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Potential Guild Members
Landsknecht (ソードマン, Swordsman)
Landsknechts naturally excel at the art of bladesmanship, wielding swords and rapiers. Natural leaders, they inspire their teammates by being the first to meet the enemy. It is worth noting that, despite sharing a name with the EO1&2 class (in both languages), they feature a markedly different visual design as, the mechanics of EO4 Landsknechts are significantly different.
- Achilles' Heel: Link-focused Landsknechts are really dependent on their Vanguard and Improved Link buff combo, and thus will always have to spend a few turns setting up both buffs before getting to work on the enemy. If their buffs get erased, they will have to start over from scratch.
- Action Initiative: A majority of their skill tree is built around going first, and without the Vanguard buff that enables it, Landsknechts only have above-average speed. On the other hand, this feature makes Landsknechts a desirable subclass for slower party members.
- Dual Wield: Though not offensively - their Weapon Parry skill gives them a bonus to physical defense when holding two weapons.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: The dark-skinned blond male portrait. Especially with the hair decs.
- The Hero: On several levels:
- Firstly, much like the blonde Protector from 1&2 and the Princess from 3, the "bob-cut dark haired Landsknecht" is the closest thing the game has to a main or signature character - she appears at the forefront of virtually all major pieces of promotional art (and even appears on the little rotational display in the 3DS menu). This gets almost absurd in the miniature art book packaged with the game's American release - fully half the book or more has art centered around her (and her buddy the pigtailed Fortress). The only places she doesn't appear are the new art piece by Alexandra Douglass, the NPC listing, and the table of contents. Everything else? Those two.
- Secondly, the class is literally built around the concept this time around: Landsknechts work by heroically inspiring their allies to fight better and strike more often, and have entire attack sets revolving around dashing forward in bold fashion to strike first. The class is literally built around trying to be a Big Damn Hero.
- Lightning Bruiser: Their signature Vanguard buff raises their attack and speed at the cost of their defenses, but they can still take hits reasonably even with that penalty. The resulting Action Initiative combined with stacking damage bonuses from going first can eliminate enemies before they can retaliate.
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: The girls.
Medic (メディック)
Medics make their return, once more serving as their guild's healing specialists (though like the Landsknechts, the characters are distinctly different in design than the ones in earlier Etrian games). Taking a cue from the Monks of Armoroad, they've added maces to their arsenal.- Call-Back: The innkeeper's son said to call on him if your guild ever had any troubles after the post-game content of The Drowned City. Given how one of the Medics looks like him but older, it's possible that he took up the role as a Medic.
- Combat Medic: Can be further specialized for this role depending on the subclass given.
- Girlish Pigtails: The girl without glasses combines this with long hair.
- Joshikousei: The female Medics dress in this style, complete with matching coats and bookbags.
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine: Only worn by the males this time.
- Master of None: Medics have it a little tough in this game. Due to how most of their skills work, a lot of them become very efficient at around half their max level or lower. This means anything a Medic can do, another TEC-based class with a Medic subclass and comparable TP can accomplish easily, drastically reducing a Medic's usefulness once subclassing becomes available. Their stat spread is relatively even all around but also not as good as the Dancers'.
- Technicolor Science: All of the Medics carry glass vials. In the default colors, these are filled with goldish-yellow liquid; the Palette Swaps tote vials with magenta, lime green, neon violet or bright blue swishing around inside.
- Token Mini-Moe: Not quite as pronounced as the Wildlings, but again, only the older male is unmistakably an adult.
Fortress (フォートレス)
Fortresses are armored just as heavily as their name implies, taking up the duties of Protectors and Hoplites. With their heavy hammers and clubs, they also pack a considerable punch.- Anime Hair: Especially prominent on one of the male choices.
- Draw Aggro: The strategy a Fortress is designed for, seeing that they regain TP each time they get attacked, whether it hits, misses, or gets blocked. They even learn skills that let them take hits for other members of the party in case of area-hitting attacks.
- I Shall Taunt You: While Protectors and Hoplites could learn how to taunt as well, Fortresses are more effective at it. Their Taunt skill is a lot more effective at drawing attacks, and they benefit from tanking hits by regaining TP for being attacked.
- The Lancer: Again, on two fronts:
- Firstly, the "pigtailed Fortress", who is essentially the mascot character for the class, just about always appears in promotional art right next to the mascot Landsknecht from above, and she's always posed just slightly behind and in a complementary fashion to the latter.
- Secondly, again like the Landsknecht, in gameplay they tend to act this way too; thanks to Taunt being way better at drawing aggro than previous "tank" aggro-draw abilities and the Fortress class passive restoring TP each time an enemy swings at them, gameplay encourages them to fill a Lancer role to the wider party - doing a lot of the dangerous/heavy lifting so the Landsknecht and others can do the big heroic job of actually bringing the enemy down. Abilities like Bolt Strike, when paired with said TP restoration, let them get their lumps in, too, in true Lancer fashion. The only reason they don't fit the image 100% is due to the fact that they use blunt weapons, not actual lances.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Capable of negating damage to them with Guard Mastery, increasing their lifespan when shielding party members.
- Scary Teeth: The pointy-haired Fortress has a shark's smile to match it.
- Stone Wall: Like the Protector and Hoplite from previous games, they have phenomenal vitality but their attacking stats aren't as strong as the others - they are even on par with the other "support" classes.
- Taking the Bullet: Their way of protecting the party. Outside of a couple defensive buffs all their tanking skills revolve around taking hits for other party members. Their Taunt skill is also a lot better compared to those of earlier games.
Runemaster (ルーンマスター, Rune Master)
Runemasters invoke the raw elemental forces found in the atmosphere, channeling them through runic symbology.- Attack Its Weak Point: Runic Flare amplifies damage done when a Runemaster is striking an elemental weakness. If the enemy lacks an elemental weakness, the basic elemental Runes can create one.
- Curtains Match the Windows: One of the female Runemasters has light-blue hair and eyes.
- Non-Elemental: Origin Rune does untyped damage, allowing them to hit enemies resistant to all elements. This skill has has no cooldown and is rather powerful, but has the downside of being hideously expensive to use.
- No-Sell: Their Runic Shield ability lets them randomly block elemental attacks for them or allies on their line, which can improve their overall survivability even on the front lines.
- Robe and Wizard Hat: Their intricate robes, high boots, and caps make them all appear to be dressed for very cold weather. The artbook even shows the girls wearing tights under their dresses.
- Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: Every Runemaster looks straight forward and has their staff at the ready.
- Squishy Wizard: Much like their Alchemist and Zodiac cousins, they have the best TEC growth and the worst HP and VIT growth, and are the main source of raw elemental damage.
Nightseeker (ナイトシーカー, Night Seeker)
Nightseekers lurk in the shadows while weakening their targets, sapping their strength with throwing knives before advancing with dual blades drawn.- Badass Longcoat: Male Nightseekers seem to be wearing a long coat along with their capes.
- Cape Swish: Can evade a physical assault by hiding in their cloak.
- Dual Wield: While they can equip two weapons after a certain point like other classes, their passive skill Blade Flurry makes them unique by allowing them to strike with both equipped weapons using a normal attack.
- Eyepatch of Power: In a Call-Back to the first two games, the blonde Nightseeker wears an eyepatch with her hair falling over it.
- Fragile Speedster: Fastest class in the game, but suffers from low durability especially when they step to the front to make the most of their melee attacks.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: The class seems to have taken some fashion tips from Dark Hunters.
- Of Corsets Sexy: The older-looking female Nightseekers wear them.
- One-Hit Kill: Can attempt this with their Assassination skill. A target who's already suffering a status anomaly is at higher risk of succumbing.
- Poisoned Weapons: They use throwing knives coated with various toxins to inflict ailments.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The blonde female Nightseeker, while the blue-haired one has Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness.
- Shout-Out: One of the palette swaps looks like a long haired Dante.
- Stripperific: All the female portraits basically wear dominatrix costumes. Looking more closely, one realizes that they actually do have the same sort of jacket worn by the males... just completely unzipped and flapping loose around their shoulders.
- Status Effects: Their bread and butter. Nightseekers have skills to inflict and exploit various ailments.
- Status Effect-Powered Ability: Their class proficiency gives them a substantial damage boost when attacking enemies that are suffering from a status effect.
- Too Many Belts: Not as exaggerated as the Dark Hunters, but Nightseekers do have quite a lot of belts on their outfits.
Sniper (スナイパー)
Snipers pick off their enemies from a distance using bows. Specialize in doling out critical hits, as well as aiming at vital areas in order to seal off their target's ability to move parts of their bodies.- Always Accurate Attack: While it's not explicitly stated by their skill descriptions, their Snipe skills cannot miss, even when an enemy has guaranteed evasion.
- Annoying Arrows: Averted — their bow skills can prove very deadly when optimized well.
- Armor-Piercing Attack: Their Silver Arrow skill lets them do damage that bypasses enemy resistances and defense buffs, allowing them to punch through resilient Goddamned Bats or an occasional Demonic Spider.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Divine Shot, much like the Dark Hunter's Ecstacy, inflicts more damage based on the number of binds the enemy has. However, Divine Shot also removes all binds on the target. Unless you're using it to deliver the finishing blow, it's better to use your less powerful attacks and keep the enemy bound — after all, a triple-bound enemy is pretty much helpless in most situations.
- Critical Hit Class: Their class proficiency lets them score critical hits with their bow skills* and increases their critical damage.
- Glass Cannon: Their Vitality is tied with the Runemasters for lowest, with HP only barely winning out, but their speed and damage output are no slouch, especially when critical hits are factored in. This forces them to hide out in the back row to mitigate damage done.
- Long-Range Fighter: They're capable of attacking enemies on either row from the back row.
- The Paralyzer: Can seal off an enemy's head, arms or legs by striking Pressure Points with arrows.
- Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: Both males are aiming their bows this way. The females, meanwhile, are clearly reaching for their quiver, implying they could shoot you within seconds...
- Rain of Arrows: The Squall Volley skills let them fire anywhere between 6 to 16 arrows targeted at random enemies. Its base accuracy is low, but if you inflict a leg bind first (which disables evasion) you could be looking at up to 800% base damage.
- Samurai Ponytail: One of the portraits for the male Sniper.
Dancer (ダンサー)
Dancers take up where the Troubadours of old left off, supporting and inspiring their allies with their dazzlingly quick, nimble dances. Along with boosting their strength, certain moves let them relieve their friends' exhaustion, and when the situation demands it, they leap into battle with a whirlwind of blades!- Dance Battler: A literal sense of the word; their dance-based moveset has a range of effects, from prolonging certain buffs to setting up a flurry of counterattacks.
- Death by a Thousand Cuts: What the Dancer lacks in brute force, they make up for with quantity. Sword Dance paired with Chase Samba or Rush Dance can result in a Dancer doing many regular attacks in a turn.
- Girlish Pigtails: Featured in the first female portrait.
- Jack of All Stats: Well-rounded stat growth allows them to function on either line and complement their base skills with that of their subclass.
- Status Buff: Their core design theme. Unlike their Troubadour cousins, the Dancer applies the buff to themselves which then spreads its effect to their line. Coupled with how the game now lets you switch character formations without consuming a turn, this lets a Dancer move up and down the formation to assist whoever needs it most.
- Stripperific: The girls wear very tiny belly dancing costumes and the males wouldn't be wearing much more if it wasn't for their open jackets.
- Support Party Member: Their dances have a wide range of effects mostly geared towards this: buffing stats, healing HP, defending against binds and ailments or reducing TP costs. Depending on your party composition they can contribute offensively as well by letting your other classes get more hits in.
Arcanist (ミスティック, Mystic)
Arcanists are part of the Vessel race, who live in the wilds of the Second Land, and cannot join the Guild until certain requirements are met. By setting up special fields, they can inflict various negative effects upon their enemies, and can attack or heal by releasing those fields.The Arcanists are unlocked after completing the second labyrinth.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: The alternate colors. It's a little unclear how "properly" canon this is, since all of the NPC Vessels stick to the default color scheme.
- Dub Name Change: Called Mystics in Japan.
- Little Bit Beastly: They have long, pointed white ears with black tips that match their hair.
- Non-Elemental: The second class capable of this type of damage — their Dismiss Blow/Blast attacks are untyped, letting them pull their weight offensively regardless of enemy resistances, but require a turn spent to set a circle.
- Noodle People: Vessels are inhumanly gaunt with impossibly thin arms and legs.
- Shout-Out: One of the Palette Swapped females has Hatsune Miku's colors.
- Squishy Wizard: Higher Vitality and HP than Runemasters and Snipers, but not by much.
- Status Effects: The main point of the class. They can inflict all three binds and several status ailments through their Circle skills.
- Support Party Member: Besides the Status Effects mentioned above, they can also lower opponents attack and defense, provide healing or damage with their Dismissal skills or reset accumulated bind and ailment resistance with their Releasal Spell. Their stats also makes them well-suited for a Medic subclass, reinforcing this.
Bushi (モノノフ, Mononofu)
Bushi are the fighting men and women of the Sentinel race of the Third Land, who resemble great beasts and possess all the strength that implies. They fight by bearing down upon their enemies with blades flashing, the flow of battle filling their bodies with energy. Survivalists who excel in battle; like the Arcanists, they cannot sign up until certain conditions are met.The Bushi are unlocked after completing the third labyrinth.
- Artificial Animal People: A book in the sixth Stratum reveals that they were created by humans to help with physical labor as part of the Yggdrasil Project.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Blood Surge drains far too much health at higher levels to be worth the cost.note
- Beast Man: And women.
- The Berserker: Blood Surge increases the amount of damage they can deal, but every action they take costs some HP and TP.
- Carnivore Confusion: One of the portraits is an anthropomorphic rabbit, and you can hunt and eat rabbits in the third area. Apparently it is perfectly normal for your rabbit party member to eat other rabbits for stat buffs.
- Cast from Hit Points: The downside of their Blood Surge ability. Their Shockwave attack hits all enemies but uses 25% of their current HP.
- Difficult, but Awesome: Blood Surge turns into this if you cross-class a Dancer into a Bushi and have them learn it. The various chain attacks they have access to aren't counted as a full move, meaning they don't lose health and TP for them, but they still end up buffed. Having them use Rush Dance under Blood Surge can deal out more than enough damage to make the hit worth it, too. You'll have to be careful though, since Dancers aren't quite as sturdy.
- Dub Name Change: Named Mononofu originally.
- Dual Wield: Their Defiance skill lets them boost their physical strength just by holding two weapons.
- Furry Female Mane: Along with both female reps, the male wolf has a distinct, shaggy hairstyle.
- Glass Cannon: Some of their skills either have them sacrifice HP or armour slots for power boosts, but one in particular becomes more powerful as the user's HP drops.
- Humanoid Female Animal: Anthropomorphic rabbits and wolfs.
- Last Chance Hit Point: The Endure ability, which allows the Bushi to survive one lethal blow per battle. Putting points into it increases how much they heal after resisting death.
- Life Drain: Their Ferocity passive skill lets them recover some HP when they attack normally. Their class skills also lets them regenerate TP with normal attacks.
- Panthera Awesome: A white-furred lion with a massive mane serves as a male choice.
- Power Up Let Down: As mentioned under Awesome, but Impractical, the Blood Surge ability scales horrible once you get past the first few skill levels. It does work great as a subclass skill for offensive characters, providing a huge damage boost at a very minor SP investment.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Both males forego any sort of chest protection, unless you count the lion's mantle.
- Youkai: The lion's most obviously patterned after an oni.
Imperial (インペリアル)
The Imperials have learned how to handle drive blades, special weapons which can perform powerful special attacks, but are prone to overheating. The third of the Special Classes who must wait until certain conditions are met before joining the Guild.- Anti-Frustration Features: Their Drive Blades are so heavy that the wielder cannot equip a second weapon, even with a subclass. To compensate, they are compatible with sword-based skills.
- BFS: Drive blades are huge, which makes them the only type of weapon that prevents you from equipping a secondary weapon, but they thankfully also count as a normal sword for subclass skill use purposes.
- Cooldown Manipulation: They gain several skills that let them reduce the number of turns they have to wait in between uses of their Drive skills. Impulse and Cool Edge are attack skills that carry this property, while their own class skill innately reduces the cooldown duration.
- Glass Cannon: When actually firing off their signature Drive skills, their defenses drop until the attack is completed, rendering them vulnerable to getting killed before they can do anything.
- Impossibly Cool Weapon: They wield Drive Blades, massive Magitek blades that can inflict massive amounts of damage when swung with the motor activated.
- Limit Break: Once their Drive Blades have overheated enough times, they gain access to Ignition, which temporarily allows them to repeatedly use Drive skills without being slowed by the cooldown. While in this state, they can also access Overdrive, which is perhaps the hardest-hitting move in the game but also cancels the Ignition state.
- Magitek: Their drive blades combine previously thought lost technology with magic for explosive results.
- Mechanically Unusual Class: Imperials invert the situation Shoguns found themselves in back in The Drowned City; while Shoguns were capable of Dual Wielding in a game where no other classes could, the Imperials' drive blades are so heavy that they can't dual wield (and therefore use alternate weapon skills) in a game where subclassing otherwise enables it. To compensate, drive blades are compatible with standard sword skills, and they can skill equip shields if subclassed into a class that can.
- Mighty Glacier: They are capable of hitting incredibly hard, but these strikes are interspersed with long cooldown times and complicated with low turn speed, in addition to class having the lowest Agility growth of all classes. They are sufficiently sturdy, only slightly less so than a Landsknecht.
- My Country, Right or Wrong: At first, all Imperials are loyal to the Prince even as his plan has a number of them become infected. They eventually come around, possibly with Logre's help.
- Non-Elemental: The third class that can do heavy damage regardless of opponent's resistances. Their version manages to be powerful and affordable, but suffers from Overheating, necessitating a cooldown period.
- Overheating: The downside of their Drive attacks — they can do a huge amount of damage in one hit, but then their blades overheat, forcing them to wait a number of turns before they can use those skills again. The default cooldown period is 6-9 turns, but with the right combination of abilities, they end up being able to use their Drive attacks every 2-3 turns.
- Vibroweapon: Their Drive Blades, said to vibrate during the second battle against Logre, are like chainsaws optimized for combat.
Citizens of Tharsis
Outland Count
Voiced by: Takehiro Hasu (Drama CD, Japanese)
The Outland Count is the ruler of Tharsis, and the one who has commissioned the exploration of the areas north of Tharsis so that a way to the great tree Yggdrasil can be found.- Beware the Nice Ones: He is furious when Baldur reveals his plan.
- Canine Companion: Carries his dog Margherita with him everywhere.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": And we do mean everyone.
- Hidden Depths: During the sole quest from him that isn't about improving Tharsis or its neighbors, it is revealed that his wife is deceased and that they loved each other greatly.
- Nice Guy: Related to Reasonable Authority Figure; he makes every effort to find a peaceful solution, and he immediately welcomes the Vessels and the Sentinels to Tharsis.
- No Name Given: To a kind of hilarious degree. He is always referred to as "The Outland Count". At no part is his name used. This gets a little ridiculous when even Prince Baldur refers to him as such.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Very much so; all of his quests and missions are very much in tune with helping to run the city, he does what he can to give you a hand, and he is properly disgusted by Baldur's plan for Yggdrasil.
Whirlwind (ワールウィンド)
Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (Drama CD, Japanese)
Whirlwind is a fellow adventurer who helps you out at the start of your adventure, giving you advice and showing up to help every now and then. He does seem to grow quite interested in your progress toward Yggdrasil...- Chekhov's Gun: At some point the Outland Count will tell you about how Whirlwind once assisted him with a difficult task. As a reward, he only asked for a not particularly valuable glass bauble from the Count's collection, with the latter even wondering what use an adventurer could possibly have for it. This bauble turns out to be the Titan's Crown, needed to wake Yggdrasil.
- Mr. Exposition: To the player, pretty much. He explains all of the game's base mechanics, particularly the map.
Dalla
- Dissonant Serenity: Always cheerful, and speaks happily about things like butchering animals for your meals.
- Eyes Always Shut: Keeping up with the series tradition of innkeepers always having their eyes closed.
- Lethal Chef: While she cooks fantastic meals, she punishes a very picky customer in a sidequest by deliberately cooking up something so horrendous that he flees and doesn't trouble her again.
- Supreme Chef: Has this reputation. One of her dialogues has her mention that even the Outland Count occasionally visits to enjoy her meals.
- Team Mom: To not just your guild, but basically every explorer in town.
Wynne
Voiced by: Ayaka Suge (Drama CD, Japanese)
Wynne is the town blacksmith. Despite her young age, she is a master at crafting weapons and armor. She also has a thick accent.- The Blacksmith: Obviously. She's very passionate about her work and has a rather... unique way of telling you about it.Wynne: But I gotcha back when it comes ta weapons and armor! I gotta lady boner harder dan steel for dat stuff!
- Genki Girl: Take her to a flower bed.
- The Idiot from Osaka: In the Japanese version. This is adapted into a Joisey-ish accent in English.
- Token Mini-Moe: She's the only child you see in Tharsis that has a sprite and isn't a part of your guild.
Kirtida
- Ambiguously Brown: A bit lighter tone than most examples.
- Felony Misdemeanor: She is remarkably unflapped when Whirlwind shows his true colors... until she realizes that he left outstanding requests behind, at which point she demands that your guild bring him to justice.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Does not like insects at all. When a client posts a request for a giant moth egg and the party takes it, her fear is palpable; when they present the moth egg to complete the quest, she's outright frightened.
Guildmaster
- Cool Old Guy: Is not the youngest anymore judging by his hair color. This doesn't stop him from personally training your guild members if you complete some of his sidequests. This increases the amount of Burst skills you can have equipped.
- No Name Given: Only known by his moniker as the Guildmaster.
Kirjonen (キルヨネン)
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Bob-cut hair, very prominent eyelashes, earrings, certainly a generous-enough breastplate for actual breasts, and a mole on the left cheek... but he is supposed to be a guy. His combat portrait even uses the same pose as the female playable Fortresses. Notably, the Japanese version uses no gendered pronouns to refer to him.
- Guest-Star Party Member: During his skirmishes on land and against the Blizzard King.
- Hidden Depths: He traveled to the lands around Tharsis in hopes of slaying the ice dragon who slew his liege's young prince. Unfortunately for him, the Blizzard King is not the one he was looking for; the real one was one with a damaged eye his king attacked.
- Shock and Awe: Later in the game, his subclass is Runemaster, and the only attack abilities from the class that he has are all of the volt-element spells.
Wiglaf (ウィラフ)
- Dance Battler: Starts as a Dancer, later subclasses as a Landsknecht.
- Guest-Star Party Member: During her skirmishes on land and against the Storm Emperor.
- Hidden Depths: Her family is a bunch of dragon slayers, and she took the quest in slaying the Storm Emperor personal because of one dragon having spared her brother but killed her father. With that in mind, she didn't want Regine's family to experience their matriarch's possible demise at its hands when she refused to escort her to gather rare peaches.
- Resentful Outnumbered Sibling: Has several brothers back home; she wants to prove to them she's more than capable of taking care of herself, but you help her out from many, many skirmishes on the lands that she gets depressed when saved.
- Playing with Fire: Attacking with her shows that she wields fire-enchanted swords.
Citizens of the Labyrinths
Citizens of the Labyrinths
Several kinds of races live in the labyrinths leading up to Yggdrasil; for tropes about the people in general, refer to the Arcanist and Bushi entries for Vessels and Sentinels, respectively.The Medium (巫女)
Voiced by: Miyuki Iwasaki (Drama CD, Japanese)
The Medium is a young human girl who lives amongst the Vessels in the Misty Ravine. Despite the Vessel's distrust of humans due to having been abandoned by them, they idolize and venerate the Medium due to her link with Yggdrasil. Despite Wufan's protests, she insists on welcoming the Guild as friends due to her curiosity about her race. She is later revealed to possess the Titan Soul, one of the three items needed to summon the Heavenbringer.- A Child Shall Lead Them: Serves as a spiritual counselor and guide to the Vessels. When she goes missing, they do not take it well.
- All-Loving Hero: Hears the voice of Yggdrasil, and she never hesitates to extend a merciful hand to anyone. The post-Final Boss missions show that this leads to Baldur's Heel–Face Turn.
- Damsel in Distress: Becomes kidnapped by the Hollows. Later on, she's kidnapped by Whirlwind as he flees back to his land, and THEN she becomes kidnapped by Baldur.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": She is only referred to as "The Medium." Wufan does call her by her real name, Xiuan, a couple of times, but switches back to her title later.
- Healing Hands: Shown to have the most powerful healing abilities in the world, and the only person able to stave off the Titan's Curse.
- Living Macguffin: She herself is the Titan's Soul, making her a target of the Empire.
Wufan (ウーファン)
Voiced by: Hiromi Igarashi (Drama CD, Japanese)
Wufan is the leader of the Vessels in the Scarlett Pillars. Due to a past traumatic war between Vessels and humanity, she is cold and distant when the Guild first meet her, but the fact that they've made it this far into the Scarlet Pillars earns them her grudging respect. Even so, she tries to dissuade them from continuing their quest, claiming it will only lead to their deaths.- The Atoner: A mild form; once the player's guild shows her that humanity isn't completely rotten, she works with them to save the Medium and asks to join their guild afterwards.
- Fantastic Racism: Has a dim view of humanity due to the Vessels' belief that humanity abandoned them at their moment of crisis. Her jealousy of the guild only exacerbates this.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Reveals on the final floor of the Misty Ravine that the main reason she was so hostile to the Guild was because she was jealous of how the Medium immediately looked up to them upon meeting them.
- Guest-Star Party Member: During the Medium's kidnapping, you can forgive her rude behavior and let her explore the Misty Ravine's lowest floor with you.
- Optional Party Member: After rescuing the Medium, you have the option to let her join your guild.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: She has a legitimate (if inaccurate) reason to keep humans away from Vessels and immediately goes after the Medium when she goes missing, rather then wait for the bickering council to make a decision. She later welcomes humans with open arms after learning they aren't bad.
- Status Effects: The mainstay of her arsenal as an Arcanist.
Kibagami (キバガミ)
Voiced by: Kenta Miyake (Drama CD, Japanese)
Kibagami is the leader of the Sentinels of the Sacred Mountains. Unlike the Vessels, who believe humanity abandoned them when the Heavenbringer first descended, the Sentinels believe that they and and humanity fought side by side to repel the Titan. As such, Kibagami and the rest of his tribe are very friendly towards humans, but hold a deep distrust of all things connected to Yggdrasil, as they believe that is where the Titan was created.
- The Berserker: His Blood Surge skill amplifies his damage at the cost of hurting him each time he acts. In his boss fight, it's a literal case of Turns Red.
- Combat Medic: He's subclassed as a Medic during his time as a temporary party member and keeps it if you let him join your guild. Due to the Bushi's relatively low TEC stat, he's far better suited towards the 'combat' part.
- Defeat Means Playable: Defeating him in a duel is required before he'll allow you to help him search for the Titan's Heart. His defeat also unlocks the Bushi class and the subclassing function, which his boss fight serves to demonstrate.
- Dual Wielding: By default, he uses a katana and a mace.
- Guest-Star Party Member: During the quest to get the Titan's Heart, he will accompany you in the Golden Lair's lowest floors if you let him.
- Optional Party Member: After completing the third labyrinth, you have the option to recruit him into your ranks.
- Our Minotaurs Are Different: He resembles a large, black-furred anthropomorphic ox.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's willing to do whatever it takes to help his people, even if it means breaking an ancient rule and fighting the thing that started the existence of the curse, despite the fact that it could turn him into a plant or outright kill him.
- Secret A.I. Moves: Downplayed — All the moves that Kibagami demonstrates in his boss fight are usable as a playble character. Just don't expect his Endure to recover half his health, or for his healing skills from his Medic subclass to heal as much as he does as a boss.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: The Drama CD reveals he's quite afraid of ghosts, probably because of his trauma of dealing with the Titan's Curse upon his people..
Citizens of the Empire
The Empire of Yggdrasil
The "Empire" that constitutes the fourth land (and, as dialogue implies, the gameplay-inaccessible lands on the other side of Yggdrasil itself) is really a rump state that is a shadow of the former glory that used to rule over all the lands you explore. Their land is slowly dying, and they need the power of Yggdrasil revived in order to prevent starvation.- The Empire: Well, yeah. Of the Not Obviously Evil variety; its soldiers and leaders do attempt to be civil, but they make it very clear they think they're the superior component of humankind.
- Magitek: The Empire has ridiculously advanced technology compared to everyone else; while Tharsis and its allies are making do with swords and bows, the Empire employs fully-armored, cannon-armed sky-battleships, swords with cannons mounted on them, and multiple varieties of robots. All of this is implied to come from their study of Yggdrasil and is powered by it in some way.
- More Dakka: Imperial weapons technology seems to make lots of use of cannons and other explosive-projectile weapons.
- Vestigial Empire: Even they admit the Empire is a shadow of its former glory.
Logre (ローゲル)
Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (Drama CD, Japanese)
Sir Logre is "Whirlwind's" true identity; ten years ago, he crashed his skyship near Tharsis after trying to follow the gusts of wind in the canyons out in order to look for the items required to revive Yggdrasil. He is a loyal servant of the Empire, though even early on it is clear he doesn't really agree with Baldur's solution to the problem.- Action Initiative: With his Landsknecht subclass, he has the ability to manipulate it between Rear Guard and Vanguard. He can use it against you as a boss.
- Conflicting Loyalty: Between his duty to Prince Baldur and his newfound friends in Tharsis.
- Defeat Means Friendship: More along the lines of giving him the courage to stand against his prince, as he already considered you friends before his defeat. His defeat also leads to unlocking the Imperial class, with abilities demonstrated during his boss fight and his brief time in the party.
- Guest-Star Party Member: During your search for the prince and the Medium, after defeating him for real, he will let you do whatever you want with him, which would be exploring the lowest floor of the Echoing Library.
- Evil Makeover: You always knew him as a shady smiling explorer. When you see him in his armor, a dark shade is cast on him. After defeating him for real and forgiving his behavior, the shade goes away, and his combed hair goes back to being messy.
- Heroic BSoD: He gets one when you tell him the Prince needs him. For the gameplay this means you need to nudge him to come along with you, compared to him joining as a guest straight away should you hold out your hand to him.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: Downplayed — the first time he's fought, he is not designed to be unbeatable, but it will take effort to defeat him before he retreats in 6 turns. The second time and either fight on New Game Plus are beatable.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In a real way, if he hadn't crashed his skyship ten years ago, thus allowing Tharsis to reverse-engineer it, the plot basically wouldn't have happened and there might have been no way to stop Baldur. And then, of course, he really helps you fix it.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Played straight at first, but it's clear that he's conflicted. After you beat him, he finds the resolve to defy Baldur.
- Optional Party Member: After clearing the fourth labyrinth, he will ask you to join your guild.
- Perpetual Frowner: Was once a smiling explorer.
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Says this line to the party before engaging in battle.
- Logre: The adventure's over.
- Secret A.I. Moves: Averted — Whatever skills he uses in battle against you are also part of his innate skill set if you recruit him.
- Sole Survivor: This informations a bit hard to get, as it is scattered over the various dialogue-options the player is given in the South Sanctuary and after the fight with Logre. Long story short: Logre witnessed the deaths of his team and recently learned (in the Sacred Mountains) that the Emperor is dead as well.
- Taking You with Me: Attempted after you beat him. Your party is able to change his mind by talking with him or holding out a hand.
Baldur (バルドゥール)
- A Child Shall Lead Them: Became the Imperials' king after his father was lost 10 years ago.
- Disney Death: After defeating his One-Winged Angel form, the text points out that a crack opened and swallowed him, until you defeat the Heavenbringer and find out he was found barely alive under rubble.
- Dub Name Change: His boss form is called Green-winged Cursed Emperor in Japan.
- Eye Scream: The Cursed Princes has a quite large vine protruding from his left eye.
- Green Thumb: Falls under Yggdrasil's influence and becomes the Cursed Prince. In this powered-up state, he can use Seizing Vine to bind the whole party's arms and legs, and Ivy Thrust to perform 2 random melee stab attacks across them.
- Guest-Star Party Member: He will personally take the task to defeat the Great Dragon in response to taking down his Imperial refugees, and you can let him assist you in battle.
- Heel–Face Turn: After defeating the Heavenbringer, he tries to save imperial refugees as much as possible, and he helps the player's guild against the Great Dragon.
- Manipulative Bastard: During the fight with the boss in the fourth labyrinth.
- One-Winged Angel: As the Cursed Prince.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: At first. It was even stated that when he took rule his first order was removing anyone working solely for themselves from the court. However, during the ten years his father and Logre was gone, he gradually became more desperate in solving the Yggdrasil issue.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: To your detriment.
- Secret A.I. Moves: Unlike Logre's skillset which is fully available to a playable Imperial, half of the Cursed Prince's skills are exclusive to him (Chaos Drive, Kingly Ambition, Ivy Thrust, and Seizing Vine). Even the playable Baldur doesn't have access to the aforemetioned moves (though the latter two skills are justified, since by the time he assists you he's lost his Green Thumb powers).
- Villainous BSoD: If Logre goes with you to confront him, Baldur will start to lose his sanity in what he is doing, going so far as to slap the Medium when she tries to calm him down herself.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He honestly wants to save what remains of his people and empire. The problem is, he's perfectly willing to consign the Vessels and Sentinels to a torturously painful death in order to make that happen.
Alfodr (アルフォズル)
Emperor Alfodr was the leader of the Empire of Yggdrasil.- Disappeared Dad: Really the whole issue that set this entire crisis off to begin with.
- The Emperor: A seemingly benevolent example, if Logre's words are any indication.
- Posthumous Character: It is heavily implied that the person the Sentinels rescued 10 years ago was him before he succumbed to the Titan's curse, given that it was the same time when he and Logre left their lands.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He sought to find a way to activate Yggdrasil without having to sacrifice the Sentinels and Vessels. If you spare Logre and he joins you, he'll try (unsuccessfully) to talk down Baldur by claiming that Alfodr would never have supported Baldur's insane agenda.
Labyrinth Guardians
Berserker King (獣王ベルゼルケル)
The ruler of the Lush Woodlands - a massive, fiery-maned bear and the first stratum boss your party will encounter.- Charged Attack: His Berserker Rage attack is telegraphed by him using Delayed Charge, and during this time he won't attack at all. You can prevent the attack by inflicting enough damage during the charging period.
- Dub Name Change: Called Beast King Berserker in Japan.
- Flunky Boss: He's accompanied by two Bloodbear F.O.E.s who will join the fight eventually. You can take them out first or trick them into destroying a fallen tree, which will allow you to sneak behind the Berserker King and get a pre-emptive attack on him.
- Legacy Boss Battle: He's an early boss in Nexus as the guardian of the Lush Woodlands, which serves as the first returning stratum. He ambushes the party halfway through the labyrinth in place of the Bloodbear that did the same in Legends of the Titan and when properly fought he's only the first of two bosses fought consecutively. Aside from that, he appears as a DOE in Etrian Mystery Dungeon.
Hollow Queen (ホロウクイーン)
The progenitor of all the Hollow enemies you encounter in the Misty Ravine and the second stratum boss of the game.- An Ice Person: Icy Aria is a ranged skill that deals Ice damage to all party members.
- Flunky Boss: Starts the battle with two Hollows in front of her. Taking them out causes her to move the front line, but also summons two other adds wielding magic.
- Monster Progenitor: One of the papers found in the Hall of Darkness state that all of the Hollows were birthed by the Hollow Queen.
- Status Buff: On every 5th turn, she will use Dark Erosion to increase the attack power of all her allies for 5 turns.
- Status-Buff Dispel: Lover's Breath removes all ailments and binds from her allies and herself.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: Like her fellow Hollows, she has a sky-high avoidance stat which makes landing a hit quite a task. This serves to reinforce the point that you can and should use binds and ailments on bosses - in this case a leg bind which drops her avoidance to zero. Luckily for you, you can get a Guest-Star Party Member who specializes in just that before the fight.
Boiling Lizard (ホムラミズチ)
A gigantic fire-breathing lizard also known as the "Diamond Beast". It is the boss of the Golden Lair, the third stratum you'll explore.- Boss-Altering Consequence: If you destroy the giant scale behind him (which was heating up the room) before confronting him, his HP will be cut in half and severely weakens his attacks.
- Flunky Boss: Another one, but with a twist this time. The Boiling Lizard will throw some of his scales during the fight, which are harmless on their own but follow up on any of his fire attacks. You can temporarily disable them with ice attacks or permanently destroy them with Ice Stakes found throughout the stratum.
- Legacy Boss Battle: Shows up in Nexus to guard the Golden Lair again.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Its design and battle strategy make it very similar to the Salamander from Etrian Odyssey II, with both monsters being large reptilian creatures, using fire as their main element, calling for support during the fight, and sharing the same weakness (ice). Unlike Salamander however, the Boiling Lizard is a mandatory boss. Both monsters appear later in Nexus (and in the same dungeon at that).
Cradle Guardian (揺籃の守護者)
The boss of the Echoing Library, the fourth stratum in the game. A mechanical humanoid attacking you while Prince Baldur tries to kidnap the Medium.- Barrier Change Boss: Does this several times during the battle, which also changes which elemental attack he can perform.
- Cognizant Limbs: His head comes off after you defeat its body.
- Suicide Attack: The head will do this after several turns, destroying itself but also dealing heavy damage.
- Taking You with Me: His disconnected head has this attitude. It will try to incapacitate your party members before blowing itself up along with them.
Heavenbringer (楽園への導き手)
The Heavenbringer is the eponymous "Titan" of Etrian Odyssey IV. In a final desperate attempt to save the Empire, Baldur seeks to summon it in order to use it to revitalize Yggdrasil. However, doing so would require the sacrifices of the Vessels and Sentinels, and so the Guild must fight and destroy it in the game's final battle.- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: It's called the Titan for a reason.
- Body Horror: Its core is housed within its face, and when you damage it enough to expose it, its mouth opens up in a grotesque, physically impossible manner. The artbook reveals the back of its head has an insanely big tumor that reaches its spine.
- Cognizant Limbs: Its arms. One alternates between direct attacks and protecting the Heavenbringer itself from damage, while the other focuses on weakening your party with debuffs. They can be killed, but respawn after a few turns.
- Shielded Core Boss: Depleting its HP doesn't defeat it, but exposes its core. This "Bared Essence" can't fight back at all, but if you don't destroy it quickly or bind its head it'll return to phase one and recover some health.
- When Trees Attack: The Heavenbringer is Yggdrasil itself in a humanoid form — and completely insane.
Insatiable Pupa (悪食の妖蛆)
A 'fail-safe' intended to be strong enough to take on the Titan if need be. Unfortunately, it got corrupted by feeding on Yggdrasil's power too much, leading to it being sealed away. While its original creators failed to destroy it entirely, they did almost manage to complete a compound capable of severly weakening it - leaving your party to finish their work. Though very much recommended, you can forget about the compound altogether and fight it at full strength, making this the first Super Boss in the series with a sort of 'choose-your-difficulty' mechanic.- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Its Pupa form looks like a cross between a giant tick and a spider.
- Dub Name Change: It's called Evil Eater Worm in Japan.
- Puzzle Boss: When you first reach the final floor of the Hall of Darkness, you can enter the central room and challenge this boss rightaway. However, it's pretty strong, and if the party persists and it hatches into the Warped Savior, they'll find it ridiculously powerful. Instead, you're meant to traverse the rest of the floor, acquire the chemicals, and based on the scientists' notes, determine the right order to use the chemicals so that you can weaken the superboss to more manageable levels.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The leader of the Yggdrasil Project sealed the creature after going bananas for feeding too much on Yggdrasil's power.
- Sequential Boss: You'd be forgiven for thinking that despite its size, the Warped Pupa doesn't look all that intimidating compared to the Superbosses that were featured in the previous games - and then you find out that this is only its first form.
- Time-Limit Boss: You've got eight turns to defeat it and advance to the next phase; the Pupa even briefly ceases all activity in the second-to-last turn as a warning. If you don't kill it by then, it uses Loosed Power, which is an almighty attack to the whole party that leaves any suvivors on the back foot as the second phase of the fight begins.
Warped Savior (歪みし豊穣の神樹)
The true form of the Insatiable Pupa. He began to manifest within the Pupa while it was feeding on Yggdrasil's power, corrupting it in the process. His power is so strong that it could destroy the whole world.- Combat Tentacles: Has four tentacles as separate targets (two claws and two buds) with their own set of attacks. If weakened with the compound the pairs will alternate their attacks. If not, they go all-out on you.
- Developer's Foresight: If you thought to bring Geo Impact, which inflicts a guaranteed stun, just to avoid dying to Ragnarok, this boss knows Hollow Barrier which deducts from the Burst Gauge and denies you access to that skill unless you can top it back up.
- Dub Name Change: Known in Japan as Warped And Fertile Sacred Tree.
- Fire, Ice, Lightning: His three elemental skills, Megido Flame, Chaos Blizzard and Volt Cyclone, which deal massive damage to the party.
- Gone Horribly Right: Was created to be powerful enough to take on the Titan if it ever broke loose. In that regard, they more than succeeded.
- One-Winged Angel: Emerges from the Insatiable Pupa right after the former uses Loosed Power.
- Self-Imposed Challenge: There is no reason in-game to fight it without using the compound beforehand save for the added challenge, as the rewards are exactly the same.
- Superboss: The strongest enemy in the game.
- Tentacled Terror: He looks like a vague mix between a tentacled humanoid and an insect. The Japanese name implies he is a mutated tree.
- Total Party Kill: If not weakened by the compound beforehand it has access to Ragnarok - a party-wide unavoidable, resistance-ignoring instant death attack. You can forget about preventing it by using the Geo Impact skill to stun him as well: it will always use Hollow Barrier beforehand to drain your Burst Gauge leaving you unable to use it.
Other Bosses
Baboon King (豪腕の狒狒王, Strong-Armed Baboon King)
The muscular king of primates who takes over the Old Forest Mine near Tharsis.- Flunky Boss: Will call in two Healing Rollers for the back row when he loses enough health. If they aren't killed or locked down in time, he'll use them in a co-op attack.
- King Mook: The leader of the various baboon enemies and FOEs in the game.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He's Legends of the Titan's take on Cernunnos from the first game, both being muscular forest beast-kings with similar builds and the ability to summon Healing Rollers—though while Cernunnos's minions heal him normally, Baboon King instead throws his as a powerful health-draining attack.
Chameleon King (極彩を統べる者, He Who Unites The Rich Colors)
A mischievous chameleon lord who hides in the Empire's South Sanctuary.- Flunky Boss: Frequently calls in two Lizard Retainers and hides behind them.
- King Mook: He's a boss-level version of the chameleon enemies/FOEs, and fights similarly to them.
- Invisible Monsters: He has the ability to turn intangible like other chameleon enemies, becoming impervious to damage and countering whiffed attacks with a powerful ice spell. As with said enemies, dealing any damage through ailments or by bypassing the evasion check will turn him visible early.
- Legacy Boss Battle: Shows up in Nexus as the guardian of the Untrodded Basin sub-dungeon, mostly unchanged from its appearance in this game.
Sand Leviathan (濁翼の熱砂竜, Cloudy-Winged Hot Sands Dragon)
A sandy dragon revived from a corpse, now residing in the secret areas of the Lush Woodlands.- Fossil Revival: A mid-game questline involves retrieving a monster corpse preserved within the ice of the Sacred Mountains and providing the quest-giver with arcane knowledge from a book in the Echoing Library; the Sand Leviathan is the "successful" result of combining these two things.
- Palette Swap: The QR monster Drake (no, not the name-changed Blizzard King) is a blue version of this monster, but with a different head.
- Sand Blaster: Its Sand Shot skill fires balls of sand randomly across the party, and can inflict Blind.
Hraesvalgr (フレースヴェルク)
A bird-beast from inside of Yggdrasil that can be summoned to the Cloudy Stronghold through investigating its landmarks.- King Mook: It's a recolor of the overworld's bird FOEs and serves as a boss-level version of them. Oddly, it can be encountered before the final incarnation of those enemies, the Sky Emperors, and those FOEs are actually stronger despite having lower health.
Fallen One (冥闇に堕した者, He Who Fell Into Darkness)
A supreme dark dragon freed from imprisonment after beating the three elemental dragons.- Evil Counterpart: It's an evil version of the Elder Dragon from The Drowned City. Both are draconic superbosses challenged after besting the three elemental dragons, with the Elder Dragon being light-themed and the Fallen One being dark-themed, and both having the Supernova skill. Both fights revolve around keeping the dragon bound to prevent it from easily wiping the party. While the Elder Dragon sought to test the party in The Drowned City by having them fight it and the elemental dragons so they would have the strength to kill the Abyssal God, the Fallen One breaks free with the aim of destroying the world and the Elder Dragon personally requests that the party of Legends of the Titan slay it.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Defeating each of the elemental dragons completes their corresponding quest and raises your party's level cap... but you also hear the sound of breaking chains. When the third dragon is defeated, the Fallen One makes its presence known with Evil Laughter, and the quest to defeat it becomes available.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: It's sealed in the north-east corner of the Cloudy Foothill, and the three elemental dragons serve as the keys to its lock.
