Characters / Fighting Fantasy Antagonists Old World

Main Character Index | Forces of Order: Celestial Court | The Hero's Band | Allies (The Star Pupils) | Rulers | Forces of Chaos: Dark Gods | The Pit | Allansia (The Demonic Three) | Khul | The Old World | Other Dimensions

This is a page for the villains of the Fighting Fantasy universe, fought in the Old World: one of the three continents of the world of Titan. It is the only continent who escaped the sheer devastation brought by the Chaos Wars, due to a powerful ritual destroying the Legions of Hell before they could strike. It is the Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Medieval Europe, with many an Überwald settings in the Grim Up North.

Given the nature of the gamebooks, any vital plot-relevant twists and weaknesses (especially weaknesses) should be kept under spoiler tags.

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Rulers

The Archmage of Mampang

^{Click here to see the Netherworld Demon} 

Appears in: Sorcery!

The mysterious Big Bad of the four-tomes spin-off Sorcery, who established his dominion over the Kakhabad: The Vermin Pit at Earth End, a desolate wasteland plagued by monsters and evil. He got infamous for killing a Kaiju-sized Seven-Headed Hydra, reanimating each heads into the Seven Serpents, and for building the gigantic and unassailable Mampang Fortress.

He sent his men steal the magical Crown of Kings, which makes its wearer a great ruler, worn for a few years by every monarch in the Old World wears before being passed to the next. The Archmage intends to use the crown unite the entire Kakhabad into his own kingdom. The king of Analand, who had the crown when it was stolen then hires you to take it back, and put an end to the Archmage’s blight...

The Archmage is markedly different in the Inkle IOS adaptation, with a more developed background and different personality, powers and motives...

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Gamebooks specific tropes

• Amazing Technicolor Population: Chalk-white skin is never a sign of health and peach.
• Ambiguously Human: He might be a standard human warped by black magic, or an enormously powerful demon masquerading as an archmage. Or both at once...
• Antagonist Abilities: A world-class mage, who can dispel everything you throw at him and retaliate with bigger guns effortlessly. And whose demon form can seal your doom if not properly dealt with.
• Anti-Climax Boss: Really? This is the uber badass Big Bad who soundly kicked your ass before? A grotesque demon with a measly skill 7 stamina 7? Not exactly as epic as expected...
• The Archmage: Quite obviously so. He bears the title and sure deserves it, numbering as one the most powerful among the many Evil Sorcerers of the franchise.
• Badass Bookworm: The Archmage spent decades studying sorcery, masters every spell available in the series even better than you (who play as a very powerful Magic Knight), and many more, and defeated one of the mightiest monsters to ever roam Titan. When you face the Hydra that he resurrected, it has skill 17 stamina 24, on par with a half-awake Night Dragon no less! And he was able to defeat that! Fortunately, the resurrected beast is but an illusion that promptly vanishes.
• Badass Longrobe: He wears lavish robes ornate with magic sigils.
• Beard of Evil: The Archmage's goatee looks definitely evil, fitting for a powerful sorcerer, and just screams "bad guy".
• Big Bad: The main villain of the whole epic, who wants to make the Kakhabad a military power able to threaten the neighbouring nations.
• Big Red Devil: The Netherworld Demon he turns into looks like your pretty standard fiend: huge, scaly and hideous, with hooves, claws and horns.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: So, the Archmage has you at his mercy... And is content with throwing you in jail, not even taking your equipment! Sure, you painfully found out how outmatched you are, and he throws you with an Anti-Magic prisoner to prevent you from spellcasting. But still. Not even considering that said prisoner might reveal his big secret, let alone that you might have an item that can save you, is Wrong Genre Savvy at best and Too Dumb to Live at worst, and predictably leads to his downfall.
• Breath Weapon: When materialised, the Netherworld Demon can incinerate you with a fire breath.
• Clipped-Wing Angel: With only skill 7 stamina 7 and the possibility to One-Hit Kill him with a spell, the Netherworld Demon is laughably easy to defeat during the Transformation Sequence. Then again, one single mistake and he obliterates you when fully materialized.
• Complexity Addiction: Granted, his possession of Farren Whyde makes a nice plot twist. But with him already very well protected, in an unassailable castle filled to the brim with deadly traps and guards, and being more than able to wipe the floor even with would-be challengers skilled enough to reach him, was it really needed? Considering that he is spends the Final Battle under a powerless host who must undergo a very risky Transformation Sequence (in fact your only chance to defeat him) the answer is clearly "nope"...
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • No matter what you do, this is the only outcome of your first meeting with him. Unless you surrender, but never give him your sword.
  • Play well and the Final Battle will be one in your favour. But one mistake and the situation is reversed.
• The Dark Arts: The Archmage dabbles in Dark Magic and earned protection from the Evil Gods.
• Demonic Possession: What he does to Farren Whyde. If you resurrect him after the Final Battle, he awakes as his own person, closer to the friendly captive that you first met, hinting that the Archmage was imitating the real one when deceiving you.
  • It can be speculated that the being known as the Archmage is in fact a People Puppet possessed by the Netherworld Demon, who fabricated a persona to better interact with the world.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: He wants a kingdom of his own no matter the cost, and neither for the good of the population nor for peaceful diplomacy with the neighbouring nations. Oh no.
• The Dreaded: The Archmage is feared all over the Old World.
• Elemental Powers: He syphoned the powers of the gods to grant them to his Co-Dragons. Playing with Fire for the Fire Serpent, Making a Splash for the Water Serpent, Blow You Away for the Air Serpent, Dishing Out Dirt for the Earth Serpent, Lunacy for the Moon Serpent, The Power of the Sun for the Sun Serpent, and the Time Serpent is a Time Master.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Archmage of Mampang is... an archmage who lives in Mampang.
• Evil Sorcerer: One among many in the franchise.
• False Innocence Trick: The captive you just befriended? A guy he possesses to screw with you.
• Faux Affably Evil: The Archmage speaks quite politely, but even then, he hardly veils his scorn and taunts.
• Final Boss: The battle does not turn out as expected, though.
• Final Boss Preview: The first confrontation with him shows you that his title of archmage is fully deserved. Eventually averted since the Final Battle turns out very different, and much easier.
• Fireballs: He masters the HOT spell that can hurl one of those. Much stronger than yours of course.
• Golem: He can create a huge wooden one from the furniture to take you down.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a nasty scar all across the side, resulting from his battle with the Seven-Headed Hydra.
• Good Witch Versus Bad Witch: The male variation. The Archmage is a vile, ambitious and frail Sorcerous Overlord and Big Bad, while you, The Hero is a noble, brave and strong Magic Knight.
• Hopeless Boss Fight: When you first confront him.
• I Surrender, Suckers: When you first confront him, he states that he does not want the Crown of Kings and that you can take it. Naturally, it's just Blatant Lies, to catch you off-guard.
• Liminal Being: Both an evil archmage and a super powered demon.
• Magikarp Power: His One-Winged Angel form starts out pathetically weak, but grows mightier by the second, culminating in a fully unstoppable beast.
• Master of Illusion: The Archmage can create ones that affect for real those who get deceived and can prove lethal. The God-Headed Hydra and the fire at the Throben Door, to name but a few.
• Mook Maker: He created his Co-Dragons and made them so powerful by himself.
• Mysterious Past: No one knows where the Archmage comes from, who are his parents, how long he has been around, or how and where he learnt magic. Not even that, who or what is never explained. A wizard? A demon? Both? Several entities in one? There is only room for speculation...
• Nightmare Retardant: As you can see on the picture, the Netherworld Demon is... Not as scary as he should be, to put it lightly. Heck, he looks rather silly.
• No Body Left Behind: He leaves behind the corpse of the guy he possessed, but his Netherworld Demon form and his existence are obliterated.
• No Name Given: He is only referred to as "the Archmage". What else can be said?
• No-Sell:
  • He counters all your spells in the Final Boss Preview and retaliates with the same but mightier.
  • Casting anything but an attack spell during the Final Battle is useless and leads to a painful demise.
• Obviously Evil: Just look at him. The Archmage is many things, few flattering, but trustworthy and nice-looking are not in the list. Averted with the identity under which you confront him for the Final Battle, as he puts on a facade of niceness.
• One-Hit Kill: Going both ways during the Final Battle.
  • His flaming breath dusts you in one shot if he can unleash it.
  • the HOT fire spell and ZAP lighting spells fry him at once.
• One-Winged Angel: The Archmage turns into a Netherworld Demon for the Final Battle, as you face him possessing a powerless host. The ''Out of the Pit'' guide gives him skill 16 (4 over the normal maximum) stamina 36 when fully materialized, making him even mightier than the local Demon Lords and Archdevils and most Final Bosses of the franchise. During materialization however, he is an outright joke...
• Our Demons Are Different: The Netherworld Demon does not seem to follow the same rules as other demons, or even to come from the Pit.
• Post-Climax Confrontation: Not exactly a confrontation, but you need to escape his fortress after getting rid of him. By resurrecting Farren Whyde and calling birdmen allies.
• Recurring Boss: You confront him twice. But both battles could not be more different from one another.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: There is something... off with this guy. I wonder what...
• Sorcerous Overlord: An immensely powerful wizard, ruling a vast territory in the local Mordor and controlling all monsters around.
• Summon Magic: If you summon a squad of goblins from their teeth to fight the Archmage, he retaliates by using the same trick to summon a squad of trolls. Cue Curb-Stomp Battle.
• Timed Mission: You have a limited time to destroy the Netherworld Demon before he becomes fully unstoppable and reduces you to fine red mist.
• Transformation Sequence: After discarding his useless host and going One-Winged Angel in the Final Battle, his Netherworld Demon aspect takes time to fully materialize. Now is your chance to off him.
• Wizard Duel: You can engage one against him during the Final Boss Preview. But it turns out to be a Hopeless Boss Fight.

IOS specific tropes

The Archmage is the same ambitious Sorcerous Overlord who steals the Crown of Kings to establish a kingdom, then The Empire. Yet he is said to be over a thousand years old, prolonging his lifespan with magic. He learnt magic from the previous archmage, the Grand Witch Valiquesh and betrayed her, sealing her in her magical Book of Prison. He fell in love with a young seer named Bria and they lived happily, until the fated day when she made a prophecy foretelling his demise. Enraged, he killed her and took all sort of precautions to avoid his fate. But centuries later, you enter the picture...

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• Adaptation Species Change: In the gamebook, the Archmage is Ambiguously Human and turns into a demon at the end, here he is established as fully human.
• Adaptational Jerkass: As evil and power-hungry as in the original, but even more callous, vile and self-centered. He destroyed the Beacons of Time to live longer and could not care any less for the sorry state his folly put the country in.
• Adaptational Wimp: In the original, the Archmage was an incredibly powerful master of all sorts of magic and could endanger the Old World all by himself. Here, he is a powerless pipsqueak who needs allies and tricks to be a threat. He is arguably an even bigger Anti-Climax Boss here and that's saying something.
• And I Must Scream:
  • Inflicted this on Valiquesh, sealing her in a book.
  • You can give him a taste of his own medicine after the Final Battle, trapping him within the very book he trapped her in. Karma really is a bitch to bastards like this one.
• Bastard Understudy: The Archmage studied under Valiquesh solely to become as powerful as can be and usurp her place.
• Break Them by Talking: The sod excels in instilling doubt in his foes' minds to sap their will, you included.
• The Caligula: Not a good ruler by any stretch of the imagination.
• Deal with the Devil: He can make one during the Final Battle, sacrificing half of his soul to turn it into a demon and fight you.
• Deceptive Disciple: Was this to Valiquesh.
• Dream Walker: The Archmage can enter people's dream and might do it to you during your quest.
• Dream Weaver: The Archmage can also shape people's dream.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He was genuinely in love with Bria and made her happy as long as she lived with him. Alas, it went south pretty badly when his love of power surpassed his love for her, not to mention the prophecy she made about his end...
• Foil: As a frail Evil Sorcerer who betrayed his master, killed his lover and made all sort of disastrous choices, the Archmage is this to you, a heroic Magic Knight faithful to their liege. This reflects during the Final Battle, in which you can repeat his mistake and end up like him, or make the right choice he did not, and end up happy and alive, either with a lover of your own or as a good student to Valiquesh.
• Improperly Paranoid: He cloistered himself in his fortress as a paranoid recluse to avoid any adventurer that could slay him, and spread chaos solely to remain alive. Predictably, it comes to bite him in the rear, precipitating his doom instead of averting it.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Not only Bria is Not Quite Dead and willing to help you against him under the name of Aliizi, but he can suffer the very fate he inflicted on Valiquesh.
• The Man Behind the Curtain: The Archmage looks fearsome and is a master of magic, but when fought directly he is a helpless joke who needs the Crown of Kings and his wit to be a threat.
• Mind Control: He brainwashes your Love Interest the Mercenary Flanker, sending him to fight you. You can either fight him to the death and mourn in the aftermath, or save him with an Anti-Magic potion.
• "Not So Different" Remark: The Archmage hints that the King of Analand is not the benevolent ruler he appears to be and is a tyrant in the making, as ambitious as he is. Whether or not he lies through is teeth or states the truth remains unclear.
• Our Demons Are Different: The demon he spawns from half of his soul if he makes a Deal with the Devil during the Final Battle. Most likely a nod to the gamebook.
• Puzzle Boss: The Archmage tries to brainwash you with the Crown of Kings, forcing you to resist its influence and get rid of it through different choices. Once it's done, you can do with him as you please.
• Really 700 Years Old: The Archmage used magic to live over a thousand years old.
• Screw Destiny: Averted. He tries this and fails miserably.
• Stable Time Loop: His meddling with the Beacons of Time mixed past, present and future, resulting in a twisted form of this. This also ensured that Bria was Not Quite Dead, so that she can help you defeat him.
• Uncertain Doom: What becomes of him after the Final Battle depends on the choices you make.
• Unwitting Pawn: To the Crown of Kings, who is revealed to be an Artifact of Doom with a mind of its own. It controls people and influences his actions.
• The Usurper: The Archmage betrayed and replaced his former master, ruler of the Fortress of Mages. He ransacked the place and left to build his own realm, but he still stole her title and power.
• You Can't Fight Fate: The Archmage learns this lesson the hard way and don't even gain points for trying.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: What he had in store for Valiquesh back then.

Count Reiner Heydrich

Appears in: Vault of the Vampire | Revenge of the Vampire

Fighting Fantasy's answer to Dracula himself, and one of the few villains to be featured in more than one gamebook. Reiner Heydrich killed his elder brother Siegfried to rule Mortvania, a domain of the country of Mauristasia, in the northern reaches of the Old World. He set an awful reign of terror, that worsened after he became a vampire. He frequently abducts young boys and girls to drink their blood, and you are tasked to save his last victim and take him down...

In the second gamebook, he is resurrected decades after his demise, by three Wicked Witch sisters, and his ambition now threatens the entire continent. But with another hero on his tracks...

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• 0% Approval Rating: He is hated and reviled by all his subjects, and rightfully so.
• Achilles' Heel: In the first book Nightstar, his late brother's magic sword is the best asset against him. In the second book, the even cooler Imperator does the trick.
  • He also has the traditional ones of holy water and garlic, but it could not be any other way.
• Aerith and Bob: Reiner is a legit first name and Heydrich a common sounding German name, contrary to more esoteric names common in the series. Justified in that it is a Meaningful Name...
• Animorphism: Heydrich can turn into animals and often travels as a large bat. There is a memorable moment when he attacks you under a wolf shape in the first book.
• Antagonist Abilities: His enormous strength and supernatural stats make him a fearsome That One Boss. He laughs off normal weapons, his Hypnotic Eyes can be deadly, he hits like a drop forge hammer, and he can do Super Smoke to escape and regain some stamina.
• Antagonist Title: Surprising no-one, he is the titular vampire of both gamebooks.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Heydrich is a Feudal Overlord and one of the most loathsome villains of the franchise.
• Avenging the Villain: Despite all the bad blood between them in the first book, Heydrich will not be happy if you kill his sister before him in the second.
• Back from the Dead: In the second book.
• Badass Cape: His cape covering most of his frame sure makes him impressive and menacing.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: He is very well-dressed and he can, and will, kick your ass seven ways to Sunday and seven ways back if you are not well prepared.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: He is so strong that his fists are the only weapons he needs. Taken up to eleven in the second book, in which he can kill you in one punch if he gathers enough attack strength.
• Barehanded Blade Block: In the second book when you first meet him, you jump and stab him through his coach's door but he effortlessly catches your blade and hits you in the face with the hilt, with a sardonic smile. It helps that he is immune to your normal sword, but it's impressive nonetheless.
• Batman Gambit: On several occasions.
  • In the first book He knows full well that his sister Katarina is The Starscream and devises a counter-measure that destroys the book in which he hid the Infinity +1 Sword if she tries to unseal it.
  • In the second book if he flees after the Final Battle, he is well aware that you will run after him and creates an illusion making appears that he escaped through the arch that disintegrates anyone going under, to kill you if you are careless.
• The Beastmaster: Heydrich controls all sorts of feral beasts and animals, even werewolves. Including you, should you fall victim to the curse.
• Big Bad: In both books.
  • Though he forms a Big Bad Ensemble with his sister Katarina in the first book.
• Big Brother Bully: Even as an adult (and undead to boot) he remains this to his younger brother Gunthar, his last decent sibling. He does it mostly for pragmatic reasons, preventing him from using his powers, but there is an undeniable layer of sadistic spite. How lovely...
• Blue Blood: Heydrich is from an influential aristocratic family who ruled Mortvania for years.
• Cain and Abel: He loathed his older brother Siegfried and the feeling was entirely mutual. He even killed him to take his place.
  • It is less intense, but he also despises his youngest sibling Gunthar, who has the gal not to be a heartless bastard. He tyrannises him and stole his book of healing. Poor Gunthar knows that his wretched brother must be stopped, but he is powerless.
• Cannot Cross Running Water: Being undead, Heydrich is physically unable to cross a river by himself and must stop at the bank. Which saves you at the start of the story, if he attacks you shape-shifted as a wolf.
• Charm Person: He can control people and inflict Laser-Guided Amnesia on them with his Hypnotic Eyes.
• The Chessmaster: Heydrich is a perfect schemer, devising simple yet really efficient plans.
  • In the first book, he hides away his late brother's magic equipment and keeps them under watch, and prepares safe retreat points in his own castle, in case he gets attacked when resting.
  • In the second book, he devises an intricate Evil Plan to take over the Old World, and carefully erases all evidence. He buys a haunted manor whose awful reputation both covers his tracks and prevents suspicion for disappearances around, and destroys a congregation when the monks knows too much, while hypnotising one to learn all intel before sending him away under surveillance. Even his proclaimed plan is but a cover to hide his real goal, from allies and enemies alike.
• Classical Movie Vampire: A loving homage to Hammer horror movies and the like.
• Crazy-Prepared: Heydrich has secret retreat points in his own castle should a vampire hunter sneak in, and got rid of the weapons he fears as best as he could. In the second book, his Mooks kill anyone who knows about him. He even uses protection against some magic, seals his brother's ghost in a Pocket Dimension where his interference will be minimal, and his Evil Plan is more than meets the eye...
• Cultured Badass: Heydrich is a powerful Monster Lord and Wicked Cultured to boot.
• The Dark Arts: He is not as well-versed as his sister, Katarina, but he knows his way around them.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: He killed his brother to become Count, and awfully tyrannizes his people.
  • In the sequel, he now sets his sight on the entire continent of the Old World.
• The Dreaded: Everyone is scared witless of him, and even his thralls are deathly afraid of his wrath.
  • Played with in the second book. Most people do not know about him, for he takes great care in keeping under the radars, but those who know about him sing quite the different tune. Even the Wicked Witches who resurrected him tremble in fear at the mere mention of his name.
• Evil Counterpart: To his brother Siegfried, being a Vampire Monarch and straight out Evil Overlord versus the ghost of The Paladin and Reasonable Authority Figure.
• Evil Genius: Heydrich is a highly intelligent and cautious schemer.
• Evil Overlord: A Vampire Monarch tyrannizing the region from his Haunted Castle swarmed with monsters.
  • Heydrich still controls monsters and owns a Haunted Castle in the second book, but he lacks a proper domain and sets out to correct this. And since he no longer gives a crap about Mortvania, he sets out to rule the Old World as a whole.
• Evil Wears Black: Mostly clad in black, with a dash of Red and Black and Evil All Over.
• Expy: Heydrich is basically a mix of Bela Lugosi's and Christopher Lee's Count Dracula set upon Titan. The cover art of Revenge of the Vampire even depicts him wearing the exact same outfit as Bela Lugosi's famous portrayal of the Count.
• Femme Fatalons: As a vampire, he is a rare male example sporting long, sharp nails. While he prefers fighting with his mace-like fists, he is not above clawing at foes with them.
• Feudal Overlord: Though he usurped the throne, he was in line to inherit the county and Mortvania is legally his to rule however he sees fit.
• Final Boss: He is far and away the mightiest foe you will face in both books. Though there is always a second battle after he's gone, thankfully way easier.
  • In the first book he is a very powerful enemy with skill 13 (1 over the normal maximum) stamina 21.
  • In the second book, he becomes even more formidable, with skill 15 stamina 30 no less! You can weaken him beforehand, but let's face it, without the Infinity +1 Sword and other boosts, you are toast.
  • In both books, he might paralyse you beforehand with his Hypnotic Eyes to kill you without fight! Fortunately, there are ways to counter it. And he Turns Red after a while, decreasing his skill score but risking killing you if he bites you. Long story short, he is always one hell of a That One Boss.
• Final Boss Preview: Fighting him in Mortus Mansion in the second book gives you a glimpse of how nasty his Super-Strength and Hypnotic Eyes can be.
• Flourish Cape in Front of Face: As you collapse in agony, if he fatally bites you in the first book.
• Foil: Reiner and Siegfried Heydrich form a complete contrast. See Sibling Yin-Yang below for details.
• Fully-Embraced Fiend: According to a written mention in one of his books, he relishes in being a vampire.
• Genius Bruiser: Heydrich is freakishly strong and powerful, but more importantly super smart and cunning.
• "Get Back Here!" Boss: He tries to flee to regain strength after you reduce his stamina to 4 in the first book, before returning with more. You can prevent him from doing so with a Force Wall Spell. He does this again when defeated and you must stake him.
  • He does so again in the second book, but he loses his additional powers when you fight him again.
• Gotta Catch Them All: You must find and destroy as many of his coffins, lest he flees to one of them after you defeat him, preventing you from finishing him off and reaching the Golden Ending. And they are all well-hidden and well-protected.
  • Averted in the second book. You destroy some in a Continuity Nod, but it has little impact on the plot.
• Haunted Castle: He turned Castle Heydrich into a creepy one, filled to the brim with all sorts of monsters.
  • Not exactly a castle, but Mortus Mansion qualifies in the second book.
• Healing Factor: Being a vampire, he can regain a great deal of stamina by resting for a while in his coffin.
• Hellish Horse: Heydrich rides a Demon Steed, that you must fight in both books if you venture in the stables. It looks like a pitch-black stallion with sharp hooves, red eyes, and a draconic mouth exhaling sulphuric fumes that weaken you, providing quite a tough battle.
• High Collar of Doom: Comes with the vampire territory.
• Hiss Before Fleeing: Heydrich does this after you bested him in Mortus Mansion in the second book.
• Holy Burns Evil: As per tradition, he is highly vulnerable to holy water. The more you can splash his sorry mug with it the best!
• Hypnotic Eyes: He can mesmerize people to neutralize them and drink their blood.
  • He can also uses it as a Charm Person to compel people without them even realising it. In the second book, he takes control of everyone in the inns he takes shelter in during the day.
  • He tries to mesmerise you before fighting. In the first book, if he succeeds and you don't have garlic you are done for. In the second, when fighting him in Mortus Mansion, he weakens you by -1 skill if you can't resist. Before the Final Battle, he can paralyse you outright and win the fight. That won't work if you have the sword Imperator. You can use a mirror to avoid it but it does not come in handy.
• I Do Not Drink Wine: Do not drink the "red wine" in Heydrich's living room. It being blood comes as no surprise and the narration even lampshades it.
• An Ice Person: After taking a level in badass in the second book, he becomes able to conjure clouds of frost costing -2 stamina and -2 skill for the first few attack rounds of the Final Battle that you must avoid.
• Kansas City Shuffle: In the second book, you learn from the Wicked Witches who resurrected him and from the vampire hunters tracking him that Heydrich plans to raise an army of vampires to invade the Old World. Except that this is a diversion to hide his real Evil Plan: to absorb the powers of the long gone Vampire Elders and become unstoppable.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: He escapes when defeated, to heal a bit before coming back with a vengeance. In the first book, you can prevent him from fleeing. In the second, you can fight him to the death.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Heydrich has excellent taste and lives (so to speak) in wondrous quarters.
• Marathon Boss: He is always a Final Boss as durable as he is tough, boasting a stamina score over 20 in the first book and no less than 30 (6 over the normal maximum) in the second. It can take over ten hits to kill him, and even over fifteen in the second book.
• Meaningful Name: A subtle and very sinister example: He is named after the high-ranking nazi dignitary Reynard Heydrich. Oh so lovely...
• Megaton Punch: In the second book, Heydrich can deliver punches that put wrecking balls to shame, costing either -3 stamina, -6 stamina, or instant death! Ouch!
• Missing Reflection: This trope is unbearable to him. Show him a mirror in the first book and you can wound him without reaction upon starting the Final Battle.
• Monster Lord: In addition to being a powerful Vampire Monarch, Heydrich is this to undeads in general, using hordes of ghouls of all sorts as Mooks in the second book.
• Monster Progenitor: He can turn victims into his vampire slaves, and does so to several young and pretty women in the second book.
• Mook Maker: In addition to his many vampire thralls in the second book, he creates powerful and dangerous skeleton golems. The Thassalloses in the first and the Skeletal Strangler in the second.
• Moral Event Horizon: He crossed it by killing brother Siegfried to usurp his title as Count of Mortvania, and makes a point of cartwheeling as far away from it as possible: Abducting youngsters to drain them dry and causing massacres just because he could. Calling him scum would be very rude to scum...
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: You might not see it at first, but once you know who he is named after, it becomes glaringly creepy. See Meaningful Name above to see why.
• Natural Weapon: Swords? Spears? These are of no use to Heydrich. His fists are like hammers and his nails and fangs are like razors.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: As a vampire, he is immune to most weapons.
• No Body Left Behind: In the first book. You have to incinerate him to do this in the second.
• No-Sell: Attacking him with a normal weapon is useless and leads to a painful demise.
  • In the second book, he uses a magic protection against Black Flame, knowing that you have some.
• Obviously Evil: Three guesses why...
• Ominous Opera Cape: Another given for a vampire.
• One-Hit Kill: The first time you face him during the second book, he kills you in one punch if his attack strength is high enough. If you face him for the third time after the Final Battle, he can kill you if you have not enough stamina to withstand his super-powered punch.
• Orcus on His Throne: Justified in the first book, as he has everything he wants and can spend his nights strolling his castle without a care. He attacks you upon learning about you before you reach his castle, but if he meets you inside, he merely mocks you and flies away instead of wrecking you on the spot.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Heydrich is a textbook example of a Classical Movie Vampire, homage and all, but he becomes more powerful and harder to destroy in the second book, veering into the territory.
• Pest Controller: He controls all bats and rats, of all sizes, in his castle, using them as watchdogs.
• Playing with Fire: After taking a level in badass in the second book, he can now conjure flames costing -3 stamina, and does so if you miss a shot or if he can No-Sell your attack before the Final Battle.
• Pointed Ears: Another given for a vampire.
• Post-Final Boss: In both books, you must destroy him after winning the fight, and then fight his weaker but still powerful sister Katarina. In the second book, if he escaped and rested un his coffin, he fights you one last time after you kill her. While much less powerful, he remains very dangerous and his blows range from devastating to deadly.
• Recurring Boss: In the second book, you can fight Heydrich up to three times.
  • In Mortus Mansion, he is a powerful foe with skill 11 stamina 15, who can weaken you with his Hypnotic Eyes and One-Hit Kill you if he hits strong enough.
  • As the Final Boss, he is That One Boss through and through.
  • If you let him escape, he rests in his coffin and regains some strength. He becomes a Post-Final Boss with skill 11 stamina 10 (or more depending on how long you took). His blows cost -3 stamina, and can cost -6 or kill you outright if you're too weak.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: He wears a black and red Badass Cape, and is an awful piece of work.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: He is a vampire is he not?
• Reduced to Dust: Like any Classical Movie Vampire worth their salt after being staked.
• Returning Big Bad: Thought you got rid of him for good in Vault of the Vampire? Well think again.
• Sequential Boss: In both books, the Final Battle unfolds in several stages... Before the Post-Final Boss.
  • In the first you must resist his hypnosis, throw whatever you can at him to deal damage, fight him, heal as much as you can after he fled to do the same unless you can stop his escape, fight him again, finish him off after he Turns Red, and destroy him for good if you found all his coffins.
  • In the second you must destroy his Elite Mook Megaghoul, throw whatever you can at him to deal damage but risk a painful retaliation, reach him and fight, and deal with him after he Turns Red.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Heydrich is always dressed to the nine.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Reiner and Siegfried Heydrich could not be more different if they tried. Siegfried was blond, stalwart and generous, a powerful Knight In Shining Armour and an excellent and popular ruler. Reiner on the other hand has raven black hair, is selfish and rotten to the core, a Vampire Monarch and a loathsome tyrant with a 0% Approval Rating. Siegfried even returns as a ghost, the only benign type of undead while vampires are arguably the worst. Siegfried lampshades it in the second book, stating that Reiner is Darkness while he is Light. He was even brought back because Reiner has been resurrected...
• Siblings in Crime: In the second book, Heydrich resurrects his sister Katarina as a vampire to serve as The Dragon, which would make them this. He seems to have Easily Forgiven her attempt at usurping him, but having her as his vampire thrall prevents her from playing solo, which can be seen as a revenge as well as using her as an asset.
• Silent Snarker: Heydrich needs no word to mock you. His facial expression when you are powerless to destroy him, while he is resting in his coffin to boot, speaks volume about his opinion. That's right, the guy is a Troll even in slumber.
• Skippable Boss: You can avoid the fight in Mortus Mansion if you show him the Heart Crystal.
• Soul Jar: The Red Heart Crystal is this in the second book. You cannot destroy him while the cursed gemstone exists.
• Stock Evil Overlord Tactics: In the second book, he plans to raise an army of vampires. Or so he makes it seem. In fact, he plans to absorb the Five Vampire Elders' might to become immensely powerful and virtually invincible.
• Strong and Skilled: Super-Strength aside, Heydrich is an excellent fighter.
• Super Smoke: He can turn into a cloud of yellowish mist, to sneak under doors, slither through walls and escape when things go south.
• Super-Strength: He has incredible physical strength.
• Tactical Withdrawal: Flees a battle when the tide turns, but never forever.
• Take Over the World: Downplayed in the second book. He covets a third of the world, but even "just" this would be far too much.
• Took a Level in Badass: Zig-zagged. When faced as a Recurring Boss in the second book, he is weaker than when he was the Final Boss in the first, but gets considerably more powerful in the Final Battle.
  • His entire plan is to take such a level that he would become fully invincible.
• Transhuman Treachery: While becoming a vampire usually brings out the worst in people, he is implied to have been so evil as a human that he did not change the slightest.
• Turns Red: When weakened enough, he always stops fighting with his fists to try to bite you. It's unpractical and costs him -2 skill, but he can kill you in two hits, making him still very dangerous.
• Undeath Always Ends: You must make sure that his own will come to an end. Twice.
• Undeathly Pallor: His skin is chalk-white.
• The Usurper: He killed his hated older brother to take his place as Count of Mortvania.
• Vampire Bites Suck: His own are very painful and dangerous.
• Vampire Monarch: There are other Vampire Lords and Ladies in the franchise, but Heydrich is the only Big Bad among them and easily the most memorable. In the second book, he plans to become the supreme Vampire Monarch, ruler of all vampires.
• Vampires Are Rich: This one is. Justified for he is an influential Feudal Overlord.
• Vampires Hate Garlic: And it saves your life if you wear some when he is about to drain you dry.
• Vampires Sleep in Coffins: The one trope no Classical Movie Vampire can escape.
• Villain No Longer Idle: The second book royally adverts the Orcus on His Throne of the first. He takes the matter in hand, and things get ugly. You can encounter him no less than five times in the gamebook.
• Villainous Cheek Bones: Like many villains in the franchise.
• Villainous Widow's Peak: As a homage to Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee.
• Viral Transformation: A given with vampirism. Heydrich has many vampire thralls in the second book, a Fate Worse than Death that you may suffer, should you get bitten and fail to get cured.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: True to form, he can turn into a bat, a wolf and a cloud of mist.
• Weather Manipulation: Another vampire power of his. In the first book, a violent thunderstorm breaks out when late Siegfried Heydrich is praised. In the second book, he can cause deep fog.
• Wicked Cultured: Heydrich is a repulsive, but he is well-read and very knowledgeable.
• Wooden Stake: Defeating him in battle is only the beginning. If you really want to end the sod, you must stake him properly. The stake you use is made of wood, but silver-tipped for good measure.

Count Varcolac Wulfen

^{Click here to see his Arch-Lycanthrope form} 

Appears in: Howl of the Werewolf

A depraved Feudal Overlord from the Überwald country of Mauristasia, who founded the Cadre Infernal with equally morally bankrupt nobles and made a Deal with the Devil. He became an Arch-Lycanthrope and ruled with an iron fist, turning his domain of Lupravia into a grim hell-hole plagued with were-beasts. Until an adventurer cursed with Lycanthropy by his younger brother, the Mad Prince Garoul Wulfen, resolved to slay him to free themselves of his curse...

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• 0% Approval Rating: He is not liked by the people of Lupravia, to say the least.
• Achilles' Heel: The Wulfen Sword he relinquished. Not only does it grants you +1 skill and deals -3 stamina to were-beasts, him included, it weakens him by -1 skill, making the Final Battle easier.
  • As per tradition, he is also highly vulnerable to silver.
• Affably Evil: Wulfen is impeccably courteous and polite, welcoming you and offering you a position of power in earnest. But he openly scorns your refusal and would kill you without batting an eyelid if you reject his views.
• Antagonist Abilities: Wulfen can turn into a very powerful Wolf Man, who might further your lycanthropy with his blows and gets healed by the light of the full moon. And he can take control of the werewolf you run the risk to become.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: He's a loathsome piece of work, and the others of the Cadre Infernal are just as bad.
• Attack Animal: He owns two pet wargs he'll immediately sic on you before fighting.
• Badass Fingersnap: He needs no more to make the aforementioned wargs jump at your throat.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Wulfen is very well dressed, being a feudal noble and all that jazz, and is as ferocious and deadly as he is dignified and regal.
• Beast Man: Comes with the werewolf territory. Under his One-Winged Angel form, he's 50% beast, 50% man and 100% monster.
• The Beastmaster: He controls every were-beast around, and in turn normal feral beasts.
• Big Bad: The Arch-Lycanthrope you must find and slay to escape becoming his thrall 'til the day you die.
• Big Fancy Castle: Played with. Castle Wulfen is huge, lavish and full of artworks, yet derelict, haunted and creepy, as Wulfen stopped housekeeping long ago, probably when becoming an Arch-Lycanthrope.
• Blue Blood: The last scion of the House of Wulfen, the noble line who ruled Lupravia for centuries.
• Blue Oni, Red Oni: Varcolac is the blue to his brother Garoul's red, being collected and in control, as opposed to the downright feral Garoul, aptly titled "the Mad Prince".
• Carpet of Virility: Fitting his ties with his inner beast...
• Continuity Nod: Several occasions.
  • You can see a painting gallery representing his family, and feeling his power through his own portrait, just like Zagor in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and Count Reiner Heydrich in Vault of the Vampire.
  • Being the Evil Overlord tyrannising a remote domain, with an equally evil yet less powerful associate who not-so-secretly manipulates you to usurp his throne. Are we talking about Count Wulfen and Countess Isolde of Maun, or Count Heydrich and his sister Katarina?
• Cool Sword: Used to own the Wulfen Sword, a massive magic blade and possible family heirloom, but he discarded it as part of his Deal with the Devil. It now bears the power to kill were-beasts, probably because of his transformation. Which predictably comes to bite him in the rear when you slay him with it.
• Cultured Badass: He is a powerful Monster Lord, and Wicked Cultured to boot.
• Deal with the Devil: Wulfen and the Cadre stipulated one with a Wolf Demon to obtain the power to rule Lupravia. He got the lion's share, or should we say the wolf's share, of the deal.
• Demonic Possession: Subverted. The Wolf Demon possesses him, giving him his powers, though he lets Wulfen in control, as they share the same goals.
  • Played straight after you kill Wulfen. The Wolf Demon takes full control and reanimates his still transformed corpse to fight you through it.
  • If you kill Varcolac but are too badly marked by the curse, the Wolf Demon deems you a better host and possesses you instead, to remain the Evil Overlord of Lupravia through your hapless shell.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: Wulfen is a ruthless tyrant, who cares more about expanding his pack and letting it run wild than the welfare of his subjects. His rule causes nothing but misery and gloom.
• The Dreaded: Wulfen is much feared by everyone in Lupravia. Even though very few know what he has become, many have heard horrid stories about his family, and most know him as a vicious tyrant.
• Evil Eyebrows: Thick eyebrows obscuring his eyes.
• Evil Overlord: The evil ruler of a gloomy domain, with dark powers and control over monsters.
• Evil Versus Evil: Displayed between him and Countess Isolde of Maun. She tries and plots to usurp him, but he knows and does not care.
• Exotic Extended Marriage: Wulfen fits the polygamy aspect of the tropes by having three wives, all clearly subservient to him. Pretty much like the alpha of the pack...
• Expy: His appearance, role, powers and transformation call to mind a certain version of Count Dracula... Down to the looks, nobility title, the Slouch of Villainy and the lavish yet derelict castle.
• Feed It with Fire: The Changeling spell does affect him, but by giving him a +1 skill +3 stamina power boost. Best avoid using it.
• Femme Fatalons: A male example sporting long, sharp, pointed nails like a wolf's claws. Justified in that lycanthropy turns the bearer's nails like this to make them a Natural Weapon even as a human.
• Feudal Overlord: What he was before jumping straight into the Evil Overlord zone. And what he still is, Lupravia being rightfully his to rule, no matter how bad it gets.
• Final Boss: Wulfen fights you under his very powerful Arch-Lycanthrope form, with skill 12 stamina 16. If he strikes you even once, he adds 1 to your change score.
• Fisher King: Lupravia hardly ever was a tourist resort, but Wulfen and his lovely pets turned it into a shadow of its normal self. The Wolf Demon's influence is certainly no stranger to it.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: As Varcolac had everything firmly in hand, Garoul's brash, vicious attacks would ironically become the spark setting fire to the House of Wulfen.
• Fully-Embraced Fiend: Wulfen relishes in being a werewolf, in full accordance with his already wild and violent nature. And he wants you to do the same.
• Fur Against Fang: His fellow member of the Cadre Infernal, Countess Isolde of Maun, is technically his vassal, but they have a strong rivalry going. The only reason she never made a move to usurp him is that he is too powerful even for her. As soon as you come knocking, she tries to use you in her plans.
• A Glass of Chianti: He has one in hand when you meet him. An empty one to toy with, but still...
• Glowing Eyes of Doom:
  • The illustration depicts him with a creepy gleam in his eyes.
  • His Arch-Lycanthrope form is depicted with glowing eyes, for extra scary points.
  • The Wolf Demon's eyes glow red through his sockets when he takes center stage.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: His discarded Cool Sword is the best weapon against him, and use it you will.
• Innate Night Vision: Being a werewolf, he doesn't bother lighting torches in his castle at night, for he can see as clear as day. So do his wives and you.
• Karmic Death: Ending up killed by a victim of the lycanthropy he spread all across the land, infected by the mad brother he let run wild at that, is deliciously ironic. Even better if you snuff him with the sword he relinquished for power.
• Lunacy: True to form, he draws power from the full moon. Seven turns into the Final Battle and it rises, giving him a +4 stamina boost.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Wulfen lives in a magnificent castle with a large library and other exquisite works of art. Played with though, since it's all unkempt and dust-covered, as if he long lost interest.
• Meaningful Name: Wulfen is kind of self-explanatory, and the varcolac is the mythological being which inspired the legends of both vampires and werewolves.
• Monster Lord: Being an Arch-Lycanthrope, he's this to Lupravia's entire population of were-beasts.
• Monster Progenitor: He swarmed the entire Lupravia with were-beasts of all sorts: wolves, bears, hybrids, even rats and bats. They in turn spread the curse further.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Less glaring than most, but his name still screams "vicious wolf monster out to rip you to shreds"...
• Natural Weapon: He turns into a werewolf to slash at you with claws and fangs putting daggers to shame.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: Averted. Wulfen's Arch-Lycanthrope form can be harmed by all sorts of weapons, but is extra vulnerable to its Achilles' Heel.
  • Played straight however, as only weapons that can fall a werewolf work against the Wolf Demon possessing his corpse. If you have none you're wolf food.
• No-Sell: Several instances:
  • Using a mirror or a cross against him is useless and leaves you open to a painful counter-attack.
  • Normal weapons don't even scratch the Wolf Demon who seals your doom.
• Obviously Evil: While there is no outward sign of the monster he truly is, a single glance can tell you that this guy is not gonna be your best pal...
• Oddly Small Organization: The Cadre Infernal has only five members: Count Varcolac Wulfen the Arch-Lycanthrope, Countess Isolde of Maun the Vampire Monarch, Serena the witch, turned Serpensa the snake woman in a freak-show, Aranaea the Black Widow turned into a real spider-woman, and the Abbot of the Black Monks, who became a giant worm. Only Varcolac and Isolde got power, the other three became grotesque and feral monsters, strong but devoid of the influence they craved so badly.
• Oh, Crap!: Even as a huge Wolf Man One-Winged Angel, he steps back in fear when he sees you with the Weapon of X-Slaying.
• One-Winged Angel: Obviously enough, Wulfen turns into an Arch-Lycanthrope to fight: a huge and massive humanoid werewolf about ten-feet tall, with a wild mane and sharp claws and fangs.
• Orcus on His Throne: Wulfen spends the story lazing around, letting his servants and his brother do the dirty work. Justified in that he already has all the power he wants, and holds Lupravia firmly in his grasp.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: No ordinary werewolf, but an Arch-Lycanthrope of demonic origins, vastly more powerful than his subjects and in full control of his metamorphosis.
• Our Zombies Are Different: The Wolf Demon possesses his corpse for the Post-Final Boss fight, turning him into a monstrous, demonic, undead lycanthrope... thing.
• Perma-Stubble: As part of his wild and unkempt look.
• Post-Final Boss: After you kill him, the Wolf Demon reanimates his corpse with skill 10 stamina 14. But while powerful, he is nowhere as dangerous as Wulfen was. And you can banish him without fight if you have all silver daggers and know the ritual.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: As a reanimated undead, the Wolf Demon is glaring at you through his dead eyes. Sweet dreams...
• Secret Circle of Secrets: Wulfen recreated the Cadre Infernal. Once a gathering of Mauristasian nobles expanding their influence through alliances and magic, self-serving but not outwardly malevolent, Wulfen twisted it into a group of power-hungry tyrants seeking power for the sake of power at all cost.
• Sequential Boss: Upon confront him, you must first deal with his pet wargs, then fight him. After some time, he is healed by moonlight while you must resist giving to the curse. And then deal with the Wolf Demon who gave him his powers.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Wulfen is clad in lavish and refined clothing, but wears them without a care, as if his title no longer meant much to him.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Varcolac remains a poised and refined nobleman, in touch with his feral side, sporting sharp features and grey hair with a black skunk stripe. In stark contrast with Garoul, who is completely feral, even the rare times he assumes his human shape, lives in wilderness leading a pack of wolves, and sports black hair with a grey streak.
• Siblings in Crime: Varcolac is the Monster Lord ruling from his Big Fancy Castle, and Garoul is The Brute who roams the country at night with his pack.
• Silver Has Mystic Powers:
  • As a werewolf, he is naturally highly vulnerable to silver. Silver crossbow bolts or bullets cost him -4 stamina and silver daggers cost him -3 stamina per blow. Fighting with a silver dagger being unpractical as you lose -1 skill. But if you wield his dagger, found in his castle, he loses -1 skill as well, evening the odds.
  • After the Wolf Demon, attacks you through his corpse, stabbing him in a pentagram pattern with the Cadre Infernal's five silver daggers banishes him back to the Demonic Planes without fight. If you don't, each silver dagger you stab him with costs him -2 stamina before fighting.
• Symbiotic Possession: Wulfen and the Wolf Demon are so alike, that the former remains in control.
• Skippable Boss: Not Wulfen himself of course, but the Wolf Demon, provided you have the five silver daggers and know how to use them.
• Slouch of Villainy: How he sits on his throne, his two wargs at his sides. And boy does he do it with style. Just look at the picture for Titan's sake!
• Strong Family Resemblance: The family's portrait gallery show that they all share the same noble and stern yet somehow feral-looking traits. Being siblings, Varcolac and Garoul look especially similar, down to the stigmata of lycanthropy: Garoul has black hair with a grey skunk stripe, even as a wolf, while Varcolac has grey hair with a black streak, but turns entirely black as an Arch-Lycanthrope.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Wulfen is described as sinister and menacing, yet ruggedly handsome. And the illustration does not disappoint, making him look quite attractive yet threatening.
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Wulfen manages to be Obviously Evil without outwardly demonic features. In another context he could have passed as legit. Creepy but legit.
• Throne Room Throwdown: The Final Battle unfolds before his throne.
• Transhuman Treachery: He already was a monster long before becoming a werewolf.
• Unholy Matrimony: Wulfen has three wives whom he infected with lycanthropy to turn them into creepy wolf-women. You can fight them, or sway them with gifts.
• Villain Respect: He respects you for mastering your werewolf powers and considers your rejection of them a waste, wishing for you to embrace them instead.
• Villainous Cheekbones: He sports sharp features.
• Villainous Widow's Peak: Like he's not Obviously Evil enough...
• Viral Transformation: How he spreads his curse, as per folklore. He can even make the curse take full hold of a bitten victim. If you feign to swear loyalty, you must test your cursed state, running the risk of fully becoming a werewolf and spending the rest of your life in his pack.
• We Can Rule Together: When you confront him, Wulfen offers to make you The Dragon and teach you the way of the beast, telling you to embrace lycanthropy as a blessing, not a curse. You are not impressed.
• White Hair, Black Heart: He has silvery grey hair, and while affable, he is cruel, vicious, and all in all an irredeemably vile scumbag.
• Wicked Cultured: His library is immense and well furnished, his map room a pure wonder, and he clearly knows about legends and occult science.
• Willing Channeler: Wulfen deliberately let himself get possessed by the Wolf Demon to gain power. He is so evil and feral that the demon has no control over him, and spreads evil as efficiently as the demon would have done in his skin, if not better.
• Wolf Man: In more ways than one. Even as a human, he looks feral and somehow wolf-like...
• Wolves Always Howl at the Moon: He indulges in the trope with abandon after assuming his Arch-Lycanthrope One-Winged Angel form.

Countess Isolde of Maun

Appears in: Howl of the Werewolf

A depraved noble lady who joined Count Varcolac Wulfen's Cadre Infernal, making a Deal with the Devil. Countess Isolde and Count Varcolac were the only one to actually gain from the pact and she became a Vampire Monarch. While she has lesser plot relevance than the Count, and serves as his (reluctant) vassal, she remains a powerful and dangerous threat. Unless an adventurer trying to lift their curse of lycanthropy can change it...

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• Achilles' Heel: Silver, as per tradition.
• Aerith and Bob: Isolde is, or should we say was, a regular medieval first name, while most names in the franchise are more Fantasy sounding.
• Affably Evil: Countess Isolde will be more than willing to provide any help you ask her and be a gracious, albeit interested, host. She is quite polite even when you confront her, but also scathing and spiteful in battle.
• Antagonist Abilities: A powerful enemy with dangerous Hypnotic Eyes, immune to normal weapons, whose bite deals great damage.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Pity her poor subjects as she only cares for power and control.
• Astral Projection: Countess Isolde's spectral form, that attacks you outside of her tower if you could not destroy her, is likely a variation of this.
• Badass Cape: Countess Isolde is a powerful Vampire Lady, who true to form wears an Ominous Opera Cape. The black and white illustration makes it hard to see, but it is there.
• Big Bad Wannabe: She is a powerful and cunning Vampire Monarch, who in another gamebook could have been the Big Bad. Too bad for her, Count Varcolac took the spot and does not intend to let it go. Until you enter the picture that is...
• Blue Blood: The hereditary ruler of Maun.
• Body Guarding A Badass: Not Isolde but her were-bat servant Gustav. She would much rather let him do the fighting for her. But should push comes to shove, she proves a much deadlier foe.
  • The were-bat has only skill 8 stamina 8, but can worsen your lycanthropy by striking you twice or more, and lifts you to drop you on the ground, costing -4 stamina and -1 skill, by winning two turns in a row. If Van Richten is with you, the were-bat attacks him and both die falling through the window.
• Charm Person: If you are gullible enough to trust her for help, she will enthral you with her Hypnotic Eyes, brainwashing you after killing the Wolf Demon and making you her slave for the rest of your life.
• Classical Movie Vampire: A noble woman living in a derelict but lavish castle, complete with an Ominous Opera Cape, Hypnotic Eyes, mist transformation and resting in coffins, among others. Jonathan Green sure knows his classics well...
• Climax Boss: You confront her at the end of her Side Quest. She is a powerful foe with skill 10 stamina 13. If she strikes you twice in a row, she bites you and costs you -3 stamina, worsening your condition.
• Continuity Nod: The fact that you cannot fully get rid of her without destroying all her coffins, is reminiscent of Count Reiner Heydrich from Vault of the Vampire and Revenge of the Vampire. Also, the way she strikes deal with you while making clear that she furthers her agenda not yours, is reminiscent of Reiner's sister Katarina.
• Cultured Badass: Like most nobles of the franchise, she is as well-read as she is powerful.
• The Dark Arts: In addition to being a vampire, Countess Isolde has knowledge of Dark Magic.
• Deal with the Devil:
  • How she became a vampire in first place.
  • Basically what "help" she gives. Complete with screwing you over after you fulfilled your part.
• Disc-One Final Boss: She has all the markings of a Big Bad and is the vilest, deadliest enemy faced so far, yet she is but a warm-up to Count Wulfen.
• Evil Old Folks: Countess Isolde's true aspect is that of an ageing, wrinkled woman.
• Evil Overlord: A rare female example. She may be (grudgingly) subservient to Count Wulfen, but she remains a Feudal Overlord with vast power, controlling evil Mooks and striving to expand her rule.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: She resides in one, gloomy and derelict yet lavish and impressive.
• Evil Versus Evil: Her rivalry with Count Wulfen is two Evil Overlords competing for dominance. No matter who wins, Lupravia is still screwed.
• Femme Fatalons: Being a vampire, her pointed nails are long and sharp enough for her to fight with.
• Feudal Overlord: Countess Isolde has complete control over the Domain of Maun.
• Flight: She does not need to turn into a bat to fly.
• Flourish Cape in Front of Face: She does this before fleeing at the sight of your Holy Symbol, complete with insults and threats.
• Fully-Embraced Fiend: She enjoys every second of undeath as a Vampire Monarch, with the powers included in the package. Then again, she already was rotten to the core as a human.
• Fur Against Fang: Countess Isolde is a Vampire Lady with a rivalry against Count Varcolac Wulfen, an Arch Lycanthrope. Enforced as Isolde and Varcolac are the sole members of the Cadre who remained sane enough to scheme against each other.
• Geas: She puts you under one if you seek her help: After winning the Final Battle, she appears and her geas puts you under control, forcing you to become her right-hand man enforcing her own tyranny.
• Ghostly Glide: She glides over the ground as she moves.
• Glamour: Countess Isolde is quite old and undeath twisted her features, but she uses her powers to look like a beautiful young woman.
• Gotta Catch Them All: You must explore her tower to destroy all her coffins, preventing her from fleeing into one away from you if you best her in a fight.
• Hiss Before Fleeing: She does this when you drive her away. After all, she is a vampire is she not?
• Holy Burns Evil: You can drive her away with a Holy Symbol or using silver chandeliers as an Improvised Cross. And skip the battle against her.
• Hypnotic Eyes: She is a vampire is she not?
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Don't think for a second that her regal clothing impedes her in a fight.
• Know When to Fold Them: She flees in Super Smoke form if you reduce her stamina to 4 or less, to rest in one of her coffins. If you did not destroy her two coffins, she hides in one of them and you cannot pursue her. If you did, she can only hide in her last coffin not far away, and you stake her with your blade.
• Lady of Black Magic: She is a refined and dignified noble lady, with great Dark Powers.
• Lady of War: She is a refined and dignified noble lady, and a deadly fighter.
• Lord Country: Countess Isolde of Maun, ruler of... you name it, the burg of Maun.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Woman, but you get the picture. She "lives" (ahem) in luxury and she enjoys it.
• Manipulative Bastard: Well bitch in that case. Countess Isolde is pretty good in using people, even prospective foes, to do her bidding.
• Must Be Invited: She is a vampire, is she not? In the Non-Standard Game Over in which she makes you her slave after you kill the Big Bad, you open the window to let her in.
• Natural Weapon: Countess Isolde fights with her nails and fangs, and does not need anything else.
• Never Mess with Granny: She is quite old, albeit too vain to show it, but remains a cunning and deadly foe that must never be underestimated.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: You stand no chance against her with normal weapons.
• No Body Left Behind: Destroyed undeads rarely leave corpses.
• Oddly Small Organization: The Cadre Infernal has only five members: Count Varcolac Wulfen the Arch-Lycanthrope, Countess Isolde of Maun the Vampire Monarch, Serena the witch, turned Serpensa the snake woman in a freak-show, Aranaea the Black Widow turned into a real spider-woman, and the Abbot of the Black Monks, who became a giant worm. Only Varcolac and Isolde gained power, the other three were turned into grotesque and feral monsters, strong but devoid of the influence they craved so badly.
• Ominous Opera Cape: She is a vampire is she not?
• Our Ghosts Are Different: Countess Isolde attacks you as a vampiric spectre outside her tower, if you vanquished her but didn't smash all her coffins. Whether it is her under her Super Smoke or a form of Astral Projection is unclear though. Under this form, she only has skill 8 stamina 6, but she might weaken you by -1 skill if she strikes you through Vampiric Draining.
• Our Vampires Are Different: She became a Vampire following a Karmic Transformation delivered by the Deal with the Devil above, and her Dark Powers go beyond the classical vampiric abilities.
• Purple Is Powerful: Countess Isolde wears a purple robe and is a Vampire Monarch to be reckoned with.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: She wears a black and red cape.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: She is a vampire, is she not?
• Reduced to Dust: Like any Classical Movie Vampire worth their salt, after being staked.
• Route Boss: Only faced if you complete the Maun side-quest, but the most plot-relevant one faced in the story.
• Secret Circle of Secrets: She is part of the recreated Cadre Infernal. Once a gathering of Mauristasian nobles meant to expand their influence through alliances and magic, self-serving but not outwardly malevolent, twisted into a group of power-hungry tyrants who sought power for the sake of power no matter the cost.
• Sequential Boss: If you confront her, you must first resist her hypnosis, then fight her were-bat servant, then fight her, and finally take her down for good.
• Silver Has Mystic Powers: You can only harm her with a silver dagger. Fighting with it does not come in handy though, so you lose -1 skill.
• Simple, yet Opulent: Her clothing is lavish, but without ornaments and excess.
• Sinister Surveillance: In several ways:
  • Countess Isolde is able to watch you as you progress in her tower, through portraits in her likeness.
  • She can even keep tab on her foes away from her tower, and use her Black Magic from afar.
• Skippable Boss:
  • Nothing forces you to venture into her tower, you can ignore her and win the gamebook just fine.
  • Even then, you can force her to flee without fight with Holy Symbols, in true vampire-hunter style.
• The Starscream: Countess Isolde wishes to extend her domain from the burg of Maun to the entire Lupravia, but Count Wulfen is far too powerful for her and she has to obey him. And that's where you enter the scene...
• Summon Magic: She can call forth faceless, tentacled darkness spirits known as Tenebraes, and will do if you were not stealthy enough when exploring her Evil Tower of Ominousness, before the Boss Battle against her. Fortunately, they pose little trouble and can be weakened by the light of a torch.
• Super Smoke: Countess Isolde can turn into a cloud of black mist to travel or escape.
• Super-Strength: What makes her a dangerous foe.
• Tactical Withdrawal: When defeated in battle, she escapes in a hidden coffin with her last strength. Or her main coffin if the others are reduced to burning wood.
• Transhuman Treachery: Like every member of the Cadre, she was a power-hungry bitch long before she became an undead.
• Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: If she manages to bite you, she deals great damage but cannot drain you dry because the curse of lycanthropy makes your blood repulsive.
  • If you got the werewolf-related condition Cursed Bloodline, this trope makes it backfire on her, as your blood is so infected with lycanthropy that drinking it harms her by -3 in stamina.
• Undeath Always Ends: Your task is to make sure of it.
• Undeathly Pallor: Why, she is a vampire is she not?
• Unskilled, but Strong: Only hinted at, but she prefers Super Strength and Victory by Endurance over proper technique...
• Vain Sorceress: Countess Isolde would much rather appear as a beautiful young woman than the twisted old undead she really is.
• Vampire Bites Suck: She bites you if she strikes you twice in a row, dealing greater damage.
• Vampire Monarch: Doubtless the second most notable of the franchise, after Count Heydrich himself.
• Vampires Are Rich: Vampires or not, Feudal Overlords like Countess Isolde are pretty loaded.
• Vampires Sleep in Coffins: The one trope no Classical Movie Vampire can escape.
• Vampiric Draining: She might use this move normally, but only does so under an Astral Projection.
• Victory by Endurance: If you face her with normal weapons, she No Sells everything you throw at her until you are too exhausted to defend yourself, and then she moves for the kill.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: She can turn into a bat or a cloud of smoke.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Countess Isolde has silver hair and has zero redeeming quality.
• Wicked Cultured: An influential aristocrat with a vast knowledge and library.

Myurr

See his entry on the The Pit page under The Snake Demons, Rulers of the Pit

The Shadow King

See his entry on the Pit page under Night Demons and other Demon Princes.

Conquerors and Warlords

Balthazar Sturm

Appears in: Stormslayer

A powerful Weather Mage who was part of the High Council of Wizards of Chalannabrad, capital of the Kingdom of Femfrey. Until his unethical and dangerous experiments got him banished, that is. He built the Eye of the Storm: a huge Steampunk flying ship from which he can control the weather, and allied himself to the warlord Khaddan Khan from the neighbouring kingdom of Lendleland, threatening the entire continent with his yearning for revenge. But destroying the village of Vastarin attracted the attention of the Hero of Tannatown, an adventurer famous for many victories against evil swears to enact justice...

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• Aerith and Bob: A common first name like Balthazar is paradoxically quite uncommon in Titan, where more esoteric names are the norm.
• Antagonist Abilities: Not only can he use the Elemental Shapeshifter trick four times, no less, but his Flight and Shock and Awe powers complicate the Final Battle. Depending on which day it is, one of his elements will be empowered.
• Ax-Crazy: Violently demented, and out to wreak utter destruction all over Femfrey and the Old World.
• Bad Samaritan: He funded Inigo Crank's research in mechanics and machinery, only to steal them for his nefarious purposes.
• Badass Boast: When you confronts him, he gloats that he controls the elements and that you cannot defeat him. Indeed he controls them, and indeed he is a foe to be reckoned with... But so are you.
  • Refreshingly enough, you answer with a Badass Boast of your own, doubling as a Shut Up, Hannibal!, telling him that you defeated your fair share of Evil Overlords, and that one more or one less is just Tuesday for you. And indeed, you get the last laugh.
• Badass Cape: Sturm Wears a magic cloth that changes colour and substance following the element he is using, ornate with ever-changing motives representing said element.
• Badass Longcoat: His cape is depicted as this in the illustration.
• Bald of Evil: Sturm has not a single hair atop his skull, and is a thoroughly despicable human being.
• Beard of Evil: A small goatee of pure "evil scumbag" style.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: From a protector of the realm to the one craving for its destruction.
• Big Bad: The mad Weather Mage out to wreck Femfrey for Revenge, whom you swear to destroy.
• Blow You Away: In the fourth stage of the Final Battle, he transforms into a very powerful living maelstrom with skill 12 stamina 10, who fortunately gets no power-boost when fought on a Wind-day. Summoning Arkolith the Earth Elemental smothers him. Without him, you must fight to reduce his stamina to 3.
• Boss Rush: Sturm is one all by himself. You might fight him no less than five times in succession, one for each element he turns into, and a final one under his normal form. You can skip the fight with the element transformations by summoning the Elementals that can neutralize them.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: He keeps Inigo Crank prisoner to use him to repair the ship, whether he wants it or not, in case something went awry.
• Continuity Nod: Playing Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors with Greater Elementals against a powerful wizard expert in the trade, evokes the Final Battle against Oldoran Zagor in Return to Firetop Mountain.
• Cool Ship: The Eye of the Storm is a gigantic, fish-shaped aircraft channelling his Weather Magic, as well as the power of Greater Elementals, and uses them to wreak all sort of climatic havoc.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: Sturm seeks to take over the kingdom of Femfrey, or what is left of it after he is done with his cataclysms.
• Dishing Out Dirt: During the second stage of the Final Battle, he transforms into a dangerous ten-feet tall rock colossus, with skill 9 stamina 12 (+1 skill +2 stamina when fought on an Earth-day). He loses -3 stamina with a bludgeoning weapon. Summoning Oceanus the Water Elemental erodes him away. Without him, you must fight to reduce his stamina to 3.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He was banished by the Council of Wizards, within reason mind you, so he swore to destroy them all and to wreck the kingdom they serve before taking it over, killing hundreds of innocents who just happened to be in the way. This guy and the concept of "measure" make two...
• Elemental Powers: Like Zagor, Sturm specialises in Elemental Magic and is powerful enough to master the Four Major Elements, while most Elemental Mages can only focus on one. He summoned Greater Elementals (among the mightiest beings in existence), and sealed them in his Steampunk aircraft to syphon their power. You must gather Greater Elementals of your own to use against him.
• Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: When he turns to an element in the Final Battle, you can counter him with another. Air blows out Fire, Fire evaporates Water, Water erodes Earth and Earth smothers Air.
• Elemental Shapeshifter: Sturm turns into four very powerful elemental versions of himself to fight you, until he runs out of elements. He turns into Fire, then Earth, then Water, then Air.
• Evil Eyebrows: Casting shade on his hollowed eyes.
• Evil Gloating: Posturing and boasting his pretty much all he does.
• Evil Is Petty: The Council of Wizards banished him because his experiments were potentially disastrous, and he wastes no time proving them right by unleashing untold disasters, just because he could not stand contradiction. Really mature there...
• Evil Sorcerer: Notice a trend?
• Fallen Hero: He was once a respected member of the Council of Wizards, until he started delving into very dangerous experiments...
• Fan Disservice: A well-toned Walking Shirtless Scene wearing tights should normally be easy on the eyes, but his Bald of Evil, the demented gleam in his eyes, his thuggish face and his all-around twisted features makes him as unappealing as possible.
• Final Boss: You first have to defeat all his One-Winged Angel forms before facing him in person. He is a powerful foe with skill 10 stamina 10 (+1 skill when fought on a Storm-day). He is hard to reach as he flies, costing you -1 skill unless you can drink a Levitation Potion, and blasts you with lightning, costing -2 stamina if you fight him with a blunt weapon, -3 stamina if you fight him on a Storm-day or with a sword, and -4 if both. He dies sucked out of the broken windows when you reduces his stamina to 2.
• Flight: Sturm can fly using air currents and winds.
• Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: Clearly evil ones, wide with narrow pupils and a permanent demented look.
• Good Hair, Evil Hair: Few good guys have no hair but a nasty-looking goatee...
• Hoist by His Own Petard: He his killed by the hero who witnessed first-hand the destruction he could bring, being in the first town he attacked.
  • You can call the Greater Elementals to defeat him, besting him in his own field of Elemental Magic.
  • His falling aircraft drops right on the troops of The Dragon Khaddan Khan, killing him and The Horde he rules, saving Femfrey as their army was too disoriented by the apocalyptic storms to retaliate.
• It's Personal: You were investigating the strange hurricane that devastated the village you were taking shelter in. Upon learning that this is the doing of a crazy, power-hungry Evil Sorcerer, you swear that he will be another name on your quite furbished hit-list of Big Bads. And so he will.
• Karmic Death: He dies sucked out of the broken windows of his aircraft into the void. In other words: he who kills by the storm shall perish by the storm.
• Load-Bearing Boss: Justified, as it is the damage you dealt to his Cool Ship before and during the Final Battle that causes it to explode.
• Magitek: Sturm combines sorcery and mechanics to build magic-powered Steampunk machines, and fitting lesser Thunder Spirits into isolated combinations to use as workers and gaolers.
• Making a Splash: During the third stage of the Final Battle, he transforms into a powerful humanoid flood with skill 11 stamina 11 (+1 skill +2 stamina when fought on a Seaday), who can swipe you off your feet and cost -2 stamina and -1 skill for the first turn, until you get back up. Summoning Vulcanus the Fire Elemental evaporates him. Without him, you must fight to reduce his stamina to 3.
• Meaningful Name: In German, his last name means... Oh come on! Only one letter needs changing...
• No Shirt, Long Jacket: The illustration depicts him wearing his Badass Longcoat like this.
• One-Winged Angel: He turns into a monster to fight you, four times. See Elemental Shape Shifter above.
• Playing with Fire: During the first stage of the Final Battle, he transforms into a powerful fiery humanoid, with skill 10 stamina 9 (+1 of each when fought on a Fire-day). Summoning Zephyrus the Air Elemental blows him out, but you won't be able to use him to avoid falling to your death after killing Sturm so you'd better have another way. If not, fight him and reduce his stamina to 3.
• Post-Climax Confrontation: Played with as despite it being quite an ordeal and the direct result of the climax, it's not a confrontation... After you get rid of him, you must still escape safely from the aircraft as it crashes to the ground; either by calling a Pegasus, summoning Zephyrus the Air Elemental, or by having a parachute. If you cannot, victory does not save you from plummeting to your doom.
• Power Floats: Sturm floats in the air during the final battle, which makes him harder to reach while you stay on the ground, costing you -1 skill for the Final Battle.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "Feel the power of the storm" says he before going all Shock and Awe on you.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Sturm is an unhinged madman in what amounts to a child throwing a tantrum for being punished because he knowingly played with matches near a flaming material.
• Revenge Myopia: What better way to avenge a slight from a select few people than destroying their entire country and everyone in the way? Really mature there...
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: His attacks on Femfrey are this against the Council of Wizards that banished him, and the entire kingdom while he is at it. This filth sure can hold a grudge.
• Sequential Boss: You will first fight his Fire Form, second his Earth Form, third his Water Form, fourth his Air Form, and finally his normal form.
• Shock and Awe: After you vanquished his four elemental transformations, he fights you one last time with blasts of lightning. He gains power when fought on a Storm-day, and deals greater damage if you fight with a sword, as it conducts electricity.
• Smug Snake: Sturm sure loves to gloat and considers himself invincible. Guess what? He's not. Story-wise, he's not even that scary for you, The Hero, who makes it quite clear.
• Sorcerous Overlord: Not only does he control a Cool Ship full of monsters, but he spreads his influence all over the land and commands a powerful army that threatens to invade the kingdom.
• Steampunk: His signature style, as all his machines from his airship to his mech-golems look steam powered, in a Medieval Stasis Fantasy setting.
• Summon Magic: He can summon elemental spirits, mostly thunder ones. And don't get him started on Greater Elementals.
• Villainous Cheekbones: Talk about sharp features...
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Sturm is surprisingly buff for an Evil Sorcerer, in an aversion of Squishy Wizard, but still too creepy to count as anything else than Fan Disservice.
• Weapon of Mass Destruction: His aircraft can cause climatic catastrophes of untold scale: blizzards, sandstorms, hurricanes, storms, droughts, among other delicious treats...
• Weather Manipulation: A Weather Mage, who controls climatic variations. Taken up to eleven with his ship, with which he can cause untold disasters.

Belgaroth

Appears in: Knights of Doom | Night of the Necromancer (mentioned)

A monstrous, undead, sorcerous Chaos Lord, and one of the franchise's worst SNK Bosses. Belgaroth was once one of the Knight Templars of the Warrior God Telak, younger brother of King Chivalras IX of Ruddlestone, but he forsook both his brother and his god in his lust for power. He established his own Templars in the name of the Dark Gods, the Knights of Doom. His initial attempt at taking over the kingdom resulted in the gruelling Crusade Against Chaos, ending with his death, pierced by the legendary hero Sir Rhyaddan with the Elven Spear Aelfgar. Alas, after a hundred years, Belgaroth has returned from the dead and amassed another army and new followers, intending to steal the throne once more. But he shall find another paladin on his path...

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• 24-Hour Armour: He never takes off his Armour, and he is very likely no longer be able to...
• Achilles' Heel: You stand no chance to finish him off for good without the Elven Spear Aelfgar.
• Alien Blood: Hideous green slime oozes from his wounds, just to emphasize how deep he has fallen.
• Ambition Is Evil: Wanting to rule instead of their (worthier) brother is never the mark of virtuous characters. He did at first genuinely, albeit mistakenly, believed himself to be better for the realm, but envy and thirst for power soon eclipsed any good intention he had...
• Antagonist Abilities: Part of what makes him so frustratingly hard. He is a powerhouse with max stats, whose overpowered Evil Weapon and Damage Reduction give the impression of poking him with a stick while he bashes you with a sledgehammer. Not to mention his deadly magic...
• Back from the Dead: He got killed a hundred years ago, but returned more evil and twisted than ever.
• Bad Powers, Bad People: Belgaroth corrupts people, withers the land, spreads plagues after plagues, and summons hellish monsters... No way he could be anything less than the Big Bad.
• Badass Cape: He wears a long, dark cape that expands his frame.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: Belgaroth used to be The Paladin, stalwart if over-zealous, with God-given powers, and a trusted protector of the realm. He is now a cruel Tin Tyrant empowered by dark forces, out to turn the realm into a desolate land of Chaos.
• Big Bad: The evil Chaos Lord, who must be taken down to save the land.
• Black Knight: Pretty much the basis of his character.
• Black Swords Are Better: Belgaroth certainly thinks so. See Evil Weapon below for more details.
• Blood Knight: He was violent and warmongering even before his corruption, and coveted the throne because he deemed his brother weak, lenient and unworthy... Note that said brother is remembered as one of the best monarchs the realm ever knew. Might is not enough to rule, who could have thought?
• The Caligula: It is a good thing that Belgaroth never became king. His obsession with ruling with an iron fist and needlessly dominating the neighbouring nations would have spelled the kingdom's doom.
• Cain and Abel: He reviled his brother, and launched his invasion to steal his throne.
• The Corrupter: Belgaroth can channel power in the Runes of Chaos to corrupt anyone into evil and twisted version of themselves, with no hope of turning back. You must win a difficult test of honour to resist, or become a Chaos Knight at his command. He can also do it through his Evil Weapon.
• Cowardly Boss: He flees like a coward when bested and lets the Traitor alert his guards to overwhelm you while you're busy. You can only track him down after unmasking and killing said Traitor...
• Damage Reduction: His armour makes him lose only 1 stamina point instead of the regular 2 when hit.
• The Dark Arts: Belgaroth is quite adept with them, casting all sorts of curses and summoning evil spirits whenever he can.
• Dark Is Evil: He is rotten to the core, wears black armour and hurls black lightning...
• Despotism Justifies the Means: Belgaroth gave up his family, his faith, his humanity, and ultimately his very life for a grab for power... What a waste...
• Dirty Coward: For all his bravado and scorn for weakness, Belgaroth flees without turning back when beaten, letting his guards do the work and doing anything he can to avoid another confrontation.
• Dragged Off to Hell: As soon as you strike him down for good, a dimensional vortex opens to send him and the entire Very Definitely Final Dungeon back to the Realm of the Damned, the nightmarish afterlife where the wicked suffer for eternity. And after all he put you through, it's hard not to cheer.
• The Dreaded: Even a hundred years after his death, his name alone still frightens everyone in Ruddlestone. When the king announces that he has returned even the Badass Crew of Templars get an Oh, Crap! moment.
• Evil Counterpart: To his brother and to the current king, who leads the order of Holy Templars in contrast to his Chaos Knights.
• Evil Is Hammy: Like you would not believe. Taunts, threats and curses are like this sod's native tongue.
• Evil Is Petty: Belgaroth did not get (nor deserved) the throne, so he renounced his King and his God, and very nearly destroyed the whole kingdom he coveted so much. Twice. Overreacting much?
• Evil Overlord: Dark Powers ? Check! Obviously Evil? Check! Creepy Supervillain Lair? Check! Armies of monsters? Check! Evil influence? Check! Threatens the land by himself? Checkmate! He is even a Dark Is Evil Tin Tyrant, and a Fallen Hero for crying out loud!
• The Evil Prince: The younger brother of King Chivalras IX, who coveted his brother's crown.
• Evil Sorcerer: Subverted. The narration does describe him as such, and he is indeed no slouch with The Dark Arts, but instead he is pretty much Fighting Fantasy's answer to the Chaos Lords from Warhammer.
• Evil Weapon: Belgaroth wields a great, black rune-sword ornate with the Runes of Chaos, which inflicts -3 stamina instead of 2 and depletes your Karma Meter, which can turn you into a Chaos Knight at his beck and call should it falls to zero.
• The Faceless: You never get to see what he looks like under his helmet, and that's probably for the best.
• Fallen Hero: He was once one of the holy Templar's of Telak, one of the mightiest forces of Good in the continent of the Old World. Too bad his jealousy and his harsh disposition got the better of him.
• Final Boss: Easily one of the hardest of the franchise. It takes much more than beating him to win.
• Frontline General: Being a warlord through and through, he fought on the first lines during the Crusade Against Chaos. If your quest takes too long, he leads his troops to invade Ruddlestone in the Bad Ending.
• Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: His eyes glow an eerie light under his helmet.
• Green-Eyed Monster: His bitter jealousy for his brother's throne led to his downfall, then his death when attempting to seize the throne by force; delusionally fancying himself as better suited to be king...
• Hellish Horse: He rides a black, winged demon steed known as a Night-Mare, and can sic it against foes. It is a powerful monster with skill 10 stamina 11, but he recalls it after its stamina drops to 6 or less.
• High-Altitude Battle: The last stage of the Final Battle takes place in a stormy sky, with him riding his winged Hellish Horse and you riding a divine bird. It is as epic as it sounds.
• Horns of Villainy: Two long, straight menacing horns ornamenting his helmet.
• Hypocrite: Normally, a Blood Knight never acts like a Dirty Coward, even when bested. Not this one...
• I Have Many Names: He is known as the Dread Lord, the Dark Tyrant, the Usurping Serpent, the Iron Fist, the Warmonger of Caer Skaal, the Lord of Havoc... All promises of sunshine and rainbows.
• Jagged Mouth: His helmet figures a creepy mouth of serrated fangs.
• Magic Knight: Belgaroth is a formidable warrior, with vast dark powers and mastery of magic on the side.
• Master Swordsman: He "lives" and breathes through fighting, so it goes without saying that he is a consummate expert in the field.
• Might Makes Right: Belgaroth's mindset in a nutshell. In his twisted point of view, anything else than a ruthless Blood Knight is a weakling unfit to rule... But he'd rather flee with his tail between his legs like the cowardly hypocrite he is, rather than admitting defeat.
• Monster Lord: A Chaos Lord, superior to Chaos Knights and Chaos warriors, commanding every chaotic being around, even causing their rise all over.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Belgaroth sounds quite ominous. And the least we speak of his many titles the better.
• Obviously Evil: Just one look tells you that he is really not the kind of guy you would take for a drink...
• Praetorian Guard: The Knights of Doom serve as his own, who must be destroyed before facing him. They are powerful and dangerous foes with skill 10 stamina 12, Damage Reduction and blades that can deal greater damage than normal. You stand no chance against the whole lot, and must cast the Five Words of Power to destroy them, risking getting destroyed by the power it unleashes.
• Princeling Rivalry: Younger princes jealous of their kingly brothers are almost more commonplace than loyal vassals in stories, and this one is no exception...
• Rage Helm: Wears one as scary and evil looking as possible, complete with Horns of Villainy and a Jagged Mouth.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: The Knights of Doom might be a formidable Badass Crew, but he makes them look like green-horns. While the Chaos Champion is as skilled a fighter as he is, his enormous dark powers keep him firmly on top.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: He is clad from head to toe in a black suit of armour covered in red sigils.
• Red Baron: He has many, but the most recurring one throughout the story is the Dread Lord. See I Have Many Names higher to see them all.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He turns tail like a filthy coward as soon as you best him, and takes great care to avoid a direct confrontation from then on, until you leave him no choice. For such a powerful and arrogant Big Bad, it clearly illustrates the vile, insecure bullies they often are under the threatening allure and posturing.
• Sequential Boss: The other reason he's so frustratingly hard. You must overcome ordeal after ordeal before and after the fight, to earn the immense satisfaction of ending the sod.
  1) Prying open the doors to his throne room. No kidding. Use magic tree sap.
  2) Destroying his Knights of Doom and fighting the super tough survivors. Use a dangerous spell.
  3) Winning a hard test of honour to resist his corruption.
  4) Surviving his bolt of black lightning.
  5) Besting him in a nightmarish battle.
  6) Having gotten rid of the Assassin's Dagger.
  7) Unmasking and killing the traitor, hopefully a laughable Breather Boss.
  8) Fighting his powerful Hellish Horse.
  9) Having a flying mount to go after him as he flies away, and surviving the storm he causes. by summoning the divine bird Celastrix.
  10) Successfully piercing him with the Weapon of X-Slaying (if you have it), or get killed by his black bolt.
  No big deal, right?
• Shock and Awe: One of his new powers is casting a bolt of black lightning that cost -5 stamina, or obliterates you if you wield a Black Orb. It will also dismount you if you duel him in the sky.
• Single-Stroke Battle: Either you or him win after landing a hit in the final stage of the Final Battle. Justified as it is a High-Altitude Battle in which being struck sends you plummeting to your doom, while you throw the Weapon of X-Slaying to pierce his heart.
• Skeleton Motif: His emblem is a skull over a tower, and his castle is named "Caer Skaal", basically the Skull Fortress. Seriously, how could Chivalras not guess that he was turning bad from that clue alone?
• Skeletons in the Coat Closet: Dons a skeleton-shaped armour, covered with skulls and Spikes of Villainy.
• Skull for a Head: Wears a skull-shaped helmet, that has become for all intent and purpose his true head.
• SNK Boss: Doubtless the second hardest of the franchise after the infamous Razaak from Crypt of the Sorcerer. He is a formidable foe with skill 12 stamina 17 and Damage Reduction, mowing down your Life Meter and Karma Meter with each strike of his Evil Weapon. Fortunately, the battle ends when his stamina drops to 7. Unfortunately fighting him is but one step of a nightmarish Sequential Boss battle. You need very high skill, stamina and honour scores to even stand a chance, not to mention all you need to survive all he throws at you. Good luck, you'll need it.
• Spikes of Villainy: His armour is covered with spikes.
• Summon Magic: He conjures an Assassin Dagger at the start of your quest, a ghastly hand wielding a dagger, that tracks you down wherever you go and attacks you with skill 10. You must get rid of it at all cost, by Exorcism or a special potion, lest it fatally stabs you during the Final Battle. He also summons his Hellish Horse and other Hell Hounds and demons from the Pit.
• Take Over the World: Downplayed. He merely (so to speak) wants to take over the kingdom of Ruddlestone, which he considers his to rule. He is implied to covet the continent, if not the world though.
• Throne Room Throwdown: You confront the sod before his throne, in true Evil Overlord fashion.
• Tin Tyrant: A bad guy clad in a dark Armour.
• The Undead: He and his Knights of Doom returned as undead of an unspecified kind. He is more likely a sort of revenant or lich. Being undead made him unsurprisingly even more twisted and evil that he was when corrupted but alive.
• Undeath Always Ends: After you destroy him and his entire Badass Crew of undead Chaos Knights.
• Unholy Matrimony: He married a powerful Wicked Witch as evil as he is named Morgwyn, who threw herself from the highest tower of their castle after his death, and returned as a demented spectre you must fight. With skill 9, stamina 9, immunity to normal weapon, nasty Black Magic and a Life Drain touch, she is not a foe to be trifled with.
• Walking Wasteland: His presence alone slowly wastes the entire country, and condemns the king himself to an incurable illness, for the king and the realm are linked.
• Was Once a Man: He used to be a holy knight, but is now a hideously twisted undead, bordering on Humanoid Abomination.

Karam Gruul

Appears in: Moonrunner

The ruthless Inquisitor General of the kingdom of Brice, who rose to infamy during the gruelling War of the Four Kingdoms, by becoming a war criminal of the worst kind. He is now wanted all over the continent of the Old World, though presumed dead. Alas, not only is he still alive, but he secretly rebuilt a considerable power base, exerting his influence all over the lawless frontier-town of Blackhaven that links the nations of Gallantaria, Brice and Mauristasia. There, he controls pretty much the entire underworld and plots in total secret to restart the war. Peace cannot truly exist with him out there, but there is one Bounty Hunter determined to bring him to justice, whatever it takes...

Karam Gruul might look like your typical Evil Sorcerer and Evil Genius who must be taken down, but light-years beyond your usual High Fantasy quest, you will find yourself neck-deep in a nerve-wracking detective story, that would not be out of place in a Film Noir. You cannot prevail here without stealth and guile...

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• 0% Approval Rating: No one likes this wretch. It is telling that even his lieutenants are wary of him. Which you can use to your advantage.
• Actually a Doombot: Thought you had caught him? Too bad pal, that it was just a Mandrake assuming his shape, which he uses as a decoy.
• Affably Evil: The sod is haughty but impeccably civil. He will never hesitate to threaten and torture you when he can, especially when you thwart him, but he genuinely respects your skills and treats your Battle of Wits like an enjoyable game. Even his Evil Gloating shows an amount of respect.
• Ambiguously Human: Karam Gruul looks human and is described as a normal mortal by most, except that he has Pointy Ears and is Really 700 Years Old.
• Animate Dead: He is no Necromancer, but he can raise Voodoo Zombies to serve as mindless slaves, and dangerous Fog Walkers undeads who spread a deadly plague. Not to mention the powerful Corpse Master serving as one of his lieutenants, summoned from a limbo-like dimension.
• Antagonist Abilities: He masters nasty spells he devised himself, and you need one specific counter for each. Lack one and you're in trouble. Counter all however, and you'll wipe the smug grin off his face... at least for now. But his deadliest asset will always be his diabolical intelligence.
• Bad Guy Bar: Some of his agents like to spend time in the seedy tavern of the Last Octupus, a gathering of vermin. This is in fact the main cover to keep the many fronts of his gang Hidden in Plain Sight.
• Badass Bookworm: He is a ruthless and competent inquisitor, an exceptionally intelligent mastermind, tactician, and schemer, as well as a very powerful wizard, whose magic is more than enough to overcome the best warriors in the unlikely event that he would ever need to fight.
• Badass Longrobe: As a magic-wielding Fu Manchu, he cannot wear anything else. He dons a long, flowing one covered with his cabal's symbol.
• Bald Mystic: He is a very powerful sorcerer, masterfully intelligent and charismatic, and his baldness gives him quite some style.
• Bald of Evil: Hairless and heartless...
• Big Bad: The reviled war criminal wanted all around the Four Kingdoms, who controls a huge network of spies and terrorist agents, as well as pretty much every group in the Wretched Hive he is based in, and used you as his personal, Super-Soldier assassin.
• Black Mage: He casts vicious curses and magic attacks in battle.
• Body Double: He uses one to keep himself surrounded in total secrecy. The one who poses as him is in fact a shape-shifting Mandrake who must be unmasked with fire.
• The Chessmaster: Hands down the best one of the entire franchise, always three steps ahead of you.
• Court-martialed: Your end-goal is to make him this, by capturing him and bringing him to face justice.
• Covert Group with Mundane Front: His cabal is hidden behind another cabal, found in a seemingly innocuous tavern whose only purpose is in fact to serve as the meeting point for his many agents.
• Crazy-Prepared: The number of counter-measures and incentives he devised to every possible situation is positively staggering. Hiding places, decoys, false leads, assassins, this wretch leaves nothing to chance. You could swear he has the Evil Overlord List on his bedpost... He plants deliberately false clues during his assassinations, to lead wannabe investigators into deadly traps, just to name one.
• The Dark Arts: Not only did he mastered them, but he came up with a brand new one he called the Notura, an eldritch mix of alchemy, sorcery and physiology powered by the very rare beings known as the Ectoplasmic Lurkers. It has multiple use ranging from Mind Manipulation to Transformation Horror, to monster creation, to curses, and so on and so forth...
• Death Trap: Gruul can come up with ones that would make every James Bond villain green with envy, with lots of nasty details added to make them as inescapable as can be. He hid them everywhere, in the most innocuous places. Constant Vigilance!
  • He sets up a medieval variation of Trapped in a Sinking Car.
  • He devised a Drowning Pit rigged to prevent all means of escape of course.
  • An alchemic Deadly Gas that dissolves everything and everyone it touches.
  • An alchemic variation of the Acid Pool right before you confront him.
• Deflector Shields: He can conjure a Force Wall of energy during the Final Battle, in exchange of -1 Notura. It harms anyone at contact and costs -1 skill. The Mask of Belthegor neutralizes it.
• Diabolical Mastermind: He built an intricate conspiracy of warmongers, answering to the delicious and flowery name of the Cabal of the Werewolf, expanding it to control Blackhaven in all but name.
• Doomsday Device: The major crux (but far from the only one) of Gruul's Evil Plan is to obliterate opposition with a Weapon of Mass Destruction he devised himself.
• The Dreaded: Everyone in the Old World is terrified of him. And rightly so.
• Dystopia Justifies the Means: His ultimate goal is to impose his rule everywhere, most likely to play the War Hawk and The Inquisitor General over every population, and Titan only knows what else.
• Emperor Scientist: He pretty much rules the entire Wretched Hive you search him in, and covets much more. His magical breakthrough and twisted inventions are more than enough to make him a Fantasy variation of the trope. See Mad Scientist below for more details.
• Every Man Has His Price: He cannot be a Diabolical Mastermind without bribing people left and right.
• Evil Genius: The smartest villain of the franchise and a worthy homage to his inspiration. You cannot hope to prevail without cunning to match his own.
• Evil Gloating: He only does when he is certain to have the upper-hand. Otherwise, he wisely refrains.
• Evil Sorcerer: One who uses a specific brand of magic that he devised himself, enough to elevate him on the level of the others on these pages.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: He uses a derelict, abandoned one as the Very Definitely Final Dungeon. It was his base of operation during the War, and he plans to restore it and make it this once more.
• Evil Versus Evil: Not normally. Karam Gruul's lieutenants are on board with his Evil Plan, but if you can convince the Corpse Master that he plans to betray him, he will appear during the Final Battle and turn against his master, forcing him to exhaust his power to destroy him and leaving him open for capture.
• Evilutionary Biologist: Engineering mutations and specy creations with perfect result, at an almost industrial level.
• Expy: Of Fu Manchu, the international criminal mastermind and the most famous representation of the Yellow Peril in fiction. Gruul looks exactly like all depictions of him, and like him he is a genius-level Diabolical Mastermind expert in Death Traps, Xanatos Gambits and Mind Manipulation, not to mention his international ambitions. The original would be proud.
• Faking the Dead: He did this after the War of the Four Kingdoms, to evade justice and disappear underground. Erasing virtually all trace of his existence while he was at it.
• Fed to the Beast: One of his many tortures is to lock people in a cage with hungry rats who would like to taste their meat. He does it to you if you get captured, and without the sleight of hand skill you're rat toast.
• Femme Fatalons: Another male example, common among Evil Sorcerers in the franchise. Like his inspiration, he sports them really long and pointy.
• Final Boss: Unusually for the series, your goal is to capture him instead of slaying him. Which means that he can still prove dangerous even when neutralized. The fight is not the typical Final Battle though.
• Frame-Up: He has his spies framing you for the murder of your allies by his assassins. Usually by having The Mole tipping the guards to find you at the wrong place at the wrong time.
• Glamour: Karam Gruul can use magic to alter his appearance, which comes quite in handy in hiding.
• Go Among Mad People: Forcing this is just one of Karam Gruul's many ways to dispose of a nuisance. He commits them to rot forever in the Bedlam House of Craven Asylum. Sane of mad he does not care. The director, Dr. Welsch, is one of his lieutenants, and two inmates are there because they know too much.
• Good Hair, Evil Hair: That long, thin moustache of his does not gain him many trust points.
• Hand Blast: He can fire bolts of dazzling energy costing -3 stamina during the Final Battle, for -3 Notura. The Shroud of Angevin deflects them.
• Heal Thyself: Karam Gruul can magically heal his wounds.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: He uses this for his operations, his gangs, and himself. After all, what better front than a mundane one? Expect such front to be a front though. Yes, he is that Crazy-Prepared.
• Hidden Villain: Played with in that you track him down right from the start. But he always hid his face as much as could be, and takes great care in remaining hidden and disposing of anyone who knows too much. However, if you think you are just searching for a powerless fugitive, well think again...
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Karam Gruul ends up captured by his own creation. Who can turn the Corpse Master (one of his mightiest lieutenants) against him, and destroys his conspiracy with the Doomsday Device he just finished to sweeten the deal.
• The Inquisitor General: His initial role. And he was very good at this, too good for everyone's sake in fact... His first mission was to investigate his soldiers, but he quickly instituted a Witch Hunt against his own people, and it all snowballed From Bad to Worse.
• It's Personal: Your Player Character swore to capture all war criminals of the recent conflict, and Gruul is by far the worst. You were in fact a captured Gallantarian officer he turned into the titular Moonrunner, a mighty nocturnal monster whom he compelled to fight your comrades. You could find a cure, but have yet to make him pay for it. The author Stephen Hand likes averting Violence is the Only Option, hence your goal to bring him to Justice instead of killing him.
• Lean and Mean: Tall, dark, slim and one of the vilest scums ever faced in a gamebook.
• Level Drain: Several instances.
  • One of his traps makes you forget one of your special skills.
  • During the Final Battle, he can cast a spell of his invention called the Skein of Undoing, which makes the target useless at what's normally their speciality at the cost of -4 Notura. Without the Blood of Baron Milescu, you forget all your special skills. Fortunately, you can still win without them by now.
• Living Statue: He animates an effigy of himself, disguised as the real deal, to offer you a bribe. Never touch it lest it shocks you to death, and only fight it with special skills.
• Locked in the Dungeon: His final fate after you defeat him and bring him to trial, is to rot in a dingy cell for the rest of his unnaturally long life.
• Luck-Based Mission: The Final Battle against him in a nutshell. His score of Notura measuring how many spells he can cast at you is determined by a dice roll, ranging from 7 to 12, and so are the spells he casts. You need the right protections to resist whatever he throws at you until you can capture him.
• Mad Scientist: He's really good with both magic and science. From devising his own brand of magic and making it a major field, to creating all sorts of monsters and ways to brainwash people without them knowing, to inventing a magic-powered Doomsday Device, he dives into the trope headfirst.
• The Man Behind the Man: He is the one who pulls the strings from behind the scenes, to every villain and seemingly unrelated shady bloke you will come across.
• Manchurian Agent: Being the Evil Genius he is, most of Karam Gruul's agents don't even know they are, but he can activate a hypnotic implant within their mind to make them his blindly devoted followers. Like he can and will do to you, should he realize that you are the Moonrunner he created.
• Mind Manipulation: Karam Gruul uses this to control his agents, or use them as a Manchurian Agent should the need arise. He can try during the Final Battle costing him of -5 Notura, needing the Hand of Glory to resist it, and will surely do after you reveal that you were once The Dragon. If you could not resist first or fail to resist then, be ready for a Non-Standard Game Over in which you fall back under his control.
• Mook Maker: Karam Gruul created many unique monsters to use as agents or lieutenants. From terrifying Elite Mooks like the Obisian Predator, to creepy Plague Zombie called the Fogwalkers.
• Multilayer Façade: He uses secrets to hide facades, to hide decoys, to hide smoke-screens, to hide... Well you get the picture. Or do you really?
• Nebulous Criminal Conspiracy: The Cabal of the Werewolf only exists since the end of the war, but it gained huge influence. It has secretly infiltrated every faction in Blackhaven, controls dark elves, orcs and trolls for good measure, with seemingly unrelated evil-doers as its commanders.
• Obviously Evil: He doesn't exactly look like a charming fellow you want for neighbour.
• Older Than He Looks: He looks in his forties, despite being old enough to have witnessed the Chaos Wars. Being a master of The Dark Arts has its perks...
• Playing with Fire: One of his gloomiest crimes during the war was to plant magical fire traps all across the Brician border, killing countless people.
• Playing with Syringes: Being a Mad Scientist, this is a given. And he's exceptionally good with it.
• Pointy Ears: A definite hint that something is very wrong with him. Perhaps a result of his use of Notura?
• Post-Climax Confrontation: After capturing the sod, you must bring him to the capital of the Gallantaria Kingdom for trial. You must thwart his Mind Manipulation and go straight to the capital to win. If he escapes, you must catch him back at once or risk a Cruel and Unusual Death.
• Praetorian Guard: Karam Gruul is protected by the Jai-Hulud sorcerers-assassins, a group of powerful Magic Knights blindly devoted to him, who protect him, watch over his lairs, and attack all opposition. They somehow look like him and attack with bewitched sabres.
• Put the "Laughter" in "Slaughter": He gets his kicks in the violence and carnage he unleashes.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: His enormous magic power (and ruthless efficiency) cements his hold over his Cabal of the Werewolf and the criminal underworld. Some of his lieutenants are more physically threatening, but he surpasses them all in term of magical abilities and intellect.
• Really 700 Years Old: Only around three-hundreds, but it still counts...
• Red Baron: Known as the Hand of Death by allies and enemies alike. Lovely isn't it?
• The Red Mage: He can curse and attack with magic, but also expand his lifespan and heal his wounds.
• Rogue Agent: Once a high-ranked Brician official, he is now an incredibly dangerous terrorist wanted everywhere. Not that it prevent him to control directly or indirectly the entire underground activity around. The other nations demand that he can be tried in an international court, but the grudging Brician King would rather believe his Faking the Dead and erase all mention of his existence from official records.
• Secret Identity: The Magus Radu, the powerful mage and second-in-command of the Cabal... Never existed. He is actually Karam Gruul himself, under a magical disguise.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: He might be poised and courteous, but he is at heart a vicious sadist with a creepy enjoyment for tortures and war crimes.
• Sorcerous Overlord: Karam Gruul aims to openly become one. He already exerts considerable, albeit underground, influence, combining this trope with Diabolical Mastermind.
• Squishy Wizard: He is a tremendously powerful warlock, but too feeble to be a threat without magic, to the point that he is never faced in a direct battle and effortlessly subdued when he exhaust his powers.
• Summon Magic: Karam Gruul's can summon many otherworldly beings, but his deadliest trick is to summon a monstrous amoeba-like entity for -6 Notura, to devour you whole during the Final Battle. Without the Skull of Mora Tao you're dead meat.
• Take Over the World: He hides it behind his plans of War for Fun and Profit, but his ultimate goal is to take over Titan as a whole. After all, what is a true Fu Manchu Expy without global ambitions?
• Torture Technician: He had countless people horribly tortured during the war and after.
• Trap Master: A champion of the trade who can come up with just about every Death Trap in the list, for all sort of effects ranging from lethal to debilitating, and some more.
• Un-person: The Brician King would rather think him dead and remove all trace of him in History, rather than admitting having had a war criminal wanted everywhere at his command. This served his plot of Faking the Dead and he went along erasing everything that could lead to him.
• Villainous Cheekbones: He is evil, it has to show.
• War for Fun and Profit: Karam Gruul has no intention of stopping his war crimes, and wants to ignite the War of the Four Kingdoms anew.
• War Hawk: He pushed his country to war then worsened it, and the bellicose king was all too glad to comply. He is now blowing on the cinders of conflict and manipulates everyone who share his goal.
• Weak, but Skilled: He is built like a twig and would be unable to resist a direct assault if it were not for his powerful magic. Resist everything he throws at you and he folds like wet paper.
• Weapon of Mass Destruction: He invented a Doomsday Device called the Ethereal Projector, able to fire blasts of pure Notura overwhelming all targets with dread before exploding their hearts. He plans to attack the Four Kingdoms with it, but you end up using it to wipe out everyone under his command.
• Winds of Destiny, Change!: He can cast a Curse of Ill-Fortune during the Final Battle, at the cost of -2 Notura. You need the Chain of Argolis to counter it or lose -1 luck.
• Witch Hunt: One of his many war crimes. He used to lead "traitor-hunts" during the war, routing and imprisoning his own people for the odious crime of not being warmongering enough for his tastes, going as far as assassinating generals standing in his way.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Even when defeated, he immediately seize the chance to take you back under his magic control, when he learns that you were the titular Moonrunner. If he fails, he tries his best to stall and escape at the first opportunity.
• You Got Murder: The sod will send you letters containing Evil Gloating, magically poisoned to kill you at contact. You need an antidote if you touched it.

Mordraneth

Appears in: Stealer of Souls

An evil Archmage of considerable influence, feared all over Titan. He is waging war against the benevolent mages of the city of Pollua, the only obstacle standing between him and his goal to Take Over the World. His agents recently abducted the wizard Alsander, who had just discovered crucial intel on Mordraneth's Evil Plan. As such, Vanestin, the Great Mage of Pollua and Mordraneth's Archenemy, sends you to the Isle of Despair where Alsander is held captive, to save him and use his knowledge in the war, and ultimately slay Mordraneth himself before it's too late. To a warrior like you, such a challenge is quite welcome...

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• Antagonist Abilities: He masters wicked spells, that can either deal great damage or kill you outright. Not to mention the countless deadly nightmares he created, which you survived by the skin of your teeth.
• Antagonist Title: The title refers to one of his aliases.
• Anti-Magic: He disturbed the balance of magical forces to make spellcasting impossible for anyone but him and his students within his many lairs. Unless one discovers how he did so and how to circumvent it. Like Alsander did, using it to teach you useful spells after you rescue him.
• Anticlimax Boss: Played with. Mordraneth is genuinely powerful and dangerous, but for someone touted as so formidable by the narration, as far as Final Bosses go in the franchise he is in the lowest tier, a walk in the park with max stats. Compared to the uber-powerful That One Bosses that Keith Martin would later come up with, he appears really lacking.
• Arch-Enemy: He is this to the Big Good Vanestin, who wages permanent war against him, sending his benevolent mages against Mordraneth's evil ones.
• The Archmage: He bears the title and is pretty much unrivalled in sorcery, which he pushed to Reality Warper territory. Among the plethora of Evil Sorcerers of the franchise, many surpass his stats, but he is far and away the best of them all when it comes to mastery of magic.
• Badass Boast: When Mordraneth speaks to you through Telepathy in his lair, he tells you that he was expecting you and that you are in for a world of hurt. Especially as he taunts you when you're about to die, gloating in typical villainous fashion that you were skilled but not a match for him.
• Badass Bookworm: And immensely powerful and accomplished wizard, who achieved considerable magical breakthroughs, as well as a cunning and crafty mastermind, and a gifted Magic Knight.
• Badass Cape: He wears one, made quite sinister by the cover art.
• Badass Long Robe: A given for the Evil Sorcerer he is.
• Badass Teacher: He is to his Dark Priests students, making them powerful Magic Knights.
• Batman Gambit: He is very good in predicting his foes' actions and taking advantage of it. Just ask Vanestin.
• Beat Them at Their Own Game: So Vanestin, you play a diversion? Too bad pal, he already had a much bigger in store for you and you fell for it hook, line and sinker.
• Big Bad: The powerful Sorcerous Overlord who threatens the entire world.
• Black Mage: His students cast powerful attack spells he likely devised and taught them himself, not to mention his own deadly Razor Floss attack.
• Blood Knight: He is described as a smiling when he kills, and states that he will enjoy killing you slowly when he greets you, clearly indicating how much he enjoys it. Geez! What a real peach!
• The Chessmaster: He is very good in devising plans that look simple, but are anything but, not to mention to feign an opening and to devise traps.
• The Collector: He collects his victims' souls, being interested in the fears they held.
• Cool Sword: The cover art shows him with a wicked-looking oriental sabre, with a carved golden handle ornate by an emerald. Say what you will about him but he has taste.
• Cruel Mercy: Your character once met a dwarf who faced Mordraneth in battle and lived to tell the tale. He just (ahem) cut off the arm the dwarf raised against him.
• The Dark Arts: One of the best experts of the trade in the franchise.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: Mordraneth craves to rule the world solely to satisfy his lust for power.
• The Dreaded: He is feared everywhere in Titan, by humans, dwarves, elves and everyone else.
• Elaborate Underground Base: The Steel Crypts are this, but what makes them stand out is the Empire of Illusions, which either expands it or open a new dimensional plane, filled with all sorts of horrors.
• Elite Mooks: Mordraneth's students are all this. You fight only two of these Dark Priests in the story, but they are among the toughest foes in the game, casting a fearsome spell that costs around -6 stamina before fighting you, with skill 9 stamina 10+. There is a third, but he is a Defector from Decadence who flees from his master's madness after saving your life.
• Emperor Scientist: A Fantasy variation who pushed the limits of sorcery beyond the reach of even best wizards. He built his rule with his discoveries, and is now using them to try and Take Over the World.
• Evil Counterpart: Mordraneth is this to his Arch-Enemy Vanestin. He is the black-clad Big Bad and an Evil Sorcerer who wants to Take Over the World, while Vanestin is the rich Big Good and Benevolent Mage Ruler who wants to protect his people. They are both warlords with powerful and competent wizards at their command, with a great tactical mind.
• Evil Genius: The sod is really smart and it shows.
• Evil Gloating: He does love to gloat, and will often do so as you confront his Illusory Nightmares.
• Evil Is Hammy: Mordraneth often taunts you, loudly, as you progress in his lair.
• Evil Sorcerer: One of the most classical examples in the entire franchise, but still quite impressive and with some interesting variation.
• Evil Sounds Raspy: He has a low, unnerving voice.
• Evil Wears Black: Subtlety is not a stranger concept to him, except when it comes to his looks...
• The Faceless: His face is hidden In the Hood to the point that it is never depicted in the illustrations and kept nondescript in the narration. The only thing we know is that it looks as evil as he is.
• Faux Affably Evil: Mordraneth speaks quite genially to you as you progress in his lair, but mostly to taunt you, and does not even bother hiding that he wants you to suffer for his amusement.
• Final Boss: The final enemy of the game. With skill 10 stamina 17, he makes a powerful enemy who can deal heavy damage before fighting with his attack spells.
• Fireballs: He hurls one costing -6 stamina at the beginning of the fight, and can later hurl smaller ones costing -4. Only -1 if you wear a bronze ring.
  • You can attack him with a Fireball Spell of your own, and cost him -6 stamina if you overcome him.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Eyes that glow as much as the torches in his lair.
• Good Witch Versus Bad Witch: A male variation. Mordraneth and his Dark Priests are evil wizards locked in conflict with the benevolent Vanestin and his agents.
• Imagination-Based Superpower: He extracts his victims' worst fears and nightmares and materializes them as truer-than-real illusions. A fear of the dark causes an all-engulfing darkness, a fear of drowning causes a tidal wave, and the fear of any monster, be they imaginary, brings them to existence.
• In the Hood: He always keeps his face hidden in the shadows of his hood, for additional creepy points.
• Lean and Mean: Deathly thin and rotten to the core.
• Magic Knight: Mordraneth is not only a powerful archmage, he is also not so slouch with a sabre in hand.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: He lives in a stunning palace; whose entrance alone is wondrous, lavish and exquisitely decorated.
• Master of Illusion: Mordraneth is so skilled with this branch of magic that his illusions are undistinguishable from the real deal. They can affect reality and kill you for real.
• Master of One Magic: Contrary to most wizards of the franchise, Mordraneth averts it by being expert in regular dark magic, necromancy and illusionism.
• Master Swordsman: Mordraneth wields his blade with enough skill to face even the best warriors.
• Mysterious Past: Nobody knows where he comes from, nor how he rose to power.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Mordraneth does not make a pleasant picture. And let's not get started on his many gloomy titles.
• Necromancer: Necromancy is Mordraneth's main field of expertise. He can raise and control undeads just fine, but specializes in enslaving dead souls and using them as a power source.
• No Ontological Inertia: All of his magic vanishes as he dies, extinguishing his Pocket Dimension and his palace, and releasing every soul in his grasp.
• Obviously Evil: Creepy, clad in black, face hidden In the Hood... No picture needed, he' up to no good.
• Out-Gambitted: At the beginning, Vanestin sends you to the Isle of Despair to rescue Alsander, while he sends a huge squad of his best wizards and warriors as a distraction, making sure that Mordaneth's spies concentrate on the diversion as it was the real deal. Admittedly smart. But it was a trap and Mordraneth baited him, making it look like he was in his lair to fool Vanestin's spies, in order to strike from behind from the Isle of Despair while he is defenceless. Seasoned players know from the start he will be where you are sent to serve as the Final Boss, but the extent of the ruse he pulls up is quite a shock.
• Playing with Fire: He is very adept with fire spells.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: His students might be very tough, but he is even tougher.
• Razor Floss: One of his deadliest spells conjures a sphere of dark energy threads that tangle, strangle and slice its victims to death. If you have a Silver ring you are protected, but if not you must test your luck to escape it, and automatically lose -4 stamina. If you fail you get killed.
• Reality Warper: Mordraneth toys with the laws of magic to a huge extent. In addition to the Anti-Magic, he turns a small cavern into an immense and lavish subterranean palace, and distorts space itself to create a vast Pocket Dimension filled with his illusory nightmares named the Empire of Illusions, where there is only the aforementioned small cave.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: He wears a black robe, a red gem as fastener, and a black and red cape. Could he be any more glaring?
• Red Baron: Mordraneth is known and feared as the Wicked One or the Evil One, and he sure deserves it. He is less often referred to as the Stealer of Souls.
• Sequential Boss: When you enter his lair, he first attacks you with a Fireball Spell, and you can counter it with a spell of your own. Then you must reach him, and depending on how you act, he attacks either with a weaker fireball or with a deadly Razor Floss spell. Then, you face him in a Sword Fight.
• Sinister Surveillance: He can see and hear everywhere in his domain, and is even able to create images of himself or to make his voice heard to taunt you.
• Sorcerous Overlord: Mordraneth rules his own domain in Allansia and many bases in the world, with lots of monsters, spies and agents at his command everywhere.
• Soul Power: He draws power and knowledge from enslaved souls, as well as fears he can materialize.
• Squishy Wizard: He's frail and relies on skill with weapons and mastery of magic rather than raw power. Subverted however, in that he avoids the downside of the trope by fighting as a Magic Knight.
• Stock Evil Overlord Tactics: He can create powerful illusory nightmares from the fears of his victims, and plans to build a huge army of them to invade Titan, increasing it with each and every victim. Nice and quite original, but the unstoppable army is still pretty standard as far as villains' schemes go.
  • However, the way he goads Vanestin to concentrate his forces on an empty target shows an excellent grasp of strategy...
• Take Over the World: His ultimate goal. And he has the means to pull it off.
• Telepathy: He uses this to speak to you in his Empire of Illusions. He never speaks directly through your mind though, instead appearing to you as a vision or making his voice resonate all around.
• Weak, but Skilled: Mordraneth is physically frail but a talented fighter, and a very powerful and incredibly skilled wizard.
• Wizard Classic: The evil variation. You could not make an Evil Sorcerer whose looks scream the trope more.
• Your Soul Is Mine!: He can seize the souls of the dead and use them as he pleases. He adds yours to his collection if you fall against him.

Nazek

Appears In: Spellbreaker

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night when you first met this crafty fellow. Who were you to refuse when a seemingly friendly stranger offered you a place by his campfire, then suggested to take shelter in the nearby abbey when the storm broke out? Little did you know that he used you to invite you in, for no evil can enter uninvited in Rassin Abbey, where the Black Grimoire is kept away from dark forces. And of course, he steals it and disappear. Turns out that he was an orphan raised by the monks of the abbey, who despite their tutelage became an Evil Sorcerer, worshipper of the evil Goddess of Sorcery Shekka. Nazek plans to use the Black Grimoire to release the Kurakil, a demon equal to the Demon Princes. It is up to you to make up for your mistake, to find him, and thwart his schemes before it is too late...

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• Antagonist Abilities: Nazek masters nasty spells and summons, is a very skilled fighter, and can use the local Tome of Eldritch Lore to its fullest potential.
• Anticlimax Boss: Downplayed and justified. While lower-tier for a Final Boss, skill 10 remains powerful and dangerous. Besides, considering how tough the Kurakil is, another unforgiving battle right after would be overkill. Even in such a difficult gamebook.
• Bad Moon Rising: Nazek is waiting for the night of Shekka's Moon, also known as the Witches' Moon: A gloomy night happening once every thirty seven years, in which the moon rises blood-red, spreading the power of Shekka all over Titan and vastly empowering practices of The Dark Arts. This is the only time in which he can free the Kurakil. If you take too long to reach Nazek's lair, it will be too late.
• Badass Bookworm: A very smart Manipulative Bastard and a very powerful and accomplished warlock, who can hold his own against expert warriors.
• Badass Longrobe: An Evil Sorcerer, clad in a black robe covered in esoteric-looking sigils and symbols. It is torn and ragged, in accord to his general looks, but is no less imposing.
• Bald of Evil: Judging from the few we can see under his hood, he has no hair at all...
• Big Bad: The Evil Sorcerer who tricked you to get the McGuffin and tries to set free the Kurakil.
• Child Prodigy: He was very precocious, mastering difficult magic very young. Too bad it was for evil...
• Creepy Child: Nazek was this when growing up, much to the monks' dismay, performing experiments of Black Magic at the tender age of twelve years old.
• The Dark Arts: His speciality. Among other gloomy things, he is very proficient with demon summoning.
• Deceptive Disciple: He learning all he could under the monks (and dark magic behind their back), while they tried in vain to curb his dark impulses and set him on the right path.
• Devious Daggers: He fights with a sacrificial dagger and proves quite handy with it.
• Dystopia Justifies the Means: By unleashing the Kurakil, Nazek plans to wreak untold destruction upon the Old World, likely to dictate his law to what is left or pledge himself to the Demon Princes.
• The End of the World as We Know It: He plans to release a demon who can bring it about, but has the means to survive it in a position of power.
• Evil Genius: Nazek is a very clever and crafty fellow, who plays you like a fiddle in the beginning, and uses the Black Grimoire to make sure that he can handle the Kurakil he plans to release. Or to remain in position to Take Over the World should the demon be vanquished.
• Evil Is Angular: Creepy we tell you...
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Subverted. Nazek plans to release one of the mightiest demons of the Pit, but it is clear that mastery of the Black Grimoire would make him too powerful to be disposed of. Plot-wise, the Kurakil is merely the Climax Boss Greater-Scope Villain while he is the Big Bad and The Heavy, and he basically makes one of the monarchs of Hell themselves into his bitch...
• Evil Makes You Ugly: Boy howdy! Just look at the picture... The sod looks like a corpse without being one.
• Evil Sorcerer: One in charge of a whole coven of equally rotten witches and wizards. He is one of the few in the franchise who is not a Sorcerous Overlord, but he is well on his way to become one.
• Evil Wears Black: He wears a black robe.
• Faux Affably Evil: Nazek was perfectly cordial with you at the beginning, but this was but an act. After he drops the pretence, he keeps calling you "my friend" and speaks to you in a pretty cordial way, while still jeering at you and trying to kill you.
• Femme Fatalons: Yet another male example. Long, pointy nails might as well be fashion among Evil Sorcerer in Titan. And it makes him look even more like a corpse...
• Final Boss: The final threat of the book. With skill 10 stamina 9, he is powerful and takes advantage of your weakened state after the tremendous battle against the Kurakil.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: The illustration show his eyes creepily gleaming through the shadow of his hood.
• In the Hood: As seen in the picture, in an attempt to hide his Voldemortesque ugly mug.
• It's Personal: Let's just say that you really don't appreciate having been made a fool, and that it feels very good when you finally skewer him on your blade.
• Knight of Cerebus: Nazek is the Big Bad of one of the darkest books of the franchise, full of horrible plagues, witches and wizards cursing the land, innocent getting burned at the stake, fanatics imposing trials, rabid witch hunters with Black-and-White Insanity, and more. All of which you experience first-hand and most of which is his doing.
• The Last Dance: When you have him at sword point, he tries to invoke the dark powers of Shekka to destroy you in a villainous Death or Glory Attack. You must win a test of evil to finish him off, or get corrupted by the evil of Shekka's moon.
• The Leader: Nazek rules a coven of evil witches and wizards named the Midnight Cauldron. They are quite expanded, and have a hand in most, if not all the dark phenomenon plaguing the countryside.
• Lean and Mean: There is thin, there is unhealthily skinny, and there is Nazek... Seriously, the sod could be undead for all it would change. If he wanted to get skinnier he would need to lose a bone.
• Manipulative Bastard: Nazek is very good in playing people into serving his interests without them knowing. You yourself can attest it, and he neglected no detail to make his charade convincing.
• Monochromatic Eyes: His eyes are entirely white, and would not look out of place on a corpse.
• Moses in the Bullrushes: He was an orphaned baby left at the doors of Rassin Abbey, who was found and raised by the monks. Alas, there was something rotten in him...
• Must Be Invited: The reason why he couldn't enter Rassin Abbey on his own, as no evil can enter uninvited. He set it all to make you enter it, before urging him to follow, to take shelter from a storm and pursuing demons... Nice Job Breaking It, Hero...
• Nightmare Face: It looks like that of a corpse, and not a recent one. Sweet dreams...
• The Noseless: Related to the trope above, he is one example the creepiest variety, the one who should have a nose, but has skull-like nostrils instead.
• Nothing but Skin and Bones: His twig-like limbs and body only serve to make him even more unsettling.
• Obviously Evil: Thin as a rake, skeletal mug, pale skin, black tattered robe, hood? Yup, trustworthy...
  • You not noticing it might seem stupid but he carefully hid it In the Hood in the dark of the night, feigning kindness to lower your guard and using an incoming storm and a swarm of demons to keep you from looking too closely.
• Prophet Eyes: Subverted. He has them but is not blind, and is not a Seer. There as just that way to make him look creepy, and it works.
• A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: He was raised in Rassin Abbey, but he soon manifested an uncanny interest for The Dark Arts. Before they could stop him, he ran away when he was twelve years old to become the villainous warlock he's today.
• Race Against the Clock: If your quest lasts too long, he releases the Kurakil and all is doomed.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: The mightiest wizard and the best expert of Dark Magic of his coven.
• Rapid Aging: He can cast a spell that makes you age for more than a century, reducing you as a skeleton in a few seconds. Never use a bone ring against him.
• Sequential Boss: First you must survive the venomous spiders he summons, then you must fight him, and finally you must survive his final trick to finish him off and settle your score once and for all.
• Skull for a Head: His head is pretty much a skull with skin.
• Spider Swarm: He summons dozens of tiny but highly venomous spiders all over your body after you destroy the Kurakil. You need a Venom's Bane potion to survive and settle your score with him.
• Squishy Wizard: While his magic is powerful, his frail body isn't suited for fighting, as evidenced by his quite low stamina score.
• Stock Evil Overlord Tactics: Goes with freeing the local Sealed Evil in a Can, but much more smartly than most. Phase One, using an unsuspecting traveller to infiltrate Rassin Abbey. Phase Two, get the Black Grimoire and the Casket of Shadows. Phase Three, use the Grimoire on Shekka's Night to release the Kurakil and bring about The End of the World as We Know It. Part one is successful because of you, phase two is a given and you're up to make phase three a failure.
• Summon Magic: Nazek specializes in summoning demons to fight on his behalf, including a Brimstone Demon in the abbey and an invisible assassin demon later on.
• Timed Mission: You have four days to catch up with Nazek and defeat him, or else he unleashes the Kurakil and lets him loose on the world, backed by his own forces.
• To Create a Playground for Evil: Nazek's goal in a nutshell. With him on top of course.
• Tome of Eldritch Lore: The Black Grimoire that Nazek stole from Rassin Abbey is the most dangerous grimoire of Black Magic in Titan, full of the worst secrets and vilest rituals there is. With that in hand, Nazek is pretty much unstoppable, with or without the Kurakil.
• Undeathly Pallor: Nazek's skin is a deathly greyish white, to complete his undead-like looks.
• Villainous Cheekbones: To push the corpse-like aspect even further. Did we tell you that the sod is hideous enough to give The Phantom of the Opera a solid run for his money?
• Weak, but Skilled: He is deathly frail and owes much of his threat to his vast mastery of magic. He covers the downside of it by fighting with a dagger with expert proficiency.
• Young Conqueror: He is a young man who controls a vast and influential coven of warlocks, and is about to raise a huge army of warlocks, demons, undead and monsters.
• Younger Than He Looks: Would you guess that he is a young man in his early to mid-twenties by looking at him? Yeah, pretty incredible...

Voivod

See his entry on the Pit page under Demonic Generals.

Cultists

Unthank

^spoiler 

He's the one speaking with the masked guy.

Appears In: Night of the Necromancer

One of the few Fighting Fantasy villains whose identity is a mystery that must be unveiled. You play the Lord of Valsinore, one of the illustrious Templars of the Warrior God Telak, who returns to your domain after a three-year-long crusade against a Death Cult in the Überwald neighbouring land of Bathoria. As you reach your castle, you are ambushed and killed by a cultist, and now, you are a ghost who has until the night ends to wind out who could order your death.

It soon becomes clear that this is more than the doing of a revengeful survivor. The cult is still fully in action, plaguing your beloved domain with evil forces. You then swear to unmask the mysterious, titular Necromancer who truly leads the cult, and settle your score with him for good...

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• The Ageless: The course of his life was frozen to stop his aging. The Watcher of the Gate is not amused.
• Antagonist Abilities: A powerful necromancer and skilled fighter with a dagger, whose Turn Undead spell proves pesky when you play a ghost.
• Antagonist Title: The titular necromancer ladies and gentlemen. What a shocking surprise don'tcha think?
• Apocalypse Cult: The Shadow King openly seeks to cover Titan in darkness, cause a Zombie Apocalypse and claim the soul of everyone alive, and this nutcase and his followers still gladly worship him, likely foolishly thinking they will be spared...
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Chamberlain Unthank, your second-in-command and replacement while you were away, and the despicable, self-centred necromancer who plagues your land, had you killed and plans to sacrifice your sister. Though it is implied that he only passed as a noble as part of his plot.
• Asshole Victim: No one sheds a tear as the Shadow King kills him. You only regret not doing it yourself.
• Badass Boast: He tells you to "witness his final victory" during the culmination of his Evil Plan.
• Badass Bookworm: He is a very powerful necromancer who wrote his own Spell Book, as well as an excellent fighter and a very intelligent schemer, mastermind of an elaborate plot. Too bad he is far too repulsive to be truly impressive.
• Beard of Evil: A trimmed goatee that screams "piece of filth".
• Blatant Lies: Unthank calls your death a tragedy to officials. He sure is devastated...
• The Chessmaster: His Evil Plan is more complex that most. The crusade you fought for three years was in fact a distraction to send you away, against a disposable Decoy Leader set up as a big enough threat, while the core of his forces were hidden in Valsinore. This removes your entire order as a threat to prepare his master plan. And he has an ambush set the moment you would least be on your guard, should you survive and return before he is done.
• Climax Boss: While not the Final Boss, facing him is still the culmination of your quest. In most cases, you don't even get to fight him and the Shadow King gets rid of him. If you do fight him, he is a very powerful enemy with skill 11 stamina 10, making the long-awaited fight suitably epic.
  • You still get to skewer him on your blade if he ends up on the Shadow King's blade, as he raises him as an undead. Less powerful but still quite the challenge, with skill 9 stamina 8, and dealing big damage if he strikes you twice in a row.
• Deal with the Devil: He gloats about having gained agelessness by selling his soul to the Shadow King.
• Devious Daggers: He wields an obsidian dagger able to harm spirits, and he uses it very well.
• Dragged Off to Hell: His final, much deserved, fate. His spectre dissolves while he is sent to the Land of the Dead to face judgement at last, and be sent to the Realm of the Damned for eternity.
• The Dragon: He is this to the Shadow King, being his High Priest and main agent on the Earthly Planes.
  • The Death Mage Thanatos, the Decoy Leader whom your order of Templars crusaded against in Bathoria, was in fact this to him.
  • Now the Dark Chapter Master, the leader and mightiest fighter of his Elite Army, serves as his Dragon. With skill 12 stamina 12, he is even stronger than his boss, himself a bona-fide Badass Bookworm.
• Dragon-in-Chief: With his boss unable to leave the Land of the Dead, he is the one who channels his influence and orchestrates his arrival.
• Elite Army: He commands the Dread Knights of the Order of the Black Shroud: fifty powerful undead Chaos Warriors. They are dangerous fighters who can deal greater damage than normal.
• The End of the World as We Know It: The Necromancer is ready to enact it without so much of a qualm, if it can make him immortal. Evil Is Petty? You bet!
• Evil Chancellor: He is in fact your Chamberlain, Unthank. However, seizing power in Valsinore is only a mean to a much more sinister end for him.
• Evil Eyebrows: His every features screams "evil douchebag".
• Evil Genius: Gotta grant him that, the sod has smarts.
• Evil Gloating: Pretty much 90% of his lines.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: He is persuaded that the Shadow King will reward him with immortality and rulership. He is completely out of his league, and the Shadow King wastes no time in trashing him after he appears.
• Evil Is Petty: He wants everyone to crawl at his feet or suffer his wrath, for eternity. Just because he cannot stand not being the number one. How lovely...
• Evil Sorcerer: A staple of the franchise.
• Evil Wears Black: The guy is Color-Coded for Your Convenience.
• Good Hair, Evil Hair: Only a villain can sport such hairdo and a thin moustache merging with a goatee.
• Ghastly Ghost: When he returns as a spectre, he looks horribly twisted by his sheer loathing of you.
• Faux Affably Evil: Unthank maintains a thin veneer of courtesy as part as his charade, but when he is not busy taunting, he is spiteful and bitter.
• Hand Blast: He can fire surges of dark energy costing -3 stamina. And does so if you rush blindly at him during the Climax.
• Hate Sink: An utterly loathsome, smarmy and self-important asshole, who hikes beyond the Moral Event Horizon for a hobby. He uses and backstabs everyone from his men to your subjects, all out of petty spite. The Grim Reaper hates his guts and even his boss despises him.
• The Heavy: The titular villain who orchestrated the plot and earned your staunch hatred.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: This piece of filth got himself a comfy position by your side just to set up his plan.
• High Priest: The true founder and leader of the Acolytes of Death who worship the Shadow King.
• Human Sacrifice: A classical requisite for worshippers of Death. He plans to sacrifice your sister Oriana during a lunar eclipse to bring the Shadow King to the Earthly Planes.
• Immortality Immorality: Unthank sacrificed the souls of everyone in his village to stop aging.
• Immortality Seeker: He desperately craves Complete Immortality, calling it "his final victory over the vault."
• It's All About Me: He wants to lord over all forever, because he feels entitled to. His plan would doom everyone to everlasting darkness and damnation? Sucks to be them. You thwart his plan to save the world? DIIIEEEEE!!!! Talk about childish...
• It's Personal with the Dragon: You hate him for not only having you killed, but for plaguing the domain you entrusted him with evil forces, and targeting your beloved sister Oriana. Quite obviously, settling your score is very satisfying.
  • While at first he merely rants that you should have stayed dead, after you destroy his cult, his liege and his plan, he hates you enough to return as a spectre. But not for long.
• Karmic Death: Either getting killed by the demon he spent is life serving instead of the immortality he craved, or getting killed by you, his last victim, is just desserts. Especially if you kill him by breaking the Death's Hourglass that The Grim Reaper gave you for he hates death-cheaters. And his spectre getting destroyed by the rising sun, while he planned for The Night That Never Ends, sweetens the deal.
• Karmic Transformation: Twice.
  • The Shadow King turns him into a witless, shambling undead, he who wanted to be an immortal ruler.
  • Later, he returns as a spectre, just like you returned as a ghost, only to be destroyed by the rising sun.
• Living on Borrowed Time: He lives the life-expectancy of his victims.
• Long-Lived: With a very gloomy explanation right above...
• The Man Behind the Man: The Necromancer behind the Acolyte who killed you, and the cult you crusaded against in Bathoria. In fact a front for his real base of operations, your very castle.
• Meaningful Name: "Undank" is a German word meaning "ungratefulness". Anglicize it and whose name you get? What a surprize... Not!! - Considering what he did to you after you promoted him to being a Chancellor, yeah sure, that made a lot of sense.
• Moral Event Horizon: Unthank not only sacrificed everyone in his hometown, he sold their souls, condemning them to a eternity of damnation and torment. Just so he could live longer!
• Moral Myopia: He does not give the slightest crap about his countless crossings of the Moral Event Horizon, but regards your meddling as an unforgivable offence. Especially after you ruin his plan.
• Motive Rant: He gives one to the Acolyte who killed you when you discover his treachery. To sum it up: "I will be immortal nyah nyah, dash with the plebians." Charming...
• Necromancer: His main field of expertise in magic, as advertised in the title.
• Obviously Evil: Not only does he look untrustworthy as hell, but also downright punchable.
• Older Than He Looks: Unthank looks in his early forties at most, but is well over a hundred years old.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: He returns as a spectre in the ending, but is quickly destroyed.
• Our Zombies Are Different: The Shadow King turns him into a shambling, witless and rotting undead, whenever he disposes of him by his hand.
• Pre-Final Boss: Either as a powerful necromancer or a weaker undead, he is the last obstacle right before the Shadow King.
• Psychopathic Manchild: As evil and dangerous as he is, he is pretty much a bratty child throwing a tantrum because he is not the greatest in the world as he fancies himself to be.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: The leader of his Apocalypse Cult and the mightiest mage among them. His Dragon is a better fighter than him, but not by much and he surpasses everyone else.
• Religion of Evil: As if worshippers of Death could be anything but evil.
• Revenge Myopia: Unthank is furious at you for the crime of trying to protect your subjects from him. The fact that you have a legitimate beef against him flies miles over his head.
• Secret Identity: Chamberlain Unthank is the Necromancer.
• Skippable Boss: Inverted, as you must find a way to face him instead of dodging the confrontation. You do confront him in the Climax, but you only fight him if you destroy his coven with the Spirit Stone.
• Smug Snake: One of the worst offenders of the franchise. He is powerful, smart and very competent, but his constant gloating and disgusting pettiness are meant to be despised.
• Spell Book: He wrote one, aptly named the Codex Mortis. You can find it and use it against him.
• Stock Evil Overlord Tactics: Unleashing a powerful demon and expecting a reward is basic as heck, but the complexity of his schemes deserve mention. Still, he is painfully Genre Blind about the result.
• Taking You with Me: After you destroy him, he returns as a spectre and rushes at you in hateful frenzy to kill you a second time. Fortunately, the rising sun destroys him before he can touch you.
• Turn Undead: He masters a spell banishing spirits whence they came. He first casts it on you when you discover his secret, second if you fight him. You need the magic Shield of Souls to counter it.
• Villainous Cheekbones: To complete the "look I'm eeeevil" package.
• Villainous Widow's Peak: Seriously it's a wonder how you could trust him for more than a minute.
• Walking Spoiler: Quite obviously. Finding out his true identity and motivations drives the plot.
• Where I Was Born and Razed: Unthank killed everyone in his hometown of Fetchfen, to live forever. You have the option to visit the creepy ghost town that was once a thriving village, and it is not pretty.
• Would Hit a Girl: Not only does he brutally takes your sister Oriana away, but he plans to sacrifice her.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The first thing the Shadow King does upon appearing is to casually kill him. Complete with disparaging insults.

Others

Captain Cinnabar

^{Click here to see him as a human} 

Appears in: Bloodbones

A vicious, murderous pirate who terrorises the seas of the Old World, most notably the Diamond Sea and the area around Port of Crabs. He and his crew are voodoo cultists, and followers of the evil Death Spirit Quezkari. By the time Bloodbones rolls around, the law has caught up with him and Captain Cinnabar was killed, or so it seems. Returning as an undead, Cinnabar resumes his reign of terror, and plans to achieve Complete Immortality through voodoo magic. But that's without counting without the Roaring Rampage of Revenge of a former victim...

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• Antagonist Abilities: Cinnabar has max stats and trained his Pirate Parrot, of all things, as a very annoying Attack Animal that does little damage but greatly hinders you.
• Antagonist Title: The title refers to gloomy alias.
• Attack Animal: His Pirate Parrot keeps attacking you during your climatic duel with him, handicapping you by -1 skill, and costing -1 stamina 1 in 6 times.
• Back from the Dead: First as a sentient Revenant Zombie, second as an immortal with a Soul Jar.
• Badass Bandolier: He holds his weapons in one.
• Badass Longcoat: He sports quite the nice crimson red captain coat.
• Badass Normal: Hollywood Voodoo aside, he only fights with weapons and needs no more to kick ass.
• Beard of Evil: Pointy and neatly trimmed when he was human, bushy and unkempt as a zombie.
• Big Bad: The Pirate King who terrorizes the Diamond Sea and killed your family, whom you swore to destroy. But he is not the Final Boss, for after killing him you also have to defeat his idol Quezkari.
• Bow and Sword in Accord: He shoots you with a crossbow before facing you in a sword fight. You must test your skill or lose -2 skill for the first turn of the battle against him and -2 stamina.
• The Captain: A villainous example, but Cinnabar is still the captain of his Pirate Ship, the "Virago", and by extension the captain of all pirate crews in the Diamond Sea.
• Climax Boss: He might not be the Final Boss, but the fight against him is still the culmination of your quest that fulfils your Revenge. As such the battle against him had to be suitably epic, and with skill 12 stamina 16, he does not disappoint.
• Curse: Cinnabar turned a ship he destroyed into a Ghost Ship, along with all its crew. If you defeat the captain in battle, they are all freed and help you out of gratitude.
• The Dark Arts: Cinnabar masters enough Hollywood Voodoo magic to cast the curse above, and more.
• Dirty Coward: When Cinnabar realizes that you have the idol where his heart is hidden, he immediately begins to grovel and plea for his wretched life, like the filth he is.
• The Dreaded: Everyone in the Diamond Sea breathed a sigh of relief when news of his death spread around. Too bad his death is not permanent, but you are here to fix that.
• Dressed to Plunder: He wears the typical attire of a classical pirate captain, down to the tricorn hat, the Badass Longcoat and the Badass Bandolier. The only things missing are the peg leg and the eyepatch.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Being able to resurrect as a zombie when killed and later being resurrected as an immortal sure helps...
• Faux Affably Evil: He acts courteous, but this is a veneer to hide his scorn and hatred. One second he speaks nicely, the other he taunts you spitefully and encourages his Pirate Parrot to peck your eyes out.
• The Fundamentalist: Cinnabar is fanatically devoted to his wretched idol, and plans to dedicate all his future domain to him.
• Genocide Backfire: He wasn't actually going for genocide, but Cinnabar's slaughter of Clam Beach leads directly to his destruction, as you play a survivor howling for his blood.
• Ghost Pirate: Zombie pirate to be technical but the trope still applies, until the very end of the game when Cinnabar has been restored to true life.
• Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: He has them as a zombie.
• Heart Trauma: When you confront him, the illustration shows him with a gaping hole in his chest, for his heart was torn out to make his Soul Jar.
• Hollywood Voodoo: Oh yes, the cult Cinnabar is part of is this trope all over, with curses, zombies, death magic, sacrifices, yadda yadda yadda.
• I Own This Town: Cinnabar considers Port of Crabs as a whole as his personal playground. He already ruled it in all but name, but plans to take it over for real.
• King Mook: He is this to all the pirates you face. Justified in that they always have a captain, but he rules more than a single crew.
• Magic Knight: Downplayed, he does have great powers but you never see him use them and he fights with weapons alone. You do see the result of his evil magic though.
• Master Swordsman: A formidable expert in swordplay.
• Moral Event Horizon: As if slaughtering most of the population of the settlements he raids was not enough, dooming a crew he killed to a Fate Worse than Death as wandering Flying Dutchman ghosts certainly is.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His nickname is "Bloodbones".
• No Body Left Behind: See right below.
• No Immortal Inertia: He crumbles into dust when you kill him for good.
• Pirate: Thank you Captain Obvious.
• Pirate Parrot: He has one named Jezebel, which constantly pesters you throughout the final battle.
• Sailor's Ponytail: Pirates are sailors after all...
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Hideously averted. His pirates do exactly what pirates did and the result is not pretty at all.
• Posthumous Character: Seems like this at first when you find out that Cinnabar is already dead, but you soon discover that he has become a zombie instead.
• Pre-Final Boss: So you've just dusted the really tough Pirate Lord? Don't party just yet for the even tougher Demon Spirit rises without leaving you time to breathe.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: The leader of the Pirates of the Black Skull and hands down their best fighter.
• Rape, Pillage, and Burn: That's how his pirates work in a nutshell, as your character can attest. Yes, no trace of freedom-loving Lovable Rogue there...
• Red Baron: Bloodbones. He is also known as the Scourge of the Twelve Seas.
• Reduced to Dust: No need for a burial.
• Resurrective Immortality: First by raising as a Ghost Pirate after his demise. He later gets restored to life.
  • After you kill him during the Final Battle, he rises again fully healed, being now immortal. You need to destroy his heart to fully take him down.
• Revenant Zombie: As a zombie, Cinnabar retains his sentience, intelligence and ability to speak.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: He is impeccably groomed as a human. Subverted as a zombie, as his once refined clothes are reduced to tattered rags.
• Shout-Out: To the novel On Stranger Tides, which inspired pretty much every Ghost Pirates of fiction.
• Soul Jar: After being resurrected, his heart is contained in a small fetish, resurrecting him as good as new after you defeat him. Unless you can destroy the fetish that is, then he won't be that smug.
• Take Over the World: Downplayed in that he only covets an ocean and its coasts, but he plans to rule Port of Crabs and all its surroundings for real.
• Undeath Always Ends: His own ends after he is restored to true life and made immortal, but you kill him for good shortly after.
• Walk the Plank: The fate he has in store for you on his boat, in true pirate fashion.
• Would Hurt a Child: He killed your brother and certainly many more.
• You Killed My Father: Ten years before the book takes place, Cinnabar and his crew sacked a small fishing village called Clam Beach, killing most of its inhabitants. Your father and brother were among them, so you swore to destroy Cinnabar in revenge.
• Your Soul Is Mine!: He steals the souls of his victims, but not for himself as he gifts them to Quezkari.

Conrad Zaar

Appears in: Moonrunner

A Man-Orc city guards with a bad attitude and currently on the pay book of Gruul and his Brotherhood, Conrad hides a startling secret: normally nothing more than a corrupt brute, he's actually the undead and unstoppable Serial Killer known as the Maniac Guard, a restless hulk who wanders the streets hiding his face with a steel mask and brandishing a massive machete, spontaneously reviving when killed.

• Ax-Crazy: He doesn't emote much, but it's assumed that he really, really enjoys killing and butchering people for fun.
• The Brute: Highly implied to be this to Karam Gruul.
• Captain Ersatz: He's, essentially, Jason in a fantasy setting.
• Cement Shoes: If you fight him outside the inn, you get rid of him permanently (for this book at least) by chaining him up and throwing him into a river.
• Death-Activated Superpower: After a disappointing performance in his "alive" form, he turns into the much more formidable Maniac Guard after he's killed and struck by a lightning bolt.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Being a Man-Orc he's half man and half orc.
• Hockey Mask and Chainsaw: Not the latter, thankfully, but his mask has an uncanny resemblance to a hockey mask, being a great homage to Slasher Movie villains.
• Implacable Man: Nothing is going to stop him permanently. Nothing.
• Machete Mayhem: Again, it's unlikely that a fantasy urban setting resembling medieval Europe would have a machete, but he wouldn't make a good homage without one.
• Recurring Boss: If you do run into him, it's possible to fight him at least three times (one in the mill, one in the Wax house and one near the river, outside the inn).
• Resurrected Murderer: Formerly a murderer who died sometime in the backstory, but was revived by Karam Gruul to be one of his main enforcers, with the revived murderer now spending every scene clad in a hockey mask for good measure.
• Resurrective Immortality: No matter how bad he's hurt or damaged, he can seemingly resurrect himself at will.
• Riddle for the Ages: Aside from the obvious Shout-Out, no explanation is given in Universe for his incredible stamina and immortality. Is it a curse? Is he one of Gruul's most successful experiments of Notura? Who knows...
• Serial Killer: As Conrad, the Maniac Guard, he looks straight out of a Slasher Movie.
• Skippable Boss: That being said, it is possible to avoid encountering him at all. Even if you do encounter him, you can skip the first battle by throwing him a lantern (which sets the place on fire) and avoid the other two encounters if you skip the Shroud side quest or have a way to infiltrate the inn.
• Super-Strength: The second he grabs the ladder you realize that you're unable to push it away, and if you trying to throw a pitchfork at him he will bend and crack it with just the grip of his hand.
• The Undead: Never outright stated, but he acts as a super persistent Revenant Zombie.
• Windmill Scenery: His hideout is in a mill overlooking the city, complete with iron portcullis and a dungeon room with a Crystal Ball to contact Gruul.

Katarina Heydrich

Appears in: Vault of the Vampire | Revenge of the Vampire.

The younger sister of the Vampire Lord Count Reiner Heydrich, as evil, ambitious and dangerous as he is, serving as a major villainess in the gamebooks of which he is the Big Bad. She is a very powerful Wicked Witch who uses Blood Magic to retain her youth and astonishing beauty. In the first, she lives in luxury, keeping a (mostly) cordial relationship with her brother, and has equal plot relevance. In the second, she is resurrected as a vampire to serve as his second-in-command, and her role is drastically reduced.

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• Aerith and Bob: Katarina Heydrich is a name one could come across, contrary to most names in the franchise.
• Antagonist Abilities: A powerful fighter with fearsome Hypnotic Eyes, immune to normal weapons.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Like you would not believe.
• Avenging the Villain: Despite all the bad blood between them in the first book, Katarina will not be happy if you kill her brother before her in the second.
• Back from the Dead: Courtesy of her brother in the second book.
• Badass Bookworm: Katarina is a well-read and very intelligent manipulator, with impressive mastery of magic and fighting skills.
• The Baroness: She gains points for being noble. She is a composed, vain and sarcastic Femme Fatale whose appearance and mannerisms scream aristocracy, and she is plenty competent and dangerous.
• Berserk Button: Basically, shaking her control of the situation is bad for your health.
  • Don't tell her that you are here to save her next victim-to-be, you will soon regret the Affably Evil Manipulative Bitch you were speaking to moments earlier.
  • She also cannot stand when Reiner one-ups her and reacts violently.
• Big Bad Ensemble: In the first book, it soon becomes obvious that Katarina means as much trouble for you and Mortvania as a whole as Reiner. While they are in good terms overall, she makes no mystery of her ambition to replace him, and he knows this.
• Big Brother Bully: Well, big sister bully. She won't have a lil' bro going around using good magic and Healing Hands powers if she has something to say about it. And considering how much Gunthar fears her, she has volumes to say...
• Blood Countess: A noble lady whose... ahem, youth treatment fits the gloomy story of Countess Bathory, of which she is inspired, albeit with real sorcery to make it work. See Expy below for further details.
• Blood Magic: She uses the blood of captive youngsters in a gory ritual to remain young and pretty.
• Blue Blood: Katarina is descendant of a long-lasting noble line.
• Cain and Abel: With Gunthar the healer, the last Heydrich sibling. She is implied to harass him and he never dares using his powers out of fear of her retaliation.
• Consummate Liar: She blatantly lies to you if you strike a deal with her, but unless you were warned beforehand, you have no way of knowing it. She tells you that Lothar the Castellan is untrustworthy and would never part with the stake you need to finish off Reiner, while he is if fact one of the most benevolent and helpful characters around, and gladly gives it to you.
• Cultured Badass: She is a Wicked Cultured aristocrat and a powerful Wicked Witch.
• Curse: If you promise something to her without intention of upholding your bargain, her magic will make you suffer. If you agreed to kill Lothar but don't attack him, you lose -4 stamina and only owe your life to a potion he makes you drink.
• Dark Action Girl: An evil witch and a deadly foe.
• Deal with the Devil: Katarina offering to help you slay Reiner is this though and through. There is nothing to gain from accepting.
• Demoted to Dragon: She goes from the second half of a Big Bad Ensemble and the True Final Boss in the first game, to a vampire under her brother's command in the second.
• Demoted to Extra: After sharing the spotlight with Reiner in the first book, she has but a minor role in the second, being mentioned once or twice before being fought during the Final Battle.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: She loves power and covets her brother's title.
• Devious Daggers: Katarina wields a silver dagger in battle, with enough proficiency to face expert fighters.
• The Dragon: Reiner resurrected her as a vampire to serve as this in the second book.
• The Dreaded: Everyone who knows what she is capable of, and is not swayed by her charms, are scared witless of her. Just ask her poor lil' brother Gunthar.
• Early-Bird Boss: If you fight Katarina in her quarters, facing a skill 10 foe immune to normal weapons can prove unforgiving at a point of the game when you have yet to gain a MacGuffin.
• Evil Genius: Katarina is very cunning and devious, and an excellent manipulator, who can make you do her bidding even without hiding the fact that she is using you for her nefarious purposes.
• Evil Sorcerer: One of the finest female examples of the franchise.
• Evil Wears Black: She wears a simple yet high-class black gown.
• Expy: She is based on Countess Erzsebet Bathory, the infamous Bloody Countess of History. She murdered dozens of young women, and according to folk tales, bathed in their blood believing that it would make her young forever. Needless to say it didn't. She ended up sentenced to be walled up alive.
• False Innocence Trick: If you talk to her in the second Book, Katarina pretends to be an innocent captive to take you by surprise. If you attack her, she has skill 9 stamina 9, but if you listen to her, she strikes you and costs -2 stamina, before fighting you with skill 10 stamina 11. While not nearly as powerful as her formidable brother, she remains tough, so if the previous fight crippled you, better attack at once.
• Faux Affably Evil: Katarina is always courteous, but only when she's in control, if not she immediately becomes much less personable. Make no mistake, no matter what you are but a tool to use and discard as she pleases, and she makes it crystal clear.
• Femme Fatale: She is very sexy, sultry, seductive but never openly lascivious... And rotten to the core.
• Femme Fatalons: She sports long, pointed nails.
• Fighting a Shadow: As her Life Meter is never displayed if you fight her in her quarters, it is implied that she is using this trick to test your worth.
• Foil: A stark contrast with her last sibling Gunthar the healer. See Sibling Yin-Yang below for more details.
• Girly Bruiser: Katarina looks every bit like your average Proper Lady and some more, being aristocratic, dignified and gorgeous, but she can and will take on even the best warriors and give them hell.
• Hot Witch: Katarina is as far as the stereotype of the old crone as you can imagine. The narration strongly emphasises her stunning good looks and the illustrations do not disappoint.
• Hypnotic Eyes: Her signature power, that sure comes in handy to defeat her enemies without fight and make them powerful servants.
• It's All About Me: For all of her undeniable power, intelligence and style, she at heart is but a vicious, power-hungry, pretentious and vain bitch, who only cares about herself, her wealth and her looks.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: She wears a lavish gown, and can match seasoned warriors in battle.
• Know When to Fold Them: If you strike her four times when battling Katarina in her quarters, she sees no point in fighting further and teleports away. (Unless you were Fighting a Shadow in the first place.) But don't think for a second she is done with you.
• Lady of Black Magic: She is poised, graceful, refined and elegant, and masters deadly magic.
• Lady of War: She is poised, graceful, refined and elegant, and deadly in battle.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Well, woman in that case. She has very good taste and lives in lavish quarters.
• Manipulative Bastard: Well manipulative bitch in that case. She is very good at wrapping people around her finger (just ask the sage of the castle) and use others to do her dirty work. You included.
• Master Actor: She seldom bothers, but her captive pretence in the second book is very convincing.
• Mind Control: Katarina can outright brainwash people with her Hypnotic Eyes. Just for one task if she feels generous, or condemning them to a life of slavish servitude.
• Ms. Fanservice: Did we mention that she is devilishly attractive? Even you somehow avert the Chaste Hero trope by being visibly enticed by her looks. Though it does not prevent you from fighting her.
• No Immortal Inertia: She reverts to her real age when she dies, and the result is not pretty at all, not helped by the illustration.
• No-Sell: Face her without a magic weapon and you’re toast. And as a living human, she laughs off Holy Water and Turn Undead spells.
• Older Than He Looks: Would you believe upon seeing her that she is seventy-six years old?
• Opportunistic Bastard: She immediately sees a skilled fighter like you as a mean to get rid of her hated foe Lothar the Castellan, who has the nerve of not being an evil bastard. And if you can slay her vampire brother while you're at it, you won't find her complaining.
• Orcus on His Throne: She spends the entire game in her quarters save from the Golden Ending, and uses people for her dirty work. But she does it with such style that she does not even need to move from her quarters to get what she wants.
• Our Vampires Are Different: She is resurrected as a vampire in the second book.
• Post-Final Boss: Twice under the right circumstances:
  • While a True Final Boss is usually harder that the regular one, she is much less dangerous than her brother. With skill 10 stamina 10, she is no laughing matter still. She takes advantage of your weakened state after the tremendous Boss Battle against Reiner, and the power boost granted by the Infinity +1 Sword is lower against her for she is alive. Yet, the battle remains pretty much a breeze for someone who could take down the powerful Vampire Lord.
  • She again serves as the last enemy in the second book, if you killed Reiner. Still, as a fledgling vampire blinded by rage, she has only skill 9 stamina 9, making her quite tough, but a joke for someone who destroyed a foe such as her brother. She averts the Post-Final Boss trope if you let Reiner escape though, as you will fight him again after killing her.
• Rapid Aging: The last sight you get of her. Sweet dreams...
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She fits this standard of beauty like a glove. Even more in the second book, after she has become a vampire.
• Recurring Boss: You can fight her twice during the game, but the fist Boss Battle is a Skippable Boss, and she teleport's away after you strike her four times. You can first fight her if you venture in her quarters, and then after you killed Reiner.
• Sexy Villains, Chaste Heroes: She has very good looks, frequently mentioned by the narration. And while it does not prevents you from slaying her, your character is described as enticed.
• Siblings in Crime: In the second book, Heydrich resurrects Katarina as a vampire to serve as The Dragon, which would make them this. He seems to have Easily Forgiven her attempt at usurping him, but having her as his vampire thrall prevents her from playing by her rules any longer, which can be a form of revenge and using her as an asset.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: With Gunthar Heydrich: She is an artificially young, evil, spoiled, self-centred and ambitious Wicked Witch, while he is an aging, benevolent, down-to-earth, generous and humble healer.
• Silk Hiding Steel: She barely conceals the steel, but still plays the Proper Lady game to lull people into a false sense of security. Just don't underestimate her, or you are in for a world of pain.
• Simple, yet Opulent: She wears a lavish yet not fancy robe, and only one piece of jewellery.
• A Sinister Clue: She wields her dagger in her left hand.
• Skippable Boss: You can avoid meeting her altogether when coming close to her quarters. And you can only fight her in the end if you could fully destroy Reiner.
• Slouch of Villainy: Just look at the picture.
• The Starscream: She not so secretly waits for an opportunity to kill Reiner and take his throne. He is fully aware of it and takes his precautions.
• True Final Boss: If you managed to stake and destroy Reiner, she appears before you to prevent you from freeing her captive, being the last obstacle between you and the Golden Ending.
• Ugly All Along: She really was that gorgeous, emphasis on the past tense. But using The Dark Arts to stop aging has a cost. The spell breaks as she dies, reverting her to her real age and face, showing how it destroyed her good looks.
• Vain Sorceress: Katarina would stop at nothing to retain her youth and astonishing beauty forever.
• Villain Teleportation: She appears right before you out of nowhere before the Boss Battle against her. If you fight her in her quarters, she vanishes after you land four blows.
• Wicked Cultured: Both Heydrich siblings love luxury, are very refined and have very good taste.
• Wicked Witch: She seems at first to turn the trope on its feet, but she is in fact Older Than She Looks. Her true aspect, deprived of artificial youth, makes her this through and through... And this is awful.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: Her gorgeous green eyes are repeatedly described as her most stunning feature. In more ways than one.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Katarina is not into elaborate schemes, she'd rather go with the flow, and alter the flow's course following the opportunities. She immediately figures out that you are her to kill her vampire brother and offers to help you, adapting her offers and bargains to what you tell her.

The Kurakil

See his entry on the The Pit page under Night Demons and other Demon Princes

Quezkari

See his entry on the Pit page under Night Demons and other Demon Princes.

The Raven

^Spoilers 

Appears in: Knights of Doom

A mysterious traitor whom you only hear about in the right circumstances. By meeting with the ghost of your friend Sir Connor. A member of the court King Rannor and a fellow knight, but a secret vassal of Belgaroth, who recieved the power to turn into a raven to better spy the land and report his liege without suspicion. Should you fail to unmask him, it may be too late... He is in fact Taris Varen, Lord of Cleve Manor, whom you befriended (or so you think).

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• Animal Motifs: A Raven obviously. Pay attention to the middle shield in the background of the picture.
• Animorphism: His aforementioned power.
• Badass Cape: Wears one when you first meet him. Though you won't fight him at his peak.
• Beard of Evil: Although since you're unaware of his true nature on your first meeting.
• Bird People: Exposing him as a traitor turns him into a deformed raven-human hybrid.
• Body Horror: When his transformation is disturbed, in place of his right arm, a huge black wing sprouts from his shoulder and his left leg is that of a bird, while his head is part-human, part-raven. In such a state, he becomes unable to properly move, let alone fight, justifying the trope below.
• Breather Boss: You fight him right after battling the insanely tough Belgaroth. His stats? Skill 7 stamina 8.
• Cavalry Betrayal: If you recruit Varen's army, this will happen right as you battle the beast-men. Hope you have other legions in your ranks, or you're screwed! This is a clue about his true obedience.
• Creepy Crows: His shape-shifted form is definitely not the friendly type.
• Double Agent: Pretends to be supporting the Knights of Ruddlestone while actually serving Belgaroth.
• Enemy Summoner: If you manage to reduce Belgaroth's stamina to 7, the Raven flies away to call reinforcements. If you cannot expose him as a traitor on time, you're dead meat!
• False Friend: He pretends to be your ally and supply you with resources (including members of his own army) only to reveal his true nature in the end.
• Finding Judas: Even though its kinda obvious in retrospect, you still need to identify him to expose him.
• Foreshadowing: When you meet him for the first time, he's wearing a black cloak (much like a raven's wings) and have long, jet-black hair. Also in his feast hall where he invites you to dine, the middle shield hanging in the back wall has a raven motif on it.
• Face–Heel Turn: He betrayed the Knights for an allegiance with Belgaroth.
• Involuntary Shapeshifter: You invoke this trope on him... as identifying him break his transformation.
• Karmic Transformation: Breaking his transformation turns him into a grotesque hybrid. Hard to feel sorry.
• My Instincts Are Showing: He literally sqwaks like a raven before dueling you to the death!
• The Mole: Among the knights of the kingdom.
• Significant Anagram: Lord Taris Varen is a Raven.
• A Sinister Clue: He offers to shake your hand... with his left hand.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: He can shape-shift into a raven at will, hence his moniker.
• Walking Spoiler: A traitor can only be this.
• Winged Humanoid: Subverted as he only becomes this if you screw up his transformation.

The Shadow Warriors

See their entry on the Pit page under Demonic Servants.