Bishop Ladja

"So now I am sending parent and child together into eternal world of darkness. It is touching, nyet?"

- Bishop Ladja to the Hero and his son

Bishop Ladja is a major villain from Dragon Quest V, often considered one of the most evil characters in the entire series. He holds a major position in the controversial Order of Zugzwang.

Ladja serves, in reality, as the proper right-hand to Grandmaster Nimzo (unlike King Korol who is more of a puppet), overseeing the kidnapping of children to serve as slaves on Crocodilopolis and also working to prevent the arrival of the Legendary Hero. He first meets the player when he's still a kid, while he's trying to escape with Harry, the Prince of Coburg, who had been kidnapped. Ladja immediately proceeds to beat the two kids, when the player's father Pankraz arrives and attempts to save them, being forced to fight Ladja's two henchmen Kon the Knight and Slon the Rook. Though Pankraz easily beats them, Ladja holds the player and uses him as a shield, forcing Pankraz to back off while the two henchmen beat him up. As Pankraz gives his final words to his son, Ladja conjures a fireball and brutally murders Pankraz, turning him to ashes in front of his son, who is then taken along with Harry to serve as slaves.

Ladja is confronted again much time later when the player, now King of Gotha, goes after his wife, who had been kidnapped by Kon. After Kon is killed, Ladja appears, recognizing the player's wife as being of Zenithian lineage. He turns both into stone statues so that she can't give birth to the Legendary Hero (unfortunately, the hero had already been born prior to the kidnapping).

Ladja next appears inside of the Talon Tower, awaiting for the player to arrive after the Dragon Orb necessary to restore the power of the Zenithian Dragon. Though he is defeated, he promises to meet the hero again. He appears again in Crocodilopolis, after the player defeats King Korol, who pledges for Nimzo to help him, but Ladja appears and proceeds to kill him in the same manner as he did to Pankraz for his failure.

Ladja's final appearance is inside Mt. Zugzwang, right after player finally meets with his mother Mada, who had been kidnapped prior to the game's beginning so that Nimzo could drain her magical powers. As Mada starts praying for the Goddess, Ladja's signature fireball hits her as Ladja finally appears, revealing he's been waiting for this moment just so he could kill Mada in front of the player the same way he did with Pankraz. He once again fights the player, but this time he is finally killed.