First, the ones who can't join the active party. Those will be faster.
Name:
TempletonAge: 14
From: Kanakan
Position: Strategist's retinue
Note: Phonologist (No he isn't, he's a cartographer. Get your shit together, Richmond.)
- Templeton was born in Kanakan, far south of the Toran Republic. He worked his way north while making that map of his.
- Templeton's special ability, 'Shortcut', allows the unit to move whether it's a forest or castle. It's very useful for getting inside a castle from the outside.
- When this war is over, he plans to go back to Toran Castle for a while.
Templ
eton gives the army unit he's in +1 Defense, and the ability to enter cities from any direction rather than through the front gate. Allied cities allow units to heal, so getting into those quickly is nice. And now that I think about it, a few mass battles hinge on getting into the enemy city, so he might be a big help there too.
---
Name:
ShuAge: 26
From: Unknown
Position: Army strategist
Note: None
- With Shu's 'Critical' ability, a successful hit in war sometimes causes double damage to the enemy unit.
- Shu studied military tactics under Mathiu, but he was expelled for using his knowledge for selfish gain. He never saw Mathiu again after that day.
- He thinks of Apple like a little sister. But he's such a cool customer, he never lets his true feelings show.
Shu's the best add-on to any military unit in the game, obviously. He gives an unmatched +3 Attack and +1 Defense to the unit he's in, and has both the Critical and Evade abilities. When Critical triggers, the unit's attack power is doubled. When Evade triggers, the unit's defense is doubled. He can turn any company he's in into an unstoppable juggernaut.
---
Name:
Yam KooAge: 28
From: Seika, Toran Republic
Position: Navy
Note: None
- They've been brother-in-laws for a long time now. They first met each other during a gambling brawl.
- Tai Ho's wife, Kimberley, has got a secret crush on Yam Koo.
Yam Koo doesn't fight in this game, but he handles the fishing minigame down at the harbor. In a battle, his unit gets +1 Attack and +1 Defense. Nothing flashy, but useful nonetheless.
---
Name:
HuanFrom: Muse City
Position: Rearguard
Note: None
- During a war, Huan's 'Heal' ability will even let you heal a unit that's far away. Use it wisely though.
- Dr. Haun did his medical training in the Toran Republic. There was a guy there named Liukan the Healer who taught him everything he knows.
Huan gives no attack or defense bonuses, but his Heal ability removes damage from a unit up to 3 panels away. It's no Bright Shield, but it's better than Heal Self.
---
Name:
TakiAge: 72
From: Lakewest
Position: Strategist's retinue
Note: None
- She's certainly got lots of interesting stories to tell, but what was that about making cats sniff orange rinds......?
- Old lady Taki's got a couple of married sons living in Two River, but she couldn't leave Lakewest. She just loves that place. When this is all over, she's gonna go back there.
As you might expect, Taki doesn't fight, either in tactical parties or in army battles.(Cats usually don't like the smell of citrus oil, so orange rind can be useful to keep them out of places they're not supposed to be.)
---
Name:
HansAge: 33
From: Zexen
Position: Rearguard
Note: None
- He was born in Zexen and his family wasn't exactly rich. He had just enough money to get himself established here in the City-State of Jowston.
- That guy's saved up a hell of lot of money! I have no idea where he's hiding it all though.
---
Name:
TetsuAge: 42
From: Lakewest
Position: Infantry
Note: None
- Never met a guy who loved baths more. He heats 'em up by himself so he can be the first one in, ya see.
- He's really interested in bath design. He's come up with several different styles, I hear.
- I don't know why, but the other day I saw him putting an 'Octopus Urn' in each of the 4 corners of the tub. I wonder what the hell that was for...
Richmond lists him as "Infantry", but he doesn't fight.
---
Name:
AlexAge: 36
From: Muse City
Position: Rearguard
Note: None
- It sounds like he thought there was gonna be gold in those Sindar ruins. Tough luck.
- He wanted to make Hilda's life easier, but he actually made it a lot tougher with all that adventuring. Well, that's his way of showing his love, I guess....
- He still hasn't given up on the idea of a Sindar treasure. Right now, he's tracking down some new leads.
---
Name:
HildaAge: 33
From: Muse City
Position: Rearguard
Note: None
- Before she married Alex, she was a nurse who made house-calls. They say love is blind, but gimme a break.
- She first met Alex at Muse's Harvest Festival. They married 6 months later. They're a very happy couple.
- She's really worried about her son, Pete. He can't seem to make any friends. It's probably cause they were way out in the country and then they had to flee because of the war.......
---
Name:
AdlaiAge: 42
From: South Window City
Position: Special Forces
Note: None
- His neighbors back in South Window sure hated him. They said he did all sorts of weird experiments in his cellar.
- He calls himself a 'genius', but other than that elevator, he still hasn't come up with a really useful invention.
In an army battle, Adlai brings his prototype inventions along. They're prone to exploding. His "Invention" ability damages all the units adjacent to the one he's in... and the one he's in.
---
Name:
RidleyAge: 39
From: Two River City
Position: General
Note: Commander of Kobold Army of Two River City
- I've always wondered, so I took a look and it's true... No matter how famous he gets, he's still got a tail.
- Ridley has a son named Boris who's the spitting image of him. Right now he's training in the Nameless Countries.
Ridley is an Infantry leader. He's base attack 10, base defense 7, and has the Critical ability.
---
Name:
FitcherAge: 32
From: Coronet, Muse Principality
Position: Strategist's retinue
Note: None
- According to Muse law, Fitch is the mayor of Muse, but if ya ask me, he ain't got the stones for it...
- At least half of his dummy act is a put-on to make people underestimate him. It's his strategy.
- Fitcher can sleep with his eyes wide open. that would be a useful trick when ya gotta listen to some bore running off at the mouth.
---
Name: Tony
Age: 19
From: Matilda Knights' Domain
Position: Rearguard
Note: None
- That guy spends all his time on his farm. He must be some kind of a dirt fetishist.
- He really hates moles! Well I can't blame him. They eat up all those vegetables he raised so carefully.....
Oh yeah, Tony runs a whack-a-mole minigame sometimes. I'll have to remember to show that.
---
Okay, on to my tactical troops.
---
Name:
LucAge: 17
From: Unknown
Position: Magic Unit Captain
Note: None
- That sorceress, Leknaat, is the keeper of the 'Gate Rune', one of the 27 True Runes.
- Luc is pretty secretive about his past. I'm pretty sure something happened to him in the Holy Kingdom of Harmonia.
- 10 years ago, he ran into some kinda trouble at the shrine. I don't know the details, but someone told him to keep his mouth shut about it.
Luc has peerless Magic growth and good Magic Defense, Speed, and Technique. But his Strength, Defense, Luck, and HP are bottom-of-the-barrel. He comes with a Wind Rune and a Pixie Rune, the latter being only for people who use rods as weapons. It lets Luc hit from long range, based on 1/5 of his Magic stat rather than his Strength, and ignores the enemy's Defense. Its only real advantage is letting him hit from the safety of the back row without consuming Vancian magic charges.
Luc has good affinities for all magic, with top-ranked affinities for Wind (of course), Water, and Earth.
In an army battle, Luc heads up a magic unit, allowing him to attack enemies three spaces away. His base attack is 10 and his base defense is 4. He can use Wind Magic to hit a target five spaces away once.
---
Name:
YoshinoAge: 23
From: South Window
Position: Infantry
Note: Freed Y's wife
- She was introduced to Freed through Granmeyer. I don't know what she sees in him, but they've been married for 5 years now.
- Her specialties are her 'Husband-Wife Attack' with Freed and her 'Meat and Potatoes'. I prefer the latter myself.
- Looks like she make Freed promise that when the war is over, he'll go back to Radat and live a quiet life with her.
A female character defined only by her relationship to a male character? Somewhere Alison Bechdel is weeping.
Yoshino is in almost all ways inferior to her exceptionally average husband, except for her sliiiightly better Magic growth and slightly better affinities. The two of them together can Unite in the Husband and Wife Attack, dealing double damage to one enemy and knocking Yoshino off-balance with the sheer mundanity of it all.
Oh, and correction to previous: Freed Y is only an infantry leader in the one battle outside North Window. Now that that role is over, he's just base Defense +1 to the unit he's in.
---
Name:
AmadaAge: 26
From: Island Republic
Note: None
- I heard he can't wake up in the morning without a big helping of fermented
soy-beans on rice. I'm a big fan of 'natto' myself. - The Island Countries are really a collection of small island nations far south of here. The people there are famous for their great seamanship.
- When you line him up next to Rikimaru, the two of them look like quite a 'manly' combo.
Amada's a solid but not exceptional fighter. He's a lousy magician, but can Unite with Rikimaru for the Manly Attack to do double damage to an enemy column, and that's not bad.
---
Name:
Tai HoAge: 37
From: Kaku, Toran Republic
Position: Navy Captain
Note: Original member of Toran Liberation Army
- He used to be a fisherman living on Lake Toran, but he's got a lust for life and wanted to see more of the world if ya know what I mean.
- He says he came to the City-State of Jowston to work for a guy name Kun Tze, but the truth is he was just trying to escape his wife.
- He's Yam Koo's brother-in-law. But they've been friends ever since they were kids.
Oh good for him, Kun
To Tze managed a name change. Anyway, Tai Ho is a spearman, and an okay fighter. Tsai is probably better overall. In army battles he gives a unit +2 attack and +1 defense, so that's pretty cool.
---
Name:
TutaAge: 11
From: Muse City
Position: Rear Guard
Note: None
- Tuta is the son of one of Dr. Haun's friends. At his age, he's still probably crying out for his momma when it gets dark out. Poor little kid...
- Tuta's 'Medicine Rune' automatically supplies medicine to members of the group when they need it. It's pretty useful.
...no it isn't.
---
Name:
CliveAge: 27
From: Howling Voice Guild
Position: Archer
Note: In pursuit of a "woman".
- Looks like Clive is a member of something called the 'Howling Voice Guild' from Harmonia. They're a secret group that centers around the use of those 'Gun' things.
- A 'gun' is a tool made of steel, but that's not all. I hear that these guns have special 'souls' too.....
- People say that gun of his, Storm, has a soul of its own... What the hell does that mean? Maybe it's got a True Rune embedded in it?
Eilie is a high-Tech long-range fighter and backup magician. Clive trades any talent with magic away for even higher Tech -- best in the game! He can pump out critical hits like nobody's business.
---
Name:
Hai YoAge: 27
From: Black Dragon Island
Position: Rearguard
Note: None
- I don't know the details, but he's on the run from something they call the 'Group'.
- That secret 'Blue Moon Bird Recipe' of his is for some kind of food that will make anybody who eats it happy. But I'm not too sure how it works...
- It's kinda sad...... He was betrothed to a girl who was later killed. Before she died, he made her some kinda promise.
Hai Yo has, on the scale of E to S used in Japanese grading scales for things like this, nothing other than C or C+ in all his stat growth. Even Yoshino has a B in Luck! Hai Yo
can join the party to fight, but he's really best suited to keep to cooking.
---
Name:
StallionAge: 28
From: Toran Republic
Position: Strategist's retinue
Note: Original member of the Toran Liberation Army
- He's originally from the Village of the Elves in Toran, but he left there to train to be the fastest man alive.
- I wonder what that 'True Holy Rune' of his is anyway. He sure runs around outside the city pretty fast...
- From what I can see, he doesn't act much like an Elf at all....
Stallion is much as he was in the first game: decent attack power, crappy magic, good Technique, obscene Speed. He's got the True Holy rune in his head slot, so you can slap a Spark rune on his hand and let even slowpokes like Bolgan or Humphrey be as fast as Stallion is. With Kinnison in the party, Stallion can Unite into the Bow Attack, hitting all foes for half damage.
---
Name:
GabochaAge: 13
From: Two River City
Position: Infantry Soldier
Note: None
- If he fights alongside Gengen, they can do a special attack called 'Kobold Attack'.
- He looks up to Gengen so much that he followed him here. All he ever talks about is 'Captain Gengen'!
- Sometimes his 'Kobold Attack' does something really amazing.....
Gabocha is surprisingly good for such a young pup, but still doesn't really excel at anything. He's a little faster and luckier than his hero Gengen, and uses a slingshot from the safety of the back row instead of a sword.
Gabocha can pair with Shiro for the Bow Wow Attack, or pair with Gengen for the Kobold Attack. Kobold Attack does... their normal combined damage to one enemy. But sometimes it turns into the
100 Kobold Attack, for
triple damage to
all enemies. Pretty impressive, when it works!
---
Name:
ChacoAge: 14
From: Two River City
Position: Infantry Captain
Note: None
- With his 'Flight Ability', any unit he's in will be able to fly during war. If you combine that with 'Cavalry Ability', you'll really be able to cover a lot of ground!
- Winger's wings are damn useful when ya wanna jump down from a high place. I guess it's not really like flying though.
- He go dumped by his girlfriend recently, but he'll be okay. A boy like him won't let something like that keep him down.
As much as I hate Chaco, he's actually a fairly solid medium-range spearfighter. His low HP growth keeps him from being really exceptional at much, though. In an army battle, he gets all the soldiers in his unit fly too, giving added mobility. It even stacks with cavalry, somehow.
---
Name:
SidAge: 21
From: Two River City
Position: Infantry
Note: None
- What's with this guy? When I peeked in on him, he was walking around on his
hands upside-down. Is that some kinda training or what!? - I saw him surrounded by a bunch of kids the other day. I thought he was playing with them, but it turns out he was telling them a super scary story. One of the kids even pooped in his pants.
- What a weirdo. He makes graves for fish after he eats them. He's already got over 100 here.
Sid is better than Chaco, hands down. He comes with a Waking Rune that puts Sid to sleep at the start of every battle, but once he wakes up, he's Berserk for the rest of the fight. It's... kind of... sort of useful... but at least it's not fixed in place, so you can remove it if you want.
Sid and Chaco together can execute the Winger Attack, doing half again their usual damage and possibly poisoning the target.
---
Name:
WakabaAge: 15
From: The Southlands
Position: Infantry
Note: None
- Her love for the martial arts started at a local dojo in her neighborhood, and she's been in training ever since...
- Yesterday she did 200 squats, 50 pull-ups and then 200 sit-ups. And that was just before breakfast.....
- She tries hard at everything she does. She borrowed a jigsaw puzzle from a friend and worked on it all night. She got so frustrated that she finally busted it up.
Wakaba's a decent short-range fighter, kicking foes into submission. Her HP growth is a little odd, with only average base growth, but a 10% extra tacked on. Her White Tiger rune does double damage to an enemy, or triple damage if she's so hurt she's near death, but comes with a 50% chance of unbalancing her for the following turn.
---
Name:
MakumakuAge: 6
From: Greenhill Forest
Position: Special Forces
Note: None
- Number two in the tribe. He's cool on the inside, but ferocious on the inside.
Makumaku is specced ever-so-slightly for Magic, but can only equip a Water rune, and still has crappy affinity with it.
---
Name:
MegAge: 16
From: Lenankamp, Toran Republic
Position: Special Forces
Note: None
- She set off on a journey to follow an old man named Juppo who was teaching her the lost art of gadgetry, but lost track of him on the way. I guess he didn't want to be followed.
- I looked into her room the other day and saw Gadget all broken down into pieces. I can't believe she really put it back together.
- This girl doesn't think before she does something. There's no good reason for her setting off after Juppo either it seems.
Meg has good Technique and Luck, but should stay in the back row where it's safe. Her defense and HP are no good at all. Her average Magic ability belies her affinity for Lightning or Water runes, and her innate Trick rune can be used once per battle to triple damage to one opponent.
---
Name:
GadgetAge: 3
From: Juppo's Workshop
Note: None
- Looks like it can do something called a 'Trick Attack' when it's fighting with Meg.
- It can't be easy partnered up with that girl, Meg, either. The other day he hid from her by pretending to be a barrel filled with pickled daikon.
- That thing just hates water. Meg was talking about water-proofing him, but he wants nothing to do with it.
Gadget is everything Meg is not. He counts as a monster, so can't wear most equipment (and his Magic is terrible, like most monsters), but his Defense and HP are quite good and his Strength, Speed, and Technique are all solid, too. Combined with Meg, they can perform the Trick Attack for their combined damage to all enemies.
---
...whew, that's a lot of recruits. But it's the early game part where there are a lot of basic facilities to fill up, and without Richmond's investigations I wouldn't have had anything to say about some of those people anyway. Oh well. The mission at Greenhill demands people of a certain age bracket. Tellingly, Eilie and Bolgan can go but Rina is too old, Mukumuku and Shiro can go but Gadget cannot, and god dammit, Tuta and Chaco are eligible to come too. I
guess. Go vote in the party of children.
