Wild ARMs 3/Characters

Virginia Maxwell
A rookie Drifter who is searching for her missing father. A Naive Newcomer whose inexperience with the reality of the Drifter lifestyle is only matched by her fiery willpower. Her special ability is Mystic, which lets her extend the effect of an item to the entire party, or use a special ability with a non-consumable item. She dual-wields pistol ARMs in a unique style taught to her by her father.

Like all four party members, she is an interesting mix of tropes and party combat roles. As a character, she is both the New Guy, the Determinator, the Knight in Shining Armor, and the Leader, a mix that may be entirely unique. She also uses her idealism as a shield to cover her own insecurities, and applies it badly, leading to others to point out her flaws. Virginia has the best Character Development of the four party members, and it

In combat, she is a Fragile Speedster and, amusingly for the party leader, the White Mage in the sense that she is an Item Caddy. She also makes a decent magician, being behind only Gallows in terms of magic power.


 * The Determinator
 * Disappeared Dad: Finding him is not, however, her main goal - it's just a side goal to her main quest, which is stopping the villains.
 * Disc One Nuke: 10 Shot Gatling + Valiant = Bosses for a good portion of the game die once Virginia hits 100FP and deals five digits worth of damage.
 * Dual-Wielding / Guns Akimbo
 * Fragile Speedster
 * Idiot Hero: Virginia's idealism and naivety lead her to get mocked by Janus rather frequently. Even her friends note she has more heart than common sense. Subverted as she
 * Item Caddy: Virginia by necessity. Need more berries!
 * The Obi Wrong - Both Jet and Clive are more experienced Drifters than Virginia, but still take orders from her. Justified at first in that Clive finds it amusing, and Jet hates the idea of being a leader. Later on, Virginia ends up being a better leader than either Clive or Jet due to Character Development.
 * Naive Newcomer
 * Pink Means Feminine / Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Her dress is fuchsia, which counts as both tropes.
 * Purple Is Powerful
 * Revolvers Are Just Better - Partially averted; Virginia's guns are the weakest in terms of damage, though they do have cutscene powers. They are extremely accurate, however, which is useful when combined with her high speed allowing her to almost always act first in a round, and they hold more shots, meaning that when Virginia uses Gatling, her attack power skyrockets.
 * The Smurfette Principle: Virginia's the only girl, though at least she's the Leader, and having only four characters total anyway eases the sexism of this trope a bit.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Maya, eventually.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Maya, eventually.

Jet Enduro
An experienced Drifter. White haired. Pretty. An Ineffectual Loner who is in it for the money and tries to radiate undiluted Badass at everyone else. This noticeably fails to impress his allies, though non-party members see him as the Badass he wants to be seen as. He wields a machine gun ARM (which only he can use). His special ability is Accelerator, which lets him take the first action in battle.

Characterwise, he's a deconstruction of the Ineffectual Loner archetype, and of Badass people in general. Jet, for all that he's the most Badass-looking dude in the game, with the coolest gun and some of the best lines, is the party member who needs the rest of the party the most. As Virginia consistently points out to him, he has accomplished nothing by being alone, and it's turned Jet into a bitter, angry, vengeful person who quite obviously does not enjoy being alive.

In battle, he is the secondary guy for everyone, having decent all-around stats (except in one category). If the party needs more healing, than he helps Virginia heal; if the party needs more firepower, he helps Clive hurt people. His main weakness is having the worst magic abilities of the entire party.


 * Heroic BSOD: An interesting Aversion. He finds out from Leehalt and doesn't suffer one, instead shrugging it off. It helped that he'd had several brushes with the truth beforehand, and while the first one left him physically ill, the constant exposure and his own Character Development let him take the final revelation in stride.
 * Ineffectual Loner: He's mocked relentlessly for this by Virginia, resulting in several hysterical moments.
 * Jack of All Stats
 * Orphan's Plot Trinket: His ARM.
 * Precision Guided Boomerang: And it really is precision-guided- you can control where it hits.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy
 * Precision Guided Boomerang: And it really is precision-guided- you can control where it hits.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy

Gallows Carradine
A Magical Native American subversion. Yes, he's magical, yes, he's Native American. He's also a lecher, a womanizer, and consistently the dumbest person in the party. He ran away from his village and its responsibilities. He wields a Sawed Off Shotgun ARM which deals average damage (but massive damage on a Critical Hit). His special ability is Extension, which extends the effects of a magical spell to every party member or enemy.

Gallows as a character is a subversion of the Magical Native American trope, and a Determinator as well. Gallows' obsession with what he was required to do by his people- his responsibilities- led to him slacking off, trying to avoid them by being bad at them (despite his tremendous natural potential at magic). When this didn't work, he bailed, and throughout the game wrestles with the issue of whether he should go back or not. His Character Development resolves this dilemma

Gallows, despite looking like The Big Guy, is in fact a Black Magician Girl (guy) whose powers focus on magic. He also, amusingly, has the highest health in the game, but spectacularly low defense, resulting in enemies doing hundreds of points more damage to him than to the others- and him still surviving. Often the last character standing if Virginia has been dropped already.


 * Black Magician Girl: The Wild Arms series seems to like male examples of these.
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Idiot Hero
 * Magic Knight: Gallows has the best magic damage in the party, but he's also got the best health in the game. He can even pack a punch with his shotgun - if he crits, as his crits are better than the other characters. Otherwise, he's got the worst melee damage in the game.
 * Magical Native American
 * Sawed Off Shotgun
 * Screw Destiny: Gallows has no desire to become a Medium, and actually shouts the exact trope name at one point.
 * Skunk Stripe

Clive Winslett
A Bounty Hunter who is quite the Badass Bookworm. For one thing, he wields a sniper rifle ARM that gives him the highest attack power in the party. Far from being a Cold Sniper, he's a very nice, sociable guy. Defying all RPG conventions, he's also happily married with a wife and daughter (and they don't die!) His special ability is Lock-On, which guarantees that his next attack will hit (and boosts the power of said attack).

Character-wise, Clive is a family man through and through, as well as The Smart Guy. In addition, he is  In a further unexpected subversion,

Battle-wise, Clive is the only one to fit into a set mold, i.e. the Mighty Glacier. Clive has the highest Attack and Defense in the team, the second-most HP after Gallows, but he's also the slowest by far.


 * Badass Bookworm
 * Badass Longcoat
 * Bounty Hunter
 * : In the last chapter of the game.
 * Friendly Sniper
 * Hot Dad
 * Mighty Glacier: Clive is this trope personified. He's guaranteed to get the last turn. He does more damage than the rest of the party combined.
 * My Greatest Failure:
 * The Smart Guy
 * Sniper Rifle: His weapon of choice.
 * : Arguably.

The Prophets
Three scientists who are obsessed with restoring Filgaea at any cost. Each also has their own agenda, none of which are good.


 * One Degree Of Seperation:
 * The Man Behind the Man: To Janus.
 * Social Darwinist
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist

Leehalt Alcaste
The leader of the Prophets, although his control over the others is probably not as strong as he'd like. He is obsessed with power, and wishes to rule Filgaea.


 * Disappears Into Light: After.
 * Green-Eyed Monster:

Melody Vilenete
The only female member of the Prophets. she is obsessed with both her beauty and youth.


 * Berserk Button: Since, she is very sensitive to being called ugly. Clive tells her that she's "ugly" on the inside, no matter how beautiful her outer form is, and it makes her go crazy. This is actually reflected in battle; she attacks Clive over all other targets.
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
 * The Vamp: Melody tries to do this, and it succeeds pretty well on Gallows - and falls flat on Clive, who's Happily Married and sees right through it.
 * Vain Sorceress:
 * Vain Sorceress:

Malik Bendict
The youngest member of the Prophets. Malik wants to resurrect his deceased mother using the knowledge that he's gained.


 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Malick loves his mother....
 * Freudian Excuse: Horrifically done. Squick. Notable in that it's never treated as a "good" reason for what he does and instead weirds out everyone who finds out about it.
 * Nightmare Fuel: Show of hands; who else was freaked out to high heaven by Malik's...devotion to his mother?
 * Stepford Smiler
 * Villainous Breakdown:
 * Villainous Breakdown:

Janus Cascade
The leader of a rival group of Drifters, he and Virginia find themselves in opposition on several occasions. He and his gang are actually working for the Prophets, and he is eventually


 * : It's most obviously presented in the form of a comic illustrated by character designer Wakako Ooba; unfortunately, the Complete Guide was never translated into English, and the one website with full scans of said comic has apparently ceased to exist.
 * Bad Boss: Janus treats his lackeys like crap. The Prophets, in turn, treat him like crap.
 * Expy: With a dash of Evil Counterpart. He bears tons of similarities to the lead of Wild ARMs 2, Ashley Winchester. He bears the same weapon,  and every one of Janus's gun specials is one that Ashley could learn. This makes for some amusing cognitive dissonance for the player who remembers the heroic Ashley from Wild ARMS 2.
 * Goldfish Poop Gang: With his two lackeys.
 * Meaningful Name
 * Recurring Boss
 * The Rival
 * Smug Snake: He starts out as this
 * Super-Powered Evil Side
 * Would Hit a Girl: He does (and how!).

Seigfried
A legendary demon from the old wars.


 * Baddie Flattery: Seigfried respects and envy Maya's power, which, he says, surpasses Demon's. However, that doesn't stop him from using her powers against her, and he obliterates her later on when she tries to solo him. But in the end, Maya got the last laugh.
 * : If you believe he's the Big Bad from the first game. This interpretation is left open, so it's a fair guess.
 * Expy: Inverted. He has more than a passing resemblance to Nightmare, which fits, as Nightmare's original body was named Siegfried. However, Seigfried's character dates back to his first apparition in 1997, in the first Wild Arms, whereas Nightmare didn't appear in the Soul series until Soul Calibur, in 2002.
 * Social Darwinist
 * The Man Behind the Man: To the Prophets.

Asgard
A golem created by the Prophets. He is a learning machine, and over time develops feelings and a personality.


 * I Cannot Self-Terminate: Leading to
 * Implacable Robot: Oh so very much. His actual title is "Fortress of Invulnerability", and it shows.
 * Mythology Gag: He is a reference to the Earth Golem Asgard in the original Wild ARMs.

Beatrice

 * Chekhov's Gunman:
 * Creepy Child:.
 * Giggling Villain
 * Ironic Nursery Tune: The first time you hear her theme, you instantly know something is wrong with her...
 * : To everyone.
 * Giggling Villain
 * Ironic Nursery Tune: The first time you hear her theme, you instantly know something is wrong with her...
 * : To everyone.

The Schrödingers
A band of Drifters who is seeking profit in the wastelands. They are sometimes antagonists and sometimes allies to the party.


 * Goldfish Poop Gang: At times.
 * Named After Somebody Famous
 * The Psycho Rangers: They are this at first, though they get better as time goes on.
 * Quirky Miniboss Squad

Maya Schrödinger
The leader of the Schrödinger family, Maya is a Drifter searching for treasure. She sees Virginia as a rival, and will often hinder the party, but she also provides them with assistance at times. She has the ability to absorb skills from books, which is


 * Badass:
 * Badass Bookworm
 * BFG: Her gatling gun ARM- which falls out of her dress when she shakes it.
 * Braggart Boss: Maya and company are snobby as hell to the party when they first meet- and are justified in doing it, too, since Virginia and Co. are not particularly experienced and Virginia's leadership leaves something to be desired. Later in the game, they even compliment the party on how much stronger they've become,
 * Black Magician Girl: In her mage form.
 * Expy: She transforms into different expies of older Wild Arms characters by imitating books she's read. Her mage form uses crest magic (Cecilia or Lilka), her martial artist form uses Kanon's moves from Wild ARMs 2, and
 * Gatling Good: Her special ARM, which comes out of the most interesting holster ever created in a Wild West game.
 * Mega Manning - Maya's unique power is to do this by copying the powers of anything she reads. Imagine if she got wind of TV Tropes!
 * The Rival
 * Superpower Lottery: She has the power to use any power from any fictional character in any book that she reads. Never becomes a party member, though.
 * Trouser Space - Maya has a gatling gun fall out of her skirt.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Virginia, eventually.

Alfred Schrödinger
Maya's little brother, and an explosive expert.


 * Adorably Precocious Child: He's clearly the most mature one in the group, although no one really listens to him. He's also adorable.
 * Hidden Depths: A lot smarter than he first appears.
 * Throw Down the Bomblet

Todd
Maya's afro'd and loyal bodyguard. He uses a sword in combat.


 * Battle Butler
 * Katanas Are Just Better
 * Mythology Gag: He uses Quick Draw techniques that were unique to Jack from Wild ARMs. He says he was taught by Maya's father, which has led to some Epileptic Trees about her ancestry.
 * Funny Afro: Casting a fire spell will light the fro on fire and leave it smoldering for the rest of the fight, doing damage to him repeatedly- which is great, since Todd is often That One Boss.

Shady
A winged cat-like animal who can speak, breathe fire, and is apparently immortal. He was locked in a box by a previous generation of Schrödingers. His long period of confinement has made him extremely claustrophobic.


 * An Ice Person
 * Claustrophobia
 * Intellectual Animal
 * Playing With Fire
 * Stealth Pun: He belongs to the Schrödingers. He's a cat (sort of). He was in a box. He has a 50-50 chance of using fire attacks on any given turn. He's claustrophobic. During the scene you discover his claustrophobia, he screams "NO MORE POISON GAS!"

Florina
A shy young girl who is not good with people. She lives alone in one of the few fertile places left in Filgaea, silently tending her garden.


 * Expy: Of Mariel from Wild ARMs. Word of God says they're the same person.
 * Innocent Flower Girl: Also your only source of healing items. Amusingly she likes the Badass Loner Jet, who just wishes she'd leave him alone., which makes this a huge bit of clever foreshadowing.

Lombardia
A dragon, which in the world of Wild ARMs 3 means she is a living mechanical being. The party requests her help, and after beating her in combat, she agrees to become their transportation.


 * Cool Airship / Global Airship: A dragon that transforms into an airship? Can't get too much cooler than that.
 * Dragon Rider: A variation, she transforms into a Cool Airship that the party rides inside. She even has seats!
 * Defeat Means Friendship
 * High Altitude Battle
 * Our Dragons Are Different: They're giant Transforming Mecha. Officially Badass.
 * Transforming Mecha: For a certain value of "mecha."

Werner Maxwell
Virginia's father, who has been missing since she was a little girl.


 * Barrier Warrior
 * Dual-Wielding / Guns Akimbo: As expected, since he's the one who taught Virginia.
 * Dual-Wielding / Guns Akimbo: As expected, since he's the one who taught Virginia.