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Party Members

    Ein 

Ein (Ecthel)

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (JP), Yuri Lowenthal (EN, PSP version)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ein-riviera_9032.jpg

The Protagonist. He is sent to Riviera by Hector to actuate the Retribution and many of the other characters remark on how naive and hopeless he is; nevertheless, he is an extremely powerful Grim Angel (he manages to keep up with Ledah with a little help from his Exposition Fairy, despite the fact that he's as new to his job as new gets!). He traded his wings for his Diviner, Einherjar. Ein is separated from his companions Ledah and Rose by Riviera's guardian, Ursula; she gives him Laser-Guided Amnesia and deposits him in a Sprite village so that he can better consider their point of view. After she gives him his memories back, he becomes her Laser Guided Spanner in the Works.

Much of Ein's personality is up to the player's direction and dialogue choices, but his default demeanor is innocent and friendly; he believes the best of everyone around him, even (to a point) his enemies.


  • Accidental Pervert: On the whole, although depending on the player's actions there can be a handful of intentional incidents.
  • But Now I Must Go: According to the official timeline, he and Rose leave Riviera for good sometime after the final battle.
  • Chick Magnet: All the party member girls, as well as most unattached girls in Elendia, express interest in him.
  • The Chosen One: He's the one fated to save Riviera, with a generous helping from Ursula, Rose and his four female companions.
  • Cool Sword: His Diviner sword, Einharjar.
  • Covert Pervert: When Ein peeps in on the female inhabitants of Elendia and his companions bathing in the Undine Spring. Both times he gets caught.
  • Crossdressing Voices: Ein, a male, is voiced by Rie Kugimiya, a female.
  • The Cutie: He's generally considered soft and friendly and he can be quite decent, but don't piss him off!
  • Dub-Induced Plot Hole: There's a character in Gungnir named Einherjar, which will cause problems as it made it to North America in June of 2012. Both Gungnir's Einherjar and Ein have Meaningful Names.
  • Dub Name Change: His name in the Japanese version is Ecthel; his Diviner is called Ecthelion.
  • Even the Guys Want Him: As does Reiche. He also gets a fair amount of Ship Tease with Ledah.
  • The Fool: At the beginning of the game, at least.
  • Heel–Face Brainwashing: What Ursula does to him by sealing his memories and show him his misguided way (it helps that he didn't like the course of action already). He ultimately decides to Rage Against the Heavens and save Riviera.
  • Heroes Prefer Swords: His Diviner Einherjar is a sword and his Limit Break skills use broadswords.
  • Heroic Resolve: He gets downed multiple times over the course of the game but pulls through until the end to save Riviera.
  • I Choose to Stay: In the non-canon endings for the other girls.
  • Improbable Weapon User: While you don't actually use them in battle, Ein's skill with simple rocks is incredibly astounding. He even skips a rock around 100 times across an entire lake and kills an unsuspecting enemy skeleton on the other side.
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Which allows him to survive Ursula's cursing between chapters 1 and 2.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Ursula seals away his memories (except for his name) and forces him to live among the sprites so he learns that they are harmless and friendly people, rather than evil demons.
  • Laser-Guided Tyke-Bomb: The reason Ursula gave him Laser-Guided Amnesia was essentially to brainwash him into wanting to support Riviera instead of Asgard. It worked.
  • Light 'em Up: In a subversion of the Fire, Ice, Lightning system, his element of choice is holy, not lightning (even though his sword is yellow and Ledah/Malice stand for fire/ice, respectively).
  • Living Weapon: Grim Angels are a warrior caste of God Killers created to bring down the evil demons and gods during Ragnarok.
  • Meaningful Name: His weapon Einherjar is named for fallen warriors taken to Valhalla by the Valkyries, mirroring Ein's relationship with Ursula. This doesn't hold in the original, where his weapon is just named after himself.
  • Mighty Glacier: He can take a lot of punishment, even though he is slightly weak towards the trinity of elemental magic. However, he is the slowest party member as well.
  • Naïve Newcomer: The newest Grim Angel and the only one with a familiar as well.
  • The One Guy: In a team that otherwise consists of four (actually five) girls.
  • Only the Chosen May Wield: Ein is the only one who can use the Longinus and the Farnelia to their utmost potential.
  • Our Angels Are Different: Literally, he is an angel without wings.
  • Phlebotinum Rebel: He's a Grim Angel, a caste of God Killers, but rebels against the orders of Asgard.
  • Power at a Price: Ein gave up his wings to get his Diviner Einharjar. His Overdrive with it, Disaresta, deals out massive damage to all enemies, but it will destroy the Overdrive meter, preventing it from being used until the next battle.
  • Power Crutch: The Immoral Rosary that Hector gives him in the first chapter allows him to fight on roughly the same level as Ledah, despite having only just become a Grim Angel. When he loses it in the battle with the Aghart, he's much weaker, but still stronger than Fia and Lina.
  • Pre-Asskicking One-Liner:
    • "This should end it!" for his Level 3 Overskills.
    • "This is the will of the gods!" for his Execution Level Overskill.
    • "Go, Rose!" for his Blazing Rose Overskill.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner: After Hector sacrifices one of the four main ladies to become Seth-Rah, Ein declares his duty as a Grim Angel to pass judgment on him for all his crimes.
  • Rage Against the Heavens: He rebels against the orders from Asgard and instead decides to save Riviera. Turns out the orders were actually faked by Hector.
  • Scarf Of Ass Kicking: Ein wears one, which also serves as a replacement for his taken wings.
  • Skilled, but Naive: He's pretty powerful, but lacks the experience of Ledah.
  • Spanner in the Works: Hector already chalked him up dead, then Ein Came Back Strong and crushed his plans.
  • Speaks Fluent Animal: The other girls think this of Ein since he's the only one who can understand Rose after she had been reduced to meowing.
  • Tareme Eyes: These support his friendly looks. Don't be fooled, he's a Grim Angel for a reason.
  • That Came Out Wrong: Countless times, both in player-chosen dialogue and during events.
  • This Is Unforgivable!: Ein gets angry when Hector sacrifices one of his female companions in order to gain ultimate power. He promises to make his former employer pay for what he's done.
  • This Loser Is You: Ein plays like an allegory of shut-ins; get the hell out into the world and meet girls, damnit!
  • To Be Lawful or Good: He's torn between fulfilling his duty as a Grim Angel and doing what he feels is right. He tries to Take a Third Option by sealing the Accursed without destroying Riviera, but when he discovers Hector's true motives, his reason for being conflicted disappears.
  • Weapon Specialization: Which weapon used affects the level of Overskill can be used. Only the primary weapon will allow you to use Level 3 Overskills. Ein is the only one who can use Execution Level Skills, and only with Einherjar.

    Fia 

Fia

Voiced by: Natsumi Yanase (JP), Wendee Lee (EN, PSP version)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fia-riviera_3923.jpg

Granddaughter of Elendia's elder and one of the first girls to join forces with Ein. Fia took care of Ein while he was an amnesiac and invited him to live with her and her friend Lina. She is well-read and responsible and explains a great deal about the world to Ein when he still can't remember very much (including several battle mechanics not gone over by Ledah and Rose). She starts out apparently infatuated with Ein, assigning him the suffix -sama in the Japanese version; depending on the choices of the player, she may fall in love with him by the end of the game.

Gossiping with the house fairy Coco reveals that Fia has a sweet tooth and is insecure about her weight and is less mature than she likes to act.


  • Beware the Nice Ones: While she's very gentle, she does not tolerate evil. Additionally her element of choice is holy!
  • Can't Spit It Out: If she's sacrificed in the final chapter, her last words are regretting that she could never tell Ein how she felt about him.
  • Church Militant: She's in training to be a priestess. Apparently, that training involves fencing and holy magic.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: More pronounced in the Drama Cds.
  • Combat Medic: She's pretty good in a fight, but her most valuable skill is being the only person in the party who can use healing abilities. She's so versatile and her healing is so useful that she's a staple in most party setups.
  • Covert Pervert: A bit.
  • Fanservice: She wears a white bikini in both the SE bath scenes and one of the telephone cards. There is also a version where she and the other girls appear bathing, sans bikini but with Godiva Hair.
  • Feminine Women Can Cook: She's girly and she cooks well.
  • Giant Poofy Sleeves: Part of her dress.
  • Godiva Hair: In a bathing scene.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Lina.
  • Jack of All Stats: She's the most well-balanced member of the party stat-wise.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: She can use two famous Japanese swords, the Zantetsu and Kikuichimonji.
  • I Found You Like This: Not only is this how she introduces herself to Ein, but this was how she met Lina, as the latter was delivered to her by Ladie and Graham after she was found collapsed outside in a snowstorm.
  • Lady of War: She generally takes over the role of Healer in the group, but uses a rapier as her primary weapon and is the only character in the game who can use the full power of the Kiku-ichimonji, making use of the attack "Oboro-garasu". Her Overdrive skills also carry an "air of grace" with them, and are named after musical terms (Vivace, Cadenza, Presto, Brilliante).
  • Light 'em Up: Her favourite element is holy.
  • The Medic: She uses several magic items for healing, rather than attacks.
  • Ms. Exposition: Like Ledah and Rose, she explains some combat mechanics or background info. Humourously, this includes the moon.
  • Odd Couple: With Lina.
  • The Ojou: Refined and elegant with a fitting weapon.
  • Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "My resolve shall prevail!" for her Level 3 Overskills. "Evil Spirit begone!" for her rosary level 3.
  • The Red Mage: She's the only party member who can use melee skills, offensive magic, and healing magic.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: Sure you didn't peek, Fia. We believe you.
  • Tareme Eyes: Has these, to emphasize her gentleness.
  • Theme Naming: Her Level 3 Overskills are all named after musical terminology.
  • Weapon Specialization: Which weapon used affects the level of Overskill can be used. Only the primary weapon will allow you to use Level 3 Overskills.
  • White Magician Girl: Although her main weapons are rapiers, Fia is the only character to consistently learn healing techniques and her stats make her more appropriate for using magic than physical attacks.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: She's actually the youngest party member, but she's the most mature by far.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: She doesn't look the part but she has the Silk Hiding Steel personality, she's a good cook, her weapons include archery and pole arms and speaks politely. Plus she actually uses a few Japanese swords.

    Lina 

Lina (Lyuri)

Voiced by: Hiromi Konno (JP), Stephanie Sheh (EN, PSP version)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lina-riviera_4666.jpg
A single arrow can pierce through the sky and summon terrifying lightning. She grips a tiny ray of hope with those small hands of hers.
— Calendar disc flavor text

A Haine girl who's lived with Fia since she moved to Elendia two years ago. Lina joins up with Ein at the same time as Fia. Lina is cheerful, whimsical and extremely immature — most of the time. She shows her occasional moments of brilliance and good judgment of character and helps to cheer Ein up in his Darkest Hour. She doesn't know much about everyday mundane things (like what kinds of wood are used to light her and Fia's own stove), but brings energy and drive to Ein's quest like no other. She doesn't have much affection for Ein initially, but depending on the actions of the player, she can fall in love with him by the end of the game.

Lina is actually quite a bit older than she looks and her childishness is implied to be just an act to make her look more cutesy.


    Serene 

Serene

Voiced by: Ai Nonaka (JP), Paula Tiso (EN, PSP release)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/serene-riviera_8753.jpg

A native of Rosalina and a member of the Arcs, a race of Sprite resembling vampires. Serene's village was wiped out by Malice towards the beginning of the game when she was ordered by Hector to gather a thousand Sprites' souls. Ein, Fia and Lina rescued her from Malice while exploring Lacrima Castle and she joined up with them afterwards. Serene is the most tomboyish and rough-natured of the four Sprite girls accompanying Ein and is friendly with Lina; the two tease each other back and forth over the course of the game. Serene secretly harbours considerable survivor's guilt about being the only Arc to live through the Rosalina massacre. Depending on the player's actions, she can fall in love with Ein by the end of the game.

The Precious Chapter drama CD features an installment that focuses on Serene's Backstory and her life in Rosalina before the game.


  • A-Cup Angst: According to her jealous internal monologue when rescuing Cierra from falling in Chapter 3 if Ein doesn't make it in time.
  • All There in the Manual: The significance of Serene's pendant is explained in one of the voiced dramas included on the Precious Chapter CD.
  • An Ice Person: Her element of choice is ice.
  • Animal-Eared Headband: Serene wears a hat with prominent cat ears sticking out of it.
  • The Big Girl: She boasts the most attack power of the team.
  • Close-Range Combatant: Because of her weapon limitations, she's the only party member who can't target enemies in the back row.
  • Delinquent: In the High School AU drama.
  • Dull Surprise: Her English voice actress, in the PSP version.
  • Fanservice: She wears a blue bikini in both the SE bath scenes and one of the telephone cards. There is also a version where she and the other girls appear bathing, sans bikini but with Godiva Hair.
  • Fantastic Racism: Against demons, although considering her past, this is somewhat justified.
  • Glass Cannon: She's very powerful, but cannot take a magical punch, a fire punch or an electric punch worth anything.
  • Girl Posse: The dramas establish that she used to have one with her best friends in Rosalina, Polly and Tehse.
  • Hollywood Tonedeaf: She says she sucks at singing, but she can do it just fine if her buddies are in peril...
  • Last of Her Kind: The only survivor of the Rosalina massacre.
  • Magically Inept Fighter: Her impressive attack power is matched by an abyssal magic stat. Her magic-based overskills are functionally useless even against an enemy weak to her chosen element.
  • Never Learned to Read: In the Japanese version of the game, she's stated to not be completely literate; in the English version, this was changed to her hating to read instead.
  • The Prankster: She likes to play tricks, usually on Lina.
  • Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "Here's my trump card!" for her Level 3 Overskills
  • Purple Is Powerful: Though artwork shows Serene as blue, her in-game sprite is primarily purple.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Against demons and especially Malice.
  • She-Fu: She's pretty powerful and while not particularly flashy fights very efficiently.
  • Survivor Guilt: Having supposedly seen the destruction of Rosalina Island firsthand, this is justified.
  • Tomboy: She's rough around the edges, blunt-spoken and easy to anger, but also a respectable and trustworthy person.
  • Tragic Keepsake: Her pendant.
  • Unusual Ears: She has jigokumimi and wears a hat with nekomimi.
  • Winged Humanoid: As an Arc, she has bat wings. In a bout of either stupidity or some kind of charm magic, this detail gets the rest of the team to mistake her as a vampire.
  • Weapon Specialization: Which weapon used affects the level of Overskill can be used. Only the primary weapon will allow you to use Level 3 Overskills.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Isn't too impressed with Ursula's decision to unleash the Cefiro, thereby forcing Ein and company to have to kill a small number of innocent Sprites to save the rest of them.

    Cierra 

Cierra (Shiera)

Voiced by: Yūko Gotō (JP), Vanessa Morley (EN, GBA version), Michelle Ruff (EN, PSP version)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cierra-riviera_427.jpg

Known as the Scarlet Witch, Cierra is a Witch and a magic researcher who normally lives in Wiese Forest. She joined Ein and the other girls while they explored the Nelde Ruins in search of one of the Accursed (which she mistook for Akurst and thought they were looking for magical herbs); she insisted on traveling with them in order to look for her "friend", Gateau — actually Ein's lost cat familiar, Rose. Cierra joins the party with a high level of affection for Ein and is considered by fans to be one of the easiest characters to win over by the end of the game.

Cierra is the oldest of the girls who travel with Ein's party and acts as an older sister to the others. Her magic, while quite powerful, sometimes tends to be of the hit-or-miss variety because Cierra herself can be quite absent-minded. She gets lost easily and isn't very good at making potions, although she is an excellent chef.


  • Big Damn Heroes: In the audio drama The Melancholy of Millefeuille-chan?!
    "What are you doing to my cute little Millefeuille?! Hell Fire!"
  • Black Magician Girl: Fire, Ice or Holy magic needed? Just ask her. She still prefers fire, though.
  • Cloud Cuckoo Lander: She gets easily distracted or lost in thoughts. This got the team into peril at least once.
  • Cool Big Sis: While sometimes a bit off, she's still a responsible and intelligent person and always someone who hears people out about their problems.
  • Crash-Into Hello: With Ein.
  • Crazy Cat Lady: Well, more crazy about cats. Especially when they have bat wings.
  • Cute Witch: Also a Hot Witch.
  • Dying Declaration of Love: If she's sacrificed in the final stage, she tries to tell Ein that she loves him, but dies before she can finish her sentence.
  • Fanservice: She wears a black bikini in both the SE bath scenes and one of the telephone cards. There is also a version where she and the other girls appear bathing, sans bikini but with Godiva Hair.
  • Feminine Women Can Cook: The girliest of the group and excellent when it comes to any kind of cooking.
  • Fiery Redhead: Has red hair and specializes in fire magic.
  • Genius Ditz: She sometimes gets lost in thought, but she's highly proficient in magic, cooking and helping others about their problems.
  • Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Often seen with beer or wine.
  • Hot Witch: Cierra is known as the Scarlet Witch, and she's quite a beauty. Literally hot as well since she has a fire affinity.
  • Idiot Hair: Cierra has a very, very small one.
  • Innocent Fanservice Girl: Cierra didn't seem to object when she gets accidentally groped by Ein or when told she has a soft ass after she crash-landed on Ein's face.
  • Kill It with Fire: Her element of choice is fire, but ice and holy also work.
  • Kindhearted Cat Lover: Again, she's a good person and this is emphasized when it comes to caring about Rose (even though she messed up her latter's voice with a potion by accident).
  • Magic Misfire: She's known to mess up spells she doesn't know. Thankfully this doesn't happen in actual battles.
  • Mighty Glacier / Squishy Wizard: A combination of both. Due to having the highest base HP value and a lot of Overskills, Cierra has the highest possible HP total. Her MGC score is so high that you can cast magic at her all day and she won't even feel it — but poke her with a physical attack and half that giant HP bar is gone.
  • Most Common Superpower: She has a sizeable bust which complements her fire-based magic powers very well. Serene in particular seems a bit envious; "huge" being the word of choice here.
  • No Sense of Direction: Gets the team lost into the Four Seasons Forest, a horrible area for characters and players alike. Also tends to wander around aimlessly at times.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Cierra sure knows a lot of factoids for someone who can seem so empty-headed...
  • Onee-sama: Of the smother-you-with-boobsquish-hugs variety.
  • Playing with Fire: Her element type is fire.
  • Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "I'll show you the power of magic!" for her Level 3 Overskills
  • Tareme Eyes: Like for most of the girls, these emphasize her gentleness.
  • Team Mom: When she's not being silly, she falls into this role rather nicely.
  • Weapon Specialization: Which weapon used affects the level of Overskill can be used. Only the primary weapon will allow you to use Level 3 Overskills.

    Rose 

Rose R. Crawford

Voiced by: Rika Komatsu (JP)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rose-riviera_6397.jpg
In both feline and humanoid flavors.

Ein's familiar and Exposition Cat in the first chapter. Rose was assigned to Ein to help him cope with being sent out right after being made a Grim Angel and is often frustrated with his lack of knowledge about things she believes to be obvious. Although she teases Ein relentlessly, she does care for him deeply and considers him to be her friend, not just her master. She is shown to have an interest in history and is very respectful towards Ledah. If none of the heroines care about Ein enough, he returns to Asgard with Rose at the end of the game; all versions from the original GBA release on, however, do include a special ending for her (referred to by fans as her Good Ending or True Ending) that requires a base amount of Cierra's affection.

Rose doesn't like being equated with a house cat because of her appearance and is highly unamused when one of Cierra's potions robs her of her voice.


  • Badass Bookworm: Go on, get her Overskill. She really is badass.
  • Butt-Monkey: It is possibly to abuse her by sending her into holes and switches, which usually end with hilarious results. Her "relationship" with Cierra isn't the smoothest either.
  • Cat Girl: In her True Ending.
  • Crossdressing Voices: Although she's voiced by a woman, Rose has a very deep voice for a female character and is often mistaken to be male (even by Ein). Using "boku" when refering to herself doesn't exactly help.
  • Demoted to Extra: Rose is often conspicuously absent in scenes from the voiced dramas, although she's in The Precious Chapter more than she was in the Epilogue Disc.
  • Dub Name Change: In the Japanese script, Cierra nicknames her Millefeuille. Probably to save space, Atlus changed this to "Gateau", a generic French word for cake instead of a specific French dessert. As a bonus, it also sounds similar to "gato", the Spanish word for "cat".
  • Exposition Fairy: Well, Exposition Cat; she explains a lot of things in the Forced Tutorial and She Knows About Timed Hits as well.
  • Familiar: To Ein; this was done because he's fairly clueless about life as a Grim Angel and Ledah is too headstrong to bother explaining things.
  • First Girl Wins: In her endings. Ein ends up with none of his other romantic options and instead goes treasure hunting with Rose. Who gets transformed into a cute girl.
  • Kill It with Fire: Her Overskill allows her to be launched as a ball of fire. It's the only attack of any kind she's capable of.
  • Little Miss Snarker: She provides some truly hilarious dialogue of this kind.
  • Official Couple: With Ein, according to the official timeline and Word of God. What this implies however is fairly mean.
  • Only Sane Woman: In a cast that contains a clueless God Killer, a Covert Pervert Ojou, a Deliberately Cute Child, an easily angered Tomboy and a Cloud Cuckoo Lander Cute Witch as well as a headstrong Emotionless Boy, someone has to nudge everyone else into the right direction.
  • Samus Is a Girl: Turns out this cat is female and can become a Cat Girl to boot!
  • Snarky Nonhuman Sidekick: Probably the snarkiest cat you'll ever see.
  • Talking Animal: A speaking cat. Just don't liken her to a house cat, she really doesn't like that.
  • Tareme Eyes: These seem to be the norm, really.
  • Team Pet: Or at least the girls think so. Personally, she doesn't like that.
  • Tsundere: Towards Ein, but she's a type B mostly.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Doesn't like the dark. Often gets sent out to investigate small dark spaces.

Others

    Ledah 

Ledah Rozwelli

Voiced by: Masakazu Morita (JP) Kyle Hebert (EN, PSP version)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ledah-riviera_7771.jpg

A second Grim Angel, dispatched along with Ein. He is much more experienced than Ein and much more professional in his dealings with demons and traveling. He and Ein were separated at the end of the first chapter, after which Ledah continued to follow Hector's orders and prepare for the destruction of Riviera. His devotion to the gods' will (which he believes Hector to be the spokesperson of) leads to his confrontation with Ein, subsequent Heel–Face Turn and final Heroic Sacrifice. It is revealed at the end of chapter 6 that Ledah decided to sacrifice his emotions to become a Grim Angel (in comparison, Ein sacrificed his wings), although he does seem to retain some emotional capacity. Maybe.

Not much of Ledah's background has been released, although his surname and Grim Angel registration number and class were given out with the Prologue Disc.


  • All There in the Manual: His last name and Grim Angel license, at least...
  • Back for the Finale: If the player fulfils certain conditions in the PSP version, Ledah will rejoin your party in Chapter 8 instead of the girls before you take on Hades, Ruler of Hell.
  • Bond One-Liner: When Ledah finishes a fight with his Execution Level overdrive.
    Ledah: Judgement has been passed.
  • Crippling Overspecialization: Not so much in the first chapter, where he's so powerful that Lorelei really is all he needs. But when/if he rejoins you temporarily in Chapter 8, his refusal to use anything except Lorelei (to the exclusion even of healing items) becomes much more of a hazard.
  • Crutch Character: In the first chapter, because the player couldn't skill Ein yet. After that, he reappears as an enemy instead.
  • Cynical Mentor: While he's showing Ein the ropes of being a Grim Angel, Ein's constant questioning of their orders annoys the hell out of him, and he's largely indifferent to Ein's survival.
  • Demoted to Extra: Ledah is completely absent from the Precious Chapter CD.
  • Emotionless Boy: He surrendered his emotions in exchange for his diviner. Some of his dialogue hints that he hasn't lost his emotions so much as he's lost the ability to assign them proper meaning.
  • Guest-Star Party Member: In chapter 1 and, if certain conditions are met, chapter 8.
  • Healing Factor: Recovers at least 250 HP every turn in the first chapter (which is a lot), probably in order to make up for the way that he refuses to use all items other than Lorelei. This is much less impressive in chapter 8, where his healing rate can't always keep up with the amount of damage he takes.
  • Heel–Face Door-Slam: Poor thing. He follows orders like any soldier is classically expected to and gets subsequently killed.
  • Heel–Face Revolving Door: Although Ledah's true allegiance to the gods never wavers, there's a little confusion as to what the gods' will really is.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Takes the attack suppossed to kill Ein, going down like a true hero.
  • Kill It with Fire: His element of choice is fire.
  • Knight Templar: From his perspective, he's a servant of the gods on a holy mission to eradicate demons. From the perspective of the party, he's a pawn of Hector needlessly killing innocents.
  • Living Weapon: Like all Grim Angels, his purpose is to kill demons and evil gods.
  • Meaningful Name: His weapon Lorelei is named after the mythical "murmuring rock". Its a poetic description of his personality, but also worth noting is that the Lorelei of myth is inhabited by a beautiful, blonde-haired spirit.
  • Mr. Exposition: What we don't learn from the opening narration, we learn from him.
  • My Country, Right or Wrong: His worldview is rather simplistic: Asgard's enemies are evil and their representatives are good. It is implied that Ledah suspected Hector's true ambitions, but obeys him anyway because he's the one in charge.
  • My Master, Right or Wrong: His lack of emotion prevents him from sharing Ein's hesitation about the Retribution. He's fully aware that the Retribution requires the sacrifice of souls and will result in the deaths of thousands of innocent sprites, but Hector has ordered it and he speaks for the gods (so he thinks), and that's good enough.
  • Our Angels Are Different: As a Grim Angel, he's a Living Weapon.
  • Pre-Asskicking One-Liner:
    • "Thy sins shall be purged" for his Execution Level Overskill.
    • "Burn in the flames of judgement" for his Break Out Skills in his boss battle.
  • Ship Tease: With Ein.
  • The Stoic: He's very headstrong about his ideals and following orders and never really fazed about the things that happen around him.
  • Student Council President: In the High School AU drama.
  • Tsurime Eyes: Used to great effect to show his fighting spirit, which is doubly great because he doesn't have emotions to begin with.
  • What Is This Feeling?: According to his voice actor, it's not that Ledah doesn't have any capacity to feel emotions, he just no longer understands how to interpret them.

    Malice 

Malice Ructor

Voiced by: Mariko Suzuki

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/malice-riviera_1113.jpg

A third Grim Angel, sent to tail Ein and Ledah by Hector. Unlike Ein and Ledah, Malice's loyalties lie only with Hector. She first encountered Ein directly while chasing Serene and neither of them seemed to recognize each other; he did know who she was by their next meeting, however. Malice says that she gave up her future to become a Grim Angel, but it's eventually revealed by Hector that she failed to become a real Grim Angel and that she (like her Expy characters in Yggdra Union and Knights in the Nightmare) is an artificial Grim Angel with a fake Diviner; she was only his pawn, nothing more. Near the end of the game, she is sacrificed by Hector to resurrect Seth.

Malice's backstory and surname are revealed in one of the voiced dramas on the Epilogue Disc.


  • A Day in the Spotlight: The sole serious voiced drama, Malice, Leaving Her Past, which focuses exclusively on Malice's backstory.
  • All There in the Manual: Her full name and backstory, among others.
  • An Ice Person: Her element of choice is ice, with some darkness thrown in.
  • Broken Bird: The reason she throws in her lot with Hector, who gave her a new purpose in life. Too bad he's a total jerkass.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Her childhood was...troubled, to say the least. Then, as an adult, she failed at becoming a Grim Angel, then got turned over to Hector as a plaything.
  • Demoted to Extra: Malice is completely absent in the Precious Chapter CD.
  • Fountain of Expies: Malice has two—#367 and Primea. Their personalities are nothing like hers, but all of them wear similar clothes and wield an artificial Diviner called Skadi (Toolus in Japan).
  • Freudian Excuse: Her father was killed during Ragnarök, and her mother slowly died of illness despite her pleas to the gods. Both of these events caused Malice to bear a deep grudge against Asgard and wish for someone powerful enough to actually answer prayers. So Hector's plan to become all-powerful and dethrone the Gods of Asgard turned out to be right up her alley.
  • Gratuitous French: All of her Overskills except Blue Sophia and many of her basic attacks.
  • Meaningful Name: Her weapon, Skadi, is named for a frost giantess in Norse Mythology associated with hunting; fitting for an ice axe used to harvest souls. Also worth noting is that the giants were a race of god-like beings who hate the gods because they were not allowed into Asgard.
  • My Master, Right or Wrong: She is slavishly devoted to Hector, even knowing that she's committing atrocities in his name, because she frankly doesn't have much else to live for.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: While Malice is a legitimate girl's name in France, it's not anywhere else.
  • Our Angels Are Different: She isn't even one to begin with; she's been lied to the entire time in that she is neither a Grim Angel, nor a Living Weapon hence, nor did she receive a real Diviner (this also explains how she could sacrifice her future, an abstract concept, compared to something real like emotions or wings; namely she didn't).
  • Princess in Rags: In her backstory, she's the daughter of a noble house whose life was destroyed by the war between Asgard and Utgard.
  • Rage Against the Heavens: She absolutely loathes the gods of Asgard. Unlike the real Grim Angels, her only loyalty is to Hector.
  • Stockholm Syndrome: Malice's life was already ruined by the time she ran into Hector, but he destroyed what was left of it for shits and giggles and went on to treat her horribly when she wound up as his pawn. Malice still all but worships him.
  • Tragic Monster: Figuratively. She ruthlessly murders the Arcs and the girl that likes Ein the most, but only because Hector has her firmly under his thumb. She dies believing every single one of Hector's lies, which he finds extremely amusing.
  • Tsurime Eyes: Unlike Ledah or Selene, these empasize her hatred.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: She had a truly horrible life and winds up as a Tragic Monster.

    Ursula 

Ursula

Voiced by: Yuko Shioyama (JP)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ursula-riviera_1094.jpg

Defender of Riviera, Ursula is said to be the ghost of a woman who died in Ragnarok, but considering that this is claimed by Hector (and he's a lying liar who lies), her true origins remain shrouded in mystery in-game. She kidnapped Ein and gave him Laser-Guided Amnesia in order to convert him to her cause and points him in the proper direction to start battling the Accursed. Later, after realizing that she was mistaken about Hector's views, Ursula contacts Ein via a dream to get him to protect her. She fades away at the end of the game, as her existence is linked with Seth's.

According to the side materials, Ursula was created by the gods as a defense mechanism to protect the Retribution — Seth is the embodiment of the gods' power, but to get at her one must first get past Ursula and because they are symbiotic beings, killing Ursula would defeat the purpose. She is worshipped as a goddess by the Sprites.


  • All There in the Manual: Her background and purpose.
  • Batman Gambit: Deciding to try to convert Ein in the first place and then asking him whether or not he'll defend Riviera.
  • Big Good: She's the protector of Riviera and adored by the sprites and fairies for that and her gentleness. On the other hand, she's a dangerous foe and not against manipulation.
  • The Chessmaster: One of the few unambiguously good ones in all the Dept. Heaven games. The fact she deems brainwashing acceptable is telling when it comes to the standards here.
  • Clap Your Hands If You Believe: She and her fairies can do a lot of pretty cool and totally impossible stuff as long as they're praying hard enough.
  • Enemy Without: Ursula and Seth seem to be opposite halves of the same concept.
  • God's Hands Are Tied: She can't fight against Seth because she's busy holding Riviera together. Hector knows that.
  • Good Is Not Nice: She's not above brainwashing to achieve her goals.
  • Idiot Hair: Amusingly, she is the biggest example of this trope in the game, even though she's not an idiot.
  • Meaningful Name: Ursula means "Little Bear"; she certainly has a bit of Mama Bear in her.
  • Mind Rape: Good intentions or not, what she does to Ein really comes down to this.
  • Omniscient Morality License: Introduces herself to the player by attacking Ein and Ledah, kidnapping Ein, cursing him and then brainwashing him. It was for a good cause, though, so nobody holds it against her.
  • Physical God: Technically demigoddess, but the Sprites don't care.
  • Stripperiffic: Much like the fairies (and incidentially the demon siblings Fool and Sage), she's only dressed in bandages.
  • Tareme Eyes: ...yet another one.
  • Winged Humanoid: She has unique butterfly-esque wings.

    Hector 

Hector

Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama (JP)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hector-riviera_1331.jpg

A recurring character over the Dept. Heaven series, Hector is one of the Seven Magi and is finally the main villain of Riviera. He spent the past several millennia planning a takeover of Asgard and set it into motion by getting Malice to revive demons in Riviera, giving him an excuse to send his Laser-Guided Tyke-Bomb trio down to actuate the Retribution and destroy Riviera, conveniently giving him the opportunity to grasp the gods' power for himself. Unfortunately for Hector, Ursula kidnapped and converted the weakest Laser-Guided Tyke-Bomb, Ein and turned him into her own Laser-Guided Tyke-Bomb. Hector's grandiose and complicated plan is brought to a screeching halt because of one, single mistake.

In addition to his role as main villain here, he has a cameo appearance in Knights in the Nightmare and is referenced in Yggdra Union.

As over the past two games in the series, Hector is shown having brought about the utter ruin of an innocent Wide-Eyed Idealist, narrowly avoiding a The Dog Bites Back from said Wide-Eyed Idealist-turned-Magnificent Bastard via interference by some trusty, well-meaning Unwitting Pawns (the Royal Army in Yggdra Union), abusing his test subjects and sending the gods' most devout servant on a suicide mission that ends in her fall from grace, this man has garnered a respectable amount of fan hate. Taking him down at last is kind of satisfying.


  • Above Good and Evil: According to himself. The protagonists heartily disagree.
  • All There in the Manual: Turns out he commited so many atrocities in the past, nobody will ever miss him.
  • The Chessmaster: Just about everything that happens in the series is part of Hector's plan. Ein is the only loose end, and he manages to unravel the whole thing.
  • Clothes Make the Superman: According to the background materials, his power is linked to the cloak he's always wearing.
  • Creating Life Is Bad: It's pretty telling that perverting the laws of nature is one of the least evil things he does.
  • Despotism Justifies the Means: It's not entirely clear what he intends for his new world, only that he wants to be the god of it. Whatever he has planned, it doesn't even come close to justifying all of the things he's done.
  • Evil Laugh: While this doesn't occur in-game, it's played by his seiyuu in one of the Epilogue Disc dramas.
  • Evil Sorcerer: Unusual in that he doesn't use evil magic or evil forces. He's just a very powerful mage who also happens to be very evil.
  • Fatal Flaw: Viewing his underlings as disposable. Every single time he does it, it comes back to haunt him in some way, and the last time he does it, said underling shuts his plans down completely.
  • Fire, Ice, Lightning: He can shift through these with his Metamorphosis, making him immune to his element of choice. He can also shift into Dark Mode, in which he can absorb all of them.
  • Godhood Seeker: His ultimate goal. He succeeds, but not for very long.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Everything bad that happens in every Dept. Heaven game can be in some way linked to Hector. The background materials also imply that he had some involvement with getting Ragnarok started as well.
  • Hidden Eyes: It's one of many signs that he's more than what he seems.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Ein was personally selected by Hector as a tool to actuate his plan. Ein turns out to be the key player in his plan's failure.
  • In the Hood: It covers his entire face. The only time it comes off is when he fuses with Seth.
  • Insufferable Genius: Hector is a skilled enough magician to accomplish feats thought to be impossible even in Asgard (such as creating the dimensional link between Asgard and Riviera that we know as the Maze of Shadows in-game) and he's got about twice as much ego as he does skill.
  • Karma Houdini: He commits volumes and volumes evil acts and never suffers more than the slightest Up until he gets smacked in the face with Ein, at least.
  • Knight Templar: Subverted; at first it seems that Hector is simply fanatical about fulfilling the gods' will, but he's actually just pursuing his own, much more sinister, agenda.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Beyond his skills with magic and Magitek, his true gift is getting people to do his dirty work.
  • Mean Character, Nice Actor: He's an absolute jackass. His actor is a cool guy.
  • Mind Rape: Oh, so you just lost your home and don't know what to do? Come Hector and you'll forget who you were, then get turned into his puppet.
  • Nay-Theist: He rejects the rulership of the gods, if only because he'd prefer to be one himself.
  • Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He really dislikes the current system of rule by Gods and is willing to go to great and sinister lengths to change it. Problem is, the only thing he wants to change is the fact that he's not the one in control of everything.
  • Obviously Evil: Hector don't even pretend to be good guy, as he dresses in black and pruple, and his face is hidden by a hood. Not to mention his jerkass attitude toward Ein and Ledah in the prologue chapter.
  • Power Perversion Potential: We're talking about a man with a confirmed god complex and incredible political power who just so happens to wield a staff called the Tentacle Rod...
  • Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "With the knowledge of the Magi!" for his Break Out Skill
  • Smug Snake: His ego is immense. Unlike most examples, he can actually back it up.
  • Sorcerous Overlord: In the absence of the gods, he's the de facto ruler of Asgard.
  • Straw Nihilist: The only thing he believes in is his own power; life has no value to him whatsoever.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Twice, in fact.
  • Villains Never Lie: Inverted. The only reason why anyone believes a word he says is because they don't know he's a villain. Once his true motives are revealed, it turns out he was lying his ass off to everyone about everything.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: Or so he thinks; he IS one of the 7 Magi who are generally respected. Any one who knows him personally (except Malice) hates him with a passion.
  • Visionary Villain: Summed up in his Motive Rant:
    I have no interest in the traditions of old. Nor do I have any use for a world such as Riviera. I shall become an omnipotent god, and I will forge a new world!
  • You Can't Thwart Stage One: Taken to an absurd degree once you realize how expansive his evil plan was. Becoming Seth-Rah was the culmination of several millennia of successful scheming. Ein and his group are only able to defeat it through The Power of Friendship, and even then only barely.
    Hades 

Hades

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mfdrqcq.png

  • Ancient Evil: He was active aeons ago, having caused a deicidal war only to be sealed away in the Underworld.
  • Boss Subtitles: Hades, Ruler of Hell.
  • Breath Weapon: One of Hades's attacks is called Dark Breath which hits all party members.
  • Chaos Is Evil: Back when he was Zolgonark, he was very much about chaos with most of his quotes being based around it.
  • Dark Is Evil: Hades's attacks are considered to be dark magic, has a menacing design and ominous battle theme.
  • Dem Bones: Hades takes the form of a dragon skeleton similar to the Zombie Dragon, though it's possible that the skeleton remains in the background of his fight might be his as well.
  • Everybody Hates Hades: This version of Hades is the weakened remnants of Zolgonark after his defeat in Knights in the Nightmare and was a major antagonist of that game if not still malicious in this one.
  • For Doom the Bell Tolls: The intro for his unique battle theme starts off with several bells before transitioning into a slow percussion heavy theme (with the occasional bells) highlighting the sheer might of Hades.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: It's implied that he may be connected to Zolgonark who started the great war of Ragnarok, ending in the demise of the god. He was also the original wielder of the Demon Spear Gungnir as hinted by Elise.
  • Horns of Villainy: True to his draconic nature, Hades has two horns coming off the sides of his skull.
  • Infinity +1 Sword: Defeating Hades unlocks the Divine Scripture in New Game Plus, allowing you to find the Fanelia which is the most powerful weapon in the game.
  • Kill the God: The end result of the war of Ragnarok that he started.
  • Limit Break: Curse of Chaos. Hades transforms himself into a blue dragon soul that charges at the entire party before emerging out of the ground as a monstrous giant.
  • Moveset Clone: Of the Zombie Dragon you fought to unlock Chapter 8, both of them have a wing attack, a breath attack that inflicts Poison and both of their Break Out skills have them turn into blue dragon souls that charge at the party with the difference being that Hades's ends with him turning into a bipedal giant before reverting to his current form wheras Zombie Dragon's ends with it becoming another dragon head. In the PSP version, Zombie Dragon's Drake Soul has them charge at the party wheras Hades teleports towards them before they both turn into a giant.
  • Palette Swap: Hades is a dark blue version of the Zombie Dragon you fought to unlock Chapter 8 - The Underworld. Inconstantly enough, his artwork depicts him as purple.
  • Purple Is Powerful: Hades's artwork depicts him as purple and it's likely that his attacks can ruin your day if you don't plan carefully.
  • Residual Evil Entity: The remains of the powerful Zolgonark after being sent to the Underworld, yet still dangerous in his own right.
  • Regenerating Health: Hades is capable of regaining some HP every turn, allowing him to keep fighting.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: Hades was sealed away in the Parveeju Temple for a very long time, having seen no action for years until your party shows up.
  • Superboss: The strongest boss in the game bar none, immune to most status effects and HP high enough to show up as ?????? at the beginning of his fight.
  • The Underworld: Parveeuju Temple is very much this, even more so in the PSP version where the dungeon is expanded to have several rooms expanding upon the game's lore along with enemies and rematches with the Accursed.
  • Undead Abomination: Hades has a skeletal body which is scaled similar to the party though a larger body of his can be seen in the background.

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