Suikoden I Character Ranking List (Personal Favourites)

[@CulganValya]

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[@VeryClassyDemon]

28:15 - "So Juppo... he's kind of a dick to Meg", so... basing off his appearance... he's essentially the Suikoden version of Peter Griffin then? 🤭

[@CulganValya]

Pretty much. But he's more of a dick in the sense that he doesn't care, and is very dismissive of her instead of being mean towards her like Peter Griffin is.

[@noel_rahman]

Yeah my fave is Cleo, she always on Tir side until the end, she also got incredible stats, attack, magic, long range, plus beauty. I read somewhere she involved in the war using sword beating cavalries

[@CulganValya]

She used to be an officer under Teo's command during the War of Succession. She led a cavalry unit. Quite impressive considering she was only 16 at the time.

[@noel_rahman]

@@CulganValya its too bad she pension at such early age, she could be one of 6 general of scarlett, i mean, i know she involved in a war since young age, but i want her at least be playable in Suiko 2 plus Gremio and Pahn, the remaster lacked something

[@christianengest7283]

@@noel_rahman Yeah i was so hoping to play her in suikoden 2 also was a bit sad too wanted to see a better portrait of her in Suikoden2 but no;( but she is super cute

[@noel_rahman]

@@christianengest7283 oh you had a crush on her too, like I love her too, Millie too

[@LavvyWuff]

Krin in S is unhinged XD XD But I totally understand the placement~ He'd be in his own 'Garbage Krin' tier for me :) Though I always love leaving him low level until that one point where he and Kasumi are forced , and then just watching his levels SKYROCKET XD Always makes my day in that moment~ Great video :D I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on the characters, both in and out of battle~

[@CulganValya]

Krin is such an awesome character. I get why people hate him so much, but those are the reasons I love him so much. Even when watching his level skyrocket when he's forced to join at Moravia, he's still ass xD I quite enjoy character lists. Suikoden has such a large cast of characters that everybody always has such widely different opinions on the cast as a whole, it's always fun and interesting to see other peoples takes.

[@LavvyWuff]

@@CulganValya Right? Even with the satisfaction of watching levels go up quickly, he still has to ruin it with his presence and his weak little pine needle of a weapon XD And same :) I've read through a number of character analyses/comparisons, it's interesting seeing who people pick for their parties, who people get attached to for different reasons, if people make their choices off of combat effectiveness or if they pick based on story significance or personal favorite~

[@RobotMyers]

Great list, always great listening to fans discussing this kind of topic. Don´t agree with everything but no real problem with your ranking ;) One thing with Suikoden 1 that always bothered me , is the final showdown where the game force you to take Viktor and Flik with you, two Short range fighters kind of restrict you to make your dream team (unless you have Viktor and Flik as your dream team fighters) Cheers

[@CulganValya]

It's all good, we all have different tastes in characters! It's always interesting to see how others view the characters we love and hate. One of the joys of the games having such large casts. Agreed. I always hated that Viktor and Flik were forced into your party for the end of the game. It's a problem that Suikoden 1 has in general with always forcing people into your party. It can really restrict how you want to play and prevents you from bringing your own favourites.

[@planescaped]

I always liked Tai Ho a lot, probably because of all the characters in all of Suikoden he most reminds me of his character/Star from the Water Margin. Tai Ho basically is Li Jun.

[@planescaped]

Suiko 1 Flik is definitely C tier. Suiko 2 Flik is S tier. The power of character development.

[@CulganValya]

Absolutely! Suikoden 2 Flik is a whole different story. He had some incredible character development, he grew and matured so much between the two games.

[@planescaped]

@@CulganValya Kinda like Suiko 2 Georg is nothing special, but Suiko 5 Georg is S tier.

[@CulganValya]

@@planescaped Georg does get a little scene if you choose to flee during the Tinto portion. While it's a short scene, it really shows his character. He has some involvement in Suikogaiden Vol 1 as well helping out at Greenhill while Highland is attacking. But even with those scenes he's nothing special compared to Suikoden V George. They feel almost like 2 very different characters.

[@Jimmy-ph8xn]

Appreciate the tier list! Watched at 2.0x speed.

[@CulganValya]

We need a 4x speed option. This video went way longer than I expected 😅

[@barbe00brune]

I discovered your channel with the secret dungeon video. I ended up binging your whole channel afterward, I really enjoy these videos and I really dont mind that they are long xD

[@CulganValya]

Glad you like them! You must be one of the few to enjoy the longer videos xD I appreciate the kind words! I've got more Suikoden content on the way.

[@Hotspot87]

Milich being E is harsh, he's a great magic user. Meg is my favorite in the first game, but not as much in the second game, I just like her outfit better in the first one lol.

[@CulganValya]

It might be harsh based on his combat ability. He is an excellent character in combat. I just don't like his personality or his design.

[@JeremiahEcks777]

​​@@CulganValyaOddly enough that's what I love about him. He's such Scum. But he also teaches a valuable lesson about revenge. If you let the heroes take revenge on Milich for Gremio they cold bloodedly execute him. However in doing so they prevent Leknaat from using the Gate Rune from ever returning Gremio to life. So whilst the characters criticise McDohl for his decision to spare Milich, his compassion saves Gremio's life. Whereas the cold hearted revenge employed by Viktor and Camille permanently kills Gremio. Milich's arc is very amazing when you weigh up that particular lesson.

[@DidTheMath]

If I were tasked with making only one change, Flik would go up to A Tier. Great list!

[@StewNWT]

I use Tengaar, Cleo and Eileen with the Mother Earth, Rage/Fire rune and Lightning/Thunder Rune with Flik having the water rune and Viktor the wind. Good attacking combinations.

[@CulganValya]

Tengaar with the Mother Earth Rune is god tier. Cleo and Eileen are fantastic mages too. That's a powerful line up on the back row with those three. Good call on Viktor. I always put a water or wind rune on him too. Most people stick with the Clone Rune, but when you've got 3 strong mages, Viktor is better off doing a bit of healing as he can't match anywhere near the mages damage output.

[@StewNWT]

@@CulganValya agreed there are more powerful mages but they are short range (Luc, Crowley or Hellion) and thus can’t be stuck in the back row or do any sig damage in regular melee or ranged fighting

[@blumiu2426]

Started off the list as a pure contrarian lol! Way to keep people engaged. But question; are you basing this list on your first impressions of the characters or what you gleaned later? Neclord being 'garbage' tier when his section is one of the highlights from it and returns in Suikoden II...huh.

[@CulganValya]

Gotta start off with a controversial pick to get some arguments rolling! And based on the dislikes it's working 😀 It's a mixture of everything, first impression, what I gleaned later. Story, lore, design, combat ability. I'm factoring in everything and basing it on my overall like of the character. I always hated Neclord in Suikoden 1. I hated him on my first playthrough. I hated him on my most recent playthrough. I never liked him in Suikoden 1. It's the only section of the game I actively dislike. Neclord in Suikoden 2 is a different story though, I'd rank him much, much higher in Suikoden 2.

[@Greatsharkbite]

I never thought i'd see this tierlist made in 2024, even with the remaster coming out.

[@CulganValya]

I'll have more on the way. I'm planning on making tier lists for each of the games. And lots of more Suikoden content on the way too!

[@BrucieJones]

Flik has the best development in the game, is a dope fighter/mage and is swag af

[@CulganValya]

He does have great personal growth, but I don't think he has the best character development in the game. I'd definitely rank Suikoden 2 Flik much higher up the list!

[@MelissasArt]

He is even better in 2.

[@MaximzM]

i agree with ya on krin playing his role to perfection, i hate him cuz of it. but because of that reason hes A tier for me LOL i can't give him S tier cuz i dont like him but hes A cuz he plays his role perfectly. i agree with pesmerga, and maybe yuber since we're only talking S1, if this was all Suikodens yuber would be prolly B tier for me since he gets more back story. Gremio is a B or A the thing is once you know how to do the rune piece glitch almost anyone can be amazing in battle so that doesnt bother me, i personally like gremio as a character so him being forced into my party was like oh ok cool ill take him. i agree with you on flik LOL. danggggg luc in C tier thats rough, i agree with your reason but idk i liked that bout him it gave him personality me person hes a B tier maybe A because i find him pretty useful in battle. rip quincy, agreed with ya i love his design and i love him in battle but they did him dirty by barely giving him any story lol he just joins ya and its like oh... ok cool. super weird kasim isn't on the list. bro you hovered over garbage tier for odessa for a second i was bout to be like OH HELL NAH lmaoo. i think ted beefin with futch is fine, i get that ted is 300 yrs old but i feel like he never really got to actually live his life he always seems to be on the move/in hiding because of the rune so his mentality is still that of a kid i think which is why tir and him are best friends.

[@CulganValya]

Yeah Pesmerga and Yuber really don't have a whole lot of anything going for them in the first game. I usually just throw a holy rune on Gremio to make him useful and then him being useless in combat doesn't bother me too much, as I like his character. I don't have the patience to do the rune piece glitch, so he's just gonna have to suck in combat. I hovered Odessa over Garbage on purpose. I was thinking it might get people ready to type essays in anger. I get that about Ted. He's had such a lonely, tragic life and he doesn't seem to have developed much mentally beyond being a kid, but I don't know what it is about him. He's ticking all the right boxes to be ranked highly, great backstory, tragic backstory, interesting character, great in combat. But something about him never clicked with me and I can't quite figure out why.

[@MaximzM]

@@CulganValya i honestly dont remember as its been awhile but i think i normally give gremio a water rune and just buff his dmg to make him a good attacker while also being a decent healer. bruhhhhh you definitely got me with odessa i was like OH HELL NAH lol. i mean its fair to not like a char i just felt the need to clarify that with your gripe bout him fighting with futch probably just has more to do with him not developing mentally due to his unique circumstances thats all haha.

[@SeedSuikoden]

Well well. A suikoden 1 tierlist. Cant wait for the remakes to come out

[@jameshunter6289]

Would love a pure combat tier list

[@CulganValya]

I could definitely do a combat list at some point, would be interesting to decide on placement when also factoring in with their unites, unique runes, etc.

[@xAmerlioration]

Rubi actually has some really good stats. Much better than many in the B and A tier. Kinda similar to Cleo

[@CulganValya]

Yes he does. He's great in combat, and the Elves unite attack does insane damage, but I'm not ranking them based on stats and combat ability alone, that's only part of the criteria. I'm also factoring in their design, their story, their lore. Just an all round ranking of how much do I personally like the character ranking.

[@diabolicaldag]

I know about Marco but I did not know Kasios was a guy wtf

[@CulganValya]

I think that's going to take a lot of people by surprise. Between his appearance and the book, I suspect most people thought he was a woman.

[@StewNWT]

Ohni the castle gossip isn't actually useless. If you are ever stuck as to what to do next in the game she will give you a hint of about where you should go or who you should talk to. And Jabba appraises stuff.

[@CulganValya]

She's useless and complete garbage to me. I never needed her hints. I don't like anything about her character. Jabba appraising things means nothing to me as well. Outside of needing to recruit him or needing certain ornaments for viewing bath scenes, appraising things isn't worth the time it takes.

[@NemesisTomato]

When I first played Suikoden, I felt the same about Gremio. He was obnoxious. Felt like he dragged my party down. I cried when he died. I think that speaks to the writing of the story, but he can get some of that credit. I'm with you on Clive. He looks cool. That's all he's got going for him.

[@askmein6min]

Man, never gonna get used to these portraits of the characters.

[@pacdiesel6240]

I also thought Marco was an old woman for over twenty years of my life. I always assumed the name was meant to be translated as "Margo" and it was just a typo or something.

[@CulganValya]

Marco had many of us fooled for years.

[@Vexander01]

Another excellent video. Definitely a few curve balls in there. If you put as much thought and consideration into more of the characters as you did Krin, S tier would be quite bloated. That having been said, look at my avatar. Yup. Time for some paragraphs. Joking aside, I do think you did Luc a massive injustice by placing him in the C Tier, and dismissing him as a, 'Brat.' First of all, he's canonically 14 years old as of the first game. Of course he's going to act a bit childish, he's still in that age. That having been said, between the lines I always wondered if that wasn't an act. The difference in his behavior between 1 and 2 is drastic. Looking at Luc's behavior through the lens of his characterization in the second game, I can't help but notice how all of his antics have purpose and meaning. Consider your first encounter with him. Tir McDohl arrives at Magician's Island as an Imperial Soldier, with entourage in tow. Now, it's well known Windy is the Court Magician for the Empire, and wants nothing more than to get her hands on Leknaat's half of the True Gate Rune. Summoning a golem to fight Tir, to me, felt as if he was attempting to protect Leknaat by getting the measure of the strength of the Empire's messengers. What if it had been someone stronger that had been sent? Someone who could've destroyed the golem with ease? That would indicate an attempt on Leknaat's life was going to be made. Meanwhile by acting like a prankster, Tir and the others dismiss his antics, rather than making a big deal of it. Then there's the assassination attempt on Tir right after the army gets Toran Castle for it's headquarters. You fight for three turns and then... the battle doesn't just end, the way it does fighting the Ant Queen, or Neclord at the Warrior's Village. Petals like those from the Wind of Sleep spell converge on the assassin, giving just enough time for help to arrive in earnest. Where did those come from? Didn't seem to be the assassin. It was as if they were being attacked by wind magic. Didn't the army just get a prominent wind mage? Also, I have to make a point of this, but Luc is your first, and longest standing power house magician. You get him early, and he can heal, deal damage, whatever you need, etc... he outclasses Cleo, and is faster than your other mages, allowing you to get healing off ASAP or end a fight before it even begins. Without hyperbole, Luc is one of your most powerful characters in the first game, with a ton of utility. About the only thing holding him back is that you couldn't change his armor from a guard robe. As a little snub, I will add that it's rather brazen of you to dismiss and rank Luc at C-Tier for being a, 'brat,' when you put Tengaar in the A tier, and there have rarely been bigger brats in this franchise than Tengaar, the girl who commits daily emotional-domestic abuse against poor Hix, constantly telling him he's not good enough, telling him to get/be better. One can argue her intentions come from a good place, but holy damn, that girl is a monster, and the second game only proves the extent to which she will go to make Hix into the man she wants, rather than accept him for the man he is. It isn't as if the Warrior's Village didn't already acknowledge him as a Warrior in the first game. Everything after that is literally her manipulating him into being her perfect man. Talk about a brat character.

[@CulganValya]

Sorry for the late reply Vex. Your comment got lost and buried in the sea of 100s of new comments that flooded me during TGS. Paragraphs are all good. I always love to see others opinions on the characters and games. But don't worry. Luc sees a big jump in the Suikoden 2 video. And he's a guaranteed S tier in Suikoden 3. He's got some of the best character development of anyone in the series and improves leaps and bounds with each game. He went from being a character I didn't care about in Suikoden 1, to being one of my favourite characters of all time by Suikoden 3. You've got a really good point about the Magicians Isle part. I always viewed that wind spell after the failed assassination attempt as their worlds equivalent of the smoke bomb getaway. I agree he's an absolute beast in combat, and he has great utility, but I generally prefer the more versatile mages. The hybrid characters like Cleo who can do decent damage with both basic attacks as well as runes, but don't exactly excel at either. If I do bring a pure mage, I limit myself to just one pure mage. I agree Tengaar is a bigger brat, but she's only a brat towards Hix and not those around her. Despite her being a brat, she's entertaining. I find her character to be amusing and she left a bigger impression on me in Suikoden 1 than Luc did. Yeah she's trying to shape Hix into her ideal, rather than accepting him for what he currently is. Or maybe she sees his true potential and wants him to live up to it. Every bit of character development he's had has stemmed from his feelings for her. He keeps pushing beyond what he thought he was capable of. Plus, after they're married, Hix will be the next chief of the Warrior's Village. That's quite the legacy he has to live up to and compare against. She's a brat, yes, but to motivate him into wanting to become the best warrior there is, to be the best chief the village has ever had. But don't worry, like I said, Luc see's a big jump in Suikoden 2, and by 3, he's easily one of my favourite characters of all time.

[@JeremiahEcks777]

You mention the War of Succession a LOT and I've long thought it was a setting ripe for a game. A lot of Stars are picked out already - Kilawher instead of Sonya, but Milich, Kwanda, Kai, Georg Prime, Joshua, Humphrey, Kasim, Mathieu, Leon all could be Stars that already make sense. And if each conflict is based around a True Rune, Barbarosa has one of those too. But they could soft retcon that Geil has a True Rune and thus Harmonia get involved to try and get either Geil's or Barbarosa's. Brothers fighting over a throne is very Suikoden and Kreutz could be a boss. If Claudia is alive during the War (and I don't remember if she is), then her participation could give a lot of weight to her passing and also Windy using her memory for her own ends. You could also use it to explain why Leknaat is so interested in Toran when she seems to get involved elsewhere. Playable character? Teo or Barbarosa. Seeing who they were before Suikoden would really be amazing. It's such a quick win I'm surprised Konami haven't thought about it. The only drawback is all Suikoden games give us new locations but Scarlet Moon isn't new. Then again putting some twists on old favourites would be interesting...

[@pennvessaren2]

I love milich… For the music.

[@CulganValya]

The music is great. Gorgeous Scarleticia and the Theme of Narcissism are bangers.

[@dustinhaas8538]

Bruh, your list started off so wild, Krin in S and Pesmerga in D! I ended up agreeing with a good portion of your other picks though.

[@Zarzak]

This is a fun list and some interesting conversation to be had. Oh boy..this comment is already a sentence long… Ok so I like that you approached this from a story perspective and gave props to the characters that helped build the story as well as the world building. Uh oh! Here’s another paragraph. This is gonna be a long comment! Ok so this is a long comment! Few paragraphs and now I’m starting another. Oh boy. How could I possibly make this a shorter comment? Maybe I’ll keep typing and it’ll get shorter! I totally agree with Krin, he’s one of the most loveable characters to hate, and he’s definitely memorable in a game with lots of filler characters. Wow this is a lengthy comment. It’s getting really long… Lol 😝. Jokes aside, this was and entertaining video. Take care!

[@StewNWT]

Flik in C Tier over Lorelei in S? that is just bizarre

[@CulganValya]

We all have our personal favourites. I love Lorelai. I have no love for Suikoden 1 Flik, he's alright. Suikoden 2 Flik on the other hand I rate very highly.

[@nickchabot5755]

I don't think krin is garbage in war. There are only 6 characters that can tip off the enemies strategy and he's the earliest one available. Sure he fails sometimes, but it's a 50% free-roll to get vital info. If you ask me he's great in war!

[@Suleiman2000]

Jabba is a human, but here in this video he looks like Frieza from Dragon Ball

[@chrisjones1473]

I've done my top 5 favorite of the series, but not tier rankings

[@CulganValya]

The list is more me ranking my personal favourites. If it was a combat ranking list, it'd be a very different looking list.

[@chrisjones1473]

@@CulganValya oh I'm sure 💯 keep up the great videos

[@Oggystein]

Honestly Esmerelda to me is the worst damn character in the whole series, I'm still pissed over one game I played where I could not find the Opal no matter how many trips I went through the prison. I'm talking like 2 hours of hunting, and she does NOTHING but sit on her stupid butt. I'd create a new rank labeled "Die in a fire" just for her. Overall good list though. I'd have changed a few, Mathiu to S for one, I think his story is among the most tragic and I rank him as the best strategist.

[@CulganValya]

Esmeralda is such a useless character. Sadly there's a few of those useless characters in the series that contribute nothing. But I guess not all 108 characters in every game can be intersting.

[@Jimmy-ph8xn]

I got a feeling many unloved characters in this list will be better reviewed in your Suikoden 2 list.

[@CulganValya]

They definitely will be. There'll be a lot of differences in the Suikoden 2 list.

[@dtnuh]

Great video, though I could have done without the sexualizing of the ladies lol. Did you really think this would be a 10-15 minute video?!? Too many characters! 😂

[@CulganValya]

Hey, some of the ladies are hot, and at the end of the day, I'm just a guy! Like the fool I am, I seriously thought I'd blast through it. I thought I'd just quickly zip them into each ranking and be done with it, but instead I went on little discussions about most of them. I think it turned out more fun this way 😄

[@kingoverseas9052]

E for Esmeralda.

[@CulganValya]

Indeed! She's useless.

[@StewNWT]

I like Neclord - that is def a weird take

[@CulganValya]

I don't think it's weird. I genuinely think Neclord is an awful character in the first game. Neclord in the second game is a different story, he's way better in Suikoden 2.

[@StewNWT]

Pesmerga is fair. Yuber is way cooler but we just don't get enough info about his 'terrible power'/ Wish we knew the last 9 true runes

[@CulganValya]

I'm not sure if Yuber is way cooler, it's just that he has moments in the story where we see his character. He's has moments to shine while Pesmerga never gets any moments.

[@UncleBigBen]

Darn I just learned Marco is a young boy after watching your video😂😂😂 always thought he is a old lady

[@SemtexJack]

Flik should be Garbage tier

[@CulganValya]

He can stand watch over the Garbage tier.

[@stevenzurkey3231]

Spends 20 minutes talking about how long the video is getting.... don't worry about editing anything at all.

[@CulganValya]

A few comments here and there scattered throughout the video hardly adds up to 20 minutes. And the comments about how long the video was getting were clearly being said in jest rather than as a complaint, because I wasn't expecting the video to take as long as it did as I wasn't expecting myself to go into such length on certain characters. If I did edit things out, what am I cutting away? A few minutes of conversation? Any description or reasoning I gave for my rankings of a character? I didn't edit anything because it ends up being more interesting as a long, natural discussion with reasoning for why characters are ranked where they are as opposed to a heavily edited boom boom boom here's the rankings and goodbye video.