Mana Saleesia Theocracy
The foremost country of the continent containing the special zone Zai which is said to be the “Mana Spring” that birthed the five Mana Stones. Self-proclaimed true followers of the Rune God, the country calls its Brigandine the Brigandine of Sanctity.
Holy See Romanov worked towards reconciling Guimoule’s Mohana sect and Mana Saleesia’s Zai sect, but the two countries with vastly different faiths and histories stopped short of reaching a compromise, leading the continent into a new era of war and turmoil.
Rudo Marco (Voiced by Shunsuke Takeuchi)
The ruler of the Mana Saleesia Theocracy. The legitimate son of Holy See Romanov, he killed his own father and took leadership over the nation, intending to conquer the continent under the order of the Zai Sect.
- Ambition is Evil: Of the three "evil" rulers in Runersia, he is shown to have the most selfish and evil motives for starting his conquest.
- Bad Boss: Actually zig-zagged. First, if his subordinates do not align with his goal, then it will most likely spell doom to them, since Rudo will absolutely have no qualms to 'send them to re-educational center'. His gameplay skills include a Power at a Price skill which boosts a unit's power, but inflicting poison, or post-promotion, another skill that drains a unit's MP while buffing him. Additionally, Rudo is very pragmatic, while he might be a Bad Boss to subordinates that don't fall in line, he will present himself as a Benevolent Boss for the masses or those who are in line with his ambition, as seen with a cutscene where he ordered Selena and Emma to give free food and resources for his common people, just so no one could see his sadistic megalomaniacal side.
- The Bad Guy Wins: If Mana Saleesia wins the endgame, he is the undisputed ruler of Runersia who intends to keep the continent pure and beautiful, although his personality and actions essentially means that the continent is at the mercy of a lunatic Knight Templar. May be downplayed because he made sure that the continent is unified, tore down the two bickering sects making sure there's only one 'sect', the people agreed with him and welcomed him in open arms.
- BFS: Carries a large sword that's almost as tall as him and he himself is a fairly large man.
- Bring It: When Endorian appears for the first time and displays its strength, most rulers would usually get shaken, even at the height of their fervor. Rudo doesn't flinch. Instead, he's more interested in testing its powers and crush it himself. It didn't end well for Rudo, though.
- Control Freak: In spades as he not only leads his very own State Sec before he comes to power, he either imprisons or outright kills anyone who slightly disagrees with his decisions. Tim Gustav especially calls him out on his desire to control others.Tim: Divine Revelation? The only thing you've been given is a desire to control others. The death and destruction you leave in your wake is proof of that.
- The Corruptor: He slowly converts the nation of Mana Saleesia and the Zai Sect from well-intentioned The Theocracy into a literal cult that worships him out of pure fanaticism, all while killing or imprisoning those who show even the slightly disagree with his actions. This is best shown with his manipulation of Emma, who goes from being a slightly-flawed but well-meaning friend to Selena to a villain who immediately joins with Rudo in slaughtering defenseless Mohanna Rune Knights on the day of his coronation.
- Cult of Personality: He cultivates the image of a Glorious Leader that will unify Runersia into one strong nation and does every evil acts needed to achieve it pragmatically without getting caught red-handed. Because of this, he's actually okay with giving niceties like food and supplies to the common people that believe in him, to further cultivate the image he projected to his people. Naturally, if he succeeds, this results him disbanding both the Mohana and Zai sect, and replacing it with the one and only 'Teaching of Rudo'.
- Despotism Justifies the Means: All his talk about avenging the sins of the Mohanna Sect against the Zai Sect are just a front in order to attain power for himself at all costs.
- The Dreaded: Stella Hamett even calls him as "The Most Dangerous Man in Runersia".
- Driven to Suicide: If Mana Saleesia is defeated, after staying away from the limelight and seeing his Zai Sect converting to Mohanna Sect, Rudo will be found dead near a temple, still holding the knife he used to do the deed tightly enough that no one can remove his hand from it.
- Evil Overlord: A rare Light Is Not Good version. His promotion event even names him as an "Overlord".
- Expy: As an Evil Overlord ruling over the largest nation of the continent and overpowered for a reason, Rudo is one for Forsena's Zemeckis despite not being an Emperor. Unlike Zemeckis, Rudo is much more power hungry and selfish, driven purely by pride than fear and lacks Noble Demon traits or any Pet the Dog moments that the former has.
- The Extremist Was Right: Rudo is downright brutal and ferocious when it comes to converting others to his Zai Sect and unifying the land under his name so people are not that reliant to the Rune God. Depending on the choices made in the final battle, if Rudo sides with Aurora, that means he was right that people shouldn't depend too much on the Rune God, for that God was maniacal, even if he's no better.
- Foil: Aside of the Expy entry before, Rudo makes a great foil for Forsena's Lyonesse as the leader of the region's theocracy nation (Mana Saleesia and Leonia) and both are associated with white element. But while Lyonesse was attuned with magic, governed the weakest country in Forsena at the start and was a good queen, Rudo is attuned with physical strength, his nation is the strongest in Runersia at the start and he's evil.
- Frontline General: Rudo personally leads the charge with his men, staying in front instead of hiding, because all he's got is close range attacks. Thankfully, he has enough strength and defense to actually tank on the enemy's initial attacks and then strike back hard, so staying on the front line instead of hiding behind monsters is actually an encouraged play style for Rudo.
- Genius Bruiser: Unlike Zemeckis, Rudo is tactically sound and has a knack for manipulation, all while one-shotting weaklings to death with his might.
- Glorious Leader: Slowly converts the Zai Sect from the worship of the Rune God and turning it into his own cult of personality.
- Hypocrite: Despite his Nay-Theist beliefs towards the Rune God, he develops a God Complex and he enjoys having the people of Runersia considering him a perfect god.
- It's All About Me: Rudo cares only for himself, a stark contrast when compared to the other "evil" rulers who care for their subordinates and their love ones, though he is at least content with Kyle and trusts him a bit more than others due to his competency and alignment to his tastes.
- Large and in Charge: Compared to the other five rulers, Rudo towers over them all and is the highest leveled ruler at the very start of the game.
- Lightning Bruiser: In battle, Rudo hits like a truck, has an enormous health pool, and can cover a lot of range quickly. He lacks magic, but he doesn't really need it to get in the heat of battle, one-shot weak units and then take some punishment. When given just minimal support from his allies, Rudo can turn into an utter nightmare to face on the battlefield.
- Knight Templar: He considers himself holy and his atrocious actions as just and anyone who disagrees with him should just die. He even orders the imprisonment of Selena, for the "crime" of fainting from the shock of seeing defenseless Mohana Sect Rune Knights being executed right in front of her.
- Magically Inept Fighter: Rudo is the only ruler that has absolutely no magic whatsoever. Not like he needs some puny white magic that heals others. In exchange though, he's a terrifying physical fighter and can one-shot a majority of units with his physical skills.
- Manipulative Bastard: Pins the death of his father on the Republic of Guimoule and the Mohanna Sect in order to justify a full-scale war against them. He also manipulates Emma being Driven by Envy due her believing that she is inferior to Selena in order to have a loyal and willing spy against her.
- Not Me This Time: While Rudo would happily kill his father the Holy See for not aligning with his ideals, he denies Rubino's accusation that he's the one who killed the previous King of Norzaleo, since he never really saw Norzaleo as a threat and thus its King was Not Worth Killing.
- Nay-Theist: The only thing he and father can agree on is that the people are too reliant on Mana and the Rune God.
- One-Man Army: He can definitely back up all those boasts and claims of Kneel Before Zod with his sheer strength and stats. With the right set up, Rudo can go alone in the bonus quests end game, without other knights and even monsters in his own team, and win against those high leveled monsters. In the general scale of army management game, though, this is downplayed. With the right setup, Rudo can smack smaller armies all by himself, but he can't be everywhere at once.
- Patricide: Kills his own father for forging an era of peace with the Republic of Guimoule, whom he considers sinful heretics, and because it prevents his plans for conquering Runersia.
- Pet the Dog: Subverted. After sending Selena to be imprisoned, Rudo ended up freeing her again, but not because he took pity her, but because she could be of use when dealing with Aurora.
- Power at a Price: Rudo can buff his allies, but it comes with the cost of inflicting them with Poison. This can be alleviated by giving it to a Golem, who's immune to poison by default.
- Pragmatic Villainy: While Rudo is a bona fide Evil Overlord, what makes him a very dangerous man is that he doesn't just spring into action For the Evulz. He's also a very careful planner, taking horribly evil actions only when he knows he can get away with it. This also extends in his gameplay: Rudo's skills might make him a Bad Boss, but they can be used pragmatically instead of making him look Obviously Evil (eg: only drain the MP of units with low enough MP that they couldn't cast anything else, or buff only units that are immune to Poison in the first place (like Golems)), which will net better results.
- Pride: If Rudo isn't throwing out Kneel Before Zod speeches at his enemies, he'll be proclaiming his utter superiority towards everyone as if it was a fact. His pride grows as his storyline progresses, by the end of the game he unashamedly develops a A God Am I complex and confronts the Rune God by basically saying the latter just outlived his usefulness for Runersia, it's time for him to step down and make way for the new God.
- Pure Is Not Good: The Brigandine of Sanctity symbolizes pureness. Rudo is pure... but he's more purely prideful of himself, his beliefs and his dedication to them to the extreme rather than pure good.
- Slasher Smile: He flashes these whenever expressing the desire to kill whoever he considers heretic scum or when being satisfied that his Evil Plan is succeeding . This is best shown in his battle conversation with Eliza, in which he gleefully states that he will kill every single member of the Mohanna Sect for the sins their founder committed.
- Smug Super: He will gladly boast of his own superiority and how much the others are puny fools waiting to die compared to him. Approach to prove him wrong and he'll gladly show that he's not all talk and hits as hard as he boasts.
- The Unfettered: Rudo is unbound to any common sense of morality. He will do anything to make sure his vision of a united Runersia and an end to the bickering of the Mohana and Zai sects comes to pass. He also doesn't see himself as either good or evil. if he sides with Aurora, when he's warned that if he becomes an evil deity Aurora will hunt him down Rudo just shrugs it off with "Who knows.", meaning that he doesn't really concern himself with whether he will be seen as a benevolent or evil deity, so long as Runersia is united under his rule.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: As megalomaniacal, evil and holier-than-thou that he is, Rudo is also aiming for peace in Runersia. This is well shown at the beginning of Mana Saleesia story: The sects of Mohana and Zai sect have continued to hate each other and prolong conflict and war, and his father's more peaceful methods did not produce any results at all, so he decided to usher his more radical views in the ways of The Unfettered and bring everyone down to his knees to create a unified Runersia. While he does get some sort of God complex after unification, one of the first things he does is to dismantle even his own Zai sect, not just the Mohana sect, so there's only one faction/teaching: Rudo's, thus no more bickering and conflict between the people.
- Villain Protagonist: In between dog-kicking (even to some of your own allies!) and doing atrocious things in the name of his fanatically pure utopia, playing as Rudo and Mana Saleesia means that you're playing as the evil villain of Runersia. The conflict between Aurora and the Rune God notwithstanding, in fact, it's not quite clear which one is Eviler than Thou between them and Rudo.
- Worthy Opponent: While Rudo regards the other faction leaders and their nations with utter contempt, even he acknowledges and even praises the Holy Gustava Empire 's Had to Be Sharp history and their strength. Of course, he still views them as inferiors meant to bow down and serve their superiors (Rudo himself).Rudo: The Gustav Family has managed to raise itself from nothing into a powerful empire. I would be a fool not to recognize your strength.
- Visionary Villain: One thing Rudo holds steadfastly is that he has a vision of a better Runersia that he'll fight tooth and nail to achieve. It's just that it doesn't fit with a majority of the people there as it is very megalomaniacal on paper and in practice, and Rudo will happily stomp on them to achieve his vision.
- Virtue Is Weakness: Clearly, Rudo sees morally good actions as something that hold people back from their potential, that's why anyone who has good common virtues will not have a good time, betray their ideals or end up dead under Rudo's rule once he puts his crosshairs on them. His father being too virtuous and peaceful? He kills him 'for the greater good'. Emma having doubts on betraying her friend in order to surpass her? Manipulates her to be more in touch with her dark side and thus a more fitting warrior in his eyes. Selena daring to faint in his sadistic, bloody coronation? Translates to her being too Weak-Willed in his eyes to see through what must be done, therefore, she was be sent to re-educational camp and only released once she's 'hardened/fully indoctrinated', thus better fit his anti-virtue view.
Selena Andersen (Voiced by Yuu Serizawa)
A priestess working for the Rune Police Division's Publicity Unit, she is quiet, courteous, and dislikes conflict. However, having been gifted with special mana energy since birth, she is a force to be reckoned with if encountered on the battlefield. Still, her mana abilities deeply trouble her, and as someone understands her feelings of doubt, Holy See Romanov is the only one she can seek for emotional support.
- Blind Obedience: She eventually decides to delude herself (with Kyle's "help") in believing that since Rudo is the son of her beloved Holy See Romanov, she must transfer her genuine feeling of appreciation of him to Rudo, in spite of seeing the latter's blatant evil acts.
- Expy: Selena is quite similar with Millet, as the gifted sorceress serving the biggest country of the nation and has a 'close female lancer friend' in form of Emma. Though unlike Millet's harmonious relationship with Mira, Selena and Emma do not get along, albeit in a one-sided way for Emma.
- The Gift: Gifted with great Rune power and mana since birth, this causes her to become a really gifted Rune Knight, to the ire of her 'best friend' Emma.
- Put on a Bus: Rudo sent her to the re-education center for daring to faint in front of the mass-execution of the Mohana Sect people in his coronation. After he learned that Selena might have something in common with Aurora, Rudo let her out of the center and rejoin his ranks.
- Token Good Teammate: One of the few genuinely decent people of Mana Saleesia under Rudo. She did, after all, believe more in his father. Deconstructed in the way that this leads her to nothing but misery, mistreated by many of her fanatical comrades and in the end she's made to betray everything she believed in, in a way.
- Tragic Hero: Selena is a sweet girl and one of the more prominent Token Good Teammate of Mana Saleesia. She got used to hell and back because of it.
Kyle (Voiced by Hiroshi Tsuchida)
Rudo's talented aide, he is level-headed and extremely intelligent. He often flatters High Priest Gilliam in order to avoid the spotlight himself. However, his keen grasp of battle strategy and the dealings of the other retainers allows him to provide Rudo with invaluable counsel. Because of this, Rudo trusts him even more than Gilliam. Rudo's tactics and Kyle's strategies can be said to be the driving force behind the Mana Saleesia Theocracy's military success.
- The Creon: He just doesn't like the spotlight so he lets Gilliam take all the glory that the latter wanted while serving Rudo as best as he could.
- The Dragon: Utterly loyal to Rudo and is the second most powerful rune knight in Mana Saleesia next to his boss.
- Fantastic Racism: To the Blackbird Unit of Guimoule, who pities the nation for using the "inferior race" as their soldiers.
- Knight Templar: Just like Rudo, he's the one who executes the extreme orders of Rudo without hesitation. The guy who executes Mohana sect people during the coronation? That's him.
- Light Is Not Good: His class is that of Paladin and he seemed like a squeaky clean knight. But his personality is that of a dangerous fanatic, though still loyal servant.
Gilliam (Voiced by Hidenari Ugaki)
The High Priest of Mana Saleesia Theocracy. Though an excellent mage in his own right, he treats talented younger mages harshly in order to keep his position secure, sometimes even stealing credit for their achievements. Needless to say, he is not well-liked. This devout man has a large family, and he intends to stay in his position as High Priest for another 10 years to support them. He sometimes proclaims himself as the top mage of the continent despite once being soundly trounced by both Jiu of the Norzaleo Kingdom and Mu'ah of the Republic of Guimoule.
- Anti-Villain: Gilliam is a pompous jerkass but when compared to the likes of Rudo, Kyle and Emma, he's basically a decent human being in comparison. It helps that he actually has an Even Evil Has Loved Ones motive unlike the above.
- Butt-Monkey: He looked like he enrolled in the same magic academy with Jiu and Mu'ah, and when they encounter each other, they both snarked at him for being blasted by them.
- Crutch Character: A worst one when compared to his rivals Mu'ah and Jiu in that he has a low INT and mana pool for a Tier-3 rune knight. He still had his uses in keeping low level Rune Knights or Monsters alive and surpassing him, since he has some healing spells to keep them up to shape.
- Expy: Of Langueborg of Leonia, both are Small Name, Big Ego Jerkass who serve a holy country. And what luck, he's more story-prominent than Langueborg ever was.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He intends to secure his position as High Priest (to the point of stealing credit from others) in order to support his family.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While quick to reaffirm his loyalty with Rudo, he is shaken at seeing the defeated Mohana Sect Rune Knights being executed right before his eyes during Rudo's coronation ceremony into being an Overlord.
- Jerkass: Aside of his high level of importance of himself, Gilliam's bio states that he tends to take the glory from the people he 'nurtured'.
- Joke Character: Widely decried as such. Gilliam is high-leveled, but his stats are kind of lackluster for someone of his level. Lowest Rune Power for his country, and his MP wasn't even enough to double-cast Holy Word in one battle (or even Holy Word followed with other big spells like Divine Ray or Area Heal). He'd be utterly struggling to even play the Crutch Character that protects smaller Mana Saleesia knights. He's there to offset the great gameplay advantage Mana Saleesia had (especially with how much of a monster of the battlefield Rudo is, and moreso when you add Kyle into the bunch...)
- Small Name, Big Ego: While a capable spellcaster in his own right, he often overestimates his level of importance.
- Third-Person Person: Often does this conversations to emphasize his vanity.
Emma Korsmage (Voiced by Mayu Yoshioka)
A priestess working for the Rune Police Division's Publicity Unit. Since a young age, she has constantly been compared to her childhood best friend Selena. She is constantly working harder than Selena and takes pride in being discreet, but she cannot escape the reality that no matter how hard she tries, she is unable to surpass Selena's natural gifts. This has caused her to develop a deep jealousy of Selena. Rudo detects her true feelings and persuades her to join his cause. She is wholly loyal to Rudo and will sacrifice her life for him if need be.
- Be Yourself: A darker variant. Rudo made her admit that deep down, she wanted Selena to disappear because she's sick of being Always Second Best on her.
- Corrupt the Cutie: While Emma has her own flaws and resents Selena due to being Driven by Envy, she still cares for her friend at the beginning. Rudo's influence transforms her into a crazed minion of Rudo who doesn't hesitate to throw her former friend to prison and even joins in on killing defenseless Mohanna Sect Rune Knights on the day of Rudo's coronation.
- Driven by Envy: Towards her friend Selena. This exploited by Rudo in order to convert her to his side.
- Expy: Selena is a darker variant of Mira of Esgares, the lady lancer of the biggest country with close ties with a similar, more feminine sorceress friend. The 'dark' part comes from the part that unlike Mira who's more friendly to others and acts like a good sister to Millet, Emma is deathly jealous at Selena and overall came off as a selfish individual.
- Irony: Despite the fact that she decides to fully throw her lot with Rudo, believing that this will finally make her superior to Selena. It is ultimately Selena who catches Rudo's eye and considers her useful for his plans.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Tries this with Cain of Guimoule, believing that they both share the selfish desire to surpass their respective rivals (Selena for Emma, Eliza for Cain) in order to escape their shadow. She only gets a "The Reason You Suck" Speech from him instead, proclaiming his Patriotic Fervor and saying that he'll never be defeated by a selfish person such as herself..
Veyta
A blind child prodigy who was born into a military family, but sent to a convent focused on education in order to be trained as a civil officer instead. His insightful words cut straight to the heart of matters and are highly valued by those around him, even though gaining prominence is not his intention. Despite his young age, many view him as promising due to his amazing skills as a Rune Knight.
- Child Prodigy: He's a young boy gifted with talent in magic, though without The Gift like Selena.
- Eyes Always Shut: Naturally, because he's a blind boy.
- Magikarp Power: Moreso than even Selena; Veyta is a Level 5 Mage, but on the same level, he displays even greater stats than Selena and more likely be the knight of Mana Saleesia with highest Rune Power next to Rudo.
Aisha
This Mana Saleesian priestess is responsible for the almanac. She had two brothers who were Rune Knights, but both were killed in action. She works hard to raise her younger brothers by herself and applies to be an officer in the war to earn the wages necessary. Boyish at heart, she can be rough in word and deed, but her cheerfulness also lights up the people around her. She can also use healing magic, a highly valued skill. Especially on the battlefield.
Titania
A tomboy who was born into Mana Saleesian nobility. She first charged onto the battlefield in pursuit of a knight she had fallen in love with. In the past, she was censured for healing both enemies and allies on the battlefield, but Holy Sovereign Romanov found her actions noble and pardoned her, even appointing her as his aide.Though the knight she was chasing has escaped, her deep sense of humanity makes her stay on the battlefield anyway, healing anyone needing treatment.
Katri
A Mana Saleesian inquisitor and Zai sect devotee. She works under Kyle to grill suspected heretics with unrelenting interrogation tactics and is known for her iron-handedness, forcing confessions from suspects even if she has no evidence of their wrongdoing. She used to train fiercely so as not to be underestimated by suspects during interrogation and acquired quite a good figure as a result. Apparently, she has a special way to get criminals who are captivated by her appearance to confess.
Monica
A jovial musician who attracts people of all sorts. Her true identity is that of a member of the Secret Watchmen of Mana Saleesia who is constantly observing those around her. Formerly a spy sent by Mirelva, a betrayal by her companion forced her to run to the Mana Spring, where she collapsed and was later saved by Holy Sovereign Romanov. Although bright and cheerful, she performs her duty with the Secret Watchmen with cold ruthlessness in order to express her loyalty towards the now deceased Holy Sovereign Romanov.
Jaden
One of the military strategists of Mana Saleesia's Holy Watchmen. Originally a believer of Mohana, he quickly converted to Zai when Rudo started marching. Always the opportunist, he licks the boots of those above him. What he has is not religious faith, but an obsession with protecting himself. He plays the part of a loyal subject so perfectly that very few people understand his true nature.
- All for Nothing: He's recruited by comforting Frederico and telling him to stay true to the Zai sympathizer front when the latter was doubting himself. Unfortunately, when Rudo coronated himself and steered his rule for bigger brutality, Frederico couldn't take it anymore and left anyway, while Jaden still stayed, apparently still able to keep up with the charade.
- Defeat Means Friendship: He can join any countries that defeated Mana Saleesia. But not Guimoule, probably due to his reputation as a supposed bootlicker of Mana Saleesia.
- Hidden Depths: His bio pegs him as a Yes-Man to Rudo, however this only just a front to protect his family from him and he is still secretly a Mohana Sect Sympathizer. However, for some reason, he refused to join Guimoule if it defeated Mana Saleesia.
Avril
This man of few words wields a sword and is a Holy Watchman. A Zai priest found him on the verge of death near the Mirelvan border and managed to save his life. By all appearances, he seemed like a man responsible for many atrocities. Upon waking, however, the only things he remembered were his name and his skills with a sword. He uses his amnesia to make a clean break with his past and now fights for the Mana Saleesia Theocracy to repay the priest who saved his life.
- The Atoner: Used to be a man of many atrocities, but decided to start clean and repay the kindness of those who saved his life. Though perhaps working under Rudo could be counter-productive, but it's still there.
- Eyepatch of Power: Sports an eyepatch and he's one of the more decently strong Knights of Mana Saleesia.
- Gender-Blender Name: Yes, that was a rather girly name this eyepatch wielding badass swordsman has. Add 'Lavigne' after his name at your own peril.
Largo
A friar who belongs to the Holy Watchmen of the Rune. Taken in by a convent as an abandoned child, he spent most of his childhood in prayer and worship until he awakened to his mana powers. He now detests his powers as they have been used to hurt people in the past.
However, one day he witnessed bandits attacking a settlement in which he was performing missionary work and, for the first time in his life, used his mana powers to punish them. Since then, he has transformed into a friar who mercilessly executes justice on heretics.
Allen
A swordsman from a family that has always served as holy watchmen. Having inherited his father's tough build and talent, he's already powerful enough to lead his own unit. Still, he worries he will be unable to adequately serve the royal family in these turbulent times.
Nevertheless, he casts all his doubts aside while on the battlefield by drumming up courage with loud and spirited cries as he cuts through the enemy lines.
- Damned by Faint Praise: Amusingly, he does this to himself when commanding, proclaiming he's "Not as easy to defeat as [he] looks!"
Frederico
This blue-blooded owner of a vast stretch of land in Mana Saleesia decided to join the war to protect his subjects from it. He is a secret believer of Mohana and interacts with people from the sect.
Because of this, he will be pressed into making a major decision in this war. Though well read and an expert tactician, he has unfortunately developed chronic stomach issues because of his sensitive nature, which perpetually trouble him.
- Ambiguous Situation: Frederico leaves Mana Saleesia's services and is listed as 'retired', and yet no other countries can recruit him afterwards. It's left to the player's interpretation whether Rudo let him retire peacefully, seeing him no longer worth using or killing or he had his men kill him in secret off screen.
- Token Good Teammate: Being a secret sympathizer to the Mohana Sect essentially makes him this. He leaves Mana Saleesia after Rudo's corronation, seeing Rudo's regime turn for the worst.
Cyrus
This Mana Saleesian garrison commander may be a little plump in appearance, but is still a force to reckoned with on the battlefield. His motto is "Offense is the best defense." Away from the battlefield, however, he is the polar opposite of ruthless, raising helpless orphans along with other volunteers. One can see no trace of the bloodshed he wreaks in the gentle warmth he provides the children with at home.
- Ambiguous Situation: Similarly to Frederico, once he left Mana Saleesia, he pretty much had the same message.
- Friend to All Children: His biography and some of his quotes show his love for children.
- Technical Pacifist: His starting battle has him stating that he prefers avoid a battle although he won't shy away from a fight.
- Token Good Teammate: Another Mana Saleesian who isn't a Knight Templar, only fighting for the sake of his beloved orphaned children back home. He leaves Mana Saleesia the nation after Rudo's coronation, disgusted at Rudo's actions and believing that he wouldn't face his beloved children back home if he continues serving him any further.
- Benevolent Boss: He's very much a saint to his underlings and people, which was why when he died, Mana Saleesia radically changed. Also a deconstruction; his benevolence was meant to bring conclusion to the Mohana vs Zai Sect conflict, but it failed to dispel such deeply rooted hatred since days old.
- Dead Star Walking: Sort of. Romanov's face will be seen whenever a country is briefing about the situation of other countries and the highlight goes to Mana Saleesia so it puts an emphasis of how important he is, but Romanov wouldn't be charging to the battlefield because he's already dead.
- Posthumous Character: Most of his screentime and good personality were on display via flashbacks of Selena, since he died in the beginning of the story.
- Secret Character: You won't encounter or recruit him by playing a standard story mode. You need to play the Challenge Mode and reach a certain score to unlock him... for the next Challenge playthrough.
