This is a character page regarding the characters of the Gastark Empire in The Legend of the Legendary Heroes. For other characters, see the index here.
open/close all folders
In General
Tropes that apply to the Gastark Empire as a whole:
- Arch-Enemy: To the God's Eyes bearers.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Quite possibly the only country that averts this. Kiefer's shocked to see how honourable their nobility appear to be.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Stohl invaded them in the past, committed war crimes against their people, and told the civilians of Stohl that they were liberating the Gastark people, who had to live as slaves.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: No matter how antagonistic some of them may be, one thing is certain: everyone in Gastark cares about each other.
- Evil Counterpart: To Roland as a whole.
- Expecting Someone Taller: The almighty Gastark Empire that's conquering the world is... a tiny settlement that barely counts as a country all the way up north. Yup.
- Fantastic Nuke: Glouvil is their trump card, but the reason Gastark's so powerful is because they've got more of these than anybody else in the world.
- Fantastic Racism: Their actual viewpoint differs from society at large's, in that they seem to be rather even-minded on the matter in the end, but Gastark's infamous for being the Cursed Eye bearers' primary enemy. Gastark slaughters them to crystallize their eyes, which can then be used as powerful tools.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Again, tiny settlement up north. While they have the advantage of a history that's intertwined with the supernatural and thus lots of resources at their disposal, they were once simplistic people with no interest in any of that.
- Half-Human Hybrid: They're all descended from a human breeding with a supernatural creature, the latter being responsible for their iconic pink hair.
- Kill the God: Killing all supernatural beings (most of which are considered to be gods in some form) is one of their objectives.
- Mirror Character: From Roland. By the sequel, the two are very much alike in terms of objectives and methods.
- Modest Royalty: Riphal is technically royalty, while Lize and the Orla siblings are nobility. Ask yourself if you would've realized that from their appearance or demeanor alone.
- Moral Myopia: Played with. Some members (primarily the Orla siblings) show little compassion to anyone outside of their country. However, in the grand scheme of things, whatever they're willing to do to their world, they will do to themselves if need be, contrasting with the viewpoint of several other characters who are willing to sacrifice everything but/for their loved ones.
- The Needs of the Many: What they believe. They're aware that they're doing despicable things and killing countless people, but they also have reason to believe that if they don't, the world will end. They do their best to avoid being hypocrites as well, as they're all also willing to die/sacrifice one another for this sake.
- Parental Abandonment: They all lost their family in a previous war. Specifically, the heads of every major family were slaughtered by Stohl.
- Rage Against the Heavens: Their main purpose and the reason why they aren't living the simple, peaceful lives they initially wanted (and still want) for themselves.
- Shoot the Dog: They've essentially made it their policy to do this.
- True Companions: One of the straightest examples in the series. Everyone in Gastark is, for all intents and purposes, family.
- Undying Loyalty: Due to being True Companions, they all have this towards one another.
- Villains Out Shopping: To an extent. They're too busy to actually lead mundane lives outside of conquering the world, but some of their conversation topics aren't things you'd expect a group of antagonists to talk about.
Riphal Edea
Riphal Edea
Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai (JP), Patrick Seitz (EN)
The king of the Gastark Empire, who intends to eradicate war by uniting the entire continent.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: His eyes are purple in the anime, whereas they're blue in the novels. Likely due to the possibility that Riphal may not have had any colour images by the time the anime was produced.
- Affably Evil: When not trying to conquer the world, he's a pretty sociable guy.
- Artificial Limbs: He's sacrificed his right leg before.
- Casanova Wannabe: And to rub salt into the wound, Lize is apparently far more popular with the ladies, even when trying to hook them up with Riphal.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: He became the ruler of Gastark when he was twelve due to his father, the previous leader, being killed.
- Childhood Friends: He has been friends with Lize and Lir since their youth.
- The Chosen One: The northern one, at least.
- Dark Messiah: Continuously sacrifices himself using Glouvil, tries not to hate anyone, and sincerely hates war... but has resigned himself to repeatedly starting them for the sake of his goals.
- Evil Counterpart: To Sion, though he's not exactly evil. And Sion's not all that different either.
- Eye Scream: Due to his contract with Glouvil.
- Feel No Pain: After sacrificing his sense of touch to Glouvil.
- Hero Antagonist: As morality gets progressively greyer and the truth behind the world gets revealed, Riphal gets closer and closer to being this. For all intents and purposes, he has the exact same goal as Ryner and Sion—his just happens to potentially involve killing them, as they might become threats to the world.
- Heroic Vow: Be kind to girls. Value his friends. Don't hate people. Believe that he can move forward. For a Crapsack World, he doesn't do too badly, though he can't keep that vow quite as well as he'd like.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Lize. Wherever Riphal is, Lize is almost sure to follow.
- Hypocrisy Nod: He's well aware that he's contradicting himself when he claims to be waging war to bring world peace.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: While he still hoped for a while that Kiefer might return to his side, he accepts that she loves Ryner, wants to grant her some happiness with the latter, and after the battle against Geihlficlant, decides that he doesn't deserve her anyway.
- It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: He would've been much, much happier if he wasn't Glouvil's wielder.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: It might be hard to believe that he's the conqueror of the northern continent—until he gets serious.
- Love Makes You Dumb: Lize and the others fear this trope becoming the case for Riphal, seeing as how Kiefer works for the other side. While he does show some shades of it, though, he's also careful not to fall into this trap.
- Manchild: Occasionally acts like one, though when things get serious, he's perfectly mature.
- Modest Royalty: Outside of his armour, he dresses in more plain clothes than most of the non-royalty characters.
- No Hero to His Valet: His valet being the villagers whom he grew up with. You wouldn't think he was their king from the way they treat him.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Noted to have done this while a prisoner of Stohl so that he and Lize wouldn't be suspected of plotting anything.
- Power at a Price: Unlocking Glouvil's true potential involves a sacrifice.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Tends to do these before using Glouvil."I will not let this sacrifice be in vain. I am a slaughterer. I... I will advance forward! I will... mow everything down!""I… I am a murderer! I am a king of slaying! If you want to curse me, then come! But, even so, I will still swing this sword. So that I can save more lives than I am going to kill now, I will kill you all here!"
- Reluctant Ruler: Had no desire to become head of Gastark. Didn't have much of a choice in the matter either.
- Reluctant Warrior: All he wanted was to live in peace, believing that life was more important than anything. The world said no.
- Resigned to the Call: Doesn't really want to be doing what he's doing, but acknowledges that he's The Chosen One and that the world will end if he doesn't, making it just a bit hard to ignore.
- Start X to Stop X: Start wars to stop wars. However, his ultimate goals are more complicated than that, and despite his initial claim, Riphal is realistic enough to know that war is always inevitable.
- Universally Beloved Leader: He might not get a lot of respect, but his people all adore him.
- Unusual Eyebrows: Of the forked variety.
- Token Good Teammate: The most soft-hearted out of the Gastarkians, and thus the one least likely to commit atrocities. That said, a large part of that is because he already has his subordinates doing them, though unlike them, Riphal is still unable to let go of his guilt.
- Villainous Friendship: With Lize and Lir, what with them being Childhood Friends.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Lize.
- Weapon of Mass Destruction: Glouvil is one.
- The Wise Prince: Less obvious about it than, say, Sion, thanks to his general silly attitude, but it's there when he's serious.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: He tries to be this way, though when things get serious, he has to go against it.
Rigwaltz Pentest
Rigwaltz Pentest
Voiced by: Wataru Hatano (JP), David Wilson Brown (EN)
Otherwise known as Lize. As a longtime friend of Riphal's, he acts as his right-hand man.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Same as Riphal—he has purple eyes in the anime, blue in the novels.
- Childhood Friends: He has been friends with Riphal and Lir ever since they were children.
- Foil: To Riphal. Where Riphal Wouldn't Hit a Girl and is the very opposite of paranoid, Lize Would Hit a Girl and is extremely cautious.
- A Friend in Need: Riphal warned him and Lir that they would be heading down a miserable path by following him as a Well-Intentioned Extremist. They still chose to without hesitation.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Riphal.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: Not that Riphal is necessarily incompetent, but it's Lize who has to balance out his Manchild tendencies.
- In-Series Nickname: He is often called "Lize".
- Magic Knight: He's the commander of Gastark's Magic Knight Battalion, even.
- Magnetic Hero: Apparently how Gastark can amass such a large military force—Lize's charisma helps a lot.
- Not So Above It All: Easily the most serious of those from Gastark seen, to the point where it wouldn't be hard to believe him to be a Perpetual Frowner at first—but he's definitely not above making jests at Riphal's expense.
- Number Two: He is Riphal's second-in-command.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: While a prisoner of Stohl, in his, Riphal, and Lir's backstory.
- Only Known by Their Nickname
- Properly Paranoid: He's convinced that Kiefer is a potential threat, and by that point, the reader knows that he's right.
- Sarcastic Devotee
- Shipping Torpedo: He disliked Kiefer the moment he heard about her, and roughly 19 volumes later, he still can't get over what he believes to be her 'seduction' of Riphal.
- The Strategist: One of his primary roles.
- Undying Loyalty: Towards Riphal, as noted under A Friend in Need.
- Villainous Friendship: With Riphal and Lir.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Riphal.
- Would Hit a Girl: Unlike Riphal, he has absolutely no qualms about this. Riphal even punched him once for it.
Kuu Orla
Kuu Orla
Voiced by: Mariya Ise (JP), Cherami Leigh (EN)
The youngest of the Orla siblings, Kuu is a fierce supporter of Riphal. Being a soldier in her teens hasn't done anything for her mental stability though, and like her brothers, she has some serious problems. Typically partnered with Sui, she makes a habit of coming into conflict with Ryner and Ferris.
- Badass Family: She and her siblings are one.
- Beware the Silly Ones: When with Sui.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: She and her brother simply appear as incompetent thieves at first. The pink hair and incredibly high-pitched voice don't help.
- Dark Action Girl: Needless to say, she tends to fight Ferris.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: As an Emotionless Girl.
- Emotionless Girl: When using the Ailecrono Scythe.
- Enfante Terrible/Teens Are Monsters: A nasty little girl who is perfectly happen to commit mass murder.
- Friendly Enemy: To Kiefer, when Kuu and the others are holding her captive in Roland. Upon Kiefer waking up, the first thing Kuu does is give her a meal, refuse to let Kiefer help with the chores because, captive or not, she's also their guest, and complain about the others, considering Kiefer's the only one outside of Gastark who knows them all.
- An Ice Person: Her Ailecrono Scythe allows her to manipulate ice.
- Lack of Empathy: Towards anybody who isn't from Gastark.
- One-Note Cook: Pancakes is apparently the only thing she can make in Roland, due to her unfamiliarity with southern cuisine.
- Never My Fault: It's always Sui's. Always. Granted, this is Sui we're talking about, so it might actually be.
- Pet the Dog: She's genuinely distraught when Sui is on the verge of death, and as noted in Friendly Enemy, can maintain fairly good terms with Kiefer despite being on opposing sides.
- Siblings in Crime: With Sui and Lir.
- Sinister Scythe: The Ailecrono Scythe.
- Super-Speed: Thanks to the Ailecrono Scythe.
- Super-Strength: And again, due to the power of the scythe.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Being the one who looks after Sui, Kuu feels that she has to be this.
Sui Orla
Sui Orla
Voiced by: Takuma Terashima (JP), John Burgmeier (EN)
Kuu's older brother and, a steadfast ally of Riphal, Sui has little respect for anyone from outside of Gastark. He sees no problem with testing a weapon on peasants, resulting in the siblings' first clash with Ryner and Ferris. Supremely overconfident, Sui has a talent for getting in over his head.
- An Arm and a Leg: Loses his arm in his fight with Ryner.
- Artificial Limbs: After losing the aforementioned arm, he replaces it with a prosthetic.
- Bumbling Sidekick: Not exactly Kuu's sidekick, per se, but it's clear who the more competent of the two is.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He and his sister appear to be incompetent thieves at first...which was likely all part of the act.
- Dissonant Serenity: Cheerfully murders anyone who has seen the dragon produced by a relic he has stolen.
- Evil Gloating: Does this a lot. Usually right before Ryner or someone else kicks his ass.
- The Extremist Was Right: He told Ryner that as a king, Sion would inevitably have to make sacrifices, no matter how ideal Ryner believed Sion to be. Guess what Ryner discovers by the end of the first series?
- Face Death with Dignity: He survives, but when on his deathbed, he calmly accepts his fate, worrying over Kuu instead and being relieved when Riphal chooses to have Sui pass on information while he can rather than immediately try to save him.
- Faux Affably Evil
- Handicapped Badass: Despite losing an arm, he can still fight.
- Lack of Empathy: Towards anybody who isn't from his own kingdom. He sees nothing wrong with mass murder, as long as the victims aren't from home.
- Manchild: Kuu often laments over how she has to look after Sui, despite her being fourteen and him being twenty-six.
- Not Quite Dead: After Froaude fatally wounds him.
- Perpetual Smiler
- Pet the Dog: See Face Death with Dignity above. In particular, he has Lize knock Kuu out likely so that she doesn't have to watch him die.
- Playing with Fire: The Dolueli's Swordscale that he retrieves after Ryner abandoned it allows him to do this.
- Plucky Boy: If Sui has one thing going for him, it's that he sure remains upbeat and confident even after getting fatally/near-fatally injured repeatedly.
- Smug Snake: He tends to be rather confident—generally right before the tables are turned against him.
- Underestimating Badassery: Does this to Ryner and pays the price.
- Would Hit a Girl: Attacks Ferris, kidnaps Kuku, kills dozens of peasants of both genders, and was part of Lir's slaughter of God's Eye bearers, which included women and children alike.
- Would Hurt a Child: Had no problems with Lir's massacre of Alpha Stigma children, and first kidnaps, then tries to murder Kuku to get at Ryner and Arua.
Lir Orla
Lir Orla
Voiced by: Anri Katsu (JP), Newton Pittman (EN)
The third of the Orla siblings, and easily the cruelest, Lir is an assassin who operates outside of Gastark, taking out Riphal's enemies before they can become a problem. Armed with a ring that can summon lightning beasts to do his bidding, Lir is a menace to anybody who crosses his path, and has no compunctions about killing men, women, and children alike if his king so commands it.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Blue eyes in the novels like the other Gastarkians, red in the anime.
- Barrier Warrior: Like Froaude, this is one of his ring's abilities.
- Big Brother Instinct: Downplayed, given that Kuu and Sui are fighters in their own right, but he's not exactly pleased when Kiefer establishing herself as a traitor in the battle with Geihlficlant nearly gets his younger siblings killed.
- Childhood Friends: With Riphal and Lize.
- Energy Absorption: One of Spunquel's abilities.
- Evil Counterpart: He's the Eviler Counterpart to Roland's Miran Frouade. They're both Sarcastic Devotees who do their king's wetwork, operate in the shadows, and wield rings of power that can control an element, but Lir tends to be the bigger antagonist to Ryner and co. in the first series. This gets flipped in the sequel, where Froaude tends to Kick the Dog/attack Ryner's allies more often.
- Eviler than Thou: In his confrontations with Miran Frouade and Tiir. He actually manages to be the bigger bastard in both, which takes some doing.
- Final Solution: Wants every Alpha Stigma dead, and keeps a running count of how many he's murdered.
- Hero Killer: Ryner fears him more than he does Kuu and Sui, especially as Lir has notable kills to his name. That is, Lafra and Pueka. He also manages to gouge out Ryner's eyes, which would normally be certain death—but subverted in the end, as Ryner Came Back Strong. Still, it's the closest anyone's gotten to killing a main character.
- Jerkass: An unrepentant jackass.
- Light Is Not Good: He controls lightning beasts, but since the incantation to summon them invokes the dawn, this is also at play.
- Only the Chosen May Wield: Apparently, he's the only one who can use the ring.
- Pet the Dog: He's a good friend to Riphal with no strings attached.
- Powers Do the Fighting: His lightning beasts.
- Professional Killer: For the King of Gastark.
- Psycho Electro: Wields lightning powers and is pretty damn psycho.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The only one of his siblings with red eyes and the most dangerous. Only applies to the anime, however; in the novels, his eyes are blue like his siblings'.
- Sadist: Quite enthusiastic about the pain he causes, particularly when battling Tiir and Ryner.
- Shock and Awe: His Lightning Beasts.
- Undying Loyalty: Towards Riphal.
- The Unfettered: He notes that he doesn't necessarily disagree with Riphal's belief that those who kill and don't regret it are scum or with the possibility that everything they're doing is a mistake, but feels that guilt will only cause one to falter, which they can't afford.
- Villainous Friendship: With Lize and Riphal, hence his unwavering loyalty towards the latter.
- Would Hit a Girl: Killed Pueka, had no issues targeting little girls, and injured Ferris.
- Would Hurt a Child: Would slaughter children in fact, tracking down and butchering the kids in Tiir's care on two separate occasions.
