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Main Heroes
Tessa (Tabasa)
Class: Magician
Origin: Icelarn
Voiced by: Tomoko Naka (Red Earth), Naoko Ishii (Super Gem Fighter), Kie Sakura (SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos)
Tessa is a sorcerologist who lives in Icelarn, and excels in the use of magic. A large number of storms began breaking out in the year 13XX (1999 in the Japanese version). Tessa doesn't believe this to be a natural phenomenon. She leaves her home to find the person behind this. To this end, she first discovered Hydron. They fought and she defeated him, thinking that "marine creatures" shouldn't be in her land.
When she meets an opponent, she can easily tell something about them, such as whether the opponent is evil or good.
- A Storm Is Coming: Her plot is kicked off by storms forming across the world. Tessa is convinced that these storms are unnatural, and seeks out the source of them.
- All Witches Have Cats: The sorcerologist Tessa owns four cats, two of whom (Al and Ivan) actually aid her in battle from time to time. Tessa owns several other pets, such as a bird (Hato), a frog (Kaeru), and a dragon spirit which doubles as her cape (Manot).
- Anime Hair: Sports a sort of angular bob, complete with an Idiot Hair curl when she removes her hat.
- Arch-Enemy: Hydron, the kraken.
- Bulletproof Human Shield: In Super Gem Fighter, her block is to hold Mai Ling out in front of her to take the hit.
- History Repeats: Once Scion is defeated, Tessa suspects there might be The Man Behind the Man at work. Once she finds the alien lifeform in the depths of Scion's lair, if Tessa takes it home for study rather than seal it for safekeeping, the very next scene shows her falling completely under its influence.
- Hot Witch: She dresses in white sleeveless attire that outlines her buxom figure and bares her upper arms. Should she take the bad ending, she goes completely naked.
- An Ice Person: One of her specials flings icy shards at the opponent.
- Kame Hame Hadoken: Chakra Wave, a classic fireball attack. She can do it in mid-air after levelling up sufficiently.
- Long-Range Fighter: Tessa's fighting style focuses on zoning her opponents from long range and hitting her opponents from a distance.
- Magic Staff: She uses one to conjure her magic and to whack her opponents with it.
- Magitek: She can create weaponized technology to deal some damage like summoning a cannon to fire a cannon ball or creating a sort of air ventilation to launch her opponents into the air for her forward throw.
- Ms. Fanservice: Tessa shows a fair amount of skin around the chest and shoulders, and her bad ending features her naked.
- Norse by Norsewest: In the game's Fantasy Counterpart Culture take on Earth, Tessa hails from "Icelarn", a region approximate to Scandinavia. Iceland is probably the closest fit, and her stage contains Viking-style imagery.
- Not Right in the Bed: In Tessa's Bad Ending. The alien lifeform Tessa chose to take home turns out to be a Living Aphrodisiac and before anyone knows it Tessa is canoodling naked with its container, eagerly waiting for it to "grow up".
- Robe and Wizard Hat: Being a witch, she dresses up with a large hat and cape.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: In Tessa's Good Ending. Tessa has the option to seal the mysterious alien lifeform away and walk away cleanly. It's still alive, but it won't be harming anyone soon.
- Shoryuken: Reverie Sword
- Shotoclone: Tessa has the classic 'fireball / rising attack / horizontal attack' combo.
- Spell My Name With An S: Clearly, supposed to be "Tabitha" — whoever was in charge of converting the names from Japanese to English screwed up and simply did a direct Romanizing of タバサ.
- Witch Classic: She would seem to be a modern update of this trope (if not, she comes close). Her robes are white and a bit more festive and revealing than your traditional witch, not to mention that she uses a magic wand, but she has the trademark pointed hat (which appears to be alive in some depictions), owns four cats (two of which—Al and Ivan—actually aid her in battle), is often shown thumbing through what is presumably her spell book, and is seen riding on a broomstick during Pocket Fighter/Super Gem Fighter: Mini-Mix. The only difference is that she refers to herself as a sorcerologist, one who employs magic in her studies to discern the nature of the universe, and as such, Tessa's brand of witchcraft seems to be a mix of classical cauldron brewing and alchemy.
Leo
Class: Warrior
Origin: Savalia
Voiced by: Daisuke Gōri
In 13XX, unknown invaders attacked Savalia (Greedia in the Japanese version) and drove Leo out as well as cursing him, transforming him into his current state. The 3 Wise Men tried to remove the curse but couldn't. Now Leo uses the curse as his strength to "repay his debt to his countrymen" only to return to Savalia and find a large number of people have been kidnapped, and the monster Hauzer awaiting him.
- Arch-Enemy: Hauzer, the dragon.
- Barbarian Hero: Has the look of a Conan-esque barbarian.
- Beast Man: The result of his curse is becoming a lion man, fitting for his name.
- The Berserker: As a Close-Range Combatant, he specializes in getting in his opponent's face and slicing and dicing them until they are no more.
- Big "NO!": He bellows a gigantic one after the crystal containing Blade's soul shatters due to the irreparable damage that it sustained during their fight.
- Captain Ersatz: Of the eponymous hero of classic Tokusatsu series Kaiketsu Lion Maru.
- Close-Range Combatant: He has no projectiles (except for his magic super moves through elemental orbs), but makes up for it with special moves that help him dash forwards to close gaps and hit hard up close.
- Cool Sword: He can swap out his default sword for other various swords, each having their own unique property. In arcade mode, he unlocks new swords to fight with after every boss fight, while in versus mode he can swap them out in battle. He even gets an axe as one of his optional weapons.
- Cursed with Awesome: Unknown invaders attacked Savalia and drove Leo out as well as cursing him, transforming him into his current leonine state. In his best ending, the curse is broken and Leo becomes human again. However, in his worst ending, the curse continues to worsen until Leo loses all his humanity and becomes a feral lion.
- Empowered Badass Normal: He normally fights with his swordsmanship skills, but he has the ability to use the elemental orbs in battle to cast magic super moves.
- Find the Cure!: Alongside protecting the innocent, Leo is looking for a way to reverse his Beast Man curse. Or at least kill the bastard responsible.
- The Good King: The most noble member of the main cast.
- Good Is Not Soft: While he has pledged to protect the innocent who cannot defend themselves from outside threats, he will show no mercy in felling every single one of them.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Between a man and a lion.
- Heroic Build: He's a very buff man and one of the heroes.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: His native "Greedia" is a thinly-veiled analogue of Greece, complete with Doric-style architecture.
- King of Beasts: And King of his native Savalia.
- Knightly Sword and Shield: Well, minus the knight part, he wields a sword and shield as his main weapons.
- Loincloth: As part of his barbarian looks.
- Man Bites Man: His forward throw has him gnawing on his opponent before pushing them back.
- Meaningful Name: Leo = Lion.
- Mr. Fanservice: Walks shirtless? Check. Wears a Loincloth? Check. Has a built and muscular body? Check.
- Multiple Endings: Leo has the most endings out of the playable characters, with 3 in total.
- Bad Ending: Defeat Blade with a Fatality. When he returns to his castle, Leo's curse rapidly worsens, and soon enough he's lost all humanity and completely turned into a lion. The people of Savalia never see their king again, but every now and then they see a somber looking lion...
- Good Ending: Defeat Blade without using a Fatality. Leo returns to his kingdom to the cheers of his people. Although his curse is uncured, he is set to be a truly wise and fair ruler.
- Golden Ending: Defeat Blade without using a fatality, and beat the game using less than 20 continues. As with the Good Ending, but Leo's curse is cured, and he is once again human.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: In the attract mode, he is revealed to have blood red eyes with iris slits. He is a incredibly formidable foe who will not hesitate to mercilessly maul you or slice you in half in order to protect the innocent.
- Shield Bash: One of his special moves has him dash forwards and tackling his opponent with his shield before finishing off with a sword swing. He has a super move variation that's longer and deals more damage.
- Story Branch Favoritism: With the game's logo prominently featuring a lion, the intro largely showcasing him, Player 1's cursor starting with him highlighted, and his personal ties to Blade, Leo is clearly the intended "canonical" protagonist.
- Sword and Fist: Leo mixes his swordsmanship with kicking strikes and shield bashing.
- This Cannot Be!: He was horrified to find out that his commander had been corrupted and became Blade through Scion's magic.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: He's a warrior king who actually travels across the continent to save people and stop Scion's evil plan.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: His outfit shows off his physique.
- Wrestler in All of Us: Leo has a grappling move that allows him to do a Spinning Piledriver like Haggar and Zangief.
Mai Ling (Tao)
Class: Monk
Origin: Gora
Voiced by: Megumi Urawa
Mai Ling is a fourteen year old skilled martial artist from Gora. Recently, she left her hometown and participated in a martial arts tournament in which she won first place. Overjoyed, she returned home to tell her family, but her joy turned to horror when she found her home and the entire town ablaze. As she stood in shock, the harpy Lavia descended from the sky and took credit for the destruction.
Mai Ling then decided to search for the missing children from her town, and to discover what terrible evil had befallen the world.
- Anime Chinese Girl: From Gora, a region similar to ancient China.
- Arch-Enemy: Lavia, the harpy.
- Badass Adorable: She's a cute young girl that managed to win a big tournament before the events that transpired.
- Cute Bruiser: A fourteen year old girl who can take down large monsters with regular fisticuffs.
- Cool Big Sis: She becomes a big sister figure towards she children that she rescues and they happily view her as one.
- Diving Kick: She can do a flaming diving kick as one of her special moves.
- Expy: Of Chun-Li.
- Friend to All Children: Mai Ling cares for the safety of children and manages to save the children from her town and reunites two young brothers with their elder sister.
- Imperial China: In the game's Fantasy Counterpart Culture take on Earth, Mai Ling hails from "Gora", a region approximate to ancient China.
- Kamehame Hadoken: Along with her martial arts, she can also throw Kuujin Kens.
- Kick Chick: Most of her moves involves using kicks, although she can do some moves with her hand such as palm strikes and such.
- Little Miss Badass: She won't let any evil underestimate her skills.
- Ms. Fanservice: With the number of Panty Shots she gets, what can you expect?
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's a petite young girl that can go toe to toe with rather large opponents.
- Playing with Fire: Her element of choice.
- Precious Puppy: She gets one in her normal ending, which she names "Tin".
- Waif-Fu: She's apparently fourteen.
Kenji (Mukuro)
Class: Ninja
Origin: Zipang
Voiced by: Yukimasa Kishino
When the black ships of unknown invaders appeared in the skies of Zipang and began attacking the country, the Shogun Naosuke ordered his best ninja squad to find out who the invaders are and to wipe them out. Kenji is the leader of that squadron, and comes across Tanuma, who mutates into the monstrous beast Kongou. Although Kenji secretly distrusts his Shogun and believes that he may be betraying the country, he goes along with everything while searching for more clues.
- And Show It to You: Kenji's Enma Zuki is a special move that gets him to charge headlong at the opponent, before punching them in the chest. If this is used as the finishing blow, Kenji then proceeds to drive his fist in harder to rip out the heart of the foe, and crushes it to a pulp in his palms. Depending on some foes, like automatons like GiGi and Blade, he'll rip out their power sources instead.
- Arch-Enemy: Kongou, the demon-troll.
- BFG: Can you believe that Kenji can pull out a giant short barreled musket-like weapon from behind his back?
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Kenji wields two curved blades on his forearms.
- Cool Mask: His ninja mask has even got a v-fin!
- Doppelgänger Spin: Kenji has a special move that creates three clones that are running and jumping at two different angles. Depending on the button input, the real Kenji can use the clones to trick the opponent and give him a better position on the stage.
- Downer Ending: Neither of his endings are happy ones. The Bad Ending (don't act on your subordinate's report that the Shogun is trying to get you killed) has him go on one more mission that he knows is going to get him killed, but he can't bring himself to disobey his master. The Good Ending has him kill the treacherous Shogun... and Kenji lives the rest of his life in dishonour, however short it may be.
- Feudal Japan: In the game's Fantasy Counterpart Culture take on Earth, his is probably the least ambiguous, with his homeland of "Zipang" a clear model of Japan and named after a Real Life ancient name of the country itself.
- Flechette Storm: One of his super moves has him summon a large amount of kunais that either rain downwards or fly in the air in a homing style.
- Hand Seals: He does this for his special and super moves and in one of his victory animations.
- Hurricane Kick: His Rasen Kyaku.
- Iaijutsu Practitioner: His Sword Beam move shows him sheathing his Ninjato and readying it on his hips before swinging his sword and unleashing an energy beam.
- Instant Costume Change: His intro animation has him wearing a civilian outfit with a straw hat and holding a small container before grasping his civilian outfit and pulling it off, instantly changing into his ninja uniform (which was possibly hidden in that small container).
- Katanas Are Just Better: He wields a Ninjato specifically.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Kenji's abilities as a ninja mix in both a use of slight of hand and mythical powers for a mystique of uniqueness that helps to establish ninja as their own distinct entity. While Kenji is able to pull out items and kunai out of nowhere, it's strongly hinted that his scarf is the conduit for his hammerspace that allows him to keep his bigger items like his gun and his ninja uniform, and the powers he can wield are its own disciplines.
- Mundane Utility: One of Kenji's win animations has him toss out and simultaneously light a pair of incense that lands in the ground near the fallen opponent, and upright at that, before giving his foe their last rites.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Even when he knows the Shogun is corrupt and is trying to kill him, Kenji still serves him faithfully. Subverted if he does trust the subordinate's report, in which he kills the Shogun but is forced to live with the shame of dishonour.
- Ninja: A clear cut example.
- Ninja Run: This is his running animation as expected from a ninja.
- Playing with Fire: He can summon a large pillar of flames as part of his elemental skills.
- Scarf of Asskicking: He's got a long cloth scarf that flows with the wind.
- Shoulders of Doom: He's got quite the large shoulder armor.
- Stock Ninja Weaponry: Katana (Ninjato), shuriken, kunai, chained sickle and iron ball — check.
- Sword Beam: Kenji has a move where he sheathes his sword and then unleashes a energy beam from his blade.
- Universal Poison: His element of choice.
- Walking Armoury: Kenji is packed with personal weapons: his Ninjato, arm blades, shurikens, kunais, chained sickle and iron ball, and even a giant short barreled musket-like weapon.
Enemies
Hydron (Nool)
Class: Kraken
Origin: Icelarn
Voiced by: Osamu Hosoi
Hydron is a mischievous half-ammonite, half-kraken monster who was given power by Scion, but the only one standing in his way is Tessa.
- Combat Tentacles: Uses its huge, slimy tentacles for a variety of attacks, which offers considerable range.
- Elemental Motifs: Appropriately, his name features the prefix ‘hydro’, pertaining to all things watery.
- Giant Squid: Crossed with an ammonite or nautilus.
- Making a Splash: Naturally, many of its powers are water-based.
- Prongs of Poseidon: Applicably, he wields a huge trident.
- Sea Monster: He’s a giant squid/nautilus hybrid who threatens the peace of Tessa’s native Icelarn.
Hauzer
Class: Dragon
Origin: Savalia (ancient past)
Hauzer, originally a fossil from Savalia, now an Earth Dragon resurrected by Scion, inhabits the Savalia stage. Hauzer largely resembles a Tyrannosaurus Rex (and he is often easily mistaken for one).
- Breath Weapon: Can spit huge balls of flame.
- Dinosaurs Are Dragons: An especially prominent example, as he’s almost entirely based on a Tyrannosaurus rex, with only minor additional touches, such as his ram-like horns and miniature wings.
- Our Dragons Are Different: He's referred to as a dragon, but his design clearly owes far more to the above mentioned T. rex.
- Playing with Fire: As a dragon, he can emit great globs of explosive fiery energy.
- Ramming Always Works: His Deluge Assault attack is a full-screen charge.
- Shoryuken: His Tempest Fall, a classic rising attack in which he snatches the opponent in his jaws.
- Stock Sound Effects: His buzzy roar has been used for draconic Capcom characters all the way back to King of Dragons in the late 80s, and is also prominently heard via the animated statues on Fei-Long's stage in Super Street Fighter II, who start bellowing when a round is won.
- Wings Do Nothing: They're ridiculously small!
Kongou
Class: Ogre
Origin: Zipang
Voiced by: Daisuke Gōri
Kongou was once a mere human named Tanuma from Zipang. He was a portly merchant with no fighting ability, but then he met Scion, who bestowed upon him the ability to transform into a great ogre. Now known as Kongou, he is terrorizing his own homeland, wielding a massive spiked club and reducing those who stand in his way to nothing.
- All Trolls Are Different: He's designed in the style of a Japanese ogre.
- Carry a Big Stick: He wields a huge kanabo or demon-club.
- Giant Mook: The most “human”-shaped character fought in the game.
- Horned Humanoid: Sports huge forward-pointing horns on his head.
- Humanoid Abomination: He graphically morphs from an evil-looking human into a huge, mutated troll-like being prior to fighting him.
- Mighty Glacier: Slow as hell, but packs a considerable wallop with his kanabo.
- Youkai: Based on a traditional Japanese “Oni” (ogre).
Lavia (Luan)
Class: Harpy
Origin: Gora
Voiced by: Tomoko Naka
Lavia is a vicious harpy whose power was increased by Scion's sorcery. She resides in the country of Gora and prompts Mai Ling to hunt the others that have been empowered by Scion, when she destroys the young martial artist's village.
- Airborne Mook: She’s constantly hovering in place by flapping her giant wings.
- Cute Monster Girl: The “prettiest” of the monsters fought in the game.
- Blow You Away: Most of her wing-flapping attacks blast her opponents across the arena.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: It's revealed in Mai Ling's story that Lavia was actually corrupted by Scion's sorcery. After being freed from Scion's sorcery, her spirit gives Mai Ling guidance to where she can find him.
- Feather Flechettes: Her Feather Darts attack.
- Harping on About Harpies: She's designed as a huge (but attractive) harpy, and unusually, her face is actually quite pretty.
- Heel–Face Turn: In Mai Ling's story, she is later freed from Scion's control and helps Mai Ling by giving her Scion's location.
- Humanoid Abomination: Despite her beautiful face, she sports grotesquely exaggerated arms which support her powerful wings, and her skin is a sickly pale green colour.
- Lightning Bruiser: The fastest character in the game, she is a force to be reckoned with when using slow melee characters like Leo.
Ravange (Secmeto)
Class: Chimera
Origin: Sangypt
Ravange is a four (five, if you count the snake for a tail)-headed chimera from Sangypt (Alanbird in the Japanese version) a desert nation. He has the heads of an eagle, a dragon, a lion, and a goat, with a cobra for a tail. Although he crawls around on all fours, he is quite intelligent and each head is dangerous in its own right. He once was a human Pharaoh named Arumana IV, but was given this new form by Scion. His statue is brought to life by the sorceress Clara Tantra.
- All Your Powers Combined: Uses earth (sand), fire, poison and petrification attacks per head.
- Ancient Egypt: In the game's Fantasy Counterpart Culture take on Earth, Ravange hails from Sangypt, a region clearly approximate to ancient Egypt, complete with all the expected iconography on his/her stage. In adition, his/her japanese name (Secmeto) is likely based on the egyptian goddess Sekhmet.
- Composite Character: A cross between an Egyptian sphinx and a Greek chimera and fuses the power of the lion, goat, eagle, dragon, and cobra together.
Gi Gi
Class: Stone Golem
Origin: Zonoma
Voiced by: Osamu Hosoi
Gi Gi is a four-armed stone warrior. Originally a statue of Incan design, Gi Gi was brought to life by Scion. Its original intent being a stone guardian, it guards the crypt it was originally found in. In battle, it wields a curved sword in each of its four hands, and can summon various traps to attack enemies.
- Attack Reflector: His Slime/Rune Guard moves.
- Golem: An animated stone warrior that was brought to life by Scion.
- Living Statue: Prior to fighting him, he animates from the back of the arena before leaping in to fight.
- Mayincatec: In the game's Fantasy Counterpart Culture take on Earth, Gi Gi hails from "Zonama", a region clearly approximate to Mayan South America.
- Mechanical Lifeform: He’s originally a stone idol, but was brought to life by Scion’s magic.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: He wields a huge scimitar in each of his four arms.
- Sinister Scimitar: He wields a giant curved blade in all four of his arms.
- Spin Attack: Many of his attacked involve rotating his swords.
- Threshold Guardians: Of the Crypt — Gi Gi is always the last standard opponent faced, prior to Blade and then Scion.
Blade (Jihad)
Class: Animated Armour
Origin: Varuda
Voiced by: Yukimasa Kishino
The former leader of Leo's bodyguard unit, Blade became Scion's finest and strongest creation. Blade is nothing more than a small emerald crystal, but it calls to itself a large set of armor equipped with a massive sword named Adrayer. Blade was completely constructed by Scion, so it is unquestioningly loyal to the evil wizard.
- Affably Evil: When faced by Tessa, Blade tells her that he's not a chauvinist before proceeding to slaughter her.
- Animated Armor: Blade controls a suit of armor.
- Badass Cape: But he gets nastier when he removes it.
- BFS: He wields a rather large drill like sword.
- Censorship Bureau: Blade was originally known as "Jihad" in Japan, however, because of religious connotations (a rare example of an Islamic reference) it was changed to what it is now. Curiously, many later sources, including the Japanese ones, now refer to the character as Blade instead of Jihad.
- Light Is Not Good: He looks just like a Knight in Shining Armor (for not mentioning that his armor is pure white), however, he is still evil and extremely loyal to Scion. Subverted when he's defeated by Leo, in which he shows some regret for his role before dying.
- The Dragon: The second-to-last boss for all of the heroes.
- Pre-Final Boss: Blade is the penultimate enemy for all playable characters, and the last line of defense between Scion and the protagonist.
- Shoulders of Doom: The armor's shoulder blades are covered with spikes taller than its helmet.
- SNK Boss: Between him and Scion, it's hard to say which of them is worse.
- Soul Jar: A diamond containing the soul of Leo's former bodyguard commander. When Kenji uses his heart-ripping finisher on Blade, he extracts this diamond instead.
- Tin Tyrant: Seen almost always in a suit of armor.
Scion (Valdoll)
Class: Wizard
Origin: Varuda
Voiced by: Daisuke Gōri
Scion is an evil wizard who is responsible for the invasion of monsters in the different countries around the world. His ultimate goal is to find humans strong enough to survive his conquest and conquer the world in the name of his empire Varuda, which he rules from his floating castle Darminor.
- Big Bad: The final boss and the mastermind behind the invasions.
- Evil Sorcerer: A floating sorcerer with a staff.
- Final Boss: While each of the heroes have their own arch-nemesis, all of their paths lead to Scion.
- Light Is Not Good: He claims to be a God, but his intentions are no good.
- The Man Behind the Man: Tessa, after defeating him, explores the depths of his lair and discovers a small creature that resembles a mix of a fetus and a brain. In her bad ending, she takes it home for study and it inadvertently hypnotizes her, suggesting it had a similar effect on Scion.
- My Brain Is Big: It bursts out of the back of his head and swells to be as big as he is... with the brain stem dangling to the floor.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He thinks that his intentions are good, but he's actually a Knight Templar who wants to create a new human race through killing everyone and searching for the strongest.
- One-Winged Angel: After he gets beaten, he uses dark energy to transform into a beast with a giant brain.
- Sorcerous Overlord: The despotic and tyrannical emperor of Varuda, who is also able to channel all kinds of magic from his staff.
- Transformation Ray: One of Scion's attacks turns your character into a small and helpless animal (though in Leo's case, it just makes him small and helpless).
