Heath

Heath
Title	The Tainted Soul
Father	Belgar, the Masked Mage
Country of origin	Wendel
Faction	(normally) Wendel (when brainwashed) the Masked Mage's faction
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Level	48 (64 in the remake)
Health	11543

Heath is a major, albeit unwilling, villain from Trials of Mana. He was a teenage Priest Mage and the best friend of Charlotte, but he was captured by Goremand and turned into his partner as well as the Masked Mage's bodyguard, the Tainted Soul (Fallen Cleric in the fan translation). As a brainwashed slave, he plays a lesser role than the other two possible second-to-last bosses.

Background

original sprite

Heath was born in the Holy City of Wendel, house to the main cult of the Mana Goddess and to Lumina, Elemental Spirit of Light. His father, Belgar was the Oracle of Shadows, one of the two arch-priests overseeing the city with the Priest of Light. Until a little girl fell terminally and no normal magic could be of any help.

Desperate to save her, Belgar studied the forbidden Dark Magic for a cure, but she died too soon and he tried to resurrect her with necromancy. He eventually grew obsessed with Dark Magic, but the Dark Forces corrupted him, turning him into the evil Masked Mage and forcing the Priest of Light to exile him.

Heath and Charlotte in the original release

Under the Priest of Light's care, Heath became cleric and eventually the captain of the guard of Wendel. He is the childhood friend and surrogate big brother to Charlotte, the orphaned half-elf granddaughter of the Priest of Light.

But Charlotte's elven origin makes her she grow slower than humans, being physically five-years old despite being fifteen, while the slightly older Heath is a normal teenager.

Personality and Traits

"Existence is the same thing as suffering. Our master, the Masked Mage, will use the Sword of Mana to release the world from the suffering of life… through death itself."

—Heath the Tainted Soul

Heath and Charlotte in the remake

Heath is at heart noble, caring, polite, and eloquent. He is very dedicated to his duties and protective of his loved ones, only attacking if he has no alternative. Yet, he hides it but when dying he reveals that he is tormented by his father's fate.

As the Tainted Soul he becomes creepily cold and unfeeling, Blindly obeying orders and only speaking when needed. He states that the world is bleak and full of misery, dismisses good as pointless and corruptible, and regards death as a respite. He has totally forgotten his former life and would destroy any obstacle in a heartbeat.

Heath is talented enough to reach the highest rank at a young age. While merely promising at first, the Masked Mage raises his abilities to the maximum, making him extremely powerful. In addition to being a first-class healer and summoner, he can teleport, sense presences, manipulate energies and send projections of himself.

Trials of Mana

Heath in Kevin and Charlotte's artwork

The Priest of Light sends Heath investigate on the dwindling Mana Power and sudden aggressiveness of the Beastmen Kingdom of Ferolia. But Charlotte overhears them and fearing the worst, escapes the palace to follow him despite being a novice in magic.

He is attacked by three beastmen who reveal Ferolia's plans to invade Wendel. He easily defeats them when they seize Charlotte, who revealed herself without thinking. Right after, Heath shields Charlotte as he senses incoming danger, only to be knocked out and abducted by Goremand before his helpless friend.

Heath recognizes his father and attempts in vain to bring him back to normal, but the Masked Mage subjects him to evil energies, losing his soul in darkness and making him a walking corpse. Charlotte sets out to rescue her friend, and learns that Goremand is manipulating the beastmen, using their resentment for human prejudice. Later, the Priest of Wendel fells ill after overexerting himself to cast a protection around Wendel.

Now one of the three Great Evils of the world of Fa'Diel with the Dragon Lord and his Dark Majesty, the Masked Mage plans to release the eight Benevodons. If either Kevin or Charlotte is the main hero, the Masked Mage will be the main villain and dispose of his rivals. If not, he will be slain by the main villain and Heath will die in the process.

The heroes enlist the Elemental Spirits to reach the Mana Sanctuary, location of the Tree of Mana (the earthly avatar of the Mana Goddess). Unfortunately, the Goddess lost most of her might, and can only give them the mythical Sword of Mana. Alas, Goremand and the Tainted Soul take the heroes' Faerie guide hostage, demanding the Sword in exchange for her life and they can only comply.

Goremand is harmed by the Sword’s Holy Power, but the Tainted Soul heals him and they bend it to their will. He then teleport away to report to his "liege" while Goremand releases the Benevodons. As they are unleashing their armies of monsters all over Fa'Diel, the Faerie tells a distraught Charlotte that she sensed a great sadness in her friend.

Masked Mage and Tainted Soul

The heroes destroy the eight Benevodons, unknowingly playing into the Masked Mage's hand. They later defeat Goremand in the Jungle of Visions and storm the Mirage Palace, confronting the Masked Mage and his brainwashed son. The evil wizard reveals that the Sword of Mana now houses the Benevodons' power, which he plans to absorb, so as to surpass and overthrow the Mana Goddess.

Luckily, the Goddess hinders his power boost with her last strength, but the enraged Mage teleports to the Sanctuary to destroy the Mana Tree. The heroes try to chase after him but Heath prepares to attack them, telling them that death shall be their final respite.

The Tainted Soul is defeated after a gruesome battle, bringing his soul back from the abyss for a time. He reveals Belgar's story and urges the heroes to defeat him, before ushering a final blessing with his dying breath.

When returning to Wendel after slaying the Masked Mage, Charlotte sees with relief that Heath healed the Priest of Light before falling to darkness, and that the Faerie resurrected him before becoming the Mana Goddess reborn, leaving both friends to rebuild a world without Mana.

Boss Battle

"Charlotte who? I do not know you! This is where you will perish."

—Heath (before fighting Charlotte's party)

The Tainted Soul is widely seen as the hardest of the second-to-last bosses. He is an extremely powerful mage at level 48, with 11543 life-points, who uses fearsome attacks and can often heal himself. He is a formidable foe who must never be underestimated, even when all the heroes surpass his level. He can cast Dark Curse to greatly weaken the heroes or fire balls of white light that deals little to no damage but throws them backwards.

Great Demons, a level 2 summon

He masters the level 1 summons Chess Knight and Machine Golem, the level 2 Ghost, Ghoul, Gremlin and Great Demon and three divine level 3 who heavily damage all heroes and inflict status: Freya shrinks the heroes, Iormungand poisons them and Marduke confuse them, which must be cured.

He casts the Holy Bolt and Lucent Beam spells on every hero to deal higher damage, and the very powerful special spell Ghost Leader.

Marduke, a level 3 summon

The best way to deal with him is to keep close and to harass him continuously with weapons and special techniques. The heroes must boost their stats and decrease his own, especially his magic power, as much as can be. Beware for he retaliates to overly powerful attacks with a devastating move.

The heroes must heal often and make him lose every life-point he regains in the following minutes. Casting the Moon Sabre spell restores their life-points with every weapon strike they deal, giving them a decisive advantage.

Ghost Road, a Darkness-based spell/summon

In the remake, Heath is at level 64. His attacks can be dodged and even telegraphed by red zones signalling their area of effect, but the heroes must react quickly. He hovers over the ground and dashes at light-speed, enabling him to evade the heroes and their attacks. He attacks with discs of purple light, spams Ghost Leader whose ghosts’ paths hinder the heroes and on different areas following their position. He channels energy from the monsters he summons to either unleash a deadly divine summon or heal himself, but if they are destroyed he is knocked out and becomes vulnerable.

Circle of Mana

Heath is playable in this card-based role-playing game. Each character is played as series of cards to save the Mana Tree from monsters, and can gain power, equipment, and Class Changes. He is featured in various series, each evolving following a distinct path. In most he is featured as his normal, benevolent cleric self, but one of them features him as his evil, sorcerous brainwashed self.

Rank	Image				Classes	Quote
UR					Cleric Priest Bishop Sage	「だいじょうぶだよ。もう、どこにも行かないから…。さあ、涙をふいて。女神様にわらわれちゃうぞ。」
SSUR					Cleric Priest Bishop Sage	「大丈夫かいシャルロット。君ならきっとやれる。世界を闇から救うんだ。」
SSUR					Cleric Priest Bishop Sage	「神殿にどういった御用でしょう？司祭様はふせっておられます。用があるなら、僕が聞きましょう。」
SSUR					Cleric Enchanter Necromancer Shamanion	「悪くない。頭の中にかかっていた靄がスーッと晴れたようだよ。」