Thistle • 2

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As his epithet describes, Thistle is considered irrational and not someone to hold a reasonable conversation with. [12][13] He appears single-minded in his devotion to King Delgal and the Golden Country. [14] This has manifested itself on a delusional and paranoid level, with him convinced that he is protecting King Delgal from harm and preserving his homeland, viewing everyone he meets as a threat to the king and seemingly oblivious to Delgal's escape and death or what such an escape from his "protection" would entail. He is shown to be constantly agitated, quick to anger, and cruel to any and all perceived threats. He is also shown to be somewhat detached from reality and everyone around him. When he finds Falin, he refers to her as The Red Dragon and is unable to recognize her as a human. He also sent her to "find Delgal" as if she had just escaped despite the fact that she escaped and perished 6 years ago. He has a habit of self-inflicting wounds when he feels frustrated. He has scratched his head until it bled and frequently bites the tip of his thumb.

It is later revealed that his madness and cruelty are due to him being a victim of the Golden Lion; Thistle was initially shown to be rational, sane, and caring. While he was given to Delgal's father, the former king, as a gift, he ended up being treated as a second son to the king and viewed the royal family and their kingdom as his own family and home who enthusiastically felt the same towards him. His desire was born from seeing his foster brother break down at the thought of him, his family, and his kingdom dying from numerous invaders and threats and begged him to find a solution. His unique drive came from the Golden Lion which ate away all of his other desires until the only thing left was the desire to keep Delgal "safe". Flashbacks show that when he first acquired the Golden Lion's powers, his goals were much more sensible and wholesome as he wanted to use them for the safety and prosperity of the kingdom to improve the quality of life for the residents. The lion quickly consumed these goals, causing him to forget them and leading to his psychotic single-minded desire to keep the kingdom safe by any means necessary.

It is later revealed that his madness and cruelty are due to him being a victim of the Golden Lion; Thistle was initially shown to be rational, sane, and caring. While he was given to Delgal's father, the former king, as a gift, he ended up being treated as a second son to the king and viewed the royal family and their kingdom as his own family and home who enthusiastically felt the same towards him. His desire was born from seeing his foster brother break down at the thought of him, his family, and his kingdom dying from numerous invaders and threats and begged him to find a solution. His unique drive came from the Golden Lion which ate away all of his other desires until the only thing left was the desire to keep Delgal "safe". Flashbacks show that when he first acquired the Golden Lion's powers, his goals were much more sensible and wholesome as he wanted to use them for the safety and prosperity of the kingdom to improve the quality of life for the residents. The lion quickly consumed these goals, causing him to forget them and leading to his psychotic single-minded desire to keep the kingdom safe by any means necessary.

He is also shown to be rather childish with a youthful way of thinking, likely due to the fact that while he was the oldest resident of the Golden Kingdom and had been there since before Delgal's birth until the birth of his grandchildren, as an elf he was likely only an early to mid-teenager in terms of development. [17] This caused some issues with his place in the palace even before he became the Lunatic Mage, as when the residents were young he would appear wise, but as they grew older, they would mature mentally and realize how childish he was.

Delgal himself, who grew up with Thistle as his brother, failed to remember that being an elf made him age slower and viewed him as an equal, which became a problem when he begged Thistle to save the kingdom with her magic not realizing that he had essentially placed the weight and responsibility of saving an entire kingdom on a teenager, something someone so young could not handle.

As the dungeon's lord, Thistle has a great deal of power over the structure of the dungeon and the monsters that inhabit it. His lifespan has also been extended by the dungeon's power. [18] He has altered the structure of the dungeon on multiple occasions, most often causing the dungeon to open a hole in the ground to both get rid of enemies and escape. [19] [20] For monsters, he usually calls them to his aid [21] or orders them to act (such as tasking the Red Dragon with finding King Delgal). [22] He seems to like using small dragons nicknamed 'the Wizard's Eyes' to sense and alert him of changes in the dungeon.

Much of this power seems to come from a book he possesses. The book has an intricately designed cover, with an eye on both covers that opens upon touching it to reveal a figure-8-shaped pupil. [24] With this book, he can cast ancient magic [25] - for example, forming wyverns called Wizard's Eyes from the blood of the Red Dragon's corpse to attack Touden's group.