Classic Timeline: 1 | 2, 3, 4/F/Final
Classic Subseries: Masou Kishin | Compati Hero Series
Alpha Saga: Alpha/Shin/Super Hero Sakusen | Alpha Gaiden | 2nd Alpha | 3rd Alpha
Compact Series: Compact 2/Impact | Compact 3 | MX
Z Saga: Z | 2nd Z | 3rd Z | Walking Spoilers
Nintendo Handheld Series: A | R | D | J | W | K | L | UX | BX
VTX Trilogy: V | X | T
Other Standalones: 64 | GC | NEO | OE | X-Ω | DD | 30
Original Generation Saga: Steel Dragon Battle Group | Earth Federation | Enemy Factions | Civilians and Walking Spoilers | Endless Frontier
Blue Swear
Male protagonist of Super Robot Wars Destiny, usually called "Josh" for short, Joshua Radcliffe's an ex-soldier, having fought against the Zanscare Empire in the past, but currently goes onto testing Humongous Mecha with his adoptive sister Cliana Rimskaya. He has mixed feelings about his father Felio Radcliffe: at one point, he dislikes him for being too much of a Workaholic; on the other hand, he respects him for the research he has done. Eventually, at a testing facility in the Antarctic, he gets attacked by the Invaders and is caught in the Ruina's plan to seal the Earth and destroy it. After learning the Ruina's appearance is indirectly caused by his father, Joshua swears to amend Felio's wrongdoings.
His story largely stays the same for the Second Super Robot Wars Original Generation: he's fought off the Einst when they invaded their Antarctic facility, becomes a close associate to Hugo Medio and is able to connect with the cold, seemingly emotionless Ruina General of Ice, Glacies, due to the "Sympathia System" built into their respective Humongous Mecha. Joshua's relationship with Felio is almost on edge throughout the game compared to Destiny: he depises his father for having Cliana as the first test subject for the Sympathia System, the cause of her developing a Split Personality, and often accuses him of relegating his children to clean up his dirty work than own up to his own mistakes.
Joshua has access to either the Real Robot "Aile Chevalier" (Mid-Season Upgrade "Geant Chevalier") or the Super Robot "Ganador" (combines with the Strega into the "Forte Gigas"). He can pilot the other mecha available in Destiny, but these two are generally accepted as his defaultnote . Joshua appears in the Second Original Generation with his default mecha as the Aile Chevalier.
Joshua returns in Original Generation Sequel The Moon Dwellers to face "Gadisword" and the "Fury". For mysterious reasons, the Sympathia System in his machine resonates with the "Cytron Control System" of the Fury Humongous Mecha "Granteed" used by Touya Shiun.
Tropes associated with Joshua:
- Art Evolution: Contrast Joshua's first appearance
◊ in Destiny with his current counterpart in Original Generation. It's actually a subversion - the redesign is done by Sachiko Kouno, SRW's current character designer for its console titles. The original design from Destiny was by Sachie Suzuki, as Kouno doesn't work on stand-alone portable titles. - The Atoner: Father commits the sin, the son atones for it.
- BFS: Aile Chevalier's "Zephyr Sword" is quite big, but still can't compare to the Geant Chevalier's "Neo Beam Blade".
- Big Brother Instinct: Played with; it's because of Cliana's Split Personality that he's against her going into combat, especially when her condition is something that's supposed to be a secret.
- Big Brother Mentor: In The Moon Dwellers with regards to Touya.
- But Now I Must Go: In Destiny, if Cliana recruits Ventus if she's the headlining protagonist, Joshua leaves the party and does not return for the rest of the game.
- Captain Ersatz: The Geant Chevalier to the Dendrobium Orchis
- Combining Mecha, Mecha Expansion Pack: NV Unit "Geant Aile" for the Aile Chevalier to become the Geant Chevalier
- "I Know You Are in There Somewhere" Fight: His method of snapping and recruiting Glacies.
- It's Personal: In The Moon Dwellers, Gu-Landon Gorz reveals he's the one who unsealed the door to the Fabula Fores, leading to the invasion of the Ruina and the death of Joshua's father.Joshua: "Gu-Landon! You're the only one I'll never forgive! There's no way I'll forgive you!"
- Leitmotif: By default, "Desire"; when using the strongest attack for any machine he pilots, "Drumfire".
- Title Drop: The final scenario for the Destiny story-line in the Second Original Generation is "Desire".
- Non-Indicative Name: Aile Chevalier means "air knight", yet it's the only protagonist mecha in Destiny that's incapable of flight.
- Not Blood Siblings: Joshua is his father's only blood-related son; Cliana's adopted.
- Not Quite Flight: Although the Aile Chevalier does hover, in game-play the machine, while able to move over water like a flying unit, is otherwise impeded by other forms of terrain like mountains.
- Parental Abandonment: Aside from his estranged father, there is no mention of his mother.
- Retired Badass: Somewhat for Destiny; he's been fighting the Zanscare Empire just prior to returning to Antarctica.
- The Stoic: The Second Original Generation gives Joshua various facial expressions, but mostly serious, no-smiling portraits, similar to Kyosuke Nanbu. Naturally, this is Lampshaded in a save-quit dialogue between the two. Ironically, unlike Kyosuke, he's not too fond of tough odds.
- Swiss-Army Weapon: Aile Chevalier's "Zephyr Sword" can be used as a Laser Blade or a rifle.
Female protagonist of Destiny, called "Rim" for short, Cliana's a sweet girl who happens to possess a Split Personality: a gentle, friendly, though slightly timid girl called "Chris", the other a stoic, battle-hardened Action Girl named "Liana". This was the result of looking through the horrors of war, but is actually a case of brutal experimentation by her adoptive father Felio when she was a child. By the time the events of Destiny begins, Cliana has already come to terms with her predicament. Like Joshua, she gets caught in the Ruina's plot and rather than sit idly by (as her adoptive brother tells her to), she takes to the battlefield, mostly as Liana while in the cockpit of her Humongous Mecha.
Her story is pretty similar in the Second Original Generation, but the experiments by Felio are absent: instead, Cliana's Split Personality is due to early testing with the Sympathia System, resulting in Chris and Liana having an odd Sharing a Body situation. Their personalities remain the same and both are amicable towards one another, akin to sisters, though neither remember which of them is the "original" Cliana. Like Joshua with Glacies, the Sympathia System in her machine grants her a near telepathic-like connection with Ruina General of Wind, Ventus.
She usually pilots the Real Robot "Blanche Neige" (upgrades into the "Dea Blanche Neige") or the Super Robot "Strega", which combines with the Ganador to form the Forte Gigasnote . Cliana appears in the Second Original Generation with the Blanche Neige as her default mecha.
She embodies these tropes:
- Action Girl: Liana; case in point, she has Tsurime Eyes instead of Chris' Tareme Eyes when she's in control of their body.
- Art Evolution: Subversion due to her original design◊ in Destiny being done by Sachie Suzuki, while her new look for Original Generation is current franchise character designer Sachiko Kouno, who usually works with console releases than stand-alone portable titles.
- BFG, Beam Spam, Macross Missile Massacre, More Dakka: Blanche Neige is practically loaded with these. They're separated, though, in the form of the backup fighter "Ars Nova". Dea Blanche Neige plays it straight.
- But Now I Must Go: If Joshua recruits Glacies when he's the headlining protagonist, Cliana will leave the party and not return for the rest of Destiny.
- Similarly, Chris says the same after defeating Perfectio in the Second Original Generation, regardless of how much Liana begs her not to.
- Combining Mecha, Mecha Expansion Pack: NV Unit "Excelsior Ars Nova" for the Blanche Neige to become the Dea Blanche Neige
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: She has a really weird sense of taste; for instance, Cliana likes to put chocolate or strawberry jam into rice balls. Unless one's an extreme Sweet Tooth (like Tytti Noorbuck, Ing Egret or Ibis Douglas), chances are no one else will like it.
- Guilt Complex: Liana carries this at the end of the Second Original Generation, feeling guilty on the belief she caused Chris to perish.
- Heroic BSoD: Upon finding out she is the artificial personality instead of the original, Liana goes into this.
- Leitmotif: By default, "Duologue"; when using the strongest attack for any machine she pilots, "Duet".
- Ms. Fanservice: Cliana's pretty buxomed, wears a sleeveless vest, and with the exception of her shoes, her legs are widely shown. She definitely is this for the Destiny cast.
- Non-Indicative Name: "Blanche Neige" means "snow white" in French, yet it has no Snow White references (unlike Neige Hausen), no ice-based attacks, and its primary color is yellow.
- Not Blood Siblings: The non-biological daughter to Felio and adopted sister to Joshua
- Parental Abandonment: Even worse than Joshua - her parents are dead.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: She wears a vest and a skirt in friggin' Antarctica! When Aqua arrives at the Antarctic, she complains about the cold, but Cliana doesn't even bother shivering. Possibly justified because Cliana has spent a large amount of her life on the continent in Destiny and Original Generation, making her get used to the sub-zero environment.
- Split Personality: What it works out to, although it plays out more akin to Sharing a Body for Original Generation.
- Deconstructed and rectified in the Second Original GenerationLiana is an incomplete Melior Esse, a "hybrid" that arose because Cliana spent longer times with the Sympathia System than anyone else. However, the time wasn't enough for Liana to comandeer and destroy Cliana's soul (which is what the system is used for by the Ruina), thus her personality sprouted alongside Cliana (the latter becoming Chris). Both are regarded as individual entities rather than separate personalities of the same person; Lampshaded when Joshua explicitly states Chris and Liana are his sisters.
Re-Technologist
In contrast to his Destiny counterpart, Felio in the Second Original Generation is less of a Jerkass; for instance, he feels guilty of having put Cliana through the Sympathia System to test out its limitations. Although Cliana is more fond of him, Joshua believes his father neglects them more because of his research for Re-Technologist.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: He is much less ammoral in the Second Original Generation, making his fate more tragic.
- Asshole Victim: Destiny only. With what little there is about him (alongside his Jerkassery and For Science! attitude), one would think that he had it coming after opening the gate leading to the Ruina and getting his body commandeered by Perfectio, with his soul obliterated by the latter.
- Crazy-Prepared: Felio had Professor Eric Wong develop the "Weapon Box Hanger" housing the NV Units Geant Aile and Excelsior Ars Nova as a form of "insurance" should his research on the then-unknown Ruina backfire. He even leaves a message for Joshua knowing his son will retrieve the NV Units to fight against the Ruina, as the Units are what unlocks the full capabilities of the Res Arcana Engine.
- I Was Quite the Looker: After Perfectio inhabits Felio's body and emerges from the Cross Gate in the Second Original Generation, Clifford mentions a younger Felio looks exactly like Joshua.
- Unwitting Pawn: Twice over in Original Generation Continuity
- In the Second Original Generation, Arteil Steinbeck funded Re-Technologist for their expedition into the Fabula Fores, simultaneously providing Felio the technology behind the Sympathia System, which becomes crucial in defeating the Ruina and Perfectio, all so Arteil can gain access to the Cross Gate lying in the Fores.
- For The Moon Dwellers, Gu-Landon was the one who directly opened the gate to the Fabula Fores, expecting the Ruina to wipe out humanity so the Fury can Take Over the World with little effort; Felio merely began his investigations beyond the gate after it was mysteriously unlocked, eventually leading to his doom.
Others
Based on the same galactic empire from Godmars, the Gishin Empire in Destiny conquered the planets Helios and Fleed and plan on conquering the Earth next.
- Adapted Out: The Guests essentially take on their role in Second Super Robot Wars Original Generation
- Composite Character: Of the evil alien empires from UFO Robo Grendizer, Future Robot Daltanious and God Mars
- Redemption Equals Death: Kroppen donates his vital organs to Harin after the latter is attacked by a Gishin assassin and dies after saving Harin's life.
After the death of OZ's leader, Dermail Catalonia, and the reappearance of Earth, the loose alliance expanded to include the League Militaire, remnants of the UN military (including various Super Robots), OZ (now led by Treize Khushrenada), the Macross 7 Fleet, and MZ23.
- Big Good: Char Aznable, a rare occurrence in SRW for him as this.
- Enemy Mine: Many members of the organization used to be enemies, the most obvious example is probably the Operation Meteor Gundam pilots. You know the situation is dire when Wufei of all people agrees to join an organization co-lead by Treize.
- Evil Versus Oblivion: It originally started as this, but as the story progresses, it gradually transformed into The Alliance.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Char is less obsessed with his former ambition of forcing everyone to become Newtypes and becomes a major leader of the Blue Swear. With good reason, too - the level of the threat makes it clear that there won't be anyone left over to become Newtypes if the Ruina win (let alone the Zanscare or Gishin forces).
Ruina
- The Corruption: How the Melior Esse are created - those who have touched the "Key" will have their own souls "eroded for knowledge", making it easier for the hosts to be taken by the Ruina. The Sympathia System is actually a warped, human-manufactured version of the "Key".
- Demonic Possession, Grand Theft Me: How the Ruina take control of human bodies.
- Emotion Eaters: They feed on negative emotions
- Leitmotif: "Devastator" for the Melior Esse.
- Meaningful Name
- Fabula Fores = "story door"
- "Angelus" Mooks = "angel"
- "Aquila" = "eagle", "Fortes Ala" = "strong wind"
- Fortes Ala's "Diruptio" = "disruption, "Sagitta Lumen" = "light arrow", Calidum Sagitta = "hot arrow"
- "Ignis" = "fire", "Impetus" = "attack"
- Impetus' "Graue Flamma" = "weighted flame", "Exhalatio" = vapor
- "Contagio" = "infection", "Violaceum" = "violet"
- "Ventus" = "wind", "Studium" = "study"
- "Glacies" = "ice", "Fabularis" = "mythology"
- Fabularis' "Stellar Pulvia" = "star dust", "Congelatio" = "freezing"
- "Umbra" = "shadow, "Priscus Nox" = "ancient night"
- "Perfection" = "perfection", "Fatum" = "fate"
- Fatum's "Tenebrae" = "darkness", "Ultimum" = "final/last"
- Theme Naming: Pretty much all Ruina characters and mecha and named using Latin terms.
The Ruina General of Sky and pilot of the Fortes Ala.
- Bald of Evil: Mostly in the Second Original Generation; Aquila used to have a single ponytail in Destiny, but it's completely gone for this game.
- Macross Missile Massacre: The wings of the Fortes Ala have individual missiles that function like this. They upgrade to homing missiles in the Second Original Generation.
- Scary Black Man: For the Second Original Generation; he's red-skinned in Destiny.
The Ruina General of Fire and pilots of the Impetus, Ignis is the first of the Melior Esse in Destiny to appear and revels in making people hate him, as anger is what empowers him, including killing someone close to one of the heroes. In the Second Original Generation, Ignis' personality stays the same: while he harbors little care and concern for his Ruina allies, he has a notable soft spot for Glacies as they were "born" on the same day, and is rather crushed to discover her pulling a Heel–Face Turn to join Joshua. When Ignis dies, he calls out her name in sorrow.
- Alas, Poor Villain: In the Second Original Generation, rather than curse the Steel Dragon Battle Group upon defeat, Ignis goes on a rant regarding why Glacies is leaving him behind, and curses the group for "ruining" Glacies until he realizes he's able to feel his own hate and sorrow just like Glacies and Ventus, his last words being a sorrowful "La...ki...".
- Notably, his death scene is played with Sad Battle Music as opposed to "Devastator" when other Melior Esse are destroyed. Made more sensible since in this Continuity: he didn't kill anyone close to the Battle Group.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Purple skin with orange-red hair
- Expy: Looks like a Human Alien version of Kisame Hoshigaki; Irony ensues when Ignis uses fire-based attacks compared to Kisame with water-based jutsu.
- Hot-Blooded: Goes hand-in-hand with the fire-based Impetus
- The Power of Hate: While every Ruina is empowered by negative emotions, from his combat dialogue alone, Ignis is the one who keeps goading his attackers to hate him.
- You Killed My Father: In Destiny, Kouji Kabuto and Tetsuya Tsurugi quickly develop grudges on him when he blatantly reveals he killed Kenzo Kabuto.
The Ruina General of Disease and Plague and pilot of the Violaceum, Contagio is the most non-human in appearance of the Melior Esse. He appears midway through Destiny and the Second Original Generation and introduces the Skullplume Mooks.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Contagio looks like a lizard-like humanoid.
- Ambiguous Robots: One would be hard-pressed to believe the Violaceum has anything resembling a cockpit inside it; the same applies to the Skullplumes.
The Ruina General of Wind and pilot of the Studium, ventus is considered a defective Melior Esse amongst the Ruina and mostly abandoned by his peers. In Destiny, Ventus exclusively appears if Cliana is the headlining protagonist of the game. While Ventus is potentially recruitable in Destiny, by doing so, players permanently lose Joshua and his Humongous Mecha for the rest of the game. In the Second Original Generation, Ventus is a more active Melior Esse: he is a control device used by the Ruina to harness negative waves around the world, acting as a form of "energy channeler" for Perfectio. Unlike his Destiny counterpart, Ventus defects by default and joins the Steel Dragon Battle Group, as he believes Cliana has saved him from a life of nothingless and purposelessness. To ensure Perfectio cannot enter Earth again, Ventus deliberately volunteers to seal Perfectio from the other side of the Cross Gate in the Fabula Fores.
- Bootstrapped Leitmotif: If he joins in Destiny, Ventus inherits Cliana's default theme. In the Second Original Generation, he gets a remix of "Duologue" called "Deliverer".
- Good Costume Switch: After changing sides he ditches the white coat he wears for a brown one.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In the Second Original Generation, Ventus takes up the role of Treize Khushrenada from Destiny to seal Perfectio.
- Spell My Name With An S: Is it "Ventus" or "Wentus"? In-game, it's written "ウエントス" (U-e-n-to-su; "Wentus") rather than "ヴェントス" (V-e-n-to-su; "Ventus")
- Transforming Mecha: The Studium can switch from a humanoid form to a wyvern form.
- The Un-Favorite: Often called "the failure" by the other Melior Esse; justified in the Second Original Generation because his urge for destruction is considerably weaker than the rest due to his channeling duties for Perfectio.
The Ruina General of Ice and pilot of the Fabularis, the cool and mysterious Glacies appears only if Joshua is the headlining protagonist of Destiny. Like Ventus, players can recruit her, but it renders Cliana leaving the party permanently for the rest of the game; in the Second Original Generation, the Heel–Face Turn occurs regardless. In all appearances, Glacies is the only Melior Esse to have the strongest connection with a human, due to the Sympathia System in her Fabularis corresponding with the system in Joshua's machine, allowing both of them to share parts of their consciousness with each other. As she unwillingly interacts with Joshua more, she begins developing her own form of empathy and humanity, finally making the decision to live for Joshua's sake when she is discarded by the Ruina when they consider her budding emotions to be a sign she is "broken". At the end of the Second Original Generation, Glacies stays with Joshua and Cliana to assist in the Federation's further research on the Cross Gate in the Fabula Fores; however, Clifford estimates she has roughly three years to live due to her artifically-created body.
- Art Evolution: Like Joshua and Cliana, this is a subversion as the artist for the Second Original Generation is different than the artist for Destiny.
- Bootstrapped Leitmotif: Once she joins, Glacies inherits Joshua's default theme. She gets her own for the Second Original Generation called "Destine", a remix of "Desire".
- Fish out of Water: When recruited in Destiny; justified because after being possessed by the Ruina for so long, she has forgotten what it's like to be human.
- Good Costume Switch: Goes from wearing a kimono-like outfit to a white and pink outfit similar to Joshua's.
- I Owe You My Life: Since Joshua has shown her a new way to live life, Glacies relegates staying with him, regardless of how long of a life she has left.
- In-Series Nickname: Her name is usually shortened to "Lacie" when she joins, though due to Japanese phonetics, it's more referred as "Laki".
- Your Days Are Numbered: Because Glacies lacks the same genes that influences aging in humans, Clifford surmises her body will eventually break down. Joshua suggests cryogenically freezing her, but Clifford states it merely delays the inevitable.
The Ruina General of Darkness and pilot of the Priscus Nox, Umbra is the last of the Melior Esse to appear in Destiny, and the only other female Ruina General besides Glacies.
- Evil Sounds Deep: So incredibly deep it's hard to believe Umbra is female and voiced by a woman. Her voice sounds about as deep as Satan.
- The Faceless: Umbra's face is never seen and always shrouded in robes and scarfs.
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Umbra is given little character introduction and is literally dropped into the game during the last scenarios of Destiny. Averted for the Second Original Generation, as she and Contagio are the first Melior Esse to be introduced.
Pilot of the Big Duo, he is same-named character from The Big O. In Destiny, Schwarzwald joins the Ruina due to having gone mad from coming into contact with them.
- Adaptation Explanation Extrication: It's never explained how he got his Megadeus in this version.
- Char Clone: Schwarzwald is a masked character with his own agenda, The Rival to Roger Smith, and pilots the Big Duo, which is more maneuverable than before (three times faster).
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Schwarzwald was part of an OZ expedition team to Antarctica after the Earth got sealed off. When he and his companions were attacked by the Ruina, Schwarzwald went crazy. In this next appearance, he's covered in bandages, trying to teach people the "meaning of destruction" with the Ruina, and generally acts like a Composite Character of The Joker, Scarecrow, and a mummy with a flying Megadeus.
- The Quisling: Aligned with the Ruina because he believes that humanity was meant to be destroyed by them.
The leader of the Ruina, Perfectio is a being that feeds on hate and ruins many dimensions in order to be satiated. Released accidentally onto Earth by Felio, who Perfectio proceeds to possess, it kickstarts the eventual Ruina invasion by sealing the Earth. As an entity composed on hate, Perfectio is immortal and cannot be destroyed: in Destiny, Treize Khushrenada sacrifices his life by pushing Perfectio back to its realm, sealing the both of them together there. In the Second Original Generation, Ventus does this in the latter's place.
- Alternate Company Equivalent: An incomprehensible cosmic abomination that channels itself through the body of a dangerously inquisitive scientist who accidentally opened the door to a dimension where it slumbered after having consumed several other worlds. It's present on Earth now, creating untold madness in its wake, feeding on humankind's despair, hatred and misery, while it grows strong enough to annihilate existence itself. Oh, and no matter how hard anyone tries, this entity cannot die so long as the gate to its dimension remains open; not even with all forms of heroic resolve and technology can defeat it. Hmmm....so this is what Lovecraft would have devised if he was asked to create a villain for a Super Robot Anime. Furthermore, in all appearances, what the heroes fight is only considered a "small branch" of what Perfectio is able to manifest into the world.
- Big Bad Ensemble: In the Second Original Generation; of the major enemy factions in the game (the Ruina, the Garden of Baral, the Gaia Sabers and the Guests), Perfectio is the biggest threat. The exception is Euzeth Gozzo, though he admits it's unlikely even for him to defeat Perfectio single-handedly. Naturally, he had the Steel Dragon Battle Group do it for him.
- Character Name Alias: Perfectio admits the name it has is only the result of the knowledge and memories of the body it is in control of.
- Evil Mask: A metaphorical case rather than a literal use of the trope, but the spirit is the same (with Perfectio itself being the mask that corrupted Felio).
- Expressive Masks: They even "cry" a blood-like substance in the Second Original Generation.
- Gray Goo: The large beam cannons in Destiny are replaced with a sea of black goo in the Second Original Generation, spewed from the lower section of the Fatum.
- Hope Crusher: Perfectio's power makes everyone affected jump across the Despair Event Horizon, whether they like it or not. Also Enforced as Perfectio feeds on negative emotions, with despair being one of the finest.
- Humanoid Abomination: It became one of these pulling a Grand Theft Me on Felio, but he was already a grade A Eldritch Abomination by itself already.
- Hungry Menace: It doesn't want anything as mundane as flesh or steel to satiate its hankering - it feeds on pure despair and rage.
- Also, the original version of its Finishing Move involved summoning several masks that devoured mecha and their pilots.
- Malevolent Masked Men: The Fatum "wields" a pair of creepy masks on both of its "arms". It uses them to perform all of its attacks, and can even summon smaller replicas of them.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Evidence points to it having Complete Immortality
- Omnicidal Maniac: Has already destroyed an untold number of worlds and wants to add the game's world to that list, as a force of hatred and destruction desires to give the characters the "Eternal rest" of death.
- Shout-Out: Perfectio's human form bears an uncanny resemblance to Legato Bluesummers, coincidentally also voiced by Toshihiko Seki and holds a similar nihilistic attitude.
- This Is a Drill: The Fatum wields several that pop-out of its masks' mouths and eyes. The Second Original Generation turns it up to eleven by just having one large drill.
