The Shining Force

Max

Max is the main character of the game and leader of the Shining Force. You can name him whatever you want, or settle on the default name: Max. He's the only character in the game who knows the Egress spell. What that spell does is immediately teleport you and your army to the nearest priest.

By being the leader, if Max dies your army wets their pants and escapes to the nearest priest. This might intimidate you to use him in battle. You should let him fight because he's one of the strongest characters in the game. Towards the end of the game, he gets to equip special swords that allow him to cast an infinite amount of attack magic. Plus his battle animations are so cool!

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Lowe

Lowe is Max's best buddy. He joins you when you leave Guardiana castle for the first time after talking to the king. As a healer, he's not a fighter. His strength and defense are low. He's a good healer, though! Compared to Gong and Khris, he learns better healing spells faster and gains higher MP. Lowe should be your main healer until towards the end of the game when Torasu joins. You'll want to swap them because Torasu has Aura spells, which heals multiple characters at once.

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Mae

When you return to Guardiana to find it in ruins, Mae joins you after Varios and the King are killed. Mae is great when you first get her. Her defense is top-notch and her attacks are pretty good. But yet, as you progress into the game she doesn't develop very well. She's a character you should swap for someone else.

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Ken

Ken joins right after you've seen the King and have gone back into the town. Ken isn't too bad. You may even want to keep him the entire game. The thing is, the other centaurs such as Pell, Vankar, and Earnest are stronger than Ken. But yet, those other centaurs still have to be leveled up to surpass Ken. Hence, it's okay to keep Ken if you don't have the patience to level up the other centaurs.

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Luke

Luke joins you right after you've seen the King and have gone back into the town. He starts out stronger than Gort, but as battles go by, Gort ends up growing stronger than him. He's good to have around up to the middle of the game. His art is pretty dull, too, with that muted blue and plain-looking face. He's one of the first characters you should swap when your army is full.

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Hans

Hans joins you right after you've seen the King and have gone back into the town. To be frank, Hans sucks. He's weak. I'm not a fan of him. However, Hans' archery skills are valuable for the first half of the game. He's useful for those forest and desert battles when everyone's mobility is slow. Later in the game, I recommend you switch Hans for the centaur archer, Lyle. That is if you decide to keep archers on your force. I find flying characters more useful than them.

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Tao

Tao joins you when you leave Guardiana castle for the first time after talking to the king. Tao is one of my favorites. Her Blaze spells kick ass! Her strongest spell, Level 4 Blaze, totally blows the enemies away and makes the last battles so easier. But yet, poor Tao (like any other wizard) barely has any defense. She's gone in two or three hits. Make sure you have a healer close by for her! Towards the end of the game, Tao also learns the strength boosting spell. It comes in handy when you're leveling up attackers.

*Did you know there's a way to give Tao a sexy new look? Yup. Go to the Secrets section to find out.

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Gong

Gong is a semi-secret character. When you start the first battle, you need to Egress and head for the small house right next to the location of the first battle. There you'll find Gong next to the house chopping wood. Talk to him and he'll join you. Gong is a nice, well-arounded character. His strength and defense are average. Gong has the strongest defense of all the healers. However, he's not a very useful healer because his learning rate of new spells is low and he has less MP.

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Gort

Gort is an elderly dwarf who lives in your hometown of Guardiana. He won't join you when you talk to him for the first time. Being in the pub and all, he's too drunk to join you. Gort will join you after Guardiana gets invaded. Gort is one of the best fighters in the game. He's strong and has great defense. You may want to keep him the entire game.

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Khris

Khris automatically joins you after she frees you from the prison in Altertone (between battle #3 & #4). Khris is a challenge. It takes long for her to level up and become more useful. She often dies with one hit, even when she's at the same level as everyone else in your army. However, Khris does eventually learn Aura level 1 and 2 (heals multiple characters at once). There comes a point in the game where you should choose between Lowe or Khris as your primary healer - and swap the other for someone else. It's up to you who to select. Do you want Khris' Aura? Or do you want Lowe, who doesn't die after one hit?

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Anri

You find Anri in the mage school at Manarina and you tell her of her father's death. Then when she runs away you find her upstairs (walk to the right then up). Anri is another awesome wizard! She and Tao are a great duo. She starts weak so has some patience to level her up. It doesn't take that long for her to get a decent arsenal of spells. Her Level 4 Freeze is valuable towards the end of the game.

*Did you know there's a way to give Anri a sexy new look? Yup. Go to the Secrets section to find out.

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Arthur

You find Arthur in Manarina, the same mage school where Anri is found. And what is Arthur doing when you find him? He's doing laundry! I love it. Anyway, he joins you if you talk to him after your meeting with the Spirit of the Holy Spring. His strength and defense are average among the selection of centaurs. There's something special about Arthur that no other centaur can do - learn magic! Yes, it's true. Arthur eventually learns Level 1 Blaze, Freeze, and Bolt. He's an interesting character to have around.

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Balbaroy

You first meet Balbaroy inside the chapel at Shade Abbey. When you try to help him you'll find it's a trap and you have to fight a mass of undead soldiers. When you've beaten them, Balbaroy joins the Shining Force. He tends to have better defense than his birdman counterpart, Amon. While Balbaroy's strength and defense are pretty average, his ability to fly makes him an invaluable character. With patience, Balbaroy can grow into a pretty strong character.

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Amon

You first meet Amon on the way to Shade Abbey as you travel North from Rindo. Amon will immediately ask you to help Balbaroy. When you do help Balbaroy... it's a trap! A mass of undead soldiers ambushes you. Amon joins you after this battle. I recommend having Balbaroy join and reject Amon. I mean, it could be fun having two birdmen on your force. The thing is, they're not strong for the majority of the game and take long to level up. Taking the time to level up one birdman is easier than two.

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Diane

You'll meet Diane in a house near the top of the mountainside town of Bustoke. She'll ask to join when you talk to her. To be frank, I don't like Diane at all. She sucks. Just keep Hans and don't give her the light of day.

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Zylo

Runefaust knows how strong Zylo is so they made him psychotic to prevent him from joining you. You have to get some Lunar Dew to break him out of his insanity. An old man in Bustoke can make this Lunar Dew if you give him some Moonstone. You automatically get the Moonstone after you finish the battle in Bustoke.

You must have Zylo be in your army! He's one of the strongest fighters in the game. Also, land doesn't affect Zylo that much. He can breeze across most battlefields with ease, even those slow forest battles. His attacks are visually awesome, too. He jumps into the air and BAM - slashes the enemy with his mighty claws! When he's promoted he attacks by summoning wolf spirits! How cool is that?! Zylo rules!!

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Pelle

Pelle is a mercenary originally working for the enemy. When you enter the laser eye battle, he complains and quits. The enemy soldier he was talking to then pushes Pelle over the cliff. Luckily, after the battle you find Pelle climbing back up the cliff and joins you. He's a pretty good character; one of the better centaurs. I normally don't recruit him because I'm satisfied with my selection of characters at this point in the game.

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Vankar

Vankar joins in the first Pao after being fired from his post as a guard. He is found between the wagon tracks after the first Pao has moved on. Vankar is a pretty good centaur. Same with Pelle, I normally don't recruit Vankar because I'm satisfied with my selection of characters at this point in the game.

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Jogurt

Ah, Jogurt. Go to the Secrets section if you want to learn how to get him. Jogurt is a playable character, but he's not a real character. He's a joke character that the developers intentionally put in the game to troll you. His attacks always take way 1 HP. He's always defeated with one hit. He doesn't grow stronger because he doesn't level up past Level 1. He's always available for a fake promotion. When he gains a level for the first time you obtain the Jogurt Ring. The wearer of that ring will look like Jogurt.

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Kokichi

You'll first meet Kokichi trying out his new flying machine in the mountainside town of Bustoke. If you talk to him he'll give you a demonstration of his flying contraption. Sometime later, you'll find him in Pao after the caravans leave. He'll only be there if you saw the demonstration in Bustoke. Go to the Secrets section if you want more information on how to get him.

Kokichi is one of those characters you should have in your army. It doesn't take long for him to grow strong as you level him up. He's the strongest flying character in the game. Some people consider him to be the strongest character. His battle animations are cool, too.

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Guntz

Whenever you're in the town of Rindo, you can visit Guntz by going to the house in the upper-right part of town. He won't join you because his armor isn't ready yet. Guntz finally joins you in the second Pao. You'll find him in the sheep pen. I love Guntz! His battle animations are cool. His defense is high and his strength is pretty good.

Not everyone is a fan of Guntz because his movement span is low. I like to use the Running Pimento item on him to permanently expand his movement. Also, Guntz is like Zylo where land doesn't effect him much.

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Domingo

Domingo is one of my favorite characters in Shining Force! Getting Domingo require a couple of steps, which I explain in detail in the Secrets section. It's not hard to level up Domingo to the point that he has the most HP, MP, and defense out of all of your characters. Because attack magic hits multiple targets, it's easy for wizards to level up. Combine that with the fact that Domingo can fly, it's easy for him to demolish the battlefield with Level 2 & 3 Freeze. From that perspective, Domingo could be considered the strongest character in the game.

Domingo also learns the strength boosting spell. This spell is handy when you're leveling up attackers. In particular, it's helpful if you decide to have the patience to level up Bleu or Adam (they start super weak).

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Earnest

You'll meet Earnest for the first time in Pao. He rambles on about getting revenge on Balbazak. He joins you when you see him again in Uranbatol right before the battle against Balbazak. He even helps you get through Balbazak's fortress. Earnest is one of the stronger centaurs.

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Alef

Alef joins you as you leave Prompt in search of the Tower of the Ancients. She's an okay spell caster and doesn't learn Level 4 spells quickly. She starts weak so you'll need some patience if you want to level her up. She does learn Bolt spells quickly. She's fun to use if you love demolishing enemies with Level 2 & 3 Bolt.

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Torasu

Torasu joins you with Alef as you leave Prompt in search of the Tower of the Ancients. This guy is the ultimate healer! He learns Aura up to Level 4!! Level 4 Aura cures everyone on the battlefield with the strength of Level 3 Heal! Aura also helps level up Torasu when you're grinding. He's a great character to have.

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Lyle

Lyle is cool! He's a centaur with a weapon similar to a bazooka. You'll find him in Rudo on top of a building to the left, in the oldies part of the town. Lyle is a great deal better than Hans or Diane. He's a perfect replacement for them. Lyle is a valuable character because he has the potential to be your strongest long-distance attacker (including flying characters).

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Bleu

You'll meet Bleu as an adorable baby dragon in the lost city of Dragonia. He's a descendant of the Sacred Dragons. As a young dragon, he gets scared easily. He joins you when Dragonia is invaded by Kane.

Bleu is my most favorite character in Shining Force! He's just so cute. I'll admit that Bleu is a pain to level up. You'll need to be patient with him. In time, he could become one of your strongest characters. When Bleu is promoted, he has an awesome lightning breath attack. And when promoted-Bleu does a critical attack, he summons a bunch of dragon spirits (the same attack promoted Zylo uses) to inflict damage.

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Adam

Adam is a guard in Metapha who joins you after the fight against Chaos. Adam is (famously) one of the worst characters in the game. Because he's one of the last characters to join you and he starts out very weak. I normally don't recruit him in my playthroughs. But yet, Adam can become a strong character if you're willing to be patient to level him up. Adam has an awesome critical attack where he blasts a laser from his arm.

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Hanzou

Hanzou is (obviously) a ninja and he's one of the game's secret characters. You'll find him in the bushes right when you enter Runfaust. Check out the Secrets section for detailed instructions on how to get him. Hanzou is a pretty good character to have around. He can grow strong relatively quickly, and he uses some magic-like ninjitsu.

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Musashi

Musashi is yet another secret character. You need to read a sign during a certain point in the game to get him. Check out the Secrets section for detailed instructions. No doubt about it, Musashi is the strongest character in the game. He levels up like mad and becomes virtually invincible. Unfortunately, the game only has a few battles left at the point when he joins you. People often don't recruit him for that reason.

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