This is a list of playable characters in Legend of Dragoon, along with some statistics, such as the pros and cons of using them, and a biography about them.

Biography:
Dart is the main character in The Legend of Dragoon. He lives in the town of Seles, but is on a quest to slay the "Black Monster" who destroyed his hometown when he was a child. He is very close to Shana, but he sees her as a baby sister, instead of a lover. Dart is heroic, and stubborn. He won't stop until he finished what he started.

Strengths:
Dart is one of the most balanced characters in the game. He is good at just about anything, but doesn't excel at anything. He is strong physically; stronger then most characters. He has decent HP, again, higher then most. His magic is about average though. He doesn't excel at it, and you will probably want to use his physical attacks more then his magical attacks as it is. With his later weapons his additions can go up past 1,000 damage. And he has some very powerful Dragoon Spells as well. His first few additions are easy. He has the most diverse range of equipment in the entire game.

Weaknesses:
Like I said before, Dart is an all around good character. That leaves little room for weaknesses. If he has any weaknesses, it's the fact that his later additions may be difficult for some players. He also has the most additions to master before he gets his last addition. He has a decent magic attribute, but he probably won't be using it as much as he would physical attacks.

Biography:
Rose is the mysterious woman that saves Dart quite a few times throughout the story. She hides everything about her past, and is cold to everyone. She is excessively arrogant, and believes she is better then the humans because she is a Dragoon. She is far more then what you would normally make her out to be.

Strengths:
Rose is a strong character, but she is basically like Dart. She is well balanced, but doesn't really excel at anything. She has moderate HP, slightly lower then Dart's, has a good attack, but again, a little lower then Dart's. Now if we are going to continue comparing her to Dart (which is who she compares to best), you will notice a lot of similarities. First, while Dart excels more physically, Rose is stronger magically, with a decent magical attack. She has good speed as well. Lastly, all her additions are rather easy to learn, and master, even for the uber-beginner. She has some great Magical defense, and some of the best equipment in the game.

Weaknesses:
While well balanced, Rose has quite a few weaknesses. For one, it takes forever to get new weapons/armor for her. You usually only get 1-2 a disk, and sometimes those weapons/armor aren't as powerful as you would expect them to be. She has lower HP then a lot of the other characters, making her easy to kill. Rose's physical defense is a bit on the low side, but it's not exceedingly low. Lastly, she has some of the worst Dragoon spells in the game. While one or two of them are good, late in the game, they will become practically useless. The worst fact about Rose is her total lack of new additions early, and late in the game. Early on it takes forever to get her new additions, and she won't have any new ones through Disk 3 and 4.

Biography:
Shana lives in the town of Seles, and is a close friend to Dart, whom she grew up with. She is pure, and is used to being babied. She hasn't seen Dart in 4 years, since he left on his journey to pursue the "Black Monster". She is not experienced with battle and warfare, and so she is rather nervous about fighting with Dart. She is quite the determined young lady, and will do anything to get the man she wants; even if that man refuses to take any hint whatsoever.

Strengths:
Shana is a pure magic user. That's the first thing you have to get through your head when using her. She has a high magic attribute, and is very fast. She is good with just about any type of attack item. She is mainly a healer, but does her job very well. Almost all her Dragoon powers are healing, so when you use the Special command you will be able to heal your characters better. She has good magical defense.

Weaknesses:
Shana has almost no physical attack power. At all. It is very hard for her to gain SP, since she can't do Additions, and gets a set amount of SP per attack. She has low physical defense as well, making it easy to kill her, especially when you add the fact that she has low HP. Her armors aren't well at protecting her as well. Make sure to enter battle with her at high HP, especially at low levels, and when facing stronger enemies.

Biography:
Lavitz is in charge of the First Knighthood of Vale, captial of Basil. He is good friends with King Albert himself, and grew up with him. Lavitz's father was also once in charge of the First Knighthood, and is Lavitz's idol. As a knight, Lavitz is noble, and cares more for the people then his own safety. He is kind in heart and spirit.

Strengths:
Lavitz is mainly for physical attacks. All of his additions, even his last one, are rather slow, and easy to do. They are also very powerful, especially early in the game. He has very good physical defense, so he doesn't take as much damage that way. Early on, it is rather easy for him to gain SP, since he learns his Additions at low levels. Some people consider Blossom Storm the best skill in the game.

Weaknesses:
Lavitz's main weakness is the fact that he is slow. If you can overlook that, you have to see that his magic is only average, and that his Dragoon magics are way overpriced. Most of them are 20 MP. There is no 10 MP, meaning he goes through his MP a lot faster then a normal character would. His magical defense is only average as well. His main problem is his lack of magical power. But if you can look past that, then you can easily find him awesome.

Biography:
Albert is the King of Basil, and and the nephew of Emperor Doel, who he is at war with. He is good friends with Lavitz, who is in charge of his First Knighthood. He may be young, but he is quite competant with his rule. Recently, since the level of war has escalated, his tensions have risen, and he has been hiring mysterious help. His father was murdered by Doel, and he was put on the throne at a young age.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
Albert replaces Lavitz. Look at the Strengths and Weaknesses for Lavitz when looking for Albert's. One small note though, Lavitz's Blossom Storm changes to Rose Storm with Albert. And also, Albert's Additons are MUCH harder to pull off then Lavitz's are. They are faster, and unrelentless. Other then that, he is basically the same as Lavitz. He even gets Lavitz's stats and levels.

Biography:
Haschel is an older man, but that doesn't stop him from being a deadly martial artist. He is a master of his arts, which are only taught in his home town of Rogue. He left his town a long time ago to search for his daughter, who disappeared. He met Dart on the way, and they became friends. Since Haschel and Dart have parted ways, they have lost touch, but never forget each others mission. Haschel is a dedicated man, with a fist powerful enough to shatter even the thickest stone.

Strengths:
While Haschel is a naturally more balanced character, he is definitely better at physical attacking then magical attacking. His attack strength is quite high, and very good for normal enemies. He also has good physical and magical defense. Another good thing about Haschel is his wide array of weapons. Second only to Dart, Haschel has many options with his wide variety of weapons. He also has a lot of Additions, for variety there as well. He has good speed.

Weaknesses:
Haschel has slightly lower then average magical attack power. One of his main problems is the fact that Haschel has incredibly hard additions. While the first two start off easy, they become harder from there on out. It's very hard to memorize, since they are so fast. He doesn't have a lot of weaknesses, but he doesn't have a whole lot of strengths, either.

Biography:
Meru is a spunk young woman, who lusts for adventure and a wild ride. She is brash, and definately does things before she thinks them through. She looks young, and acts it, but she is more then she is cut out to be. She will do anything for a party, even risk her life travelling with people she doesn't know.

Strengths:
Meru is BY FAR the most underrated character in the entire game. She is the fastest character in the entire game, and she has the second highest magic, or highest, depending on what you have equipped. She is one of the best healers in the game, as her second Dragoon Spell will be used more than any of her other spells, especially late in the game. She is great at using magical items, and often has 3 turns to 1 of Dart's. Almost all of her Dragoon spells will be useful throughout the entire game. She also doesn't take too much damage from magic.

Weaknesses:
Meru is only decent at physical attacking. While her additions (especially the last one) are extremely powerful, they can be difficult because of the continuous change of speed within them. It also seems that 100 MP is not nearly enough for her. She has some of the worst (if not the worst) physical defense in the entire game, and by far the lowest HP of all characters (yes, lower then Shana's). She is rather easy to kill if you don't have HP raising items equipped, and most likely will die quite a bit.

Biography:
Kongol is one of the last of his people, the Gigantos. While he is not the smartest of the bunch, he is loyal and devoted to those who show they have more power then he, and to those who have done good things for him. He is currently working for Emperor Doel, as he saved him back when he was a child.

Strengths:
Kingol is the exact opposite of Meru. He is a PURE physical attacker, and so he has the highest attack in the entire game And not just a bit higher then everyone else, we are talking MUCH higher. He also has the highest HP, and physical defense. He doesn't have a whole lot of Additions, and all of them are easy. VERY easy, as they don't hit too much.

Weaknesses:
Kongol's magic stat is almost non-existant. He literally does only a few hundred damage with even the strongest magical attacks he has. His Dragoon form is near useless as well, because of the fact that he only gets 3 attacks, instead of the normal 5. He is also the slowest character in the entire game. I have seen Meru get 4 attack off with 1 of his, and she had no stat- boosting items. And even when you have a Speed Up item on Kongol, he will only be as fast as Dart. Lastly, his magical defense is one of the lowest, if not the lowest, in the game.

Biography:
Miranda works for Queen Theresa in Deningrad. She is one of the queen's 4 maidens, and the "Maiden of Arms". Theresa "adopted" Miranda as a child, and Miranda has lived within the Crystal palace ever since. She is stubborn and brash, but she wants what is good for the world. She is completely devoted to Theresa, and would easily lay her life down for her. She has a troubled past, but she refuses to admit it.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
Miranda replaces Shana in battle. She has the same strengths and weaknesses, and also equips a bow. When replacing Shana, Miranda gets Shana's weapons, armor, stats, and levels. A special note, I have found that Shana can equip some different things then Miranda can. Miranda can equip a bit heavier of items then Shana, and can't equip the weaker robes and dresses.