Crimson Wizard

Koren, Wizard of the Crimson Lotus is a young and extremely powerful wizard who serves as a major antagonist in the game Seiken Densetsu 3. He is the right-hand man of the Dragon Emperor, one of the three available Final Bosses. If the player chose the swordsman Duran or the witch Angela as the main character, the Dragon Emperor will be the primary antagonist and Koren will be the second-to-last boss. It must be noted that in the original japanese game, the wizard is only refered by his title: Koren no Madoshi, or Guren no Madoshi, depending on the pronounciation. As the game was never released outside Japan, except for emulators, those who translated it chose to keep Koren as his name and to translate his title at the same time.



Koren was born in Altena, the country of magic, solely populated by witches and wizards. For unexplained reasons, he was unable to perform magic during most of his life, and as such he was deemed "useless with magic" and treated with scorn by almost anyone; including Jose, the master of the magic teachers, who lost patience more than once. He ultimately ran away, no longer being able to stand this situation. Some time later, he met the spirit of the evil Dragon Emperor; who was defeated several years before the start of the game by the Knight of Gold Loki. The Dragon Emperor tempted Koren, offering to make him the most powerful wizard in the world, in exchange of a part of his soul. Koren accepted and became incredibly powerful. Yet, as he shared his soul with the Dragon Emperor, Koren began to share his malevolence and ambition, and was corrupted by Evil.

The game never explains wether Koren was truly "useless with magic," getting all his incredible power from the Dragon Emperor; or simply unable to use his power for some reason or another, with the Dragon Emperor merely unlocking it. The later seems likely, given that Angela, who was also unable to cast magic got her power unlocked by a great shock. Koren's power is estimated on par with the Queen of Altena's, (the country's mightiest witch) and that is certainly even higher as he could magically control the queen like a puppet. This, and the Dragon Emperor's crippled state when he met Koren can be regarded as another proof, as he could hardly hage given such power to someone who didn't had any, but no one can know it for sure.

Now the Dragon Emperor's right-hand man, Koren came back to Altena. With his newfound power, he quickly rose in rank, becoming the general of the Altenian army and the personal advisor of the Altenian ruler: Valda, the Queen of Reason. Koren was nicknamed the Wizard of the Crimson Lotus and his reputation grew to the point of being spread all around the world of Mana. Koren brainwashed Valda and used her to rule Altena. He had Altena declare war to the other nations, with the ultimate goal of seizing the eight Mana Stones, in which the God Beasts (eight highly powerful elemental demons) had been sealed millenia ago. He personally led an attack on the royal castle of the kingdom of Forcena, where he effortlessly defeated Duran, one of the best swordsmen of Forcena (the son of Loki, the Knight of Gold who defeated the Dragon Emperor at the cost of his life) and one of the six playable characters available. Duran barely survived and swore to become powerful enough to find, to fight and to kill Koren. At the same time, Koren planned to use Angela, the princess of Altena and another playable character, who was also unable to perform magic, as a sacrifice to lift the seal on the Mana Stone of Water. (Each Mana Stone needing a different sacrifice.) He made it appear as a decision of the Queen of Reason herself, and a distraught Angela, using magic for the first time of her life, fled the palace.

"I humbled you before with my dark magic and I'll do it again! Have at you!" Koren (before fighting Duran's party)

The Three Great Evils (the Dark Prince, the Emperor Dragon and the Masked Mage) then wage war against one another; all three of them wanting to unleash the eight God Beasts on the world. Each Great Evil had a second-in-command who manipulated the ruler of a nation to wage war against the others and find the eight Mana Stone, and a third-in-command who leads their armies of monsters. (In the Dragon Emperor's case: Koren and the Darkshine Knight.) They eventually manage to unseal the eight Mana Stone, while the Playable Party fights their armies and gathered the eight Mana Elemental Spirit, in order to defeat them. When the Party reaches the Mana Holyland, where the Mana Tree (the incarnation of the Mana Goddess) is located, the primary antagonist of the storyline slays his two rivals and their servants.

If neither Duran nor Angela was selected as the primary protagonist storyline, the Dragon Emperor and Koren will be slain by the Final Boss of the chosen storyline. If Duran or Angela was selected, the Dragon Emperor will be the final boss. In that case, after the Party meets the Mana Goddess and obtain the mythical Mana Sword, Koren abducts the Party's Fairy Guide and demands the Mana Sword in exchange for her freedom. Koren, then use the Mana Sword to free the eight God Beasts and unleashes the Deagon Emperor's armies of monsters on the world of Mana.

The Party then tracks down the God Beasts and manages to destroy them one by one. They then reach the Dragon Hole, the Dragon Emperor's lair where they are greeted by Koren, who casts a Death Spell on the Queen of Reason, whom he no longer needs. The party successfully defeats the Darkshine Knight, who is revealed to be Loki. (whose dead spirit was enslaved by the Dragon Emperor and trapped in a Dark Armor.) The Party confronts Koren and his evil lord, who is fully healed. The Dragon Emperor wanted the party to destroy the God Beasts, so that their power would be trapped inside the Mana Sword, enabling him to absorb it and surpass the power of the Mana Goddess herself. However, the Goddess manages to thwart this scheme with her remaining strenght. The Dragon Emperor then goes to the Mana Holyland, intending to destroy the Mana Tree, while Koren stays back to get rid of the Party.

After a long battle, the Party manages to defeat the Wizard of the Crimson Lotus, who comes back to his senses and tells them his story. Ashamed by his evil deeds, Koren bids his farewell to the main character and kills himself out of self-disgust. After a moment of grieving, the Party goes to the Mana Holyland to fight the Dragon Emperor.

"I just wanted... to use magic... that's all. (sob) That old man Jose... he never could understand... so I ran away... The Dragon Emperor's spirit told me that I'd be the most powerful wizard that ever lived... All he wanted... You know what he wanted in return? All he wanted was a piece of my soul!! Just a piece! How could I have turned him down? But look what I've become, without that piece... I'm a failure... I don't even deserve to live." - Koren (after his defeat)

As a boss, Koren is a formidable enemy, at level 48 and with 14718 life-points. He can be more than a match for three characters of a level higher than his own so never treat him lightly.

Koren masters the first two spells of the Earth, Wind/Thunder, Fire, Water/Ice, Light and Darkness Elements, which he can cast on one target or on all three. The multi-target spells being much more powerful than the normal ones. When damaged enough, he will start casting Ancient: the most devastating spell available, wich conjures MANY huge explosive meteors and deals crippling damages to the whole Party.

Koren is very fast: he moves quickly and can he cast two, if not three, different spells in a row, which makes him rather unpredictable. The only way to harm him with an attack spell is to cast one of the Element opposed to the last spell he cast, otherwise you will heal him. This can be tricky, as he will likely cast another spell before being hit by yours and will then get healed. If you use the Elemental Spells on your weapons it will be the same.

The best way to deal with him is to strenghten your Party and to weaken him with as many spells and items as possible, before continuously attacking him with weapons and secret techniques. Also make sure to heal whenever a charcter's life points drop under at least 100. There is two tricks with which your'e almost sure to win. 1) If you can cast the Moon Saber spell on your characters, they will regain every life point they cost him with their weapons. 2) If you can use the Matango Oil on your characters, every spell that Koren casts on them will be cast back at him and deal damage. (With the exception of Ancient.)

thumb|450px|left|the boss battle against Koren