40 Fun Facts About Suikoden II

Suikoden II and its 108 Stars of Destiny are loosely based on which classical Chinese novel?

Water Margin is read as Suikoden in Japanese, which is where the series gets its name. The novel's 108 outlaws became the games' 108 recruitable heroes.

Which Highland prince in Suikoden II stages a false attack on his own youth brigade to restart the war?

Luca Blight blames the massacre on Jowston and uses it to tear up a fresh peace treaty. He is the villain for most of the story and dies only after an ambush and a lengthy struggle.

Recruiting all 108 Stars of Destiny in Suikoden II reveals that which character secretly survived her wounds?

Nanami asked the army's strategist to help fake her death so that her brother could stand on his own. With every Star recruited, the three childhood friends reunite and leave to travel the world.

At a hidden shrine in Suikoden II, the hero receives which half of the power he shares with Jowy?

Bright Shield Rune goes to the hero, while Jowy takes the Black Sword Rune. The two are halves of one True Rune whose bearers are fated to fight until the halves are rejoined.

Which vampire, a returning villain from the first game, must be driven out of Viktor's hometown in Suikoden II?

Neclord is fought twice in Suikoden II: once to clear the ruined castle town that becomes the army's base, and again later when he threatens another nation to the west.

Loading a save file from the first Suikoden lets Suikoden II players recruit which returning character?

McDohl, the hero of the first game, can only join if old save data is loaded at the start. The transfer also gives other returning characters higher levels and better weapons.

Which scatterbrained teleporter, known for sneezing people away, joins the 108 Stars again in Suikoden II?

Viki lends her teleport magic to the hero's army after blinking in mid-war. She turns up across the series, apparently always aged 16, because her jumps cross time as well as space.

Which wealthy merchant, a former student of Mathiu, becomes chief strategist of the hero's army in Suikoden II?

Shu had split from his mentor and turned to trade before the war pulled him back. He plans the army's campaigns and, at the end, asks the hero to lead the newly allied city-states.

Which caped flying squirrel, a childhood friend of the hero, is among the first Stars recruited in Suikoden II?

Mukumuku wears a red cloak and later captains a five-strong Flying Squirrel Corps, naming the other four himself. He follows the hero out of Highland when the friends flee a treason charge.

Which mayor of Muse does Jowy assassinate in Suikoden II before opening the city gates to Highland?

Anabelle led the whole Jowston alliance, so her murder left the city-states leaderless as the enemy marched in. The hero flees south across Lake Dunan with the survivors.

Which Highland princess does Jowy marry in Suikoden II, a match that later makes him king?

Jillia is the sister of the prince who starts the war, and Jowy takes the throne through her once her brother is dead. At the end he sends her and their adopted daughter away to safety.

Which bloodthirsty power, fed by the sacrifice of Muse's people, is the final boss of Suikoden II?

Beast Rune is one of the 27 True Runes and governs rage, passion and blood sacrifice. Jowy had been quietly holding it back with his own rune until a strategist woke it with his blood.

Which old war hero of Jowston raised Suikoden II's hero and once shared the same split rune?

Genkaku carried one half of the rune a generation earlier, while a Highland champion held the other. The two failed to reunite it and sealed it in a shrine, where their heirs found it.

Which seer tells the hero of Suikoden II that he has been chosen to gather the 108 Stars of Destiny?

Leknaat is a True Rune bearer who also guided the first game's hero. She lends the army a stone tablet that lists each Star as they join, and steps in again to stop the final duel.

Which Konami designer created the Suikoden series and wrote most of the story of Suikoden II himself?

Yoshitaka Murayama made story the focus of the sequel after reading fans' letters about the first game. He left Konami in 2002 and later led Eiyuden Chronicle, a spiritual successor.

Which composer, who earlier worked on Gradius, wrote nearly all of Suikoden II's 105-track soundtrack?

Miki Higashino composed all but eight of the pieces, having also led the first game's score. She began writing game music for Konami while still a student.

What is the name of the currency that Suikoden II players earn from regular battles and can use as bribes?

Potch is won only in ordinary turn-based fights, never in duels or army battles. Much of it goes on sharpening each character's weapon at a blacksmith.

Which ruined town, Viktor's birthplace, becomes the castle headquarters of the hero's army in Suikoden II?

North Window had lain empty since a vampire wiped out its people years before. Once it is cleared, the abandoned castle fills up as recruits arrive, down to a working restaurant.

Suikoden II opens with the hero and Jowy serving in a Highland youth brigade named after which creature?

Unicorn Youth Brigade is the unit wiped out on the opening night. The two friends escape by leaping from a cliff into a river, promising to meet again at that spot if separated.

Which orphaned little girl do Jowy and his wife adopt as their daughter in Suikoden II?

Pilika and her parents nursed Jowy back to health in a village that was later razed, leaving her orphaned. The shock of the attack left her unable to speak for a time.

Which university town does Jowy capture for Highland without a battle in Suikoden II?

Greenhill was being run by an acting mayor standing in for her father when it fell. The hero's army comes back to liberate it late in the war.

Which western nation, freed from a vampire by Suikoden II's hero, stays independent when the war ends?

Tinto lies beyond the mountains and chose to become its own republic instead of joining the new Dunan state. The rest of Jowston and the fallen Highland kingdom merged into one country.

Which knightdom's leader, Gordeau, refuses to join the alliance in Suikoden II, prompting many knights to defect?

Matilda later sides with Highland outright, and the hero ends up besieging it. The defectors include the captains of its Red and Blue Knights, who both join the hero.

Which strategist, a relative of Mathiu, advises Highland in Suikoden II while plotting to destroy a True Rune?

Leon Silverberg stayed at Highland's side until he could wake that rune with his own blood and have it destroyed. In the first game he had served the winning rebels as a strategist.

Which Highland champion, once the rival of the hero's adoptive father, duels the hero late in Suikoden II?

Han Cunningham held the other half of the split rune a generation earlier. Before dying he says he hopes the two young bearers can succeed where he and his old friend failed.

Which blue-clad swordsman from the first Suikoden wins the unwanted devotion of the student Nina in Suikoden II?

Flik rescued her from a Highland soldier and has been pursued by her ever since. He leads a band of mercenaries with his old comrade Viktor and still thinks of the woman he lost.

Viktor's talking Star Dragon Sword in Suikoden II is an incarnation of which ancient power?

Night Rune took the form of a proud, nagging two-handed sword known for slaying vampires. Viktor once abandoned it in a cave because of its complaining, then went back for it.

Which Highland general, served by his son Klaus, defects to the hero's army after being defeated in Suikoden II?

Kiba led Highland's 3rd Army and changed sides once persuaded that Highland's new ruler endangered both nations. His son, a gifted young tactician, joins the 108 Stars with him.

Which returning student of Mathiu helps recruit the army's chief strategist in Suikoden II?

Apple studied under the same teacher as the man she recruits and is writing a biography of their late master. She also serves the army as a tactician herself.

Which sharp-tongued young mage looks after the stone tablet listing the 108 Stars in Suikoden II?

Luc is the seer's apprentice and arrives with the tablet when the hero takes command. He did the same job in the first game and bears the True Wind Rune.

Which ageless rune sage, a fixture of the Suikoden series, joins the hero's army from Two River in Suikoden II?

Jeane never seems to grow older, which fuels endless speculation about what she is. She turns up in at least eight games in the series.

Which hooded gunman of the Howling Voice Guild joins Suikoden II's army while hunting a fugitive named Elza?

Clive carries a gun called Storm, a sign that he is meant to lead the guild. His long chase was planned for the first game, then held back for the sequel.

Which vampire Star of Destiny in Suikoden II is the original bearer of the Moon Rune, stolen centuries earlier?

Sierra is over 800 years old despite looking like a girl, and the rune is what turned her into a vampire. She travels in pursuit of the thief who took it some 400 years before.

When Toran's president offers Suikoden II's hero one of two officers, which ninja is the alternative to Valeria?

Kasumi is a Rokkaku ninja who rose to be the hamlet's vice-chancellor. Only one of the pair can be recruited, so the choice is a real fork in the roster.

Which former Dragon Knight, still mourning his lost dragon Black, names a newly hatched pup Bright in Suikoden II?

Futch was forced out of the Dragon Knights when his first mount died in the earlier war. After the fighting he travels on to learn whether the undersized Bright is truly a dragon.

Which cheerful chef opens a restaurant in the hero's castle in Suikoden II while hiding from a cooking clan?

Hai Yo fled the Black Dragon Cooking Clan with a secret recipe, and its agents arrive one by one to challenge him. He finally beats the clan's leader and tears the recipe up.

Which private detective tests Suikoden II's hero with a rigged coin toss before agreeing to join the army?

Richmond styles himself a hard-boiled detective and the best private eye in Radat. He joins once the hero works out the trick coin, and lends the army his investigative skills.

Which Chief Star of Heaven, first of the 108 Stars of Destiny, belongs to the hero in Suikoden II?

Tenkai is the star said to gather the other 107. Across the series it is usually the game's silent protagonist who carries it.

Which wandering master swordsman first appears in Suikoden II and later became a central character of Suikoden V?

Georg Prime is regarded as one of the world's greatest swordsmen and drifts from war to war. He vanishes without trace once his agreement with the hero is fulfilled.

Which young winged pickpocket from Two River joins the 108 Stars of Destiny in Suikoden II?

Chaco belongs to a race of flying humanoids and lifts purses from humans and kobolds alike. Love for his home city is what pushes him to fight.