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The Human Realm
Sir Arthur
English: Dan Woren (Marvel vs. Capcom series)
The Hero. A fearless knight who fights the forces of the Demon Realm repeatedly to save his world and his beloved Princess.
- The Determinator: Will let nothing stop him from accomplishing his goals.
- Comedic Underwear Exposure: When receiving a hit from enemies for the first time, which strips him of his armor and leaves him battling enemies while clad in polka-dot boxers.
- Hammerspace: Come think about it, where did he store all those weapons for throwing at enemies? Especially when he's running around in his boxers?
- Knight in Shining Armor: Perhaps the most iconic example in video games.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: His whole repertoire is throwing his weapons. This includes lances, daggers, torches, scythes, axes, and shields. Ironically, swords are one of the the only weapons he doesn't throw and instead uses normally.
- Younger Than They Look: According to Tokuma Shoten's official guidebook to Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Arthur's age is 28 in that game, which would've made him 21 in Ghosts 'n Goblins and 24 in the original Ghouls 'n Ghosts. This is lampshaded in Arthur's bio in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.Though he looks like an old man, he's really only 28 years old.
The Princess
The princess of the Kingdom of Hus, where Arthur dwells in and swears to protect his beloved. Known as Princess Prin-Prin in Ghouls n' Ghosts and Super Ghouls n' Ghosts, though she stops being named in any official capacity after these two games; outside Japan there were attempts to name her Tamara and Guinevere, neither stuck.
- Damsel in Distress: A fairly classic example.
- Depending on the Artist: In contrast to Arthur having quite the consistent design, her appearances throughout the series contain a few differences for each new entry.
- Dub Name Change: Console ports of Ghosts n' Goblins in the west tried to give her a name via manual descriptions; Tamara for the Sega Genesis, Guinevere for the SNES. She remained nameless in Japan until Ghouls n' Ghosts.
- Fanservice Pack: While always beautiful, the Princess's beauty has generally been more cutesy. Her updated appearance in Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection made her more overtly attractive and gave her a buxom figure.
- Impossible Hourglass Figure: In the credits of both Ghouls 'n Ghosts and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts her bust/waist/hip measurements are shown revealing her to be of this trope. Funnily enough, they’re actually the exact same measurements
◊ as Chun-Li’s. Made more visually obvious in Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins, then further exaggerated in Ghosts N' Goblins Resurrection. - World's Most Beautiful Woman: Even demons want her hand in marriage.
Lancelot
Another great knight and a friend of Arthur's.
- Adaptational Heroism: As with many other portrayals, this Lancelot is much more sincerely heroic and doesn't seem interested in stealing Arthur's love interest.
- Glass Cannon: His armor and health is worse than Arthur's, in compensation he can attack faster and can jump on enemies to damage them.
Perceval
Yet another noble knight who assists Arthur.
- Ascended Extra: In his first appearance he just came out at the last second to help Arthur. In his second appearance he is a main character alongside Arthur.
- Close-Range Combatant: Is focused much more on close ranged weapons than his fellow knights.
- Lightning Bruiser: Has the best attack and defense of the knights and makes up for his closer range by being able to dash.
Michael
One of the only angels seen in the series. A steadfast guardian of humanity who appears to give Arthur important advice.
- Archangel Michael: What he is.
- Bowdlerise: Referred to as Merlin in a lot of English translations to avoid religious connotations.
- Ultimate Blacksmith: Is the creator of the mighty Psycho Cannon.
Goddess of Battle
A mighty spirit who appears to grant Arthur the best weapons in Ghouls n' Ghosts and Super Ghouls n' Ghosts.
- You Don't Look Like You: Inexplicably changes form drastically between her two appearances. In her debut she is a tall angel in white robes, in her second she is a tiny fairy wearing blue. The only consistent trait between these two versions is her red hair.
The Witches Union
A coven of three witches who request Arthur’s help in gathering magic ingredients for their potions.
- Farmer and the Viper: After he helps all three, the witches double-cross Arthur and use all the brews they were crafting to turn themselves into one huge amalgamated beast. Fortunately Arthur beats their grotesque form and gains powerful magic himself.
- Wicked Witch: Three of them, they give Arthur payment for helping them on occasion but in the end all they want is power.
The Demon Realm
General
- Demon Lords And Arch Devils: The main villains of all the games are the Emperors of Makai, different demon rulers and noblemen. It is implied there is a constant shift of power in the Demon Realm with the various lords constantly competing for supremacy. That said, they all share the same goal: conquer the Human Realm.
- I Have Many Names: A location example. The Demon Realm has also been called the Ghoul Realm, Ghouls n’ Ghosts Realm, the Phantom Zone, Hades, and simply Hell. Meanwhile, the main base of operations is usually named the Infernal Village.
The Residents of the Demon Realm
The various ghouls, ghosts, and goblins who live in the realm. Most are fierce minions of the Emperors of Makai, though some are passive citizens.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Not all the residents of this realm are totally wicked, the Gargoyle's Quest and Demon's Crest games show that an amount of them would just rather live in peace and are genial to each other. It is still shown though that even the friendlier folk are still opportunistic jerks and almost all look down on humanity.
- Antlion Monster: There are large demonic antlions who have moved into the ruins of Camelot. They will attack you if you enter their sands and are completely invincible.
- Bears Are Bad News: Gririan and Woo are two species of demon bear with a Breath Weapon, the former breathes fire while the latter breathes ice.
- Chest Monster: Super has mimics who are small pink ghosts who will endlessly spawn from treasure chests that are slightly differently colored from regular treasure chests.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Some of the strongest monsters in the Demon Realm are dragons and you will be fighting quite a few, both as regular enemies and bosses. The most common and famous variety are a serpentine mix of both Western and Eastern dragons, having the whiskers and ability to fly without wings of the latter and the wicked temperaments and fire breathing of the former.
- Our Giants Are Bigger: Originally known as "Big Men", giants are bulky ogres who throw flails at their targets.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Given one half of the series title is always ghost, there are a lot of different kinds found throughout the games. This includes classic white ghosts, phantom knights with unbreakable shields, pitchfork wielding hooded ghosts, and the robed souls of the damned in the Demon Realm.
- Our Goblins Are Different: A lot of different kinds too from purple gliding goblins, to green flying goblins who drop rocks, to one-eyed running goblins.
- Our Imps Are Different: The infamous red and blue blazers are tiny demons who move around quickly and erratically, they can be killed in one hit but it is hard to hit them in the first place.
- Our Monsters Are Weird: Arthur and Firebrand will encounter some truly strange beasts in their travels; including living towers of rock, blowfish ghouls, cycloptic bats, and huge hands with faces on their fingers.
The Magician
A recurring foe who comes out of chests on occasion and can curse Arthur.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In the first game the Magician does not appear from chests, instead popping out if you attack gravestones or just coming out of nowhere in some later stages.
- Forced Transformation: This is what makes the Magician so dangerous, if his magic hits Arthur he will turn the knight into a weaker form. What form it is varies on what color armor Arthur has or if he is in his underpants.
- Bewitched Amphibians: Regardless of what Arthur is wearing in the first game, the Magician will turn him into a helpless frog that can’t attack.
- Fountain of Youth: If the magician curses Arthur while he is in his underpants in Super Ghouls n' Ghosts, he turns him into a baby. This is probably the worst transformation as it not only robs of you of your attack and double jump but you move slower and become stunned after jumping.
- Gender Bender: If the magician curses Arthur while he wears the golden armor in Super Ghouls n' Ghosts, he turns him into a village girl that can't attack or double jump. The Hell Face can also shift his sex in Ultimate Ghosts n' Goblins, turning him into a fat village woman who is identical to the village girl with the added problem of moving more slowly .
- Rapid Aging: If the magician curses Arthur while he is in his underpants in Ghouls n' Ghosts, he will turn him into an old man who can still attack but moves a lot slower.
- King Mook: A boss version of the Magician named Rangda is a boss in Makaimura for Wonderswan, combining elements of all of the Magician's forms.
- You Don't Look Like You: In Ghosts n' Goblins he looks like a beaked demon with wings, in Ghouls n' Ghosts he looks like a stage magician complete with a top hat, and in Super Ghouls n' Ghosts he looks like a jester. Ghosts n' Goblins Resurrection decides to combine the last two appearances and gives him a mustache for good measure.
The Bosses of the Demon Realm
Powerful beings who are the most dangerous servants of the Emperors of Makai, they range from mindless beasts to tactical warriors.
- Basilisk and Cockatrice: A Cockatrice is the first boss of Super, though strangely enough it has no petrifying powers.
- Beelzebub: The Dragon of Lucifer, a huge grotesque demon fly who can split himself into a swarm of flies.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: One per mainline game after the first one.
- Alongside the aforementioned Beelzebub, Ghouls N’ Ghosts has Ohme; a huge slug thing with multiple hearts who gives birth to giant worms who will attack you. Beelzebub also reappears in Resurrection.
- Super has the Death Crawler, a giant flying centipede who spins rapidly and spits out rocks.
- Ultimate has Vermirous, an absolutely hideous giant flea covered in rotting flesh that contains parasites it will launch at you.
- Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit": A recurring boss throughout the series are cyclopes, however for the longest time they were called "unicorns". Resurrection finally calls them by their proper name.
- Eldritch Abomination: The Spiral Mantruder is probably the most surreal monster in the franchise, it is essentially a giant living vortex of hellfire and reaching claws that swirl around an empty eye socket.
- HellHound: Cerberus is here, though rather than being a three headed mastiff he is instead a big dog made of fire who leaps around wildly. In Resurrection he is now a three headed dog, who can split himself into three smaller dogs to boot.
- Giant Enemy Crab: Storm Cesaris is a crab that rides on a water spout and has a ton of barnacles on its head. It is hard to tell it is a crab in-game though, the official art is more clear on this.
- Our Gargoyles Rock: Shielder is a huge humanoid gargoyle who imitates a statue to try and take Arthur by surprise. After he starts moving he will remove his head and wield it like a gun to spit out flames.
- Our Hydras Are Different: Super has a three-headed hydra as its boss for its Womb Level. It can breath fire and bizarrely split into a seahorse-like demon for each head it has who then leap around.
- Playing with Fire: A lot of bosses summon fire to attack, usually by breathing it. The most fiery of all are Cerberus, Flame Lord, and Efreet.
The Red Arremers
Also known as the Red Devils. Highly ferocious elite demons and the most infamous enemies in the series.
- Artificial Brilliance: The main reason they are so hard. All Red Arremers are uncannily smart and have a knack for avoiding your attacks.
- Big Red Devil: Albeit most are about the height of a human. The strongest though, the Red Arremer Joker, certainly fulfills the "big" part being easily twice the size of a human.
- Playing Card Motifs: Stronger members of the Red Arremers have titles relating to cards. The next up from the normal Red Arremer are the Red Arremer Kings, then the Red Arremer Aces, and the strongest of all is their leader the Red Arremer Joker.
Firebrand
Japanese: Takahiro Sakurai (Namco × Capcom), Shohei Yamaguchi (Marvel vs. Capcom series)
English: Ian James Corlett (Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite)
An especially strong Red Arremer, nicknamed the "The Red Blaze" by the other demons. Is more noble hearted than his peers. The main character in the Gargoyle's Quest games and Demon's Crest.
- Anti-Hero: He overall does what he wants and loves to fight, but he isn't interested in serving his corrupt leaders and works to bring peace to the Demon Realm in different ways.
- Breath Weapon: His main method of attacking. It is normally fireballs he spits out, but with the crests he can breath out a variety of elemental attacks. This includes the Crest of Fire, which gives him four more additional different fireballs he can use.
- Elemental Powers: With the Crests, Firebrand transforms into a new form that gives him distinct new abilities relating to the element.
- Blow You Away: With the Crest of Air, Firebrand becomes the Aerial Gargoyle. He can now fly upwards at the expense of no longer being able to cling to walls and breaths out sharp gusts of wind.
- Dishing Out Dirt: With the Crest of Earth, Firebrand becomes the Ground Gargoyle. He loses the ability to fly, but can dash through powerful structures and gains an earth breath that goes downward and deals a ton of damage.
- Light 'em Up: The Crest of Heaven, though Firebrand never actually gets this Crest on its own and it is instead used by Phalanx. It is implied the Crest of Infinity grants Firebrand the abilities of the Crest of Heaven, though what exactly it does is never elaborated on.
- Making a Splash: With the Crest of Water, Firebrand becomes the Tidal Gargoyle. He can now thrive in water, which normally harms him, and gains a steam breath that is okay on land but destroys in the water.
- Playing with Fire: Firebrand's default ability, the Crest of Fire gave him access to whole new firebreaths but it ended up being shattered and you will need to retrieve the shards of the Crest to get access to them.
- Power of the Void: With the Crest of Infinity, Firebrand becomes the Ultimate Gargoyle. This gives Firebrand the abilities of all the other Crests.
- Time Master: With the Crest of Time, Firebrand becomes the Legend Gargoyle. Though the game states it allows the user to time travel, this is more of an Informed Ability as all the crest does is increase your health and damage.
- Noble Demon: Demon he may be, Firebrand though only fights for his realm and to protect its citizens from worse Demons and is regarded as a Hero by his kind.
Astaroth
Japanese: Hitoshi Bifu
One of the rulers of the Demon Realm and Arthur's most bitter enemy, appearing in almost every single game. Big Bad of the first Ghosts 'n Goblins.
- Belly Mouth: His most notable feature, it breaths out hellish flames.
- I Have Many Names: Originally, Astaroth was known as either "Daimao" or "Gandiaz" in materials based around the first game, not even being mentioned for the second game. The English versions gave him dozens of names, including "The Devil" in the original NES manual and "Argon" in one of the arcade flyers handed out by Taito. The GBC port instead calls him "Hades". Come the third game, he was given his current name but mistranslated as "Asutaroto", a direct Romanization of the Japanese spelling.
- Villain Decay: He remains a fairly dangerous combatant, but he always gets overshadowed by the other more competent demon lords in later games. Best exemplified in the Incredible Toons game where he is a bumbling oaf rather than a ferocious villain, acting as a reskin of Al E. Cat from Sid and Al's Incredible Toons.
Satan/Mephisto
A large winged demon who is the one who usually kidnaps the Princess.
- Ambiguous Situation: Is this THE Satan, and if so why isn't he one of the big rulers of the Demon Realm? The games never clarify this, though it is potentially a mistranslation given the Japanese word applied to Satan, "Akuma", is generally used to refer to any powerful and fiery malevolent spirit. Resurrection Would resolve this by changing his name to Mephisto, indicating that like Lucifer he is a high ranking demon but not THE Satan.
- Big Red Devil: A very furry one.
- Master of Illusion: Infamously so. He is the one who conjures the fake version of the final battle in the original game, forcing you to go through it all over again.
- Took a Level in Badass: In his boss fight in Resurrection he is much larger and more powerful with numerous new attacks.
- The Unfought: Though he appears in the intro, you never fight him in Super Ghouls n' Ghosts.
Lucifer
An ambitious demon who dethroned Astaroth as the ruler of the Demon Realm. The Big Bad of Ghouls n' Ghosts and the Final Boss of Ghosts n' Goblins Resurrection.
- Big Red Devil: Has red skin, is a powerful demon, and is Very big with his throne alone being the size of a building.
- Bowdlerise: Called "Loki" in many early translations.
- The End... Or Is It?: As show in The Stinger he's as active as ever... Though this ends up being Subverted in Super as Lucfier gets supplanted by Samael. Lucfier would remain gone for many more games. It took until Resurrection for Lucifer to finally return, and even here it is revealed he was just a pawn for Hades.
- Failed a Spot Check: When stealing people's souls, he didn't get Arthur's, only the soul his trusty steed. Whoops.
- Spell My Name with a "The": In the soundtrack for Ghosts n' Goblins Resurrection, his name is given as "The Lucifer", given that the name was originally a title, "The Light Bearer".
- Slouch of Villainy: He's in this pose during the earliest phase of his fight in Resurrection, clearly not taking the knight seriously as he fights him from the comfort of his throne.
- The Usurper: After Astaroth fell, Lucifer came in and stole control of the Demon Realm.
- Villainous Breakdown: He starts his boss fight in Resurrection condescendingly looking down on Arthur and barely even putting in an effort to attack him. As Arthur damages Lucifer though, the fiend steadily gets angrier and eventually erupts into a violent rage.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: In the prologue of the arcade game, he starts claiming the souls of every human in the kingdom. He steals Princess Prin-Prin's soul, but messes up claiming Arthur's because his loyal horse was in the way.
Samael
Also known as Sardius in Western releases. Another powerful demon lord who steals control of the Demon Realm. The Big Bad of Super Ghouls n' Ghosts.
- An Ice Person: In contrast to the other demon lords, Sardius' powers are more icy than fiery.
- Belly Mouth: One that generates ice platforms.
- Bowdlerise: Called "Sardius" in the English translation.
- Tactical Suicide Boss: If Sardius stopped having his stomach spit out platforms Arthur would be unable to hurt him since he can't fire up in the game. It is especially blatant as the platforms don't even cause damage, all they do is help Arthur reach Sardius' weak face.
Tiamat
One of the few female demons seen in the series, she is The Dragon to Azazel and as such is the penultimate boss of Makaimura for Wonderswan.
- Dragons Are Demonic: Her true form is that of a dragon, which is fitting since she is also The Dragon.
- Sequential Boss: She starts her fight in her humanoid form before morphing into a three-headed dragon.
Azazel
A colossal demon lord who is yet another would-be conqueror of the human realm. The Big Bad of Makaimura for Wonderswan.
- Background Boss: Due to how massive he is. Arthur has to face him on the top of a castle whilst Azazel looms in the background.
- Flying Face: After you destroy his body, his enraged head remains alive and flies around to try and kill you.
Phalanx
A pale and cunning demon who takes control of the Demon Realm after getting the Crest of Heaven. The Big Bad of Demon's Crest.
- Light Is Not Good: Much more brightly colored than most demons, is probably one of the most vile. Further exemplified in the final battle where he uses a lot of light attacks.
- MacGuffin Delivery Service: A rare version where it happens early in the game, happening literally in the intro. He waited for Firebrand to collect the six crests and then when he was weakened after his fight with the dragon Somulo, Phalanx came in and stole all the crests to get the Crest of Heaven which then kicks off the game.
- Odd Name Out: The only Big Bad in the franchise not to be named after a demon or dark god from a real world religion.
- Oh, Crap!: Ultimate Phalanx’s final expression when Firebrand deals the killing blow is one of total astonishment and horror.
- One-Winged Angel: When Phalanx gets the Crest of Infinity he becomes "Ultimate Phalanx", a grotesque four-armed serpent demon and the final boss.
- Orcus on His Throne: After succeeding in taking over the Demon Realm, Phalanx literally loiters in his castle while Firebrand does his thing. However, he doesn't waste that time; the more areas you complete before facing him, the more traps and guards he installs in his palace, and the more he works out how to use the Crest of Heaven, which adds phases to his fight.
- This Cannot Be!: Does not take failure well in any of the endings, especially after getting the Crest of Infinity.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Rather than finishing off Firebrand after getting the Crest of Heaven, he throws the red arremer in an arena with the reanimated remains of the now very vengeful dragon Somulo. Even in this weakened state, Firebrand is able to beat Somulo again and sets off to dethrone Phalanx.
General Arma
Phalanx's greatest warrior and The Rival to Firebrand.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Very full of himself and mocks Firebrand whenever he can.
- The Dragon: To Phalanx, though this is less out of loyalty and more because Phalanx always has someone else for him to hunt down and fight.
- Elemental Powers: Phalanx gave him three crests to watch over, each of which he uses when fighting Firebrand. In the first fight he uses the Crest of Earth, the second fight he uses the Crest of Air, and the third fight he uses the Crest of Time.
- Noble Demon: Not as much as Firebrand, but Arma still has a strong sense of honor and gives Firebrand the Crests as rewards after he beats him.
- Worthy Opponent: Comes to regard Firebrand as this.
The Dark Demon
A mysterious and terrifyingly powerful demon of unknown origin. The incredibly tough Super Boss of Demon’s Crest.
- Dark Is Evil: Literally in his name and is the most dangerous demon around.
- The Dreaded: Not many are aware of his existence, but pretty much anyone who knows of him is terrified of him. This includes Phalanx.
- Light Is Not Good: In contrast to his name, one form he takes is brighter and highly luminescent. He remains thoroughly wicked.
- Riddle for the Ages: Perhaps the most enigmatic character in the franchise: Just who is he? What were his schemes? How does he tie to the Crest War? Could he be the true ruler of the Demon Realm? The only things we know for sure about him is that he is the oldest demon in the realm and was in the Human Realm for a time before the Crest War, heavily implying he could very well be actual Satan.
Hades
A grotesque fiend who is one of the strongest demons in the Demon Realm. The Big Bad of Ultimate Ghosts n' Goblins and the true Big Bad of Ghosts n' Goblins Resurrection.
- Greater-Scope Villain: For most of the games. Ultimate implies he is the true emperor of the Demon Realm with all the other demon lords (with the likely exception of the Dark Demon) being his servants.
- Gruesome Goat: His new design in Resurrection makes his face and horns more goatish, giving him some Baphomet vibes.
- Head Swap: He is pretty much Lucifer with a different head and one new attack; Hades could get away with it in Ultimate since Lucifer isn’t in it to compare and contrast, then Resurrection happens and Lucifer and Hades are in the same game, with their similarities being impossible to ignore.
- Knight of Cerebus: Even when compared to the other demon lords, Hades stands out as more monstrous and competent. Ultimate establishes this right from the start with him personally laying siege to the Princess's castle to kidnap her and mocking Arthur to his face when the knight arrives too late.
- Not Named in Opening Credits: Resurrection doesn’t name him in the Credits even in the True Ending, if the player didn’t have previous knowledge of who he is they would be left scratching their heads regarding who is this extra final boss.
