Tara Grimface

Spoiler warning! This article contains spoilers for the plot of the Lost Kingdoms series, although it's 2024 and you should go play it by now.

Tara Grimface
Role	Thief
Gender	Female
Place of origin	Alanjeh
Relations	Victor (adopted father) Sol (friend) Rashiannu (sister)

Tara Grimface (Japanese: リズ, Riz) is the main character of Lost Kingdoms II.

Appearance

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Summary

Tara Grimface was abandoned in the town of Kadishu at an early age, left with nothing but a single artifact - her Runestone. Bullied by other children for her affinity to monsters, and harassed by adults wanting to use her power, she was left in a state of starvation until Victor - the leader of a traveling group of thieves known as the "Band of the Scorpion" picked her up. While Tara felt indebted to Victor for raising her, there was no fixing her hardened heart.

15-20 years after being abandoned, she travels as an accomplice to the thieves, assisting them in their ultimate goal to acquire Runestones manufactured by the Kendarie.

Spoilers

Throughout the game, Tara has flashbacks to scenes of a little girl that seems to know everything about Tara's past. This child is revealed to be Tara's younger self, and is referred to as Adriannu in the epilogue - Tara's former name. She is shown being bullied by the children of Kadishu, explaining how she and two other children used to play together at the Plains of Rowahl, and at her mother's bedside one last time as she entrusts the Runestone to her.

Once Tara and Sol reach Alanjeh Castle, Rashiannu - the former queen - reveals that she knew Tara all along, as they were twin sisters estranged at a young age. Rashiannu confines Sol and Tara to the castle, taking the Runestone for herself to deal with the Kendarie forces invading Alanjeh. However, she fails to defeat the revived Body of the God of Harmony and takes refuge at Grenfoel Cathedral, where Tara meets up with her once more. After setting aside similar feelings of abandonment (with a powerless Rashiannu having to ascend to the throne at 10 and Tara being disposed by the royal family), Tara eventually rekindles her relationship with her sister and is entrusted to save the world.

After defeating the God of Harmony and saving the world, Tara is seen leaning against the window of her mother's bedroom. Her younger self appears again, asking if it is nice to have friends again. She exclaims:

"Yes, it is nice to have friends again." – Tara Grimface

Depending on the ending of the game, either Sol or Rashiannu will enter the room calling for her, as the people of Alanjeh cannot wait to meet their new hero. Before she leaves, Tara turns around and waves at her younger self.

Glitches

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Trivia

• As part of a 2003 year-end party at Dengeki Online, a Japanese gaming site, From Software's promotional team sent two Christmas cakes with Tara sporting a Santa-themed outfit drawn on top. The cakes were reportedly delicious.

Gallery

Tara, as seen in-game.

Tara, Sol, and the Band of the Scorpion.

Tara's P2 colours in VS Mode.

Promotional art for Lost Kingdoms 2, depicting Tara summoning an onslaught of monsters.

Christmas cakes adorned with a Santa-themed Tara and two fairies.

Tara on the cover of the RUNE 2 V Jump Official Cheat Book.

Anime-styled chibi Tara from the V Jump Guide.

Cover art for the RUNE 2 demo disk, distributed by Nintendo DREAM.

Preliminary designs for Tara, as seen in Nintendo DREAM

A loading screen featuring both Tara and Rashiannu.

The Lost Kingdoms II loading screen featuring Tara, Sol, and the mark of the Band of the Scorpion

The Lost Kingdoms II loading screen art featuring Tara, Sol, and Rashiannu as children at Alanjeh Castle

The art of Tara used for the character select screen in VS Mode

The texture map for Tara's head and hair.
This texture map is used for both her normal model and her P2 model.

The main texture map for Tara

The VS Mode texture map for Tara's alternate colors

The texture map for RUNE II Demo Tara's wings

The texture map for RUNE II Demo Tara's head and hair

The main texture map for RUNE II Demo Tara