Loki

Loki/Darkshine Knight
Heroes of Mana artwork Trials of Mana remake artwork Trials of Mana HD artwork
First appearance	Trials of Mana (1995)
Latest appearance	Trials of Mana (2020)
Japanese name	ロキ; 黒耀の騎士
Title(s)	The Golden KnightHoM
Homeland	Valsena, Kingdom of the Plains
Faction	Silver Knights of Valsena (leader)HoM
Role	Ally
Gender	Male
Relatives	Simone (wife) Duran (son) Wendy (daughter) Stella (sister-in-law)
Species	Human
Status	Dead
Other form(s)	Darkshine Knight
Voice actor(s)	Eng: JW StaffordToM HD

This article is about Loki and the Darkshine Knight as a character. For Darkshine Knight as a boss in Trials of Mana, see Darkshine Knight (Trials of Mana).

This article is about Loki and the Darkshine Knight as a character. For Golden Knight as a boss in Trials of Mana HD, see Golden Knight (Trials of Mana).

“Behold the oath of the Silver Knights! The day will come when you invaders will learn the true meaning of wrath!”

—Heroes of Mana In-game dialogue

Loki, also known as the Darkshine Knight is a recurring character in Mana series. He is a playable character in Heroes of Mana and a supporting character and secondary antagonist in Trials of Mana.

Background

Loki is a knight who was born and raised in Valsena. He befriended the prince and heir to the throne at some point and became very close to him, to the point of protecting him on the battlefield. He later enrolled into the Silver knights legion of Valsena and became an esteemed member. He is also stated to be at least engaged to Simone.

History

Heroes of Mana

“The leader of the Silver Knights of Valsena. Known as the Golden Knight himself, he is the premier swordsman in the kingdom. A friend and brother in arms of Prince Richard, he has a hard time controlling the prince, who seems to have little respect for his royal upbringing.”

—Notebook

Loki is first encountered during Chapter 9, The Fall of Valsena where he teams up with Prince Richard and some altenish reinforcement to defend Valsenan territory against the Peddan army. They unfortunately fail to fend the enemy off, and Castle Valsena falls at the hands of the enemy, revealing the third mirror of Esina. Loki is forced to escape his country and join forces with Roget and crew.

He decides to briefly head back to Valsena in Chapter 21, Vuscavs in the Trap to help his people with the rebuilding, but quickly joins the crew back after realizing that Esina's mirror was draining the energy of the land.

Loki is also present during the final confrontation against the Goddess of Doom in the Sea of Chaos, but ultimately decides to stay in Fa'Diel along with Alma, Falcon, Gauser, Valda, and Belgar and watches as Roget, Yurchael, Gemière, Qucas, and D'Kelli board the Nightswan to explore the different worlds scattered in the fabric of realms. It is assumed that Loki is one of the handful of people in Fa'Diel aware of the events that took place during the game, since his soul was not absorbed by Anise's mirror. He ultimately returned to Valsena and resumed his position as a member of the Silver Knights.

During the epilogue it is hinted that Loki would fight against the Dragon Lord and meet with his future child should he visit the time-warped city of Pedda again.

Interlude

The leader of the Silver knights eventually became known as the Golden Knight and continued to be close with now the newly crowed King Richard. He and his wife Simone became parents of Duran and Wendy and lived a peaceful life, until the Dragon Lord started causing conflict in the region. Both King Richard and Loki took arms and headed for the Quon continent to settle this mess once and for all. Aided by a faerie and with the brilliant tactical mind of Domperi, the Valsenan troops managed to defeat the Dragon Folk on their own ground. The call for celebration was short lived though, as Loki and the Dragon Lord fell into an abyss during the onslaught. Despite many searches, they could not be located and the army had no other choice but to head back to Valsena. King Richard insisted on telling the dire news to Simone, who immediately collapsed by the shock. The poor woman had turned ill for a while now, and hid her condition from her relatives fearing her husband might not fulfill his duties properly. Her sister Stella promised to raise her children as her own. Simone died shortly after.

Years passed on, and the Dragon Lord's decaying body was eventually found by a mysterious traveler wondering in Dragonsmaw. The spirit of the deceased emperor told him that he would give half of its powers should he transfer some of its life force to its corpse. The traveler agreed and ressurected the Dragon Lord. In doing so, he gave some of the residual energy to Loki's body, turning him back to life and transforming him into the Darkshine Knight. While he retained its memories as the Golden Knight, he would be indented to his new master and serve him along with the traveler known in the future as the Crimson Wizard.

Trials of Mana

“Loki the Golden Knight -- Duran's father, Loki, gained fame in Valsena as the Golden Knight. On a mission with the Hero King, he went missing after attempting to destroy the Dragon Lord.”

—Adventure Log

To enact the Dragon Lord's goal for world domination, the Darkshine Knight was asked to stall the heroes in their search of the Elementals while the Crimson Wizard would serve as the chancellor of the True Queen of Altena, dispatching Altenish troops all over Fa'Diel to release the energy of the Mana Stones and open a portal to the Sanctuary of Mana. The chosen and his allies would first run into the Darkshine Knight in Gusthall, where he would use the Dragon Lord's dark magic to turn Sylphid, the Mana spirit of wind, into Harcypete. He would be met later near the Labyrinth of Ice where he would release machine golems to defeat the player characters.

The heroes eventually gather all the elemental spirits and, with the help of the released Mana Stones energy, open a portal to the holyland. He now invades the Sanctuary on the Altenish flying battleship the Gigantress and blasts the heroes with its warp cannon, followed by the other evil armies. As the three evil factions of the world collide, the Crimson Wizard and the Darkshine Knight, under the rule of the Dragon Lord, find themselves 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 of the story, then the Dragon Lord kills the Masked Mage, and destroys the remains of the Dark Majesty, making his revival impossible.
• If Kevin or Charlotte is the main character of the story,  the Masked Mage's faction kills the Dragon Lord and the Crimson Wizard. The Darkshine Knight vanishes as he is being drained of his master's magic.
• If Hawkeye or Riesz is the main character of the story, the Prince of Mavolia's faction kills the Dragon Lord and the Crimson Wizard. The Darkshine Knight vanishes as he is being drained of his master's magic.

In the event that Duran or Angela are the chosen, they obtain the fabled holy sword at the foot of the Tree of Mana, but the Crimson Wizard kidnaps Faerie and and demands the Sword in exchange for her life, forcing them to comply. They meet in Altena, where the exchange is dealt with. The wizard tries to wield the Sword at first, but its holy powers are no match for him to withstand. The Darkshine Knight corrupts the sword with his dark magic, turning the blade into reflecting the heart of its new owner. The Crimson Wizard teleports the unconscious True Queen's body to Dragonsmaw before departing himself to use the Sword to free the Benevodons inside each Mana Stone.

The heroes kill the Benevodons one by one and reach Dragonsmaw, the Dragon Lord's lair in the Glass Desert.  They meet Darkshine Knight at the entrance. If Duran is in the party, he tries to trick him into extracting his soul and give him dark powers, but Faerie prevents him to do so. He confronts the main characters but dies in the process. Loki's soul comes forth and says he's proud of how strong he's become. He warns him of the Dragon Lord's might and entrusts his son not to stray away from his swordsmaster's path.

Loki's spirit returns in the HD remake during Chapter 7 as the final boss of the sword master tournament held by the Hero King in Castle Valsena. He claims the providence of the Goddess of Mana let him challenge his son. In the end, Duran beats him and becomes the strongest swordsman in the world. He is overjoyed to be outmatched by him and thanks Prince Richard for all he has done for him. He asks Duran to take care of Wendy, then vanishes in his son's arms.

Circle of Mana

Loki (also as the Darkshine Knight) makes a cameo appearance in the online game, along with several other characters from the Mana series. He appears in 6 set of cards.

Rank	Attribute	Name	Classes				Quote
UR	力	黒耀の騎士	ファイター	グラディエーター	[光]ソードマスター	[闇]デュエリスト	「…残念だな、若き騎士よ。お前達にはここで死んでもらわねばならん…。お前の父のようにな…。」 "...It's a shame, young knight. You have to die here... Like your father..."
UR	力	ロキ[雪合戦]	ファイター	ナイト	[光]パラディン	[闇]ウォーロド	「戦いは臨機応変でなければならん。デュラン、お前ならどう攻める？」 "Fighting doesn't depend on the situation. Duran, how should you attack?"
SUR	力	ロキ	ファイター	ナイト	[光]パラディン	[闇]ウォーロド	「なかなか言うな小僧め。良いだろう、お前との勝負受けてたつぞ。手加減はせんからな！」 "Don't say too much, kid. That's fine, I'm ready to fight you. I won't go easy on you!"
SSUR	力	黒耀の騎士	ファイター	グラディエーター	[光]ソードマスター	[闇]デュエリスト	「歴史に“もし”はない。起きたことだけが絶対の事実。」 "There are no “what ifs” in history. Only what happened is an absolute fact."
SSUR	力	ロキ	ファイター	ナイト	[光]パラディン	[闇]ウォーロド	「父は……お前を誇りに思っているぞ。」 "Your father is...proud of you."
SSUR	力	ロキ[黄金騎士]	ファイター	ナイト	[光]パラディン	[闇]ウォーロド	「おいおい、きさまもフォルセナの騎士なら、俺の名前は知ってるはずだぞ。 'Hey, if you're a knight of Valsena, you should know my name."

Profile and statistics

Loki	Stats	Starting Equipment	Abilities
	600	None	Armor Aura	Heavy Unit ATK +30%, critical rate 100%
	55	Gauntlets	Fast Armor	Instant Heavy Unit spawning
	78	Cotton Ring	“The leader of the Silver Knights of Valsena. Known as the Golden Knight himself, he is the premier swordsman in the kingdom. A friend and brother in arms of Prince Richard, he has a hard time controlling the prince, who seems to have little respect for his royal upbringing.”
	1	None

Trivia

• His appearance as Loki is highly reminiscent of Duran's Light-Dark Class the Liege. His appearance as the Darkshine Knight, however, is reminiscent of the Dark Knights from Secret of Mana.

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Loki.

• 

  Trials of Mana sprite

• 

  Trials of Mana HD screenshot