These are the characters from the Atari/Midway Fighting Game, Mace: The Dark Age:
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Mordos Kull
- Call to Agriculture: A sad version. In his bad ending, after failing to kill Asmodeus, he retires to farming, his confidence as a mercenary shaken. Unfortunately, Asmodeus has fouled the land, and the farmers he works for cannot even afford to share their meager harvest with him. He is reduced to begging to survive.
- Epic Flail: His weapon of choice.
- The Good King: Becomes this in his ending.
- Hired Guns: A mercenary for hire who has become rather famous for his deeds.
- Home-Run Hitter: His Execution consists of sending his opponent higher, and then striking directly to dismember.
- Sailor's Ponytail: Wears his hair like this to indicated that although his life is barbarous, he still has some standards.
- Shoryuken: Has one in form of Dragon's Bane.
- They Killed My Family: His main motivation of revenge against the Convenant of Seven.
Koyasha
- Death of a Thousand Cuts: Stabs repeatedly her opponents to death in her Execution.
- Dual Wielding: Wields two knives.
- Lady in Red: Her default color suit.
- Naïve Newcomer: Joins the clan before the events of the game.
- Navel-Deep Neckline: Her ninja suit has a v-shaped neckline that plunges to her stomach.
- Ninja: As per fighting game tradition. In her case, she's a Kunoichi.
- Shock and Awe: She throws two Rai-Shurikens.
Taria de Castillo
- The Antichrist: Or at least this verse's equivalent, being that neither Christianity nor Islam came to exist in the Mace-verse.
- Daddy's Little Villain: The daughter of a member of the Covenant of Seven.
- Forced Transformation: Her Execution involves transforming her opponent into a chicken. Which serves the player to unlock Pojo the Chicken.
- Hell Has New Management: Her Evil Plan is to become a demon and take over Hell.
- Hot Witch: Proficient in magic and no slouch in the looks department. Certainly one reason Deimos has some interest in her.
- Lady of Black Magic: A graceful and evil sorceress.
- Lady of War: As elegant as she is deadly on the battlefield.
- Separated at Birth: From Grendal, a.k.a. Taurus de Castillo, her twin brother.
Xiao Long
- Abusive Parents: His father is a Chinese warlord who blinded him and left him for dead when he refused to kill an enemy. At twelve years old. This wasn't an impulsive act, either. In Long's bad ending, Daddy finds out about the monks who took him in and stages an attack on the monastery.
- And Show It to You: His Execution, which consists of ripping his opponent's heart.
- Blind Weaponmaster: He may be blind, but he's still skilled in bojutsu.
- Broomstick Quarterstaff: His Ned the Janitor skin replaces the staff with a mop.
- Handicapped Badass: He's blind, but when he wants to kick butts, he will.
- Kung Fu Magic: His magic was developed to counter his blindness.
- Martial Arts Staff: As is common among many Buddhist warrior monks in real life and especially in fiction.
- Warrior Monk: He was raised by monks to master the Spirit Sense and is a formidable fighter. It's safe to say that he's one.
The Executioner
- Ambiguously Brown: For the lack of a better term.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He is given no name, and his face is always hidden.
- The Executioner: Duh. Wears the hood, wields the axe, even is only known as "The Executioner".
- Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Only alluded to in a non-sequitur, as he has "Momma didn't love me." as a rare pre-fight quote.
- Malevolent Masked Man: One who, unsurprisingly, wears the classic executioner mask which also has Irisless Eye Mask Of Mystery for more intimidation effect.
- No Name Given: All that we know is that he's an executioner... and that's literally all he'll give.
- Off with His Head!: His Execution involves him decapitating his opponent, medieval style.
- Torture Technician: The best all around.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: If his ending is any indication.
Namira
- Beautiful Slave Girl: In her backstory, she was sold to slavery after the murder of her family by Al Rashid's father.
- Bedlah Babe: As can be seen in the accompanying image.
- He Who Fights Monsters: She who fights monsters in her case. In her good ending, she becomes the first woman ruler of Arabia and creates a kingdom known for its strong female leaders… by deliberately forbidding all men from running businesses or appearing in public unveiled, thus making women rule by default instead of through merit (essentially a reversal of the more conservative Muslim nations).
- Kick Chick: Her fighting style incorporates more than a few kicks.
- Kiss of Death: Shrinks her opponent in her Execution and then traps them in a bottle.
- Lady of War: Being the lost princess of Arabia, she qualifies.
- Royal Harem: Against her will.
- Sex Slave:
- She is implied to have started out as this in her backstory, being sold into slavery and subsequently forced to dance for the pleasure of fat and lecherous old men.
- In her bad ending, Asmodeus gives her as a gift to the Sultan of Shiraq. The grateful sultan assures Asmodeus that her treachery will not go unpunished, and he proceeds to enslave her once again, abusing and torturing her to the point of insanity.
- In Al Rashid's good ending, he uses the Mace to brainwash her and turn her into his own personal concubine.
- She is implied to have started out as this in her backstory, being sold into slavery and subsequently forced to dance for the pleasure of fat and lecherous old men.
- Sinister Scimitar: Her weapon of choice... just like her arch-nemesis Al Rashid.
- You Killed My Father: The assassins led by Al Rashid's father Khalid killed her family, and she will make them all pay.
Takeshi Tsunami
- Blue Is Heroic: He wears a primarily blue outfit in his default coloring, with gold accents as a secondary coloring.
- Cain and Abel: The Abel to Ichiro's Cain.
- Cool Helmet: Sports a rather ornate kabuto helmet, befitting a samurai.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: He cuts his opponents in half in his Execution.
- Honor Before Reason: Absolutely refuses to accept that Ichiro may be beyond saving because his family's honor depends on it.
- Katanas Are Just Better: As a samurai, he obviously wields one in combat.
- My Country, Right or Wrong: He's not too happy that Japan wants him to kill Ichiro on the side, but still goes on his quest to stop the Seven anyway.
- My Greatest Failure: In his good ending. Though he manages to perform great deeds to promote harmony and justice after destroying the Mace of Tanis, the fallout of its destruction kills Ichiro in the process. Takeshi is haunted by his inability to redeem his fallen brother.
- Shock and Awe: He has some lightning powers to compliment his fighting style. He can wield it by shooting out electrical projectiles and also channel it through his sword to enhance his strikes.
Al Rashid
- Blow You Away: Can summon a tornado as one of his specials.
- Lightning Bruiser: He's a rather fast, yet also strong character in combo.
- Patricide: His "good" ending involves him murdering his own father to become the King of Assassins.
- Professional Killer: He's no mere assassin, he's a "Master Assassin", and is as fearsome as you'd expect.
- Sinister Scimitar: His weapons of choice.
- There's No Kill like Overkill: In his Execution, Al Rashid cuts his opponents' arms, head, and torso in a gruesome manner.
Ragnar Bloodaxe
- Back Stab: In his Execution, Ragnar stabs his opponent's back with the horns of his helmet, and then slams it with gory results.
- Braids of Barbarism: His beard comes with two braids.
- Horny Vikings: Of the Warrior Prince variant.
- The Lost Lenore: His girlfriend was killed by Lord Deimos.
- Mangst: According to his backstory, he coped with the tragedy of losing his people. Him being the literal representation of the trope is a reminder that even the most manly of the men have sad moments.
- Mighty Glacier: What he lacks in speed, he makes up for it in strength.
- Red Is Heroic: He's redheaded and is one of the benevolent characters of the game.
- Shockwave Clap: Has one in Thunder Clap.
- Wrestler in All of Us: One of his throws is a Deadly Hug.
Lord Deimos
- Bad Boss: Treats the rest of the Covenant of Seven with contempt, and crushes the population of Bavaria just for kicks.
- BFS: His Flamberge is a gigantic sword made out of hellfire itself.
- Black Knight: Subverted in that his armor is red, but otherwise he's the typical "evil dark knight".
- Evil Laugh: He has a rather grandiose one, hammering in just how vile he is.
- Hot Blade: Wields his patented, bigger, and cool-looking Heat Sword.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: This is how he kills his opponents in his Execution. He even lifts the corpse too.
- Out-of-Character Moment: Rare, but his pre-fight comment might be the uncharacteristic "My helmet is stuck!" or the even stranger "Sometimes I like to play with kittens.".
- Playing with Fire: Powered by Hellfire, no less.
- The Starscream: Both his good and bad endings reveal that he harbors ambitions to overthrow Asmodeus to claim further power if the right opportunity presents itself.
- Tin Tyrant: He is the king of Bavaria and always clad in intimidating spiky, blood red armor.
- Villainous Crush: On Taria. A lot.
- We Can Rule Together: A variation. His quote when addressing Taria is: "Rule by my side Taria, willingly or by force!".
Sir Dregan
- The Atoner: In his good ending.
- Demonic Possession: His Execution involves him possessing the body of his opponent and then exploding in a bloody mess.
- Knightly Sword and Shield: His weapon set of choice, as can be seen in his image.
- Secret Character: Unlocked via time-bomb in the Arcade version. Averted in the Nintendo 64 port, where he's playable by default.
- Our Zombies Are Different: He's a Revenant. He represents the Undead with his seat in the Covenant of Seven, and his bio credits him as creating the first vampires as well.
Hell Knight
- Dragged Off to Hell: This is how he finishes his oppponents in his Execution.
- Lizard Folk: He's a demon with a reptilian appearance.
- Oddly Shaped Sword: He dual wields a set of swords with ax-like features at the top of the blades.
- Our Demons Are Different: A rather minor demon who simply wants to kill Asmodeus and return the Mace to its proper place.
- Secret Character: Unlocked via time-bomb in the Arcade version. Averted in the Nintendo 64 port, where he's playable by default.
- The Starscream: Wants to kill Asmodeous all by himself.
Ichiro Tsunami
- All Asians Wear Conical Straw Hats: In his case, wears a Sugegasa.
- Aloof Big Brother: He's obviously on rather bad terms with his brother Takeshi.
- Beard of Evil: Contrasting the clean-shaven Takeshi, Ichiro has a goatee.
- Cain and Abel: The Cain to Takeshi's Abel.
- Drunk with Power: In his "good" ending, the position of Emperor quickly gets to his head and he goes insane both from it and Takeshi's continued survival.
- Expy: He's a dark version of Sho Shinjo.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Just like his "dear" brother, his weapon is a katana.
- Off with His Head!: In his Execution, he decapitates his opponent and then suddenly it's pierced in his sword.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: As the result of his corruption.
- Secret Character: Unlocked via time-bomb in the Arcade version. In the Nintendo 64 port, he's unlocked through a code.
Gar Gunderson
- Bamboo Technology: The War Mech is made out of barrels and cogs.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Resembles a stereotypical dwarf to a tee: long beard, horned helmet, short height, etc.
- Humongous Mecha: Equipped with a spiked ball and a hammer.
- Immune to Flinching: In a sense that he can't be thrown or Executed.
- Instant Awesome: Just Add Mecha!: He takes a machine into combat - the only character to do so.
- Off with His Head!: In his Execution, he slams his opponent with his mecha's weapon to the ground and then decapitates them baseball style.
- Secret Character: Unlocked via time-bomb in the Arcade version. In the Nintendo 64 port, he's unlocked through a code.
Grendal
- Draconic Humanoid: As can be seen in the accompanying image.
- Golem: His flesh is made of stone, as you can see.
- Good Is Not Soft: If he's cured back to Taurus in his ending, then upon concluding that Taria's beyond saving, he has her blinded, rendered mute, and shut away for the rest of her life. She had it coming.
- I'm a Humanitarian: He rips a chunk of flesh off of his opponents in his Execution.
- Rock Monster: As a gargoyle-like being, it is to be expected. Though there are also hints of Living Lava as his joints and a few other places on his body glow like molten rock.
- Secret Character: In the Nintendo 64 port. Unlocking him requires winning three consecutive two player battles and then pressing the start and evade buttons over where Executioner's slot on the select screen would be, though now Grendal will be in his place.
- Separated at Birth: From Taria.
- Spell My Name With An S: Though the creature from Beowulf with which this character shares his name with is spelled as "Grendel", this character has an "a" in place of the second "e".
- Taken for Granite: Poor Taurus was turned into the stone creature he now is when Asmodeus stole him.
- Unwitting Pawn: For Asmodeus.
- White Sheep: His father and sister may be utterly ruthless, but Taurus turns out to be a rather decent bloke when he's not being Forced into Evil.
Pojo
A chicken that is a hidden Joke Character in the Nintendo 64 port of Mace: The Dark Age.
- Breath Weapon: Pojo can breathe fire. In other words, in Mace: The Dark Age this chicken fries you!
- Guest Fighter: Pojo was also playable in the 1998 game Gauntlet Legends.
- Lethal Joke Character: While she lacks special attacks as powerful as everyone else's, Pojo's speed and small hit box makes it very difficult for most characters to land hits on her. Pojo is even very useful against Asmodeus himself.note
- Took a Level in Badass: In her ending, upon gaining the Mace of Tanis, she becomes a giant flying, fire-breathing beast which becomes the inspiration for dragons in the Mace-verse.
Asmodeus
- Big Bad: Sponsor of the Covenant of Seven, defender of the Mace of Tanis, and the demon threatening to plunge the world to chaos.
- Big Red Devil: He's so large that his legs are permanently hidden by a pool of fire, and he's got the red skin to match.
- Deal with the Devil: The reason why the Covenant of Seven is created in the first place.
- Final Boss: A single player game will always have him as the final enemy. Always.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: His Execution, which rips his enemy in two with his bare hands.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: He has four arms with the larger pair at the top (which he uses for most melee attacks) and a smaller lower pair (of which he uses to fire some projectiles and perform other kinds of attacks).
- SNK Boss: Reads your inputs, has massive reach due to his arms, and has specials solely designed to counter other strategies. He's quite a challenge.
- Spikes of Villainy: Has a multitude of these along his back.
