The Dragon Guardians
Ragna Wrymheart
Dynasmon
Tropes:
- Berserk Button: Alpha dismissing the dead as just 'binary' makes Ragna incredibly angry.
- Deadly Upgrade: his X-Evolution in Chapter 6 causes him to go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the Dramon because he's mad with rage and grief.
- Despair Event Horizon: After he loses all of his closest allies and is left with just Ruatemn, who fights on the side of The Empire.
- The Fettered: Which Ruatemn calls him out on in Chapter 6.A hero so fettered by his ideals that when the time comes, he can do nothing... that kind of hero can never exist in reality.
- Game-Breaking Injury: He's pretty badly injured in his fight with Alpha, and loses his chestplate and gauntlets because Alpha smashes them. This comes into play later...
- The Hero
- It's All My Fault: Blames himself for the fall of the Guardians in Chapter 7, though Braon promptly snaps him out of it.
- Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: He notably disapproves of Amon's 'cowardice'.
- My Country, Right or Wrong: Despite the Republic's economic turmoil and the clear poverty in the streets, he continues to fight in its name unquestioningly.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: He is reckless, eternally loyal to his nation and a noble fighter who relies on his strength to pull through. The Red to Ruatemn's Blue.
- Rousing Speech: To the forces of the frontier town. Lampshaded by Lionel.Lionel: A truly rousing speech.
- Undying Loyalty: To the Republic, as he formally declares in the Royal Hive.
- War Is Hell: One of his principle beliefs. Even when he accepts he must kill, it is with a noticably cynical air.
Ruatemn Skysong
UlforceVeedramon
- Tell me, Lucan, what happens when a tower falls down? You raise a stronger one in its place.
Tropes:
- Anti-Hero: Type III. In truth is a Type IV, especially after having Kadoya killed.
- Beehive Barrier: Tensegrity Shield
- Big Bad: In a weird sense. He's the Big Bad for Chapter 6, having caused the Dramon uprising in the local area.
- Big Bad Ensemble: With Amon and Kadoya, both of whom are killed off.
- Combat Pragmatist: More than willing to Kick Them While They Are Down, and abuse his speed to outpace his opponent.
- In his fight with Ragna, he's more than willing to use the latter's lack of armor and Game-Breaking Injury to his advantage.
- Fantastic Racism: He has this towards non-Dramon due to his upbringing. It's also Foreshadowing for him joining the Dramon Empire
- Jerkass
- The Lancer
- Lightning Bruiser: Especially when X-Evolved.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He has a moment of this when he believes he's just killed Ragna and left himself the last living Guardian.
- Pet the Dog: His reassurance of Ignitus in Chapter 4 is a prime example. He even proudly admits that he's not just trying to attract Ignitus to the Dramon cause, he genuinely wants to help the guy.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: He is pragmatic, willing to betray the nation he sees as corrupt and a pragmatic fighter who relies on speed. Blue to Ragna's Red.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers one to Ragna in Chapter 6 about how his ideals prevent him from doing what is necessary to save the world.
- Shout-Out: He starts channeling Kiritsugu Emiya in his final speech to Ragna.Ruatemn: Justice and righteousness cannot save the world.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Manages to balance both extremes. Ruatemn's wish for the world to be a place where everyone can be content, well-fed and live comfort is undoubtedly idealistic. However, he recognizes that in order to achieve such a world, he must do terrible things, not least of which is help in the overthrow of the Harmonious Republic and the founding of the fundamentally racist and imperialistic Dramon Empire.
- To Be Lawful or Good: He chooses Good, for a certain value of it.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: His entire ideals system is based on this. He aspires to a perfect world and will do anything to achieve it.
- Wave-Motion Gun: Ray of Victory
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wants the Republic overthrown because he believes it has left its people to starve in the gutter.
- What the Hell, Hero?: He calls Ragna out on his recklessness as they fly to the frontier town to fight the demons.
Tomoe Gozen
Gaiomon
Tropes:
- Battle Couple: With Himiko
- Dark Is Not Evil
- Dual Wielding
- Everything's Better with Samurai
- Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Played with. Although her swords can become a bow, she very much fights up close and personal more than sniping at range.
- Les Yay: With Himiko
- The Smart Guy
- Sphere of Destruction: Gaia Reactor
Himiko Yamatai
Ow Ryumon
Tropes:
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: She dies in Tomoe's embrace.
- Dual Wielding
- Les Yay: With Tomoe
- Rebellious Princess
- Our Dragons Are Different
Lucan Sanguinos
Dorbickmon
Tropes:
- Heteronormative Crusader: A fairly mild one, but he condemns Tomoe and Himiko's lesbian relationship (albeit not openly).
- Jerkass: It really shows in how he dismisses his opponents as scum.
- Principles Zealot: Homosexuality is wrong to him, end of story.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Refers to Tomoe and Himiko's lesbian relationship as 'blasphemy'.
- Shout-Out: Named after Sir Lucan
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: He condemns Ragna's idealism, because he feels it means Ragna accepts things which should be considered unacceptable in Lucan's view (among which is homosexuality).
- This Is Unforgivable!: When a Knightmon dies next to him in the battle with the demons, Lucan goes mad with rage.
Guivre Tanin'iver
Imperialdramon
- It is the problem... and we, Tomoe, are the solution
Tropes:
- Bishōnen Line: Goes from a massive dragon to a humanoid warrior when he evolves to Fighter Mode.
- Heteronormative Crusader: Less so than Lucan. He tells Tomoe that he would have put aside his hatred for her relationship with Himiko if the two of them had stood with the Dramon.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He points out to Lucan that they cannot challenge Himiko and Tomoe's relationship while under Ragna's watch.
- War Is Hell: Notes this when talking to Balaur, saying that 'war is cruel'.
- You Remind Me of X: Balaur reminds him of himself when he was younger.
Balaur Gaedearg
Cannondramon
Tropes:
- BFG: His cannons. His role among the Guardians is fire support.
- Expy: Big orange dinosaur with lots of firepower? Check. Friendly and kind-spirited? Check. Child-like naivety? Check. Makes readers want to hug him? Check. Sounds like a certain VictoryGreymon from Unholy Crusade and Devil's Ascent. Word of God says he was partially based off of Tyr, the said VictoryGreymon.
- Naïve Newcomer
- Sixth Ranger: In story, he is the newest of the Guardians
- Taking You with Me: He goes down holding Guivre in place so Tomoe can impale him.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Most notably in his conversation with Guivre in Chapter 4, where he wishes that no-one would have to die.
Frontier Town
Commander Kadoya
Justimon
Tropes:
- Knight Templar: He let his obsession with revenge take him to dark places indeed. Especially with his creation of the proto-super soldiers.
- Revenge: He wants this for the loss of Volsung and Yakami.
- Necessarily Evil: Invokes this in the face of Ragna placing him under house arrest.
- Nothing Is Scarier: Not knowing the fates of Volsung and Yakami only makes the loss of them hurt more for him.
- Power Fist
- Scarf of Asskicking
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He's a total bastard who imposed a cruel policy of executing any who dared take a step back in battle, but he did so because he saw it as necessary to defeat the demons. And then he created the proto-super soldiers and angled more towards 'extremist'.
Grademon
Tropes:
- The Strategist: He makes several alterations to Ragna's original battle plan for assaulting the demon fortress to make better use of the Mega Level Dragon Guardians, and specfically exploit Lucan's Burning the Dragon attack.
The Special Command Division
Paildramon, Garudamon, Rapidmon, JagerLowemon, Chirinmon
Tropes:
- Shout-Out: They are all species of main character Digimon from the Digimon anime from Adventure up to Data Squad.
Proto-Super Soldiers
Alpha
OmegaShoutmon
Tropes:
- The Ace: His Gold Digizoid armor gives him a greater connection to the world, manifested in his ability to read the datastream of the world around him and even manipulate it to a certain degree. He's immensely powerful ( Ragna barely avoids getting killed outright in their fight), and his Super-Soldier enhancements make him ridiculously fast and strong. He's outright considered the strongest of the seven proto-super soldiers.
- Broken Ace: However, his ability to read the datastream has led him to conclude everything is meaningless because he can see that 'life' is just strings of binary code in actuality. The only reason he even fights is because Kadoya orders him to, and he even outright says he exists to serve Kadoya. Despite all his power, Alpha is little better than a puppet.
- Bling-Bling-BANG!
- Cannot Spit It Out: He never got the chance to tell Gamma's past self that he loved her before he himself lost all interest. Not his fault though, it's all on Kadoya.
- Cast from Hit Points: His weakness is that his attacks, though much more powerful than normal, rapidly tax his body and drain his energy, exhausting him relatively quickly.
- Cursed with Awesome: Yes, seeing and manipulating the datastream is an awesome power because it lets him screw physics. On the other hand, seeing the datastream and realizing the ramifications of the world being made of binary code did not do good things to Alpha's world-view.
- Disappears into Light: Worth mentioning because the narrative draws specific attention to the golden particles of his data rising into the sky after he dies.
- Dissonant Serenity: Invoked as an indication of how unearthly Alpha has become. Not once in his entire fight does he slip from being coldly stoic, even though he's engulfed in a fight to the death. He doesn't even stop being serene when he's using Omega the Fusion
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He doesn't understand why Ragna keeps insisting there is any more value to Digimon lives than there is to a shard of glass, because he sees both as strings of binary code.
- Expy: His character's basic premise is rather similar to Caesar from Dark Reign. A Super-Soldier in Gold Digizoid armor with a greater insight into the datastream which they can use to manipulate the world. However, while Caesar is merely suppressed and socially awkward, Alpha actively demonstrates just how screwed up a Super-Soldier with those abilities might be.
- His Nietzsche Wannabe, Evil Cannot Comprehend Good and What Is This Thing You Call "Love"? aspects also carry similarities to Ulquiorra.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Seeing the datastream of the world and realizing that everything he felt was just data in actuality was not good for him at all.
- Lightning Bruiser: Ridiculously strong and fast due to his enhanced data.
- Light Is Not Good: Clad in golden armor and radiates a golden glow, but is a Nietzsche Wannabe Super-Soldier who's completely dedicated to Kadoya
- Nietzsche Wannabe: Caused by his ability to read the datastream, which shows him that everything he felt, even his love for Gamma's past self, was just strings of binary code. As such he argues that everything is meaningless and insignificant, because even feelings such as love are just data in actuality.
- One-Man Army: About the only reason he loses is because his opponent is just too stubborn to die.
- Parental Abandonment: His parents were killed by the demons.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Even discounting his ridiculously good Lightning Bruiser capabilities, Omega the Fusion is basically a portable, short-range and short-radius nuke capable of turning cobblestones into glass and obliterating buildings into heaps of rubble.
- Power Floats: He spends much of his fight with Ragna levitating. When he stops, it's because the fight's turning against him.
- Psycho Prototype: Becoming a Super-Soldier didn't have good implications for his mindset and outlook.
- Shout-Out: Starts channelling Ulquiorra when he questions just where the 'heart' which distinguishes lives from inanimate objects is.Alpha: But where can I find this heart? If I broke open your chest, would I find it there? If I shattered your skull... would I find it there?
- The Spock: Helped by his ability to read the datastream, but he takes about five seconds to analyze Ragna's capabilities and dismiss him as no threat.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: He gets the most lines of the super soldiers, his fight scene is the only one shown in its entirety, and he's the only one who's expanded on at all.
- The Stoic: He never once raises his voice, even when he's dying.
- Super Prototype: The very first super soldier, with incredible power and abilities.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: He has amber eyes, but they're gold-tinted when he looks into the datastream with his powers. Serves to highlight his 'vision' compared to everyone else, and how ridiculously powerful he is.
- Taking You with Me: Until he remembers what love felt like and stops his attack.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Played with in that he had felt love before. Alpha continually questions why Ragna insists there is some worth in life, as all he sees in those he kills is binary code.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Alpha could slaughter his way through cities, but he's fundamentally broken from the revelation of the world's datastream to him, and was made so by incredibly cruel and harrowing experiments.
Gamma
Crescemon
Tropes:
- Attack Its Weak Point: Her legs are unarmored and thus vulnerable to attacks.
Delta
Flaremon
Tropes:
Epsilon
Andromon
Tropes:
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Though his Super-Soldier enhancement is also responsible.
- Super-Soldier
- This Is a Drill
Beta
Cyberdramon
Tropes:
Eta
Zephyrmon
Tropes:
- Ms. Fanservice: By virtue of her species.
- Super-Soldier
The Demons
Amon Armaros
NeoVamdemon
- Greetings, Ragna Wrymheart. I am Amon Armaros, Scourge of the Night, Lord of Vampires, Prince of the Armaros Dynasty. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. And it shall be a greater pleasure to rip you asunder, paint this field with your blood, and then stake your head to my castle's ramparts. For this day, Ragna Wrymheart... you shall die!
Tropes:
- Affably Evil
- Aristocrats Are Evil
- Dark Is Evil
- Dying Curse: Curses Ragna when he dies, hoping that everything Ragna serves becomes ash, that the Republic falls into ruin, that Ragna's closest allies become his most bitter foes, and that Ragna dies knowing the agony of losing all that he loves.
- Evil Overlord
- Flunky Boss: With his Evilvil.
- I Have Many Names
- Incoming Ham: LampshadedCommandramon: Incoming!
- Large Ham
- Lunacy
- Meaningful Name: Amon is the name of a demon, while Armaros is the name of one of the Grigori.
- One-Winged Angel: His Darkness Mode.
- Orcus on His Throne: Until Ragna starts to really push his forces.
- Our Demons Are Different
- Our Vampires Are Different
- Wave-Motion Gun: Gardiac Raid
- Winged Humanoid
- You Have Failed Me
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness
Volsung Lodbrok
BlackWarGreymon
Tropes:
- Dark Is Evil
- The Juggernaut
- Spectacular Spinning: Black Tornado
- Sphere of Destruction: Terra Destroyer
Yakami Kadoya
Kuzuhamon
Tropes:
The Royal Hive
King Terminus Est
TyrantKabuterimon
Tropes:
Royal Hive Inhabitants
Various Insect Digimon
Tropes:
- Big Creepy-Crawlies
- The Cameo: Valra appears just long enough to be recognised by anyone who's read Civil War.
- Shout-Out: Maximus and Alcinous.
- Theme Naming: All of Terminius' Tiger Vespamon have Roman names, Pliny, Petronius, Maximuus, except one.
Giraffa Swarmlord
TyrantKabuterimon
Tropes:
- C-List Fodder: Really the fact he's defeated halfway through Chapter 1 ought to indicate this.
- Flunky Boss: He hardly does any fighting by himself and when he does, he's totally outmatched by the Guardians.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: He's meant as a serious threat to the Royal Hive, managing to hijack members of Terminus' Praetorian Guard and the kingdom's fearsome black-ops with his ability. And he came out of nowhere.
- More than Mind Control: His ability to take control of Terminus' soldiers forces the intervention of the Guardians.
- Shock and Awe
- Shout-Out: To Cardfight!! Vanguard.
- The Worf Effect: The whole reason he's even in the story is to show how awesome the Guardians are. Word of God admits this.
The Dramon Empire
Sky Admiral Imego
Imperialdramon Fighter Mode
Tropes:
- The Ace
- Big Bad: Of Civil War, not that anyone knows it yet.
- The Dragon: To the Three Great Dramon.
- Four-Star Badass
- It's All About Me: Subtly notable when you regard his battle plan for taking the Republic's capital. He places himself in charge of the attack on the Parliament building.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: His capture of the Republic's Parliament building.
- Pet the Dog: He allows Ruatemn to keep his promise to Ignitus.
The Rebellion of the Harmonious Republic
Braon
Justimon
Tropes:
- Bright Slap: Gives one to Ragna.
- Call-Forward: He's the one who inspires Ragna's most famous phrase.Towards our future
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: To Ragna.
- Reasonable Authority Figure