Runescape has, along with its rather large amount of storyline-heavy quests, quirky activity and skill-related personalities and reasonably extensive background lore, quite a few characters, which will be detailed here.There will naturally be spoilers here.
Protagonist Without A Past: It is vaguely mentioned that your character was born in the 5th age, but little more.
We do know that (s)he was from humble origins and grew up with very little money, and dreamed of a career of an adventurer ever since (s)he was a child, and that (s)he knew both of his/her parents, meaning that (s)he is not an orphan.
Touched by Vorlons: The Adventurer touches the Stone of Jas, temporarily raising his/her combat abilities to their limits. A more permanent example occurs in The World Wakes, when Guthix blesses the Adventurer with the ability to defend against the gods.
Gods
Saradomin
The god of order and wisdom. Has a rather large following, especially among the human population.
Berserk Button: He generally seems pleasant, but will commit very cruel deeds if you offend his sense of Pride.
Bolt of Divine Retribution: The Saradomin Strike spell allowed players to evoke this against their enemies, before it was removed from the game and replaced with Divine Storm. The Wise Old Man still uses this spell, though.
Cool Crown: It's an artefact originally belonging to the elder gods, which is capable of locating the others. Also, anyone who possesses one of the other artefacts can find the crown.
Crystal Dragon Jesus: The Saradominist religion has many of the trappings of Christianity: monks, priests, churches, holy symbols, prayer, etc.
God of Good: He certainly likes to think he is one, and many of his followers believe he is. But he is technically the god of order and wisdom before anything else. And in actuality, he is a proud and ruthless tyrant, hence why Guthixians call Saradomists the "blind follower(s) of an evil god".
Grandpa God: Saradomin likes to take the form of an old, bearded man.
He destroyed the city of Askroth as punishment for refusing to worship him and waged war on Guthix's previously peaceful home world to conquer it. His actions ultimately led to the genocide of the entire Naragi race.
He also left a faithful follower of his to die during the God Wars as seen in Spirits of Elid.
Light Is Not Good: Most of his followers consider him a God of Good, and his religion has many symbols of good associated with it. Saradomin generally seems pleasant, and many of his crueller actions were performed in the Black and Gray Morality of the God wars. But as Guthix reveals, he is every bit as ruthless and cruel as many of the other gods.
Necessary Evil / Well-Intentioned Extremist: Saradomin's ultimate goal is peace, and he believes that the best way to achieve that is for there to be a single supreme being, himself, in order to enforce peace and order. Which is why he is willing to force his beliefs on other people towards this end and aims to get rid of the other gods, even those he is sympathetic towards, like Guthix and Armadyl.
God of Evil: Frequently described as such, although he thinks of himself as more of a god of Chaos.
Horned Humanoid: The God Letters reveal that he is very fond of his horns and considers them both useful and fashionable.
Humans Are Special: Unlike the other gods, he has a respect for humanity and most mortals and recognizes their strength and potential. He even encourages their desire to prove themselves.
Kick the Dog: So, after an entire 3rd Age of war, what woke Guthix up to end it, exactly? Not much. Just Zamorak getting the Stone of Jas and using it to nuke a massive and formerly prosperous country and corrupting it into the Wilderness.
The god of balance. Devoted to maintaining perfect balance in every aspect of the world. Supposedly shaped the realm of Gielinor and created the magic and runestones.
Almost Dead Guy: Sliske mortally wounds him and leaves, giving the player enough time to have a long chat with the dying god.
Balance Between Good and Evil: Guthix acts as the mediator between Saradomin and Zamorak, ensuring that neither one becomes too powerful and overwhelms the other.
Cool Sword: He has only used two weapons in his life, and they were both swords. One is the size of a building, and can be seen in game in the wilderness. The other is an artefact left behind by the elder gods, which he used to take the life and power of the god Skargaroth. It is also briefly visible in game, just inside the entrance to Guthix's resting place. It is currently in pieces.
Death Seeker: He could easily have stopped Sliske long before he got close enough to use the Staff of Armadyl. He deliberately allowed his own death to happen so that he could reunite with his people in the afterlife, and entrusted the player character with protecting the world.
God's Hands Are Tied: Invoked. When Guthix sees the devastation caused by the gods' direct interference in mortal wars during the God Wars, It decrees that the gods may only influence the mortal realms indirectly through their followers. He enforces this by threatening to destroy the entire world if they step out of line. During The World Wakes, he is killed, and the other gods can return.
Jack Of All Stats: Equipment aligned with Guthix usually fills the exact midpoint between the Saradomin and Zamorak equivalents. Saradomin's Holy Book gives +8 to defense; Zamorak's Unholy Book gives +8 to attack; Guthix's Book of Balance, therefore, gives +4 to attack and +4 to defense. Similarly, the Saradomin bow gives a healing boost where the Zamorak Bow gives a damage boost, and the Guthix Bow splits the difference by giving a smaller boost to both.
Killed Off for Real: During The World Wakes, Sliske kills him with the Staff of Armadyl which he somehow recovered from the Dragonkin and fixed.
Nature Spirit: In the God Letters, he describes himself as nature's need for balance given Anthropomorphic Personification. This seems to have been Retconed with the revelation that he was once mortal, but he is still deeply associated with nature.
Naytheist: On his home plane, Guthix was originally from a race of weak creatures in a realm where many gods sent powerful monsters into battle. By pure chance, Guthix found a God artifact and killed a god while he slept, unintentionally becoming one himself. Guthix doesn't want people to worship him or any other gods, so he banished all of the others and then went into a hidden slumber.
Papa Wolf: When he was mortal, he had a daughter. Two gods fought near his house while she was inside, and one of them fell on the house, killing her. Guthix then used the weapon said god dropped to drive off the beast-like victor of that duel, and plunged the weapon into the unconscious god's back in a fit of rage.
Stop Worshipping Me: Guthix never wanted to be worshipped. His final wish as he dies is to be forgotten.
You Cannot Grasp the True Form: "I am Guthix. I am neither, and I am both. Thou canst not define a god as thou wouldst define a mortal." It also mentions to correctly pronounce "Guthix", one's vocal organs must first be removed.
You Kill It, You Bought It: Like Zamorak, Guthix became a god by slaying another one with a godly weapon. And now Sliske has killed Guthix with the Staff of Armadyl...
Zaros
A god of control. Manipulative and mysterious god that ruled a large empire during Second Age of Gielinor. Was banished to another dimension by Zamorak during a fight between the two.
Ambiguously Evil: His alignment has been intentionally left vague. Some of his followers have committed atrocities, but others seem affable or even friendly. His enemies call him a vile being, but there is no firm evidence to indicate whether he promotes good or evil.
God Emperor: In addition to being worshipped, he once ruled the strongest empire in Gielinor.
Glowing Eyes: Sports this appearance in 'The Origins of Gielinor'.
The Chessmaster: Considering his alignment, description as a 'Puppet Master' and the size of his empire at it's peak, it's safe to say that he does lean towards this.
Confirmed. Jagex has stated that he is the god of control. Also, in his prayer book, the only teaching that is mentioned is telling his followers to stay loyal to him.
He was originally a God Emperor, but to avoid another betrayal, he now intends to become the power behind all things, keeping his servants to a minimum.
Harmony Versus Discipline: Definitely embodies the discipline side of the trope. He promotes control over emotions, dismissing concepts like "revenge", and also control over your property and people, and trusting in those who control you (leaders, generals, Zaros himself).
Have You Seen My God?: Zaros was betrayed by Zamorak and became incorporeal to survive his wounds. "The Temple at Senntisten" revolves around Azzanadra's attempts to find him and restore him to power again.
Purple Is Powerful: He's one of the more enigmatic deities and ranks high on the tier scale of the gods, and a lot of gear associated with him has a purple color scheme.
Written by the Winners: Nearly all the records of Zarosian civilization were destroyed by the combined forces of Zamorak and Saradomin; most of what little remains is their propaganda about how he was totally evil.
Bandos
A god of war. Preferred deity of goblins, ogres and many of the other less intelligent races.
Apocalypse How: Before he came along, the Goblins lived on a peaceful swamp world named Yu'biusk. Then he found it. The result: Yu'biusk suffered a Class 6, and all the goblins now live in other planes.
Genius Bruiser: Many things point out that he may be this. After all, he has managed to mobilize the least intelligent and unorganized races like goblins and ogres into deadly warriors, is an excellent strategist and made sure that all of his followers listen to him blindly, making sure that they wouldn't betray him.
Kick the Son of a Bitch: The first thing he does possessing Zanik in The Chosen Commander is hacking off Sigmund's hand before the Ring of Life kicks in and then ends his life.
Let's You and Him Fight: Engineered warfare between his own tribes of followers on Yu'biusk. From the sound of it, it got the way it was because he had his shamans develop some sort of weapons which sound vaguely like magical nukes. He then forced his followers to use them against each other, despite some of them wanting peace. Bandos had no reason to do this, though, other than for his own glory.
Loophole Abuse: Bandos wants to make war, but the Edicts of Guthix prevent him from doing so. His solution in "The Chosen Commander" is to empower one of his followers with his own strength to create an avatar of himself, which he can then use to conquer the world without technically being the one personally out there doing it.
We Have Reserves: The strength of his army wasn't the intelligence of troops, but the large numbers of troops and their physical strength.
Armadyl
A god of justice. A close ally of Saradomin during God Wars, after which he faded into obscurity.
Floating Continent: The Clan Citadels (originally Armadyl-aligned fortresses).
Have You Seen My God?: Armadyl vanished from the plane around the end of the Third Age.
Magic Staff: His most well known influence on Gielinor is what is now known as the Staff of Armadyl. It's actually an artefact left behind by the elder gods, capable of killing a lesser god such as Zaros or Guthix.
Winged Humanoid: Like his followers, he is known for flight.
Seren
Goddess of the Elves and the "divine aspect of the Anima Mundi". She had a special relationship with Guthix, and unlike most of the other deities she was not barred from the world by his Edicts.
Actual Pacifist: Does not get involved in conflicts, and even when Zaros' empire threatened to envelop the continent, she remained in Tirannwn, protecting the elves there.
Crystal Spires and Togas: The capital city of the Elves, Prifddinas, was originally built around a vast crystalline temple formed and attuned to commune with her.
God Is Good / Light is Good: In contrast with Saradomin, Seren's powers and philosophy are (or at least appear to be) much more benevolent.
Harmony Versus Discipline: Embodies the Harmony side of the trope. Her followers live off the land, and always try to give back at least as much as they take. Seren herself is an Actual Pacifist, and encourages the same from her followers.
Pieces of God: She was a peaceful god who did not involve herself in the God Wars beyond the protection of her own people. Unfortunately, the destruction the wars caused made Guthix to become so resolved in his belief that the gods should not interfere with mortals, that he left her with no choice but to leave. Rather than abandon her people, she chose to wane, shattering into crystal and light, scattering herself about the forest and causing Guthix to mourn her death. Now that Guthix is dead however, many of the elves hope that they can regather all the crystals to revive her, or that she might even be able to rebirth herself in their home world.
Power Crystal: The crystal bow, shield, chimes and saw, and Elven crystals in general, are aligned with Seren.
Jas
An elder god, a deity who existed on Gielinor before the arrival of Guthix.
Amplifier Artifact: The eponymous Stone of Jas, which greatly boosts abilities of its user.
Curse: Has imposed one on the Dragonkin. As a result, the Kin suffers as 'false users' tap on the powers of the Stone of Jas, and end up protecting the stone by hunting down these 'false users' in order to ease their pain.
Dishing Out Dirt: Among the Elder Gods, Jas appears to have an earthy theme.
Have You Seen My God?: It appears that she's been gone since even before Guthix arrived on Gielinor. Her influence is only felt through Stone of Jas and some Dragonkin writings.
Fun with Acronyms: Not exactly in in-universe context, but Jas could also stand for Java Application Server. The game engine is written in Java programming language.
After completing The Brink of Extinction, it is revealed that the TokHaar and the Elder Kiln they come from are an Elder Artifact. An absurdly complex set of tasks will allow you to translate a set of writings from their prophet, revealing information about Ful, the Elder Goddess of Fire and Constancy. She created the Elder Kiln, and moved it from world to world until she was satisfied with the results.
Have You Seen My God?: According to Tok Haar Hok, after creating Gielinor, the Elders were satisfied with their work and lay down upon their "perfect world". Since then, the Hok have not receieved any orders, and do not know if they will awaken.
Playing with Fire: Her specialty. She is the source of the sacred lava that fuels the Elder Kiln.
Creator God of Freneskae
Mahjarrat legends speak of an evil creator god in their home realm who combined all of his most fearsome monsters into the Muspah. Jagex recently confirmed that this being does in fact exist, and is an Elder God who preferred to work alone.
Eldritch Abomination: The Muspah, whether it actually exists or is simply from folklore, gives the Mahjarrat nightmares. I repeat, the Physical Gods who have dominated Runescape's major storylines for years have nightmares about this guy's creations.
God Is Evil: the Mahjarrat seem to think so. Given that half of them are Obviously Evil, and the other half can be questionable at times, make of that what you will.
Amascut
The Menaphite goddess of destruction. She appears as a red haired woman to cause trouble in the desert.
The Menaphite goddess of joy and laughter with an affinity for monkeys.
And I Must Scream: Apmeken, by her nature, was suppressing destruction in the desert, so in a fit of rage, Amascut ripped away Apmeken's sight, hearing and voice, creating three demonic apes, which Amascut promptly sent to kill all of Apmeken's monkey followers.
Seeing how gods ascend to godhood, it may be that the sword was the source of his godhood.
Egomaniac Hunter: He enjoyed the thrills of the hunt and wanted to take on more powerful opponents for sports. And for a god, a suitable target is Tuska, a boar-like goddess who destroyed Guthix's home realm and race.
Signature Heroes
Announced in this developer blog. The main three, Ozan, Ariane, and Sir Owen have been a part of the website's background since the Dungeoneering update.
During Diamond in the Rough, he admits that Lady Keli looks pretty hot even if she is a crazy lady who is Prince Ali Mirza's kidnapper and that she is really the goddess Amascut.
Grappling-Hook Pistol: Low-tech bow-and-arrow variant. He just attaches a rope to his arrow. It's used in the Stolen Hearts quest and in his home teleport animation from Solomon's General Store.
The Munchausen: One of his primary motives for adventuring is so he can tell the story later, usually with embellishments. You can witness a conversation between him and Ariane in which he tries to encourage her to do the same, instead of telling only the bare facts, such as the exact size of a room and the fact that she left to get more information before proceeding.
Shocking Voice Identity Reveal: Briefly has one when he recognizes Leela from his childhood. He's pretty delighted to see her again, even if she is threatening him, Khnum, and the player with a crossbow.
We Used To Be Friends: Ozan finds out that his former friend Khnum is pretty mad at him since he's the reason that Khnum lost his job as a palace guard.
Vitriolic Best Buds: He has a tendency to pick on Owen a bit, but not Ariane.
Ariane
All of the Other Reindeer: Ariane's natural talent for magic caused her to become socially ostracized from her resentful peers.
Badass Bookworm: Very studious and very competent and powerful in battle.
Broken Pedestal: Ariane's mentor, Wizard Ellaron, is one of the few wizards to take Ariane seriously and to encourage her to use her gift. He's an Evil Mentor, as revealed by Ellaron himself at the end of Rune Memories; he planned to use Ariane to destroy the tower. His help for Ariane was part of his scheme and, after he dies, Ariane is shocked that the one wizard who had "faith" in her was evil all along.
Deal with the Devil: Exploited. A demon offers Ariane some secret arcane knowledge if she gives a drop of her blood to pledge loyalty to Zamorak. Ariane pretends to agree, and as she's about to make the cut, her clairvoyance shows her a vision of the near future in which the demon tells her the information. But now, she doesn't need to take up his offer—she knows what he was going to say because she heard it in the vision! Unfortunately, Not What It Looks Like ensues, and the demon tricks the other wizards in the tower into believing Ariane really made the deal—resulting in her exile.
The Exile: To the Wizards' Tower, to the point that Archmage Sedridor placed a barrier specifically to prevent her entering past the receptionist.
Grammar Nazi: Corrects your grammar once before admitting it's a bad habit.
Hotter and Sexier: Her new "mage" outfit when she is in combat reveals a lot more thigh.
Seer: She has the ability to occasionally glimpse the future.
The Smart Girl: Although, she has a tendency to believe the best in people, despite evidence to the contrary, and occasionally she comes off as a bit too naive and optimistic for her own good.
Chew Bubblegum: "I'm here to kick ass and take names...and I'm a Temple Knight, so I already know your names."
Combat Pragmatist: "Saradomin wants me to destroy evil and protect the innocent. I'll use whatever methods are best for the job, and make any sacrifices I have to. If that means I use tactics the White Knights think are unsporting, then so be it. Succeeding in the mission is more important than obeying arbitrary rules."
Shoot the Dog: "Those guards had to die for me to get to my objective. Raising the alarm and giving them a chance to fight back wouldn't have helped anyone. I placed the crossbow bolts in the middle of their brains. They died instantly; they probably didn't even feel pain."
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Ozan and Ariane, though he makes a point of mentioning that they're the two people he trusts the most.
What Could Have Been: Was initially going to be involved in a quest where he was a Badass in Distress, but it was scrapped. Also, he was meant to go by "Ewain" and looked less rugged.
Xenia
She features in the Blood Pact quest, and teaches the main character about combat.
Trickster Mentor: Also qualifies as this since she has a rather unorthodox way of teaching.
What the Hell, Hero?: Delivered by the player character at the end of Blood Pact. Also during the conclusion of Carnillean Rising, where the player finds out that she was the one who planned the Cave Wolf Matriarch attack on the player and Philipe Carnillean.
Linza
A Day in the Limelight: Notably averted so far. The rest of the Signature Heroes have had quests built around them (Ozan, Ariane, The Raptor) or have been major parts of other adventures (Xenia, Sir Owen).
Advertised Extra: Despite being billed by Jagex as a Signature Heroine, she has only briefly appeared in a quest and a tutorial.
Anti-Hero: As seen in "Song from the Depths". He is ruthless, prefers killing the Siren, and completely flippant and tactless when dealing with the woman who could have lost her husband.
Foil: In "Song from the Depths", he is shown to be a foil to our character from personality to methods. Where our character will solve puzzles, show some reasoning, and takes time understanding the situation, he will prefer brute force and killing.
Jerkass: Of all the heroes, he doesn't show much respect or kindness towards the character, undermining their achievements instead, and he has little tact when it comes to people who need help.
Jerkass Has a Point: He is a cold, anti-heroic jerk, but notes in "Song from the Depths" that the Siren was a danger to the town, unintentional or not.
The Stoic: A case where a taciturn demeanor is used to make a character both more intimidating and more mysterious.
The Mahjarrat
By and far the most powerful of all mortal beings in the game, and thus coming with some of the most storyline-heavy and epic quests in the game, the Mahjarrat are a group of demigodly beings, brought in from another world, Freneskae.Tropes associated with the Mahjarrat in general:
Badass: Ancient Magicks and Curses? They created them.
Death World: Freneskae has been described by a Mahjarrat, and by human standards, it's not a particularly nice place.
Human Sacrifice: The Mahjarrat sacrifice one of their own every half millennium to grow stronger and add to their already considerable lifespan.
Magick: The Mahjarrat are the most prominent users of Ancient Magicks, and Azzanadra is the one who teaches these to the player after Desert Treasure.
Skull for a Head: All of the Mahjarrat qualify for this in their weakened pre-ritual form. After their rejuvenation ritual they gain more flesh-like facial features.
War Is Glorious: The standard Mahjarrat mentality, however some, like Azzanadra disagree on this.
With Us or Against Us: Not explicitly, but the divide between the Zarosian and Zamorakian factions seems to be this.
Azzanadra/Dr.Nabanik
Zaros' champion and one of the most powerful Mahjarrat in existence, he remained fiercely loyal to Zaros even after he was banished and Zamorak rose to take his place.
Brick Joke: He claims to have spent some time in the pyramids as Dr. Nabanik.
Magick: The most prominent and powerful known user of Ancient Magicks, he teaches these to the player after releasing him in Desert Treasure.
Oh Crap: Implied to be the standard reaction to seeing him by his enemies.
Sealed Badass in a Can: To defeat him, entire armies banded up, bound fragments of his power to enchanted diamonds and imprisoned him in a giant pyramid.
War Is Hell: He doesn't seem to share the same mentality as most of the other Mahjarrat.
Yet there are those who would claim that war is an artform. Fools they are, and fools they remain. By their bloodlust they are blinded to beauty, deafened to melody, and numbed to sanctity!
Worthy Rival: Closest thing the Adventurer has for a Mahjarrat friend, In the World Wakes, if you choose to kill or keep Guthix asleep, he understands the intentions of the player.
Bilrach
The master of Daemonheim, Bilrach is, as of yet, an unseen presence, though definitely a felt one. Described as "average" by his contemporaries, he is utterly loyal to Zamorak, and is using the dungeons of the place in order to dig his way to the Rift, a portal to his master's plane-and free him through it.
Dead All Along: Dialogue with Ali the Wise after Ritual of the Mahjarrat implies that this is his fate. Specifically, the 'strange power' is what happens when a Mahjarrat dies.
Not So Harmless Villain: Viewed as "average" by Azzandra, with no notable qualities to speak of. Boy, was he wrong.
Alternative Character Interpretation: given how he was tricked into creating Daemonheim under what we now know to be false pretenses, it's possible that his claims of being Zamorak's second in command were wishful thinking.
Enakhra
The last of the female Mahjarrat, Enakhra is well versed in the Ancient Magicks of Zaros, and is also madly in love with Zamorak. Whenever she appears, her Zarosian rival Mahjarrat Akthanakos will also appear.
An Ice Person: One of her abilities which she used against knights who tried to burn her temple to Zamorak
And I Must Scream: Inflicted this fate on Pentyn, a knight of Avarrocka, as part of the Blood enchantment for her temple's security.
Anything That Moves: Averted. Zemouregal offers to sire children with her, and she states she only loves Zamorak. This is despite Zemouregal's notes that it wouldn't be for love, it would be for the survival of their race.
Destructive Romance: To show her love for Zamorak, she built a temple to him in the desert..... which he didn't care about, being more interested in a weapon that could kill other gods. Enakhra has been hiding out in her temple since the 3rd Age, along with her rival who was trapped there.
Last of His Kind: not the last, but as the only female, Enakhra has tremendous importance to her race.
The Power of Love: During The World Wakes, Enakhra insists that her passion for Zamorak will make her a more worthy foe than Zemouregal. Unfortunately, it would appear that she is correct.
Jhallan
Jhallan plays a major role in "The Tale of the Muspah", where the Player Character helps hide him in an ice cave to regain his strength. He is sacrificed in the mahjarrats' Ritual of Rejuvenation during "The Ritual of the Mahjarrat".
Human Popsicle: You find him frozen in a block of ice and thaw him out. Then he asks you to help him re-freeze himself in a better spot. They still knew he was there anyway.
One of the most powerful Mahjarrat currently, possibly trailing directly behind Zamorak, he initially appears as a simple mage who asks the player to retrieve a staff. It all went downhill from there.
A God Am I: He's stolen two artifacts of the gods, including the one that Zamorak ascended to godhood with. In "The Ritual of the Mahjarrat", he claims himself to be a god.
Failure Is the Only Option: Whether or not you deliver him the Staff of Armadyl during Temple of Ikov does not matter, he obtains it anyhow.
You've killed the Balance Elemental and left the Stone of Jas unguarded for him to nab as he pleases, congratulations.
And before that, it turns out that helping a strange, hooded man raid an ancient tomb for an artifact that you know nothing about may not have been the best course of action.
The player is shown just how powerful he is when he first kills 6 of the heroes, including Hazelmere and Cyrisus, and later summons a pair of tormented demons as lowly familiars to dispose of the player.
Used again in Ritual of the Mahjarrat, on him. The dragonkin almost effortlessly kill him, showing just how powerful they are.
Kharshai (formerly Koschei the Deathless)
Blood Knight: He was this more so than most Fremenniks as Koschei, but after his transformation, he noticeably mellows out a bit.
Identity Amnesia: He forced this on himself as a means of maintaining his youth and power. It worked so well that neither he nor any of his kin knew who he was afterwards, and had his subconscious not willed him to remember, he likely would've stayed as Koschei for an eternity.
Only Sane Mahjarrat: He is well aware that what the Mahjarrat are doing to each other is extremely detrimental to their race and refuses to join either side because it would disrupt the balance of the two factions.
Take A Third Option: Kharshai is steadfastly neutral despite pressure from both the Zarosian and Zamorakian factions to choose a side.
Team Switzerland: He's the only Mahjarrat who wants the two warring sides to settle their differences, end their warlike ways, and live in peace.
A follower of Zaros, Sliske specializes in Shadow magic. Like some others, he uses necromancy, but unlike others, he prefers a small group of elite wights over a massive zombie horde.
Casting a Shadow: Described as having unusual control over shadows.
Commander Contrarian: Back when the Mahjarrat were in service of Icthlarin (the desert god of death and a blatant expy of Anubis), Sliske won a battle against Zaros's forces using his shadow magic and a group of enslaved wights fromed from his enemies. Icthlarin, being responsible for getting souls to the afterlife, ordered Sliske to release the wights. Sliske refused, so Icthlarin snapped his fingers and did it himself. Sliske then became the first Mahjarrat to leave Icthlarin.
Conservation of Ninjutsu: Whereas Zemouregal summons a huge horde to Zerg Rush enemies to death, Sliske prefers only his six (later seven) Barrows wights, who were once elite Saradominist warriors.
Invisible Jerkass: Sliske is especially good at hiding in the shadows; at one point, he and the player hide in the shadows well enough that fellow Mahjarrat Zemouregal can't see them.
Karma Houdini: If he wasn't one after enslaving Akrisae, he sure is now after killing Guthix.
Kill the God: The first being on-screen to kill a god, and a major one at that.
Manipulative Bastard: He has no issues (or trouble) manipulating others in his schemes.
Necromancer: To the Barrows Brothers; also, to Akrisae.
Physical God: After the World Wakes, he may very well be a god; Azzanadra says that Sliske wouldn't really want the responsibility of ruling the world and that he really is a devout Zarosian, but that remains to be seen.
Wild Card: Despite being clearly Zarosian, even the other Zarosian Mahjarrat are unwilling to fully trust him and cannot exactly predict his actions any better than most.
Wahisietel/Ali the Wise
Dark Is Not Evil: Despite being a Zarosian who was only doing it for necessity, when he teamed up with the forces of Saradomin and Armadyl against Lucien, he made a good teammate and was willing to single handedly hold back Lucien in order to protect his temporary allies.
Manipulative Bastard: Attempted during the God Wars. The forces of Saradomin and Zamorak were preparing to attack the Zarosian holy city of Senntisten. Wahisietel tried and failed to pit them against each other.
Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Let's see, with names like Plane-freezer Lakhrahnaz, Night-gazer Khighorahk, Shadow-forger Ihlakhizan, Flesh-spoiler Haasghenahk and World-gorger Shukarhazh...
A race of demons brought in by Bilrach, who don't serve him directly, but their leader has instead made a shaky alliance with him. Mostly weak to magic, and each one comes with a few gimmicks of their own. Their naming convention is Na'Me the Nounverber.
An Ice Person: To'Kash. As if the title 'Bloodchiller' didn't say enough.
Bad Boss: If a demon says he failed during Kal'Ger's intro cutscene, the poor sap gets destroyed.
Barrier Change Boss: Not exactly, but if you've seen the stats on the celestial catalytic staff, you know Kal'Ger's magic weakness is gone the moment he picks that thing up.
Climax Boss: Kal'Ger is split into five phases, uses all corners of the combat triangle effectively, slams off your protection prayers if you use them long enough and actually uses his wings. Yk'Lagor is no slouch either, and a fitting finale to the occult floors.
Evil Sounds Deep: Yk'Lagor was the first boss to ever be given voices. They haven't gotten any less deep since.
HP To One: Don't keep that protection prayer up against Kal'Ger for too long.
Kaizo Trap: When Kal'Ger dies, he explodes and deals damage anywhere between your maximum base health and 1. If you're really unlucky, this can kill you from full hitpoints.
Magic Knight: The demons primarily fight with magic and melee, both about equally destructive.
Mundane Utility: To'Kash freezing some poor sap and then shattering them in a shower of Ludicrous Gibs is said to be a favorite party trick of his.
Names to Run Away From Really Fast: To'Kash the Bloodchiller, Har'Lakk the Riftsplitter, Bal'Lak the Pummeller, Yk'Lagor the Thunderous and Kal'Ger the Warmonger don't exactly sound friendly.
Nigh Invulnerable: Bal'Lak's defences gradually increase until he's virtually impossible to damage. To make him vulnerable, you have to lure him over the green rifts in the floor, or teleport out and wait for it to drop on its own.
Basically just bigger than usual animals dwelling in Daemonheim, the Behemoths were discovered by Bilrach's party and left as sentries to guard the passages deeper in. Not particularly intelligent, but definitely there in the brute force department. Their names are actually just descriptive ones given by Bilrach's team.
Big Eater: Take a wild guess where the Gluttonous behemoth got its name from.
Charged Attack: The Hope devourer telegraphs its strongest attack with a roar. Should any player have a protection prayer up when the attack comes, it'll instantly consume it to heal itself, or 'devour their faith and hope'.
Extreme Omnivore: The Gluttonous Behemoth will gladly munch a rotten bovimastyx corpse (that has likely been in that state for a very long time) when its health is low.
Luck-Based Mission: Beating Stomp in the minimum of three rockfalls is not always possible without creative use of gatestones or even with it. The rocks may fall so they block either the lodestones, crystals, or both. An update fixed this; it's now possible to break the debris with a pickaxe.
Humanoid Abomination: Invoked. He has unnaturally high magical talent and appears in a Lovecraft inspired quest series.
Shout Out: It's not clear whether he's a king, but he does have a nice yellow coat.
Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: Between "Kennith's Concerns" and "Salt in the Wound", Kennith ages up about ten years because he decided that he wanted to be older.
Ezekial Lovecraft
Brick Joke: "Now I can go home. I wonder if my tuna sandwich is still there."
Appeal To Force / Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: Abuses his powers to murder innocents and break into the Draynor Village bank simply because he feels he is entitled to a greater reward. It's also hinted that his next target is the Wizards' Tower to the south, which he and his girlfriend Zenevivia promptly go and attack after they are reunited.
Unstoppable Rage: Anyone who touches/uses the power of the Stone of Jas causes a rage in the hearts of the dragonkin, leading them to take it out on anyone they think deserves it, especially the one using the power- thus, the deaths of Lucien, who used the power and tried to keep the stone for himself, and Idria, who foolishly tried to make an alliance with them when they were discussing who to kill.
The Worf Effect: They manage to slay Lucien with ease and Lucien was the most powerful mahjarrat at the time.
Kara Meir
Does not appear in game, but is a protagonist in the novels. With the release of God emissaries, she appears to be heavily involved with the Godless faction. Originally, Kara Meir was the daughter of a White Knight cast out of Falador for allegedly betraying his order. Her village was destroyed by the Kinshra (Black Knights) under the command of Lord Sulla. Her brother hid her inside the corpse of a wolf to keep her warm and safe. Later, she was found by dwarves, who raised her and gave her her name, which means "wolf cub". Years later, she seeks revenge against Lord Sulla, beginning the events of the Runescape novel.
Naytheist: Kara Meir appears to be one of the major player in the godless faction, who feel the gods should leave the citizens of Runescape in peace. She actually came up with the name for the faction.
. The main three, Ozan, Ariane, and Sir Owen have been a part of the website's background since the Dungeoneering update.