably Evil: Treats the PC amicably and even opens up some about her plans for them as long as she can observe the progression of her experiment on them. It becomes obvious that, for all her attempts at detachment, she still sees her child in the Commander and is desperately hoping her plan works, and so treats the Commander with at least some of the tenderness she gave their previous incarnation.
- The Archmage: Augmented her magical prowess with almost every possible method, from forging specially made artifacts to receiving gifts from Deskari, to transforming into a mythic half-demon.
- Co-Dragons/Brains and Brawn: Of Deskari's two major underlings, she's the Brains compared to Khorramzadeh's Brawn.
- Cute Monster Girl: Would be an understatement. If you can get past her wings, horns, and glowing red eyes she's downright gorgeous◊. The PC version, much like with Arue, loses the glowing eyes, even.
- Dark Action Girl: Despite being a spellcaster first and foremost, Areelu can more than hold her own in a physical brawl.
- Deity of Human Origin: She wants to learn how to make gods. The Commander is her first step in finding out how. And in the secret ending, she will make the Commander into a demigod. Play you cards right and she gets to ride along with you and your companions!
- Dragon with an Agenda: She's involved in the fact that you as the main character managed to obtain Mythic powers, and this does not seem to have exactly been part of the wider plan shared with Deskari and Baphomet.
- Final Boss: In most routes, Areelu is the final foe faced before the Commander can close the Worldwound and end the demonic threat.
- Freudian Excuse: Part of her motivation to take revenge on Sarkoris was being imprisoned and tortured merely for the "crime" of having arcane magic powers. The other part came from Deskari's influence. Except it turns out her real motivation for everything isn't revenge (at least not primarily) but to resurrect her child who was killed by Sarkorian witchhunters and then break down the laws of reality so they would never have to worry about dying ever again. And Deskari has no influence of her, she is in fact using him (and Baphoment and, to a degree, Noticula) to get what she wants.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: It is revealed that Areelu created the Worldwound out of grief and despair over the death of her child, and with the hope of finding their soul in the Abyss. However, she herself notes that her plan caused the death of millions over the span of a century. And even though she condemns Sarkoris for hunting her and her child down, said child ended up being sent to the Abyss by Pharasma, so the experiments they and Areelu were performing can't have been all that moral to begin with for them to receive such a fate.
- Freudian Trio: With Iomedae and Nocticula in Act 5. She's the Ego. Though her personality is cool, aloof, and casual, she's the one who finally forces a compromise by revealing new information to the Commander that the other two weren't aware of (infuriating Nocticula) then bowing out of the conversation.
- Godhood Seeker: Her ultimate goal.
- Graceful Loser: Initially averted when you defeat her in combat, the Commander can notice that she has set up enchantments to kill her and destroy her body if she activates them which would be bad for the Commander as either they or she must step into the Worldwound's heart (while alive) in order to permanently close it, so her plan is to essentially spite the Commander. They can convince her that such evil at this point in time when her plans have been ended is just pointless. She will accept this and willingly sacrifice herself to close the Worldwound once and for all.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Half human and half succubus demon. Notably, she was not born this way ("naturally" conceived half-succubi beyond tieflings are a thing in-setting) but transmuted herself into one via her experiments.
- The Heavy: She's responsible for opening the Worldwound, kick-starting one of the greatest threats Golarion has ever faced.
- Heel–Face Turn: A Gold Dragon Commander can convince her to genuinely repent for her crimes and seek atonement, either through sacrificing herself to close the Worldwound or by assisting the Commander as they serve as the Worldwound's Barrier Maiden. Notably, the epilogue of the Gold Dragon ending reveals that she was able to atone for her crimes to the point that she actually qualifies for either Nirvana or Elysium upon her death.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: As she stated in the normal endings, her most powerful creation (the Commander) ended up being her own undoing.
- I Regret Nothing: Her final words if she's sacrificed to close the Worldwound.
- Irony: She rails against 'Pharasma and her lackeys' extensively during her rant in Threshold. Her actions wouldn't have been possible without Pharasma's interaction with the Storyteller. Additionally, if she dies, The Stinger will reveal that Pharasma is who she's been narrating the story to.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: Downplayed. Most of your companions will hurl insults at her and she'll ignore them, but she'll respond to Sosiel calling her a vandal instead of an architect.
- Manipulative Bastard: All three of Deskari, Baphomet, and Nocticula believe that Areelu is truly loyal to them and is secretly aiding their schemes against the other two, while those Demon Lords are unaware. All three are very mistaken; Areelu is loyal only to her own aims.
- Mad Scientist: Was this before her transformation, and still appears to have a scientific mindset. Most of her dialogue is presented as if she was observing the result of an experiment. It's because she is, and the Commander is that experiment.
- Motherly Scientist: It is possible to invoke this in her and convince her that the Commander is her child reborn.
- Oh, Crap!: She has a minor one when Nocticula reveals The Hand of the Inheritor was standing next to the Commander for the entire conversation Areelu and the Commander had before Nocticula appeared. Nocticula could see through the angel's invisibility, but Areelu couldn't, and Areelu realizes that with him knowing it's a matter of time before Iomedae knows, and Iomedae figures out the truth about the key to the Worldwound.
- Older Than They Look: She's about 130 years old but has the appearance of a mortal woman in her prime.
- Pet the Dog: She does care about Suture. If the player doesn't free him from the fleshmarkets then tells Areelu about him she'll act disinterested. However, when they arrive at the mines Areelu will rescue Suture, much to his disbelief.
- Professor Guinea Pig: While studying the transformative properties of Nahyndrian Crystals, she eventually experimented on herself. This turned her into a mythic half-succubus. She's also experimented on you, the Commander, resulting in your ability to command Mythic power.
- Psychometry: Finding the final page of the Storyteller's notes will reveal that Areelu has the same powers he does; that's how she was able to replicate his research and open the Worldwound without his notes.
- Red Baron: She's the Architect of the Worldwound, and the Betrayer of Humanity.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Even with the art shift, she still has prominent red eyes.
- The Starscream:
- All three major Demon Lords involved in the main plot are fully aware that Areelu is incredibly treacherous even by the standards of demons (who have Chronic Backstabbing Disorder by default) and treats her "service" to any of them as purely a means to her own ends. All three assume they can still control her or, failing that, take her out if she makes a move against them. Depending on exactly how the plans of Areelu and the protagonist intersect, anywhere from one to all three can learn to their horror that they were very, VERY wrong about that assumption.
- In the secret ending, the Commander convinces her to betray Baphomet and Deskari, setting them up to be Killed Off for Real so the Commander (and possibly Areelu and the Commander's companions) can ascend to godhood.
- Übermensch: The further you go into the game, the more this appears to be her character. She opened the Worldwound not out of malice or sadism, but to experiment with the very fundamentals of reality. Her ultimate goal is to ascend to godhood. Morals and compassion are just things that get in her way to greatness.
- Villainous Breakdown: She is noticeably more angry and desperate during the final battle in the Legend path, as she knows that if the Commander wins in this scenario, it will mean that the last vestiges of her child's soul will be destroyed.
- Winged Humanoid: She has a pair of large, bat-like wings as part of her succubus transformation.
Khorramzadeh
Race: Balor
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
A Balor known as the Storm King, and the Worldwound Strategist. He serves as Deskari's most capable general, and rules the city of Iz that serves as the Demon invasion's staging grounds.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: Save Areelu and Deskari, he is the strongest demon in the Worldwound and the general of Deskari's armies.
- Big Red Devil: As is typical of balors, Khorramzadeh is a gigantic red humanoid demon.
- Co-Dragons: To Deskari, with Areelu. Khorramzadeh oversees the military side of things, commanding Deskari's armies on Golarion.
- Red Baron: The Storm King, so called for his unique electrical powers.
- Shock and Awe: Uniquely for a balor, Khorramzadeh wields lightning as well as fire. He can even shock creatures normally immune to electricity, like other demons.
Baphomet
"Imprisonment begins in one's own mind."
Race: Demon Lord
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
The Lord of the Minotaurs, Baphomet is a demon lord and Deskari's biggest ally in the Worldwound invasion.
- Abusive Parents: He kills his own daughter when she shames him by asking for his help after the Commander's party beats her.
- Baphomet: The classic archdemon in the winged and goat-headed flesh, presented as a major demon lord worshipped by secretive templar cults.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Despite being a powerful demon lord in his own right he's ultimately inconsequential to the plot. He sends his daughter Hepzamirah to mine Nahyndrian crystals only for her to get slain by the Commander at the end of Act 4. When she summons him in desperation he kills her and makes a big show of force before shortly getting spanked by the Commander's party, forcing him to retreat. From there he only shows up once more in the Ineluctable Prison where he makes ineffective threats while being too cowardly to actually fight the Commander himself. And then he can get killed off mostly as an afterthought in the secret ending alongside Deskari.
- The Corrupter: His biggest contribution to the invasion is as a saboteur, using his cult to corrupt the crusader forces from within.
- Demon Lords and Archdevils: He's the demon lord of beasts, mazes, and minotaurs.
- Divergent Character Evolution: To the Baphomet from Dungeons & Dragons. In Pathfinder, he used to be the exact same being, a monstrously large minotaur demon lord. His breaking out of Asmodeus's prison by conquering and claiming said prison gave him an aspect similar to Asmodeus. That is to say, a Satanic Archetype with themes of Religious Horror. This ironically makes him a similar being to his "real world" counterpart.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: According to Alderpash, learning how to solve Areshkagal's riddle and using this to beat and acquire Asmodeus's Ivory Labyrinth did a number on his sanity that he never recovered from.
- Karma Houdini: To an extent. If the player avoids going for the secret ending then he manages to survive (unlike Deskari in the Angel path), though he does turn his attention to the Midnight Isles instead of the mortal realms.
- Killed Off for Real: In the secret ending, as part of Areelu's Ascension plan. As she's technically his High Priestess by Klingon Promotion due to the nature of the alliance he made with Deskari, she can summon him whether he wants to or not. You can then kill him a second time within a year, thus destroying him.
- The Maze: His domain is the Ivory Labyrinth, the planet-sized maze Asmodeus tried to imprison him in.
- Monster Progenitor: He was the first minotaur, and is still worshipped by his far-flung spawn.
- Puny Earthlings: Part for the course for an immortal demon lord:Baphomet: To me, you are nothing more than mayflies. Your lives are so brief, it is as if you are already dead.
- Psychopathic Manchild: As one of his prisoners states, despite his age Baphomet is nothing more than an overgrown child that holds grudges for all those who slighted him.Alderpash: He won't soon forget you. He may be ancient, but he's such a child at heart — he's been the same ever since he was created. All he cares about are his grudges — Asmodeus wounded him, Lamashtu left him, Deskari doesn't see him as his equal, Nocticula refused to bed him... he's a walking collection of scars — his wounds are his essence. So you take heed now.
- Reality Warper: According to him, this is how he escaped and captured the Ivory Labyrinth. He "realized his mind was a maze" and changes his perceptions so much that reality itself had to obey him.
- Smug Snake: When met in Act 5 he'll act as if the Commander is beneath him even if an Angel-aligned player outright killed him and he's hiding in his Labyrinth for fear of being Killed Off for Real. If called out on hiding behind minions he'll make a comment about how they're all part of him, which Daeran mocks as being a pathetic excuse.
- Stunned Silence: If Nenio is in the party the first time you fight him she'll ask him about why he has goat features when his children are all cow-themed. He considers her theory on why that's true so stupid and offensive that he doesn't reply for several seconds.
- This Cannot Be!: An Angel-aligned Commander can use their heavenly powers to outright kill him. While he'll still recover (Demon Lords have to be killed twice in one year before it sticks), he's in total disbelief and Nocticula says he'll stay in the Labyrinth for the next year out of fear.Baphomet: Impossible... Impossible... Asmodeus himself could not contain me. But now... A mortal...
- Unknown Rival: It seems he is this way for Asmodeus. It is, however, mentioned in the ending if he is killed permanently that Asmodeus gave a "satisfied chuckle that shook Hell" when he heard about it.
- Villain Has a Point: Not many of the things he says in his first speech to the Commander are wrong. Queen Galfrey sent them to die in the Abyss out of envy and fear, Iomedae doesn't trust them, and Noticula is manipulating them for her own ends. Baphomet is apparently a fan of the trope, as if the Commander wins his respect in the Ineluctable Prison he will offer the advice that all the best lies contain truths.
- Villainous Incest: Before embarking on the heist that would see him transformed into a demon lord in his own right, he was both child and consort of the goddess Lamashtu.
Hepzamirah
The eldest and most powerful daughter of Baphomet and true leader of the Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: She subjects a Demon-path commander to this, summoning them to the Ineluctable Prison for questioning.
- The Dreaded: Namedropped several times and always spoken of with terror, especially during Woljif's quest as the one behind attempts to assassinate him and retrieve the Moon of the Abyss.
- Nephilim: Her race; in Pathfinder they are the offspring of deities or quasi-deities such as demon lords.
- Powerful Pick: Her weapon of choice, a devastating pickaxe named Blancher. Fitting her role as the foreman of the Nahyndrian mines.
- Sibling Murder: She murdered several of her siblings — including Woljif's grandad — so they could not compete with her as Baphomet's favorite servants.
- You Have Failed Me: Prone to this herself. She suffers it at the hand of dear old dad, thinking he'll punish the party for defeating her, he instead kills her first for daring to summon him into Nocticula's realm.
Nahyndri
Race: Demon Lord
Alignment:' Chaotic Evil
Alignment:' Chaotic Evil
The defunct Demon Lord of gems and greed, who was the first demon lord slain by Nocticula when he tried to enslave her. Resolving a few issues involving his memories and lingering will is the fulcrum of the Treasure of the Midnight Isles DLC.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: When faced as the final boss of the DLC he possesses the ship you traveled on (actually his own lifeless body), contorts it back to a vaguely humanoid shape, and uses it to fight.
- Being Evil Sucks: Gradually comes to realize that much of his misery comes from his compulsion to act in an evil way.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: The basis of his turmoil. In his memory, Nahyndri starts looking at Star Rattle as a Worthy Opponent, feeling gratitude towards his cultists, and nurturing affection towards the Songbird, but being a demon lord he is instinctively repulsed by those feelings.
- Heel Realization: His relationships to the three bosses of the DLC slowly gave him one. The Commander can give him a final push so that his soul ends up in Elysium.
- Ignored Epiphany: In the past he harbored doubt when confronted by Star Rattle, his head priest, and the Songbird, feeling tempted to treat them with kindness, only to curb those feelings and condemn them to a tormented imprisonment instead. If you recover all his memories, he regrets it immensely.
- Literal Split Personality: as a side effect of dying, parts of his soul became the Helmsman, the ship's chain and the greedy chest respectively, each of which claims to be the "real" Nahyndri.
- Love Redeems: Remembering the fate of the Songbird is the final blow to his ego, allowing to reason with the specter within the chain if the Commander chooses to do so.
- Optional Boss: Not only is the Treasure of the Midnight Isles questline itself optional in the main game, but in it you can also face the chain's spirit alongside the three bosses you already beat to unlock more endings.
- Posthumous Character: Is long dead by the present day, but several fragments of his conscience still linger, leading to the events of the DLC.
Nocticula
Our Lady in Shadow, Nocticula is the Demon Lord of darkness and lust and the queen of the Midnight Isles.
- Absurdly Sharp Claws: She has a truly nasty set of nails.
- Armed Legs: Her feet are actually hooves made of stone that can exude heat.
- Becoming the Mask: Potentially thanks to one of the commander's companions. Ember's suggestion of Nocticula becoming the Redeemer Queen inspires the demon lord to set up a fake heretical cult worshipping her under that identity as part of her usual intrigues. Some time later, Nocticula finds that she is no longer quite certain whether she is still the evil queen of succubi masquerading as a redeemer, or someone truly striving for redemption while keeping up the appearance of her old ways. The canonical outcome of this struggle is that she eventually decides to fully embrace her Redeemer Queen persona and ascend.
- Black Widow: She's known for seducing and killing her targets, including other demon lords.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: In the Demon path, Shamira will try standing up to her and usurping her throne. The disparity of power between the two is so large that regardless of whether the player character supports one or the other, she will almost certainly kill her right at the beginning of the battle.
- The Chooser of the One: She chose the Commander to be the subject of Areelu's experiments.
- Demon Lords and Archdevils: Nocticula is the Demon Lord of darkness and lust.
- The Dreaded: She's feared even among fellow demon lords, for she's known to have assassinated many of them.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Her skin is extremely pale, which contrasts with her dark hair.
- Extreme Omnisexual: She's only marginally more discriminating than Lamashtu when it comes to picking her lovers. Though she'll point out that she's become more choosy over time if you bring the subject up.
- Femme Fatale: She's such a skilled seductress that even those who know better tend to fall for her, often leading to their downfall.
- Freudian Trio: With Iomedae and Areelu in Act 5. She's the Superego. Though she's obviously running plans of her own that tilt things a certain way, she also prefers calm, reasoned, pragmatic arguments and appeals more to the logical side of the Commander than the emotional one. It helps that she knows much more about what's going on than Iomedae does, thanks to Areelu.
- Heel–Face Turn: Unknown to everyone, she is teetering on the edge of an epiphany that will lead her to renounce evil and ascend as a new Goddess — which the Commander can help provide. And Ember even more so.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: In the Trickster and Demon Paths, it's possible to fight Nocticula. You can use a Midnight Bolt on her to make a Nahyndrian Crystal drop after defeat. It's this trope because the Midnight Bolts were made using her power.
- Hunter of His Own Kind: She hunts and slays other demon lords in order to increase her own power.
- Hypocrite: If you attempt to redeem Nahyndri, she straight up orders you to imprison his soul with a Midnight Bolt rather than let his soul ascend: she can do this even after Ember persuades her to begin her own road to redemption.
- I've Never Seen Anything Like This Before: Tell her the Storyteller is still alive and she admits she has no idea how that can be true, then thanks you for managing to surprise her. She then asks you to tell him she said 'Hi,' which you can do.
- Leitmotif: "Our Lady In Shadow"
- Monster Progenitor: She's the first of the succubi and is worshipped by them.
- Noble Demon: She generally plays fair and her goal, closing the Worldwound, is done for selfish reasons but is undeniably a benefit to the mortal races. If the Commander also asks her to protect their camp and the civilians within before doing her task she'll keep her word and they'll find demons under her command protecting them from Baphomet's minions. And most tellingly, she can see the Hand of the Inheritor. She plays this off as her just being that strong, but even otherwise super-powerful entities like Shamira and Areelu couldn't see him, so it's quite likely this is a hint toward her being extremely close to shifting to proper-noun Chaotic Neutral, if she hasn't already.
- "Not So Different" Remark: She makes the remark about Iomedae. For all of the goddess' posturing, Nocticula points out that Iomedae is fully willing to let her underlings operate on false assumptions she could easily correct if it serves her interests, and that in that way Iomedae is no less deceptive than the Demons she claims superiority over.
- Pet the Dog: Towards Ember, whom she saves from a demon's attack and the Storyteller, whom she expresses fondness for. This is another hint that even now, she's not quite as evil as her own facade would indicate.
- Pointy Ears: She has pointy, elf-like ears.
- Pragmatic Villainy: When the Worldwound expanded to connect to her realm, she intended to use it not for conquest (as a typical demon lord would) but rather as a relatively peaceful planar neutral ground and marketplace of sorts, getting ludicrously wealthy off the resulting trade. Unfortunately for her and everybody else Deskari and Baphomet thoroughly ruined that plan by being the aforementioned more typical demon lords, so now she plans to close the Wound instead.
- Promoted to Love Interest: Possible for the Demon Mythic Path.
- Prophet Eyes: She has pure white pupils, denoting her status as a mythic being.
- Reclining Reigner: Her animation has her reclining on her throne in Alushinyrra.
- Sex Is Evil: As the Demon Lord of lust, she personifies all the negative aspects of sex.
- Sex Goddess: As the first of the succubus, her sexual prowess is near legendary.
- Stripperiffic: Her attire has her basically naked save for the jewelry adorning her body.
- Succubi and Incubi: As the progenitor to all succubi, she has the appearance they all famous for: a Head-Turning Beauty humanoid human with devil horns, bat-like wings, a demonic tail and hooved feet. She also has the prowess for sex and seduction that all succubi are known to have.
- The Vamp: She's a master seductress that knows how to use her sex appeal to her advantage.
- Weapon Specialization: Her Favored Weapon is the crossbow. She even has a personal magic crossbow named Shadowkiss.
- Winged Humanoid: She's a humanoid woman with massive bat-like wings.
The Warden of Drezen (spoilers)
Staunton Vhane
What can I expect from mere mortals when my own god doesn't think I deserve redemption?
"Compassion. Understanding. Kind words. So what if it's a lie? I want to believe her lies. I've had it up to here with yours! Your lies about forgiveness and redemption!"
A dwarf who was tricked by the demoness Minagho into depriving Drezen of its defenses and thus allowed the demons to invade the fortress seventy years ago. Has been serving the crusades ever since, hoping to earn a pardon.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the Adventure Path, Staunton's backstory lines up until his ill-fated march with the Sword of Valor, immediately after which he spitefully renounced the crusade and spent the next 70 years serving Baphomet and Deskari as a double agent until he's killed at the end of book 2. Here, Staunton spent those 70 years at least attempting to redeem himself before hopelessness eventually causes his turn.
- The Atoner: He has been trying to atone for his sin for seventy years. It didn't end well for him.
- Battle Couple: Forms a rather bitter one with Minagho, more out of desperation than any affection whatsoever. He isn't surprised in the slightest when the demoness leaves him to die in Drezen.
- Back from the Dead: A lich player character can force him to come back as an Undead servant. Even if they didn't he'll still return in Chapter 5 due to wanting revenge against Minagho. The player can then kill him again, send him out on a futile search or, with the Angel path, exorcise him so he can finally rest in peace.
- Butt-Monkey: Deconstructed heavily. He's mocked and insulted by almost everyone due to his role in the fall of Drezen, even other criminals or those who were too young to even care about its fall. All this contributes to his Face–Heel Turn and refusal to turn back to good if offered the chance.
- Cruel Mercy: Since Galfrey had him forcibly readmitted in the crusader ranks instead of executing or exiling him, he was mocked and humiliated for the good part of a century, losing any hope at redemption. The PC actually does have the option of calling Galfrey out on this, for not giving Staunton the additional support he'd need to really atone. The worst part? The Queen didn't mean for it to be this. She commuted the sentence from execution when she saw the massive crowds screaming for his blood and realized that the Crusaders were acting like Demons themselves. It was meant to pull the Crusaders back from the abyss, in multiple meanings of the word, but people treated him so spitefully instead, that Staunton felt like he was being mistreated instead of being given a chance to undo his mistake.
- Death Seeker: After everything he's been through, he's completely and thoroughly sick of it. The other reason why he betrays the crusade is that he's seeking a Suicide by Cop.
- The Dog Bites Back: Subdued, but there. After being yanked around by Minagho for seventy years he's clearly the one in the dominant position in the final battle at Drezen, and he's clearly enjoying it as much as he can enjoy anything.
- Due to the Dead: One of the first decisions you take as the ruler of Drezen is to decide what to do with his remains. Unless you go with the evil option or resurrect him as an undead if you took the Lich path, he will be buried with at least a modicum of decency.
- Enemy Summoner: Not him, but his weapon. His glaive Soulshear summons a babau demon every time it scores a killing blow.
- Face Death with Dignity: Once you corner him in Drezen and Minagho bails on him, he accepts his fate and tries to go down fighting.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Despite all the abuse he's taken, Regill still pointedly holds Staunton responsible for his own actions—and even his brother Joran agrees he's a "dum-dum". The Commander can also start sympathizing with him, but call him out on his choices.Regill: Every betrayer has their own sob story to excuse their actions. And each one thinks they are different from the rest, that they alone should be understood and shown mercy. I'm sick of hearing it.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Even when he was sincerely trying to make amends, he was still ostracized, insulted and mocked endlessly by the rest of the crusaders. This made his later actions almost inevitable.
- Humble Hero: If he remains Drezen's warden thanks to an Aeon commander changing the timeline, Staunton becomes this. Though he is hailed as a hero of the Crusade, he knows he was this close to falling for a demon's manipulations thanks to the Aeon commander. Hence he feels no resentment to the Commander for taking over Drezen in his stead.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: His main reason for joining the Demons is that Minagho gives him something he hasn't had outside of a few people in 70 years: love and affection. He states he's well aware she's a Demon who can't love but still accepts it despite that because he's that desperate.
- Redemption Rejection: The commander can offer him numerous times to turn back, from giving them his sympathy, to trying to help him understand he can improve people's view of him. Despite having spent nearly a century trying to do so, he refuses due to simply having gotten tired of trying and failing to redeem himself for 70 years and likely knowing his only end is the headman's axe.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: An Aeon commander can retroactively alter Staunton's past, removing Minagho's influence on him and causing both him and his brother to return to life in the present time. Depending on your decisions Staunton will either leave the crusade or remain Drezen's warden, this time on the side of the crusaders.
- Suicide by Cop: When he first "rescues" Minagho from you after you smash her flat with your newfound mythic power, he clearly intends and even expects that you're going to run him over like a train hitting a melon. He's a bit caught off-guard by Minagho's seemingly genuine desire for him to come with her, though, and cuts the attempt short. Ultimately, at the end of the siege of Drezen, he does get his wish and acknowledges that you're going to defeat him, but does decide to go down fighting.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: He mentions part of the reason he betrays the crusade is finally giving them reason to call him a traitor.
- Tragic Villain: He made a mistake out of genuine well-intentions which caused the siege of Drezen. He then spends 70 years trying to atone while everyone except his brother, Irabeth, Seelah and (possibly) the Commander treated him like dirt. At the end he turns to the demons not out of a desire for power but simply because he was tired and craved affection, even one as fake as Minagho's. And then a Lich Commander can raise him as their Undead minion, forcing him to continue his doomed atonement.
Minagho
"Kiss me on my dainty hoof, pledge your loyalty to Baphomet — and when the world falls, its ruins shall be yours!"
A powerful lilitu servant of Baphomet, and one of the most hated enemies of the Mendev crusaders. She is responsible for the weakening of the Kenabres Wardstone, and was the one who convinced Staunton Vhane to take the Sword of Valor out of Drezen seventy years ago, leading to the fortress falling to the demons. She has since ruled over Drezen and continues to antagonize the crusaders, while attempting to tempt Staunton back to her side.
- Ascended Extra: In the AP, Minagho only really factors in during Chapter 4, when you finally run into her in the Midnight Isles. You encounter her name in Chapter 1 when investigating the Grey Garrison, but the whole point is that she delegated everything to underlings and ran off to do other things (as demons are wont to do), and as a result this gives the player characters the opening they need to act and obtain mythic power. The Owlcat version has Minagho stick around (since the more intact Wardstone means so many mortals come to her to get obliterated), and a good deal of the characterization and ability that was originally Jerribeth's in the AP has now been given to Minagho, meaning she has connections to the plot throughout the first half or more of the game. This has the effect of turning her into the "face" of the demon hordes for the game's first half, before the Commander graduates to bigger targets.
- Battle Couple: Forms one with Staunton, even though her affection for him is one-sided (if it's even there).
- Berserk Button: The commander pointing out how they've repeatedly foiled her and that she had to run away from them each time devolves into this.
- Butt-Monkey: Things don't go well for her once the Commander's mythic powers awaken early in the game.
- Composite Character: The Owlcat version of Minagho is basically the original Minagho fused with most of the characterization of Jerribeth, who in that version could appear as a comely elven lass in addition to its standard glabrezu form. In the AP, Minagho was actually a rogue, but while she still has a few rogue-ish elements, she's also picked up all the spellcasting AP Jerribeth had and then some.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Mops the floor with your party and Irabeth's crusaders by herself when you first fight her at the Wardstone, after your initial escape from the underground right into the Grey Garrison. You get to return the favor once you return to purify or destroy the Wardstone, and gain mythic power as a result of your actions.
- Dirty Coward: Most of the times she's cornered she simply runs away letting someone else take the fall.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: If an Azata path player spares her every single time and tells Chivarro about it, she is able to track Minagho down centuries later. The two live happily afterwards.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Surprisingly so, as demons are generally thought to be entirely incapable of feeling love. The mutual affection between her and Chivarro goes so far that if an Azata player tells the latter that Minagho is alive but in trouble, the madam of the Abyss' most famous brothel immediately leaves all her power and wealth behind to come to her lover's aid.
- Eyeless Face: Par for the course for a lilitu.
- Femme Fatale Spy: Was an effective agent of this type for the demonic armies in the backstory, although this is downplayed in the present day now that everyone knows who and what she is.
- Girly Run: Runs like this, which can make for silly moments when she runs away from the Commander's party multiple times.
- Hot as Hell: As a Lilitu she is a temptress and a deceiver, though not as much as a succubus.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: She begins the game as the leader of the demon host invading Kenabres and defending Drezen. Depending on the player's choices, she'll end it having lost her lord's favor and being reduced to hiding out in a slum, having spent the remainder of her fortune on an assassin in a last-ditch attempt to kill you.
- Humiliation Conga: After their very first encounter (following your escape from the Kenabres underground), every time she faces the Commander, it ends poorly for her.
- Irony: One of the things you can tell Staunton to try to convince him to ditch Minagho is that demons aren't capable of love, and he responds grumpily that he knows that. You might learn in Act 4, especially as an Azata, that Minagho is one of the few demons who is capable of love because she's in love with another lilitu. Whether she loves Staunton is still up for debate.
- Killed Off for Real: Her death is inevitable unless the player is an Azata. Even if the player spares her at every prior point, she'll eventually be encountered in Drezen in the opening of Act 5 and will be unavoidably killed. Either by the player or Staunton, who willed himself back in to the world to get his revenge on her.
- Lady and Knight: The corrupting Dark Lady to Staunton's Fallen Hero Black Knight.
- Oh, Crap!: The game makes a note that all bravado drains from her voice the first time the Commander uses mythic powers in front of her.All traces of Minagho's bravado have vanished, and her voice trembles with panic. "How are you doing this? Where is your power coming from?"
- Schmuck Bait: While its very tempting to attack her instead of Staunton in the Siege of Drezen, it would actually be easier to end the fight if everyone focused their attacks on Staunton instead. While the Commander has grown in power, at that point its still not enough to combat her.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Her reaction after Staunton decides to fight the Commander to the death during the Siege of Drezen.
- This Cannot Be!: Her reaction every time the Commander's mythic powers awaken.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: With Staunton. Minagho's the height of a tall human woman, Staunton's a dwarf. She even calls him her "little sweetheart."
- Throw the Dog a Bone: She is in love with her fellow lilitu Chivarro, mistress of the Ten Thousand Delights brothel in Alushynirra. If both survive the string of humiliating encounters with the Commander up till the end, Minagho gets an ending slide where the two finally get together.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: She constantly manages to escape up until Act 4. This happens even after teleportation has been disabled and the party just watches her make a Girly Run off a balcony. The commander can repeatedly taunt her about constantly running away from them, much to her irritation.
- Villainous Breakdown: An extended one across the entire game. She starts off confident, poised, and wholly in her element; she's massively more powerful than you and she knows it and wants to rub your face in it. Unfortunately she's on the receiving end of many a Curb-Stomp Battle courtesy of the player. By the time you meet her in the end of Act 3 she's reduced to a jittery, paranoid Laughing Mad wreck who can't help but have a panic attack every time she sees you. If she survives Act 3 you'll find her hiding in the corner of a tiny house in the slums of Alushinyrra, having spent all her remaining money in a last ditch attempt to kill you. Though she'll try to make this her last stand, you can still chose to spare her, which knocks whatever wind she has left out of her, leaving the slum in utter defeat while muttering ineffectual threats at you.
- The Worf Effect: Lilitus are one of the most powerful races of demons. Fortunately, the second time you fight her you're having a surge of power from awakening your mythic power (and it is indeed the first time you fight as a mythic hero) and turn it into a Curb-Stomp Battle in your favor. She can barely even believe what's happening.
- Worf Had the Flu: The third time you directly confront her, you still would be no match for her at full power, but having been cursed by Baphomet weakens her just enough that you can scrape by.
- You Have Failed Me: After having enough of her failures, Baphomet places a weakening brand on her.
Nulkineth
"Well, how do you like my soldiers? So much prettier than yours, aren't they? And my games, so much more fun!"
Race: (Mythic) Nabasu
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
A Nabasu demon augmented with mythical power who attacks the Fifth Crusade just outside of Drezen.
- Hate Sink: He's clearly just there to be as vile and simultaneously pathetic as demonly possible.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Comes across as a whiny, petulant child in most interactions, even as he gleefully tortures crusaders. When the Commander's party finally tracks him down he's busy playing soldiers with captured crusaders and his own ghoul minions forced to participate as his toys. Your snarkier companions will take the time to comment on it...Camellia: "Playing soldiers? How old are you, eight?"Daeran: "The disgrace...our camp was ravaged by an overgrown child with wings."
- Small Name, Big Ego: Has a vastly overinflated opinion of his own abilities. Yes, he's quite a bit stronger than an average Nabasu and has some mythic tricks up his sleeve, but he's nowhere near the Commander's own power level (or that of his overseers Minagho and Staunton) at the point of their final confrontation and goes down easily.
- Villainous Breakdown: Does not take it well when it becomes obvious that the Commander's mythic abilities surpass his, with a lot of This Cannot Be! and ranting in the general direction of Minagho.
Xanthir Vang
"You are all primitive apes, cavorting about the Worldwound in futile attempts to wipe each other out. Oh, how I loathe you all!"
A Swarm-That-Walks in service to Deskari, Xanthir Vang is responsible for granting mythic powers to the demon armies in order to destroy the Fifth Crusade, using methods learned from Areelu Vorlesh. He has little patience with his apprentices and is known among them as Xanthir the Plagued One, a title he has particular contempt for.
- Bad Boss: Constantly abuses his minions, and when he assumes swarm form he doesn't care if he damages them as well as you.
- Composite Character: His epithet, the Plagued One, belonged to a female locust-variant Worm-That-Walks cleric that the party could meet as a random encounter in the adventure path, while Xanthir himself was a regular Worm-That-Walks. The game chose to remove the Plagued One, turned Xanthir into a mass of locusts instead of worms and gave him the Plagued One's epithet (to his consternation) instead.
- Death Seeker: Not that he particularly wishes for death, but once he's on the ropes he gladly accepts it as the only way to not have to deal with the idiotic minions and bosses he's stuck with.
- Heel–Face Turn: An Aeon Commander can travel back in time and turn Xanthir away from his pursuit of the Swarm That Walks, making him their apprentice instead.
- I Surrender, Suckers: He pulls this off if you defeat him and reveal Jerribeth is planning to take his body over after he dies. Deciding he still has something to lose, he gets back up for round two.
- Professor Guinea Pig: You can find his diary which details his progressive self-inflicted transformation into a swarm.
- Red Baron: He's called the Plagued One by his minions, though Xanthir makes it clear he hates being called that, killing one of his disciples on the spot for using the epithet — even though said minion was trying to praise him.
- The Starscream: In his previous life, he was a devotee of Baphomet. He switched over to Deskari when the demon lord resurrected him in his current form. He's clearly chafed under the control of both.
- Slow Transformation: Again, his diary details the process of turning himself into a swarm in slow and far-apart entries, from him cutting off fingers one phalanx at the time and replacing it with insects, to him having functional swarm-hands he can write with, up to the point he's still conscious and writing while trepanning himself and letting the locusts eat and replace his brain.
- Surrounded by Idiots: His main gripe with his underlings. When you confront him he's even more angry at them for failing to stop you than at you for reaching him.Xanthir Vang: Fools! Feckless, useless morons! I'm surrounded by idiots! What have I done to deserve this? What crime have I committed that the universe would punish me so?
- The Worm That Walks: His body is a ravenous swarm of locusts guided by his will and intellect. Halfway through his boss fight he lets the swarm loose attempting to take down as many of the Commander's allies as he can.
Jerribeth
Race: Oolioddroo
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
An oolioddroo demon in service to Xanthir Vang, who thrives in guile and manipulation. She has taken control over the village of Wintersun by posing as a goddess called the Lady of the Sun, using her magic to convince the villagers that any demon who enters the village is actually a common person, and every outsider is a demon. She has a very low opinion on Vang, however, after him and his servants took control over the Ivory Sanctum.
- Adaptation Species Change: Was a shapeshifting glabrezu in the original Adventure Path.
- Bad Boss: Closely competes with Xanthir Vang in the field of abusing and dismissing minions.
- Demoted to Extra/Unrelated in the Adaptation: Jerribeth was, in the original adventure path, the one who tempted Staunton to remove the Sword of Truth from Drezen, assisted in Drezen's subsequent conquest, and could be revealed to be the ancestor of PCs with a certain campaign trait, among other things. In the video game, all the Staunton-side connection was shifted to Minagho (who was much more minor in the AP), leaving Jerribeth with a much smaller connection to the events of the plot.
- The Dragon: To Xanthir Vang.
- Dragon with an Agenda: Plans on betraying Vang at the first chance she gets.
- Manipulative Bastard: Prefers to trick her foes into fighting each other and let chaos ensue than dirty her hands herself. Victims of her manipulations include the barbarian chief Marhevok and, potentially, either Xanthir Vang and the player character. Even in combat she eschews direct attack, favoring spells such as Mind Fog and Song of Discord to make your party members turn on each other.
- Odd Friendship: Can form one with an indulgent Commander, to the point where seeing her halfway friendly face in Alushinyrra will come as a relief.
- Pet the Dog: If the player helps her dispose of Xanthir, she'll be encountered as part of Vellaxia's court in Act 4, where she'll warn the player that they've fallen out of favor with her and to choose their words carefully to avoid angering her. She'll even help cover for you when your first dialogue inevitably upsets her, despite knowing that doing so would itself risk angering her and put her in the crosshairs as well.
The Echo of Deskari
Race: Derakni
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Deskari's favorite servant, the Echo is a demon that models himself after his Demon Lord, even carrying a scythe like his master. He's a clever demon who loves torturing the servants of light, with a special predilection for angels. He is the one who killed Lariel.
- Arch-Enemy: To the Hand of the Inheritor.
- The Chessmaster: He realized that Lariel was hiding his sword so a hero would find it. So he just kept an eye on where it was, knowing that whoever picked it up would likely be contacted by angels looking to discern Lariel and Targona's fate. His plan works extremely well, as the commander and the Hand of the Inheritor wind up revealing the existence Pulura's Fall to him, unaware he's observing the commander. He kidnaps the sanctum's leader.
- The Corrupter: Convinced several crusaders to betray Lariel and deliver him into his ambush. Later uses those same former crusaders to expose Pulura's Fall.
- Egomaniac Hunter: Sees himself as a supreme hunter of angels. Completely loses it when Targona and the Commander hunt him down in his lair, panicking at having been made a "prey" and running away.
- Fighting a Shadow: He is an avatar of Deskari, albeit one with a personality of its own. It doesn't stop Deskari himself from being able to take direct control of the Echo's body and speak through it, as he demonstrates in Pulura's Fall.
- Grew Beyond Their Programming: He's developed his own personality, and when he faces you the final time ponders what it would make him if Deskari's echo were to succeed in killing you when Deskari himself could not.
- Hero Killer: He killed the angel Lariel. Or rather, that is what everyone thinks; turns out he took him prisoner to fuel a construct rather than kill him.
- This Cannot Be!: Utters those very words when an Angel Commander and Targona kick down the door to his lair.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Repeatedly avoids direct confrontation with the commander and the Hand of the Inheritor.
Alderpash, the Runelord of Wrath
Race: Human (Azlanti) lich
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Alignment: Neutral Evil
The first Runelord of Wrath, captured long ago by Baphomet and turned Lich to survive the centuries.
- Adaptational Villainy: He's Chaotic Evil in the Adventure Path, and it's explicitly possible (if difficult) to redeem him, though canonically this doesn't happen. This is not an option in the video game.
- Affably Evil: He's very polite and friendly. Even when talking about his atrocities and what he'll do if he can escape.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: What frees Alderpash is killing Baphomet permanently. The only way to do this is the Secret Ending, so the only way to not free him and do the Secret Ending is to kill him and destroy his phylactery beforehand.
- Retired Monster: He has very nice accomodations in Baphomet's Ineluctable Prison, but talks like his glory days are behind him. unless you set him free
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Surprisingly, it was a different Evil that sealed him. But releasing him would be a mistake.
- Soul Jar: As a Lich, naturally. It's the pool of silver metal in his cell.
- Status Buff: To the gills, which is what Rune Magic is all about. There is even an achievement for dispelling them all.
Suture
Race: Dretch
Alighnment: Chaotic Evil
Alighnment: Chaotic Evil
Areelu Vorlesh's demonic servant and lab assistant.
- Demoted to Extra: Compared to the Adventure Path, Suture's role is significantly diminished. In the AP, he was the first demon to go through the Worldwound, making him a Living MacGuffin that had to be found to close the Worldwound. Here, Suture is mostly just Areelu's assistant, whose main importance is for the Secret Ending, but otherwise is a very bit player.
- Does Not Know How to Say "Thanks": If the Commander rescues him from the Fleshmarkets in Act IV, he clearly has a hard time expressing his gratitude.
- The Igor: Areelu is a (magical) Mad Scientist, and Suture is her weird little minion.
- The Imp: His boss is a bona fide supervillain, but Suture is small, funny-looking, and no threat to the protagonists on his own.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: He is, by his own admission, unrepentantly evil, he's just too weak to do much about it.
- Undying Loyalty: To Areelu Vorlesh.
Sithhud
An obscure Demon Lord who once ruled the Abyssal realm of Jhuvumirak before he was deposed and ousted by Kostchtchie, causing him to be demoted to a Nascent Demon Lord. During Deskari's invasion of Kenebres at the start of the Fifth Crusade, he takes advantage of the chaos to try and reclaim his lost power by recovering an artifact stolen from him.
- Arc Villain: While Deskari's forces are the primary threat of Through the Ashes, Sithhud is a direct, personel threat to the Survivor and their party.
- Evil Is Deathly Cold: He is heavily associated with the cold and frost. In fact, he was considered one of the foremost Demon Lords associated with the cold before Kostchtchie overthrew him.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: By the time the Commander faces what's left of him, Sithhud is a rotting, albeit large, demon skeleton. If you pass a Religion check, the narration will note that Sithhud doesn't even have enough power left to produce a Nahyndrian Crystal (so don't waste Midnight Bolts on him).
- Narrator All Along: In "Lord of Nothing" he's the one writing the journal entries. Their tone oozes sheer contempt for mortals.
Others
Aron Kir
Race: Human
An engineer in the crusade army who stops by the camp to pose for a portrait with Sosiel.
- Dark and Troubled Past: And he's just barely beginning to get over it.
- Demoted to Extra: One of the major NPCs in the adventure path and Sosiel's canonical lover. The player being able to freely romance Sosiel doesn't bode well for his involvement in the game's plot. Though if Sosiel is unromanced, multiple endings have him and Aron get together either implicitly or explicitly.
Kyado
Race: Human
Class: Cleric (Erastil)
A pure-hearted young man first encountered acting as apprentice to a more experienced cleric of Abadar, Rathimus, at the Defender's Heart.
- Curse: Zanedra gives him a rather nasty one. If anyone but a Baphomet worshiper enters the crypt, he'll be Eaten Alive from the inside by rats. Only Angel or Trickster Commanders can save him from this.
- Curse Escape Clause: Trickster Commanders can have him ordain them as a Baphomet worshipper, thus bypassing the curse.
- Klingon Promotion: An unintentional example. It seems like every time you come across Kyado he has moved up in the world and it's almost never by choice. First he becomes the fifth-crusade's scroll-master when Rathimus is abducted, and later he becomes the caretaker of the Temple of the Good Hunt when Zanedra forces him to watch over the entrance to the crypt.
- Rousing Speech: An Angel Commander can convince him to fight back against Zanedra. It's effective, as he'll kill her after she tries to hole up in the Temple of the Good Hunt after she flees the Ivory Sanctum.
Lariel
Race: Angel
One of the first angels to come down from heaven to help the crusaders. Lariel always felt great compassion for mortals, and in particular for the children of the first crusade, the Mongrels. Leading an expedition to find them, he was ambushed, and killed by a powerful demon, but only after hiding his sword so a stalwart hero might find it and finish what he started.
- Fling a Light into the Future: He hides his sword, with the idea that a hero might find it and use its power to defeat the demons and help the mongrels.
- In the Hood: Wears a white hood over his head.
- Posthumous Character: Lariel is long dead by the time the game takes place. or so everyone assumes.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: He's actually alive, used to power a abyssal war machine with his pain.
Mephistopheles
Mephistopheles is an archdevil of Hell, colloquially known as "the Lord of the Eighth" due to ruling over Hell's eighth layer and "the Merchant of Souls" due to his penchant for Faustian Bargains. He serves as one of Asmodeus' closest lieutenants.
- Astral Projection: If you pay attention to him when he reveals himself on the Azata path then you'll notice he has the same greenish transparency Ramisa did when she was astrally projecting, meaning he's not actually there. He has prudent reasons for doing this, stating that Nocticula, whose realm you're in, is a chronic backstabber with a monumental body count.
- Bad Liar: Surprisingly! As Early Sunset he is terrible at maintaining his cover due to his Culture Blindness about Azatas, coming as he does from the exact opposite side of the alignment chart. Arueshalae catches onto him right away and savvy players might figure out there's something off with him as early as their first or second interaction. He will admit much later that "acting is not my calling", though he still compliments you if you tell him you've been suspicious for a while.
- Big Red Devil: His appearance is this, matching the classic devil appearance. Horns, wings, a tail, a trident.
- The Corruptor: As Early Sunset for Azatas, he's trickier and is pretending to be an Azata. However, like Aeons, Azata have to choose to fall.
- Deal with the Devil: Naturally. But "Contracts" is even part of his job description.
- Demon Lords and Archdevils: Mephistopheles, Archdevil Lord of the Eighth Layer of the Nine Hells. He's basically the second in command of Hell. It's important to note that demons are from the Abyss, while devils are from Hell.
- Evil Mentor: As Melies he just gives advice to Aeons. Evil advice, but he's not pretending he's not a devil. If you don't take his Obviously Evil advice, he doesn't do anything.
- Evil vs. Evil: Devils naturally oppose the Demons.
- Fighting a Shadow: Like killing a Demon Lord, just beating an Archdevil doesn't kill him permanently.
- Meaningful Name: Melies was the name of the director who made the 1903 movie, The Damnation of Faust. What is Early Sunset? It's the preternatural Fall of Night.
- Not Me This Time: He's not actually doing anything evil in particular in the Worldwound besides tempting the new Aeon or Azata on the block.
- Super Boss: There is the option to fight him if you fall for his Temptations but choose not to become a Devil. He's very strong. One can reveal who he is without succumbing to temptation as Azata or Legend.
- We Can Rule Together: Not equally, of course, but the offer seems legit in the ending. You really do become a powerful devil in Hell, as opposed to a nupperibo or a lemure. He's even pleased if you negotiate with Queen Abrogail to be among the list of worshipped devils in Cheliax below Mephistopheles and Asmodeus.
Prestidigipainter Golem
Race: Golden Golem
Alignment: True Neutral
A sentient work of art dedicated to Shelyn that was previously kept in the museum of the Tower of Estrod and ends up pretty much wherever the Commander goes. It can alter the gear of the Commander and their allies to take on the appearance of any other item of the same type, provided they have a copy to transfer the appearance from.
- Badass Pacifist: Being dedicated to Shelyn, the golem is programmed to always be polite and never resort to violence. When the undead Khorramzadeh attacks the camp at Treshold, however, the Golem does fight to protect it - and is strong enough to take down several demons on its own at that.
- Bling of War: Normally, gold golems are a living example of the trope. Initially averted as the Golem doesn't fight, but ultimately played straight when it joins the camp's final defense.
- Catchphrase: "May Shelyn brighten and vivify your day!"
- Gold Makes Everything Shiny: Being made of gold doesn't make it any less physically powerful - in fact, it is stronger than iron golems.
- The Cat Came Back: Either coincidentally or from superior orders, the Golem will always be sent to wherever the Commander's new base of operations is.
- Unwanted Gift Plot: The Golem was given to the crusaders as a gift from Tian priests. The crusaders are less than happy with it, as they have to waste men and resources just on making sure nobody tries to dismantle it for the precious materials. The crusaders themselves not-so-subtly offload it to the Commander, figuring that it being property of the most powerful individual this side of the Abyss will be a good enough deterrent from stealing it.
Zacharius
Race: Lich (previously human)
Class: Sorcerer
Alignment: Neutral Evil
A legendary crusader and powerful mage, who turns out to have turned himself into a Lich.
- Affably Evil: Somewhat. As long as you go along with his plan, he's perfectly civil to you. Should you refuse him, however...
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: If you turn against him after becoming a lich, your mythic power will prevent him from rejuvenating and leave him trapped in his phylactery. When found he'll plead to be spared, arguing you can use his phylactery as a weapon.
- Evil All Along: How he presents himself. He was always a practitioner of dark magic and when you meet him he claims that he was never as virtuous as others believed, but it is clear from his selfless actions in the past and the words of his now-elderly-apprentice that his morals were once very strong.
- Evil Mentor: He offers to be this, turning the Commander into a Lich.
- Evil Sorcerer: Literally.
- Face–Heel Turn: His happened a long time ago, after turning himself into a Lich, as he feared it would. See Magically-Binding Contract.
- Kneel Before Zod: If you displease him and didn't immediately return his wand, after turning you into a lich he will demand you grovel before him on the threat of destroying your phylactery.
- Magically-Binding Contract: Before his Face–Heel Turn, he put himself under a magical oath to be bound in The Lost Chapel until a worthy crusader found his wand and return it to him. Nowadays he resents that he is obliged to remain in the Lost Chapel and grant a favor to the crusader who frees him, proving that his past self's worries were justified.
- Necromancer: Death magic is his specialty.
- So Proud of You: in a twisted way at the end of the Lich Path, if you have done all the evil things he asked you to do without flinching, he will declare you his best student, grant you your Phylactery and a unique item for completing your apprenticeship.
- Soul Jar: His phylactery is his wand that he's forced by geas to offer to an aspiring Crusader to give back to him.
- Super Boss: His initial form in Lost Chapel isn't that hard, but it's not his battle form anyways. If you pursue the Lich path all the way to Act 5 and then refuse to take the last step to becoming a lich or choose to become a swarm-that-walks, in fury he'll declare revenge, prompting a quest to find his phylactery (again) and fight him. Be warned, this form is not bound by his oaths. Of course, at this point you've done a lot of horrible things and have sacrificed most of the other paths you could have taken.
- Unexplained Recovery: If a hero doesn't break the wand right away and goes to Zacharias's basement and attacks, he'll take his wand back and fight back. Kill him, and you'll find his broken wand on his body. This should have killed him permanently, but he'll still show up if you go Legend. Ask, and he'll comment on how his vows were stronger than even he thought.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He started out this way, turning to undeath and death magic to fight the demons.
- Xanatos Gambit: His plan for escaping his self-imposed Magically-Binding Contract has (almost) no holes. He offers the Commander his help in becoming a lich in exchange for his freedom, thus fulfilling his obligation to aid the crusade if he is freed, but takes control of the negotiation by stating that if they refuse he will simply kill the Commander and have their corpse deliver the wand back to Kenabres to await a different worthy crusader. And if the Commander puts forth simply keeping his wand, killing him, and stealing the lich-ification ritual from his notes, Zacharius compliments them on the idea but states he has no notes because his undead memory is perfect.
