Trials of Mana/Characters

Duran
A mercenary swordsman hailing from the mountainous land of Forcena and son of the Golden Knight Loki, who famously aided King Richard in felling the power-hungry Dragon Emperor. Duran sets out to become the strongest warrior in the world after a humiliating defeat at the hands of Altena's Crimson Wizard.


 * Cool Sword
 * Failure Knight: His defeat at Koren's hands prompts him to leave the service of the knights until he redeems himself.
 * Healing Hands: Possible only if he takes a Light-Side class.
 * Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards: A plot point at the start of Duran's quest. He wants the Sword of Mana so he can defeat the wizard Koren, who Duran was not able to stop when the latter attacked Forcena. Averted in the actual gameplay, however, since all of Duran's possible classes end up learning magic of some kind.
 * Magic Knight: In the Final Fantasy tradition of Magic Knights, Duran's spell specialty is giving elemental attributes to weapons.
 * Mighty Glacier: Duran gets this label sometimes, although a little unfairly as his swing reset timer is the same as the other characters. The main reason is probably because he doesn't strike twice per attack like the other two males, who use daggers and Good Old Fisticuffs respectively.

Angela
The daughter of the Queen of Reason and princess of the magic kingdom of Altena, Angela failed to show any sign of magical prowess during her childhood. When her mother decides to make up for this by choosing her as the sacrifice for a powerful spell, she makes a break for it.

""My, what are young girls thinking these days, running around dressed like that?""
 * Black Mage
 * Hot Witch: As she levels up and gains ability. She had the Hot part before she gained the magic to match.
 * Rebellious Princess
 * Sideboob: In her SNES sleeping animation. The remake covers her up to the shoulders when sleeping so this isn't prominent anymore.
 * Spoiled Brat: Played with; she acts like one, but feels neglected and rejected by her mother because of her difficulty learning magic.
 * Squishy Wizard: With an extra helping of Squishy.
 * Stripperiffic: Not the smartest choice when living in an icy kingdom, even if they do use magic to keep the capital warm.
 * Somewhat obliquely Lampshaded during her opening sequence: While she's making her way across the aptly named Sub-Zero Snowfield, hypothermia eventually sets in and she passes out. She doesn't seem to have any problems on future visits though.
 * Also Lampshaded by an old woman in Astoria.


 * Well Done Daughter Girl: As mentioned above, she feels neglected by her mother. Her main motivation for going along on The Quest is to gain the power of magic from the spirits, and to get the Sword of Mana, in order to force her mother to at least acknowledge her as something other than a failure.
 * Valley Girl: How she speaks in the remake, fits with her naive, upper class upbringing.

Kevin
Kevin is the son of the Beast King, and thereby the prince of the Beast Kingdom. His mother disappeared around the time he was born, and as he grew up he associated with his fellow Beastmen less and less, preferring the company of a wolf cub he names Karl. However, he discovers his own Beastman strength when Karl attacks him and he kills the cub in of self-defense. Overhearing that the Beast King had orchestrated his wolf's attack on him, he attacks his father in a rage only to be swatted aside with ease. Denied his revenge, he sets out to find a way to bring his only friend back to life.


 * Bare-Fisted Monk
 * Half-Human Hybrid: Human Mom, Nonhuman Dad
 * Healing Hands: Can pick this up on one of his Light-Side class routes.
 * Hulk Speak: Oddly, the full-blooded Beastmen don't talk like this.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Especially with his attack bonus at night, almost to Game Breaker status.
 * Missing Mom
 * Older Than They Look
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Cut short by the Beast King.
 * Wrestler in All of Us: With the sole exception of his starting class, all of his classes learn some kind of throw technique in addition to their normal tech.
 * Wrestler in All of Us: With the sole exception of his starting class, all of his classes learn some kind of throw technique in addition to their normal tech.

Charlotte
Charlotte is half-elf, half-human, and was raised in the Holy City Wendel by the Priest of Light. She idolizes Heath, a fellow cleric, and is somewhat obsessively protective of him, enough that she sneaks away after him after he's called off on a mission. When she witnesses him being captured by Deathjester, her journey begins.


 * Bratty Half-Pint
 * Dub Name Change: Her name in the original Japanese script is "Charlotte". The change to Carlie for the Fan Translation was due to space constraints.
 * Epic Flail
 * Half-Human Hybrid: Human Dad Non-Human Mom
 * Healing Hands: Basically the default medic, and is the only hero to start with recovery magic.
 * Holy Hand Grenade: Her Bishop class gains the Turn Undead spell.
 * Improbable Weapon User: Many of her level 3 techs.
 * Immortality Begins At Twenty: Gloriously averted. At the age of fifteen, she has both the body and mind of a five year old.
 * Nice Hat
 * Older Than They Look: She's fifteen but due to aging slower looks like a child.
 * Third Person Person
 * Verbal Tic: Carlie is very childlike, 'n shtuff, in her shpeech, m'kay? (This is a Woolseyism in the fan translation of her Katakana use in the Japanese version.)
 * The remake opts more for rendering her words in a very exaggerated New Yorker accent (as spoken via a little girl) to achieve a similar effect.
 * White Mage

Hawk
Hawk comes from a much more humble lineage than his fellow protagonists. As a member of the Navarre Thieves Guild, he steals from the rich and gives (some) to the poor, and is very hapy with his job at that. Soon after the Guild takes in a young lady named Isabella, however, the guildmaster Flamekhan decrees that the guild will turn from petty thievery to all-out raiding and invasion, starting with Rolante. In trying to get to the bottom of this personality change, Hawk is framed for the murder of his best friend, Eagle, and locked away, threatened with the death-by-curse of Flamekhan's daughter should he tell anyone what he knows. Saved from his cell by his cat friend Nikita, Hawk begins his own quest for vengeance.


 * Bishounen: Put him and Angela in the same party and she will flirt with him. She'll also remark that he's 'cute' (complete with a heart) if she confronts him in Rolante.
 * Chivalrous Pervert: He'll try to charm the ladies at every chance he gets, asking Lise or Angela out in Jad and striking a pose while telling the Altenian soldiers "not to get so excited". But the worst transgression he ever commits is giving a Lise a (not entirely unwelcome) peck on the cheek if she confronts him in Rolante.
 * Dub Name Change: Originally named "Hawkeye". Like Carlie/Charlotte above, this ended up being shortened to fit the namespace.
 * Flechette Storm: The Level 2 Tech for his Ranger class is "Flying Swallow Toss", which consists of him spinning around and tossing knives at all enemies on the screen. Alternatively, his Ninja class can use the Shuriken skill, and if he takes the Ninja Master class, learns how to target all enemies at once with it.
 * Holy Hand Grenade: His Rogue class' Silver Dart skill, best thrown at zombies & demons.
 * Knife Nut
 * Jack of All Stats: Without a doubt the most balanced character in the game.
 * Just Like Robin Hood
 * Lovable Rogue
 * Not What I Signed on For: Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, he's perfectly fine with. Waging wars of conquest against other countries? Not so much.
 * Only Sane Man: Only he and Eagle found a problem with the idea of invading other countries.
 * Something About a Rose: Level 3 tech for his Wanderer Class, "Dance of Roses".
 * Spam Attack: His Level 3 Tech for his Rogue class is called "Thousand Slice". Essentially it's the More Dakka principle applied to melee knife strikes.

Riesz
The princess of the Wind Kingdom of Rolante, and a fierce wielder of the lance. The Navarre raiders took her castle, killed her father, and kidnapped her brother. Now she, too, is out for justice.


 * Action Girl
 * Blade on a Stick
 * Cool Big Sis
 * Hot Amazon: A large portion the fan art for this game is of Lise in sexy poses.
 * To get an idea of how large a portion? On Danbooru, she accounts for not only 90% of Seiken Densetsu 3 art, but 2/3 of all Seiken Densetsu art!
 * Jack of All Stats: She isn't quite as balanced as Hawk, but her stats are better than average across the board.
 * Light Is Good: She IS a blonde.
 * Magic Knight: With a focus on status buffs or debuffs, depending on which class upgrades you choose for her.
 * Promotion to Parent: Following her mother's Death by Childbirth with Elliot.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Riesz/Rizu/Reese/Lise--"Lise" is used in the SNES Corlett fan translation.
 * Stripperiffic: In the Fenrir Knight class only, but in it she beats out even Angela. Its costume is simply a bikini and a wolfskin cape.
 * Token Wholesome: In terms of personality at least among the female heroes. While her outfit is a bit skimpy (though logical given her fighting style), she acts polite and responsible. By contrast, Angela is a bit stuck up and haughty while Charlotte is stubborn and impulsive.

The Dragon Emperor
An evil dragon with no specified origin baring that he waged a war and was believed to have been killed by Duran's father Loki. He in fact survived and  Wants to become a god and make life a living hell for everyone in the world.


 * A God Am I: This is about as far as his characterization goes. Is he a real Physical God or just an egomaniac dragon? Never explained.
 * Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: His true form is by far the largest enemy in the game, he's so big you don't even see his whole body.
 * Big Bad
 * Breath Weapon: His strongest attack.
 * Card-Carrying Villain: Unlike the Masked Mage and the Dark Prince, he has no motivation for wanting to conquer the world beyond the fact that he's evil.
 * Informed Ability: Talk to some of the townsfolk and the they claim the Dragon Emperor is stronger and smarter than any human. While the plot implies he's extremely powerful, he doesn't get enough screen to time live up to the latter.
 * Our Dragons Are Different
 * Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Generally considered the middle-strongest of the three Big Bads.
 * : Type One.
 * : Type One.

Koren
An Evil Sorcerer that serves the Dragon Emperor, who attacked Forcena at the start of the game and nearly killed Koren. He boasts to be the strongest wizard in the world.


 * The Dragon: A particularly ironic case given that he is The Dragon to an actual dragon, whereas Koren himself is human.
 * Freudian Excuse:


 * Woolseyism/Dub Name Change: In the untranslated script, Koren is not his name, but rather, he's known as "Kouren no Madoushi," or "Wizard of the Red Lotus".

The Darkshine Knight
A powerful warrior serving the Dragon Emperor.


 * The Brute
 * Dark Is Evil
 * Reforged Into a Minion: How he got the position.
 * Dark Is Evil
 * Reforged Into a Minion: How he got the position.
 * Reforged Into a Minion: How he got the position.

The Masked Mage

 * Big Bad
 * Expy:
 * Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: Whereas the other two Big Bads are mentioned by their minions throughout the game, he pretty much shows up out of nowhere late in the game.
 * Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Is generally considered the weakest of the three Big Bads.
 * Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Is generally considered the weakest of the three Big Bads.

Deathjester
Monster Clown that serves the Masked Mage, and not much else is revealed about him.


 * The Dragon
 * Evilly Affable
 * Horror Hunger
 * Monster Clown: With a name like that, what do you expect?
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here: If his faction fails in its bid for power, based on your character choice, the victor forces him to deliver a message to you, and when he does he makes the comment that he's going to take this opportunity to run.
 * Sinister Scythe
 * Villainous Harlequin: Sometimes lapses into this at certain parts of Kevin's story.
 * Woolseyism/Dub Name Change: The literal translation of his name from the script is "Death-Eating Man".
 * Your Soul Is Mine: Type Two B.

Fallen Cleric

 * Light Is Not Good: Not when he's the one using it, anyways.
 * Tragic Monster:
 * Tragic Monster:

The Dark Prince

 * Big Bad
 * Complete Monster:
 * Dark Is Evil: The DARK Prince
 * One-Winged Angel: The only Big Bad with one, in fact.
 * Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Generally considered to be the strongest of the three Big Bads.
 * Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Generally considered to be the strongest of the three Big Bads.

Bigieu

 * Despair Event Horizon: Goes into this if you don't take the Hawk/Lise route, in which case
 * The Dragon: To the Dark Prince.
 * Femme Fatale
 * Yandere To the Dark Prince.

Jagan

 * High Collar of Doom: He's got the typical vampire look down pat.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning
 * Our Vampires Are Different

The God Beasts
Powerful elemental monsters that were sealed away by the Goddess at the creation of the world, and they threaten it once again when they break free after the villains release the energy from the Mana Stones.


 * Dark Is Evil/Light Is Not Good
 * Eldritch Abomination: All of them.
 * Elemental Powers:
 * An Ice Person: Fiegmund.
 * Blow You Away: Dangaard.
 * Casting a Shadow: Zable Fahr.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Land Umber.
 * Green Thumb: Mispolm. Also, the thing itself IS a giant plant.
 * Light'Em Up: Lightgazer.
 * Lunacy: Dolan.
 * Playing with Fire: Xan Bie.
 * Evil Counterpart: To the eight elementals that are helping the heroes.
 * Sealed Evil in a Can
 * Sorting Algorithm of Evil: It is explained that, when they first awaken, they are relatively weak, but as you defeat them, the remaining ones grow stronger (and so do the monsters in their respective dungeons). So in a way it is justifying why Zable Fahr, always the final God Beast you fight, is That One Boss.
 * That One Boss: Dolan and Zable Fahr are considered the most difficult of the 8. The former because aside from his all-round power, has a strong attack the temporarily reduces the party's max HP in addition to inflicting massive damage. With the latter, it has really strong attacks in addition to hitting the party with de-buff spells, and has the instant death spell that will kill a party member they are at a lower level than it, and odds are they will be.
 * That One Boss: Dolan and Zable Fahr are considered the most difficult of the 8. The former because aside from his all-round power, has a strong attack the temporarily reduces the party's max HP in addition to inflicting massive damage. With the latter, it has really strong attacks in addition to hitting the party with de-buff spells, and has the instant death spell that will kill a party member they are at a lower level than it, and odds are they will be.

Elemental Spirts

 * Elemental Powers
 * An Ice Person/Making a Splash: Undine
 * Blow You Away/Shock and Awe: Jinn
 * Casting a Shadow: Shade
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Gnome
 * Green Thumb: Dryad
 * Light'Em Up: Wisp
 * Lunacy: Luna
 * Playing with Fire: Salamander
 * Light Is Good/Dark Is Not Evil
 * Sealed Good in a Can


 * Back to