Gruda



"Our ancestors sought to obtain the power of the gods for their own selfish ends. But not I! I seek it to test the potential of humanity. To test whether or not it even has the right to exist."

- Gruda

Gruda is the main villain from Ys: Memories of Celceta and all previous versions of Ys IV.

Story
Gruda was a member of the Clan of Darkness who lived in Danan Village. He left the village along with Ernst and joined the Romun Empire, where he became an advisor to Governor General Griselda. He initially aids Griselda with the mapping of the Celceta Forest and offers advice to the hero Adol, but later reveals himself as the mastermind behind all the troubles around Celceta. He enlisted the help of Bami and Gadis, seeking to obtain the Mask of the Sun for unknown purposes. Controlling the brainwashed soldiers of Romn, he bombards the town of Highland and shuts down the lightning barrier protecting the Tower of Providence, where Eldeel lived.

Learning that the mask had been taken back into Danan, he convinces Leeza, one of Eldeel's acolytes, that the Mask could save Eldeel's life, so Leeza orders Sol-Galba, her personal Galbalan, to break the barrier which protected the mask, after which Gruda shows up and steals it. Along with his minions, he goes to the Ruins of Elduke, where he hands over the mask to Eldeel's dark persona, revealing to be working to him this whole time.

The heroes retrieve the pieces of the Maks of the Moon, which acted as an opposite to the Mask of the Sun, and with the help of King Lefance's spirit they manage to subdue Eldeel's dark self. However, Gruda picks up the Mask of the Sun, intending to finish the dark Eldeel's plans, and travels into Iris, the world inside of the Akashic Records. Eldeel uses his powers to transport the heroes inside of Iris as well, where they confront Gruda. Intending to rewrite the contents of the Records in order to cause calamities around the world to test humanity, Gruda uses the Mask of the Sun to absorb the records into itself, transforming into a large monster.

Gruda ends defeated and dies, however his actions ended causing inconsistencies between the records and the real world. To prevent a massive catastrophe, Eldeel asks Adol to take the Mask of the Sun to Mt. Vesuvio and destroy it there. As the heroes rush to the volcano, various ghosts with Gruda's appearance start manifesting, forcing Adol to reach the summit by himself, where Gruda's soul manifests as a phantom. Adol confronts and defeats the Phantom Gruda, tossing the mask into the volcano and thus shutting down the Akashic Records permanently.

Trivia

 * Gruda acted as the true mastermind in all previous versions of Ys IV, though his plans were different on these versions. In Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys, he sought to revive Arem, while in Ys IV: Mask of the Sun, he merely sought to cause mayhem while manipulating Eldeel.