Ys: The Oath in Felghana^noteincludes Wanderers from Ys
Ys: Memories of Celceta^note
Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand
Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim
Ys SEVEN
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox
Ys X: Nordics

WARNING: SOME SPOILERS ARE UNMARKED.

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Introduced in Ys I

The Main Duo

Adol Christin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/adol_l_ys6.png

Adol's classic silver armor design in Ys VI

Click ^here to see Adol in Ys SEVEN

Click ^here to see Adol in Ys: Memories of Celceta

Click ^here to see Adol in Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana

Click ^here to see Adol in Ys IX

Click ^here to see Adol in Ys X

Voiced in Japanese by: Showtaro Morikubo (Ys I: Megami no Kioku Drama CD), Takeshi Kusao (Ys I & II OVA, Ys I: Ushinawareshi Kodai Oukoku Drama CD, Ys II: Tenkuu no Shitsu Rakuen Drama CD, Ys SEVEN Drama CD, Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga), Yūki Kaji (Ys: Memories of Celceta, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, Ys VI Online, Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana and Ys X: Nordics)

Voiced in English by: Dave Wittenberg (Ys I & II OVA [Credited under a pseudonym]), Bryce Papenbrook (Ys: Memories of Celceta, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana and Ys IX: Monstrum Nox)

The protagonist of the franchise, Adol Christin is a wandering swordsman who appears in the majority of the games. A very capable swordsman and a self-proclaimed "Adventurer", Adol's legacy is detailed in the world's history centuries after his adventures ceased, collected in re-printed volumes of his journals.

Arrested for Heroism: Adol is arrested at the beginning of Ys IX: Monstrum Nox due to a warrant for fighting various corrupt Romun Empire officials in past games.
Badass in Distress: He often gets arrested or captured; Adol either needs to be rescued or is released when a reasonable government official realizes they have have arrested the wrong person for a crime he didn't commit.
Badass Normal: Played with; there's nothing extraordinary about Adol other than being an incredibly skilled swordsman. For most installments, he'll start off with basic equipment, but becomes stronger via mystical accessories, artifacts and weapons, rather than his own strength.
Bad "Bad Acting": Duren points out he's a terrible liar in Memories of Celceta after he tries to set the party up to take the fall if something should happen to Calilica when she forces her way into the party.
Bad Powers, Good People: In Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished - The Final Chapter, Adol is forced to use Black Magic in order to progress. Such magic is bad because its source is the Black Pearl, which generates demons as a side effect when used to fuel magic by anyone not made up completely of White Emelas like the Eldeen, including the Twin Goddesses.
Bag of Spilling: If there's an ancient or legendary weapon to be had, Adol will come into possession of it. As sure as the sun will rise, he'll lose it just as quickly. Lampshaded in Monstrum Nox, both when under Romun interrogation and when Adol acquires the Infinity +1 Sword.
Been There, Shaped History:
- The tales of his exploits would inspire the "Age of Exploration" a century after his death.
- This goes double for his vocation of choice: before he set off on his travels, people who went journeying on what could be called adventures certainly existed, but there was no "adventurer" title for it - the closest analogue being explorers who were centered moreso on discovery, like Thanatos Beldine in Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. Cue Adol setting off with that as his self-proclaimed^noteEventual divinity-appointed label of being an Adventurer; within a few years, it had spread across the world like wildfire.
Blow You Away: In absence of any kind of magic in the Ys setting, Adol's below-mentioned Charles Atlas Superpower takes the form of this when performing attack skills. It's not any kind of wind-based magic, but rather his sword swings are just that powerful enough to sweep up intense gales, small cyclones or the occassional Razor Wind. Justified given his Master Swordsman credentials.
But Now I Must Go: In nearly every single installment, he'll leave with Dogi or go alone; regardless, it usually ends with some maiden seeing him off at the docks.
Celibate Hero: A subdued take on this, as it's not at all that Adol actively opposes or rejects anyone's advances, he just has other things going on and follows the call of adventure first and foremost. Some supplementary works could even make this a Subverted Trope, implying returned feelings for the likes of Feena. Word of God actually seems to confirm this and suggests Feena played a major role in his lack of romance after her.
Challenge Seeker: In Memories of Celceta, Adol chooses not to obtain knowledge from Eldeel, instead choosing to use his own abilities to explore the world and map it.
Charles Atlas Superpower: In settings where Adol hasn't been granted some supernatural boon, this becomes the reason as to why Adol can still perform nigh-on superhuman attack skills - his swordplay is just that unbelievably good after years of experience wielding one.
Chick Magnet: Adol has had multiple girls interested in him throughout his career;^note unfortunately, the games don't reveal whether he returns their affections.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: It doesn't matter where he goes or what kind of trouble he's in - Adol is always there to help.
Clear My Name
- Twice in Memories of Celceta when it's revealed that disaster befell the villages of Selray and Comodo soon after he left before losing his memories. Naturally, this gets Lampshaded on the convenience that these ill tidings occur just as he showed up.
- In Ys SEVEN, this also happens, but as a result of a Frame-Up.
Color-Coded Eyes: Later entries have shown Adol to have grey eyes, kenning very well with the purity of his adventuring spirit.
Combos: Beginning with Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, Adol becomes fast enough to deliver a second hit with his weapons against enemies. Technically, his attacks in Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished ~ Omen and Ys II can count as combos against normal enemies if he's able to run into them at an angle where they can't counterattack, causing him to slash them repeatedly as he pushes them.
Covered in Scars: Following his arrest and torture in the dungeon of the Altago Colosseum, Adol's upper body is littered with scars down his chest, stomach, sides and arms. Of course, this part of Adol's body is regularly entirely covered, so they're not seen apart from this sequence.
Deadpan Snarker: Dialogue choices in Memories of Celceta and Lacrimosa of Dana reveal Adol has a sarcastic response for anything. This gets dialed up a bit more in Monstrum Nox due to the circumstances of the game.
Determinator: When Adol becomes the victim of obvious state-sanctioned Police Brutality, he becomes the responsible government's biggest enemy in Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys. He also will not stop investigating ruins until he solves their mysteries and prevent the impending cataclysm if one is revealed.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: More often than not, Adol will tackle against foes who are an Eldritch Abomination or a god-like entity, coming out of it as the victor.
Discard and Draw: His swordsmanship is the only consistent thing about his abilities in-between games.
The Drifter: Justified; he never stays in one place for too long because his adventurer spirit encourages him to keep exploring the world.
Dub Name Change: In the English Sega Master System version of Ys I, Adol is known as "Aron", presumably because "Adol" was considered too close to "Adolf". The MS-DOS version follows suit, renaming him "Arick".
Empowered Badass Normal: For being the star of a Long Running Action RPG series, Adol's only been possessed of actual innate magic twice - once in Ys SEVEN where he was made the "Dragon Warrior" and again in Monstrum Nox upon given Monstrum powers as the "Crimson King". Played with the latter since he is Adol's alchemic Homunculus; both would merge together as one to stop the Grimwald Nox. By the end of the game, Adol turns back into a normal human being.
Experienced Protagonist: By the time of Oath of Felghana, the setting doesn't shy away from establishing right off the bat just how much history and ability Adol's got under his belt.
Famed In-Story: It takes a while for it to catch on, but by the time of Ys Seven Adol's name has begun to spread far and wide to the point foreign dignitaries know of him before he even makes landfall, as opposed to the usual case of leaving a reputation behind him only when his adventure is done and only for the given region.
Fire/Ice Duo: In Ys X, he utilizes fire, while his partner Karja uses ice.
Geometric Magic: His skill "Pentagram" in Ys SEVEN has him dashing to make a pentagram shape.
Get on the Boat: If Adol is traveling into a new locale, chances are it'll be by ship. Chances are also good that the ship will sink, he'll fall overboard or a combination of both will happen.
Good Old Fisticuffs: Adol will often resort to these in the beginning of the earlier games because his finances aren't enough to buy a sword, shield and a suit of armor, thus he has to skip at least one until he fights enough enemies to get enough money to complete the set.
Hero with Bad Publicity:
- In Ys SEVEN, he's falsely accused of assassinating the king halfway through the game.
- At the start of Ys IX, the Romun Empire arrests Adol on a warrant due to previous times when he fought various corrupt Romun officials in previous games.
Heroes Prefer Swords: It's the second half of his Famed In-Story status, after all. Adol will always be seen with a sword of some sort in battle.
Heroic Mime: Played with
- While he usually doesn't actually speak lines of dialogue, how the games handle this trope varies: early in the series, he didn't speak outside of one or two instances such as Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (The Oath in Felghana aside). Later games ensures the narrator describes what he says to others. Finally, modern installments beginning with SEVEN will have him speak during combat, but not when the narrative allows it. Justified because the games are stories based on Adol's personal journals and are re-written from a third-party perspective. It is worth mentioning is Ys SEVEN does play this straight: battle grunts from other party members can be heard from Adol, but the game includes an option to mute him and only him.
- Games since Ys VIII seem to play a little more fast and loose with this. He's still fundamentally a silent protagonist, but he has an increase in battle-focused dialogue in all three games; Ys VIII gives him a handful of voiced dialogue choices, Ys X voices his first dialogue choice and has non-intrusive cutscene voicing, and Ys IX gets around the restriction entirely by having Crimson King be the one to speak.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Dogi; ever since the end of Ys II, wherever Adol goes, Dogi will follow him.
Humble Hero: The given reason why Adol is almost always a Heroic Mime; his journals are focused on the adventure and he genuinely doesn't think much of what he said and did compared to the experiences, thus he doesn't give his own voice as much screen time in his journals.
Incompletely Trained: He received some rudimentary swordsplay learning from his amateur-adventurer father, but beyond that, developed his skill with a blade over his years of adventure, eventually becoming a renown Master Swordsman, so much so that other master swordsmen can tell his ability at a glance.
Jack of All Stats: After SEVEN introduced the party system, Adol typically has a well-rounded stats with a balanced moveset.
Jumped at the Call: No matter what kind of predicament he is in, Adol will never refuse an opportunity for adventure.
Knight in Shining Armor: Played with; Adol isn't a knight, but the earlier games featuring his silver-colored armor hearkens to this aesthetic, alongside his willingness to be chivalrous and helpful to others wherever he goes, akin to a Knight Errant.
Lightning Bruiser: In Ys SEVEN, he becomes this upon wielding a rapier. Adol turns into the strongest character in the party who can wield a piercing weapon. The caveat is that he stays a melee fighter, unlike the other two wielders.
Like Father, Like Son: Memories of Celceta reveals his wanderlust is hereditary - his father journeyed for several years before settling down.
Living Legend: Even during the time when he was alive, Adol attained a reputation as a figure who's involved in extraordinary events, with most people being left incredulous at the things he's experienced.
Long-Range Fighter: Adol can turn into this against most bosses in Ys II because his sword is worthless against such enemies when they are vulnerable only to magic. Fortunately, Adol gains a magic wand and the ability to use Black Magic required to wield it.
Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Averted for the earlier entries in the series where the shield was, aside from a defensive stat, cosmetic. Played straight in Ys SEVEN and the Crossover Alternative Saga, wherein Adol puts his often-seen shield to proper use.
Lunacy: In Ys SEVEN, Adol's Limit Break is fueled by lunar power because the elder of the lunar tribe is the Big Bad, and therefore, is unable to receive the lunar power granted by its dragon.
MacGuffin Delivery Service: In Ys III and Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand, he gathers ancient artifacts only to end up giving them all to the villains, who proceed to said artifacts to release the Sealed Evil in a Can.
Magic Knight: Depending on the games, Adol will combine his skills with the sword alongside magic via rings or wands.
Master of All: In Ys SEVEN, his final weapon has slash, strike, and pierce attributes, allowing him to gain an advantage against many enemy types.
Master Swordsman: By Ys IX, Adol has enough experience with the sword to execute different maneuvers and techniques via attack skills.
Mighty Glacier: When wielding a greatsword in SEVEN, Adol's attacks are sluggish, but hits much harder than usual.
Missing Mom: A flashback sequence during Memories of Celceta confirms that Adol's mother had already passed away when he was a still a kid.
Muscles Are Meaningless: Zig-Zagged. For the most part, Adol usually appears unremarkable-to-underwhelming where his physique in concerned despite being an experienced and hardy adventurer and warrior, and in the games showing him as younger, this is generally true. However, come his Shirtless Scene in Ys Seven, it turns out Adol has developed an incredibly well-toned and defined physique with firm musculature, and Ys IX follows up on this in his design evolving to show a relatively wider chest and broader, squared shoulders with a pronounced trapezius.
Nice Guy: Throughout most of the series, Adol is unfalteringly polite and heroic, always stepping up to help everyone at the first turn and only ever getting aggressive if he damn well has reason to - when he bothers, at least. Starting with SEVEN, players can opt to make him a Deadpan Snarker or the Only Sane Man occasionally, but he's still an effective hero.
One-Man Army: Although the later Party System games obviously de-emphasize this, for the rest of the series prior it was mostly Adol doing all the heavy work between getting information, slaying monsters, and killing whatever evil entity just happened to make its debut that adventure, with Dogi offering his wall-crushing support. This ended up feeding into Adol's legend, because he's undermined demons, makeshift gods and imperial forces on a seemingly impossible scale by just being too stubborn to ever simply give up.
Pals with Jesus: Adol has befriended a few deities in his adventures, but none with too much natural order intervention since these entities weren’t all-powerful to begin with. However, the climax of Ys VIII reveals Earth Goddess Maia, an all-powerful creator with range over many worlds, if not all of existence, who states she is very fond of Adol’s adventures, as life itself to her is akin to a dream - Adol’s adventures are some of the best parts of her dream. Maia has directly interfered with the conclusion of Lacrimosa of Dana so it would have the best outcome for Adol and his friends.
Paper-Thin Disguise: As a fugitive in Monstrum Nox and best-known for his standout red hair, an exceptionally rare trait in the Ys setting, Adol simply dyes it black to be incognito as well as wearing a scarf. This mostly works on people who don't already know of Adol (either personally or by reputation). Not hurt by the fact that the real Adol is still in prison to divert suspicion.
Playing with Fire: In Ys X, his Mana Burst unleashes a fire attack.
Posthumous Character: A rare example for a series protagonist, which the franchise has made explicitly clear - every installment featuring Adol is merely a re-telling of one of his many adventures from his private journals, re-written into collected volumes by an unknown party. Canonically he would pass away at the age of sixty-three after a failed expedition to the North Pole.
Private Military Contractors: Adol tries his hand at being a mercenary in Ys V, where the contract is to stop an environmental disaster.
Real-Time Weapon Change: In The Ark of Napishtim, Adol's different Emelas Swords have different attack speeds, levels of damage boost at the same weapon level, different magic skills, and different skills that do not consume any of their Mana meters. Adol can also switch between them on the fly.
Red Baron: "Adol the Red" is his primary epithet, but he picks up quite a lot over his travels, such as the "The Dragon Knight" and "The Crimson King".
Red Is Heroic: Most of Adol's outfits do contain red, but it's his hair color others identify him with.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Despite his red pants and iconic red hair, he's the cool-headed blue oni to Karja's hot-tempered red oni during Ys X.
Running Gag: Though it hasn't happened as often as the series likes to Lampshade about it, Adol has a bit of a tendency to get shipwrecked and wash up on the shores of whatever new land he's exploring to start another adventure.
Scarf Of Ass Kicking: Dons a green one in The Oath in Felghana and Ys SEVEN, as well as a reminiscent red one in his disguise in Monstrum NOX.
Sinking Ship Scenario: Many ships sink whenever they are near Adol for various reasons:
- Adol gets shipwrecked in the beginnings of I, VI, and VIII. He also has rafting accidents in the backstory of Memories of Celceta and mid-game of V. He managed to survive all of these. This later gets Lampshaded in Ys IX during his interrogation by Roman authorities.
"It seems that shipwrecks are a common occurrence for you. Even sailors and fishermen don't experience a fraction of the accidents you've been in."
- In Ys X, he engages in Epic Ship-on-Ship Action that causes him to sink a lot of enemy ships.
Stone Wall: Out of the two slashing-attribute characters in Memories of Celceta, Adol can take more damage, but deals less than Frieda.
Taught by Experience: He didn't start off as the infamous Master Swordsman he became; his father spent his childhood and adolescence teaching him the fundamentals before he went off into the world, but he received no particularly special training. Once he began his life of adventure, Adol simply honed his skills by pitting himself against increasingly trickier and more dangerous foes to become as good as he is. Tellingly, he has nothing resembling real-world swordsplay as opposed to many of his party members, but what he does have is undeniably balanced and versatile.
Walking the Earth: Justified as he travels the known world alongside Dogi in search of adventure, but also to places that have never been fully mapped before.
You Are Number 6: In Monstrum Nox, during his time in Balduq Prison, he goes by "217".

Dogi

Dogi in Ys: The Oath In Felghana and The Ark of Napishtim

Click ^here to see Dogi in Ys SEVEN

Click ^here to see Dogi in Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana

Click ^here to see Dogi in Ys IX: Monstrum Nox

Click ^here to see Dogi in Ys X: Nordics

Voiced in Japanese by: Kouji Ishii (Ys I: Megami no Kioku Drama CD), Tesshō Genda (Ys I & II OVA, Ys I: Ushinawareshi Kodai Oukoku Drama CD, Ys II: Tenkuu no Shitsu Rakuen Drama CD, Ys: The Oath in Felghana, Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga, Ys SEVEN Drama CD), Atsuya Yamakawa (Ys V for PS2), Kei Kikuchi (Ys VI for PS2), Keisuke Baba (Ys SEVEN, Minna Atsumare! Falcom Gakuen), Kenta Miyake (Lacrimosa of Dana, Monstrum Nox and Nordics)

Voiced in English by: Michael Sorich (Ys I & II OVA), Michael Naishtut (Ys III: Wanderers of Ys (TG-16 version)), Trevor Devall (Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim), Patrick Seitz (Ys: The Oath of Felghana, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana and Ys IX: Monstrum Nox)

"Dogi's the name, and wall-crushing is my game. Pleased to meet ya!"

Introduced as a thief who breaks Adol out of prison near the climax of Ys I by destroying a wall, Dogi becomes Adol's traveling companion for the majority of the franchise, rarely leaving his side and often proving to be an invaluable ally.

Ascended Extra: In the first game, Dogi was a minor Non-Player Character who helps Adol escape imprisonment in the Definitely Final Dungeon and defeat the Big Bad. Though he reappears in Ys III and beyond as his traveling companion, this trope is in full effect for Ys SEVEN, where he finally joins Adol throughout the game as a party member rather than be relegated at the Only Shop in Town.
Badass Normal: Played with; like Adol, he has no latent magic abilities of his own and relies on whatever magic system the current region has as shown in Ys SEVEN.
Bare-Fisted Monk: Dogi fights primarily with his fists if forced to fight.
Baritone of Strength: A strong fighter who is able to break through walls with ease (earning him the nickname "Dogi The Wall Crusher") with a fittingly deep voice across all his appearances.
Book Dumb: Despite being bad with numbers, he's still more perceptive than he looks, as shown when he suspects Chester Stoddart has a secret agenda with Felghana's statues. He'll also be flabbergasted if Adol keeps falling for the teleportation trap in Darm Tower.
Breakout Character: Due to his popularity, Dogi is promoted into Adol's best friend and Deuteragonist in most installments.
Charles Atlas Superpower: Dogi is far stronger than any ostensibly mortal man has any right being, crushing through brick, stone, and boulders like nobody's business. His origin, however, is rooted in simply training under his master in martial arts while still living in Felghana.
Demoted to Extra: Justified in Memories of Celceta; Dogi leaves Adol at the Frontier City of Casnan to escort someone back to their village.
Dub Name Change: In the Turbografx-CD's Ys Book I & II, the English localization renamed him Colin. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys changed it back to the original Japanese name and kept it that way since.
Dumb Muscle: Downplayed as per Book Dumb; however, something like basic math is complicated to Dogi. In Ys VIII, he draws up a resource management plan that would have been an utter failure if Sir Carlan did not catch the arithmetic errors in it.
Dynamic Entry: How else did he get his Red Baron status from?
Gentle Giant: He might be One Head Taller than Adol, but he's hardly frightening to Non Player Characters and is a Nice Guy.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: One of Adol's constants in each game post-Ys II is that Dogi will almost always be there with him.
Inconsistent Coloring: Dogi's skin color often changes between games. Some games (like Oath in Felghana and Lacrimosa Of Dana) depict him being tan while other games (like Seven, Monstrum Nox and Nordics) depict him having pale skin.
Kung-Fu Wizard: He becomes this in Ys SEVEN due to the local dragon energy fueling the magical skills his gauntlets teach him.
Large Ham: Zigzagged - Dogi's normally the Straight Man to Adol's Hot-Blooded adventurous ways, but when there comes a time for a wall to be destroyed, that scale tips the other way pretty quickly.
"That's what I'm screaming! Walls, zero. Dogi the Wall Crusher, like, a million! Who needs doors when they've got me?"
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In the latest editions of the Ys I & II remakes, Dogi literally steps over the user-interface in a full-screen shot the first time he makes his Dynamic Entry of choice, all while declaring who he is and what he does.
Mighty Glacier: In SEVEN, While Dogi is very powerful, he has a slow movement speed and attack speed.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: In Ys VIII, when the Oceanus attacks the Lombardia, Dogi destroys a barrel heading for Reja Dior as the latter clings onto the sinking ship. As a result, Dogi loses his balance and falls off the deck when the ship lurches.
Red Baron: "Dogi The Wall Crusher"
Romantic Wingman: In the Ys IX-packaged short novel The Lost Sword, when Cesilica believes the only way to get Adol to give her Caliocerion is to sleep with him^note Dogi coolly comes up with a reason to leave and makes to exit to give his little buddy some alone time. He's partly messing with Adol, but the sentiment is still there.
Running Gag: In any game where Adol is trapped in a room with no exit, expect Dogi to destroy a wall to save his best friend; the exception is Memories of Celceta due to his absence.
Super-Strength: In The Oath in Felghana, he punches through a compact pile of rocks that the Terra Bracelet couldn't break.

The Twin Goddesses

Feena

Fena during Ys I

^{Feena during Ys II}

^{Feena during Ys Origin}

Voiced in Japanese by: Minami Takayama (Ys I & II OVA), Kyoko Hikami (PlayStation 2 Ys I・II: Eternal Story), Mayumi Iizuka (Ys I: Megami no Kioku Drama CD), Ayako Kawasumi (Ys I: Ushinawareshi Kodai Oukoku Drama CD, Ys II: Tenkuu no Shitsu Rakuen Drama CD), Naoko Watanabe (Ys: Book I & II (TG-16 version), Ys IV (TG-16 version))

Voiced in English by: Debi Derryberry (TurboGrafx-16 version), Melissa Fahn (OVA)

Introduced as a mysterious, amnesiac, blue-haired girl locked away underneath a shrine in Esteria, Adol comes to Feena's rescue in Ys I. She turns out to be a key character in Ys I and Ys II, the younger of the Twin Goddesses who once governed over the franchise's eponymous mythic kingdom.

Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: In order to permanently seal away the Black Pearl, Feena relegates to sealing herself following Ys II.
Beware the Nice Ones: In Origin, she manages to cow Toal in a flashback by telling him that he is her and Reah's guest and he'd better get used to them treating him like one.
Big Damn Heroes: Her soul resonating from Adol's memories, accompanied by a congregate of others, directly assist him in ending the Grimwald Nox to free the Monstrums in Ys IX.
Damsel in Distress: In all appearances for Ys I, Ys II, and Ys Origin, she's captured by the villains.
First Girl Wins: Twisted. Despite becoming The Lost Lenore at the end of Ys II, she's still the only one of Adol's Love Interests whose feelings he returned, per the lore.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: When Adol finds her imprisoned, Feena remembers nothing, but her name. Subverted as she's Faking Amnesia and admits to the deception at the end of Ys II.
Lost Lenore: It’s heavily implied in-game, while Word of God goes as far to state Adol’s never settling down is in part, do to his remembrance of Feena.
Physical Goddess: As a member of the Eldeen, Feena has the power to back it up by sealing away the Black Pearl.
Really 700 Years Old: Justified; the Eldeen achieved Immortality through White Emelas, giving them their perfect bodies and form without any sign of aging.
The Reveal: Feena has been Faking Amnesia throughout Ys I.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Implied; her ending dialogue in Ys II with Adol, where she hopes he'll remember her "as a woman" rather than as a goddess, indicates she fell in love with him.

Reah

Reah during Ys I

^{Reah during Ys II}

^{Reah during Ys Origin}

Voiced in Japanese by: Chieko Honda (Ys I & II OVA), Akemi Okamura (PlayStation 2 Ys I・II: Eternal Story), Akiko Nakagawa (Ys I: Megami no Kioku Drama CD)), Kana Ueda (Ys I: Ushinawareshi Kodai Oukoku Drama CD, Ys II: Tenkū no Shitsu Rakuen Drama CD), Mayumi Sho (Ys: Book I & II (TG-16 version)), Junko Hagimori (Ys IV, TG-16 version)

Voiced in English by: Louise Vallance (Turbo-Grafx 16 version), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (OVA), Anairis Quiñones (Ys IX)

A cloaked, blue-haired poet from the town of Minea in Esteria, Reah tasks Adol with finding her lost silver-colored harmonica in Ys I. Just like Feena, Reah is another Eldeen, the elder of the Twin Goddesses of the ancient Kingdom of Ys.

Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Reah joins her sister in sealing the Black Pearl forever at the end of Ys II.
Damsel in Distress: Subverted in Ys I - Reah deliberately allows herself to be captured and taken to the Darm Tower in order to meet Adol and warn him about the Cleria Cloak the Big Bad uses. Played straight in Ys II when she and Feena are unwillingly captured by Darm and Adol has to play the silver harmonica to free them.
Half-Truth: Played with; Reah only claims to be a poet/troubadour in Ys I, but savvy players will have figured this out by the time they return the harmonica to her.
Really 700 Years Old: Justified due to her Eldeen physiology, preventing her from aging.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Implied; the way she talks and interacts with Toal Fact during Ys Origin suggests that the two were in love with each other. She even tells him that his desire to have a future with her made her that happiest she's been in all her time as a goddess.

Other Characters

Sara Tovah

Voiced in Japanese by: Mika Doi (Ys I OVA), Atsuko Tanaka (PlayStation 2 Ys I・II: Eternal Story), Masako Katsuki (Ys I: Megami no Kioku Drama CD), Haruhi Nanao (Ys I: Ushinawareshi Kodai Oukoku Drama CD)

A fortune teller residing in Minea, Esteria who pleads for Adol to find the Books of Ys. She has aunt named Jeba Tovah who lives in Zepik Village.

Heroic Lineage: She's a descendant of Priest Tovah.
Killed Offscreen: At one point during Ys I, Adol returns to her residence only to find out from somebody else that she was murdered while he was gone.
Spared by the Adaptation: She lives in the OVAs.

Goban Tovah

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ys_2_chronicles_ingame_portrait_goban.png

Voiced in Japanese by: Nobuo Tanaka (OVA), Daisuke Gōri (Ys: Book I & II (TG-16 version), Ys IV (TG-16 version)), Takeharu Ohnishi (Ys I: Ushinawareshi Kodai Oukoku Drama CD, Ys II: Tenkuu no Shitsu Rakuen Drama CD), Tōru Ōkawa (PS2 version)

Voiced in English by: Thomas Haden Church (TG-16 version), Doug Stone (OVA)

Head of the thieves in Esteria and Sara's cousin. Some time before Adol's arrival to Esteria, he led an ill-fated assault on Darm Tower, which lead to the group's pulling back but losing Dogi in the process. He comes back in the second game at the last minute and also re-appears in The Dawn of Ys.

Adapted Out: He appeared in Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys, but not its canon remake, Memories of Celceta
Heroic Lineage: Like Sara, he's a descendant of Priest Tovah.
Just Like Robin Hood: He only steals from those who obtain their money unethically.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Despite being a thief, his main role in the first game is to guard the entrance of Darm Tower, since there's an army of demons inside.

Luta Gemma

Voiced in Japanese by: Kei Tomiyama(Ys I OVA), Yasunori Matsumoto (Ys II OVA), Tetsuya Iwanaga (Ys I: Megami no Kioku Drama CD), Akira Ishida (PS2 version), Norihisa Mori (Ys I: Ushinawareshi Kodai Oukoku Drama CD, Ys II: Tenkuu no Shitsu Rakuen Drama CD)

Voiced in English by: Bruce Lanoil (Ys Book I and II TG-16 version), Kirk Thornton (Ys I and II OVA [Credited under a pseudonym])

A sleepwalker who happened to be in Darm Tower. He helps Adol out by giving him family heirlooms that help traversing the higher levels of the tower.

Heroic Lineage: He's a descendant of Priest Gemma.

Raba

Raba during Ys I

^{Raba during Ys VI}

Voiced in Japanese by: Katsushi Kuroki (Ys VI for PS2), Hidekatsu Shibata (Ys VI Online)

Voiced in English by: Scott McNeil (Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim)

An old man Adol encounters in the Tower of Darm.

The Bus Came Back: After being a no-show since his debut, he made a return in Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim.

Dark Fact

Voiced in Japanese by: Katsuji Mori (G-16 version, Ys: Book I & II (TG-16 version), OVA), Kaneto Shiozawa (Saturn version), Hiroshi Yanaka (Ys I: Megami no Kioku Drama CD), Takahiro Yoshino (PS2 version), Mitsuaki Madono (CD Drama Ys I: Ushinawareshi Kodai Oukoku), Kazuyuki Okitsu (Minna Atsumare! Falcom Gakuen)

Voiced in English by: Michael Bell (TG-16 version), Lex Lang (OVA),

A humanoid demon who is responsible for stealing silver items from the residents of Esteria. He seeks to collect the Books of Ys for his own nefarious ends.

Adaptation Name Change: In the PC Engine version of Ys IV, his name was originally "Sieg Fact", in canon Dark is his actual first name.
Boss Arena Urgency: Every time he takes a hit, the floor tile where the hit occurred is destroyed. If Adol doesn't get off the tile in time, he instantly dies.
Clean Dub Name: Japanese materials transliterate his name as "Dalk Fukt". The English Sega Master System version renames him to "Dulk Dekt", the MS-DOS version to "Malificus", the iOS and Android version to "Dark Fakt", and all other English versions to "Dark Fact".
Evil Is Bigger: Dark's demonic form is at least twice as tall as Adol.
Final Boss: He's the last boss of Ys I, but he's a Disc-One Final Boss in the context of the Esteria arc.
Freudian Excuse: His parents protested against the mining of silver because doing so would unseal the demons. They were killed for it, causing Dark to swear revenge on humanity and finish the job of unsealing the demons himself.
Graceful Loser: In the OVA, he drops his blade and lets Adol strike him down when he realizes his ambitions are undone.
The Heavy: Of Ys I due to unsealing the demons, but Darm is the Big Bad of the Esteria arc.
Heel–Face Turn: Downplayed, as he's not turned good per say, but his post-mortem cameo in Monstrum Nox shows a much more favorable reception towards Adol..
No-Sell: Due to his Cleria cloak, he cannot be harmed by any weapon unless it's made of the same material.
Playing with Fire: His main attack is to bombard the arena with fireballs, which explode into smaller fireballs that spread out.
Villain Respect:
- Before his boss battle, he congratulates Adol for reaching the top of Darm Tower and collecting five of the Books of Ys. Taken even further in the OVA, where he doesn't even assert that Adol won't be able to defeat him, speaking to him as an equal in their entire encounter and encouraging him to deal the final blow when he knows he's lost.
- And again in his Monstrum Nox cameo as The Ghost, voicing how impressed he is with how Adol's continued to press on despite everything he's endured in his adventures.

Introduced in Ys II

Supporting Characters

Lilia

Voiced in Japanese by: Kotono Mitsuishi (Ys II OVA), Hiromi Tsuru (Ys: Book I & II (TG-16 version), Ys IV (TG-16 version)), Aya Hisakawa (Ys II, Sega Saturn version), Maria Yamamoto (Ys II PS2 version), Eri Kitamura (Ys II: Tenkuu no Shitsu Rakuen drama CD, Minna Atsumare! Falcom Gakuen)

Voiced in English by: Mea Martineau (TG-16 version), Julie Maddalena (OVA)

A kind-hearted girl who finds Adol lying in the field after he's catapulted through the sky at the beginning of Ys II. She is also tragically unaware that she has a terrible illness that will kill her any day. After Adol repays his debt by finding the cure, Lilia develops a hilariously overbearing crush that's powerful enough to bleed into the later games.

Ascended Extra: She doesn't have much of a role in the original II, but her involvement is massively expanded in the OVA.
Adapted Out: She doesn't appear in the canon remakes of Ys III and IV, Memories of Celceta.
Breakout Character: She takes a much larger role in the SNES and Turbografx-CD version of IV.
The Cameo: Makes a short appearance at the opening movie in the Turbografx-CD version of III.
Damsel in Distress: She's kidnapped by the demons to be sacrificed to Darm. Dalles later petrifies her and other runaways, and Adol has to cure them by finding the Dreaming Idol and miniature Black Pearl.
Hopeless Suitor: Adol just does not seem to recognize that she has a crush on him.
Informed Attribute: She had deadly illness...but you wouldn't know this just by looking at her, who seemed totally fine even before Adol got her cure.
Stepford Smiler: She knew she was terminally ill all along, but acted happy and energetic so that her mother wouldn't be worried.
Take Me Instead: Does this repeatedly in the first episode of the OVA to Belagandar, to the point where he flat out tells her it won't work because she's part demon herself.
Tomato in the Mirror: In the OVA, she has the blood of Darm's minions in her thanks to an Emergency Transformation by Keith.

Flair Rall

Flair during Ys II

^{Flair in Dawn of Ys}

^{Flair in Mask of the Sun -A New Theory-}

^{Flair in Ys X}

Voiced in Japanese by: Keiichi Sonobe (Ys X)

A doctor from Lance Village in the country of Ys.

The Bus Came Back: From an out-of-universe perspective, Flair's return in Ys X marks his first canonical appearance since his debut.
Demoted to Extra: He was present in Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys and Mask of the Sun. Aside from a brief mention, Memories of Celecta had him Adapted Out.

Gorto

Voiced in Japanese by: Jurota Kosugi (Ys II OVA), Yoku Shioya (Ys: Book I & II (TG-16 version)), Daisuke Ono (PlayStation 2 Ys I・II: Eternal Story), Koichi Tochika (Ys II: Tenkuu no Shitsu Rakuen Drama CD)

Voiced in English by: Paul St. Peter (Ys II OVA [credited under a pseudonym])

A villager from Ramia who serves as the guardsman for the Solomon Shrine.

Heroic Lineage: He's a descendent of Priest Dabbie.

Maria

Voiced in Japanese by: Chie Sasaki (Ys II OVA), Yuriko Yamamoto (Ys: Book I & II (TG-16 version)), Sachiko Kojima (PlayStation 2 Ys I・II: Eternal Story), Chiwa Saitō (Ys II: Tenkuu no Shitsu Rakuen Drama CD)

Voiced in English by: Wendee Lee (Ys II OVA)

A woman residing in Ramia Village. She was captured by demons to be made a sacrifice, causing her fiance Sada to make an attempt to save her.

Disney Death: It initially appears that Adol was too late to save her from being sacrificed, but it's revealed near the end of the game that Kieth managed to rescue her.
Heroic Lineage: She's a descendant of Priest Mesa.

Tarf

Voiced in Japanese by: Eiko Yamada (Ys: Book I & II (TG-16 version)), Mae Watanabe (PlayStation 2 Ys I・II: Eternal Story), Kumiko Watanabe (Ys II OVA)

Voiced in English by: Wendee Lee (Ys II OVA)

A young boy living in the Colony of Lava.

Heroic Lineage: He's a descendant of Priest Hadal.

Keith

^{Keith during the ending of Ys II}

Voiced in Japanese by: Hideyuki Tanaka (Ys II OVA), Hideyuki Hori (Ys: Book I & II (TG-16 version)), Masakazu Suzuki (PlayStation 2 Ys I・II: Eternal Story)

Voiced in English by: Beau Billingslea (Ys II OVA [credited under a pseudonym])

A strangely heroic demon Adol encounters in the Solomon Shrine.

Heroic Lineage: He's a descendent of Priest Fact.

Aisha

An original character created for the Korean-only Ys II Special. Not to be confused with Aisha from Ys Seven or Aisha from Taito's Ys V remake.

Canon Foreigner: Aisha was an original character created for Ys II Special and has not made any appearances outside of this version.
Hair Of Goldheart Of Gold: Has blonde hair and is on Adol's side.

Arisa

An original character created for the Korean-only Ys II Special.

Canon Foreigner: Like with Aisha, Arisa never appeared elsewhere aside from Ys II Special.

Antagonists

Dalles

Dalles in Ys I & II Chronicles

^{Dalles during his boss fight}

^{Dalles during Ys Origin}

^{SPOILERS for Ys Origin}

Voiced in Japanese by: Akio Ōtsuka (CD Drama Sound Theatre Ys), Kiyoshi Kawakubo (Ys I OVA), Yusaku Yara (Ys: Book I & II (TG-16 version)), Shigezō Sasaki (Ys II OVA), Norio Wakamoto (Saturn version), Hideo Watanabe (PS2 version), Jurota Kosugi (CD Drama Ys I: Ushinwareta Kodai Oukoku, CD Drama Ys II: Tenkū no Shitsu Rakuen)

Voiced in English by: Jim Cummings (Ys: Book I & II (TG-16 version)), Tom Wyner (OVA)

The Dragon in Ys II and the Big Bad of Ys Origin, the dark mage Dalles answers to Darm, and leads the series off by killing the Six Priests of Ys' descendants. His looks have varied depending on the version (TG-16 version has him looking out-right evil In the Hood, with some versions of Ys Eternal featuring red eyes in shadow, the Original Video Animation has him look like a short, bald guy and Ys I & II Chronicles has what he looks like from Origin In the Hood).

Ain't Too Proud to Beg: As he's being killed by Cain Fact, he begs for someone to help him.
Anti-Magic: In Ys II, he's immune to all of Adol's magic, forcing the latter to rely solely on his Cleria sword.
Ascended Extra: Went from being in just the second game to being in both of the OVA versions of Ys I and Ys II.
Asshole Victim: He gets killed by Cain Fact in Ys Origin after Cain has no more use for him. Suffice to say he is mourned by absolutely nobody.
Back from the Dead: As a demon serving Darm, since Dalles is killed in all the three routes of Ys Origin.
Batman Gambit: In Ys II, he knows that the descendants of the priests tend to have Chronic Hero Syndrome, so he baits them by kidnapping innocents to be sacrificed in an excessively slow manner.
Big Bad Wannabe: In Origin, he wants to claim the Black Pearl, but he's really an Unwitting Pawn to Cain.
Card-Carrying Villain: Yunica calls him a monster for being willing to kill everyone in Solomon Shrine just to fully draw out the Black Pearl's power. Dalles's response is that he's perfectly comfortable with being a monster.
Curb-Stomp Battle: In Ys Origin (Yunica and Hugo routes), Dalles easly defeat the four knights and petrifies them.
Dragon with an Agenda: Defied; Darm binds him to his will, meaning Dalles can only act on his master's ambitions and not his own. This doesn't prevent him from enjoying his victims' suffering though, as shown when he petrifies people in front of Adol.
Evil Sorceror: He's a sadistic mage who specializes in petrification spells.
Faux Affably Evil: He spends a lot of his time politely reminding the heroes of how powerless they are while he petrifies their loved ones. He's even worse when he's actively manipulating someone, as shown when he praises Hugo for his wizardly potential and eloquently argues that using the Demonic Essence is no different from using the Black Pearl's magic normally, all to tempt the boy into becoming a demonic brute.
Final Boss: He's the last opponent fought during Yunica and Hugo's non-canon routes in Ys Origin. In Toal's route, he's instead the Pre-Final Boss.
Forced Transformation: Subjects Adol to this in Ys II, trapping him in a black Roo form while disabling Alter Magic's ability to avoid fights.
Barrier Change Boss: In his second form (in Ys Origin), Dalles can only be damaged after destroying his barriers with attack from the artifact of corresponding color.
Hate Sink: He exploits this trope in the Ys: Castle of the Heavens OVA, where he petrifies several innocents and beats down Adol in order to fill the latter with hatred. Adol's rage prevents him from properly using the Cleria Sword, resulting in a Near-Villain Victory for Darm. He's not much more likable in the games, where he's incredibly petty in targeting the protagonists' loved ones and is Adol's most personal enemy in Ys II.
The Heavy: In Ys II, he's the most active villain with a speaking role and antagonizes Adol the most. He's also the one directly commanding the demons in gathering sacrifices while Darm is recovering his strength.
If I Can't Have You…: Said almost verbatim to Toal and Reah once he's defeated and he tries to turn the Black Pearl into a Fantastic Nuke.
Knight of Cerebus: Things tend to go to hell for the heroes the moment he shows up, since he personally does something to make the player characters feel loss. He's also far more threatening than all other antagonists except Darm in terms of combat, leaving the player characters helpless to stop him until his boss battle. Especially in the Ys: Castle of the Heavens OVA, when he turns the already Darker and Edgier series even darker by succeeding in crushing Adol's spirit and corrupting him.
Leitmotif: "Over Drive" plays during battles against him.
No-Sell: According to his bestiary entry in Ys II, he wears a Cleria cloak like Dark Fact, which explains why he can only be hurt by the Cleria Sword and not any other weapon.
Obviously Evil: In Ys II, his cloak and hooded appearance makes it obvious that he's a villain.
One-Winged Angel: He does this in Origin, becoming a strangely angelic looking demon. To a lesser extent, his sprite scales up in Ys II.
Playing with Syringes: Cain Fact directed Dalles to turn Hugo into a demon as part of an experiment to determine if it was safe for Cain to take in demonic essence, and Dalles did so. Hugo gets better.
Rage Quit: That's one way to interpret him trying to detonate the Black Pearl once Toal defeats him, which in theory could pretty much wipe the island of Esteria off the map. He didn't count on Cain Fact coming down from Ys to hold him to his end of the bargain.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: He already had red eyes before using his Demonic Essence. In the Complete artwork, only his glowing eyes are shown while the rest of his face is obscured by his hood.
Sadist: After petrifying or killing his enemies, he usually lets at least one of them live so he can savor their despair.
Slasher Smile: If one looks closely at his 3D model as a boss, he has a huge, demented grin on his face, showing that he has gone mad with power. It goes hand-in-hand with his boss title, "The Deranged."
Subliminal Seduction: In Hugo's route, he uses a subliminal message to make the boy lose control of the Demonic Essence.
Taken for Granite: One of his favorite tricks in Origin and Ys II. This gets upgraded to Literally Shattered Lives when he kills Epona.
Taking You with Me: He attempts to blow up the Black Pearl to kill himself, Toal, Reah, and the continent of Ys, simply because he believes he's the only one who should be allowed to wield it. Cain makes sure that it's a Foregone Conclusion that he fails.
Unblockable Attack: If Dalles's vortex spell captures the player character, they'll be crucified to prevent them from using their skills and their Boost gauge will be emptied, preventing them from reducing or negating the damage in any way. The vortex itself will also ignore guard frames and Bursts, meaning evading it is the only option for the player.
Unwitting Pawn: To Cain Fact in Origin, as Cain seemingly makes a Deal with the Devil with him in order to obtain the Black Pearl, but takes control of the plot once Dalles is defeated and tries to nuke the continent by detonating the Black Pearl.
White Hair, Black Heart: His look in Origin. In the Chronicles version of Ys II, his white hair is shown under his hood.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Gets this pulled on him in Origin and the OVA adaption of Ys II. The English dub of the latter even has Darm quote the trope word for word.

Zava

Zava during Ys II

^{Zava during Ys Origin}

A Vain Sorceress from the Clan of Darkness working for Dalles. An absolute sadist who cares more for her summoned monsters than she would for any living being. In Ys II she doesn't have a big role and serves only as an obstacle to Adol; her role is heavily expanded in Ys Origin.

Ascended Extra: In Ys II, she gets only slightly more screentime and mentions than the average demon boss. In Ys Origin, she's revealed to be a high-ranking member of the Clan of Darkness and has a more direct role as antagonist.
Back from the Dead: As a demon serving Darm, since Zava is killed in all the three routes of Ys origin.
The Beastmaster: She can control the giant demons in the Devil's Tower and is much more empathetic towards them than towards her fellow humans. Unfortunately for her, "The Claw" ends up killing all of them, to her anger.
Combat Pragmatist: In Origin, Zava relies on unfair tactics, like trapping her enemies on a Containment Field or summoning demons to outnumber them. See Trap Master bellow.
Faux Affably Evil: She's capable of sounding polite and casual when she's in control of the situation, but unlike Dalles, who can maintain some degree of formality during his Villainous Breakdown, she's quick to drop the act when provoked by the death of her "lovelies" or being called old by Hugo.
Fire, Ice, Lightning: In Ys Origin, she uses lightning magic, while her two familiars attack with fire and ice.
Flunky Boss: Zava has a knack for hiding behind summoned monsters; in Ys II she can't be harmed by Adol until the monsters she summons are all slain, in Origin she'll often hide herself inside of Yogleks and Omulgun and the player character will have to pull her out by force.
Hero Killer: She kills Roy in Yunica's route.
Speak Ill of the Dead: In Hugo's route, she insults Epona, her former ally, as a backwoods girl when she notices that Hugo still feels guilty about her death.
Summon Magic: Zava can summon monsters to aid her. In Ys Origin, she summons the twin demons "Yogleks & Omulgun" to fight alongside her.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Even discounting Toal's obvious disloyalty, Zava hates working with the one who regularly kills her pet demons.
Trap Master: In Origin, Zava prefers to use magic traps and summon monsters to take care of the intruders, rather than dealing with them herself. She is only directly confronted by the player in the Hall of Mirrors, much later at the game, after most of her familiars are killed.
White Hair, Black Heart: Just like her boss, she appears as a white-heard villain in Ys Origin.

Darm (UNMARKED SPOILERS FOR YS ORIGIN)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darm_ys_ii_chronicles.jpg

Darm during Ys II

^{Cain Fact}

^{Darm during Ys Origin}

Voiced in Japanese by: Norio Wakamoto (Ys II OVA), Banjo Ginga (G-16 version, Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga Drama CD), Tesshō Genda (CD Drama Sound Theatre Ys), Yuji Kishi (PS2 version)

Voiced in English by: Alan Oppenheimer (TG-16 version), Kirk Thornton (English, Ys II OVA [credited under a pseudonym])

The leader of the demons in Ys II, having been sealed inside the Black Pearl by Feena and Reah for hundreds of years. He was originally a human by the name of Cain Fact, the leader of the Six Priests who govern the mythical kingdom of Ys along with the Twin Goddesses. When the Goddesses went missing, he sent down the search party to the surface to look for them, but he had other plans.

Abusive Parents: In Hugo's flashbacks, Cain went beyond merely giving him Training from Hell and pushed his training to the point where Hugo was isolated from his friends. He also manipulated his son into being disloyal to the goddesses and jealous of his brother, which explains the harsher aspects of Hugo's personality. Not to mention he allowed both of his sons to be corrupted with demon seeds, just to see how much hidden potential they can unlock. Worse yet, he practically disowns Hugo (though thankfully out of earshot) when the latter loses to Toal, who he already considers a failure.
Archnemesis Dad: The father of the Fact brothers and is the man responsible for Ys's destruction.
Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: He's very dismissive towards the magic of the Darklings, considering them far inferior to his own. In an older fan-translation, he dips into Fantastic Racism by calling them savages.
Authority Equals Asskicking: As the leader of the Six Priests, his authority is second in only to the goddesses themselves.
Barrier Warrior: The shield magic of the Fact family.
Beard of Evil: He has a goatee and is the Big Bad of two games.
Big Bad: He's the main villain of both Ys Origin and Ys II.
Card-Carrying Villain: After being called out by Toal and becoming Darm, he no longer attempts to justify his misdeeds and instead refers to himself as "pure evil."
The Chessmaster: Carefully manipulated the events of the game from shadows so he can take control of the Black Pearl.
Death by Irony: He's killed by Adol, who at that point is using the Fact family's shield magic to fend off Darm's deadly attacks.
Faux Affably Evil: After skewering Dalles, he attempts to act like a polite and loyal servant to Reah, despite how obvious it is that he's a traitor. As he finishes off Dalles, he gives the latter False Reassurance that he'll be revived as a slave in the future. Afterwards, he drops any pretense of politeness when talking to Toal.
Godhood Seeker: He fuses with the Black Pearl in an attempt to become omnipotent.
Guinea Pig Family: Cain Fact told the Darklings to turn his sons Toal and Hugo into demons in order to see how they handled being turned into demons. Cain wanted to see if he himself could handle the demonic essence, and used Hugo and Toal as pilot test subjects before he decided to become Darm.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: He's harsh to Hugo during the latter's flashbacks, but this could've been interpreted as him wanting his son to succeed. However, Toal's route reveals that he only wanted Hugo to gain power so that he would make a better test subject for the Demonic Essence, and couldn't care less about his sons' wellbeing.
Leitmotif: "Termination" plays when fighting Darm.
Man Behind the Man: He is the one who allowed the clan of Darkness and the demon army to overrun Ys.
Motive Rant: He tries to claim that his actions are justified because humanity is inclined to seek power and the goddesses are trying to limit their potential. After Toal shoots down his reasoning, Cain drops any pretense of having good intentions for humanity.
Name of Cain: His name is Cain Fact. He is the Demon King Darm's original self (before merging with the Black Pearl) and the true villain of Ys II and Ys: Origin.
One-Winged Angel: Cain fused with the Black Pearl to become the demon king Darm.
Parental Favoritism: Subverted; while Cain obviously considers Toal inferior to Hugo, he doesn't truly care for the latter beyond being a means to boost his reputation and being a test subject for the demonic essence. Once Hugo loses to Toal despite also having demonic powers, Cain derides him as a failure.
Psycho Electro: He's a psychopath who tends to favor lightning magic.
Rage Against the Heavens: He claims that he's just trying to free mankind from the Twin Goddesses limiting their potential, but it's clear he just wants to replace them for his own selfish reasons.
Running Both Sides: He is the leader of the Six Priests of Ys, and he is also the one who hired the Darklings and the demons to attack Ys.
Sealed Evil in a Can: In Ys I and Ys II. Ys Origin shows how he became the demon king Darm and was sealed 700 years prior.
Shadow Archetype: His arrogance and lust for power shows what kind of person Hugo would be if the latter didn't have a conscience. Justified in that his parenting was intended to mold Hugo into becoming just like himself.
True Final Boss: In Ys Origin, he's the last opponent fought during Toal's route, which is only unlocked after finishing both Yunika and Hugo's routes.
Turncoat: He was the leader of the Six Priests of Ys, but he decided to betray Ys in order to seize ultimate power.
Walking Spoiler: He's the Man Behind the Man of Ys Origin and the Greater-Scope Villain of Ys I and Ys II. As such, it's next to impossible to talk about him without spoiling major events from these games.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He kills Dalles in Ys Origin in Toal's route when Dalles tries to destroy the Black Pearl.

Introduced in Ys: Origin

Protagonists

Yunica Tovah

The ancestor to Goban Tovah and a cheery, determined girl. The grand-daughter of one of the six priests of Ys, and daughter to the legendary knight Saul Tovah, Yunica is a recent addition to the Holy Knights of Ys, and a close friend of the Goddesses. She is part of a search party to discover what happened to them. Her fighting style is made to operate similarly to Adol, making her an efficient close-range combatant, but forcing her to take more risks. Her main weapon is an axe.

Badass Normal: She does not have any magical ability of her own.
Bad Powers, Good People: Yunica is a good person, but she is forced to use artifacts that enable her to use Black Magic in order to progress without knowing that it is bad until she learns that the magic of Ys generates demons. The magic is bad because its source is the Black Pearl, which generates demons as a side effect when it is used to fuel magic when used by anyone not made up completely of White Emelas like the Twin Goddesses.
Big Damn Heroes: In Toal's route, she stops Kishgal's attack with her Phoenix Flame and works alongside her fellow knights to hold him off while Toal continues to the summit.
BFS: Yunica inherits the Crimson Lotusblade, her father's great sword which also contains fire magic.
Charles Atlas Superpower: Her strength is this.
Close-Range Combatant: She is this when she is using her axe. The wind magic and electric magic that she can use while wielding her axe and the correct magical artifacts are all close range.
Combos: She is fast enough to deliver a second hit with her axe to some enemies while they are in hitstun. She cannot deliver combos while using her father's sword except by using a downthrust because that sword's hitstun is much less than the time that Yunica takes to swing it again.
Cute Bruiser: Kindhearted and wields an axe and sword all while wearing a pair of mittens.
Cry into Chest: At the end of Toal's route, once she discovers what happened to the Goddesses as she arrives only after everything is been dealt with.
Determinator: Until the Hopeless Boss Fight, she'd managed to push halfway up the tower through sheer grit.
Glass Cannon: In practice, her survivability is hurt at the end of the game due to Crash Bolt being harder to guard with, since it limits her movement unlike the other characters' guard moves. In the hands of a skilled player, her damage output can still be very high, since all of her skills have multihit damage and she has both melee and long-range options.
Heroic BSoD: Yunica suffers one on her route after losing to Kishigal on their first fight and considers giving up her mission due to this. It's Roy who snaps her out, followed by a pep talk with her father's spirit when she retrieves his Crimson Lotusblade.
Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Feena suggests that it's because Yunica is so pure that she is unable to use any magic. While the Black Pearl grants the ability to use magic, it also gave rise to the demons.
Knighting: After she opens the Devil's Gaze door in Rado's Annex, Galleon promotes her to official knighthood.
Lightning Bruiser: In theory, she is fast and strong when using her axe. Her wind magic surrounds her with a damaging radius that can stagger enemies, making her survivability against clustered enemies better in the beginning until The Claw gets his own crowd control options.
Long-Range Fighter: She becomes this while wielding her father's great sword. This sword deals more damage per hit than her battle axe, but it is so heavy that she takes much more time to swing it. She therefore deals less damage per second when executing consecutive attacks with the sword versus her battle axe. However, the sword when combined with a ruby allows her to unleash a slow, wide, strong, and extremely long range fire attack whose range is much longer than Hugo's range with either his normal attacks or his charged fire attacks.
Mighty Glacier: Downplayed. She is this while using her father's great sword because his BFS is much heavier than her axe. She therefore takes some time to swing the sword despite her extreme strength. However, her movement speed is still the same, meaning she isn't completely slow.
Oblivious to Love: Throughout much of her route, it's apparent that Roy likes her, but Yunica hasn't a clue and assumes he picks on her because he thinks of her as a kid.
Pals with Jesus: She's good friends with the Goddesses ever since she was a child, and often snuck into their dependences to be near them. In fact, it was Reah and Feena that motivated her to become a Knight of Ys, and it's her friendship with the two that pushes Yunica to join the mission to find and bring them home despite being a rookie knight.
Real-Time Weapon Change: She can switch between her normal battle axe and her father's great sword on the fly. The battle axe is faster and has a longer combo, but deals less damage per hit. The great sword does more damage per hit, but is slower.
Take Up My Sword: From the spirit of her deceased father, Saul Tovah.
Tragic Keepsake: In her route, she gets the Spirit Necklace from Roy, who imbues it with the last of his magic before he dies. It contains all of Roy's magic which he pooled into the artifact after he was fatally wounded by Zava. Roy's magic will completely resurrect Yunica once if she is killed if she has equipped this necklace.
Un-Sorcerer: Ys was full of sorcerers at the time of Ys: Origin. She has no aptitude for magic at all except for using magical artifacts.

Hugo Fact

The ancestor of Ys I Big Bad Dark Fact, Hugo is a powerful magician with projectile based spells. His father trained him since childhood to be a prodigy mage, causing Hugo to develop an aloof and often arrogant persona. He is sent with the Sorcerer Division to search for the Goddesses, but is also tasked by his father Cain Fact. He's a long-range fighter who can reliably and safely pick his enemies from a distance. He controls two floating orbs known as the "Eyes of Fact" that effectively triples or quintuples his firepower depending on whether or not he is in Boost Mode. He also has a variety of barrier-related spells at his control.

Academic Athlete: While he's not a physical fighter like the other player characters, he can still do his fair share of running and jumping to traverse the Tower of Darm.
The Atoner: Due to Epona's death, Hugo refuses to use the Demonic Essence after he overcomes its influence.
Attack Drones: His Eyes of Fact are essentially magical versions of these.
Bad Powers, Good People: Hugo is a good person, but he uses Black Magic in to progress initially not knowing that it is bad until he learns that the magic of Ys generates demons. The magic is bad because its source is the Black Pearl, which generates demons as a side effect when it is used to fuel magic when used by anyone not made up completely of White Emelas like the Twin Goddesses.
Barrier Warrior: His wind skill and his final burst - the shield magic of the Fact family - count.
Big Brother Worship: He used to look up to Toal, and a lot of his dialogue hints that his enmity towards his brother is equal parts jealousy and feelings of abandonment when the latter left the family to become a knight.
Black Mage: Of the playable characters, he relies solely on magic for offense.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Dalles inflicts this on him in Toal's route, to the point where Epona can't snap him out of it like she did in his route.
Break the Haughty: In his route, his lust for power ends up getting himself corrupted and Epona killed.
Dating Catwoman: He and Epona have differing allegiances and start off hilariously hostile to each other due to their polar opposite personalities. They start warming up to each other after they have an Enemy Mine against an uncontrollable pair of Vagullions and when they turn out to have similar rivalries with their older brothers.
Deal with the Devil: Goes through the deal with Dalles to be fused with demonic essence in both his and The Claw's routes.
Fatal Flaw: He's driven by Pride to become a worthy successor of House Fact and also Driven by Envy of his brother's military accomplishments. This causes him to become no different from the Darklings in lusting after power until his actions get Epona killed in his route and get him brainwashed in Toal's route.
Heroic Willpower: In both his route and Toal's route, he manages to suppress his Demonic Essence, though he never attempts to use it again after that.
Hope Spot: Subverted. In Toal's route, he starts softening up to his brother after hearing why the latter left the family, but then Dalles and Zava brainwash him. Fortunately, Toal manages to snap Hugo out of it.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: He puts up an arrogant facade to hide his jealousy of his brother's reputation. Dalles exploits this to tempt him into using the Demonic Essence.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his condescension to allies and enemies alike, he does care for the rest of the search party, as shown when he feels bad about not knowing how to save the petrified knights. He loses the jerk part after realizing that he doesn't have to follow the Fact family doctrine.
Long-Range Fighter: Hugo attacks from afar with his Attack Drones.
Oblivious to Love: A trait he amusingly shares with co-protagonist Yunica. He has no idea Miuscha has a crush on him, and it gets lampshaded twice during the events of the Wailing Blue, first by Rico and then by Cadena. The same can be said when Epona falls in love with him in his and Toal's routes. He falls in love with Epona, but he apparently has never been taught what love is and therefore does not know what it is.
Hugo: But Miuscha... Honestly, I don't know why she volunteered for the search party in the first place.
Rico: ...
Hugo: ...? What's with that look?
Rico: Oh, nothing. I was just marveling at what a contradiction you are. So smart in so many ways... yet totally oblivious in others.
Hugo: What? Oblivious how?!
Rico: (sigh) Never mind.
Politically Incorrect Hero: Comes with his arrogance. He initially dismisses Epona as a case of women "talking too much" and is very not above cussing at and disrespecting pretty much everyone, even the Goddesses. He also calls the Darklings "savages", though this may be in response to their invasion of Ys.
Squishy Wizard: In theory, he's supposed to be at a disadvantage at close range due to his low speed and lack of stagger on his normal attacks. In practice, he's more of a Mighty Glacier due to his shield magic allowing him to make more mistakes in dodging the enemy, which he needs because of his slow movement speed.
Superpowered Evil Side: Briefly gets taken over by demon seeds in his own route and Toal's route.
Teen Genius: Being able to control two Eyes of Fact indicates that he's very skilled with magic.
Took a Level in Dumbass: Combined with Took a Level in Jerkass in his own route - after he loses to Toal, he becomes more irritable towards his allies and a lot more reckless to the point of falling for the Darklings' traps. In Yunica's route where he doesn't fight Toal, he's a lot nicer to anyone who isn't the latter and more rational about dealing with enemy traps.
Took a Level in Kindness: In his own route, he becomes a lot nicer to his allies after he inadvertently gets Epona killed. In The Claw's route, Hugo starts becoming more willing to talk to him after the Silent Sands area is cleared.
Unskilled, but Strong: In Hugo's route, The Claw notes that Hugo is a powerful mage, but lacks combat experience. Unfortunately, Hugo believes the only way to catch up is to gain more power through any means necessary, even if he doesn't fully understand the power that he's obtaining. After his lust for power causes Epona to defy orders to save him, and subsequently get executed for it, he instead seeks to master his non-demonic powers, allowing him to beat Toal in a duel.
Unwitting Test Subject: Cain Fact directed Dalles to turn Hugo into a demon to see how his own lineage could handle being turned into demons so that Cain could see if he could handle demonic power himself. Either Toal or Epona (depending on route) helps Hugo regain his humanity.
With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Unlike his brother, he loses his sanity when he is a demon.

The Claw

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/toal_fact_portrait___ys_origin.png

^SPOILERS

A mysterious white-haired man who has joined the Darklings in pursuit of the Twin Goddesses and the Black Pearl.

The Claw is stated to be a "berserker", with a combat system more advanced than Yunica's, and meant for expert players used to avoiding damage. While his damage potential is very high thanks to his combos, his defense suffers as a result, making him a Fragile Speedster. His weapon of preference is, obviously, a pair of claws.

Aloof Big Brother: Toal is this to Hugo. However, he cares a lot about Hugo beneath that aloofness.
Bad Liar: His attempts at becoming a Fake Defector don't fool the Darklings, since he keeps sparing enemies and showing concern for the goddesses. After a few encounters, the search party also figures out that he hasn't really changed from his old self.
Bad Powers, Good People: He relies on demonic power to fight, but he still is mostly a good person who is forced to do bad things in order to infiltrate the bad guys.
Battle Aura: Whenever he activates his demonic essence/Boost Mode, he has a dark battle aura.
Combos: He is fast enough to deliver a second hit with his claws to most enemies while they are in hitstun. In fact, he depends on combos because a single hit from his attacks is very weak compared to other playable characters' hits in much of the game, and has very poor ability to take a hit for much of the game as well. On a side note, he does actually get the highest numerical Strength score after some levels, which isn't surprising given his whole deal.
Cruel Mercy: On the receiving end: his father Cain eventually throws on Toal's face that the only reason he even survived the demon onslaught in the first place is because Dalles had strict orders to keep him alive so he could be experimented on.
Death Seeker: Toal knows there's no coming back from all the demonic power he received and absorbed, so his endgame plan hinges on destroying the Black Pearl by having all of the Demonic Essence go into his own body, knowing full well that it'll kill him, which will also destroy the Demonic Essence. This is a plan Reah heavily objects to.
11th-Hour Superpower: He receives one in the form of the Cleria sword for the final battle against Darm.
Fake Defector: He pretended to join up with the Darklings in order to survive, but he always planned to destroy the Black Pearl.
Fallen Hero: Subverted as he intended to betray the Clan of Darkness and destroy the Black Pearl - even at the cost of his own life - from the very beginning.
Fighting Your Friend: He fights Galleon and Shion as bosses, both of whom were his friends in flashbacks.
Flash Step: His Godspeed wind ability consists of being this, and it can me used midair to extend jumping distance.
Fragile Speedster: Combined with Glass Cannon due to the high single-target DPS of his normal attack. He is this until late in his route when he becomes a Lightning Bruiser. While he technically has the same defense growth as the other two while being much faster, his lack of long-range attacks and his less offensively powerful wind magic means he has a harder time surviving mobs of enemies compared to Hugo and Yunica. He also gets the Cleria Ring, which lowers his defense in exchange for more offense.
Greater-Scope Paragon: He becomes the leader of the Six Priests of Ys in his father's place at the end of Origin, writes the Book of Fact, and leaves his Cleria Sword with the southeast Roda Tree on Esteria in preparation for the Black Pearl's return. Effectively, The Claw can be considered the most important character in the franchise as his actions by the end of the game are what allows Adol to succeed in Ys I and Ys II.
Heroic R Ro D: The brunt of injuries Toal sustains over the course of the last fights causes him to break down once he's dealt with his father. Reah counted on this happening as this also means Toal won't be able to stop her and Feena from sealing the Black Pearl.
Heroic Willpower: Unlike Hugo, he is able to keep the demonic essence in check through sheer willpower.
Inadequate Inheritor: Part of the reason he gave up his inheritance is because he isn't as talented at magic as Hugo. Though he ends up becoming the next Priest of Fact because his father is sealed in the Black Pearl and because Hugo chooses to stay on the surface.
I've Come Too Far: Toal constantly tries to convince himself that there's no turning back from becoming one of the Darklings and having a piece of Demonic Essence on his own body, even though his former friends insist that he's still the same Toal that fought by their side. This mentality crumbles once Reah gets to him and convinces him that there is a way to stop the madness around him.
I Work Alone: Toal's character arc is that of someone who insists the burden of his mission is his alone to bear. He refuses assistance from the Darklings, and he also refuses to let anyone, even the Goddesses, in on his actual objective, until Reah manages to pry it out of him. As the story goes on, Toal comes to terms with the fact that he can't do everything alone, and he can count on the people that hold him dear to help him.
Lightning Bruiser: He becomes this once he levels up enough. He can start taking many hits once he levels up enough, and he keeps the speed he needed to dodge enemy attacks from when he could not take many hits. His Inferno fire magic has invincibility frames while allowing him to perform aerial movement with more precision than Godspeed, increasing his survivability once he gets that magic.
Mystical White Hair: His white hair is due to the demonic essence he received.
Noble Demon: Invoked; he tries to play the role of an evil minion willing to spare the lives of his enemies if they don't pursue him further, all to maintain his cover without having to kill his former comrades. Unfortunately, this only works when his Darkling bosses aren't around to order him to kill the enemy, since he'll be killed if he defies them. Once he's ordered to kill Hugo or Shion (depending on the route), he comes within an inch of doing the deed until the search party saves the day.
Not So Stoic: Past halfway through the game, Toal's emotional shell starts to crack, starting from when he meets Reah again at the Silent Sands. By the time Toal is about to fight Dalles, he's taken his share of emotional abuse, both from himself and from the events around him, and he's pretty much screaming at his opponent.
One-Man Army: He and his superior Saul Tovah held off the entire army of demons.
Poor Communication Kills: His conflict with Hugo and the villains' subsequent manipulation of the latter could have been avoided if Toal stayed in contact with him. Toal realizes this after he defeats Demonic!Hugo in the Demonic Core.
Power Dyes Your Hair: He's a natural blond like his younger brother Hugo, but his demonic essence turns his hair white. It turns back to blond at the end of his route.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Whenever he activates his demonic essence, his eyes turn red.
Slide Attack: He can use a slide attack to damage an enemy's defense and to slide under small gaps that have spiked ceilings.
Star-Crossed Lovers: He is in love with Reah, but she and Feena sacrificed themselves to seal the demonic essence within the Black Pearl after Toal defeated Darm.
The Stoic: At all times he will keep a calm and heavily reserved demeanor. This bothered Reah to no end when Toal was a Holy Knight; she flat out asks him why he doesn't loosen himself like Yunica does in front of her and Feena.
Superpowered Evil Side: He becomes much more evil when he activates his boost mode which temporarily turns him into a full demon. This is enough to allow him to open a door that is cursed to only open up for demons and other thoroughly evil beings. However, he is able to maintain control over himself while he is in this state and does not do anything evil while in this state except what he needed to do in order to maintain his cover.
Sword Beam: When Toal uses his silver sword, he fires sword beams from his sword each time he swings it.
The Unfavorite: Cain did not take him abandoning their family traditions well and constantly disparages him. This is averted when Toal defeats Demonic!Hugo, causing Cain to be equally disappointed in both.
Unskilled, but Strong: Claims his combat skills are dulling because he relies too much on his demonic powers, though this is a case of Gameplay and Story Segregation because his lack of ranged attacks means he's at the forefront of enemy attacks, requiring better dodging skills from the player.
Unwitting Test Subject: Cain Fact told the Darklings to turn Toal into a demon in order to see how his own lineage would handle being turned into a demon. Cain wanted to see if he himself could handle the demonic essence, and used Toal as a pilot test subject before he decided to become Darm.
Walking Spoiler: Due to this character's identity and the fact that his route is the only one that's canon to Ys Origin and the rest of the franchise, it goes without saying his entire character folder is filled with spoilers for a good reason.
White Hair, Black Heart: His demonic essence allows him to open doors that are cursed only to open to demons and other thoroughly evil beings but he manages to hold onto his sanity through sheer willpower.
Wrecked Weapon: His Cleria Sword from his time as a Holy Knight is found broken by the Goddesses. They restore the blade for him in time for the True Final Boss fight.
Wolverine Claws: He uses silver claws as his primary weapon as his original weapon, the silver sword, is broken at the beginning of the game.

Search Party

Shion

The head priest of Solomon Shrine, who leads the search party in finding the goddesses in Darm Tower.

Beware the Nice Ones: He's a calm and easygoing priest who is always willing to lend an ear to the player characters. He's also considered Zava's equal in combat magic and his boss battle in Toal's route must be won to continue the story, unlike the 11th floor bosses in the other two routes.
Combat Pragmatist: His shield will damage the player character upon contact, and he'll take advantage of that by ramming into his opponent if they're on the outer edges of the arena.
Face Death with Dignity: He maintains his serenity even as Toal is ordered to kill him. Subverted when the search party interrupts his execution and forces the Darklings to retreat.
Hero Antagonist: He's the Guilty Fire midboss in Toal's route due to the latter working for the Darklings.
Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Zava describes his magic as "disgustingly pure" and his boss title is "The Incorruptible."
Mission Control: After the Blighted Blood, Toal can use a Lila Shell to get advice from Shion.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: He ranks below the Six Priests in Ys's hierarchy and he's the strongest non-player character in the search party.

Galleon

The acting Commander of the Holy Knights and an old friend of Toal's. He originally served under Yunica's father.

Big Damn Heroes: Along with Cadena, he fights off Zava and her summoned demons to allow Toal to reach the top of the tower.
Hero Antagonist: He's the first boss of Toal's route, due to the latter joining the Darklings.
"I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: His entry in the Monster Book describes his fight with Toal as him trying to knock some sense into the latter. Though the player will still get a game over for losing to Galleon.
"Not So Different" Remark: Despite Yunica being an apprentice knight, he still allows her to join the search party, since he felt left behind when Saul and Toal stayed on the surface to fight the demons, and knows Yunica would feel the same way.
So Proud of You: In Yunica's route, Galleon decides to perform Yunica's knighting ceremony in front of Feena after bearing witness to how far she's come in such a short span.
The Worf Effect: In Yunica's route, he and the other Holy Knights are effortlessly petrified by Dalles, just to show that the search party is up against an incredibly dire foe.

Cecilia

A member of the Holy Knights under Galleon.

Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She has long, black hair and a stoic disposition.
Number Two: She effectively acts as Galleon's second-in-command.
Undying Loyalty: She is intensely devoted towards Feena and Reah and does not take insults towards them lightly.

Roy

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/roy_portrait___ys_origin.png

A young member of the Holy Knights.

Childhood Friends: He's known Yunica since they were kids, often acting as a big brother figure towards her.
Heroic Sacrifice: During Yunica's route, he dies saving her from Zava's trap.

Cadena

An experienced mage who serves as Hugo's senior.

Ms. Fanservice: She wears the most exposing outfit of among the good-aligned female characters, with it showing off her cleavage, midriff, and legs.
Playing with Fire: She specializes in fire magic.

Miuscha

An apprentice mage.

Childhood Friends: She's known Hugo and Rico since they were kids, and she has a fairly obvious crush on the former.
Clingy Jealous Girl: She's distinctly unhappy at Hugo mentioning Epona at the end of Toal's route.
White Mage: She specializes in healing magic.

Rico

A novice mage and the grandson of Priest Gemma.

Smart People Wear Glasses: He wears a pair of glasses, and is well-versed in magic knowledge. If Hugo is to be believed, he can even understand the language of the Roo.

The Clan of Darkness

In General

Also known as the "Darklings", the members of the Clan of Darkness are recurring antagonists throughout the series and are partially responsible for the overall Myth Arc of the franchise. Dales and Zava originally belonged to this group. Members of the Clan appearing Ys Origin are listed below, while characters introduced in other games are listed in their respective character pages.

Badass Family: The Clan of Darkness overlaps this with Big, Screwed-Up Family, where some members want to become all-powerful god-like entities and take over everything, but a majority of them are trying to atone for their ancestors' crimes and, therefore, getting into conflicts with the former, with at least one member doing a Heel–Face Turn.
The Clan: Evil members of this Clan have become one of Adol's two recurring enemies. While they have spawned several major antagonists, several of them are allies and friends that Adol works with.
Dark Is Evil: Some of its members want to Take Over the World and are Godhood Seekers; on the other hand...
Dark Is Not Evil: ...many others don't want to repeat the mistakes their predecessors have done and are doing their utmost to stop those who want to.
Leitmotif: "The Clan of Darkness" is their theme song.
Servant Race: They have created Homunculi fairies to serve them.
Superpowered Evil Side: The members appearing in Ys Origin can activate a Super Mode which makes them stronger, but slowly takes away their sanity.
Undying Loyalty: The heroic members of the Clan in Memories of Celceta are loyal to Eldeel because he forgave their sins, which is why they helped King Lefance in the distant past and Adol in the present with sealing away Eldeel's dark personality.
Villainous Legacy: Around the time the Twin Goddesses were children (even by human standards), the Clan of Darkness tried to take control of the Ark of Napishtim using "Almarion", the Black Emelas key that activates the Ark, only to cause it to go berserk, sink the Atlas continent and nearly doom the world. Unfortunately, some of their descendants want to continue this legacy by taking control of other Eldeenian artifacts, with Ernst in particular being obsessed with the Ark. They also used Ash Emelas to create several variants of "Galba", living weapons of mass destruction used for war, with at least one of them serving as the Final Boss of The Oath in Felghana.

Epona

A Darkling who serves Dalles in his scheme to claim the Black Pearl. A perky, crass girl who follows her brother Kishgal on the mission to secure the Goddesses for Dalles. For some reason, her confrontations with Hugo cause her to sympathize with him.

Beware the Silly Ones: Despite being more humorous and lighthearted than her comrades, she's still a powerful boss in Yunica's route, especially in her rematch due to receiving the Demonic Essence.
Buffy Speak: Unlike her comrades, she speaks very informally and doesn't use their more specific magic terminology when discussing their evil plans.
Died in Your Arms Tonight: When she's killed in Hugo's route.
Doppelgänger Attack: Her Superpowered Evil Side form (only seen in Yunica route) allows her to attack with clones. She doesn't gain one in Hugo or Toal's route, probably because she saw how much it corrupted Hugo.
Heel–Face Turn: Subverted in Hugo's route, where Epona mentions that despite wanting to save him for personal reasons, she's still loyal to the Darkling cause. However, Dalles interprets her acts as a treason when she helps Hugo out of his Demonic Possession, and kills her. Played Straight in The Claw's route, where she returns home.
Implied Love Interest: She and Hugo are heavily implied to have developed feelings for each other in Hugo's route. Which is why she ends up helping him during his Demonic Possession.
Lady Swears-a-Lot: Epona is unaducated to say the least, constantly cussing around in her dialogue.
Laughably Evil: Of all the Darklings, her scenes are the ones with the most humor, due to her hilariously petty banter with Yunica and Hugo.
Love Redeems: In Hugo's route. Shame that Redemption Equals Death is very much in effect here.
Sibling Rivalry: Has one with her brother, Kishgal. Though the rivalry seems to be friendly, since they respect each other.
Smarter Than You Look: Despite her Buffy Speak, she is able to see through Hugo's complexes and somehow knows that the petrification Dalles inflicted on her is fatal.

Kishgal

Epona's sibling who also serves Dalles. A Blood Knight through and through, Kishgal operates with his younger sister Epona under Dalles' orders to secure the Goddesses. He seems to know the Holy Knights of Ys, in particular Saul Tovah.

Blood Knight:
- Kishigal lives and dies for the sake of a good challenge, and thinks Saul Tovah was the only person able to give him such a thrill until Yunica eventually bests him in her route.
- In Toal's route, fighting humans got so boring for him that he decided that Toal is a better challenge due to his Demonic Essence, and gets REALLY PISSED when Yunica and the Holy Knights come to get even with him and allow Toal to keep going.
Determinator: He's as much of this as Saul Tovah was. He fought Saul thrice, being forced to retreat in the first fight and getting to a draw in the second, eventually managing to best him in the third round.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite his extreme Blood Knight tendencies, he cares about his sister Epona as revealed in Hugo's path.
Graceful Loser: In Yunica's path, after being defeated for the final time, he takes his defeat in stride, even thanking Yunica as he dies for giving him an even better fight than Saul did.
Hero Killer: Killed Saul Tovah by his own admission, and considers him a Worthy Opponent.
Holding Back the Phlebotinum: When fighting Hugo, he initially doesn't use his Demonic Essence. After Hugo defeats his human form, he transforms into his demon form, but he is interrupted by a situation requiring his attention shortly after that, so he withdraws to deal with that situation.
Hypocritical Humor: He states that he dislikes fighting sorcerers, despite spamming long-range ice magic in his boss fights.
An Ice Person: Likes to use Ice-elemental attacks in battle.
Logical Weakness: Uses ice magic and his weakness is fire. This is somewhat karmic, as you learn the fire spells from Commander Saul's sword, whom was killed by Kishgal.
Magic Knight: He can hit hard with his halberd and unleash powerful ice spells.
You Killed My Father: Which is why he's the second to last boss in Yunica's route. He has this attitude in Hugo's route because Hugo's actions led to Epona's death, though he ends up cutting the fight short out of boredom and out of respect for Epona.
Worthy Opponent: He constantly praises Saul Tovah as a worthy kill and is disappointed when Yunica doesn't live up to her father's reputation, at least at first. He's eager to fight both Yunica and The Claw with his own Superpowered Evil Side.

Others

Saul Tovah

Yunica's father and the former Commander of the Holy Knights.

Posthumous Character: He's already dead by the time Ys Origin begins.

Characters / Ys
aka: Ys I Ancient Ys Vanished Omen

Introduced in Ys I

The Main Duo

The Twin Goddesses

Other Characters

Introduced in Ys II

Supporting Characters

Antagonists

Introduced in Ys: Origin

Protagonists

Search Party

The Clan of Darkness

Others

Alternative Title(s): Ys Origin, Ys II Ancient Ys Vanished The Final Chapter, Ys I Ancient Ys Vanished Omen, Ys Strategy

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Characters / Ys aka: Ys I Ancient Ys Vanished Omen

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Introduced in Ys I

The Main Duo

The Twin Goddesses

Other Characters

Introduced in Ys II

Supporting Characters

Antagonists

Introduced in Ys: Origin

Protagonists

Search Party

The Clan of Darkness

Others

Alternative Title(s): Ys Origin, Ys II Ancient Ys Vanished The Final Chapter, Ys I Ancient Ys Vanished Omen, Ys Strategy

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Index

Next

Characters / Ys
aka: Ys I Ancient Ys Vanished Omen