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BEWARE OF SPOILERS!

Main Characters

Valere

Lunar Monk

The Solstice Warrior blessed by the Moon Goddess Luana. She's the calmest of the trio, showing "curiosity and balance". The Elder Mist believes she will one day "create paths on water".

Barrier Warrior: She learns the Lunar Shield skill, which blocks any one hit to each party member. This comes from her desire to save Garl, after Seraï paralyzes him to save him from the Dweller of Woe's curse.
But Now I Must Go: In both endings, Zale and Valere have to fully ascend into gods to fight the World Eater coming for the party's worlds, so they have to part ways with their friends. In the Golden Ending, Zale and Valere return home once a year to spend time with their friends.
Five Stages of Grief: Both Valere and Zale experience this with the death of Garl, but Valere is more overt and open about it, and we see the anger part play out when she strikes at the Fleshmancer in revenge, just barely missing him. Valere alleges that the grief is continual but comes and goes to Seraï when they meet B'st, though at that point Valere has found acceptance by acknowledging what she's lost.
It's Personal: She develops a seething hatred of Brugaves after he and Erlina betrays the Solstice Warriors and help revive the Dweller of Strife. Similarly, Garl's death is enough to spur her and Zale on a quest to take the Fleshmancer out.
Lady of War: The impression created by her combination of eastern martial arts and calm, collected lunar theme.
Last of Her Kind: Once Moraine resigns, she and Zale comment on how they're the last Solstice Warriors remaining.
Lightning Bruiser: She's built to do the most damage of the cast if she can set up Moonerang properly, and is slightly sturdier and stronger than Zale. As a consequence, she's largely specced towards dealing damage, damage, and more damage, with one useful dedicated support ability, and the player needs to master the timing for Moonerang to get the most out of her.
Magic Knight: Valere and Zale share this role, though Valere hits harder on the physical side of things and against singular targets with Moonerang. Rather unusually for this trope, having mixed offenses does nothing to diminish Valere's power in either; with proper equipment and her exclusive accessories she's practically guaranteed to be the major raw damage-dealer in the party.
Lunacy: Her powers are moon-themed, and her main weapon is the Moonstaff.
Making a Splash: Of a sort. She was prophesied to be able to Walk on Water. She sort of does when she uses her powers to create a huge water bridge that leads to the Sky Sanctuary. As revealed in the lead-up to Kiln Mountain, Valere's Lunar Magic is close enough to the element of water that it's particularly effective against both spiritual and insubstantial foes and fiery creatures.
Martial Arts Staff: Valere has a taste for bo staves due to their resilience.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: It's subtle, but she plays the Blue to Zale's Red, as befits their celestial associations.
Tennis Boss: Her Moonerang ability evokes this trope: Valere throws her moonerang, and it bounces off enemies back to her. A successful parry on her part sends it hurtling towards another enemy, repeating until she misses a parry and gaining speed with each consecutive bounce.

Zale

Solar Blade Dancer

The Solstice Warrior blessed by the Sun God Solan. He's the most passionate of the trio, being "optimistic and bold". The Elder Mist believes he will have to "stare at the night inside of him" to reach his full potential.

But Now I Must Go: In both endings, Zale and Valere have to fully ascend into gods to fight the World Eater coming for the party's worlds, so they have to part ways with their friends. In the Golden Ending, Zale and Valere return home once a year to spend time with their friends.
Healer Signs On Early: His healing magic isn't exactly strong, but it's cheap and will get the player through the earliest fights and stand out as a consistently useful utility option to call on between fights for the entire game.
Heroes Prefer Swords: Zale has a taste for swords as they allow him to be an agile fighter. In The First Stage of Grief, Valere reveals one of the key reasons he picked up swords was because they'd be small enough to do backflips with.
It's Personal: Zale has no kind words to say to Erlina after she and Brugaves betrayed the Solstice Warriors and helped revive the Dweller of Strife. Similarly, Garl's death is enough to spur him and Valere on a quest to take the Fleshmancer out.
Last of His Kind: Once Moraine resigns, he and Valere can't help noting that they're the last Solstice Warriors left.
Magic Knight: Skilled at the blade and sun magic. His level-ups and stat boosts tend to favor magic attack, to boot. Compared to Valere, he's better at hitting several targets at once, as the damage degradation of Sunball against multiple targets isn't as severe as Valere's Moonerang.
Playing with Fire: His Conflagration combo skill with Resh'an has Zale and his partner create a controllable firestorm that deals damage to enemies as long as it's up. It's his most powerful skill, crossing into Difficult, but Awesome.
The Power of the Sun: His powers are sun-based and his main weapon is the Sunblade.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: It's subtle, but he plays the Red to Valere's Blue, as befits their celestial associations.
Splash Damage: His Sunball does lesser damage around the enemy it hits. A trinket late in the game removes this and turns it into an actual AoE.

Garl

Warrior Cook

He's not a Solstice Warrior; he's actually Valere and Zale's childhood friend. He initially wanted to be a Solstice Warrior like the former two, but his lack of potential, combined with an eye injury, dashed his dreams. Instead, he trained for the 10 years Valere and Zale were at the academy to be the best Support Party Member he can be, specializing in defense and cooking. The Elder Mist sees that his warm personality "will soothe a long tormented soul".

Audience Surrogate: He's almost as sheltered as Zale and Valere, and lacks their magical powers, making him the group's token normal. He also reacts to most story beats with gleeful awe, paralleling the adventure's intended effect on the player themselves.
Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Garl's last feat is a massive ploy to awaken and tame the Sleeper to woo over the giants of Cloud Kingdom so they grant Zale and Valere passage to the Sea of Stars. It works.
Back from the Dead: While the use of the Chronophage allows Zale and Valere to leave B'st as a replacement for Garl when the Fleshmancer fatally wounds him, to Garl, he actually was dead for a while. Even he states that resurrection was not on his bucket list for his adventure.
Badass Normal: Garl doesn't have the ability to harness the powers of the Sun or the Moon, nor has the advantages of being a Cyborg like Seraï or an immortal alchemist like Resh'an, but it doesn't stop him from kicking asses and being one of the most valuable members in the party.
Big Fun: Garl is The Big Guy of the party for a substantial amount of time before he dies and B'st takes over, and his optimism and heart easily win over anyone he comes across.
Boisterous Bruiser: The only times Garl isn't proud of his strength is when the opponent is either a Dweller, or the spawn of a Dweller.
Boring, but Practical: Essentially Garl's playbook, and something that pervades both his activities in-story and his actions in combat.
- Garl knows he could never ascend or fight a Dweller like Valere of Zale can, but he can be personable to potential allies, forage for resources, and cook for the party. These simple skills help the party on several occasions, and are how he manages to initially convince Valere and Zale he would be an asset for them.
- In combat, Garl is tied with Resh'an as by far the weakest hitter in the party, and unlike Resh'an, he doesn't hit convenient weaknesses or have the ability to strike everyone with his standard attack. What Garl does have, however, is survivability and a healing power, and those alone make him an invaluable asset to the party for the first half of the game. Even when his usefulness starts to fall off, he'll always have a place in the line-up with access to the simple ability to toss enemies into advantageous positions and act as a potent force multiplier for Valere if the player is still having trouble learning how to use Moonerang and Soonrang.
Bring It: Garl is far more fearless than even his empowered friends, and will often challenge his opponents when he knows they're in his capacity. This however backfires when he tries it on the Fleshmancer, who obliges and goes straight for him. Then during the True Ending path his attitude, as well as a thrown apple, are the difference between fighting the Fleshmancer’s lieutenant and angering him enough to fight the man himself.
Chef of Iron: Garl joins Valere and Zale early into their adventure, fighting with a pan for a weapon and a pot lid for a shield in addition to cooking the party restorative food out of the ingredients picked up.
Chekhov's Gun: The cookie pot Garl gave Zale and Valere when they were kids for some reason is a key item. It pays off during the path to the Golden Ending, as B'st, Zale and Valere need a prized possession from Garl to access the anchor point to the moment of his death via the Chronophage.
Combat Medic: He has by far the best single-target healing ability in the game, which makes him very good at supporting Valere and Zale, who are dedicated damage dealers. Even once Valere unlocks her healing ability and Resh'an joins with his powerful team-heal, Garl still stands out for Nourish being cheaper overall and having the highest output short of a combo ability. Consequently, however, he veers closer to 'medic' than his allies do, having a somewhat lacking damage potential.
Crazy Enough to Work: Garl's plan to tame the Sleeper with food is seen as this by the giants of Cloud Kingdom.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Really, it was a team effort, but Garl finishes the fight with the Fleshmancer by slapping him down to the ground with a pot lid.
Eye Scream: Garl ventured into the Forbidden Cave with Zale and Valere as kids; he took a hit from a Luslug for Valere, and it cost him his left eye.
Foil: To the Fleshmancer. Garl, this unassuming, relatively powerless character in this setting, both contrasts with Aephorul (one of the most powerful entities in the setting) and draws out key dimensions of his character, notably his spite and pettiness. Garl's lack of fear or respect for Aephorul clearly gets under his skin even in the moment where he kills Garl: Garl called him a loser, and after getting the kill shot in, he HAS to retort back. And, in the true ending, its Garl who is able to frustrate Aephorul into fighting directly, throwing a goddamn apple at his head and goading him into fighting.
The Heart: He is the most charismatic member of the team compared to Zale and Valere who spent most of their formative years in a temple in mostly solitude, and Seraï, a ninja with many secrets who actually needs their help. He is the one who also tends to organize things during a crisis, which eventually culminates in a new village of people saved by the team asking him to christen it in thanks for guiding them up to that point. It says a lot when the third act of the game has a far more serious tone when Garl dies.
Honor Before Reason: When Garl realizes Zale and Valere are about to get pretty personal with Erlina and Brugaves at the entrance of Clockwork Castle, he steps aside and asks for Seraï and Resh'an to do the same.
Improbable Weapon User: He uses pot lids as his primary weapon, shield bashing with them, and a skillet for his secondary hit of his standard attack.
Living on Borrowed Time: Quite literally, as it's a Flask of Borrowed Time that keeps him alive after Aephorul zaps him with magic. Resh'an even notes that this is only delaying Garl's death, not stopping it. But Garl, from a vision by the Elder Mist, wants to help his friends save the world before he goes.
Medicinal Cuisine: His "Nourish" ability has him throw food (apples, sandwiches on a successful Action Command) at allies (or himself) for a substantial healing.
Miles to Go Before I Sleep: The whole point of how the Flask of Borrowed Time works on him once the Fleshmancer snipes him. Garl wants to have one last adventure with his friends and see through to the end of their journey. It's even noted that if Garl does anything except this task, he'll immediately die, so it's this or nothing.
Ostentatious Secret: Post-resurrection, it's shown he does not have Death Amnesia, but he mentions that he was told not to talk about the afterlife.
The Pollyanna: He loses an eye in childhood, has to watch his friends go off to be Solstice Warriors without him shortly thereafter, and even ends up Living on Borrowed Time once he gets shot by the Fleshmancer's magic. Still, Garl doesn't let anything slow him down for very long. His kindness and optimism win over several people throughout the course of the story, and it's stated to be one of his greater assets.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: In the true ending, Garl not only throws an apple at Aephorul interrupting his summoning of Elysan'darëlle, he insults Aephorul for being too cowardly to fight his own battles. Aephorul, feeling personally insulted by Garl's taunt, accepts the challenge and becomes the True Final Boss.
Support Party Member: Both what he serves as as the team chef and how he operates in battle. All his skills are relatively cheap by the midgame and cover several bases. He sets up Valere's Crescent Arc and Zale's Sunball really well with his ability to move enemies to advantageous positions, has one of the cheapest AOE attacks, and has the best single-target healing ability, but his damage is lacking overall.
Supreme Chef: Garl's cooking ability showed ever since he was a child, to the point he himself makes the meals for Zale and Valere's party. This is taken to its logical conclusion when Garl plans on waking and taming the Sleeper with a gigantic piece of bread.
Taking the Bullet: The shot that gets him killed was meant for Zale and Valere, in response to his taunting the Fleshmancer.
Your Days Are Numbered: The Flask of Borrowed Time gives Garl only enough time to fulfill his prophecy after he takes a shot from Aephorul meant for Valere and Zale. Once he completes the prophecy (or if he does anything besides what will help awaken the Sleeper) he succumbs to his wound. If you activate the Chronophage, you can resurrect him afterward, but you have to have clear data from defeating Elysan'darëlle to do that.

Seraï

Portal Assassin

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

A mysterious assassin with the power to cut space. She uses this to open portals, through which she can freely travel. She first spots the young Solstice Warriors when they arrive at the Moorlands, but her designs remain a mystery...

Back Stab: Her Phase Shiv skill has Seraï teleport behind the target through a portal to stab it in the back. Her Combination Attack with Valere has her dagger infused with Lunar energy.
Butter Face: She has no skin underneath her mask, revealing the lower half of a metallic skull similar to The Terminator.
Cyborg: What she actually looks like under the mask and clothing. She had her body converted into machine a long time ago, as well as memories of her time before such conversion wiped out. Unlike other people in her world who went through Unwilling Roboticisation, however, the upper half of her face, her midriff, and parts of her arms and legs are clearly organic and she can grow hair, and Seraï can still cry, so she's not quite a Full-Conversion Cyborg.
Devious Daggers: Fights with a pair of daggers in melee combat.
Dimensional Cutter: Her power to cut space enables her to open these, and she has a few interesting uses for this power. With enough space, Seraï can create bigger portals, such as the one that allows the light of an eclipse to reach the depths of Torment Peak so Zale and Valere can fight the Dweller of Torment on even terms.
Everybody Knew Already: When she reveals her alternate identity as Captain Klee'shae to the protagonists, they reveal that they had already figured it out a while ago. This is lampshaded by the achievement you get for reaching this point, "Who would have thought?"
Girlish Pigtails: For a serious, devoted ninja, Seraï has a rather cute pigtail hairstyle and an aesthetically pleasing hairtie. As her brief flashback reveals, even to Seraï herself, before she was forcibly converted into a cyborg, she had the hairstyle as a child, too. It, the upper half of her face, and her midriff and parts of her arms and legs are all she has left of her child body.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: As the party is losing to the Dweller of Strife, Seraï takes Resh'an's weapon and hits the Dweller with it in a desperate move. This violates the pact Resh'an had with the Fleshmancer (by virtue of being his weapon that's hitting the Dweller), causes the Fleshmancer to return to the heroes' world, and gets Garl killed. Ironically, doing this may have actually saved Valere and Zale and their world, as the Fleshmancer notes that the Dweller of Strife has revived and, not wanting to risk losing it again, sends it through a portal into another world, never to be seen again (in this game at least).
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: In a very literal sense: she fights like a ninja with knives and poison, pretends to be pirate Captain Klee'shae, and the late game reveals her soul was stripped from her body and placed into an undying robot body.
Ninja Run: Given that she fights with Devious Daggers and wears ninja gear, it is appropriate that Seraï uses this in dungeons.
Oh Me Accents Slipping: Inverted; she is capable of talking normally without an accent. Actually not inverted. She talks like a stereotypical pirate while disguised as Captain Klee'shae, but drops it at one point over the party's mission to attack the Dweller of Woe.
The Paralyzer: She wields a variety of poisons, including paralytic poisons like the one she uses to stop an accursed Garl from entering the Dweller's lair.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Seraï is willing to do whatever it takes to right the wrongs of the Fleshmancer, common courtesy and nonaggression pacts be damned. This, and Valere and Zale's impending deaths, are what motivate her to fling Resh'an's flask at the Dweller of Strife and injure it enough to stop attacking her two friends; unfortunately, this immediately attracts Aephorul's wrath.
Something Only They Would Say: Only they would have, actually. The party gave Captain Klee'shae the Coin of Undeath Accord to gain access to Wraith Island, and yet Seraï uses it in a fit of frustration to compel the Ferryman to take them to the Necromancer's lair.
Thinking Up Portals: Seraï can be quite creative with her portals when the need arises. Venom Flurry for example has her cut two portals into the ground and jump into one of the to fling herself out the other, throwing poisoned daggers at enemies as long as the player keeps landing the timed hit.
Wall Run: Seraï does this when creating a big enough portal to let the eclipse's light get through to Zale and Valere in Torment Peak.
When She Smiles: It can somewhat fall under ugly-cute territory given her Terminator facial structure under the nose, but when Seraï smiles she puts her heart into it and lights up a room.

The Alchemist (Unmarked Spoilers!)

Resh'an

Immortal Alchemist

An immortal being who records past, present and future of the world across infinite timelines and initially serves as The Narrator for the story. Zale and Valere stumble upon him as they look for a way to defeat the Dweller of Strife, and once they complete a few tasks for him, he decides to offer them his assistance, under three conditions: That his identity is never revealed to the world, that the party is able to pull its own weight, and that he never gets involved in the confrontation with the Dweller of Strife, lest it violates a deal he has with Aephorul, the Fleshmancer, which is the main reason why the latter left the heroes' world.

Animorphism: Resh'an can transform into an eagle and fly around like that. He's actually the Great Eagle that delivers babies to Mooncradle.
Big Good: Resh'an initially acts as an outside force, but he evolves into this after seeing the party in action, being the main enabler of their journey all the way into giving them a way to bring Garl Back from the Dead.
Body Horror: While not seen by the player, Resh'an and Aephorul's immortality did not spare their bodies from the passage of time. The reason both wear cloaks and bandages is to hide how decayed and disfigured they've become.
Canon Character All Along: Remember the Alternate Reality Game which had a certain "The Archivist" in The Messenger's Discord server, chronicling the events of the game and having Sabotage Studios translate it into a game? He's one of your party members now.
Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: Upon joining the party, Garl asks Resh'an to change clothes as walking around in tattered garb will draw attention to him and works counter his own rule of not outing his identity. Resh'an promptly transmutates his tatters into a far more intact version of itself.
Code of Honor: It's what stops Resh'an from just blasting open Aephorul's workshop so he can work on encasing B'st into a body of Living Glass: He can't just break into his rival's alchemy workshop. That said, nothing says someone like Seraï can't open the door for him.
Early-Bird Cameo: There's an easy to miss statue of him in the Tower of Time stage in The Messenger.
Exact Words: To prevent himself from interfering in such a way with Valere's world's destiny that he'd break his promise with Aephorul and leave the world up for grabs, no one can tell others Resh'an is the Immortal Alchemist, Resh'an must match his power to the party, and most importantly, Resh'an cannot fight Dwellers. People naturally figuring out he's the Immortal Alchemist by their own deduction, like Teaks and Yomara, is fine. Additionally, Resh'an can't fight a dweller, but an empty simulacrum of Resh'an that has the exact same abilities as Resh'an is fair game - while Resh'an won't fight the Dweller of Strife, the empty soulless puppet he leaves behind near endgame will freely participate in the battle with the Dweller of Dread.
Fatal Flaw: Played with, in that it's not fatal for him, but his obsession with the Fleshmancer is poked apart at multiple points in the game. Aephorul himself mentions - though it may have been hyperbole - that if Resh'an really wanted, he could defeat Aephorul once and for all, but doesn't because he wants his friend back. To avoid a final confrontation with Aephorul, Resh'an holds himself to several rules and gives people the run around so he can be as involved as little as possible, something Seraï calls him out on when he makes up a new caveat about not being allowed to break into one of Aephorul's old workshops, which Seraï's needs to do to get B'st a new body so they can reach Sky Base and save her world. Even the Chronophage is a roundabout way of helping the party save Garl, and something he only goes through with for the party's sake because Yomara coaxes him. This obsession gets Garl killed in the first place, even though Resh'an reveals he can infinitely loop a negligible moment in time to appear as if he's stopping it, as he'd rather continue his non-aggression treaty with Aephorul than end the threat then and there.
God's Hands Are Tied: While he never calls himself a god, his powers are regarded as being god-like in just how much power he really has. But in order to aid the party in their quest to stop the Fleshmancer, one of the rules he has to follow is he has to be on the same relative power level as the rest of the party.
Heroic BSoD: Seemingly enters one once the party defeats the Triumvirate, with its leader revealing to Resh'an that the creation of the Great Eagle by Aephorul is a result of what might as well have been a genocide of multiple races, something Aephorul omitted from Resh'an when gifting him with the Eagle. Resh'an then decides to bail out on the party, retiring back to his Archives and leaving a simulacrum of himself to assist the heroes.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: Resh'an does this twice to the giant golem supporting Mesa Island with what seems to be an alchemic "neuralizer", so that it agrees to remove the barrier blocking the party's passage to the island.
Me's a Crowd: Turns out Resh'an can create copies of himself to help Zale, Valere and Seraï gather the resources needed for Garl's plan to tame the Sleeper, as well as leave a copy to stay with the party when he departs to contemplate his relationship with Aephorul.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: His timed hit and normal attack are very different from other party members. For most, hitting the Action Command at the time or right before the hit allows the player to attack twice. Resh'an's attack sees him throws two vials at the enemy, so he will always hit twice, timing the hits correctly to hit at the same time will instead of increase damage launch a secondary attack against all enemies, making him specially useful against large parties or bosses that summon minions.
Neutral No Longer: As The Archivist, Resh'an refused to be an actor for change despite knowing the past, present and future of the universe. Garl politely knocking on his door triggers a chain of events that eventually leads to Resh'an starting to believe fate might not actually be a thing, causing him to become an active ally to Zale and Valere. This is also even when he leaves the party during his Heroic BSoD, he also leaves extra ways to help them, such as the Chronophage, which allows Zale and Valere to bring Garl Back from the Dead.
Screw Destiny: Resh'an followed the party's exploits because he has a slim hope that they can change the course of history, even if only slightly. Eventually he starts enabling it to happen, such as leaving Zale and Valere with the means to avert/revert Garl's death.
Tempting Fate: Resh'an does this to himself when we get at the end of Antsudlo, with him commenting that the door to his archives refused to open and so the Dweller of Strife became a World Eater and destroyed their world. He then wondered what would have happened had that door actually opened... Just as Garl suggests politely knocking at his door, to which Resh'an actually obliges.
Time Abyss: It's impossible to even determine how old Resh'an is, and given he's still around by the time of The Messenger...
Walking Spoiler: At first merely a narrator, then he becomes the one who completely changes the context of what Zale and Valere are actually dealing with.
We Used to Be Friends: He and Aephorul, definitely. Gets worse when the Triumvirate of Eminence is defeated and Abstarak reveals that Aephorul was evil long before the official turn, having lied to Resh'an for a long time. Wanting to know what else Aephorul has lied to him about is what makes him bail on the party.

The Golem

B'st

Living Glass Golem

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_2023_09_18_135212052.png

An inhabitant of Seraï's world, but unlike her and her people who were turned into cyborg zombies so the Dweller of Dread could feed on their fear, B'st and his tribe had their souls separated from their bodies by the Fleshmancer in one of his personal workshops. With Resh'an's help (and delight as this also accomplishes one of Resh'an's life-long dreams), B'st gains a body made of "Living Glass" so that he can accompany Zale and Valere in their mission to take Seraï's world back from the Fleshmancer's grip.

The Big Guy: If you thought Garl was gonna be this, then you're in for a surprise with B'st.
Blood Knight: B'st is all to eager to test his skills in fighting, to the point one of the sidequests has him sign in to a tournament in the newly-built arena in Brisk.
Determinator: Resh'an states that the reason why B'st's body works is because it requires an unbreakable will, which B'st has.
Expy: He’s very similar to Robo. He joins in the Bad Future-style world, he’s the heavy hitter, and, most notably, you take advantage of his body’s unaging nature late in the game when you revive Garl, much like Robo was used to restore the forest.
Magic Music: B'st's tribe is known to be versed Songmancers, something Resh'an is baffled by as this magic art is all but extinct. In battle, it allows B'st to revive allies.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Downplayed, but unlike his teammates, he can't change his weapon, only his armor.
The Promise: When Resh'an is installing B'st into his Living Glass body, he asks him an undisclosed favor. It turns out to be that he gave B'st the means to access the Chronophage in the Moorlands in case he couldn't personally help Zale and Valere.
Really 700 Years Old: While relatively young compared to Resh'an, B'st is old enough to remember what his world looked like before Aephorul took it over.
The Slow Path: B'st is put in place of Garl to take a hit from the Fleshmancer meant for him and has to wait for quite a bit buried on what was supposed to be Garl's grave.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: His body is made of glass that changes shape to his desire. When walking, he will turn into a spring to climb, a bottle to swim, and a wheel to cross narrow paths. His ultimate shows himself turning into a massive beast like a monster crocodile.

Solstice Warriors

Headmaster Moraine

Lunar Mage

A Solstice Warrior of the Moon, and one of the last ones alive after defeating the Dweller of Strife decades before. He has since taken the post of headmaster of Zenith Academy and trained Erlina and Burgaves (and then Valere and Zale) to become the next generation of Solstice Warriors. The Lunar Spectre is his main weapon.

Broken Ace: He wields powerful lunar magic, but he barely defeated the Dweller of Strife with it and wasn't able to save the other Solstice Warriors from their demise, including his own partner, Moyara. Watching Brugaves and Erlina betray their mission and resurrect the Dweller of Strife with the Dweller of Woe's core breaks him even further.
Despair Event Horizon: The betrayal of Brugaves and Erlina that leads to the resurrection of the Dweller of Strife causes him to lose all hope, particularly after research at the Academy leads him to conclude there is no way that he, Valere, and Zale can defeat it on their own. He chooses instead to resign from his position and live as a normal person before the end comes.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: His training of Solstice Warrior recruits can be amounted as Training from Hell and he won't accept anything less than the best results from his charge. He does this because he wants to prevent another tragedy like the end result of fighting the Dweller of Strife, from which he's the Sole Survivor.
Guest-Star Party Member: Briefly joins the party to fight the Dweller of Woe, along with Brugaves and Erlina. He can be controlled, but only by holding the rune (which increases everyone else's attack power) or healing the party.
Lunacy: His powers are moon-based and uses the Lunar Sphere to wield them.
Not Quite the Right Thing: Following the loss of all but three Solstice Warriors to the Dweller of Strife, Moraine was forced to take up the role of headmaster at Zenith Academy and immediately proved to be a strict disciplinarian, correctly concluding that the situation was dire and needed to be taken seriously. The problem was that his style of teaching, though appropriate to the dire situation the Solstice Warriors found themselves in, was not what a scared child like Brugaves and an apathetic defeatist like Erlina needed. His method of education is far more effective with Valere and Zale, who actively idolized the Solstice Warrior lifestyle and were already unflinching in their desire to protect the world, and were thus willing to endure Moraine's harsh training methods. For Erlina, Moraine merely convinces her that all hope is lost, leading her to hear out the Fleshmancer's Acolytes when they offer Brugaves safety.
Sole Survivor: Went to fight the Dweller of Strife with Moyara and a contingent of twenty strong, and was the only one to return to Mooncradle alive to tell the story.

Erlina

Solar Sorceress

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_2023_09_11_170455785.png

A Solstice Warrior of the Sun, and Brugaves' partner. Valere and Zale looked up to her and Brugaves as role models. She uses sun-based Telekinetic Prisms as her main weapon.

Big Sister Instinct: Played for drama. Her main goal in life is ensure Burgraves' safety and happiness. This is a goal she takes serious enough to team up with the Acolytes to ensure he has that.
Broken Pedestal: The annihilation of the Solstice Warriors at the hand of the Dweller of Strife (of which Moraine was the only survivor) broke her faith and Brugaves' in their cause as kids and left them pliable to the Acolytes' bargain. The revelation of that bargain, in turn, broke Valere and Zale's faith in them.
The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: Rather literally. When fought as the transformed demon Elysan'darëlle, Zale and Valere notice that Erlina doesn't even remember who they are anymore, to which Seraï states that she's too far gone. Made more tragic by the fact that this also means she forgot her own oath to protect Brugaves.
Declaration of Protection: Erlina prioritizes her Childhood Friend Brugaves' well-being above everything else, which is part of why she took the deal with the Fleshmancer's Acolytes.
Evil Counterpart: Moreso to Valere than Zale, despite initial meetings between the two duos focusing on Zale's interactions with Erlina as fellow Solar Warriors. Both Valere and Erlina have strong leadership qualities and a focus on getting the job done, but where they differ is that Valere is still Zale's equal. Erlina, on the other hand, functions as Brugaves' overprotective big sister, styming his potential and Erlina's ability to care for others besides Brugaves as she moves heaven and earth to help a man with co-dependency issues feel safe. Valere respects Zale's individuality while Erlina allows Brugaves to rely on her out of a belief that he needs protection, which leads Erlina to betray the world.
Face–Heel Turn: She and Brugaves make a deal with the Fleshmancer and his acolytes to be released from their duty as solstice warriors. They aren't completely selfish in the matter, as they believe that Zale and Valere should be free from the duty they were born into, but the two balk at the idea of bringing the strongest Dweller back to do so.
Final Boss: As Elysan’darëlle. Downplayed. Beating her unlocks the first set of credits and the True Final Boss.
Guest-Star Party Member: Briefly joins the party to fight the Dweller of Woe. Unlike the headmaster, she cannot be controlled.
Mind over Matter: Uses telekinesis combined with prisms as a medium for her sun magic.
Team Mom: Deconstructed. Erlina is Brugaves' rock, both when they are children and as adults. The loss of Moyara and the other nineteen Solstice Warriors to the Dweller of Strife convinces Erlina that heroism is foolish and dangerous, and seeing Brugaves' constant fearful reactions to the duties of Solstice Warriors effectively convinces her Brugaves needs to be mothered. This manifests in Erlina as a Big Sister Instinct taken well past the point of rationality, where she vows to protect Brugaves even when he physically becomes a powerful grown man capable of protecting himself because he's still emotionally a Manchild deep down - a decision that leads her to take the bargain the Acoltyes offer her when they inform her there's no earthly way the remaining Solstice Warriors can overcome the Dweller of Torment.
The Power of the Sun: Her powers are sun-based and uses telekinesis to wield them.
Start of Darkness: It's subtle, but her campfire conversation with Brugaves shown during the flashback at Mesa Island shows Erlina became disillusioned with Solstice Warriors after the death of Moyara. When Brugaves talks about how Solstice Warriors are heroes, Erlina quickly counters that heroism got nineteen Solstice Warriors killed, confirming that she sees no purpose in her training or duties anymore.
Villain Has a Point: She says there's no way to know if the Dweller of Woe really is the last Dweller. Turns out, it isn't; Erlina did hear about the Dweller of Torment, but thanks to the stories about people forgetting their visits to Torment Peak, she just assumed that there was no way to confirm it. This is ultimately why she goes along with the Acolytes' plan; there really was no way Moraine, Valere, Zale, Brugaves, and herself could have beaten the Dweller of Torment before it ascended into being a World Eater given its strategic position and sheer might, so she's taking the path that will at least spare Brugaves.
Walking Spoiler: Most of her character development happens after betraying the party and reviving the Dweller of Strife.
What Happened to the Mouse?: In the True Ending, Garl calls out Aephorul just before he intended to summon Elysan’darëlle. Because of this, Aephorul directly fought the heroes and lost, and never finished off Elysan’darëlle. As such, her status following the end of the game is unknown, though it's likely she's still an agent for Aephorul given how he only discarded her when she failed to kill the heroes and otherwise offered her about as much respect as his Acolytes.

Brugaves

Lunar Martial Artist

A Solstice Warrior of the Moon, and Elina's partner. Like Erlina, Valere and Zale looked up to him as a role model. He uses the Moonchaku as his main weapon.

Broken Pedestal: The annihilation of the Solstice Warriors at the hand of the Dweller of Strife (of which Moraine was the only survivor) broke his faith and Erlina's in their cause as kids and left them pliable to the Acolytes' bargain. The revelation of that bargain, in turn, broke Valere and Zale's faith in them.
Canon Character All Along: The True Ending reveals that the Fleshmancer warped him into Barma'thazël, the Demon General fought in The Messenger.
The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: Not only that, he wants to literally forget. The Fleshmancer does tell him that his new form comes with a total wipeout of his memories, though.
Evil Counterpart: Though initially set up as a male, sillier counterpart to his fellow Lunar Warrior Valere, Brugaves is more of an odious counterpart to Zale. Typically, Valere is the more mission-focused, objective partner to Zale, so she conveys a leadership quality that Zale lacks. Despite this, Valere and Zale are treated and act as equals, and are independent people, even if they trust in each other's capabilities. Brugaves, on the other hand, is so emotionally immature he lets his fear of his responsibilities control him, such that Erlina has to take care of him and make major decisions for him. Brugaves doesn't lift a finger when Erlina goes to the negotiating table with the Acolytes, and Erlina makes the subsequent choices she does to protect Brugaves, who can't seem to function without her.
Face–Heel Turn: He and Erlina make a deal with the Fleshmancer and his acolytes to be released from their duty as solstice warriors. They aren't completely selfish in the matter, as they believe that Zale and Valere should be free from the duty they were born into, but the two balk at the idea of bringing the strongest Dweller back to do so. For Brugaves this hits extra hard, because the true ending credits reveal the Fleshmancer transformed him into none other than Barma'thazël.
Guest-Star Party Member: Briefly joins the party to fight the Dweller of Woe. Unlike the headmaster, he cannot be controlled.
Kidnapped by the Call: The source of all of his problems is the fact that he had no choice but to be a Solstice Warrior, since he was born during an eclipse. The fact that so many Solstice Warriors died fighting the Dweller of Strife seemed to be the last straw for him, prompting his Face–Heel Turn.
Lunacy: His powers are moon-based. While his magic potential is low, the Moonchaku's lunar crystals somewhat help him hone his magic in his attacks.
Manchild: This is Brugaves' greatest failing. When the player views his personal flashback on Mesa Island, it becomes clear he never grew up from the small child who was fearful of monsters and needed Erlina's emotional support to function. When he isn't literally in front of kids or young adults who look up to him, his confidence utterly crumbles, leaving him easily emotionally manipulated by others. Because he's not willing to mature and accept the hand life dealt him, Erlina makes decisions more or less for him out of a desire to protect him, which ultimately leads to the duo defecting to the Dweller of Strife's Acolytes.
Walking Spoiler: Most of his character development happens after betraying the party and reviving the Dweller of Strife.
We Can Rule Together: Right up until the end, he keeps making offers to have Valere and Zale join him under the Fleshmancer. He's staunchly rejected every time.

Sleeper Island

Molekin Elder

The leader of the molekin villagers living on Sleeper Island.

Dirty Coward: When the Solstice Warriors arrive at the village, the molekin are panicking not just because The Sleeper might awaken due to damaged vents, but also because their elder went into the mines to fix Malkomud's sabotage and never returned. When they then enter the mines, they immediately find the Elder, who just wanted to get away from the other panicking molekin for some peace and quiet and was too scared to return after he heard them praising him as a hero; as soon as the Warriors tell him they'll deal with Malkomud for him, he takes the earliest opportunity to get out of the mines and go back home.

Malkomud

The Earth Wizard

A molekin wizard who is treated by his kin as an evil sorcerer, especially after he clogged the musical air vents in their mines, which will awaken the sleeping dragon beneath their village if not fixed. In truth, he was ostracized by the others for his lack of strength and wants to carve his own path by learning earth magic.

The Beastmaster: While in the mines, he was able to tame a rock salamander to fight alongside him.
Chekhov's Gunman: After his introduction, Garl calls him again to help with his plan for Kiln Mountain.
Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: He was ostracized by his fellow molekin, being called weak for being unable to mine like other molekin and then lazy for giving up when it was clear he could never succeed. When he decided to practice his magic away from the others and accidentally caused some damage in the process, the others immediately assumed he had turned evil and was trying to get revenge by intentionally awakening The Sleeper and killing them all. After the Solstice Warriors fight him and learn his side of the story, they encourage him to follow his passions and then scold the other molekin for not telling them the whole story.
Shovel Strike: Wields a shovel as both a magical staff and melee weapon when fighting against the Solstice Warriors. One of his attacks is called “Shovel Might” and sees him use it for a pogo stick bouncing on one of the party’s member’s head. Now why does that sound familiar?

The Sleeper

The Sleeper / Wentworth

A giant red dragon coiled around the base of Sleeper Island as it sleeps. The molekin make sure that it remains asleep by using the air vents of their mines to also play a lullaby.

Don't Wake the Sleeper: If The Sleeper was ever awoken, it would lead to the island's destruction. Averted when Garl manages to tame him before he can go on a rampage.

Wraith Island

Duke Aventry

Undeath Always Ends: A late game sidequest has you release him from Romaya's servitude and put him to rest.

Romaya

Romaya, The Necromancer

One of the three sisters. A necromancer living in a flooded graveyard.

Hair-Trigger Temper: She's shown to have a very short fuse.
Heroes Act, Villains Hinder: She never deliberately antagonizes the heroes, only fighting them when they approach her on their own to to retrieve items she doesn't want to give up.
Know When to Fold 'Em: Both times the heroes fight her she eventually ends up surrendering and handing over what they want since she realizes it's not worth getting killed over.
Necromancer: Known as the first necromancer, her powers include summoning skeletons and zombies to fight for her. Her attack also includes throwing a giant eyeball at the heroes.

Travellers

Teaks

Traveling Historian

A wandering historian attempting to bring back the tradition of the Traveling Historians Guild. Our heroes can give her old relics for her magic Lore Grimoire to record for future generations.

Awesomeness by Analysis: From the moment she sees Resh'an she almost immediately figures out he's the Immortal Alchemist and promises not to out his identity.
Gentleman and a Scholar: Female variant; she's a nice, pleasant lady who's very knowledgeable about the history of the land.
Lore Codex: Serves as this in a way. Teaks' grimoire has the ability to 'scan' nearly anything (though this is generally used on ancient artifacts) and magically write down a historically accurate account related to the object, providing some All There in the Manual lore for people and concepts that would not otherwise be touched upon.
- Teaks' grimoire also serves as a bit of an in-universe cheat for the group as well. They come across an AI Core which has schematics they could use, but it is unable to hand them over because they're encrypted and is impossible to access. Teaks, on a whim, uses her grimoire on the AI Core which promptly writes down all of said documentation.
Rose-Haired Sweetie: Teaks has light pink hair and she's a kind, cheerful scholar.
Youthful Freckles: They really stand out, and make her look a little younger than Valere. Even as an old lady, she's easily identified through them.

Pirates

Captain Klee'shaë

Klee'shaë

Pirate Captain

The new captain of The Vespertine.

Punny Name: Of "cliché".
Secret Identity: She and Seraï are the same person. The party figures this out immediately after Seraï pulls out a trinket they had given the Captain, but choose to be Secret Secret Keepers until Seraï is ready to drop the act on her own.
Suspiciously Specific Denial: Her description in the in-game compendium states she is "Certainly, absolutely, and most definitely an actual pirate."

Yolande

Yolande Earnest Well-Meaning Demolition Busy Lookout Practicality Anytime Service Fortwal

Pirate First-Mate

Hero of Another Story: Has gone on many adventures before, which were much more cliché-laden affairs if her stories are any indication.
Meta Guy:
- As her Punny Name indicates, Yolande tends to break the fourth wall and is fully aware of the tropes and cliches of adventuring; she claims that the crew's past accomplishments include fighting a villain that reduced their HP to 1 because they were Not Worth Killing and that the only time they failed to escape from guards was due to Cutscene Incompetence, and worries that the Solstice Warriors might have to deal with Adam Smith Hates Your Guts if their adventure continues.
- Deconstructed when she jokes about a thing that actually happened, in this case, the Evil Mentor trope, and it only hurts Zale and Valere instead of add levity, for which she apologizes.
"Metaphor" Is My Middle Name: Yolande claims that a lot of things are her middle name as a Running Gag. Surprisingly, they're all true, as proven when she's asked to state her full name to the Sky Giant Council.
Punny Name: "Fortwal" sounds like Fourth Wall, and she's the resident Meta Guy.

Valtraid

Jacko Valtraid

Pirate Quartermaster

Battle Strip: Valtraid rips off his shirt to reveal incredibly large muscles right when he's to arm wrestle. After he beats Garl it's revealed that the shirt was magic and that ripping it off is what made him so buff, and when the muscles wear off the shirt grows back.
Hero of Another Story: He's been on numerous, more cliché-filled adventures with the rest of the crew.
Jack of All Trades: As his Punny Name indicates, Yolande considers him to be the most capable member of the crew that's able to handle a variety of duties with equal skill.
Punny Name: Jacko Valtraid is homonymous with Jack of All Trades, matching his multi-talentedness.

Keenathan

Pirate Wind Mage

The Wind Mage of Klee'shaë's crew.

Achievements in Ignorance: According to Yolande, Keenathan first discovered his blindness-induced magical powers when he forgot he was already wearing a pirate outfit and put on another pirate outfit, including his second eyepatch, overtop it.
Character Catchphrase: "...or my name isn't Keenathan!"
Eyepatch of Power: Keenathan the pirate mage constantly has both eyes covered by eyepatches. Both of his eyes are fine, but he's only able to cast powerful magic while blindfolded.
Hero of Another Story: He's been on many other cliché-packed adventures with the crew.
Ironic Name: "Keen" is an adjective that usually refers to having great perception, but Keenathan can only use his talents if he's completely blinded.
Mundane Utility: His powerful magic can control the air itself, which is mainly used so the crew's ship always has wind in its sails.
Only Known by Their Nickname: Upon presenting himself to the Sky Giants, the Giants state that Keenathan's name doesn't match what's in their official records of him, but pass it off as a mistake on their end.
Or My Name Isn't...: He states it so often that it's his Character Catchphrase. Ironically, most of these claims turn out to be incorrect, which fits with the Sky Giants hinting that his name might not actually be Keenathan.

Hortense

Ghost Navigator

The navigator of an otherworldly Ghost Ship that gets boarded by the Solstice Warriors to obtain a better seafaring vessel than Captain Klee'shaë's original raft. After the heroes break her curse by defeating her old captain, she shows her gratitude by joining Captain Klee'shaë's crew, giving them the ship and a magic map.

Determinator: She was adamant on embracing her love of music despite Stormcaller's demands, to the point she continued to resist his curse for centuries out of sheer willpower.
Ghost Pirate: She, Stormcaller, and the rest of their crew were all sentenced to an eternity of undeath after the crew's plans for a munity went askew.

Other

The Oracle of Tides

The Elder of Docarri Village. He has the ability to see into the future, much like the Elder Mist.

The Council

The leaders of the Cloud Kingdom.

The Fleshmancer and his minions

The Fleshmancer

Aephorul, The Fleshmancer

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An ancient magic practitioner known for creating the Dwellers and many of the evils that befall the world. Despite having long left the world, its presence still haunts it.

Affably Evil: Despite clearly the two of them being in complete opposition when it comes to goals and motivations, Aephorul still is willing to talk and debate with Resh'an, the only one he considers a peer, as if they're still old friends.
Benevolent Boss: When he interacts with the Acolytes, he is polite and trusting of them, rewards their efforts to help him, and praises their devotion for him.
Big Bad: Everything bad that happens on this game can be traced back to him.
Damage-Sponge Boss: For being the True Final Boss, he's really not that hard a fight, but he has a lot of HP.
Evil Is Petty: Despite his larger than life presence, it's clear that Garl's (somewhat childish) insults towards him truly get under his skin. Despite being a god-like being who has promised to not interfere with the heroes quest, he drops it when Garl returns in the True Ending to call him a loser again and tell him off for not fighting his own battles.
Evil Is Visceral: Naturally. The Clockwork Castle and especially the Fleshmancer's Lair are covered with thick layers of veiny Meat Moss, with the latter featuring giant eyeballs that can be rolled around and what appear to be monstrous fetuses inside the walls, and his minions are monsters made from Body Horror and masses of boiling flesh. The man himself, meanwhile, has tentacles wrapping around his limbs and creates fleshy masses and giant mouths from the ground during the final confrontation.
Evil Virtues: Aephorul is many things, but no one can say he lacks honor. He praises and rewards devotion from his minions and actually seems to care somewhat for them on a personal level, he readily ensures new recruits are fairly compensated for their loyalty and works within the parameters of their desires, and he keeps to both the spirit and letter of his deal with Resh'an, just so long as it's clear both sides can stack the deck in favor of their faction. The game ends when it does because, beyond getting beaten down by the party, Aephorul recognizes that, per the rules of the duel he himself put together, his loss, or the loss of his proxy, Elysan'darëlle, to the party in Seraï's world means he is obligated to relinquish control of the land to the party.
A God Am I: He declares himself to be a God when challenged by Garl in the Golden Ending.
Greater-Scope Villain: He's this to the world of The Messenger/Sea of Stars, being mentioned as the creator of the villains present in the former (Something the player witnesses in Sea of Stars) and the evils present in the latter.
Hero Killer: His Establishing Character Moment involves him killing Garl. However this gets subverted in the true ending of the game when the heroes find a way to travel through time and save Garl.
Horror Hates A Rule Breaker: He abides by the same laws as The Archivist and hates when he breaks them. When Seraï takes Resh'an's weapon and uses it to attack the Dweller of Strife, that's the cue for Aephorul to return to their world, as Seraï's action violated Resh'an's pact with him.
Immortal Immaturity: By far his greatest weakness. As much as he enjoys bloviating about how he's suffered and acting above everyone, he's plagued by impatience and a short attention span that causes several people to manipulate him and work against him beneath his notice. ^{Just for a few examples...} In effect, Aephorul is an insanely powerful god who acts the part without ever bothering to stop and think situations through that could potentially disadvantage him.
Karma Houdini: He walks away alive in both endings. The worst that can happen to him is getting humiliated by the party kicking his ass in the True Ending when it's implied nobody else has ever managed to defeat him in direct combat before.
One-Winged Angel: One of his charged skills has him go into one of these, prompting an Unexpected Shmup Level where Zale and Valere have to use their full power to bring him down a peg (and prevent damage from said skill.
This Cannot Be!: Reacts like this to being defeated in the True Ending.
True Final Boss: Reviving Garl and bringing him with the party to the final fight causes Garl to taunt Aephorul to fight his own battle for a change. Aephorul, sick of taking insults from Garl, obliges.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: He loathes the fact he can't die and the side-effects it had on his body. All of his dark magic is actually him just trying to find a way to gain mortality again.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In the normal ending, he obliterates Elysan'darëlle once she's defeated by the heroes.

The Acolytes

A group of four mysterious masked people that worship the Fleshmancer.

Ambiguous Gender: Because they're cloaked and masked, it's impossible to tell their gender, especially because they rarely use third person pronouns to talk to each other, the heroes refer to them usually as a group, and there's no voice acting. Two is confirmed to be a woman only because of the story "Paradise Lost" told by Teaks.
Body Horror: They've extended their lives with the Vampire Rose, which grants an extra year of life every second you hold it, but for every year a painful thorn grows on your skeleton. And they've been alive for hundreds of years. It's probably for the best that we never see them without their masks and robes.
Canon Character All Along: All four of them compose the four heads of the Demon King in The Messenger.
Climax Boss: Though the Dweller of Strife is fought almost immediately afterwards, it's more of a Cutscene Boss with Puzzle Boss elements. The fight with the Acolytes beforehand is the party's final meaningful interaction with them, and ushers in the final eventful parts of the second act.
Cursed with Awesome: They're able to live for centuries both within and outside the Clockwork Castle because they each held the Vampire Rose for minutes - potentially even hours. The downside is that for each second the Vampire Rose is held, a thorn grows on the bones of the creature clutching the plant, which causes excrutiating pain. However, in return, the holders are given an extra year of life for each thorn within their bodies. Considering the Acolytes are utterly devoted and loyal to Aephorul, they note that the pain was excrutiating but entirely worth it for the opportunity it gave them to eternally serve their master.
Dual Boss: They're fought in groups of two before a final battle against them in the Clockwork Tower where all 4 of them team up.
Fusion Dance: It's heavily implied that the new form Aephorul gives them fuses them into the Dweller of Strife and creates the Demon King the Ninja fights eons into the future.
Karma Houdini Warranty: All four of them leave with Aephorul's blessing along with the Dweller of Strife, never to be seen again... for the rest of this game. It takes the Ninja for karma to catch up to them after they're fused into the Demon King.
Mad Libs Catch Phrase: Four has "X, and Y too!"
Malevolent Masked Man: All 4 members wear a mask with three eyes and are central antagonists for the middle part of the game.
Squishy Wizard: Two has notably small physical defense against the player, being the Acolytes' mage.
Villains Never Lie: Part of what wins Erlina over to them (and by extension convinces Brugaves to go along with Erlina) is that they give the duo accurate and reliable information about the remaining Dwellers. When they insist the Dweller of Torment cannot be overcome, they aren't lying to earn points from the Solstice Warriors - without Resh'an nudging fate and Seraï's portal abilities, the Dweller of Torment could not possibly have been beaten.
Villainous Virtues: For all their evil and cruelty, they're actually completely honest about their dealings with Erlina and Brugaves. At no point do they ever once stretch the truth to get the duo to do what they want, and are genuine about bringing Brugaves to safety in a different world. They even go above and beyond to give Erlina a high-ranking position under Aephorul due to how useful she was to them.
Wolfpack Boss: In their final fight, they fight as a complete quartet.

The Soul Curator

The leader of the Fleshmancer's army who has a specialty in manipulating souls.

Bad Boss: He is quite willing to sacrifice his underlings to protect himself.
The Corrupter: He calls the crystals he uses to call forth illusions "corruption crystals", which he uses for the purpose of turning intruders into servants.
Dirty Coward: When your party confronts him, he runs around Fleshmancer's Lair trying to find minions to get to face you instead.
Eyes Do Not Belong There: He has eyes all over his body including a big one on his abdomen.
Master of Illusion: He has the ability to create illusions using corruption crystals for the purpose of turning intruders in the Fleshmancer's Lair into servants.
Sadist: When he turned the humans of Seraï's world into cyborgs, he made the AI of the Catalyst machine that performed the transfers sentient so it would be forced to watch.
Soul Power: He has the ability to manipulate souls to create illusions. He can also design machines like the Catalyst to remove souls from people and place them in cyborg bodies.
The Unfought: Downplayed. He only ever fights the party alongside his minions and quickly gives up after a few hits each time. He is finally killed when Seraï sneaks through a portal to stab him in the back.

Clockwork Castle

Caël

Leader of a crew of scientists hired by the Fleshmancer to aid in the construction of Clockwork Castle. He quickly realized his work was going to be used for evil and had his crew instead work on turning the castle into a time trap, as a way to troll Aephorul. It works, as time now doesn't pass within Clockwork Castle, but he and his crew are now forced to live in the castle for all eternity, as leaving the castle causes whoever was inside to instantly age by the amount of time they spent there, and Caël and his crew spent centuries in the castle.

Prematurely Grey-Haired: Although he has the body of a kid, his head is grey-haired and wrinkled, which confuses the Solstice Warriors until he explains about Clockwork Castle's temporal effects.

The Watchmaker

A genius inventor hired by the Fleshmancer to help him with mechanical creations infused with magic. Like Caël and his crew, Clockwork Castle's time trap stops her from leaving the castle... Not that she minds anyways, as she prefers to live as a recluse, working on whatever creations she has in mind.

Final Boss: For the Wheels mini-game. She will only accept your challenge once you've defeated all other Wheels Champions in the world. Defeating her gives you the Flimsy Hammer.
The Unfought: In the main campaign, the Coliseum sidequest reveals that she is the Silver Rank Champion. She obviously won't fight since, the Coliseum is in Brisk, but she sends machine monsters to fight in her stead. The boss fight against her ends up being a fight against a giant monster clock.

The Artificer (Unmarked Spoilers!)

The Artificer

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

A machine lifeform created by reproducing the technology the Soul Curator used to turn Seraï's people into Cyborgs, resulting in all of the kids fusing together and putting their minds jointly into it. It was Caël's way of helping the heroes, with the added bonus that he and his assistants now get to leave Clockwork Castle thanks to their souls not being tied to a mortal body anymore.

Affectionate Nickname: Seraï nicknames him "Arty" upon his introduction.
Canon Character All Along: It is the same Artificer that appears in The Messenger as a member of the Blue Robes. Retroactively, this is also applied to Caël and the kids.
Loophole Abuse: Leaving Clockwork Castle ages people by the amount of time they spent inside the castle. If Caël and his prodigy crew had left as humans, No Ontological Inertia would have kicked in and they would have died on the spot. Nothing however says that they couldn't dispose of their mortal bodies and insert themselves onto immortal machines, which nullifies the aging effect.
Mind Hive: The souls of the kids in Clockwork Castle decide to merge into the robot at once, so they won't let Caël go by himself. The result is that in one body, all of their minds are working together to move and act, although the one speaking is Caël by his very nature as the leader of the team, all the kids can still speak to each other and control different parts of the body.
Shout-Out: Its form as a robotic frog seems to be one to Frobo (aka. F0-R1), a character from Amphibia.

Dwellers

Dangerous monstrosities left behind by the Fleshmancer that feed upon the life of the world. Left alone, they become World Eaters, which means they then proceed to destroy all life in whatever world they settled in. It's the Solstice Warriors' job to prevent that from happening.

General tropes

Achilles' Heel: They are all extremely weak to Sun and Moon elemental attacks. This is more than a simple elemental weakness; attacks in the Solstice elements seem to cause at least 10 times as much damage as regular attacks! This is why those with innate Solstice magic, the only people who can use such elements, are raised from childhood to be Solstice Warriors. It's the only way to really counteract the fact each Dweller is a...
Damage-Sponge Boss: Exaggerated. The Dwellers all have far more HP than most if not almost all of the other bosses. Even the Dweller of Woe, the Disc-One Final Boss, seems to have far more HP than most of the bosses you fight later.
Eldritch Abomination: They are powerful beings with bizarre forms who all feed on sentient beings in some way to grow stronger. If they gain enough strength, they become World Eaters and thus the timeline and world in which they emerge is destroyed.
Interface Spoiler: Any enemy, be it a Dweller or a minion of a Dweller inhabiting its dungeon, that has an extreme weakness to Sun and Moon magic will have their name written in red font instead of the normal white font.
Planet Eater: Any Dweller that is left alone for long enough will become this. As such, the Solstice Warriors seek to cleanse any Dweller they learn of before it's too late.

Dweller of Woe

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

The last known Dweller, residing in a mansion in Wraith Island. It has long haunted the island by stopping people from leaving it and occasionally selecting an islander to come to the mansion and vanish forever.

Compelling Voice: Her power includes singing a haunting song that calls a person she selects to her mansion, where they become ghosts haunting it.
Body Horror: Her second form's three heads are stacked on top of each other instead of having separate necks, with the second head lying sideways, and the topmost one being more skull-like in comparison.
Demonic Head Shake: Her heads and body do this after transitioning into her second form, with parts of her sprite doing so at random times. It serves to highlight just how off and otherworldly she is compared to previous foes.
Last of Its Kind: Subverted. Headmaster Morraine believed this was the last Dweller. In truth, there was still at least one other Dweller remaining in the Home World: the Dweller of Torment.
Me's a Crowd: She can use Mirror Images, creating up to two blinking duplicates that aid her with normal attacks. They have little health compared to the original, so it's best to get rid of them when possible, though she will recreate them eventually.
Multiple Head Case: Her second form has three heads.
One-Winged Angel: Once the Dweller of Woe's health has been depleted, she assumes her true form, that of a three-headed ghoul in a dark purple dress with tattered sleeves that almost look like wings. Then the real fight with her begins.
Our Banshees Are Different: Often referred to as one by the townspeople of Lucent as well as by one of the chapter titles (“Banshee’s Wail”). Unlike traditional Banshees, however, the Dweller of Woe is a creature with no loyalty to the family of the woman she reanimated and is building its strength to become a World Eater by luring people to its lair with its One-Woman Wail.
Purple Is Powerful: After transforming into more powerful second form, her dress goes from white to purple.
Was Once a Man: Teaks reveals after Duke Aventry passes on that the Dweller of Woe used to be a woman named Ewilda, who was abducted by the Acolytes while the Duke was away and transfigured into the entrancing, soul-stealing abomination it is now.
Wight in a Wedding Dress: Her initial appearance is that of a ghostly bride. Her true form is however much more monstrous and loses much of the bridal theme.

Dweller of Strife

An extremely dangerous dweller that once killed almost every single Solstice Warrior, including the previous Headmistress Moyara. Erlina and Brugaves' betrayal of the heroes for the Acolytes causes the revival of this Dweller, kicking the plot of the game into motion.

Attack Its Weak Point: The only way to weaken this Dweller is by using skills to power Caël's Eclipse Beam so it can do damage to the Dweller.
Came Back Strong: Explicitly declared so by Four. The fact of the matter is that being revived using the soul of the Dweller of Woe acted as a massive power-up for it. There's never any elaboration as to why this is the case, but presumably some of it has to do with the two Dwellers combining. Either way, despite only having just been revived, the Dweller of Strife proceeds to prove itself already stronger than the Dweller of Torment by virtue of being able to withstand attacks that brought the Dwellers of Torment and Woe to their knees previously. Aephorul is so impressed with its power that he secrets it away to refine with the Acolytes, not wanting to risk losing it again. Preventing Aephorul from simply repeating this process is that it required willing Solstice Warriors to call a Blood Moon that would act as the catalyst for reviving a Dweller, though The Messenger (2018) shows that the Dweller of Strife is able to do more than enough damage to the Home World alone when it returns.
Canon Character All Along: This Dweller does get killed for good... By the Ninja. Yes, this is the second form of the Demon King you fight in that game.
Fusion Dance: It's all but stated that it was fused onto the four Acolytes by the Fleshmancer, becoming the Demon King the Ninja faces eons into the future.
Hero Killer: Dozens of Solstice Warriors were dispatched to fight its original incarnation. They managed to win, but only one of them survived the fight.
Hopeless Boss Fight: After the Dweller of Strife realizes that the crystal is what's actually hurting it, the fiend slams into the tower to destroy the crystal. Valere and Zale keep fighting anyway, but it's clearly hopeless. The battle ends after just a few turns.
No-Sell: Though it still technically has a Dweller's Achilles' Heel, its defensive stats are so ridiculously high that even Solstice attacks do little damage (about 15-20 HP vs. a normal attack's 1 HP). It takes the Clockwork Castle's children's specially prepared laser beam to do any real damage to it.
Hopeless Boss Fight: You must fight and win that fight, it's just that its response to being constantly hit with an Eclipse-powered laser beam is to ram the tower your party is fighting on until it crumbles.
Oculothorax: It's form is of a giant winged and clawed eyeball.

Forgotten Dweller

Dweller of Torment

A dangerous Dweller ancient Solstice Warriors couldn't beat and locked away in Torment Peak. Because of the properties of the peak, anybody who leaves the mountain forgets all about it and the Dweller except the sense of dread.

Animalistic Abomination: It takes visual properties of Gorillas, including massive hands and a Gorilla-like face and torso, possibly from feeding on baby gorillas and extracting power from the Gorilla Matriarch.
Attack Its Weak Point: Easier said than done when it made its dwelling at the depths of a mountain cave, meaning sunlight and moonlight won't get through. This is why Seraï separates from the group so she can create an enormous sky portal between said dwelling and the surface, allowing Zale and Valere to harness the power of the Eclipse and fight it on even terms.
Small Role, Big Impact: It's effectively the reason why Brugaves and Erlina decide to give up and perform their Face–Heel Turn. As two of the only five Solstice Warriors left, Erlina and Brugaves determine that the Dweller of Torment is too strong for Moraine, Valere, Zale, and themselves to overcome, so the world may as well be doomed. When the Acolytes offer a tantalizing consolation decision - that being to fast-track the world's destruction but have Brugaves escorted out of the world in return - the duo hesitantly take it. Unfortunately, as far as the Acolytes were concerned, this is indeed accurate, as it takes Resh'an nudging fate and the presence of Seraï to defeat the Dweller of Torment, something that could not have happened under normal circumstances.

Spoiler Dweller

Dweller of Dread

The dweller living below the sea under the sunken moon in Seraï's world. It feeds off the fear of the people in that world after they were converted into Cyborgs. Judging by its humongous size, you could say it's just about to become a World Eater.

Eldritch Abomination: The Cthulhuesque giant underwater mind-affecting squid variety.
Tentacled Terror: The tentacles are separately targetable during the boss fight.
The Worf Effect: Dread is this to Dwellers as a whole. Built up as a major threat throughout the beginning of Serai's world, it is a significant threat. However, Valere and Zale defeat it without an eclipse, to show that their divinity is growing stronger.

Characters / Sea of Stars

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**BEWARE OF SPOILERS!**