Dark Majesty

The Dark Prince is a primary antagonist and one of the three available final boss of the game Seiken Densetsu 3. He is the most evil and the most powerful of the Three Great Evils of Mana. (The other two being the Dragon Emperor and the Masked Mage.) Millenia ago, he was an ancient human prince who sold his soul to the Underworld (the Mana counterpart of Hell) and rose in ranks until he became the new Archdemon, the supreme ruler of the Underworld. He was sealed long ago in the Underworld by the Mana Goddess but his right-hand-woman Bigieu, and his third-in-command Jagan plan to bring him back, so that they could use the eight demonic God Beasts' power to merge the World of Mana with the Underworld, under the Dark Prince's rule.

If the player choses Hawk the ninja thief or Lise (Riesz) the amazon princess as the first of the three main characters, the Dark Prince will serve as the final boss of the game. If not, the final boss of the chosen storyline will destroy his remains and prevent his return for good, leaving his followers alone, with no one to worship.

Background
The Dark Prince was once human: Many centuries ago, he was the heir of the throne of the kingdom of Light, but for unexplained reasons, (perhaps because he already wielded immense magical powers, or perhaps because of a curse of some sort) everyone in the kingdom feared and rejected him. Because of this, Demons from the Underworld came to see him with an "offer he couldn't refuse." In exchange for his soul and his kingdom, the demons would make him one of them and he would gain in the Underworld the political power and the respect that he never had among humans.

The former Prince of Light accepted and became the dreaded Dark Prince. He then destroyed the kingdom who had never accepted him and turned it into a desolated wasteland, enshrouded in an everlasting stormy night, where the demons of the Underworld could dwell freely. The Dark Prince still ruled this demonic kingdom from his castle, who had become the Dark Castle, inside the haunted Dark Cave. He then became a full-fledged demon and rose in rank in the hierarchy of the Underworld, until he killed the former Archdemon and took his place. From then on he became the evil counterpart of the Mana Goddess, the worshipped ruler of demons and the source of everything evil in the World of Mana.

As he could freely walk the earth, he tried to take over the world, and at some point, he discovered the Mana Stone of Shadow. He then trapped Shade, the Mana Spirit of Shadow, in a ghost ship guarded by a demonic phantom and released the God Beast sealed in the stone: Zable Fahr, God Beast of Darkness and the most powerful of the eight. Zable Fahr then went on a rampage, destroying entire civilizations and unleashing chaos wherever it went, serving the Dark Prince's interest. But one day, the Mana Goddess managed to trap Zable Fahr in a different dimensional plane and to seal the Dark Prince into the Underworld.

However, some powerful demons still dwelled in the Dark Castle, protecting the Dark Prince's human remains and waiting for an opportunity to bring him back.

Seiken Densetsu 3
"The days of the Goddess worship are over. It's time for the demons to take their rightful place!" - the Dark Prince

Some time before the begining of the game, two powerful demons who worship the Dark Prince: Bigieu, the shapeshifting demoness and Jagan the Vampire Lord, gained control of the Dark Castle and the Dark Prince's remains, planning to bring him back. Wether they chose to do it on their own or wether they were in contact with the Dark Prince is not known, but the later seems more likely as they proclaim to come from the Underworld and that Bigieu really does adore the Dark Prince in more ways than one.

Bigieu took a human disguise and came to the thief guild of Nevarl (Navarre in the unofficial translation) under the name of Isabella. She manipulated the Thief Leader Flamekhan, persuading him to create his own kingdom, and to invade the kingdom of Laurent. (Rolante in the unofficial translation) Meanwhile, Jagan worked in the shadows, commanding the monsters of the Underworld and doing Bigieu's dirty work. Their ultimate goals were to kidnap Elliot, the child prince of Laurent, whom they planned to make Dark Prince's new human vessel; and to lift the seal of the Mana Stones, in order to release the eight God Beasts. However, the other two Great Evils of Mana also wanted to unleash the God Beast and entered a conflict to release the God Beast first. Every evil faction had a country under its control which they made invade another country. By doing so, they all ended up lifting the seal on every Mana Stone.

Later, the game's protagonists manage to obtain power from all the Mana Spirits and to enter the Mana Holyland, where the Mana Tree, (the Mana Goddess' earthly avatar) is located. Because the three Great Evils' actions have drained almost all the power of Mana that sustains the World, the Mana Goddess can do nothing to help the protagonists except giving them the fabled Sword of Mana. Meanwhile, Bigieu and Jagan have succeeded in bringing back the Dark Prince, and helped him to get rid of the other two evil factions. The Dark Prince then sends his followers to the Holyland, where they abduct the protagonists' Fairy guide and use her as an hostage to get the Sword of Mana, which they use to release the eight God Beasts.

The protagonists then set out to track down and to destroy the God Beasts before the Dark Prince could use them, but they unknowingly serve the villain's interests, as he wants the demons slain to channel their power into the Sword of Mana. The protagonists later go to the Dark Cave where they fight and destroy Jagan, and enter the Dark Castle where they fight and destroy Bigieu. They then meet the Dark Prince at last. The gloating villain dismisses Bigieu's death as an "acceptable loss" and tells them about his goal to merge the Underworld and Overworld and to rule it as a God, with the demons worshipped by the other races. He then absorbs the Mana Sword, planning to use the power of the God Beasts sealed inside it to rewrite the world's boundaries, but the Mana Godess manages to thwart him with her last strengths.

Angered, the Dark Prince teleports to the Mana Holyland, planning to settle his score with the exhausted deity, with the protagonists on its tracks. Unfortunately, they arrive too late and the Dark Prince has just destroyed the Mana Tree. The Goddess is dead and the Dark Prince is triumphant. He then kills the Fairy and discards his human body, revealing his true nature of the Archdemon and stands on the remains of the Mana Tree. The protagonists then engage the final battle and manage to destroy the villain once and for all. The Fairy's spirit then merges with the remnants of the Mana Tree to resurect it, and becomes the reincarnation of the Goddess of Mana. However, the Mana Tree will need 1000 years to grow again and to infuse the world with the power of Mana. Which mean that the world's denizens will have to learn live without it, ending this era for good.

Boss Battle
''"Hope. A petty emotion that cannot possibly save you! But enough talk... let the killing begin!" ''- the Archdemon

Archdemon (Level 50 . Life-Points 53499)

The Archdemon is the hardest of the three possible final bosses. He is very powerful, very dangerous and he attacks relentlessly with countless tremendous moves. Make sure to have powerful characters over level 50 and plenty of curing, healing and resurecting items, as he is a truly fearsome foe.

At first you'll fight against his first form. He can use every attack from almost every element, depending on the colour he asumes, and he often unleashes a powerful special attack before changing his color: When he is black, he uses Shadow attacks, including the hindering Black Curse, the dreadful Death Spell, (which instantly kills its target if its level is lower than his own) and the very damaging Hell Cross; attack him with Light. When he is brown, he uses Earth attacks (that can turn your characters into stone and must be cured) and Hypercannon; attack him with Wind. When he is grayish dark-blue, he uses Wind attacks, which can confuse your characters (cure it) and Air Slash; attack him with Earth. When he is red, he uses Fire attacks including Gigaburn; attack him with Water. When he is dark blue, he uses Water attacks such as Ice Craddle. He can turn your characters into snowmen, and he must be attacked with Fire. When he is green he uses the Moon spell Body Change, (which shrinks its targets and need to be cured) Half Vanish (which reduces the target's maximum life points) and Spiral Moon. Attack him with Wood. He can also use Counter Magic, which sends back your spells and deals damage for an undefined length of time and Ancient, the most devastating spell available. Most of his attack strike every target and deal very high damage so remain cautious.

Infuse your weapons with the magic he is weak against and use spells of the right element. His first form remains quite open to attacks so harrass him continuously. Also try to decrease his stats and to increase your owns as much as you can. Try not to waste your healing items and your spells during the first stage of the battle, because the worst is yet to come. Don't forget that if you attack him with spells of his current element, you will heal him.

When half of the Archdemon's life-points have been depleted, he transforms again and become even more formidable than he already was. He is now able to deliver fasts and powerful blows with his arms and to make huge, unavoidable blades erupt from the ground below your characters. He also gains access to new special attacks: Demon Scream, (which decreases its target's attack) Demon Breath and the level 1 summon Great Demon. While these new attacks aren't very powerful, the Archdemon now deals more damage and is less vulnerable to your attacks. (Even to the elements he is weak against.) He also often casts the spells Power Up and Protect Up on himself, and he mostly uses his dangerous special attacks, that strike every character. Even worse, he is now also able to use his most devastating attack: Catastrophe, which deals crippling damage to the entire party.

Give everything you've got and unleash your strongest spells and special techniques, while harrassing him continuously with weapons and spells. Be careful to heal whenever your characters' life-points drop under 200 and to attack him with the right element. Always keep an eye on your character's life-points.

Brutal Mario
Just Like the other two final bosses of Seiken Densetsu 3, the Archdemon was revamped and added into the unofficial, hack computer game Super Kitiku Mario, translated by Brutal Mario.

Just like the real game boss, the Archdemon is a powerful and dangerous enemy who uses elemental attacks, depending on his colour. When he is red, he hurls fiery energy balls that cause flames to erupt from the ground where they land. Mario must get as far as possible form the fire or jump over it with the Floating Cloak. When he is greenish blue, he creates four huge, bouncing watery bubbles that must be dodged repeatedly. When he is green, he casts a spell that confuses Mario and reverts the direction commands. When he is brown, he makes rocks fall from the sky. When he is black, he uses a very dangerous attack in which he fires two whirling circles of dark energy balls very hard to dodge. Mario must jump crouched between the dark balls to avoid them. Mario must grab a block that falls from the sky and use it to strike the Archdemon. When the Boss' life bar is nearly depleted, the rocks he makes fall from the sky will stay on the ground for a while, impeding the dodging of his other attacks, and one of them will reveal a block when they disappear.

When the Archdemon's life-bar is totally depleted, he assumes his second form and the battles becomes harder. He becomes able to smash the ground with his arm, and make huge blades erupt from the ground. (The blade is seen before fully erupting, giving Mario enough time to dodge with the right timming.) Once again the nature of his attack depends on his colour. When he is red, he hurls fiery energy balls from his fingertips that divide into two when hitting the ground and glide in opposite direction, (Mario must dodge an then jump over it) then he summons two Unicorn Heads that charge at Mario and must be jumped on to be destroyed. When he is blue he summons huge pillars of ice that appear in a mere second and are very hard to dodge. If Mario gets caught, he will be frozen and unable to dodge the following attack. When he is brown he joins his hands and fires a circling wave of rocks that Mario must dodge only when they come near him. When he is black, he creates four dark energy balls that explode into a huge pillar of dark energy one after another. Mario must remain as far as possible from the ball that is going to explode or jump on a ball to destroy it. Mario must rebound on the blades and the Archdemon's hands using the Floating Cloak to jump on his head and deal damage.