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This is the list of all villains in Trials of Mana.
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    In General 
  • Adaptational Wimp: Every one of them is notably easier to defeat in the remake, as with all bosses. They remain quite challenging, but not only their attacks can now be dodged, but they are telegraphed by red zones signalling their area of effect beforehand. And their deadlier attack can be prevented by destroying their power source, which can knock them out and make them very vulnerable.
  • All Your Powers Combined: The Final Boss absorbs the Elemental Powers of all Benevodons and use their attacks against the heroes, to a much direr scale.
  • Badass Boast: Each main villain delivers one before the Final Battle, boasting about how supremely powerful they are and how they will break the heroes' hope, lives and whatever they throw at them.
  • Barrier Change Boss: Each Final Boss element and corresponding weakness depends on his colour (or background for the Dark Lich). The Crimson Wizard also has it, but his own follows different rules.
  • Big Bad: There are three available, depending on which hero is chosen first. The Dragon Lord for Duran and Angela, the Masked Mage for Kevin and Charlotte, and his Dark Majesty for Hawkeye and Riesz.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: Three groups of villains with their own objectives for the Mana Sword, who will fight each other for it. The victor is always the most plot-relevant to the chosen main character.
  • Boss Banter: Each plot-relevant boss has this in the remake, including of course the major villains. They mostly boast and gloat, but refreshingly the hero answers with some well-placed Shut Up, Hannibal!, calling them out of their shortcomings and mistakes without mincing words.
  • Break Meter: In the remake, every major boss can conjure elements to draw power from, to launch their mightiest move. Should the heroes break all elements before, they get knocked out and highly vulnerable. Should they succeed on the other hand, and the more element remains the deadlier said move will be.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: Subtlety isn't their forte. They are called the Three Great Evils of Mana, for starters.
  • Chewing the Scenery: All three hurl whatever restrain they had left flying right through the window, during the Final Battle.
  • Cutting Off the Branches: Hawkeye is among the wielders of the Mana Sword in Echoes of Mana, indicating that his Dark Majesty won against the other two in canon.
  • The Dragon: The Crimson Wizard for the Dragon Lord, Goremand for the Masked Mage, and Belladonna for his Dark Majesty.
    • They all pretend to be this to the ruler of their country, while they are manipulating or outright brainwashing them.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Him: Any villain not in the Big Bad faction gets anticlimactically killed in action offscreen, during the battle of the Sanctuary of Mana. A survivor remains to explain what happened, only to bite the dust in turn soon after. It both establishes the Big Bad as a threat and disposes of the others villainous factions.
  • Evil Chancellor: Each right-hand to their monarch. The Beast King saw through Goremand's act but went with it to toughen his kingdom (though Evil Is Not a Toy). The other two are fooled and worse...
  • Evil Gloating: Roughly 90% of the Big Bad's lines. Same with the True Final Boss and the villain's lieutenants' Boss Banter in the remake.
  • Evil Is Bigger: All Big Bads' One-Winged Angel form is roughly the size of a four story building. Special mention to the Mondoragon in the original who is too huge to fit onscreen, but scaled down to the other's size in the remake, and the True Final Boss, whose normal form is close to six meters tall and whose Scaled Up form could wrap the entire Empire State Building in her coils.
  • Evil Overlord: Each Final Boss is of the world-threatening kind. To say nothing of the True Final Boss.
  • Evil Versus Evil: Each faction is at war with the other two, and only one ends up winning.
  • Eviler than Thou: Several instances.
    • The chosen hero determines the villain in the story, and his villainous faction will wipe out the others in the battle of the Sanctuary of Mana.
    • In the remake, Anise eclipses them all as soon as she resurfaces.
  • Final Boss: Guess Who? Kevin and Charlotte fight the Masked Mage turned into the Dark Lich, the easiest of the three (though quite harder in the remake). Duran and Angela fight the Dragon Lord turned into the Mondoragon, the medium hardest (though quite easier in the remake). And Hawkeye and Riesz fight his Dark Majesty turned into the Archdemon, the hardest of all.
  • Generic Doomsday Villain: The three Big Bads lack depth, contrasting their much more fleshed out servants. They are here to provide a Final Boss at the centre of the conflict, nothing more. The most glaring being the Dragon Lord, for the other two at least come with a Tragic Villain package.
  • Godhood Seeker: Each individual Big Bad wants to become the new god of the world of Fa'Diel, and boast loudly about their supreme godhood in the grand finale.
  • The Heavy: The seconds-in-command bear the entire plot on their shoulders, twisting their kingdom, shaping the quest of each related hero and being their personal Arch-Enemy. It is telling that they and not their bosses make cameos in games like Rise of Mana and Lord of Vermilion.
  • It's Personal with the Dragon: Each hero's major beef is with The Dragon, while the head honcho is only there to be taken down at the end.
    • The Crimson Wizard attacked the castle Duran was sworn to protect (twice), killing all his comrades and utterly humiliating him, so his real motivation for the story is to mount the Wizard's head on his wall. Saving the world just sweetens the deal. The Wizard's also caused the True Queen Valda to neglect her daughter Angela and try to sacrifice her. This escalates when the Crimson Wizards abducts Valda herself, coming to (fatal) blows with Angela soon after.
    • Kevin hates Goremand for turning his Only Friend the wolf pup Karl into a feral monster he had to kill in self-defence. Oh, and also for pushing his people to war against humans from which he descends as well, making him even harder to fit in. As for Charlotte, she hates him for abducting Heath, but she is more preoccupied with bringing her best friend back than to settle her score. Not that she would disdain the opportunity though.
    • Belladonna earned Hawkeye staunch hatred for turning Nevarl from a noble Thieves' Guild into a warmongering kingdom, before killing his best friend Eagle, framing him, and holding his friend Jessica hostage to further twist the knife. She also rubbed Riesz the wrong way by annexing her kingdom, burning her castle, killing her father King Joster, and as if it wasn't enough kidnapping her kid brother Elliot to use as his Dark Majesty's vessel. Both understandably swear to make her pay.
  • Kill the God: They plan to kill the Mana Goddess and fit in her shoes.
  • Large and in Charge: The Final Boss and True Final Boss are the highest authorities over evil, and roughly the size of your average Kaiju, if not huger.
  • The Man Behind the Man: Each Big Bad is this to The Dragon.
  • The Man in Front of the Man: The Dragon always fakes obedience to their liege, but controls them.
  • Manipulative Bastard: The seconds-in-command flawlessly play on the need of the factions they infiltrate to use them for their own gain. Not to mention the heroes doing precisely what the Big Bad wants by killing the Benevodons without suspecting. Even the Benevodons are but pawns in their games.
  • Near-Villain Victory: The final foe, no matter the route, will have absorbed the power of the Mana Sword and the Benevodons, and slain the Goddess of Mana without fail.
  • Nothing Can Stop Us Now!: Their vision after having gained divine power and slain the Mana Goddess. They gloat that no-one is mighty enough to oppose them, not even the heroes. Spoilers, they're wrong.
  • Obviously Evil: The three main baddies being Card Carrying Villains like nobody's business, they dress and look Accordingly. Belladonna (in her disguise), the Crimson Wizard, and the Tainted Soul avert it, but the other seconds and thirds in command come out of the same barrel...
  • One-Winged Angel: The three main villains do this before the Final Battle, and the remake's Greater-Scope Villain does the Scaled Up variation when defeated in normal form. Special mention to his Dark Majesty, whose One-Winged Angel form goes One-Winged Angel in turn, and whose Dragon has one.
  • Static Role, Exchangeable Character: There is always The Dragon manipulating a nation to awake the local Sealed Evil in a Can, working for the Evil Overlord coveting the Mana Sword to Kill the God and get rid of his rivals. No matter who among the three get the role.
  • This Cannot Be!: The final boss's dying words when the heroes manage to kill them.
  • Villain World: Each Big Bad wants to make Fa'Diel into their playground. The Masked Mage wants to make a global Necrocracy. His Dark Majesty wants to unleash Hell on Earth and give the world to his subjects (with himself on top of course). The Dragon Lord just wants chaos and destruction For the Evulz.
  • Villainous Breakdown: When the Not Quite Dead Faerie restrains the Final Boss and heals the party, he cannot fathom what is hurting them so, nor how the heroes can stand without Mana. Learning that the Mana Sword lingers in their heart, giving them a winning chance, utterly baffles him. He totally loses it, swearing to crush whatever hope they have, then screaming in disbelief as he is dealt the fatal blow.
  • You're Nothing Without Your Phlebotinum: Each of the final bosses tells the heroes that there is no way they can win without the Sword of Mana. They are, of course, wrong.

The Dragon Lord's Faction

    The Dragon Lord/The Mondoragon 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dragon_lord_artwork.jpg
Click here to see his Mondoragon form
"I remember a faerie that met a similar fate. She was with the Prince of Valsena and his Knight. I was caught unaware by the Golden Knight's foolish attack and we both fell. It took me so long to regain my strength but now! I am the strongest of the gods!"

The main villain in Duran's and Angela's storylines.

Very little is known about the Dragon Lord. He waged war across the land, but a young Hero King Richard and the Golden Knight Loki fought him and were thought victorious. During this confrontation, the Dragon Lord and Loki fell down a deep hole, believed to have died upon impact. It turns out that he managed to survive, and plans a second bid at world domination.


  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: His dragon form is the hugest enemy in the original game, so large that he doesn't even fit on-screen. In the remake, he is as big as the other two, but even he in the original is dwarfed by Anise's true form, also draconic.
  • Breath Weapon: His mightiest attack is Flare, a devastating fiery breath taking up the entire screen.
  • Deal with the Devil: He offered to grant the Crimson Wizard's dream of wielding magic in exchange of half of his life-force to revive himself. Naturally not out of the goodness of his heart. He did respect his part of the bargain, but never mentioned that it would corrupt the Crimson Wizard into his slave.
  • Diabolus ex Nihilo: He's the one behind the Darkshine Knight and the Crimson Wizard, beyond that, there's very little known about him.
  • Disney Death: Used for a villain, oddly enough. The Dragon Lord fell down a deep hole with Loki, both being assumed to have died at the time. However, he merely ended up severely injured.
  • Dragons Are Demonic: A thoroughly evil Dragon Monarch who is one of the three Great Evils of Fa'Diel.
  • Fangs Are Evil: His true form has very big fangs.
  • Flat Character: Has no personality beyond "eeeeeeevil" and no goal beyond power for the sake of it.
  • For the Evulz: He wants to become a god and cause death and destruction all across the world, and has no real motive beyond the fact that he feels like it.
  • Monster Lord: The ruler of the lesser evil dragons, much smarter, bigger and mightier than his subjects, who have all regressed to a small, feral state devoid of magic.
  • No Name Given: Only ever referred to as his title of the Dragon Lord. Taking Legend of Mana as a distant sequel reveals his name to be Tiamat in the original Japanese and Drakonis in the English translation.
  • No Ontological Inertia: If Angela or Duran are not the heroes, it's revealed that the Dragon Lord's power is what has kept the Darkshine Knight alive, with them unable to survive him for long.
  • Not Quite Dead: He was thought dead in the backstory, but unfortunately survived.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: A ginormous dragon monarch who can assume a humanoid form, has the power to manipulate souls and life-force and many, many, many others.
  • Reptiles Are Abhorrent: As an evil dragon, he is a thoroughly abhorrent reptile.
  • Returning Big Bad: Retroactively, as he or at least a very close alternate counterpart came back as a major villain in the following game Legend of Mana.
  • Scaled Up: His true form, which is too huge to fit on-screen.
  • Soul Power: Being able to take life-force from willing participants, bind souls to him and keep them tethered on the Earthly Planes, he sure knows his subject.
  • Stationary Boss: Subverted. You would expect this since he is a screen-filling final boss in the original game, but he defies expectations by leaping into the foreground. On top of this he is damaged by attacking his head, which does move. Completely averted in the remake, where he does move quite often and is fast for his size.
  • To Create a Playground for Evil: He desires godhood only to usher a new age of darkness, chaos and destruction, and entertain himself by having people sacrificed to him. Because? Because...
  • Volcano Lair: Dragonsmaw, the underground lair of the Dragon Lord, is hinted to be volcanic, with past eruptions turning the surrounding desert into crystal, resulting in the Crystal Desert.
  • Your Soul Is Mine!: Sort of. He took the Crimson Wizard's life-force, not his soul, but with the same result.

    The Crimson Wizard 

Voiced by Yūichi Nakamura

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trials_of_mana_crimson_wizard.png
Talented magician with untold dark power
Click here to see his past self from Echoes of Mana
"Poor boy. What senile old fool would entrust the security of his castle to a child? Oh? My apologies. You work for the king, do you not?"

The right-hand man to the True Queen Valda, ruler of the Magic Kingdom of Altena. He infiltrated Valsena Castle and slaughtered its guards, almost killing Duran while toying with him. He eventually leads Altenian forces' invasion of Valsena. The Crimson Wizard turns out to be working for the Dragon Lord.

He's the archenemy of Duran and Angela and the secondary villain in their storylines. His past before his Start of Darkness is explored in Echoes of Mana.


  • Alas, Poor Villain: Duran and Angela, who hated him more than anything, feel pity for him after hearing his story and his regret, even trying to talk him out of committing suicide.
  • Arch-Enemy: For both Angela and Duran.
  • The Archmage: He surpasses the True Queen herself. He's the human character with the most attack spells, mastering six elements equally. His power might be borrowed, but his magic expertise belongs to him alone.
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Far and away the mightiest wizard in Altena, which helped in in no small part to be named as the leader of their military forces.
  • Badass Cape: Wears an impressive-looking crimson cape flowing around him. His very title stems from it.
  • Badass Longrobe: Like any wizard worth their salt should wear, and it suits him well.
  • Barrier Change Boss: His vulnerability changes depending on what spell he casts, but since he spams them so quickly, his weakness changes too fast for the heroes to follow. It must be guessed in the original the same element he used or the opposite, but is announced in the remake.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Not exactly brainwashed, but the Faerie states that dark powers twisted his mind, turning him into the bastard Duran and Angela loathe so much. He is not the same after his defeat, showing that the Dragon Lord's hold was broken and that he has come to his senses.
  • Blood Knight: Judging from his laughing animation in the original and his playfully teasing Boss Banter in the remake, the Crimson Wizard loves to fight and especially to crush foes.
  • Cold Ham: While he sometimes lapses into Large Ham (mostly in combat or when looking down on others), most of his scenes have him dramatically Chewing the Scenery while rarely raising his voice. Special mention goes to the scene where he's introduced in Angela's story, where he addresses a regiment of mage guards the same way an actor would an audience.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: The Crimson Wizard schools Duran without even trying. He dances around his blows as long as it amuses him, casts two, low level spells and Duran is done for.
  • The Dreaded: The Crimson Wizard is infamous and feared all over the world. He shows why when he singlehandedly lays out most of Valsena's forces in Duran's prologue, with Duran himself (the kingdom's best swordsman) unable to so much as hit him.
  • Deal with the Devil: He's in one with the Dragon Lord. And children, listening to an Obviously Evil spirit promising you power is never a good idea; the Crimson Wizard promptly gets Drunk on the Dark Side and becomes a tyrant.
  • Desperation Attack: Only casts Ancient Curse when low on health. Which can be viewed as a good sign, provided the party survives it.
  • Drill Sergeant Nasty: An Altenian witch warrior explains that the Crimson Wizard trains his troops himself, and ruthlessly so.
  • Driven to Suicide: The utter emptiness and despair he feels after coming back to his senses is too much to bear. Seeing no point in going on, he destroys himself with the magic power that he desired so much but destroyed his life.
    "I only have half of my life as it is. The dark power given to me cannot replace what he took of my life-force. I will never be whole. ...Is there even a reason to go on?"
  • Drunk on the Dark Side: He absolutely revels in being so powerful, especially when he can rub it on the face of those he tramples. Ironic when one knows of his past. Perhaps a twisted form of revenge?
  • Dub Name Change: The fan-translation calls him Koren from his title, Koren no Madoshi (Wizard of the Crimson Lotus), for simplicity and the characters' name limit of the SNES. Oddly enough, they also kept his title. Which is shortened to the Crimson Wizard in the official translation.
  • Elemental Punch: In the remake, he strikes twice with his hand Wreathed in Flames as a close-range attack. This being a nod to the artworks always representing him with magic fires burning in his hand.
  • Evil Counterpart: For Angela. This is especially true when you learn his backstory. The two of them were both unable to cast magic. Angela was forced on a journey and gained magic through battle, while the Crimson Wizard found the Dragon Lord.
  • Evil Laugh: The remake gives him a quite unhinged one, as he blasts the heroes with his flying ship's energy cannons before invading the Mana Sanctuary.
  • Evil Redhead: A ginger and an utter bastard. (Though he was strawberry blond on his original game sprite, and again in Echoes of Mana.)
  • The Exile: He states that he exiled himself from Altena. His language implies this was more of a self-isolation than for any crime. In Echoes he explains that he was made an outcast.
  • Flash Step: Does this constantly during the Boss Battle against him, making him quite difficult to catch up with. He is a naturally fast runner in the original but magically warps himself in the remake.
  • Foil: To Angela. They both started incapable of casting any spells. However, Angela had talent and merely needed the right incentive to buckle down and work to develop her powers. The Crimson Wizard was not so lucky and when hard work didn't pay off, he went the easy route and traded half his life-force for immense power from the Dragon Lord.
  • Four-Star Badass: The supreme commander of Altena's armies of mages.
  • Freudian Excuse: His inability to perform magic himself and the shame it brought him pushed the Crimson Wizard right into the Dragon Lord's hands.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: Some talentless no-magic mage in training became the mightiest wizard there is, ready to deliver the world into the hands of a demonic dragon.
  • Frontline General: The Crimson Wizard commands the Altenian army and personally takes part in the assaults on Valsena, with his troops only assisting him.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: The Counter Magic spell or Matango Item can do literally that, reflecting back his spells and turning a pretty hard Boss Battle into an absolute breeze. Beware still, his total party kill spells and especially Ancient Curse can circumvent it to save him from the Zero-Effort Boss disgrace. Averted in the remake, in which the spell can only reflect a single attack.
  • I Die Free: He chooses to die after being beaten, defeat having seemingly lifted the Dragon Lord's taint. In the end, dying to escape what he has become was the only conscious use he made of his powers...
  • I Have Your Wife: If Angela is in the party, he taunts her by saying that Angela's mother, True Queen Valda, will be the first sacrifice to the reborn Dragon Empire.
  • I Just Want to Be Special: His key motivation. To clarify, he wanted to be as special as anyone else, given that everyone but him can use magic in Altena.
  • Inept Mage: Used to be one. However, his teacher assures that he has great potential in Echoes of Mana.
  • Just Toying with Them: His attitude with the heroes from the intro to the Benevodons' release. The Crimson Wizard does try to kill them, but could reduce them to ashes in a heartbeat instead of dragging it around and leaving without caring if they are really dead. Predictably, it ends up biting him in the rear.
  • Just You and Me and My GUARDS!: The coward sics three dragons on the heroes, along with a number of respawning enemy groups to clear out, when they enter the Dragonsmaw.
  • Kubrick Stare: Appears to give an intense stare to Duran and Angela at points.
  • Large Ham: As is understandable for someone on a constant power high, the Crimson Wizard revels in just how powerful and smart he is. It gets taken to new heights if he gets the Sword of Mana.
  • Lightning Bruiser: The Crimson wizard is fast, spams up to three spells in a row, deals massive damage, and can take a lot of punishment.
  • Long-Range Fighter: Who could expect anything else from a mage? This proves to be a major problem for Duran, who is a Close-Range Combatant; during their initial fight, the Crimson Wizard stays out of Duran's range, taunting him the whole time.
  • Mean Boss: Hard to please and unforgiving in training recruits, but not a bad officer to work under.
  • Meteor-Summoning Attack: He masters the devastating spell Ancient Curse: a screen-filling meteor rain that can easily wreck a party. In the remake he can be prevented from casting it, but if he does it's even less forgiving.
  • Mind Control: How he controls the True Queen.
  • No Name Given: He actually has no name and is merely known by his title as the Crimson Wizard. Oddly enough, he is the only nameless secondary villain who is not named by the translation.
    • Echoes of Mana reveals that his given name is Framaus.
  • Pet the Dog: During the siege of Valsena, the Crimson Wizard openly congratulates the Altenian mages on their effort, and orders them to pull back, since they had done their jobs and could send in the magical constructs to minimalize casualties at that point. This is more significant than it seems, considering the Crimson Wizard used to have jealousy issues regarding other mages in Altena.
  • Power Floats: He hovers over the ground in the remake.
  • Purple Is Powerful: The remake gives him purple eyes. Fitting for such a powerful magician.
  • Red Baron: The Wizard of the Crimson Lotus/Crimson Wizard. He is only known by this title in the original Japanese version, while the name Koren is exclusive to the fan translation.
  • Riddle for the Ages: Wether he really was "useless with magic" or had stunted potential will never be explained. Echoes of Mana suggests the later though.
  • Squishy Wizard: Averted, as he takes quite some heavy damage before being defeated.
  • Tornado Move: In the remake, he can conjure a fiery tornado around him as a melee attack.
  • Un-Sorcerer: Originally, though he became an aversion through his Deal with the Devil. He was the only non-mage introduced in the Magic Kingdom.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Echoes of Mana revealed that he was a nice and polite, if self-effacing and self-deprecating to a fault due to his insecurities, when he was a teenage apprentice. He even was close friend to Angela of all people, who encouraged him and protected him from bullies, making their mutual hatred in this game all the more tragic.
  • Was It Really Worth It?: Muses whether the power he craved so much was worth what he has become to gain it, and how he was made to use it. Decides that the answer is no and offs himself out of self-disgust.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He overthrows the True Queen and casts a deadly spell at her as soon as he gets the Sword of Mana.
  • Young and in Charge: The original manual states that he is only twenty years old. This is pretty young to lead a kingdom's military, let alone being an Evil Chancellor. Despite this he is quite talented.

    The Darkshine Knight 

Voiced by Ryosuke Morita

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darkshine_knight_concept_art.jpg
The Darkshine Knight is an immensely powerful swordsman, clad in a dark suit of armour. He works for the Dragon Lord under the Crimson Wizard. Turns out to be Duran's father Loki, who died during his battle with the Dragon Lord. His foe saw potential in Loki and resurrected him as a servant.
  • Archnemesis Dad: Not of his own volition mind you, but he still antagonizes his son.
  • Black Knight: Played straight as a ruler, but as can be seen from all the spoilers, there is much more to him that it first appears.
  • Became Their Own Antithesis: Once a shining (pun intended) example of The Paladin, now a Black Knight.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Put under mind-control by the Dragon Lord.
  • Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: His fight with the Dragon Lord. Both fell from down a large hole and he died, but his foe's spirit lingered. As punishment for daring to injure him, the Dragon Lord keeps Loki as a brainwashed undead.
  • The Brute: The Knight serves more of a muscle than anything else, with the Crimson Wizard taking care of the finer details.
  • Came Back Strong: The Valor Sphere resurrects his spirit for one last battle against Duran in the remake's post-story. He's more dangerous as himself than as the Darkshine Knight.
  • Came Back Wrong: The Dragon Lord revived him as a twisted undead warrior.
  • Dark Is Evil: Black armour, dark powers, servant of evil. He could not be more glaring.
  • Dying as Yourself: When the Darkshine Knight is defeated, his soul is freed from the Dragon Lord's control and departs to the Afterlife after thanking and encouraging his son.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He wants his son by his side, albeit in the same state as he is, just like his inspiration. Though he might not like it, but he will not hesitate to kill Duran if he has to.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: In the remake, he speaks with a voice that would make his inspiration proud.
  • Fallen Hero: The former hero of Valsena, now a blight on Fa'Diel.
  • Flash Step: Can warp himself across the stage through magic in the remake. The Goddess take pity of anyone caught on his path when he does.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: Fitting his supernatural existence.
  • Living on Borrowed Time: His unlife is only sustained by Dragon Lord's power. When Dragon Lord dies in the routes where he is not the final villain, the Darkshine Knight lives only long enough to tell the heroes the actions of the Big Bad before expiring. If Duran is in the party at this time, the Darkshine Knight will try to tell Duran that he is his father, but will fade away before he can finish his sentence.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: The Darkshine Knight is Duran's father.
  • Magic Knight: Can channel power into his sword to unleash devastating special attacks.
  • Master Swordsman: Even more skilled at swordsmanship than a final class Duran. He masters most of Duran's sword techniques and can launch a devastating triple combo in quick succession.
  • May the Farce Be with You: As a powerful Magic Knight and Black Knight with a deep voice, serving an Evil Overlord, the Darkshine Knight is a dead ringer to Darth Vader himself. Even more so knowing that he is the father of The Hero, corrupted and enslaved by the Big Bad, and would like to have his son join him.
  • Reforged into a Minion: How he became the Darkshine Knight in the first place.
  • Shadow Archetype: The Black Knight contrasting Duran's The Paladin. Not to mention their ties.
  • The Undead: He is an unspecified type of undead, being a dead soul animating a dark suit of armour.
  • Villain Takes an Interest: He has his sight set on Duran for reasons known only to him.
  • Walking Spoiler: Talking about the Darkshine Knight without revealing too much is difficult.
  • World's Strongest Man: The greatest swordsman in the world, which is why the Dragon Lord revived him.

    True Queen Valda 

Voiced by Satomi Akesaka

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/valda_echoes.jpg
Artwork from Echoes of Mana
The True Queen of Altena and Angela's mother. She was a playable protagonist in Heroes of Mana but now has an entire kingdom to rule. A kingdom threatened by the decline of Mana and she becomes increasingly harsh in her resolve to preserve it.
  • Absurdly Youthful Mother: She is Angela's mother, but looks ten years older than her at most.
  • The Archmage: An extremely powerful mage, who could kick major ass on the battlefield and can control the weather of an entire kingdom like nothing.
  • Benevolent Mage Ruler: Normally, but not so much in recent times...
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: While she was aloof to Angela, her worst traits are brought to the forefront by the Crimson Wizard's compelling magic.
  • Evil Matriarch: Despises her daughter for being unable to spell-cast, hence useless. To the point of planning to sacrifice her without batting an eyelid. Or so it seems at first, but see the trope above.
  • God Save Us from the Queen!: She plans to ruin every other kingdom to save her own. Or that's what the Crimson Wizard and the Dragon Lord would want you to believe.
  • The High Queen: The True Queen (Queen of Reason in the fan translation).
  • An Ice Person: Favours Ice spells in Echoes of Mana, befitting the queen of a polar country where the Mana Stone of Water is kept.
  • Long Hair Is Feminine: Valda's own reach her feet.
  • Parental Neglect: Justified due to her heavy royal duties, but Angela feels its sting nonetheless.
  • The Magocracy: Altena populated entirely by mages, and logically ruled by one.
  • Rank Scales with Asskicking: The queen of The Magocracy and its mightiest mage by far. Unless you count the Crimson Wizard.
  • Retired Badass: Valda was a grade-A Lady of Black Magic in her youth. She is as powerful as ever but she has an entire kingdom to rule and protect now, preventing her from fighting.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: In spite of the trope above, any army foolish enough to threaten her kingdom shall get a taste of why her magic is so widely respected. Cue Curb-Stomp Battle of many monsters in a single spell as seen in Echoes of Mana.
  • The Scapegoat: Everyone blames her from the damage caused by her warmongering. In truth, she's but a smoke-screen for The Man Behind the Man, who appears to be Just Following Orders.
  • Weather Manipulation: She used her magic to keep Altena's polar climate warm year-round, but with Mana on the decline even she can no longer do it. Hence her decision to take... drastic measures.

The Masked Mage's Faction

    The Masked Mage/The Dark Lich 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/belgar_the_masked_mage.png
Click here to see his Dark Lich form
"Do you know how long I have awaited this day? My hatred for humanity has hidden beneath this mask. I've been concealing my true self."

The main villain in Kevin and Charlotte's storylines.

The Masked Mage was once Belgar, the Oracle of Shadows, one of the two arch-clerics of the Holy City of Wendel, and a top-tier healer, but he dabbled in the forbidden Dark Arts and even necromantic rituals, causing his banishment and eventual Start of Darkness. He used Life and Death magic on himself to become undying, and he craves for revenge against the world that threw him aside.


  • Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: Whilst fighting him as the Dark Lich.
  • The Archmage: Once one of the two mightiest clerics of Wendel, but now something much, much worse.
  • Badass Long Robe: Wears one in both in his normal and demon forms.
  • Became Their Own Antithesis: From Benevolent Mage Ruler to world-threatening Sorcerous Overlord.
  • Black Mage: Belgar was exiled for wanting to perform Black Magic and resurrect the dead. He's now the best master of the trade in the world, using it exclusively.
  • Continuity Nod: The second Mana game with the Dark Lich as the Big Bad. Secret of Mana describes the Dark Lich as an ancient sorcerer who sold his soul for eternal life but must now Body Surf. And Belgar is an Evil Sorcerer who became the Dark Lich after making himself undying through The Dark Arts. Viewing Secret of Mana as a Distant Sequel instead of an Alternate Continuity makes Belgar said sorcerer.
  • The Dark Arts: Studying them led to his downfall.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: At first. He was the Oracle of Shadows before his downfall, co-ruling Wendel alongside the Priest of Light. However he was still firmly on the side of good until his Face–Heel Turn.
  • The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: His city, his duty, his son... all forgotten. All he cares about now is to dominate creation and extinguish life.
  • Dem Bones: His true form the Dark Lich is a gigantic, demonic skeleton.
  • Demon of Human Origin: Once a powerful but human archmage, now one of the Great Evils of Mana.
  • Evil Sorcerer: He is and all his main agents are this one way or the other.
  • Facial Horror: What he looks like under that mask of his is never shown, but judging from the few that the remake displays, no-one in their right mind would miss it.
  • Face–Heel Turn: Belgar was once one of the heroic arch-clerics who co-ruled Wendel. His reckless obsession with healing any ailment led to his downfall and ruin.
  • Fallen Hero: Belgar used to be a Benevolent Mage Ruler. Made all the more tragic when he was made a playable protagonist in the prequel Heroes of Mana.
  • Final Boss, New Dimension: Battles the heroes in a creepy, ever-changing void.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: His evil power horribly scarred his face, which the remake strongly evidences.
  • Immortality Immorality: He became undying all right, by becoming an undead vessel for the demonic Undead Abomination he turned his soul into.
  • Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: When his powers failed to save an innocent life, he began to study black magic to find a way. Then he turned to necromancy to resurrect her and it all came From Bad to Worse.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: He's the father of Heath, of all people!
  • Malevolent Masked Man: Never shows his face and is evil as they come.
  • Master of Illusion: The Masked Mage is a master of the trade. He makes his home in the Jungle of Illusions and uses quite some hefty magic to cloak his manor from view.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Averted, with his original title of Oracle of Shadows. Contrary to what it sounds like, he was a righteous man and a benevolent healer. Played straight however with his current title, and especially with his true form's name.
  • The Necrocracy: The Masked Mage aims to establish a global one, turning each and every life-form into undeads. With him standing at the summit of course.
  • Never My Fault: Listening to him, his banishment was totally undeserved and was the peak of unfairness. He tends to forget that becoming an Evil Sorcerer never endears one much to his neighbours...
  • Omnicidal Maniac: He is consumed by an overpowering hatred for the world and desires to kill everyone and turn them into his undead slaves.
  • Only Known By His Nickname: Only his son mentions his real name, Belgar.
  • Our Liches Are Different: An undead, ghastly Demon of Human Origin, embodiment of sort of dark magic.
  • Our Spirits Are Different: Both undead and demon, but most of all wraith-like, void, born from a corrupted soul and The Dark Arts.
  • Out of Focus: Compared to the Dragon Lord and His Dark Majesty, the presence of the Masked Mage's minions is subdued. The Ferolians' attempted attack on Wendel is repelled offscreen, Goremand only appears once outside of Kevin's and Charlotte's prologues before the fight at the Sanctuary of Mana, and the Tainted Soul never appears at all unless the game is following the Masked Mage timeline.
  • Returning Big Bad: The Dark Lich was this in Secret of Mana and hops in the ride for a second go, albeit in a different (if very similar) host. Back then he was the power behind the throne, now he rules through his right-hand, sneaky as ever.
  • Restraining Bolt: He waits until the very end to remove his mask, releasing all the hatred he has built up over the last few decades to unleash his true form.
  • Super-Empowering: Heavily implied to be the reason why the Tainted Soul has become so powerful in the first place. After all, what use a weak bodyguard can be?
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: His status as a masked Evil Sorcerer hiding in shadows, his enslavement of someone close to the heroine, and his true form, are a dead-ringer for Thanatos from Secret of Mana. His final form is even called the Dark Lich like his was, and looks the same. The game's first final boss theme even sounds quite similar to the Dark Lich's battle music.
  • Start of Darkness: His healing powers failed to treat a girl with a terminal disease, so he began to study The Dark Arts for help. Even when after the girl died, he pressed on with his research. When he sought to resurrect her with necromancy, the townspeople exiled him. Changing his title from the Oracle of Shadows to the Masked Mage, he developed a persecution complex that fuelled his descent into evil.
  • Undead Abomination: He looks human, but this is now the undead shell of a demonic, skeletal wraith with a dark void inside his Badass Longrobe, and more or less the embodiment of Black Magic and Undeath.
  • Was Once a Man: But only looks so as of now.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: He went from being a wise healer, who felt the limitations of his powers and tried to heal someone beyond his help, to finally succumbing to the dark arts he focused on more and more. They tainted his soul and the Priest of Light exiled him from Wendel.

    Goremand 

Voiced by Tomokazu Sugita

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trials_of_mana_goremand.png
Demonic devourer of human souls
"Wow! Didn't realize that Holy Bolt would work so well! I suppose it is a powerful spell, after all. Looks like I hooked a whopper!"
Goremand is a terrifying Monster Clown servant to the Masked Mage. He kidnap Heath during Charlotte's introduction and compelled Karl to attack Kevin, resulting in the cub being killed by the latter.

The archenemy of Kevin and Charlotte and the secondary villain in their storylines.
  • Arch-Enemy: Kevin's most hated enemy. He's this as well to Charlotte, but she is more involved in her conflict with the Tainted Soul.
  • Braggart Boss: Goremand just cannot stop talking about how amazing he is. His Villainous Breakdown upon losing to Kevin and/or Charlotte sees Goremand almost unable to comprehend the very concept of losing, let alone that it actually happened.
  • Combat Pragmatist: He states that he would never bother directly engaging foes and rather take them out by surprise, and even attempts an ambush before the Boss Battle. But when push comes to shove, he proves considerably dangerous in a direct battle.
  • Court Mage: His role in King Gauser's court.
  • Diabolus ex Nihilo: Nothing is known about who or what he is and where he comes from. He works for the Masked Mage and that's it.
  • Dirty Coward: Goremand plays high and mighty with mortals, but is prompt to cower when faced with mightier beings, and to turn tail whenever the situation looks bad. While the Darkshine Knight and Belladona accept their doomed fates if their armies lose at the Sanctuary of Mana, Goremand simply informs the party what happened to his, provides extra information to tie up loose ends to the relevant heroes in the party, and slinks away in an attempt to survive.
  • Doppelgänger Attack: At the beginning of his Boss Battle, he spawns two copies of himself that fight beside him and deal real damage. However, only the real Goremand can take damage. They are indestructible and nigh indistinguishable in the original, but visible copies and can be destroyed (and respawned) in the remake.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: He openly admits that he doesn't feel much loyalty to the Masked Mage, and only supports him because his plan will result in a great deal of suffering and death that he can feed on.
  • Dub Name Change: His Japanese name literally translates to "Death-Eating Man". The fan translation called him the Death Jester, while the official translation calls him Goremand.
  • Evil Sorcerer: Much like his boss, he is a master of dark magic and he just loves it. He is something much worse than a mere sorcerer though.
  • Faux Affably Evil: All villains are cruel and taunting, but at least they bother putting on a civil facade, Goremand does not even care. All honeyed words coming from his mouth are but a way to demean and insult people further. At least he is more civil towards underlings and allies.
  • Genre Savvy: At the Sanctuary of Mana, when he is forced to serve as a messenger, he has this to say:
    Yes, yes, yes. I'm well aware that they will do away with me once I've fulfilled my purpose.
  • Giggling Villain: Especially in the English version, where he usually can't go a scene without giggling like a maniac at least once.
  • Lean and Mean: Hard to tell with the original sprite, but the artwork and remake show that he's practically skin and bones, akin to a walking skeleton covered with some flesh.
  • Magic Knight: Goremand is a beast in magic but he proves very dangerous with a scythe in hand. Amped up in the remake and Rise of Mana, in which he is a more physically-oriented fighter.
  • Marionette Motion: In the remake, Goremand's stances and movement resemble those of a puppet.
  • Monster Clown: A creepy and menacing soul-devouring demon linked to death and dark magic, with a sinister jester-like aspect. He is given puppet-like mannerism in the remake.
  • Named by the Adaptation: The Japanese version and the fan translation only refers to him with a title, while the translation gives him a name.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Goremand. It's hardly surprising that he literally hungers for war.
  • One-Hit Kill: His Roulette Spin special attack does this at random in the original. It can be escaped in the remake, but any hero failing to prevent it is done for.
  • Our Demons Are Different: The jury's still out on what exactly he is, but he is distinctly described as demonic. Feeding on souls is another give-away.
  • The Paralyzer: He does this to Kevin at Chartmoon Tower, as he's no match for him (yet). He prepares to finish him off, but Ludgar appears and demands to settle his score, to which Goremand complies.
  • Punny Name: Goremand is a play on "gourmand", French for "greedy for food". His favourite dish just happens to be souls.
  • Put the "Laughter" in "Slaughter": This psycho loves death and carnage and openly states to always side with the faction more able to cause the most of it.
  • Sadist: To the point that he almost gets high by dishing out physical and emotional pain.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: If neither Kevin nor Charlotte are not The Hero, Goremand is left behind to tell the party about the Big Bad antagonizing them. He wisely guesses that he'll be next, so he hands over that message and disappears. It's unknown if he successfully manages to slip away.
  • Silly Walk: It's not obvious in the original, but in the remake, he walks and stands with his arms held up and a lurch, like a marionette being pulled.
  • Sinister Scythe: His weapon aside from Magic.
  • Smug Snake: Creepy, competent and much more dangerous than he appears, but overconfident, sadistic and cowardly to a fault, not to mention a downright punchable piece of trash.
  • Soft-Spoken Sadist: He has a very slow, gentle, deliberate means of speaking to others and he's loath to raise his voice, at least in the English version of the remake. But this only serves to make him appear even more unhinged and dangerous.
  • Soul Eating: He feeds on dead souls and loves to gorge himself as much as he revels in violence. He is seen doing this to an unfortunate Altenian witch at Chartmoon tower, and attempts to do this with your party in your boss battle with him.
  • We Will Meet Again: Says this to the party when neither Kevin nor Charlotte was selected as the main protagonist, then runs off. Also, instead of dying like in the original, in the remake he is only destroyed physically, and is last heard promising this.
  • Your Soul Is Mine!: He devours people's souls after they die. His version of Roulette Spin has him pull the target's soul out of their body and put it on a countdown; break the Goremand phantoms or the target will die, level be damned.

    The Tainted Soul 

Voiced by Daiki Yamashita

spoiler
The Tainted Soul becomes the third antagonist to get in the way for Kevin and Charlotte during the course of their story. As the tile implies, he was originally a good person (a healer specifically), but became corrupted through The Dark Arts and became the Masked Mage's bodyguard.

The Tainted Soul turns out to be Heath, much to the shock of Charlotte.


  • Arch-Enemy: The one against whom Charlotte has the most stakes, though not out of hatred.
  • Astral Projection: He does this in the remake, but it is only shown in a flashback.
  • Back from the Dead: The Mana Goddess resurrects him with her last breath in the ending.
  • Badass Cape: Dons a nice cape fitting the cleric he was, and is quite badass. Even more so when Brainwashed and Crazy.
  • Big Brother Mentor: Once, but now a bitter enemy. Charlotte must fight to the death her closest friend and confident, who took care of her and helped her with her cleric training all her life.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Became corrupted through the Masked Mage's dark energy.
  • The Brute: He is considerably mightier than Goremand but blindly obeys him, and his role is pretty much to destroy any obstacle on his master's path. Justified by his Brainwashed and Crazy state.
  • Casting a Shadow: He masters some Shadow-based spells, but casts them much less frequently than his Light 'em Up magic.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Lays the smack down on three wolfmen with a single spell, only to find himself on the receiving end of another courtesy of Goremand.
  • Dead to Begin With: He died the moment the Masked Mage corrupted him, drained of his soul and life-force. Now, only his liege's magic keeps him in a travesty of life. Poor Charlotte...
  • Deadly Disc: The Tainted Soul can throw disc-shaped blasts of purplish light in the remake.
  • Distressed Dude: He was kidnapped by Goremand early on for unknown reasons. When Charlotte sees this, she becomes determined to save him and breaks out of Wendel in search for him.
  • Dying as Yourself: Defeating him brings his soul back from the abyss, but sadly not enough to save his life. At least he turns back to normal.
  • Energy Ball: Can throw balls of light on all foes in the original. Pitifully weak, but very fast and convenient to push them away.
  • Evil Costume Switch: Dons a creepy, greyish version of his default attire. Downplayed in the remake, in which his costume just become darker.
  • Evil Sorcerer: What the Tainted Soul has become.
  • Fallen Hero: Introduced as a major ally, but spends the game as a mortal enemy.
  • Fighting from the Inside: The Fairy Companion senses a great sadness in him, indicating that he is aware of what he is made to do but powerless to prevent it.
  • Fighting Your Friend: Forced to by his pesky brainwashing. Because of this, the Boss Battle against him is one heck of a Tear Jerker. (That and another heck of a nightmare.)
  • Final Boss, New Dimension: Played with. He is the second-to-last boss and just warps everyone in another room of his boss' Big Fancy Castle, but he still takes the party to another arena.
  • Flash Step: The Tainted Soul does this at light-speed in the remake.
  • The Ghost: Unlike the other minions for their evil masters, The Tainted Soul doesn't make any appearance before the party gets to the Sanctuary of Mana (not counting Heath's appearance in Charlotte's flashback), and is never seen in general if The Masked Mage's forces don't end up on top (outside his brief appearance in Charlotte's ending if she's in the party).
  • Glass Cannon: Downplayed for he has many life-points, albeit less than the major bosses. And he is an absolute Behemoth with magic, with most of his attacks striking the whole party for massive damage (not to mention his Healing Light spell). He is notably nerfed in the remake, but still quite formidable.
  • Good Powers, Bad People: Being a Brainwashed and Crazy good guy, he uses light spells and healing magic for evil.
  • Heal Thyself: He casts healing spells on himself — frequently — when you battle him. This is in no small part what makes him That One Boss. He is quite easier to defeat in the remake, precisely because he can no longer heal himself.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Knowing that he will die no matter what, he uses his last breath to heal the Priest of Light with his remaining life-force. He is also the recipient of one, as the former Goddess of Mana expends the rest of her faerie life-force to resurrect him as she is dying.
  • Holy Hand Grenade: He casts the Light-Element spells Holy Bolt and Saint Beam, and they hurt a lot.
  • It's Personal: With Charlotte, but not for the usual reasons as her goal is to save him, not to defeat him.
  • Light Is Good: Originally, and still is deep down, but see below.
  • Light Is Not Good: Not when he blasts your team with extremely powerful light-based spells, it's not.
  • Light 'em Up: A grade-A master of Light Magic, though he prefers Summon Magic. The remake makes him more spell-oriented.
  • Long-Range Fighter: Who could expect anything else from a mage?
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: He is the son of the Masked Mage, much to his initial despair.
  • Mind-Control Eyes: The remake gives him this.
  • Power Floats: The Tainted Soul moves like this in the remake.
  • The Red Mage: He masters extremely powerful attacks, as well as equally powerful healing spells.
  • Sinister Minister: The Tainted Soul is a fallen cleric who serves the Masked Mage with Dark Magic, instead of a cleric who uses his abilities for benevolent purposes.
  • Squishy Wizard: The Tainted Soul has the lowest Life Meter of all major villains (yet still huge comparatively speaking). He mitigates it with his deadly attacks and his powerful Healing Light.
  • Summon Magic: He masters all of Charlotte's monster summons, and does not stop there. Remember Riesz' divine summons gained in her final class? He masters three out of four, each dealing huge damage and inflicting a different status effect on your whole party.
  • Technically-Living Zombie: He lost his soul to the evil forces when trying (in vain) to redeem his father and became little more than a walking corpse.
  • Teen Genius: Only slightly older than the fifteen-year-old Charlotte and already the captain of the guard of Wendel, then bodyguard of the Big Bad. Big Bad who raised his abilities to the maximum, putting him from promising to max powerhouse.
  • That Man Is Dead: He does not even remembers his past life and former friends, and would kill them without remorse. His Boss Banter in the remake indicates that he is Fighting from the Inside though.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Was a powerful but still rather common cleric and no match for Goremand early on. After being corrupted, he becomes a mightier enemy than Goremand himself and far and away the hardest boss of the storyline.
  • Tragic Monster: He wanted to protect his hometown and save his father from corruption, but all this resulted in him being kidnapped himself and subjected to corruption and brainwashing.
  • Walking Spoiler: His true identity is revealed early on, but is still a major reveal and a big punch in the gut.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: If Charlotte is in the party and the Masked Mage's faction is destroyed, then Goremand's final scene will have him tell Charlotte that Heath's brainwashing was undone, but he's now lost and confused somewhere.
  • White Hair, Black Heart: Once again, not by his own volition.
  • Yin-Yang Bomb: Uses both Light and Dark magic, and absorbs both elements.

    Ludgar 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ludgar_echoes_of_mana.png
Click here to see his werewolf form
The General of the Beastmen army, put in charge of the invasion of Wendel. He despises Kevin for being a Half-Human Hybrid and not-so-subtly hints that he would make a better king than his rival.
  • Always Someone Better: Played with, he is much stronger than Kevin at the start, but he knows that he will never rank higher than the prince, whom he despises for wasting his potential.
  • Anti-Villain: While Ludgar opposes the heroes, he isn't actually antagonistic outside of his inherent racism. He even strikes down Altenian mages intent on activating the Moonstone.
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Beastmen only obey the most powerful, and this one did not get his rank out of a present box.
  • Defeat Means Respect: He grows to respect Kevin immensely after being defeated, recognizing him as the worthier of the two, and the feeling is totally mutual.
  • Evil Counterpart: He serves as this to Kevin. They fight the same way, down to the same techniques.
  • Four-Star Badass: The general of Ferolia's armies and That One Boss through and through.
  • Frontline General: Ludgar leads his troops in the battlefield and fights alongside them.
  • Hard Work Hardly Works: His antagonism towards Kevin was because he envied the latter's training, courtesy of the Beast King himself.
  • Kung-Fu Wizard: Ludgar is a deadly hand-to-hand fighter, and he masters many of Kevin's mighty special moves.
  • Lightning Bruiser: As fast as he is strong.
  • One-Winged Angel: Fights under his formidable Wolf Man aspect.
  • Our Werewolves Are Different: Part of a race of beast-men who can turn to powerful humanoid werewolves through the power of the moon.
  • Raise Him Right This Time: When he dies, Luna is asked to save him. So she reincarnates him as an infant, as it was all she could do.
  • The Resenter: Resent Kevin for being half-human and a pacifist, which to Ludgar's eyes makes him unworthy of the throne he is set to inherit.
  • Rival Turned Evil: Ludgar was susceptible to Goremand's influence and warmongering.
  • Starter Villain: Outside of Kevin's intro, he's the first villain seen in the story, having put Jadd under Ferolian occupation, and going on the offensive against Wendel once the heroes obtain Lumina. He isn't fought until his next appearance at Chartmoon Tower much later though.
  • Shadow Archetype: Essentially Kevin if he had given in to his hatred.
  • Super Mode: Like his liege and his soldiers, he can turn into a wilder and mightier Wolf Man to fight.
  • Unknown Rival: He wants nothing more than to defeat Kevin and prove the better of the two, but Kevin has no hostility towards Lugdar and bemoans having to come to blows.
  • Wolf Man: He's a beastman, so he can transform into one and puts up one hell of a fight.

    King Gauser 

Voiced by Kenta Miyake

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/king_gauser_of_ferolia.png
The king of Ferolia and Kevin's father. He was one of the playable characters helping save the world in Heroes of Mana, but humans' Fantastic Racism against his kind and Goremand's suggestions led him to the warpath. He's the only monarch who knows his Evil Chancellor's is up to no good, but goes along to strengthen his kingdom. Still, he supports the heroes after it's clear that Goremand has gone too far.
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The most powerful beastman bar none, who rules them and founded their kingdom. Being the mightiest of them is actually a requisite to sit on their throne.
  • Barbarian Longhair: Fitting his bestial nature.
  • Duel Boss: In the remake, his battle against Kevin is a one-on-one fight.
  • Founder of the Kingdom: Founded the Beastman Kingdom of Ferolia to shelter his people.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Aloof, gruff and a bastard more often than not, but his heart is in the right place.
    • While he has issues with humans, as do the rest of the beastmen, he still mated with one to give birth to Kevin, though the details are never elaborated upon.
    • More importantly, after Kevin "kills" Karl, he visits the impromptu grave of the latter to dig him up and nurse him back to health; this is told in the original game and shown in the remake.
  • Manipulative Bastard: In spades. He told Kevin his mother ran out on them even though she died of illness when he was young, just because he wanted Kevin to grow up resenting him. He then enlists Goremand to get Kevin attacked by his best friend/pet, Karl, and force his beast side out, yet later reveals it to be a Secret Test of Character to make sure that Kevin doesn't only harness his rage, but to use his head. Had Kevin actually paid attention to what happened in his fight with Karl, he would have seen through Goremand's illusion. And notably, Gauser is the only leader of the three belligerent factions who actually gets what he wants from his alliance with his branch's Big Bad.
  • Might Makes Right: Gauser cares only about might and despises all form of weakness. It must be noted that he equally values might of body and mind, deeming one useless without the other, and wants his subjects to be rational thinkers as much as he wants them to be strong soldiers.
  • Our Werewolves Are Different: Part of a race of beast-men who can turn to powerful humanoid werewolves through the power of the moon.
  • Retired Badass: Fought on the frontlines in the war against the Ancient Kingdom of Pedda nineteen years ago, but he is now busy with ruling his kingdom.
  • Route Boss: In the remake, he is fought in the postgame if Kevin is in the party, so as to get the Instinct Sphere. He is at level 65 (the same as the Final Boss), is super fast and tough, and masters all of Kevin's werewolf techniques, making him a formidable foe.
  • Super Mode: Like his son and all his subjects, he can turn into a werewolf to increase his fighting power.
  • Tough Love: His approach to raising his son. He spares him no pain, but really cares about him.
  • Unwitting Pawn: He was fine and dandy with waging war against humans to give his subjects purpose, but could not fathom the true, apocalyptic intentions of Goremand. Granted, he didn't care, and was simply content with what he got out of the bargain, for he trusted his son to solve the crisis.
  • Wolf Man: He already gives this vibe under his default form, and can transform into one.

His Dark Majesty's Faction

    His Dark Majesty/The Archdemon 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/prince_of_mavolia.png
Click here to see his Archdemon form
Click here to see his real Archdemon form
"You should gracefully give up this fight. The world as you know will be consumed by Mavolia. The new evil order will be ruled by me. There is no place for you here!"

The main villain in Hawkeye's and Riesz's storylines.

His Dark Majesty was at first the monarch of the Light Castle, but was feared and hated by his subjects. He formed a pact with the demons of Mavolia, and became their ruler after killing his predecessor. He was destroyed long ago (after opening the Door to Mavolia if Dawn of Mana is viewed as a sequel). Now he wants to use the power of the Mana Sword and the Benevodons to merge Fa'Diel with Mavolia, so he can rule both as their god, ending the worship of the Mana Goddess.


  • All of the Other Reindeer: Before his Start of Darkness, if Belladonna is to be believed.
  • Back for the Dead: He was physically destroyed eons prior but resurfaces at the end. Only to be terminated for good in the Final Battle.
  • Back from the Dead: His agents plan to revive him, but only succeeds if he is the Final Boss.
  • Bad Boss: Belladonna and Malocchio dedicated him their entire existences, and he doesn't give a rat ass about their deaths, going as far as calling the former a worthless pawn.
  • Big Fancy Castle: The Dark Castle is huge, gloomy, and every bit the Supervillain Lair it looks like.
  • Blood Magic: He uses his life force to restore the Darkstone that was sealed in Mavolia, and this killed him. According to Belladonna, this was expected, and her plan is to revive him.
  • Cognizant Limbs: In the final stage of the Final Battle, his two floating arms attack separately. They are independent targets in the remake.
  • Curtains Match the Window: The remake gives him yellow eyes to match his blond hair, though both are a sickly hue to emphasize his evil nature.
  • Dark Is Evil: He's called his Dark Majesty (the Prince of Darkness in Japanese) and is clad in black, on top of being the most demonic of the main villains.
  • Deader than Dead: Only his essence subsists and he exhausts even that when bringing back the Darkstone to the Earthly Planes. Belladonna and Malocchio plan to resurrect him. If neither Hawkeye nor Riesz are The Hero, the Final Boss dispose of his remains and seal his soul away, ensuring he can never be revived.
  • Deal with the Devil: He stroke one with the then Archdemon in his backstory to gain demonic powers in exchange of giving them the world. He is one of the few examples of a character striking one and coming out on top.
  • Demon of Human Origin: He was once a human prince, but he is now the resident Satanic Archetype. Taking Dawn of Mana as a distant prequel rather than an alternate continuity details the change, showing him as a tyrant king named Stroud.
  • Evil Is Burning Hot: What castle is complete without a few moats of lava? The interior of the castle is characterized by walls of flame that disappear once you clear a room.
  • Evil Is Visceral: His Archdemon form resembles a heart.
  • Evil Wears Black: The standard uniform for an Evil Overlord of his ilk.
  • Fed to the Beast: His throne room is nothing more than a trap door with a spiked pit directly beneath his throne. At the bottom, he's got an old friend waiting for you: Full Metal Hugger 2.0.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: In his final form in the remake.
  • Grand Theft Me: Belladonna and Malocchio plan to revive him through Prince Elliot's vessel, but in the end he is fully restored without it. He still plans to do it but the heroes slay him before he can proceed.
  • Hell Has New Management: He gloats to have killed the former Archdemon to take the throne. Unbeknownst to him, she survived and can never be fully destroyed. And as if on cue, guess who barges in as the Greater-Scope Villain in the remake?
  • Hell on Earth: His ultimate goal, by merging Fa'Diel with Mavolia.
  • Horned Humanoid: Even in human form, he sports two devilish horns.
  • Horns of Villainy: Who could have guessed? They grow immense when in One-Winged Angel form.
  • Klingon Promotion: His Dark Majesty became the Archdemon by taking down his predecessor.
  • Kneel Before Zod: Wants the party to do this when offering them to work for him. They tell him to get bent.
  • Long-Haired Pretty Boy: The remakes makes him one, despite him being an Obviously Evil Demon King.
  • Our Demons Are Different: A Satanic Archetype who was once human, whose true form looks like it's made of metal.
  • Pointy Ears: Fitting his demonic nature.
  • Returning Big Bad: Like the Dragon Lord (who ironically succeeds him as the Archdemon, if Legend of Mana is taken as a Distant Sequel and not an alternate continuity), his Dark Majesty (or at least a close counterpart) retroactively becomes this, being the central villain of the prequel Dawn of Mana.
  • Satanic Archetype: The Current Supreme Monarch of Mavolia who commands all Demons. Yet, his rule is openly challenged by the other two Great Evils. And his vastly superior predecessor is lurking in a dark corner, ready to retake her throne at the first opportunity.
  • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:
    • The future Dark Majesty was feared and hated as a child, having been prophesied as a harbinger of doom. Such status invited demons from the underworld to tempt him over to their side, thus dooming his kingdom (revealed to be Lorimar in Dawn of Mana), as was foretold.
    • Taking from Dawn of Mana, he was legitimately reviled for trying to drown his little brother to become the only heir, then for being an absolute tyrant. His deal with the demons was actually to open the door to Mavolia and he becoming a demon by merging with tons of Thanatos Spirits. His killing of his predecessor Anise is also revealed to be striking her host down with the first Mana Sword (though she survived without him knowing). Of course, Belladonna is missing these little details.
  • Shirtless Scene: His naked top body is still present in his true form (at first), but far too twisted and demonic to be anything else than Fan Disservice.
  • Start of Darkness: Being thrown in jail and hated by all before even doing anything to deserve is not the best way to endear the world to anyone. A golden opportunity for demons to come up with a Deal with the Devil. But even they could not fathom how deep his hatred ran.
  • Stationary Boss: In both versions, he is completely immobile, having more or less merged with the remains of the Mana Tree.
  • Take Over the World: Has this as his very clear goal, compared to the Masked Mage and the Dragon Lord, who seem more interested in omnicide or simple destruction.
  • Then Let Me Be Evil: His backstory in a nutshell, or at least what we learn from Belladonna. Throw him in the dungeons so that he won't destroy the kingdom? You can kiss your precious kingdom goodbye.
  • Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: He has yellow eyes in the remake and is quite the Manipulative Bastard.
  • Was Once a Man: Keyword being was for he is now anything but.
  • We Can Rule Together: Offers this to the heroes upon meeting them, even insisting about it. Though he makes it clear that it would be as servants. The heroes are not impressed in the least...
  • We Have Reserves: Doesn't care a bit when told of Belladonna's death, boasting that he can have many more pawns to add insult to injury.

    Belladonna/Isabella 

Voiced by Yoshino Nanjo (Japanese), Adrianne Arno (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trials_of_mana_belladonna.png
Faithful servant of His Dark Majesty
Click here to see her true form

"Light Castle was turned into Dark Castle, a fitting place for the creatures of Mavolia to live. His Dark Majesty's heart has been shuttered closed for eternity. All I wanted... was to open his heart just a little."

Belladonna initially presents herself under the name of Isabella when she's taken in by the Thieves' Guild of Nevarl. She quickly shows her true colours though, by brainwashing the Guild Master into turning from thievery into taking over Laurent. Belladonna frames Hawkeye for her murder of his best friend, and holds said best friend's sister hostage. Her ultimate goal is to revive his Dark Majesty out of loyalty, and above all love.

She's the archenemy of Hawkeye and Riesz and the secondary villain in their storylines.


  • Alas, Poor Villain: Downplayed since she regrets nothing and lacks the excuse of brainwashing, but her lament about her unrequited love for the Big Bad comes across as rather pitiable. The expression on her Arch-Enemy's face when hearing it is quite telling.
  • All Love Is Unrequited: She would literally throw the entire world to hell for the man she loves, who considers her a convenient pawn at best.
  • Arch-Enemy: For both Hawkeye and Riesz.
  • Bad Boss: She doesn't care a bit for her henchmen. Upon realizing that she can't sacrifice Jessica to unseal the Firestone, she uses Bil's and Ben's instead after their defeat. She also offs Malocchio herself if His Dark Majesty isn't the Big Bad.
  • The Baroness: With shades of The Vamp. She is an influential Demon Lady, clad in lavish Arabian garb, who got herself a powerful position in the Thieves' Guild and is implied to seduce its leader.
  • Beast Man: She transforms into a demonic, feline-woman when fought.
  • Buxom Beauty Standard: She's regarded as a great beauty and her most notable physical feature is her massive bust, which is often in emphasis due to her Impossibly-Low Neckline combined with Navel-Deep Neckline. The remake also has several Male Gaze shots aimed at her breasts.
  • Cats Are Mean: She is a feline Beast Woman and is as evil and vicious as they come.
  • Close-Range Combatant: Unlike the spell oriented other right-hands, Belladonna fights with her claws. The remake however, adds powerful ranged attacks to her arsenal.
  • Combat Parkour: She fights with impressive acrobatics and jumping attacks.
  • Dark Action Girl: Contrasting the other seconds-in-command, she prefers to fight up close, being quite the bloodthirsty fighter, slashing the heroes with her sharp claws.
  • Dead Guy on Display: Belladonna seated on Lord Flamekhan's old throne, flanked by a pair of Demons, and with the charred skeleton of someone who dared defy her rule. She seems in no hurry to clean it up.
  • Dead Man's Switch: If she dies or if Hawkeye tells anyone what he knows, the Choker of Death she's given Hawkeye's friend and possible Love Interest Jessica will kill her in turn. It prevents her from sacrificing Jessica though, forcing her to remove it before attempting to do so.
  • Despair Event Horizon: If Hawkeye or Riesz are not The Hero, she falls into one when the Big Bad makes his Dark Majesty is made Deader than Dead, ruining her goal of resurrecting him. Not wanting to live without her beloved, she kills Malocchio and commits suicide.
  • Diabolus ex Nihilo: Her origins are never cleared up, whether she's a demon or was originally human, though the former is more likely given her claw-like nails and cat-like eyes in her human aspect.
  • Engineered Heroics: Lord Flamekhan met her when lost in the desert and dying of thirst, and she earned his trust by saving his life. Clearly a travesty meant to infiltrate the Thieves' Guild by the grand entrance.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: She has no issue with sending mind-controlled ninjas off to die in a massive Mêlée à Trois between her faction and that of the Dragon Lord and the Masked Mage, but she draws the line at needlessly killing Riesz's brother Elliot if she loses the war.
  • Evil Laugh: The remake punctuates her speech in the invasion of Laurent with one of these.
  • Evil Redhead: Like the Crimson Wizard, her hair is bright red and she is thoroughly evil.
  • Femme Fatale: Gives off this vibe and his implied to have seduced Lord Flamekhan, yet she never does something seductive in the entire game.
  • Fire Balls: Belladonna kills Eagle with those in the original. The remake replaces it by a dark energy blast.
  • I Have Your Wife: She's given Jessica a cursed pendant that ties her life to her, and threw her to jail for good measure. Hawkeye cannot tell the truth about Belladonna or try to kill her, lest his loved one dies.
  • Ki Manipulation: In the remake she kills Eagle with a dark energy blast, and can hurl very damaging waves of purplish energy in the Boss Battle against her.
  • Kung-Fu Wizard: Belladonna has immense powers and a battery of deadly spells, but she is above all a physical fighter who needs only her claws to rip foes to shreds.
  • Lightning Bruiser: An exceptionally fast and agile fighter, with highly powerful attacks and able to tank major punishment.
  • Long Hair Is Feminine: She's a feminine villainess with long hair that goes past her waist.
  • Love Martyr: Dedicates all her life, considerable powers, and everything she has, out of slavish devotion to a Bad Boss ready to toss her aside like an afterthought as soon as it is convenient.
  • Lunacy: Her main element is Moon, the trickiest element in terms of hindering spells...
  • Mind Manipulation: She can control pretty much anyone, from influencing Lord Flamekhan's actions to enslaving Eagle. By the time she is finished, over half of the guild is under her spell, and the other are thrown in jail... If they are lucky.
  • More Deadly Than the Male: The only female second-in-command, just as deadly as her male counterparts. In the original she is at level 51, over even the Final Boss. She's at the same level as the others in the remake though.
  • Morphic Resonance: In the remake, she sports the same jewels both in her human disguise and her true, beast-like form.
  • Ms. Fanservice: She's the bustiest female character in the remake, complete with a Navel-Deep Neckline, and given her penchant for seduction, she fits the trope to a tee. Her true feline form proves to be even more so than her human form, being outright naked in this state and showing off every inch of her curves.
  • Navel-Deep Neckline: Downplayed, the plunging neckline of her outfit just barely reaches her midsection.
  • New Era Speech: The Nevarl Thieves' Guild is no more. It is now the Nevarl Kingdom, under the leadership of Her Puppet, err... His Majesty King Flamekhan!
  • Noble Demon: She is evil and sadistic, but some of her actions imply that she has a softer side, unfortunately stifled by her love and desire to please his Dark Majesty. If Riesz or Hawkeye are present but not The Hero, she confesses to have returned Elliot to Laurent before she self-terminates.
  • One-Winged Angel: She transforms into an anthropomorphic cat demon to fight.
  • Panthera Awesome: Her beast form is very panther-like.
  • Pet the Dog: If his Dark Majesty isn't the Big Bad, she returns Elliot to Laurent since he didn't serve any purpose without acting as a host for the villain.
  • Sexy Cat Person: An evil example. Her One-Winged Angel form is as dangerous as it is Furry Fanservice.
  • Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Her human aspect, indicating since the very first second that she is much more than she lets it appears.
  • Soft-Spoken Sadist: Belladonna is dignified, sultry and teasing, never raising her voice, but she clearly gets her kick in the torments she inflicts, which makes it all the more unsettling.
  • Summon Magic: She can cast the very powerful Divine Summon Hexas. She also summons demons and monsters to establish her grasp over Nevarl and Laurent.
  • Undying Loyalty: To his Dark Majesty, so much so that she puts a stop to the plan to merge the world with Mavolia since she felt no point in continuing it if he isn't around to rule the world.
  • Villainous Friendship: She seems to get along rather well with Malocchio. Not enough to spare him should their team fail at the Sanctuary of Mana, though.
  • Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Belladonna morphs into a small cat when receiving a particularly nasty smackdown, perhaps as an attempt to deflect rage through cuteness. Subverted as she casts her nastiest spells under that form.
  • Xanatos Gambit: Her plan to unseal the Fire Mana stone. She's bringing Jessica as a sacrifice, but not before sending Bil and Ben to clash with any plucky hero chasing her down. When they're inevitably killed and Jessica is saved, well, she still has their two souls to sacrifice.

    Malocchio 

Voiced by Yasuaki Takumi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/malocchio.jpg
Barely anything is known about Malocchio. He seems to be a vampire-like demon working for his Dark Majesty, being in charge of the Dark Castle and "taking care" of the kidnapped Elliot while Belladonna leads the conquest.
  • Achilles' Heel: As an undead, the Undead Away cleric spell deals massive damage. Fire damage also acts as a more traditional elemental weakness.
  • Actually Not a Vampire: Downplayed as Malocchio is one in all but name, but what the hell he is exactly remains unknown.
  • Anime Hair: Sports a wild haircut in the remake.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: His original Japanese name translates to the Earl of the Evil Eye, and he is a nasty piece of work.
  • Badass Cape: Dons a nice one fitting his vampiric theme, and is an immensely powerful enemy who can pose quite the nasty challenge.
  • Badass in a Nice Suit: Fitting his vampiric theme, he is dressed to the nines.
  • Bilingual Bonus: His official English name, Malocchio, means "evil eye" in Italian, referencing his Japanese title as the Earl of the Evil Eye, as well as his trademark demonic red eyes.
  • The Brute: His major role is to serve as muscle, and mostly a protector.
  • Casting a Shadow: Unleashes a number of Shadow spells during the Boss Battle against him.
  • Classical Movie Vampire: Downplayed. He fits the trope to a T in appearance, but his exact nature is never explained. It's not even clear if he is a vampire. Being a demon of Mavolia, it largely comes down to whether or not a vampire is considered a demon in the Mana Universe.
  • Creepy Housekeeper: A villainous twist on the trope. Malocchio seems in charge of the Dark Castle in his Dark Majesty's stead and especially of his remains and future vessel. He knows his boss' whereabouts when even Belladonna does not.
  • Diabolus ex Nihilo: Aside that he comes from Mavolia and worships his Dark Majesty like a god, nothing is known about him, nor even what the hell he is. A vampire? A demon? Both?
  • Dropped a Bridge on Him: Like with the Crimson Wizard, if His Dark Majesty isn't the main villain of the playthrough, he's unceremoniously killed off by Belladonna of all people offscreen for his failure after the Nevarlans lose at the Sanctuary of Mana.
  • Dub Name Change: He's simply called the Earl of the Evil Eye in Japanese. He's known as Jagan in the fan translation and Malocchio in the official translation.
  • Evil Is Hammy: Quite composed, if enthusiastic, in the original, the remake gives him a flair for theatrics in his dialogue and manners, being unabashedly gloating as things unfold according to plan. While his Japanese dub retains some composure, the English dub reaches into new levels.
  • Fangs Are Evil: His vampire fangs are quite visible when he opens his mouth in the original. And all the time at it's corners in the remake.
  • Flat Character: Nothing is really revealed about him. The closest to giving him depth is Belladonna's monologue if Hawkeye or Riesz are not The Hero. Belladonna relinquished the plan of merging the world with Mavolia if her beloved Dark Majesty wasn't around, but Malocchio wanted to go through with it and is implied to have planned to rule himself. So he is likely to desire power as a reward more than Belladonna.
  • Flunky Boss: Challenges the heroes alongside a wolfman and a female vampire as strong as he is, who must be taken down before he can be harmed. In the remake, they are even mightier and he can respawn them as many times as he likes, mercifully easier to kill.
  • Heal Thyself: He can do so in the remake through Vampiric Draining.
  • High Collar of Doom: He wears a neck-high collar, having the vampire look down pat.
  • Kill It with Fire: Malocchio's vulnerable to fire-based magic.
  • Kung-Fu Wizard: A magic oriented fighter, but with physical attacks. He becomes a full-fledged example in the remake, in which he strikes with his claws and bites foes nearly as often as he casts spells.
  • Life Drinker: See Vampiric Draining below.
  • Mind over Matter: His Psychic Blast special technique violently hurls all foes away with telekinesis.
  • Named by the Adaptation: The Japanese only refers to him by his title, but the translation names him.
  • Nothing Personal: Most of Hawkeye's and Reisz's animosity against His Dark Majesty is targeted towards Belladona, leaving Malocchio as just another boss to fight in His Dark Majesty's timeline. The two do recognize him as the mysterious stranger who conspired with Belladonna before Eagle's death and the man who bought Elliot at a slave auction, respectively at Beuca Island, but little else.
  • One-Hit Kill: Malocchio masters the fearsome spell Annihilate, which instantly kills anyone of lower level. Mercifully dodgeable in the remake.
  • Only Known By His Nickname: He's simply referred to by his title in the original Japanese version.
  • Our Vampires Are Different: Malocchio is all but stated to be a Vampire Lord. He wears the classical high-collared Badass Cape, is vulnerable to the local Turn Undead, he drinks blood, even lying down in the typical pose in the original. However, he is a denizen of Mavolia, while vampires in the series are usually humanoid bats.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: His demonic red eyes are his defining trait. His Japanese title translates to the Earl of the Evil Eye, while his English name means "evil eye" in Italian.
  • Reviving Enemy: In the remake, he gets the nasty habit of respawning his bodyguards.
  • Shout-Out: His vampiric theme, nobility title and haircut call into mind Dracula from the 1992 film by Francis Ford Coppola. Less so in the remake in which his haircut is... wilder to put it mildly.
  • Summon Magic: He can summon monsters in the remake and does so when he is fought.
  • Teleport Spam: Malocchio flickers like a ghost and a lot of the heroes' attacks will miss him. He can teleport for real in the remake.
  • Vampiric Draining: He gains this ability in the remake, either draining those he catches with his Batmo Drain charge, or the spectres he summons. If they are not destroyed in time, he absorbs whatever health they have left.
  • Villainous Friendship: He seems to get along quite well with Belladonna.

    Bil & Ben 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bil.png
Bil
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ben_nevarl.png
Ben
Click here to see their fused form
Two highly skilled agents of Nevarl who initiate the hostile takeover of the Wind Kingdom of Laurent by pretending to befriend Prince Elliot, and who later personally kidnap the boy. Bil is the ninja in green while Ben in the one in blue.
  • Aerith and Bob: His Dark Majesty's faction has Belladonna, Malocchio, Flamekhan, and... Bil and Ben.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Hawkeye's dialogue with them implies that they weren't cruel at all before, Belladonna's magic having corrupted them along with the rest of his fellow ninjas. He repeatedly reaches out to them in the hopes that they will see through her control and snap out of it. Sadly, it never takes.
  • Dual Boss: Whenever their fused ninja form is beaten, Bil and Ben will defuse back to their normal selves and keep the fight going on.
  • Dual Wielding: Both of them each hold a katana in their hands. Their merged form uses a pair as well.
  • Disc-One Final Boss: The first villains fought in his Dark Majesty story path, with the final fight against them being the first real test of what the player has learned.
  • False Friend: Gained Elliot's trust with ninja tricks, but only to use him. The way they treat him as soon as they drop the charade shows how much they truly despise him.
  • Fusion Dance: Their evil fusion technique allows them to merge with one another to form a single ninja in red garb with stronger attacks (which is labelled as simply "Bil and Ben"). When beaten down, they can defuse and continue the fight with no wear to their own health.
    • However, this ends up being somewhat downplayed, as Bil and Ben end up being more of a threat when they are unfused. Not only do they not lose any health from splitting apart and gain the Armoured status, but now the party must deal with the same attacks from before coming at them at twice the frequency. And then there's the fact that they can resurrect one another...
  • Highly-Visible Ninja: They fight with many stereotypical ninja techniques, on top of dressing the part. They tend to stand out unless they're hiding themselves with shadow magic.
  • Inconsistent Spelling: In a rather strange case. Ben's name remains the same in the remake from the fan-translation. However, the fan-translation named his teammate Bill, while the remake renamed him Bil, removing the extra l. You don't see that many people writing out a common name like Bill that way, though they are phonetically the same.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: They wield a pair of katana each.
  • King Mook: They are basically boss versions of the standard Evil Ninja and Assassin enemy types.
  • Malevolent Masked Men: Both of them wear steel masks that cover the bottom portions of their faces, similar to the regular ninja enemies. Because of this and the hoods they wear, whatever their real faces look like is never shown to the player.
  • Magic Knight: Fearsome warriors and fearsome masters of ninja arts and sorcery.
  • Poisoned Weapons: Poison Dagger, which they will only start using during their second encounter.
  • Red and Black and Evil All Over: The black part is downplayed, but Bil and Ben's evil fusion mode sports a dark red hood instead of either's green or blue ones.
  • Reviving Enemy: Should the player think to ignore the other and take out their friend, Bil or Ben will use the skill Underworld after a few seconds, reviving the other back to half health. As such, both must be taken out within a short span of time to defeat them for good.
  • Shadow Archetype: They are what Hawkeye would have been, had he fallen under Belladonna's control.
  • Shadow Walker: They melt into puddles of shadow when fusing together. They do so again when using their Shadow Menace move to land sneak attacks on the party from behind.
  • Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Like Hawkeye and the other ninja-class enemies, they can use Ninja Magic to hurl all sorts of projectiles.
  • Would Hurt a Child: They fling explosives at Elliot when their patience with him grows thin.
  • Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Both Bil and Ben sport narrow yellow eyes from within the darkness of their hoods, giving them rather scary appearances.
  • Your Soul Is Mine!: After the player defeats them once and for all, Belladonna uses their souls to activate the Fire Stone.

    Lord Flamekhan 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flamekhan_tom_remake_artwork.png
The leader of the Nevarl Thieves' Guild, Jessica and Eagle's father and Hawkeye's adoptive father. He was a reluctant antagonist in the prequel Heroes of Mana.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: He buys Belladonna's suggestion of turning the Thieves' Guild into an aggressive nation, as well as her story of Hawkeye murdering Eagle in cold blood, far too easily to be anything other than mind control at work.
  • Honor Among Thieves: These thieves only target the wealthy and never take too much. In Hawkeye's ending scene, Flamekhan pledges to focus on acquiring water and fertility to sustain the region, knowing what little water remains will soon dry up without the support of Mana.
  • Just Like Robin Hood: He ruled the Nevarl Thieves' Guild that way, before Belladonna came along.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: Heroes of Mana reveals that Hawkeye is his grandson by Falcon, his daughter by a first marriage. The Guild's law prevent him from raising the child of a deserter, even his kin, so he had to hide his true parentage. Which catapults the implied romance between Hawkeye and Jessica, his daughter by a second marriage and therefore Hawkeye's aunt straight into the Squick zone.
  • Parental Substitute: He raised Hawkeye like a son from day one.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Usually, albeit bound by laws even he cannot circumvent without losing his cred, and let's not get started on petty Evil Chancellors and their Mind Manipulation.
  • Retired Badass: He is too old to fight now, but was a formidable warrior in his prime and well beyond.
  • Thieves' Guild: He leads the local one.

The Benevodons

    In General 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/benevodons.jpg
Immensely powerful elemental monsters of destruction that were sealed away by the Goddess at the creation of the world, and they threaten it once again when they break free after the villains release the energy from the Mana Stones.
  • Apocalypse How: They would not stop until everything is reduced to ruins.
  • Beast of the Apocalypse: Their release would signal The End of the World as We Know It. Even one led entire civilizations to the brink of extinction, as seen when Zable Fahr was unleashed many millennia before the story.
  • Damage-Sponge Boss: The Benevodons fall into this, for with each one you defeat the others get stronger, which mostly amounts to buckets and buckets of HP. If you don't have the right elements to do extra damage to them, be prepared to wail on them for a long time.
  • Crystal Prison: Each of the Benevodons fits snugly into their diamond-shaped Mana Stone.
  • Elemental Powers: Like the Elemental Spirits, there are eight in total, each associated with a different element.
  • Evil Counterpart: The malicious Benevodons contrast with the eight Elemental Spirits who help the heroes. The Spirit personify the benevolent, life-sustaining forces of nature, while they personify the devastation it can bring.
  • Feed It with Fire: They can all cast their respective Elemental Sabre spell, infusing the heroes' weapon with their own element. It must be dispelled, lest physical attacks heal instead of dealing damage.
  • Generic Doomsday Villain: They are elemental demons without dialogue and characterization, beyond being monsters that destroy everything in their path wherever they go.
  • Gotta Kill Them All: Defeating all Benevodons becomes the main mission in the second half of the game.
  • Kaiju: They are all absolutely gigantic. The heroes, themselves healthy teenagers, can fit in their hand or mouth, and that's excluding Dolan and Zable Fahr, the hugest of them all.
  • Kill One, Others Get Stronger: It is explained that when they first awaken, they are relatively weak, but as you defeat one of them, the remaining ones grow stronger (and so do the monsters in their respective dungeons). So in a way, it justifies why Zable Fahr, always the final Benevodon you fight since the other seven must be killed before you can reach it, is the most powerful.
  • Leaking Can of Evil: Subverted. Their evil power radiates from the stone they are imprisoned into but the Elemental Spirits purify it and use it for good.
  • Made of Evil: All of them.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The player will learn that killing a Benevodon sends all its power into the Mana Sword... which you gave to the villain to keep them from killing your Fairy Companion.
  • Non-Indicative Name: The Benevodons are not benevolent. The name is a holdover from Children of Mana, the first game featuring them that actually got localized, and in that game they did have a more benevolent role.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: Keeping them sealed up is important to balance of Mana, initially.

    Dangaard 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dangaard_concept_art.png
The Benevodon of Wind. When the heroes go through Gusthall again to get to Dangaard, the entire battle is spent chasing it riding the White Dragon Flammie.
  • Blow You Away: It controls the Wind Element and is fought in the sky.
  • "Get Back Here!" Boss: Occasionally in the remake, it will move out of the heroes' reach and strike from afar. It will return to range in time, however.
  • Good Wings, Evil Wings: Bat-like wings are rarely used for sweet and cuddly creatures.
  • High-Altitude Battle: It's fought on the heroes' dragon, taking to the skies to fight it among the clouds.
  • Marathon Boss: Even among the Benevodons, each of which is a Damage-Sponge Boss in its own right, Dangaard stands out since it has the highest amount of HP and the battle against it is broken into four different phases — depletes one-quarter of its health ends the current phase and activates the next, with its death taking place at the end of the fourth. This is changed somewhat in the remake; its multiple phases are it attacking from the sides while the party can't hit back before returning to the back of Flammie, but it's still a huge Damage-Sponge Boss.
  • Multiple Head Case: It's got two heads, separately spamming attacks left and right in the remake.
  • Our Gryphons Are Different: Dangaard resembles a giant, demonic gryphon.
  • Shock and Awe: It uses Thunder-based attacks.

    Land Umber 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/land_umber_concept_art.png
The Benevodon of Earth, fought in Daria, Gem Valley.
  • Attack Its Weak Point: Its orange core is its sole weakness in the remake, but it is protected. Its hands must be taken down to disable its defence.
  • Cognizant Limbs: Its two hands are floating away from him, and serve as separate targets in the remake.
  • Dishing Out Dirt: It controls the Earth Element.
  • Gemstone Assault: Casts the spell Diamond Shards, and its advanced version that conjures a giant diamond that breaks in a dozen shards to assault targets.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: In the remake.
  • Golem: Looks like a gigantic, floating rock golem.
  • Super-Strength: Attacks as much with Earth magic as with punches and grabs.
  • Taken for Granite: It can cast Stone Cloud, which can petrify its victims. Getting all three stoned is an instant game over, so if you see it coming, space out.

    Fiegmund 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fiegmund_concept_art.png
The Benevodon of Water, dwelling in the Labyrinth of Ice.
  • An Ice Person: All of his attacks are Ice-based.
  • Death from Above: Icicle Crash causes icicles to fall from the ceiling. In the remake, Frozen Crack conjures four icicles from above which must be destroyed before they flash-freeze the whole arena.
  • Making a Splash: Downplayed. It controls the Water Element but none of his attacks are Water-based.
  • Overly-Long Tongue: As expected from a lizard-like demon. It even uses it as a physical attack.
  • Reptiles Are Abhorrent: A gigantic, reptilian monster.

    Xan Bie 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xan_bie_bravers_arise.png
The Benevodon of Fire, fought in the Fiery Gorge.

    Mispolm 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mispolm_concept_art.png
The Benevodon of Wood, found in the Woods of Wandara.

    Dolan 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dolan_concept_art.png
Depicted with one horn despite having both
The Benevodon of the Moon and the hugest of the eight, fought in Chartmoon Tower.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Far and away the hugest Benevodon, taller than a tower.
  • Beast Man: Inspired by werewolf legends, though it looks more like a were-billy goat.
  • Horns of Villainy: Two enormous horns.
  • Light Is Not Good: White and controlling a light-associated element, but plenty demonic and evil.
  • Lunacy: Dolan controls the Moon Element, with his deadliest attack Moon Spiral, projecting an image of the moon. Kicked up further in the remake, in which he summons an artificial moon to blast the party, provided they don't break it in time.
  • Maximum HP Reduction: Half Eclipse does this to the entire party, mercifully temporary, in addition to causing damage.
  • Natural Weapon: Look at its claws. It uses them almost more than it uses magic.
  • Shrink Ray: The spell Change Form reduces the target to a tenth of their size.

    Lightgazer 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lightgazer_concept_art.png
The Benevodon of Light, fought in the Shimmering Ruins.
  • Faceless Eye: Its appearance is that of a vaguely spherical being with a single eye and no other facial features, giving it a strange, unsettling appearance.
  • Forced Transformation: Its Shackle attack deals enormous damage, less so in the remake, and turns its targets into harmless Moogles. It is temporary and can be reversed.
  • Heal Thyself: It masters the Healing Light spell. Not to mention casting Holy Sabre on your team.
  • Light 'em Up: As the Benevodon of Light, it unsurprizingly controls the Light Element.
  • Light Is Not Good: Despite being associated with light, the aptly named Lightgazer is not on the heroes' side like Lumina.
  • Teleport Spam: When not bouncing around, it flickers from spot to spot, forcing you to relocate.
  • Wave-Motion Gun: Its attack Gush Blast fires a gigantic and highly powerful beam of yellow light. The charge sequence can be interrupted, but it will not sit there and take your punishment for long.

    Zable Fahr 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/49_zable_fahr.png
Artwork from Rise of Mana
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zable_fahr_trials_artwork_7.png
Artwork of the main head
The Benevodon of Darkness, fought before entering The Very Definitely Final Dungeon.
  • Black Eyes of Evil: The true head has black sclerae in the remake, and it's driven by an instinct to cause destruction like the other Benevodons.
  • Casting a Shadow: It controls the Shadow Element.
  • Climax Boss: Is always the last Benevodon encountered, triggering the final act of the story. And its defeat leaves the Big Bad with the power of all eight Benevodons and the Mana Sword.
  • Dark Is Evil: It is firmly associated with darkness, but completely devoid of Shade's good nature.
  • Devilish Hair Horns: Its main head goes as far as sporting a hairdo shaping its hair as horns.
  • Dual Boss: It has not one, but two heads that must be defeated. Which then turns into a triple boss after the true head reveals itself and revives the other two, becoming the sole target.
  • Eldritch Location: The Dark Benevodon knows how to make an entrance. The heroes arrive just in time to witness the shattering of the Dark Mana Stone. Once this happens, the heroes are sucked into an empty void where Zable Fahr waits.
  • Final Boss, New Dimension: Zable Fahr apparently exists outside of the physical realm. When its stone cracks, the party is pulled into a weird blue void.
  • Flunky Boss: It does it with itself, its main head is flanked by its two secondary ones.
  • Flying Face: It appears as this, with three for the price of one.
  • Game Face: When the main head unleashes its most powerful moves, its face become totally monstrous.
  • Gorgeous Gorgon: Zable Fahr's two secondary heads avert it by looking as devilish as they come, but the real demon looks like a shapely, feminine face, much less ugly despite its red eyes, pointed ears and fangs. Still, it can put up quite the Game Face.
  • Horned Humanoid: Its two devilish heads are humanoid, bearing a demonic horn on the forehead and two bigger at the back of their head. Averted with the main tough, with hairs stylised as horns.
  • Horns of Villainy: Its two heads are devilish from chin to forehead, sporting quite evil-looking horns.
  • Leaking Can of Evil: The only one where this was played straight, in the past when people first attempted to use the Mana Stones for power the resulting violence caused the Mana Stone of darkness to crack releasing Zable Fahr's power. The resulting destruction forced the Mana Goddess herself to intervene directly to seal the stone in another dimension to stop Zable Fahr from destroying the world.
  • The Man Behind the Monsters: The mightiest Benevodon and the most human looking, complete with hair, jewellery and a feminine aspect.
  • More Deadly Than the Male: The feminine looking Benevodon is the mightiest and deadliest.
  • More Teeth than the Osmond Family: The main head's mouth is full of sharp fangs.
  • Nested Mouths: This is how Zable Fahr performs its melee attack.
  • One-Hit Kill: It masters the Annihilate spell that kills any target of lower level. It can be resisted with heroes of the same level or higher, and outright dodged in the remake.
  • Pointed Ears: All three heads.
  • Reviving Enemy: Its main head revives its secondary one as soon as it shows itself. Don't bother destroying them once more, for it will revive them again and again.
  • Sequential Boss: First the two secondary heads must be taken down, then it is time to meet the real thing. Sweet dreams...
  • Summon Magic: Their ultimate attack is prefaced by summoning a Demon to stall you.

Others

    Gova 
A giant spectre that haunts a ghost ship that the party stumbles upon. He must be defeated in order to gain access to the elemental Shade.
  • Big Boo's Haunt: He's created a ghost ship that wanders the seas.
  • The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: An indirect example; he must be fought with only two party members long after there have been three, given that a certain ghost curse has rendered one of them incapable of fighting. The version found in Mirage Palace lacks this handicap, allowing the party to engage him in full force.
  • "Get Back Here!" Boss: His ultimate attack involves lesser ghosts bombarding the stage with attacks in lines. To stop this, the party must attack another ghost that is roaming around the place. Destroy this target and Gova becomes stunned and drops class strike particles.
  • Load-Bearing Boss: The ghost ship soon disappears after he's defeated, as his powers allowed it to function.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: A ghost who challenges the party to free their cursed comrade.
  • Outside-Context Problem: He's the only boss who talks who isn't affiliated with the other villainous factions, acting on his own terms.
  • Weakened by the Light: As a dark ghost, he's weak to light-based attacks.

SPOILER CHARACTER

WARNING: The following folder is Spoilers Off.
    The True Final Boss (Remake Only) 

Anise the Witch

Voiced by: Sachiko Kojima

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anti_goddess_anise.jpg
Click here to see her final form

A character who only appears in the remake, to serve as the True Final Boss in the post-game side-quest. Anise is The Evil Counterpart to the Mana Goddess. Her story varies from game to game, but her existence is the reason why the Mana Tree is always in danger. She rises because of the near total depletion of the Mana Power and must be stopped at all costs. Fortunately, the heroes are up to the challenge.


  • Always a Bigger Fish: Once the post-game side-quest begins, the quest to stop the Big Bad is halted right after Anise resurfaces. Her mere presence pushes said Big Bad aside right as they are about to kill and replace the Mana Goddess, for even then she is a far bigger threat.
    • Amusingly, even she can't hold a candle to the Black Rabite, the incredibly powerful Super Boss and arguably the hardest enemy of the series...
    • To put things in perspective, the Final Boss is at the very respectable level 65, while she is at level 75 (76 when Scaled Up) and the Black Rabite is at level 83, no less.
  • The Anti-God: Nearly equal to the Mana Goddess herself, having created an Evil Counterpart of everything the Goddess created. She is even said to come from the same Primeval Dimension. The Goddess spreads the eponymous Mana power to sustain her creations, while she fuels her demons with her Psi power.
  • Apocalypse How: She plans a Class X by totally obliterating Fa'Diel, with her endgame goal being a Class Z: annihilating the entire multiverse one world after another.
  • As Long as There Is Evil: As long as Mavolia exists in at least one continuity, so does Anise. The protagonists of Heroes of Mana swore to correct it by hunting and making Deader than Dead every incarnation of her across the multiverse until none remains.
  • Ascended Extra: She was originally a minor character featured in the backstory of Legend of Mana before being elevated to the multiverse's biggest threat that must be taken down here.
  • Battle Aura: She exudes an aura of dark energy even when merely standing there.
  • Big Bad: Anise might merely be the True Final Boss of the game, but she is this to the series as a whole. She was directly this in Dawn of Mana and Heroes of Mana, with the latter explaining that as long as Mana exists, she too will exist to destroy it. However, Roget has objections and the means to correct it...
  • Blood Knight: Anise finds amusement in heroes challenging her, and positively revels in cowering and crushing foes (not that she succeeds with these ones). To the point that she delays her Apocalypse How to let them reach and face her.
  • Canon Welding: So we've got the former Archdemon from his Dark Majesty's backstory, an Archmage Queen in one game's background, and a Demon Queen in the remake of the first one (herself derived from a mere boss in the original). How about uniting them all to create the overarching villain of the series? Sure, let's go!
  • Casting a Shadow: She controls darkness and most of her attacks are of the Shadow Element.
  • Cold Ham: Anise manages to be hammy like nobody's business without ever raising her voice.
  • Composite Character: Her character is the reimagining of a boss from one game and a background character from another into a single being.
  • Cool Crown: A simple, black thorny headband, coupled with a golden ornament on her forehead.
  • Dark Action Girl: A malevolent goddess who revels in the thrills of crushing her enemies with her dark powers and who can transform into a giant, scaled dragon-like demon. She’s even willing to put off her plans of destruction just so she can enjoy her fight with the heroes.
  • Dark Is Evil: Incredible dark powers, clad in black, surrounded with a dark Battle Aura, queen of the Dark Underworld, and irredeemably evil.
  • Dimension Lord: Dimension Lady for instance. Anise rules Mavolia and wants to open it over the world of Fa'Diel to obliterate it. She opens a portal to her realm and the heroes must enter it to confront her.
  • Doppelgänger Attack: She conjures a double of herself as a back-up, when fought in "human" form.
  • Elemental Powers: She mostly relies on Casting a Shadow as her main offence, but she also uses Fire, Water, Earth and Wind through Power Crystals, along with Super Shackles, Flash and Gush Blast, Artic Beam, and others.
  • Eternal Villain: Anise always returns, to be fought again and again and again. She knows it full well, paying no mind to her many defeats and telling her victors in no uncertain terms.
    Anise (destroyed again): (chuckles) You really thought this was over? I can never be purged from this world. Someday, I will be revived and bring Chaos with me. Once time passes and you are long gone from this realm, I will remain, biding my time. Chaos will reign... Someday...
  • Evil Counterpart: Of the Mana Goddess, apologies for aiming so low...
  • Evil Is Petty: Creation is anathema to her and she wants it gone. Why would you ask? Because it is a constant reminder that the Goddess is superior to her and could create what she could not, which she cannot stand. Destroying it all is but a way to say "nyah nyah" to her rival's face.
  • Evil Only Has to Win Once: No matter how many times she is slain, she is bound to return and she knows it. In her own words, there will be a time where no hero can stop her and that will be it. She wishes...
  • Evil Wears Black: Clad in a classy black gown.
  • Foil: To the Mana Goddess, fitting her role as The Anti-God. They are both beautiful and regal goddesses of the same origin, but while Mana creates world, spirits and mortals and makes them thrive, Anise creates hell, demons and monster to destroy all. Mana will always resurrect through willing symbiosis with a fairy or a maiden from the Mana Clan, Anise will always return through an unwilling vessel.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: Under her Scaled Up form.
  • God of Evil: Goddess of Evil in that case, but same difference. She is the primeval Archdemon and the source of all wrongs in the multiverse, with even the second-tier evils needing to absorb the Benevodons' power to even get close to her level.
  • Gorgeous Gorgon: Well, she was an Expy of Medusa originally. While sporting decidedly demonic features, she remains beautiful, regal and lavishly dressed. Until she reveals her true form that is...
  • The Great Serpent: Her true form down pat. She's over a hundred-meter-long, supplanting the Mondoragon from the original as the hugest enemy faced. Like he was, she is too big to fully fit onscreen.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: She is far and away the greatest evil in the remake, making the Big Bad at his mightiest pretty much look like a warm-up, but she has no other role than being the final challenge.
  • Hijacked by Ganon: Calls all the spotlight away from the Big Bad by merely being there. This marks her third use of the trope, after taking centre stage once Stroud is killed in Dawn, and possessing General Baxilios in Heroes.
  • I Have Many Names: She has been given many names and titles across the eons and the games: Medusa, Anise, the Goddess of Doom, and so on and so forth.
  • Lady of Black Magic: A well-dressed and regal woman, with incredible dark powers.
  • The Magnificent: Everyone calls her Anise the Witch.
  • Magical Barefooter: She is incredibly powerful and never bothers wearing shoes. Fitting as she hardly ever touches the ground, spending all her time hovering.
  • Major Injury Underreaction: Exaggerated as heck, for not even dying can phase her! She shrugs it off as a temporary setback until her inevitable return.
  • More Deadly Than the Male: The three main villains' ambitions threaten the world, but Anise's presence alone is a threat to the entire multiverse.
  • Morphic Resonance: Her Scaled Up form, Dragon Anise, retains the dark-red horns covered with glowing, pulsating veins and the lilac, petal-like protrusions of her normal Goddess form.
  • Multiversal Conqueror: More like Multiversal Destroyer but that still counts. She won't be content in just obliterating Fa'Diel, she wants it gone from every single universe and continuity she can find.
  • Mysterious Past: Her different backstories from all the games she appears in make her origin rather unclear. However, her The Anti-God slash God of Evil aspect is now firmly established. Despite this, she is still referred to as "Anise the Witch", a Continuity Nod to the first game she was mentioned, in which she was one. It might also differentiate her from Anise the Tree Maiden, who was her first vessel.
  • Nothing Personal: She antagonises each of the protagonists equally, showing off hostile copies of each of their hometowns for them to trek through in order to get to her. It's tame compared to what the other villainous minions do to each of the relevant heroes.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: She wants to obliterate Fa'Diel in every universe until only Chaos remains.
  • One-Hit Kill: Her Dragon Anise form can cast the Aptly named Annihilate spell, killing the target if lower level. And she casts all her "normal" spells on all three heroes at once. Better dodge fast or ciao bambino!
  • Physical God: She is naturally much superior to the Big Bad, even after he himself reach this status. The heroes need to reach the fabled fourth class of the Character Class System to stand a chance.
  • Posthumous Character: As in Legend of Mana, by the time the game starts she's long dead and gone. Still, contrary to Legend she is never gone for good, resurfacing twice in twenty years.
  • Power Crystal: Her first form conjures four Elemental Crystals that must be destroyed to make her vulnerable but cast spells of their elements. Her second forms conjure Dark Crystals channelling her evil might to cast the obscenely destructive Scarlet Dust.
  • Predecessor Villain: The first Archdemon whose throne the current one usurped and which the other two Great Evils openly covet. Still, contrary to others she has no intention of remaining in the past.
  • Reality Warper: She can shape her surrounding however she wants and base it on people's memories, as demonstrated when restyling her Very Definitely Final Dungeon in mimicries of each hero's hometown twisted by evil.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: She has red eyes fitting her evil nature.
  • Resurrective Immortality: No matter how many time she is destroyed, she will always return. Either by possessing a vessel corrupted by one of her creations, or by resurfacing from the void if the power of Mana gets depleted too much.
  • Rule of Symbolism: Having The Anti-God with a demonic serpent as her true form while the Mana Goddess incarnates herself as a World Tree evokes the Serpent Nidhoggr gnawing the roots of Yggdrasil in Norse Mythology.
  • Sadist: Anise revels in causing suffering and goes as far as to feed on it. She enjoys putting her foes through nightmarishly warped version of places they know and love as a form of Mind Rape, a Continuity Nod straight out of her bag of tricks from Dawn of Mana.
  • Satanic Archetype: The first and foremost of the series, whose successors can never truly supplant.
  • Scaled Up: Becomes a ginormous, serpentine, draconic demon called Dragon Anise in the second phase of the Boss Battle against her, gaining one level and a second even bigger life-bar in the process.
  • The Scottish Trope: It is said that the name Anise is an alias used by mortals, for her real name, Medusa, badly curses anyone uttering it. Dawn reveals that Anise was the name of her first vessel, used as her own ever since.
  • Sequential Boss: The heroes must first defeat her normal form, before she Scales Up.
  • Shrouded in Myth: No matter the game, what is known of her is retelling of events from eons before having faded to myth. Even Dawn of Mana is revealed to be the Elemental Spirits reminiscing the story and they hint that there is more to it. Not to mention the Alternate Continuity of most games. Which is admittedly convenient for the Canon Welding that shaped her character.
  • Smug Super: She is unfathomably powerful, she knows it, and she just won't shut up about it even as the unimpressed heroes are beating the tar out of her.
  • Snakes Are Sinister: She has a distinct snake motif and her true form is a tower-dwarfing serpent.
  • Statuesque Stunner: She is easily thrice as tall as the heroes and there is no denying that she is beautiful.
  • Status Infliction Attack: Her Scaled Up form's attacks can turn heroes into harmless Moogles, turn them to snowmen, petrify them, poison them or blind them. She can even shrink them at contact.
  • Summon Magic: Her first form's main attack summons a demonic serpentine tail from below the heroes' feet. She can summon Voluntary Shape Shifting Shadow Zed in both stages of the Final Battle.
  • True Final Boss: Of the remake.
  • Unholy Nuke: Fitting her as a Foil of the Goddess, Anise' Psi power fuels evil beings and corrupts the land, contrast the Goddess' Mana power that maintains balance. Anise' Psi fuels her power and the devastation she brings with it.
  • Walking Spoiler: Who could have expected her appearance? Without knowing the series' lore, she could even come across as a Giant Space Flea from Nowhere.

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