Characters / Puyo Puyo: Compile (Major)

Main Index | Compile (Major) | Compile (Recurring) | Compile (Minor) | Fever | 7 | Tetris | Quest

Much of the main cast as they appear in the Compile games.

These are the most prevalent characters in the Puyo Puyo (and by extension Madou Monogatari) series, appearing in many of the major titles and spin-offs. Several of these characters were already established to be major, while others eventually turned into Breakout Characters and become just as prevalent as the established cast.

Arle Nadja

Arle Nadja

Character Color: Blue

First Appearance: Madou Monogatari I

Voiced by:

Reiko Kurusu (Madou Monogatari 1-2-3, Puyo Puyo, Super Nazo Puyo: Rulue no Roux), Kotono Mitsuishi (PC Engine Puyo/Madou games), Mami Inoue (Arcade, 16-bit, and Saturn versions of Puyo Puyo TSU, Mega Drive version of Madou Monogatari I, Madou Monogatari Hanamaru Daiyouchienji), Minako Ozawa (PSX/PC versions of Puyo Puyo TSU, Puyo Puyo SUN, Discstation Shorts, Madou Monogatari: The Final Test, Saturn version of Madou Monogatari), Emi Motoi (Puyo Puyo~n), Hiromi Miura (Puyo Puyo TSU Perfect Set), Mie Sonozaki (Puyo Puyo Fever onwards), Ali Johnston (English, Puyo Pop Fever), Erica Mendez (English, Puyo Puyo Tetris onwards)

Stage Actor: Risako Ito

For the people of this world! For every man, woman, and child! I will shut you up once and for all!

A young mage apprentice. She is known for being very optimistic, somewhat of a tomboy, and for being one of the more level headed characters in the entire cast. Despite her young looks, she is very prolific in magic, even all the way back in kindergarten. Her optimistic personality means she seemingly doesn't hold grudges towards her enemies, even towards Dark Prince who tries desperately to marry her. Her kindness, however, hides her general competitiveness when playing Puyo, sometimes causing her to become surprisingly mean-spirited.

Being the original protagonist of both Puyo Puyo and Madou Monogatari, she has a very prolific track record throughout the years, with only Carbuncle and the Puyos themselves rivaling her. This caused her to become an unofficial "mascot" for the Puyo Puyo series alongside those aforementioned characters, especially during Compile's run.

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• Action Girl: A given being a protagonist, and is the first of the "A" trio.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Once Sega took the reins, her hair changed from brown to orange, her eyes went from brown, to blue (Fever), to golden-brown (Fever 2 onward), and her usual armor pads went from blue to green and back to blue in Fever 2.
• All Is Well That Ends Well: She fights Dark Prince, Rulue, and Schezo on a daily basis, but in 15th she greeted them, had small talk, and sounded very happy to see her old enemies.
• Amnesia Episode: Track 4 of Drama CD 1 is about Arle having an unfortunate run-in with a fairy which results in her being inflicted with a curse that causes her ability to form and recall memories to be slowly drained away from her.
• The Artifact: Along with Carbuncle in what was otherwise a Continuity Reboot in Fever. Once the new characters were established, Sega slowly began to undo this trope.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: A non-romantic example, as seen in Madou Monogatari: The Final Test. For all of the bickering they do, Arle was left in shock and utter despair over Schezo's "death". Just before her rematch with the Phantom God, Arle declares that she will never forgive the Phantom God for "killing" Schezo and vows to avenge him, stating that he 'may have been a pervert', but she would never have wished death upon him.
• Badass Adorable: More so in the first Madou Monogatari games.
• Bag of Spilling: In the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari II, she wakes up trapped in a dungeon with most of her power gone after she gets kidnapped by Schezo in Madou Monogatari II, exclaiming "My power was stolen!" after waking up. The implications that he indeed stole her magic power are very strong, but it ends up spilling again in III without much explanation to go off of.
• Barrier Warrior: Her Yo~n super attack is a barrier that temporarily holds off Nuisance Puyo.
• Beware the Nice Ones: While she is in general a very positive character, to the point of not holding grudges towards her many rivals, she will still lose her patience if pushed too far.
• Black Magician Girl: Knows the elements? Check. Tomboyish attitude? Check! And she's known how to do magic since kindergarten!
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The brunette of the "A" Trio.
• Blue Is Heroic: She is one of the main heroes of the franchise and she wears a blue and white outfit.
• Big "SHUT UP!": To Suketoudara in his story in 20th Anniversary, and again to her projections of Schezo, Rulue, and Dark Prince in Puyo Tetris for arguing over who battles against her.
• Bizarre Taste in Food:
  • In the Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon manga, she has a fondness for really weird flavors of candy. Rulue found out the hard way when she ate a canned mackerel flavored one.
  • This carries over into the Sega Era in the novel Sig's Secret where she cheerfully ruins a spongecake by flavoring it with what is implied to be curry spice, then readily allows Ringo to top it with Mulukhiyah in the place of cream frosting. Even Amitie can't help but snark at the finished creation.
• Bullying a Dragon: Some of her Puyo matches are started after her mocking her opponents beforehand. Most of them are arrogant clowns, but still powerful magic beings.
• Butt-Monkey: She's subjected to humour at her expense as much as the others. Some examples include getting beaned by a giant Puyo on the head in Puyo 1, taking a kick to the face by Sukiyapodes in Tsu, or being literally mopped the floor with by Kikimora in SUN.
• Cast from Hit Points: Not hers, but Carbuncle's, in the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari III. She finds a magic staff powered by Carbuncle's gemstone, and she uses it to blast away a wall to make a new path. To her horror, she didn't realize that it took a lot of magic to power the staff, leaving him in poor health until she could nurse him back up.
• Child Mage: She's been slinging spells as young as four in ARS.
• The Chosen One: Is the "Great Hero" Ally is looking for in Chronicle.
• Cloudcuckoolander: How she's characterized in the Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon manga. Though she does have semblance of reason, she's much more of a screwball than any of her apperances combined, such as having a penchant for weird candy flavors, and laughing at Carbuncle while he's bleeding out.
• The Comically Serious: Back in SUN. She's focused on trying to foil Dark Prince like usual, but consider the antics she got into trying to get to him in the first place.
• Conflict Ball: In Tsu, she Took a Level in Jerkass mostly for the sake of justifying battles between her and her opponents.
• Cultural Cross-Reference: Her last name comes from the name of a French book, Nadja.
• Curtains Match the Windows: Her eyes were brown in her original appearance.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: In Shin Madou Monogatari and Madou Monogatari Saturn, Arle is written like this, to the point that it feels like it's coming from Amitie's perspective, despite predating Puyo Puyo Fever 1.
• Damsel out of Distress: This is how she starts out in Madou Monogatari II, following Schezo knocking her unconscious. Once she figures out she's been kidnapped, she uses sex appeal to snatch her cell key from some guards in Schezo's employ and escape.
• Deadpan Snarker: Big time, during Compile's run, and it became an iconic aspect of her character. Being around various wackjobs and weirdos, ESPECIALLY when Satan is pining for you makes you more ready to poke fun at the kooky ensemble around you on a daily basis. After Sega's makeover, this element of her character was toned down substantially. Although there was this famous gem from the US version of Minna:
  Incubus: Hey! I just want to get to know you! What's your sign, baby?
  Arle: Octagon. As in "stop."
• Deity of Human Origin: For all intents and purposes, the original Arle Nadja (of Madou Monogatari) is this, thus making Arle (of Puyo Puyo) this by extension.
  • This also extends to Lilith, her previous incarnation, who lost her physical form and Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence upon using the Seraphim Orb to remake the first Madou World and free it from the demiurge's control.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • In the two Fever games, she only shows up as a generic opponent in the single player, otherwise not contributing much. Later Sega games would downplay this trope, making her function as more of a Deuteragonist alongside Amitie and Ringo, but still not becoming the main character again until Chronicle.
  • Any game that focuses on another character will often have her downgraded to an NPC role, such as Super Nazo Puyo Tsu or some of the DiscStation titles.
  • In Puyo Puyo Gaiden: Puyo Wars, her only appearance is in a flashback.
• Denser and Wackier: In the Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon manga, where she forgoes her typical level-headed attitude in favor of being much more of a screwball than usual.
• Depending on the Writer: She has something of a sliding scale of how nice she actually is during Compile's run, ranging from being genuinely sweet to being surprisingly cruel to flat out wacky in Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon. She is reasonably consistent in the Sega games, however.
• Disappeared Dad: According to info provided by the Shin Madou timeline, Arle's father mysteriously disappeared following a battle with a necromancer. In fact, the very reason Arle is a magician now is that she hopes to find him.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Invoked. She did this to snatch her cell key from some guards and escape in Madou Monogatari II.
• The Dividual: She and Carbuncle were this in Fever 2, 15th, and 7. It was made more obvious in Puyo Tetris, being labeled "Arle & Carbuncle".
• Drop the Washtub: Amitie dropped one on her head in Puyo Pop Fever 2. Did it get her back home? Nope, it just left a big bump on the head. (The size of Arle's head, no less!)
• Dub Name Change: Was called Silvana in the English translation of the first arcade game. This, like the other English arcade names except Dark Prince, didn't stick for any later Western games.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: In the earliest MSX games (including Madou Monogatari 1-2-3, the MSX Puyo Puyo, and Disc Station installments of that era), Arle's top has very short sleeves and a red vertical stripe down the middle. She's often depicted without her chest strap and the armor pieces attached to said strap, and wears golden bracelets instead of fabric wristbands. The PC98 version of 1-2-3 gave us the tank top-wearing Arle that, as with many things introduced in the PC98 version, was carried into Puyo Puyo.
• Fingore: Her fingers fell victim to frostbite after using Ice Storm one too many times in Madou Monogatari III. How badly? They cracked open and bled.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Her iconic outfit includes the accessory that connects her pauldron on her left shoulder and the breastplate on her left breast. Averted in several Madou games, Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon, Puyo Puyo~n, and 20th Anniversary onward, which typically uses armor that covers both shoulders and/or her entire chest.
• Go-Karting with Bowser: She's in the same team as the Dark Prince in the Discstation game Madou Sugoroku.
• God in Human Form: According to some of the early games and supplementary material. She is the reincarnation of the essence and powers of Lilith, a hero to humanity and the Dark Prince's lover, who became a god-like entity during the battle against another god-like entity (However, she didn't inherit Lilith's mind, as said mind Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence). Arle looks identical to Lilith to the point that when she manages to communicate with Lilith's mind by accident in Chaotic Final Exam, she mistakes her for Doppelganger Arle (who is another character entirely). Interestingly enough, early promotional material for Puyo Puyo Fever claims that Amitie has a quite similar backstory, further strengthening the idea of Amitie originally being intended to serve as an Expy of Arle.
• Good Colors, Evil Colors: She wears blue and white, contrasting with Doppelganger Arle's red and white (or depending on the game, purple and white). The blue and red contrast is typical for this series.
• In the End, You Are on Your Own: Arle's circumstances beginning with the penultimate battle of Yo~n. With her allies ^note Draco, Serilly, Witch, and Chico all getting paralyzed by the Dark Prince (thus denying the player access to their Super Moves), Arle is left as the only one able to fight.
• Jerkass Ball:
  • Several matches are started because Arle acts particularly cruel or mean-spirited. Laughing at Minotaur's nose ring in the Saturn/Playstation version of Tsu, taunting Schezo by comparing him to fungus and moss in SUN, etc.
  • The whole reason she has Carbuncle is because she stole him from the Dark Prince, who even begged her not to steal his beloved pet.
  • She's arguably at her worst in Tsu and Minna, the former being especially jarring as it marks a major departure from the first arcade game's Arle.
• Kid Hero: She was four in Madou Monogatari A, six in Madou Monogatari I, and is 16 in Madou Monogatari II and the Puyo Puyo games.
• Kill It with Fire: Her first instinct in Sun when seeing Dark Prince is to cast Fire at him, burning his butt.
• Leitmotif:
  • Sega-era: 15th gave her one in "A Long-awaited Spacetime Journey!" and hasn't changed since then. The song itself is a Bootstrapped Leitmotif of the "Theme of Puyo Puyo" song from the first Puyo Puyo arcade game.
  • Compile-era: She was sometimes associated with the "Normal Mode Battle" music from SUN, titled "Rakkyo no Kuni Kara" in Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon, Madou Monogatari Saturn, and the Disc Station anime shorts.
• Limited Wardrobe: She says that she wears the same outfit 365 days a year in Tsu, which the Banshee Trio has a good laugh at. Come 15th Anniversary, she states that she's been doing this for 15 years. (Despite the fact that she underwent slight design changes in between). Info provided by the Shin Madou timeline reveals that Arle wears blue and white to honor her missing father, which adds a bit of a tragic angle to the otherwise comedic interactions regarding this subject. Dapper Bones goes so far as to claim that she's a fossil when it comes to fashion sense.
• Little Miss Almighty: When you can go toe-to-toe with the god of your world, you kind of qualify as this. This is more prevalent in Madou Monogatari than in Puyo Puyo, where it's a bit more ambiguous where Arle stands in regards to this trope.
• Living MacGuffin: For 7.
• Lost in Translation: A rather infamous one: her "Diacute" attack was translated into "Diamond Cutie" in Puyo Pop Fever. Apparently, the translators thought that Diacute was a mashup of "diamond" and "cutie", when it is actually a combination of "di-" as in double, and "acute" as in acuteness. (Diacute is a damage-doubling spell in the Madou Monogatari games.) Puyo Puyo Tetris avoids the entire thing and just has her call "Want more?" instead.
• Making a Splash: In ARS, she starts with the very basic "Hot" and "Cold" spells, which dumps scalding and freezing water respectively to defend herself with.
• Malaproper: Five-year-old Arle in the Madou Monogatari games has a habit of using the wrong, phonetically similar word when speaking. For example, when she encounters the Healing Fairy (いやしの妖精) in the Mega Drive version, she mispronounces いやし into いやしい which, while one character off, completely changes it into the word for "lowborn, "shabby", or "vulgar".
• Modesty Shorts: We didn't see this in the games themselves until Puyo Puyo Chronicle (which was released long after Sega took over), but at least one figurine showed her wearing these. The costume replica featured in Phantasy Star Online 2 also featured these if you look under the skirt.
• Multiple-Choice Past: Lampshaded by Super Puyo Puyo Tsu's manual, which flat-out states that her exact history varies by the game.
• Mythology Gag: How she plays in the Sega games harken back to her roots in a couple of ways.
  • Arle's Fever dropset consists entirely of pairs as just like the Compile Puyo games, which lacked L-shaped and giant Puyo.
  • From 20th Anniversary onward, Arle's spell sequence is a shot-for-shot recreation from Tsu ("Ei!", Fire, Ice Storm, Diacute, Brain Dumbed, Jugem, Bayoen), making her the only character in the game to use six spells. She even references the Madou Monogatari games by stuttering the spell that is used after Diacute.
• Nice Girl: Outside of her Jerkass moments in Tsu, Minna, and her match with Schezo in SUN, she's mostly kind at heart.
• Nice Mean And In Between:
  • She could be considered the Mean to Amitie's Nice and Ringo's In-Between, but the dynamic is downplayed. Arle is by no means a full-on jerk, but she's more prone to mocking her opponents than the other two.
  • Within her own ARS trio, she is the Nice one by default since both Rulue and Schezo are far more questionable in regards to their morality.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: In Madou Monogatari II, Arle meets a strange bird named Millu right before her great escape. She manages to get information on where the "Ruberclach" gemstone is from the bird to trade in for a Uranus Staff... and gives it the boot instead of letting it tag along.
• No Name Given: Strangely, she wasn't given an official name until the PC-98 version of Madou Monogatari 1-2-3.
• Not Himself: In Puyo Puyo 7, she becomes Dark Arle.
• Not So Above It All: As much as Arle groans at the ridiculousness of her opponents, she's prone to getting in on the silliness herself. It's more pronounced when Ringo trumped her spot as Only Sane Man.
• Nothing Personal: Despite having to stop Satan's incident of the day in almost every game, she really doesn't outright hate him. She even displays concern for him after breaking him free from Ecolo's control.
• Official Couple: She had an on-again/off-again relationship with Ragnus in the Kadokawa Madou Monogatari light novels. This was never brought up in the games proper.
• One-Note Cook: She cooks curry...and that's just about it. Any other time she cooked something not curry, it's in the opening FMV of Yon cooking...whatever the heck she threw into a pan but then just resorts to eating toast, implying she botched it, or in the novel Sig's Secret, where a cake she helped bake is somehow bright red and spicy from the spices she threw in, which can't even qualify for a spice cake if she tried.
• Only Sane Woman: Up until Ringo appeared, Arle was the one that questioned the weird antics in the Compile games.
• "Open!" Says Me: Arle's method of choice when opening doors in BOX. Instead of simply opening it normally, she rips it from the doorway and sends it flying.
• Orbital Bombardment: Her Limit Burst in Saturn Madou, Bayoen, summons a veritable barrage of nuisance Puyo from the sky onto her enemy, followed by a massive Sun Puyo.
• Personality Swap: Temporarily assumes Draco's personality in Tsu as part of a Continuity Nod to their conversation in the first game.
  Arle: "Hmph! Would you even stand a chance against a girl as lovely as me? No WAY!!"
• The Pig-Pen: Keeping in line with her tomboyish personality, one Running Gag that has persisted throughout the series is Arle's lack of proper manners and somewhat poor hygiene. In Puyo Puyo Tetris, she complains to Ringo that Zed was being horrible to her, demanding strange things from her that made her uncomfortable. Said "demands" were only Zed instucting her to not run in the S.S. Tetra's hallways and reminding her to wash her hands after eating. The fact that she was told by a literal zombie in Puyo Puyo (1992) that she's "not exactly a bed of roses" after being told that he stinks should say a lot about her.
• Portmanteau: Her signature Diacute spell derives its name from the English words "diamond" and "acute", as in the attack having acute precision. The English version of Puyo Pop Fever infamously messes up in translating it, rendering it as "Diamond Cutie".
• Pre-Final Boss:
  • In Sun's hard mode.
  • Also serves as this in Fever's Waku Waku Course. She reprises the role for Amitie and Sig's Waku Waku Courses in Fever 2.
• Primary-Color Champion: While blue and white are her main colors, her outfit is occasionally accented with red and gold, especially on her armor.
• Psychotic Love Triangle:
  • Dark Prince and Schezo will demand that Arle pick one of them in certain versions of Madou Monogatari II. If she chooses either Schezo or Dark Prince, Dark Prince will beat Schezo. If she refuses to choose, they will instead team up against her and kill her.
  • When Rulue fights Arle for the Dark Prince's attention in the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari III, he appears at the end, thrilled that Arle beat Rulue so he can marry the stronger of the two. Arle and Rulue instead decide to beat him up and go off together.
• Punch-Clock Hero: Her daily routine is stopping Dark Prince whenever he does something deemed as "evil".
• Refusal of the Call: She refuses to take the Seraphim Orb that she was supposed to inherit in Madou Monogatari: The Final Test, instead choosing to erase the memory of the Seraphim Orb from everyone's minds.
• Say It with Hearts: In Chronicle as her alternate voice.
• Say My Name:
  • A rather angry "SAAAATAAAAN!" when Dark Prince reveals that his wish was to essentially have a harem of sexy ladies along with Arle's hand in marriage. She does it again when she finds out he was faking his death after the final battle. After the last one? Arle is understandably pissed with his shenanigans.
  • Shouted "SCHEZOOOOO!" in Madou Monogatari: The Final Test as she saw him get killed.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • In Super Puyo Puyo Tsu, she was invited to partake in the ultimate challenge (Normal mode), but left because it was getting late.
    Arle: "Okay buster, you're on! But... it's getting late. Maybe tomorrow."
  • She tries to leave in Minna de Puyo, but Zoh Daimaoh stops her with a Puyo match.
• Semi-Divine: She's more or less implied to be this in Madou Monogatari considering her parentage, her going toe-to-toe with powerful magic users such as Dark Prince and the fact that she later fights (and defeats) the Creator of the old Madou world. Following the separation of her soul, it's a bit ambiguous where Arle stands in regards to this in Puyo Puyo.
• Secret Character: In Champions, she has the Valkyrie Arle skin from Puyo Quest. She can be played as that by pressing a button ten times when hovered over her; Triangle for PS4, Y on Xbox, or X on Nintendo Switch. On a keyboard (for PC), it's "3..", or あるる on a Japanese keyboard.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story:
  • Arle had to solve numerous puzzles of increasing difficulty in Nazo Puyo to get curry ingredients. In the end, Carbuncle gobbles up the curry she just made from right under her nose.
  • In SUN, she foils Dark Prince's plans to increase the sun... only for Carbuncle to turn the moon into the same oversized sun.
  • The credits sequence of The Final Test had her literally racing around the world just to find one merchant with rakkyo in stock. The moment she does find one, Carbuncle eats the store before she could get the shopping done.
• She Is All Grown Up: The epilogue of Madou Monogatari I shows snippets of her growing up. By extension, the Time Skip between I and II counts as well, going from the age of 5 to 16.
• Shout-Out: Her first name comes from L'Arlésienne as mentioned above, while her last name is from the French novel Nadja.
• Signature Move: Bayoen! The move itself stuns the enemy for a turn (or more with Diacute), and is usually a shower of flowers. Madou Monogatari Saturn turns it into her Limit Break, inflicting direct damage via a rain of Garbage Puyo, then ending with a gigantic Sun Puyo crashing down and exploding.
• Speaks Fluent Animal: Zig-Zagged. She's able to communicate with Carbuncle, but has no idea what Baromett is saying in their Tsu pre-battle conversation, implying she can only understand Carbuncle. Schezo lampshades her ability in 20th, saying he can't understand a thing Carbuncle says without Arle around.
• Spell My Name With An S:
  • One of Sega's early figurines gives us "Aruru Nadya." Likewise, quite a few video game sites list Nazo Puyo: Arle no Roux as "Aruru no Ru".
  • Her Judgement spell in Japan seems to arbitrarily alternate between being written in Hiragana (making it Jugemu) or Katakana (making it Jugem).
• Squishy Wizard: When RPG elements come into play, Arle tends to lean in this direction. In Waku Puyo Dungeon, she starts with the lowest HP and just as low defenses, but comes with a swathe of elemental resistances to make up for it.
• Static Role, Exchangeable Character: A variation with Schezo in 20th Anniversary. We know that, at some point of the story, Arle teams up with Schezo in order to foil Dark Prince's schemes. The thing is, Schezo's scenario has the same premise, except it happens in a slightly different way despite the plotline very likely being the same (it's a specific story where Dark Prince creates a storm in order to lure Arle to his castle. It has no reason to repeat itself). Of the game's many individual stories, Arle and Schezo's are probably the most "canon" out of them since they let Schezo detect Ecolo's presence as the latter spies on Dark Prince in the first place, which has direct consequences in the Secret Final Campaign, but one story being canon would logically make the other not. It's possible that Arle and Schezo's joint adventure was a bigger, longer deal than what was shown, but split into two distinct perspectives that focused on different aspects of the journey, like Arle fighting Witch despite the latter never showing up in Schezo's scenario.
• Stupidity-Inducing Attack: Her spell Brain Dumbed, which is a power debuff in the context of Madou Monogatari.
• A Taste of Defeat: Arle is frequently the final boss you must defeat whenever one of her rivals has a playable campaign. She rarely seems to be that bothered by it though.
• Spell Theme: ''Fire'', ''Ice Storm'', and ''Thunder'' are her usual spells, which are common elements and uses Diacute and Heaven Ray as well. She eventually switches out Thunder for Brain Dumbed and Heaven Ray for Jugem.
• Tender Tomboyishness, Foul Femininity: Compared to Rulue, an ojou who is hopelessly in love with who's literally supposed to be Satan, Arle is an action girl who is averse to acting like a proper lady but will do anything to save the day.
• Tomboy: She hates the mere idea of having to act proper and ladylike, as she states in Tetris.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The tomboy to Rulue's girly girl. Arle's the more adventurous one of the duo, and presents herself in more practical clothing, opposite to Rulue's more elegant attire.
• Tomboyish Ponytail: Tomboyish Action Girl Arle has her hair tied into a ponytail in the back.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Ever since Puyo Puyo Fever, she's no longer as high-strung as she was during Compile's run, and her mean streak has all but disappeared.
• Trademark Favourite Food: Curry, though not to the same extent as Carbuncle. She enjoys cooking it, and the dish is often classified as a high-tier healing item.
• Tragic Keepsake: The blue piece of cloth that helps make up Arle's ponytail is actually the scarf belonging to her missing father (as it was the only possession of his that was recovered from his last known location). In fact, the whole reason Arle wears blue and white is to honor him.
• Trapped in Another World:
  • She, along with Dark Prince and Carbuncle, end up getting thrown into historic Japan in Arle's Travel Log, with familiar characters being stand-ins for historic figures. The trio do eventually end up back home at the end of it.
  • At first, in Fever. She eventually grew to love Primp, wishing to be able to travel between the two worlds instead of simply going home in 15th.
• True Companions: With Carbuncle. She claims that she'd be devastated if Carbuncle ever disappeared from her side in 15th, and she is seen to be genuinely upset when he did due to a potion Witch brewed up in Chronicle. Granted it only happened for a short while, but it really tugged her heartstrings. There was also Puyo Puyo~n, in which Carbuncle goes missing for the entirety of the story (save for the beginning and end) due to a disappearing trick by Dark Prince gone wrong. Throughout the story of Yo~n, we see Arle gradually become less and less tolerant of the cast's "unique" personality traits. Examples include (but are not limited to) becoming more irritated by the likes of Rulue's infatuation with Dark Prince and Schezo's "interesting" speech impediment among many other things. All this being said, it seems safe to say that not only does Carbuncle truly hold a very special place in her heart, but without his presence, Arle might just be a completely different person, and not necessarily for the better...
• Two First Names: Arle is French; Nadja is the German spelling of a Russian name.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: From winning her affections to stealing her powers to proving that they're more beautiful/powerful than her, Dark Prince, Rulue, Schezo, Draco, and Witch almost always have some kind of beef with her. Keyword being "almost", as for one, Arle doesn't truly hate them, and is just annoyed with their antics. Several Drama CD tracks also explores their dynamic, in that while they do bicker a lot, they still care for each other in their own weird way, from being able to coordinate a combination attack against a Jerkass Genie, to everyone else coming to her aid when they sense something is wrong with her and her fading memory.
• Vocal Dissonance:
  • Arle keeps the same vocal clips across all three games in Madou Monogatari 1-2-3, meaning that she has the exact same voice at sixteen as she had when she was a kindergartner. Downplayed in the Game Gear versions: Mami Inoue takes over in III and sounds slightly older, while Madou Monogatari A recycles Inoue's Saturn Tsu voice work in an attempt to differentiate 4-year-old Arle from Madou Monogatari III Arle.
  • "Silvana" has the voice of a middle-aged woman.
  • Minako Ozawa's Arle is a borderline case. Her high-pitched, childlike voice matches the super-deformed Arle from Sun...not so much the realistically-proportioned Arle in Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon.
• Waterfall Puke: Both her and Schezo vomit after Pakista feed them his new flavor of Puyo treat: sweet bean and natto.
• Weirdness Magnet: She tends to attract all sorts of strangeness throughout the franchise. Even Arle herself comments that she may be cursed in Tetris, due to constantly ending up in weird situations no matter where she goes.

Carbuncle

Carbuncle

Character Color: Yellow

First Appearance: Madou Monogatari II

Voiced by: Masamitsu "Moo" Niitani (Puyo Puyo Tsu SEGA Saturn), Ayame Kizuki (Puyo Puyo SUN, Madou Monogatari: The Final Test), Kurumi Mamiya (Puyo Puyo~n), Tamaki Nakanishi (Puyo Puyo Fever to Puyo Puyo Chronicle), Tomoko Kaneda (Puyo Puyo Tetris 2), Erin Fitzgerald (English, Puyo Puyo Tetris)

Guu!

The yellow rabbit Mascot of Compile-era Puyo Puyo games and Compile in general. He is a mysterious creature that used to be Dark Prince's pet, until Arle found him in Madou Monogatari 1-2-3 and decided to join her. However Dark Prince became saddened that Carbuncle left him, with getting Carbuncle back becoming one of his motivations to marry Arle. He is known for having a strong bond with Arle, but will still run off on his own to cause mischief, especially if it involves looking for his favorite food, curry.

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• Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Some sort of yellow rabbit... thing.
• Ambiguous Gender: His bios don't specify if he's male or female. He has Bust-Waist-Hip measurements in his Madou Monogatari Saturn bio, which is normally reserved for females, but it could have also been done as a joke.
• Badass Adorable: A cute rabbit-like creature that can fire lasers from his forehead... that has the strongest AI in SUN, Minna, and Fever.
• Black Bead Eyes: But was switched out for Blank White Eyes below temporarily.
• Blank White Eyes: In his design in Fever until 7.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: As deceptively powerful as Carbuncle is, he typically doesn't help out at all, preferring to wander around and goof off.
• Carbuncle Creature: Fits this trope to a tee by being a small animal with a gem on the forehead. He's one of the earliest examples, and thus a likely Trope Codifier, of the cutesy, mammalian Japanese style carbuncles.
• Care-Bear Stare: In Saturn Madou, one of his abilities is to purify Yogs and rid their influence through the power of his gem.
• Cloudcuckoolander: He has a rather unpredictable odd behavior, to the point where even Arle can't keep tabs on him all the time.
• Covert Pervert: In 4komas he often gets nosebleeds when witnessing accidental panty shots or large breasts.
• Demoted to Extra: He bounces between being a side character and playable. He lost his playable status in Fever 2, 15th, and Puyo Tetris, and serves as a sidekick character to Arle. Heck, Puyo Tetris' character selection lists them as "Arle & Carbuncle". He has more or less lost his mascot status after Minna, though he is still often featured in promotional materials.
• Depending on the Artist: Carbuncle underwent several changes in his physical features across the series. His mostly-modified features are the length and shape of his ears (how pointy they are) and tail (whether it's long or stubby). This became very noticeable starting with the Sega titles: Minna mostly retains the art style from the Compile titles, but then Fever up to 15th Anniversary gave him a yellow body and long and curvy ears, proportions which were then dialed back in 7, and 20th Anniversary onwards give Carbuncle a body that combines traits from the two styles: body proportions like in the Compile titles, but the yellow body from Fever.
• Dub Name Change: Carbuncle appears in Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, but his name is changed to "Has Bean".
• Empathy Pet: Subverted in 7 when with Dark Arle. While Arle herself was possessed into being evil, Carbuncle was just playing along.
• Energy Weapon: He can shoot laser beams from his forehead. That gemstone sure is magical, at least.
• Extreme Omnivore: This guy's appetite goes way beyond curry and other foodstuffs. In the "Schezo's Long Day" short, he took sword swallowing to a hilariously literal degree, having eaten Schezo's sword long before the animation takes place. He even devours an entire grocery store in The Final Test's credits sequence!
• Has a Type: Apparently, Carbuncle prefers to be around girls rather than boys, and even then, he's more partial to Arle than any other female in the series. Not only that, but he's implied to not be into older women, as seen in ARS where he shows favor towards Rulue (as she was 16 in that game), but once she hit 18, he seems to show less of an opinion of her.
• Heel–Face Turn: Dubious given who his former owner is, but he was Dark Prince's pet before leaving him for Arle.
• Heroic RRoD: Inadvertently by Arle's doing in the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari III, when trying out a new magical staff. The staff was powered by Carbuncle's gemstone, but it took so much power it left the poor guy looking emaciated.
• Informed Attribute: If supplementary material is anything to go by, there's much more to Carbuncle than meets the eye...
  • He's said to know quite a bit of martial arts, but we never see him perform any techniques (This is because he apparently chooses not to, and his low stamina wouldn't support the amount of effort he needs to perform such feats).
  • He's implied to be MUCH smarter and more cunning than he lets on.
  • It's also revealed that he can cook some of the best curry ever, if given the opportunity.
• In-Series Nickname: "Kaa-kun"/"Carby" by Arle, and "Carbuncle-chan"/"Carbunny" by Dark Prince.
• Killer Rabbit: Apart from his aforementioned ability to shoot laser beams from his forehead, Carbuncle is far more dangerous than it seems:
  • In SUN, Minna, and Fever, he has the strongest and fastest AI in the game. In the latter, his AI is so fast that it's practically unchanged when turned into Core AI.
  • In Fever-based rules, Carbuncle is notorious for having the largest dropset in the series, tied with Baldanders, but unlike the latter, who has the weakest chaining power in the game, Carbuncle's is on par with Amitie's (with the exception of 7, where his chaining power is the same as Baldanders's), making him one of the best characters in that mode.
• Leitmotif: Since SUN, he's commonly associated with the Floor 1/Area A song from Tsu. In the Sega titles, it's called "Puyo Puyo All Night Fight!".
• The Little Detecto: He can find items for Arle in Waku Puyo Dungeon.
• Living MacGuffin: Carbuncle being missing or kidnapped is the plot of several Compile-era games. His very first meeting with Arle was due to her looking for Rubelcrack, a powerful magical gem that is embedded in Carbuncle's forehead and would kill him if removed. Once Arle learns that Carbuncle needs the gem to live she gives up on her treasure hunt becomes his friend instead.
• Meaningful Name:
  • His name is an archaic name given to red, cabochon cut gemstones. Take a look at his forehead.
  • It's also provided as the name of a creature with a jewel in its forehead in Jorge Luis Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings.
• Multiple-Choice Past: When exactly Carbuncle encountered Arle for the first time is inconsistent between the Madou Monogatari games. Initially it was during the events of Madou Monogatari II that showed Carbuncle and Arle meeting each other for the first time, but later versions and games such as Madou Monogatari A and Madou Monogatari Big Kindergarten Kids retconned their first encounter to when Arle was still in kindergarten.
• Non-Human Sidekick: The only one in the series, it's easier to list the times where Arle and Carbuncle are alone than where they are together.
• Older Than They Look: Considering his original owner was Lilith (Arle's ancestor), he's got to be around 10,000 years old, give or take.
• One-Word Vocabulary: Only speaks in "guu"s. The English dub of Fever noticeably changed this for him instead saying “Ta-da!” instead, before returning to “Guu” in all subsequent games.
• Overly-Long Tongue: While not shown often, his tongue can be quite long and has been shown grabbing things with it.
• Parrot Pet Position: When Carbuncle is at his tiny Compile size, he's small enough to ride on Arle's shoulder. Not the case in the Sega games, where he's so big it takes an arm's length to hold him.
• Purposely Overpowered: Implied in Fever, between his huge dropset and actually-good chaining power. The game describes him as "Balanced Character?", warning that he's indeed not a balanced character to begin with.
• Really 700 Years Old: His original owner was Lilith (Arle's ancestor), meaning he's at least as old as Dark Prince (who is 100,025 years old).
• Reality Warper: In Sun, he turns the moon into a second sun with a simple laser blast.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Carbuncle could very well be revealed to be a living plushie and no one would question it.
• Secret Art: His second Skill Battle Skill in Tetris 2, which raises his team's Defense and reduces his opponent's Attack, is unique to him.
• Secret Character: In some games, he's treated as a bonus playable character that requires certain conditions to be met.
  • In SUN, highlight Arle and hold Start for 5 seconds.
  • In Yo~n, highlight Schezo and move off-screen to the right.
  • In Fever, beat Carbuncle in the HaraHara course.
• Series Mascot: Of Madou Monogatari and the Compile-made Puyo Puyo games. In fact, he was the Mascot of Compile itself at a time.
• Sticky Fingers: He tends to swipe things in front of people. Arle's curry in Nazo Puyo, Sata- err Santa's sack in Tsu, Ringo's curry bread in a 7 comic strip...
• Superboss: He is one in Sun, Minna, and Fever, if you fulfill certain conditions. In all cases, he's got deptively powerful AI that'll put players to the test. Additionally, more often than not, you'll have to battle him at blisteringly fast speeds that makes Satan's gravity a bit of a brisk walk in the park.
  • For Sun: Beat the Hard route without continuing.
  • In Minna: He's simply at the end of Trial Labyrinth.
  • For Fever: Reach the final boss of the HaraHara course without continues and use Fever mode less than 4 or more than 12 times. Alternatively, he can be encountered if your continue count is at a multiple of 7. He will be fought in place of Popoi.
• Super-Toughness: He's implied to have a very durable body, allowing him to take all manner of punishment.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Carbuncle loves his curry. Carbuncle often gets the lion's share of curry dinner, and more often than not he tends to steal it.
• True Companions: With Arle. On the rare occasion that he's not around, it's vaguely implied that Arle becomes... less pleasant to be around, either being uncharacteristically depressed, more irritated, increasingly serious to a slightly uncomfortable degree, etc.
• Unfortunate Names: Carbuncle is most likely named after the red gem or the mythical creature with said red gemstone on its head. The name also has a more common meaning as a very disgusting pus-filled skin boil, and the English translation for Big Kindergarten Kids has Arle comment on his name having the same meaning as a zit.
• Waddling Head: His body shape is nothing more than a yellow sphere with stubby arms and legs and a pair of bunny ears.
• Vague Age: It's unclear how relatively old Carbuncle is supposed to be. His transformations in 7 don't change his appearance at all (when even Dark Prince changes appearances despite him being implied to be Long-Lived), making guessing whether he's young or old more difficult.
• Your Size May Vary: Bounces between being a shoulder companion to the size of Arle's head.

Dark Prince (Satan)

Dark Prince (Satan)

Character Color: Green

First Appearance: Madou Monogatari II

Voiced by: Kazuki Yao (Puyo Puyo CD, Puyo Puyo Tsu), Masamitsu "Moo" Niitani (Puyo Puyo SUN, Discstation Shorts), Kenichi Ono (Puyo Puyo~n), Chikara Ousaka (15th Anniversary onwards) Xander Mobus (English, Puyo Puyo Tetris onwards)

Stage Actor: Lyra Amato

Curious... you seem strangely tolerant today. Then perhaps... We can finally have our honeymoon! Nothing but blissful love between us! My dream would finally be fulfilled!

The ruler of Puyo Hell (aka Puyo Underworld). The Dark Prince Satan, also known as simply Dark Prince, is a powerful sorcerer and the residential villain of the Puyo Puyo series (if you can call him that). He normally acts indifferent towards other characters, with the notable exception of Carbuncle and Arle. His ultimate goal throughout the series is to marry Arle and get back his former pet Carbuncle, but his approaches always fail due to a combination of Dark Prince creating far too ridiculous plans to win over Arle and Arle herself simply not having any interest to begin with.

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• Abhorrent Admirer: Arle's. Not that he's unattractive or anything, but it's pretty clear his personality ticks her off.
• Accidental Misnaming:
  • In the original game, Arle mistakenly calls him Santa.
  • In the fan translation of 15th, Yu calls him Satin and Stan. In the same cutscene, no less!
  • And she also calls him Lucifer.
• Affably Evil: While he's the designated villain, he never really is a jerk to begin with. He is, however, easily irritated by people standing in his way, especially when chasing after Arle.
• The Ageless: Implied by his Mega and Mini forms in 7. His physical appearance never changes save for the length of his horns (short in Mini, long and curly in Mega) and Vocal Evolution, suggesting that he was born with his current appearance and will never deviate from it, or that he is too old for his Mini form to change him significantly.
• All-Powerful Bystander: It turns out he could've easily averted everything that happened in Madou Monogatari Saturn. He chose not to just to screw with everyone and relieve his boredom, and by the time he steps in to interfere, he's too late.
• And Now You Must Marry Me: His ultimate goal is to marry Arle.
• Artificial Brilliance: Stands out as the only character in Champions^note at least until Rafisol was added whose AI will always take advantage of Quick Drop if it is enabled, which makes him by far the greatest threat on the roster.
• Ascended Demon: Invoked with his "Ascension" spell animation, which depicts him ascending into the Heavens.
• Autobots, Rock Out!: The only evil thing about this guy is the fact they never use his instruments for other songs. "Final De Puyo" indeed...
  • Leitmotif: 20th gives him "Architect of the Puyo Underworld".
• Badass in Distress:
  • Is brainwashed by Doppelganger Arle in Yo~n.
  • Ecolo tries to possess him in 20th, nearly causing space to tear itself apart from the combination of their magics.
  • He is kidnapped again in Chronicle... Except that time he was invoking the trope to get Arle to fall for him a la Rescue Romance.
• Bad Liar: Can't make up a convincing alibi in Saturn Madou to avoid suspicion that he's behind the Yogs appearing in the world. He's not responsible, but he didn't bother stopping them when he should have done and caused chaos as a result.
• Baldness Angst: He begins to cry after Schezo gives him a bald spot in Sun.
• Berserk Button: Brushing him off like nothing and calling him a fake really gets on his nerves. Then again, he has a short fuse in 15th Anniversary.
• Big Bad: Although it's difficult to call him "bad" to begin with, he's still the main and final antagonist for all but one of the Compile-era Puyo games.
• Big Entrance: Attempts one of these in the first game...until Arle calls out "SANTA!"
• Big Damn Heroes: At the end of Puyo Tetris with Ecolo, to Ex. His and Ecolo's power combined created a strong enough warp tunnel to reach the End of Reality, allowing Ex to leave as he pleases.
• Bowdlerise:
  • He is renamed "the Dark Prince" in Western releases, the name being an Artifact from the otherwise-ignored arcade translation that renamed almost everyone. Sonic Runners refers to him as Satan in its Puyo Quest collaboration, but the fact that the English versions of Minna De Puyo and Puyo Puyo Tetris double down on Dark Prince and 3D Puyo Tsu's manual uses the English name wherever it can get away with it suggests that this was due to lack of research more than anything else. And the N-Gage translation of Puyo Pop calls him the Gatekeeper instead of Dark Prince.
  • In an example of Compile-era-to-Sega-era Bowdlerization, his Puyo Puyo-rule retro voice pattern in 20th and Chronicle gets rid of his "Shine!" ("Die!") phrase and replaces it with softer imperatives. This of course does away with the call-back to his original vocal catchphrase.
• Butt-Monkey: Just about gets no respect from anyone he's met in 15th. Calling him "Uncle", being called an impostor, name misconstrued multiple times, the list goes on. In fairness, he dishes out as much as he takes.
• Card-Carrying Villain: If anything went wrong, he was the first guess. Hell, he was the villain for Compile.
  • Played even straighter in the English arcade game, where he is changed to the Obviously Evil prince of the Black Kingdom bent on intergalactic domination, complete with villainous phrases such as You Fool!, Prepare to Die, and We Can Rule Together.
• Characterization Marches On:
  • The games originally couldn't decide whether he was more obsessed with Arle or Carbuncle, with the Madou Monogatari games swinging back and forth wildly between Dark Prince resenting Arle for taking Carbuncle from him and wanting his pet back, and having him pull outragous stunts to get Arle's attention, while paying Carbuncle absolutely no mind. The Sega-produced games finally settled on having him obsessed with both, Arle and Carbuncle, with his crush on Arle slightly edging out his adoration for the little yellow mascot.
  • In the first arcade Puyo Puyo game, absolutely no mention is made of Dark Prince's obsession with Carbuncle or his crush on Arle. The closest is the Dark Prince trying to pull a We Can Rule Together on Silvana in the English version. While still somewhat humorous in this game, Dark Prince was more legitimately sinister and even earned a genuine Oh, Crap! reaction from Arle (this is exaggerated in the English version, where he's a standard villain). Come a couple games later, and he's playing the ukulele while trying to get his super intensified tan.
  • Dark Prince seemed to have no qualms with the idea of having Rulue as a potential wife candidate, as seen in Madou Monogatari III. In all games afterwards, he either ignores her presence or, at best, treats her as a somewhat annoying friend. In fact, it's implied that he might even be terrified of her.
• Charlie Brown from Outta Town: Masked Prince in Tsu. Naturally, Arle doesn't buy it for a second.
• The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: When you fight him, your pieces will be falling at max speed. His will be going pretty slow.
• Continuity Nod:
  • In the first Puyo game, Arle misconstrued Satan as Santa, to which he angrily refutes. Fast forward to Tsu, Arle calls out Satan, to which he denies...and calls himself Santa, complete with the ensemble!
  • When Yu meets him in 15th Anniversary, this happens (only in the fan translation).
  Yu: "Satan? So then you're a star?"
  Satan: "You refer to the old name of Venus, "Lucifer"? No, I'm no star in the sky."^note Lucifer is his twin brother, who happens to be Arle's teacher in the Kadokawa novel adaptation. It's also worth mentioning that Lucifer is possibly Dapper's love interest.
  • Dark Prince mentions his previous status as a school headmaster in 7, which was way back during the Compile days. He even lampshades the fact that such a small tidbit of information like that is most likely ignored many people today or just plain forgotten.
  Ringo: "Alright! We're at the school!"
  Satan: "You know, I may not look it, but... I'm also the headmaster of another school!"
• Cool Mask: As Masked Prince. He's the True Final Boss if you score high enough without continuing in Tsu.
• Cock Fight: If he, Schezo, and Arle are in the same room, bad things are more than likely to happen.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Not kind to those who get in-between him and Arle.
• Creator Cameo: "Moo" Niitani himself voices Dark Prince in SUN.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's a generally goofy character that tries and fails to marry Arle in desperate ways, but that doesn't change the fact he's a powerful magic user and has among the strongest AI in the franchise.
• Crush Blush: Of the Blush Sticker variety, and isn't afraid to hide it.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He's the Prince of Darkness, but can barely be called evil in most games he appears in. At best, he will just Poke the Poodle.
• The Devil Is a Loser: We don't think the lord of hell (Puyo Hell, rather) could get any lamer than this. He is constantly foiled by the likes of Arle (moreso in Puyo than in Madou Monogatari), and can act like a manchild at times. When accused of being the one behind the Tetriminoes in Primp in the English version, he calls Arle and Carbuncle "meanie-pants" before running off. Then Ringo finds him plucking flower petals in a Loves Me Not fashion while still bawling his eyes out. Yeah...
• Dirty Coward: Most of his damage animations in the Sega games depict him being pelted by Garbage Puyo while attempting to run away.
• Dirty Old Man: In Sun, 20th and Chronicle, he has no qualms about seeking out a harem of beautiful ladies, while clarifying in 20th that he wants Arle to be his main wife.
• Distress Ball: Ends up picking it up at the start of Yo~n, where Doppelganger Arle ends up attacking and brainwashing him to do her bidding of kidnapping Carbuncle.
  • There's also Chronicle, getting spirited away right before Arle's eyes. The whole disappearing act was entirely his own doing, just to have Arle rescue him.
• Dogged Nice Guy: While he does have his nice moments and is obviously kinder to Arle, he tries too hard to impress her so he can get his much-desired honeymoon with her. Unsurprisingly, none of his attempts really succeed. Among those attempts, he made a ticket to a Hot Spring for her, which he made into runes, then broke it apart for her to find, only for her to throw it out. Alternatively, Arle is impled to cook curry with it. A bonus ending in Minna reveals those "runes" are actually just curry blocks made unscented through magic. Arle breaks it apart learning this, and promptly gets a craving for curry from its aroma.
• The Dragon: He's Doppelganger Arle's in Yo~n. Not that he's willingly being so, though.
• Dual Boss: With Ecolo at the end of the last story in 20th.
• Dub Name Change:
  • An interesting case, since his full name+title in Japan,Yami-no-kikoushi Satan, literally translates to "Prince of Darkness, Satan". (kikoushi referring to the lord of a principality, as opposed to the son of a ruling king). The English translation choses to ommit any mention of his given name and renders his title as "Dark Prince", while have the entire cast on title-only basis with him, in order to avoid the religious connotations. It's quite notably the only the name change from the English translation of the first arcade name to be kept for future international releases.
  • His 20th alternate character is called Yellow Satan in Japan, Onesie Prince in English, and roughly "Prince on a Kigurumi" in Spanish.
• Dub Personality Change: In the English version of the first arcade game, he's a Card-Carrying Villain.
• Easily Forgiven: Then again, he doesn't do much to warrant anything but.
• Easy-Mode Mockery: He mocks the player at the end of the first Puyo Puyo's Beginner course. He blatantly acknowledges the difficulty level in the Puzlow Kids/English arcade translation.
• Empty Eyes: If you look closely on his Yo~n sprite when he's finally confronted, his eyes are a solid, dull red. Since they're closed 95% of the time until he's broken free, it's quite easy to pass over it. 20th is a more blatant case as we see him get possessed by Ecolo, going dull as he loses control of himself.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He's not keen on universe-destroying apocalypses or possession, at least when Arle's the victim with the latter in 7. Schezo even lampshades this in Tetris.
  Schezo: You know, interdimensional chaos is not what he looks for in a girl...
• Evil Laugh: He does this so much, especially in the Sega games, that his repeating spell a la Arle's Diacute is him doing an evil laugh.
• Evil Is Hammy: Part of the subverted Obviously Evil group of traits he has. He's very bombastic when announcing his plans. More often than not, with Evil Laughs in-between.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Calling him "evil" is a bit of a stretch, but he still plays this role in the Sonic Runners crossover event when Dr. Eggman captured him to drain his magic. Considering the latter's track record for unleashing ancient horrors upon the world (and one rebellious robot minion) only to eventually lose control of them, it doesn't end well for him.
  • There was also the time when Ecolo tried to possess him in 20th in order to get everyone to constantly play Puyo, tearing a hole in the fabric of space-time in the process...
• Evil Prince: While calling him evil might be a stretch, he is a prince and is often the bad guy.
• Expy: Madou Monogatari creator Kazunari Yonemitsu has all but stated that the Dark Prince was based on Azhrarn, the lecherous, mischevious Prince of Demons from the Tales from the Flat Earth series; Yonemitsu mentioned that he's a fan of the first book (Night's Master) and modeled the Dark Prince and Schezo based on characters in the novel. Of course, given the Cerebus Rollercoaster that is Madou Monogatari, the Dark Prince started out as a borderline parody before Compile went all-in on his comedic traits once the Puyo Puyo series began to pick up steam.
• Fallen Angel: Much like his namesake. His fall was motivated by falling in love with a powerful human mage named Lilith.
• Faking the Dead: He did it just to make Arle worried. This, however, annoys Carbuncle and pisses off Arle.
• Final Boss: Of Madou Monogatari II and most of the Puyo Puyo games. The only exceptions are Yo~n (as the penultimate boss), 7 and Tetris (being a Wake-Up Call Boss in both). In Arle's story in 20th, he manages to be this trope and a Warm-Up Boss, being both the first and last opponent she faces.
• For the Evulz: Before the first game's final battle, Arle asks the Dark Prince why he put her through so many traps. His response? "It's just my hobby."
• Giggling Villain: More so as Onesie Prince (Yellow Satan); it sounds like Chikara was trying hard not to burst into laughter during the spell phrases.
• Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: In the short "Satan in a Crisis", the Dark Prince lands on a Puyo... Then it is dropped from under him as Arle pops a Puyo chain. He stares in bewilderment for a few seconds before he falls straight to the bottom of the All-Cleared Puyo board and splats onto the ground like a bug.
• Greater-Scope Villain: In Madou Monogatari II and Madou Monogatari III. In II, Big Bad Schezo is attempting to usurp him, pursuing Arle in order to steal her magic so that he may become strong enough to do so. In 3, while he doesn't have much of a presence (except in the Game Gear version), Dark Prince is still the biggest force behind the plot, being the sole reason Big Bad Rulue wants to steal Carbuncle from Arle (as the former knows the significance behind what Carbuncle means to Dark Prince).
• Harmless Villain: For someone named Satan (at least in Japan), he usually has different plans than being evil. If he is doing something "evil", the choice he has in mind isn't.
• Hidden Depths: The Satan's Space Amusement Park novel has him admit to Amitie that he's fully aware Arle isn't romantically interested in him, nor is she playing hard to get. Considering some of his past actions, such as claiming to want a harem in 20th, or trapping Arle in a dialogue loop at the end of BOX, this implies that Satan's ultimate goal isn't to marry Arle. Maybe he just thinks the shenanigans with her are fun?
• Hijacked by Ganon: Pulls this in the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari III.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: If you can control his forced speed spike, you can dish out a chain faster than he can.
• Hopeless Suitor: Will stop at nothing to gain Arle's affection, but she doesn't want anything with him at all.
• Horned Humanoid and Winged Humanoid: Being winged seems to be bipolar, since he doesn't have them in Sun, DA!, or Minna. The Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari II suggests he could hide them at will, as he conspicuously lacks his demonic features when he is first seen until his second phase of his boss battle.
• Hypocritical Humor: In chapter 7 of Puyo Puyo Tetris, he tries to give Ecolo relationship advice. Of course, Ecolo wasn't having any of it.
  Dark Prince: Hey, Ecolo, don't be so needy. Girls don't like it.
  Ecolo: Um...really? Advice from you?
  • In Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 he makes fun of Squares for being immature.
• Immortal Immaturity: For all his agelessness, he's clearly not the most mature of the bunch...
• It Amused Me: In Saturn Madou, he doesn't bother stopping the Yogs at first, enjoying the chaos they caused. However, they grow into a bigger problem than he can deal with alone and he ends up needing the heroes' help.
• It's Personal: Dark Prince wasn't too pleased with Ecolo meddling with Arle's body in 7. When you select him in the final confrontation with Dark Arle, he personally steps up to take matters into his own hands, telling Ecolo to shut up and battle him. No pleasantries, no "Let's Puyo battle!" formalities, to him, the gloves are off.
• Knight of Cerebus: In the first arcade game. Whenever he appears in cutscenes, he's depicted in a barren wasteland with constant lightning striking, contrasting the typical field the other characters are in. The cutscene before you fight Dark Prince takes it a step further, with ominous music and Dark Prince swooping down from the shadows. Battling him also has a sense of tension, due to the more intense music that plays and the sound effects sounding like explosions. To top it off, throughout the whole game his normally goofy personality is downplayed, becoming The Comically Serious at best, due to Arle accidentally calling him Santa. The second game is the first one that depicts him as the Laughably Evil Final Boss he's better known as.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Rulue is treated as this for him. Since he won't leave Arle alone, she won't leave him either.
• Laughably Evil: If he isn't being affable, all the other villains can be taken more seriously than this guy.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: During Puyo Puyo 7, he is much more serious, determined, and annoyed by others' antics than usual, and flat out rids Arle of possession himself if the player chooses to play as him. This is because for once he's not the one causing chaos and Arle is in significant danger from Ecolo.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Schezo burns his scalp with a white-hot sword in Sun. He's more concerned about it giving him a bald spot than anything else.
• Manchild: Actually quite whiny and immature, no matter how much he tries to come off as haughty and imposing.
• Meaningful Rename: According to the Shin Madou Monogatari, he used to be called Lucifer, but after rebelling against the Creator, he was stripped from his wings and his name, turning him into the Dark Prince of current times.
• Mistaken Identity: Dapper Bones mistook him for his missing lover.
• Mythology Gag: That pose he makes as Masked Prince *7? It's the same one he does when you encounter him in Tsu, except in 3/4 perspective.
• Nice Guy:
  • While usually for selfish purposes (if and only if it involves Arle), he often offers his assistance and he honestly never comes across as someone who'd hurt another. He freely offers his assistance to Ringo in 7 and later shows a friendly relationship with her in 20th Anniversary, is incredibly nice to Arle in particular, and most of the plots he has are of good intentions, if poorly executed. Heck, in 7, if you choose him instead of Ringo, he'll personally rid Ecolo out of Arle's body.
  • According to the Shin Madou Monogatari timeline, his biggest act of good yet has to be when he invoked a Cosmic Retcon upon the Madou world, rebuilding it from the ashes after Arle's victory over the Creator of the Madou reality.
• No Campaign for the Wicked: Being the original (and recurring) Final Boss of the series, it's generally Played Straight, but there have been some aversions: his own story modes in 15th and 20th, as well as being Ringo's playable partner in two chapters in 7.
• No Guy Wants an Amazon: In 20th, Schezo implies this is the reason Dark Prince wants nothing with Rulue, as he might be scared of her strength. This is more or less confirmed at the end of Rulue's story, going by Dark Prince's reaction to Rulue suggesting butchering cows and strangling dragons with her bare hands to cook a meal.
• Not Himself: In Yo~n and 20th.
• Not Me This Time:
  • In Saturn Madou, Arle, Rulue, and Ragnus eventually come to the conclusion that Dark Prince might have the power to be letting the Yogs into the world. Dark Prince acting oddly when they question him doesn't help. However, while he didn't initially stop the Yogs from entering the world due to boredom, he was not their source, and by the time the heroes come after him, he is trying and failing to contain them.
  • In Puyo Puyo Tetris, Lemres reports that he's been sighted at the same time that Tetriminos started appearing in Primp Town. Arle and Ringo jump to the conclusion that he's the culprit... and Dark Prince throws a tantrum and runs away, citing this trope. However, Schezo actually believes he isn't the culprit, and helps clear his name. After Arle apologizes, Dark Prince is happy enough to point out the location of the true cause being somewhere in outer space. Unfortunately, he ends up invoking this trope on another past villain...
• Nothing Personal: Dark Prince doesn't seem to mind that Carbuncle's left him for the Sega era. Though, his original intention was to give Carbuncle to his fiance, so he expected that he'd transfer ownership at some point.
• Obliviously Evil: In SUN, he seems to be completely unaware of whichever side effects would making the Sun larger have.
• Obviously Evil: C'mon, look at his devilish horns and wings! He's definitely got the makings of a villain. But then you see him in action...
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He's irritable and no-nonsense with Ringo in 7. This is because Arle has been possessed by an unknown entity and he is very distressed over getting her back to her normal self.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: He tries, but it's hard to get fooled when he has those big demonic horns.
  • In Puyolympics he wears only a tracksuit and sunglasses to disguise himself as a referee.
  • In Tsu as Masked Prince, he wears a golden mask (a parody of Tuxedo Mask). During his tenure as a magic school headmaster in the Madou Monogatari games, he also uses his Masked Prince persona, and no one is any more the wiser.
• Psychotic Love Triangle: When Rulue fights Arle for his attention in the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari III, he appears at the end, thrilled that Arle beat Rulue so he can marry the stronger of the two. Arle and Rulue instead decide to beat him up and go off together.
• Prepare to Die: His voiced catchphrase in both versions of the first game is "Die!"
• Prince Charming Wannabe: It's pretty clear that Arle will never give him a chance, no matter how much he tries. The only reason this isn't outright Mad Love is because Arle can genuinely hurt him emotionally, such as in Tetris, and she's not as callous to him as he is himself to Rulue.
• Promoted to Playable: He becomes playable for the first time as a secret multiplayer character in SUN, becomes a non-secret multiplayer character for the first time in Minna, and becomes playable in a story mode for the first time in 15th.
• Punch-Clock Villain: We'd love to say "it's as if he just wants Arle's attention", except that's what he really does want.
• Reality Warper: There's been implications of him having this ability. Notable examples of this include making the sun larger in SUN, creating portals on three separate occasions (with the latter two done alongside Ecolo) for Ragnus, Ex, Ally and Rafisol to visit their friends and loved ones and finally (and in the darkest example yet), the Cosmic Retcon he invoked upon his own world to rebuild it from the ashes after Arle finally defeated the Creator of the Madou world.
• Really 700 Years Old: He's 100025 (when Arle is 16).
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Subverted; if he has a plan, it's most likely very silly.
• Reincarnation Romance: The Madou Monogatari timeline and The Final Test game implies the reason he's so determined to make Arle love him is because she's the reincarnation of his dead wife.
• Rejection Affection: Arle has repeatedly stopped his plans of gaining his affection, but he will keep trying.
• Rule of Cool: Everything about him is, at first, based on this.
• Rump Roast: Is on the receiving end of a Fire spell cast by Arle in Sun with this result.
• Sadist Teacher: Implied. After he screws up his wish in 15th for a role as a tutor Ms. Accord's students, he vows payback on every last one of the little brats. Popoi feels sorry for the kids.
• Say My Name: The "Masked Prince" ending in Tsu finishes with him crying Carbuncle's name as both him and Arle leave.
• Satan: ...We think. This is a more explicit plot point in Shin Madou Monogatari, in which he rebelled against the Creator for the sake of Lilith, his human lover.
• Secret Art: His first Skill Battle Skill in Tetris 2, which erases incoming garbage, is unique to him.
• Self-Proclaimed Love Interest: Actually thinks that Arle is into him and is entirely convinced that she's only playing hard to get, which fuels his "romantic" schemes.
• Shout-Out: It is possibly a coincidence, especially since we know almost nothing about the development of the English arcade game, but "Dark Prince" might actually be another nod to Night's Master. One possible translation of the book's Japanese title, Yami no Koushi (闇の公子), is "The Dark Prince".
• Single-Target Sexuality: Subverted. You'd think he only wants Arle considering his motivations for anything involve her, but his dream also involves having a harem of sexy girls, although only Arle would be his wife proper.
• Stalker with a Crush: And Schezo calls him out on this.
  Schezo: Does anyone else hear this guy? Why am I the creeper?
• Stay in the Kitchen: His image of a proper wife according to 20th, which is why he's not into Rulue (even if she tries really hard to fit said image). Interestingly, he actually shows brief curiosity when Rulue claims she could act more like a Yamato Nadeshiko, but instantly drops it once Rulue's speech devolves into committing all sorts of brutalities.
• Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Much of his antagonism involves grandiose gestures meant to impress Arle. He is also completely delusional about her lack of affection for him; he thinks she is playing hard to get, while she really just doesn't want anything to do with him at all.
• Theme Naming: Disaster, Juggernaut, Catastrophe, Cataclysm, and Ascension. Sun also had Punish, Darkness, and Tempest. Official English translations roll with this theme by having Juggernaut and Catastrophe become Calamity and Devastation.
  • His console Yo~n incarnation is themed around the circus: Showtime, Pantomime, Beast Show, Mirror Magic, Illusion, and "Circus!"
  • And his handheld Yo~n incarnation is (mostly) themed around natural disasters: Typhoon, Snow Slide, Thunderbolt, Volcano, Devil Twister, and Satan Cross.
• This Cannot Be!: His defeat quote in 15th. Although not spoken, his defeat portrait in the first game has him babbling in disbelief.
• Too Funny to Be Evil: There's not many moments (if any) where he's to be taken seriously.
  • SUN: Increasing the sun's size for an endless summer.
  • Minna De Puyo: Tore up a ticket for two for a hotspring clinic and created runes out of it. He tricked Arle into collecting these runes to rescue Carbuncle.
  • Puyo Tetris: Thinking to himself out loud about his ideal honeymoon with Arle didn't exactly win him any points to be taken seriously either...
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Surprisingly, this happened after Sega took hold of the series. Now granted, this was after he Took a Level in Kindness during the late Compile era, where he was a pathetic Harmless Villain (or even an Anti-Hero in some cases) that no one took seriously (most notably in SUN). While Sega flanderized his Stalker with a Crush tendencies into oblivion, he was also given back more traditionally demonic flaws, like arrogance and wrathfulness, and became more antagonistic towards other people not named Arle in general. Even Arle isn't immune to it, with a wrathful Dark Prince threatening to crush her underneath a excess of Nuisance Puyo in 15th, just for turning him down again.
• Trapped in Another World: He ends up getting thrown into historic Japan in Arle's Travel Log, alongside Arle and Carbuncle due to the latter warping space-time. Thankfully the trio does find a way back home.
• True Final Boss:
  • If you manage to find the three legendary accessories in the Megadrive version of Madou Monogatari I, you'll fight a shadow version of him after he curb-stomps Camus.
  • His Masked Prince persona in Tsu. If you score at least 180000 points and reach the final stage without using any continues, you fight him "instead" of Dark Prince. Alternatively, you can fight him by failing to score 15000 points while trying to defeat all 8 opponents in the first floor, which is far, far easier said than done unless you are using customized rules.
  • He's the final opponent in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2's Chapter EX, which takes place after the main story.
• The Unfought: While he turns out to be the real Big Bad in the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari III, the Dark Prince winds up being a Cutscene Boss.
• Villain Decay: He was not afraid of hurting Arle in his Madou Monogatari II debut, if only because he didn't want anyone to steal Carbuncle from him. Even Schezo, who was the Big Bad of that game, recognized him as a big threat. Afterwards, he became Arle's Hopeless Suitor and a Manchild in general.
• Villainous Breakdown: In Sun, for wholly comedic reasons. The reason? Schezo burns a bald spot on his noggin.
  Dark Prince: Ahh! A bald spot!? The dark wizard made my head bald! (Sobbing)
• Villainous Crush: On Arle. Why? According to official Compile sources (e.g. stated by Dark Prince himself in Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon), the reason Dark Prince is so determined to marry Arle is because Carbuncle is with her. The full explanation: Before meeting her, Dark Prince had already decided that, once he found his "queen", he would give her that which he treasures the most — Carbuncle — as proof of his love. Of course, since Carbuncle voluntarily chose a specific girl, Dark Prince doesn't even consider other options! This is also why Rulue often tried to steal Carbuncle from Arle in order to get Dark Prince's love. Other materials from Compile imply that Arle is his dead wife's reincarnation, which adds a tragic level to the otherwise comedic interactions between them.
• Villains Out Shopping: Dark Prince in his Hawaiian shirt trying to have fun and get a good tan by enlarging the sun in Sun. Just watch the intro here...
• Visual Pun: His Yo~n super attack, Satan Cross, clears Puyos in a cross-shaped section.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Played for Laughs. He wants to marry Arle, but constantly resorts to ridiculous methods to achieve that.
• Who's Laughing Now?: He gets a rare last laugh in Schezo's story in Sun. After the latter ruins his sun enhancing tech and scorches a bald spot on his head, he catches him from behind and gives him an offscreen beatdown.
• With Friends Like These...: Despite being friends with Arle and the rest of the major Madou-era Puyo cast, most interactions with them results in them arguing and fighting. He more or less tries to avoid this with Arle and Carbuncle, but they still don't completely enjoy his company.
• Yandere: Actually threatens to bury Arle in Puyo for refusing his marriage proposal in 15th. He's also likely to attack people who mention Arle's name, under the belief that they might be looking to give her "wrong ideas".
  • In Madou Monogatari II he, under the impression that Carbuncle's life may be in danger, makes a legitimate effort to kill Arle...all while expressing his love for her.
• You Fool!: His second shout in the localizations of the Tetris games.
• Your Costume Needs Work: Called out by Klug in his own story for 15th, claiming that the Dark Prince is just a cosplayer. He didn't take kindly to that slight.

Draco Centauros

Draco Centauros

Character Color: Green

First Appearance: Madou Monogatari II

Voiced by: Yuko Mizutani (Puyo Puyo CD), Ayame Kizuki (Puyo Puyo SUN), Tomoko Miura (Puyo Puyo~n), Kaori Nazuka (Puyo Puyo 7 onwards), Wendee Lee (English, Puyo Puyo Tetris onwards)

No way!! Not only did I lose, but...you're telling me there's no beauty contest here??

A dragon girl who is obsessed with beauty contests, despite her rather boyish looks. She is constantly challenging Arle to beauty contests, whether provoked or otherwise, creating a one-sided rivalry. Despite this she's somewhat of a ditz, constantly mixing up Puyo battles with beauty contests and being infamous for having very weak Puyo skills. But this is all offset by her being deceptively effective at martial arts, in particular being prolific in devastating punches.

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• Abhorrent Admirer: In the Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon manga she's one to Rulue.
• A-Cup Angst: Occasionally brought up in Compile-era comics, such as getting offended when she realizes Arle has a larger bust size or stuffing her chest with Puyos.
• Adaptational Sexuality: In the games, her sexuality isn't elaborated on, being straight due to her supposed crush with Dark Prince at best. In the Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon manga series, she instead has a one sided crush on Rulue, going so far as to openly propose to her.
• A Kind of One: There are in fact multiple Draco Centauros, as shown when they all make up the members of Dark Prince's fan club. They're all still named Draco.
• Animal Eyes: Has reptile-like eyes in her Tsu portrait and on the back cover of Rulue no Roux.
• Anime Chinese Girl: Downplayed. She only dresses the part and does the martial arts; her name is blatantly not Chinese-sounding at all.
• Artificial Stupidity: Generally the case in the series, despite the rare inversion. It's most notable in 7, where her AI is by far the weakest in the game, never fast dropping or making chains beyond 2, and the only one unchanged by Core AI. In 20th, she never rotates her Puyos.
• Beauty Contests: Her fascination with them is her defining trait; for example, the only reason she accompanied Arle at all in her quest to find Carbuncle in Yo~n was because she thought Dark Prince was hosting a beauty contest. By 20th, it has gotten so bad that she mistakes a Puyo match (which, remember, is Serious Business) for a beauty contest. However, it is somewhat justified in Saturn Madou, where competing in beauty contests is how she makes a living.
• Berserk Button: She doesn't like her horns being pointed out in Madou Monogatari: Big Kindergarten Kids.
• Big Eater: Implied in the Sega games, as she constantly talks about being hungry or wanting to eat in cutscenes from 20th and Tetris.
• Breakout Mook Character: She was originally a generic enemy in Madou Monogatari 1-2-3, but later became a prominent character in both Puyo Puyo and Madou Monogatari.
• Butt-Monkey: In the Sega games, she's almost always the target of jokes. Her weak Puyo skills are Flanderized to the point that she's a Joke Character, her campaign in 20th is a "Shaggy Dog" Story where she gets abused several times, and Tetris has her getting lost in space and being treated as the beast in a stage play without her knowing.
• Characterization Marches On:
  • Amusingly, her original Establishing Character Moment is denying that she wanted a beauty contest. She first challenged Arle to a beauty contest in the SEGA Saturn version of Tsu and it was downhill from there.
  • While there was always an element of ditziness to her character, and she was a Butt-Monkey in her Sun story, Sega decided to play up both traits until they consume her characterization. This came at the expense of her tomboyish traits, martial arts mastery aside.
• Cool Big Sis: Viewed as this by Lidelle, even though they're not related.
• Cute Monster Girl: Emphasized in the first game's Mega Drive manual, where the Lemony Narrator lists off her appealing qualities (including her good looks and horns), and then laments that her lengthy thinking times leads everyone to believe that she's a third-rate monster.
• Cute Little Fangs: Became prominent in her Sega design, to the point that her CharaGumin model page specifically claims that this is one of her charming points.
• Damsel in Distress:
  • She and Witch were both captured and chained up by Incubus in Saturn Madou.
  • Played for Laughs in Puyo Puyo Tetris. She fantasizes that she would be cute as a damsel in distress while being lost in space, but gets upset when no one is around to see her be so adorable.
• Darker and Edgier: Her incarnation in Yo~n. Her feminine qualities are downplayed, instead focusing on her combat abilities to the point she wouldn't be out of place in a fighting game. "Beast Draco" in Box also uses the outfit Draco used in Yo~n, but takes it a step further by giving Draco a darker color palette.
• A Day in the Limelight: Becomes the main character of Sun's Easy course, making her the only Madou Monogatari Mook to star in a mainline game. Unfortunately for her, she returns to her original status as a Warmup Boss the very moment that her story finishes.
• Depending on the Artist: The size and color of Draco's wings. From Madou Monogatari 1-2-3 to Puyo Puyo Sun, she has giant red wings. As part of her Yo~n redesign, she is given small green wings. She is given giant brown wings in 7, and her design as of 20th returns to small green wings.
• Divergent Character Evolution: Draco uses Lidelle's Fever rule dropset and stats in 7; in 20th Anniversary, she receives a new dropset while Lidelle retains hers.
• Draconic Humanoid: A humanoid girl with dragon horns, wings, and a tail.
• Dragon Lady: In Compile-era Puyo games when she is a villain, she gives off this vibe, wearing the qipao and being quite physically aggressive, seemingly knowing martial arts. In the Sega era this is averted as she's far too ditzy to qualify.
• Dub Name Change: "Dragon Woman" in the English arcade translation.
• Embarrassingly Painful Sunburn: She gets roasted at the end of her story in Sun and lands in Arle's story with one of these.
• Establishing Character Moment: In her reintroduction to the series via Puyo Puyo 7, Sega establishes their take on Draco by having her be lured to Loch Ness by Dark Arle on the promise of a beauty contest, then battling the player with AI only matched in Artificial Stupidity by that of Skeleton-T.
• Fangirl: In Madou Monogatari: Hanamaru Dai Youchienji, she runs a Dark Prince-fanclub. In his own house. Apparently the only members are other Dracos.
• Fake Boobs: Some official Compile comics depict Draco stuffing her bra with Puyo.
• Fanservice: Just about every shot of her in her swimwear in Sun, her ending being the most blatant. Sun's manual more or less admits that this is the purpose of her story.
• Freakiness Shame: Save for the time in Madou Monogatari: Big Kindergarten Kids, where a little Arle points them out and upsets her, it's averted, big time. She's quite proud of her draconic features, going so far as to say her horns are cool when Lidelle tried to ask her about them. To quote Draco in the international version of Minna...
  Draco: "Beauty queens are soooo passé. Girls with big horns are the big thing now."
• Girly Bruiser: Zigzags between this and Tomboy with a Girly Streak, with Sega's take and Yo~n's take serving as polar opposite ends of the spectrum.
• Graceful Loser: She takes her loss to Arle rather gracefully in Minna, and happily gives Arle the rune that she found as a prize.
• Ground Punch: Dynasonic in 20th Anniversary
• Horned Humanoid: By virtue of being part-dragon.
• Informed Attribute:
  • Draco's crush on Dark Prince. The only time it's brought up is in Madou Monogatari Big Kindergarten Kids, and is completely ignored in every other game.
  • Inverted with her martial arts. She clearly has some degree of fighting knowledge, but this is never actually elaborated on.
• Irony: She often wears Chinese-inspired clothing, yet her design is based on European dragons.
• Jerkass Ball: She has a handful of inexplicable cruel moments, such as blowing fire on Skeleton-T's teapot in Sun and destroying Rulue's soup in her 20th story.
• Joke Character: Became this when she came back in 7, which is also the most extreme case of this, since her inability to manually drop her Puyo (even with Core AI enabled) actually makes her WEAKER than Skeleton-T of all people, who is also in the game and fares better then her.
• King Mook: Super Draco Centauros in Madou Monogatari III.
• Kiss of Death: Part of her attacks in Sun and Yo~n.
• Lady Looks Like a Dude: Downplayed, but according to Tsu, she has sometimes been mistaken for a boy due to her Boyish Short Hair and occasional Tomboy tendencies.
• Leitmotif: "Rival Battle!" in 20th. Also a Bootstrapped Leitmotif, since the theme debuted as the Rival/Vs. Mode BGM in Sun.
• A Lizard Named "Liz": A dragon woman named Draco.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Her polarizing dropset from 20th onward. The first half of her dropset are basic paired Puyos, while the second half is filled with all the other Puyo types. This means that she can somewhat mimic the strategies of both Arle and Carbuncle on the same dropset.
• Mighty Roar: Attempts one in her strongest Yo~n attack. There's also "Dragon Woman's" GAAAAAOOOOOH!.
• Narcissist: Comes across this way in the first game. Unlike most character traits established in the first game, the sequels actually tone this down...slightly.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Helps Harpy in Sun and gets "rewarded" with a song of gratitude. Why the quotes? Harpy can't sing.
• No-Respect Guy: In the Sega-era games, she seems to be becoming this (if she isn't already). For example, 20th has Arle almost completely forget who Draco was for a brief moment, despite the fact that she's known her for so long. Obviously, this didn't exactly sit well with Draco.
• No Sense of Direction: She couldn't tell the difference between East and West in her story in 20th.
• Non-Indicative Name: Aside from the fact that Draco is a Half-Human Hybrid, she has nothing in common with centaurs.
• Our Dragons Are Different: A Half-Human Hybrid Cute Monster Girl dragon who obsesses over beauty contests and can beat you down with her fists.
• Out-of-Character Moment: At least that's what Arle thought when Draco didn't challenge her to a beauty contest.
  Arle: "...Right. Now go back to bed and let me give you your medicine."
• Palette Swap: "Beast Draco", who only appears in Box's Scramble mode. She was presumably created solely to give Draco three forms like Arle, Schezo, Witch, Kikimora, and Dark Prince.
• Playing with Fire: As one might expect from a dragon. In addition to her fire-breathing techniques (Fire Breath and Burning Breath), she can use fire to power up her physical attacks (Great Fire).
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Draco Special in the newer games. Dynasonic in 7.
• The Rival: A rivalry that's mostly about beauty contests and entirely one-sided.
• Same Character, But Different: The Draco Centauros in the Compile games has virtually no similarities to her Sega incarnation besides an interest in martial arts and love of beauty contests. Perhaps she's a different Draco Centauros?
• Second Place Is for Losers: Despite her competitive nature, this is averted in Puyo Puyo Tetris, when upon getting second place in Party mode, she'll say "Second's not so bad." (Ai says the same thing, but he doesn't seem like the type to be a Sore Loser.)
• Sexy Backless Outfit: In Puyo Puyo~n.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: In 20th, she went through a lot of hell getting to the beach with an "amazing swimsuit", ranging from falling down a cliff, getting shoved into river rapids, and taking a wrong turn. The said swimsuit, however, is a men's swimsuit and is swiped by Suketoudara.
• Ship Tease: There exists official art of her and Harpy holding each other. What's interesting about this is that this specific pairing has never been seen anywhere else.
• Shoryuken: Draco Upper from her Puyo Puyo~n attacks. Yep, a dragon performs a Dragon Punch.
• Shout-Out: In addition to the above trope, her heavy damage phrase ("Otegami choudai!", roughly "Fan letters, please!") references the Terrible Trios from the Time Bokan series. (Since this obviously wouldn't carry over too well to a western audience, this was changed to "Why me!?" come Tetris's English localization.)
• Signature Roar: Does a girlish dragon's growl ("Gao!") whenever she is angry or frustrated.
• Spell My Name With An S: The Compile-era games used any combination of Draco/Doraco and Centaur/Centauros. Sega initially went with Draco-Centaur, based on the English version of Minna and merchandise such as the aforementioned CharaGumin, but the fandom stuck with name that the first arcade game went with and Sega America followed suit in Puyo Puyo Tetris.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Beast Draco from several older Puyo games, a more aggressive Palette Swap who comes with stronger AI.
• Tail Slap: Draco Tail from her Puyo Puyo~n attacks.
• Tomboy: Her incarnation in Yo~n is by far the most blatant example, while other games downplay it.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: More prominently from Tetris onwards, where they have started sharing appearances in stories, she's the tomboy to Witch's girly girl.
• Took a Level in Badass: She went from the first (Normal) boss in the original game to sitting on the penultimate floor with Minotauros in Tsu; additionally, the versions of Tsu that contain Expert mode and use Super Puyo Puyo Tsu Remix's character order place her right below Rulue and the two incarnations of Dark Prince. Undone in Sun, where she returns to Warmup Boss status.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: After Sega's takeover of the franchise, Draco's intelligence went from ranging between plain average and below average to genuinely stupid.
• Trash Talk: She actually does not have a Spell Theme in Sun; instead, she does a lot of boasting and taunting.
• Warmup Boss: In the first arcade game and Sun. Her AI in the Sega games is based on her original AI as opposed to her stronger AI in Tsu, Yo~n, and Minna.
• Weight Woe: Implied with her different bios, with both her weight and hip sizes never being specified. It's also interesting to note that her default power in Pocket Puyo Puyo~n is named "Diet," which could be another subtle reference to this.
• White Flag: Pulls one out in her Sega-era defeat animations.
• Winged Humanoid: Again, in regards to being part-dragon.
• With Friends Like These...: Despite Draco and Witch supposedly being friends (most promotional material covering the entire cast will more likely than not pair the two together), almost every interaction between them results in them arguing and fighting. Going by her interactions with them, the same can be also be attributed to the rest of the major Madou-era Puyo cast more often than not, for that matter.
• You Fool!: Dragon Woman calls Silvana a "brave fool" in the English arcade game.

Puyos

Puyos

First Appearance: Madou Monogatari I

Puyopuyo!

The titular slimes themselves. Puyos are mysterious creatures that are seemingly everywhere and in endless supplies. On their own, they're nothing special, but when 4 or more of the same color combine, they pop. This quirk can be taken advantage by magic users to amplify their power, hence why they're commonly used in matches in the Puyo Puyo universe.

Naturally, Puyos are extremely prolific to the series, appearing in every single game and being commonly used for promotional purposes.

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• Adaptational Badass: Normally, the Puyos are depicted as utterly pathetic. In the Tottemo! Puyo Puyo manga series, however, they actively help Arle by acting like different stuff such as stairs, bridges, and springs.
• Boob-Based Gag: In Compile-era manga, Puyos are sometimes associated with breasts for comedy, either from characters stuffing their chest with Puyos or large breasts being used as an analogy for Puyos.
• Breakout Mook Character: Subverted. Despite being the namesake of the franchise, Puyo are still fodder that end up getting obliterated by the dozens.
• The Chew Toy: Their entire existence is to be wiped out by hundreds. Even in cutscenes, they aren't safe from abuse.
• Combat Sadomasochist: A novel indicates that their greatest wish is to have fun in Puyo battles. The same Puyo battles that kill them en masse.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: With each color being associated with their respective shape and expression. The colors of the Puyo also spread throughout the cast, with each of them being associated with a particular color of Puyo, particularly in Quest. In Chronicle and Tetris 2's Skill Battle mode, the colored Puyo that fall will always match up with your team's colors, stopping players from using skills to add more colors than usual.
• Cosmetic Award: Starting with 15th, players have the option to unlock additional skins which change how the Puyos look.
• Chromatic Arrangement: The three core colors are green, blue, and red.
• Divergent Character Evolution: Each colored Puyo was originally a simple Palette Swap of each other, but as time went on, they would gain different shapes and expressions to differentiate themselves, the latter first becoming an attribute in Sun. Justified from a gameplay standpoint, since these changes help make them easier to identify for colorblind players, and for those playing on devices which aren't in color (such as the GameBoy, or a Switch with the greyscale setting on).
• Expy: Of the Slime enemies from Dragon Quest.
• Flat Character: Aside from their facial expressions, what did you expect from your typical slime-based mook?
• The Goomba: Green Puyos are always the first type of Puyo encountered in the RPGs. They lack any special characteristics and can be beaten with just a few attacks. Some games such as Madou Monogatari I and Madou Monogatari Saturn take it a step further, where one of its "attacks" is effectively killing itself by combining with 3 other Puyos and popping.
• Helpful Mook: Green Puyos in Madou Monogatari Saturn will occasionally heal the party, then run off.
• Kill It with Ice: In every game that Puyos are enemies, the green ones are weak to ice magic. The red Puyos and blue Puyos in Madou Monogatari Saturn are also vulnerable to ice magic, the former to distinguish them if they're set on fire and the latter to freeze them.
• Law of Chromatic Superiority:
  • In the context of the Madou Monogatari series, you usually encounter them in the following order of weakest to strongest: green, red, blue, yellow, purple.
  • In the Puyo games themselves, this is zig-zagged. Certain modes and games use a "color randomizer" which causes all of them to appear equally even in modes or difficulties where all 5 don't appear, which averts this trope. Other games and modes follow this order: red, blue, and green for 3 color, then yellow for 4 color, and purple only appearing in 5 color. Certain modes outright cause the purple Puyo to not appear.
• Literally Shattered Lives: Possible in the Windows Madou games. If a Puyo is defeated while frozen, they'll shatter into ice chunks.
• Mythology Gag: In the Sega games, how the Puyo move changes between different modes. Normally Puyo squish and fall smoothly, but for modes that throw back to classic rules like from the original Puyo Puyo or Tsu, the Puyo will move in a much more jerky fashion to mimic the older games. This was actually done prior (but in reverse) by Box, with the game breaking its Retraux aesthetic whenever Yo~n rule is selected to mimic its animation quirks.
  • Madou Monogatari Saturn and the Mega Drive remake of Madou Monogatari I have green Puyo as one of the first random encounters, and one of their "attacks" summons up to three extra green Puyo that drop in on top of it. While two or three Puyo maybe hard to deal with early in the game, You all know what happens when four Puyo of the same colour touch each other.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: Iron Puyo in the Nazo Puyo games are completely invincible, serving as essentially a block that's effected by gravity. Subverted in Pocket Puyo Puyo~n, when they're destroyed by eliminating a large number of Puyo in a single clear.
• Pink Means Feminine: In "Madou Card", a pack-in card game in Madou Monogatari 1-2-3, there's a pink, feminine-looking Puyo as one of the five Puyo cards in the deck.
• Pokémon Speak: They only say, you guessed, "puyo" if they ever have a voiced role.
• Planet of Hats: Downplayed, but present, with Primp Town. While in the Madou World Puyos are only a minor mook enemy that happens to be useful to fight Puyo battles, in Primp Town (which is implied to have been practicing Puyo battles as a sport for much longer than any place in the Madou World), Puyos are an integral part of the local culture, being the subject of architecture, cuisine, literature, and, according to Fever 2 even holidays and religion.
• Playing with Fire: The red Puyos in Madou Monogatari Saturn are immune to fire attacks. Hitting them with fire magic instead catches them on fire and makes them stronger.
• Retraux: Several skins for Puyo would reference older games, including a skin similar to the style of the first two arcade games, a skin referencing the Game Gear ports, and a skin that references the "human" alternate skin from the MSX/Famicom Puyo Puyo game.
• Shout-Out: Several skins starting with 15th would reference other Sega franchises, including Sonic the Hedgehog and Space Channel 5.
• Series Mascot: The green Puyo has arguably usurped Carbuncle for this status in more recent games.
• Sixth Ranger:
  • The teal/grey Puyo from the MSX/Famicom Puyo Puyo. Prototype footage and unused data suggests this Puyo was going to return for the Mega Drive port of Puyo Puyo.
  • "Chu" Puyo in Fever 2, which is a pink Puyo that resembles lips.
• Spell My Name With An S: Technically, they were originally called "Puyopuyo" in the earlier titles. It was later shortened to simply "Puyo" starting with Yo~n.
• The Dog Bites Back: In the intro to SUN, after Ragnus defeats several Puyos and levels up, he shrinks back down and the Puyos strike back in numbers.
• This Is Gonna Suck: In Tsu during one of Scylla's cutscenes, Arle pulls out a green Puyo and challenges her to a match, but then the green Puyo starts crying.
• The Voiceless: Zig zagged. In Madou Monogatari it's averted, while in Puyo Puyo it's played straight outside of the first game's Title Scream.

Rulue

Rulue

Character Color: Red

First Appearance: Madou Monogatari III

Voiced by: Shiori Nakaishi (Madou Monogatari A-R-S), Yumi Touma (Puyo Puyo CD), Sarukaikai (Puyo Puyo SUN arcade/Saturn), Noa Asagi (Puyo Puyo SUN N64/PSX/PC, Discstation Shorts), Chizuko Hoshino (Puyo Puyo~n), Kanako Kondo (15th Anniversary onwards), Kira Buckland (English, Puyo Puyo Tetris onwards)

Stage Actor: Mika Kikuchi

I am Rulue, the Fighting Queen! I live without equal for love, beauty, and fists... And I am the future wife of my darling Satan! Don't you forget it!

The self-proclaimed "Fighting Queen", Rulue is a beautiful young woman that, true to her title, is an expert at hand-to-hand combat. Her powerful punches and kicks compensates for having weak to non-existent magic, contrasting the majority of the cast. A notable trait is her obsession with marrying Dark Prince. Madou Monogatari ARS reveals that her obsession stems from Dark Prince rescuing her in the past, and since then, she has been determined to become stronger so she could one day marry him. Despite this, her approaches have constantly been shot down, causing her to become increasingly frustrated. Dark Prince's strong obsession with Arle in particular is a sour spot for her, creating one of Arle's most persistent rivals in the process.

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• Abhorrent Admirer: Dark Prince is mostly annoyed by her presence. In fact, he might be scared of Rulue due to her physical prowess.
• Adaptational Modesty: Flash Attack Rulue in Quest is really just Rulue wearing her outfit from Yo~n, but with the Fanservicey bits removed per Sega's Lighter and Softer standards. Her red tube-top bra has been resized to the point that all traces of her originally somewhat-exposed cleavage have been covered up. She also now wears a long white shirt with the outfit that now covers up her originally exposed midriff, and her dress has more added to the waist to conceal the sides of her hips and butt.
• All Amazons Want Hercules: According to some of her bios, one of Rulue's primary preferences in a man include someone who can actually keep up with her in battle. Aside from the Rescue Romance that sparked her adoration for him, this is implied to be yet another reason why she is so infatuated with Dark Prince.
• All Is Well That Ends Well: Despite being Arle's rival for Dark Prince's affections, she occasionally acts as something of a good friend to her as well. This is far more prevalent in Madou Monogatari than in Puyo Puyo.
• Alpha Bitch: She's rich, she's haughty and she's ready to ruin the lives of those that stand between her and Dark Prince.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: A non-romantic example, as seen in Madou Monogatari: The Final Test. Despite usually being at each other's throats, Rulue was quite shaken by Schezo's "death". Just before Arle's rematch with the Phantom God, Rulue gives her a pep talk that can bascially be summed up as reminding Arle to remember Schezo's "sacfrice", and use that as her power. Similar to Arle, Rulue even goes as far as to state that Schezo may have been a 'total perv', but she would never have wished death upon him. All in all, this is a bit more notable on Rulue's part as she and Schezo rarely (if ever) have many amicable moments together. Compared to Arle and Schezo, at least.
• Badass Adorable: On the various occasions that she gets aged down, Rulue shows that even as a little girl, she isn't any less capable of defending herself. Most notable in her story in Madou Monogatari ARS, where she beats down on various enemies with her bare fists (and feet) while aged down into a 6 year-old (from 16).
• Badass in Distress: Kidnapped by the Count in Madou Monogatari ARS.
• Badass Normal: She lacks the same magic powers as a lot of the cast, but to compensate, her powerful punches and kicks makes her still one of the more formidable individuals in the series.
• Bad Boss: Despite working for her quite faithfully, Rulue subjects her bodyguard Minotauros to many different forms of belittling and outright abuse.
• The Beautiful Elite: Not only is she quite the looker, she also owns a rather vast fortune.
• Berserk Button:
  • Easily angered by Arle or Schezo talking about Dark Prince. This gets exploited by them in Tetris to break her out of her mind-controlled state.
  • In 15th, she gets irritated if she's not addressed as a "queen" or equivalent. In particular, she gets really furious when Ocean Prince tried to convince her to become his maidservant.
• Big Bad: Due to being the one who instigated the search for the White Wishing Puyo, she can be considered this for Puyo Puyo On Stage.
• Birds of a Feather: 20th onwards she's close friends with Raffina, a girl from Primp Town who shares the magical ineptitude as well as many interests with Rulue.
• Blush Sticker: Prominent in her Sega design from 15th onward. It reinforces her lovestruck characterization.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Twice. Once in Saturn Madou due to a Yog's influence, then in Tetris due to the merging of the worlds.
• Carnivore Confusion: Her favorite food is beef... yet her servant is a bull. Played for Laughs in the short "Rulue's Boots", where Rulue demands Minotauros makes her boots from the finest leather and he makes them from his own skin.
• Characterization Marches On: During Compile's run, the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari III (as well as some official Compile-era comics) feature her beating the crap out of the Dark Prince for manipulating her/deeply offending her. As of Sega's run, it's near-unthinkable to expect Rulue to harm even one hair on the Dark Prince's head.
• Chocolate of Romance: As Lovestruck Rulue, having a box of homemade chocolates for Dark Prince. Let us remind you that she can't cook.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Explicitly has no magical prowess, yet is naturally strong enough to go head to head with all sorts of magical rivals.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Detests anyone who shows interest in Dark Prince (or holds his interest in the first place, like Arle). Rulue doesn't take it well when Ally declares that she also wants to love Dark Prince in Amitie and the Girl of Love
• Combat Hand Fan: The red one she's always carrying around, often used in some of her fighting moves.
• Covert Pervert: Somewhat implied during 20th, while yet again declaring her undying love for Dark Prince in the ending of her own story. Once she begins describing to Dark Prince just what her dream life would be like with her as his wife, her speech begins to delve into them doing very... suggestive acts together such as her giving him a bubble bath, causing Dark Prince to react in shock.
• Cute Little Fangs: In earlier games, she bares those whenever she is defeated or otherwise upset by Arle.
• Damsel out of Distress: This is how she starts out in Madou Monogatari ARS. Once she figures out she's been kidnapped, she takes the opportunity to escape after knocking out the Count's butler.
• Dance Battler: In ARS, Rulue has access to the Burning Dance and Sleep Dance techniques, both of which serve as her stand-ins for Arle's Bayoen and Hiidon spells.
• Dark Action Girl: Introduced as an antagonist in Madou Monogatari III.
• A Day in the Limelight: Has her own scenario in Super Nazo Puyo: Rulue no Roux (and replaces Doppleganger Arle as the final boss in the game's Arle no Roux remake), is the main character of Super Nazo Puyo Tsu, and stars in a Windows Discstation game titled Rulue's Spring Break of Fists.
• Demoted to Extra: Rulue was a major protagonist during Compile's run, getting her own games and frequent major roles in other titles, such as Waku Waku Puyo Dungeon, Madou Monogatari ARS or Super Nazo Puyo: Rulue no Roux. Meanwhile, Sega's games have largely relegated her to being nothing more than yet another member of the supporting cast, and she doesn't even receive the occasional starring role that Schezo (outside of the Anniversary titles) gets.
• The Dragon: In any games or storylines where Dark Prince ends up being the Final Boss, expect her to be the penultimate challenge.
• Driven by Envy: Aside from the fact that Dark Prince is quite taken with Arle, she's also particularly jealous of her magical abilities.
• Dub Name Change: Named "Lulu" in the English arcade translation. Possibly a case of Spell My Name With An S, since her initials on the first game's default high score table are "LUL".
• Early-Installment Weirdness: She was a Non-Action Big Bad in Madou Monogatari III, with her combat skills being an Informed Attribute at best. In the context of the Puyo games, she is more than capable of casting spells in Puyo Puyo CD. Given that the first game's Excuse Plot claims that Puyo Puyo is essentially a Wizard Duel, it would be strange if she couldn't.
• Enemy Mine: Despite her rivalry with Arle and Schezo, she does occasionally team up with them for a common goal. This is most apparent in Madou Monogatari Saturn, where she teams up with Arle to destroy the Yogs influence.
• Fangirl: For Dark Prince.
• Final Boss: Of the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari III, as well as Arle's story in Super Nazo Puyo and both Daimadou Senryaku Monogatari games.
• Foil: To Arle. Arle is the Nice Girl, a tomboy, specializes in magic, has no interest in Dark Prince, and treats Carbuncle like her best friend. Rulue is a Jerkass, prim and proper, specializes in martial arts, obsesses over Dark Prince, and often treats Minotaur like a slave or punching bag. This is lampshaded in the manual for Super Nazo Puyo via a Funny Background Event. The pages for Arle shows everyone having a fun time, while Rulue's by contrast shows the characters being injured or scared.
• Fountain of Youth: In ARS, Rulue sleeps in a magic bed that ends up giving her the ability to age up or down from 16 years old to 6 years old and vice-versa. This is used to help her fit into various areas of the Count's castle that she normally wouldn't be able to traverse when in her 16 year-old body.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Played for Laughs in old Compile art where in Arle's presence everyone is happy and having a good time, while when Rulue's around everyone is beaten up and upset.
• The Gadfly: In Puyo Puyo On Stage, every character is led on a search for the legendary White Wishing Puyo, which turns out to not even be real. In reality, it's simply a red Puyo painted white by none other than (in an act not like her usual behavior) Rulue, who just wanted to mess with Arle. When the rest of the cast asks her what her end goal even was, she simply replies that 'it seemed like a good idea at the time'.
• Gameplay and Story Integration:
  • It's constantly emphasized that she loves Dark Prince, to the point that there's implications of stalking. She's normally fought right before Dark Prince in many of the games.
  • Her weak magic is reflected in her more limiting spell options in Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon and Saturn Madou, as mentioned below.
  • As mentioned above, Rulue (after sleeping in a magic bed) gains the ability to age up and down from 16 years old to 6 years old and vice-versa, which she uses to help her fit into various areas of the Count's castle that she normally wouldn't be able to traverse when in her 16 year-old body during the events of her story in ARS.
• The Ghost: In Madou Monogatari II. Arle finds letters written by Rulue all through Lyla's Ruins and can (only in the Game Gear version) overhear a confrontation between her and Schezo, but never encounters Rulue directly.
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Occasionally seen with a Dark Prince plushie, and in 20th Rulue mentions that she often sleeps with it. In the same game, she also mistakes Risukuma for a stuffed animal and starts talking to him in an affectionate way.
• Girly Bruiser: She's an Ojou who practices martial arts.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: She is very feminine, but will not hesitate to beat people up with her bare fists.
• Good Is Not Nice: Is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold at best, but is still firmly on the side of good. You know Dark Prince's plans have gone beyond awry when even she's willing (albeit reluctantly) to call him out on them.
• Green-Eyed Monster: She's often motivated by jealousy against Arle, either due to having the Dark Prince's attention or because Arle has magical talent she will never possess. In the short "Rulue's Boots" she even violates her preference for being barefoot to wear a nice pair of boots because Arle recently got a new pair.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Even ignoring her Berserk Button mentioned above, she has a habit of easily getting violently mad whenever she's provoked. This probably most obvious in the Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon manga, where roughly 50% of the time she's enraged for various reasons.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Her outfit in DA! is entirely made out of leather.
• Hidden Depths:
  • As much as she harasses Arle, Rulue doesn't necessarily hold any negative feelings towards her on a personal level, admitting this to Amitie in Satan's Space Amusement Park. If nothing else, she actually rather respects Arle and only really dislikes her for the sole fact that she's the one obstacle standing in her way of getting to be Dark Prince's lover.
  • According to her bio from ARS, she's apparently a rather good belly dancer. As mentioned above, this ends up coming into play in ARS, where she has two dances: Burning Dance and Sleep Dance, both of which serve as her stand-ins for Arle's Bayoen and Hiidon spells, respectively.
  • In 20th, Rulue makes it clear that Raffina's use of her magical pouch artifact does not make her any less of a martial artist in her eyes, as Raffina had earned her skills and techniques through hard work and training. All the pouch does is to turn those martial techniques into usable offensive magic and amplify them.
• High-Class Fan: Frequently has a fancy fan in her hand as a prop, fitting for a Ojou who is the self-proclaimed "Fighting Queen".
• Ignored Enamored Underling: When she's actually helping with Dark Prince's schemes, otherwise it's just Mad Love.
• Insane Troll Logic: How was Rulue able to deduce for certain that she was kidnapped by the Count in Madou Monogatari ARS? Apparently, the room she woke up in was "way too tacky" for someone of her caliber to willingly spend an extensive amount of time in.
• Invisible Parents: In a sense. It's said that her parents were always extremely busy, leaving Rulue's grandmother and butler as some of the few people resembling parental figures in her life.
• Iron Butt Monkey: In a somewhat rare occurrence, Rulue ends being subjected to this trope during her off-screen trek through Lyra's Ruins in the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari II. She frequently runs into traps, with Arle finding torn pieces of her dress and can be overheard falling into pitfalls or getting blown up by several mines. None of this keeps her down for long.
• Irony: Her favorite food according to DA! is beef, yet her servant is a bull...
• I Shall Taunt You: One of her default spells in Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon is to force any enemies in the room to attack her by boastfully laughing.
• Japanese Pronouns: Uses the ultra-formal watakushi to refer to herself.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's bossy, short-tempered, and selfish, but she has occasionally been shown to have a nicer side. For example, she secretly respects Arle despite their rivalry, and when Minotauros pulls a Heroic Sacrifice in Saturn Madou, she shows genuine concern over him. In 20th, she encourages a despondent Raffina by telling her she has legitimate skills, and that there is no shame in using her pouch artifact as it is merely a magic converter/amplifier for her own existing skills and techniques.
• Kamehame Hadouken: One of her many martial arts techniques and how she primarily keeps up with ranged magic users in combat.
• Kick Chick: Her focus on kicks began with Yo~n.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Literal ass-kicking, no less.
• Leitmotif:
  • During the Compile era, her starting theme from Madou Monogatari ARS "The Elegant and Graceful Rulue" was considered her Leitmotif.
  • "Combat Queen Rulue!" in 15th. Unlike other characters, this is the one she sings in her vocal track, as opposed to her theme from 20th.
  • 20th gives her "Supreme Fighting Queen in Love".
    • Bootstrapped Leitmotif: Inverted. Both of her themes would later be used for the multiplayer feature in Quest, specifically "The Loving Strongest Fighting Queen" for normal battles and "Combat Queen Rulue" for the boss battles.
• Last-Second Word Swap: In 20th, while yet again declaring her undying love for Dark Prince. She begins describing to Dark Prince just what her dream life would be like with her as his wife, and her speech begins to delve into them doing rather suggestive acts together (such as giving him a bubble bath). The final act she suggests they do together has Dark Prince instantly try to get her to reel her delusions back in, but it turns out she was just going to ask for a Puyo battle with him. Dark Prince even lampshades how he thought her speech was going to end with her suggesting something else.
• Leg Focus: She says to Lidelle in 20th that she considers her slender legs her "pride and joy".
• Lethal Chef: She tried to cook curry in Super Nazo Puyo, but it turned out terrible (maybe not to Minotauros, but still). It comes up again in Draco's 20th story, when Draco comes across Rulue's "Doro Doro (Syrupy/Muddled) Soup", takes a sip, and finds it so terrible that she decides to destroy it when Rulue explains that she made it "with love" for Dark Prince.
• Light Is Not Good: A downplayed example. Despite usually wearing white, she's not exactly a saint.
• Lonely Rich Kid: According to some of her bios, Rulue was pretty much this for most of her childhood due to her parents not being around as much as she'd have liked.
• Loser Leaves Town: Challenges Arle to a battle in Puyo Puyo On Stage with the loser being banished from Primp Town forever. Rulue ends up losing, but is talked out of leaving by the Dark Prince.
• Love Hurts: She's completely smitten for Dark Prince, but unfortunately, he's too distracted with Arle to notice. This doesn't sit well with her.
• Mad Love: No matter how much Dark Prince tries to shake her off, Rulue will follow him to the ends of the Earth.
• Magically Inept Fighter: Aside from the lack of magic already mentioned, this is also invoked from a gameplay perspective in both Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon and Madou Monogatari Saturn. In both games, she has the lowest MP out of all the playable characters, with the former giving her a far more limited selection of spells while the latter gives her lackluster healing moves. Although in the former's case, she starts out with MP higher than Schezo's, it'll quickly fall short in the endgame.
• Martial Artists Are Always Barefoot: Being a martial artist is probably the reason for her to go barefoot before Puyo Puyo~n. She then got herself sandals from Puyo Puyo~n and onwards.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Rulue in Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon is a borderline case. Unlike Arle and Schezo, who both have a wide number of spells they can learn, Rulue is far more limited due to her more lacking selection of spells (especially ranged ones) and having the lowest MP of the three. To compensate, she has the highest physical attack of the three, has a free spell that forces opponents to attack her, and is accompanied by Minotaur for extra coverage.
• Meaningful Name: Her name when spelled in katakana (ルルー Ruru-) is similar to Arle's name (アルル Aruru), likely a nod to how she usually serves as a rival. In addition, her name is also similar to the word "roux" (ルーRū), roux being an ingredient in Japanese style curry. This is likely why Rulue receives focus in both Super Nazo Puyo titles.
• Monster Fangirl: To Dark Prince, even though calling him a monster is a bit of a stretch.
• Mythology Gag: Her default power in Pocket Puyo Puyo~n is one of the very few that involve Iron Puyo. These Puyo were introduced to the series in the Super Nazo Puyo duology, which Rulue headlined.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Within Compile's ARS trio, she is the Mean to Arle's Nice and Schezo's In-Between, being far more arrogant and violence-prone when interacting with nearly any other character not named the Dark Prince. Interestingly, she could be argued to be the In-Between during Compile's run, since she was more likely to see Arle as a friend and Schezo was overall colder and less friendly during that period.
• Noblewoman's Laugh: Doing this while's entering Fever mode is but one example. She does one occasionally in dialogue.
• Non-Action Big Bad: Of Madou Monogatari III. She's Arle main opposition, but delegates the actual dirty work to her servant Minotauros. Not the case in the Game Gear version, however, where she ends up taking matters into her own hands.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Initially, Rulue ends up on the receiving end of one courtesy of the Count in Madou Monogatari ARS. She later returns the favor once Dark Prince steps in to help her.
• Ojou: She comes from a wealthy family and definitely has the Noblewoman's Laugh to prove it. A bit averted nowadays though; she doesn't seem to live anywhere fancy and spends most of her time in the wilderness, but still retains her queenly personality.
• Out-of-Character Alert: Arle deduces that Rulue must be under some form of mind-control in Puyo Puyo Tetris due to never mentioning the Dark Prince even once at the time.
• Psychotic Love Triangle: When Rulue fights Arle for the Dark Prince's attention in the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari III, he appears at the end, thrilled that Arle beat Rulue so he can marry the stronger of the two. Arle and Rulue instead decide to beat him up and go off together.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: As performed in the move "Fist Punishment".
• Relationship Sabotage: Has attempted this a few times in order to prevent Dark Prince and Arle from getting together, which end up being unnecessary anyway since the latter wants nothing with the former.
• Rescue Romance: Occurring in Madou Monogatari ARS, this is how she falls in love with Dark Prince in the first place. The Dark Prince pulls a Big Damn Heroes moment by dispelling Count's barrier that makes him impervious to physical attacks, giving Rulue a chance to finish the fight.
• The Rival: With Arle for Dark Prince's love, at least. Let us remind you that Arle has virtually no interest in him whatsoever. She is also sometimes jealous of Arle's magical power because she herself possesses none.
• Self-Proclaimed Love Interest: Fancies herself as Dark Prince's future wife, and genuinely believes Dark Prince reciprocates her feelings.
• Shout-Out: One of her Yo~n attacks looks almost exactly like Chun-Li's Kikosho.
  • In a similar vein, one of Rulue's animations in SUN depicts her performing a Hadouken-like motion at the screen, like Ryu does in the intro to Super Street Fighter II
• Signature Move: Haganshou (Rock-Crushing Palm Strike) is almost always her first attack and Joou Ranbu (Queen Dance) is almost always her last attack. The latter is upgraded into her Super Attack in Yo~n; upon use, she flips (not rotate) her field upside down and clears all her nuisance Puyo at the same time.
• Single-Target Sexuality: One of her defining traits is her adoration for the Dark Prince, to the point that she rarely, if ever, entertains the idea of spending her life with anyone who isn't him.
• Sleepy Head: Her alternate voice is this... but it sounds quite suggestive.
• Inconsistent Spelling: Most video game sites romanize her name as Ruruu when referring to the two Nazo Puyo games that she stars in. Meanwhile, the code for at least one of Sega's websites refers to her as "Leroux."
• Stalker with a Crush: Implied at times with her zeal in infatuating Dark Prince:
  Rulue: I'll go with you wherever you go.
  Dark Prince: If only you'd lag behind a little.
• Stripperiffic: Some of her outfits in during Compile's run, most prominently in Yo~n and DA!. In fact, when SEGA adapted her Yo~n outfit for Quest, the amount of skin shown off on it was toned down significantly.
• Stupid Sexy Flanders: Ms. Accord thinks she's "very sexy and quite wonderful".
• Suddenly Voiced: Rulue is the only character in the first arcade game that does not have a voiced catchphrase; this is rectified in Puyo Puyo CD.
• Supernatural Martial Arts: They don't call her the Fighting Queen for nothing.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Whenever she joins forces with Arle (usually for Dark Prince's sake), she's not exactly enticed with the idea. This is more prevalent in Puyo Puyo than in Madou Monogatari, where she's either an antagonist (III) or an ally (The Final Test, Saturn Madou).
• This Is Unforgivable!:
  • Her defeat quote in 20th translates to "I won't forgive you!" She also says this to Draco after the latter destroys her soup.
  • In Madou Monogatari Saturn she ends up losing her patience with Dark Prince when she believes he's responsible for causing chaos by unleashing the Yogs on the world. He is Easily Forgiven when he turns out to not be the culprit, however.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The girly girl to Arle's tomboy. Rulue's dresses herself more elegantly and is a bit of a romantic, compared to Arle's more boyish personality.
• True Blue Femininity: She has blue hair and most of her outfits tend to have blue accents. Her dresses in Waku Puyo Dungeon and Saturn Madou are dominantly blue as well.
• The Unfought: She was a Non-Action Big Bad in the MSX and PC98 versions of Madou Monogatari III; in fact, Puyo Puyo is the first time (in terms of real-world releases) that Arle battles Rulue directly. Also averted in the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari III, where Arle fights Rulue directly in actual hand-to-hand/magic combat.
• Un-Sorcerer: She's one of the only characters that can't use magic. She's incredibly displeased about it too, to the point where she tries to defy this trope by tagging with Arle to attend magic school.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: A downplayed example (considering how she was just as spoiled then as she is now), but as Rulue's Spring Break of Fists reveals, Rulue was quite the optimistic little thing. Unfortunately, following a broken Pinky Swear promise involving her grandmother and a cherry blossom music box she was promised to get for her upcoming birthday, Rulue grew up quite resentful of the whole thing, growing up to become the more temperamental (and occasionally outright bitter) young woman we know today.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Despite being friends with Arle and the rest of the major Madou-era Puyo cast, most interactions with them results in them arguing and fighting. Well, way less so with Dark Prince, and moreso with Arle and Schezo. With that said, she is much nicer in Madou Monogatari than she often is in Puyo Puyo. Special mention goes to Saturn Madou, where she and Arle spend nearly the entire game together on a rather friendly basis and make for a very effective duo. Even if she is a bit more hot-headed in Puyo Puyo, she still does care for Arle, admitting to Amitie in Satan's Space Amusement Park that she doesn't hold any hate for Arle at all in spite of the rivalry.
• What Does She See in Him?: Both Arle and Schezo think her crush on Dark Prince is baffling, if only because, unlike her, they're not blind to how pathetic and immature Dark Prince truly is.
• When She Smiles: Rulue has a moment like this occur in Satan's Space Amusement Park. Amitie herself even admits that up until this moment, she never really took notice of how beautiful Rulue is... when she's not having one of her Dark Prince-induced 'episodes', that is.
• Woman Scorned: Sees herself as Dark Prince's would-be wife, so him ignoring or downplaying her advances tend to make her livid (at other people anyway. She becomes frustrated at worst with Dark Prince, only to quickly forgive him later).
• Yandere: Considering how violent she can become whenever the topic of the Dark Prince is brought up, although her wrath is rarely ever targeted at him.
• Younger Than They Look: At first glance, she appears much older than the other girls in the series, but multiple bios list her as only 18, barely older than characters like Arle and Draco. This is even briefly pointed out in the manual for Madou Monogatari 1-2-3 with the MSX version.
  • The instructional manual for Yo~n appears to poke some fun at this, as it implies that there may be some level of falsity in Rulue's claim of being 18...

Schezo Wegey

Schezo Wegey

Character Color: Purple

First Appearance: Madou Monogatari II

Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue (Puyo Puyo CD), Yujiro Ootsuka (Puyo Puyo Tsu, Puyo Puyo SUN, Discstation Shorts, Madou Monogatari: The Final Test), Yasunori Matsumoto (Puyo Puyo~n), Masakazu Morita (15th Anniversary onwards), Ben Lepley (English, Puyo Puyo Tetris onwards)

Stage Actor: ROOT

The time has come for me to clear my reputation... by assaulting this young girl!

Schezo Wegey is a mysterious dark mage who wields a powerful sword simply called the Dark Sword. His ultimate goal is to become the most powerful sorcerer, resorting to all measures to achieve his goals, in the process being yet another threat towards Arle. Normally, he tries to pull off a dignified facade in order to be more intimidating to others, and exemplify his status as a powerful mage. However, he has gained infamy as a pervert/creeper for his crass choice of words, unintentionally being laced with sexual innuendo that either baffles or scares others around him. His facade is also broken if he sees anything cute.

And now, for my Self-Demonstrating page! Look at it in all its glory!

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• Accidental Pervert: Due to his—ahem—phrasing, he's assumed to be one by many, much to his dismay. He really isn't a pervert and tends to be doing it for interests in either power or mystery, but this greatly annoys him.
  Schezo: I want you to give me all of you!
  Arle: You know, it makes you sound like a pervert when you put it that way.
• Action Pet: Has one in the form of the miniature elephant Tenori Zoh in Tower of the Magician, who will sometimes fire magic at enemies during battle and spends the rest of the time encouraging Schezo and cheering him on.
• Ambiguously Evil: Due to Flanderization in the Sega-developed games, it's almost impossible to tell if Schezo is really serious about his goal to be the greatest dark mage anymore. In fact, he seems more worried about his reputation being tarnished from all the pervert accusations, which is a rather extreme case of Skewed Priorities.
• Ambiguous Situation: Just how he went from trying to Refuse the Call of becoming the next Dark Wizard and vowing not to become evil to immediately becoming a Creepy Child with the desire for more power at the end of Madou Monogatari ARS. Fans have speculated whether there was Brainwashing involved, whether dark magic immediately makes one Drunk on the Dark Side no matter how good one's intentions, or if fate was involved. Whatever the situation Compile never clarified it beyond what we see in the game.
• Angrish: After being defeated by Arle and quickly abandoned in Yo~n, he starts yelling out loud and the dialogue box gradually dissolves into random symbols.
• Angry Fist-Shake: He sometimes has it during some cutscenes, but is usually seen as his defeated animation.
• Anime Hair: It was... rather poofy in the Discstation animation shorts.
• Artifact of Doom: His sword. It was once possessed by the evil sorcerer Rune Lord and gifted Schezo his dark powers, which may have brainwashed him into the evil wizard seen in II.
• Attractive Bent-Gender: As "Sherry", who has only made an appearance in Shin Madou Monogatari (a novel series of the game).
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: A non-romantic example, as seen in Madou Monogatari: The Final Test. For all of the bickering they do, Schezo sacrifices himself to save Arle and Rulue from the Phantom God, resulting in the Phantom God vaporizing him with a bolt of lightning. In truth, Schezo wasn't killed, but was instead teleported out of the dungeon by the Phantom God as a sort of security measure set up by Lilith (the original owner of the Seraphim Orb), as it explains to Arle, who attempts to use the Seraphim Orb to bring him back to life.
• Badass Cape: You rarely see him without one. In Madou Monogatari: Tower of the Magician, he wears two of them, and in Puyo Quest, he has a capelet over his cape once he's at gold. Oh, and he learned dark magic when he was only 14. Before he even succeeded the title of Dark Wizard. He wears an All-Encompassing Mantle instead in Yo~n, and a hooded one in 7.
• Badass in Distress: Is kidnapped by Succubus in Saturn Madou and has to be rescued by Arle and Rulue.
• Bag of Spilling:
  • He only has Areiado, Flame, and Blizzard in Waku Puyo Dungeon, when he's supposed to have more than that. Justified in that he lost his magic prior to coming to the titular amusement park, focusing his efforts on rebuilding his strength. This leads to some Gameplay and Story Integration, in which his MP starts out lower than Rulue's, but will grow to more formidable levels.
  • In Tower of the Magician, he is affected by a Power Limiter placed on the titular Tower and must slowly regain magic, only getting access to his full power arsenal when Witch lends him her power.
• Battle Cry: Yami no Ken yo. Kirisake! ^note Sword of Darkness. Tear Apart! It was one of Schezo's voiced lines in Madou Monogatari II and was kept around for future games, most notably in the Puyo Puyo series, as part of his chain chants. Puyo Puyo Tetris translates it as "Dark sword, slice and dice!"
• Berserk Button: Don't call him a pervert/creeper. He's been called it so often that it's become the quickest way to earn his ire in later games, and will more often than not draw his sword upon you for such transgressions.
• Big Bad: Of Madou Monogatari II. He's been at least an Anti-Hero in every game since.
• Big "SHUT UP!": Drops one on Draco in her story in 20th Anniversary, when she mooches off his water supply.
• Big "WHAT?!": His response to Witch saying "I want you, alright?" in SUN (he stammers the word in this case) and 20th.
• Black Swords Are Better: His sword was black as night in Madou Monogatari ARS (likely due to palette limitations), but it only emphasizes its nature as an ancient and powerful weapon.
• Blush Sticker: Dons them as Nekomimi Schezo at gold rank in Puyo Quest, and in Puyo Tetris when he crosses into Cuteness Proximity.
• Breakout Character: Began as an unnamed evil mage in II, but his immediate popularity caused Compile to flesh out his backstory in Madou Monogatari ARS and he has since been a main character arguably more prominent than Rulue.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: The Madou novel Schezo and the Flower of Evil describes Schezo to be a brilliant student that can comprehend ancient tomes at the age of fourteen, material that even adults struggle to understand. As a result of his intelligence, however, he's something of a class misfit, frequently skipping classes for lecturing material he already knows, and was bored of his school trip to Rana because he read about it in a book already.
• Brutal Honesty: He tells Rulue in her 20th's story that the reason Dark Prince ignores her is because her martial arts abilities being strong enough to keep up with magic scares him (and Schezo himself, as well). He's not wrong, as Dark Prince does get scared by Rulue's idea of butchering a cow with her bare hands shortly after this conversation, but Schezo still gets beaten up because of those words. At least he's smart enough to not try to give his opinion again when Rulue decides to be more ladylike to gain Dark Prince's attention.
• Butt-Monkey: Even in scenarios where he would emerge victorious for once, he loses for whatever external factor.
  • To start, in his epilogue of Waku Puyo Dungeon, though he was the one that resolved the incident, Arle (who wanted to enjoy the attractions), Rulue (who wanted the prize for herself), and Satan (Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land's architect) give him a hard time and chase him down for destroying the amusement park.
  • He gets stuck in a trap, burned and nearly buried alive, stung without noticing, mistaken to be gay while remembering a past incident, gets called a pervert at least four times, and finally gets beaten up by Dark Prince after giving him a bald spot. In the entirety of SUN's Hard story, complete with a sunburn!
  • In 15th, just about half of the people he's encountered calls him a pervert (Arle notwithstanding), within and outside his story. Even his wish to end that problem gets scuffed up by how he phrased it.
  • The Discstation short Schezo's Long Day shows that he accidentally lost his sword after he fell asleep and was too embarrassed to ask Arle (who just happened to pass by) if she'd seen it. Turns out Carbuncle ate the sword, but Schezo runs off without realizing this. Cut to what seems to be hours later, and he's still looking for it.
• The Cameo: An illusion of him is one of the potential effects of the Ruipanko spell in the Mega Drive port of Madou Monogatari I.
• Cat Boy: As Nekomimi Schezo, via Animal-Eared Headband and a faux tail.
• Caught in a Snare: Within the first few seconds of his story in SUN, courtesy of Kodomo Dragon.
• Character Development:
  • In Tower of the Magician, he began to wonder about training for himself after gaining nothing out of that adventure. From that point onward, his pursuits strayed from his magic stealing, pragmatic means to cleaner methods. Waku Puyo Dungeon reinforces it, "seeing" an old facet of himself fade away when he defeated his doppelganger, and bid farewell to his past self. That said, his ability and habit doesn't fully go away, but he's not as ruthless about it, fueled by awe and curiosity for power he wants to steal for himself, nowadays.
  • In Tetris 2, he claims that he has started working on fixing his legendarily botched vocabulary (see Secret-Keeper for more info). Compared to... well, nearly every game prior, where he was pretty much an innuendo-spouting machine (especially in the first Tetris game's English dub). In Tetris 2, Schezo falls way less often into his accidental Double Entendres, most of the time saying what he really meant to say, and in the few occasions he says something wrong, he corrects himself without anyone needing to tell him what the mistake was (although there are some occasions that someone still needs to point out that he said something wrong). This further carries into Puzzle Pop, where he's also allowed to show off his magic knowledge and deductive skills (such as when he beats Arle to the punch regarding her explanation of the Dream World).
• Characterization Marches On: In Madou Monogatari II, he started out as a genuine villain, who tried to straight-up kill Arle to ensure that she wouldn't escape his dungeon before he'd taken all her power, and in the original Puyo Puyo, he is trying to take over hell. He still antagonizes Arle in all of his following encounters with her, but has become more of a simple rival than anything else, including several instances of Enemy Mine.
• Chewing the Scenery: Briefly invoked in 20th, when Rulue calls him out on being very dull and to-the-point in his story. Also happens in 15th, where he says his catch phrase in an spectacularly overblown manner to Arle just to humor her.
• The Comically Serious: This guy here puts up a serious, dignified image to exemplify his status as Dark Wizard. Then when he mangles his choice of words, that front is immediately thrown out the window.
• Continuity Nod: On his "Aloha Shirt" alternate in Puyo Quest, one of his quotes proclaims "It's such a shining day today... and not of someone's doing for once.", referencing SUN's plot.
• Covert Pervert: In Madou Monogatari Saturn, he claims to have no interest in a beauty contest, but still justifies taking the long hike out of his way to go see it... He is also implied to enjoy being whipped by Succubus when trapped in her dungeon, and immediately pays attention when Arle tries to wake Zoh Daimaoh by telling him there's naked women around.
• Creepy Child: At the end of his story in Madou Monogatari: ARS, he states his desire to become the most powerful Dark Wizard the world has ever seen, complete with Evil Laugh.
• Creepy Good: Bad first impressions aside, he's genuinely an intimidating person to trifle with, wielding vast amounts of dark magic. He's done more heroics than villainy throughout the series.
• Crystal Weapon: Described specifically as a crystal sword in Tsu. If you look closely, especially in the Sega Puyo games, the sword is indeed translucent.
• Cuteness Proximity: Schezo finds Tenori Zoh, Dongurigaeru, Onion Pixy, and Ocean Prince(!?) adorable. Arle, however, manages to exploit this in a drama track and gets a free shot on him.
  • I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: He finds Dongurigaeru cute enough to trigger this. Twice. It's one of the few times he says "I want you!" on purpose!
• Cool Sword: The Dark Sword is a magical sword, initially depicted with a pitch-black blade and is later translucent like crystal. How often do you see translucent blades?
• Dark Is Evil: In Madou Monogatari II, but averted in later installments. He initially started out wanting Arle's power and was far more ruthless with his goal.
• Dark Is Not Evil: His motives are selfish, and he's not exactly pleasant, but he occasionally delves into heroics when he's given protagonist status. Ms. Accord also believes he's not a bad person despite his dark powers and moody disposition in Puzzle Pop.
• A Day in the Limelight: He's the main character of Madou Monogatari: Tower of the Magician. He also serves as the player character of Sun's Difficult course, as well as being the central character of Puyo Puyo Tetris DLC chapter 9: A Primp Dream. For the latter example, this is quite notable, as the only other character to get this treatment was Ex.
• Deadpan Snarker: If Arle's not the one snarking, he's more than capable of taking up the mantle of snark.
• Defeat Means Friendship: After Arle defeats him in The Final Test, he gives her a magical bracelet and later performs a Heroic Sacrifice to save her and Rulue from Phantom God.
• Depending on the Artist: Schezo's sword has countless designs for each of his appearances. PC-98 Madou Monogatari II is scimitar-like in appearance, Madou Monogatari ARS makes the blade black, the blade flip-flops between being opaque and translucent (Tower of the Magician makes it clear as glass), it seems to be purple and covered in runes in Yo~n, Waku Puyo makes the grip long enough for two hands, among numerous hilt designs that would take too much time and space to describe them all. So far, the Sega-era designs have been consistent, only going through subtle changes through Art Evolution.
• Depending on the Writer: Exactly how evil Schezo is varies on the continuity. In Madou Monogatari he was flat out evil at times, a Noble Demon at other times, and occasionally an Anti-Hero. In the Puyo Puyo continuity he has sometimes been evil, wanting to Take Over the World in the first game, but is more often an Anti-Hero or just a grouch, something that has extended to SEGA's own continuity.
• Determinator: He gets decapitated by Arle in II but keeps fighting as if it were Only a Flesh Wound.
• Doom Magnet: Played for Laughs in Saturn Madou when he learns Ragnus was using his body without his permission. He goes on an angry rant accusing Ragnus of getting him involved in all kinds of unfortunate situations, such as stepping into dog poop or having a child use his cape as a handkerchief. Ragnus makes it clear that most of those situations were not his fault.
• Down the Rabbit Hole: Rather, down a mirror in Madou Monogatari ARS. He comes back as the next Dark Wizard.
• Dual Wielding: The aptly named Double-edged Mage in Quest has him pair the dark sword with a light sword that he found in a dungeon, doing all he can to control the light sword's power.
• Dub Name Change: "Devious" in the English arcade translation.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Demands appreciation for helping Arle and Rulue out in Saturn Madou. Rulue, of course, refuses.
• Dumbass Has a Point: He's the only one to call out Dark Prince's Stalker with a Crush tendencies to Arle, even wondering why he's the only one to be called a creeper instead of Dark Prince.
• Embarrassingly Painful Sunburn: Gets one in Sun. Arle mocks him for it.
• Enemy Mine: He may be a rival, but he is willing to ally himself with Arle to punish Dark Prince. In a villainous case, should Arle side with neither him or Dark Prince in the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari II, he and Dark Prince team up to take down Arle. They succeed. Instant game over!
• Evil Versus Evil:
  • In the first arcade game, he planned to use Arle's power to take the Dark Prince's place as the ruler of Puyo Hell. Retained in the English translation, just replace "ruler of Puyo Hell" with "Prince of the Black Kingdom".
  • In some versions of II, he directly opposes the Dark Prince and Arle must choose to side with either him or the Dark Prince.
  • In Tower Of The Magician Schezo is the Villain Protagonist and only manages to be on the side of good at the end because Dark Matter shows up.
• Evil Laugh: At the end of his story in ARS, as well as in multiple instances in Saturn Madou.
• Exact Words:
  • The main reason Schezo's wish got corrupted. Because his pronunciation of the word "pervert" was very specific, the medal assumed that specific pronunciation and granted it from there. The translation works around the end result by using "weirdo" instead of the regular pronunciation.
  • Used against him in Madou Monogatari Saturn when Rulue promises him Arle's power in exchange for his help in dealing with a Yog. Her wording lets Arle get out of this by setting him on fire.
• Expy: One could argue Schezo is one of Compile's earlier dark wizard, Lulba. The two share a handful of peculiar similarities:
  • In Madoushi Lulba, three of Lulba's monsters are the Lizardman brothers and Cyclops. In Madou Monogatari II, Arle is locked in Schezo's dungeon and watched over by two guards, who happen to be a lizardman and a cyclops.
  • Both Lulba and Schezo have a "light warrior" rival to counter their "dark wizard" (Cyber Cat and Ragnus the Brave, respectively).
  • In Act 1 of Madoushi Lulba, Lulba is beheaded by Cyber Cat after the former tricks the latter into freeing him from the chains of his disguise. Madou Monogatari II (for PC-98) sees Schezo being beheaded while trying to prevent Arle from escaping.
• Female Gaze: Is on the receiving end of this from Witch in Puyolympics. After he throws off his cape by Witch's demands, she absolutely eats up the sight of Schezo in athletic clothes.
• Final Boss: Serves as this in Super Nazo Puyo Tsu.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: In some games, he has the spells Fire (or Fire Storm), Ice Storm, and Thunder Storm.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: While not a strict example, he is played this way, as his speech in Japanese is archaic and thus comes across as improper, resulting in the cast calling him a pervert. This is lost in English, where the translation team decided to make him speak entirely in Accidental Innuendos to at least maintain the spirit of the joke.
• Foe Romance Subtext:
  • Thanks to his very loose choice of words, it often sounds like he wants more than just Arle's power.
  • Even after a clear explanation of what he wants, Risukuma interprets it as him being unable to spit it out and suggests he should confess his love to her in person. Arle easily flustering him doesn't help.
  • In Saturn Madou, he says he wouldn't touch Rulue even if she begged him to. Probably.
• Foil: To Ragnus. While both use magic and can wield swords, Schezo is a dark mage, while Ragnus is a light warrior. Schezo's magical repertoire is far more expansive as he knows Fire, Ice, Lightning in addition to dark magic, while Ragnus mainly uses light magic. Schezo is an abrasive Anti-Hero with a (usually) cool head while Ragnus has a heroic and kind, if not Hot-Blooded personality to match. Even speaking in game mechanics, they're tailored to oppose each other. Schezo is an Attack Type, while Ragnus is an HP Type in Puyo Quest. In Champions, Schezo's chains are stronger in higher numbers, while Ragnus' are stronger in lower chain counts when playing Fever rules despite sharing the same dropset^note Normally, characters with the same dropset have the same chaining power. In Tetris 2, Schezo's Skill Battle skills are focused on Puyo, while Ragnus' focus on Tetris, with their Auto Skills buffing Attack and Defense respectively.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: While the rest of the main cast will work with Schezo when circumstances are dire, no one really likes him (ignoring any moments of vague Ship Tease with Witch). Even Arle, the most likely person to team up with him, calls him a freak with no friends, creep, and pervert.
• Gameplay and Story Integration:
  • If he's hit with Brain Dumbed in Madou Monogatari II, his next spell will be slurred.
  • As he had his magic drained at the beginning of Waku Puyo Dungeon, his starting MP is extremely low (Rulue of all characters has a higher stat). By the end of the game, as he gradually recovers his magic, his MP becomes a lot higher.
• The Gadfly: A handful of his victory quotes are specially crafted to get under the loser's skin. For example, in his 20th story, after defeating Arle in, he makes a snide comment if he "would like to teach [her] how to chain", a Call-Back to one of his victory quotes in Sun. Arle is not amused in the slightest.
• Get Out!: And don't disturb his peace and quiet time! In 20th, Klug wanted the cave's crystals for himself, Sig made a mess with Schezo's belongings just to find a bug, Witch attacks him for his hair, Draco drinks all his clean water, Lemres eats the cake he just baked, and Risukuma finds the climate suitable for his experiments. Schezo was not happy and promptly chases them^note Well, Sig left on his own to chase the bug and Witch left after getting what she wanted. out. Then he ends up getting caught in the mess Arle planned to stop. Poor Schezo doesn't get a break.
• Gosh Dang It to Heck!: In the fan translations, "Confound it!" is used in moments where he would curse.
• Guest-Star Party Member: A particularly zigzagged case in Saturn Madou Monogatari, in which he joins and leaves Arle and Rulue multiple times over the course of the game. Ultimately, he is not a member in the final battle, and several of those instances were not him in the first place.
• Hair Color Dissonance: Schezo's hair is supposed to be white, though Depending on the Artist, it comes off as more blue than it should be. Notably done as a stylisic choice in his Sega art, when you consider there's other white-haired characters in the series that don't have this distinction.
• Heavy Sleeper: In BOX, functioning as the NPC Roadblock. You're going to need to wake him up to get past that bridge in BOX's Quest mode. How? Hot tea. Arle "spills" the tea on him, causing him to jump frantically from getting scalded, and eventually falls into the river.
• Heel–Face Turn: He comes to Arle's aid when she confronts Dark Prince in the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari II.
• Heroic Neutral: Whenever he has to do heroics, it all boils down to "someone has to do it" and Schezo happens to be the person to do just that because it gets in the way of his own priorities. To name some moments...
  • In Sun he just wanted to get some sleep and the Dark Prince's giant sun was too bright to allow him to, so he went out to undo the magic the Dark Prince placed on said sun.
  • In his story in 20th, he gets himself caught in the same mess Arle's involved in, and he defeats Dark Prince in her place because all he wanted was some quiet time to himself while Dark Prince is whipping up a storm for castle atmosphere.
• Heroic Sacrifice: The Final Test has him rip open a portal with the last drop of his strength, shoving Arle and Rulue into it right before Phantom God kills him off...except he didn't actually get killed off. It looked like he was, but he was essentially given the boot by Phantom God.
• Hidden Depths: For all his aloofness and ease of dismissing his association with Arle and Rulue, they are really close to his heart. When Meena tries stalling him by throwing his innermost thoughts and desires against him, she sends illusions of them because he considers them his closest companions and strongest rivals. Even the Dark Prince, whom he has nothing but venomous things to say, is quietly respected as a powerful rival.
• Holding Your Shoulder Means Injury: Not the shoulder per se, but he holds his side after sustaining moderate damage, then his chest after heavy damage in Madou Monogatari: Tower of the Magician.
• Hypocritical Humor: He calls Witch out on being a pervert after she accidentally suggesting she wants to sleep with him when one of his biggest character traits is his words coming out wrong. It leads to tension between them when she calls him out on this.
• Idiot Hair: In his design for 15th onward. Not that he's dim (he's quite the opposite), but because of his terrible phrasing.
• Inconsistent Spelling: The early games couldn't decide on whether his name was spelled "Schezo", "Shezo", or "She-zo". The English arcade game might have changed Areiado to "Areiad." It's tough to tell, between the not-so-great vocal quality and the...whatever accent that the voice actor attempted.
• Innocently Insensitive:
  • He calls Lidelle an "imp", but it offended her because it's not true. He's apologetic at first...then she calls her a pervert in response... Imp it is then.
  • Then he tells Rulue that Dark Prince might be fearful of her physical prowess as a result of her lack of magic. The latter sets her off and she proceeds to beat the crap out of him.
• Irony: The Space-time Crystal he encountered in the prologue of Waku Puyo? He attempted to take its power, only for his own power to get stolen. He wasn't happy about that, and ventured into Waku Puyo Land to get his power back.
• It's Personal: His reason for finally joining the party in Saturn Madou after joining and leaving many times is that Yoggus dragged him into its attempt at destroying the world and he refuses to let it get away with it.
• It's Probably Nothing: He gets stabbed on the back of the head with a syringe by Honey Bee, shrugs it off after failing to find her, and passes it off as a figment of his imagination. Then you realize she's your next opponent.
• I Was Just Passing Through: Gives off this vibe by constantly joining the party and then leaving in Madou Monogatari Saturn. Ultimately subverted, as he was being possessed and really didn't know why his path kept crossing Arle's and Rulue's.
• I Work Alone: Downplayed in that he's willing to accompany Arle and Rulue, but that's about the extent of who he will tag along with. Anyone outside his tiny friend circle will more than likely have him go off on his own, explicitly stating his dislike of working in groups in Puzzle Pop. Arle knows he works really well on his own, and trusts him to do his own thing.
• Leitmotif:
  • In both Saturn Madou and Waku Puyo Dungeon he has "Boku wa Shiran!", a smooth jazzy piece.
  • 15th gave him, and you're seeing this coming; "I Want You!...r Power!"
  • His theme in 20th is "The Pretty Boy Who Challenged the Heavens". The original Japanese title, "The gorgeous man who defile the God", doubles as a Call-Back to Madou Monogatari ARS, being the title of a boss theme in the S Story.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: When he fights Rune Lord during ARS, Schezo is confused and disturbed by the powers he is gifted by Rune Lord and the implications of his name suggesting he was fated to become the next Dark Wizard and promises himself he won't fall into evil despite his new power. However, come the end of the game, he's immediately swearing to become the greatest Dark Wizard the world has ever known, complete with Evil Laugh. It's unclear whether some form of Brainwashing was involved, but whatever the reason for the change he has definitely fallen off the slope by Madou Monogatari II.
• Light Is Not Good: Downplayed (Due to him being an Anti-Hero) the times he's used white clothes, which is most of the pre-Fever games. The second sword he wields as Double-edged Mage is also a rather malevolent weapon despite its bright and luminous qualities. It's named the "Sword of Ruin" for one, and it managed to get in his head for a brief moment.
• Loners Are Freaks: Arle seems to think of him as this, if her comment regarding his lack of friends in the novel Everyone's Dreams Coming True!? is any indication.
• Losing Your Head: Ever seen a decapitated head fight back? ...Yeaaaah...
• Lost in Translation: The pun on Santa Schezo's skill "Santastorm" is untranslatable in English. Thunderstorm, his first chain spell, is spelled サンダーストーム, while Santastorm is spelled サンターストーム; one dakuten off.
• Loyal Animal Companion: Rescues a miniature elephant in Tower of the Magician. Tenori Zoh then spends the rest of the game riding on Schezo's shoulder and helping him out in battle.
• Luminescent Blush: In Sun, when he thinks Witch is trying to flirt with him.
• Lunacy: What his New Moon alternate embodies in Puyo Quest. Being a yellow and purple card (the latter color being his sub-color), it's implied he uses the power of moonlight and shadow.
• Magic Knight: Character-wise, Schezo focuses more on the Magic side than the Knight. Gameplay-wise, his Attack and Magic stats are often an even split in games such as Waku Puyo Dungeon and Madou Monogatari Saturn, at the cost of having a light elemental weakness in the former's case and being only a Guest-Star Party Member in the latter. In Puyo Quest, his "New Moon" alternate is a straighter take on this trope, and its Leader Skill's name explicitly calls him a "magical knight".
• Metaphorgotten: When Arle expresses some doubts about facing Marle in Chapter 5 of Tetris 2, Schezo tries to boost her confidence, saying that, with her power, she's capable of crushing a family of cockroaches with only a glare. That only left Arle more confused than before.
• Mistaken for Gay:
  • Implied by Rulue in SUN, after he was Not Distracted by the Sexy. She claims Schezo was doing...some unspeakable things that she doesn't elaborate on.
  • In 15th, Lemres mistakes Schezo's desire for his power as flirting and tries to turn him down gently.
  Lemres: That's very nice of you, but I just don't swing that way.
  • In Tetris 2's Chapter 6, he mangles one of his lines and accidentally claims that muscular bodies satisfy him. Even when he tries to correct himself, Witch & Klug don't buy it.
• Motive Decay: Originally, it was heavily implied that Schezo's goal was to become powerful enough to overthrow the Dark Prince and become the new lord of Hell. This particular detail has never been brought up again, with Schezo now seemingly wanting to become the most powerful dark mage ever just because. His relationship with Dark Prince has also changed to something more akin to a Sitcom Arch-Nemesis instead of a lifetime goal that used to be as important to him as stealing Arle's powers was (and, currently, still is). It even comes to Witch's attention in the Drama CD track "The Dark Wizard, Schezo", claiming she doesn't see the same dark mage who takes down anyone in his way.
• My Instincts Are Showing: Implied defiance in Puyo Quest as Nekomimi Schezo. One of his quotes is him telling you to stop waving a foxtail grass in front of him, and another flatly tells you not to expect him to say "nya" at the end of his sentences.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: He has the ability to detect magic, and whoever is using it. It is a plot point in 20th (allowing him to realize Ecolo is having an influence on the Dark Prince) and Tetris (where he tells Arle the Dark Prince has nothing to do with the tetriminos that appeared on Primp Town).
• Mystical White Hair: Then again, he does come from a world filled with magic. His case is moreso to mark him as the successor to his title of Dark Wizard.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: In an ancient in-universe language, his name means "the gorgeous man who defiles the god". And his signature move means "breaking the wing of an angel".
• Nice Mean And In Between: Within Compile's ARS trio, he is the In-Between to Nice Arle and Mean Rulue, frequently acting as a sort of mediator or voice of reason for either girl whenever they interact with a third party (usually Dark Prince) or each other. During Compile's run, he was more on the Mean side due to being something of an unfriendly loner in comparison to the more social Rulue.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Was responsible for Doppelganger Schezo's creation after trying to steal a space-time crystal's power and having it steal his instead.
• Noble Demon: He refuses to take Wish's power in Madou Monogatari: Tower of the Magician because she was too weak from fighting Dark Matter (and being possessed by him) to stop him from doing so. Instead, he says he will return when she's recovered and face her in a fair fight.
• Nominal Hero: Often, with varying degrees of heroism and motivation.
  • In Sun, he only goes after Dark Prince because the sun is too bright and he can't sleep.
  • In Saturn Madou, he refuses to join the heroes multiple times, only finally agreeing to join after he feels he's been dragged into things by the villain.
  • In Tower of the Magician, he starts with a villainous goal and only happens to defeat the villain because he's in the way.
  • In Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon, he's out to regain his powers, which were stolen by the villain.
• No Name Given: In the original MSX2 version of Madou Monogatari II, he was just called "The Mage".
• Noodle Incident: According to Rulue. Given how loose the context is, it could be seen as Schezo being Mistaken for Gay when he said he is not interested in Rulue's body.
  Rulue: Huh?! Are you perhaps... Well, not what you mention it, there was that time, and back then, and even right now... You were doing that kind of things and this kind of things...
• Not Distracted by the Sexy: He just passes by a sunbathing Rulue without batting an eye at her.
• Not Himself: In Saturn Madou, where he's possessed by his light counterpart, Ragnus. He also briefly gets possessed by the Sword of Ruin in the "Pursuit! Secrets of the Beaming Blade in Darkness" story in Puyo Quest.
• The One Guy: Plays this role with Arle and Rulue whenever he tags along with them in Madou Monogatari Saturn, as well as his one stint of tagging with Arle, Amitie, and Ringo in Satan's Space Amusement Park.
• Only Sane Man: In Tetris's story mode, while everyone else believed Dark Prince was the culprit behind the falling Tetrimino, he's the only one that does not jump into conclusions and manages to convince Arle it was not his doing, and also helps her have Rulue snap back to her senses. It still does not prevent Schezo from being a Butt-Monkey, however (due to Arle having him endure Rulue's speech about Dark Prince).
• Only the Chosen May Wield: He had to fight the very sword he's wielding to be deemed worthy to wield it in ARS.
• Power Loss Makes You Strong:
  • In Tower of the Magician, Schezo finds himself with only his basic fire, ice, and lightning magic due to the tower's Power Limiter in effect. When he strengthens himself to shrug off the effects, he ends up being on par to his original power level prior to stepping in, and would be stronger once he took his leave.
  • Schezo lost most his power in Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon, but over the course of trying to get it back, he ended up becoming much stronger than he was before his powers were taken. This eventually rendered his quest to take his magic back pointless, since he could defeat Doppelganger Schezo who actually is the Space-time Crystal, the one who took his magic, without his stolen magic.
• Power Parasite: One of his abilities. His goal is often to steal magic from others.
• Pre-Final Boss: Serves as the penultimate opponent of Sun's normal mode.
• Pretty Boy: While not an outright Bishōnen since he's not feminine enough, Schezo is still considered attractive by a handful of characters. His name even reinforces this as it supposedly translates to "The Gorgeous Man Who Defiles the Gods".
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "I AM NOT! A! CREEPER/PERVERT!" Or some variant of that. It's more or less his secondary catchphrase after "I want you!/Be my desire!".
• Purple Is Powerful: Has a faint violet tint in Y~on. His clothing in 15th and 20th onward are also a violet-indigo color to highlight his power, whenever he isn't being the butt of a joke.
• Real Men Wear Pink:
  • His usual love for cute things.
  • Apparently Schezo knows how to bake a cake in 20th Anniversary. In a cave.
  • In Shin Madou Monogatari, he literally wore pink when masquerading as Sherry.
• Recurring Boss: Played for Laughs in the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari II. While he does catch up and fight Arle, he becomes increasingly tired each time, making him easier to defeat.
• Really 700 Years Old: Schezo's age has been a hotly debated topic when discussing lore, as his chronological age is influenced by the temperamental canonicity of the Madou Monogatari Chronology contained in Shin Madou Monogatari. According to that timeline, he's 180 years old, if one were to calculate the timeframe between Madou Monogatari ARS and Madou Monogatari 1-2-3.
• Requisite Royal Regalia: Dons the royal regalia as the "King of Darkness" in Puyo Quest. He starts out with just the crown, but as his card evolves, he gains the fur-lined cape and clothes at *6, and finally the royal throne at *7.
• Reverse Grip: He holds his sword this way when he casts Sting Shade or counters with Dunamis in 20th.
• The Rival: One of Arle's straighter examples.
• Say My Name: In the Japanese version, he shouts out "ARLEEEEEE!" when she ditches him in Puyo Tetris.
• Secret-Keeper: In 15th, Schezo is told by Ms. Accord that people will stop calling him a pervert if he fixes his vocab problems. 13 years later in Tetris 2, he finally reveals this to Arle... only for him to screw up again.
• Sharing a Body: Involuntarily shares it with Ragnus in Saturn Madou. However, when Ragnus is in control, Schezo is completely unconscious, waking up in rather unfortunate situations without knowing how or why. He's understandably pissed at Ragnus for this.
• Shirtless Scene: You have to fight him half-naked in BOX's Quest mode. There's even another portrait to reflect this!
• Signature Move: Areiado; the technique even serves as his voiced catchphrase in the first two games.
• Slasher Smile: One of his skit faces in Madou Monogatari Saturn. Most notably when Rulue promises Schezo a helping of Arle's power if he helps them out.
• Static Role, Exchangeable Character: A variation with Arle in 20th Anniversary. We know that, at some point of the story, Schezo teams up with Arle in order to foil Dark Prince's schemes. The thing is, Arle's scenario has the same premise, except it happens in a slightly different way despite the plotline very likely being the same (it's a specific story where Dark Prince creates a storm in order to lure Arle to his castle. It has no reason to repeat itself). Of the game's many individual stories, Schezo and Arle's are probably the most "canon" out of them since they let Schezo detect Ecolo's presence as the latter spies on Dark Prince in the first place, which has direct consequences in the Secret Final Campaign, but one story being canon would logically make the other not. It's possible that Schezo and Arle's joint adventure was a bigger, longer deal than what was shown, but split into two distinct perspectives that focused on different aspects of the journey, like Schezo fighting Ringo despite the latter never showing up in Arle's scenario.
• Sword Beam: His Shadow Edge spell is sometimes shown as three dark arrows that fire from his sword as a Charged Attack.
• Sword of Plot Advancement: Literally. He has to duel the dark sword before he takes on Rune Lord Madou Monogatari ARS, and it becomes his mainstay weapon.
• Sword Plant: His Victory Pose in 15th and 7.
• Sword Pointing: A couple of his sprites in dialogue have him do this. Sun, 15th and 7 are some examples.
• Take Over the World: In a sense, as he wanted to take over Puyo Hell from Satan in some versions of Madou Monogatari 2 and in Puyo Puyo 1.
• Talking Weapon: There are the very rare moments where the dark sword has a speaking role, such as its duel with Schezo in Madou Monogatari ARS. Since then it's kept silent.
• That Came Out Wrong: Hoo boy, Schezo has quite the track record with this one. Half of his sentences get quite inappropriate when taken out of context, and it's more often than not the first thing anyone thinks of when asked about Schezo. Even if a good handful of the entire cast is aware of his bad wording, it still doesn't stop them from being any less shocked when he does say something inappropriate though. It's to the point where Arle has to point out how bad it is, and, in Tetris 2, claims that something is wrong if Schezo does speak correctly.

  Schezo: Finally, you and I are going to score together!
  Arle: Um... you mean we're gonna rack up SCORES... battling?
  Schezo, you gotta work on your vocab sometimes.

• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Whenever he joins forces with Arle (to make sure no one else claims her... power), it's usually under her protest. Schezo doesn't seem to like it either, but he has his priorities. He's more or less softened up to working with Arle over time, having shown some (roundabout) enthusiasm to accompanying her in Tetris 2.
• That Man Is Dead: After defeating Doppelganger Schezo in Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon, he bids farewell to his former self before evacuating the collapsing amusement park. Since Doppelganger Schezo is based on the real one from stealing his magic, down to wanting to kill for power, it's as if Schezo saw a part of himself just before his doppelganger faded away. He may as well have moved on from taking lives to fuel his power-stealing pursuits, acknowledging a part of him is gone like the magic that was taken from him.
• Theme Naming: Thunderstorm, Sting Shade, Areiado, Shadow Edge, Areiado Special. As expected from a Dark Wizard, he mainly uses dark magic. In previous games, he had Crush, Lwark Void, and Sagitta Adamas. He once used his sword for a chain animation, but it changed into a chain sound clip as opposed to an actual chain attack.
• This Cannot Be!: Yells this when he messes up in Big Bang Mode in Tetris.
• Took a Level in Kindness: While his exact level of antagonism tends to differ depending on the game or other media in question, he has undeniably mellowed out of his initially purely villainous portrayal in Madou Monogatari II. The SEGA games in particular prefer to use him as a mere rival to Arle rather than an outright antagonistic force.
• Too Kinky to Torture: In Saturn Madou, when Succubus is attempting to torture him into becoming her slave, he tells her to stop whipping him because he was starting to get a thing for it.
• Tsundere: He really tries to keep the cool—if not abrasive—guy attitude at the forefront, rebuffing any moment that isn't that as something out of character for him.
  • In Schezo's Long Day he's clearly very tsun about asking Arle for help out of fear of being mocked by her. He needed the help, but he flees out of personal pride.
  • In Waku Puyo Dungeon, if he decides to befriend Serilly, Schezo has a heart-to-heart with her about self-worth and genuinely becomes friends with her. Though after he finishes talking, he mutters to himself how it isn't like him to say those things.
  • He also tends to be rather insincere with his words when his intentions are well-meaning. When he declares to ditch Arle and co. in Tetris 2 and leave saving all of reality to her and her friends... he just as quickly turns around to speak the contrary, stating that he does genuinely care about the safety of the universe.
• Unexplained Recovery:
  • Despite being decapitated and killed in the PC-98 version of Madou Monogatari II, he comes back no worse for wear in later games.
  • This is averted in Madou Monogatari: The Final Test, where Arle (after defeating the Phantom God and gaining the Seraphim Orb) wishes for him to return to life, only to find out that he wasn't killed in the first place.
• The Unpronounceable: His character description in Tsu states his name is hard to read.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: ARS shows him as a diligent but lonely, but rather normal child before being dragged into a mirror. He swore to never become as evil as the villainous Rune Lord whose powers he inherited, but nearly two centuries later we see him in Madou Monogatari II, where he is the Big Bad trying to steal Arle's power.
• The Usurper: His main motif for wanting Arle's powers in the original arcade game was to use them in order to overthrow Dark Prince and become the new ruler of Puyo Hell. This has not been referenced since.
• Unlimited Wardrobe: There are not enough fingers per hand to count how many outfits Schezo has since his debut in Madou Monogatari. He's had three versions of his white robes in Madou Monogatari II, the simple white outfit from the original arcade game, Tsu, and SUN, blue and black robes in the Kadokawa Madou novels, a black robe and a double cape in Tower of the Magician, a black swordsman outfit for ARS and Waku Puyo Dungeon, an armored black robe for Madou Monogatari Saturn, a black mantle for Yo~n, a simplified armored black robe for the Shin Madou Monogatari novels, a navy blue cloak in 7, and an indigo swordsman uniform in 15th and 20th Anniversary onwards. And this is not even counting the alternate forms he has in Puyo Quest!
• Vague Age: Just about the biggest wild card about him. Profiles list his age as "Unknown", and Schezo flat out doesn't even care to count how old he is anymore. Japanese dialogue refers to him with "onii-san", which is interpreted as the "young man" age range, but it's still a broad window. He looks the part, but the Art Shift between Madou Monogatari and Puyo Puyo puts a wrinkle on how old he's supposed to be, looking and sounding more mature in the Madou games than his more youthful Puyo designs that make him closer to Rulue's age range. Then there's his more adult-sounding English voice contrasting the younger Puyo design he currently has. Then there's the even more complicated tangle when considering Oda's Chronology. In the Chronology, while he's technically 180, he, according to Oda, went into a deep slumber that halted his physical and mental aging at some point, so his actual age isn't actually 180. Taking that into account, there's a chance he might be biologically younger than Arle since he became a dark mage at 14 after obtaining the dark sword and inheriting Rune Lord's power, which were already shown influencing him by then.
• Verbal Backspace: What he does when he catches himself sputtering something that doesn't come out right, though more frequent in the Sega games.
• Villainous Crossdresser: Played for Laughs in a Compile 4koma, where Schezo wants to try Choppun's Arle outfit to see how comfortable it is. He's interrupted by Arle, Witch, Sukedoutara, and Draco, who all assume he's molesting Choppun.
• Villain Decay: From his current portrayals, it's sometimes hard to believe that this guy was once a very dangerous Evil Sorcerer.
• Villain Protagonist:
  • In Tower of the Magician, he is on a quest to kill Wish, a witch who saved the world and hasn't even been seen in decades. Only the appearance of Dark Matter deters him from his quest.
  • He returns to this status in Chapter 9 of Tetris, attempting to take Sig's demon hand in a purely selfish pursuit of power.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: While the two don't (openly) consider each other friends, Arle has relied on Schezo more than any other Compile character (if only because Dark Prince, Rulue, Draco, etc. are somehow even more unreasonable than the guy who wants to steal her powers.), having (reluctantly) teamed up with him countless times and even calling for his help in Tetris. Schezo is even less forward with his friendship with Arle and Rulue, but he lets his actions speak how much he values them as friends, from sacrificing his life to save Arle and Rulue in Madou Monogatari: The Final Test, to being quite perceptive whenever Arle's not okay, such as the time her memory and power was slowly fading away from a faerie's spell in the drama CD track " A Little Disaster in a Moonlit Night". He also doesn't feel right leaving Arle in a weak state, and explicitly tells her he'll protect her while she's vulnerable.
• Vocal Dissonance: His DLC voice in Puyo Tetris gives him the voice of a little boy, reminiscent of his child form in 7.
• Waterfall Puke: Both him and Arle vomit after Pakista feed them his new flavor of Puyo treat: sweet bean and natto.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Played with; straight in Madou Monogatari II (especially the PC-98 version), but subverts it in the Sega-era.
• Ye Olde Butchered English: Borders with it; he has the speech pattern, but never uses the words.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: As Moonlight Knight Schezo in Quest he is a dual dark/light type character. The same goes for Double-edged Mage, by way of wielding a sword of light with the dark sword.
• You Kill It, You Bought It: A non-lethal variation. Schezo encounters Rune Lord's lingering spirit as his final boss of Madou Monogatari ARS, and he technically didn't kill him off as he is long considered dead. His duel with him, though, all but proves his worth to carry on the title of Dark Wizard.
• Your Size May Vary: A rare canon example. He's officially 178cm (5′8 feet) and 68kg (150Ibs) in Puyo Puyo, but 184cm (6′0 feet) and 71kg (157Ibs) in Madou Monogatari, making him slightly larger in the latter.

Suketoudara

Suketoudara

Character Color: Red

First Appearance: Madou Monogatari I

Voiced By: Takeshi Aono (Puyo Puyo CD), Yasutoshi Akiyama SSS (Puyo Puyo SUN), Yuichi Nagashima (Puyo Puyo~n), Hisayoshi Suganuma (15th Anniversary onwards), Mick Wingert (English, Puyo Puyo Tetris onwards)

Fiiish!

An armed-and-legged pollock that loves to dance and talks in slang. He normally appears throughout the series as a comic relief of sorts, either because of himself being abused in some fashion or simply showing off his awesome dancing abilities. He is normally a carefree individual that simply wants to show off his dancing skills and likewise wants to see others dance too, but does show a more selfish side on occasion.

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• Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Wears a bow tie in 7. His Mega form additionally wears a hat, while his Mini form wears a baby bib instead.
• Advertised Extra: By far one of the most prominent characters in marketing, despite his major roles being few and far between.
• Aerith and Bob: Compared to everybody else in this page, who all have fantastical-sounding European-like names, his overly descriptive Japanese name ends up sticking out.
• Agony of the Feet: One beating from Raffina later, she just barges past him, stomping on his tail fin in the process.
• Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: In Real Life, Alaskan pollock tend to have a dark silver color with gray spots. On the other hand, he’s bright red.
• Ascended Extra: He's only slightly less prolific than Carbuncle in advertising. He also has more game appearances than any other Madou Monogatari Mook aside from the Puyo themselves.
• Berserk Button: Don't interrupt his dancing. Likewise don't mock his dancing.
• Big Fun: Well, the "big" part might be reaching a bit, but otherwise he's probably the series' most prominent example of this trope.
• Breakout Mook Character: He was originally a generic enemy in Madou Monogatari 1-2-3, but later became a prominent character in both Puyo Puyo and Madou Monogatari. As alluded to above, he was extremely prominent in Puyo Puyo commercials from the 90's, and a non-insignificant amount of modern-day promotion features him.
• Dance Battler: His Sun attacks are dance moves. Most of his animations are themed around surfing in the Sega games, but the attacks themselves still involve dancing.
• Delicious Distraction: Arle thinks about eating seafood whenever she is around him in Minna.
• A Dog Named "Dog": His name translates to "Alaskan Pollock", a type of fish.
• Dub Name Change: Becomes "Goby Captain" in the English arcade game.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Looked more like a realistic fish with more human looking limbs in Madou Monogatari 1-2-3.
• Elvis Impersonator: His *5 and *6 cards in Quest.
• Fat Bastard: In the first game and Sun anyway. See Jerkass.
• Fish People: He has the body of a fish, but has human arms and legs.
• Gratuitous English: Not to the heavy extent as Incubus, but he's known to indulge in it. "Let's dancing!", "Groovy", "Fish", "Baby", etc. This only happens in the Japanese script, though.
  • For how he talks in the English version of Puyo Puyo Tetris, see Hurricane of Puns below.
• Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Wears disco pants when fully evolved in Puyo Quest.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: In many of the games, AI Suketoudara begins a match by immediately dropping four rows of Puyo. It could spell doom if he manages to get a chain; otherwise, he just gave you a head start.
• Hot-Blooded
• Hurricane of Puns: In Puyo Puyo Tetris, everything that comes out of his mouth is guaranteed to have at least one pun themed on aquatic life or seafood. He's good enough to cram multiple puns into a single sentence at times.
  Suketoudara: "This clownfish ain't herring a word I'm sayin'. Look chum, I been flounderin' 'round these parts a while now..."
• Inter Species Romance:
  • Parodied in 20th, where he ends up being a victim of Maguro's "Beauty Beam" and falls in love.
  • Subverted with Serilly, who is a mermaid. Suketoudara loves her, but Serilly only sees him as a friend. Interestingly, there's been implications that Serilly has feelings for him, so maybe the issue is that she simply isn't ready for a relationship.
• Jerkass: In the first arcade game and Sun, at least. He snaps at Arle when she tries to talk to him in the first game and hogs an oasis to himself in Sun. In the latter instance, the starfish get their revenge by swarming him and leaving him as a husk.
  • Carries over into the English arcade game, where he claims that Silvana is "probably not an intelligent lifeform" after hearing her speak. To be fair, Silvana had just finished talking about how weird she thought he was.
• Kavorka Man: Surprised? A surprising amount of old commercials for earlier Puyo games depict Suketoudara with an atttractive woman. More often than not, they seem to find him curiously attractive for a fish-man.
• Kill It with Ice: In the Megadrive version of Madou Monogatari I, hitting him with enough ice spells causes the water to spew out of him, killing him faster than you would with fire magic.
• Leitmotif:
  • "Let's Dancing Together!" in 15th.
  • "Fishy Dance Shoes" in 20th.
• Life of the Party: One of his defining traits. If he wants a dance party, he's going to get it one way or another!
• Love Hurts: This guy has a thing for Serilly, but she only sees him as a friend. In Yo~n, he didn't take getting friend-zoned very well.
• Making a Splash: As a fish, he naturally has many wave-based attacks.
• Meat-O-Vision/Instant Roast: He turns into a seafood dinner in his Tsu defeat portrait.
• Our Monsters Are Weird: He's the best dancing human-limbed fish you will ever meet.
• Pungeon Master: Expect sea life puns for every sentence he spouts.
• Real Men Wear Pink: In DA!, he wears a pink tutu and performs ballet.
• Shout-Out:
  • In the Saturn/Playstation versions of Tsu, he performs Michael Jackson's signature Moonwalk.
  • In Quest, his cards from *5 onward depict him in garments similar to Elvis Presley.
• Sore Loser: From 15th onward, his lose animation always depicts him throwing a childish temper tantrum.
• Spell My Name With An S: His name was originally rendered as "Suketoutara" (すけとうたら instead of すけとうだら) in the MSX and PC-98 versions of Madou Monogatari 1-2-3. It was partially fixed in the 1992 Puyo Puyo, as the Enemy Roll Call correctly renders it as Suketoudara but his preview window label is "TARA".
• Terrestrial Sea Life: He's a talking, dancing fish who can somehow breathe on land and somehow has humanoid arms and legs.
• Vocal Dissonance: His alternative voice set in the Japanese version of Tetris gives him a cute voice similar to a child.
• Weak, but Skilled: With Fever rules, Suketoudara has among the worst chaining powers under normal conditions. However by contrast his chaining power during a Fever is among the best.

Witch

Witch

Character Color: Yellow

First Appearance: Madou Monogatari III

Voiced by: Konami Yoshida (Puyo Puyo CD), Nodapon (Puyo Puyo SUN, Discstation Shorts), Yuko Mizutani (Puyo Puyo~n), Kaoru Sakura (20th Anniversary onwards), Lauren Landa (English, Puyo Puyo Tetris onwards)

Honestly, you should feel super lucky right now. You happened upon ME - the smartest, most generous Witch to have ever lived! ♪ And don't forget the humblest! Now, go on. Take a swig^note  of a potion !

Witch is... well, a witch. Specifically, she is a young witch-in-training, constantly hunting for new spells to learn and potions to make. Her ultimate goal is to graduate into a full-fledged comet witch. However, she is rather mischievous when it comes to achieving her goals, going as far as to cheat in order to win, scamming customers on rare occasions, or even casually causing misery to others. She's yet another rival of Arle, due to Witch wanting to beat Arle in magic.

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• Adaptational Sexuality: In the Tottemo! Puyo Puyo manga, she has a much more apparent crush on Arle, going so far as to try and drug her tea with a love potion in a desperate attempt to get intimate.
• Ambiguously Bi: Throughout the series it's implied that Witch has a crush on Schezo, but taking into account her infamous cutscene in SUN she could also secretly have a crush on Arle. The latter made more apparent with the Tottemo! Puyo Puyo manga series as mentioned above, while the Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon manga prefers to go back to her crush on Schezo.
• Ambition Is Evil: Most of her cruel acts come out of great ambitions - Either to become a stronger witch than Arle, or to make money, or to make great potions...
• Any Last Words?: Word-for-word in the English arcade game. Instead of coming up with a witty reply, Silvana simply asks where Witch comes from.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Witch, as skilled at making potions as she is, has a habit of making said potions far too specific and eccentric to be of any practical use. For a quick example, her story in 20th revolves around her gathering ingredients to make a potion that makes people unafraid of bean-paste buns.
• Badass in Distress: In Saturn Madou, she put up a fight against Incubus, but still got chained up in his basement.
• Battle Aura: Has a golden one in Comet Summoner.
• Berserk Button:
  • Like Schezo, she does not appreciate being called a pervert in Sun.
  • 20th also suggests that criticizing her taste in potions is a good way to anger her.
• Biting the Handkerchief: Only does this in Yo~n though.
• Blood Knight: She admits she feels a compulsion to fight in Arle's story in 20th.
• Blush Sticker: Features them as a permanent part of her design in Sega-made games.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: Accidentally uses Schezo's "I want you" several times around him. It greatly flusters him.
• Breakout Mook Character: She was originally a secret hidden enemy in Madou Monogatari III, and then a generic enemy in Madou Monogatari ARS, but later became a prominent character in both Puyo Puyo and Madou Monogatari, especially the latter where she had several games centered around her.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: She was getting ready to take her magical certification exams in Madou Monogatari: Tower of the Magician. 20 years later, she has still not taken the exam and gotten a name.
• The Cameo: Alongside Harpy in 7 (She looked like this◊). However, unlike Harpy, she was made playable in 20th.
• Casual Kink: Played for Laughs in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2. When Witch tells Schezo to submit to her, Arle immediately assumes the two are a couple into BDSM. A very flustered Schezo tells her there's been a misunderstanding.
• Cat Girl: "Kitty Witch", which was one of her costumes in the defunct Puyo Touch that carried over to Puyo Quest.
• Cloudcuckoolander: A minor example, but even Lemres, Primp's resident weirdo, is confused by her taste in potions in 20th.
• Cool House: In Yo~n. It flies around the world attached to a surplus of balloons, both big and small. Chico even comments on how cool it is in her diary.
• Conflict Ball: Egregiously so in 20th. She gets in Arle's way solely because she felt it was her duty to do so.
• Covert Pervert:
  • In Sun. In Arle's story, she grabs Arle rather inappropriately in her sleep, and in Schezo's story, she accidentally suggests she wants to sleep with him when trying to express her interest in his clothes. She uses the exact same dialogue in Waku Puyo Dungeon again, except referring to Schezo's black outfit.
  • In Madou Monogatari Saturn, she becomes excited to meet Schezo after hearing he is a mega-pervert and asks to touch him.
  • Also in Saturn Madou, she vaporizes a townsperson's clothes.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Her scene with Schezo in 20th is essentially the same as their shared scenes in Sun and Waku Puyo Dungeon.
  • In 20th, some of the ingredients she needed for the potion she was concocting were the same ones she was looking for in Yo~n (A dragon's tail and a fish's scales, specfically). As a result, her interactions with Draco and Suketoudara (in a manner of speaking regarding the latter) in 20th are also taken from Yo~n. It should be noted that in Suketoudara's case, her interaction with him is a revised version of her interaction with Serilly in Yo~n.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Her issue in 20th. No one will buy Witch's potions because she makes potions that, while shown to be highly functional in Sig's Secret, are often much too specific for people to ever need. One such example is a potion that makes people less afraid of mochi buns.
• Cute Little Fangs: She has one in the Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon manga.
• Cute Witch: A youthful and attractive witch.
• Damsel in Distress: Her and Draco get caught by a Brainwashed and Crazy Incubus in Saturn Madou.
• A Day in the Limelight: Starred in a Spin-Off game titled Comet Summoner. She was also a major character in Tower Of The Magician, and was Arle's rival in Puyolympics.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has her moments in Saturn Madou. This has mostly been downplayed since then.
• Demoted to Extra: Similar to Rulue, Witch was more of a prominent character during Compile's run, getting her own game, along with major roles in other titles like Tower of the Magician or Puyolympics, along with a lot of prominence in non-game materials. During Sega's run, Witch is a rather minor character, with little to no plot relevance in any game other than her own story in 20th and little mention of either her rivalry with Arle or her implied crush on Schezo has been made since her return to the series.
• Depending on the Writer: As mentioned above, depending on which team was in charge of writing Witch could either have a crush on Schezo or on Arle.
• Dub Name Change: Averted in the arcade translation, along with Mummy, Zombie and Carbuncle.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She is very distressed over her grandmother's condition in Tower of the Magician.
• Everything's Better with Rainbows: In Yo~n, she has a spell called Rainbow Tail that summons a rainbow to damage her opponent.
• Everyone Calls Her "Barkeep": According to 20th's Trivia shop item, one factoid states that she'll get a name once she's finished training. Everyone and herself refers to her as "Witch" because she doesn't have a proper name to refer herself as.
• Evil Twin: She's not particularly heroic, but she still receives one named "Dark Witch" in Comet Summoner. Comet Summoner's description suggests she may be fighting against a manifestation of her future self.
• Fake Special Attack: One of the Puyo Puyo anime shorts depicts a battle between Witch and Arle. After Witch knocks Arle to the ground, she casts Meteor; unfortunately for Witch, only a single tiny star falls to the ground because they are fighting near a city and her comet magic is not as effective near bright light.
• Fangirl: Schezo's in Saturn Madou.
• Fiery Redhead: In Madou Monogatari III due to the limited colour palette. In every appearance afterwards, she's been blonde.
• Fire-Forged Friends: While they often oppose each other, she and Schezo team up in Tower of the Magician to fight Dark Matter.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: Her Puyo Puyo CD Tsu spells include Fire and Thunder (as opposed to Arle's Fire and Ice Storm), and she uses Icefreeze in the aforementioned anime short.
• Flying Broomstick: She's seen with one in Sun and carries it over for an animation in 20th. Flying on it is a major part of Comet Summoner's gameplay.
• Freudian Slip: Accidentally suggests she wants to sleep with Schezo in both Sun and Waku Puyo Dungeon when she really wants his clothes.
  • And in 20th she does the same when she wants Schezo...'s hair for a potion.
• Giggling Villain: One of her recurring traits, even when she's not doing something mischievous. Most notable in the first game (especially the Puyo Puyo CD version), where she only stops giggling long enough to acknowledge Arle.
• Gone Horribly Right: She makes a power enhancing potion for Amitie. Unfortunately, Amitie spills it on Sig, and it causes him to nearly return to his true self due to the sudden power.
• G-Rated Drug: The potions she accidentally left on the Primp Schoolyard in Klug's story in 20th are essentially a fantastic version of alcohol. Both Klug and Lidelle gets very drunk off of a single dose.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: According to Draco in Saturn Madou, Witch tends to get violently angry at the slightest provocation. In several other games, this trope is downplayed, but this aspect of her personality was brought up once again in 20th, where she lashes out at Lemres and Arle after they question her taste in magic potions.
• Hidden Depths: If Satan's Space Amusement Park is any indication, Witch might be into punk rock music and the corresponding fashion.
• Hime Cut: During Compile's run, she wore a more neatly-cut variation of this hairstyle. As of Sega's run, she now sports a more cartoonish version of it.
• Honest John's Dealership: Following her return to the series (as a playable character) during Sega's run, she now runs a potion-making/selling business in Primp Town in order to make a living. That being said, her business can be compared to this trope since her potions are noted to be rather... eccentric.
• Hotter and Sexier: In the Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon manga she is redesigned as an adult and is drawn in a more formfitting dress with jester motifs.
• Idiot Hair: During Sega's run.
• Implied Love Interest: During Compile's day, she was Schezo's. Witch was first associated with Schezo by appearing in the S route in Madou Monogatari ARS and continued to harass Schezo throughout other games similarly to how other characters pursued their love interests (such as Dark Prince pursuing Arle, Rulue pursuing Dark Prince, etc). From Puyolympics on the association became deliberate; the game Tower of the Magician featured Witch as a major character and Schezo's sidekick, Witch wanted to "touch" Schezo during Saturn Madou and Witch again appeared in Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon exclusively in Schezo's route (and again suggested she wanted to be intimate with him). While it was initially toned down following Witch being Put on a Bus during Sega's run of the franchise, the subtext is strong enough in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 that Arle mistakes Schezo and Witch for a couple.
• It's All About Me: She is much more selfish and boastful in Saturn Madou than Draco, immediately trying to persuade Arle and Rulue to save her instead of Draco when she sees Arle's key can only open one of their chains because, according to her, she is a much more valuable asset than Draco to a team. The Sega games also have shades of this, as she has absolutely no issues with messing with other people for her own goals.
• Japanese Pronouns: Like Rulue, uses the formal watakushi to refer to herself. Notable as much of the rest of her speech is informal.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While she's not often nice, if she makes a mistake (such as getting Klug drunk on a potion in 20th, or making a brew that caused Sig to go berserk in Sig's Secret), she will at least make an effort to correct the problem. There's also been occasions where she's taken the opportunity for a cheap shot (such as attacking Arle when her guard was down in Tsu and springing a surprise Puyo match on Amitie in Sig's Secret), although she will eventually apologize for her underhanded methods. She is also very protective of her grandma.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Upon seeing her grandma lying on the floor in Tower of the Magician, she rushes forward without regard for her own safety and gets taken out by Dark Matter's Black Eclipse spell for her trouble.
• Leitmotif:
  • "Darkness from Puyo Puyo 2".
    • Bootstrapped Leitmotif: The theme debuted as the Floor 4-5 BGM of, as the name implies, Tsu.
  • She also has a theme in Comet Summoner, ''Comet Summoner Witch''
• Lunacy: In Quest as Moonlight Witch she uses the power of the moon, making her both light and dark type.
• Male Gaze: The only character to be drawn with defined waist and hips (in her Cat Girl costume). Is also given a Hotter and Sexier redesign in the Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon manga with many fanservicey elements.
• Meteor-Summoning Attack: Her signature spell, Meteor, of course.
• Money Fetish:
  • Downplayed, but her main motivation in 20th is to make amazing, bestselling potions. Unfortunately for her, her potion choices are too specific to sell all that well.
  • In the Game Gear version of Madou Monogatari I she charges Arle an unreasonable 1000 Gold for trying and failing to headbonk through the wall of Witch's apartment and will do so every time Arle tries to repeat the stunt.
• No Name Given: Witch technically isn't her name. In fact, she doesn't have one until she's done with her training.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: In Sig's Secret, she feigns stupidity and tears to lure Amitie into a false sense of security before suddenly springing a Puyo match on her.
• Ojou: To a far lesser extent than Rulue, but she used to live in a magical tower (As of 20th, her shack-like store also doubles as her new house), has a Hime Cut, does the occasional Noblewoman's Laugh, uses the honorific watakushi and expresses her approval of Satan's castle that Arle and Schezo deem tacky in 20th.
• Older Than They Look: She appears in Schezo's story in Madou Monogatari ARS, which could make her closer to 180.
• Palm on Cheek Pose: When taking major damage in Puyo Tetris.
• Patient Zero: In Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, she becomes the first victim of a crazed Marle corrupting her.
• Playing with Fire: In Quest, she has an alternate form called Red Witch that specializes in fire spells.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Gives them at low health in Tower of the Magician.
• The Rival: A more proper example, given that she serves as an Evil Counterpart of sorts to Arle in Puyo Puyo CD Tsu, using Fire, Thunder, Brain Dumbed and Jugem. She is also Player 2 in Puyolympics, which pits her against Arle's Player 1.
• Ship Tease: With Schezo. Every time they meet she ends up flirting with him (accidentally or not) and every time he gets flustered.
• Signature Laugh: Ohohohoho! Somewhat sounds like a Noblewoman's Laugh going through a traditional witch cackle filter.
• Signature Move: The spell Meteor. Later, she would inherit her grandmother Wish's signature move Big Bang, which has been her signature move since 20th.
• Significant Birth Date: Halloween.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: Her dynamic with Schezo in Tower of the Magician.
• Sore Loser: Shades of this in Minna. After Arle defeats her, Witch yells that she'll give up the rune if Arle "just goes away."
• Star Power: Her main spell motif. Even her non-star spells have star motifs, such as her version of Fire creating a star shaped blaze in Tower of the Magician or Accelerate having a small star animation buzz around its targets in Saturn Madou.
• Super-Empowering: Gives Schezo her magic so that he can defeat Dark Matter in Madou Monogatari: Tower of the Magician. He gives it back once he's done with it.
• Squishy Wizard: In Tower of the Magician she gets taken down by a single Black Eclipse spell.
• Suddenly Shouting: When performing Big Bang and Meteor spells in Yo~n.
• Talking in Your Sleep: She mumbles "I love you very much." after grabbing hold of Arle while sleeping.
• Theme Naming: Meteor, Tachyon, Black Hole, Quasar, and Big Bang all have relevance to stars in the sky or celestial bodies. In the English dub of Puyo Tetris, she swaps out Big Bang for Supernova.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: More prominently from Tetris onwards, where they have started sharing appearances in stories, she's the girly girl to Draco's tomboy.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Taking her age possibly being 13 into account, she is not only a Covert Pervert but crafts incredibly dangerous potions and has on several occasions shown a desire for Arle to burn in hell.
• Unsportsmanlike Gloating: From 20th on, she calls the loser of any of her matches an idiot. In the English dub of Puyo Puyo Tetris she requests a rematch with the loser, claiming she never gets tired of winning.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
  • Makes a power enhancing potion for Amitie that accidentally gets spilled on Sig and starts driving him mad. Her potions also cause chaos in Klug's story when she accidentally leaves them on the Primp schoolyard.
  • In Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, she may or may have not caused Marle to go insane and overly obsessed with the idea of "fun" after giving her a potion to cure her amnesia, which ended up not working. Marle allegedly says the potion worked after battling Draco Centauros, though the word "fun" may have triggered her Sanity Slippage.
• Vain Sorceress: In Puyo Puyo Tetris she calls herself the beauty in her Beauty 'N The Beast show while Draco is the Beast. She also takes part in a beauty contest in the Satan's Amusement Park novel, though since Dark Prince is judging the contest Arle's victory is a Foregone Conclusion.
• Vague Age: Her age is inconsistent. She's been labeled as both 13 and 15 in official bios, and as noted above it's possible she is actually centuries old. The Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon manga also gives her an alternate appearance more on par with a young adult.
• Wicked Witch: Shades of this, due to her tendency to be selfish, short-tempered, and cruel to other characters.
• Wind Is Green: In Yo~n, she represents wind amongst the sidekicks and she wears green.
• With Friends Like These...: Despite Witch and Draco supposedly being friends (most promotional material covering the entire cast will more likely than not pair the two together), almost every interaction between them results in them arguing and fighting. Going by her interactions with them, the same can be also be attributed to the rest of the major Madou-era Puyo cast more often than not for that matter.
• Witch Classic: Has a pointy hat, flies on a broom, and makes potions using strange ingredients like traditional witches. However she mixes characteristics of a Cute Witch and Wicked Witch; She's youthful and cute like the former, but her Jerkass tenancies and dangerous potions gives her characteristics of the latter.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: As both Kitty Witch in Touch and Moonlight Witch in Quest she is a dual light/dark type character, similar to New Moon Schezo.
• You Fool!: Her victory phrase in the Sega games.