Suikoden II/Characters

Cast of Characters

Riou (The Hero)

 * The Hero
 * Magnetic Hero: By necessity, with 107 potential recruits on offer.
 * Artefact of Doom: The Bright Shield Rune.
 * Badass
 * Back-to-Back Badasses: Does this with Jowy  in his Unite attack. In the case of he and Hoi, this is amusingly subverted in their unite attack.
 * Badass Family: Brother in one.
 * Four-Star Badass: Becomes one.
 * Bash Brothers: His unite attack with Jowy.
 * Big Good
 * Blood Brothers: With childhood best friend, Jowy.
 * Chick Magnet: Richmond will lampshade this trope if you investigate Eilie.
 * Child Soldier: When the game begins, he is a soldier of the Highland Army's Unicorn Youth Brigade.
 * The Chosen One
 * Combat Medic: With the Bright Shield Rune
 * Conveniently an Orphan: He and Nanami had been left orphaned by previous wars and were adopted by a local hero named Genkaku.
 * Dramatic Wind: Later on when you win against Boss Battles and Duel Battles with Riou, instead of spinning his Tonfa, he'll just feel the wind on his face. Even inside a castle!
 * Dual Tonfas
 * Hello, Insert Name Here: You can call the hero any name you wish.
 * Heroic Mime: As is typical of RPG heroes.
 * Holy Hand Grenade: The Bright Shield Rune's level 2 and level 4 spells. The latter, called Forgiver Sign, which is unlockable by getting all 108 recruits, deals the most damage to a single target when your whole party has full HP.
 * Light'Em Up: Thanks to the Bright Shield Rune. Also, Riou has a strong affinity with the Resurrection Rune, which he can use effectively against undead foes.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Very fast, very strong. He has one of the highest dodge, Counter Attack, and Critical Hit rates in the game.
 * Ryu and Ken / Brains and Brawn: He and Jowy roughly have the same stats, but Riou has slightly better physical stats than Jowy, making him The Brawn.
 * Shout-Out: His costume design is very similar to the archetypal portrayal of Monkey from Journey to the West.
 * Ten-Minute Retirement: At one point, Nanami tries to convince him to run away from his responsibilities. Accepting leads to a Ten-Minute Retirement, after which the other characters catch up and try to convince him to be their leader again. Refusing here turns the temporary retirement into a permanent one, however.
 * Two Guys and a Girl: A classic example - Jowy, Nanami and himself.
 * William Telling: He participates in a traveling circus' show by having various pieces of fruit placed on his head while knife-thrower Eilie impales them with expert precision. You can throw off her aim and get hit with a knife yourself by choosing to wimp out and move to either side before she throws.
 * Two Guys and a Girl: A classic example - Jowy, Nanami and himself.
 * William Telling: He participates in a traveling circus' show by having various pieces of fruit placed on his head while knife-thrower Eilie impales them with expert precision. You can throw off her aim and get hit with a knife yourself by choosing to wimp out and move to either side before she throws.
 * William Telling: He participates in a traveling circus' show by having various pieces of fruit placed on his head while knife-thrower Eilie impales them with expert precision. You can throw off her aim and get hit with a knife yourself by choosing to wimp out and move to either side before she throws.
 * William Telling: He participates in a traveling circus' show by having various pieces of fruit placed on his head while knife-thrower Eilie impales them with expert precision. You can throw off her aim and get hit with a knife yourself by choosing to wimp out and move to either side before she throws.

Nanami

 * Action Girl
 * Back-to-Back Badasses: Her Unite attack with Riou... unless she decides to have tea.
 * Badass Adorable
 * Badass Family: Sister in one.
 * Big Sister Instinct
 * Big Sister Mentor: To the hero.
 * Canon Shadow: It is possible to recruit her far earlier than usual, but don't expect her to speak up until you reach the point you actually need her, where she suddenly turns into a chatterbox. It is quite jarring considering she's one of the most important characters in the game.
 * The Champion: To the hero.
 * Combination Attack: Her unite attack with the hero - a montage of powerful hits.
 * Crowning Moment of Funny: Sometimes, she lets the hero handle it himself and is seen casually reading a book, singing to herself and having a picnic. Not bad since it heals 10% of her HP and gives you the chance to do the Combination Attack again.
 * Conveniently an Orphan: She and the hero had been left orphaned by previous wars and were adopted by a hero named Genkaku.
 * Cool Big Sis: Despite not being related, she acts like this to the hero.
 * Crutch Character: She is this to some players, who don't appreciate her being forced into the party as part of the plot, and with her Fragile Speedster qualities they would rather opt for much more powerful characters.
 * Cute Bruiser
 * Fragile Speedster: She's the fastest character you can get early game, even faster than The Hero. She can't take as much punishment as him, however. But with the right equipment, she could become a Lightning Bruiser.
 * Genki Girl
 * Hot-Blooded: Don't mess with the hero or Jowy when she's around.
 * Lethal Chef: Her cooking is so bad that the only reason Riou can eat it is because he's developed an immunity to it.
 * Moe
 * Not Blood Siblings: The hero and herself.
 * Parental Substitute: To Pilika.
 * Player Punch:
 * Plucky Girl: She's arguably one of the bravest of all the Suikoden characters.
 * The Pollyanna: She almost always remains positive for the hero's sake, despite the hardships they must face.
 * Tomboy
 * One of the Boys: To Jowy and the hero.
 * Shorttank: To most of the other characters - Viktor especially, who calls her a "pug-nosed tomboy".
 * Ten-Minute Retirement: She can convinces the Hero to flee with her during the Tinto incident, if you choose the right answers during a dialogue with her. Eventually, others characters will catch up and try to convince them to come back.
 * Two Guys and a Girl: A classic example - Jowy, the hero and herself.
 * Why Does It Have To Be Ghosts?: She is petrified of them.
 * Two Guys and a Girl: A classic example - Jowy, the hero and herself.
 * Why Does It Have To Be Ghosts?: She is petrified of them.
 * Why Does It Have To Be Ghosts?: She is petrified of them.

Jowy Atreides

 * Artefact of Doom: The Black Sword Rune -
 * Back-to-Back Badasses: His Unite attack with Riou.
 * Four-Star Badass: Becomes one
 * Bash Brothers: His unite attack with the hero.
 * Bishounen
 * Blood Brothers: The hero is his childhood best friend.
 * Child Soldier: When the game begins, he is a soldier of the Highland Army's Unicorn Youth Brigade.
 * The Chosen One
 * The Lancer: To the hero.
 * Lightning Bruiser: While he doesn't hit as hard as The Hero physically, he makes up for it by being a better mage than him.
 * Lonely Rich Kid
 * Magic Knight: Proficient in both physical combat and magic.
 * Parental Abandonment: His step-father throws him out of the Atreides house and his mother will not intervene.
 * Power of the Void - Jowy's Black Sword Rune spells.
 * Ryu and Ken / Brains and Brawn: He and Riou have roughly the same stats, but Jowy has slightly better magical stats and much better elemental affinities than Riou, making him The Brains.
 * Simple Staff
 * Storm of Blades: The Black Sword Rune's level 4 spell, Hungry Friend.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": 'JoEy'?
 * Two Guys and a Girl: A classic example - The hero, Nanami and himself.
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: Ostracized because of his family's wealth and abused by his stepfather and stepbrother, he has few friends aside from the hero and Nanami.
 * Parental Abandonment: His step-father throws him out of the Atreides house and his mother will not intervene.
 * Power of the Void - Jowy's Black Sword Rune spells.
 * Ryu and Ken / Brains and Brawn: He and Riou have roughly the same stats, but Jowy has slightly better magical stats and much better elemental affinities than Riou, making him The Brains.
 * Simple Staff
 * Storm of Blades: The Black Sword Rune's level 4 spell, Hungry Friend.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": 'JoEy'?
 * Two Guys and a Girl: A classic example - The hero, Nanami and himself.
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: Ostracized because of his family's wealth and abused by his stepfather and stepbrother, he has few friends aside from the hero and Nanami.
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: Ostracized because of his family's wealth and abused by his stepfather and stepbrother, he has few friends aside from the hero and Nanami.

Pilika

 * Break the Cutie: Following the tragic events at Toto, Then, after being rescued,
 * Dumb Struck: In reaction to the above events, she is no longer able to speak.
 * Cheerful Child: When first encountered.....
 * Dark and Troubled Past
 * Parental Substitute: The Hero, Nanami and Jowy, then later on in the game,
 * Third Person Person: Justified as she is very young.
 * The Woobie

Luca Blight
"Luca Blight: It took hundreds to kill me, but I killed humans by the thousands!!!! Look at me!!!! I am sublime!!! I am the true face of evil!!!"
 * Ax Crazy (And how...)
 * Badass
 * Badass Normal: Even moreso when you consider that while magic is commonplace, Luca has only a sword, heavy armor and a mere Fire Rune which he uses in conjunction with his attacks. And he's still one of the most terrifying beings in the entire series.
 * Actually, there's no rune symbol when he uses this attack, implying it's not magical. How he does it is anyone's guess, but it's been suggested before that Luca is just lighting his sword on fire, using oil or some other flammable substance.
 * His Fire Attack IS magical, as its damage is affected by the Magic Defense stat.
 * Determinator: His unwillingness to die after absurd amounts of pain is insane.
 * Pain, nothing! His unwillingness to die after absurd amounts of mortal injury is insane.
 * Battle Theme Music: He gets one of the famous Suikoden II one-shot (well, technically three-shot) battle themes for himself, entitled "The Chase":
 * Bishounen
 * The Caligula: When the most murderous, psychopathic member of an army is the royal prince in charge of it, you know you're in trouble.
 * Card-Carrying Villain: It's hard to imagine a guy more gleefully embracing of his title as a Complete Monster than Luca.
 * Complete Monster: Arguably, the very worst Suikoden has to offer, and he even admits to being one in universe.
 * Notable for the fact that this series pretty much has an aversion of this trope, preferring Gray and Gray Morality.
 * Difficulty Spike: To actually have a chance of taking him on requires an unforeseeable amount of levelling up and equipping of 18 individual characters, and even when that's done, he still provides a steep jump in terms of difficulty.
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: His sister Jillia is the only person he will hold an equal discourse with. Although it is actually revealed in the Gaiden game that the only reason Luca tolerates Jillia is because of her strong resemblance to their late mother.
 * Evil Is Cool
 * Evil Laugh
 * Evil Prince: Strong contender for the best example of this trope.
 * Warrior Prince: He is referred to as the "Mad Prince".
 * Kill It with Fire
 * Lack of Empathy
 * Large Ham: He steals almost every scene he's in.
 * Made of Iron: He takes an absolute beating from three groups of 6 members of the Liberation Army and is shot by a volley of arrows
 * Omnicidal Maniac: He hates everyone and everything and wants them all to die; one of his ongoing plans at the time of his death is to release the Beast Rune.
 * Parental Issues: He has harbored a deep hatred for his father Agares, after he had to witness his own mother, Sara, being raped whilst his cowardly father simply ran away.
 * Pitiful Worms: He shows utter contempt for his subjects.
 * Put the Laughter In Slaughter
 * Rasputinian Death: See That One Boss for details.
 * Self-Made Orphan: He successfully conspires with  to assassinate Agares.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Where he is mad, cruel and evil, his sister Jillia is refined, calm and compassionate.
 * Slasher Smile: Judge for yourself.
 * The Sociopath: To a disturbing degree.
 * Tall, Dark and Snarky
 * That One Boss: In gameplay as well as in-universe. Gameplay wise, you have to buff up the Main Character's party and hopefully equipped yourself with some fire-reducing equipment. In-universe, it takes how many hundreds of arrows, three groups of six of the strongest members per group, even more arrows and finally a duel between the hero himself.


 * You Have Failed Me...: Luca beheads one of his generals (whose previous record was sterling) because the general had the audacity to lose a battle; it was lost not for strategic or tactical reasons, but because of a wickedly effective public relations move.

Jillia Blight

 * Child by Rape: She was born following her mother Sara's rape ordeal.
 * Everything's Better with Princesses
 * Gorgeous Period Dress
 * Mad Prince's Beautiful Sister: She is the only person Luca will tolerate on equal grounds, but even she could not stop him.
 * Proper Lady
 * Shiny Midnight Black: Her long, flowing hair.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Where Luca is mad, cruel and evil, she is refined, calm and compassionate.
 * Shiny Midnight Black: Her long, flowing hair.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Where Luca is mad, cruel and evil, she is refined, calm and compassionate.

Flik

 * Anime Hair: He sports a very impressive quiff.
 * Back from the Dead: He was thought to have died during that last battle in the first Suikoden, but he actually survived and at the start of the game, he is co-commanding a mercenary unit with Viktor.
 * Badass
 * Back-to-Back Badasses: His Unite attack with Viktor, and his rather amusing one with Nina.
 * Heartbroken Badass:
 * Took a Level in Badass: Storywise, he comes off as a respected mercenary leader as opposed to the Jerkass he first came off as in the early parts of the first game. Gameplay wise, he's even better as a member of the team than the first game, where he was already a good character.
 * Bishounen
 * Blood Brothers: With Viktor.
 * Chick Magnet: Especially where Nina is concerned....
 * Chaste Hero
 * Celibate Hero:
 * Cool Sword: He named it after Odessa.
 * Mr. Fanservice: The series' poster boy.
 * For Great Justice
 * Heroic Spirit
 * I Call It Odessa:
 * La Résistance
 * The Lancer: To the Hero.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Both literally and figuratively.
 * Magic Knight: He is equally skilled in combat and magic.
 * Recurring Character
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue oni to Viktor's red.
 * Shock and Awe: He specializes in lightning magic.
 * Zen Survivor
 * Zen Survivor

Viktor

 * A Father to His Men
 * Back from the Dead: He was thought to have died during that last battle in the first Suikoden, but he actually survived and at the start of the game, he is co-commanding a mercenary unit with Flik.
 * Badass
 * Heartbroken Badass:
 * Rated "M" for Manly
 * Took a Level in Badass: He's amongst the best fighters in the game.
 * Big Guy
 * Blood Brothers: With Flik.
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Carpet of Virility
 * Cannot Spit It Out:
 * Cool Sword: He can wield the Star Dragon Sword, the only sword that can slay a vampire.
 * Dead Little Sister: His adopted sister Daisy was killed by the vampire, Neclord.
 * Empathic Weapon: Arguably, the Star Dragon Sword.
 * Heroic Spirit
 * I Gave My Word: He promises Mayor Anabelle that that he would lead the mercenary group for Muse.
 * It's Personal: Towards Neclord, unsurprisingly.
 * La Résistance
 * Lightning Bruiser: Though he's more of a Mighty Glacier compared to Flik.
 * Recurring Character
 * Red Baron: He's often known simply as "Bear".
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the Red to Flik's Blue.
 * Supporting Leader
 * Yes-Man: He basically has to be one to the Star Dragon Sword to keep it halfway civil and willing to work with him.
 * Zen Survivor

Gen-Gen

 * Funny Animal
 * Heroic Dog
 * Our Monsters Are Different: He's a Kobold, but Suikoden Kobolds are more like cute dogs than the more usual lizardine versions.
 * Petting Zoo People
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy

Rikimaru

 * Badass
 * Rated "M" for Manly: He even takes part in a unite attack called the "Manly Attack" with Amada.
 * BFS: He wields a huge, curved blade.
 * Big Eater: His motivation for joining Viktor's mercenaries is to keep himself fed.
 * Big Guy
 * Big Ol' Eyebrows
 * Heroic Build
 * Hotblooded Sideburns
 * Revenge: Someone who was dear to him was killed and he is looking for the killer.
 * Ronin: He's a wandering sword for hire.

Millie

 * Cloudcuckoolander: She's highly eccentric.
 * Genki Girl: Suikoden 2's poster-girl for this trope.
 * Kawaiiko
 * Magical Girl Warrior: She's secretly a very powerful sorceress with an affinity for the Blue Gate Rune.
 * Mini-Dress of Power
 * Moe
 * Mysterious Past: No one knows where she came from or why she was wandering around in Ryube Village.
 * Precision-Guided Boomerang: Her weapon.
 * Nice Hat: She wears a large marshmallowy-looking sailor hat.
 * Nightmare Fuel: In universe example. Richmond actually saw her walk inside Bonaparte's mouth, where she proceeded to take a nap!
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Her companion, Bonaparte - a cute, 8-eyed ground-hog.
 * The Beast Master: She can command Bonaparte to attack for her - he sucks-in enemies Kirby-style and chomps them up.

Kinnison

 * A Boy And His Dog: He grew up in the forest with Shiro, his wolf-dog.
 * The Archer
 * Bishounen
 * Country Mouse: Having grown up in relative isolation in the forest, it takes him a little time to adjust to castle life.
 * Forest Ranger: He is recruited after he sees that the hero has put a fallen bird's nest back in a tree.
 * In Harmony with Nature: He only hunts what he needs to survive on.
 * Nature Hero: He joins the hero's cause to protect his forest homeland.
 * Nice Guy
 * Purity Personified: A relatively rare male example.
 * Scarf of Asskicking

Shiro

 * Big Badass Wolf
 * Canine Companion: To Kinnison
 * Heroic Dog
 * Non-Human Sidekick: He grew up with Kinnison from when he was a pup.

Zamza

 * Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: He is highly narcissistic and thinks himself to be incredibly powerful and beautiful.
 * Black Sheep: He was banned from his magic academy due to his arrogant rule-breaking.
 * It's All About Me: Whe Shu makes him head magic instructor, he thinks this a logical and obvious choice given his own greatness.
 * Jerkass: He's pretty unbearable and could well be Suikoden's poster-boy for this trope.
 * Kung Fu Wizard
 * The Munchausen
 * Playing with Fire: One of the best Fire mages in the game.
 * The Scrappy: He's not well liked for his arrogant personality.
 * Smug Snake
 * The Middle East: His look.
 * Useless Useful Spell: His Fire Dragon shoryuken style move is powerful, but damages him too. Subverted if you equip him with the Fire Sealing Rune, which reduces all Fire damage to zero.

Apple

 * Ain't Too Proud to Beg: She realises that she alone cannot act as the army strategist and so begs a fellow student of Mathiu's, Shu, to join the hero's cause.
 * Pose of Supplication
 * Ascended Extra: Hoo boy. Back in I, Apple was just another recruit that contributes to nearly nothing. Here, she is a plot character in epic proportion (even if she's rather ineffectual).
 * Brainy Brunette
 * Character Development: In I, she was a sixteen year old brat who fangirled over Mathiu and blamed Tir for his returning to war. In II, she's much more mature.
 * Meganekko
 * Nerds Are Sexy
 * Recurring Character
 * Smart People Wear Glasses
 * The Strategist: She's Shu's vice-strategist and assistant.
 * Teen Genius

Hanna

 * Barbarian Hero: Her Look.
 * Big Eater: She likes to eat a lot of meat.
 * The Drifter: She wandered to Dunan all the way from the Nameless Lands.
 * Gentle Giant: Despite her intimidating look, she is quite maternal and likes children.
 * Heroic Build: She's incredibly muscular and strong.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: Richmond mentions that she and Oulan would probably get along pretty well.
 * Stone Wall

Tsai

 * Absurdly Sharp Blade: He once pierced an opponent's iron helmet in combat.
 * Badass
 * Badass Pacifist: Crossed with Retired Badass, until the hero came along.
 * Blade on a Stick
 * Disappeared Dad: He is this to his daughter, Tomo.
 * Eyes Always Shut
 * Mr. Fixit: He's an expert at repairing weapons, so the hero makes contact with him to repair the famous Fire Spears.
 * Odango
 * Old Soldier: His is proficient in wielding spears, but is retired from combat when the hero first encounters him.
 * Red Baron: He's known as "Tsai of the Divine Spear". It should also be noted he's not a fan of being called this.

Tuta

 * Ambiguous Gender: He is not obviously a "he".
 * Cheerful Child
 * Chinese People
 * Cute Shotaro Boy
 * Making a Splash
 * The Medic: He is Dr Huan's assistant.
 * Combat Medic: He throws stones in combat (!).
 * Joke Character: Has pretty sub-standard stats and the lowest HP in the game, but...
 * Magikarp Power: If you managed to grind him to level 99, he's about as useful as a regular level 60 mage if you equip him with a Water Rune.
 * Odango
 * Wise Beyond Their Years: He's a skilled in the field of medicine....at age eleven.

Anita

 * Badass
 * Back-to-Back Badasses: In hers and Valeria's Unite Attack.
 * Lady of War: Her look - her personality on the other hand....
 * Bifauxnen: She sports a masculine, cropped haircut.
 * Bottle Fairy: Spends a LOT of time not fighting knocking back a drink.
 * Brilliant but Lazy: Valeria, should you take her with you to recruit her, actually chides Anita for pissing away her talent by spending time getting pissed literally.
 * Friendly Enemy: Despite being rivals, she and Valeria are frequently seen at the HQ bar having a drink together.
 * Hot Chick with a Sword
 * Lady Drunk: She's said to have a penchant for drinking heavily.
 * The Ladette
 * Really Gets Around: She has a reputation for sleeping around.
 * The Rival: Of fellow fencer, Valeria. This appears to be rather one-sided as Valeria has bested her 10 out of the 11 times they have dueled.
 * The Tease: Known for this, even hits on The Hero if you speak to her pre-recruitment.
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: To Valeria.

Templeton

 * Curious as a Monkey: He dreams of visiting and mapping the whole world.
 * Danshigakusei: His look.
 * Fantasy World Map: His speciality - once recruited, it is possible to view the entire world map.
 * Free Range Child: He's an extreme example - his parents are conspicuously absent.
 * Innocent Prodigy: He is a genius surveyor and map-maker and set out mapping the world from the age of just eleven, but can still get a little crabby if he needs to update his maps following wars.
 * Recurring Character

Gilbert

 * Gotta Catch Em All: There is only a very small window of opportunity to recruit him - you must damage his unit during the third major battle map. He must also survive this battle.
 * Heel Face Turn: Viktor and Flik convince him to defect from Highland early in the game.
 * I Have a Family
 * Master Swordsman
 * Old Soldier: He leads a group of hardened mercenaries.

Bolgan

 * Big Eater: He likes nearly all the food served if he appears as a judge in the Cook Off.
 * Big Guy
 * Breath Weapon: A trick he learned in the circus - he has a fire-breathing attack.
 * Circus Brat: He was sold to the circus at a young age.
 * Dumb Muscle: Though he is interested in upgrading to Genius Bruiser.
 * Gentle Giant
 * Good Old Fisticuffs / Power Fist
 * Hulk Speak: "Bolgan happy!"
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Stout Strength
 * Walking the Earth
 * Work Off the Debt: He had to pay his debt to the circus before he was able to leave.

Eilie

 * Action Girl
 * Bob Haircut
 * Circus Brat: She grew up in the circus with her older sister, Rina.
 * The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: She's got a big inferiority complex towards her big sister.
 * Hot-Blooded: She's pretty feisty.
 * Knife-Throwing Act: Her speciality in circus performances and weapon of choice in combat.
 * Plucky Girl
 * Roma
 * Smitten Teenage Girl: She has a huge crush on the hero, but is unable to express her feelings.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Herself and sister Rina.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang
 * Walking the Earth

Rina

 * Action Girl
 * Big Sister Instinct: Despite Eilie feeling in her shadow, Rina does look out for her a lot.
 * Bottle Fairy: She is said to be able to drink even Viktor under the table.
 * Circus Brat: She grew up in the circus with her younger sister, Eilie.
 * Crystal Ball
 * Femme Fatale
 * I Have Boobs - You Must Obey!: She's unmatched in the art of seduction and helps to "convince" a checkpoint guard to allow the party to proceed onto Tenzan Pass.
 * Fetish Fuel Station Attendant
 * Fortune Teller: Her speciality in circus performances.
 * Hello, Nurse!
 * Parental Substitute: To Eilie, after their parents were killed by bandits, and also to Bolgan.
 * Roma: Her look.
 * Tarot Motifs: She hurls tarot cards in combat.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Eilie and herself.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang
 * Walking the Earth

Freed Yamamoto

 * Battle Butler: He is the Mayor Granmeyer's loyal aide.
 * Crutch Character: Unfortunately. His stats are pretty sub-standard and this wouldn't be a problem except that he is forced into the active party for some pretty tough parts of the game early on.
 * Happily Married: To Yoshino.
 * It's Personal: Joins the hero after his master, Granmeyer, is executed by Highland.
 * Nerds Are Sexy
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: Looks like a Japanese takeoff of Clark Kent
 * Tastes Like Diabetes: His relationship with Yoshino, according to Richmond.
 * Smart People Wear Glasses
 * The Stoic
 * Not So Stoic: Is rather distraught
 * Stoic Spectacles: He's quite straight-laced and proper.

Shu
"Leon: "Never put your own life in danger; that's the first rule in the book." Shu: "I had to throw the book away; you read from it too many times.""
 * Armor-Piercing Slap: If you choose the path where you run with Nanami during the Tinto events,
 * Awesomeness By Analysis
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Badass Long Hair
 * Black Sheep: Like Apple, he also trained under Mathiu and was his most promising student until he was cast out when his greed got the better of him.
 * Broken Ace
 * Character Development: He goes from blunt cynic to courageous mentor as the game progresses.
 * Cynical Mentor: He starts out as this, but becomes more of a traditional Obi Wan as he comes to realise that it is sometimes necessary to put himself on the line in order to truly win.
 * Deadpan Snarker: The famous line between he and Leon:


 * Defrosting Ice Lord: Mostly due to Apple and Nanami's influence.
 * Guile Hero
 * Impossible Task: He (rather cruelly) tells Apple that if she can find a coin that he hurls into a river, he'll join the hero's cause.
 * Intrepid Merchant: Having been cast out by Mathiu, his uncanny grasp of the movements in the world quickly lead him to became rich through trading.
 * Jerkass: When first encountered.
 * The Strategist: He orchestrates all of the Allied Army battle plans.
 * The Stoic
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome
 * What the Hell, Hero?: See Armor-Piercing Slap.
 * We Have Reserves: His initial, rather blunt attitude to combat.

Barbara

 * Apron Matron: To the Allied forces.
 * Bag of Sharing: Her speciality - she looks after the HQ warehouse, where all items and equipment can be dropped off, stored and retrieved when necessary.
 * Big Eater: Like Bolgan, she likes most of the dishes served when she judges the Cook Off.
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Boobs of Steel
 * Brawn Hilda: Her look - she's pretty well-built from dragging boxes around all day in the warehouse.

Huan

 * Chinese People: Very much so. Even lampshaded in the cooking duel commentary.
 * Healing Hands
 * The Medic: He is the Allied Forces chief doctor.
 * Smart People Wear Glasses
 * High-Class Glass: He wears pince nez.
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome

Leona

 * And Now for Someone Completely Different: She is used to swap party members in and out of the hero's team.
 * Christmas Cake
 * Cool Big Sis: To the younger members of the Allied Forces.
 * Dragon Lady: Only in appearance. She's got the look, but not the evil personality.
 * Fan Service with a Smile: She runs the bar at the Allied HQ.
 * Lady in Red: She wears a sexy, clinging cheongsam.
 * Smoking Is Cool: She uses an elegant cigarette holder.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
 * Team Mom: She shares this role with Barbara and often watches over Pilika.

Luc

 * Badass Abnormal: Bearer of the True Wind Rune.
 * Future Badass: As seen in Suikoden III.....
 * Blow You Away: His speciality - he wields the most powerful wind rune, the Cyclone Rune.
 * Bratty Half-Pint: He's pretty rude to the party when you first encounter him, just as in Suikoden 1.
 * Jerkass
 * Mysterious Past: Snippets of his backstory gradually appear, especially when he encounters Sasarai, a Harmonian High Priest from his past....
 * Recurring Character

Amada

 * Badass
 * Rated "M" for Manly: He even takes part in a unite attack called the "Manly Attack" with Rikimaru.
 * Big Guy
 * Big Ol' Eyebrows
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Duels with the hero twice in the course of the game.
 * Heroic Build
 * Heroes Gone Fishing: His hobby - he even wields a huge boat oar as his weapon.
 * Memetic Sex God: You cannot ignore his girth.
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Threshold Guardian: He challenges the hero to a duel to allow him to cross the sluice-gate he manages at Radat.

Tai Ho

 * Blood Brothers: With Yam Koo.
 * The Captain: He once again helps out with his sailing skills, when the hero needs to charter a boat to Two River.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: This time round, the hero has to win 5000 potch from him before he'll join.
 * Fishing Minigame: His speciality
 * The Gambler
 * Henpecked Husband: He's married to Kimberly from the first game, and as Richmond notes, he left Toran to get away from her. She also has a crush on Yam Koo despite this fact, which may explain why both of them skipped town at the same time.
 * Heroes Gone Fishing
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Yam Koo.
 * Jumped At the Call: He's still as enthusiastic as ever and is quick to lend a hand.
 * Nice Guy
 * Prongs of Poseidon: He wields a trident.
 * Recurring Character
 * {Possible} Woolseyism: in one of Richmond's investigations, it's mentioned he worked for Kun Tze from Suikoden I, who was called in that game Kun To.

Yam Koo

 * Blinding Bangs
 * Blood Brothers: With Tai Ho.
 * Fishing Minigame: His speciality
 * Heroes Gone Fishing
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Tai Ho.
 * Only Sane Man: To contrast Tai Ho's exuberance - he's very much the voice of reason in their friendship.
 * Prongs of Poseidon: He wields a trident. He's not playable here, though.
 * Recurring Character
 * Surfer Dude: His look and chilled out personality.

Oulan

 * Amazonian Beauty: She's as strong as she looks too.
 * Badass
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Her speciality is unarmed combat.
 * Berserk Button: Literally - her Angry Dragon Rune puts her in a constant berserk state for the duration of the battle.
 * Big Beautiful Woman - More in the tall than wide sense.
 * Bodyguard Babe: She is a veteran bodyguard and powerful martial artist. Gameplay wise, this ability means that even if the unit she's in is destroyed during a battle, there won't be any fatalities.
 * Boobs of Steel
 * Even the Girls Want Her: She has a huge fan-club within the Allied Forces - and they're all female.
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Gainaxing: Her battle portrait.
 * Heroic Build
 * Heroic Spirit
 * For Great Justice: She has a passion for defending the weak and is in constant search for people who are worth defending.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: Richmond lampshades this about her and Hanna.
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Hot Amazon: Suikoden 2's poster-girl for this trope.
 * Knight Errant
 * She's Got Legs
 * Statuesque Stunner
 * Stone Wall: She has one of the highest defensive stats in the game.

Richmond

 * Information Desk: His speciality - 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.
 * Hardboiled Detective
 * Film Noir: His look - the classic 1940's/50's, trench-coat wearing, coin-flipping, chain-smoking private eye.
 * Kindhearted Cat Lover: Has a pet cat called Bianca who he keeps in his jacket pocket.
 * Leitmotif: A bluesy, filmic theme tune starts to play whenever the hero speaks to him.
 * Loveable Rogue
 * Smoking Is Cool
 * The Barnum: When first encountered, but he joins the Allied Forces after the hero beats him in a coin flipping bet (where Richmond used a weighted coin). He apologizes for tricking the hero and agrees to join, impressed that the hero saw through his trick.

Yoshino Yamamoto

 * Action Wife: She's more formidable in battle than her husband, Freed.
 * Alliterative Name
 * Back-to-Back Badasses: Her unite attack with Freed.
 * Lady of War: She elegantly wields a naginata, a weapon traditionally used by women in feudal Japan.
 * Happily Married: To Freed.
 * Hime Cut
 * Housewife: When not fighting, she can usually be seen doing laundry.
 * Making a Splash: She excels at water rune magic.
 * Magic Knight: She's skilled in both combat and magic equally.
 * Meganekko
 * Ojou: Type 1 - she's from a wealthy political family in Radat.
 * Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Granmeyer had a hand in introducing them to each other, and, as Richmond further notes, the marriage wrote itself.
 * Third Person Person: Speaks like this quite a bit, though one instance is clearly a translation error in which she should be saying her husband's first name as opposed to her own.
 * What Does She See in Him?: Richmond lampshades this if you investigate her.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: She provides a perfect example and exhibits of all the desired virtues - she's demure, attractive, kind, polite, good at housework......and a badass with her naginata.

Alex

 * Adventurer Archaeologist: He is obsessed with finding the lost treasure of the Sindar Race. When first encountered, the hero teams up with him to help his quest.
 * Happily Married: To Hilda.
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Ridiculously Average Guy: Only in appearance, see below.
 * Limited Wardrobe
 * You All Look Familiar: His design is quite simple and he is dressed just like one of the generic non-player character townsfolk from Suikoden 1, in what appears to be a fond Shout-Out to the previous game.
 * We Buy Anything: He opens an item store at HQ, once recruited.
 * We Sell Everything: His store carries any item that has been found available in any other item store already visited by the hero.
 * We Sell Everything: His store carries any item that has been found available in any other item store already visited by the hero.

Hilda

 * Beauty Mark: Just below her left eye.
 * Happily Married: To Alex, despite his adventurous streak.
 * Hot Mom: And how!
 * Housewife: She's the classic mother and homemaker.
 * I Have a Family: She also has a son named Pete, who she's quite fretful over.
 * Purity Personified.
 * Sacred Hospitality
 * Trauma Inn: She runs the peaceful White Deer Inn near Muse.

Adlai

 * Absent-Minded Professor
 * Anachronism Stew: His contribution to the Liberation army is inventing an elevator.
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * Fetch Quest: Required to recruit him - he sends the hero to fetch various random items, then denies having asked for them!
 * Gadgeteer Genius
 * Insufferable Genius
 * Perpetual Frowner

Clive

 * Badass
 * Badass Cape
 * Career Killer: He's an assassin.
 * The Gunslinger
 * In the Hood
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: His rival, Elza.
 * Murder, Inc.: He was born in the Howling Voice Assassins Guild and trained there from birth.
 * Mysterious Past
 * Recurring Character
 * Rule of Cool: The outfit, the gun, the mysteriousness, the brooding etc.
 * Sidequest: A time based mission,
 * Sniper Rifle: His weapon - incidently, one of the few gun-users in the Suikoden universe.

Taki

 * Cool Old Lady
 * Granny Classic
 * I Have a Family: She has two grown-up sons.
 * Little Old Lady Investigates: Her speciality - she provides hints on progressing the storyline if stuck, as well as the occasional useful proverb!
 * Cryptic Conversation
 * Miniature Senior Citizens: She's tiny.
 * Moe: She's definitely one of the most lovable members of the army.
 * Team Grandma

Hans

 * Elemental Crafting: He's an armorer and once recruited, opens a store at castle HQ.
 * Nice Guy
 * No Hero Discount
 * We Buy Anything
 * We Sell Everything: He sells armor that is available from any other armor store already visited.

Tetsu

 * Big Ol' Eyebrows
 * Furo Scene: His speciality - he 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.
 * Hot-Blooded: Literally - he's very passionate and appreciates people who are as "toasty" (flushed) as he is, mostly because it shows they appreciate the benefits of hot baths.

Chaco

 * The Artful Dodger: He has amazing pick-pocketing skills and robs the hero's party.
 * Blade on a Stick
 * Bratty Half-Pint
 * Fantastic Racism: The three races who live in Two River - Humans, Wingers and Kobolds - do not get along and live in three distinct quarters of the town.
 * Jerkass: Especially when first encountered, but he does mellow later on.
 * Mouthy Kid: ......to an unbelievable degree.
 * Petting Zoo People: He has clawed feet and bat-like wings.
 * Street Urchin
 * Super Speed
 * Winged Humanoid
 * Our Monsters Are Different: He's one of the "Winger" race, basically a kind of harpy.

Fitcher

 * Butt Monkey
 * Beleaguered Bureaucrat
 * Dogged Nice Guy
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: His main trait - he comes across as a fool, but that is only an act to deceive others into underestimating him. Of course, as Richmond points out, not all of it is an act.

Ridley Wizen

 * Badass:
 * Four-Star Badass: So much so that his reputation will make every Kobold in the Jowston City States head for the battlefield without question. Bonus points for being more than happy to join his troops on the front lines.
 * Batman Gambit:
 * Blue Blood: He is Kobold nobility and is the General of the Two River Army as well as the leader of the Kobold section of Two River.
 * Drill Sergeant Nasty: He does NOT suffer idiocy or incompetence amongst his troops, and he was prepared at one point to horsewhip Fitcher for what he perceived to be cowardice/treason.
 * Fantastic Racism: The three races who live in Two River - Humans, Wingers and Kobolds - do not get along and live in three distinct quarters of the town.
 * Heroic Dog
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Can perform one if
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Large and In Charge: Most of the Kobolds are based on fairly small breeds of dog (terriers, for example) - whereas Ridley, as the leader, is taller and has a doberman or alsatian look about him.
 * Our Monsters Are Different: He's a Kobold, but Suikoden Kobolds are more like cute dogs than the more usual lizardine versions.
 * Petting Zoo People
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy

Boris Wizen

 * Blue Blood: Being the son of Ridley.
 * Heroic Dog
 * Petting Zoo People
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute:

Stallion

 * The Archer
 * Attention Whore: He's very boastful about his impressive speed.
 * Blow You Away
 * Defeat Means Friendship: This time round, you must use "let go" or "run" 50 times in combat to be fast enough to beat him in a sprint-race before he'll join.
 * Gag Nose
 * Our Elves Are Better: More like rather atypical for an elf, as Richmond points out in his investigations.
 * Pointy Ears
 * Recurring Character
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here: His Godspeed Rune (mistranslated as the True Holy Rune) ensures 100% escape rate from battles except boss fights.
 * Super Speed: His speciality. Once he's in the party, walking speed doubles - making it far easier to traverse the world map.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Hai Yo

 * Brotherhood of Funny Hats: He was trained by the Black Dragon Clan of chefs, and was one of the 4 masters.
 * Defector From Decadence: However, he escaped from the clan, taking with him the coveted ""Blue Moon Bird Recipe."
 * Chef of Iron: Is the Allied Forces chef and can be selected as a fighter.
 * He's awesome.
 * Frying Pan of Doom: He wields a wok.
 * Fun Personified: He's a very happy-go-lucky guy.
 * Lethal Joke Character: Sure he has sub-standard stats, but his three rune slots add twinking potential to make him a Game Breaker.
 * Mysterious Past: This is unraveled as the Black Dragon Clan begin to pursue him to get their recipe back.
 * Mini Game
 * Cooking Duel: The player must use the various ingredients found during the game to create recipes for Hai Yo as he battles the Black Dragon Clan members in a series of minigame cook-offs, which are judged by other members of the Allied Forces. Antonio and Lester from Suikoden 1 also make guest appearances.
 * Perpetual Smiler
 * Team Chef

Shilo

 * Betting Minigame: He hosts a chinchirorin game, which you can play to try and increase your fortunes.
 * Born Lucky: So he says....
 * The Barnum: ...But a certain amount of trickery does go on.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: You must best the score on his mini game to have him join the hero.
 * Delinquents: His look - the typical banchou or juvenile gang member.
 * Jerkass: When you first meet him.
 * The Gambler
 * Tsurime Eyes: As befits his arrogant character.
 * Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: He has the classic shifty, small pupils of an anime villain, combined with:
 * Kubrick Stare
 * Oral Fixation Fixation: He chews a piece of straw.
 * Skunk Stripe: A blond streak running down the middle of his slicked-back hair.
 * Smug Snake: He's very rude to the hero if you encounter him before the HQ is level 2.

Sid

 * Beneath the Earth: He lives a troglodyte existence in the sewers beneath Two River.
 * Black Sheep: He is known for his odd behavior and therefore is disliked among the rest of the Wingers clan.
 * Blade on a Stick
 * The Bully: He picks on Chaco all the time....
 * Horror Hunger:...often threatening to eat him.
 * Giggling Villain: "Heeheeheeheeeeee!"
 * Loners Are Freaks
 * Peek-a-Bangs
 * Peek a Bogey Man: The local children in Two River are terrified of him - he loves to tell them horror stories.
 * Primal Fear: He's creepy to say the least - even cocky Chaco is terrified of him.
 * Token Evil Teammate
 * Slasher Smile
 * Wild Card: He only joins the hero because Chaco does and he wants to keep scaring him.

Gabocha

 * Big Brother Mentor: He idolises Gen-Gen and wants to be just like him.
 * Brats with Slingshots: His weapon of choice.
 * Cute Shotaro Kobold
 * Precious Puppies
 * Fan Boy: Of Captain Gen-Gen.
 * Our Monsters Are Different: He's a Kobold, but Suikoden Kobolds are more like cute dogs than the more usual lizardine versions.
 * Petting Zoo People
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: He's the cutest Kobold!

Gadget

 * Anachronism Stew: In Suikoden's medieval setting, he comes complete with an internal GPS.
 * Clockwork Creature: He was created by Meg's uncle, Juppo.
 * Deadpan Snarker: He has a tough time being patient with scatter-brained Meg.
 * Humongous Mecha: His Super Karakuri Maru mode.
 * Non-Human Sidekick
 * Robot Buddy: To Meg.
 * Stone Wall: Has the highest Physical Defense stat in the game. His only weakness is magical attacks.

Meg

 * Born Lucky: She has the highest luck stat in the game.
 * Cheerful Child
 * Christmas Elves: Her look. Similar to her uncle Juppo.
 * Curious as a Monkey
 * Gadgeteer Genius
 * Genki Girl: Suikoden's poster-girl for this trope.
 * Jumped At the Call: Since the first game, on her uncle's advice, she has been travelling the world on a journey of discovery.
 * Kawaiiko
 * Knife Nut
 * Mad Inventor's Beautiful Niece: Juppo is her uncle.
 * Mini-Dress of Power
 * Moe
 * Robot Buddy: Since the first game, she is now always accompanied by Gadget.
 * Recurring Character
 * To Be a Master: She strives to be a master trickster like her uncle.
 * Tricksters: She can wield the Trick Rune.

Wakaba

 * Action Girl
 * Badass
 * Badass Adorable
 * Bash Brothers: As a duo, she and Long Chan Chan are said to be almost unbeatable in combat.
 * Bokukko
 * Cute Bruiser: She's gifted in martial arts at the age of just 15.
 * Hero Worshipper: To her master, Long Chan Chan.
 * Hot-Blooded: Don't call her a tomboy....
 * Kick Chick
 * Moe
 * Samus Is a Girl: It's not instantly obvious she's female, especially from her portrait pic.
 * Spirited Competitor: She lives for fighting.
 * To Be a Master: She's known to train so hard that she faints from exhaustion.
 * Tomboy
 * Training the Peaceful Villagers: She helps to run the dojo at castle HQ.

Tony

 * Farm Boy
 * In Harmony with Nature
 * Green Thumb: He sets up a little farm at the HQ, complete with cows, chickens and sheep, aswell as a vegetable patch.
 * Man Child: He's a simple, sweet-natured kind of guy.
 * Nice Guy

Hix

 * Bishounen
 * I Call It Tengaar: He (wisely) names his weapon "Tengaar".
 * Non-Action Guy: He'd like to be, but Tengaar will NOT hear of it and he knows it.
 * Recurring Character
 * Reluctant Warrior: Oh so very much.
 * Shrinking Violet
 * Sidequest: To prove himself to Tengaar, he agrees to undertake "The Test of the Unicorn" to cure an illness she mysteriously contracts....
 * Sword and Sorcerer: Predominantly Type 1 with Tengaar in this game.
 * To Be a Master: He's still on a "Trial of Manhood" to prove himself to Tengaar.
 * To Be a Master: He's still on a "Trial of Manhood" to prove himself to Tengaar.

Tengaar

 * Braids, Beads, and Buckskins: Her look.
 * Bratty Teenage Daughter: She has been completely spoiled by her father Chief Zorak, and to others it would seem that she treats her boyfriend, Hix, like a slave.
 * The Chief's Daughter
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Plucky Girl
 * Proud Warrior Race Girl
 * Recurring Character
 * Sword and Sorcerer: Predominantly Type 1 with Hix.
 * Tsundere: To Hix, the poor chap. And she's even worse in this game.....!
 * Virgin Power: As a maiden, she is required to accompany the hero to recruit the unicorn, Sigfried.
 * Zany Scheme

Emilia

 * Awesomeness By Analysis: Her speciality - she leads an investigation unit during battle maps.
 * Brainy Brunette: Suikoden's poster-girl for this trope.
 * Decoy Protagonist: She acts as a body-double for Greenhill mayor, Teresa Wisemail, when Highland invades the town.
 * Encyclopedia Exposita: She manages Suikoden 2's version of this - The Old Books volume 1-12.
 * Hot Teacher: When first encountered at Greenhill's New Leaf Academy.
 * Hot Librarian: Her role, once recruited.
 * Meganekko
 * Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She's unlucky in love and yet to find Mr Right.
 * Christmas Cake
 * Smart People Wear Glasses

Teresa Wisemail

 * Action Girl: In war.
 * The Archer: Again, in war; she's one of the generals of an archery unit.
 * Bodyguard Crush: On her guardian Shin, but these feelings are never communicated.
 * Driven to Suicide: She attempted to take her own life for failing to repel the attack on Greenhill, before agreeing to join the Allied Forces cause.
 * Hair of Gold
 * Heroic Spirit
 * 100% Adoration Rating: She cares for her citizens above all else and is well-loved by the people of Greenhill.
 * The Ojou: Type 1 - she comes from a powerful, political family.
 * The Messiah
 * Purity Personified
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Compared to her father, most definitely.
 * Rescue Arc: The hero's team travel to Greenhill to help reinstate her as mayor from her exile.
 * Self-Deprecation: Felt she was not fit to take over her father's duties. In response, the citizens of Greenhill declared her the "acting mayor" instead.
 * Survivor Guilt: When Muse soldiers threatened to sell her for ransom to Highland, she was rescuded by Shin and hides out in a forest cottage. However, in her solitude (and safety) she blames herself for Greenhill's fall.
 * You Are in Command Now: She had taken over as mayor of Greenhill from her ailing father, Alec, before the Highland Invasion.

Nina

 * Back-to-Back Badasses: Her rather amusing Unite attack with Flik.
 * Little Miss Badass: She's young and petite but stat-wise, she is surprisingly one of the better characters in the entire game - her unite attack with Flik is especially potent.
 * Bob Haircut: She sports a curly, blonde bob with an alice-band.
 * Genki Girl
 * Joshikousei: She's a student at Newleaf Academy in Greenhill.
 * Lovable Alpha Bitch: Newleaf Academy's answer to this trope - she's quite mean to Nanami, very self-assured and does tease the hero's party with her ghost stories, but she's a nice girl at heart.
 * Mouthy Kid
 * Playing with Fire: She's one of the best Fire mages in the game.
 * Plucky Girl: She rallies the student body to help repel Highland's forces, and was acting as a mule to keep supplies running to Teresa whilst she was in exile.
 * Smitten Teenage Girl
 * Stalker with a Crush: She has a huge (unrequited) crush on Flik and follows him around wherever he goes.
 * Unknown Rival: Nanami is puzzled when Nina sizes her up as competition for Flik's affections.

Shin

 * Animal Motifs: His sword is named after a spider.
 * Badass
 * Battle Butler
 * Bodyguard Crush: He is Teresa's guardian and it's pretty obvious he has fallen in love with her.
 * Master Swordsman: He wields the Ray Tarantula Sword and has a unique, 3 hit attack called the Spider Slay.
 * My Master, Right or Wrong
 * Nerves of Steel
 * Painting the Fourth Wall: Shin and Genshu's United Attack, which cuts the screen in half.
 * Properly Paranoid: Richmond tried to investigate him during a nap, and found out Shin is VERY alert and ready for battle at a moment's notice.
 * The Quiet One: He doesn't really say much.
 * The Stoic: Very much so, he's consistantly stern and steely.
 * The Middle East: His look. He hails from the Southlands.

Jeane

 * Absolute Cleavage: Good God!
 * Ancient Greece: Her look in the 2nd game. She wears a flimsy, Greek Goddess style toga.
 * Badass Long Robe: Though hers is rather abbreviated, and she only shows her badassery off in war battles.
 * Crystal Ball
 * Fetish Fuel Station Attendant
 * Hello, Nurse!
 * Hot Witch: Magic is her speciality - she is always encountered as a rune mistresss.
 * LesYay: Her relationship with Raura is the subject of much rumour and gossip at HQ.
 * Ms. Fanservice: For the whole Suikoden series.
 * Magical Lady Warrior
 * Mysterious Past: No one knows where or when she came from. In fact, any attempt by Richmond to investigate her proves utterly pointless.
 * Nurse Jenny: Turns up in every single Suikoden title, regardless of space or time differences.
 * Opera Gloves
 * Peek-a-Bangs: She's often drawn with her hair (sexily) over one eye.
 * Recurring Character: And she's hotter than ever!
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old
 * 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.
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl
 * Witch Species: Possibly.

Yuzu

 * Cheerful Child
 * Disappeared Grandpa: She has become separated from her grandpa when the hero encounters her.
 * Fairy Tale Motifs: Like Little Bo Peep, she has lost her sheep and the hero must help her to find them before she'll join him.
 * Farm Girl: She's a farmer's grand-daughter.
 * Free-Range Children: She's ten years old, completely lost in the Kobold woods when first encountered, and her parents are nowhere to be seen!
 * Friend to All Living Things: She's very knowledgeable in animal husbandry. Once recruited, she helps Tony with the livestock at the HQ farm.
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Ironic Nickname: She loves her farm animals, but is quite objective about their fate, giving them names like "hamburger" and "pork-chop".
 * Mama Bear:....just don't try to eat her favourite sheep, Taro.
 * Moe
 * Non-Human Sidekick: Taro.

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.
 * Moe
 * Mysterious Past: No one really knows where she came from.
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
 * Purity Personified
 * Recurring Character
 * 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.
 * Hyperspace Arsenal: If she's in your party, her sole damaging spell drops random objects (usually ramen bowls) on the enemies' heads for paltry damage.
 * Malfunction Malady: The above teleport mistakes are accompanied with a little sneeze!
 * Wide-Eyed Idealist: Despite her clutziness, she's very keen to help out.
 * Woman in White

Futch

 * Bash Brothers
 * Lonely Together: He and Humphrey have teamed up to seek new dragons.
 * The Beast Master
 * Dragon Rider: However, he does not have a mount following Black's death in Suikoden 1, and has been cast out of the Dragon Knight order.
 * Replacement Goldfish: He's seeking a new dragon mount so he can rejoin the Dragon knights.
 * Big Brother Instinct: Towards Kent, a village boy who he rushes to rescue after he goes missing in search of dragons.
 * Blade on a Stick
 * Character Development
 * Older and Wiser: He grows up a lot between the 1st and 2nd Suikoden, and his bratty half-pint trait has all but vanished.
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Recurring Character
 * Survivor Guilt: He's never really forgiven himself for the fact that Black protecting him.
 * Survivor Guilt: He's never really forgiven himself for the fact that Black protecting him.

Humphrey Mintz

 * Badass
 * Bash Brothers
 * Lonely Together: He and Futch have teamed up to seek new dragons.
 * Big Brother Mentor: To Futch. He was asked to take care of him by Joshua, following Futch's expulsion from the Dragon Knights order.
 * The Big Guy
 * Character Development
 * Hidden Heart of Gold: This comes across in Suikoden 2, where he generously pays the hero's bill at an inn and is seen to be kinder and less ambivalent than his gruff exterior reveals.
 * Dark and Troubled Past: Why he is so quiet, and one needs to play the first game for the details, though Richmond's investigations will give the player a few hints.
 * Master Swordsman: Amongst the best in the game.
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Odd Friendship: He quickly (and uncharacteristically) befriends the hero, after what appears to be an awkard, stunted conversation where he barely says two words to him.
 * Stone Wall: His defense rating is one of the highest in the game.
 * The Quiet One: He doesn't say very much at all and most of his speech is written as "......".
 * The Stoic
 * The Stoic

Camus

 * Badass: The Gaiden Game of Suikoden 2 establishes Camus as being capable of taking a high level fire spell to the face without it even singeing his hair.
 * Four-Star Badass: Was for his first master, resumes this for the hero.
 * Blue Oni: To Miklotov's Red Oni.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Good-Looking Privates: He is a captain of the famous Matilda Knights.
 * Heel Face Turn: He leads a mass-defection of the knights and joins the hero following his master Gorudo's reluctance to counter the atrocities committed by Highland.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With fellow knight, Miklotov.
 * Heroic Spirit
 * Knight in Shining Armor: He believes in the ideals of chivalry.
 * Magic Knight: He's equally highly skilled in combat and magic.
 * My Country, Right or Wrong: While disgusted at Gorudo's actions, Camus is much more reluctant to leave Matilda than Miklotov.
 * Playing with Fire: His rage rune provides the ultimate fire based magic.

Miklotov

 * Badass
 * Four-Star Badass: Was for his first master, resumes this for the hero.
 * The Cape (trope): He's incredibly just and will do whatever possible to do what is right.
 * For Great Justice: His maxim.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Good-Looking Privates: He is a captain of the famous Matilda Knights.
 * Heel Face Turn: He leads a mass-defection of the knights and joins the hero following his master Gorudo's reluctance to counter the atrocities committed by Highland.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With fellow knight, Camus.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: His unique Knight Rune allows him to protect dying comrades by having him take the hit for them.
 * Heroic Spirit
 * Hot-Blooded: He's surprisingly hot-headed for a knight.
 * Knight in Shining Armor: He believes in the ideals of chivalry.
 * Magic Knight: He's equally highly skilled in combat and magic.
 * Red Oni: To Camus' Blue Oni
 * Sir Swearsalot: Despite his knightly exterior, he's prone to rough speech.

Kiba Windamier

 * Badass
 * Badass Beard
 * Determinator: His defense in war battles is so high that, it's almost impossible to destroy his unit. In fact, you actually can throw everything at him, and you still have to wait for the plot to take care of things because he just refuses to be defeated.
 * Bald of Awesome
 * Defeat Means Friendship
 * Heel Face Turn: He is taken prisoner after battle map 7 and joins the Allied Forces.
 * This Is Unforgivable!:
 * Dude, Where's My Respect?: Richmond's investigations let you know he had a high rank, but his pay was pretty crappy despite his fine service record.
 * Made of Iron: His defense in War Battles turns his unit into this.
 * Master Swordsman: He's a veteran of many previous wars.
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Whereas he is powerful, built and typically masculine, his son Klaus is mild-mannered, bookish and comparitively effeminate.
 * Take Up My Sword:
 * The Stoic
 * They Call Me Mister Tibbs: He get's very angry with Viktor for his lack of respect when he's captured.
 * They Call Me Mister Tibbs: He get's very angry with Viktor for his lack of respect when he's captured.

Klaus Windamier

 * Bishounen: Unsurprisingly, he's said to take after his mother in both looks and personality, rather than Kiba.
 * Defeat Means Friendship
 * Heel Face Turn: He is taken prisoner after battle map 7 and joins the Allied Forces.
 * This Is Unforgivable!:
 * Eyes Always Shut
 * Non-Action Guy
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Whereas he is mild-mannered, bookish and comparitively effeminate, his father Kiba is powerful, built and typically masculine.
 * The Smart Guy
 * The Strategist: He was one of Highland's most brilliant strategists before his defection to the Allied Forces.

Badeaux

 * Badass Long Robe
 * Berserk Button: Literally - his Howling Rune ability puts all animal companions into a permanently berserk state.
 * Friend to All Living Things: A rare male example.
 * The Beast Master: His speciality - he can communicate with many different types of animals.
 * Sound Stone: He comes equipped with two magic listening crystals that can be used to recruit any two large characters including: Feather, Abizboah, Sigfried or L'Roladia.
 * Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a huge scar running up the entire left hand side of his face into his hair-line.
 * Hermit Guru
 * Nature Hero
 * Not Good with People
 * Whip It Good: His weapon of choice, the Beast Whip.

Connell

 * Bishounen
 * The Empath: As a phonologist, he has the ability to listen to the music of the mind, a way is deducing the mood of others.
 * In the Blood: His father is also a gifted phonologist.
 * Music and Sound Effects: His speciality - he can change the menu sound effect options once recruited.
 * Nice Hat: A black beret with a music note motif.

Ayda

 * Action Girl
 * The Archer: She wields the Great Hawk Rune, which allows her to attack all enemy targets when used. The trade-off is that damage is halved.
 * Braids, Beads, and Buckskins: Her look and costume.
 * Distaff Counterpart: She's basically a female Kinnison.
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Friend to All Living Things
 * Nature Hero: She is the defender of the woodlands and all animals therein.
 * Hachimaki
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Nubile Savage: She's hot-blooded....and just plain hot. In fact, Nash from the Suikogaiden games even stumbles across her when she's naked.....and yes, this trope more than applies.
 * Innocent Fanservice Girl: Hilariously subverted. When Nash stumbled across her in the nude, he had to run for his life.

Feather

 * Big Badass Bird of Prey
 * Bond Creatures: The hero is able to befriend him by using the magic Listening Crystals Badeaux gives him.
 * Giant Flyer
 * Our Gryphons Are Different: He is their Prince.
 * Monster Allies

Sigfried

 * Cool Horse: He's a unicorn.
 * Chivalrous Pervert: He will only show up for attractive young maidens.
 * Bond Creatures: The hero is able to befriend him, partly by using the magic Listening Crystals Badeaux gives him.
 * Hilarity Ensues: When recruiting him, bringing Miku=Miku or Sierra to him as a maiden has interesting results.
 * Monster Allies
 * Mythology Upgrade: Unlike traditional unicorns, who's magic is mostly limited to teleportation, he possesses the unique Blessed White Lady Rune, which has 3 powerful magic attacks.
 * Sidequest: He first appears in Hix and Tengaar's sidequest, where Hix agrees to undertake "The Test of the Unicorn" ....
 * Virgin Power: The other requirement to recruiting him is to bring a young female character with the hero to meet him.

Lebrante

 * High-Class Glass: Wears a monocle for appraising treasures.
 * Fetch Quest
 * Memento MacGuffin: He endlessly collects "Celadon Urns" and will only join the Allied Forces if you bring him one.
 * Grail in the Garbage: The Urn in question is often found out in the wilderness after it's dropped by random monsters.
 * The Professor: When it comes to treasures.

Simone Verdricci

 * Ambiguously Gay
 * Back-to-Back Badasses: His unite with Vincent is basically Jowy and Riou's Unite, with 250% more rose petals.
 * Blue Blood
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Like Vincent, he has the tendency of thinking that he is instantly great friends with someone and he has these friends everywhere.
 * Fetch Quest
 * Memento MacGuffin: He happily joins the Allied Forces when the hero retrieves his beloved Rose Brooch.
 * The Fighting Narcissist: Along with fellow Narcissist Vincent.
 * Flower Motifs: Specifically roses
 * Impractically Fancy Outfit: His dress sense is certainly eccentric.
 * Improbable Weapon User
 * Something About a Rose: His weapon of choice in combat (!)
 * Leitmotif: The narcissist's theme "Scarleticia Castle" plays whenever the hero interacts with him.
 * Petal Power: As seen in his Narcissus Attack with Vincent.
 * Regency England: His costume and overall look.
 * Rose Haired Guy
 * Upper Class Twit

Vincent De Boule

 * Ambiguously Gay
 * Back-to-Back Badasses: His unite with Simone is basically Jowy and Riou's Unite, with 250% more rose petals.
 * Blue Blood
 * Cloudcuckoolander: He has the tendency of thinking that he is instantly great friends with someone and he has these friends everywhere.
 * Collared by Fashion: He sports a huge peter pan collar.
 * The Fighting Narcissist: He's a surprisingly competent fighter, much more so than Simone.
 * Flower Motifs: Specifically roses
 * Gratuitous French: His speech is peppered with random French words, mostly pronouns.
 * Impractically Fancy Outfit
 * Leitmotif: The narcissist's theme "Scarleticia Castle" plays whenever the hero interacts with him.
 * Petal Power: As seen in his Narcissus Attack with Simone.
 * Recurring Character
 * Regency England: His costume and overall look.
 * Upper Class Twit: Albeit slightly less of one than in Suikoden I, he still qualifies.

Kasumi

 * Badass
 * Badass Adorable
 * Fetish Fuel
 * Flash Step
 * Hachimaki
 * Hidden Ninja Village: The village of Rokkaku.
 * Older and Wiser: Since the 1st game - she has been promoted to vice-leader of the village.
 * Optional Party Member: The player can only pick her or Valeria. Tomo takes over the spot of whoever's not picked.
 * Ninja
 * Highly-Visible Ninja: She wears a bright crimson gi.
 * Recurring Character
 * Scarf of Asskicking: Her ninja muffler.
 * Smitten Teenage Girl: Apparently, she still has a crush on Tir Mc Dohl - Richmond's investigations reveal that she often visits Banner, where he is frequently spotted.
 * Made even more obvious if she's with you when you recruit Tir. There's a brief bit of dialog in which she appears to make an attempt to confess her feelings...and fails
 * Spinning Piledriver: Her Shrike Rune allows her to perform the standard ninja izuna drop attack.
 * Zettai Ryouiki

Valeria

 * Action Girl
 * Badass
 * Back-to-Back Badasses: Her Unite attack with Anita.
 * Four-Star Badass: Promoted to this following the first game.
 * The Captain: Following the events of Suikoden 1, she is now one of the new 6 great generals of Toran.
 * Eighties Hair: She sports awesome big hair.
 * Friendly Enemy: Despite being rivals, she and Anita are frequently seen at the HQ bar having a drink together.
 * Hot Amazon: Likely going for this.
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Hot Chick with a Sword: She's a fencer.
 * Lady in Red
 * Optional Party Member: The player can only pick her or Kasumi. Tomo takes over the spot of whoever's not picked.
 * Recurring Character
 * The Rival: Of fellow fencer, Anita. This appears to be rather one-sided as she has bested Anita 10 out of the 11 times they have dueled.
 * Shout-Out: Possibly - to the feisty love interest of the same name in the movie Conan the Barbarian.

Sheena

 * Badass Family: As he is the son of Toran President, Lepant, he is able to set up a meeting between the hero and his father with a view to them forming an alliance.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: When NOT hitting on women, he makes a pretty decent Earth Rune mage.
 * The Charmer: And sometimes is a Handsome Lech.
 * Cool Sword: In Suikoden 2, he wields his father's heirloom sword, Kirinji.
 * The Hedonist
 * Loveable Rogue
 * Magic Knight: He is skilled in both swordsmanship and magic, abilities which he inherited from his parents, Eileen and Lepant. Since his three open rune slots and balanced stats make him the most customizable character in the game, the player can decide which to specialize him in, or make him a jack-of-all-trades.
 * Momma's Boy: According to Richmond.
 * Recurring Character
 * Rich Idiot With No Day Job: Which is why Lepant comands him (yet again) to make himself useful and join the Allied Forces.

Lorelai

 * Action Girl
 * Adventurer Archaeologist: She came to Dunan in search of Sindar Ruins.
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Blade on a Stick: She uses a large halberd in Suikoden 2 (a gift from Suikoden 1's Kirke), rather than her previous bow.
 * My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours: She prefers her companions be stronger than her, so the hero must be at level 25 before she will join you.
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
 * Recurring Character
 * Superior Species: She claims to be a descendant of the lost Sindar race.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
 * The Rival: With Killey, when it comes to Sindar ruin hunting.
 * Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: She joins the hero so she can keep an eye on Killey and make sure he doesn't discover anything before she does.

Gordon

 * Adam Smith Hates Your Guts: True, all the merchants who join your team don't give you any sort of discount, but this guy makes a point of letting you know he wouldn't even try.
 * Gotta Catch Em All: His is possibly the most arduous recruitment process in the game...
 * Intrepid Merchant:....but now he wants YOU to do it.
 * Chain of Deals
 * That One Sidequest: For him to join, it is necessary to make 50,000 potch profit, purely from buy-low/sell-high trading at the various trade-posts throughout Dunan.

Mondo

 * Big Brother Mentor: To Sasuke.
 * Big Guy
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Fish Out of Water: Sends your hero a note via the Suggestion Box in which he admits he's not used to Western style beds as opposed to futons.
 * Hachimaki
 * Hidden Ninja Village: The village of Rokkaku.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Ninja
 * Highly-Visible Ninja: He wears a bright white gi.
 * The Spartan Way: He trains all day, every day to maintain his skills.
 * Wolverine Claws: His weapon of choice is a clawed gauntlet.

Sasuke

 * Hachimaki
 * Hidden Ninja Village: The village of Rokkaku.
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja
 * Military Brat
 * Ninja
 * Ninja Young Gun: He's just 13 years old.
 * Precocious Crush: He has a huge crush on Kasumi.....
 * Cannot Spit It Out:...but even when given the perfect opportunity to tell her, he buckles.
 * Hopeless Suitor: Considering that Kasumi herself has a massive crush on Tir, it's probably not going to end well for him.
 * Scarf of Asskicking: His ninja muffler.
 * Stealth Hi Bye
 * Sweet Tooth: Loves chocolate.
 * Wolverine Claws: His weapon of choice is a clawed gauntlet.

Tomo

 * Blade on a Stick: She wields a spear.
 * Closer to Earth
 * Cute Bruiser
 * Disappeared Dad: Tsai is her (absent) father.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Only she and Luc have an Earth affinity of A.
 * Just the Introduction to The Opposites: She's sensible and grounded, whereas her dad Tsai is flighty and runs away from his marriage problems.
 * Moe
 * Parent Trap Plot: She has been looking for Tsai in order to make him reconcile with her mother.
 * Shout-Out: She is likely named after Tomo(e) Gozen, a rare example of a historical female samurai warrior (onna bugeisha), known for her bravery and strength.
 * Ugly Guys Hot Daughter: Lampshaded by Richmond, and even by the cooking duel MC.

Bob

 * Badass
 * Badass Abnormal: He's a werewolf.
 * Badass Boast: "Now, shall I show you my true-form and power?!"
 * Cheshire Cat Grin
 * Everything's Better with Bob
 * Gotta Catch Em All: He'll only join the hero if he already has 80 or more recruits.
 * Monster Town: He comes from a whole village of lycanthropes.
 * Simple Staff: He wields the Beast Lord Rod.
 * Wolf Man
 * Our Werewolves Are Different: He is able to uses his Rabid Fang Rune to control his transformations, though with a twist: His rune merely helps him keep his human form easier, while being a wolfman is a inherent power.
 * Super-Powered Alter Ego
 * Sole Survivor:
 * Token Minority: He has quite dark skin, dreadlocks and his costume colour-scheme is the same as the flag of Ghana.

Karen

 * Ambiguously Brown
 * Bikini Bar: She was working at the Inn in Kuskus for an audience of adoring men.
 * Dance Battler
 * Everything's Better with Sparkles: This accompanies her attack when she's in combat....
 * Musical Gameplay: ...and is complemented with a short musical flourish.
 * Rhythm Game: The hero has to match her dance steps in order for her to join.
 * Split Personality: She displays two distinct personality types, depending on whether she is on stage.
 * The Ingenue: Her actual personality - sweet, shy and modestly dressed.
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Moe
 * Shrinking Violet
 * Belly Dancer: Her alter ego (and look) - when she dances, she's confident, beautiful and sexy.
 * Bare Your Midriff
 * Fetish Fuel Station Attendant
 * Ms. Fanservice: Second only to Jeane in Suikoden 2.
 * Wolverine Claws: She fights with her long finger-nails.

Maximilian

 * Badass
 * Determinator: His personality, as befits him being a Captain Ersatz of Don Quixote.
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Cool Old Guy
 * For Great Justice
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Knight in Shining Armor: Values chivalry above all else.
 * Laughing Mad
 * Recurring Character
 * Ten-Minute Retirement: He can't let his knightly duties go.
 * Ten-Minute Retirement: He can't let his knightly duties go.

Killey

 * Adventurer Archaeologist: He came to Dunan 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: Richmond notes that they are part of his native heritage.
 * All-Encompassing Mantle: In black and deep crimson.
 * Nice Hat: An awesome, sweeping, finned trilby.
 * Loners Are Freaks
 * Mysterious Past
 * The Rival: With Lorelai, when it comes to Sindar ruin hunting.
 * Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He joins the hero so she can keep an eye on Lorelai and make sure she doesn't discover anything before she does.
 * The Snark Knight
 * The Unfettered: Questing for the Sindar treasure is his whole life.

Annallee

 * Bob Haircut
 * Heartwarming Orphan: Her parents were killed in Harmonia in mysterious circumstances.
 * The Ingenue
 * Music and Sound Effects: Her speciality - she plays the various tunes used throughout the game upon request.
 * Magic Music: In battle maps, her Encourage singing ability allows units a second turn.
 * Parental Substitute: Alberto and Pico have looked after her ever since she was orphaned.
 * Shrinking Violet: She's quite timid and shy.
 * Two Guys and a Girl: Alberto, Pico and herself.

Hoi

 * Criminal Doppelganger: He pretends to be the hero, mostly in order to afford himself an easy life, with free food, drink and compliments.
 * Bluff the Impostor: He is revealed to be a fake when vilagers ask him to see the Bright Shield rune, and it turns out he has simply drawn it on.
 * Easy Impersonation: He bares little resemblance to the hero, being short, fat and with only a vaguely similar outfit.
 * Idiot Ball:...however the people of Radat seem to be taken in by him to start with.
 * Gonk
 * I Owe You My Life: He pledges to join the hero, afer he helps him out when the mobs turns on him in Radat when they learn the truth.
 * Loony Fan: Of the hero - he spends most of his time trying to be just like him.
 * The Scrappy: He's not well liked, and it's not hard to see why.

Long Chan Chan

 * Badass
 * Back-to-Back Badasses: His Unite with Wakaba.
 * Bald of Awesome
 * Bare-Fisted Monk
 * Bash Brothers: As a duo, he and pupil Wakaba are said to be almost unbeatable in combat.
 * Eccentric Mentor: He's Wakaba's badass master, but he's quite eccentric, forgetful, and is pulling a dine an' dash when first encountered.
 * My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours
 * Quad Damage: His White Tiger rune increases his attack power.
 * Spirited Competitor

Tenkou

 * Cool Old Guy
 * Robe and Wizard Hat
 * Ten-Minute Retirement: He was retired from his trade as a window maker, but after seeing the hero with a window set, his spirit was stirred to help out with the war effort.
 * Video Game Interface Elements: His speciality - he can change the colour (and design) of the in-game menu windows.

Raura

 * Ancient Egypt: Her look.
 * The Ditz
 * No Sense of Direction: She's lost, looking for Jeane when the hero first encounters her, and given how she walks off in the wrong direction to your castle after being recruited, it's a wonder she got there at all.
 * Fetish Fuel Station Attendant
 * Hello, Nurse!
 * Hot Witch: Magic is her speciality - she is a rune mistress, specializing in changing rune crystals into scrolls.
 * LesYay: Her relationship with Jeane is the subject of much rumour and gossip at HQ.
 * Ms. Fanservice
 * Magical Lady Warrior
 * Mysterious Past
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Possibly - her friendship with Nurse Jenny Jeane suggests so.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Rowwwwww-raa! = "Laura?"
 * Witch Species: Possibly.

Gijimu

 * An Axe to Grind
 * Big Ol' Eyebrows: A family trait.
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Dual-Wielding: He uses two hand-axes.
 * Fire-Forged Friends: When the evil vampire Neclord turns most of the Lamp Dragon Bandits into zombies, and kidnaps Lo Wen for his Bride, he joins forces with the hero's Allied Army to defeat Neclord and save his friends.
 * Just Like Robin Hood: He operates on a strict moral code of only going after money-hungry traders.
 * Loveable Rogue: He is the head of the Lampdragon Bandits.
 * Power Trio: Koyu, Lo Wen and himself.
 * Badass Family: They're siblings.

Hauser

 * Four-Star Badass: For the army of Muse.
 * The Fettered: He's the archetypal soldier who follows orders without question.
 * Heroic Build
 * Heroic Spirit
 * Married to the Job: According to Richmond's investigations.
 * Master Swordsman: He's said to be one of the best in Dunan
 * Perpetual Frowner: He never so much as cracks a smile.
 * Token Minority: One of the only black characters in the series.

Kahn Marley

 * Back from the Dead: He comes equipped with the Resurrection rune. Ironically, his actual job involves undoing this trope to most members of the undead.
 * Badass
 * Badass Longcoat
 * Determinator
 * Blue Blood: His family are nobles from Harmonia.
 * Call to Agriculture: Who knew a badass vampire hunter planned to retire as a geologist?
 * Nice Hat
 * Rule of Cool
 * Vampire Hunter: He comes form a long family line of vampire hunters.
 * It's Personal: Neclord killed his father and grandfather.
 * The Unfettered: Destroying Neclord has become his life's work and obsession -
 * Who You Gonna Call?

Koyu

 * An Axe to Grind
 * Big Ol' Eyebrows: A family trait.
 * Distress Call: He relays the news of Neclords attacks to the Allied Forces.
 * Fire-Forged Friends: Along with his brother and sister, he joins with the hero's Allied Army to defeat Neclord and save his friends.
 * Keet: He certainly talks a lot.
 * Loveable Rogue: He's the youngest of the Lampdragon Bandits.
 * Power Trio: Gijimu, Lo Wen and himself.
 * Badass Family: They're siblings.
 * Super Speed: He has the Gale Rune equipped as standard.

Lo Wen

 * Action Girl
 * Big Ol' Eyebrows: A family trait.
 * Boobs of Steel
 * Epic Flail: She wields a whip-chain with a spiked ball at the end.
 * Hot Amazon: She's excellent in combat.
 * Loveable Rogue
 * Power Trio: Gijimu, Koyu and herself.
 * Badass Family: They're siblings.
 * Rescue Arc: Neclord captures her as his bride.
 * Fire-Forged Friends: Following her rescue from Neclord.
 * Sarashi: She wears a traditional fighter's body wrap, a symbol of toughness in Japan.
 * Tomboy
 * One of the Boys
 * Tsundere: Apparently, she's pretty tough on guys she likes.

Marlowe

 * Hot for Student: He has a crush on his young pupil, Lilly Pendragon.
 * I Just Want to Be Special: He loves to read books about high adventure and longs to have the chance to take part.
 * I Should Write a Book About This: He is so inspired by the hero's bravery, that he begins to chronicle his adventures.
 * Nice Guy
 * Odd Friendship: He couldn't be more different than his best friend, the hyper-active motor mouth Koyu.
 * Smart People Wear Glasses

Sierra Mikain

 * Animal Motifs: Bats, clearly.
 * Artifact of Doom: She was possessed by the power of the Moon Rune, a magic artifact symbolising cruelty and compassion, that transforms the bearer into a vampire. She gained mastery over her desire to kill however, drawing on the compassionate aspect of the rune's powers and retreated into isolation.
 * Monster Town: However, she was soon approached by others who desired immortality and so created the Blue Moon Village, a safe haven for other vampires who had cast away their blood-sucking past. The power of the rune allowed the vampires to live without the need to drink the blood of the living.
 * It's Personal: However Neclord, one of the villagers, overtaken by the lust for power, stole the Moon Rune and fled, robbing immortality from the villagers other than Sierra.
 * Vampire Hunter: Some of the villagers, now lacking the power of the rune to stay alive, went rogue and began to feast on the living again. She was determined to stop the renegade vampires from causing suffering to others and thus she became a vampire hunter.
 * Badass: She can scare Neclord shitless, and even Kahn is not keen on pissing her off.
 * Badass Abnormal: She's a vampire totally immune to the weaknesses of most of her kind.
 * Badass Cape
 * Fetish Fuel Station Attendant
 * Hot Witch
 * Not a Morning Person: Due to her vampiric nature. Sunlight doesn't actually hurt her, but she still prefers to sleep in.
 * Our Vampires Are Different: She does not need to feed on the living to sustain herself, as above. Nor does sunlight actually harm her, though she doesn't find it pleasant.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: At about a thousand years old, she's the single oldest character yet introduced in the Suikoden series. Even the seemingly-eternal Leknaat and the unseen but ancient Emperor Hikusaak of Harmonia are younger.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: Although, she is one of the good guys.
 * Shawl Of Asskicking
 * Sole Survivor
 * Undeathly Pallor
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl

Jess

 * The Atoner: He eventually apologizes for his initially being a Jerkass and is loyal and supportive from then on.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: According to Richmond, he only eats a single crossiant at breakfast as the entire meal.
 * Cannot Spit It Out: He was in love with Mayor Anabelle, but felt it inappropriate to tell her.
 * Non-Action Guy
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat: He accuses the hero of Anbelle'a murder -
 * Break the Haughty: He eventually apologises and joins the Allied Forces.
 * Why Do They Have To Be Bugs - According to Richmond, Jess is petrified of them.

Georg Prime

 * Badass
 * Badass Cape
 * One-Man Army
 * Retired Badass: Used to be a Four-Star Badass
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: His first appearance the Suikoden series was fairly brief - however his badass abilities and intriguing past made him instantly popular.
 * Eyepatch of Power
 * Hero with Bad Publicity
 * Hidden Weapons: He is an expert at the quick draw sword style of Iaijutsu.
 * Master Swordsman: Amongst the best, if not the best in the game.
 * Mysterious Past: Richmond can find out details of his past, but these are fully revealed in the events of Suikoden V.
 * Noble Fugitive: He was accused of murdering the Queen of Falena, which is why he is on the run in Dunan.
 * Old Soldier
 * Sweet Tooth: He's said to have quite a fondness for cheesecake.

Gantetsu

 * Bald of Awesome
 * Big Guy
 * Big Ol' Eyebrows
 * Black Sheep: He was excommunicated from Qlon temple by Fukien for his violent tendancies.
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Cranial Eruption: He has a strange lump in the centre of his forehead.
 * My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours: The hero's party must have a combined stregth of over 400 before he'll join.
 * Simple Staff
 * Stout Strength: He's huge.
 * Warrior Monk
 * All Monks Know Kung Fu

Abizboah

 * Bond Creatures: The hero is able to befriend him by using the magic Listening Crystals Badeaux gives him.
 * Combat Tentacles
 * Everything's Squishier with Cephalopods
 * Sea Monster
 * Giant Squid: He's a large, Kraken-like creature.
 * Happily Married: To fellow Kraken, Rulodia.
 * Monster Allies
 * Awesome but Impractical: He's strong, but certainly not strong enough to justify taking up two party slots.

Pico

 * Casanova: Suikoden's very own Don Juan.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Handsome Lech: He's broken a lot of hearts while he's been on the road with his band.
 * Latin Lover: His look and personality. The Suikoden series' poster boy for this trope.
 * Loveable Rogue
 * Parental Substitute: He and Alberto have looked after Annallee ever since she was orphaned.
 * Two Guys and a Girl: Alberto, Annallee and himself.

Alberto

 * Face of the Band: He's the band leader.
 * Hippie Teacher: His look.
 * Nice Guy: He's very gentle and kind.
 * Parental Substitute: He and Pico have looked after Annallee ever since she was orphaned.
 * Two Guys and a Girl: Pico, Annallee and himself.

Jude

 * Cool Teacher: He teaches at the Newleaf Academy.
 * Fetch Quest: He's a sculptor and will join the hero if he brings him some clay.
 * Magnum Opus: He creates a guardian diety sculpture for the HQ entrance hall.
 * Nice Guy: Lampshaded by one of his students even.

Tessai

 * The Blacksmith: He's the only blacksmith in Suikoden 2.
 * Magnetic Plot Device: He joins the Allied Forces for the chance to have the honor of working on Viktor's Star Dragon Sword.
 * 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, Copper, Silver and Gold.

Genshu

 * The Atoner
 * Dark and Troubled Past: He was working as an assassin sword for hire, but quit this dishonorable profession after he accidently killed his own brother.
 * Badass
 * Badass Long Hair
 * Cool Sword: He wields a katana named Kamui.
 * Katanas Are Just Better: He's obsessed with powerful swords.
 * My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours: He will only join the hero if a party member has a weapon at level 15.
 * Painting the Fourth Wall: Shin and Genshu's United Attack, which cuts the screen in half.
 * Samurai

Pesmerga

 * Badass
 * BFS
 * Black Knight
 * Blinding Visor: His face is mostly obscured
 * Cool but Inefficient: Pesmerga has been accused to this. He starts out as a powerhouse, but joins late, leaves no room for customization, thus the latter-mentioned possible Game Breaker will surpass him. Though to be fair, for a quick-run game (for those who just doesn't want to bother with heavy customization), he's still a good choice.
 * Dark Is Not Evil
 * Duel to the Death: Is looking to meet Yuber for one final battle.
 * Leave Him to Me: He specifically demands that the hero leaves Yuber for him to deal with as part of his condition for joining.
 * Meaningful Name: His name means "he who chases after death" in Kurdish.
 * Mysterious Past: His age, history and origin is all a mystery.
 * Recurring Character

Mazus

 * The Archmage: His magical abilities far surpass anyone else in the known world, save perhaps his master, Crowley. He's the best magic user in the game.
 * Badass
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Badass Beard
 * Badass Long Robe
 * The Beast Master: He wields the Blue Gate Rune, a rune used to summon monsters from another world to attack enemies.
 * Hermit Guru
 * Magic Wand: The Nova Rod
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old
 * Reincarnation: Implied. He and Crowley have listed years of birth after the time of their epic duel. Word of God confirms this wasn't an error, but doesn't elaborate. Since each sought to produce power equivalent to a True Rune without actually possessing a True Rune, this presumably was their method of matching the immortality that the things grant. It's generally assumed by fans that both of them died in their duel, were reborn, and resumed their rivalry after reaching adulthood again.
 * The Rival: With Crowley from Suikoden 1. He is Crowley's ex-pupil but the two are now bitter rivals.
 * Earthshattering Kaboom: During a duel that took place over a hundred years ago, the force of their duel leveled three mountains and evaporated a lake.
 * Up to Eleven: His magicial abilities.
 * Witch Species: Possibly.
 * Wizard Duel: With Crowley.

Muku-Muku

 * Badass Adorable: He's not bad in combat, despite his small stature.
 * Badass Cape
 * Fun Size
 * Kawaisa
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: So very much!
 * Superheroes Wear Capes
 * "V" Sign: For victory!

Maku-Maku

 * Badass Adorable: He's not bad in combat, despite his small stature.
 * Badass Cape
 * Fun Size
 * Kawaisa
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: So very much!
 * The Stoic: Of the flying squirrels. He's the strong, silent type.
 * Superheroes Wear Capes

Miku-Miku

 * Badass Adorable: She's not bad in combat, despite her small stature.
 * Badass Cape
 * The Chick: She's the only female in the flying squirrel squad...
 * Pink Girl, Blue Boy: ...so naturally, she wears the pink cape.
 * Fun Size
 * Kawaisa
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: So very much!
 * The Smurfette Principle
 * Superheroes Wear Capes

Meku-Meku

 * Badass Adorable: He's not bad in combat, despite his small stature.
 * Badass Cape
 * Fun Size
 * Kawaisa
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: So very much!
 * The Smart Guy: He's the best at magic out of the flying squirrel squad.
 * Superheroes Wear Capes

Moku-Moku

 * Badass Adorable: He's not bad in combat, despite his small stature.
 * Badass Cape
 * Big Eater: He likes his curry!
 * Fun Size
 * Kawaisa
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: So very much!
 * Superheroes Wear Capes

Rulodia

 * Bond Creatures: The hero is able to befriend her by using the magic Listening Crystals Badeaux gives him.
 * Only problem with this is that she does not count towards the 108 stars.
 * Combat Tentacles
 * Everything's Squishier with Cephalopods
 * Sea Monster
 * Giant Squid: She's a large, Kraken-like creature.
 * Happily Married: To fellow Kraken, Abizboah.
 * Monster Allies
 * Monster Is a Mommy: Chuchara is her son.

Chuchara

 * Bond Creatures: The hero is able to befriend him once Rulodia is recruited.
 * Combat Tentacles
 * Everything's Squishier with Cephalopods
 * Sea Monster
 * Giant Squid: He's a baby Kraken-like creature.
 * Monster Allies
 * Ugly Cute: He is the plucky offspring of Rulodia and Abizboah.

Star Dragon Sword

 * Clingy Sword: To Viktor.
 * Cool Sword
 * Famed in Story
 * Mysterious Past
 * Named Weapons
 * Only the Chosen May Wield: To Viktor.
 * Recurring Character
 * Secret Identity: Sierra makes a comment that suggests his original form was not of a sword but it is never elaborated upon.
 * Talking Weapon

Elza

 * Badass
 * Badass Cape
 * Good Scars, Evil Scars
 * The Gunslinger
 * Murder, Inc.: Like Clive she was trained Howling Voice Assassins Guild since the age of five.
 * Parental Abandonment: Having come from a poor family Elza's parents sold her to the Howling Voice Assassins Guild when she was five.
 * Good Scars, Evil Scars
 * The Gunslinger
 * Murder, Inc.: Like Clive she was trained Howling Voice Assassins Guild since the age of five.
 * Parental Abandonment: Having come from a poor family Elza's parents sold her to the Howling Voice Assassins Guild when she was five.

Solon Jhee

 * Anime Hair
 * Badass
 * Badass Normal: Despite not being in the game for very long he had a number of successful attacks against the heroes at the beginning.
 * Badass Normal: Despite not being in the game for very long he had a number of successful attacks against the heroes at the beginning.

Seed

 * Badass
 * Bishounen: Especially in the Gaiden game.
 * Blood Knight
 * Magic Knight: He is equally skilled in combat and magic.
 * Making a Splash: He is able to use the Flowing rune, the most powerful water rune in the game.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red oni to Culgan's blue.
 * Those Two Guys: With Culgan.
 * Those Two Bad Guys: Again with Culgan.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Culgan.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Culgan.

Culgan

 * Badass
 * Bishounen
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue oni to Seed's red.
 * The Stoic
 * Those Two Guys: With Seed.
 * Those Two Bad Guys: Again with Seed.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Seed.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Seed.

Rowd

 * Blond Guys Are Jerks: Rowd isn't necessarily evil but for much of the game he pretty much acts like a jerk although the below trope belies this fact a little.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Although many of Rowd's actions in the game could be considered cowardly and underhanded he is ultimately trying to earn money to take his blind sister to see a doctor.

Yuber

 * Badass
 * BFS
 * Black Knight: Quite literally in his case as he is known as this in the game.
 * Mysterious Past
 * Recurring Character

Leon Silverberg

 * Awesome By Analysis
 * Badass
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Badass Mustache
 * It Runs in The Family: The Silverbergs are well known Strategists.
 * Nerves of Steel
 * Recurring Character
 * The Strategist

Lucia

 * Anime Hair
 * Assassin Outclassin': To Riou and later.
 * Bodyguard Babe: To Jowy.
 * Dark-Skinned Blond
 * It's Personal: Lucia is primarily fighting with Highland so she may get revenge on the people who murdered her father.
 * It's Personal: Lucia is primarily fighting with Highland so she may get revenge on the people who murdered her father.

Han Cunningham

 * Badass
 * Badass Beard
 * Badass Cape
 * Master Swordsman
 * Nerves of Steel
 * Master Swordsman
 * Nerves of Steel

Neclord

 * Animal Motifs: Bats.
 * Battle Theme Music: He gets perhaps the best known one-shot battle themes for himself entitled "Gothic Neclord":
 * Our Vampires Are Different
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old
 * Recurring Character
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning
 * Recurring Character
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning

Granmeyer

 * Actual Pacifist
 * Nice Guy
 * Nice Guy

Makai

 * The Ditherer: Though only somewhat.

Gustav Pendragon

 * Big Ol' Eyebrows
 * Papa Wolf: To his daughter, Lilly.

Lilly Pendragon

 * Spoiled Brat: Though it's not as obvious and pronounced as it is when she appears in the third game.

Lepant

 * Badass
 * Badass Family: Patriarch of one.
 * Badass Mustache
 * Recurring Character

Gorudo

 * The Captain: He is the Captain of the Matilda White Knights and the leader of the Matilida Knights.
 * Jerkass
 * Poison Is Evil:

Pohl

 * Heroic Resolve: Upon seeing Pilika being threatened by Luca.
 * Heroic Spirit: In conjunction with the above trope.
 * Nice Guy
 * Nice Guy

Tir McDohl

 * A Taste of Power: He comes equipped with excellent stats.
 * Artifact of Doom: The Soul Eater rune.
 * Badass
 * Retired Badass: Was unless you pull him out of it.
 * Cool Hat: His bandana.
 * Guest Star Party Member: A Suikoden 1 save file with all 108 characters alive is necessary to recruit him.
 * Only if you want both him and Gremio. Otherwise, a Suikoden 1 save file from the final save point in that game will do the trick, regardless of how many are alive.
 * Sidequest: Once recruited, he takes part in an epic Rescue Arc to save a young boy from Banner village who has been kidnapped by mountain bandits.
 * If you remove him from your active party, you have to trek back to Banner to pick him up again.
 * Hello, Insert Name Here: Averted - he is always called Mc Dohl in Suikoden 2 as he is not the main player character.
 * The Hero: Of the original Suikoden game.
 * Folk Hero: To the people of Toran and Dunan, following his actions in Suikoden 1.
 * Recurring Character
 * Simple Staff

Gremio

 * Battle Butler: Still refers to McDohl as "young master".
 * Old Retainer: Though he is still young this trope does apply to him.
 * Old Save Bonus: Gremio is only available if a save data file from the final save point in the first game was imported with all 108 stars recruited. Otherwise his role in this game is taken by Ellie.
 * Recurring Character
 * Reluctant Warrior: He is this, but it's mostly because he is worried about the young master's safety.

Ellie

 * Sidequest Sidestory: Ellie can be involved in the quest to recruit McDohl. It can be relatively minor or she can play more of a role in it depending on the Old Save Bonus (see Gremio's entry for more information).
 * Trauma Inn: She runs the inn at Banner. It's also revealed that she helped Marie run the inn at the Liberation Army Headquarters during the first game as well.

Fu Tan Chen

 * The Host: He's the MC of the cooking contest. He does the introductions of the judges, often slipping in hints about their tastes as well some rather daring commentary about a few of them in a personal sense.
 * Hilarity Ensues: Some of his comments about a few of the judges provokes some rather amusing outraged reactions.
 * Slogan Yelling Megaphone Guy

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.
 * Cain and Abel: Her power-hungry sister Windy is desperate to reunite the 2 halfs of the rune, something Leknaat will not allow to happen. This has turned the sisters into mortal enemies.
 * 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.
 * Rapunzel Hair
 * Shiny Midnight Black
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: The power of the Gate Rune has granted her unnatural long-life.
 * Recurring Character
 * Spirit Advisor
 * The Watcher: She acts as an inspirational guide to all the heroes.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
 * Woman in White