Luca Blight

Luca Blight (ルカ・ブライ, Ruka Burai) is the major antagonist of Suikoden II who also appears in Genso Suikogaiden Volume 1. The Prince, and later King, of Highland, Luca Blight orchestrates the Dunan Unification War as a twisted form of vengeance for wrongs and slights perpetrated against himself and his mother as a child.

Childhood
"I don't care about breeding. A sword doesn't need a fine lineage, it just needs to be sharp."

- Luca Blight

Born the eldest child of Sara and Agares Blight, Luca Blight was the crown prince of the Highland Kingdom since birth.

In 443, Luca travelled with his parents to Muse City for an official ceremony. Following the ceremony, an embarrassing moment for Luca came to pass, where upon meeting Anabelle, he moved to kiss the back of her hand, as per Highland tradition, at the same time Anabelle moved to shake Luca's outstretched hand, shaking it and accidentally slapping him in the face. The young Luca was horribly embarrassed by the incident and in some ways would never forgive Anabelle for it.

After the ceremony and just back in Highland territory, the entourage was set upon by a gang of bandits, allegedly hired by the then-Mayor of Muse, Darell. Agares Blight managed to escape and quickly journeyed to L'Renouille to enlist aid. Tragically, however, during the time between his escape and the arrival of aid, Sara Blight was repeatedly raped by the thugs while the then-9 year old Luca was forced to watch. Although the bandits were eventually driven off with the arrival of Han Cunningham and the 2nd Royal Highland Company at the behest of Agares, Sara's mental state was destroyed by the incident. Meanwhile, the young Luca was traumatized and began to harbour an intense hatred of Agares for what he viewed as his cowardly retreat, as well as a deep-seated desire for vengeance against Jowston.

After the incident, an angry and bitter Luca set out on a journey in 444. Near Kyaro Town, the 10 year old prince found himself conned out of his funds by some bandits and pursued them after realizing he had been tricked. In doing so, however, he overheard conversations and lewd comments about his mother, making him realise that these were the bandits who had captured the entourage and raped his mother. Enraged, Luca set up the group, managing to murder them all in a rampage. He then returned to Kyaro to visit his mother who had been sent there to rest. However, her mind shattered, Sara no longer recognized her own son. Broken, and harbouring intense hatred towards Jowston, Luca returned to L'Renouille.

In 445, as a result of the violation of Sara Blight, Luca's half-sister, Jillia was born. Her likeness to her mother, in terms of both physical appearance and personality, served as a slight buffer to Luca's growing instability and eventual madness. As he matured, Luca's already promising strength grew increasingly formidable, his anger and rage fueling him as he trained under Han Cunningham.

War with Jowston
As an adult, Luca Blight was a truly terrifying man of immense stature and physical strength and of unbridled rage. His father, who had never been too harsh on Luca due to the incident some years prior which ironically earned further ire from Luca, eventually placed him in complete control of the Highland Army. With this power, Luca began to plan for his revenge on the City-State.

The year 460 saw Luca's ambitions come to fruition. Working with Rowd, the Captain of the Unicorn Brigade, Highland's youth army was slaughtered soon after a peace treaty was signed with the City-State. Although the massacre was carried out by Luca's own soldiers, the blame would be laid firmly at the feet of the State Army. The outrage and public outcry of such an attack quickly fuelled the flames of war and soon after, Luca Blight launched his invasion of Jowston.

Quickly razing eastern Muse Principality, the Highland Army camped at the border with western Muse. Manipulating Jowy Atreides, who had been captured trying to infiltrate the camp, Luca had him assassinate Mayor Anabelle and throw open the gates of Muse City, leading the principality to fall and the Jowston Alliance to shatter at a rapid pace.

From there, Luca continued to exercise complete control over the military, executing General Solon Jhee after he failed to annex the South Window Principality following defeat at the hands of the New State Army. He agreed to give Jowy Atreides, now openly working under Luca, a chance to capture Greenhill City with a handful of men, and, suitably impressed once the task was accomplished, began to take him into his confidence.

Working with Jowy and Jowy's strategist, Leon Silverberg, Luca plotted to poison his father, Agares. Agreeing to a marriage between Jowy and Jillia, Jowy poisoned his own blood. And so, when Agares drank a sample of Jowy's blood as part of the traditional oath, Agares soon died as Luca laughed maniacally.

March of the King
Although his rise to King of Highland resulted in some defection from formerly loyal officers, Luca's power was now absolute. As King, he sacrificed the people of Muse City to give power to the Beast Rune with the ultimate goal of unleashing it on the City-State and eventually the world. In some ways, he tried to bond with Jowy over this but was tactfully rebuffed.

However, the working together of Luca, Jowy and Leon Silverberg was also a means to an end. After decimating the New State Army, Jowy and Leon covertly cooperated with New State Army strategist, Shu, to spring a night-time ambush on the King as the Highland Army marched to siege the New State Army Headquarters in the night.

Surprised and ambushed, Luca Blight was surrounded by groups of archers and soldier after soldier of the New State Army's strongest members. Even with all his men killed, Luca continued to fight on, falling back as arrows penetrated his armour. Eventually, Luca made his way to a tree where he noticed a wooden amulet. Opening it, a group of fireflies escaped, a signal for a further onslaught of arrows from the New State Army. Wounded, but his spirit undaunted and the burning hatred in him unquenchable, Luca then battled Hero (Suikoden II, the leader of the allied forces. After a fierce battle, Luca Blight finally fell. His arm outstretched, he fell to the ground dead following his last words; "It took hundreds to kill me but I killed humans by the thousands. I am sublime!!! I am the true face of evil!!!!".

Trivia

 * Luca Blight's sword is coated with some sort of flammable material. This material is what allows his sword to ignite in flames when using special attacks on your party.
 * Luca Blight's strength and prowess was modeled after Xiang Yu, who is considered by many to be the strongest general in Chinese history.