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Main Characters
Both
- Cynic–Idealist Duo: Menel acts as the cynical and opportunistic foil to Will's bright-eyed optimism and compassion. Menel is the first to ask about rewards, benefits, and compensation while adventuring and reins in Will's Chronic Hero Syndrome. He's also the first person to tell Will off when he's being foolish, serving as his closest advisor and counsel.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Will helps Menel getting rid of the Demons infesting his village and purifies the undead humans. They become lifelong friends after that.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Will and Menel are each other's closest and dearest friend. Menel has sworn Undying Loyalty to Will for helping him turn his life around, and Will greatly appreciates his company and counsel.
- Mayfly–December Friendship: Menel, a Long-Lived half-elf, becomes best friends with Will, a human with a regular lifespan. Although he hates knowing that those he cares about die long before him, Menel swears to be there for Will's children and grandchildren given how he's bound to outlive Will.
- Short Range Guy, Long Range Guy: Will is a Magic Knight who wields swords and spears. On the other hand, Menel is an archer.
William G. Maryblood
William G. Maryblood
Voiced by: Maki Kawase (Japanese, season 1), Shoya Chiba (Japanese, season 2), Erica Mendez (English, season 1), Chris Hackney (English, season 2), Diego Becerril, Casandra Acevedo (child) (Latin American Spanish)
Will is the only survivor of a caravan that was crashed and raided outside of the City of the Dead. As an infant, he is taken in by Blood, Mary, and Gus, who raised him as though he were their own child. He is also the reincarnation of a hikkokomori from our world.
- The Ace: Will is strong, brave, good-looking, well-spoken, well-educated, and skilled at martial combat, benedictions, and using the Words of Creation. His renown as the Wyvern Slayer and kind personality quickly makes people look up to him. This gets Deconstructed when his skills make him feel like he's responsible for everyone he knows, and his Heroic BSoD born from his fear of having the people relying on him hurt by his mistakes gives him a bout of Suicidal Overconfidence that nearly gets him killed.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: His hair is described as "chestnut brown" in the novels, but the anime gives him much redder hair, though this also matches the coloration of his light novel art. In addition, his eyes are described as blue-green in the novels, whereas the manga gives him red eyes and the anime makes his eyes topaz.
- Ancestral Name: After his coming of age, Will is given the surname "Maryblood" in honor of his adoptive parents, Mary and Blood. In addition, Will gives himself the "G." middle initial to honor his adoptive grandfather, Gus (who grumpily complains that it should be an "A" for "Augustus").
- Barrier Warrior: The Sanctuary benediction let's Will designate a place as being protected from harm, forming a barrier strong enough to repel a charging wyvern.
- Beware the Superman: Will's monstrous strength for his age inspires both admiration and unease from others. Tonio admits that he's terrified of Will's power, especially after Will gains a bout of Suicidal Overconfidence from his Heroic BSoD, becoming cold and aloof until Menel knocks some sense into him. It's Will's youth and compassion that keeps him from becoming a figure to be feared.
- Blemished Beauty: Will touches Mary's burning body during her daily prayer, not knowing it won't kill her, and this severely burns his hands. Blood says Will's burn marks are a badge of honor because he got them due to worrying about Mary.
- Boring, but Practical:
- During Will's martial training, Blood points out that special techniques are fine and all but a powerful physique is always an advantage. This proves handy when a wyvern attacks Whitesails, as Will's training and diet of holy bread give him muscles powerful enough to powerbomb the wyvern and break its neck after his use of magic and his spear fail to kill it in time.
- Mary doesn't just teach Will how to pray, but also basic life skills (e.g., tending a garden). Mindful of his previous life, Will states that he appreciates these lessons most of all.
- Cannot Tell a Lie: Due to being a magic user, Will's Words of Power would lose their edge if he constantly fibbed and lied to others, as the words he speaks would lose their meaning. This means that he does his best not to lie to people, which goes hand-in-hand with his generally honest and straightforward personality.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Though being blessed by the goddess of reincarnation certainly helps, most of Will's frankly insane abilities as a fighter are from being raised by three legendary heroes who insisted he take training and schooling seriously. Even as an adult, he doesn't skimp on physical exercise.
- Chick Magnet: Parodied. After leaving the City of the Dead, Will runs into a bunch of situations where a Stock Light-Novel Hero might have met a girl or three, but as he eventually explains to Gus, "All of those were guys."note And it's not that kind of series either.
- Cool Sword: Overeater, a demonic sword that heals injuries and fatigue by taking the life from others. It's powerful enough to injure an Echo of a god and greatly increases the strength of those who wield it. However, it's also cursed and dangerous to use. Drawing it means that Will has hit the Godzilla Threshold. He hits that threshold when he faces off against the god of undeath, Stagnate, for Mary's, Blood's, and Gus' souls.
- Covert Pervert: While he's not sworn to celibacy, he secretly admits that he got a little excited at the thought of hiring maids to help him clean his house, only to get some sweet aunties from the neighborhood instead.
- Fake Ultimate Hero: Downplayed - Will definitely is one hell of a hero, but Bee's songs still embellish about him and Tonio's quiet competency at supplying him wherever his mind leads him to have lead to rumors that he's a huge man and strategical-genius. He even complains about this to Bee once.
- Famed In-Story: After his first public showing as a warrior by killing a wyvern in the middle of Whitesails, Bee begins singing songs about the "Wyvern Slayer". His fame only continues to grow as he fights to secure the Beast Woods, and his exploits as a knight and a priest earn him the title of "Faraway Paladin" with songs reaching the North Continent. By the time he's 19, he's recognized by people on sight, hailing him as a hero and a powerful warrior. He's also the beloved guardian and Lord of the Beast Woods as well as the new city of Torch Port once His Excellency grants him the title.
- Fish out of Water: Gus and Mary did their best to educate Will, but their information is 200 years out of date. As a result, Will is woefully behind on modern religious practices and needs to have the new cities and towns that have sprung up since his parents last traversed the world explained to him.
- Happily Adopted: Will is happily taken in by Mary, Blood, and Gus, calling them his parents and grandfather without hesitation. He even takes their names in his middle and last once he comes of age and leaves.
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: Gracefeel's benediction is said to grant solace to the dead, and is not well-thought-of. After becoming her paladin, however, Will discovers that it can be used to Turn Undead by freeing their trapped spirits into the cycle of reincarnation.
- The Hero: The story is about Will's heroic feats in his quest to restore the faith in his Patron God.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Downplayed. Will actually prefers to use his spear, Pale Moon. But Overeater is his ultimate trump card and pulling it out means that he's hit the Godzilla Threshold.
- Heroic BSoD: Will suffers this after much of the expedition force he created to subjugate the Beast Woods is either injured or killed by the chimera he didn't see coming. It's after this that he succumbs to an I Work Alone mentality along with Suicidal Overconfidence out of fear of getting others killed under his command. It takes an already injured Meneldor to slap some sense to him.
- Humble Hero: Despite his mounting accomplishments, Will considers himself a simple, ordinary adventurer despite gathering more than enough accolades to be considered a hero. After becoming the Lord of the Beast Woods, he becomes honored throughout the land, with people bowing to him in reverence while speaking to him. He's afraid of getting used to this treatment, since he feels he'll lose a vital part of himself if he does.
- I Got Bigger: As Will shoots up in height as he grows up, going from coming up to Blood's waist to standing as tall as Blood's shoulders. This is particularly noticeable in the manga adaptation, where Will's shoulders become noticeably broader over time and his jawline becomes much more defined and mature as he ages.
- In-Series Nickname: Those close to him just call him "Will".
- Instant Expert: Subverted. The minute Will gains priestly powers due to his oath, he can cast very powerful prayers because he spent most of his life learning to pray with Mary, making it more a case of learning how to use something before being given it.
- I Surrender, Suckers: Stagnate offers Will the chance to be with his family forever by becoming an undead as well. At first, Will seems to accept the offer and lowers his head as if to accept Stagnate's power... only to quickly chop off Stagnate's hand with Overeater once the goddess let her guard down.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: He tries pulling a platonic version of this on Menel. After Menel almost gets killed while fighting a chimera, Will starts thinking his friends and allies can't keep up with him and he'll only force them to risk their lives if he lets them fight Demons with him. He goes as far as trying to exterminate the Demons at the Beast Woods on his own and breaks Menel's arm when he stops him. Fortunately, Menel has none of that, reminding Will that he'll always need his friends to help him out.
- I Will Wait for You: When Menel has to vanish into the forest for a secret trial from the Lord of Oak, Will swears to wait however long it takes for Menel's return, not leaving his spot for days until Menel comes back unharmed.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Will carries a small round shield to defend himself. It's effective for covering his blind spots even while using a spear.
- Magic Knight: He's a Lightning Bruiser comparable to veteran adventurers on top of possessing great martial skill thanks to Blood's training. He's also skilled at using Words of Creation to his advantage in combat as well as benedictions to heal others thanks to Mary, Gus, and the grace of his patron goddess, Gracefeel.
- Meaningful Name: According to Gus, Blood and Mary chose to give Will his name because it means "child of determination" in this world, as they hoped to make their future child a hero even greater than them. Becoming undead dashes those hopes, but they instead imparted their love and hopes on Will after adopting him.
- The Missionary: Gracefeel's worship has waned in the years between the sealing of the Demon King and Will's arrival at the City of the Dead, to the point that her religion is referred to as "lost" or "dead". Upon swearing himself to her, Will is tasked with helping to restore faith in Gracefeel, which he does primarily by performing good deeds in her name rather than aggressively proselytizing to others.
- Muscle Angst: Downplayed. Will's rigorous training means that he has well-defined muscles that make it clear that he works out a lot. But despite having enough strength to swing a log like a training sword, he doesn't seem to be getting much broader after he turns 19. He's frustrated by how he doesn't look as imposing and muscular as he'd like, which Meneldor teases him over.
- Muscles Are Meaningless: Downplayed. He is muscular under his clothes thanks to Blood's training, but his more lean physique doesn't correlate to his raw physical strength that lets him powerbomb a wyvern to death. Lampshaded by Meneldor, who wonders what the hell Will ate as a kid to get so strong. He also notices that muscle mass and strength aren't directly correlated in this world, though this also means that he's not going to get as brawny as he likes no matter how much he trains.Menel: [watching Will train] Same monstrous strength, as usual... You'd never know just by looking at you.
Will: [annoyed] But I want people to know just by looking at me...
Menel: People like you though, isn't that enough?
Will: People long for what they don't have! - My Greatest Second Chance: Will considers his transmigration to the new world an act of profound grace. What little he remembers of his past life (implied to be a shut-in) fills him with such a sense of regret at wasted time and potential that he resolves to live his new life as a good and diligent son to his adopted parents.
- Mysterious Middle Initial: Before Will sets off on his journey, Gus suggests Will adopt an old custom and take a portmanteau of his "parents'" name as his surname, hence "Maryblood". Will goes a step further, taking a 'G' for "Gus" as his middle initial.
- New Life in Another World Bonus: Downplayed. Thanks to his adoptive parents, Will is incredibly strong, fast, and tough, as well as skilled at using both the Words of Creation and benedictions. But none of these skills are exclusive to him, he just had the benefit of having great teachers.
- Nice Guy: Mary taught Will to be kind and generous to others, while his vows to Gracefeel enforce this by having him do good deeds in her name.
- Nocturnal Emission: He ejaculates in his sleep after he and Blood (drunkenly) attempt to peep at Mary changing clothes. It gets even more embarrassing and awkward when you remember Mary is his adoptive mother.
- One-Man Party: After the wyvern incident in Whitesails, the local duke meets with Will to ask about the elementalist, sorcerer, and priest who backed him up. The former is Meneldor, and the other two are also Will.
- The Paladin: Exactly what it says on the tin. Will swears an oath and gains powers that are typically given to paladins, even though he's technically a priest. He also behaves much like a paladin, devoted to his goddess while being one of the most honest, helpful and kind people around.
- Pals with Jesus: Will is in very good terms with his goddess Gracefeel. She once reacts to his sudden prayer for guidance after it sinks in he's basically the Lord of Beast Woods with a few giggles at his expense.
- Powerful and Helpless: He admits that as Lord of the Beast Woods, no one really expects much from him in terms of day-to-day administration, which he mainly offloads to trusted friends and experts who can handle it better than he can. He's ecstatic when a monster problem pops up for him to solve, especially when he's fighting in a desolate area where he doesn't have to worry about bystanders or collateral, as it means he can go full throttle and make use of his talents for once.
- Pretty Boy: Although he's muscular and strong thanks to Mary's holy bread and Blood's training, Will continues to maintain boyish, soft facial features well into his late teens.
- Raised by the Supernatural: Will was raised by three undead heroes. Will refuses to elaborate on his upbringing because of how others might react to him being raised by the undead. This leaves others to speculate where such a strong, well-educated, and blessed guy like him came from.
- The Real Man: William fits into this PlayerArchetype, even fulfilling the Real Man's favorite dungeon activity, namely:- Favorite way to deal with a Dragon; Real Men: Slay it. Preferably alone and with bare hands.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: After accidentally making himself the Lord of the Beast Woods, Will does his best to administrate in his new role. He offloads many of the day-to-day duties like merchantry and architecture to experts like Tonio, but he's always there to secure the safety of the new city of Torch Port and arbitrate disputes between villages. By the time he's 19, he's a well-known and beloved figure in his city and people are happy to work for him. But he also walks around town and knows most of the people in Torch Port by name, trying to think of measures to preserve the peace and prevent crime. To this end, he sets aside funds and resources to handle refugees and give them work.
- Red Baron: After dispatching a wyvern with Meneldor's help, he becomes famous as the "Wyvern Slayer". Being a paladin sworn to Gracefeel also gets him epithets like "Warrior of the Flame" and "Warrior Who Carries the Torch". His exploits in a gradually developing continent also earns him the title of "Faraway Paladin".
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Subverted. In the manga, Will has ruby-red eyes but is a cheerful and kind person who won't hesitate to throw himself into the thick of things to help others.
- Reincarnate in Another World: Unlike many other Light Novels, here Will retains only vague memories of his past life and it gives him no advantage in the new world. The first time it comes up more than in his passing inner monologues is when he realizes that his parents died before he did, but he can't remember feeling sad about it, and wonders if it means he was a bad person.
- Religious Bruiser: He's a very religious person, as befitting his entire Badass Preacher situation.
- Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: Downplayed. Will's childhood was spent learning from three powerful undead (who were legendary heroes in life), so he has world-class skills for fighting, sorcery, and invoking the gods (and Gus even gave him a bit of teaching in the more mundane subjects of finances and logistics), but his social skills remain somewhat underdeveloped after he first sets out since he's only been around parental figures or occasionally inhuman monsters for his entire life.
- Scars Are Forever: Upon seeing Mary burst into flame while performing benedictions to get him Holy Bread, Will ends up touching the flaming Mary in an attempt to put out the flames. As a result, his hands are permanently scarred and disfigured from the experience.
- Skilled, but Naive: Will is a powerful adventurer right off the bat thanks to the skills imparted onto him by his adoptive family. This is in addition to being well-read and well-spoken on top of being blessed by Gracefeel. But living with only three undead heroes for company for his formative years means that a lot of his knowledge is 200 years out of date, and he doesn't always consider the sociopolitical ramifications of his actions.
- Super-Speed: Will can use bursts of speed with Acceleratio, using this to Speed Blitz his foes with Pale Moon.
- Super-Strength: Will's intense training and steady diet of holy bread growing up have given him "monstrous" strength for his age. One of his first public acts is to choke and powerbomb a wyvern to death with his bare hands. Later on, he grabs a river snake by its jaws and rips it in half so its blood will draw the other river monsters away from him.
- Turn Undead: After making his vow to Gracefeel, Will gains a benediction of Divine Torch. It can immediately send off undead around him and thus make it perfect for sending them off.
- Vow of Celibacy: Invoked by Will and subverted in the same conversation. When Will gets pressed about his love life in the two years he's been away from home, he tries to deflect it by saying that he's sworn to Gracefeel. Gus sees right through him and calls him a loser who can't get a date. In volume 5 he confesses he's in love with Gracefeel, who returns his affections but is too weak to manifest an Echo able to love him physically.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Will takes up a spear, "Pale Moon", after looting it off a monster. It quickly becomes his primary weapon thanks to its hardiness, reliability, and reach. It is the perfect instrument for his direct approach to combat. Sadly, it ends up broken beyond repair during the battle against the dragon Valacirca. Will ends up having what remains of the spear point be made into a dagger that he ultimately gives to Glen and Alex, two young aspiring adventurers. He replaces it with the legendary enchanted sword Calldawn, given to him by the dwarves out of gratitude for slaying Valacirca, and, at his request, made into a glaive.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Growing up, Will's main motivation for trying his best at learning was becoming a pupil that Blood, Mary and Gus would be proud of.
- When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Whether it's through martial arts, the pointy end of Pale Moon, or magic, Will is trained to end fights quickly and decisively through overwhelming brute force. Lampshaded by Menel, who tells others to get used to Will's barbarian-like tactics of just hitting it until it dies. Will takes offense to this, as his "super brawn" is mightier than any barbarian's. Menel responds by calling Will a "super barbarian".
- Wrecked Weapon: His spear Pale Moon is abused beyond its limits in the battle with Valacirca and destroyed. A smith turns the biggest piece of the blade into a dagger, which Will gives away to an aspiring adventurer in a side story at the end of the volume. He replaces the spear with a glaive made from Calldawn, the sword of the deceased dwarf king.
- Wrestler in All of Us: He powerbombs a bound wyvern to kill it before it can break free of its restraints and wreak havoc.
- Young and in Charge: He becomes a knight at the tender age of 15, only to become a feudal lord that same year. Will himself is baffled by how fast his life is moving, going from fighting the god of undeath to leaving his hometown to becoming a knight to becoming a lord in the span of a few years.
Meneldor
Meneldor
Voiced by: Ayumu Murase (Japanese), Griffin Puatu (English), Fernando Moctezuma (Latin American Spanish)
A half-elf elementalist Will encounters in the Beast Woods. He's cynical and stern from years of hardship, but ultimately just wants a place to belong as much as anyone else.
- Aloof Archer: Menel is a cynical loner who is prone to criticizing Will's decisions and snarking at his naivete.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: After restoring the balance of the forest, the Lord of Holly tells Menel that he's greatly increased the strength of his fae blood by taking on the Lord's authority for a short time. This means that he's eligible to become a new Lord of the Woods after his death, though this may be a century away given how Long-Lived he is.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Menel's optimism was neutered by the Half-Breed Discrimination he received from both elves and humans due to his heritage. It was all but destroyed when he was betrayed by one of his own party members as an adventurer, causing him to trust no one but money and Marple. It takes meeting and traveling with Will to restore Menel's ability to trust others.
- Druid: In addition to his archery skills, he's able to use elven magic as an elementalist to call on the power of the spirits to manipulate the environment, such as binding his opponents with earth or accelerating a projectile with the wind.
- Effeminate Voice: Voice actor Ayumu Murase has a high-pitched voice to befit Menel's Elfeminate characteristics.
- Elfeminate: As a half-elf, Menel has feminine features, long hair, and a wiry physique. He's mistaken for a woman more than once in-universe. Bee even initially calls him "Menel the Beautiful" when she says she's going to write a song about him, much to his annoyance.
- First Friend: Menel is the first friend Will makes in his new life.
- Friendship Denial: Even though he and Will are obviously friends, Menel still denies it when someone points it out. He does eventually call Will his friend in a You Are Not Alone moment.
- Half-Breed Angst: Menel caught a lot of grief from elves and humans both. He aged too slowly to fit in with humans, but too quickly to fit in with elves. As a result, he drifted from place to place until coming to rest at a village in the Beast Woods.
- Half-Human Hybrid: He's a half-elf.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: He's Will's best friend and confidant and feels he owes him his life, and risks it fighting Will at the end of volume 2 to knock some sense back into him after their war party suffers serious casualties in a demon ambush.
- I Owe You My Life: Menel lead a raid at a human village to help some people who lost their home to Demons. He's stopped by Will and the villagers were going to execute him, but Will convinces them to spare Menel with the condition that Menel helps him kill the Demons infesting the other village. He feels that he owes Will his life, and swears to stick with him through thick and thin.
- In-Series Nickname: Friends tend to call Meneldor "Menel" for short.
- The Lancer: He serves as Will's cynical and savvy Foil who counters Will's naive and short-sighted mindset.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He's a very feminine-looking Bishōnen with really long hair tied back into a ponytail.
- Long-Lived: As a half-elf, Menel will live longer than most of the people around him, including Will. This is most notable with Marple, who took him in when she was a young woman. But he looks the same in the present as he did then even though Marple died as an old lady.
- Magical Incantation: Compared to Will's single-word usage of the Words of Creation, Menel's elementalist magic requires a significantly longer chant beseeching the spirits to aid him.
- Mystical White Hair: He has silvery-white hair and as a half-elf, he's able to call upon the spirits to aid him.
- Nay-Theist: Initially, Menel didn't worship any god as none of the gods ever helped him nor stopped cruel things from happening to him or his loved ones. However, he starts to change his mind after he sees Will using the power of Gracefeel's blessing to do good and the old lady Marple tells him gods do care for the mortals. Afterwards, he becomes another follower of Gracefeel by swearing loyalty to Will.
- Older Than They Look: Will notes that Menel looks like a teenager his age when they first meet in the Beast Woods. But Menel is decades older due to aging slower as a half-elf.
- Pointy Ears: Due to being a half-elf, Menel's ears are long and pointy.
- Pretty Boy: He's a beautiful man with very feminine facial features and slender body figure.
- Sarcastic Devotee: To Will. Menel makes fun of him and criticizes him for his naivety, but he's Will's most loyal friend who always has his back.
- Too Desperate to Be Picky: After his village fell to the undead, Menel is forced to lead the surviving men to thievery in order to survive in the Beast Woods, as supplies and aid will never arrive from Whitesails.
- Tsundere: Harsh type. Menel very clearly cares for Will after they've partnered up, but he has a hard time admitting it because of his rough attitude.
- Undying Loyalty: To Will. Not only has he sworn to follow and help him for the rest of his days, Menel also promises to look after Will's kids and grandkids since he's bound to outlive Will. Though this may not be true anymore since Will absorbed dragon factor from Valacirca.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: He hates how Long-Lived he is, as it means that he has to watch the few people he's grown to care about wither away and die while he remains as young-looking as ever. Marple tells him not to worry about such things and helps him move on from her death.
Gods
Gracefeel
Gracefeel
Voiced by: Aoi Yūki (Japanese), Veronica Taylor (English), Adriana Romero (Latin American Spanish)
The mysterious Goddess of the Flame & the Eternal Flux as well as Will's patron deity. Once widely renowned and worshiped during the Union Age, the Great Collapse scattered her followers, and now Gracefeel is considered a minor deity in the present day.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: In this case, more like a jealous goddess. Gracefeel is not happy in the fourth book when we (the readers) find out rather humorously that Stagnate is a female goddess and has apparently decided she is in love with Will.
- Divine Date: Will confesses he is in love with Gracefeel in the Fifth Book after she heals him from some horrific wounds he suffered earlier. It's implied that Gracefeel reciprocates Will's feelings, but since she's not powerful enough to make an echo of herself, they will most likely end up as Star-Crossed Lovers.
- Don't Fear the Reaper: The closest this world gets to a Grim Reaper as the one responsible for escorting souls to their next life, but is also one of the most benevolent beings in the setting.
- Emotionless Girl: Generally reserved and solemn, though she does smile from time to time.
- Ethereal White Dress: Gracefeel is a goddess who guides the souls of the dead in the reincarnation cycle. Her beautiful white dress makes her look mystical and otherworldly.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: By the time the story begins, faith in Gracefeel has dwindled drastically and she uses up much of her remaining divine power intervening in the fight between Stagnate and Will's family. Thus, one of Will's major duties as her paladin is to figure out how to rekindle the masses' faith in her.
- Iconic Item: She's always depicted holding a lantern, either in hand or on a pole, as part of her role as a guide for souls to reach their next lives.
- In the Hood: How Gracefeel is usually depicted In-Universe and how she appears to Will when they meet for the first time.
- Magical Barefooter: She's a goddess appearing as a barefoot woman.
- Nice Girl: Kind and gentle, with a great affection for people.
- Not So Above It All: Normally an Emotionless Girl, but she has some good natured giggles at Will's expense when he's utterly baffled at finding out he became the Lord of the Beast Woods. Also see Clingy Jealous Girl.
- Not So Stoic: When Will is horribly wounded in the fifth book, Gracefeel desperately shouts for him to wake up. Will notes that her voice is shaking and that her voice is not used to speaking loudly.
- Patron God: Will forged a contract with Gracefeel, becoming her champion. In exchange for spreading her worship through his deeds and protecting the innocent, she grants him the power to use benedictions to heal and protect others, as well as send the undead to the afterlife.
- Pimped-Out Dress: In the light novels and anime, Gracefeel wears a simple yet elegant ballroom gown and corset that ripples in the front to represent her authority as the Goddess of Flux. This is also accompanied by a sleeveless jacket trimmed with fur to present her as a wise, authoritative figure. Averted in the manga adaptation, which she wears a much simpler and modest-looking robe instead.
- Psychopomp: As the goddess of flux, her role is to escort the souls of the deceased to their next lives. She is responsible for bringing Will's soul from Earth to the world he currently lives in, granting him some of his past life's memories when they normally would be wiped as a kindness to motivate him to seek happiness in this new life.
- Samus Is a Girl: Among other things forgotten about Gracefeel over time was her gender. Will himself doesn't find out until he swears his oath to her.
Stagnate
Stagnate
Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (Japanese)
The God of Undeath and Will's primary adversary in the first volume.
- Anti-Villain: Stagnate genuinely wants what is best for both Will and for mortals as a whole, especially heroes. That being, in her eyes, to live eternally in undeath and never experience the tragedy of death.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Stagnate genuinely believes that the cycle of life and death is a tragedy, especially how it separates loved ones. He wishes to turn the entire world into the undead so that they can be free of such pain for eternity.
- Deal with the Devil: The Devil in question, in this case. Before the story even began, Blood, Mary, and Gus made a deal with Stagnate in order to defeat a powerful enemy in the city, becoming Undead. Stagnate wants their souls in the end as they are very powerful and favored individuals.
- Enemy Mine: Decides to aid Will and his party in their battle against the foul-dragon Valacirca by temporarily bringing back the long-dead Dwarven warriors of the Iron Mountains.
- Face–Heel Turn: Once considered one of the benevolent Gods, and the wisest of them to boot, Stagnate turned against them long before the story's events, becoming the God of Undeath.
- Graceful Loser: In contrast to her Echo, Stagnate herself seems to hold no grudge for Will defeating her in the first book, even apologizing sincerely for her Echo's rudeness.
- Psychopomp: Used to be one alongside her little sister Gracefeel.
- Samus Is a Girl: Despite manifesting through a very masculine-looking avatar early on, Stagnate is revealed to be a female goddess in the climax of the Fourth Book.
- The Undead: The Patron deity of them.
- Villainous Breakdown: Stagnate's Echo loses it when Will defeats him in the climax of the First book.
- Villain Respect: Stagnate initially saw Will as a mere accessory to Blood, Mary and Gus, but his resolve and strength impress them so much that Stagnate offers Will several times to join their side and even leads to her aiding him in his fight against the dragon Valacirca.
- We Can Rule Together: Stagnate makes this offer to Will multiple times. Will always refuses.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Stagnate's wish to turn all the world to undeath is born out of a desire to free people from having to grieve over the deaths of their loved ones.
City of the Dead
Residents
- Deal with the Devil: Before the story even began, Blood, Mary, and Gus made a deal with the Death God Stagnate in order to defeat a powerful enemy in the city, becoming Undead. Stagnate wants their souls in the end as they are very powerful and favored individuals.
- Fallen Hero: In the eyes of the Wise Gods, Gus, Mary, and Blood qualify as this. They were once great heroes, but signed a pact with Stagnate and became undead even if it was for selfless reasons. As such, whenever Mary prays to the fertility goddess she once served she bursts into flame. This is later subverted when it's revealed that their patron deities ultimately forgave them for their choices.
- Famed In-Story: Mary, Gus and Blood were powerful and famous enough individuals to get nicknamed (Mater's Daughter, Wandering Sage and War Ogre respectively) and fought together with a small army to kill the Demon King over two-hundred years ago. Unfortunately, they failed to actually kill him, which led Mary and Gus to try to seal him away instead. Stagnate thus told them to become undead to allow them to eternally guard the seal which they've done for over two hundred years. Will later hears Bee singing a song of them, the "Three Heroes".
- Parental Substitute: Blood, Mary and Gus raised Will from infancy. Will considers Blood as his father, Mary as his mother and Gus as his grandfather. Fittingly, even before then Gus cared for Blood and Mary like they were his own children.
- The Undead: The three are a different type of undead, but they retain their consciousness and personality from when they were alive.
Blood
Blood
Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese), Bill Butts (English), Raúl Solo (Latin American Spanish)
A skeletal warrior and Will's surrogate father figure. He's boisterous, outgoing, and powerful in equal measure, training Will physically to prepare him for the outside world.
- Barbarian Longhair: Blood has kept his flaming mane of red hair, which reaches down to his knees.
- Battle Couple: Blood and Mary had a thing going when they were alive. Before assaulting the High King, Blood had proposed that after this mission he and Mary might retire together, and have a child.
- Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: He's the animated skeleton of a legendary warrior known in life as the War Ogre, known for being a freakishly strong Blood Knight. His weapon of choice is an enormous two-handed sword which he is quite expert with.
- Death by Origin Story: By placing his love for Will over their seal they swore to protect, Blood's contract with Stagnate is voided and he dies once again, guided by Gracefeel into the afterlife.
- Deliberate Injury Gambit: He likes to use his ribcage to disarm his opponent by getting stabbed through, even when he still had flesh and blood. This is how he disarmed High King of the demon sword Overeater while alive. Mary understandably made him promise not to do this again.
- Dem Bones: Upon becoming an undead, he was turned into a skeleton. He retains all of the physical strength he had in life, but has no vital organs and is significantly lighter, letting him jump higher and move more quickly than his enormous size would suggest.
- Like a Son to Me: Him talking with Mary before they would try to kill the Demon King makes it pretty obvious that William is entirely the son he always wanted to have with Mary after the battle.
- Muscles Are Meaningful: In life, he was an amazingly muscular and tall man renowned for his incredible strength. Although his body has rotted away to bones upon becoming an undead, his height and broad shoulders still portray his former might quite well.
- Red Baron: In life, he was known as the War Ogre as well as one of the "Three Heroes" leading the party to defeat the Demon King.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: While he's much more supportive of Will than Gus is, Blood tends to throw Will into the deep end against real monsters while training him to defend himself. After Will jokes about being a genius following his first monster kill, Blood takes this as a cue to escort Will into a nearby dungeon and ditching him there to get out on his own.Blood: I'll say this beforehand, but all of your opponents are going to attack you will come with the intent to kill.
Will: Huh?
Blood: Of course, I'll supervise you, but if an accident happens you'll die. So don't die. - Taking the Bullet: Blood did this for Mary. It gets mentioned because in Will's rite of passage fight against Blood, Blood caught a weapon with his ribcage and Mary gets upset and complains that he promised that he wouldn't do that again...which he did for her while he was still alive, that she barely managed to save his life from.
- Violence is the Only Option: When there's a problem he doesn't know how to solve, Blood advocates for just using brute force to smash whatever is standing in the way. Will remembers this when he fails to kill the wyvern invading Whitesails in a single hit, prompting him to judo throw the wyvern to death before it can break free of its binds.
Mary
Mary
Voiced by: Yui Horie (Japanese), Veronica Taylor (English), Rosa María Martínez (Latin American Spanish)
A mummified priestess and Will's surrogate mother figure. Kind, gentle, and serene, she teaches Will life skills as well as instructing him to be pious and courteous in all things.
- Anger Born of Worry: She gets angry at Blood for using his old trick of trapping his opponent's sword between his ribs in his last fight with Will. Mary says Blood did that even when he was still a living human and only survived thanks to Mary's blessing healing him whenever he got hurt.
- Battle Couple: Blood and Mary had a thing going when they were alive. Before assaulting the High King, Blood had proposed that after this mission he and Mary might retire together, and have a child.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's gentle and virtuous like a saint, but no one likes seeing her angry. Just the thought of making her mad is enough to bring Will and Blood to heel. Even the aloof Gus is easily cowed at the sign of her displeasure.
- Catch-22 Dilemma: Before the battle with the High King, Blood asked Mary to stay behind, as he couldn't take it if she died. She refused, as he'd need her healing skill, causing him to threaten to knock her uncouncious so she wouldn't be able to follow. She tells him if she woke up and found out he'd went to face the High King without her, she'd kill herself anyway, making his entire precaution pointless.
- Cleavage Window: She wears a dress with a large cleavage cutout.
- Death by Origin Story: By placing her love for Will over their seal they swore to protect, Mary's contract with Stagnate is voided and she dies once again, guided by Gracefeel into the afterlife.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Mary is a saintly and motherly woman with long blonde hair.
- Holy Burns Evil: As a result of selling her soul to an evil god and becoming an undead, Mary's body burns whenever she prays to the goddess Mater as punishment for her betrayal of the virtuous gods. Mary still withstands the pain of the flames to pray to Mater on a daily basis. Will's hands and forearms are badly burned when he sneaks into the temple, sees her on fire, and jumps in to save her. Subverted. Mater actually forgave Mary almost immediately and never stopped loving her, and briefly even intercedes to stop Stagnate from reaching her. Will realizes that Mary couldn't forgive herself, and Mater only burned her because she knew Mary subconsciously wished to be chided and punished.
- Inhuman Eye Concealers: Under her blindfold, Mary has empty eye sockets since her eyes got burned when she turned into a mummy.
- Like a Son to Me: It's quite clear with her conversation with Blood before they fight but fail to kill the Demon King that William is absolutely the son she hoped to have with Blood after the battle.
- A Saint Named Mary: Mary is Will's kind adoptive mother and a priestess of the goddess Mater. She was so pious to her goddess that she was popularly nicknamed Mater's Daughter in life. Despite having been forced to betray her goddess by selling her soul to an evil god, Mary remains very devout to Mater and teaches Will about her religious practices.
- Seductive Mummy: Mary is a mummy, yet looks like a beautiful woman with a blindfold.
- Undeathly Pallor: In the anime, her skin is a sickly white, illustrating how she became a mummy after turning undead.
Gus
Gus
Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English), Andrés García (Latin American Spanish)
The ghost of a wizard and a sort of grandfatherly figure for Will. Gus is snide, conniving, and manipulative, teaching Will both the Words of Creation as well as how to be pragmatic and thoughtful.
- Cannot Tell a Lie: As a powerful wizard, Gus does not openly lie much, if at all, as doing so would weaken the power of his Words of Creation. The only time Will can remember him lying is when he lies about his attempt to murder Will being a Secret Test of Character, settling for pensive silence at any other point.
- Dirty Old Man: If he's not annoying people or talking about magic or money, chances are that he's talking about girls.
- Every Man Has His Price: Gus repeatedly hammers into Will that money is a powerful force and that using it can do many of the things sorcery can with half the fuss. Will initially dismisses this as Gus' money fetish, but looking back he recognizes that money can be used to motivate people to do great things.
- Friendly Ghost: The ghost Gus acts like a grumpy, yet caring grandfather figure to Will.
- High-Class Glass: He wears a monocle over his left eye.
- Irony: Gus is the one who most stresses the importance of material goods and worldly pleasures to Will, but became a ghost upon death because he had no lingering attachments tying him down to his body.
- I Want Grandkids: He seems to genuinely want Will to get a girlfriend after he returns home to Gus. While his initial mockery of Will not being able to seduce women could have just been Gus being Gus, he's truly dejected after Will asks if he can bring Bee to meet Gus and Will makes it clear that they don't have anything resembling a romantic relationship.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Gus can be dismissive and condescending, but he's a good teacher and a better adoptive granddad (eventually).
- Lazy Alias: Gus hides his true name. It's Augustus, which the name Gus is of course pretty often just a diminutive for Augustus.
- Money Fetish: Both as a human and a ghost, money is Gus' greatest pleasure. That said, he's more excited by the things one can do with money than by money itself: money that is being hoarded rather than moving through an economy and growing is "dead" money as far as he's concerned, making him more of a capitalist idealist than a greedy coot. He gives up the remainder of his fortune to Will because of this, telling him to invest it and make it grow, since he no longer can; according to one of Bee's stories, he did something similar with the boy and girl the Three Heroes rescued from a wyvern.
- Offing the Offspring: After realizing that Blood and Mary's love for Will is risking their contract with Stagnate, Gus tries to murder Will and Make It Look Like an Accident to prevent Stagnate from claiming their souls. But after Will collapses from exhaustion and grief before telling Gus to Kill Me If It Satisfies You, Gus' resolve breaks and he passes it off as a Secret Test of Character while plotting for a way to fight Stagnate once his echo inevitably arrives to claim Blood and Mary.
- Reed Richards Is Useless: Quite averted - despite his staggering magical power, he makes a point to impress onto Will that simple economics is a truly powerful force on its own and should not be ignored for getting things done. This helps Will turn Beast Woods from a monster-ridden forest into a safe and prosperous place by thinking about how to the lay the groundwork for such a place rather than simply going around killing monsters by his own power.
- Rescue Romance: He discusses this when Will returns home on his way to fight Valacirca. Gus wonders if Will has had any potentially romantic encounters where he saved a strong-willed girl on the verge of becoming a bandit, or rescuing a female merchant whose bodyguard ran away, protected a dependable female knight or royalty from a fallen kingdom. Will reluctantly admits that he's had all those encounters... but only with men. Gus then laughs his head off about Will's inability to get a date.
- Sex as Rite-of-Passage: When Will returns home two years after he left, one of the first things Gus asks about is whether or not Will gotten a girlfriend yet. He then mocks Will for being unable to seduce women and wonders if he'll ever see his great-grandchildren before he returns to the cycle of reincarnation. He then talks about how Blood was a total Chick Magnet to rub the salt in the wound.
- Stern Teacher: Gus is the hardest on Will and makes him study everything from magic to economics to medicine, everything he could possibly use in the real world. He often hands him a stack of books taller than he is and tests him to memorize their contents before immediately passing him another stack of books. Gus' lessons are so tough that Will surmises that the workload is meant to make him give up.
- Undeathly Pallor: Gus' skin is a bluish color in the anime, reflecting his undead status as a ghost.
- Wisdom from the Gutter: Most wizards around Gus' level tend to be quiet and thoughtful in order to preserve their power over the Words of Creation by giving weight to the rare times they do speak. However, not only does Gus rarely shut up, he's also a Dirty Old Man obssessed with money and booze. His magic is no less diminished, because on the occasions he does act seriously, Gus proves himself to be incredibly perceptive and intelligent, leaving no doubt to the weight of his own words.
- Wizard Classic: Gus embodies this to a T. He's a wizened old man with a pointy Gag Nose, flowing hair and beard, wizard's hat, and even High-Class Glass to emphasize his scholarly appearance. Compared to the loud and energetic Blood and the kind and pious May, Gus is the most aloof of Will's parental figures and prefers to study in seclusion when he isn't drilling his lessons about economics and magic into Will. The fact that he was consciously aware his friends' attachment to Will would end their seal with Stagnate and cause their deaths probably contributed to his treatment of Will.
Whitesails
Antonio
Antonio "Tonio"
Voiced by: Koji Yusa (Japanese), Eduardo Ménez (Latin American Spanish)
A merchant and hawker who is traveling alongside Robina. Although he's a bit of a disaster magnet, Tonio is a good-natured man who is great at his job. After Will saves him from an ape attack, Tonio becomes his middleman for all kinds of business dealings.
- Friendly Shopkeeper: Tonio is a travelling merchant who journeys along with Robina. Despite many run-ins with ill fortune, including losing his wife to illness and his entire trading company to a storm, he remains as kind and easy-going as ever. He's happy to help Will buy and sell things for expeditions at a fair price as thanks for Will saving him from an ape attack. Will also considers him an ideal role model in what it means to be an adult.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: While he introduces himself as "Antonio", most of his friends just call him "Tonio".
- The Pollyanna: Despite numerous tragedies like losing his wife to illness and his entire trading company to a storm, Antonio is easy-going and good-natured man who tries to make the best of every situation he's in.
- The Reliable One: Tonio can easily read when Will is going to be headed out, leading Will to realize that Tonio prepared for his excursion against Valacirca long before he announced his intention to do it.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: He's the savvy guy to Bee's energetic girl while they're traveling together. Antonio is meek and mild-mannered but skilled merchant, whereas Bee is a chipper and talented troubadour. When confronted with a giant ape, Tonio cowers in terror, while Bee attempt to divert the ape's attention away from him until Will shows up.
Robina Goodfellow
Robina "Bee" Goodfellow
Voiced by: Eri Suzuki (Japanese), Cristina Valenzuela (English), Paola García (Latin American Spanish)
A cheerful halfling troubadour, Will first encounters her travelling alongside Antonio in the Beast Woods. Bee is a proud songwriter and poet who is happy to play a tune for some coin and a chance to lift people's spirits with tales of heroes and heroism. After saving her life from an ape attack, Will becomes the latest subject of her work.
- Beautiful Singing Voice: She has a very pretty singing voice, which is a requirement for someone who makes a living with music.
- The Cutie: She's small, unbelievably cute, and huggable.
- Hobbits: She's a halfling, resulting in her diminutive stature and Pointy Ears.
- Idiot Hair: She has an ahoge sticking up on top of her head.
- In-Series Nickname: She asks to be called "Bee", from the "bi" in Robina.
- Motor Mouth: She talks very fast when she's excited.
- Nice Girl: She's very friendly and bubbly.
- The Not-Love Interest: Robina is the first girl whom Will meets and plays a moral support role to him, but as he explains to Gus, their relationship is entirely platonic and stays that way.
- Pointy Ears: She has long, pointy ears due to being a halfling.
- The Smurfette Principle: Out of the companions Will gains after starting his journey, Robina is the only girl.
- Token Mini-Moe: She's the smallest and cutest of Will's companions, with the rest being grown men.
- Wandering Minstrel: Bee makes her living as a troubadour never tied down to one place for long, spreading stories of heroes new and old in taverns and on stages around the world. The songs she writes about Will contribute to his growing fame and social standing after he arrives in Whitesails.
- What the Hell, Hero?: She rips into Will for falling into the Chimera's trap and getting Menel injured. She then tells him that as the strongest one, he should've been the one to protect them all. Unfortunately, all this does is send Will into a downward spiral ending in a bout of Suicidal Overconfidence.
Ethelbald Rex Fertile
Prince Ethelbald Rex Fertile
Voiced by: Atsushi Tamaru (Japanese), Fabián Rétiz (Latin American Spanish)
The Duke of Southmark, Lord of Whitesails, and the younger half-brother of Owen, King of the Fertile Kingdom. He governs the Southern Continent and all territories within. A cunning but not unreasonable politician, his governance has kept the city thriving despite the threat of monster attacks from the Beast Woods.
- Aloof Older Brother: Inverted. Ethelbald is widely considered to be more talented than his older brother Owen as a ruler and administrator. Given his popularity, influence, and shrewdness, many expected him to stake a claim on the throne, with some factions in the nobility trying to egg him into doing so. But Ethelbald made no such claims, instead becoming the Duke of Southmark because of how much he loves his older brother.
- Antagonistic Governor: Subverted. He's understandably on edge when Will suddenly requests soldiers to help subjugate the Beast Woods and initially considers having Will killed. But Will manages to convince him with his sheer audacity and sincerity. After this, Ethelbald finds himself taken with Will and offers to knight him on the spot. Ethelbald's wise and shrewd leadership has also made him beloved by his subjects, who initially suspected that he'd try to make a move for the throne of the Fertile Kingdom.
- Big Brother Worship: He loves his older brother Owen, who is a good-natured but ordinary person who constantly doted upon him despite rumors and factions trying to pit Ethelbald against him. So despite Ethelbald's popularity and political skill, he made no attempts to seize the throne out of love for his brother and to preserve the stability of the Fertile Kingdom, instead taking over Southmark.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's understandably wary of Will, a mysterious figure of incredible strength who slayed a wyvern single-handedly, especially after Will requests a retinue of soldiers to subjugate the Beast Woods. He considers having Will murdered for asking this so brazenly, but Will manages to convince him to send his aid through some heartfelt but punchy words. Seeing how sincere Will is, Ethelbald offers to knight him to grant him the authority to lead such an expedition. He subsequently shows himself to be a compassionate and shrewd ruler capable of great generosity and decisive action.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: He's in charge of governing and expanding colonization efforts on the Southern Continent, ruling justly and shrewdly to allow Whitesails to prosper.
Bart Bagley
Bishop Bart Bagley
Voiced by: Minoru Inaba (Japanese), Paco Mauri (Latin American Spanish)
Bart Bagley is the leader of the local temple denomination, making him the highest religious authority in Whitesails. As gruff and cantankerous as he may be, Bagley is in fact a highly competent and pious man who takes his duties seriously.
- Fat Bastard: Subverted. Bagley is a portly old man who treats everyone coarsely and is more often seen eating and speaking with politicians than doing his priestly duties. But Bagley turns out to be a pious man whose carousing is actually his efforts to curry favor to maintain the connections and good name of the temple.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Bagley is a good man who only wants the best for those following the temple, but his cantankerous personality and constant busywork to maintain the temple's good name through favors and connections means that his own priests talk badly about him behind his back. Despite this, he continues to work hard for others' sake and intervenes on Will's behalf despite him being technically a temporary member of the temple's registry.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: By his own admission, his sour exterior is at least partially a front he projects for the sake of the temple. After all, if he was overly compassionate, he'd be seen as a pushover rather than an intimidating symbol of authority.
- Jerkass Has a Point: A more well-meaning example. He berates Will for giving away his services for free, as priests cannot live on nothing and not every priest can provide for themselves the way Mary and Will can, and people may start taking the priesthood for granted. Will compromises by asking for donations to the temple.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: His blunt and direct manner of speaking belies how good of a man he is deep down, and all of his efforts are toward securing the good name of the temple and the well-being of the temple's followers. He comes to Will's aid on numerous occasions despite lambasting him for his naivete and recklessness. As a result, Will respects and admires Bagley as a man he can trust.
- Jurisdiction Friction: He clashes quite a bit with Duke Ethelbald over William's projects, since, being both a priest and a feudal lord, William technically has to answer to both of them, and Bagley doesn't like it when the secular government intrudes on the practice of religion in Southmark. That said, the two men clearly have a lot of respect for each other.
- Knight Templar Parent: Subverted. In volume 5 he pulls a Parental Marriage Veto on Reystov and Anna, but then does the absolute bare minimum to respond when Will and Reystov arrange a bridenapping (quoth the priest he sends to Torch Port to negotiate her return: "I am drunk. Oh no, I took a bribe."). In other words, he actually supported the match but needed to save face with the nobility when his adopted daughter decided to marry a common sellsword.
- Mr. Exposition: Will's religious knowledge is 200 years out of date. As a result, it falls to Bagley and his temple to teach Will the ins and outs of present day religious rites, proper conduct, and the political side of religion. He also informs Will of the nature of the gods' blessings, as they grant those their favor to achieve something through them, and warns him not to flaunt his blessings and benedictions so freely, lest he lose their favor.
- Sinister Minister: Subverted. While some of his staff gripe that he's rude and never seems to be doing any real work aside from networking for the benefit of the temple (which he's kind of in charge of) and never actually publicly displays his benedictions unlike Will, Will only needs to see him pray in private once to be sure that he's just as in tune with his god as Mary. Bagley refuses to flout his blessings as that would be an abuse of his god's gifts and would bring a bad name to his religion.
Torch Port
Reystov
Reystov "the Penetrator"
Voiced by: Kenji Nomura (Japanese), Igor Cruz (Latin American Spanish)
- Attack Its Weak Point: During the battle with Valacirca, he would dart in and use his sword to lever the dragon's scales off.
- Dungeon Bypass: Pulls one off in volume 2. Will and Menel fight and kill the chimera and advance on the demon general that created it, only to find that Reystov slipped past them and killed the general while they were keeping the chimera busy.
- Glory Hound: Justified. He became an adventurer hoping that the stories of his deeds would last forever and reach the ears of his family in heaven. He recognized immediately when Will put out the call for adventurers in volume 2 that Will wanted "madmen" for the mission to clear and settle Beast Woods.
- Held Gaze: Will spots him and Anna trading significant looks during volume 2.
- Master Swordsman: He gives Will a good fight in volume 5 when they duel as a way for him to decide whether to retire.
- Nom de Guerre: He's nicknamed "the Penetrator" for his precise and lethal sword thrusts which often end in a Single-Stroke Battle.
- Official Couple: After a Near-Death Experience in volume 5, he decides to settle down with Anna in Torch Port.
- Sole Survivor: He was the second son of the chief of the Silverpeak Clan and was away at his uncle's village when his tribe's settlement was sacked by neighboring tribes and the clan massacred. He grew up wanting revenge, but realized as an adult that the attackers had become prosperous and trying to take vengeance would only bring trouble on his uncle's tribe, and set out to become an adventurer.
The Rust Mountains
Valacirca
Valacirca
- Arc Villain: He's the primary villain of the two-parter The Lord of the Rust Mountains, i.e. volumes 3 and 4.
- Attack Its Weak Point: He's so old and has been in so many battles that many of his scales are missing. Precise strikes to those locations are able to wound him, and the Scratch Damage adds up over the course of Will's battle with him.
- Card-Carrying Villain: He's proud of his reputation as a Hero Killer and openly describes himself as the villain of both the dwarves' and Will's life stories. Either his own death adds to Will's legend and keeps him remembered, or Will's death adds to his legend, and either way, he wins.
- Eye Scream: Aurvangr cut out one of Valacirca's eyes when they fought.
- Expy: Volumes 3 and 4 are in large part a Whole-Plot Reference to The Hobbit, and in terms of role, he's Smaug to Al's Thorin Oakenshield.
- Hero Killer: He killed Aurvangr, King of the Dwarves, in a massive battle in the heart of the Iron Kingdom, but not before Aurvangr took one of his eyes.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His epithets include "the Gods' Sickle" and "Calamity's Sickle".
- Only in It for the Money: Subverted. Gus notes that Valacirca has, at times, worked for both the good gods and the evil as a mercenary, and suggests just buying the dragon off (though he admits they probably can't afford him). It turns out that nowadays Valacirca actually cares more about his role as a mythical villain than about riches anyway.
- Poisonous Person: He's a foul-dragon, meaning that in addition to his Breath Weapon and Natural Weapons, he gives off a poisonous miasma that has ruined the surrounding environments. It even seeped through the mountain to poison the elven realm of Lothdor, with a little help from a Taboo Word.
- Slashed Throat: Will ultimately does him in by cutting his throat open as he's about to use his Breath Weapon, causing it to backfire on them both, and finishing the job with Overeater.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Will realizes while fighting Valacirca that the dragon's prodigious strength and powers as a predatory animal means he has never had to train for battle the way a humanoid must. As a result, he's able to find openings in the dragon's attack patterns to slip in and inflict Scratch Damage.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: He evades Will's attempt to use the Word of Entity Obliteration by transforming into wind.
- We Can Rule Together: When Will and his party first reach him, he immediately knows that they're strong enough they could potentially kill him in battle, so he offers to swear loyalty to Will in exchange for his life. Will realizes that the dragon would uphold the letter of the oath (since outright lying risks loss of the use of the Language of Magic), and then use various Genghis Gambits to make himself indispensible to him, all the while continuing to ravage the world. Will counter-offers the condition of behaving like a productive member of society, and Valacirca declines.
- Worthy Opponent: He's even more of a Blood Knight than Will, and the way he sees it, either his own death adds to Will's legend and keeps him remembered, or Will's death adds to his own legend as a Hero Killer. Either way, he wins.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: His Breath Weapon can burn souls away. Will returns the favor by vampirically absorbing his life force with Overeater at the end of their battle, gaining a semblance of the dragon's strength, durability, and facility with Words.
Al / Vindalfr
Vindalfr, Prince of the Iron Country
Voiced by: Go Shinomiya (Japanese)
The young prince of the dwarves and grandson of King Aurvangr, Al settles in Torch Port with his people in the second year of Will's reign over Beast Woods, and comes to admire the young paladin.
- The Apprentice: Will agrees to take Al on as his squire (translated as thane in the anime) and trains him to fight and to lead the way the Three Heroes taught him.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Al is a weakling when Will takes him on as his squire, but months of intense physical training by Will and Menel bulks him up considerably to where he can contribute just as well as veteran sellsword Reystov to the battle against Valacirca. He's not at Will's level yet, but neither is anyone else.
- Dub Name Change: His full name is Vindalfr in all versions, but he uses the nickname ル ɾu in the original Japanese. The English translation of the Light Novel changes this to "Al", while the anime starts with "Ru" or "Lou" then does a Sudden Name Change to Al at about episode 7 of the second season.
- Fighting for a Homeland: The dwarves were exiled from their homeland in the Iron Country during the Apocalypse How at the end of the Union Age, though Al was born long after this. After Valacirca begins to awaken, he accompanies Will on his quest to slay the dragon in hopes of bringing his people home from their exile.
- Inconsistent Spelling: His nickname is "Al" in the translation of the Light Novel but is initially given as "Ru" in the anime subtitles and "Lou" in the English dub, then he undergoes a Sudden Name Change to Al.
- Sheltered Aristocrat: Because he's the last survivor of the royal family, the surviving dwarves are heavily overprotective of him and have unintentionally stifled his personal growth. He has to grow a spine and override them just to get the chance at being Will's squire.
- Virtuous Character Copy: He's based heavily on Thorin Oakenshield from The Hobbit: the young prince of stateless dwarven refugees who seeks to reclaim their mountain home lost to a dragon long ago. Unlike Thorin, though, he doesn't succumb to gold-lust and start picking fights with his allies after Valacirca is defeated, and survives past the end of The Lord of the Rust Mountains to become King of the Iron Country.
