Blados
| Blados | |
|---|---|
| |
| Element | Umbra |
| Hometown | Tuaparang |
| Hair color | Green |
| Eye color | Red |
| Weapons | Ōdachi-like sword |
| Japanese name | スペード Spade |
| French name | Pik |
| German name | Truco |
| Spanish name | Spatha |
| Italian name | Lho |
Blados is an antagonist in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. He and his partner Chalis are commanders from the militarized nation Tuaparang who advance their nation's schemes throughout the game. He is a master swordsman whose epithet back home is "The Blade," and he makes clear on several occasions he crosses paths with protagonist Matthew that he would like very much to put him to the sword. However, Blados, Chalis, and a third conspirator named "Arcanus" consider themselves bound by the directives of their mysterious superior.
History
At an undisclosed point in the thirty-year timeskip between the Golden Sun event and the events of Dark Dawn, an enigmatic and technologically advanced military empire calling itself Tuaparang became known to the peoples of Weyard. One secret that apparently never saw the light of day in that time is that their numbers contain members of a previously unknown Umbra Clan of Adepts, who have learned to use Psynergy to manipulate the worldly fundament of Darkness. Blados and Chalis are two such "Dark Adepts", and they hold positions of military authority that directly answer to Tuaparang's unseen "High Empyror".
Apparently, this arrangement is not to the Umbra Clan's liking. The Tuaparang Empire are described as "scions" of the Dark Adepts (the term largely being anonymous with "descendants"), yet Blados and Chalis, for all their professed loyalty, seek to act directly against their Empyror's interests. To this end, they and their men, not truly considering themselves Tuaparang, seek to hijack a scheme the Empyror is actively pursuing by the time of Dark Dawn.
The High Empyror plans to take control of the Apollo Lens, an ancient superweapon situated atop the highest peak of the Khiren Mountains bisecting the continent of Angara. The ancients of Weyard's distant past, in their efforts to control the reality-shaping fundaments of Darkness and Light, had created this Light-aligned apparatus as part of an interconnected system of ancient machines buried throughout the continent. Presuming it is raised and activated, the Lens can fire a highly amplified beam of destructive Light energy at a designated target, which is the function that the High Empyror seemingly covets it for.
However, the other machines in the system comprise a complex series of obstacles standing in the way of any modern-day effort that could be made to unseal the Apollo Lens. First of all, two Alchemy Machines based in Angara's southern Ei-Jei region, the Alchemy Forge of the mountain village of Passaj and the Alchemy Well of the desert kingdom of Ayuthay, need to be reactivated by both using the appropriate elements of Psynergy and inserting elusive masks into them. While they would provide Alchemy-driven services to these kingdoms, virtually no one outside of Tuaparang are aware that the harmony of both machines will secretly provide power to the Lens further up the mountain.
Meanwhile, situated north of the Lens in the modern-day Morgal region of Angara is the Belinsk Ruins, an ancient and expansive subterranean complex that houses the Alchemy Dynamo. Should this machine be powered by a fitting power source (namely, a Magma Orb that would form in the innards of the gigantic Mountain Roc that nests east of modern-day Belinsk), it is expected to raise a towering structure originally called Eclipse Tower. This tower, which is another product of the ancients' reckless efforts to attain mastery over Light and Darkness, had once caused a dark calamity by performing its Light-draining fuction far too well, and the Tuaparang are apparently aware that it will do so again once raised. A sporadic legend holds that this is, in fact, a condition that needs to be met in order to unlock the Lens' capacity to be fired in the first place, since it was originally designed to fire its beam into Eclipse Tower and overload its systems in case the tower needed to be shut down again.
The infamous Mercury Adept whose machinations played a key role in bringing about the world-reshaping Golden Sun event, Alex, was apparently allowed by the High Empyror to cooperate with the Tuaparang in their decades-long scheme to reactivate the three Alchemy Machines and claim control of the Apollo Lens. Alex was even allowed to adopt the callsign "Arcanus," following a similar naming convention as "Blados" and "Chalis", the latter two of whom dislike Alex for his superior tone.
Blados and Chalis, however, seemingly have not made the connection that the High Empyror has cottoned onto their treachery. The Empyror anticipates that the duo will try to hijack the Apollo Lens once it is fully operational and fire it against the Tuaparang Empire. He therefore will eventually task Arcanus with making sure that the reactivated Lens will be used for the Empyror's own ends (the specifics of which remain unexplained as of Dark Dawn).
The Tuaparang manage to get a hold of two out of three Colored Orbs that are also needed to raise and set up the Lens. Twenty years before Dark Dawn, Arcanus fulfills one phase of Tuaparang's project by reactivating the Alchemy Well both by using his Mercury Psynergy and by inserting its respective mask artifact, which incidentally brings lushness to Ayuthay.
However, the Tuaparang's efforts to collect the remaining Yellow Orb and reactivate the Alchemy Forge at Passaj and Alchemy Dynamo under Belinsk are critically stymied by their inability to decipher riddles written in the glyphic language of the ancients, as well as their lack of access to Adepts who can wield all of the four primary elements of Psynergy. The ruins of an ancient forum connected to the Ei-Jei region, Konpa Ruins, contain a mechanism that can imbue an Adept with fluency in these glyphs and provide a written primer, but only if the visiting Adepts solve its ancient riddles using Psynergy of each element. As things stand, the Tuaparang commanders' success in their endeavors hinges on finding Adepts who can attain this knowledge.
In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
Shaping Matthew's course
By the start of Dark Dawn, Blados and his contingent of Tuaparang soldiers are apparently using the caves underneath Konpa Ruins as a testing ground for a machine that seems to manipulate, if not outright create, a Psynergy Vortex like what had been plaguing Weyard off-and-on since the Golden Sun event. He and Arcanus observe as a party of three elementally varied Adepts – Matthew, Tyrell, and Karis – descend into the caves after having explored the ruins above while pursuing an errand to fetch a feather from Morgal's Mountain Roc. At the same time, the Adepts' mentor and guide on this errand, Kraden – accompanied by two pupils, the Mercury Adepts Rief and Nowell – discovers the machine ahead of them.
Arcanus knows that Matthew's group and Kraden's pupils are the children of the famed Warriors of Vale who had pursued the quest that led to the Golden Sun, and this leads to Blados having to swear himself to a promise to the High Empyror to let them live, at least for the moment. Blados nonetheless dispatches a trio of Tuaparang soldiers to attack Matthew's group to ascertain rumors that they have already become quite powerful as Adepts, and Arcanus takes advantage of the commotion to take Rief captive. When Matthew's party best their opponents in battle, Blados addresses them from afar and explains that his side did not want to reveal themselves to the party quite so soon. Arcanus quickly extracts an admittance from Matthew that he, of all people, successfully learned the ancient symbols, shocking Blados, and this affirms to the two conspirators that Matthew's party must be allowed to leave with their lives despite seeing the machine.
Blados and Arcanus lower themselves into view using a lift and reveal that they have taken Rief captive, and they coerce Matthew's party into taking Konpa Cave's south exit into Ei-Jei by explaining they will leave Rief vulnerably tied up near it. They also separate Kraden and Nowell from the rest and strand the two in Angara's upper half, near Bilibin. The Adepts protest being diverted from their trip north through Bilibin and into Morgal, and Blados frustratedly expresses he would love to cut them down now, were it not for his sworn duty handed down by his superior. (Blados suggests that a personal consolation he sees in letting them live is that they might become worthy adversaries to him someday, and he name-drops Karis' father, Ivan, to illustrate his expectations for the Adepts.)
As soon as Matthew, Karis, and Tyrell exit the cave's south entrance as instructed and reach Rief, Blados' men use explosives to collapse the cave behind them. Blados gloats to them that they are now trapped in the Ei-Jei region, and he purposefully portrays a certain passage over the Khiren Mountains as their only way to reach Morgal and return to their errand at this rate. Before retreating, Blados accidentally lets slip that he was ordered to let them live until they "played their parts"; the angered Adepts fail to see this as reason to question seeking this passage and head off to begin exploring Ei-Jei.
As an outcome of Blados' verbal manipulation, the four Adepts end up unwittingly completing a large swath of Tuaparang's unfinished work during their time in Ei-Jei searching for a way to travel directly north over the mountains. With some well-disguised assistance from Chalis, who has planted herself in the administrative court of the city of Kaocho in eastern Ei-Jei, Matthew's traveling party retrieve the mask needed to reactivate Passaj's Alchemy Forge from the dungeon underneath the city. They use the Alchemy Forge to create the cloud-based passage into Morgal, unaware that the newfound union between the Forge and Ayuthay's Alchemy Well is also providing power to the Apollo Lens atop a more distant peak of the mountains.
A calamitous deception
Belinsk, the settlement founded upon Belinsk Ruins following the Golden Sun event, is the modern-day domain of the Beastman race – a people who were transformed into animal/human hybrids by the Golden Sun's effects. Years prior, they had lost a defensive war against the invading forces of the expansionist kingdom of Sana from the southeast and were subjected to ten long years of slavery. Only recently, the current Beastman king, Volechek, successfully led a revolt and drove the Sanans out, reclaiming his people's sovereignty. Volechek's relations with both Sana and Bilibin have remained strained since.
At some point prior to Matthew's departure from Ei-Jei, Blados, Chalis, and Arcanus had approached Volechek with the premise that Eclipse Tower, slumbering underneath his city, could be raised and used as an effective deterrent against future aggression from both Sana and Bilibin. Even as Volechek threw his lot in with the Tuaparang's proposal, Blados' side did not disclose that Eclipse Tower will decimate Belinsk and all of the surrounding lands as soon as it is raised, or that this happening is merely a step in their own plot to attain a different ancient machine of destruction.
In advance of Matthew's crossing into Morgal, Volechek kidnaps one of the two vagabond Sanan royals who had been displaced since the uprising, Hou Ju, and slates her for public execution by the coming full moon (which, incidentally, is another condition that must be met for Eclipse Tower's function to take place). By repelling the efforts of her brother Ryu Kou to take her back with military force, but then allowing him to flee to safety, the conspirators compel him to seek a more secretive means of entering Belinsk Castle and extricating her. Namely, Belinsk Ruins offers a subterranean passage that could be used to enter the castle from underneath, so long as one carries a Magma Orb to open the necessary mechanisms barring passage otherwise.
To make sure that Matthew's party willingly join Ryu Kou's efforts and help him extract a Magma Orb from the Mountain Roc, Blados' side also take captive the pirate Eoleo, the son of a pirate whom the Warriors of Vale once had dealings with, and slate him for the same execution festival. The plan goes off without a hitch, and Matthew and Ryu Kou end up reaching the nesting grounds of the Mountain Roc atop Talon Peak east of Belinsk, seeking what they currently understand (albeit based on incomplete information from Laurel) to be a "shard" that would appear once the Roc is roused.
However, the conspirators also understand there is a risk that Matthew's side will have caught wind that a dangerous machine slumbers underneath Belinsk and that their enemies evidently want the Magma Orb brought to it. To mitigate the risk that Ryu Kou's planned infiltration of the castle gets called off over this, Blados and Chalis station themselves near the Roc in advance to reveal themselves at an opportune time. They clarify that the Mountain Roc contains a fully formed Magma Orb that will power Belinsk's Alchemy Machine, and they warn that both Eoleo and Hou Ju will be made to regret it if Matthew's side does not bring the Orb to the ruins as ordered. The duo flee, leaving Matthew and his friends to have to kill the Roc themselves.
Blados and Chalis' gambit pays off royally when Ryu Kou, in a fit of desperation, takes the newly revealed Magma Orb and makes off with it despite what has been established about the Alchemy Dynamo being potentially dangerous to let Blados' side activate. Matthew's side are forced to follow Ryu Kou into Belinsk Ruins to make the most of the latter's efforts to use the Orb to infiltrate Belinsk Castle and rescue the two captives. When both parties are in the first layer of the ruins, however, Volechek manipulates its mechanisms from within the castle to lock off both the route into the castle above and the way back outside, and Matthew and Ryu Kou are forced to rejoin and proceed further into the depths.
Thanks to Matthew's party including Adepts of all four elements in its ranks, the party is able to pass the ruins' ancient riddles and security measures and open the way to the Alchemy Dynamo. (Apparently, Blados was less sure that Matthew's group could manage the task than Chalis and made her a bet that Matthew would fall short and require their more direct "assistance.") Blados, Chalis, and Arcanus stride in behind them and demand that they place the orb in the machine. When Matthew's side refuses, Blados and Chalis both use some kind of teleportation technique to appear in front of their faces and engage them in battle, just to show them who's in charge.
Despite Blados bringing his punishing sword techniques to bear, he and Chalis are unable to outlast all five battle-hardened Adepts fighting at once and are left lying on the ground wounded. Though Blados deigns to commend his opponents' victory in their battle, he remarks that his side did ultimately "win the war." The Adepts realize too late that their battle had given Arcanus the cover he needed to forcefully bring Ryu Kou to the dread machine's interface and convince him to insert the Magma Orb. Eclipse Tower initiates its ominous rise behind Belinsk, and Arcanus hastily evacuates the tower by picking up both Blados and Chalis and warping along with them in the direction of the exit. Neither Blados nor Chalis contribute any additional commentary throughout all of this.
The rise of Eclipse Tower heralds the calamity later identified as the Grave Eclipse, in which the tower siphons light from the sun and generates an enormous dome of dark energy across most of the continent. This spurs the emergence of monsters bolstered by the darkness, which begin massacring people across every area affected, Belinsk included. Volechek realizes far too late that the Tuaparang deceived and used him and have left his people to die, and he can only manage to steal the Blue Orb from Blados's personal possession and send it floating to Matthew's party as they flee the city by Eoleo's ship. He instructs Sveta, his sister who is now accompanying Matthew's party, to find a way to use it against Tuaparang's interests, then goes back to confront the Tuaparang commanders again.
For all of Volechek's selfless efforts, he falls in battle against Blados and Chalis, who would then proceed to "save" him and retain him as a valuable asset for the remainder of their campaign. They run Volechek's body through twisted experiments to "improve" him, stripping him of his mind and mutating and bolstering his body with Dark Psynergy until he is transformed into a hulking werewolf-like monster, the "Chaos Hound." In another cruel irony, Volechek's deed of spiriting the Blue Orb into Matthew's possession does anything but throw a wrench in the Tuaparang's plans, for the remainder of their campaign explicitly calls for Matthew's party to collect all three Colored Orbs unwittingly on their behalf.
Last stand at Apollo Sanctum
Seemingly exactly as Blados, Chalis, and Arcanus would hope of them, Matthew and his continuously growing party of Adepts learn on their own that Eclipse Tower can be made to stop its dark function by reaching the Apollo Lens atop Apollo Sanctum, setting it up by using all three of the Colored Orbs, and firing it at the tower. To help them along, Arcanus personally gives the Red Orb to Sana's current emperor so that he may give it to Matthew in turn. Matthew uses both the Blue and Red Orbs to unearth the Yellow Orb, and his party also finds the Umbra Gear, shadowy clothes needed to survive the trip into Apollo Sanctum, which is perpetually barraged by deadly Light energy.
Matthew and Sveta's party manage the feat of opening Apollo Sanctum, raising the Apollo Lens, and pointing it at Eclipse Tower. Arcanus arrives before Blados and Chalis to more-or-less rub it in their faces that the party's efforts were what his side's plans called for. Blados and Chalis soon arrive on a flying dropship with at least four other Tuaparang soldiers to, ostensibly, claim the Apollo Lens for the Empire, and Blados is annoyed that Arcanus is spending time talking to the children instead of killing them. While that conversation informs Blados for the first time that Arcanus' real name is "Alex" and that he had once traveled with some of the Warriors of Vale, Blados makes clear it doesn't matter either way and spouts that he never liked Alex's superior tone during the time they knew each other. Blados only stops himself from roughing Alex up when Chalis reminds him that the High Empyror would not want them fighting among themselves.
Alex and the commanders accuse each other of not being loyal to the Empire, and Alex suddenly discloses to Matthew's side that Blados, Chalis, and their men are Dark Adepts from an enigmatic Umbra Clan who seemingly do not consider themselves Tuaparang. Alex describes himself as having been sent by the High Empyror to make sure the Lens is used according to the latter's own undisclosed plan, leaving Blados to ask whether the Empyror doubts his and Chalis' loyalty. Alex then openly deduces that Blados and Chalis are apparently planning to fire the Lens at either Tuaparang or the area around Sol Sanctum, which lie on the same trajectory.
Blados and Chalis backhandedly commend Alex for figuring everything out, like they had apparently anticipated he eventually would, and they prepare to eliminate him. Alex, claiming to Matthew's side that he can handle the Dark Adepts in battle, instructs the party to fire the Apollo Lens at Eclipse Tower (which can be reasonably concluded, despite the vague writing in this scene, to go against what the Empyror apparently had in mind for the Lens). Blados, Chalis, and Alex warp away for a time to presumably do battle out of view, and Matthew's party follow Alex's lead and head toward the Lens' control console, fighting off Blados' men all the while.
The Adepts' path to the controls are then suddenly barred by the Chaos Hound, which they immediately sense is not just another monster and consequently try to pacify. Then, Blados and Chalis warp next to their "pet" seemingly no worse for wear, without any mention made of Alex or indication as to what happened between them that would result in him no longer forcefully occupying the duo or diverting their focus away from the Adepts' efforts. With a sinister grin, Blados tells the Hound that now is the time to "repay" the duo for everything they've "done for" him, and he mockingly addresses the Adepts' other urgent concerns by claiming that the duo will "take care of the eclipse...when the time is right." Chalis expresses that they are genuinely grateful to the Adepts for doing all the legwork Tuaparang simply was not equipped to pursue on their own – but now that the greatest weapon of the ancient world is in their hands, the party no longer has any use to them alive.
Blados and Chalis, bolstered by the dark energy exuded by the Chaos Hound, attempt to kill all of Matthew's party with the assistance of their combat pet. In-game, the battle ends when the party either beats down both Dark Adept commanders or focuses on beating down the Chaos Hound first. In the latter scenario, Blados and Chalis dismissively ask how a bunch of children can best the elite of the Tuaparang Empire, but in the former, they react with far greater exasperation that they lost to the children again, despite having many more advantages than their previous encounter.
Regardless, Blados agrees with Chalis that they fall back on their alternative plan and make use of the power of "Dark Binding" to cause dark spirits to merge with the energies of the Eclipse that permeate the Chaos Hound's body, drastically bolstering him. As the creature grows and overflows with power, Blados is alarmed to realize that he and Chalis are getting drawn into the burgeoning darkness as well, something they had not intended. Chalis desperately reasons that they will have to allow themselves to get absorbed because they cannot let Matthew's side win the struggle for the Lens. What forms is a single chimeric entity with overwhelming dark powers, with Blados' right arm and sword both enlarged and functioning as the upper-right sword arm among the monster's four arms in total. For Matthew's party, this is by far their most harrowing challenge, but in the end, they manage the incredible feat of defeating the beast.
Blados, Chalis, and the Chaos Hound revert to their separate forms and lie wounded and defeated, and the duo demonstrate a pointed lack of agitation about their loss. When Sveta learns that the Chaos Hound is what remains of her brother Volechek, the Dark Adepts explain that they had reappropriated Volechek's body after he nobly sacrificed himself against them and went about "improving" him, and they proudly own up to having taken his mind and forced him to fight his sister. They note, however, that Volechek still recognized his sister even in his mindless, bestial state. Even so, the duo cruelly clarify that Volechek is no longer capable of living in the world of light because of his lopsided alignment toward darkness, and Blados explains that Volechek would not survive an attempt to transform him back closer to the way he was, either.
When Matthew climbs up to the control console to try to fire the Lens, he gets knocked back by the deadly Light energy permeating the area. Blados and Chalis explain that Sveta would have to go up there clad in the Umbra Gear to reach it, and that she should be prepared to get overwhelmed and killed by the Light anyway. Blados adds that he and Chalis were going to send Volechek up to the console to "get rid of him when he'd played his part." Fully accepting this as the necessary price to pay, Sveta and Matthew make the final climb toward the console together... but then Volechek leaps in front of them and sends them plummeting.
For a moment, Matthew's disheartened party presume that the Dark Adepts' plans are proceeding after all, but the duo voluntarily point out that Volechek has regained his sense of self after seeing his sister in danger and is clearly about to give his life for her and the people of Morgal. Indeed, Volechek weathers the Light with his darkened and twisted body long enough to direct the Apollo Lens to fire its beam of Light energy at Eclipse Tower, overloading its systems and clearing away the Grave Eclipse.
Because an abrupt time skip takes place in the game at this point and shifts back to Matthew's party at the resettled city of Belinsk, there is no indication of what became of Blados and Chalis following the firing of the Apollo Lens. The weapon is evidently not considered a threat anymore by anyone in Belinsk with knowledge of it, and it remains unexplained what the High Empyror sought to get out of having access to it while it was functional. There is also no indication of how Alex's actions might affect his standing with the Tuaparang Empire, or if they even become aware of what exactly happened. While Alex had helped prevent Blados and Chalis from executing an insurgency scheme that seemingly intended to fire the Lens against the Tuaparang Empire itself, it seems unlikely that Alex directing Matthew to fire it at Eclipse Tower as its first and only target was what the Empyror's plan called for, either.
As a boss
Belinsk Ruins
Blados is a level 28 enemy fought alongside Chalis in the room of the Alchemy Dynamo, located in the depths of Belinsk Ruins. Both must be defeated for the battle to end successfully.
Blados is especially likely to be affected by Resistance-lowering effects. His statistics are as follows:
| Name | HP | PP | Attack | Defense | Agility | Luck |
| Blados | 1931 | 0 | 394 | 122 | 180 | 42 |
| Elemental Resistances and Levels | Exp | Coins | Item Dropped | Drop Rate | ||
 127 (Lv 3)  100 (Lv 2)  100 (Lv 2)  72 (Lv 2)
|
7,994 | 1,152 |  Spark Shuriken |
1/1 | ||
Blados can use the following battle commands with moderate intelligence.
| Command | Chance to use |
Elem. Stats used with * |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Punish | 4/8 (50%) |
-- | Enemy ability that either deals a standard physical attack with the end result multiplied by 1.1 or instantly downs the target. |
| Attack | 2/8 (25%) |
-- | Standard physical attack. |
| Shadow Shield | 2/8 (25%) |
-- | Enemy ability reduces all incoming damage by 50% for one turn. Affects all party members. |
As a not-unintelligent enemy who carries stocked items, two 12.5% "ability slots" of Blados's 50% chance to use Punish, as well as one 12.5% "ability slot" segment of his 25% chance to use Shadow Shield with a given action, will instead cause Blados to use one of his stocked items if he has any items remaining in stock and is able to use them applicably; if either he no longer has items in stock or the battlefield conditions do not allow his currently "individually available" item type to be used to a difference-making effect, he will use the called ability as normal. His full inventory of items is structured in the following order, with each item's entire stock having to be used up before the next type of item can be available for use:
2 Spark Shuriken: An item that creates a cross of kunai resembling the form of an shuriken. Deals a non-elemental standard physical attack with its end result multiplied by 0.7, and it has a chance to inflict Stun.
1 Firecracker: An item that deals a Mars-aligned attack with 140 base damage that is spread out across 5 enemies with high damage distribution. As a consumable item, this assumes Blados uses this with a Mars Elemental Power rating of 100 instead of his normal rating, 85.
1 Psy Grenade: An item that damages the PP of the party using a base power of 30 and a range of 3. - 1 Firecracker: An item that deals a Mars-aligned attack with 140 base damage that is spread out across 5 enemies with high damage distribution. As a consumable item, this assumes Blados uses this with a Mars Elemental Power rating of 100 instead of his normal rating, 85.
Apollo Sanctum
Blados is a level 44 boss who fights alongside Chalis and the Chaos Hound at Apollo Sanctum. In order to progress to the second half of the battle, the player must down either the Chaos Hound or both Blados and Chalis.
Blados is especially likely to be affected by Resistance-lowering effects. His statistics are as follows:
| Name | HP | PP | Attack | Defense | Agility | Luck |
| Blados | 3052 | 0 | 514 | 223 | 303 | 46 |
| Elemental Resistances and Levels | Exp | Coins | Item Dropped | Drop Rate | ||
| 127 (Lv 3) 100 (Lv 2) 100 (Lv 2) 72 (Lv 2)
|
0 | 0 | None | N/A | ||
Blados can use the following battle commands with moderate intelligence:
| Command | Chance to use |
Elem. Stats used with * |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Punish | 3/8 (37.5%) |
-- | Enemy ability that either deals a standard physical attack with the end result multiplied by 1.1 or instantly downs the target. |
| Attack | 3/8 (37.5%) |
-- | Standard physical attack. |
| Shadow Shield | 2/8 (25%) |
-- | Enemy ability reduces all incoming damage by 50% for one turn. Affects all party members. |
As a not-unintelligent enemy who carries stocked items, two 12.5% "ability slots" of Blados's 37.5% chance to use Punish, as well as one 12.5% "ability slot" segment each of his 37.5% chance to Attack and 25% chance to use Shadow Shield with a given action, will instead cause Blados to use one of his stocked items if he has any items remaining in stock and is able to use them applicably; if either he no longer has items in stock or the battlefield conditions do not allow his currently "individually available" item type to be used to a difference-making effect, he will use the called ability as normal. His full inventory of items is structured in the following order, with each item's entire stock having to be used up before the next type of item can be available for use:
- 2 Spark Shuriken: An item that creates a cross of kunai resembling the form of an shuriken. Deals a non-elemental standard physical attack with its end result multiplied by 0.7, and it has a chance to inflict Stun.
- 1 Firecracker: An item that deals a Mars-aligned attack with 140 base damage that is spread out across 5 enemies with high damage distribution. As a consumable item, this assumes Blados uses this with a Mars Elemental Power rating of 100 instead of his normal rating, 85.
- 1 Spark Shuriken: An item that creates a cross of kunai resembling the form of an shuriken. Deals a non-elemental standard physical attack with its end result multiplied by 0.7, and it has a chance to inflict Stun.
- 1 Firecracker: An item that deals a Mars-aligned attack with 140 base damage that is spread out across 5 enemies with high damage distribution. As a consumable item, this assumes Blados uses this with a Mars Elemental Power rating of 100 instead of his normal rating, 85.
Strategy
Blados is arguably the more dangerous of the pair, being the stronger enemy statistically, with abilities more geared towards damage. Punish's chance to instantly down the target is extremely dangerous, its strong damage multiplier notwithstanding. Shadow Shield is essentially Blados's equivalent to the Venus Djinn Bark, with its ability to reduce incoming damage by half. Even more frustrating, this particular ability is shared with Chalis, meaning that Blados doesn't necessarily need to be the one using Shadow Shield. Spark Shurikens can be dangerous with their ability to Stun, while the Firecrackers give Blados the equivalent of a powerful, ranged Psynergy.
In both battles, it is best to exploit Blados's weakness towards Mars-based offenses. Thus, Mars Djinn, strong Mars Summons like Meteor, and Mars-based Psynergy and Unleashes are all potential ways of doing damage. For the boss encounter in general, focusing attacks on one target will help lessen the danger of the battle, as well as reduce the length. Having a healer with access to Restore and the Wish Psynergy series is recommended due to the power of Blados's attacks.
Quotes
| In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn |
|
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn's Encyclopedia entry for Blados:
- This Tuaparang commander is a master swordsman constantly looking for a fight.
- He works closely with Chalis in manipulating Matthew's group to accomplish their own sinister goals.
Trivia
- "Spade", Blados' name in the Japanese version, is self-evidently a reference to the Spade suit of playing cards, the symbol of which can be seen on his armor's collar and his greaves. His name in the English version, on the other hand, refers to a suit of cards used in the divination card set tarot, particularly the suit of sword-themed cards that exists in the block of cards collectively called the Minor Arcana.
- The detail that he is known as "The Blade" in his home country is not mentioned or alluded to anywhere within Dark Dawn itself or its manual. It was originally part of his introductory blurb that was posted on the English-language Dawn Dawn website as it was previewing the game. The site has since been taken down.
- Blados' design, swordsmanship, and outlandish bodily colors all bear a resemblance to Saturos from the first Golden Sun that is likely intentional, albeit only as a shout-out to a previous villain from the series rather than any hint of an in-universe relation. Blados does not feature the characteristic pointed ears and facial scales of the Proxian people otherwise.
- Blados and Chalis are, as of Dark Dawn, the only characters in the series to feature voice clips in-game. When he uses his Punish sword technique in both of the party's battles with him, he can be heard making a deep-voiced grunt.
External links
| Main characters in the Golden Sun series | |
|---|---|
| Playable Characters | |
| Golden Sun |  Isaac  Garet  Ivan  Mia
|
| The Lost Age | Felix Jenna Sheba Piers
|
| Dark Dawn | Matthew Karis Tyrell Rief Amiti Sveta Eoleo Himi
|
| Non-Player Characters | |
| Golden Sun & The Lost Age |
Agatio Alex  Babi Briggs Dodonpa Dora Feizhi Hama Hammet Hydros Karst Kraden Kyle Menardi Moapa Puelle Saturos Susa The Wise One Tret
|
| Dark Dawn | Arcanus Baghi  Blados Bogho Chalis High Empyror Hou Zan King Wo Laurel Nowell Paithos Ryu Kou Unan Vande Volechek
|
| Bosses |
|---|
| Bosses in Golden Sun |
| Vault Bandits • Tret • Saturos • Killer Ape • Hydros Statue • Manticore • Kraken • Azart • Satrage • Navampa • Toadonpa • Storm Lizard • Tempest Lizard • Saturos and Menardi • Final boss • Deadbeard |
| Bosses in Golden Sun: The Lost Age |
| Chestbeaters • King Scorpion • Briggs and Sea Fighters • Aqua Hydra • Serpent • Avimander • Poseidon • Moapa and Knights • Karst and Agatio • Flame Dragons • Final boss • Valukar • Sentinel • Star Magician • Dullahan |
| Bosses in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn |
| Tangle Bloom • Dim Dragon • Dim Dragon Plus • Stealthy Scouts • Sand Prince • Ku-Tsung and Ku-Embra • Ice Queen • Sludge • Mountain Roc • Blados and Chalis • Blados, Chaos Hound, and Chalis • Final boss • Ogre Titans • Ancient Devil • Star Magician • Dullahan |
