Valmar

Valmar is the god of evil in Grandia II, who had previously battled the god of good, Granas. Even though Valmar was sealed away and his body parts separated, Granas lay defeated by the battle's end. Eventually however the story would be told ending in a victory for Granas, so as not to dishearten the population.

The main bulk of the game deals with the parts of Valmar, as they are released and possess many human beings, including one of the main characters, Elena (which gives birth to Millenia, in reality the Wings of Valmar). Eventually the parts of Valmar are all released and the body of the evil recomposed, as the last part - the Will of Valmar - is revealed in its true form: Pope Zera.

After the heroes defeat several parts, and finally, the Will of Valmar, the dark god is no more.

Story

Ascent to Godhood

Elmo describes the Birthplace of the Gods as a research facility in which both Valmar and Granas ascended to godhood. This implies they may have once been humans who managed to acquire god-like powers rather than true gods.

The Battle of Good and Evil

The Parts

The Pieces of Valmar are the game's primary antagonists. The divided and vastly weakened components of the god Valmar, their ambition is to escape the seals placed on them by the Church of Granas, revive themselves, and recombine to allow Valmar's full rebirth. Each Piece is apparently bodiless by default, but can take possession of the nearest living humanoid and transform it into a heavily armed beast to do its bidding. All the Pieces aspire to devour each other and absorb each other's energy; once the power of all seven is gathered into the same body, Valmar will be reborn. The Granasaber is the only known weapon capable of destroying a Piece of Valmar aside from another Piece. Millenia herself is the form taken by the Wings of Valmar upon possession of Elena. However, as evidenced by the Horns of Valmar's failed possession of Ryudo, in the right circumstances a host creature can resist possession and render a Piece of Valmar harmless. The fact that Millenia has only partial control over Elena, usually when Elena is feeling weak, suggests that she has partially blocked Millenia's possession and placed a limit on her power. This may also explain why Millenia is not as purely bloodthirsty as her fellow Pieces(also the seal never finished transferring the Wings to Elena. Ryudo saves her and escapes the tower).

There are eight Pieces: the Wings, Tongue, Eye, Claws, Horns, Body, Heart, and mind of valmar. Their fates are as follows.

Wings: Attempted imprisonment by Elena's entourage; the ceremony's failure caused Elena's companions to die and Elena herself to become possessed, causing her to share her body with Millenia.
Tongue: Possessed a greedy merchant named Gadan in Liligue City; cursed the city's inhabitants by destroying their sense of taste; ultimately beaten and absorbed by Millenia with help from Ryudo and company.
Eye: Possessed a young girl named Aira in Mirumu Village; cursed the villagers into a deep and dreamlike sleep leading to eventual death; attracted the attention of High Priestess Selene and the Cathedral Knights; absorbed by Millenia.
Claws: Possessed the automata Tio to watch over a factory for Dark weapons production underneath Cyrum kingdom; eventually invaded and defeated by Prince Roan; absorbed by Millenia. (Tio survived the absorption process, whereas the Tongue and Eye's victims were left comatose.)
Horns: Possessed Melfice initially; attempted to possess Ryudo following Melfice's death; blocked by Elena and Millenia and sealed safely away inside Ryudo. Millenia deferred the chance to absorb the Horns from Ryudo for fear of harming him, and consequently the Horns were never part of "Valmar's" eventual revival; instead they became a weapon Ryudo used to defeat the fusion of the other seven Pieces.
Body: Sealed with the Granasaber in a remote corner of the world; found by Ryudo's party using information gained from Melfice. Revived by a ceremony of sacrifice performed by High Priestess Selene; subsequently destroyed from the inside out and absorbed by Millenia.
Heart: Led by Pope Zera to possess High Priestess Selene, apparently of her own free will based on her loyalty to Zera. Assumed its true form when Selene leapt onto the swords of her Cathedral Knights at Granas Cathedral. Defeated and absorbed directly by Elena, without visible assistance from Millenia. Elena gathered the Pieces willingly and was prepared to sacrifice her life to destroy Valmar with the Granasaber; however, Zera's true plan was to revive Valmar and command the reborn god himself as its core.
Mind: Zera was himself possessed by the mind of Valmar, but this is not revealed until late in the game as Valmar prepares to awaken. Zera secretly hides behind the Church as he masterminds and manipulates people into doing his bidding in bringing Valmar back together. Zera wants the power of Valmar to create a perfect world without "filthy humans" with his own perfect absolute will.

'Revival' and Defeat

After the assembly of all the parts of Valmar (aside from the Horns) in the body of Millenia, Zera performs the ritual to revive the dead god on Valmar's Moon. To do this, he first absorbs Millenia's essence into to birthing chamber before joining it with his own essence, containing the Mind of Valmar.

Valmar is then revived in his new body; a three-headed giant that descends to the Earth and begins destroying the continent alongside his many demons. Ryudo and the remaining party cripple Valmar's body with the Granasaber before entering inside the beast and destroying the core. They then destroy the parts of Valmar one by one before defeating a mutated form of Pope Zera, destroying Valmar's Mind.

Images

Grandia II Main Characters