History Characters / LiveALiveMiddleAgesAndSpoilerCharacters

* FreudianExcuse: In it's simplest form, Oersted motivation for becoming Odio can be boiled down to 'everyone turned on me, so I shall destroy the world in turn'. Oersted is an interesting example of this trope because we get to see ''first hand, through his eyes'', how that excuse came to be. At the end of the chapter, it's rather easy to see and understand what drove Oersted to that conclusion, even if it still doesn't justify what he's doing in the present.

* GloryHound: Dialogue exclusive to the English script implies Oersted might have partially been driven by a [[SecretlySelfish want for fame]] and "just reward". A small blemish on his otherwise [[KnightInShiningArmor shining image]] but one which could've provided enough of a catalyst to fuel Streibough's jealousy of him, as well as foreshadow Oersted's [[FaceHeelTurn fall into darkness]] when such glory was [[TraumaCongaLine brutally]] denied him. Considering he turns out to be the [[FatalFlaw most emotionally fragile]] of the heroes, this might be more a side effect of his InferioritySuperiorityComplex than clear cut egotism though.

* HeelRealization: In the remake, after the main protagonist shares some words with him Oersted ends up accepting that despite everything that's happened to him, his fall to darkness came from personal weakness and not having the strength of character that the heroes have.

* {{Irony}}: Of all eight playable characters, he's the only one who starts with both the official backing and adoration of those around him[[note]]Pogo is kicked out of his tribe, Darthe clearly doesn't trust Cube until the ending, people seem more annoyed by Akira than anything, Sundown is seen as a villain by Mad Dog who even deliberately calls him a villain to the people of Success and while Oboromaru has the backing of his clan, it's nowhere near the level of support Oersted gets and can easily lose their respect if he ever betrayed them[[/note]] and is fighting the chapter's BigBad for a noble reason[[note]]Akira and Masaru are fighting Odeo and Odie explicitly for revenge, Shifu's also fighting Ou Di Wan Lee for revenge with a side of death-seeking, Sundown is also a death seeker, and Oboromaru is free to kill innocents[[/note]]. While the other seven either restore their good graces or end up more or less neutral to where they began, it doesn't work out so well for Oersted.
* JackOfAllStats: Starts off in the MagikarpPower territory but once he begins to gain some levels, Oersted becomes a powerful party member with no real weakness where his physical and special stats in both offense and defense are more than enough to finish his chapter. This implementation is justifiably a necessity given that the last stretch of his chapter has him venturing into the Archon's Roost on his lonesome.

* NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead: Even after becoming the new Lord of Dark, it's clear Oersted still has a deep respect for Hasshe. While he vindictively renamed much of the kingdom's areas after what they did to him, the place where Hasshe is buried is simply called Last Hero's Grave. Further still, it's implied he is the one who placed [[LegendaryWeapon Brion]] upon his grave even though he could have only done it after becoming the Lord of Dark, when it would have made more sense to destroy the weapon that slew the last Lord of Dark so it couldn't be used against him. These are some of the few hints to the player that Oersted may not be ''completely'' gone after becoming Odio.

* PureIsNotGood: Oersted is truly a pure-hearted knight. He also fell the hardest from grace because fate decided to screw with his purity and he gave in. If the Earthen Heart successor is Yun, he makes a remark that Oersted is just too pure... which brought indecisiveness (he should have taken action), harkening his fall from grace. Expanding on this, his ([[SequentialBoss second]]) FinalBoss form is called the Purity of Odio -- his pure hatred towards the world being the only thing left for him after losing everything else and being unable to comprehend the heroes efforts to oppose him.
* PurposelyOverpowered: Once the MagikarpPower kicks in. Other than the [[HumongousMecha Steel Titan]], Oersted is mechanically the strongest playable character in the game, sky-high stats and powerful moves to handle anything the game throws at him. It's little wonder you can never play as him again after his chapter (barring the final moments of the battle with Sin of Odio in the remake).

* RestoredMyFaithInHumanity: The efforts of the seven heroes triumphing over him, sparing him, and swiftly defeating his incarnations along with hearing their own reasons in why they don't give in the hatred of humanity that he started to realize he failed due to his weak heart and redeemed himself by returning them to their time periods while warning them to not become a demon like him. In the remake, witnessing the seven heroes fighting the Sin of Odio together causes Oersted to not only remember his name, his purpose, and his own humanity, but he also breaks free from of his hatred and puts an end to Odio once and for all.
* SanitySlippage: As his tale progresses, his mental state begins to bend further and further... and when Alethea kills herself, he ''snaps''.

** On a game-to-game scale, this is how ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerChampionsOfTheContinent'' treats him in "OCTO-A-LIVE". Since [[TheChosenOne the Ringbearer Chosen]] can be represented in cutscenes by just about any playable character you want with a wide array of histories and personalities between them, they too are a HeroicMime. So, to prevent all scenes featuring both characters from being full of unvoiced gestures and ParrotExposition--and to take the story in a [[AdaptationDeviation very different direction]] by having him try to reason with Streibough--Oersted speaks regularly from the start.

* TragicHero: His chapter initially opens as a mission to SaveThePrincess from the Lord of Dark, which is pretty standard fantasy fare. Everything in the plot moves towards him being a hero: he wins the princess's hand in marriage, he gathers a group of supposedly TrueCompanions to go after the Lord of Dark, and the fallen older hero even passes his sword onto him. Alas, he returns empty handed from the trip with 2 of his 3 companions dead, having been unable to find the princess. Duped by an illusion, he makes the big mistake of striking down his king, setting off a chain of events which derails his [[TheHerosJourney Hero's Journey]] and ends with his crossing the DespairEventHorizon. In the face of these events, he is unable to overcome the [[FatalFlaw weakness in his heart]] and [[MisanthropeSupreme loses faith in humanity]], willingly choosing to become the Lord of Dark's reincarnation.

* AlwaysSecondBest: He always gets the lower runt when compared to Oersted and he hates it.

** The remake gives evidence for both the former and latter. For the former interpretation during his fight he was shrouded with black and red aura like Odio and his incarnations implying possession. As for the latter interpretation, Streibough's dialogue indicates he had nothing to do with the fake Lord of Dark and only took the opportunity to betray Oersted after learning about the secret passage in the statue, never has any lines implying that he's possessed, and in the official English translation, still berates Oersted of his "greed". It may be that he was willing to become the Lord of Dark's reincarnation all on his own, as he did indeed gain his power and a dark transformation complete with VoiceOfTheLegion.
** It's rather less ambiguous in the crossover story in ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerChampionsOfTheContinent'', where Streibough describes hearing a voice offering him the power to take what he wants - a voice that speaks again in the climax of the first half and declares he has offered up his despair, his hatred, and his heart, transforming him into Odio-S [[PainfulTransformation while he screams in agony]].
* AmbitionIsEvil: When Oersted's party crashed into Archon's Roost and wandered into a dead end which had the supposed Lord of Dark, Streibough figured out there was actually a secret passage where the princess was kept, but wanting to get one over on his rival and take her for himself, Streibough faked the room collapsing to get everyone else out and fake his death, then tricked Oersted into killing the king [[HatedByAll and becoming a pariah]]. In the end, his ambition resulted not only in his death and the princess committing suicide to follow him, but Oersted became corrupted into [[BigBad Odio]] because of this, [[GoneHorriblyRight dooming all of Lucrece and kickstarting the events of the other 7 chapters.]]

** [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality If viewed from Streibough's perspective]], the Middle Ages chapter would be a Shakespearean tragedy: hero driven by a fatal flaw (envy) gets revenge on those who wronged him, falls from grace, dies, and his lover commits suicide so they can be TogetherInDeath. But it's ''not'' from his perspective, the viewpoint character is one of his victims, who was genuinely unaware he'd made Streibough his enemy. And so the TragicHero becomes the villain.
** More blatantly, he's this to the {{Sidekick}} and TheLancer tropes. Streibough has been Oersted's NumberTwo since long before the events of the game... And absolutely ''despises'' it. His frustrations at [[CantCatchUp not being able to overtake Oersted in physical, social, or strategical capabilities]] eventually boils over when Oersted beats him in the tournament for Alethea's hand in marriage; the single woman he is absolutely smitten with. It's this that ends up [[RageBreakingPoint pushing him over the edge]], and he starts making his plan to completely ruin Oersted's life.
* DemonicPossession: Hinted by how he becomes shrouded in a dark aura, implying that the statue of the Lord of Dark - and therefore the original Lord himself assuming he is indeed a separate being manipulating events - is empowering him and amplifying his hatred towards Oersted in the final battle. Ambiguous in that the statue itself doesn't glow like it does for Oersted himself later on and Streibough still remains hateful towards Oersted with or without the Lord's influence.

* DumpStat: His Physical Attack (Power stat in the SFC original) has a chance of not increasing upon level up, not that he needs it, with his entirely magic-focused moveset.

* DemonKingNobunaga: He's designed to be like UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga, gets the portrayal of the brutal feudal Japan warlord who is literally a demon in disguise (in the 90's when the game was released, it was common for Nobunaga to get a HistoricalVillainUpgrade to a demonic entity) and his clan name is a pun to the Oda clan. Bonus points for being voiced by Creator/NorioWakamoto, who in the 2000's got to voice [[VideoGame/SengokuBasara one of the more definitive portrayals of 'Evil Overlord Nobunaga'.]]

* TheGenericGuy: Ode Iou is introduced as an ordinary human where his overworld and battle sprite are of normal human proportions compared to other Odio incarnations such as the abnormally large [[TheGiant Odie O'Bright, O.Dio and Ou Di Wan Lee]] while his appearance and clothing of the time period is relatively normal compared to Odie O'Bright's enigmatic appearance. This is later [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in his true final fight where Ode Iou transforms into the monstrous Gamahebi.

** Is Odeo an actual divine being that exists, or is he just a myth, with Odeo fought in the end being merely a MindHive of two thousand enraged and hateful liquefacted humans taking control of the statue and now mindlessly lashing out at anything they see? Evidence exists for both interpretations: some of the Great Inko's attacks clearly are supernatural of origin, and it's not implausible that Odio's powers would create an actual deity or a being powerful enough to be comparable to it; however, it was also stated that when a human is liquefacted, the psychic energy within them gets awakened and amplified, allowing them to pull out powerful psychic tricks, and it was theorized that the Steel Titan could've been controlled by liquefacting a human to let them take full control of the mecha. With that in mind, combined with the fact that ''two thousand'' humans were sacrificed and absorbed into the statue, their combined power would definitely allow them to pull off more supernatural skills by their united awakened psychic powers.
** How much was Odeo actually responsible for in the Near Future chapter? Or was it mostly the Conspirators fault for what happened? The goal of the Conspirators was to ''awaken'' Odeo, so it is unknown whether it directly spoke to them or if Livingstill knew about how liquefaction unlocks a person's psychic powers and decides to use the liquefacted people controlling the Great Inko Statue as a vessel for the statue (not helped that Odeo never utters a single word at all). If Odeo never actually existed and really was controlled by the two thousand people, this meant that the Conspirators killed two thousand people for no reason with "Odeo" being the result of controlling a statue through the consciousnes of liquefacted people rather than being a divine being. Additionally with the "Odeo never existing" theory, this makes Akira's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Oersted a lot more jarring and callous as Akira is blaming Oersted for something the Conspirators did.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Odeo's attacks inflict a lot of status conditions, but they all inflict rather low damage. Any of the attacks by the Steel Titan is more than enough to defeat Odeo as there is little for it to do besides inflicting status conditions and disabling attacks. In Oersted's Dominion of Hate chapter, playing as Odeo will be a tough battle as not only will it inflict little damage, but a battle of attrition using status conditions will be a lot harder as its HP will drop from 2,032 when fought to 1,280 when played as while the Steel Titan keeps its HP at 2,032. On the other hand, Odeo when fought at the end of the Dominion of Hatred also has 1,280 HP there too.

** Are the incarnations avatars of Odio created through his power, or are they separate beings who are nevertheless connected to Oersted and have their own individuality. The game provides hints for both interpretations.

** Are his incarnations aware that they spawned from him, or do they believe they're like everybody else? The game doesn't make it clear.

* BreakoutVillain: Oersted’s whole story and significance to the game’s overarching plot became the main attraction of the title in the opinion of many fans, and indeed it is as Oersted is the reference of choice in ''Final Fantasy Legends'' and ''VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy'' for smartphones to celebrate Live A Live’s 20th anniversary, a boss fight against him is the feature in Legends and a stage based on Oersted and Streibough's DuelToTheDeath in ''Theatrhythm'' with 2 songs from the game, both being Odio’s themes. His tale also ended up representing ''Live A Live'' in its crossover with ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerChampionsOfTheContinent''.

* BilingualBonus: In the remake, its InSeriesNickname "Decimus" is Latin for "10", as in, OD-''10''.

* CurtainsMatchTheWindows: As of the remake, Oersted is usually depicted with gold eyes that match his hair.

Oersted's friend, a wizard who got second place in the tournament for Alethea's hand. During the fight with the Lord of Dark, he sacrifices himself to save his allies... or does he?

* SquishyWizard: When he's in your team, he's a typical mage character with low bulk. Subverted the time where you fight him the second time, where he has a whopping '''999 HP''' (although you'll still hit hard enough to whittle his whole health bar alone).

* {{Yandere}}: While already [[GreenEyedMonster deeply jealous of Oersted as is]], the knight winning Alethea's hand in the tournament completely breaks him (Streibough later claims that he outright ''asked'' Oersted to let him win during his MotiveRant). As soon as he figures out where Alethea is being kept, he immediately resorts to ruining Oersted's life so he can have her, with the other party members and her own father becoming acceptable collateral damage in pursuit of that goal.

* MaouTheDemonKing: In the original Japanese script, he was known as a "Demon King".

* {{Reincarnation}}: Another possibility to his true nature is that Oersted is a reincarnation of him and that the lord of dark was a previous incarnation of Odio, meaning all three characters are one and the same. Supported by the fact that Oersted comes to claim the title of Odio with no separate character being alluded to, or hint of possession in his monologue at the end of his chapter, as well as Oersted fitting the ThemeNaming of Odio's incarnations.

* CurtainsMatchTheWindows: As of the remake, Oersted is depicted with gold eyes that match his hair.

* {{Yandere}}: While already [[GreenEyedMonster deeply jealous of Oersted as is]], the knight winning Alethea's hand in the tournament completely breaks him (Streibough later claims during his MotiveRant that he outright ''asked'' Oersted to let him win). As soon as he figures out where Alethea is being kept, he immediately resorts to ruining Oersted's life so he can have her, with the other party members and her own father becoming acceptable collateral damage in pursuit of that goal.

* {{Leitmotif}}: ''"On Broken Wings"''. The name foreshadows his fall from grace. He, as Odio, is also associated with ''"Odio, the Lord of Dark"'' (the remake gives him a personal variant of the theme, ''"Fugue for the Lord of Dark"'') and ''"Megalomania"''.

* {{Leitmotif}}: ''"On Broken Wings"''. The name foreshadows his fall from grace. He, as Odio, is also associated with ''"Odio, the Lord of Dark"'' and ''"Megalomania"''.

* {{Yandere}}: While already [[GreenEyedMonster deeply jealous of Oersted as is]], the knight winning Alethea's hand in the tournament completely breaks him (Streibough later claims during his MotiveRant that he outright ''asked'' Oersted to let him win). As soon as he figures out where Alethea is being kept, he immediately resorts to ruining Oersted's life so he can have her, with everyone else -- including the other party members and her own father -- becoming acceptable collateral damage in pursuit of that goal.

* SatanicArchetype: He's called a demon in the Super Famicom version (an archon in the remake), his title is The Lord Of Dark, he's the embodiment of hatred and misanthropy, he got to where he is by falling from a position of grace and respect, and yet he still manages to be well-spoken and somewhat charismatic — while still not really bothering to conceal [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters just how little he thinks of humanity]]. Yep, Odio certainly qualifies.

** Sin of Odio is this in the Remake, as the only hint of its existence is at the beginning of the Nintendo Direct reveal trailer with the piano introduction of Gigalomania playing before it transitions into the game's main theme.[[note]]Though it's really more foreshadowing than a spoiler.[[/note]]

** "I will", exclusive to the remake's English script. Originally Hasshe's last words as he muses on being a hero and how he would always agree to save people in need even after humanity cast him aside, it receives a CallBack at the end of the game when Oersted says it as he does exactly that and frees himself to save the heroes from [[TrueFinalBoss Sin of Odio]].

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: The one time he decides to break loyalty and try to screw over Oersted leads to him being corrupted into a monster that can literally end reality.

* DivinelyAppearingDemons: Purity of Odio resembles an AngelicAbomination, a visual metaphor for Oersted broken perception of himself after being [[ConvictedByPublicOpinion named a demon by the kingdom.]]

* BilingualBonus: Wang is Chinese for king. In Japanese, "king" is translated as "oh." Thus, [[ThemeNaming Ou Di Oh]] Lee.

** [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]] with Odie O'Bright who appears to be an ordinary human, but his massive height and tattoos give him an enigmatic appearance uncommonly seen in Masaru's time period.

** OD-10 takes the form of a Predator skull when confronted by Cube.

* EqualOpportunityEvil: Judging by how two of his henchmen have hispanic sounding names (Duo Salvaje (Duo de Chico in the Fan Translation)), he isn't opposed to Mexicans joining his Crazy Bunch.
* {{Expy}}: The remake's localization makes him into one of [[Literature/BloodMeridian Judge Holden]] - a near-mythical terror of the West whose eloquence and twisted affection for his men belies an insatiable thirst for war. One of his dying lines and the barman's description of him after his death all but quotes the book's ending directly.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Don't believe that polite tone for a ''second.'' O. Dio might be well spoken, but he's a thuggish, barbaric brute through and through, and it's more curiosity than anything that keeps him from shooting up the saloon the second he gets there. His character quote? That's him going from snide civility to roaring with bloodlust in the same sentence. He makes it abundantly clear during his battle that once Sundown and Mad Dog are dead, Success will just be a pile of ash.

* MoreDakka: How much more dakka? Well, his "Gatling Barrage" attack is arguably the single most damaging one in the entire game — and one of the very few ones to still be a danger to [[VillainForgotToLevelGrind a leveled up party]] during Odio's endgame BossRush. He even lampshades this in his second quote from the alternative scene before the fight if Mad Dog joins after the Sheriff attempts to assist.

* VengefulGhost: O. Dio's true nature - he's the ghosts of those killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn, possessing a horse to fulfil their desire for vengeance.

* {{Expy}}: He's a bald martial artist who holds the title 'The Strongest', that Masaru attempts to claim, and serves as his final boss. Basically, he's very similar to [[VideoGame/StreetFighterI Sagat]] with both eyes... except he's a lot more brutal and ruthless even before Sagat developed into an AntiVillain. He even shares Sagat's seiyuu from ''Anime/StreetFighterIIV''.

* NoCureForEvil: Subverted - Odie has his own version of Masaru's Focus/Battle Cry, Malevolent Shout. Like Masaru's move, it heals him and buffs his stats.

* TheSocialDarwinist: His other reasoning for murdering Masaru's opponents besides being a {{Sadist}} — they lost to him and as the strongest, weakness should not be tolerated so he believes they deserved to die.

* SpiceUpTheSubtitles: Odie O'bright was made a more sadistic murderer in the fanmade English translation - where he describes how much he enjoyed killing Masaru's opponents in cruel ways. All three scripts still makes it clear that he murdered the others though.

--> '''OD-10''': ''DIE, CHILD, DIE!''

* PaletteSwap: Visually, he appears as a pale-skinned and red-clothed recolor of the Cha brothers of the Indomitable Fist elite from the Imperial China chapter, while in the overworld, he shares the sprites with the Hoi Restaraunteur and Tong Cha from the same chapter. Interestingly, the Bountiful Heart is the only boss of the Trials to feature a palette swap enemy that is from the same timeline of the character's Trial. [[labelnote:*]]Lucretius (Pogo's trial) is a palette swap of Lord Iwama from Oboro's chapter, The Euraokos/Erauqs (Cube's trial) uses the M1-Psychers sprite from Akira's chapter, The Jaggedy Jack enemies (Sundown's trial) are Gemparapets from Cube's chapter in the Captain Square game and Apophisphilo who guards Masaru's trial is an original sprite for the Final Chapter.[[/labelnote]]

* AntiVillain: Unlike the other bosses of the chapter, Euraokos is not a truly malevolent being; all it wanted to take back its diode that was stolen by heroes. Once defeated, it spent its last words lamenting the loss of its diode before exploding.

* StalkedByTheBell: They will appear in the Trial of Time only once the eighth bell rings. Should the heroes not escape in time, and Jaggedy Jacks will appear to eat them.

* NobleDemon: Apophisphilo is less malevolent than other bosses, as his only goal is to guard the entrance to the Trial of Strength and test the strength of heroes who wish to come inside by combating them. His BossBanter has him appreciate the heroes' strength, and when he dies, his last words have him [[GracefulLoser acknowledge the heroes as warriors true]], accepting his death with honor. Interestingly, he shares three moves with Oersted (Archon's Mark, Heavenly Strike and Flourish) and one with Streibough (Silver Fangs), reflecting both their noble and demon sides to their personality.

* TheUnfought: Justified, since aside from Euraokos who only shows up after the trial's completion, the Trial of Wisdom doesn't contain any battles as part of its puzzles and being a part of Cube, is trying to help them become stronger as fighting them would pose a risk or take up too much time.

* KarmicDeath: One which spans time. The Death Prophet is responsible for petrifying the Watanabes of the Final Chapter out of disgust for their cowardice. The only Watanabe the player fights in the entire game is the father from the Near Future chapter, who can be killed in one hit by attacking him from behind. Not only does the Death Prophet share this same weakness, but unlike the Near Future Watanabe being one of the only Watanabe scenes played seriously, one shotting the otherwise menacing Death Prophet causes him to utterly break down and somehow mortally wound himself while counterattacking.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Appears as a malevolent and imposing being with an intimidating and no-nonsense demeanor but when hit from behind, it activates "Not the Tail!" where a cartoonish sound that would fit in the Prehistory or Near Future can be heard as it gets defeated.
* PaletteSwap: He shares the appearance with sabertooth tigers from the Prehistory chapter, but has black coloration.

** Its Wizenblade is incredibly powerful, but it's also the only way it can attack. If you attack it from a distance and [[MightyGlacier keep out of its melee range,]] [[LogicalWeakness it's pretty much defenseless against you.]]

* EvilIsPetty: Odio sends it after you if you commit the [[DisproportionateRetribution heinous crime]] of... [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere ignoring him and walking away.]]

* DueToTheDead: It's heavily implied that he returned the Brion sword to Hasshe's grave, given that the protagonists find it there after the fall of Lucrece. It would have been smarter of him to destroy it hide it somewhere else, or keep it on his person, but he ''chose'' to reunite it with Hasshe. While the game implies that Odio ''[[FairPlayVillain wants]]'' the heroes to make it to him so he can [[HannibalLecture dress them down]] before destroying them in earnest, explaining why Odio didn't destroy Brion, this trope is really the only good reason why he left the key to his lair in such a conspicuous location. The (possibly vandalised) map of Lucrece the protagonists use also has "The Hero's Rest" renamed to "The Last Hero's Grave", which is comparably more respectable than the other locations, which were given much more demeaning titles.
* DyingAsYourself: Overlaps with HeelRealization. After having his incarnations defeated in the best ending, which causes Oersted to break down and beg why he couldn't even win and make his point valid that HumansAreBastards despite all his power, the ultimate form of the Lord of Dark is unleashed — the Sin of Odio, the embodiment of all hatred in the world from across time and space, imprisoning Oersted within its chest and assuming full control of the final battle. Seeing the heroes fight on against all odds to defeat the God of Hatred, Oersted remembers who he once was long ago and breaks free with the heroes' help, delivering the final blow to the now-separate Odio himself. After the heroes lecture him that he lost as Odio because he chose to give up his humanity when they would always hold onto their humanity even in the worst time, he ends up realizing that his heart was weak, agrees with the heroes' points, and crumbles into dust with no resentment towards the party.

* DueToTheDead: It's heavily implied that he returned the Brion sword to Hasshe's grave, given that the protagonists find it there after the fall of Lucrece. It would have been smarter of him to destroy it or hide it somewhere else, but he ''chose'' to reunite it with Hasshe. While the game implies that Odio ''[[FairPlayVillain wants]]'' the heroes to make it to him so he can [[HannibalLecture dress them down]] before destroying them in earnest, explaining why Odio didn't destroy Brion, this trope is really the only good reason why he left the key to his lair in such a conspicuous location. The (possibly vandalised) map of Lucrece the protagonists use also has "The Hero's Rest" renamed to "The Last Hero's Grave", which is comparably more respectable than the other locations, which were given much more demeaning titles.
* DyingAsYourself: Overlaps with HeelRealization. After having his incarnations defeated in the best ending, which causes Oersted to break down and beg why he couldn't even win and make his point valid that HumansAreBastards despite all his power, the ultimate form of the Lord of Dark is unleashed — the Sin of Odio, the embodiment of all hatred in the world from across time and space, imprisoning Oersted within its chest and assuming full control of the final battle. Seeing the heroes fight on against all odds to defeat the God of Hatred, Oersted remembers who he once was long ago and breaks free with the heroes' help, delivering the final blow to the now-separate Odio himself. After the heroes lecture him that he lost as Odio because he chose to give up his humanity when they would always hold onto their humanity even in the worst time, he ends up realizing that his heart was weak, agreeing with the heroes' points, and crumbles into dust with no resentment towards the party.

** When he levels up in the Switch remake, he bemoans his standing as Oersted's ally, but during later level ups prior to the Lord of Dark's lair, he starts becoming more confident and vows to get even stronger than his own friend.

** He kills the chapter's Watanabe father. While the act is not truly evil given it was part of a high stakes tournament, all the Watanabe dads in the first seven chapters were killed by one of the villains or, in the case of the Present Day, either injured or killed by the biggest Heel among the opponents. It's the first hint of Streibough eventually snapping.

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: When he's killed and becomes a spirit in Akira's dungeon, he seems like he might regret his actions but just asks if he's really at fault implying that he's not sorry for all the damage he caused.

** His plan kicks into high gear when he makes Oersted see the King as the Lord of Dark one night... It's unclear in the original game whether he was the one who created the ''other'' false Lord of Dark or not. The remake confirms that the false Lord of Dark that the group fights is completely unrelated to Streibough.

** Lastly, as Odio-S in OCTO-A-LIVE, he sends TheChosenOne to a black void and murders Alethea when she tries one last time to convince him to stand down, in order to get Oersted to snap and become Odio-O. However, it turns out Alethea's spirit was trapped in that same void all along, and the one who's been with them the whole time, the one he killed, was an illusory being controlling her body at the will of Odio.

* PoorCommunicationKills: If Alethea was right and he just wanted to be noticed for his deeds, the entire ordeal could've been avoided if he just asked Oersted beforehand for a little more respect or would've been respected anyway as the future king's right hand man had he done nothing to screw him over.

* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: While her suicide was the last nail in the coffin for Oersted's sanity, she's also the only one who realizes that she caused Oersted's descent into madness and actively tries to fix things by begging the heroes to free Oersted and even summoning a portal to warp out of the Trial of Heart/the people of Lucrece's prison. Compared to Streibough, who is incapable of admitting that '''everything''' he did caused his best friend to become a Demon Lord -- nor does he even try to ''fix'' the stuff he broke -- and she's a total saint (pun unintended) by comparison.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: She saw Streibough as her prince and Oersted as the man who took too long to save her... she dooms her kingdom, multiple other people across time, and potentially ''reality itself'' because of it.

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Deconstructed. By the end of the Middle Ages Chapter, Alethea is the only thing keeping Oersted in the fight. When she rejects him for the man who ruined his life and kills herself, his sanity is destroyed, and she has to live with that decision for all eternity.

* UngratefulBitch: How does Alethea thank Oersted for how he's had to claw his way through literal Hell to save her and learning that his best friend indirectly made her kill her father for utter spite? To spite Oersted and kill herself so she can be together with her beloved Streibough...and boy does '''all of humanity''' pay for this.

* DueToTheDead: It's heavily implied that he returned the Brion sword to Hasshe's grave, given that the protagonists find it there after the fall of Lucrece. It would have been smarter of him to destroy it or hide it somewhere else, but he ''chose'' to reunite it with Hasshe. The (possibly vandalised) map of Lucrece the protagonists use also has "The Hero's Rest" renamed to "The Last Hero's Grave", which is comparably more respectable than the other locations, which were given much more demeaning titles.

* FairPlayVillain: Heavily implied by the sum total of his actions across his own final chapter and the heroes' final chapter. Going by the presence of the Armageddon option in the [[PlayAsABoss Reverse]] BossRush, Odio could have cast Armageddon any time any of his incarnations were backed into a corner, but he didn't. Instead, he waited for all of the incarnations to be defeated, then summoned the heroes who beat them to his VillainWorld, scattering them and leaving them to their own devices, allowing them to confront him on their own terms. Then, once the final battle begins in earnest, he waits until he has beaten down the party to end existence, and if they defeat him instead, [[GracefulLoser so be it]]. This all indicates that Odio would rather earn his victory and prove his point fair and square before allowing his wrath to truly run rampant.

* AchillesHeel: Hasshe's Archon's Mark technique, the move that slew the original Lord of Dark, will turn the false lord furious and cause him to unleash Retribution, a powerful multi-hit counterattack... which also completely tanks his stats. If Hasshe can be revived from this, the rest of the fight will be a breeze.

* DemonicPossession: It is entirely possible that this is how one becomes the Lord of Dark - through the spirit of the original possessing them. ''Champions of the Continent'' supports this interpretation.

* WalkingSpoiler: It's impossible to talk about him without revealing that he's long dead - or so it seems at first - and that the events of the Middle Ages chapter are the machinations of his high-ranking minion and Streibough.

** Odio-S is a version of Odio born from Streibough when his plan to trick Oersted into killing Alethea via illusion fails and he is backed into a corner well before he would be in canon, compounding his stress further. Between that, his festering resentment from his and Oersted's long history together, and [[DontYouDarePityMe taking Oersted and Alethea's attempts to talk him out of this badly]], his hate and despair targeted at Oersted grow so great they consume him and he becomes an incarnation of Odio.
** Odio-O, born from Oersted, may seem like little more than a different design for the canon Odio, but he emerges when, after Oersted and Alethea have done everything they could to save Streibough from himself, and after Oersted had plenty of time to form a genuine love for Alethea, Odio-S casually kills her and the knight finally snaps. Instead of hating all humanity, his hatred is focused entirely on Streibough and magnified to a degree far beyond what it ever was in canon.

* ApocalypseHow: In his scenario, when he is about to lose, he can pick the Armageddon option and causes a Class Z. He also casts Armageddon [[NonStandardGameOver if you lose against him when he's in Purity of Odio form (or ANY of Odio's forms in the remake)]]. He also did a Class 4 within the Kingdom of Lucrece as his RoaringRampageOfRevenge - there were no human beings left alive in the kingdom after he was done with it, and although there are still [[RoamingEnemy roaming monsters]] that the 7 heroes face when they are transported there they don't resemble any natural wildlife at all.

* BreakThemByTalking: Does this to the heroes when finally confronted at the end, claiming that the only reason their heroic actions were even needed was due to mankind's laziness and selfishness, and that even their own heroics were motivated more by their own selfish desires than any desire to help others. Surprisingly, this causes some of the heroes to take a moment to reflect on their actions...but only a moment.

* DueToTheDead: It's heavily implied that he returned the Brion sword to Hasshe's grave, given that the protagonists find it there after the fall of Lucrece rather than destroy it or hide it somewhere else. The (possibly vandalised) map of Lucrece the protagonists use also has "The Hero's Rest" renamed to "The Last Hero's Grave" which is comparably more respectable than the other locations which were given much more demeaning titles.
* DyingAsYourself: Overlaps with HeelRealization. After having his incarnations defeated in the best ending, which causes Oersted to break down and beg why he couldn't even win and make his point valid that HumansAreBastards despite all his power, the ultimate form of the Lord of Dark is unleashed - the Sin of Odio, the embodiment of all hatred in the world from across time and space, imprisoning Oersted within its chest and assuming full control of the final battle. Seeing the heroes fight on against all odds to defeat the God of Hatred, Oersted remembers who he once was long ago and breaks free with the heroes' help, delivering the final blow to the now-separate Odio himself. After the heroes lecture him that he lost as Odio because he chose to give up his humanity when they would always hold onto their humanity even in the worst time, he ends up realizing that his heart was weak and crumbles into dust with no resentment towards the party.

* EnemyWithout: In the remake, Oersted comes to his senses during the Sin of Odio fight - at which point his boss form starts actively fighting against his regained humanity and incapacitates the heroes, forcing Oersted to separate from it and kill it himself.

* EvilSoundsRaspy: In the English dub, Odio is clearly raspier when compared to the softer-spoken Oersted. It's especially noticeable after he drops the VoiceOfTheLegion effect right before the boss rush.
* FanservicePack: Or rather {{Fandisservice}} Pack. Odio-S turns the slender in modest robes Streibough into a WalkingShirtlessScene with visible muscles...but there's [[EyesDoNotBelongThere a large eye sprouting on his chest]].
* FinalBoss: Many of his incarnations serve this role for each chapter. Odio himself plays with this trope a bit: He appears as the true final boss as Purity of Odio... and after being defeated and spared in the path for the good ending, he challenges the heroes again one last time by summoning all the final bosses of the first seven chapters. In the remake, he gives one final battle after the boss rush as Sin of Odio, the pure embodiment of not only Oersted's hatred, but of all the darkness and hate of their world.

* GracefulLoser: After being beaten, he takes his defeat well and asks the heroes to just kill him already. This leads to a bad end. Later, when he resurfaces and tries to prove his point by sending a BossRush and is thwarted again, he is quick to realize that the heroes were right when they point out their differences: his heart was too weak, so he fell into despair's influence. In his dying breath, he gives a fair, but stern warning about AsLongAsThereIsEvil, rather than cursing them.

* MadnessMantra: In the English script of the Sad Ending, he repeats "believe in me" maniacally instead of laughing like he does in the Japanese version, further adding to the idea that he feels that VengeanceFeelsEmpty.

** Sin of Odio in the remake. After the boss rush, Odio still refuses to give in to his opponents, so he calls upon all his power and all his hatred across time and space as well as that of the world itself to him as explained by Akira, to take on one final form to try and kill our heroes: the living manifestation of malice and hatred itself.
* OurArchonsAreDifferent: While the original refers to him as a generic Demon King, the remake calls him an archon, a demonic spirit of darkness that serves the Demiurge in UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}}. While he is no servant of a higher power (in fact, calling him a Demiurge instead would suit him very well), a "demonic spirit of darkness" descriptor fits Odio like a glove.

* PyrrhicVictory: No matter what Odio does to make humanity pay, it's clear he isn't getting happier. If he is chosen as the protagonist in the final chapter and he slaughters all the heroes without casting Armageddon, he is left to wander the ruins of Lucrece alone — and just to rub in the point, the text SAD ENDING[[labelnote:In the remake...]]"Alone, Victorious. Thus ends his tale."[[/labelnote]] appears.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: In the remake, he regains his humanity and deals the final blow to Sin of Odio… which is implied to be the only thing keeping him alive, thus killing him.

* ShadowArchetype: True to [[HumansAreFlawed the game's overarching theme]], Odio possesses traits of all 10 of the heroes that his various incarnations have fought, but his story didn't have the happy ending theirs did, causing them to become distorted...

** Sin of Odio is this in the Remake, as the only hint of its existence is at the beginning of the Nintendo Direct reveal trailer with the piano introduction of Gigalomania playing before it transitions into the game's main theme.[[note]] Though it's really more foreshadowing than a spoiler. [[/note]]
* WasOnceAMan: He started off as an ordinary human knight, but ultimately becomes a timeline-spanning EldritchAbomination.

* BookEnds: His journey starts with him embarking on a quest to slay the returned Lord of Dark. His life ends with his act of atonement - finishing off the Lord of Dark for good. All of them at once, actually, combined into a single entity that embodies all hatred in the world throughout time and space. As Oersted and Sin of Odio have become two separate versions of one being and the only things keeping each other alive at this point, he fades away not long after he finishes off Odio for good.

* BreakoutVillain: Oersted’s whole story and significance to the game’s overarching plot became the main attraction of the title in the opinion of many fans, and indeed it is as Oersted is the reference of choice in ''Final Fantasy Legends'' and ''VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy'' for smartphones to celebrate Live A Live’s 20th anniversary, a boss fight against him is the feature in Legends and a stage based on Oersted and Streibough's DuelToTheDeath in ''Theatrhythm'' with 2 songs from the game, both being Odio’s themes.

** Alethea states that, by the time Odio summons the heroes to the Domain of Hate to face him, the part of him that was once Oersted "knows not what he has become." This indicates that she has long since realized the error of her ways and that she acknowledges that Oersted's old self would never have been capable of such atrocities.

* CrutchCharacter: Uranus starts off with stats that eclipse Oersted and Streibough's but eventually lags behind when the two begin to gain levels while Uranus only gets miniscule increases in accuracy and evasion. Unlike other examples, Uranus learns a few new technique as he levels up.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Odeo's attacks inflict a lot of status conditions, but they all inflict rather low damage. Any of the attacks by the Steel Titan is more than enough to defeat Odeo as there is little for it to do besides inflicting status conditions and disabling attacks. In Oersted's Dominion of Hate chapter, playing as Odeo will be a tough battle as not only will it inflict little damage, but a battle of attrition using status conditions will be a lot harder as its HP will drop from 2,032 when fought to 1,280 when played as.

* FatalFlaw: [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex Reliance on others for self-validation and emotional vulnerability]]. As things steadily get worse for him, his remaining companions stress the importance of holding on to hope as long as one person still believes in him. This leads Oersted to become fixated on his fiancée Alethea as that one person. When it turns out that even she has lost all faith in him and commits suicide, he is left with nobody and nothing. Oersted promptly snaps and declares war on all of humanity.

* VillainSong: Music/YokoShimomura's ''memória!'' album includes a version of ''"Megalomania"'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwMfal0g2m4 with lyrics written from Odio's perspective]].

* BarelyChangedDubName: Its original name is rendered like "おーでぃーおー", pronounced like saying out the letters "O-D-O" individually (which would spell out "Odio"). The official English localization, however, renders it like "Odo", as if it'd rhyme with "[[DoofyDodo dodo]]".

* DubNameChange: In the Chinese localization, his name was changed to "李傲帝" (Li Aodi). The reason why is because the name "Ou Di Wan Lee" sounds very odd in Chinese language and doesn't match the traditional ancient Chinese naming conventions due to consisting of four syllables as opposed to three. The surname of his dubbed name, "Li" (李), is the common Chinese surname, while "Aodi" (傲帝) means something in the lines of "proud/arrogant emperor/god", which [[MeaningfulName reflects his arrogant and power-hungry personality]] while still fitting the Odio naming convention.

* MeaningfulName: His sect in the Japanese version, Yi Po Men, is written as "義破門". It literally translates to "moral breaking sect", fitting for a group of amoral, tyrannical bandits going around and destroying anyone they don't like. The localized name, Indomitable Fist, gets a similar idea across.

* SleevesAreForWimps: The sleeves on his uniform have been torn off, both to highlight his buff arms and to show how violent and rugged he is.

* BadassNormal: Compared to all of the other Odio Incarnations, he certainly qualifies, being an unarmed human being who is physically strong enough to beat anyone who stands in his way to a pulp, no ghost plot twist behind him like O. Dio or Ou Di Wan Lee's CharlesAtlasSuperpower martial arts.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Had she just ''let'' Oersted explain the hell he went through to finally rescue her, particularly that her [[SarcasmMode knight in shining armor Streibough]] indirectly caused her father to be killed by Oestered and orchestrated all of this madness for her hand, she might have avoided the TimeCrash and the corruption of the man she was ''supposed'' to wed and come to reason that Streibough was manipulating her the entire time. Instead, she kills herself, kills off Oersted's goodness and leads to ''thousands of people dying in her kingdom and across time and space'' and the end of her beloved kingdom.