| “ | It's been 20 years since I left the village pursuing Claire, but what I have found was only my immaturity. | „ |
| ~ Haschel |
Haschel (ハッシェル, Hassheru) is a major protagonist and playable character in the 1999 video game The Legend of Dragoon. He is the Master of the Rouge School of Martial Arts and later on, the new Dragoon of the Violet Dragon which controls Thunder-based attacks. Upon reuniting with Dart at a local Hero Competition, whom he had already met years before the game's events take place when they traveled together on an adventure, he decides to tag along with him and his group as a means of taking a break from his search for his daughter. He learns towards the end of the game that his daughter Claire was Dart's mom and died in the Black Monster's attack on Neet 18 years ago, as well as that in a big twist of fate or irony, this makes Dart his grandson.
He is voiced by Minoru Inana in the Japanese version of the game and by Brian Vouglas in the English version.
Appearance[]
Despite being approximately 60, Haschel looks pretty youthful for his age, sporting a full head of slightly long black hair and a mustache of matching color. His eyes are thin-shaped to the extent they give off the appearance that his eyes are always closed, and his skin has a somewhat tanned complexion. In terms of his attire, Haschel wears typical martials arts clothing, primarily a purple sleeveless garb with matching pants and gloves, black boots, a red belt and a thin headband. As a Dragoon, just like his predecessor, Kanzas, he wears primarily violet-colored Dragoon armor.
Personality[]
Described by Dart as someone who 's never serious except when he's fighting, Haschel is often calm, laidback, jovial and good-humored, which allows him to get along especially well with the similarly mischievous and happy-go-lucky Meru. Along with her, he often jokes around and finds small ways to tease the others, though usually in a harmless and amiable way. However, both in battles and other situations that call for it, Haschel can quickly get serious and focused, as shown by him taking it upon himself to take on Gehrich, a former student of his that he kicked out due to his bad attitude and had since formed a gang that was terrorizing Tiberoa, alone. Due to his age and experience, he is also pretty wise and gives out good, thoughtful advice to the other party members sometimes, such as telling Dart in a private conversation that he couldn't keep treating Shana like his baby sister, something that contributes to Dart finally realizing his feelings for Shana a little later on.
Haschel wasn't always so genial and good-natured though; it's shown that in flashbacks, he was an extremely strict teacher towards his daughter Claire, to the extent he wouldn't even allow her to call him "father" while she was training, demanding that he only address him as "master", and frequently yelling at and even insulting her for not meeting his high expectations. Eventually, this caused her to accidently strike a fatal blow with a sparring partner who also happened to be her friend, which both devastated her and caused him to furiously yell at her to "get out of his sight". He had this attitude and took this approach with her because due to being his only child and heir, he saw her as the only one who could pass his ancestral art down to the next generation. However, it is clear he strongly regrets this treatment of her and what it caused, and one of his main motives for tracking her down was likely to make amends for it. This, in turn, is likely why he has mellowed out so much by the present.
Haschel also has a strong sense of honor and a forgiving nature; despite being so disappointed by how low his former student Gehrich had sunk in his eyes due to leading a gang that was terrorizing Tiberoa and being determined to set him straight, when Gehrich demonstrated that he still had some honor and decency in him by trying to tell him and the rest of the party crucial information about Lenus' conspiracy, namely how she hid the real Princess Emille and was posing as her to take the Moon Dagger, he urged him to stop talking since even doing enough of that could mean the difference between barely surviving and dying, and when Gehrich did die as a result, he took it upon himself to give him a proper burial to pay respect to him.
Abilities[]
As to be expected from a master of martial arts, despite not wielding any sort of weapon, Haschel is extremely skilled in hand-to-hand combat, being able to perform a variety of techniques and additions that range from simplistic ones like Double Punch to complex ones like Hex Hammer and Omni-Sweep. He's also very quick, being the fastest member of the party behind only Meru and Shana/Miranda, allowing him to get many turns in battle. This, combined with his fairly high physical attack power, allows him to hit fast and hard.
Once he inherits the Violet Dragoon Spirit after Emperor Doel's defeat, he also gains the ability to use thunder magic attacks. On the one hand, the thunder element isn't weak against any of the other game's elements, meaning Haschel isn't particularly vulnerable to any type of attack. However, it also isn't particularly strong against any other element, all of his attacks only target a single opponent, and he only has slightly above average magical attack power, so his Dragoon form isn't as impressive or as much of a difference-maker as some of the others. Overall, he's a pretty strong and fast physical attacker, and while he's more average when it comes to physical defense, magical attack and defense and overall HP, his lack of any particular weaknesses make him a pretty reliable choice in most battles throughout the game.