Emperor Mikhal

Mikhal is a young samurai and heir to the throne of Izumo who travels to hone his swordsmanship. However, when he gains word that his father has died and that the the neighbouring nation of Fandaria has declared war on the rest of the continent, he returns home to take up the throne and guide his country in the coming war.

As a general Mikhal has solid stats, but a painfully slow melee attack. His greatest strength as a unit though, is that he learns the devastating Sonic Blast attack as his second move, while anyone else only gets it as their third.

Mikhal's attacks are Sonic Boom, Sonic Blast and Gale Blast.

Mikhal's army

Mikhal has several excellent generals at his command, however, each of them command samurai, making Izumo the least varied nation initially. However, this does give them an advantage over the beastmen of the local nation of Bozack. Unusually, they all have high starting MP as well.

ZAGAT - Known as "Jubei" in Japan this cool and collected general is Izumo's chief samurai, and Mikhal's second in command. While he has the same abilities as most samurai generals, he has probably the best overall stats amongst them.

JACKAL - Formerly a mercenary who terrorized the land, Jackal was eventually defeated by Mikhal and inducted into his inner circle. Although not as powerful as Zagat, he is still one of the best Samurai in the game, and has the advantage of being able to command monk, which helps round out Izumo's forces.

MISTAL - A somewhat feminine-looking youth, Mistal is actually a skilled samurai and Mikhal's student. While his attack power and Magic Points are solid, he is somewhat let-down by his poor command stat.

SHIONE -Leader of the secret ninja group "Onmitsu", she specializes in espionage and gathering information. Alike Mistal, her strength and MP are good but she is fairly hampered by her poor command.

Storyline enemies

The dark ninja army resides in a castle directly above Izumo's capital. Arguable more powerful than Izumo's initial force, they never leave their castle, and thus can be ignored until you power up a little.

KYOEM -An unscrupulous and vile ninja in league with dark forces, he is an old enemy of Mikhal and Hayate, and not particularly popular with his subordinates either. Despite apparently having no troops, he actually has the unique ability to deploy shadow clones of himself as soldiers, though he usually only does this late into the fight, and sometimes doesn't do it at all. He joins Goldark in Fandaria's scenario but lacks his unique ability and is essentially the same as most generic ninjas.

KUMONN -Second-in-command of the ninja army, Kumonn doesn't care for Kyoem's actions, but reluctantly follows him out of duty. He is one of the game's best ninja generals, second only to Hayate in overall ability. If successfully retreats in Mikhal's scenario he will disappear entirely from the game. To prevent him from retreating, make sure that Izumo and Estonia castles are occupied when you attack.

SLIVER - Although he looks identical to generic ninjas, he is actually a storyline character with unique dialogue exchanges with certain generals. He is as accomplished and honorable ninja and is called "Ransetsu" in Japan. While not equal to Kumonn, he is still a good general though he suffers from low starting MP. Alike his colleague, if he escapes the initial battle he cannot be recruited later.

SAYAKA - Dragon Force's only female ninja apart from Shione, this brainwashed assassin is a reticent figure loyal to Kyoem. She appears in several unused story images, which suggest she may have been intended to have a larger role. She is an effective, well-rounded ninja general who learns Mirage Star early, but has low starting MP. Unfortunately, she cannot be recruited in Mikhal's game, as she always vanishes with Kyoem, but she can be enlisted when playing as any other character.

Story Mode

Mikhal's scenario is largely standard, though his feud with local rival Kyoem seems to have been left unfinished. Scenes displayed during the credits suggest that there was to be a later confrontation with the villain, but it would appear that the resolution was left on the cutting room floor. Due to his friendship with the hidden character Hayate, Mikhal is the only one to learn his full backstory.

Mikhal's scenario is one of moderate difficulty. In addition to getting Sonic Blast early, Mikhal benefits from the speed with which he can recruit Hayate(one of the game's best generals) and the ease with which his troops can dispatch Dragons(nominally, the game's best troop type).