YMMV / Growlanser

• Complete Monster:
  • Wayfarer of Time: Lord Vester, first appearing murdering Crevanille's remaining comrades in cold blood, shows himself as a sinister man with insidious intentions. Actually a interdimensional dark conqueror ruling over the monsters, Vester's goal is to tear the dimensional rift in order to pour his legion of monsters to conquer Noievarl and sunder it into chaos, succeeding during the timeline of the Angels. His plan is to teach Summoning Magic to all the major countries and intensify the ongoing war between them with his influence and powers' unbeknownst to them, his spells are actually bringing more of Vester's army. Sometimes to further his scheme, he'd resurrect some of his victims and control them through a parasite, lobotomizing his victims to his will. When Crevanille's group manage to thwart Vester's end game, Vester, in a furious rage, made one last attempt to kill them, taking them to his dimension and trap them into darkness.
  • Precarious World:
    • Infinitor is an alien seeking to destroy the planet of Growlanser, seeing himself superior. Absorbing the lifeforce of the planet 2,000 years ago, Infinitor was sealed in the Dragon Orb after a war, creating the Screapers to kill the residents and using his army as pawns. Returning and taking over Monopolis by possessing the line of chairmen, Infinitor planned to time travel to stop his first defeat. Having the populace take Pollumine Seeds by escalating a war and lying about their benefits, Infinitor secretly absorbs the planet's energy while killing those who tried to stop it. With the energy, Infinitor travelled back to stop his first defeat, trying to kill Merklich in a final battle with his true body.
    • Wellber, the Major of Formeros, is a representation of the country's corrupt regime. The right hand of President Glyme, Wellber was ordered to eliminate the rival candidate Dietrich from the election, framing Dietrich's brother Hoffman for embezzling weapons, his unit killed in the process. Hunting Hoffman, Wellber was promoted and worsened the war with Hingistan for resources, Wellber killed all threats to his power and the war, ending with him attempting to kill the entire Black Market and Hoffman when they find evidence of his corruption.
    • Zafreed, the former chancellor of the Hingistan Royal Family, schemed their downfall for his own power. Having the eldest Prince Gilliam killed in battle and the king dying from depression, Zafreed took the throne, forcing heavy taxes and the eldest princess to marry him despite the age difference. Deadly poverty rose, leading to mass starvation and Civil War, while Zafreed fiercely hunted rebels, forcing them to terrorism against Formeros. Planning to eliminate all his foes, Zafreed used Hingistan's giant to try to annihilate his foes, uncaring for civil and friendly casualties.
• Designated Villain: Wolfgang is beloved by his subordinates, and seeks to create a nation for those who are discarded by the current system during times of peace. He also seeks to create a democracy, something so foreign to the world that Hans calls him a genius for thinking of it. He's only a villain because he's at war with the nation Wein is sworn to protect.
• Game-Breaker: The Blessing Bells in Wayfarer of Time. An item you can get in certain battles and the arena, it will drop a character's level by ten, while maintaining the stats. Crevanille with his third limit and just a couple of blessing bells, that you can get in some battles or chests, will become an unstoppable juggernaut. There is are similar items and gems in other games of the series, but nowhere near as accessible.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • IV: Wayferer of Time:
    • Ludwig, General and later President of Dulkheim, is a man with great ambition for his country and will do whatever is necessary to achieve his dream. Recruiting Remus and hero Crevanille to the army, Ludwig wins them over to his side and uses them to further learn about magic from Ancient times. After betraying them to be experimented to further developed the country's magic capabilities, Ludwig lead Dulkheim during the upcoming war, defeating Iglesia and pushing back Valkanian before usurping his way to presidency by winning the people over, bringing prosperity to his country while gaining traction in the war. When Crevanille's group manage to rise to challenge Dulkheim, Ludwig decided to go all out to conquer them to secure his country's position in power, even putting his own life on the line even when cornered. A man who will keep fighting till the end, Ludwig shows himself as a grand leader with the iron-will and ruthlessness to succeed.
    • Sir Bernhart Muntzer is a member of the Valkanier Royal Guard, who shows why he's considered one of his country's best and a dangerous foe to face. A quiet man with great skill in combat and tactics, Muntzer manages to lay a successful siege upon Dulkheim's military base with strategic prowess, capturing Vallery for his country's magic research before winning him over as one of his soldiers. Running into him after escaping Dulkheim, Muntzer shows he's actually a very kind man and father to his family and men with a sense of justice, even saving Crevanille's group from bandits. However when Valkania decided to turn on Marquelay and Ordineil for its wealth, Muntzer despite feeling conflicted remained loyal to his king, leading the fight against them, even putting his fellow Royal Guard Aplphone to a corner and came close to winning.
    • Bryntir is a mysterious man who seems connected to Crevanille and Freya before being later revealed as a master manipulator setting things behind the scenes to defeat The Angel, Akyel and Vester, for the sake of his siblings. A renowned military officer in Dulkheim, Bryntir uses the army to investigate ruins for info against those threatening the world. Later investigating Valkania's ruins, he becomes a spy for them, assisting them in invading Dulkheim's army base before turning against them and abandoning them during the middle of the war. Showing up throughout the game as an ambiguous force in the conflict, Bryntir does what he believes is necessary to stop his enemies, even trying to kill Maggie. After gaining the info needed to stop the Angels and guiding Crevanille and Freya with the notes he left behind, Bryntir helps them put a stop to Akyels rampage, sacrificing his own life to help defeat him. A man who does not care about being branded a traitor, Bryntir would do anything for the sake of his brother and sister.
  • V: Heritage of War:
    • Commander Seldous, leader of PMB, is the first progenitor of peace, ending a century war. War orphaned, Seldous with Vanette and Isaac sought an ancient weapon to force peace in the world, building the Admonisher to force a ceasefire after annihiliating an entire battlefield, creating the PMB to enforce non-war. Maintaining peace for decades with leadership and power, when hostility began appearing, Seldous help control it, tempering other kingdoms, and helping Haschen eliminate loose ends, ending in him sacrificing himself and the Admonisher to help beat the Queen Screaper, imparting the path to true peace.
    • General Rockbein is the beloved war hero of Neylern who initiated a complex plan to bring indepedence to his people. Leading a rebellion against Grangale and the PMB, Rockbein sought his own ancient weapon to defeat the two, forming a web of espionage to find it. Discovering Ziekwald a bio-weapon that can defeat both nations, Rockbein worked with Pernagi to resurrect him, using the PMB's Admonisher to free it with himself as bait to fool them, laying out schemes after his demise so Neylern would win as his rebellion carry on, nearly coming out victorious through excellent foresight, and still achieving his goal with his war forcing the others to acknowledge Neylern's freedom.excellent foresight, and still achieving his goal with his war forcing the others to acknowledge Neylern's freedom.
• Player Punch: The original PS2 version and the entire Original route in Wayfarer of Time are a big series of player punches, with unavoidable deaths, including newly introduced characters and others that you may save in the modified route, lacking some really important info that would have helped avoiding most of those deaths, and finally a bittersweet ending (bordering downer if you didn't do some side quests).

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