Masked Mage

The Masked Mage (仮面の道士, Kamen no Doushi) is one of the three main villains from Trials of Mana, along with the Dragon Lord and the Dark Majesty. He serves as the main villain and final boss in Charlotte and Kevin's storylines. He has the same goal as the other two main villains: steal the power of the Sword of Mana, release the eight Benevodons, and take their powers as well to become a god. He also appeared in Heroes of Mana as a playable character.

Background[]

In truth, the Masked Mage was once a human named Belgar (ベルガー, Berugaa), a priest in the Holy City Wendel, whose skills in healing were said to be unmatched. He obtained the title of Oracle of Shadows; the co-leadership of Wendel alongside the Priest of Light.

Heroes of Mana[]

Belgar, along with the Priest of Light meet the heroes in Wendel after Laurent is conquered. Though at first desiring to stay neutral, that changes after realizing the danger when Esina's mirror is brought up. Though Wendel itself must stay non violent, Belgar's compassion causes him to bend the rules and aid the heroes on his own rather than with Wendel's backing.

He guides the heroes to where the various mana stones are. Though he is shown to be a kind and caring man, hints of his reckless side are foreshadowed. He mentions that he will treat those wounded by the war by any means necessary, even if that means using magic he normally wouldn't. In a bonus mission he accidently released Land Umber while trying to gain the power of earth for healing, and rather than learn from that he instead decided to look into the power of darkness instead.

Fall from Grace and Descent into Madness[]

Unfortunately, he eventually found a young girl afflicted with a disease that was beyond even his powers to cure. In his desperation, Belgar turned to the dark arts, but the girl died before he could find a cure.

Despite that, he continued searching and found a spell that could reanimate the dead. During this time, the people began to fear Belgar, and he was banished by the Priest of Light, though the precise events at the time are somewhat unclear. Most people believe that he challenged the Priest of Light and lost. His son Heath, however, says he was banished out of fear that the city would be cursed.

During his time in exile, Belgar was corrupted by the dark magic he had pursued, which left his face horrifically disfigured. He transformed into the Masked Mage, now possessed of a strong hatred for the living and obsessed with his plots of revenge upon the world.

Trials of Mana[]

"I see you would prefer death to servitude. Fools. You are throwing away the opportunity to serve a god! No matter. I have no need of servants, for I am all-powerful! Do you know how long I have awaited this day? My hatred for humanity has hidden beneath this mask. I've been concealing my true self. But now! I will unleash this anger and condemn humanity to perish! Do you wish to see my true form underneath this disguise?"

—The Masked Mage as he prepares to transform.

Full of hatred and resentment, the Masked Mage finally decides to enact revenge on those that had wronged him. His plan consists on becoming a god by destroying the eight Mana Stones and entering the Sanctuary of Mana to reclaim the Sword of Mana's power. Preferring to stay in the shadows, the Masked Mage leaves most of the work to his minions.

He and his minions, led by Goremand, forge an alliance with the Beastmen, who launch an invasion to Wendel. During this time, Goremand abducts Heath and brings him back to the Masked Mage, who corruptes him into becoming his most powerful servant: the Tainted Soul. After the invasion is foiled by the Priest of Light's protective barrier, Goremand retreats to Ferolia and lets things take its course, letting the servants of the Dragon Lord and the Dark Majesty, do the rest of the work on releasing the energy of the Mana Stones.

Eventually the portal is opened to the Sanctuary of Mana, and so the Masked Mage and his minions proceed to get the Sword of Mana. As the three evil factions of the world collide, the Masked Mage finds himself warring for the control of the Sword of Mana. What follows next depends on who is the main character of the story:

If Duran or Angela is the main character, the Masked Mage is killed by the Crimson Wizard and Darkshine Knight.
If Hawkeye or Riesz is the main character, the Masked Mage is killed by Belladonna and Malocchio.
If Charlotte or Kevin is the main character, the Masked Mage succeeds in killing the Dragon Lord and destroying the remains of the Dark Majesty.

Proved the main character is Charlotte or Kevin, the Masked Mage retreats to his stronghold after failing to claim the Sword of Mana. However, his minions are left to come up with a plan to obtain the Sword. Afterwards, the Tainted Soul and Goremand wait until the heroes have obtained the Sword of Mana before kidnapping Faerie and forcing the heroes to exchange the Sword of Mana for her life. With the sword at hand, the Masked Mage's minions release the Benevodons to the world and then take the Sword to their master. Although the heroes are able to kill all of the Benevodons, they quickly realize their defeat sent their power to the Sword of Mana, increasing the Masked Mage's power as a result. They realize their only hope is to face the Masked Mage himself in his stronghold, the Mirage Palace.

After making their way through the perils of the Mirage Palace, the heroes finally meet the Masked Mage, who compliments them for being powerful enough to defeat the Benevodons, and then absorbs the corrupted Sword of Mana. However, he is unable to completely control his newfound power, as the Goddess of Mana attempts to hinder him. The Masked Mage leaves to destroy the Tree of Mana and the Goddess with it.

He leaves Heath to kill the heroes, but Heath is defeated. On his dying breath, Heath reveals to the heroes that the Masked Mage is his father, and that the fear and rejection of the people he once aided, turned the once kind man into a spiteful being. The heroes leave the Mirage Palace and set towards the Sanctuary of Mana to chase the Masked Mage.

Belgar the Dark Lich (Remake) — The Dark Lich in the remake

The heroes make one last journey through the now-withered Mana Sanctuary, but the Masked Mage succeeds in destroying the Tree of Mana just as the heroes reach him. He offers the Faerie a chance to serve him, but she predictably declines and attacks him only to be swatted away like an insect. The Masked Mage laments seeing the heroes choose death over serving him, and then removes the mask he wore for the time his revenge would come to fruition.

His true form as the Dark Lich revealed, he quickly overwhelms the heroes, but they are soon healed by the Faerie, who tells the Dark Lich that even without mana, as long as the heroes have hope, they will create a new world. The Dark Lich is unconcerned by this and mocks the heroes for believing they could stop him. After a long and hard battle, the heroes succeed in defeating the Dark Lich, much to his shock.

Abilities[]

"Foolish mortals! I will destroy any hope you have lingering in your bodies! Face the wrath of your new god!"

—The Masked Mage before the final battle.

The Masked Mage is only fought during the game as the Dark Lich. Being a final boss, he's extremely powerful, possessing a variety of elemental attacks and a number of non-elemental attacks. He also wields some of the desperation attacks used by the Benevodons as he had previously absorbed their powers. His own desperation technique is a powerful magic attack called Death Ecstasy.

He is viewed by most fans to be the easiest of the final bosses in Trials of Mana because most of his attacks are just aimed at dealing damage, as opposed to the Dragon Lord and the Archdemon, who have special attacks that lower the heroes' stats in addition to doing damage. Also, he's an undead enemy, making him susceptible to Charlotte's Turn Undead spell.

Attacks[]

Magic[]

Dark Force - Level 2 Shadow-Based Magic

Annihilate - Instantly kills a target if lower level than the caster

Poison Bubble - Tree-based damage and poison status on target

Leaf Saber - Target's weapon will drain MP proportional to damage done

Cold Blaze - Level 3 Water-Based Magic, may turn target into snowman

Earthquake - Level 2 Earth-Based Magic

Stone Cloud - Level 3 Earth-Based Magic, may petrify target

Lucent Beam - Level 2 Light-Based Magic

Ancient Curse - Powerful non-elemental Magic

Accelerate - Increases target's accuracy and evade rates

Strengthen - Increases target's attack power

Protection - Increases target's defense

Special Attacks[]

Southern Slice - Hits party for heavy magical damage

Barrage Sting - Hits party for moderate magical damage

Hyper Cannon - Hits party for heavy magical damage

Shackles - damages and turns party into Moogles

Meteor Volley - Strongest attack. Hits party for heavy magical damage

Quotes[]

"What a lively bunch to have defeated the Benevodons. Look how powerful the sword has become. This is its true strength. Now I shall absorb this sword into my body. I will live forever! An immortal soul stronger than the Goddess of Mana herself... the perfect being. Behold! I will become a god!"

—The Masked Mage preparing to absorb the Sword of Mana.

"You are becoming weaker and weaker without the Tree of Mana. Understandable, as faeries are born to protect the tree. They perish without a purpose. Fear not. I will soon make you all my undead servants, bound to serve and protect me in this new age! Ha ha ha!"

—The Masked Mage after having destroyed the Mana Tree.

"This is the real me! I resurrected my own body to overcome death itself! Now this dark lich is stronger than the gods! No need to fight any longer. I will end you all!"

—The Masked Mage upon assuming his final form.

"Preposterous! Without the Sword of Mana, you cannot defeat me! I am like a god and you have no weapon that stands a chance!"

—The Masked Mage as the heroes prepare to face him one last time after Faerie heals them all.

Other Appearances[]

Circle of Mana[]

Belgar[]

Rank	Image				Classes	Quote
SUR					Cleric Priest Bishop Sage	「異世界の勇者たちよ、必ず光のマナストーンを手に入れてくれ。でないと、このウェンデルは…」

Masked Mage[]

Rank	Image				Classes	Quote
SSUR					己を秘す仮面神獣の負を喰いし者マナの剣を喰いし者憎悪を解き放つ者	「この仮面の下には、人間に対する憎悪だけがかくされている。」
SSUR					己を秘す仮面神獣の負を喰いし者マナの剣を喰いし者憎悪を解き放つ者	「ワシの願いはただ一つ。この世にはびこる生者の一掃。」

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Although the Masked Mage has the same amount of screen time as the Dragon Lord and the Dark Majesty, he isn't mentioned as much. Even in Kevin and Charlotte's storyline, the heroes only become aware of who he is when they meet him in person. In the other storylines, his only mention is when Goremand says he was killed.