Crowley

Crowley (クロウリー, Kurourī) is a character in the original Suikoden game. He is a mysterious and supremely powerful magician.

Biography
"What can this old man do for you?"

- Crowley

Clues to Crowley's age and power come from his statement of the amount of runes embedded in his body. It is said he has 100 runes attached to his body. He is also referenced in texts as "great and ancient" as well as the discoverer of rune unites. The goal of his life is said to be to find a way to equal or surpass the power of the 27 True Runes through skilled application of ordinary rune magic and he spends his days in research and training towards this goal. At some point, he took Mazus as his disciple. It is said that the two once had a fierce battle during which they unleashed so much magical power that they leveled a mountain and made it rain a whole week. Piccolo claims to have been the third disciple of Crowley's.

Crowley was discovered training and researching in the Cave of the Past at Qlon Temple, where he expressed surprise at being discovered. He agreed to be recruited by the Toran Liberation Army, stating that he'd like to enjoy the sunshine. It is said that while he aided the Liberation Army, he only used a small fraction of his power doing so despite the prowess he displayed being the most powerful seen on the battlefield.

Following the end of the Gate Rune War, Crowley returned to the caverns, harbouring a distaste for world affairs. Mazus who would participate three years later in the Dunan Unification War set out to duel his former master once again, but it's unknown if they actually met again.

Trivia

 * All three of Crowley's weapons have a celestial quality in their naming: Comet Rod, Meteor Rod, Cosmo Rod. The same is true for his disciple Mazus.
 * Crowley is named after the real-life British mystic, Aleister Crowley.
 * In Suikoden V, the player can find an Old Book which is about rune unites. Its author claims he discovered them during his research. If Crowley is indeed the discoverer of rune unites, he most likely is the author of the book. If that was true, then he did not know about the unite of Dawn Rune and Twilight Rune. Alternatively, the book could have been authored by someone else who discovered rune unites independantly from Crowley.
 * If what Piccolo says is true and he is Crowley's third disciple, then Crowly must have mentored at least one additional, yet unknown magician.