open/close all folders
Main Characters
The Ninja/The Messenger
The Ninja
Demon army this and magic scroll that, nothing's happening in centuries, so why are we still hiding?
What happened? I warped or something, and everything looks different now...
The Ninja chosen to carry the scroll to the mountain. After his village is attacked by the Demon King, he's tasked by the Hero of the West to bring the Scroll to the top of Glacial Peak.- Achievements in Ignorance: Sea of Stars reveals that the Demon King is made up of a fusion between four Acolytes of the Fleshmancer and the Dweller of Strife, which is the winged eyeball form the King takes. The Dweller required many, many Solstice Warriors to slay, and every single one except for one died in the fight, yet the Ninja successfully kills it without any kind of Solstice magic or any knowledge of just how insane the victory was.
- All Asians Wear Conical Straw Hats: In the future, his outfit gains one of these. The Shopkeeper thinks it's really cool.
- Blue Is Heroic: His costume is primarily blue, and he's the main character fighting to save humanity from an army of merciless demons.
- Costume Evolution: He gains a fancy conical straw hat in the future and starts wielding his sword in a Reverse Grip.
- Double Jump: He can "Cloudstep" after attacking an enemy or object in midair, creating a wisp of cloud underfoot that he can jump from.
- Idiot Hero: Can be rather dense at times, much to the Shopkeeper's annoyance.
- Ki Manipulation: The shuriken that he throws are made of ki instead of being physical weapons.
- Ninja: Natch.
- No Name Given: We never learn his name, not even if it's the Hello, [Insert Name Here] you're prompted at the start, or something else.
- Not Quite Flight: The Wingsuit allows him to glide over long distances. He'll rise high into the air if he catches an updraft.
- One-Hit Polykill: His shuriken can be upgraded to pierce through up to two enemies, potentially letting a single shuriken kill three enemies at once.
- Parrying Bullets: An upgrade lets him destroy projectiles by slashing them with his katana.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: He can stay underwater indefinitely without drowning. The game never addresses how he's able to do this. That's not an infinite oxygen tank on his back, for those who made that mistake, that's just the scroll and his sword.
- 10-Minute Retirement: Goes through a literal instance of this. After he delivers the Scroll to the Order of the Blue Robes, he first becomes the future's version of the Hero of the West, then he's offered the position of the Shopkeeper, selling items to the new Messenger. What he didn't get told by the Shopkeeper is that he has to keep tabs on his Messenger by paying attention to the crystal ball in the shop, sending a Greed Demon to rescue him if he runs the risk of dying. The Messenger of the future dies and the Ninja un-retires to take over from where the new Messenger failed.
- Time Travel: In the second half of the game, he's able to travel between the past and the future by jumping through naturally occurring time rifts. Where these rifts were the first time through is anyone's guess.
- Walk on Water: The Lightfoot Tabi allow him to run across the surface of water—and later, lava—without sinking into it. He needs to keep moving, though, or else he'll break the surface tension and sink.
The Shopkeeper
The Shopkeeper
"Ah, The Messenger! I wasn't expecting you so soon."
"Ok, THAT is a really cool hat."
"Thanks for ruining the show. Can't you just enjoy the contrast?"
A quirky shopkeeper who runs a joint located outside of time. She gives upgrades and sells ability enhancements to the Ninja in exchange for Time Shards, and time and again she has a story to tell to entertain him.- Action Fashionista: Apparently she takes fashion when ass-kicking surprisingly seriously - see All Asians Wear Conical Straw Hats below.
- All Asians Wear Conical Straw Hats: We don't even know what ethnicity she is, but she's so in awe of the Ninja's conical straw hat that's part of his future outfit that she briefly gets one of her own because it looks that cool. In Picnic Panic, when Barma'thazël does the thing with the Dark Messenger, she takes one look at their fusion, notices it has the hat, and immediately dips out to wear hers again so the Arcane Golem will be wearing a conical hat as well, because she apparently takes fashion rather seriously.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Despite being a member of an order of time-traveling heroes who are working to save the world from an army of demons, she doesn't believe the Ninja when he tells her about Manfred and the Clockwork Concierge, chocking them up to hallucinations brought on by the thin air of the Elemental Skylands. She also doesn't believe that the Corrupted Future can have a demon like the Eldritch Abomination that effectively lives inside.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Her reason for not telling the Ninja the backstory surrounding his quest until the end of the game? He said her shop didn't look like a shop when they first met. Making this even worse is that she never so much as hinted any offense or anger at him over it when he said it, so he had no way to know his words had struck a nerve.
- Fusion Dance: She can "do the thing" with the Artificer and the Prophet to become the Arcane Golem. They take this form to test the Ninja once he reaches the top of the Tower of Time. They take it again at the climax of the game to destroy the manifestation of the curse. She, the Ninja and the Alchemist also do it again to fight Barma'thething.
- Poor Communication Kills: She neglected to tell the Ninja some important information near the end of his quest. Namely, that he was supposed to keep tabs on his Messenger and send a demon to bail them out if they were in trouble. This results in the Soldier's avoidable death and forces the Ninja to come out of retirement so he can search for the music notes. Unlike with the actual plot exposition, she actually forgot to tell him this, rather than withholding it out of spite.
- Retired Badass: Both implied in-game and explicitly stated during the Alternate Reality Game that she is the first Messenger and the founder of the Order of Blue Robes.
- Samus Is a Girl: The game itself never mentions that the Shopkeeper is a woman.
- Shadowed Face, Glowing Eyes: Her face is completely hidden within the darkness of her hood, leaving only her glowing red eyes visible. The other members of her order look the same.
- Troll: The first time the Ninja goes in her shop after the Time Skip, she'll compliment his conical hat. The second time, she'll wear the same hat and it will launch a very funny dialogue where she insists that it was her idea first and the Ninja copied on her, leading him to defend the truth before giving up on exasperation.
Quarble
Quarble
"At your service. I'm the one you never would have met, had you any skills."
"Sorry, you can't afford me."
"You know, I wasn't sure about this either, but they said I was better than the outdated 'lives and continues' system."
A tiny demon who accompanies the Messenger on his quest. Quarble can prevent the Messenger from dying by rewinding time, though his services aren't free.- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Quarble does this quite a bit, questioning your skills as a player, suggesting you blame your death on input lag to avoid embarrassment if anyone is watching you play, and even asking you if you are dying on purpose just to see when his quotes start looping.
- Cyclops: He only has one eye.
- Eat Dirt, Cheap: He eats Time Shards. Though he also admits in one of his death quotes that this might not be the best idea.
- Game-Over Man: He has a lot of snarky things to say whenever you die. One of them is him saying that you're probably wondering when they're gonna start looping
- The Imp: Even if he's a Token Heroic Orc, he fits the description as he's tiny and makes extremely sarcastic comments for all your deaths.
- Pet the Dog: If the Ninja dies by being Squashed Flat, Quarble will say that he was sorry for him.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: If Quarble follows the Messenger into a boss room, the little imp will freak out at the sight of the boss and teleport himself to safety. He also leaves eventually after a while, which he foreshadows by including "when I get bored" as when he'll leave.
- Time Master: He can rewind time to undo the Messenger's death, returning him to the last checkpoint.
- Token Heroic Orc: His kind are the only demons in the game who aren't trying to kill the Ninja. Turns out to be a contract deal.
Past Bosses
The Leaf Monster
Leaf Monster
Don't worry my dear adventurer, Leaf Monsters only come during a full moon. Oh, is it a full moon right now?
The boss of Autumn Hills. A monster made of sticks and leaves that emerges on the night of a full moon. Attacks by shooting its leaves out, in a fashion that leaves it open to attack.— The Shopkeeper about the Leaf Monster
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Unlike the other bosses, it has no relevance to the plot, and it's immediately forgotten when defeated.
- History Repeats: It has the exact same vulnerability now as its predecessor did when it fought Zale and Valere.
- Tactical Suicide Boss: If only it didn't shoot its leaves out. It'd have been invincible.
- Warm-Up Boss: It has low health and a very simple pattern, and is mostly there to make sure the player is getting comfortable with the controls.
Ruxxtin (and his staff)
Ruxxtin (and his staff)
"*ahem*... who dares enter my lair?"
"(DO I HAVE TO REMIND YOU WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE?)"
"EN GARDE! Face the mighty might of Ruxxtin the Great!"
Ruxxtin is a necromancer who resides inside the catacombs, serving as the boss inside this area. He is accompanied by a talking staff which seems to be more invested in evil than he is.- Dem Bones: Ruxxtin is an undead skeleton.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: Before the boss fight, it happens that the staff is sapient and was commanding Ruxxtin to do evil stuff. However, when the skeleton decides to give up on evil, the staff can't do anything about it because it has to follow the one who carries it.
- Heel–Face Turn: Once the Messenger beats him, Ruxxtin promises to give up his evil ways and go straight, much to the staff's chagrin.
- Horns of Villainy: The staff has these on its skull.
- Interspecies Adoption: Ruxxtin, or at least his counterpart from the Picnic Panic universe, was adopted by a pair of giant squids.
- Living Weapon: The staff is sapient and happens to be the one in command.
- Lone Wolf Boss: Ruxxtin wants to conquer the world for himself because his staff orders him to do so.
- Mister Big: Ruxxtin has his back to the camera when he first appears, making it seem like he's a giant twice the height of the Ninja. But it turns out he's actually very short, and just wears a ridiculously long cloak to make himself look taller while he's floating.
- Plotline Death: Ruxxtin dies for real during the Time Skip, and is buried with his amulet. Before he died, he took his staff to the top of Glacial Peak and left a note for the Ninja saying to take the amulet to the staff and where he put it.
- Warm-Up Boss: Ruxxtin can be actually challenging since he loves teleporting around the arena and has some dangerous attacks, but he is mostly there to teach the player that you can't just wait for the boss to come at you, you have to be on the move constantly or you're dead meat.
The Emerald Golem
Emerald Golem
Click here to see its true form
"LIKE, THANKS FOR DESTROYING MY GOLEM???" "Well, let's just say you're about to fight someone who understands that the best defense is a good defense."
A giant rock monster digging tunnels through the Howling Grotto, serving as its boss. Actually a spirit inside the golem who did not actually mean any harm to the Ninja to start with, initiating their fight by complete accident. It eventually helps him to leave Howling Grotto after their battle.— The Shopkeeper about the Emerald Golem
- Attack Its Weak Point: The glowing green ball on its chest opens the mouth where the real weak point is, and also makes vanish the crystals on its shoulders.
- Golem: A variant. At first, the Emerald Golem seems to be a traditional Rock Monster powered by a strange magic. However, as the battle goes on, you discover that it was a big stone armor for the spirit inside it, and it's not happy that you destroyed its armor.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Once the Ninja leaves Howling Grotto, the spirit cries the destruction of its golem.
- Lone Wolf Boss: The Emerald Golem only wants to dig the Howling Grotto in peace. Many Messengers didn't know that and paid the price before the Ninja.
- Mighty Glacier: The Golem doesn't move and has slow attacks, but its spikes, its giant fists and its EnergyBalls can stun the Ninja, it has a lot of health, and only one weak point.
- Sequential Boss: The first phase of the battle consists of attacking the chest gem to open the Golem's mouth and make it vulnerable, all by avoiding to be stinged by its crystals nor to be crushed by its giant fists. The second phase is the spirit floating above a Bottomless Pit and relying on Collision Damage to defeat the Ninja.
- Shed Armor, Gain Speed: Once the Golem is destroyed, the Spirit floats liberally around the battlefield and tries to hit the Ninja via Collision Damage.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: While the previous bosses were there to make the players familiar with the controls, the Emerald Golem is there to test their skills, notably their ability to dodge attacks, to look for weak points on opponents who will become more and more trickier, and to use the Shop Upgrades at full potential.
The Queen of Quills and Quillble (SPOILERS UNMARKED)
Queen of Quills/The Monk
"KNEEL BEFORE YOUR QUEEN, AND RECEIVE THE CURSE OF QUILLS!"
- Beat the Curse Out of Her: Averted. Defeating her does not restore her to normal, bringing a sylph from the Riviere Turquoise does the job.
- Failure Knight: Used to be The Messenger herself, but failed and was corrupted into the Queen of Quills. Upon being purified, she lends the Ninja a hand.
- Forced Transformation:
- She used to be a Messenger herself and was corrupted by the Primal Fear.
- As the Queen of Quills, she can turn hapless victims into mushroom demons, and the Ninja is no exception.
- Foreshadowing: Is mentioned during Quillshroom Marsh's story, and inquiring about the boss is another mention.
- Guest-Star Party Member: Continues to work with the Ninja and the Blue Robes after being purified, but only lends a hand with getting Manfred unfrozen before vanishing from the story until the Post-Final Boss.
- Hero of Another Story: Purified the Riviere Turquoise by bringing the Butterfly Matriarch there during her journey as The Messenger.
- Lightning Bruiser: She has more health than the Emerald Golem and is way more nimble.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When the Monk recovers, she's shocked to see what the marsh became under her rule as the Queen of Quills.
- Retired Badass: Technically. She's no longer The Messenger, but isn't unable to help the Ninja with his task.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: After the relatively easy first three bosses, her fight in Mushroom Quills is a massive rude awakening. She's fast and spends most of the fight in the air and out of reach throwing down projectiles that transform you into a helpless mushroom (but can also allow you to get in a free shot or two if you're fast). When she does come down it's to slash you with her whip, dealing 2 damage and leaving very few safe openings. Victory demands you get to grips with pattern recognition and good reflexs.
- Walking Spoiler: Just mentioning the Monk spoils that the Queen of Quills can be restored to normal.
- Warrior Monk: Outright stated to be a monk, and she fights. Well, she did, anyway.
- Whip of Dominance: She's a domineering villainess who uses a whip as a weapon.
Quillble
- Developer's Foresight: If you defeat the Queen of Quills before dying once yourself, Quarble will not appear when Quillble shows up to save the Queen, leaving the Ninja even more confused.
- Distaff Counterpart: To Quarble, as they're the only Greed Demons shown in the whole game.
- Forced Transformation: She was also changed by the Monk's corruption, but she's still herself, and still has a job to do.
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: She seems to be this the first time you defeat the Queen of Quills, especially if you managed to defeat her without losing a life prior. She still comes out of nowhere to reveal the Queen of Quills is the foreshadowed previous Messenger, who failed and was corrupted, by saving her like Quarble saves you.
- Save the Villain: Her debut. She shows up to save the Queen of Quills, revealing said Queen to be the previous Messenger who failed her mission, and either leaves, or if the Ninja has met Quarble, shares a short conversation with him and THEN leaves. Either way, the Ninja is left confused by the whole matter.
- Walking Spoiler: Can't talk about her without spoiling that the Queen of Quills is a former Messenger who failed the mission.
Colos & Suses
Colos & Suses
Suses (left) and Colos (right).
A pair of cyclops living at the top of Searing Crags, serving as the Duel Boss of the area. Fights the Ninja to test his strength before sending him up to Glacial Peak.- Bullfight Boss: Colos can warm up on place before running towards the Messenger, either hitting him or hurting himself on the wall.
- Classical Cyclops: They are hulking giants with a single large eye in the middle of their faces, though instead of herding sheep, they like to work out and practice botany.
- Cloth Fu: Suses can take off his loincloth and use it to whip the Messenger.
- Extremity Extremist: Colos only attacks with his arms, while Suses only attacks with his legs (except to whip you with his loincloth), including picking up and throwing things using his feet. This is demonstrated in their designs as well; Colos has strong arms and a muscle top but is a Top-Heavy Guy, and Suses is fat but has muscled legs.
- Fitness Nut: They're obsessed with their workout regimens and exercise constantly.
- Lone Wolf Boss: Colos and Suses are Boisterous Bruisers who are looking for a Worthy Opponent until their power thistle has boomed. They become Unwitting Pawns for Barma'thazël at the end of Picnic Panic though.
- Muscles Are Meaningful: Both of them apply, but Colos especially, as his strong bust protects him from frontal attacks, forcing the Messenger to attack him from behind.
- Punny Name: Put their names together and you get "Colossuses", which describes them to a T.
- Stout Strength: Suses may have a big belly, but he's not less strong than his partner. He's also invulnerable from the back and can use his loincloth as an improvised whip.
- Super-Strength: They’re strong enough to punt the Ninja hundreds of feet into the air, which is how they send him to Glacial Peak.
- Top-Heavy Guy: Colos has a big bust and long arms, but skinny legs.
- Too Dumb to Live: Literally. They severely underestimated how long it would take for their power thistle to bloom and spend so much time sitting around waiting for it to happen that they starved. The Messenger must harvest the thistle in the future and bring it to them in the past to prevent their entirely avoidable deaths. Barma'thazël exploits this at the end of Picnic Panic to grow the Voodoo Seed he energized through the final confrontation.
The Order of the Blue Robes (SPOILERS UNMARKED)
The Order of the Blue Robes
"Welcome to the Tower of Time! I put it back into its headquarters form after you beat the challenge. Which I had designed myself, by the way!!!"
— The Artificier
"*ahem* THE MISTS OF TIME ARE QUITE INTRICATE INDEED, BUT FEAR NOT, FOR THE PROPHET IS HERE TO UNRAVEL THEIR MEANING"
— The Prophet
The Artificier
The Prophet
Click here the Arcane Golem
An opaque organization who helps Messengers in their quest and test their skills to check if they're worthy enough to pursue their quest. They are now composed of the Shopkeeper, the Artificier and the Prophet. The cutscene before the final area reveals that they are all retired Messengers who hide themselves behind Blue Robes.
- And Then What?: After the Ninja collects all the remaining Keys, the Prophet doesn't know what to do, as his knowledge doesn't go beyond this specific quest.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: At first glance, they are an ominous organization of silly guys in blue robes, but every of them has a competence that makes them crucial to the acomplishment of their quest.
- Final-Exam Boss: The Arcane Golem is the last trial the Ninja faces before traveling 500 years in the future, and it tests all of his skills to the extreme.
- Fusion Dance: This is how they become the Arcane Golem to test the Ninja's strength.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Many Messengers saw their past and future selves, or different selves from other realities. The reason they all wear Blue Robes is for that precise reason.
- Keet: The Artificier tends to be excited by the sole idea of testing Messengers in the Tower of Time and of fusioning with his comrades.
- Serious Business: The Prophet takes speeches very seriously, preparing them a long time in advance, and he particularly hates when one of his friends interrupts him.
- Skewed Priorities:
- The Prophet is annoyed when the Artificier starts the fusion dance before he starts his speech.
- After the Ninja comes back from the Corrupted Future, the Artificier is happy he survived the Eldritch Abomination inside, not because he met a monster behind, but because he bet about the existence of the said monster with the Shopkeeper.
- When the Ninja finally frees Phantom after millenia under the Mask's curse, the Artificier asks him if he wants to test the Tower of Time.
- Year Outside, Hour Inside: As the Tower of Time is set in a place out of time, and as they only manifest when a new Messenger is ready to pursue their quest, they see Messengers come and leave while entire generations birth and die in the outside world.
Future bosses
Manfred the Sky Serpent (SPOILERS UNMARKED)
Click here to see his true form.
Manfred is a red dragon who attacks the Ninja in Cloud Ruins after he jumps 500 years in the future. He's actually a Sky Serpent who was brainwashed into a feral beast by Barma'thazël, and after he's freed, he becomes one of his most precious allies. He's also on a quest to find the Clockwork Concierge to teach him how to become a butler.
"It's not my name, but I always wanted to be a butler."- Big Damn Heroes: He comes just in time to save the Ninja when Barma'thazël blows up Hell.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: When he's the red dragon, he's only focused on attacking the Ninja.
- Breath Weapon: He can spit fireballs as a boss and as a mount.
- Cat-and-Mouse Boss: There are three stages where the Red Dragon is invincible and pursues the Ninja in Cloud Ruins before the boss fight at the end of the level.
- Gentle Giant: After he's freed from his curse, Manfred reveals to be a friendly and laid back guy.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Manfred is overexcited when he finally meets the Clockwork Concierge.
- Last of His Kind: Thierry Boulanger confirmed that Manfred is the last Sky Serpent
. - Noodle Incident: After he helps the Ninja, Manfred happens to be imprisoned in a block of ice in Glacial Peak.
Barma'thazël
Barma'thazël
"Hahaha! We end this now, champion of the blue robes!"
"The Underworld awaits you Messenger. At last, the scroll will be ours!"
Lieutenant of the Demon King charged with dealing with The Messenger. Serves as the boss of the Underworld. Known for his incredible speed. He's eventually promoted to Big Bad come the Picnic Panic DLC, capturing the Voodkins and taking control of their island.He used to be a Martial Artist named Brugaves, wielding the moon's power, but grew disillusioned with the life after too many failures and pulled a Face–Heel Turn. Barma'thazël does not remember being him. See Sea of Stars for more info.
- Big Red Devil: He has the most traditionally devilish appearance of the game's demons, having red skin, glowing red eyes, goatlike legs with cloven hooves, pointed ears, and curling ram's horns.
- Boss Tease: He briefly attacks the Messenger at several points before fighting him for real in the Underworld. He can kill the Messenger during these encounters, but the Messenger can't kill him; he'll just teleport away after taking several hits or after enough time has elapsed.
- Disk-One Final Boss: He's fought in the depths of Hell and while you would expect the game to send you to his master, it actually marks the point where the game stops being a linear platformer and becomes a Metroidvania.
- Double Weapon: He wields two swords which can join together at the hilt to form a double-ended polearm.
- The Dragon: He's the Demon King's right-hand man and most capable subordinate. Having strong muscle memory from his former life as Brugaves, and centuries of experience after he gave up his old identity, will do that.
- Dragon Ascendant: He becomes the main antagonist of Picnic Panic DLC.
- Eyepatch of Power: We never learn how he lost his eye, but he does have an eyepatch. And he still had both eyes as Brugaves in Sea of Stars.
- Identity Amnesia: Has no memory of being the Lunar Martial Artist, Brugaves. Double justified, this game was made first, plus Brugaves specifically asked to forget his old life when he locked in his Face–Heel Turn.
- Lightning Bruiser: Barma'thazël is a pretty strong boss with a lot of HP and who can move extremely fast. The Shopkeeeper warns you about his speed before the battle, and she's not kidding.
- Playing with Fire: He can use his two swords to make fire, either by sticking them on walls to put the floor on fire or by creating a chain of fire and making them float around the boss room.
- Xanatos Gambit: His evil plan in the Picnic Panic DLC is constructed in such a way that every possible outcome leads to his success. If the Dark Messenger doesn't kill the Messenger's greed demon, the destruction of the Dark Messenger's own demon allows Barma'thazël to do the thing with it and become Barma'thething. If Barma'thething fails to defeat the Arcane Golem, then the Voodoo energy that he gathered from the Phobekins' fear still gets unleashed and forms a magic seed which he will use elsewhere for sinister purposes.
The Butterfly Matriarch (SPOILERS UNMARKED)
The Butterfly Matriarch/The Bat Matriarch
"Now Messenger, come closer..."
"AND DIE!" "I am the Butterfly Matriarch, the embodiment of beauty. Come closer, I have a gift for you..."
The protector of the Rivière Turquoise. After her river was purified by the Monk, she developed an unsettling obsession for beauty...— The Butterfly Matriarch
- Bat Out of Hell: The Bat Matriarch is a giant bat who drove the Butterfly Matriarch into madness. It doesn't help that the Rivière Turquoise is a hellish place in the past.
- Beat the Curse Out of Her: The Ninja destroys the Bat Matriarch this way.
- Beauty Is Bad: The Butterfly Matriarch tried to overcome her possession by transforming her area into a Sugar Bowl, to no avail.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: She's possessed by the Bat Matriarch, of course, but she also infliged one on herself, transforming the Rivière Turquoise into a Sugar Bowl because she thought it would cure her from her possessor.
- Fighting from the Inside: During the battle, she recovers lucidity for some instant and throws powder to create platforms so the Ninja can fight the Bat Matriarch.
- Glamour Failure: The Magic Firefly reveals that behind the wonderful creature lures a dangerous demon.
- Pretty Butterflies: She invokes this in her design.
- Super-Scream: The Bat Matriarch shouts on the Ninja to invert his control scheme. Before revealing this form, the Butterfly Matriarch delivers a terrifying screech.
- Time Master: Both creatures travel in the past and the future to, respectively, kill and help the Ninja.
The Demon King
The Demon King
"Burn it all! Bring the humans to their knees!"
"Know your place, Ninja! Our curse is never-ending, and your time is up!"
The main antagonist of the game, a four-headed king of demons responsible in some fashion for the demons dotting the island and the Messenger cycle. Has taken the Forlorn Temple as his base of operations.- Adipose Rex: Mixes with Fat Bastard as he's very fat and very evil. Justified, under that fat is the giant eyeball of the Dweller of Strife.
- Big Bad: He's the main antagonist of the game, and even if he's fought earlier than you would expect, his legacy remains in the Final Boss' tragedy.
- Boss-Arena Idiocy: For some reason, there are rockets in his arena that the Ninja can use to reach the Demon King, stunning him so the Ninja can attack him as they descend back down to the floor.
- Breath Weapon: He mainly attacks by spitting fireballs from his four mouths.
- Fusion Dance: Of the Dweller of Strife and Aephorul's four acolytes, as revealed in Sea of Stars. Humorously, given the Dweller of Strife was revived with the soul of the Dweller of Woe, this makes the Demon King a Fusion Dance of a Fusion Dance.
- Generic Doomsday Villain: Why did he invade the world and why does he want to drive humanity extinct? You'll never know, because the game has no interest in telling you. Sea of Stars implies Aephorul sent it to finish destroying this world, but it's not explicit in either game.
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Nobody knows where the Demon King and his subordinates came from. Sea of Stars explains the Demon King's origins as four acolytes and a monstrosity (that the Ninja himself fights) that Aephorul the Fleshmancer fused into one being.
- Large and in Charge: The Demon King is many times larger than any of his subordinates.
- Multiple Head Case: Has four heads, but one has the crown on it, and seems to be the one that speaks. Which of the four acolytes from Sea of Stars this is, is not immediately clear, though it's unlikely to be Three (who never spoke) or Four (who spoke in a very specific way).
- Oculothorax: The second stage of its fight has the heads disappear and the Demon King's true form as the Dweller of Strife, a giant flying eyeball, show itself to the Ninja.
- Weakened by the Light: He dies when the glass roof of the arena is destroyed and he is close to the hole, taking the full brunt of the incoming sunlight.
- The Worf Effect: A strange example. Back in its original existence as the Dweller of Strife, Zale and Valere could only scratch it without a piece of artillery at their side, eclipse be damned. As the Demon King, he is killed by the Ninja with little trouble, even after it reverts into the Dweller of Strife. That said, it could be Early-Installment Weirdness and Sabotage hadn't had the idea yet, or it could account for the fact that Valere and Zale weren't at their best until they overcame the Dweller of Dread and had the power to move the sun and moon in Seraï's world - until the Dweller of Dread, it was noted they were, at best, stronger than Brugaves and Erlina, who still needed Moraine's help to take on a 'weak' Dweller like Woe.
The Clockwork Concierge (SPOILERS UNMARKED)
The Clockwork Concierge
"This is unacceptable, I need to get back to my skylands presently."
The protector of the Elemental Skylands, the place where the climate of the world is regulated, and a superstart among aspiring butlers.— The Clockwork Concierge
- Almighty Janitor: Despite his concierge title, he has the mission to regulate the climate of the world.
- Beat the Curse Out of Him: How the Ninja and Manfred free him from the curse.
- Cyber Cyclops: He only has one big round eye.
- Gentle Giant: After he's freed, he reveals a very haughty demeanor, but he's still grateful to the Ninja and Manfred, and ready to take the latter as his pupil.
- More Dakka: His boss fight is a Bullet Hell where Manfred shoots his vital points before his belly opens and the Ninja attacks his mechanical heart.
- Robot Hair: He was apparently designed with a mustache.
The Abomination (SPOILERS UNMARKED)
The Abomination
Never... again...
A demon who sleeps in the Corrupted Future, and is awaken after the Ninja collects the Key of Courage.— The Ninja after having (barely) survived his encounter with the Abomination
- Cat-and-Mouse Boss: Once it awakens, it becomes the cat and the Ninja the mouse. However, unlike Manfred, he can't do anything but flee to the door he crossed prior, and he barely makes it.
- Eldritch Abomination: The Demon Army is no stranger to creepy monsters, but this creature takes the cake: it doesn't look like anything coherent, it doesn't even seem to be sapient like other demons, it cannot be hurt in any way, and it can transcend past and future in its pursuit.
- Evil Is Bigger: It fits half the screen, and it certainly doesn't want any good for the Ninja.
- Invincible Villain: It cannot be damaged in any way: the only solution is to flee.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: The Abomination is treated more seriously than other creatures: like said before, it cannot be hurt, and if the Ninja dies during the battle, Quarble spares him his usual sarcasms and resurrects him immediately before fleeing in terror.
- Swallowed Whole: The fate that awaits the Ninja if he doesn't run fast enough.
The Final Boss (SPOILERS UNMARKED)
Phantom
Phantom possessed by the Mask.
Phantom freed from the Mask.
The Mask's true form.
The Final Boss of the game, and the creator of the scroll that the Messenger cycle is predicated around carrying. A man who helped lead the civilization on the island early into its existence. Turned into the source of the curse on the island by the Demon King, being trapped inside of a Music Box that the latter portion of the game is dedicated to unlocking.- Badass in Distress: The Blue Robes are trying to save him, hence he's "in distress" yet he's also the Final Boss, so definitely a Badass.
- Big Good: He created the scroll that gives humanity a fighting chance against the demons, which in turn led to the foundation of the Order of the Blue Robes.
- Evil Mask: The Mask forces him to perpetuate the curse, and after Phantom is freed, it attacks the Order of the Blue Robes.
- I Reject Your Reality: Despite having witnessed it, the Mask refuses to believe that the Messengers are real and that Phantom wrote and sent them the scroll.
- Malevolent Masked Man: Though not by choice. The mask he wears drives him mad and compels him to keep playing his organ, ensuring that the Demon King's curse will go on and that the demons will keep coming back to drive humanity toward the brink of extinction.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: His wife Muse was among the dead in the Demon King's very first attack, and he set out to fight the Demon King alone, with just Muse's Music Box in his hand. Naturally, he failed. The Demon King was so insulted by his pathetic attempt that, instead of killing Phantom, he put a cursed mask on him and sealed him in the Music Box, compelled to play a certain song forever to perpetuate the curse.
- Time Master: He had mastered the power of time travel and imbued this magic into the Scroll so that its carriers would be come attuned to it as well. When fought as the final boss, he can switch between the past and the future at will, forcing the Ninja to deal with hazards that exist in one time but not the other.
- Tragic Keepsake: The Music Box, which belonged to his late wife, Muse.
- Walking Spoiler: It's impossible to talk about Phantom without getting into late-game revelations and spoilers. As such, all spoilers in this folder are unmarked.
Other characters
The Soldier
The Soldier
"Oh there's upgrades too? Sweet!"
"Really? I'm 100% down to leave this outpost!"
A soldier from 500 years after the Ninja's time. He was supposed to become the next Messenger, but things go off the rails due to a lack of communication between the Ninja and the Shopkeeper.- Charged Attack: The Ninja gives him an item which can charge up his beam. Sadly, we never get to see him use it.
- Killed Offscreen: He dies under unclear circumstances after leaving the shop.
- Walking Spoiler: His very existence gives away the game's Halfway Plot Switch.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He appears for two brief scenes in the middle of the game before getting killed off.
The Guardians
The Guardians
- Always with You: Just before they make their Heroic Sacrifice, they tell the Messenger that they will always be watching over him just as they've done since the day he was born.
- Canon Character All Along: Reversed. Zale and Valere, the protagonists of Sea of Stars? It's them.
- Energy Beings: They take the form of two flames — one gold, one silver — to communicate with the Messenger.
- A God I Am Not: Implied. While the game itself calls them gods, when the Messenger asks the Guardians if they are gods, one of them simply replies "Some would say that" and moves on. Sea of Stars throws it out the window and outright said they became gods.
- God Is Good: They are benevolent and full of love for humanity, so much so that they willingly give up the last of their power — and implicitly, their lives — to help the Messenger save the world.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: Eons without active worship has left them greatly weakened, and they use up the last of their power in forging the Key of Love.
- Heroic Sacrifice: They willingly give up their own existence to forge one of the music notes needed to break the Demon King's curse.
- No Name Given: They don't give the Ninja their names. Sea of Stars reveals their names: Zale (sun) and Valere (moon). Interestingly, they don't give the Ninja the godly names they inherited either: Solen (Zale) and Luana (Valere).
- Solar and Lunar: They are represented by symbols of the sun and the moon. Sea of Stars expands on that by being their backstory.
- So Proud of You: One of the first things they do is tell the Messenger that they are proud of him for all he managed to accomplish on his own.
- Walking Spoiler: Retroactive example. They became this when it was revealed they're the protagonists of Sea of Stars.
