Koudelka | Shadow Hearts (Yuri Hyuga) | Covenant | From the New World
The cast of Shadow Hearts: Covenant.
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Party members
Yuri Hyuga
Yuri Volte Hyuga / Urmnaf "Uru" Bort Hyuga
Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (JP), Joe Cappelletti (EN, Covenant, credited as Joey Capps)
Following the events of the original Shadow Hearts, Yuri lives in a small village of Domremy, dedicating himself to protect it amidst The Great War. However, he's disturbed by a secret society called Sapienes Gladio, that sees him as an obstacle for their sinister schemes. Using an artifact called the Holy Mistletoe, they put a curse on Yuri, dooming him to die, unless he manages to find a cure. Accompanied by a German officer called Karin Koenig, Yuri sets out to stop the nebulous organisation.
For tropes on him, see his own page.
Karin Koenig
Karin Koenig / "Anne Hyuga" - Ending spoilers
Karin is a Lieutenant of the German Imperial Army, and apparently comes from a long line of Bavarian nobility. She first meets Yuri while under orders to capture the village of Domremy, and intrigued by the demon that saved her life, later returns to the village while escourting Cardinal Nicolai. However after the Holy Mistletoe is used to place Yuri under a terrible curse, Karin switches sides, and ends up travelling with Yuri and company to find a cure. While Karin falls in love with Yuri, she's aware of his feelings for Alice, and supports him in any way that she can.
In gameplay, Karin is a versatile Magic Knight, albeit leaning more to the physical side. She is able to equip up to four hit areas on Judgement Ring. Her special command is "Sword Arts", which allows her to use several powerful attacks. To learn Sword Arts, she must search out Nibelung Manuscripts, which either give her new skills, or power up existing ones.
- Action Mom: Karin is actually Yuri's mother, Anne. Come the end of Covenant, Karin wishes to go back in time so that she could be with Yuri. However she's sent back before Yuri is even born, and instead meets his father, Ben Hyuga. Karin loses her memory due to travelling through time, but still has the Anne's Cross and photograph that Yuri gave to her, which is why she goes by the name of Anne. Given she was carrying papers as a German Officer that would identify her as Russian, Anne also believes herself to be a Russian envoy. She then marries Ben, and ends up giving birth to Yuri.
- Alliterative Name: Karin Koenig.
- All Love Is Unrequited: She falls hard for Yuri, who doesn’t notice and isn’t over Alice. This causes her a good deal of grief.
- Badass Normal: She's by far the most conventional fighter of the cast.
- Bittersweet Ending: She does not get the guy. In fact, it turns out that through a Stable Time Loop, Yuri is her son. She does manage to find a second love with Ben Hyuga, but she is also inevitably doomed to a violent death at the hands of Dehuai's monsters.
- Did Not Get The Guy: She doesn't ever get to really be with Yuri. Then again given that she's actually his time travelling mother, then that's probably a good thing.
- Fiery Redhead: It's even her element.
- Flaming Sword: One of her special abilities gives her one.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Woman!: Yuri needs to slap her in order to get her back to her senses when she began to act irrationally after hearing her grand-mother's voice while the party is looking for the Émigré Manuscript in Wales.
- Hopeless Suitor: She falls for Yuri, who only has eyes for Alice.
- I Know Mortal Kombat: Learns new sword techniques by reading pages of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.
- Impractically Fancy Outfit: It's actually one of Cordelia's outfits, who is a puppet.
- Impoverished Patrician: Why does she serves in the military at all? Because she comes from poor, but noble family, and she has been trying to keep up its honor.
- Jack of All Stats: She has strong magic skills, but excels just a bit more in the physical category.
- Lady of War: Karin's weapon of choice is the rapier, she learns new battle techniques by collecting Wagnerian manuscripts and genuinely fights in a graceful manner.
- Love Father, Love Son: Inverted!. Karin falls in love with Yuri, who happens to be her own son, but instead ends up with his father Ben.
- Love Hurts: Her realization that she can never replace Alice in Yuri’s heart causes her a great deal of heartache.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Due to time travel complications, Karin is Yuri's mother.
- Lust Object: The bestiary mentions that Nicolai fell for her at some point, though given they barely get any screentime together before she betrays him, it's probably safe to say it was more rooted in lust than love.
- Male Gaze: In-Universe. Yuri, Roger, and Gepetto (on one occasion, all at once!) frequently size her up. Her figure is given quite a bit of emphasis out-of-verse too, especially in promotional art.
- Ms. Fanservice: Her ultimate armour, which gives her a new costume, has about enough material to fill an average sock, and her art tends to draw focus to the almost laughable tightness of her skirt (often framed from behind) and her chest. That she's literally wearing a hand-me-down outfit meant for a doll makes it worse.
- Navel-Deep Neckline: Especially in her bonus costume, which has a top that is open in the middle, leaving her whole cleavage and midriff exposed.
- Oblivious to Love: She seems ignorant of Nicolai's romantic interest in her. On the other hand, Yuri seems ignorant of Karin's interest in him.
- Only Sane Man: At least, compared to the rest of the party. She's the most level-headed member of the team, lacks any oddball quirks, and had no contact with magic/monsters/occult before the events of the game.
- Stable Time Loop: She travels with Yuri, talked with him about his mother, gets Anne's Cross and the family photo, then was sent back in time to meet Ben, who she then marries, and then gives birth to Yuri...
- The Reveal: Karin being Yuri's mother.
- Royal Rapier: Karin comes from a long line of Bavarian nobility, and fights with rapiers. Played with in a sense that some of her weapons are actually swords and sabers, but she holds them in a stance that's unambiguously meant for rapiers.
Blanca
Blanca
Blanca is a wolf who lived in a forest near the village of Domremy, and was the pet of a little girl named Jeanne. When Jeanne is killed during Sapientes Gladio's raid of Domremy, Blanca ends up following along with Yuri and Gepetto merely out of association and having nothing else to do.
Blanca is a Magic Knight with slight leaning towards magic. His high Agility ensures that he will almost always act first. He is able to equip up to four hit areas on Judgement Ring. Blanca's special command is "Manifestations", which allows him to call forth wolf-themed supernatural phenomena. He can learn new Manifestations and power up the attacking one by fighting Duel Bosses found around the world, in a competition known as "Wolf Bout".
- All Your Powers Combined: Every time Blanca defeats another wolf, one more "soul" is added to his Soul Comet attack.
- Amplified Animal Aptitude: Far smarter than any real-world wolves - however only slightly brighter than other wolves in the Shadow Hearts universe, as they can all articulate in their own language and possess sentience.
- Angry Guard Dog: Toward invaders of Domremy, but he is actually very friendly to non-invaders.
- Blow You Away: Wind is his elemental affinity.
- Big Friendly Dog: For a wolf he is very social toward humans, likely a result of Jeanne's influence.
- Colourful Theme Naming: Blanca means white in Spanish.
- A Day in the Limelight: Twice. First during the St. Marguerite island arc, when the party gets captured and Blanca has to rescue them. Then, on the beginning of Disc 2, he helps Kurando against Ishimura's assassins.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: He notices something strange when Garan sets a trap for the party at the Forest of Wind.
- Heroic Dog: Blanca is a wolf and one of the heroes.
- Intellectual Animal: He only speaks when fighting other wolves, but he's surprisingly erudite.
- Magic Knight: Blanca's got both decent physical and magic damage, but leans a bit more to magic. He's also the fastest character. Though this all means that you've better physical and magical fighters that can specialize. With enough Judgement Ring customization, your mages can becomes just as strong.
- Stalker with a Crush: A pink wolf Blanca faces in Japan had apparently been secretly following him throughout his travels, collecting fur and things that he had left behind. She decides to beat the crap out of him for rejecting her love.
- Team Pet: Make no mistake, he's a wolf smarter than the hero (he can use crests) and even if he didn't he could mess anyone who crossed him with ease.
- The Sneaky Guy: The mutt could put a ninja to shame. Detects a tranqulizer mist before it can go off, stays out of range, and then sneaks in solo to rescue the rest of the party who it went off on, complete with standing on his hind-legs and leaning against the walls to avoid line-of-sight from patrols.
Geppeto
Geppeto
Voiced by: Hiroshi Ito (JP), Andrew Morris as ‘Amos Nandy’ (EN)
Appearances: Covenant
Appearances: Covenant
A puppeteer and Alice Elliot's great-uncle, he's taken care of Yuri for the months between the first and second games. He tags along with Yuri and company mostly because he can't think of a reason not to. His weapon is his puppet, Cornelia, which he treats like a real person.
Geppeto is a dedicated "mage" character, and as such has low Strength and can equip only up to three hit areas on the Judgement Ring. His special command is "Marionette", in which Cornelia performs a special magic attack. Cornelia learns Marionette skills by getting new dresses, which can be purchased from Pierre in exchange for "Stud Cards". Equipping said dresses on Cornelia changes Geppeto's elemental affinity, and powers up magic of corresponding element(s).
- AB Negative: His blood type is literally AB. It's a puzzle solution.
- Badass Adorable: His attack doll, Cornelia.
- Black Mage: His unique skills are all focused on dealing offensive magical damage.
- Companion Cube: "Cornelia, look how strong you are!" The Doll House sidequest indicates that his daughter's soul is in his puppet, subverting the trope.
- Cool Old Guy: He's not that old, but still.
- Dirty Old Man: Alone among the characters, he's excited by the prospect of Veronica torturing him. He also joins Yuri in 'admiring' Karin's new outfit.
- Improbable Weapon User: He attacks with his puppet, and his weapon on the equipment screen is puppet strings.
- Marionette Master: Fights using his doll and his buyable weapons are wires.
- Non-Elemental: His element is decided by which dress Cornelia is wearing.
- Red String of Fate: Revealed to be his ultimate weapon after completing his sidequest.
- The Smart Guy
- Shout-Out Theme Naming: Named after the woodcarver Geppetto from The Adventures of Pinocchio.
- Squishy Wizard: He has the highest magic and MP values out of the playable characters, but his HP, defense and physical attacks are low.
Joachim Valentine
Joachim Valentine / Golden Bat
Voiced by: Tomohiro Nishimura (JP), Paul St. Peter (EN)
Appearances: Shadow Hearts | Covenant | From the New World
Appearances: Shadow Hearts | Covenant | From the New World
One of the Valentine vampire family. He initially appears protecting a small seaside village in the guise of the Grand Papillion, but isn't quite strong enough to stop Veronica on his own. Once Yuri's party assists him, he repays them by joining up. His weapons are whatever he can pick up and hit people with, as per his pro-wrestling training under the Great Gama.
Joachim is a powerful physical fighter, who can equip up to five hit areas on the Judgement Ring. He incorporates wrestling moves in his fighting style, which he can use with his special command "Muscle Arts". He can learn new Muscle Arts by fighting his teacher, Great Gama, on his ring. Another special ability of Joachim is his "Joachythms". After fighting certain amount of battles, he will turn into either his Golden Bat form, or become Invisible. The former turns him into a Glass Cannon, but prevents usage of skills, while the latter prevents enemies from targeting him. When two of these Joachythms overlap, he becomes the Grand Papillon, which massively boosts his stats.
- Abdicate the Throne: It is implied he would have been the heir to the family patriarchy if he had applied himself. But he couldn’t handle the demands of aristocracy so he was more than happy to see his younger brother get the position instead.
- Animorphism: Being a vampire, he can transform into a bat.
- Ascended Extra: His golden bat form appears briefly in the first Shadow Hearts, during a optional Duel Boss to obtain Keith's Infinity +1 Sword.
- The Big Guy: Joachim is the physically strongest party member.
- Butt-Monkey: Often gets this treatment from Anastasia.
- The Cameo: In the first game and From the New World, being one of the few characters to appear in all three.
- The Cape: He is as devoted to bombastic super-hero-style heroics as his brother is to aristocratic integrity.
- Cloudcuckoolander:
- The man thinks that he is a superhero - at the time when Proto Superheroes only started to form the mold.
- Whenever he sees any kind of a big, hard object, he starts to think about their history, about feelings and emotions people near them have experienced, and ends up so attached to it, he decides to take it and use as a weapon. People around are usually so dumbfounded, they barely protest.
- Dishing Out Dirt: His elemental affinity is Earth.
- Friend to All Children: Beloved by John and Yuma, Yuma even being the one he entrusts with his mask. He treats Anastasia as his trusty side-kick, and she treats him as a play-mate. And like Keith, he seems to get along well with Nina in his brief his appearance in the first game.
- Glass Cannon: Joachim's Goden Bat form. Despite the high strength, his low HP means that he can killed easily.
- Hell-Bent for Leather
- Historical Domain Character: Not him; his teacher, the Great Gama, was in real life one of the greatest Greco-Roman wrestlers of the day.
- Home-Run Hitter: His Grand Slam technique.
- Idiot Hero: When Joachim says that every super-hero needs to have a weak-point, Yuri tells him that his brain bad enough.
- Improbable Weapon User: Joachim is the incarnation of this trope. His official weapon category is 'Bludgeon', but instead of the expected clubs and hammers, in Joachim's case it's literally "Whatever item strikes his fancy to pick up and carry." He starts with a piece of lumber; throughout the game he'll randomly grab up lockers, mailboxes, desks, a clay idol, a GIANT FROZEN TUNA...His Infinity +1 Sword? A tiny submarine, with tiny, miniature people manning the cannons.
- His penultimate weapon is the Aruze company building. Also with miniature people inside it.
- Incoming Ham: This man is spectacular. His first on-screen line?Grand Papillon: When the forces of darkness descend, in the name of justice, this fist! In the name of truth, these muscles! In the name of honor, this blood! Ha ha! Champion of truth and justice, Grand Papillon! Ready to fight all evil-doers!
- Invisibility: One of his forms. In this state, Joachim cannot be targeted by enemy attacks.
- Invincible Hero: Lampshades his defiance of this trope early on.Joachim: A hero has to have one or two weak points, you know. Nobody loves a perfect superhero.
- Involuntary Shapeshifting: His Joachythms can make him change form at specific intervals, but since one usually doesn't keep track of that particular statistic, the transformations seem to come out of nowhere.
- Large Ham: It comes with being a professional wrestler before the advent of microphones.
- Macho Camp: Both he and his mentor, the Great Gama.
- Mask Power: First the butterfly mask as The Grand Papillon, and later on, The Great Question mask.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A wrestler vampire, who is also a super-hero.
- Odd Couple: He and Anastasia are practically each-other’s Foil, both Royals Who Actually Do Something, except where he is a full grown man who can’t handle royal responsibility but still tries to put others before himself, she is a tween trying to take on adult responsibility despite being The Unfavorite and is noticeably Spoiled Sweet. Despite their almost polar opposite roles they get along fantastically in both cut scenes and battle Affinity.
- Our Vampires Are Different: He is Keith's big brother. And... well... everything about him. When was the last time a vampire was a professional wrestler?
- Sticky Fingers: While some of the bludgeons he finds won't be missed (like an old sewer pipe of a broken pillar), others (like a mailbox or a revered clay idol) most definitely belong to someone. Yuri remarks that stealing them isn't particularly heroic, but Joachim doesn't care.
- Super-Strength: As expected from vampires, everyone in his family are far stronger than normal people. Joachim, however, takes it even further. To quote the description of his first weapon:Five people had a hard time lifting this huge piece of lumber. It would take unimaginable strength to wield it as a weapon.
- Super Mode: His super-hero forms. While it is played for laughs, it does makes him stronger, gameplay-wise.
- Grand Papillon: Joachim's superhero form, which turns him into a Lightning Bruiser. Although it's affected by his Joachythms, it's not so much a transformation, as it is just him just putting on a fancy butterfly mask.
- Great Question: An optional replacement for the Grand Papillon transformation. It's a sidequest reward, but takes Joachim beyond Lightning Bruiser status straight into Gamebreaker. Similar to Grand Papillon in that the "transformation" is him putting on a mask his teacher gave him.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: It’s easy to forget, but the ultra-strong, campy action hero, wrestler party member is actually royalty.
- Telephone Polearm: His first weapon is a giant piece of lumber, that's, while not that long, is far wider than even your typical telephone pole. He also can obtain an actual pillar from a destroyed house.
- Visible Invisibility: The player can see his Invisible form as a vague distortion of the background.
Lucia
Lucia
Voiced by: Yuka Koyama (JP), Michelle Ruff (EN)
Appearances: Covenant
Appearances: Covenant
Raised by the legendary dancer Carla, Lucia is a beautiful, talented dancer and fortuneteller, but is also a little dim. Decides to journey with the party after they proved to not be allied with Sapientes Gladio.
Lucia is another mage character, able to equip up to three hit areas on the Judgement Ring. She has two special commands - "Tarot Cards" and "Aromatherapy". The former has the player randomly pick one of the tarot cards that Lucia shows, which then provides either positive (if upright) or negative (if reversed) effect. New tarot cards can be found throughout the world, because Lucia starts with only five of 22. Aromatherapy also relies on finding objects in the world, and has Lucia combine special oils for various beneficial effects.
- Combat Hand Fan: While she's primarily a spellcaster, her equippable weapons are razor-sharp fans. They are usually named after Greek gods.
- Dance Battler: In addition to dancing to cast her spells, every one of her physical hits looks like the steps in a fan-dance as she lays into the enemy.
- The Ditz: "Remember, you're slow. Be careful out there." — Her caretaker's last words to her before she leaves.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Her position on the Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors is "Dark" and she's probably the nicest character in the party.
- Least malicious at least. She has a knack for saying cruel things without meaning to.
- Eye of Newt: All of Lucia's Aromatherapy skills require the mixture of two oils to use. Said oils have strange names in the vein of "Night Oil", "Sunrise Oil", and so on.
- Flat Character: Has absolutely no character development, and largely exists to give players the option of having another magic user to play with. Downplayed in the Director's Cut edition, which she gains a little character development and backstory, mostly dealing with her relationship with Veronica , but it's still not much.
- Fortune Teller: Which she does through a combination of intricate dancing and Tarot-reading.
- Historical Domain Character: Not her, but her boyfriend — Lawrence of Arabia.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: At first. Lucia nearly got herself killed when she tried to feed the party to her monster cat.
- Ms. Fanservice: She is even doing a sexy dance when first introduced.
- Out of Focus: Despite her tragic backstory and connection with Sapientes Gladio, Lucia gets very little interaction with them.
- Random Effect Spell: Her "Tarot Cards" command randomly chooses several cards out of her deck, and has the player (also randomly) choose one of them. Effects range from restoring the party's HP, MP or SP, to making all enemies skip a turn, to increasing amount of held money. If the card is reversed, however, then its effect is turned on the party instead. And then there's special effects and their reversed versions, that double the normal effect. Notably, three of reversed special effects are guaranteed party-wide instant death.
- Sacrificial Revival Spell: Normal effect of her "Justice" tarot card. Inverted in reversed special effect for the same card, which kills every ally but her.
- Stripperiffic: Not only is her way of reading fortunes rather unorthodox in a flirtatious kind of way, but both her default and alternate outfits do well to accentuate certain... aspects of her form.
- Tarot Motifs: Throughout the game, you find Tarot cards that she can use as attacks in-battle. Unfortunately, you can only draw one per fight and it's based on luck if you get the positive or negative effects for your party.
- With This Herring: Come on, why does her tarot deck has only five cards? Couldn't she find a full one?
Anastasia Romanov
Anastasia Romanov
Yes, that Anastasia — Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov. Alone of the Czar's family, she's distrustful of Rasputin, a distrust proven to be well-founded when he tries to take over with the power of Asmodeus. After Yuri and friends crush his attempt, she joins them in order to keep Russia (and the rest of the world) safe. She fights using Faberge eggs, as befits a Grand Duchess.
Anastasia is a mage, and can equip up to three hit areas on the Judgement Ring. Her special commands are "Snap" and "Album". With the former, she can take a photo of an enemy, revealing its HP, MP and element. Certain enemies, when photographed with "Snap", grant Anastasia an "Album", which she can use to summon said enemies to perform a special attack.
- Acting Your Intellectual Age: Zigzagged — Her default mode is this, she acts very adult for her age and tries to concern herself with the plight of her countrymen and she is only thirteen. However, she knows how to turn on the charm and act like a stereotypical tyke when it comes to manipulating adults like her father, Rasputin, or even the rest of the party.
- Badass Adorable: Who'd have thought that sheltered little Anastasia Romanov could keep up with vampires and Harmonixers in a fight?
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Rasputin and Veronica mind control her to attempt and kill Alexei.
- Break the Cutie: What Rasputin attempts by kidnapping her brother, then nearly forcing her to kill him, and earning her her mother's hatred.
- The Cutie: The party even react to this when Anastasia introduces herself as the princess.
- Enemy Scan: Anastasia can view the enemy HP, elemental affinity and status effect by taking pictures of them. However, she needs to be in the party for it to work.
- Historical Domain Character: As mentioned, it's that Anastasia.
- Improbable Weapon User: Her weapons are mechanical flying Faberge eggs. She fights by commanding it to ram into the enemy, and throws it personally for the final hit in melee combo.
- Love at First Sight: Anastasia upon meeting Kurando. He doesn't reciprocate, but is far too polite to let her down gently. However, he seems to have warmed up to her by the ending. If you finish his sidequest, she gets engaged to him, with his mother's blessings.
- Making a Splash: her element is water and the first Summon Magic she learns is water-based.
- Odd Couple: She and Joachim are practically each other’s Foil. Both Royals Who Actually Do Something, and where Joachim is an overgrown man-child who abdicated his role as family heir because he couldn’t take the responsibility, Anastasia is a tween who tries to take adult responsibility despite being The Unfavorite, but the two get along marvelously, both in cut-scenes and as illustrated in their high Affinity for each-other in combat.
- Pretty in Mink: Her fur-trimmed coat and hat. It was winter in Russia when she signed on.
- Pretty Princess Powerhouse: A grand duchess of the Russian imperial family, and she will wallop some monsters.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: The only member of the Romanovs who gets up close and personal in defending Russia and the world from the forces of evil.
- Shipper on Deck: In a scene where she and Joachim are spying on Yuri and Karin, Anastasia is actively cheering for Yuri to make his move and kiss her.
- Spoiled Sweet: Not parentally, but societally she has been very pampered - leading her to become keenly aware of how hard those who live outside the palace have it by comparison.
- Summon Magic: Aside from taking pictures of enemies to check their stats, she can also utilize some enemy-only spells by summoning them through the photos she's taken.
- The Un-Favorite: Her mom clearly doesn't think too highly of her.
- These Hands Have Killed: Just narrowly averted against her brother while being mentally dominated by Rasputin. Even though she is snapped out of it in time she is in tears as she stares at the dagger in her hand over Alexei and realizes what she was about to be made to do.
- Yaoi Fangirl: "Isn't that beautiful? Love comes in so many different shapes!"
Said in regard to the "Ultimate expression of love between two men".
Kurando Inugami
Kurando Inugami / "Young Swordsman"
A quiet swordsman, who dedicates himself to protecting his master. He's encountered by the party when Blanca decides to help him to fight off several soldiers, who has been threatening his master. Said master eventually turns out to be Naniwa Kawashima, the former master of Yuri's father, who provides an indispensable aid to the party.
Kurando is a powerful melee fighter, who can equip up to five hit areas on the Judgement Ring. Although he starts without special commands, he soon discovers that he can transform into a monster form, just like Yuri. These "Demon Morphs" are far less versatile than Yuri's fusions, because Kurando can achieve only two of them. Nonetheless, with his augmented strength he can more than keep up with the rest of the party.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: The influence of the Otherworld causes him to go mad and attack the party as Tsukiyomi. Post-battle he manages to regain his senses and also unlock his fusion form.
- BFS: Wields one, when transformed into Jutendouji.
- Bishōnen Line: Played with. His first fusion, Tsukiyomi, is clearly meant to invoke Angelic Beauty, but has clearly inhuman features, like Mercury's Wings and carapace-like skin. His second fusion, Jutendouji, is more or less just him, but with unnaturally darkened skin, almost completely naked, and standing in a hunched-over stance. So while his later form is more human-like, its barbaric look may end up looking scarier.
- Chained by Fashion: His Jutendouji fusion wears heavy shackles around wrists, neck, and left ankle, each with a single metallic ring haning from it.
- Compensating for Something: His second fusion wields an incredibly large BFS. It's even quite creepily lampshaded by his mother of all people.
- Deadly Disc: Tsukiyomi uses her Holy Halo as one!
- Empowered Badass Normal: He was already one of the best swordsmen in the world before unlocking his Harmonixer abilities.
- Gender Bender: Kurando's main transformation is of a moon goddess.
- Gender Flip: Possibly the case for his Tsukiyomi fusion. Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto is a Japanese deity who is described so rarely and vaguely, that their real gender is unclear. Still, most researches and some popular culture works refer to Tsukiyomi as a male deity. Here, however, Tsukiyomi is clearly described as a goddess.
- The Generic Guy: Kurando joins late and has no motivation other than Anastasia having a crush on him.
- Hand Blast: "Ascetic's Fire".
- Holy Halo: His Tsukiyomi form is constanly surrounded by a large ring of light. It's used as a Deadly Disc to slice enemies.
- Katanas Are Just Better: He fights with katanas, all of which are noticeably more powerful than corresponding weapons of other characters.
- Lightning Bruiser: He's very gifted in his physical stats, but the tradeoff is very mediocre magic ability.
- Light 'em Up: His innate element. His first fusion, Tsukiyomi, also uses light-based spells.
- Mercury's Wings: Tsukiyomi has some small wings on her ankles and head.
- Non-Elemental: When he morphs to Jutendouji.
- Sixth Ranger: Kurando is the last character to join the party, and is only met on Disc 2.
- Voluntary Shapeshifter: Similar to his cousin Yuri, but gets much less variety out of the deal since he only gains two forms, one being a reward from a sidequest. It is later revealed that Harmonixers are normally only able to use one form; Yuri is the exception because of Alice's influence. Like Yuri, he cannot use Crest Magic.
Villains
Sapientes Gladio
Grigori Rasputin
Voiced by: Ryūzaburō Ōtomo (JP), Bob Papenbrook (EN)
He's heavily distrusted by the royal family's elder daughter, Anastasia, who sets out to uncover his true nature.
- Arc Villain: Of the Russia story arc.
- Ax-Crazy: After Asmodeus takes him over. He loses his cold and calculating personality in favor of an upfront homicidal approach.
- Big Bad: For a dark take on Rasputin, this is surprisingly averted. He's part of a larger Big Bad Ensemble and the first to die.
- He is the Greater-Scope Villain for the first Shadow Hearts, and during the first part of the second is legitimately the big bad. Unfortunately for him he's suffered a bit of Can't Catch Up in comparison to others, and all his lieutenants end up Dragon Their Feet.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: His original goal was to take over the country, but under Asmodeus' influence he devolves into a crazed Omnicidal Maniac.
- Bullying the Dragon: Rasputin openly turned on his summoning-mentors by revealing his Soul Pact with Asmodeus. Bad move, Grigori; Oh you can summon a King of Hell? Well one of your mentors can summon God!
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: He's aware that Nicolai plans to overthrow him, but doesn't move against him for this reason.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Albert. Where Albert was an Affably Evil Noble Demon Yuri considered a Worthy Opponent, who had been playing his own and the previous game before either had started, Rasputin is a Faux Affably Evil, Jerkass, who needs to sabotage Yuri's powers to stand a chance against him and is ultimately just an Unwitting Pawn for the next-two other Arc Villains.
- The Corruptible: His arrogance, greed and duplicity made him a walking bulls-eye for Demonic Possession when he first reached out to Asmodeus, naturally the Demon Lord accepted the contract to be his benefactor.
- Barrier Warrior: In cutscenes at least. He's possessed by Asmodeus before we ever fight him normally.
- Cynicism Catalyst: He is the final straw that broke Albert Simon's hope in humanity and sent him down the path of villainy.
- Dark Is Evil: Rasputin has a purplish skin tone, long black hair and beard, made a pact with a demon, uses sorcery and his elemental affinity is darkness.
- Deceptive Disciple: To Bishop Jovis Abraham and Cardinal Albert Simon. Rasputin was once a member of the original Sapientes Gladio but, after acquiring enough power and knowledge, made a Soul Pact with Asmodeus, defeated and banished his mentors, taking over their secret society and using it to archive his own goals.
- Deal with the Devil: With Asmodeus, who ends up possessing him.
- Death Equals Redemption: Subverted. As he lays dying, he sells out Nicolai's plot and sets our heroes on the road to confront him, not for any moral concern, but because he doesn't want to see his treacherous underling succeed in his place.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Downplayed. Rasputin is the Climax Boss of the first story arc and the second-to-last boss of Disc 1, as a fight against Astaroth in Apoina Tower occurs shortly afterwards.
- Evil Chancellor: To the Czar Nicholas II and his wife. Rasputin plans to kill them and take over Russia.
- Eviler than Thou: He's this to Albert Simon.It was Rasputin's plans and malicious betrayal that led to Albert kickstarting the events of Shadow Hearts because he thought it was better to have humanity wiped out and started over than have Rasputin continue his evil plans.
- Evil Former Friend: To Jovis.
- Evil Makeover: After his possession, he looks even more unhinged and dark.
- Evil Mentor: He adopted the Tsar's bastard child, Nicolai, to use against him at a later date.
- Food Chain of Evil: He's the head of Sapientes Gladio which has hounded Yuri & Co. in one form or another from the start of the game, he's the one in charge of the Quirky Mini Boss Squad of other lieutenants and turns out to be the one who sent, Albert Simon, Big Bad of the last game on his Roaring Rampage of Revenge; As Yuri points out however, Albert was way stronger, smarter and noblier than Rasputin and if anything was probably over-preparing to wipe him off the face of the earth.
- Frame-Up: Part of his plan is to have princess Anastasia murder her brother and frames her and the party for it.
- Hated by All: Albert, Nicolai, Minister Ishimura, Yuri, Anastasia, the Russian nobility, the Russian peasantry, it's downright impressive how long he survives given how everyone who knows of his true nature want him dead.
- Historical Domain Character: He is Rasputin the Mad Monk.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Oh, Rasputin. You really can't catch a break, can you...
- Implied Death Threat: He tells Anastasia that the brave often die young.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: After being exorcised, defeated and laying dying, he tells Yuri & Co. that Nicolai is planning to corrupt the entire planet and warns Yuri that Nicolai has his own Soul Pact with a Demon Lord... It's not for Yuri & Co.'s benefit, or to atone or even to save the world, he just wants his two rivals to kill each-other after he dies.
- More than Mind Control: Asmodeus was slowly influencing Rasputin upon their Soul Pact but Rasputin was still largely in control until he invoked Asmodeus outright and became fully possessed.
- Motive Decay: His backstory and rise to power suggests fairly intricate motives, with the end goal being the conquest of Europe. This seems to fly out the window when Asmodeus eventually turns him into an omnicidal puppet.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The first incident of this involves Albert, who went so far off the reservation in response he became a villain of the first and second second game, and was well on his way to wiping out not only Rasputin but evil as a concept before Yuri & Co. had to put him down; All because Rasputin was arrogant enough to openly turn on the the guy who taught him how to invoke higher powers in the first place!
- The second incident of this would be his invoking of Asmodeus. Asmodeus was well on his way to corrupting Rasputin and working through his ambitions anyway, but the second Rasputin invokes him for a power-boost, his demonic benefactor fully possesses him and flushes his, until then, carefully laid schemes down the toilet just For the Evulz.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: The Soul pact he made with Asmodeus allows him to No-Sell anything the party throws at him. It takes Yuri to release Amon powers to bypass his barrier.
- Obviously Evil: A lot less subtle than most of the other villains.
- Oh, Crap!: According to Nicolai Rasputin was freaking-the-Hell-out when he found out that Albert was A. out to get him, B. had tamed a Demon Lord who could eat his for breakfast, and C. wasn't using said Demon Lord to come after him directly but instead as a set-piece in a scheme to call down GOD to smite him personally!
- Omnicidal Maniac: After being taken over by Asmodeus. With all of his humanity extinguished, he now kills merely for the pleasure of it.
- One-Winged Angel: In his final battle, thanks to the Soul pact with Asmodeus.
- Power Floats: Asmodeus Soul Pact allows him to float and fly.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: Don’t take it personally, Grigori, it’s just last year Yuri fought Capital-G God, summoned by a genuinely well meaning anti-villain who was so mad he had to be put down; So a King of Hell summoned by a Saturday morning cartoon villain? Yuri is not impressed.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He saved and took care of a young Nicolai Conrad, to use as a tool against royal family (of which Nicolai is a bastard) at a later date.
- Properly Paranoid: If Nicolai is to be believed, Rasputin was keeping his head down and a lot of pressure on Nicolai to find a way to exorcise a Demon Lord when he found out Albert had invoked Amon, which then got directed towards Yuri when he defeated Albert and absorbed Amon; But he was right, Albert was on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge with his sights fixed squarely on Rasputin and Yuri would have probably punched the literal Hell out of him if he had tried anything prior to getting the Holy Mistletoe.
- Snake Oil Salesman: He sells himself as a holy-man with his ability to cure Prince Alexi's hemophilia, he's actually using dark magic, it's debatable if said cure is permanent or temporary in this continuity and he was planning the kid's death anyway.
- The Starscream: To the Tsar.
- Treacherous Advisor: To the Tsar Nicholas II and his wife.
- Unwitting Pawn: Subverted, he actually knows about Nicolai's plans to pull a Starscream and that Japan is backing him, he just doesn't give either the credit they could pull it off.
- Villainous Friendship: He and Veronica are sleeping together, and she's pretty much the only person he shows a shred of genuine affection to.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Subverted. Rasputin has a good relationship with the Royal Family, but some NPCs question the Czar decision to made him into his adviser.
- Worthy Opponent: Subverted. Yuri stands over his defeated body and accuses him of being far weaker than Albert.
- Would Hurt a Child: He brainwashes Princess Anastasia and hands her a knife to stab her brother.
- You Monster!:Karin: You're a monster!Rasputin: That's right. I do have the power of a monster. I choose to accept your words as a compliment, my dear.
Nicolai Conrad
Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (JP), Ardwight Chamberlain (EN)
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: When Yuri goes to the dungeon in Cannes, the Director's Cut transitions, without explanation, to Nicolai, Lenny, and Veronica in a dungeon all of their own.
- Bastard Bastard: Turns out he's the bastard son of the actual Russian tsar, Nicolas II, and that he plans to take the throne for himself, disposing of Rasputin in the process.
- Big Bad Wannabe: He becomes more pitiful the more you learn about him.
- Deal with the Devil: With Astaroth.
- Decoy Protagonist: Though it's kind of obvious if you've played the first game.
- He was actually slated to be the real protagonist of Covenant in early stages of the game's development, but the sheer outrage over Yuri being replacement compelled them to rethink.
- Demonic Possession: Astaroth eventually takes him over.
- Dragon with an Agenda: He wants to take over Russia.
- Facepalm Of Doom: Kato kills him by crushing his face with his hand.
- Foil: He's the exact opposite of Yuri in every way possible, right down to his clothes, element, and history.
- Guest-Star Party Member: During the first hour of the game, and once again in a small dungeon of the Director's cut version. He makes his Soul Pact with Astaroth there.
- Light Is Not Good: Light is his element, but don't be fooled. Even his in-game description says that he can't be trusted, said description can be read as soon as the game become playable, while Nicolai is still in your party.
- Lightning Bruiser: All his stats go up by one point each time he levels up, which isn't the case of the others characters, which means that he will always have better stats than his allies when he is playable.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: He's the victim of one, thanks to Dr. Hojo.
- The Rival: Sees himself as one to Yuri.
- Smug Snake: Nicolai trough that his Soul-Pact with Astaroth would be enough to best both Rasputin and Yuri. In his overconfidence, he abandoned his master and challenged Yuri's party on his own, being unceremoniously defeated. Afterwards, he is captured by Kato and spends the rest of the game as a distressed dude, until his death.
- So Long, and Thanks for All the Gear: Do not equip Nicolai with accessories or, worse, Attack Boost, or else these items will be lost.
- Stalker with a Crush: His implied interest in Karin gives off this vibe.
- Taking You with Me: Attempts to do it to Yuri and then Kato, but Ouka takes the shot.
- Villain Decay: Justified, as he spends the second half of the game as a Distressed Dude, being either tortured by Hojo or possessed by Astaroth.
- Villainous Friendship: Type 1 with Lenny, although downplayed. The two of them have no problem drinking together.
- Villains Out Shopping: An early cutscene has him talking with Lenny in a bar.
Lenny Curtis
Voiced by: Daiki Nakamura (JP), Richard Cansino (EN, Covenant), Scott Rayow (EN, From the New World)
Appearances: Covenant | From the New World
He underwent a Deal with the Devil with Godhand, whose power he invokes during the final battle with him.
- The Atoner: In From The New World, perhaps best shown by his solemn look as Shania describes how Nicolai unleashed the world's Malice from Apoina Tower.
- Battle Butler: Played with as he doesn't fight directly anymore as of the timeline of From The New World. But whenever Johnny calls for his assistance via his mobile phone, Lenny sends an energy bomb from his fist. Sometimes halfway around the world.
- Being Evil Sucks: He finds life works a lot better for him after his Heel–Face Turn.
- The Brute: Towers over everyone, and relies on physical attacks.
- Continuity Nod: Lenny returns in the third game, as Johnny Garland's Battle Butler.
- Disney Villain Death: Subverted. He survives the fall, and through a string of side quests, Yuri discovers that Lenny reformed after his defeat and has been doing good deeds in the hope of redemption. Yuri eventually catches up to him, and the two make peace.
- Dumb Muscle: Initially. Lenny is easily fooled by Yuri into telling the whereabouts of his boss.
- Good Feels Good: Once he is saved by Johnny's father, he does have a good time using his strength to protect his benevolent master.
- Guest-Star Party Member: Players can venture through a side dungeon controlling Nicolai, Veronica and Lenny.
- Heel–Face Turn: In the third Shadow Hearts, after being saved by Johnny's father.
- Hidden Depths: Oh yes. He has a not inconsiderable amount of noble deeds under his belt, and in SH 3 is apparently very popular with the local housewives.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Not to begin with, but it's hard not to feel for the guy after his string of defeats.
- Infinity +1 Sword: He's the source of one of the best armour items in the game, though you get it through his breadcrumb side quest rather than a battle.
- Minion with an F in Evil
- Odd Friendship: He and Yuri eventually bury the hatchet and make peace with one another.
- One-Winged Angel: Made a Soul-Pact with Godhand and uses it against Yuri at St. Marguerite Island.
- Pet the Dog: An entire sidequest is devoted to tracking him down by following the trail of good deeds he performed across Europe.
- Power of the God Hand: Lenny makes a pact with a demon and becomes "Godhand."
- Spikes of Villainy: Has spiked Shoulders of Doom. Subverted after his heel–face turn.
- Token Good Teammate: He's dense and not afraid to follow orders, but it's clear he lacks the murderous aspects of Rasputin, the Machiavellian scheming of Nicolai, or the pleasure from pain Veronica has.
- Villainous Valour: He knows a fight will be tough, but he'll do it anyway.
- Would Hurt a Child: In his very first cutscene apperance in covenant, he's holding a small girl from Domremy hostage, with a weapon to her throat, fully intending to use it. Yuri tryin to rescue her is how Nicolai is able to stab him with the Holy Mistletoe.
Veronica Vera
Voiced by: Mie Sonozaki (JP), Ellyn Stern (EN)
Like her boss, Lenny, and Nicolai, she's undergone a Deal with the Devil in the form of the Night Queen.
- Alliterative Name: Veronica Vera.
- Arch-Enemy: To Lucia.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: After paralyzing the party and stealing the Émigré Manuscript, instead of killing them, Veronica decides to put them in cells to torture them for fun, even if one of them managed to escape.
- Bondage Is Bad: She is a sadistic Dominatrix who loves to torture others for her own amusement and turning her victims into monsters.
- Come Back to Bed, Honey: Rasputin is introduced with her naked in his bed, exchanging sexual quips.
- Dark Action Girl
- Dark Mistress: She and Rasputin are sleeping together.
- Deal with the Devil: With the Night Queen.
- The Dragon: To Rasputin.
- Evil Counterpart: Between a henchman and a non-core party member for a change. Veronica is this to Lucia.
- Femme Fatale
- Making a Splash: Her elemental affinity is water.
- Manipulative Bitch
- Ms. Fanservice: Only the Dating Outfit covers less skin.
- One-Hit Kill: As the Night Queen, Veronica attacks cause the Instant Death status.
- One-Winged Angel: With the Night Queen's power, which is said to grant a night of power to women of proud bearing who call upon her.
- Squishy Wizard: Easily the weakest, but most magical, of Nicolai's party.
- The Smurfette Principle: The only female member of Sapientes Gladio.
- Stripperific
- Surrounded by Idiots: She maintains that Blanca is smarter than Lenny.
- Trailers Always Spoil: After you kill her, her corpse falls to the floor between Yuri and Rasputin in a cutscene as the two face off. This is seen in the trailer and opening cinematics where, while not showing her face, you can easily make out her distinct collar and hairstyle.
- Undying Loyalty: She's by far Rasputin's most loyal underling.
- The Vamp: She wielded a mean whip and dressed in impossibly skimpy and outlandish dresses.
- Torture Cellar: She has one, though it's Played for Laughs.
- We Used to Be Friends: She and Lucia, though the circumstances behind their fallout (aside from Veronica turning to The Dark Side) are a bit of a Noodle Incident.
- Whip of Dominance: She is a BDSM-themed villainess with a seductive, sadistic, and domineering personality who wields a Leather Whip called "Rude Spanking" as her weapon of choice. She's also openly a Dominatrix who enjoys whipping people, refers to her lessers as "slaves" and demands they call her "Queen". She even has her own Torture Cellar for when she wants to give someone A Taste Of The L Ash. The very description of her whip lampshades this: "A favorite of those with a taste for domination, humiliation and the turning of pain into pleasure."
Others
Masaji Kato
Masaji Kato
Voiced by: Nobuaki Kawamitsu (JP), Jamieson Price (EN)
- Affably Evil: Though there's never a point where Kato is on the protagonists' side, he comes off as a genuinely okay guy who keeps up a good, lingering friendship with Yuri from start to finish. Keeps this up even when trying to destroy the world as we know it.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: To Kawashima in the first game. She dies shortly after hearing it.
- Anti-Villain: In spades, contrasting Yuri's Anti-Hero act. Unlike other villains who's goals are inherently selfish even if undestandable, Kato's end goal is trying to do what he thinks is best for the world after his original plan to peacefully reunite with Ouka was ruined by Nicolai. He's also the only antagonist who's genuinely polite to the group whenever their interact, showing no hard feelings towards each other.
- Ascended Extra: Went from henchman in the first game to major antagonist in the second.
- Badass Cape: In Covenant.
- Benevolent Boss: He genuinely cares for the well-being of his Mutant Apes, and he and Ouka even planned to have a child together. Squick. He does expect absolute obedience, though.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Who'd have thought Kawashima's friendly, bumbling assistant would go so far?
- Big Bad: The final one.
- Birds of a Feather: He and Yuri briefly bond over their deceased loved ones in Covenant.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Kawshima's death kills his previous idealism, leaving patriotism to be all that holds him together... and even that eventually breaks-down.
- Deal with the Devil: Interesting case; Kato makes it clear that he, unlike Rasputin and Nicolai, will bring about his new world through his own power, with his own hands. Despite that, he ends up taking on the form and power of "Susano-o," which he summons with the Émigré Manuscript.
- Despair Event Horizon: Kato goes off the deep end after losing Ouka, his replacement goldfish for the deceased Kawashima (whom he cloned in order to recreate her physically), and attempts to take the world back in time a hundred years — long before those who had ruined it had been born, and aims to lead humanity into prosperity himself.
- Dragon with an Agenda: Hinted at (mostly by Garan), and Kato promptly sells Ishimura out to Yuri later.
- Enemy Mine: He, his Mutant Apes and Yuri's gang team up against Hojo's failed experiment. Later, against Nicolai.
- Fair-Play Villain: Kato had every chance to enact his plan behind Yuri's back if he choice to, but instead he decide to guide his group into finding out his plans. Once Yuri's group learns Kato's ultimate goal, it's only then when he starts his move, even directly challenging Yuri himself to do his best to stop him.
- Friendly Enemy: In both games, right to the end and beyond.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: From a diffident supporting character in the first game to the main antagonist and Final Boss of the second.
- Go Out with a Smile: He ends up smiling to Yuri in his last moments, thanking him for being his friend till the very end.
- Ice King: In the second game.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Culminates with him trying to take the world back a hundred years.
- Kick the Dog: Slaps Ouka after the Mutant Ape disobeys his commands.
- Morality Pet: Ouka.
- Nietzsche Wannabe: Special Agent Kato, after the death of his "girlfriend", Ouka. Hell, Susano-o, the Final Boss of Covenant, is listed in the Library as "summoned by Kato's nihilistic spirit".
- Odd Friendship: With Yuri, given their constantly conflicting loyalties. They also bond over the loss of the women in their lives.
- One-Winged Angel: Susano-o.
- Pet the Dog: Gets quite a few of these.
- In particular, saving Yuri from Nicolai stands out.
- Also guiding Yuri to see Alice one last time, whic Yuri is incredibly thankful for next time they meet.
- Redemption Equals Death: Kato saves Yuri from Nicolai, and is poised to take the killer blow for him again when Ouka intervenes. Played straight at the end, when a repentant Kato urges Yuri and the party to escape, and pray for the world they most desire. This leads directly to a good ending for the party, and Yuri's own canonically good ending.
- Robot Master: Three of them, at least.
- Sergeant Rock: He genuinely cares for the Mutant Apes, but he will physically reprimand them if they go against orders, even if it is to save him... considering what we know about what happened to Kawashima, this is based on fears for their safety if his superiors see them as loose cannons.
- Squishy Wizard: Subverted. Though his magic is his primary weapon, he is physically imposing and well built, and demonstrates this soundly when he crushes Nicolai's face with one hand. Ouch.
- Took a Level in Badass: From Kawashima's quiet, smitten right-hand-man, to the second game's final boss and one of the most formidable people encountered in the series.
- Villain Respect: Kato remains an affable individual despite his downtrodden luck and rather drastic change of heart, and continues to view Yuri as a great friend until the end.
- Villain Teleportation: Grows fond of this in Covenant.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Kato's final goal is to try fixing the world by reverting it 100 years in the past and guiding it to a better future.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: After having his love die in his arms for the second time, he decides to destroy the present world by erasing the last hundred years and changing history to a better course.
The Mutant Apes
Raiden voiced by: Yuu Shimaka (JP), Michael J. Sorich (EN)
Hien voiced by: Kunihiro Kawamoto (JP), Kirk Baily (EN)
Ouka voiced by: Sara Nakayama (JP), Michelle Ruff (EN)
Click here to see Ouka.
Click here to see Hein.
Click here to see Raiden.
Raiden, Hien, and Ouka comprise the elite Mutant Apes, deceased soldiers who were reanimated by Masaji Kato to compose his elite guard. They receive their own playable segment, in which the player controls Ouka.
- Animal Motif: Apes. They also have the Monkey Morality Pose motif: See No Evil (Ouka), Hear No Evil (Raiden), Speak No Evil (Hien), despise none of them being disabled.
- Anti-Villain: They simply follows their Master orders.
- Artificial Human: They all have shades of this, particular the former two, though subverted by them having been human beings.
- Back from the Dead: All of them, though we only know of Ouka from before.
- BFG: Raiden has a large hand-mounted cannon.
- Blow You Away: Hien's elemental affinity. He is also very fast and can transform into the Japanese wind god, Fujin.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Hien wields a considerable blade attached to his arm.
- Big Damn Heroes: They save the party in Japan. They also pull a Villainous Rescue later on.
- Co-Dragons: All of them share the role of The Dragon to Kato.
- Doppelgänger: Ouka is the spitting image of Kawashima from the first game. They're the same person.
- Elite Mooks: They're Kato's elite guard and personal aides.
- Failure Knight: Raiden. He sees his reanimation as a second chance to make things right.
- Friendly Enemy: None of them have any personal beef with the party, though Yuri figures that they won't just let him pass to Kato.
- Gun Fu: Ouka is more of a Bare-Fisted Monk who mixes in a bit of pistol gunplay.
- Lady of War: Ouka.
- Lean and Mean: Hien.
- Light 'em Up: Ouka's innate element.
- Monstrous Humanoid: Raiden, and Hien to a somewhat lesser extent.
- One-Winged Angel: Raiden and Hien become Raijin and Fujin in the penultimate boss battle.
- Replacement Goldfish: Ouka for Kawashima, despite being the same person. The Émigré Manuscript isn't a flawless resurrection tool.
- Shock and Awe: Raiden can unleash electrical discharges. He also transforms into Raijin, the Japanese god of thunder.
- Taking the Bullet: Ouka takes a knifing attempt meant for Kato, which kills her.
- Throw Down the Bomblet: Their personal skill "Anti-armor Bomb", where they throw grenades to damage enemies.
- Tragic Monster: Ouka is killed by Nicolai.
- Undying Loyalty: Each of them feel this towards Kato, especially Raiden.
- Walking Spoiler: Yuri recognizes Ouka, but can't quite put his finger on it for a while. Turns out she's Lt. Col. Kawashima, Kato's deceased boss and object of affection from the first game.
- You Shall Not Pass!: Hien and Raiden blocks the party pass on the final dungeon.
Minister Kantaro Ishimura
Voiced by: Michael McConnohie (EN)
- Absolute Xenophobe: Takes the prize for it. Not only doesn't he trust Westerners, he also believes that Japan has the divine right to rule China, Russia and indeed all of Asia.
- Big Bad Wannabe: He comes very close but due to Kato's last minute betrayal he gets demoted to Arc Villain, though to his credit that arc is around 90% of the game once you switch from Europe to Japan.
- Bullying the Dragon: If Ishimura hadn't been encroaching on the territory of a what he knew was a paranoid power-mad Taoist mage like Dehuai, a great many of his soldiers, resources and Chinese lives/souls might have been spared.
- Corrupt Politician: To the core.
- Evil Old Folks: He's a colossal jerkass who's in his autumn-years.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His grandson Kosuke.
- Fat Bastard: Not comically so but he is clearly overweight. Not even debatable how much of a bastard he is though.
- The Ghost: In Shadow Hearts, during the China arc, he finally needs to answer for his crimes once Yuri finds out he exists in Covenant.
- Greater-Scope Villain: In Shadow Hearts, he is the behind-the-scenes villain for everything driving the Japanese military, especially Lt. Col. Kawashima and Kato.
- He is also the one ordering Kato to play Sapientes Gladio during the first half of the Covenant.
- Heel Realization: He seems to get one at the very end when Yuri delivers him his No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. Ishimura is prepared to die as long as Yuri doesn't hurt his grandson, Yuri makes him realize that his enforcers never even considered, let along exercised, such a code.
- I Did What I Had to Do: When Yuri kicks down his door to make him pay for all he has done he seems unfazed and even proud of what he has done, as being for the good of Japan. Until his grandson looks to get in the middle of it, at which point Ishimura shows he will lower himself to any level to save his grandson.
- Improperly Paranoid: He thinks he has to conquer all of Asia in order to keep Japan safe from her rivals; He's actually talking completely out of his ass on this.
- Incurable Cough of Death: He is stated to be of failing health. We never find out what is wrong other than he coughs a lot and can't walk under his own power easily.
- Jerkass: Massive prick, whose paranoia and xenophobe destroy everything that meets his gaze that he does not have 110% control of.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: It's implied at first he has a greater goal, that conquering Asia is simply 'what must be done'; But no, Russia and China didn't actually care about Japan and it turns out he's just a paranoid xenophobe too deluded to see he's actually gone mad with power.
- Junior Counterpart: To Jinpachiro "Ben" Hyuga apparently.
- Man Behind the Man: To Kato and thus to Nicolai as well.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: His antagonizing of Dehuai did far more damage to his power base than his occupation of Shanghai afforded him.
- Killing Kawashima robbed him of perhaps his most competent agent just because he was too paranoid of the fame she was winning her father as a political rival of his.
- If he had only kept Nicolai as a political pawn instead of trying to dissect him for his demonic powers, he'd have had an asset with claim to the Russian throne, and enough black-mail on Russia to either seize it or plunge it into civil war. As it is trying to tear the demon out of Nicolai only resulted in the lose of said pawn due to Demonic Possession and a catastrophe that nearly ended his country.
- Non-Action Big Bad: He doesn't actually do anything himself due to failing health but he sure sets-up a lot of crap
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He gets what's coming to him.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Does not trust anyone not of Japanese nationality. Assumes all other nations are conspiring to seize Japan.
- Take Me Instead: When his grandson walks in on his grandpa's imminent and well deserved beat-down and Ishimura believes he is danger for it, he offers himself freely if Yuri will just spare his grandson.
- The Heavy: For Kato considering what happened to Kawashima in Shadow Hearts and for Yuri once it is revealed this is the son of a bitch his father was actually working for, and even Dehuai, who himself was The Heavy of the first Shadow Hearts.
- The Unapologetic: Played straight at first but ultimately averted.
- Same Story, Different Names: Very much the same as Dehuai motivation-wise, just from the opposite side of the fence, as he is the head of Japan that was trying to take over China. He's the sort of flag-waving xenophobe Dehuai became a flag-waving xenophobe in response to.
- You Monster!: Yuri does not give two craps about his supposed noble intentions.
- You Remind Me of X: Ishimura doesn't need a birth certificate to be able to tell whose kid Yuri is.
Garan the Oracle
Voiced by: Hideyuki Umezu (JP), Terrence Stone (EN)
- Dark Is Evil: He is a sorcerer that has Darkness affinity and uses black magic and curses.
- Dude Where Is My Respect: Despite his attempts to scare the party and appears menacing, no one can takes him seriously.
- Gonk: Very ugly. Yuri and Karin even calls him "gross".
- In-Series Nickname: The party knows him as "baby-face".
- Mana Drain: He can suck a whole MP pool from a character in one attack.
- Power Floats: The party suspects that he owns a magic pillow.
- Recurring Boss: Is fought three times in the game (the third being optional).
- Space Master: Garan uses his black magic to warp the party into a hellish dungeon.
- Undying Loyalty: To Ishimura.
- Villainous Crossdresser: His make-up makes him looks like an elderly woman.
- Younger Than They Look: Considering all the makeup on his face, you would never think that the shriveled up looking sorcerer is 37.
Dr. Hojo
Voiced by: Tadashi Miyazawa (JP), Terrance Stone (EN)
A mad scientist working for the Japanese Imperial Army.- Dishing Out Dirt: His elemental affinity is Earth.
- Mad Scientist: Hojo don't care about Ishimura's ambitions and just want to do his dangerous experiments.
- Mini-Mecha: Uses one against the party during his boss fight.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: He, a villain, is addressed to as "Doctor Hojo".
- Never My Fault: Hojo blames the party for ruining his experiment, even trough it was he who screwed up by disobeying Kato and letting Nicolai/Astaroth escape.
- Shout-Out: His name is implied to be one to Final Fantasy VII's Professor Hojo.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Hojo don't understand that Evil Is Not a Toy and keep pushing Nicolai to his limits. The result is both Astaroth and monstrous dog being set loose.
