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The Party
The Brave Hero Yuusha
- Can I just go home? Why me?
The titular hero of the game. They are a white-haired warrior sent by the King to rescue Princess Glynn from Demon Lord Volza, but they find themselves thrust into an entirely different journey.
- Establishing Character Moment: When first brought in front of the king and given their quest to rescue Princess Glynn from Demon Lord Volza, the express confusion and trepidation, establishing them as a Reluctant Hero.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: You can name them anything you want, and unlike Glynn and Volza, they have no Canon Name.
- Heroic Mime: Zigzagged. They do not have any dialogue, but they can respond to things said by other characters, and their responses paint them as a Reluctant Hero who has no idea what they are doing or what is going on.
- Magically Inept Fighter: They have the best physical offense and defense, but their magic stats are lower than the other party members'.
- Reluctant Hero: They feel forced into the role of Brave Hero Yuusha and feel they have little control over their lives.
Princess Glynn
- You're the hero of this story! You're the Yuusha! You're supposed to go on a grand adventure and save ME!
The Princess of the kingdom of Landia, who was kidnapped by Demon Lord Volza. However, when the Puppeteer took over and disrupted everything, she found herself forced to team up with the hero and her kidnapper to set things right.
- Black Mage: She learns fire and ice spells that rely on her intelligence stat, and is the party's main source of magic damage.
- Damsel in Distress: Her role in the story is to be kidnapped by Demon Lord Volza and rescued by the Hero. The Puppeteer shook things up by spiriting away the castle, and she finds herself traveling with the heroes instead. In fact, she finds herself enjoying her freedom so much that she comes to dread the possibility of fixing the story and having to return to being just a damsel.
- Establishing Character Moment: When the Hero first meets her being held captive by Demon Lord Volza, she angrily questions why the hero is there so early, says that this is the worst possible ending, and yells at Volza to get the battle over with. Then when the castle starts falling apart a few seconds later, she orders the Hero and Volza to escape with her. This shows that she is not the demure, helpless princess of the usual story.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's impatient and rude, but sympathizes with the Hero and the Demon Lord's troubles more than she lets on.
- My Name Is ???: She is referred to as "???" before her name is chosen. Her default name is Glynn.
- Life Drain: Her Drain skill, which says:Drain HP from one enemy.
- Mana Drain: Her Siphon skill, which says:Drain MP from one enemy.
- Pretty Princess Powerhouse: She is cute like everything else, but casts some powerful spells.
- Princess Protagonist: Not the primary one, but still one, by being party of the party that saves the world.
Demon Lord Volza
- Y-yes, ma-am! P-please don't yell at me again... Ahem! You have come far to challenge me in my lair, fair hero!
The fearsome demon lord himself, who kidnaps Princess Glynn. His castle is taken from him by the Puppeteer and his army usurped, so he teams up with his former enemies to get them back.
- Affably Evil: He's very polite for the Ex-Big Bad of the story. Even when he resumes his role as the Demon Lord in the ending, he winks at the Hero, indicating there is no animosity between them.
- Big Bad: Supposed to be, anyway, but with the story in tatters...
- Card-Carrying Villain: He is quite proud of his villainy and will not hesitate to let people know he is the best villain around. This actually gets him into a fight with Jasper, who insists that he is the better villain.
- Combat Medic: He's the party's main healer, but he also has offensive spells and decent physical attack.
- Dark Is Not Evil: He sure talks about being a fearsome demon lord, but shows himself to be a softie.
- Demon Lords and Archdevils: He is the typical fantasy Demon Lord. Or at least he would be if a different villain didn’t take over his army. Instead, he has to become a party member.
- Enemy Mine: He is usually the villain who kidnaps Princess Glynn so the Hero can save her, but since he was usurped by the Puppeteer, he decides to team up with his enemies to defeat their shared new foe.
- Establishing Character Moment: When he first encounters the Hero, he tries to give his intimidating demon lord performance, but when everything starts going wrong and Princess Glynn yells at him, he meekly does what she says and asks her to stop yelling, then confesses to losing his fortress keys, showing that, for all his bluster, he is not as fearsome as he makes himself out to be.
- Ex-Big Bad: He is the In-Universe villain of the book where the story takes place, but since the Puppeteer came and usurped him, he has no choice but to ally with the Hero and Princess.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: As revealed in the final dungeon, his entire drive for becoming a demon lord is to gain the respect and companionship of others. He rejects the offer of the monsters to continue being evil and sack some villages because he knows that won’t make him friends.
- Jack of All Stats: He has the highest speed, but the rest of his stats are average compared to the Hero and the Princess, who specialize in physical and magic stats respectively.
- Jack of All Trades: Along with being a Jack of All Stats, he has access to healing magic, offensive magic, DOT infliction, and ailments.
- Maou the Demon King: He is based on this kind of character, as evidenced by his Arch-Enemy being called the Yuusha. He kidnaps Princess Glynn and forces the Yuusha to go to his castle to confront him. Though in this case, he is forced to team up with the Yuusha and the princess to defeat the greater threat of The Puppeteer.
The King of Landia
- Splendid! Oh yes, splendid, splendid, splendid. By all means, send the little dickens in and lets have a look at our new hero!
The ruler of the kingdom of Landia. He gets possessed by the Puppeteer in the beginning, but is freed and serves as an ally to the trio of heroes. He joins their party in the post game after getting tired of sitting in the castle all day.
- Boss Subtitles: Puppetstring Royalty: Mad King.
- Cloudcuckoolander: He's rather eccentric for a king, always saying odd things and being far more clownish than his actual Court Jester.
- Flunky Boss: He is flanked by Attackbot and Defendotron, who raise his attack and defense respectively.
- The Good King: Despite his eccentricity, he is ultimately a fair and kind boss once he is broken free from the Puppeteer's control.
- Puppet King: Literal variant when he gets put on puppet strings by the Puppeteer, who proceeds to control him and everything he does, effectively usurping the throne of Landia. Thankfully the heroes manage to break the control, after which he returns to being king.
- Starter Villain: While possessed by the Puppeteer, he becomes the first major antagonist that the heroes have to fight to save their kingdom of Landia from him.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: While he stays in his throne room for the main story, in the post-game he decides to do some adventuring himself and becomes a recruitable party member.
Horace
- Have you ever heard a story like this where a court jester introduces themselves by name? Well, it's Horace. I'm glad you finally found the time to ask, though. Normally, I just sit in the throne room and pass the time while the hero does their job.
The court jester of Landia. His job is to make people laugh, but ironically he comes off as more serious and cynical than his goofy boss. He becomes a party member in the post-game.
- Cain and Abel: The Abel to Jasper, who joined the Puppeteer and his takeover of the story world.
- Court Jester: Of the kingdom of Landia. Unlike most, he makes no secret of his competence, and is openly more serious than the King.
The Puppeteer and his Gang
General
The antagonists of the game, a group of five villains (and two bosses) who have taken over the story and are warping it as they see fit.
- Boss Subtitles: The combined fight against Emotion has "Unwitting Pawns".
- Even Evil Has Standards: The minions become reluctant to continue serving the Puppeteer once he plans on sending the whole world into the rift.
- Heel–Face Turn: They all turn good by the post-game. The minions turn against the Puppeteer upon him becoming an Omnicidal Maniac, while the Puppeteer himself ceases his tantrum thanks to Ashlyn. All of them except the Puppeteer can be fought in The Mitten in a friendly match.
- Psycho Rangers: Basically all of them are an Evil Counterpart to each of the heroes. Lorica, Jasper, and Musashi were intended by the Puppeteer to replace Glynn, Volza, and the Hero respectively. Lorica and Jasper exaggerate the stereotypes of the princess and Demon Lord respectively, with Lorica acting like a narcissistic princess and Jasper being a hammy and self-aware villain. Musashi is supposed to be the Puppeteer's idea of a "cool" hero, but he's actually even more reluctant to fight than the actual hero.
The Puppeteer
- Don't you think it's all so droll? The usual stories of Heroes, Princesses, and Demon Lords? Why tell a story we already know? Wouldn't you rather have a bit more fun than that? What will the story hold in store for you now? Ho ho ho...
A mysterious figure who manipulates various characters in the story and sends the Demon Lord's castle into a rift.
- A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: As Edward, he was a student of Mr. Elias and a weird but harmless kid. Then he became frustrated with his inability to protect other people and be a hero, so he sought the power of Elias' book and became the Reality Warper villain.
- Big Bad: He takes control of the story and drives it Off the Rails, hoping to destroy everything and replace it with his own version.
- Boss Subtitles: The Story's New Guide
- Cognizant Limbs: His hands, which hold one of his Co-Dragons each, have to both be hit in order to free the people he is puppeteering before the shield blocking his eye is broken, allowing you to hit him. He will then summon two more after a few turns, and then do this one more time.
- Evil Overlooker: Both boxarts have him looming over the Hero. In the original, he looks at the Hero outside of a page corner, referring to his ability to warp the reality of the story, while in the DX version, he pops out of a top-hat and looks over the Hero, Princess, and Demon Lord.
- Ex-Big Bad: He returns in Soma Spirits Rebalance as the Super Boss, and due to his Heel–Face Turn is more of a playful opponent than a villain.
- Heel–Face Turn: After his defeat as the Final Boss, Ashlyn convinces him to drop his tantrum against the story and take his life more seriously. This carries over to his cameo appearance in Soma Spirits Rebalance, where he will either compliment the protagonists for their bond or admonish them for their arrogance, depending on the previous run's ending. He clearly learned from his mistakes and doesn't want the protagonists to repeat them.
- Heroic Wannabe: Edward originally wanted to be just like the Hero, but his obsession leads him to neglect his friends and academics, causing him to fall behind and become more isolated. When he fails to protect Ashlyn from a wild cat, he starts blaming "The Hero & The Demon Lord" book for his troubles.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: His Co-Dragons speculate that he wants them as friends, but they agree that they cannot replace the friends he truly needs.
- Never My Fault: As Edward, he blames "The Hero & the Demon Lord" story for ruining his life when it was really his obsession with the story that caused him to neglect his friends and studies.
- Oculothorax: His One-Winged Angel form is a giant purple eye with two hands and wings.
- One-Winged Angel: The Puppeteer in the final battle is absorbed into the Singularity and transforms into a monstrous, Oculothorax demon.
- People Puppets: When his Co-Dragons stop wanting to participate in his plan to destroy the world, the Puppeteer takes control of them and forces them to fight the party in the Final Boss fight. He also takes control of the King of Landia and the jester Horace.
- Psychopathic Manchild: He throws a fit whenever his minions fail him and the story doesn't go his way. This is because he is actually Edward, a child in the real world who is obsessed with "The Hero & the Demon Lord" story.
- Purple Is Powerful: His whole outfit and One-Winged Angel form is purple, and he is a powerful Reality Warper.
- Reality Warper: He can rip parts of the story world away, leaving holes in their place, and takes the whole story Off the Rails.
- Super Boss: In Soma Spirits Rebalance, he is the boss of Not Quite The End Of Time and is the hardest boss, not only having the highest stats but also being a Time-Limit Boss who must be defeated within 30 turns.
- Two Aliases, One Character: His real identity is Edward, the boy who shows up in the real-world interludes as the protagonist.
Jeeves
- Welcome, dear Yuusha! The Puppeteer has been waiting diligently for you.
The Puppeteer's mustachioed squid butler.
- Affably Evil: Jeeves is as polite as one would expect from a butler. Despite serving the Puppeteer, he has a sense of honor, since he gives the party a chance to save and prepare before his boss fight and heals them afterwards.
- Battle Butler: He fights you in the Myconian Ruins.
- Boss Subtitles: Very Polite Butler.
- The Dragon: As the butler to the Puppeteer, he acts as the right-hand man helping out with his plans.
- Evil Counterpart: To Horace. Both are the servants of a powerful (and goofy) authority, but Horace works for the benevolent king while Jeeves is The Dragon to The Puppeteer.
- Graceful Loser: In contrast to Lorica, whenever he loses, he congratulates you.Excellent performance! I lost ever most spectacularly!
- Noble Demon: He is happy to heal you after you defeat him and give you a chance to prepare for the much tougher fight his boss has planned for you.
Princess Lorica
- You may refer to me as Lorica! The Puppeteer has chosen ME to be the most suitable princess for this story! You all must be trembling with envy!
A Princess who serves the Puppeteer and wants to prove she is better than Princess Glynn.
- Boss Subtitles: Narcissist Princess.
- Evil Counterpart: To Princess Glynn. Both are princesses who can be jerks, but Glynn cares about the Hero and Volza as well as her people, while Lorica only cares for herself and her reputation as the best princess in the world.
- Narcissist: To the point that her Boss Subtitles call her one. She wants to upstage Princess Glynn and believes that she is a better Princess than her.
- Noblewoman's Laugh: As befitting a Villainous Princess, this is her Evil Laugh.
- Villainous Princess: She is one of The Puppeteer's minions and Evil Counterpart to Princess Glynn who wants to prove that she is the better princess and tries to kill the party.
- Sore Loser: She reacts badly to losing in the battle atop the tower, and even more so if you beat her in The Mitten.FINE! I guess you won, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be happy about it!
Jasper
- I'VE WAITED LONG ENOUGH! I CRAVE DESTRUCTION! AND IT WAS YOU WHO CHOSE ME TO BE A TRULY VICIOUS VILLAIN! I'LL SHOW THAT DEMON LORD HOW TO BE A REEEEEAL TYRANT! I assure you that it will be an efficient job. Please look forward to it.
A crazy jester with an apparent split personality- one is a crazy pyromaniac who wants to prove he is a better villain than Demon Lord Volza, while the other is a calmer, but still dangerous, man.
- Ax-Crazy: Jasper's red personality is a violent pyromaniac who is eager to kill the party.
- Boss Subtitles: Double-Edged Fanatic.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Like Volza, he is proud of his villainy. They actually get into a fight over who is the better villain.Jasper: HAHAHAHAHA! UNLIKE YOU, I KNOW HOW TO BE A RUTHLESS TYRANT! NEVER HESITATE! ALWAYS PUSH OTHERS AROUND! (switches to calm personality)...Yet hide your true intentions at a moments notice. Keep people on their toes. Always guessing. I'm the Demon Lord you wished you were.
Demon Lord Volza: Hey... I mean, I can be pretty good at being a villain, too. ...Can't I?
Jasper: (switches back to crazy personality) PITIFUL! I WILL SHOW YOU WHY I AM THE PERFECT VILLAIN! - Evil Counterpart:
- To Demon Lord Volza. They are both Card-Carrying Villain characters with demon-like powers, but while Volza is a villain-in-name-only and nice guy at heart, Jasper is genuinely Ax-Crazy.
- Also one to his brother Horace, contrasting his brother’s "friendly jester" character by being a Monster Clown.
- Monster Clown: He is a pyromaniac jester who serves the Big Bad and wants to prove he is the best villain around. His brother Horace is more of a Non-Ironic Clown and a pretty nice guy.
- NEET: According to Horace, who actually went to Clown School and worked hard to get a job, Jasper would just sit at home and mooch from their parents.
- Pyromaniac: He loves to burn things, and his attacks are primarily fire-based.AHAHAH! YES! BURN EVERYTHING AND STRIKE DOWN ALL WHO OPPOSE ME! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! EVERYTHING MUST BURN!
- Two-Faced: Half of Jasper is red while the other half is grayscale. The red half is loud and insane while the grayscale half is calm and analytical.
Musashi
- I am the great assassin Musashi! I get the job done quick, especially now because I don't want to be in this cave a minute longer!
A ninja who serves the Puppeteer.
- Boss Subtitles: Disillusioned Assassin.
- Flunky Boss: He has a Health Freezer and Magic Freezer with him, who gradually sap you health and magic, respectively.
- Gratuitous Ninja: The setting is mostly pure European fantasy a la Dragon Quest, yet Musashi is a ninja straight out of another story. Justified as he was created by the Puppeteer, a Reality Warper from another world who wanted a "cooler" hero to replace the Yuusha.
- Paper Tiger: He certainly seems like a threatening, strong-silent ninja when first seen, but when actually called upon to fight the heroes because he is the only one left, he quickly begs his boss not to send him. When he is forced to anyway, he spends the fight cowering behind a giant ice shield and two mooks. He even tries to back out of his rematch in the Mitten, only for the guards to block his way out and force him to fight.
Iron Gaze
The first boss of the game. It is a giant eye creature who worked as a sentry for Volza, but is now being controlled by the Puppeteer. It has a shield that it periodically protects itself with every few turns.
- Boss Subtitles: Rogue Castle Sentry.
- Oculothorax: It is a giant red eye with devil horns and six tentacles.
- Warmup Boss: It is the first boss of the game.
Fracture Core
A machine that the Puppeteer builds to tear apart the story. It is the boss of the Myconcia Ruins.
- Boss Subtitles: Unstable Story Energy.
- Cores-and-Turrets Boss: Played with in that the Fracture Core cannot be damaged by itself too much- instead, to beat it you must destroy the Core Crystals, which can attack you as well, while guarding against the Core Turrets, which also cannot be damaged.
Important NPCs
The Story Teller
- What good is a Story Teller if I can't tell a story I do not know?
A mysterious green, jester-like character who narrates the story. He also shows up to give support to the heroes.
- Big Good: He stands in contrast to the Puppeteer by being a benevolent magical entity from another world, and guides the heroes' quest to save their world.
- Boss Subtitles: Keeper Of The Book.
- Interactive Narrator: In the first chapter, he shows up in the story to explain the situation about the Puppeteer and his Reality Warper activities, and shows up every now and then to give support to the characters. You can even fight him as a Super Boss in the Playable Epilogue.
- Super Boss: If you beat The Mitten, you can challenge him afterwards, and he is far more powerful than even the final boss.
- Two Aliases, One Character: His real identity is Mr. Elias, Edward's teacher from the real world and the owner of the book where the game takes place.
Anne
A purple-haired girl who wants to meet and stop the Puppeteer, and seems to have some connection to him.
- The Not-Love Interest: She certainly seems to be the most important person in Edward's life, as him failing to protect her from a cat is the trigger that sets off his Face–Heel Turn, and she is the one who is able to calm him down, but it is never confirmed if they have an explicitly romantic relationship.
- Two Aliases, One Character: She is actually Ashlyn, the girl from the real world who Edward wanted to protect and failed to.
Trombone Tuna and Trumpet Trout
- Tuna: Whoaaaah! I bet you're totally up to getting your hands on the Yellow Trombone! That's pretty tubular!
Trout: My dudes, the Orange Trumpet is not a treasure to be played willy-nilly.
A pair of fish brothers guarding two of the seven sacred instruments.
- Boss Subtitles: Magnificent Musician and Groovin' Good Gills, respectively.
- Defeat Means Friendship: After beating the two of them, they agree to give you their instruments and tell you to send regards to each other.
Bookshelf Residents
Cap'n Scuttlebone
Yarharhar! Sounds to me like a scallywag plundered their way onto my vessel! You’ll walk the plank for this! I feel it in me bones!
The protagonist of the in-universe book “Bonebattle Bay”. She fights the heroes in the bookshelf world out of jealousy that their book overshadowed her’s in popularity.
- Boss Subtitles: Long, Long Retired Pirate.
- Defeat Means Friendship: After being beaten, she agrees to let the heroes go and becomes an ally of sorts.
- Pirate Girl: She is the captain of a crew of undead pirates.
Stress Specter
I MEAN! LOOK! A spooky ghost in front of a foreboding mansion! Why, I think that’s frightening! Everyone who read this book did!
An in-universe character from the book “Murkmire Manor”. He loves to scare people and tries to scare the heroes, fighting them when they don’t find him scary.
- Boss Subtitles: Temperamental Terror.
- Defeat Means Friendship: After being defeated, he calms down and befriends the heroes.
- Ghastly Ghost: He tries to be this, and takes joy from scaring people. Unfortunately for him, people just do not find him scary anymore.
Janibot 8
Filthy, filthy, filthy! Such a mess! Keeping this old book clean is just a full-time job in itself!
An in-universe character from the book “Mystery Planet 47”. It is a robot from a space station that is obsessed with cleanliness.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Downplayed- it isn’t evil, but when it meets the heroes, it attacks them because they are dirty and it is programmed to clean all filth.
- Boss Subtitles: Meticulous Mechanical Maid.
- Defeat Means Friendship: After being beaten, it basically decides it has done its job cleaning the heroes and asks them to deal with the Cooler Crusader.
- Neat Freak: It works tirelessly to keep the book it resides in clean, and attacks the characters because they get mud on the carpet. Justified seeing as it is a robot built for the purpose of cleaning.
- Robot Maid: It is specifically called a maid in its Boss Subtitles, and has the job of cleaning the ship. Unlike most, it doesn't look particularly feminine, or even human.
- Super-Powered Robot Meter Maid: It is literally a maid who cleans its ship, and also serves as a boss when it decides that the heroes need to be cleaned. They somehow have access to powerful spells despite being a cleaning bot.
