| “ | I'm a soldier from Valsena. The name's Duran. I'm from a family of swordmasters. | „ |
| ~ Duran |
| “ | Just you wait, Crimson Wizard! I won't stop until I'm powerful enough to take you down. I will defeat you! | „ |
| ~ Duran |
Duran is one of six playable heroes in Trials of Mana, which was previously released in Japan as Seiken Densetsu 3 for the Super NES in 1995. He is a hot-blooded warrior hailing from Valsena, the Kingdom of the Plains, who proudly works for the kind and wise Hero King, Richard, who also happens to be the father of fellow playable hero Angela. His younger sister is named Wendy, and both are in the care of their aunt Stella after his father, Loki, went missing and his mother, Simone, died from sickness and grief.
He is voiced by Takuya Eguchi in Japanese.
Story
When Duran was a young child, his father, Loki, and his friend, then-prince Richard, set off to slay dragons and defeat the Dragon Lord, having heard that he was the strongest of his kind. Loki took a blow that was meant for Richard, causing both him and the Dragon Lord to fall into the abyss below. Richard and his men searched for weeks but were unable to locate Loki. After they reported the recent events to Duran's mother Simone, she fell sick and slowly succumbed to illness and grief. Before she died, though, she asked Stella to raise her niece and nephew as if they were her own, and she agreed, earning her gratitude. In the years that passed since then, Duran became a soldier of Valsena, as he, like his father, couldn't deny the pull of a blade. He outshone the other knights and soldiers and came to be in service to the king.
His prologue during the events of Trials of Mana begins as he participates in the youth division tournament and wins against the Bruiser. Later, he is seen on guard duty when he witnesses a sudden attack on Valsena Castle that leaves most of his comrades defeated or killed. This is where he finds the culprit responsible; a man wearing a red cloak known as the Crimson Wizard. Duran fights back against the wizard, but is quickly overwhelmed and suffers a humiliating defeat. The Golden Knights report to King Richard about the attack that occurred that night, and plan a strategy by strengthening the castle guard and preparing to send a spy to the territory of the Magic Kingdom of Altena.
Following his loss to the Crimson Wizard, Duran is seen drinking at a bar but Wendy arrives to try to convince him to return to bed. He refuses to return home yet, but advice from the local fortune teller lifts his spirit when she tells him that he can always learn how to switch to a better class from the Priest of Light in the Holy City of Wendel, which he realizes means he would be able to defeat the wizard. He readies his travel pack back at his home, his aunt Stella provides him with a better sword for his travels, and he stops by Valsena Castle to meet up with Richard and let him know of his planned journey to defeat the Crimson Wizard and make him pay for the disgrace he brought upon his beloved kingdom, including the humiliation he gave him and the insults he directed towards his king, as well as his vows not to return home until he emerges victorious over his newfound arch-enemy. Richard gladly gives Duran his blessing, knowing proudly that he's matured to become like his father, and after giving him his thanks, he sets off on a grand adventure. His goals are to become the best swordsman in the world and to defeat the Crimson Wizard as revenge on him for attacking Valsena Castle, humiliating him and insulting his king.
Duran shares many story elements with fellow playable hero Angela, who comes from Altena which attempts to invade its long-time ally kingdom Valsena. If either one is chosen as the main protagonist, the main antagonists will be the Crimson Wizard and his master, the Dragon Lord, and the final dungeon will be the Dragonsmaw caverns.
Personality
Duran is a hotheaded individual who takes high pride in his skills as a mercenary soldier and treats his kingdom with love and his king Richard with respect and admiration. He loves the thrill of fighting and often jumps into battles because of said passion. While quick to get emotional over things, Duran is not one to do things half-heartedly. He considers the Crimson Wizard to be his arch-enemy out of refusal to forgive him for wounding his pride by besting him in battle and insulting his beloved ruler. Later on in the story of the game, Duran finds better reasons to fight for and matures over the course of said story.
Abilities
Duran is a fairly straightforward sword-wielder with above average Strength and Vitality stats, designed to tank blows from enemy attacks as he serves as one of the strong physical attackers of the game alongside Kevin, Hawkeye, and Riesz. Upon switching to different classes, he can learn some magic to supplement his physical attacks. His Light classes primarily learn healing magic whereas his Dark classes mainly focus on adding elemental attributes to weapons. His Light classes also have an added attribute; they are the only classes capable of equipping shields, which also help in boosting Duran's Evasion stats.
His starting class is Fighter, and he can later change his class to Knight or Gladiator, and later to Paladin, Liege, Edelfrei, or Duelist.
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Trivia
- Out of all the six playable heroes in Trials of Mana, Duran is heavily implied to have the canon path of the game.
- He is the only one who uses a traditional fighting style of swordsmanship despite it being the player's choice to choose any other hero in the game as its main protagonist, and his design was influenced by Sumo, the main hero of Sword of Mana/Final Fantasy Adventure, and Randi, the main hero of Secret of Mana.
- He was also the first character to appear in the E3 2019 trailer for the 3D remake of Trials of Mana.
- His Edelfrei class is considered to be comparable to samurais.
- Duran can be considered a foil to fellow hero Hawkeye; both are mercenaries and good physical attackers and are the archenemies of their respective villains (the Crimson Wizard for Duran and Belladonna for Hawkeye), but Duran is more hotheaded, arrogant, and brutish, whereas Hawkeye is calmer and more humble and charming.