Suikoden V/Characters

True to the series in general, Suikoden V boasts Loads and Loads of Characters:

Prince Freyjadour Falenas

 * The Hero
 * Magnetic Hero: By necessity, with 107 potential recruits available.
 * Almighty Janitor: In a sense. Because he's not in line for the throne he has very little official duties, so he's free to explore and leave the capital (to visit other towns in the Queendom). The Royal family uses this to their advantage at the beginning of the game.
 * Badass: Let us the count the ways, shall we:
 * Badass Family
 * Badass Long Hair: Albeit braided
 * Back to Back Badasses: He has several powerful unite attacks with his comrades, including Lyon, Miakis, his aunt Sialeeds and his double, Roy.
 * Four Star Badass: Becomes one.
 * Badass Crew: Falena's Finest indeed.
 * Battle Couple: The Prince and Lyon are inseparable
 * Bishounen
 * Blue Eyes
 * Canon Name: Three, depending on the source. The novelization call him "Freyjadour" ("Frey" for short). The manga refers to him as "Ardil". The pre-made save-games released as part of the game's promotion refers to him as "Faroush".
 * Chick Magnet: Lampshaded so often to the point of becoming a Running Gag.
 * Chivalrous Pervert: Some of the dialog choices let the player portray him as one, though this usually results in Lyon getting annoyed with him
 * The Chosen One
 * Combat Medic: With his Dawn Rune, pretty much similar to The Hero of Suikoden II.
 * Continuity Nod: His first alternate costume when he's on disguise is also McDohl's clothes.
 * Despair Event Horizon: He hits this at the end of the game if you have recruited less than 60 Stars of Destiny. Unable to cope he wanders off into the frozen Ashtwal Mountains alone, utterly broken by his experiences.
 * Fighting With Chucks: He wields a sansetsukon, a three-section staff. It's one of the weapons you can learn in many schools of kung fu. A lot of its moves are used for trapping the opponent's weapon.
 * Improbable Weapon User: What pushes his weapon into this territory is that the three sections can link together to form a bo staff, making it even more complex to wield. The fact that the Prince can wield this weapon with ease shows just how skilled he is.
 * Heroic BSOD: He goes through a large amount of trauma throught the story, but he finaly cracks  In a scene after the above spoiler, Luserina tries to reach out to him. After a moment, He simply turns around and walks off; the player is not even given the option to respond (which would normaly happen). Pretty powerful response for a silent protagonist.
 * Impossibly Cool Clothes: Which Lucretia even advises him on, so he can look more badass.
 * Before this, he was Modest Royalty (at least, compared to his parents, and the rest of the nobility).
 * Infinity Plus One Skill: Royal Paradise is pretty expensive. He's the only one who can equip it and getting it requires you to have at least an A rank on all of his basic skills.
 * Lady Land: As his gender rendered him ineligible to take the throne, he was dismissed as unimportant by certain nobles...
 * Spoiled Sweet: ... but not by his family, who lavished him with just as much attention as his younger sister.
 * Long Haired Pretty Boy
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Scarf of Asskicking: He gains one in his third outfit, the outfit you see in the cover and for the most of the game.
 * Silent Bob: The only thing saving him from being the Heroic Mime is his expressive face.
 * Strong Family Resemblance: He really, really takes after his mother, appearance-wise.
 * Warrior Prince: He's pretty badass with his 3 section staff.
 * The Wise Prince
 * White Haired Pretty Boy: Who arguably has some White Haired Pretty Girl connotations.

Crown Princess Lymsleia Falenas

 * Badass Family
 * Big Brother Worship: She's very clingy towards her older brother, the Prince. The manga adaptation turns that around and makes her more of a Jerkass Tsundere.
 * Brown Eyes: Paired with Curtains Match the Window.
 * Cheerful Child
 * Everythings Better With Princesses
 * Plucky Girl
 * Iron Woobie: At the start of the game, she's ten. The stuff she goes through would usually Break the Cutie.
 * Save the Princess: She becomes a key figure in the plots of those who want to turn the country towards their own ends and one of the prince's primary motivations for fighting.
 * Strong Family Resemblance: Just as her brother resembles her mother, Lymsleia has inherited her hair and eye colors from her father.
 * Tsundere: In the manga.
 * Videogame Caring Potential: If you're nice enough to her, she'll ask to sleep in the Hero's bed for one final sleep-over after the purification rite.
 * Videogame Caring Potential: If you're nice enough to her, she'll ask to sleep in the Hero's bed for one final sleep-over after the purification rite.

Queen Arshtat Falenas

 * A God Am I: Due to the Sun Rune's influence.
 * Almighty Mom
 * Artifact of Doom: As Queen, she is bearer of one of Falena's greatest treasures: the Sun Rune. However, its power seems to be affecting her judgment as the game begins...
 * Badass Family
 * Big Screwed Up Family: A major driving factor for her: most of her family was killed during the Falenan Succession Conflict, and she vowed to ensure such a situation would never occur again.
 * Big Fancy Castle: She commands from the sprawling Sun Palace.
 * Blue Eyes
 * Deadly Decadent Court: She has worked tirelessly along with her husband, Ferid, to reform palace life and the darker underbelly of Falena, regardless of what sort of enemies they may have made in the process.
 * Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Falenan Royals and their guard's designs borrow from a variety of different cultural styles - Egyptian, Greek and Japanese (especially the knights, who have a definite Samurai vibe) seem to be the main influence, and the concept of a powerful female ruler mirrors British monarchs Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria. Arshtat's design is the pinnacle of this (brilliant) cultural melange.
 * God Save Us From the Queen: As seen when she is under the Sun Rune's corrupting influence.
 * Happily Married
 * The High Queen: She's regal, calm yet commanding...and beautiful to boot.
 * Hot Mom: YES!
 * Mama Bear: Insult her family. Or, better, threaten them. Go on, we dare you.
 * Matriarchy: Falena is (so far) unique in the Suikoden universe, as the only Queendom.
 * Meaningful Name: In Zoroastrian angelology, Arshtat is the name of a yazad that governs justice and righteousness.
 * My God What Have I Done:
 * The Power of the Sun: She is this incarnate.
 * Rapunzel Hair: Hers is almost floor-length.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: When she's not under the Sun Rune's sway.
 * Requisite Royal Regalia
 * Costume Porn: Her outfit is particularly elaborate.
 * Nice Crown
 * Trailers Always Lie: Trailers for the game made it appear that a Brainwashed and Crazy Arshtat would be your main opponent.
 * Weaponized Headgear
 * White Haired Pretty Girl
 * Trailers Always Lie: Trailers for the game made it appear that a Brainwashed and Crazy Arshtat would be your main opponent.
 * Weaponized Headgear
 * White Haired Pretty Girl

Ferid

 * Asskicking Equals Authority: To get engaged to Arshat (and thus, to become the Commander of the Queen's Knights) he had to win the Sacred Games.
 * Badass Family
 * Four Star Badass: He's captain of the Queen's Knights.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Dark Horse Victory: His victory in the Sacred Games came as a severe shock to the local aristocracy, who expected one of the gladiators hired to represent one of their own to win; needless to say, while he has become popular with the public since then, many of the nobility still resent him.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Happily Married
 * Hot Dad: YES.
 * Mysterious Past: A citizen of the Island Nations Federation, he keeps his family background a secret to avoid political complications, going simply by "Ferid".
 * One Man Army: In his youth, during the invasion of Falena by bordering Armes, he practically saved the nation single-handedly by fighting on the front lines of the war as Commander of the Queen's Knights.
 * The Promise:
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Actually accepts the criticisms levied at him and his wife and encourages his knights to speak honestly.
 * One Man Army: In his youth, during the invasion of Falena by bordering Armes, he practically saved the nation single-handedly by fighting on the front lines of the war as Commander of the Queen's Knights.
 * The Promise:
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Actually accepts the criticisms levied at him and his wife and encourages his knights to speak honestly.

Lady Sialeeds Falenas

 * Auntie Bear: This is definitely in evidence during the early part of the game, and a significant reason for her is because of her desire to protect her young niece and nephew.
 * Badass Family: She's Queen Arshtat's younger sister and the Prince & Lymsleia's aunt.
 * Blow You Away: She specialises in Wind Rune magic.
 * Christmas Cake: Mentioned by a few characters, who refer to her as the Prince's "old auntie", much to her annoyance.
 * Maam Shock
 * Crutch Character: Starts out as a fairly powerful long-range fighter, as well as a decent spellcaster, but is saddled with an irremovable Wind Rune.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Expository Hairstyle Change
 * The Fashionista: Even Josephine is mightily impressed that she designs and creates her own gowns.
 * Fashionable Asymmetry: Her kimono-esque outfit.
 * Hello Nurse
 * Its Personal: She utterly despises Lucretia Merces, mostly because
 * Maiden Aunt: Following the violent Falenan War of Succession, she vowed to never marry or have children.
 * Ms Exposition: Her main role outside of court is to accompany her young nephew and act as his advisor, usually indicating how the team should progress.
 * Ms. Fanservice
 * Not a Morning Person: Generally, she's very upbeat but has a habit of punching those who wake her early. People thank you for not making them wake her up.
 * Oba-san: ....although she probably wouldn't appreciate the implications of this title.
 * Peek a Bangs: She wears her tousled, honey blonde hair in a high pony-tail that falls (sexily) over one side of her face.
 * Rings of Death: She wields a pair of chakram in combat.
 * Oba-san: ....although she probably wouldn't appreciate the implications of this title.
 * Peek a Bangs: She wears her tousled, honey blonde hair in a high pony-tail that falls (sexily) over one side of her face.
 * Rings of Death: She wields a pair of chakram in combat.
 * Rings of Death: She wields a pair of chakram in combat.

Lady Haswar Falenas, the Oracle

 * Badass Family
 * Badass Pacifist: She is NOT a fighter, but does everything in her power to peacefully resist the Godwins.
 * Blue Eyes
 * Cuteness Proximity: Really into the beavers.
 * Good Shepherdess: She's shown to be extremely kind and compassionate to those under her care.
 * Maiden Aunt: Like her cousin Sialeeds, she has pledged to never marry or have children for the sake of stability in the Queendom. Despite this, Haswar holds no grudges against her surviving family.
 * Miko: Of a sort, due to the religious role she plays in her society.
 * Saintly Church: Her enclave at Lunas.
 * Spoiled Sweet: She has a lovely, friendly nature.
 * Strong Family Resemblance: To her cousin, Queen Arshtat.
 * Succession Crisis: As the daughter of Crown Princess Shahrewar, Haswar should have eventually become Queen. Thanks to the machinations of Shahrewar's younger sister Falzrahm and the violent succession struggle that erupted after her grandmother's passing, this never came to be.
 * White Haired Pretty Girl

Lyon

 * Action Girl
 * Badass Adorable
 * Determinator: She protects the Prince with her life and takes her duties very seriously.
 * Bob Haircut
 * Body Guard Babe: She's the Prince's personal bodygyard.
 * Bodyguard Crush: Heavily implied to have one on the Prince
 * Dark and Troubled Past:
 * Expy: Though not in appearance, her role in the plot is pretty much identical to Gremio from the first game.
 * Impossibly Cool Weapon: Seriously. A switchblade katana. It's a real weapon too, known as a nagamaki.
 * Katanas Are Just Better: She wields a large, switchblade-like nagamaki.
 * Not Blood Siblings: Ferid outright state she's like his third child, in front of the Prince too, but neither is bothered.
 * Plucky Girl: One of the best examples in the Suikoden series.
 * Undying Loyalty: To the Prince.
 * Plucky Girl: One of the best examples in the Suikoden series.
 * Undying Loyalty: To the Prince.
 * Undying Loyalty: To the Prince.

Georg Prime

 * A Taste of Power: When he's available.....
 * Badass
 * Badass Cape
 * Bodyguard Betrayal: Gets accused of this;.
 * Breakout Character: He went from being a minor character in Suikoden II to being one of the main characters of this game.
 * Crutch Character: He starts at level 20 and is one of the best physical attackers in the game. Naturally, he is rarely available after the prologue.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Eyepatch of Power
 * Glass Cannon / Fantastic Fragility: He's really weak against magic, but his strong physical stats make up for it.
 * Hero With Bad Publicity: Suikoden 5 fleshes out fully the snippets of his back-story revealed in 2.
 * Iaijutsu Practitioner
 * Knight in Sour Armor
 * Lightning Bruiser: His strength, skill, and speed are among the highest in the game.
 * The Promise:
 * Put On a Bus: Quite often.
 * Recurring Character: Suikoden 5 marks his second appearance in the series, but is chronologically his first.
 * The Red Baron: His skill with the blade has earned him such names as "Deathblow Georg" and "Georg Who Needs No Second Strike".
 * Sweet Tooth: His Trademark Favorite Food? Cheesecake.
 * Tall Dark and Handsome
 * Time to Unlock More True Potential: While this is Zegai's role in the castle, Georg can also teach Physical skills while you're traveling on the map.
 * Wandering the Earth
 * Tall Dark and Handsome
 * Time to Unlock More True Potential: While this is Zegai's role in the castle, Georg can also teach Physical skills while you're traveling on the map.
 * Wandering the Earth

Miakis

 * Action Girl
 * Badass
 * Little Miss Badass: She's Older Than She Looks, but the trope still applies compared to the other Queen's Knights.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Despite being the most cheerful out of the Queen's Knights, she got that job (as well as being the personal bodyguard to the heiress to the Queendom) for a very good reason. Best seen when she cheerfully threatens (with one of her knives) to toss Euram into a river after he gets a little too close when trying to court the ten year old Lymsleia. She would have been chosen as a Dragon Knight too if she wasn't female.
 * Bodyguard Babe: She is Princess Lymsleia's personal bodyguard.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: She's far more carefree and lackdaisical than Lyon.
 * The Gadfly
 * Hot Amazon: Rog is attracted to her because she beat up most of the boys in their hometown when they were kids.
 * Knife Nut: She wields two Ghurka-type, curved daggers.
 * Magic Knight: The one of the best magic users out of the Knights, and has a decent attack.
 * Little Miss Snarker: Albeit mostly playfully.
 * Plucky Girl
 * Shipper On Deck: Ships Prince/Lym. (Though it's hard to tell if she's serious about that or not.)
 * Silk Hiding Steel: Ever cheerful and outgoing, she always does her job with polite words and a nice, big smile -- even when she's got a dagger to your throat.
 * : It's heavily implied that.
 * Shipper On Deck: Ships Prince/Lym. (Though it's hard to tell if she's serious about that or not.)
 * Silk Hiding Steel: Ever cheerful and outgoing, she always does her job with polite words and a nice, big smile -- even when she's got a dagger to your throat.
 * : It's heavily implied that.

Kyle

 * Blue Eyes
 * Big Damn Heroes: Helps bail out the prince, Lyon and Sialeeds during.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Like Miakis above, there's a very good reason why he's one of the Queen's Knights (despite his laid back attitude)
 * The Casanova: Suikoden 5's very own Don Juan.
 * Chivalrous Pervert
 * Continuity Nod: In the same vein that the Prince's disguise clothes are a nod to Mc Dohl's outfit in Suikoden I, Kyle's disguise seems to be a nod to Viktor's.
 * Crouching Moron Hidden Badass: His happy-go-lucky attitude hides his brilliance in combat, and in fact, in battle he holds his sword with a loose, wavering grip to make opponents underestimate him.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Hair of Gold
 * Handsome Lech: Women seem to be on his mind all of the time when the Prince interacts with him.
 * Heroes Prefer Swords: He wields a katana named Tianjin Wind.
 * Magic Knight: He is equally skilled in both magic and combat.
 * Making a Splash: He specialises in Water Rune magic.
 * Secret Relationship:
 * Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Alenia.

Galleon

 * Amicably Divorced:
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Blade On a Stick: He wields the huge Thundering Halberd.
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Grumpy Bear
 * My Master Right or Wrong: Arshtat turned his hometown of Lordlake into a barren wasteland, but he still follows her because she is his queen.
 * Old Master
 * Stern Teacher
 * Undying Loyalty: To the Falenan throne.

Alenia

 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
 * Determinator: Her father used to be a knight prior to his death, and she is determined to honor his memory and ensure the Queendom thrives... though she adopts a more combative stance than most of the other knights.
 * Dual Boss: With Zahhak.
 * Face Heel Turn:
 * Fiery Redhead: Even uses a Fire Rune.
 * Jerkass
 * Obstructive Zealot
 * Red Oni: To Zahhak's Blue.
 * Recurring Boss
 * Stop Having Fun Guys: She strongly disapproves of Kyle's flighty, flirty attitude.
 * Those Two Bad Guys: With Zahhak
 * Triang Relations:
 * Those Two Bad Guys: With Zahhak
 * Triang Relations:

Zahhak

 * Blue Oni: To Alenia's Red.
 * Dual Boss: With Alenia
 * Face Heel Turn
 * Obstructive Zealot
 * Recurring Boss
 * The Stoic
 * Those Two Bad Guys: With Alenia.
 * Uh Oh Eyes: He sports unsettling, ice-blue eyes.
 * Uh Oh Eyes: He sports unsettling, ice-blue eyes.

Marscal Godwin

 * A Nazi By Any Other Name: Strong central government, kill the 'sub-humans' (in this case no-humans) and strong military, yep.
 * Bald of Evil
 * Big Bad: He's the ruthless head of the House of Godwin.
 * Bling of War: His outfit is particularly fancy.
 * Blue Blood
 * Evil Plan: Bump off the royal family (except for the young heir) and take over the country so they can take over other countries. The point being strengthen Falena.
 * Fantastic Racism: Xenophobic and disrespectful of the 'lesser demi-human races'.
 * The Mourning After: His wife was assassinated by Nether Gate.
 * Well Intentioned Extremist:
 * Well Intentioned Extremist:

Gizel Godwin

 * Affably Evil
 * Arranged Marriage: Had one to Sialeeds when he was a kid.
 * Perfectly Arranged Marriage: It's implied he viewed it as this.
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension: Has some with Sialeeds, though it comes off more as mutual bemused Foe Yay.
 * Bishounen
 * Blue Blood
 * The Charmer
 * Duel Boss
 * Enigmatic Minion: He doesn't share his father's extremist views, but still supports him for his own reasons,
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Love Makes You Evil:
 * Manipulative Bastard: What he's become, according to Sialeeds, his ex-fiancé.
 * Villainous Valor: Only at the end of the Game.
 * Xanatos Roulette: His favorite type of plan. Lampshaded by Marscal and Sialeeds, who point out that his Stormfist plan only succeeded through blind luck -
 * Villain Ball: It should be noted that his planning tends to have repercussions for him in the long run.
 * Villain Ball: It should be noted that his planning tends to have repercussions for him in the long run.

Dolph

 * Creepy Monotone
 * Duel Boss
 * The Dragon
 * Emotionless Guy
 * Forgotten Childhood Friend: To Lyon
 * Implacable Man: Every time he is defeated, he gets right back up.
 * Monochromatic Eyes
 * Monochromatic Eyes

Childerich

 * Axe Crazy
 * Blood Knight
 * Confusion Fu: He fights in an odd, unpredictable manner, using fluid movements to fox his opponent in a very similar manner to Voldo of Soul Calibur fame.
 * Duel Boss
 * Expy: Remember Luca Blight...? Childerich's personality will certainly remind you...
 * Facial Markings
 * Hidden Weapons: He fights using two hidden wrist-blades.
 * Humiliation Conga:
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: By the time you reach the final face-off with him, he's pissed off enough people to earn himself a few willing to declare "Leave Him to Me!" Take them along to that conflict, and they'll actually argue over this.
 * Slasher Smile: He sports a contemptuous smirk.
 * Stupid Evil: He kills Godwin supporters just because their town was conquered by the prince's army. The survivors of his rampage quickly re-evaluate their loyalty to the Godwins.

Dilber Novum

 * Anti Villain
 * The Rival: To Boz Wilde. The pair are known respectively as "Dilber of the West" and "Boz of the East".
 * Worthy Opponent

Bahram Luger

 * Anti Villain
 * Honor Before Reason:
 * My Country Right or Wrong

Salum Barows

 * Blue Blood
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: A medieval variation.
 * Fat Bastard: He's almost spherical.
 * : After.
 * Large Ham
 * Not So Different: Whereas the Godwins push forward more offensive policies, he supports more peaceful actions. Despite these, few actually trust his welcoming smile, as in many ways he's Not So Different than his rival faction...
 * : Receives one from Sialeeds when.
 * Smug Snake
 * Smug Snake

Euram Barows

 * Blue Blood
 * Dirty Coward: Although he thinks he's terribly brave, of course.
 * The Dulcinea Effect: As seen when he encounters Princess Lymsleia.
 * Expy: Like Snowe Vingerhut of Suikoden IV, Euram is an Upperclass Twit.
 * Eyes of Gold
 * Hopeless Suitor: For the Princess.....
 * Stalking Is Love: ....Although her obvious rebuttal lands on deaf ears.
 * Large Ham: Like his father.
 * Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain
 * Rich Idiot With No Day Job
 * Tome of Eldritch Lore:
 * Upperclass Twit
 * Rich Idiot With No Day Job
 * Tome of Eldritch Lore:
 * Upperclass Twit

Luserina Barows

 * And Now for Someone Completely Different: She is used to swap party members in and out of the Prince's team. She's also nothing like the rest of her family.
 * Arranged Marriage: Salum continuously tries to get her into one with the Prince.
 * The Atoner: Feels she has to be one for her family's actions, even though she's not asked to.
 * Blue Blood: The Noble House of Barrows.
 * Cannot Spit It Out: It's implied in a few scenes that she has a crush on the Prince.
 * English Rose: Her character type.
 * Hair Decorations: She sports an alice band.
 * Hair of Gold: She sports a veritable river of long, wavy honey blonde hair.
 * Proper Lady / Silk Hiding Steel: She's sweet and graceful and apparently stays home while her dad and brother politic in the capital. However, if you talk around Rainwall, you'll find out that she is the one running the place. She also takes part in the coming battles as 'morale', in other words, encrouaging them to victory.
 * Purity Personified: Looks the part and mostly acts the part, but she abandoned her family rather easily.
 * Sibling Yin Yang: Whereas she is demure, polite and kind, her brother Euram is foppish, spoilt and cowardly.
 * Spoiled Sweet: Compared to her Smug Snake dad and Upperclass Twit brother, its amazing she turns out so helpful and kind.
 * Ugly Guys Hot Daughter: Some characters can't believe they're related, and this is only one of the reasons.

Chuck

 * Bag of Sharing: His speciality - he looks after the HQ warehouse, where all items and equipment can be dropped off, stored and retrieved when necessary.
 * Dumb Muscle
 * The Giant: He's huge.
 * Gentle Giant:
 * I Owe You My Life: Luserina fed him when he was starving to death.
 * Man Child
 * Undying Loyalty: To Luserina.
 * Wolverine Claws: His weapon of choice - a vicious, spiked glove.
 * Wolverine Claws: His weapon of choice - a vicious, spiked glove.

Boz Wilde

 * An Axe to Grind
 * Anime Hair: He sports a huge mohican fin of hair.
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Colonel Badass
 * Horrible Judge of Character:Salum is one of his best friends.
 * Informed Ability: He's apparently a good fighter. Since he's unable to be used outside of war battles, he never gets a chance to prove it.
 * The Rival: To Dilber
 * Those Two Guys: He tries to get this dynamic started with the straitlaced Dinn, and he eventually semi succeeds.

Lucretia Merces

 * Bi the Way: It's implied that she seduced both Lelei and Cius, and had a husband in the past. However, she's far closer to Lelei.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: She has a nigh-incomprehensible sense of humor, which includes giving an over the top Awesome McCoolname that's a sentence on its own to your castle when you first get it.
 * The Chessmaster
 * Darkskinned Blonde: She has the same look as the Karaya from Suikoden 3.
 * Heel Face Turn:
 * Odd Name Out: She's one of the few Suikoden strategists who are not of the Silverberg lineage, the other being Shu in 2. And even with that, it should be noted that Shu was nevertheless the student of a Silverberg. Lucretia has no (known) connection at all.
 * Rescue Arc: The Prince must bust her out of prison before she can be recruited.
 * Shoot the Dog:
 * Shout Out: Her feather fan and over-all look seems to be a fond nod to legendary strategist, Zhuge Liang. Not to mention her tactics.
 * Strange Syntax Speaker
 * The Strategist: The games makes it firmly clear that she's one of the absolute best in the whole series, and shows it in the actual battles she orchestrates...with planning bordering on precognition, just like the person she's based on.
 * Thousand Yard Stare: Her portrait expression exhibits this when she is dishing out her strategic advice.
 * The Strategist: The games makes it firmly clear that she's one of the absolute best in the whole series, and shows it in the actual battles she orchestrates...with planning bordering on precognition, just like the person she's based on.
 * Thousand Yard Stare: Her portrait expression exhibits this when she is dishing out her strategic advice.

Lelei

 * Ambiguously Lesbian: Though it's only ambiguous because its never explicitly stated.
 * Back to Back Badasses: With Cius during their unite attack.
 * Bodyguard Crush
 * Butch Lesbian|Lipstick Lesbian: She has traits of both. If nothing else, Lucretia ironically wears the pants in the relationship.
 * Lima Syndrome: It's implied she fell for Lucretia while guarding her cell.
 * Right Hand Hottie
 * Royal Rapier
 * Statuesque Stunner: However, she finds her height embarrassing and tends to stoop. This gets played for laughs in one of the bath scenes.
 * The Strategist: Is taking lessons from Lucretia.
 * To Be a Master
 * Undying Loyalty: To Lucretia.
 * Undying Loyalty: To Lucretia.

Cius

 * Back to Back Badasses: With Lelei in their unite attack.
 * The Champion: To Lucretia.
 * The Fettered: He's an honorable sort who values duty above all else.
 * The Generic Guy
 * Out of Focus: Compared to Lelei, he gets very little attention and/development.

Cathari

 * Badass
 * Badass Cape
 * Career Killer: She's an assassin.
 * The Gunslinger
 * In the Hood
 * Mysterious Past
 * Rule of Cool: The outfit, the gun, the mysteriousness, etc.
 * Sniper Rifle: Her weapon - incidently, one of the few gun-users in the Suikoden universe.
 * Super Speed: Like Stallion and Cedric before her, she's the one who gives you the ability to run like the wind across the world map.
 * Super Speed: Like Stallion and Cedric before her, she's the one who gives you the ability to run like the wind across the world map.

Oboro
""This is the type of thing you want to be doing. When and if you have the time and the inclination for such things. This is a great idea. Sometimes a pony gets depressed. Get a load of this view and it's the best in the west. All the young dudes carry the news. This is the type of thing you want to be doing. When and if you have the time and inclination""
 * Aint Too Proud to Beg: Much to  fury, as he can't tell whether or not he's being serious.
 * Atonement Detective:
 * Cool Boat: Oboro's office is actually a ship that sails up and down the Feitas river.
 * Covert Pervert: Some of his observations are... questionable.
 * Cuteness Proximity: He trains mice to help him tail people. He has several mice working for him, but he never explains just how he trains them.
 * Gotta Catch Em All: See below....
 * Guide Dang It: Recruiting him can be tricky; you have to make the 'correct' choices while . Do the sequence correctly, and he'll join the first time you ask. For each point you miss/mess up on, however, you have to ask him an extra time -- and you can only ask at certain points in gameplay. Wait too long, and they leave the area for good before you can convince him.
 * Information Desk: His speciality - like Richmond before him, he can be recruited (for a small fee) to find out the whereabouts of as yet recruited characters, although a certain amount of Figure It Out Yourself is also required.
 * Knowledge Broker: Aswell as letting the hero know the location of potential recruits, he can also investigate current team-mates, offering fun trivia but also useful game information about pairings for unite attacks, for example.
 * Mind Screw: His entry in the official strategy guide:
 * Mind Screw: His entry in the official strategy guide:


 * Monochromatic Eyes
 * My Card: One of his trademarks is handing these out, hoping that the practice will catch on as well as drive up more business.
 * Private Detective
 * Team Dad: For the detective agency.
 * The Rival: With Raven, who he refers to as "Crow".

Fuyo

 * Betting Minigame: She runs the tile game "Feitas", which can be played to win potch.
 * Babs From Accounting: Oboro's secretary, and a merchant's daughter; she was the agency's very first client, and joined after seeing how incredibly disorganized they were. She now handles the clerical, accounting, and organizational duties of the business.
 * Glasses Girl
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Hair of Gold: Paired with Blue Eyes.
 * Older Than They Look
 * Princess Curls: Combined with Mega Twintails for added cuteness!
 * Puni Plush
 * Smart People Wear Glasses
 * Team Mom: For the detective agency.

Shigure

 * Badass
 * Back to Back Badasses: With Sagiri in their Unite Attack.
 * Crouching Moron Hidden Badass: When not lazy, he's damn good with a knife.
 * Betting Minigame: He serves as the Intermediate opponent for Linfa's Blind Man's Bluff, and is a savvier and more difficult to read opponent than she is.
 * Blinding Bangs: Fuyo wants him to cut them back, but so far no go.
 * Brilliant but Lazy
 * Brother Wolf: For all his complaining, you don't want to threaten his family.
 * Catch Phrase: "What a pain..."
 * Everythings Better With Ninjas: He's pretty much one in all but name.
 * Foreshadowing: A clever instance: during his first appearance, he  -- but it's phrased in such a way that it sounds like.
 * Grumpy Bear
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Meaningful Name/Theme Naming: Shigure means 'short autumn rainfall' in Japanese, and all of his weapons are named for the weather.
 * Only Sane Man: How he tends to view himself compared to the rest of the agency.

Sagiri

 * Badass
 * Back to Back Badasses; With Shigure in their Unite Attack.
 * Earn Your Happy Ending:
 * Gotta Catch Em All
 * Guide Dang It: Notably won't join at the same time as the other members; she won't officially get her name on that Tablet unless the prince goes through another recruitment sequence that is easy to miss.
 * Meaningful Name/Theme Naming: Her name means 'light fog'.
 * Monochromatic Eyes
 * The Promise: A dark take.
 * Psychotic Smirk
 * Stepford Smiler:
 * Psychotic Smirk
 * Stepford Smiler:

Zerase

 * The Archmage: She's one of, if not the best magic users in the game and wields the powerful Star Rune.
 * Badass Long Robe
 * Flechette Storm: She hurls needle-like darts in combat.
 * Game Breaker: To quote a rather amusing comment from a walkthrough; "If you equip her with a Magic Absorb Rune on her right hand and a Flowing Rune on her left, the game will basically just give up and let you win"
 * Good Is Not Nice
 * In the Hood
 * Jerkass: She get better around the last moments of the game, though only to the prince.
 * Mysterious Past: She is aquainted with Jeane and Leknaat, which is intriguing and throws up even more questions about who or what she is....
 * Eerie Pale Skinned Brunette: She's mysterious, possibly non-human, and her skin doesn't lose its paleness when she's taking a bath.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Possibly, given her connection to the above mentioned characters.
 * Sour Supporter
 * The Snark Knight
 * Stealth Hi Bye: She has a bad habit of showing up, insulting everyone who so much as breathes in her general direction, and disappearing just as quickly.
 * Tall Dark and Bishoujo
 * Tall Dark and Snarky
 * Witch Species: Possibly.
 * Womanin Black

Eresh

 * Child Mage: In appearance - but this could be deceptive if she is (as is implied) of the same group as Jeane.
 * Magic Wand: She wields the Ner-Gal staff.
 * Miko: She wears the robes of the Nagarean clergy.
 * Mysterious Past: Like Zerase, she is also aquainted with Jeane, who refers to Eresh as her "comrade".
 * Mysterious Waif: Canon-wise, she is potentially even more powerful than the legendary Jeane, as only she can penetrate the very lower levels of the ancient Armes ruins in the Big Hole.
 * No Mouth: The lower half of her face is obscured by her veil.
 * Robe and Wizard Hat
 * Strange Syntax Speaker: She has a peculiar manner of speech.
 * Third Person Person
 * Third Person Person

Jeane

 * Badass Long Robe: Albeit hers is EXTREMELY abbreviated in this game.
 * Crystal Ball
 * Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: To Holy Shit Quotient levels in this game.
 * Heel Face Turn: She works with the Godwins at the beginning of the game, but quickly gets fed up with their tactics and agenda and quits. The Prince can hire her afterwords.
 * Hello Nurse
 * Hot Witch: Magic is her speciality - she is always encountered as a rune mistresss.
 * Inexplicably Identical Individuals: Turns up in every single Suikoden title, regardless of space or time differences.
 * Innocent Fanservice Girl
 * Ms. Fanservice: For the whole Suikoden series.
 * Magical Lady Warrior
 * Mysterious Past: No one knows where or when she came from.
 * Opera Gloves
 * Peek a Bangs: She's often drawn with her hair (sexily) over one eye.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old
 * Recurring Character
 * Secret Identity: Apparently, she has a 'true form' which is not visible to humans, and she wishes to keep it that way.
 * She's Got Legs
 * Statuesque Stunner
 * Stripperiffic: Her outfits have become more and more outrageously flimsy and 5's is perhaps the skimpiest yet, consisting of a few well-placed strips of gold cloth...and nothing else.
 * Witch Species: Possibly.
 * You Gotta Have Pink Hair Instead of being a White Haired Pretty Girl like her counterparts in the other games, she has pink hair. Word of God is that this is to distinguish her from Arshtat.

Viki

 * The Ditz
 * Dojikko: Poor clumsy Viki!
 * Magical Girl Warrior: From Suikoden 2 onwards, she can be added to the active party. She has excellent magic stats, combined with the Blinking Rune's unique magic attacks.
 * Mysterious Past: No one really knows where she came from.
 * Nurse Jenny: Like Jeane, she turns up in every single Suikoden game, regardless of space/time differences. Unlike Jeane, however, this is explained by her powers of teleportation.
 * Purity Personified
 * Recurring Character
 * Running Gag: She never gets to finish the banquet meals after the games.
 * Temporal Paradox: Especially evident in 5 - Her odd teleportation patterns cause confusion for those she comes across - for example, Lorelai, having first met Viki in the Twilight Forest in Falena, is surprised when Viki does not recognize her later when fighting together in the Sun Rune War, failing to understand that her first meeting with Viki was the result of Viki teleporting from several years in the future - as a result, at that time, she had never seen Lorelai before in her life.
 * Warp Whistle: Her speciality - as bearer of the Blinking Rune, she can (most of the time, see below) transport the hero and his party to any destination previously visited.
 * Teleporter Accident: Her abilities can be hit and miss, occasionally landing the characters in completely random locations.
 * Malfunction Malady: The above teleport mistakes are accompanied with a little sneeze!
 * White Magician Girl: Long hair, pretty dress, gentle personality; the only glitch is her Blinking Rune is transporation instead of healing, but still a supporting power
 * Wide-Eyed Idealist: Despite her clutziness, she's very keen to help out.
 * Woman in White

Levi

 * The Archmage: He is not as powerful as some of the other mages (Zerase, for example) but he's still nothing to scoff at.
 * The Professor: He's an expert on rune magic, but dislikes the term "wizard" and refers to himself as a "magic rune scholar".
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Badass Long Robe
 * The Beast Master: He wields the Blue Gate Rune, a rune used to summon monsters from another world to attack enemies.
 * Earthshattering Kaboom: He claims to have created the 'Big Hole' in order to have his apprentice Bergen mine there for materials that may be of use for his research.
 * Grumpy Old Man
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: He comes across as very gruff and irritable, but does (albeit to further his research) agree to help Norma find a cure for Ernst's lycanthropy.
 * Kid Sidekick: Bergen, who he treats fairly shabbily, but keeps him interested with the promise furthering his training.
 * Magic Wand: He wields the The Viper Staff
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old
 * Talking Weapon: The snake motif on his staff is actually a real snake....
 * Speaks Fluent Animal: ....with whom he holds regular conversations (in snake!)
 * Time to Unlock More True Potential: His speciality - has the Tutor skill that allows magic training anywhwere.
 * Up to Eleven: His magicial abilities.
 * Witch Species: Possibly.

Lorelai

 * Action Girl
 * Adventurer Archaeologist: A native of Falena, she is obsessed with searching for Sindar Ruins and jumps at the chance to study the Ceras Lake ruins, when discovered.
 * Badass Bookworm
 * My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours: She prefers her companions be stronger than her, and this time it's no different, challenging the Prince to a duel to test whether he is a worthy leader for her to follow.
 * Duel Boss
 * Defeat Means Friendship
 * Not So Different: A particularly humorous example. When she and Viki got mad at Zweig for intruding on their conversation in the bath, she agrees when Zweig points out that she would have done the same thing had she heard him talking about Sindar stuff. Poor Viki...
 * Recurring Character: Suikoden 5 marks her 3rd appearance in the series so far, but it's chronologically her first.
 * Superior Species: She claims to be a descendant of the lost Sindar race.
 * Tall Dark and Bishoujo
 * The Rival: With Killey & Zweig when it comes to Sindar ruin hunting.
 * Teeth Clenched Teamwork: Moreso with Zweig in this game, as he keeps her on a very short leash when it comes to imparting information. She tolerates this behavior as she is desperate to gain access to his secret research laboratory.
 * So Long Suckers:
 * Whip It Good: Another change of weapon for her - this time she wields a bullwhip.

Killey

 * Adventurer Archaeologist: He came to Falena in search of Sindar Ruins.
 * Badass
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Badass Cape
 * Dual Wielding
 * Good Scars Evil Scars: He has a scar across the bridge of his nose.
 * Impossibly Cool Clothes: They are part of his native heritage, representing his tribe's legendary "Red Bird".
 * All Encompassing Mantle: In black and deep crimson.
 * Nice Hat: An awesome, sweeping, finned trilby.
 * Loners Are Freaks
 * Might As Well Not Be in Prison At All: The Godwins had locked him up in Agate prison when the Prince first meets him, but he casually picks the lock and strolls off after a brief chat.
 * Not entirely, since while he could have picked the lock at any time, the prison was in the middle of a river, so he was still stuck there until you reveal the hidden underground passage.
 * Mysterious Past
 * Recurring Character: This is his 2nd appearance in the series, but chronologically, his first.
 * The Rival: With Lorelai, when it comes to Sindar ruin hunting.
 * Teeth Clenched Teamwork: Lorelai really isn't happy to have him on board, after the Prince recruits him.
 * The Snark Knight
 * The Stoic: His bath scene with other silent-type characters consists mostly of '.........'
 * The Unfettered: Questing for the Sindar treasure is his whole life.

Zweig

 * Adjusting Your Glasses
 * Adventurer Archaeologist: Like Lorelai and Killey, he represents yet another party fascinated by Sindar Ruins....
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Mad Scientist Laboratory: He had a secret laboratory somewhere in Falena where he kept all of his research materials on the Sindar, but denied its existence to Lorelai constantly.
 * Nerds Are Sexy
 * Older Than They Look: He looks around his late twenties, but he's almost forty.
 * The Professor: He is arguably the most knowledgable of the trio, with both the Godwins and Lucretia vying for his expert advice on the mysteries of the Ceras Lake ruins.
 * The Rival: With Lorelai when it comes to Sindar ruin hunting.
 * Teeth Clenched Teamwork: He appears to just about tolerate Lorelai accompanying him on his quests, but is very flippant with her and only imparts the briefest snippets of knowledge.
 * Scarf of Asskicking
 * Simple Staff: He wields a bo-staff named Philosofs in combat.

Craig Laden

 * Badass
 * Badass Longcoat
 * Four Star Badass: Of the Dragon Calvary in general.
 * The Beast Master
 * Dragon Rider: His speciality, as the head of the Dragon Cavalry.
 * Cavalry Officer
 * Honorary Uncle: To Miakis - he was good friends with her father.
 * Team Switzerland: As head of the Dragon Cavalry, he only swears allegiance to the rivers of Falena, and such, does not involve himself in any of the internal conflicts, only going into battle against foreign invasions. This causes friction initially between Rahal, Roog and he when Armes invades and they try to rally him to the Prince's cause.
 * Hostage Situation: However, it's soon discovered that his inaction is because the Godwins are holding the dragon eggs and foals hostage.
 * Fire Forged Friends: However, following a Rescue Arc courtesy of his Dragon Knights and the Prince, he rallies to the Prince's cause.
 * Stern Teacher: He is the last of the traditional commanders, strictly keeping with the traditions of barring female riders, though by the end of the game he starts to seriously question that stricture.
 * The Stoic
 * Team Dad

Rahal

 * Ambiguously Gay: He protests that his lack of success with women is due to having to deal with Roog all the time, although Roog claims he hears it's because Rahal has "issues"...also, he apparently keeps a set of his sister's clothes handy at all times...
 * Badass Long Hair
 * Bash Brothers: With Roog.
 * Bishounen: One of the best examples in the whole series.
 * The Beast Master
 * Dragon Rider: His speciality, as a commander of the Dragon Cavalry. His dragon is named Flail.
 * Cavalry Officer
 * Disguised in Drag: He makes such a convincing woman that he is able to distract and knock-out the guards in male-only Gordius village during the rescue of the dragon foals.
 * Attractive Bent Gender
 * Dropped a Bridget On Him
 * Even the Guys Want Him
 * Heroes Prefer Swords: He wields a katana called Rhamphinion, which is (suitably) named after a kind of prehistoric pterosaur.
 * Red Oni Blue Oni: He's the blue to Roog's red and even Color Coded for Your Convenience.
 * Rescue Arc: He helped uncover Godwin's plot to hold the dragon horse eggs hostage, which were later secured by the Dragon Knights and the Prince's party.
 * Strong Family Resemblance: He looks uncannily similar to his sister, Rania, to the point where they sometimes switch clothes to play tricks on others.

Roog

 * Always Someone Better: Whilst not bad looking at all, he often feels in Rahal's shadow, as a the second best-looking Dragon Knight.
 * Badass
 * Bash Brothers: With Rahal.
 * The Beast Master
 * Dragon Rider: His speciality, as a commander of the Dragon Cavalry. His dragon is named Lance.
 * Cavalry Officer
 * Heroes Prefer Swords: He wields a katana called Angaturama, which is (suitably) named after a kind of carnivorous dinosaur, similar to a Spinosaurus.
 * Hot Blooded: Especially compared to Rahal.
 * No Guy Wants an Amazon: Inverted. He is attracted to Miakis because she beat up all the boys in the castle growing up, even him a few times.
 * Red Oni Blue Oni: He's the red to Rahal's blue and even Color Coded for Your Convenience.
 * Rescue Arc: He helped uncover Godwin's plot to hold the dragon horse eggs hostage, which were later secured by the Dragon Knights and the Prince's party.

Nick

 * The Beast Master
 * Dragon Rider: His speciality, as a trainee of the Dragon Cavalry. His dragon is named Ax.
 * Brilliant but Lazy: He's top of his class when it comes to fighting, but slacks off with his flute practise and is a pretty terrible player.
 * Cute but Cacophonic: When he plays his flute.
 * Cute Shotaro Boy: He's plucky, brave and resourceful.
 * Dreadful Musician: His flute playing is awful.
 * Contrived Coincidence: His heroism in the dragon egg Rescue Arc stemmed from his horrible flute playing -
 * Heroes Prefer Swords: He wields a katana called Komodo's Claw, keeping with the reptilian theme.
 * Kid Hero
 * To Be a Master: Wants to be the best dragon rider.

Flail

 * Bond Creatures: She is Rahal's mount.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: Unlike traditional rampaging dragons, the Dragon Cavalry's mounts are friendly, loyal and bond closely with their human riders.
 * Horse of a Different Color
 * Official Couple: With Lance.
 * Singing Voice Dissonance: Despite her fearsome appearance, she has a sweet melodious call.
 * You Sexy Beast: She is a female dragon horse who is apparently very pretty and desired by all of the male horses.

Lance

 * Berserk Button: He tends to go wild when Roog isn't about, only calming when he re-appears.
 * Bond Creatures: He is Roog's mount.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: Unlike traditional rampaging dragons, the Dragon Cavalry's mounts are friendly, loyal and bond closely with their human riders.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Roog tussled with him for a full day to prove himself a worthy rider.
 * Horse of a Different Color
 * Hot Blooded: Like his mount, he's known for his temper, as a certain merchant finds out firsthand...
 * Official Couple: With Flail.
 * Picky Eater: He will only eat fresh, fat fish.

Ax

 * Bond Creatures: He is Nick's mount.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: Unlike traditional rampaging dragons, the Dragon Cavalry's mounts are friendly, loyal and bond closely with their human riders.
 * Curious As a Monkey: A sign of intelligence amongst dragon horses.
 * Eat the Dog: In a manga omake.
 * Horse of a Different Color
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: He's a baby dragon horse.

Yoran

 * Anime Hair: His hair is parted into two bunches like a hopi indian, with an actual star of hair at his forehead.
 * Bond Creatures: Whilst not a dragon knight himself, he is the dragon's caretaker and stable-hand.
 * Betting Minigame: His speciality, once recruited. He runs the Dragon Horse Race game, which can be played to earn potch.
 * Closer to Earth: He's far calmer than his boisterous best-friend, Nick.
 * Cute Shotaro Boy
 * Stable Boy: His job with the dragon knights.
 * Nice Guy
 * No Womans Land: He was raised his whole life in male-only Gordius village, and finds it hard, once recruited, to interact with females at the Prince's HQ.
 * Rescue Arc: He helps Nick out with the rescue of the dragon eggs from the Godwins.

Rania

 * Antiquated Linguistics
 * Battle Theme Music: Having her in the active party alters the battle music to a more wood-wind themed variation.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: She's fairly eccentric, often talking about the beautiful and strange sounds she hears around her. Apparently, she's got perfect pitch.
 * Magical Flutist: She creates the magic flutes that the dragon knights use to control their mounts, which are inaudible to humans - except herself.
 * Music and Sound Effects: Her speciality, once recruited she can change the in-game sound effects.
 * Strong Family Resemblance: She bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother, Rahal, and the pair often swap clothes to play tricks on people.
 * Super Senses: She is exceptional in that she can actually hear the calls of the dragon horses, and the commands from the flutes she makes.

Isabel

 * Action Girl
 * Badass: Note - her Combination Attack with Mathias...a REALLY, really heavy downward strike...is the strongest single target physical attack in the game.
 * Four Star Badass: For the Maximillian Knights and subsequently, the prince.
 * Determinator
 * Breast Plate
 * Cool Sword : Sort of, it's more of a big retractable ....lance?
 * The Cape: She's incredibly just and will do whatever possible to do what is right.
 * For Great Justice: Her maxim - she is intent on being worthy of calling herself "The heir to the Maximillian Knights aspirations." It's deeper than it sounds, however.
 * Continuity Nod: She and Mathias are Suikoden 5's take on the classic Maximillian and Sancho pairing from Suikoden 1.
 * Death Glare: As seen in her "conceit" unite attack with Zerase and Cathari, where they stare down the enemy and walk right into them for 1.3x damage.
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Heroic Spirit: as with the below trope, par for the course for anyone associated with the Maximillian Knights
 * Hot Blooded: Her driving force in life is to vanquish evil and she's very passionate about it.
 * Hot Chick With a Sword
 * Knight in Shining Armor: She believes in the ideals of chivalry.
 * Leotard of Power: Funnily enough, this is actually addressed, with her claiming that it aids her movement.
 * Principles Zealot: Her absolute obsession with stamping out all evil is pretty much Played for Laughs.

Mathias

 * Badass
 * Determinator
 * The Cape: Like Isabel, he is incredibly just and will do whatever possible to do what is right.
 * For Great Justice: Like the woman he serves, another requirement for being a Maximillian Knight.
 * Catch Phrase: He is notable for repeating one line (with minor changes) throughout the game, constantly talking about "finding evil, and then enacting swift and final retribution and depositing their loathsome corpses into (a body of water)."
 * Chaste Hero: See below trope.
 * Devoted to You: He is utterly devoted to Isabel.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * I Call It Vera: As expected, he calls his pike "Isabel" in honor of his mistress. Additionally, as he comes from the Warrior's Village, the significance of naming it "Isabel" may very well not just be a mark of loyalty to his mistress, but a convention that is reserved almost always for women they love. Isabel herself also gives hints at this, if only just barely.
 * Knight in Shining Armor: He wears a full suit of armor and has the classic look of a medieval chivalrous knight.
 * Number Two: He is Isabel's loyal adjutant (or some would say, slave).
 * Platonic Life Partners: Despite his devotion to Isabel, he is not romantically interested in her. His devotion has to do with Isabel as a person, not a woman, and would serve her just as he does currently if she were a man.
 * Principles Zealot: Like Isabel, his absolute obsession with stamping out all evil is pretty much Played for Laughs.
 * The Stoic
 * Undying Loyalty: He serves Lady Isabel faithfully and devotedly, claiming he would exact swift and final retribution anyone who dare raise a sword or even insult Lady Isabel...(and deposit their loathsome corpses into the nearest body of water, naturally).

Wilhelm

 * All Men Are Perverts: He joins the Prince's cause mostly to gain access to the lovely ladies at the HQ.
 * Badass: One of the few people with a a five-star war ability in campaign battles.
 * Colonel Badass
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Cavalry Officer: Once recruited.
 * Casanova: Of the predatory type, he joins the Prince only if Viki, Faylen or Norma are present in the active party.
 * Lust Object: He is particularly taken with Lyon - she's not happy to say the least.
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Hopeless Suitor: For Lyon.
 * Lovable Rogue: He skims the line between mercenary and actual bandit....
 * Private Military Contractors: He is a leader of a unit within the Lindwurm Mercenary Brigade.
 * Punch Clock Hero: Slightly more hero than clock, he looks forward to peace even though it means less work for him.
 * Red Oni Blue Oni: He's the definite red to Mueller's blue.

Mueller

 * Badass: Like Wilhelm, he's got 5-star war abilty.
 * Badass Long Hair
 * Cavalry Officer: Once recruited.
 * The Giant: He's unbelievably tall, with a towering columnular frame.
 * Number Two: He's Wilhelm's adjutant.
 * Private Military Contractors: He is a 2nd in command of a unit within the Lindwurm Mercenary Brigade.
 * Punch Clock Hero: Even more so then Wilhelm. He'll tell you to your face they'll back out if they're not paid.
 * Red Oni Blue Oni: He's the blue to Wilhelm's red.
 * Sergeant Rock: He stands for no nonsense within the ranks, and uses an iron rod to discipline his troops. He's still well respected though.
 * Stop Having Fun Guys: To his troops and the rest of the army.
 * The Stoic: His image is always stoic and he nevers responds on emotions.

Richard

 * Abusive Parents: Abused from a young age, he was saved when Mueller killed his tyrannical father.
 * Badass
 * Hidden Badass
 * Beware the Nice Ones: He's so laid-back and easygoing, no one would know he's a seriously amazing fighter.
 * Hero Worshipper: Mueller can do no wrong in his eyes.
 * Single Target Sexuality: His complete and utter idolization of Mueller verges on more than just admiration....
 * Bishounen
 * Gladiator Games: He took part in the Sacred Games after Mueller joked he should try, but lost after being drugged by a piece of candy a small child in the audience gave him.
 * I Owe You My Life: He is utterly indebted to Mueller and follows him wherever he goes.
 * Lightning Bruiser: He's a beast in any battle and has the highest evasion and the second highest technique score. His swallow rune is very powerful and all of his stats are decent.
 * Master Swordsman: Amongst the best, if not the best in the game.
 * Nice Guy: Every line of dialogue is either encouragement to the Prince, or praise of Mueller.
 * Private Military Contractors: He's a swordsman of the Lindwurm Mercenary Brigade.
 * Punch Clock Hero: As with Mueller above, naturally.
 * The Red Baron: He goes by the name of "Blademaster", and he's worthy of it.
 * Well Done Son Guy: Towards Mueller, as opposed to his abusive father, of course.

Babbage

 * Anachronism Stew: His contribution to the Prince's army is inventing an elevator.
 * Clock Punk: His speciality is clockwork mechanica.
 * The Engineer
 * Mr. Fixit
 * Gadgeteer Genius: As an inventor, his passion in life is gears and levers.
 * Mad Scientist
 * Absent Minded Professor: He is inept at house-keeping and totally reliant on Sorensen, who he ostensibly forgets to thank for this hard work.
 * Magnum Opus: The Revolving Bridge connecting the Barows territory in Rainwall is his masterpiece it's in-universe, for those of you who'd care to know.
 * Scary Shiny Glasses: His appearance is a little disturbing, especially his creepy pin-wheel glasses.
 * Uncanny Valley
 * Shout Out: He is named after Charles Babbage, a 19th century British mathematician, philosopher, mechanical engineer, and proto-computer scientist who originated the idea of a programmable computer.
 * Smart People Wear Glasses

Sorensen

 * Anachronism Stew
 * Improbable Weapon User: In Suikoden's medieval setting, he wields a mechanical arm blasted from a barrel in combat.
 * The Apprentice: He is Babbage's eager assistant.
 * Demoted to Extra: Complains that Lu is stealing the post of Babbage's apprentice away from him.
 * Hypercompetent Sidekick: He needs to be!
 * Nice Guy: He's sweet, kind and loyal.
 * Undying Loyalty: He respects Babbage from the bottom of his heart, and has near unlimited patience with his unusual teacher.
 * Wide Eyed Idealist: Bless him.
 * Youthful Freckles

Lu

 * The Apprentice: She is Babbage's other assistant, but has no real technical knowledege - she just likes seeing his inventions in action.
 * Automatic Crossbows: She wields a quad crossbow in combat
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * The Ditz: Oh God yes. She manages to trash Babbages office and lose an ultra rare gear just "looking around".
 * Dumb Is Good
 * Genki Girl: Up to Eleven.
 * Goggles Do Nothing
 * Sexy Jester: Her outfit has a definite clownish feel, complete with over-large buttons and diamond patterned leggings.
 * Tricksters: Like Noah before her, she wields the Mischief Rune.
 * Valley Girl: Her vibe, complete with incessant amounts of "kewl!!" (cool!).
 * Verbal Tic: "Keeeewl!" She also uses a lot of sound effects in her speech.

Raja

 * Badass
 * Cultured Badass: Very fond of tea parties.
 * Four Star Badass: She's a VERY good admiral.
 * Never Mess With Granny
 * A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: Bahram Luger was her student, until he defected to the Godwins.
 * The Captain: As a former Admiral of the Queen's Royal Navy, she lends the Prince her naval skills, helping him to victory at Hatred Fortress and the Sol-Falena dam.
 * Cool Boat: She commands Raftfleet from a giant, triple dragon-headed warship named Dahak.
 * Cool Old Lady
 * Dude, Where's My Respect?: Her abilities were not recognized during the war because she was a member of the 'lower class'. Subverted when she rose to Admiral after the war.
 * Get On the Boat
 * Red Baron: (Her nickname was earned due to her war prowess) - "Hurricane Raja".
 * Spot of Tea: She is a big fan of tea parties and often invites older folk like Talgeyl and Sairoh to these civilised events.

Lun

 * Action Girl: A mixture of her parents; decent at both melee with a harpoon and decent in magic, especially Fire and Water.
 * Badass Family: Daughter in one.
 * Curtains Match the Window: Brown Eyes and hair.
 * Fishing Minigame: One of the competitors, and tends to spend most of it snarking at Subala.
 * Harpoon Gun: She hurls fishing harpoons in combat.
 * Little Miss Snarker
 * Lovable Rogue: Gets caught stealing when you first meet, but you find out she's actually not a bad person at all
 * Not So Different: Played for Laughs; she's more like Daddy than she wants to admit.
 * Sarashi: She sports a traditional Japanese body wrap.
 * Those Two Guys: With Logg.
 * Tomboy: Less so than Subala, but she still exhibits this.
 * Tomboy: Less so than Subala, but she still exhibits this.

Logg

 * Anchors Away: He wields the Shenzhen Iron Anchor
 * Badass
 * Badass Family: Father in one.
 * Crouching Moron Hidden Badass: Eventually, you learn
 * Bumbling Dad
 * Fishing Minigame: His speciality - a fisherman by trade, he naturally competes in it.
 * Improbable Weapon User: His Weapon of Choice is an anchor.
 * Lovable Rogue
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Those Two Guys: With his daughter Lun.
 * Ugly Guy Hot Wife: In-universe: his wife is considered so smoking hot that people knew of her outside Raftfleet, and she seemingly didn't show any interest in Logg until she abruptly announced they were marrying, provoking other men of Raftfleet into all but attacking him out of jealousy.
 * Zany Scheme

Kisara

 * Action Mom
 * Almighty Mom: Both Logg and Lun do NOT want to cross her.
 * Badass Family: Mother in one.
 * Black Magician Girl
 * Closer to Earth: Compared to her far wackier husband and daughter.
 * Epic Flail: She wields a large length of heavy docking rope in combat.
 * Gag Boobs: She sports a seriously exaggerated bust.
 * Hello Nurse: When she was young, she was the desire of all the men in Raftfleet and beyond.
 * Hot Mom
 * Innocent Innuendo: ...Possibly, depending on how you read her Furo Scene conversation with Lun and Subala. She may be fully aware of what it sounds like and teasing both of them...
 * Number Two: She's is the Vice-admiral of Raftfleet and serves as Admiral Raja's aide and second-in-command.
 * What Does She See in Him: She keeps this very much a secret and indeed, the announcement of her engagement to Logg lead to him receiving death threats.

Subala

 * A Cup Angst
 * Ambiguous Gender: At first glance, she looks far more like an adolescent boy than a girl.
 * Anime Hair: She sports Dragon Ball Z style spikes.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: The Prince must best her in a fishing contest if she is to join.
 * Fan Girl: She's instantly smitten with the Prince.
 * Fishing Minigame: Her speciality, which is staged as a four-way contest between Subala, the Prince, Lun and Logg, complete with lots of Trash Talking and boat ramming.
 * Pettanko: Suffers A-Cup Angst, and has gone from being Lun's friend to her rival based in part on this.
 * Prongs of Poseidon: She wields a trident in combat.
 * The Rival: With Lun, on a variety of matters - from boyfriends, fishing ability, and even boob-size.
 * Sarashi
 * Second Hand Storytelling: Lun allegedly stole her boyfriend, which kicked off their rivalry, although Lun has no memory of this.
 * Tomboy: Definitely.

Sairoh

 * Chinese People: Complete with conical straw hat and sake gourd.
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Intrepid Merchant: In his youth he was a legendary trader, and once recruited, sets up a trading post at the HQ.
 * Chain of Deals: For him to join, it is necessary to buy out the salt in other trading posts so the price sky-rockets. He will then ask how the Prince will rectify this. Sell at least 6 salts immediatly to rebalance the market.
 * So Proud of You: He then joins immediately, impressed with the young Prince's business acumen.
 * Guide Dang It: Like a few other characters in 5, his recruitment process is particularly specific.
 * At least he's not Lost Forever unlike other characters.
 * Promotion to Parent: He has taken care of Shinro, his grandson, since the death of his son and daughter-in-law.
 * Ten Minute Retirement

Shinro

 * Chinese People
 * Nice Guy
 * Perpetual Smiler
 * Raised By Grandparents: He was taken in by his grandpa Sairoh, following the death of his parents.
 * Signature Device: He's never without his trusty abacus.
 * We Buy Anything
 * We Sell Everything: Once recruited, his item store carries any item that has been found available in any other item store already visited by the Prince.
 * No Hero Discount
 * Well Done Son Guy: He wants to be just as good a merchant as Sairoh.

Retso

 * Brotherhood of Funny Hats: He was trained by the Black Dragon Clan of chefs, and is one of the 4 masters.
 * Chekhov's Gun: The legendary recipe he covets (explained below).
 * Fetch Quest
 * Memento MacGuffin: He seeks to unlock the mysteries of the legendary mythical fish sashimi, and will only join the Prince if he brings him the strange fish, which can be caught when playing Subala's Fishing Minigame.
 * Foregone Conclusion: Players familiar with Suikoden 2's epic Cooking Duel (which occurs after the events of 5) will be familiar with what the future holds for Retso (and Shun Min) -
 * Recurring Character
 * Team Chef: His speciality, once recruited.
 * Unusual Eyebrows: A family trait, shaped like quotation marks.
 * Yellow Peril: His look, the mustache, the beautiful daughter etc, but not his personality

Shun Min

 * Cheerful Child
 * Chinese Girl
 * Closer to Earth: Compared to her father, Retso.
 * Doomed By Canon:
 * Friend to All Living Things: Despite raising fish for her father to cook, she feels bad about their fate and is often moved to tears if diners can't finish their meals, feeling that her fish had died for nothing.
 * Kawaiiko
 * Ugly Guy's Cute Daughter
 * Unusual Eyebrows: Just like her father's.

Belcoot

 * Badass
 * Bishounen
 * Can't Hold His Liquor
 * Chick Magnet: Especially where Marina is concerned....
 * Continuity Nod: His Falcon Rune is, to long-time fans, an indicator of his skill, especially as the rune only ever shows up on one genuinely accomplished swordsman/swordswoman in each game.
 * Mr. Fanservice: Amongst the hottest guys in the series.
 * Gladiator Games: He was born and raised to be a gladiator in Suikoden's very own Thunderdome, Stormfist.
 * Defector From Decadence: However, he soon became jaded with the brutal way his fellow fighters were treated and ran away to Kanakan.
 * He's Back: Upon his return to Sol-Falena around the time of the Sacred Games, he began to wipe the floor with the competition.
 * For Great Justice: His aim is to win the Sacred Games, and thus marry Princess Lymsleia, to ensure the safety of his fellow gladiators in the future.
 * Heroic Spirit
 * Nice Guy
 * Oblivious to Love: He's very dense when it comes to love and cannot suspect Marina's true feelings for him.
 * Rescue Arc: Stormfist thugs, unhappy with a "foreigner" like Belcoot potentially marrying the Princess, kidnapped him, requiring the Prince and his party to race to the rescue.
 * I Will Protect Her: Their plan foiled, these same thugs then kidnapped Marina, a local girl friendly with Belcoot to lure him into a trap. He rushed to the rescue with the Prince's help and saved Marina.
 * Slipping a Mickey: With Marina safe, he prepared himself for the final against Childerich (The Godwin's champion) but he was drugged by  and was unable to fight, allowing the Godwin faction victory in the contest.....
 * Earn Your Happy Ending

Marina

 * Clingy Jealous Girl: She certainly doesn't appreciate Hazuki's interest in sparring with Belcoot.
 * Dogged Nice Girl: She's clearly in love with Belcoot, although he is fairly oblivious...
 * Unwitting Pawn: Because of this infatuation, she was seen as a target to eliminate Belcoot by the Godwins.
 * Meido: She works as a maid at the Stormfist Inn.
 * Oktoberfest: Her look - especially in her official art, is that of the typical beer-hall serving girl. She's even drawn with a huge platter of wurstl in one hand, and 4 tankards of beer in the other.
 * Trauma Inn: Her speciality once recruited - she runs the HQ inn.
 * Well Intentioned Extremist:
 * My God What Have I Done:
 * Earn Your Happy Ending

Zegai

 * Badass
 * Badass Back: His victory pose.
 * Rated M for Manly
 * Barbarian Hero
 * Big Damn Heroes: He is instrumental in the
 * Blade On a Stick: He wields a huge guan dao named Sagami.
 * Darkskinned Blonde
 * Gladiator Games: He serves as the Barrows family's champion in the Sacred Games.
 * Heroic Build
 * Loin Cloth
 * Miscarriage of Justice: He was disqualified from the Games when, supposedly, Armes informants were talking to him about killing the Queen. In reality, they were just talking in the native Armes tongue, but it was enough to have him sentenced to death.
 * Just in Time: Luckily, Lady Sialeeds pieces together the story and intervenes to save him.
 * One Man Army: Originally from Armes, he fought off a battalion of 100 Falenan troops whilst poaching across the border.
 * Time to Unlock More True Potential: His speciality - he runs the combat training centre at HQ.
 * Underwear of Power
 * Vocal Dissonance: He barely speaks, but his high-pitched, perky "Good!" victory quote, does not fit his gruff exterior.

Shoon

 * Badass Adorable
 * Bare Fisted Monk: Though he's not a monk.
 * Commuting On a Bus: He's one of the first Stars of Destiny encountered and is a prominent character early on, but he's actually the last Star to be recruited towards the very end of the game.
 * Cute Bruiser
 * Duel Boss
 * Fan Boy: Of Zegai.
 * Gladiator Games: He fights at Stormfist to support his poor family.
 * Gladiator Revolt: Following Godwin's occupation of Stormfist, he leads a faction of gladiators to safety through the Western Woods and eventually joins the Prince's forces.
 * Hair of Gold
 * Heroic Spirit
 * I Have a Family: His family is constantly under watch by his master, so Shoon must obey his master and fight. If he ever tries to flee, his family will be in danger.
 * Its Personal: Joins the Prince's forces to exact revenge for the cruel treatment of his gladiator comrades.
 * Kamehame Hadoken: His Fierce Tiger Rune.
 * Kid Hero: He's just 14 years old.
 * No Holds Barred Beatdown: His combo with Nikea consists of them beating the everloving crap out of one enemy.
 * Shout Out: He looks like someone out of Saint Seiya.

Gavaya

 * Casanova Wannabe: His most overt trait.
 * Chivalrous Pervert: Even when competing in fighting tournaments he never hurts women, withdrawing every time he was pitted against a female contestant.
 * Dreadlock Rasta: His hair, which is worn in very long auburn dreads.
 * Dual Wielding: He uses double hand-axes named in battle
 * Fantastic Racism: He had travelled to Falena to compete in the Sacred Games, but being from Armes, he was denied entry.
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Gotta Catch Em All
 * Hopeless Suitor: For every woman he meets, unfortunately.
 * Gladiator Games: He is well-known in various fighting circuits and tourneys.
 * Lolicon: He's madly in love with Princess Lymsleia...and she's only ten.
 * Lovable Sex Maniac: He's not such a bad guy once you get past his quirks.

Nikea
"Nikea: Uh oh...! That means... I conked the Prince in the head! They'll throw me in the Feitas (river) for sure!"
 * Action Girl
 * Bare Fisted Monk: She specializes in unarmed combat.
 * Bare Your Midriff
 * Big Eater: As is required for someone of her musculature - mentioned by both Oboro and Retso (the Team Chef, no less).
 * Body Guard Babe: After first meeting in Stormfist, the Prince then encounters her in Lelcar, where she is working as Orok's bodyguard.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: After an initial fight during the Lelcar conscripted boys Rescue Arc, and a subsequent one-on-one duel, she joins the Prince.
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Combination Attack: With Shoon.
 * Crouching Moron Hidden Badass: Despite her cheerful and oblivious nature, she is one of the game's best fighters. She hits hard and can combo up to 5 times if you raise her technique.
 * Duel Boss
 * Fun Personified: She's consistantly upbeat, cheerful and enthusiastic.
 * Gladiator Games: She's a professional fighter, making a good living from competing.
 * Heroic Build
 * Hot Blooded: She can be pretty feisty....
 * Large Ham: It's hilariously easy to tell when she's going to use a 'Special' attack during her one-on-one battle against the Prince
 * No Holds Barred Beatdown: Her combination attack with Shoon, which is only available when they're both in berserk status, basically consists of the two of them going to town on one enemy.
 * Oh Crap: A pretty funny one comes after the fight in Lelcar when she realizes she just attacked the Prince of Falena (Not stupidity on her part, she had only seen him once before and the prince was in disguise at the time).


 * Straw Feminist: She didn't realize women were forbidden to compete in the Sacred Games, and launches into a confused rant, since she says, in Falena, women have the power.
 * Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: Despite the spirited protestations, she didn't even know that the prize, aside from fame and glory, was that the winner would marry the Princess.
 * She Is the King: Sialeeds almost wishes Nikea was a man, because, if she was married to Lym, she figures there would always be something interesting going on.

Murad

 * Dressed to Heal: In his lab-coat.
 * Looks Like Cesare
 * Magic Antidote: He worked hard to create an antidote to Raging Nostrum, the Nether Gate drug that drives the consumer into an uncontrollable killing frenzy and leads to death.
 * The Medic: Alongside Silva.
 * The Smart Guy

Egbert Aethelbald

 * Betting Minigame: His speciality. Once recruited, he can be challenged to a game of draughts (checkers) for potch.
 * Bling of War: His military uniform and hat reference the British Army's Rifles Regiment circa early 1800's.
 * Blue Blood: The ancient Aethelbald family can trace their line of descent even earlier than the Falenan Royal Family. His valuable family tree document acts as a Plot Coupon when recruiting Raven.
 * Cavalry Officer: His position in battle, once recruited.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: He's definitely eccentric, if not borderline insane and lives a troglodyte existence in the sewers beneath Stormfist.
 * Berserk Button: His mad, ranting neuroses are triggered by any mention on the Godwins.
 * Cluster F Bomb: As seen when he launches into a venom-spewed diatribe on the Godwin family.
 * Conspiracy Theorist
 * Funny Schizophrenia: He seems to flit instantly between being calm and polite, to a foaming lunatic if the Godwins enter his head...
 * Crazy Awesome
 * Hot Blooded: In war battles, and whenever on a Godwin hating rant.
 * Impoverished Patrician: He is a member of the once proud Aethelbald family, which collapsed over one hundred years ago due to the machinations of the Godwin family.
 * Long Speech Tea Time: In order for him to join, the player must politely listen to his (long) rant about the Godwins, without out pressing ANY button to speed up the dialogue.
 * Meaningful Name: Aethelbald is the anglo-saxon name of two English kings and an archbishop.
 * Quintessential British Gentleman: His personality when he's calm.
 * Rant Inducing Slight: We can't mention this enough: All it takes is the word "Godwin" to trigger an epic rant.
 * Talkative Loon: He apparently says FILTHY DEVILS! over 100 times just walking around one corner of the sewer.

Josephine

 * Blue Blood
 * The Cast Showoff: Her personal Red Rose Rune attack sees the screen darken and a spotlight land on her whilst she pirouettes into battle for a combo attack. The trade-off is that the other party members are unimpressed with her show-boating and enter a "grumpy" status.
 * The Fashionista: So she thinks - in fact, she will only join the Prince if he is accompanied by others she considers fellow "fashion divas", namely Sialeeds or Sharmista.
 * The Fighting Narcissist: She's the first lady narcissist available for the active party.
 * Flower Motifs: Specifically roses.
 * Gorgeous Period Dress: Her outfit and hair-style (or perhaps wig?) reference the opulently decadent Georgian era, including:
 * Collared By Fashion: She wears a velvet choker incorporating a small rose motif.
 * Fluffy Fashion Feathers: She wears a fascinator with two huge, white feathers projecting from it.
 * Pimped Out Dress
 * Parasol of Prettiness: (but see below)
 * Princess Curls: Her hair (or perhaps powdered wig) is piled up in huge coiffure of ringlets.
 * Its All About Me: Whereas her fellow narcissist Esmeralda was obsessed with her own beauty, Josephine is wrapped up in her own sense of style.
 * Leitmotif: The narcissist's theme "Scarleticia Castle" plays whenever the Prince interacts with her.
 * Parasol of Pain: She wields a spike-tipped parasol named Melusine like a fencing foil in combat.
 * Pink Means Feminine
 * Royal Brat: She is particularly caustic if the Prince attempts to recruit her without Sialeeds present, and is appalled at his apparent lack of fashion sense. She does mellow a little once recruited.
 * The Runaway:
 * Shout Out: She's possibly named after Napolean Bonaparte's wife, the first Empress of France.
 * She also seems to have aspects of Marie Antoinette.
 * White Haired Pretty Girl

Bastan

 * The Eeyore: He's not the happiest guy around.
 * Fetch Quest: Like all other appraisers in the series, he must be brought a certain mystery item in order for him join.
 * Memento MacGuffin: The item in question is a painting by the legendary artist, Ivanov, of Suikoden 1 fame.
 * Grail in The Garbage: The painting in question is often found out in the wilderness after it's dropped by random monsters.
 * Hustler: He views himself as something of a con-man, especially amongst the wealthy, gullible citizens of Haud, as he has no real interest in appraising. Given the quality of 'art' by the 'artists' of Haud, it's not hard to see why.
 * I Have a Family: He keeps up the facade to support his family.

Cornelio

 * Ambiguously Human: He bears a rather creepy resemblance to the Do Re Mi elves he covets...
 * Battle Theme Music: Having him in your party changes the battle music to a more orchestral piece.
 * Cartoon Conductor
 * Monster Roommate: He had assembled a bizarre orchestra of (normally dangerous) Do Re Mi elves in his Haud Village home, which were defeated and dispersed by the Prince when he entered his house.
 * Fetch Quest: Furious at this, he demands that the Prince return his elves one by one, thereby Putting the Band Back Together.
 * Music and Sound Effects: His speciality - talking to him lets the player hear the various tunes used throughout the game.
 * Battle Theme Music: Having him in the active party remix's the battle music to a more classical variation.
 * Not Good With People: Type 2!
 * Summon Magic: He wields the unique Do Re Mi Rune, which allows him to summon Do Re Mi elves to attack or put enemies to sleep.
 * Sour Supporter: He has a habit of refering to nearly all other members of the Prince's army as "mediocrities". He's not a bad person, however, just really, really, really proud of his musical talent to the point of narcissism.
 * Those Two Guys: Has this dynamic with Josephine.

Talgeyl

 * Mayor of a Ghost Town: Following the incineration of Lordlake by Queen Arshtat.
 * Nice Hat: He sports a large straw hat, which seem to be common attire amongst the people of Lordlake.
 * Older and Wiser: Once recruited, he provides the Prince with sage council.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Spot of Tea: He enjoys taking tea with Raja.
 * Stolen Good Returned Better: When the Prince returns water to Lordlake, he gratefully joins his cause.

Goesch

 * Big Guy
 * Carry a Big Stick: More like tree-branch.
 * Farm Boy
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Green Thumb: His speciality. He sets up a little farm at the HQ, complete with a vegetable patch and fruit orchard.
 * Grumpy Bear: He gets a lot nicer when he finds out the royal family wasn't entirely responsible for Lordlake's plight.
 * In Harmony With Nature
 * Nice Hat: Like many residents of Lordlake, he sports a large straw hat.
 * Patriotic Fervor: Towards Lordlake - he is (understandably) initially hostile to the Prince's cause.
 * Stolen Good Returned Better: When the Prince returns water to Lordlake, he mellows out and joins his cause.

Toma

 * Big Brother Mentor: To all of the Lordlake kids.
 * Bratty Half Pint: You may get an urge to hit him when you initially met him.
 * Cute Shotaro Boy: He's certainly got a lot of pluck, even venturing into the dangerous Withered Forest to find water.
 * Mouthy Kid
 * Nice Hat: Like many residents of Lordlake, he sports a large straw hat.
 * Patriotic Fervor: Towards Lordlake - he is (understandably) initially hostile to the Prince's cause.
 * Tagalong Kid: After the Prince promises to return water to Lordlake, he insists on helping out.
 * Stolen Good Returned Better: Once this is achieved, he joins the Prince's cause.
 * Tsundere
 * Unwanted Rescue: He's thoroughly unhappy when the Prince saves him from a pack of marauding Ulse....
 * The Reason You Suck Speech:....voicing his disgust about the treatment of Lordlake by the Queen.

Silva

 * Amicably Divorced:
 * Dressed to Heal: Complete with lab-coat.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold
 * The Medic: Once recruited, she serves as the Prince's army physician,
 * Shoot the Messenger: Initially, she reserves particular contempt for the Prince, using him as a whipping post to voice her feelings about the treatment of Lordlake by the Queen.
 * The Snark Knight: She ostensibly lacks any form of bedside manner.
 * Stolen Good Returned Better: When the Prince returns water to Lordlake, she mellows and joins his cause.

Wasil

 * Character Filibuster: When he first encounters the Prince, who is incognito at the time, he blurts out his identity (several times) and has to be hushed by Kyle.
 * The Good Chancellor: He's the leader of the Central islet, which traditionally supports the Royal Family.
 * Mediator: His thankless job is to mediate between the factions on Lelcar and their disagreeing leaders, Orok and Volga.
 * Nice Guy
 * Rescue Arc: He calls for the Prince's aid after Godwin, via Orok of the western islet, starts to forcibly recruit young Lelcar men to support their cause.

Volga

 * A Father to His Men: He helped raise Lelcar orphans in days gone by, including Kyle.
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * For Great Justice: He has a genuine sense of responsibility and devotion to his morals.
 * The Good Chancellor: He's the leader of the Eastern islet, which predominantly supports either the Prince or the Barows faction.
 * Hot Blooded
 * Rescue Arc: He supports the Prince and Wasil in their attempts to halt Orok's recruitment drive, mentioned above.

Orok

 * Head in The Sand Management: Initially. He is the leader of the Western Islet, which solidly follows the Godwins.
 * Dirty Business
 * Heel Face Turn
 * Necessarily Evil
 * I Did What I Had to Do: He knows that his position would make him seem an enemy to the others of Lelcar, but he knows there is no other choice. If Zahhak was allowed to do things directly, things would be a lot worse.
 * Rescue Arc: The Prince finds Orok and the conscripted boys. After the Prince defeats his hired bodyguard, Nikea, Orok relents and allows the Prince to take the boys.
 * What Happened to The Mouse: He disappears mysteriously just before the successful completion of Lelcar's rebuilding, and was not seen again.....
 * You Said You Would Let Them Go: Zahak, angry at Orok's betrayal, sets fire to Lelcar despite promising to leave the town alone.
 * Heel Face Turn: Having witnessed the above, Orok respectfully joins the Prince.

Mohsen

 * Elemental Crafting: He's an armorer and once recruited, opens a store at castle HQ.
 * Fat Guy
 * Heel Face Turn: He genuinely supported the Godwin ideals and not just because they spent a fortune at his store. Their monstrous actions in Lelcar soon change his mind.
 * No Hero Discount
 * Shout Out: It could be unintentional, but he's a dead-ringer for Dr Phil....
 * We Buy Anything
 * We Sell Everything: He sells armor that is available from any other armor store already visited.

Dinn

 * Badass
 * Back to Back Badasses: His unite attack with Belcoot.
 * Clear Their Name: He helps the Prince clear his name when Roy, who is the Prince's Criminal Doppelganger, gives the Prince a bad name through his misdeeds in the region.
 * Devoted to You: He cares for Solis's daughter Salisha above all else.
 * Hachimaki
 * Heroes Prefer Swords: He wields a katana named Shamz al-Zuha, a name taken from 1001 Arabian Nights.
 * Nerves of Steel
 * The Stoic: Very much so, he's consistantly stern and steely.
 * The Middle East: Sable has a definite, Moroccan/Arabian feel to it.

Solis Raulbel

 * Beleaguered Bureaucrat
 * Blue Blood: He is Lord of Sable.
 * Comes Great Responsibility: He is among one of the few of the nobility in Falena that has not “rotted to the core,” according to Sialeeds.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Time to Step Up Commander

Roy

 * All Love Is Unrequited: Quickly develops a crush on Lyon, while completely failing to notice that Faylen has a crush on him.
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: When challenging the Prince, he proclaims that he'll take his place if he wins.  Even if he loses, this still becomes his job, such as in the New Queen's Campaign where he's given command of the Army.
 * Bishonen
 * Criminal Doppelganger: When first encountered, he's masquerading as the Prince because Euram hired him to smear his name. He agreed to do it because he hated the Prince.
 * Duel Boss
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Eyes of Gold: He has these when you first meet him probably for the PLAYER to tell the difference between him and the Prince. Any other time that he is in costume, or out of it, his eyes are a bluish-gray same as the Prince.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: In one path (see Killed Off for Real), he knowingly walks into a rigged duel in the Prince's place, wins the duel, then gets shot full of arrows.
 * It Amused Me: Claims this as his motivation for . Lyon calls him on it.
 * Killed Off for Real: If.
 * Large Ham: Twice when acting as the prince's doppelganger after joining your army. The first is when he acts as a decoy, which Raja actually approves of since it helps him stand out and draw attention away from the real prince. The second is during a campaign battle, where he throws in some hilarious Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness and Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe into the mix. The best part?  bought it hook, line, and sinker.
 * Peek a Bangs
 * The Rival: Considers the prince this, especially about Lyon.
 * The Rival: Considers the prince this, especially about Lyon.

Faylen

 * Clingy Jealous Girl
 * Curtains Match the Window: Dark reddish-purple hair and eyes.
 * Fastball Special
 * : While the player can recruit her and Faylon at the same time as Roy, they can also be left behind and recruited later... unless you wait too long, in which case
 * Street Urchin
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend:
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend:

Faylon

 * Curtains Match the Window: Same as his sister.
 * Fastball Special: His unite attack with Faylen consists of him throwing his sister onto the enemy.
 * Grievous Harm With a Body: As seen in his unite attack with his sister, which sees him hurl Faylen at the enemies.
 * Huge Guy Tiny Girl: Non-romantic, brother-sister version.
 * Nice Hat / Head Pet: There's a bird on his head.
 * Power Fist: He wields a huge metal glove in combat named Clobberific.
 * Stout Strength
 * Street Urchin
 * Stout Strength
 * Street Urchin

Skald Egan

 * Badass
 * Ambadassador: He is the official representative of the Island Nations, an area thoroughly realized in Suikoden 4.
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * The Captain: He is is the Captain of the flagship of the Obel Maritime Fleet.
 * Continuity Nod: The Island Nations story arc references Suikoden 4 a good deal - his ship is the "Lino En Kuldes", named after the King of Obel appearing in that game.
 * Disappeared Dad:
 * Flaw Exploitation: He takes advantage of his daughter Bernadette's steely adherence to procedure, cajoling her into going along with his schemes by presenting a much wilder option so she will compromise and go for a subtler approach, but still go ahead with it - he wins either way.
 * Gondor Calls for Aid: Usually, he remains Heroic Neutral on internationl matters, but after the Prince helps to stop a group of pirates from burning down the Nirva Lighthouse in his territory, he joins the Prince's cause.
 * I Shall Taunt You: He is constantly bantering with his daughter Bernadette, and arguably goes a little far sometimes but he is well meaning, and his teasing is likely done as a secret test of her character.
 * Military Maverick: He is often at odds with the Obel Maritime Council, and does things without their approval...much to Bernadette's disapproval.
 * Strong Family Resemblance:
 * Those Two Guys: He and daughter Bernadette exhibit this - he's constantly bantering with her, whereas she is steely and serious.

Bernadette Egan

 * Action Girl
 * Closer to Earth: Compared to her rambunctious father.
 * Consummate Professional
 * Hello Nurse: Kyle and Wasil are quite taken with her after she joins.
 * The Lancer: She serves as her father Skald's adjutant.
 * Magic Knight: She is equally skilled in both magic and combat.
 * Knife Nut: She wields throwing knives in combat.
 * Secret Other Family:
 * The Stoic
 * Strong Family Resemblance:
 * Those Two Guys: She and her father Skald - he's constantly bantering with her, whereas she is steely and serious.

Yahr

 * Anime Hair: He sports a crown of spikes, with a shoulder-length mullet......in silver.
 * Bruiser With a Soft Center: He loves Chisato's puppet shows.
 * Continuity Nod: His whole story arc is a reference to the dangers of rune cannons, which is fully explored in Suikoden Tactics.
 * Dual Wielding: He wields twin swords in combat.
 * Fetch Quest
 * Dismantled MacGuffin: He was sent on a special mission to find and gather the few remaining Rune Cannon shells for the Island Nations.
 * Destroy the Evidence: He comes to realise the danger that rune cannons present, and views them as a bad influence. He even went so far as to not report and even destroy rune cannons he finds.

Nelis

 * Continuity Nod: Her whole story arc is a reference to the dangers of rune cannons, which is fully explored in Suikoden Tactics
 * Famous Ancestor: She is descended from Pablo of Suikoden 4 fame, the mage responsable for aiding the creation of rune cannons over 150 years prior.
 * The Atoner: She joins Yahr's missions to make up for the misdeeds of her ancestor.
 * Fetch Quest
 * Dismantled MacGuffin: She accompanies Yahr on his special mission, detailed above.
 * Destroy the Evidence: She helps Yahr to this end.
 * The Hard Hat: She wears a peculiar (and not especially flattering) bullet-shaped helmet incorporating a cape.
 * Number Two: She is Yahr's adjutant.

Chisato

 * Actual Pacifist
 * Friend to All Children
 * Girl Next Door
 * Puppet Shows
 * Hand Puppet: Her speciality - she loves to entertain children.
 * Continuity Nod: Her puppet shows reference the Island Nation's historical events played out in Suikoden 4, with one starring the pirate Brandeau and Princess Flare of Obel.
 * The Red Baron: She's known as "the woman of 1000 voices", which is itself a Shout Out to Mel Blanc, the legendary cartoon voice actor with a seemingly endless repertoire.
 * Shrinking Violet: Despite her performing talents, she's painfully shy.
 * Voice Changeling: She is integral to the Island Nation Rescue Arc, when pirates hold a child hostage in exchange for the release of their captain. Bernadette disguises her as the captain using a hood, and with her amazing talent for mimicry, she fools the pirates and the boy is rescued.

Shula Valya

 * Aloof Big Brother:
 * Ambiguously Gay
 * Beauty Mark: Just below his left eye.
 * Bishounen
 * Bodyguard Babes: Sharmista and Nifsara are his personal protectors.
 * Dude Looks Like a Lady: Especially if you're Cius, who refers to him as an "androgynous freak".
 * Enigmatic Minion: Starts off as one.
 * Officer and A Gentleman: He is extremely polite, even in his capacity as Armes Marine corp commander, and refuses to deploy his troops against the Prince.
 * Sim Sim Salabim: His look (and that of most Armes characters) seems to owe its origns to the Indian subcontinent. Also, his family clan is called "Madras", which is a city in the south of India.
 * Technical Pacifist: Despite his comrades from Armes joining the Godwins in the fight against the Prince, it is revealed that he actually wanted the Prince's Army to triumph in order to foster peaceful relations with Armes.

Sharmista

 * Blue Oni: To Nifsara's red.
 * Bodyguard Babe: She is Shula's secretary and protector.
 * The Fashionista: She impresses even Josephine with her sense of style.
 * Hello Nurse: Her beauty garners a lot of attention throughout the Prince's Army, especially from Kyle who expressed an interest in her.
 * Purity Personified
 * Rings of Death: She wields a Chakram in exactly the same manner as Sialeeds.
 * Sim Sim Salabim
 * Meaningful Name: In reference to the above, her weapon upgrades as: Agneya, Asani, Sudarsana. The names refer to Hindu deities of war.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Combat-wise; to Sialeeds.
 * Wide Eyed Idealist

Nifsara

 * Beauty Mark: Below her left eye.
 * Blade On a Stick: She wields a long spear.
 * Bodyguard Babe: She is Shula's other protector.
 * Femme Fatale: Her vibe.
 * Lovable Sex Maniac: She is well known to chase after pretty young boys, which is the reason she joined the incredibly Bishounen Shula's brigade in the first place, and is in hog-heaven at the castle HQ....
 * Really Gets Around: Lelei brands her a "harlot" in minutes of meeting her...
 * Red Oni: To Sharmista's blue.
 * Shotacon: She likes her boys young and cute, even lamenting to the Prince that he will eventually grow older and more masculine.
 * Sim Sim Salabim
 * Meaningful Name: In reference to the above, her weapon upgrades as: Shataghanta, Shakti, Pinaka. Each of these refers to aspects of Hindu mythology.
 * Sisterhood Of Funny Hats: Once recruited, she forms a (slightly ridiculous) secret society with Lin Fa called the Secret Alliance for the Protection of Pretty Hunks In Real Endangerment (SAPPHIRE) whose motto is Observe! Protect! Observe Some More!!
 * The Tease
 * What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: Depending on the culture, a rose tattoo symbolises anything from love and beauty, to connotations of being a prostitute - it's fair to say, she probably falls somewhere in the middle....

Maha Sparna

 * The Baroness
 * Dirty Coward: Following defeat by the Prince's army after her miss-judged alliance with the Godwins, she destroyed the Sable-Armes border gate in order to ensure that she would not be pursued. Her cowardly actions trapped the Southern Mountain Corp and made their retreat impossible -
 * Humiliation Conga
 * Evil Matriarch: Of the Armes Darja Clan.
 * Evil Plan: She rides into battle when Godwin makes a deal with Armes. If Armes will help subjugate the Prince's forces, then Armes will gain all former Barows territory after the war ends.
 * Villain Ball:
 * Ice Queen
 * Sim Sim Salabim: Her look (and that of most Armes characters) seems to owe its origns to the Indian subcontinent.

Jidan Guisu

 * An Axe to Grind: He wields a huge axe.
 * Dastardly Whiplash: ....his look, although fat bastardly-whiplash is probably more apt.
 * Fat Bastard: He's bloody enormous....
 * Number Two: To Maha Sparna.
 * Sim Sim Salabim: His look (and that of most Armes characters) seems to owe its origns to the Indian subcontinent.
 * Villain Ball: As Maha's goon, his nefarious plans are consistantly thwarted by the Prince's forces.
 * The Berserker:.

Nakula

 * Badass
 * Big Guy
 * Blade On a Stick: He wields the God Spear.
 * Different As Night and Day: Nakula has an estranged twin brother. They had a falling out over Nakula's bloody quest for vengeance.
 * Good Scars Evil Scars: He has a X shaped scar on his forehead.
 * Gotta Catch Em All: There's only a relatively short time window to recruit him and his out-of-the-way placement doesn't help.
 * Heel Face Turn: He is persuaded to join the Prince as he too is out to destroy Nether Gate (see below).
 * Heroic Build
 * Heroic Sociopath: While on the Prince's side, he's still a bloodthirsty asshole. Justified by both his backstory and the fact that its pretty clear his vengeance is all he has left.
 * The Promise: A dark take.
 * Revenge
 * You Killed My Father: After his father was murdered by, he swore vengeance and vowed to bring down the entire organization.
 * Revenge Before Reason
 * Stalker Without a Crush: He follows Sagiri around, and is often found waiting outside whatever room she is in. This becomes particularly poignant at moments such as before massive battles, where most of the characters are spending time with their friends and loved ones. Nakula has nothing left but his hatred, and Sagiri is a living symbol of that hate.
 * Undeathly Pallor: His skin is an odd, sickly colour, which lends him a slightly unsettling look.
 * Villainous Valour: While fighting for Armes he holds off the entire Falenan army, seemingly to buy his lord a chance to escape. Lord Solis rewards Nakula's bravery by sparing his life and having him treated for his wounds.
 * Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Of a sort. He was wounded in the initial battle with Armes, however his reason for fighting so recklessly was not out of loyalty to Jidan Guisu, but in order to become injured/captured so he'd have to stay in Falena and could therefore pursue his father's killer.

Isato

 * The Archer
 * Bald of Awesome
 * Big Damn Heroes: After the, he bravely helps the Prince's party escape by bringing them through an elven path that crossed the North Lunas Woods.
 * Black Sheep: How he is viewed by fellow elf, Urda, who thinks he should return to Alseid away from the "barbarous humans".
 * The Champion: To Lady Haswar - he is incredibly protective of her well-being.
 * Hidden Elf Village: He hails from the secret village of Alseid, accessible only to elves.
 * Forest Ranger: When he catches Logg and Lun panning for gold in the sacred Lunas river, he advocates strict punishment to be taken against the Raftfleet father and daughter so as to set an example to others.
 * In Harmony With Nature
 * Nature Hero: He originally became a cleric in order to preserve the North Woods of Lunas from gold mining which would have had dire consequences for the eco-system as well as the elven village of Alseid, from which he hails.
 * Number Two: He is Lady Haswar's second in command.
 * The Paladin: He is the head cleric of the Lunas enclave.
 * Pointy Ears
 * Platonic Life Partners: In a conversation with Mathias and Dinn, he notes that his loyalty to Haswar had nothing to do with gender or romance.
 * Undying Loyalty: To Lady Haswar - he will only join the Prince's cause when she does.

Urda

 * Absolute Xenophobe: Her defining characteristic.
 * The Archer
 * Fantastic Racism
 * Humans Are Bastards: Oh boy, she really, really hates humans and is conspicuous amongst the Suikoden series' elf population in her absolute xenophobia.
 * Good Is Not Nice: And how.
 * Hair of Gold: She sports long, flowing locks.
 * Ice Queen: ...Without a hint of defrosting.
 * Our Elves Are Better: Very much her way of thinking.
 * Pointy Ears: Of course.
 * Sour Supporter: To an unbelievable degree. She only joins the Prince's Loyalist Army along with Isato and Haswar in order to ensure the formers safety amongst what she considered to be barbarians.

Gunde

 * Beneath the Earth: His home at the Dwarf Camp.
 * Big Guy Little Guy: His friendship with Logg.
 * Drop the Hammer: He wields a large mining pick in battle.
 * Great Escape: He's integral in helping to recruit Lucretia during the Agate Prison Rescue Arc, making good use of his digging skills.
 * Little People
 * Our Dwarves Are All the Same: The Suikoden series' take on the dwarfish race is pretty much as expected, (although slightly more whimsical than other examples), being stout, gruff, good at digging, with a fondness for gemstones etc.
 * Made of Iron: His hit points are predictably high.

Dongo

 * The Apprentice
 * Beneath the Earth: His home at the Dwarf Camp.
 * Butt Monkey: His boss, Wabon, treats him very badly and actually fires him for pursuing his interest in up-grading weapons.
 * Adopt the Dog: Realising his use, the Prince takes him on as the castle HQ blacksmith shortly after.
 * The Blacksmith: His speciality, he runs the smithy at castle HQ once recruited.
 * Little People
 * Our Dwarves Are All the Same: See Gunde's entry, above.
 * Sorting Algorithm of Weapon Effectiveness: He can level up character's weapon abilities.
 * Fetch Quest: His sharpening abilities increase if the hero brings him various power hammers - Iron, Silver, Gold and platinum.

Wabon

 * Bad Boss: He treats Dongo very harshly, even firing him for his interest in forging weapons.
 * Beneath the Earth: His home at the Dwarf Camp.
 * The Blacksmith: His speciality, he has the Forge skill that allows you to sharpen weapons anywhere, making him the first smith available for combat since Suikoden 1.
 * The Engineer: His other specialty is mining carts. His carts can take the player as far west as Sauronix Castle, or to the castle HQ.
 * Grumpy Old Man
 * Little People
 * Our Dwarves Are All the Same: See Gunde's entry, above.
 * Old Master: He is one of the Dwarf elders.
 * Sorting Algorithm of Weapon Effectiveness: He can level up character's weapon abilities from within the active party.
 * Wrench Whack: He wields a huge wrench in combat.

Zunda

 * Apron Matron: Her look, albeit a miniaturized version.
 * Beneath the Earth: Her home at the Dwarf Camp.
 * Cool Big Sis: How she is viewed by her fellow dwarves.
 * Fantastic Racism: Initially she had little respect for humans, typically referring to everyone as just 'human'.
 * Gotta Catch Em All
 * Guide Dang It: In an iteration of the Suikoden series that features some major Trial and Error Gameplay recruitment across the board, hers is perhaps the most specific, requiring a preternatural level of far-sightedness. She must be accompanied to a specific  before she'll join and given the amount of buildings with windows in the game, this seems incredibly abstruse.
 * Little People
 * Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Averted in her case - she's a relatively rare example of a female member of a group often depicted as a One Gender Race.
 * Video Game Interface Elements: Her speciality - she can change the colour (and design) of the in-game menu windows.

Bergen

 * The Apprentice: Under Levi.
 * Cheerful Child
 * Dogged Nice Guy: Poor Bergen - his "training" consists of him digging out magic orbs in exchange for seeing some of Levi's magic.
 * Informed Attractiveness: A young dwarf, he is considered attractive amongst his kind, or so he claims.
 * Little People
 * Our Dwarves Are All the Same: He represents an example of a dwarven child.
 * Treasure Hunter: His speciality - he has the Treasure Hunt skill that increases the war trophies after battle.

Byakuren

 * Bond Creatures: Once recruited.
 * Friendly Rivalry: Being a female creature, she considers Miroon and Flail as her rivals in love.
 * Meaningful Name: Her name translates to "white lotus" from Japanese.
 * Monster Allies
 * Sea Monster
 * Stock Ness Monster: She's a giant, white serpent and has lived in the depths of Ceras Lake for over 100 years.
 * Snakes Are Sexy
 * Throwing Down the Gauntlet: She was understandably furious about her Ceras Lake home being drained, and attacks the Prince on the HQ jetty.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Once defeated, it is revealed she does not want to leave her home and so joins the Prince's cause.

Genoh

 * Absent Minded Professor: His advanced age means he has trouble recalling anything in particular.
 * Bond Creatures: Once recruited.
 * Dude Where's My Respect: He insists on his potential companions having respect for the elderly and this shows up in his recruitment process, where the Prince must be accompanied by an "old" character (Levi, Alhazred etc) who is leveled up to at least 95% of the Prince's current level.
 * Continuity Nod: If the player brings ambiguously old character like Jeane or Zerase instead, he will sense an old person but will feel mistaken because they look young!
 * Mighty Glacier: Has very high base HP, Def, and Mdef, and his skills enhance them.
 * Mistaken For A God: He is deeply respected by all beavers, who refer to him as "Boss".
 * Monster Allies: He's a giant tortoise.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: As seen when he requests a decade or so in order to converse with older members of the Prince's army.
 * Shrouded in Myth: He is regarded as something of a myth, with only Fuwalafuwalu's father claiming to have met him in living memory.
 * Squashed Flat: His "Oops!" unite attack with Viki sees her teleport him (accidently) upside down a few feet above the enemy - he crashes down, crushing them shell-first.
 * Translator Buddy: He acts as this for Byakuren, impressing on her the heroic nature of the Prince's cause, which helps to convince her to join.
 * Turtle Power: He has more HP, strength, luck, and magic defense than most characters.

Fuwalafuwalu

 * Anatomy Arsenal: The beavers use their buck-teeth to gnaw through the hulls of enemy ships in battle.
 * Blinding Bangs
 * Civilized Animal
 * Funny Animal
 * Intelligent Gerbil
 * Fantastic Racism: Initially, he prefers a policy of non-interaction with humans.
 * I Owe You My Life: When the Prince rallies to save the beavers, after the Godwins issue an edict to irradicate them, he joins his cause in gratitude.
 * Made a Slave: Following the Lordlake up-rising, he and his fellow beavers were enslaved by the Godwins and forced to build Hatred Fortress.
 * Older and Wiser: He is the leader of the beavers, ruling from Beaver Lodge.
 * The Unpronounceable: At first glance....Fuwa..WTF??

Maroon

 * Anatomy Arsenal: As above.
 * Civilized Animal
 * Funny Animal
 * Intelligent Gerbil
 * Drop the Hammer: He wields a large croquet mallet in battle.
 * Fantastic Racism: Initially, like most beavers, he is wary of humans.
 * Goggles Do Nothing: He wears a strange visor-like device.
 * I Owe You My Life: When the Prince rallies to save the beavers, after the Godwins issue an edict to irradicate them, he joins his cause in gratitude.
 * Number Two: He is Fuwalafuwalu's assistant.

Meroon

 * Anatomy Arsenal: As above.
 * Cheerful Child
 * Civilized Animal
 * Funny Animal
 * Intelligent Gerbil
 * Drop the Hammer: She wields a mallet and ball, a.k.a kendama, in battle.
 * Fantastic Racism: Averted in her case, unlike most beavers, she is entirely unafraid of humans.
 * Genki Girl
 * Meganekko
 * Verbal Tic: She finishes all sentences with a musical "nuoh" sound, which according to her "doesn't really mean anything".....

Miroon

 * Anatomy Arsenal: As above.
 * Blinding Bangs
 * Civilized Animal
 * Funny Animal
 * Intelligent Gerbil
 * Furo Scene: Her speciality - she has a passion for making baths, and once recruited, he builds a large onsen at castle HQ where party characters can be seen enjoying a nice soak. The onsen also serves as an area to display any antique treasures discovered.
 * Bathtub Bonding: Certain combinations of characters and antiques placed within the baths will activate a variety of mini scenes.
 * Improbable Weapon User: She wields her bath-house brush in combat.....!
 * Informed Attractiveness: She's considered a peerless beauty by other beavers.

Moroon

 * Anatomy Arsenal: As above.
 * Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: In Suikoden's medieval setting, he's incongruously dressed in a 1950's style biker jacket, sunglasses and carries an electric guitar.
 * Battle Theme Music: Including him in the active party changes the battle theme to a guitar-driven, speed-metal remix.
 * Big Sister Worship: For whatever reason, the only person he will actually not act out to is his seemingly mild-mannered older sister Meroon. She's the only person that can convince him to join the Prince as well.
 * Civilized Animal
 * Funny Animal
 * Intelligent Gerbil
 * Cool Shades
 * Fantastic Racism
 * Humans Are Bastards: Like Urda, he absolutely despises humans and is not shy to show it, blaming them all for.....well, anything.
 * Ineffectual Loner: He's encountered in isolation at the deserted Braska Mine, where there are few, if any, humans around.
 * Improbable Weapon User: His guitar (!)
 * Jerkass

Muroon

 * Anatomy Arsenal: As above.
 * The Atoner: He was the one who designed Hatred Fortress, and feels terrible guilt towards the people of Lordlake. He joins the Prince to help him destroy it and clear his conscience.
 * Civilized Animal
 * Funny Animal
 * Intelligent Gerbil
 * Drop the Hammer: He wields a large croquet mallet in battle.
 * The Engineer
 * Fantastic Racism: Averted in his case too - unlike most beavers, he does not believe in isolationism.
 * The Smart Guy: Of the beavers.
 * Smart People Wear Glasses

Lin Fa

 * Betting Minigame: Her speciality. The Prince can play her at the card game "Blind Man's Bluff" for potch.
 * Bi the Way: Is not above seducing women, especially to worm her way out of a debt.
 * Chinese Girl
 * Defeat Means Friendship: The player must best her at cards in order for her to join.
 * Dragon Lady: In training.
 * Femme Fatale
 * The Gambler
 * The Barnum: She tricks people into playing cards, with money often involved, and cheats, thereby getting herself some money to pay off her debt.
 * I Have Boobs You Must Obey: She's hot and knows it, often employing her seductress skills to get out of trouble when the cards don't go her way.
 * Lovable Rogue
 * Ms. Fanservice: She's all sulky smiles, and has a sexy, sultry attitude.
 * Qipao: She wears a sexy, clingy Chinese dress in purple that incorporates a dragon motif.
 * Sisterhood Of Funny Hats: Once recruited, she forms a (slightly ridiculous) secret society with Nifsara, called the Secret Alliance for the Protection of Pretty Hunks In Real Endangerment (SAPPHIRE)

Taylor

 * Cheshire Cat Grin
 * Going for The Big Scoop: His methods of obtaining information are known to be wild and considered invasive.
 * Intrepid Reporter
 * Misunderstood Loner With a Heart of Gold: He looks vaguely sinister, even giving off a bit of a Nether Gate vibe in his appearance, but he's definitely one of the good guys.
 * Odd Friendship: He's good pals with Oboro, but the disparate nature of their work (Oboro keeping secrets, him revealing them) can lead to awkwardness.
 * Voice of the Resistance: He publishes the HQ newspaper, the Dawn Times.
 * Will Not Tell a Lie: He always aims to publish the truth, and only was able to restrain himself for the sake of the army (and the Prince's safety).

Norma

 * Ballet: Her look, complete with a tutu-esque skirt and ballet shoes.
 * Devoted to You: She is passionate about finding a wizard to help Ernst with his curse (see below).
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Kawaiiko
 * Mini Dress of Power
 * Simple Staff: She wields the Lovely Baton in combat.
 * Street Performer: She travels with her leopard companion, Ernst, showing off how intelligent an animal he is by having him solve arithmetic problems.
 * Hustler: However, this is merely a ruse - Ernst is actually an intelligent lycanthrope.
 * Waif Fu

Ernst

 * Animorphism
 * Involuntary Transformation: He was cursed by the Beast Rune and transformed in a lycanthrope.
 * Bishounen: In his human form.
 * Chick Magnet: Lin Fa and Nifsara showed an interest in him, wondering if he was cute enough in normal form to be a target for their group, SAPPHIRE.
 * Eyes of Gold
 * Find the Cure: He and Norma are desperate to track down a wizard powerful enough to cure him. Levi offers his assistance as he is keen to take the rune for himself,
 * Loyal Animal Companion: To Norma, in his leopard form.
 * Our Werewolves Are Different: He's a were-leopard.
 * Morphic Resonance: In his human form, he retains leopard spots across his shoulders and torso.
 * Non Human Sidekick
 * Panthera Awesome
 * Street Performer: In his leopard form he earns potch by showing off how intelligent an animal he is by appearing to solve arithmetic problems.
 * Hustler: However, this is merely a ruse - as of course, he is actually an intelligent lycanthrope.

Takamu

 * Curious As a Monkey: He dreams of mapping Falena's entire underground water vein.
 * Fantasy World Map: His speciality - once recruited, it is possible to view the entire world map.
 * Miscarriage of Justice: He was imprisoned at Agate by the Godwins on the grounds that maps that maps are war secrets.
 * Scarily Competent Tracker
 * Super Senses: He has an uncanny sense of direction, even managing to negotiate hidden elf pathways through Lunas, which is supposed to be pretty much impossible for humans.

Norden

 * The Alcoholic
 * Despair Event Horizon: He's a broken man, explained below....
 * Drowning My Sorrows: He spends most of his time in Rainwall's tavern getting plastered.
 * Just Following Orders
 * Mr. Exposition: His main purpose is to reveal the details of the Lordlake uprising -
 * Odd Friendship: He forms an unlikely bond with Bastan once recruited, over their shared bad experiences with the Barows.

Hazuki

 * Always Someone Better: Belcoot, much to her annoyance....
 * Hot Chick With a Sword
 * Ice Queen: She's frosty and serious, and show's a special contempt for Nikea who she feels beneath her and Gavaya, who was so persistent in his marriage proposals that she actually drew her sword to him.
 * Katanas Are Just Better: She wields a katana named Ishima.
 * The Rival
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: She has an intense (fairly one-sided) rivalry with Belcoot, as he is the only swordsman to ever best her in combat.
 * Samurai: Her look, albeit a female variation.
 * To Be a Master: Improving her fighting skills is her life's goal.
 * Triang Relations: Marina is highly suspicious of her seemingly professional interest in Belcoot, thinking it may well be more than that.....she may well have a point.

Raven

 * Cunning Like a Fox
 * Evil Albino: He has white hair/eyebrows, and eyes of a pink-ish colour.
 * Impossible Thief: He's an expert thief.
 * Invisibility Cloak: He is aided mostly by his Raven Rune, which makes him completely invisible in low-light conditions.
 * Memento MacGuffin: His signature thefts are the family trees of the Falenan nobles, including Solis Raulbel of Sable.
 * Meaningful Name: His weapons upgrade as Rook, Carrion Crow, Nevermore.
 * Shout Out: "Nevermore" is undoubtedly a reference to Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem (Quoth the raven, "Nevermore").
 * Ninja: His look.
 * Only Known By Their Nickname
 * The Rival: As expected, Great Detective Oboro is hot on his heels, refering to him (derisively) as "Crow".
 * Villain Ball: He's is finally caught after Egbert's ancient and valuable Aethelbald family tree is used as bait and he becomes trapped in the HQ store-room.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: He then joins the Loyalist forces, suitably impressed the Prince managed to catch him.
 * Wolverine Claws: He wields a clawed glove in combat.

Alhazred

 * Anime Hair: He sports zig-zagging, lightning bolt shaped beard, eyebrow and head hair.
 * Encyclopedia Exposita: His speciality - he manages Suikoden 5's version of this, The Old Books volume 1-13.
 * Fetch Quest
 * Tome of Eldritch Lore: He requests the Prince's help in questing for the Book of Condemnation, an incredibly dangerous book he wants to keep secure - it even attacks he and the Prince when it is finally found.
 * Gotta Catch Em All
 * Guide Dang It: His recruitment process is a veritable Sidequest in itself, and again, like with many other Suikoden 5 characters, it requires a great deal of foresight (and luck) to complete the long chain of triggered events without a guidebook.
 * The Illegible: His writing script is so ornate that it is impossible to decipher.
 * Shout Out: His name (and storyline) is one big shoutout to Abdul Alhazred, a fictional character in H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. In the books, Alhazred was the author of the Necronomicon, an evil book whose possessors fell victim to an unpleasant end, including Alhazred himself.
 * Secretly Wealthy: He comes across as a book peddler, but he's actually incredibly rich.
 * Smart Guy
 * Stout Strength: He's not bad in combat, despite his rotund build.
 * Throw the Book At Them: He wields a large book in combat, again all named for Lovecraft references.

Haleth

 * Betting Minigame: His speciality - he runs a betting stall for Yoran's Dragon Horse racing game.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: A former administrator at Hershville, he is known for looking the other way regarding smuggling, as long as he can take a cut.
 * The Gambler
 * The Nondescript: Arguably. In a series that (on the whole) has excellent character design, he's pretty bland and unmemorable, which actually makes sense given that he has to be as bland as possible to be able to do his smuggling business well.
 * Wild Card: He actually made several bets with other administrators, placing his money on a victory for the Prince's forces, and so joins to keep an eye on proceedings.

Leknaat the Seer

 * Aerith and Bob: She and her sister have entirely disparate names, despite being sisters - Leknaat and Windy......
 * Amulet of Concentrated Awesome: She is the keeper of the Gate Rune, a True Rune that has the power to open portals to other worlds and dimensions. It was split in two following an attack on her village of the Gate Rune Clan by Harmonia. She kept the back half, her sister Windy kept the front half.
 * Blind Seer: Her role is to provide astrological projections.
 * Cool Teacher: To her young apprentice, Luc.
 * Eyes Always Shut
 * Hermit Guru: She lives in splendid isolation on the Magician's Isle, away from the prying eyes of her sister.
 * Inexplicably Identical Individuals: Like Jeane and Viki, she is a constant presence is the Suikoden world and turns up in every single game.
 * Mysterious Past: She is aquainted with Zerase, acknowledging her when she first appears before the Prince.
 * Power Floats
 * Rapunzel Hair
 * Shiny Midnight Black
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: The power of the Gate Rune has granted her unnatural long-life.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Zerase acknowledges that she has been "given her an order" when Leknaat asks her to aid the Prince, implying that she is possibly the leader of their mysterious group, which includes: Jeane, Zerase, Eresh and Simeon in the series thus far.
 * Spirit Advisor
 * The Watcher: She acts as an inspirational guide to all the heroes.
 * Tall Dark and Bishoujo
 * Woman in White