A character list for the characters in I am Setsuna. Some characters who've undergone a Dub Name Change have their Japanese names in parentheses next to their English names.
WARNING! UNMARKED SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
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Main Characters
The whole team
- Combination Attack: Combos, in which two or three characters combine their spells to make truly devastating attacks.
- Last Disc Magic: Everyone character receives a powerful sprinite for clearing their sidequests.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Compare their backgrounds and you'll find next to nothing in common. Only two characters have any prior relation with another (Setsuna) and one of them keeps that relation a secret while the other is the time-travelling clone of a something-thousand-year-old mage.
Endir (End/Endo)
Endir (End/Endo)
Voiced by: Ryuichi Kijima
Endir is a member of the masked tribe and makes his living as a mercenary. Cold and aloof, Endir is known for his strength and is renowned for having seen every mission he ever took on through to its end.
- Ambiguous Situation: During the ending, he and Setsuna never got to rejoin their comrades. Did he really kill Setsuna? And did he manage to go back to the future?
- Anti-Hero: Most of his actions dialogue choices early on make him this. However he seems to grow out of his ruthless loner attitude as the game goes on.
- Black Swords Are Better: One of the strongest swords in the game is the jet-black Momentum, which is found in the Developer's Room. Its Flavour Text says it's from a realm without magic, is lightweight despite its appearance, and brings good luck. It's even modeled after RPG Factory's logo.
- Blood Knight: Can be played as one with some of the dialogue options, such as eagerly welcoming a death threat from the Reaper. Lampshaded by your companions, of course:Nidr: Hah...listen to you! I hope you don't live to regret those words...Kir: You know, though, I get the feeling Endir genuinely is looking forward to it...
- But Thou Must!: Endir has many dialogue options, but none really affect the plot. Even the most offensive answers will have the party seeing him as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
- Cool Mask: It has hands on it.
- Expy: Of Crono. A silent protagonist who uses short swords, yet becomes crucial to the game's narrative.
- Flaming Sword: During battles his weapon has a bluish aura.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Fights with a Cool Sword.
- Heroic Mime: The game's silent protagonist. He does still give out voice clips during battle like everyone else, but the player has the option to turn these off to make him truly silent.
- Meaningful Name: His Japanese name is Endo (エンド) meaning End. 'Endir' also sounds like 'Ender.' It's a fitting name, as his presence in the party is a factor that helps to break the "Groundhog Day" Loop.
- Only the Chosen May Wield: His Snowlight is forged in such a way that the magic binded to it prevents anyone other than Endir, its creator, from wielding it.
- The Paladin: He doesn't look the type, but Endir's magic-oriented techs are mainly for buffing the party, providing status boosts, and a little healing on the side. You can also play him with a noble personality to match.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Endir wears a blue coat, and Setsuna wears a long pink cape.
- Spectacular Spinning: His Cyclone tech.
- Supporting Protagonist: After his failed assassination of Setsuna, Endir plays a guardian role in her pilgrimage, aiding her in her pilgrimage to the Lost Lands.
- Technicolor Blade: A lot of the weapon designs in this game lean heavily on the fantasy side of things, but Endir's swords, specifically Snowlight (which he forged himself) and Rainbow, get a special mention for being gradiented.
Setsuna
Setsuna
Voiced by: Ai Kakuma
A girl from Nive Village chosen to be the sacrifice. Honest and pure, Setsuna has no hesitation about offering her life for the sake of the island's people.
- Ambiguous Situation: During the ending, she and Endir never rejoined their comrades. Did Endir accept Setsuna's request and kill her? If not, did they manage to return to the future?
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The beauty to Aeterna's brains and Julienne's brawn. She has a natural charm to her that goes with her virtuous character, and she's The Heart of the party.
- Bodyguard Crush: Seems to develop this towards Endir rather quickly.
- The Chosen One: She has been chosen to be the Human Sacrifice and die at the Last Lands to placate the monsters.
- Curtains Match the Window: She has red eyes that are the same shade as her hair.
- Expy: Of Yuna.
- Feather Motif: Wears a wing-shaped tiara and puts her chakram on it, making it look like an angel halo.
- Fiery Redhead: Inverted, she is by far the calmest and gentlest character in the main party, despite being the only redhead.
- Identical Grandson: She is the spitting image of her mother, Mana. She also shows some similarity to her aunt Nanase, with the hair being the only noticeable difference.
- Meaningful Name: "Setsuna" comes from a Buddhist term meaning "a split second", which contrasts with Endir's name, which refers to endings, and Aeterna's name, referring to eternity. Written with different kanji, the "Setsu" may also mean "snow", which is the game's most prominent visual theme.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: The pink girl to Endir's blue boy.
- The Protagonist: The Character Title and also the focus of the plot, which revolves around her attempt to reach the Lost Lands and make a Heroic Sacrifice to save the world.
- Redheaded Heroine: She has long red hair and, as the heroic sacrifice who can save the world from impending doom, has red as the most significant part of her outfit.
- Screw Destiny: After meeting the Judge of Time in the Last Lands and discovering the truth about the pilgrimage, Setsuna decides against becoming a sacrifice and chooses to fight the Dark Samsara.
- Ship Tease: With Endir, whom she seems to take to pretty fast.
- Shock and Awe: Can cast Lightning spells.
- Signature Headgear: She has a halo headpiece with wings. The appearance of it changes depending on what piece of equipment she has equipped.
- Thanatos Gambit: Absorbs the weakened Dark Samsara's dark energy into her body and asks Endir to kill her to completely destroy it.
- White Magician Girl: Being The Medic of the team, Setsuna's main role is healing the allies, although she also has a few offensive spells, such as Luminaire.
Aeterna (Kuon)
Aeterna (Kuon)
Voiced by: Minami Tsuda
Aeterna is a girl who arrived in Nive Village to join the sacrifice's guard. She has the trust of the villagers, and is adored as a sister by Setsuna. She is more invested in the journey than anyone else. She is often at ends with Endir.
- Animal Motifs: Frogs, due to her green hood and one of her spritnites.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Between herself, Setsuna and Julienne, she's the brains — her actions are grounded in logic and reason, and she's the one the party tends to look to as their guide to the Last Lands.
- But Now I Must Go: She only outlives her original, the Time Judge, to see Setsuna's journey through. Once she senses the Dark Samsara is gone, she says her goodbyes and Disappears into Light.
- Desperation Attack: Aeterna's Frog Squash gets more powerful the lower her HP is.
- Fragile Speedster: She is by far the fastest party member, but her attacks are not as strong as Nidr or Julienne, and she can't take much damage.
- Gravity Master: Her first offensive magic tech, Demi, deals Time-elemental damage but does so by intensifying gravity. She displays similar powers in other techs she gains later.
- Groundhog Peggy Sue: Aeterna is basically a form of the Time Judge's intervention in Setsuna's journey to the Last Lands. When Setsuna meets the Time Judge and chooses to back out of facing the Dark Samsara, Aeterna goes back in time and goes through the events of the story again until she finds the change that lets Setsuna choose to fight.
- Headbutting Heroes: With Endir, for obvious reasons. Eventually she realises he is trustworthy and lets go of it. Later, it's revealed that there is more to it: Endir wasn't present during the previous time loops, therefore Aeterna can't foresee his actions.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: The first hint to the party that Aeterna's much more than meets the eye is when she uses a magic blast of her own to counter the magic of the Reaper, whom she observes was several times stronger than when they last met, as a boss the party wasn't even meant to defeat. She's a little tired out afterward, though, and never uses power of that magnitude again.
- The Lancer: Aeterna contrasts both Endir and Setsuna.
- Setsuna is always friendly and warm, whereas Aeterna is aloof and often comes across as coldhearted.
- Her job also parallels Endir, as he is a mercenary, whereas Aeterna is a bodyguard of Setsuna.
- Aeterna is also The Smart Girl, as she shows to have great knowledge of the region and acts as a guide to the Last Lands. Of course, since Aeterna has already experienced Setsuna's journey many times before, thanks to the "Groundhog Day" Loop, there is rarely a situation that surprises her. She is also able to see through deception, as her sidequest shows.
- Meaningful Name: "a eterna" means "the eternal one" in Portuguese, and the the Latin root word itself is Æterna, or "everlasting." Her Japanese name, "Kuon", has the same meaning: eternity. This is both to contrast with Setsuna's and Endir's names and to reference the fact that she's the Time Judge's servant clone operating in a time loop.
- Non-Human Sidekick: She is a clone of The Judge of Time used to assist the sacrifice on her journey.
- Pointless Band-Aid: She wears one on the bridge of her nose and another on her right cheek. They give her a boyish streak to set her apart from Setsuna... and that's it.
- Reality Warper: Aeterna's element is called "Time", but in effect it's really spacetime, and while usually she just manipulates one or the other, she has a tech called All Creation that's explicitly described to interfere with cosmic laws.
- Ship Tease: With Endir as well once she warms up to him.
- Space Master: Some of her techs are described to distort space to create illusions or bypass natural enemy defenses.
- Time Master: Specializes in time spritnites, such as Haste, Slow, and Stop. Fitting as she is a clone of The Judge of Time.
Nidr (Yomi)
Nidr (Yomi)
Voiced by: Tōru Ōkawa
A peerless swordsman who also served as part of Nanase's sacrifice guard. Taking advantage of his previous experience, he’s the man to go to for advice in the escort group.
- Ambiguously Brown: Though give how fair-skinned his daughter Setsuna is, it's probably just a tan.
- The Big Guy: The tough Hot-Blooded guy of the party.
- Failure Knight: Sees himself as this due to his failure in protecting Nanase during her pilgrimage.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Nidr is Setsuna's father, but he never tells her directly.
- Reused Character Design: A very blatant case. He is literally Auron from Final Fantasy X in green instead of red, minus the sunglasses and missing the opposite eye. He counts as an Expy as well, since he even has a similar backstory. Pretty much the biggest difference is he's not a ghost.
- Shadow Archetype: At one of the ruins, Nidr suddenly faints and is confronted by his shadow in a Dream Sequence. With Endir's support, he forgives himself for Nanase's death and then discovers that he is Setsuna's father.
- Taken for Granite: His Stone Slash spritnite.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: A lot of his dialogue with Kir is him reacting to whatever smart remark Kir made at him.
Kir
Kir
Voiced by: Akemi Okamura
Kir is a member of a tribe of people who possess extraordinary magical energy. He left Hiddbury determined to fulfill a certain goal. He meets the group in Mysleigh Woods and, after some discussion, decides to travel with them.
- Badass Bookworm: After getting his powers back.
- Big Brother Worship: Kir admires and follows in the footsteps of his older brother Tor, who was one of the few who didn't seal his power in the Spritnite Pillar, and left to find a better solution to thir kind's lifespan issue. His KO quote even has Kir call out to him.
- Cast from Lifespan: Kir's people have incredibly powerful magic, but the trade is that their overwhelming power weakens their bodies and causes them to die young, with the elder of Kir's village noting that they usually only make it to their 30s before dying. They usually lengthen their lives by sealing their magic in a Spritnite Pillar, but Kir's goal is to Take a Third Option and find a way to lengthen their lives while keeping their magic powers.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: Awakening his magical energy shortens his lifespan, but you can use his spells just like with other characters and you won't see effects from it.
- Immortality Seeker: Averted. Kir doesn't necessarily want to live forever, he only wishes to find a way to extend his lifespan.
- Nerd Glasses: Fitting for The Smart Guy of the team.
- Our Elves Are Different: He is considered a human, but he has pointed ears, a devilish tail, and lives in a Hidden Elf Village which lacks traditional style houses and has a giant tree behind it. Also, Kir has a different lifespan than normal humans, albeit shorter, whereas common elves have long lifespans.
- Playing with Fire / Kill It with Fire: Can equip fire spritnite.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Wears a long pink robe. Kir's artwork also depicts him using a pink baton as a weapon.
- Squishy Wizard: The team's main offensive magic user. Has poor resistance against physical attacks.
- The Smart Guy: Shares the role with Aeterna, having a great knowledge about magical energy and being the Black Mage of the team.
- Spiky Hair: Has a blonde spiked one.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Unless the plot calls for it, no one ever notices his ears and tail.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Nidr. He often says something about Nidr's "old man" attitude to rile him up.
- Your Days Are Numbered: A side-effect of using his great magical energy is that it shortens his lifespan.
Julienne (Jurion/Julion)
Julienne (Jurion/Julion)
Voiced by: Ayako Takeuchi
Julienne is a female knight who possesses a rare type of magical energy. She leads the knighthood of Royburd and is loved by all their people. Her mission is to see her kingdom restored.
- An Ice Person / Kill It with Ice: Can equip ice spritnite.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The brawn between herself, Setsuna and Aeterna. She's got a reputation as the leader of a knighthood, and she's one of the party's physical heavy-hitters, second only to Nidr in raw attack power.
- The Big Gal: Shares the powerhouse role with Nidr, as they are the physically strongest party members.
- Blood Knight: Julienne is absolutely brutal in her hunt for monsters and will resort to violence at the slightest annoyance. Turns out she's suffering from The Corruption.
- The Corruption: The cause of Julienne's ruthlessness and occasional impulses to kill Setsuna is the monster blood she consumed long ago to survive an expedition gone wrong. It gave her the power to make it home alive, but gradually turns her into a monster — an extension of the Dark Samsara's will — starting with her mind.
- Lady of War: When she's not mentally corrupted by monster blood, Julienne is rather calm, dignified, and honorable.
- Lethal Chef: According to her character profile, Julienne isn't good at cooking.
- Oblivious to Love: She seems to be completely unaware of Lilius feels about her.
- Power at a Price: A few of Julienne's techs involve gaining power-ups at some cost or another. Her Transcendence tech, for example, sacrifices HP for a status boost and a filled SP gauge, and her Raging Spirit double tech with Aeterna boosts the party's attack power and crit rate, but seals off techs with Paralysis.
- In the story proper, it's revealed that in Julienne's backstory, she was caught in an avalanche and had to consume monster blood to survive: it gave her incredible power, but also caused her to start becoming corrupted by it.
- Royal Blood: Julienne is the rightful inheritor of the ancient kingdom, and is referred to as a "princess" by her knighthood and the residents of Royburg. Her unique magical energy allows her to open the sealed Itches Ruins.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Julienne leads the knighthood of Royburg and takes the front lines during missions.
Antagonists
The Reaper
The Reaper / Fides
Voiced by: Akira Ishida
A mysterious man who is on a relentless mission to assassinate the sacrifice.
- Back from the Dead: The Reaper is revived by The Judge of Time, now free from The Dark Samsara's influence, to help the heroes.
- Casting a Shadow: Can equip spritnites of the shadow element.
- The Dragon: To the Dark Samsara.
- 11th-Hour Ranger: Joins the party right before the final battle.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He is referred as The Reaper because his master, the Dark Samsara, never gave him a name. After being revived by the Judge of Time, Setsuna calls him "Fides".
- Expy: Of Magus in terms of gameplay, being a former antagonist with a scythe and shadow magic who becomes the seventh party member (and evens tips the gender balance like Magus did). The only difference is that he's not optional.
- I'm Crying, but I Don't Know Why: Upon being revived, tears begin to fall from his eyes for reasons he doesn't understand. Fides concludes that it means that his master, the Dark Samsara, was suffering. Uncovering the reason behind it becomes his reason for joining the group.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His "name" is obviously associated with The Grim Reaper.
- One-Winged Angel: Turns into a black dragon.
- Recurring Boss: Is fought in a total of four times during the game. In the fourth time, he finally dies.
- Sinister Scythe: Fights with one. It is made of bones.
Final Boss
The Dark Samsara
A being made from a mass of pure energy, without a consciousness of his own.- Big Bad: The main antagonist of the game, being the source of all monsters and the one responsible for the whole pilgrimage. He also created the Reaper to kill the sacrifice.
- Death Seeker: After being weakened, he begs Endir to end his suffering.
- Empathic Shapeshifter: Each one of his four parts has a will of its own and will assume the form of its enemies' darkest fears during battles.
- Elite Four / Four Is Death: His immense magical energy has been split into four parts. Each part is a Mini-Boss that has to be defeated in order to weaken the Dark Samsara.
- Expy: Of Sin. It's also similar to The Cloud of Darkness, as you meet him after a Point of No Return and have to defeat four minibosses in order to weaken it enough to face it.
- Final Boss
- Post-Final Boss: After being defeated, the Dark Samsara escapes to the past and is followed by Endir and Setsuna. Endir has to fight him in a Duel Boss battle.
- Monster Progenitor: He is the source of all monsters.
- Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Samsara (meaning "wandering" or "world") is a religious concept of reincarnation in Hinduism and other Indian religions.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Judge of Time sealed it inside a phantasmal realm. To prevent the seal from vanishing, the sacrifice must offer her life.
- Time Master: Even without the ancient sprinite, the Dark Samara can Time Travel and does it as a last resort after being defeated by the group.
- Tragic Monster: The Dark Samsara used to be a nameless youth that was used in multiple experiments that aimed to prevent the human race from losing their magical energy. Said experiments corrupted him until he became a mass of pure energy without a consciousness.
- Walking Spoiler
- Was Once a Man: Used to be a nameless youth with a great magical energy that was used as a guinea pig by the ancient kingdom, which wanted to find a way to avoid losing their magic powers.
NPCs
Hapsper
Hapsper
An old swordsman with a philosophical, somewhat detached view of the world.- Cool Helmet: Similar to the one worn by Endir.
- Duel Boss: Of Endir's sidequest.
- Evil All Along: Subverted. During Endir's sidequest, he claims to be the "monster" that made a deal with Avalon and threatens Endir's companions to force him into a Duel to the Death. However, it's merely a test to determine whether Endir is worthy of wielding the Genesis spritnite.
- The Hermit: Lives by himself in a isolated place.
Raishin
Raishin
Setsuna's father.- Berserk Button: Nidr, for abandoning Mana and Setsuna.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Despite his harmless appearance, Raishin was once a famous magic user and still is powerful, as shown in Setsuna's quest.
- Nice Guy: Raishin has the trust of the whole Nive Village and is always willing to help those in need, as long as your name isn't Nidr.
- Rejected Apology: He refuses to forgive Nidr for not returning for Mana and Setsuna.
Freyja
Freyja
The captain of the Purikka's resistance.- BFS: Fights with two of them.
- Crippling Overspecialization: She uses nothing but physical attacks in her Duel Boss fight, meaning that Nidr's Counter stance makes her completely helpless.
- Duel Boss: Of Nidr's sidequest.
- Informed Attribute: She "appears to be quite old" but you wouldn't know it by looking at her smooth skin, dark hair and perky breasts. The only sign is a couple of wrinkles around her mouth, and even those can only really be seen in the model viewer.
- Mentor Archetype: To Nidr.
- Worf Effect: Being a powerful swordswoman and Nidr's mentor, Freyja is defeated by the Reaper to establish him as a threat.
Lord Avalo
Lord Avalo
The lord of Floneia Citadel.- Like Father, Unlike Son: Avalo has a grudge against his father and dislikes living in his shadow.
- The Needs of the Many: Sacrifices a few citizens to prevent the monsters from attacking the Citadel.
- Universally Beloved Leader: Avalo is well loved by the citizens of Floneia, because there had never been a monster attack after he took over the throne. Little did they know that Avalo had made a deal of sacrificing a few people to the monsters so they would stop attacking the city.
Dinas
Dinas
The former lord of Floneia Citadel and Avalo's father.- Cool Old Guy: He is a good-natured and compassionate man, but possesses a will of steel.
- Fatal Flaw: His over-prioritizing the protection of his people was so great that he neglected to protect his own family, and ended up losing his wife.
- Taking the Bullet: Threw himself in front of an attack of The Reaper, meant for his son, Avalo.
Akash
Akash
A shipwright working in Floneia Citadel.- Ace Pilot: Akash is the only man alive capable of flying an airship.
- Distressed Dude: Is surrounded by monsters during the epilogue. He is saved by Fides.
- Encounter Repellant: Wears it on when the party meets him again searching for the Itches Ruins.
- The Engineer: A shipwright.
- Expy: Of Cid from the earlier Final Fantasy games.
- The Pig-Pen: His method of repelling monsters is to smear himself with their body fluids, resulting in not only keeping monsters away, but everyone else as well.
Hydor
Hydor
Hydor is the chief of Hiddbury.- Our Elves Are Different: Same as Kir, but Hydor sacrificed his magical energy to live longer.
Nanase
Nanase
A previous sacrifice. She is Mana's elder sister.- Bodyguard Crush: She had a crush on Nidr, who was in love with her sister.
- The Chosen One: As the sacrifice.
- Generation Xerox: She is almost identical to her niece, Setsuna, but with pink hair.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Is said to be the opposite of her sister Mana.
- Working Through the Cold: She became ill during the pilgrimage and hid it from the others.
Mana
Mana
Setsuna's mother and Nanase's sister.- Generation Xerox: She is identical to Setsuna.
- Lethal Chef: Her Fatal Flaw, according to Raishin.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Is said to be a lively and outgoing person, the opposite of Nanase.
Cornelius
Cornelius
An elderly knight serving Julienne.- Blind Obedience: Hired Endir to murder the sacrifice because Julienne — or rather — the "monster blood" possessing her told him to do so. He certainly knew that, had Endir succeeded, it would have doomed the world.
- Undying Loyalty: Toward Julienne.
- Unexpected Virgin: According to the Snow Chronicles, he is still single.
Lilus
Lilus
Julienne's childhood friend living in Royburg.- Cannot Spit It Out: Seems to have feelings for Julienne but is too shy to say anything.
- Non-Action Guy: Lilus has no combat experience.
Sayagi
Sayagi
An elderly healer living in Gatherington.- Healing Hands: She is well versed in healing magic and stated to have saved the lives of many people of the village.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Inflicted it on everyone from Gatherington, making them forget the location of the cave leading to the Lost Lands.
- Shock and Awe: Like Setsuna, she can use thunder spells.
King Rhydderch
King Rhydderch
The spirit guardian of the ancient kingdom.- Extra Turn: Can cast two spells in succession.
- Flunky Boss: Fights alongside four summoned monsters.
- Gate Guardian: His spirit protects the Itches Ruins.
- The Good King: Is said to be knowledge and the wisdom of the old royal family incarnate.
- Time Master: Can use time magic like Demi and Stop on the group.
Time Judge
The Time Judge / Eutess
A mysterious woman the party meets at the Last Lands.- Barrier Maiden: The Time Judge is the one who keeps the Dark Samsara contained. The sacrifices turn out to all be people who gave her their life force to sustain it, but by the time of the game, cracks in the method start to show...
- Big Good: The will guiding the heroes to the Last Lands, who wants to defeat the Dark Samsara and put an end to the sacrifice cycle.
- Really 700 Years Old: She has been alive since the times of the old kingdom, long before the pilgrimage cycle started. Now she resides in a place where Time Stands Still, preventing her from aging.
- Reset Button: She has done it multiple times prior to the game's events, while waiting for the time when Setsuna would choose against sacrificing herself.
- Send in the Clones: Sends her clone, Aeterna, to guide the sacrifice to the Last Lands.
- Stripperiffic: In a game where most characters actually do dress for the cold, her swimsuit with a Navel-Deep Neckline really stands out. Of course, it shouldn't be surprising given that she's this game's version of Yunalesca.
- Time Master: Like Aeterna, she is specialized in time magic. Albeit she is much more powerful, being the possessor of the ancient "Time and Space Spritnite", which allows her to turn back time and create copies of herself.
