There exists a Netherworld known as Beast World, where even the Humanoid Demons have animal and monster like features. Its Overlord, known as the Great Dragon, is more reclusive than anyone with the exception of Overlord Zenon, and employs many of his people as soldiers and guards to protect his palace. It is the dream of practically every young Demon to become one of these elite warriors, and they train every day to attain it.
Because of this, a school known as Beast's Blood, which exists solely for training weapons and magic in the youths of the Netherworld. After a grueling six-hundred year course of study and training, its graduates go off in search of other ways to hone their abilities, and take on various jobs in hopes of being noticed by the Overlord and invited to take his test. Note that this school has nothing to do with Evil Academy from Disgaea 3, although it isn't uncommon for a graduate of Beast's Blood to further his or her training by going off to Evil Academy for a few hundred years before dropping out and returning home.
The dream of becoming the Overlord's Vassals is strong in the hearts of Teefa and eleven of her former dormmates. In fact, three of the men in her group have grandfathers who are serving the Great Dragon and have been for several thousand years. Realizing that there are so few good jobs out there that will get them noticed, the team decides to head to Veldime, joining the resistance against Overlord Zenon in hopes that their Overlord will see how powerful they really are.
All twelve of the humanoid warriors are listed here. Unlike the Shamans, their aging was done ten times slower than normal humans. While there will be spoilers for Vassals here, since they were based on Teefa's real roommates there really aren't any big spoilers for any other media unless the spoiler itself was a part of the Muse Universe.
Name: Teefa
Age: 1020
Hair: Brown worn long
Class: Healer
Race: 1/2 Tiger, 1/2 Bird (humanoid tiger with yellow fur, mahogany stripes and silver bird like wings)
Weapon: Staff
Magic Used: All Types
Position: Healer
Bio: A noblewoman from Beast World who has been studying magic since she was a child. Due to an argument her parents had about what sort of mage she should be, and thanks to her mother's threats to her uncle and his sisters, Teefa has learned all her attack magic from her cousin, Lufia, and Lufia's two cousins, Phoebe and Rutee. However, while Teefa picked up on attack magic quite easily, she really doesn't understand how to regulate her powers, leading to random things getting blown up whenever she fights. Luckily, her healing magic doesn't suffer the same issues...
Background Notes: Since Teefa used herself and her friends as the main characters, she wanted to poke fun at the possible implications of self-insertion. Sure, she gave herself lots of power, but decided to show where that power could be dangerous and uncontrolled rather than the one thing that could save the world. And then there was the episode where the cast put on that play that parodied every Mary Sue cliche known to man, making fun of the concept the whole way.
Name: Rooks
Age: 1020
Hair: Brown
Class: Warrior
Race: Dragon (human looking with gold scales covering his arms as well as from his torso downward, Dragon wings and a Dragon tail)
Weapon: Axe
Magic Used: None
Position: Assault Team
Bio: A physical powerhouse who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn! Rooks and Teefa became pretty close in school due to sharing high power with disadvantages. Sometimes, when the cast is off in battle and he's not present for whatever reason, due to Adell choosing only a portion of the group for that particular trip, he goes into the Item World looking for Marksmen, sometimes causing the episode to shift to him trying to subdue one with usual wacky hijinks. His grandfather, Fanas, is one of the Overlord's Guardsmen, inspiring him to try and become stronger.
Background Notes: Teefa had to find something to do about the million sword users in the game, and the lack of a good number of other weapons. Rooks was chosen to be the axe user partly due to his sword being called Giant Sword and partly to refer back to the original Vassals where Jet wielded an axe in contrast to Ginny's staff. Fanas, the grandfather here, is a reference to one of Rooks' heroic ancestors, though changed into a grandfather due to how different Demon lifespans are.
Name: Lufia
Age: 1019
Hair: Blue-violet worn long
Class: Mage
Race: Tiger (humanoid tiger with yellow fur and mahogany stripes)
Weapon: Staff
Magic Used: Elemental
Position: Magic Assault Unit
Bio: A cousin of Teefa's who is perhaps the better of the two when it comes to magic. However, since that is partly due to an evil spirit sealed inside of her in one of her father's many magic experiments, she is somewhat unwilling to let her powers out, lest they end up doing more damage than Teefa. Generally good natured, and overly happy, there are only two things that make her snap. One, is when someone is flirting with her fiance in any way. Two, is when anyone decides to pick on any of her friends. Then, all bets are off and she allows the evil spirit to possess her body and cause all kinds of havoc.
Background Notes: The whole evil spirit thing was done to refer to Lufia's being a carrier for Death Goddess Erim for the first twenty years of her life. Split personality was done more to add humor to it rather than just being a case of her carrying another spirit inside of her. It's played for laughs in several segments of the story, usually the result of something to do with either an overly aggressive opponent or a random Succubus or Nekomata pulling moves on Max.
Name: Max
Age: 1020
Hair: Red and slightly spiky
Class: Gunner
Race: 3/4 Dragon, 1/4 Bird (human looking with blue scales covering his arms as well as from his torso downward, small bird like wings and a Dragon tail)
Weapon: Gun
Magic Used: None
Position: Sharpshooter
Bio: Grandson of the Draconic guardsman Maxim and his bird-like wife Selan, Max is Rooks' cousin via both of their mothers. Like Rooks, his motives are based around following in his grandfather's footsteps. However, because of the way his two races mix within him, his wings are the least functional out of all the characters; the ones with full Dragon wings can hover for a few seconds at least while Teefa's bird-like wings allow her more permanent flight. Not that he doesn't try to fly over some of the gaps in the Item World from time to time...
Background Notes: Teefa took this route with Max due to his commenting on how improbable his wings were, and shocked when Etna's grew in-game for a small amount of flight. Like with most other character traits, she took this with a comedic approach, sometimes even meaning the difference between victory and defeat. Max became a gunner due to the fact that his Dual Blade uses a homophone for a word used to refer to one on one combat, and some of the cartoons with gun duels she watched growing up.
Name: Samantha
Age: 1021
Hair: Black worn in little braids
Class: Magic Knight
Race: normal Humanoid from the Southern Regions
Weapon: Sword
Magic Used: Elemental
Position: Assault Team
Bio: Humanoids from the Southern Regions of Beast World are known to be some of the toughest warriors in the Netherworld. Thus, Samantha has been learning how to fight with a sword since she was really young. Although she does know how to use elemental magic as per her training as a Magic Knight, it's usually as a last resort; it's more or less a distraction to get away from the enemy long enough for a sword based counterattack. For the most part, she sticks to hacking through things with her sword. Outside of battle, however, Samantha is pretty much the older sister figure to the team, trying to keep things from getting out of hand.
Background Notes: Samantha was chosen to keep her sword partly because nothing else fit her and partly because Teefa wanted to have some male/female sword duos. There's also the little fact that only Beast Tamer was left over after assigning the more obvious female characters, as it was the males that required more changes...
Name: Sam
Age: 1020
Hair: Black
Class: Samurai
Race: normal Humanoid from the Southern Regions
Weapon: Sword
Magic Used: None
Position: Assault Team
Bio: Sam grew up alongside Samantha and has been her best friend and confidant for years. As a pair of sword users, they are often attempting to work in tandem with one another. While he can be quite violent during combat itself, Sam is usually pretty calm, trying to reason with Adell and helping him keep his focus.
Background Notes: Chosen as the Samurai to go along with Samantha's Magic Knight. And they're not the only couple to keep their blades...
Name: Burianne
Age: 1019
Hair: Orange worn long
Class: Thief
Race: Fairygirl (short statured humanoid with small fairy-like wings on her back)
Weapon: Bow
Magic Used: None
Position: Spy, Thief
Bio: Burianne's motto is "Take life too seriously and you're bound to lose!" Naturally, she fits right in whenever there's chaos abound, and is quite fond of tormenting Axel whenever he appears. However, she loses the will to do anything when life isn't as lighthearted as she'd wish, leading to her many attempts to bring the mood back up again through pranks. And let's not even start on her obsession with spying on couples when they're alone...
Background Notes: Pretty much dead on for Muse Universe Burianne, only less serious. The bow is due to the fact that, despite using a spear in-Universe, she is the sister of Secret of Mana's Sprite character, and you got a bow and boomerang when he joined the party.
Name: Terry
Age: 1021
Hair: Rust with large spikes
Class: Heavy Knight
Race: Plantman (tall humanoid with plant like "veins" bulging on his arms)
Weapon: Spear
Magic Used: None
Position: Guardsman
Bio: The largest and strongest of Teefa's band of misfits. Like Burianne, he enjoys a good laugh and is quick to try and bring a mood up whenever its down. Due to that, both of them get along real well, and Terry is usually seen carrying her on his back so she can take advantage of his large size. Unfortunately, she can't do the reverse so he can take advantage of her quick movement.
Background Notes: Was really grasping at straws here, but it worked out in the end. Since one of the Mana Weapons was a spear, the second one you get in fact, it wasn't so far fetched that Terry wield one. Note that I also used my name for him, Terry, rather than the semi-official name for the boy because I got used to my own name long before the advent of the internet.
Name: Phoebe
Age: 1019
Hair: Blond with spikes
Class: Archer
Race: Tiger (humanoid tiger with yellow fur and mahogany stripes)
Weapon: Bow
Magic Used: Wind
Position: Sharpshooter
Bio: One of Lufia's cousins on her father's side, she is quite the smart mouthed archer. Around her friends, she can be quiet and polite, but tends to shift to a more aggressive form when something annoys her (similar to Tink, however with more foul language and violence). In this form, large, demonic wings grow out of her back (which are distinguishable from a Dragon's wings) and her claws are bigger. The only way to calm her down is to either A) let her destroy something until her rage calms or B) have her get beaten up. Sometimes, Teefa has used this to her advantage by enraging Phoebe, then tricking her into going after a difficult monster.
Background Notes: I don't even want to know how the chronic worrier of Mystic Quest turned into the most violent character in the Muse Universe. Though her mood swings are evident enough in the former, they become a running gag here and used in comedic situations, sometimes doulbling with Lufia's own split personality for double the comedy. Her use as an archer is due to the fact that MQ's Phoebe had a bow as her best weapon.
Name: Benjamin
Age: 1020
Hair: Brown with spikes
Class: Mage
Race: Dragon (human looking with green scales covering his arms as well as from his torso downward, Dragon wings and a Dragon tail)
Weapon: Staff
Magic Used: Elemental
Position: Magic Assault Unit, but acts like he's on the Assault Team
Bio: Phoebe's next door neighbor before leaving for school, he is the one most accustomed to her mood swings. Due to his calm nature, however, he tends to not react as she tears the house down around them, usually quite willing to fix up her mistakes when things cool down. However, he does have a sense that bad things tend to happen to him, as every time the monsters attack something seems to go wrong. Though part of that is due to his attempts to join the front lines, and use his staff as if it were a sword.
Background Notes: Pretty much a dead ringer for his MQ self personality-wise, though as a mage. The reason for that is because Benjamin was the only character in the game who could attain a full spellbook of resources, while even characters like Kailie and Phoebe (who were decent hands at magic and had a good selection of spells from at least two categories) tended to just have what was needed for the dungeons they had to visit. Thus the joke about him being a mage who tries to be a warrior.
Name: Rutee
Age: 1020
Hair: Black
Class: Ninja
Race: Tiger (humanoid tiger with yellow fur and mahogany stripes)
Weapon: Sword
Magic Used: Ice
Position: Spy, Stealth Unit
Bio: Lufia's other cousin on her father's side. Despite being of noble birth, she is pretty much the most naturally violent of the group (as in, not counting when Phoebe or Lufia's split personalities kick in). Usually calm, cool and collected, when someone angers her then she tends to begin a war of words to outdo them. When not fighting, she is usually found writing letters to her parents and brother.
Background Notes: A pretty dead-ringer for ToD's Rutee, one of the least changed personality-wise in the Muse Universe (except her family actually being there softens her a bit in their presence). She was kept with a sword because of the fact that both she and her boyfriend could both be sword users, much like Sam and Samantha.
Name: Stahn
Age: 1021
Hair: Blond with spikes worn long
Class: Ninja
Race: Dragon (human looking with red scales covering his arms as well as from his torso downward, Dragon wings and a Dragon tail)
Weapon: Sword
Magic Used: None
Position: Spy, Stealth Unit
Bio: Rutee's good natured bodyguard, his father knew hers in their youth. Like his cousins, Max and Rooks, he looks up to his paternal grandfather, Thomas, who is in the Royal Guard, and dreams of being just like him. However, Stahn is somewhat slow in the mind, causing Rutee to have to be his brains in a tight situation.
Background Notes: Now he is the closest personality-wise to his Original Universe counterpart. Really...the dumb blond who never catches a break. See above for why he was kept using a sword.
In the Beast World, it has become a tradition for Monster Class creatures to partner up with Humanoids and act as their familiars. Usually, the pact is formed when both are infants, and they formally ally themselves together once they reach 100 years of age (meaning, they are physically ten). Note that Monster Classes in Beast World are unable to speak, however the restriction is slowly removed as they spend time with their partners.
All of these characters were based on the Digimon Partners of Teefa's group.
Name: Skysplitter (Sky)
Age: 1020
Class: Beast Tamer Special Edition (see Bio)
Weapon: Axe, carried in her mouth
Magic Used: None
Position: Teefa's familiar
Bio: In the northern mountains, there exists a group of tigers with white fur, golden stripes and golden hair. While humanoid, and holding a Beast Master's power over Monsters, they are non-intelligent like all the Monster races in Beast World. However, there is a tradition of them allying with regular members of the Tiger tribe as familiars, which is what happened in Teefa and Sky's case. Skysplitter is quite powerful in combat, though her social skills could stand a little refining; it doesn't help that she and Teefa tend to argue about stupid things.
Name: Flamerider (Flame)
Age: 1020
Class: Marionette
Weapon: His body
Magic Used: None
Position: Rooks' familiar
Bio: Generally the strong silent type, Flamerider tries to keep cool no matter how hairy the situation. Of course, that isn't always do-able with the messes Adell's group finds themselves in. Though he does get a reprieve from that insanity when Rooks takes on the Item World, he instead gets stuck dealing with issues that arise due to that.
Name: Sunder
Age: 1019
Class: Nekomata
Weapon: Her body
Magic Used: None
Position: Lufia's familiar
Bio: Quiet and calm, she generally tries to stay back from the conflicts between members of the group. However, when Lufia goes berserk, Sunder's emotional link to her partner causes her to retain her wildness.
Name: Dual
Age: 1020
Class: Holy Dragon
Weapon: His Body
Magic Used: None
Position: Max's familiar
Bio: As a Holy Dragon, Dual is focused primarily on spreading justice. He frowns upon a lot of the antics created by the rest of the cast, but at the same time wants to protect them.
Name: Chicky
Age: 1021
Class: Roc
Weapon: Her beak and breath
Magic Used: None
Position: Samantha's familiar
Bio: Like Samantha, Chicky is the big-sister type, always out to help the others. She also loves racing, and is constantly challenging anyone with any degree of speed.
Name: Tiger
Age: 1020
Class: Mystic Beast
Weapon: His Body (specifically the horn on his head)
Magic Used: None
Position: Sam's familiar
Bio: Loyal like a dog and twice as vicious. Tiger is quite powerful, though he does tend to jump into battle quickly in order to defend his allies.
Name: Mace
Age: 1019
Class: Ork
Weapon: A mace
Magic Used: None
Position: Burianne's familiar
Bio: While Burianne is silly and often irreverent, Mace is the only one who can keep her calm when push comes to shove. She's good at solving problems, though if force will work it's usually her top option.
Name: Stag
Age: 1021
Class: Mothman
Weapon: Spores, his wings
Magic Used: None
Position: Terry's familiar
Bio: With his powerful flying abilities, Stag tends to work as a spy when the rest of the team is sneaking through enemy lines. Of course, his ability to speak hasn't progressed far, so it's hard to understand him, though Skysplitter seems to be able to (not like her speaking is good enough to interpret, but it does lead to a few situations).
Name: Ninjy
Age: 1019
Class: Ork
Weapon: A mace
Magic Used: None
Position: Phoebe's familiar
Bio: Ninjy sure loves picking fights. If there are no enemies around, then she goes off and fights with random people. Since the group arrived, it's become common in Holt for random explosions to go off due to her battles.
Name: Ryong
Age: 1020
Class: Dragon
Weapon: His fangs
Magic Used: None
Position: Benjamin's familiar
Bio: With powerful jaws, Ryong is a force to be reckoned with. He tends to stand behind Benjamin, waiting for orders to go out and strike. Though a lot of other characters are somewhat frightened by him, he's pretty gentle unless you're an enemy.
Name: Atwight
Age: 1020
Class: Nekomata
Weapon: Her body
Magic Used: Ice
Position: Rutee's familiar
Bio: When Rutee is off getting herself in trouble, it is Atwight that pulls her back to reality. She takes on somewhat of a motherly role to her partner, and is quick to jump in and defend her in times of need. However, sometimes Rutee's rebellious attitude causes strain in their relationship.
Name: Dymlos
Age: 1021
Class: Dragon
Weapon: His fangs
Magic Used: Fire
Position: Stahn's familiar
Bio: A great counter to Stahn's laziness, Dymlos is the one who stands guard whenever he falls asleep in random places. He also tries to help Stahn wake up when said nap is inconveniencing everyone, though that fails a lot of the time.
Teefa receives a letter from home, asking her and her friends to come to the Palace of the Great Dragon. Shocked at getting such an invite so soon after their victory over the Fake!Zenon, but happy just the same, the team says their goodbyes to Adell and return to their own Netherworld. After spending the night with their own families, shown in a montage of the characters doing different things at home, they head for the castle right away.
A draconic maid greets them at the door. She leads the twelve to a large door, telling them that it contains their trial chamber. There, possible vassals for the Great Dragon are tested to see their worth. Even though the Zenon mess turned out to be a hoax, their Overlord feels that their bravery and power is enough to conquer the test. After talking it over as a group, Teefa announces that they will go through with it.
Most of the rest of the movie consists of the various trials contained within. There are strong groups of monsters that they must work together to defeat, as well as a segment where each member is separated from one another and forced to deal with enemies. Some of the trials test their knowledge and abilities to problem solve. Finally, there are others that test the bonds between them in other ways, assuring that they work together as a group. And, of course, along the way the cast's various quirks act up at the worst or best possible times to help them solve the chamber's trials.
Eventually, they come to the final room, where a huge, golden Dragon statue awaits. Its eyes suddenly glow red, and it comes to life. The team steers itself for battle, when suddenly it lands on the ground in front of them, transforming into the maid they'd seen earlier. However, she's now dressed in regal robes, and introduces herself as Callistra, the Great Dragon.
Everyone is shocked to see that the Great Dragon is a woman, however Samantha reminds them that nobody was ever told that the Great Dragon's gender; they'd always just assumed it was a man. Callistra tells the group that she has seen both their strength and courage, and how they work together as a group to accomplish their goals. She feels that the former two are meaningless, unless they can work with others to maximize their power, and so she tests both the power of groups and the power of the individual before choosing her guardians.
Rooks, however, is curious as to why they were chosen in the first place, since she never explained why she didn't care that Zenon was a hoax. Callistra explains that long ago, she and the real Zenon were rivals, as there were few Overlords who could match their strength to fight. However, when Zenon got tired and wished to Reincarnate into a new body, Callistra helped to cover for her. But then one of her enemies decided to mess with Zenon's wishes, and the Great Dragon could do nothing because of an injury sustained in one of their final duels. Since Teefa and her group helped stop the madman and have allowed Zenon, now Rozalin, to have her freedom, Callistra found them worthy of joining her ranks.
The story shifts to a week later. Everyone is now wearing the garb of a Tier 6 character, as well as cloaks that indicate they are a member of the Royal Guard. Teefa is seen with Rooks on the balcony, as the latter is talking about how proud his grandfather is of him. She puts her arm around her partner, telling him that all of their families are proud, and they should be too for fulfilling their dreams at last. The scene then cuts out with the two of them watching the sunset, as the others are seen in the background.
Early on in Guardian Club, Ark is talking to a transfer student that appears to be 1/2 Tiger, 1/2 Bird like Teefa. She mentions that her big sister happens to serve the Overlord in their world, and that she's just at Evil Academy looking to study up on magic more. The character looks exactly like Teefa's younger twin sister, Salah, who appears during the montage scene in the movie, and is there mainly to refer to bring a relation between the two schools, as Beast's Blood was created for the second season of Vassals long before Disgaea 3 was announced.
During the first movie, as Salvatore is telling everyone her information about the Legendary Overlord, several people are asking if it's one of the powerful Overlords from other Nippon Ichi games. Rick asks if it's the Great Dragon, causing Diana to yell at him due to that Overlord's reputation for never interfering in other Netherworlds.
Teefa occasionally tells Skysplitter that she has to Digivolve or Bio Merge, to which the white tiger asks if her partner has hit her head. Sort of a joke about how Sky's original world self is a Digimon.
Some of the disastrous spell castings by an out of control Teefa or a Lufia under Erim's control are so destructive, that others in the cast make vague references to Lina Inverse of Slayers ("there was this sorceress who...").