YMMV / Mace: The Dark Age

• Complete Monster:
  • Asmodeus, a powerful demon and wielder of the Mace of Tanis, plunges Europe into a horrific hellscape where countless innocents are slaughtered and brutalized under him and the rest of the Covenant of Seven. Having created Grendal by taking the young Taurus and turning him into a demonic being, Asmodeus is also responsible for helping Sir Dregan to found a kingdom of undeath where thousands have their souls stolen and directing others to rampage to other countries to cause a greater death toll. Asmodeus has a fondness for twisted punishments in most characters' bad endings, such as turning Ragnar into a ravenous wolf to prey upon the people he wishes to protect.
  • Lord Deimos is one of the Covenant of Seven. A hulking man in crimson armor who rules over Bavaria, Deimos runs his province with savagery and viciousness, slaughtering his own people and torturing others. Deimos also keeps Bavaria in a perpetual state of war, constantly murdering others, including the family of the viking Ragnar whose village was exterminated by Deimos's dark forces. Seeking to seize the Mace of Tanis and annihilate his six allies, Deimos also seeks to take Countess Taria of the Seven as his consort by consent or force, and should he gain the Mace, Europe never manages to recover from his hideous and bloody rule.
  • The Executioner is a terrifying man in a black hood who runs the island fortress of El Katraz. Torturing countless people and acting as a freelance killer for the Covenant of Seven or anyone who needs a victim eliminated, the Executioner enjoys giving his victims false hope by giving them a chance to flee before dragging them back to his torture chambers. Should he win and claim the Mace of Tanis, the Executioner will usher in the Age of Torture, where every living thing is subjected to endless agony of his cruel torments that will rival Hell itself.
• Crazy Is Cool: Sir Dregan. For a revenant, has an Execution which kills you from inside and has a strange victory pose where his left arm is off.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Lord Deimos happens to have a big fanbase. Mace's Cult Classic status attributes to him in every way.
• Evil Is Cool: Lord Deimos (the cover man of the game), The Executioner (Torture Technician extraordinarie), Al Rashid (professional assassin), Sir Dregan (the aforementioned revenant), Hell Knight (a powerful demon) and Ichiro (the Aloof Big Brother of Takeshi).
• Friendly Fandoms: With the Soulcalibur series, of which similarly to Mace features various fighters seeking after certain supernatural weapons. It is to the point that it's not uncommon for some players to use the Create-A-Soul feature of the titles of the latter franchise to recreate some of Mace's cast in that series.
• I Am Not Shazam: The announcer refers to Gar as War Mech. Gar is the pilot and War Mech is the machine.
• Iron Woobie:
  • Grendal. He's subject to many horrible things: Being trapped in a golem body, was miscast as the Evil Twin to Taria while she's really one for him, and is forced to work for Asmodeus. You need to feel pity for him.
  • Ragnar. His kingdom of Torsgard is destroyed and his love interest is killed by Deimos, and yet he's coping with heavy dose of Mangst.
• Narm: In the arcade version, the "EXECUTION!" message that pops up after performing a Finishing Move is accompanied by, of all things, a sparkling sound of the sort you'd expect to accompany Tinker Bell casting a magic spell. It's the most inappropriate sound effect they could have possibly chosen.
• Rooting for the Empire: One of the few fighting games where many really enjoy the virtue of taking the role of the baddies so they have a reason to fight against the equally complex heroes.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Ned the Janitor, in contrast to the other secret characters, is merely a skin over an existing fighter and doesn't have his own story or endings.

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