Kraden is a scholar studying alchemy in Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age, and accompanies Felix's party all throughout his quest in the second game as an NPC that takes part in cutscenes as opposed to an actual party member and Adept. His knowledge of alchemy and related matters is such that an impressed Piers refers to him as "master sage" at one point.
Background
Kraden was born in a poor village, the name and location of which is unknown. Apparently, even by the time he was a mere four years of age, he had already demonstrated a particularly promising degree of intellect; the ruler of the city of Tolbi, Lord Babi, heard about him and took an interest in him. Babi decided to have the young Kraden taken away from his home to live in his personal palace in Tolbi, where he would begin his long education and research as a scholar of Alchemy in service of Babi. Babi is himself very interested in Alchemy because he was once at the secluded, legendary island society of Lemuria hidden in the center of the Great Eastern Sea, and fled there with a stockpile of a mystic draught which carries Alchemy's alleged effect of extending life beyond its normal years. Babi has been using this fluid to extend his life beyond its normal years artificially, but he knows that his stockpile will run out in the future; as such, he hopes that something else that can continue to extend his life can be found or otherwise somehow determined somehow through intensive research on Alchemy. Hence, Babi saw in Kraden one of the brightest and most promising future scholars he could hope for.
Kraden has lived most of his life studying and experimenting with Alchemy in this room with fellow scholars at the basement of Babi's Palace.
Kraden apparently spent the entirety of his years in Babi's Palace in Tolbi, studying what available information there is to know about the legendary concept of Alchemy and the various subjects connected with it. As well, he practiced Alchemy-relevant experiments in collaboration with groups of fellow scholars also collected by Babi. By the present day and age, Kraden is an old, gray-bearded man that can be warmly characterized as a kind-hearted old coot who is as knowledgeable about his field of study as an individual can seemingly be. Several years before the present, Babi, who knew that his time was running short, commanded Kraden to set out and travel abroad to study Alchemy as close to its source and core as possible. Kraden traveled north into Angara and moved into Vale, the town at the foot of Mt. Aleph, the mountain believed to be directly connected to the deepest secrets of Alchemy.
Kraden lived in a cottage at Vale over the next several years. Of course, he was initially not allowed by the elders and mayoral body of Vale anywhere near the sacred shrine within the mountain, Sol Sanctum; it took him years before he eventually earned the personal trust of the village elders, and even then he was only allowed to make infrequent and very brief visits into Sol Sanctum's interior with escorts. In the meantime, Kraden became very dear friends with the adults of the village, including Kyle and others that had their own families.
In Golden Sun
Kraden was present in Vale three years before the present when the Mt. Aleph boulder disaster struck, in which a giant boulder collapsed and crashed through the town; The other two adults, their son Felix, and Kyle were swept away over the waterfall and presumed lost forever, leaving Felix's sister Jenna behind traumatized. Kraden shared in the mourning of Jenna, Kyle's son Isaac, and their friend Garet. From that point on, the three youngsters studied and developed their abilities as Adepts of Psynergy, another field Kraden was a knowledgeable scholar on. They continued like this until three years after the disaster to the present day; during this time period Isaac used to visit Kraden and his cottage a lot.
Mt. Aleph and Sol Sanctum
In the present day and age, Kraden doubtlessly believes that he is running out of time in his search for valid and relevant information on Alchemy his lord and master Babi requires, so he plans to conduct an in-depth investigation of Sol Sanctum without authorization of Vale's elders, and he will have Isaac, Garet, and Jenna accompany him as essentially students along for the ride. In a rather incredible coincidence, on the day he plans to go through with this idea he is approached by a pair of menacing, foreign Mars Adepts named Saturos and Menardi. Saturos and Menardi demonstrate an unnerving knowledge of Sol Sanctum's inner workings that not even Kraden and the elders of Vale know about, as if they had seen the sanctum with their own eyes. They also say things like how the Elemental Stars are the keys to setting the four elements of Alchemy "into motion", which even a trained Alchemy sage like Kraden doesn't know, and that the pair plans to set them in motion indeed. The Mars Adepts attempt to grill Kraden for any information he knows about Sol Sanctum, but Kraden makes use of his natural cunning to weasel his way out of telling them any information, and is able to send them away by announcing that he is waiting for some other people.
Kraden, in front of his cottage at Vale, talk with his young friends and Adepts Isaac, Garet, and Jenna about the strangers Saturos and Menardi.
Kraden ponders this situation when Isaac, Garet, and Jenna arrive at his cottage shortly after. Having bumped into Saturos and Menardi on their way here, the three young Adepts discuss with Kraden about the pair and suggest that they might be thieves to rob the sanctum, in which case they all should warn the high elders and the villagers. Kraden, however, notes that they don't know how accurate were the things the Mars Adepts told him, and he uses this as an additional reason why they should conduct their own investigation of Sol Sanctum first; if they can confirm from the Mars Adepts' statements that they were in Sol Sanctum previously, they would be able to safely warn Vale. So, Kraden and his three students sneak past the elders and enter Sol Sanctum to commence their investigation.
Kraden's group explores Sol Sanctum and, thanks to Isaac's Psynergy and the information Kraden received from Saturos and Menardi earlier, is able to delve deeper into it than previously possible. Close to the end, they have seen enough that they can tell Saturos and Menardi intend to rob the sanctum, but Kraden, since he is so deep in the sanctum and so close to its great secrets, cannot resist proposing they should explore a little further. They end up gaining access to the Elemental Star Chamber at the heart of Mt. Aleph by solving a puzzle that could have been a deadly trap, and Kraden can hardly contain himself as he observes the very four Elemental Stars situated on their pedestals. He tells his students about how each of the Stars contain the purified essence of each element, and how the four elements together make up all reality and how that can be manipulated by something known as the Stone of Sages. By now Kraden's curiosity and excitement has overcome his better judgment enough that he orders Isaac and Garet to remove each Star from its pedestal and place them in Mythril Bags he prepared for just such an event.
Kraden is overcome with excitment upon entering the Elemental Star Chamber and seeing the four Elemental Stars before them.
Fate plays a hand by the time Isaac and Garet have collected the Mercury Star, Venus Star, and Jupiter Star: Saturos and Menardi themselves arrive into the chamber and hold Jenna and Kraden hostage, and demand Isaac and Garet to give them the Elemental Stars. Kraden calls them thieves, which the pair finds humorously ironic because it was Kraden who had stolen their information on how to explore Sol Sanctum deeper and further in the first place. The pair brings in two accomplices, a Mercury Adept named Alex and a young man in a mask, who assures the hostages that they won't be hurt if they comply and give them the Elemental Stars; when Kraden asks for what guarantee they might have of this, Menardi obliges and orders the man to remove his mask and reveal his identity: Felix, Jenna's brother, revealed to have survived the disaster three years ago because they were rescued by Saturos and Menardi, and he is now sworn to serve Saturos' cause. Everybody, especially Jenna, is shocked enough into submission by this that Isaac and Garet agree to hand the three Stars they have to Saturos' group.
When Isaac and Garet remove the last Star from its pedestal, the entire area suddenly quakes under the influence of an ensuing volcanic eruption, and a powerful boulder-like entity emerges into view, which Kraden is able to identify as the Wise One from the healers' tales at Vale. Saturos and his group must flee to rescue themselves, even though this means leaving Isaac and Garet behind to potentially die and the Mars Star to be lost with them. They take Kraden and Jenna with them as captive members; they were going to press-gang Kraden into their group to begin with because his knowledge of everything about Alchemy would make him an important asset on their objective, which is nothing less than using each Elemental Star to activate the four Elemental Lighthouses situated across the world and break the seal on Alchemy. They also take Jenna with them because, if Isaac and Garet survive the volcanic eruption, they will pursue Saturos to try to get Jenna back, at which point Saturos can relieve the Mars Star from Isaac's possession by force. With all things measured and considered, Saturos, Menardi, Alex, Felix, Jenna, and Kraden flee Mt. Aleph and immediately begin on their worldwide journey.
The Mercury and Venus Lighthouses
Kraden, now a hostage to Saturos and Menardi, calls out to Isaac's group as he and Jenna are taken away.
Kraden and Jenna are obviously none too happy with being held as captive traveling party members of Saturos' group and what fate has potentially fallen their friends Isaac and Garet, and Kraden must be feeling intense guilt for having had the idea to invade the sanctum which ended up causing a volcanic eruption. Saturos initially leads the group towards the nearest lighthouse, Mercury Lighthouse, passing through the town Vault and Goma Range along the way. Upon reaching the lighthouse, Alex admits them entry into the building with his Mercury powers, and he and Saturos eventually light the Mercury Beacon with the Mercury Star, but right then and there Isaac and Garet and their own party of Adepts comprised of Ivan and Mia arrives to confront them. Kraden and Jenna call out to Isaac and call on him not to die before they are whisked away from the lighthouse by Menardi and Felix, leaving Saturos and Alex to take care of Isaac's group. When Alex and Saturos rejoin the rest of the group shortly after Mercury Lighthouse, however, it is NOT because they destroyed Isaac's party; Isaac and his companions have grown strong enough already to defeat Saturos four-to-one, and Alex was forced to carry him away from the Lighthouse.
In the extended period of time to come, Saturos' group travels all across Angara, along the way either directly or indirectly causing problems for the various towns and locations they go through to impede the progress of Isaac's pursuing party. Saturos and his band eventually pass by the town of Kalay at southwestern Angara and take a ferry service across the Karagol Sea to the continent Gondowan, where the next lighthouse, the Venus Lighthouse, is located. Whether they stop by Kraden's hometown of Tolbi before traveling southeast in the lighthouse's direction is unspecified. While they travel through the Suhalla Desert in the Lighthouse's direction, Saturos happens upon the young girl Sheba lost in the desert, and he and Menardi take her captive just like they did with Jenna and Kraden; Felix at this point begins to mount objections against Saturos' procedures in response to their kidnapping yet another uninvolved party.
Kraden, Jenna, and Alex are faced with soldiers from Tolbi and Lalivero demanding that Sheba be handed back from their group's grasp.
Soon Saturos' band enters and explores Venus Lighthouse. Saturos and Menardi take Sheba with them to the top as they order Felix and Alex to lead Jenna and Kraden outside to Idejima, the place where Menardi moored their Lemurian Ship a long while back. Felix, however, decides to head back up to the aerie to confront Saturos over the involvement of Sheba in their quest, and leaves Alex to lead Jenna and Kraden out. Jenna, Alex, and Kraden exit Venus Lighthouse, however, to be greeted by large groups of soldiers and ruffians from the settlements of Tolbi and Lalivero, who want to take Sheba back from the group's grasp. While Alex holds off the Tolbi soldiers, Jenna fights her way through and Kraden accompanies her to Idejima to await Felix, Saturos, Menardi, and Sheba. As soon as Alex rejoins Kraden and Jenna, however, they immediately notice that the lighthouse oddly has not been lit.
Very shortly afterwards, however, the lighthouse's Venus Beacon does get activated. But the structure soon generates a violent earthquake, which tears a rift through the mountain range that separates Idejima from the rest of the Gondowan mainland, turning it into a buoyant island which begins literally floating out east into the Great Eastern Sea. Kraden, Jenna, and Alex are marooned on Idejima as a result of rather fantastic circumstances, and there is nothing they can do for the time being but wait. A period of time later, however, Felix and Sheba wash up ashore, alive but unconscious, to everyone's great surprise.
In Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Kraden is present for most cutscenes that occur in this game. Even though he technically accompanies Felix and his party all throughout The Lost Age, he is not a playable party member and does not even have any effect on the actual gameplay.
In search of a ship
Kraden, Jenna, and Alex are marooned together on the buoyant island of Idejima for the time being.
On the floating island of Idejima, Felix and Sheba regain their senses and report to Jenna, Alex, and Kraden that Isaac and his group had arrived to the top of Venus Lighthouse to confront Saturos and Menardi, and that they have in fact killed the Mars Adepts in direct combat. Kraden and everyone else are considerably surprised at this news. But now, everyone attempts to gather their thoughts: If the five of them are to continue their quest to activate the Jupiter and Mars Lighthouses, they will need to find a ship they can use, since Menardi's ship on the island is now useless to them since they don't have Saturos' Black Orb anymore (a Lemurian Ship can only be commandeered when a Black Orb is present to power the ship).
But as for the matter of getting off the island, they soon find that they are passing by the continent of Indra to the south, but they are not going to collide with it. Their problem is effectively solved by a global disaster: The tidal wave originates from the Sea of Time in the middle of the Great Eastern Sea in response to the fact that two of the four Lighthouses are now lit, and the wave washes over Idejima, Indra, lower Gondowan, and the continent Osenia, causing Idejima to be driven into the north end of Indra and the entire continent of Indra itself to shift southwest and effectively sandwich itself between Gondowan and Osenia. Everyone is knocked unconscious by the wave but manages to survive without injuries.
When everyone comes to, they find that Alex has disappeared, presumably to look for a ship. Felix becomes the de facto leader of his remaining group of adventurers, consisting of Jenna, Sheba, and Kraden, and they set out south into the new continent in their own search for a ship. The reason Felix and the others are set on continuing Saturos' original objective, and Kraden is entirely willing to support them the whole way, is because Felix and Jenna's parents and Kyle are, in fact, alive and well at Saturos' hometown of Prox far to the north. Saturos had originally made a deal with Felix: Prox would keep the parents "imprisoned" at their town until the quest to light the four Elemental Lighthouses is complete. So, Felix and Jenna journey to break Alchemy's seal so as to win their parents' freedom. Sheba accompanies claiming it is her destiny to do so, and Kraden accompanies them believing this is his great opportunity to continue his global search for information and discoveries about Alchemy in general.
Kraden, seeing the ice pillar that results from the Frost Psynergy, realizes that Piers in the jail is an Adept.
Kraden, for much of The Lost Age, mainly figures into the overall plot as merely a traveling companion that functions as one of Felix's "voices" in interactions with others, along with Jenna and Sheba, and is essentially the voice of wisdom and an information dispenser. Kraden demonstrates a remarkable degree of vitality and stamina for his age in that he is able to travel with Felix across entire continents on foot, and he is able to join the others in exploring dungeons and locations such as Air's Rock. Whenever Felix and the other Adepts find themselves in a physical battle with wild monsters and whatnot, Kraden merely stands aside to avoid getting hurt.
The party of Adepts and one scholar pass by a Lemurian Ship just like Menardi possessed, but just like before they wouldn't be able to use it because they lack a Black Orb. So they come to a town named Madra, where they see that a man named Piers has been locked up on the false accusation that he is affiliated with the pirate Briggs. They see he is a Mercury Adept, and Kraden suggests they should learn more about him, which eventually leads to Felix's decision to travel to where Briggs was last seen headed toward, the town of Alhafra on Osenia. After Felix's group has their run-in with Briggs and comes out of it having secured Briggs vow that he's not affiliated with any "Piers", and after a thorough exploration of Osenia, they travel back to Madra.
During the period of time when Felix's party is in Osenia, they catch sight of a werewolf. This shocks and excites Kraden: Apparently he knows about a reclusive society somewhere in the world that is born with special powers not unlike Adepts, but have their powers derived from beasts instead of elements, and thus they take the forms of humanoid wolves. Sheba points out how odd it is that Kraden could have known about them if there's only werewolves in Osenia, and Kraden is reluctant enough to give an answer that he snaps back and merely declares he's happy to find werewolves and get a closer look at them. When they reach the town, Garoh, they meet with its ruling figure, a werewolf named Maha, who is very much an aged intellectual and theorist just like Kraden, and the two enjoy discussing things with each other.
Felix's party and Kraden catch up with Piers and agree to help him so that he may bring him to his hometown of Lemuria.
The party returns to Madra only to find that the town was attacked once again, this time by warriors from the Kibombo tribe in lower Gondowan, which stole one of Piers' possessions, and as they retreated Piers was set free from his prison and he immediately pursued them into lower Gondowan. Felix and Kraden decide to follow Piers into Gondowan, and upon meeting Piers, they introduce themselves and discover Piers is, to Kraden's great surprise, a former resident of Lemuria itself. Piers is the one in command of the Lemurian Ship Felix saw on Indra, and his objective is to return to Lemuria since being driven out of there by the tidal wave. Kraden insists that Felix and his party help Piers retrieve his Black Orb from the Kibombo, so that they may all journey to Lemuria itself together; Piers initially states he cannot permit it because Babi is viewed with disdain by the Lemurians for his stealing a Lemurian ship from their isle long ago, but Kraden insists it is not just for Babi's sake; as a scholar, he wants to see the influence of Alchemy present in Lemuria for himself. For the time being the party helps Piers get his Orb back.
Following that episode, Felix and Piers return to the beached Lemurian Ship and clean out the sea monsters infesting it before setting out to sea with the Black Orb. By this point Piers has decided that it would be okay for them to go to Lemuria together because they have proven themselves virtuous, to Kraden's great happiness.
The Great Eastern Sea and Lemuria
Kraden is told by Alex the news that his former master Babi has passed away in Tolbi.
Felix, Kraden, Jenna, Sheba, and their newest companion Piers, sailing upon Piers' ship, proceed on an extremely lengthy, ocean-spanning expedition to explore all the lands and locales of Weyard and expand their Psynergy capabilities and knowledge.
At one point in their trek, however, in the seaside town Champa they encounter Alex - but this time, he is accompanied by a new pair of Proxean Mars Adept warriors, Karst and Agatio, and they have come to intimidate Felix's group into hastening their effort to make their way to the Jupiter Lighthouse and eventually light it with the Jupiter Star in Felix's possession. Alex, before leaving, also remembers to tell Kraden a piece of most disconcerting news he picked up: Babi, lord of Tolbi and Kraden's master figure, has passed away. Kraden is very much taken aback, and the others realize that technically Kraden has no further reason to keep on putting his life at risk in accompanying Felix's quest anymore since he no longer has to conduct research on Alchemy for Babi's sake. But Kraden assures this is not the case: By this point, he has created a theory on Alchemy which he has only discussed with Felix previously, and hopes that he can confirm it once they make it into Lemuria in the future. Kraden promises the others that he will let them in in on his theory once they arrive there.
The party eventually manages to sail their ship into the heart of the Sea of Time and reach Lemuria, and Kraden's excitement peaks as they enter the lost isle and society. While they wait for their opportunity to seek counsel with the Lemurian king Hydros, they meet with Piers' uncle, then meet with the famous Lunpa the Righteous Thief, the man who originally sailed with Babi before they discovered Lemuria, and who was left behind while Babi escaped. In their discussion about Alchemy, Kraden takes the opportunity to reveal to the others his theory about Alchemy: he believes that alchemy's absence over the past ages is the reason the great civilizations of old have declined to practically nothingness, and as such is why the world nowadays feels so isolated and decayed culturally. Kraden is startled when Lunpa tells him that both he and Hydros have long held the same theory, and Lunpa tells him that that is not the only effect the absence of Alchemy has had on the world. Lunpa and Felix and Kraden's party bring themselves to Hydros' chambers in Lemuria's palace so that they can hear the rest from the king himself.
Kraden shares his theory with king Hydros and Lunpa that civilization, and the physical world itself, has been declining without Alchemy to sustain it.
Hydros first displays and discusses a map of Weyard as it was in the ancient past, and how it compares to the world map Lunpa had when he had first come to Lemuria over a century ago. Lunpa's map is quite different and appears to depict smaller continents. Piers, having been able to explore much of the Great Eastern Sea with Felix, reports that Lunpa's map is the more accurate of the two, but today the continents seem even smaller. This evidence points to a conclusion that shocks everyone: The world of Weyard has been physically withering and decreasing in size over the past ages because Alchemy, which is in fact the nourishment that sustains Weyard as an entity with a life force, has been sealed away since the ancient past. So, Hydros believes that the only possibility of averting the eventual but certain destruction of the world is to activate the Elemental Lighthouses, which Felix and Kraden have already achieved two of by this point. Felix and his party leave Lemuria on this note, their objective even more important to the world's welfare than what they previously imagined, and they sail into the Great Western Sea in the direction of their next Lighthouse, Jupiter Lighthouse.
Jupiter and Mars Lighthouse
Kraden continues to accompany and advise Felix's party of Adepts and is present at every event Felix's group takes part in up until the game's end. He is there when the party makes it to Jupiter Lighthouse, activates it, and saves Isaac's pursuing party from Karst and Agatio, who attempt to kill Isaac's group in retaliation for Isaac's killing of Saturos and Menardi at Venus Lighthouse. Then the two parties hold a meeting in nearby Contigo, and Kraden helps with mediation and explaining to Isaac's side the reasons why Felix and Jenna are on this quest and why it is so important for the welfare of the world. As a result, Isaac swears his full support to Felix's quest and the two parties join forces.
As the combined group of Adepts depart for the last leg of their journey up to Mars Lighthouse, Sheba expresses sadness over how she was unable to find any answers about her unknown past she had expected to find on her trip to Jupiter Lighthouse. Kraden consoles her by explaining how he had a somewhat similar early-life situation where he was taken from his parents and hometown by Babi at an extremely early age, and thus had never known the comforts of a true home.
As the party of Adepts begins to battle the Wise One's creation, Kraden realizes what exactly it is but unsuccessfully tells them to stop.
The party eventually makes it to Prox, the hometown of Saturos, Menardi, Karst, and Agatio, and soon climbs Mars Lighthouse nearby, as the last lighthouse on their quest to break Alchemy's seal. At the Mars Lighthouse Aerie, the party is suddenly confronted by none other than the Wise One, who originally tasked Isaac and Garet to prevent the Elemental Stars from being used to activate the Elemental Lighthouses. The Wise One demands to know why Isaac has disobeyed his command, and Kraden joins everyone else in explaining everything they now know about how the world would be destroyed if they don't bring Alchemy back. The Wise One counters with the scenario that mankind may very well destroy Weyard themselves if mankind has a hold of such power, stating that in time, one man will seek to rule over all with Alchemy's powers, which is an inescapable facet of human nature. But even after the Wise One reveals that the entire effort of the Adepts to restore Alchemy has been taken advantage of by the Water Adept, Alex, who is now at Mt. Aleph awaiting the restoration of Alchemy to occur there so that he can gain supreme power for himself, none of the Adepts lose their resolve in declaring that the beacon must be lit in order to save Weyard.
The Wise One, proclaiming that they can only light the beacon if they can "defeat a miracle", summons a colossal dragon with three heads to battle them. As the Adepts charge into battle and engage in a spectacular clash with the beast, Kraden recalls how Isaac fought a dragon with two heads at the aerie of Venus Lighthouse that was really Saturos and Menardi merged together, and it dawns on him the true identity of this dragon, but he fruitlessly calls on the Adepts to refrain from killing the monster. When the dragon is defeated, the Adepts are every bit as surprised to see it transform into the bodies of three adults as Kraden is not surprised. Kraden explains that the Wise One, in a last-ditch attempt to dissuade them from lighting Mars Lighthouse, played a cruel, wretched trick on them instead. The Adepts are thunderstruck to discover that they have been deceived into killing none other than Isaac's father Kyle and Felix and Jenna's parents.
As the Adepts mourn, Kraden attempts to console Jenna by explaining that, because of the way the parents were forcibly transformed into a dragon, they would not have survived in the end even if the Adepts lost the battle. Isaac then declares that he could tell who he was fighting even before the battle started, but he went through with the battle anyway because what they have done now was to defy the Wise One in order to save the entire world; Kyle and the other parents would understand that, and Jenna and the others find it in themselves to agree that they they finished this quest to bring back alchemy not for just themselves. With the quest almost at its conclusion, Felix casts the Mars Star into the Mars Lighthouse's well.
Kraden (second from left) looks on as the Adepts (Ivan, Mia, and Garet are pictured) celebrate the survival of the townspeople of Vale.
With the Mars Lighthouse now lit, the process that will give shape to the Stone of Sages and herald the return of Alchemy to all of Weyard begins in earnest. As each Lighthouse is now unleashing immense energy of their respective elements, all of the Adepts present at the aerie of Mars Lighthouse absorb great deals of raw elemental power, but more importantly the bodies of the fallen parents as well, miraculously rekindling their life force. Kraden, Felix, Isaac, and their party transport their parents and themselves down out of the Lighthouse and across the quaking landscape back towards Prox, and the Proxeans nurse the parents back to health.
Kraden, Felix, and Isaac are personally thanked by the Elder of Prox and the town's chieftain Puelle for saving both their town and the entire world, and for effectively bringing about a new, golden age where Alchemy may once again reign supreme. They discuss what might have happened to Vale physically because of all the energy that was released above the town at Mt. Aleph, as well as how they might have to deal with Alex in the future. As the Adepts and their parents board the Lemurian Ship to sail back home to Vale, Isaac asks Kraden why the Wise One made the Adepts fight their parents if he knew they would be revived by the light of Mars Lighthouse's beacon. Kraden can only hazard a guess as to the entity's unfathomable motivation all along: The Wise One's actions were all part of his grand scheme to test Isaac, Felix, and their friends as individuals capable of the great responsibility of ensuring that throughout the world, Alchemy is not abused and used for evil. The Lost Age ends when everyone returns to Vale to find it has been destroyed by the release of Alchemy from Mt. Aleph, but all of its townspeople survived because they were warned away by the Wise One beforehand.
Trivia
- In the second The Lost Age Debug Room, "Psynergy Test", a Kraden NPC stands two spaces to the right of a flame. Cast Blaze on the flame to shoot fire upon Kraden, and he will generate a "!" icon, hop twice, yell "GAH!", move two spaces up and left, generate a "head bump of annoyance" icon, hop twice again, and yell "What are you doing???" Now move below the flame and cast blaze again, and Kraden will exclaim "YARG!" and move back to his original position in exactly the same fashion, yelling "What are you doing???" again. You may apply the incendiary treatment upon the elderly scholar as many times as you might desire.
Hidden "angry" scene in The Lost Age
Kraden has some hidden, hard-to-view lines of dialogue included as a sort of Easter egg in Golden Sun: The Lost Age that occurs if, throughout your quest up until you get to Lemuria, you give specific answers to specific yes/no questions in cutscenes. Ordinarily, when you first arrive in Lemuria and encounter the two guards that only let you into the city after an extended cutscene, when one guard asks "Do we have your word?" your answer will cause either of these responses from Kraden right before Piers says "Oh hush. I'll keep a close eye on them. You have nothing to fear.":
- (Yes) "Ooo! Ooo! Finally! What could be waiting for me in Lemuria? I can't wait another moment!"
- (No) "We've come a long way to see Lemuria. I won't have anything ruin it for me now!"
A shot of Kraden completely losing it over Felix's continued disagreement on anything relating to the completion of his quest.
However, in the game's story arc that spans Indra, Osenia, and Lower Gondowan all the way up until you gain the Lemurian Ship, if you answer "no" to certain cutscene questions, then at that scene in front of Lemuria the available yes-no responses Kraden will give will be different. The latter response is understandably the more well-known of the two:
- (Yes) "But thank you for speaking honestly. Sometimes, you can say the weirdest things... I was actually a little bit worried, to tell you truly."
- (No) (Hops twice) "What!? Are you INSANE!? Or maybe you think you're funny? Because you're not! Maybe this whole quest is just a game to you, but it's not to me! Are you bored!? Do you want to go home!? FINE! That's it! Then let's go home!"
Pretty much the only way you can ensure this happens is that in every cutscene that occurs up until you set sail into the Great Eastern Sea for the first time, you always give to every yes/no question the answer that even remotely seems like it would be in disagreement with Kraden and/or the party's objective to bring back Alchemy to the world. Example answers include, but are possibly not limited to:
- At Idejima right before leaving it to begin the game's main quest, say no when Jenna asks "Is that where we're going, Felix?"
- In Kandorean Temple when talking with Master Poi, say no when Kraden asks "Felix, am I imagining it, or does he seem perturbed?", when Kraden asks "Lash looks quite a bit like Psynergy, doesn't it?", and when Kraden asks "Felix, do you think this cave was designed to test one's control of Psynergy?"
- At East Indra Shore, say no when Kraden asks "Do you think it could have drifted here?"
- At Madra's jail, say no when Kraden asks "This man... He must be an Adept!"
- At Garoh, say yes when Jenna asks "Is it just me... Or does Kraden seem a little TOO happy to have found werewolves?"
- At Alhafra, in the scene right before the boss battle with Briggs, say no when Kraden asks "Isn't that right, Felix?" After the battle, when talking with the Mayor of Madra, say yes when Kraden asks "Oh, pish posh! We don't need any reward, do we, Felix?"
- At Kibombo, in the scene where the party meets Piers in person, say no when Jenna asks "We've got to help Piers. Right, Felix?", when Piers asks "That power... Was that Psynergy?", and when Kraden asks "I want to aid Piers so that he will take us to Lemuria... What do you say, Felix?"
- In the Gabomba Statue, say yes when Kraden asks "Felix... Do you have any idea exactly what this "Great Gabomba" really is?" and no when Kraden asks "Wouldn't it be quite fortunate if we were to get our hands on that power ourselves?"
- At East Indra Shore before returning to Madra to encounter Karst, say no when Kraden asks "And if not, well, we'll just have to get ourselves a boat and find our own way to Lemuria. Right, Felix?"and when Kraden asks "What do you say, Felix? Shall we go see the mayor?"
Quotes
- In Vale:
- Menardi: "Kraden... Can we use him?"
- Saturos: "Hmmm... His knowledge is no meager thing. ...We can use him."
- Menardi: "But he's more stubborn than we expected..."
- Saturos: "And cunning, too... Cunning beyond measure."
- Kraden: "The elements of Alchemy: earth, water, fire, and wind... They plan to set them into motion? And the four Elemental Stars are the key? These are things even I, a trained Alchemy sage, do not know."
- Garet: "...Do you mean we should go into Sol Sanctum ourselves?"
- Jenna: "Isn't that impossible?"
- Kraden: "Why would it be? Just because climbing Mt. Aleph is forbidden?" (If Isaac says yes) "We're just going to see whether they've been to the mountain. Surely, that would be acceptable!"
- In Sol Sanctum:
- Kraden: "We've come all the way to the heart of Sol Sanctum. To turn our backs on it and leave..."
- Garet: "There's something wrong with that?"
- Kraden: "Sol Sanctum holds the origins of Alchemy. It would be a waste to... What do you think? Shall we go a little farther?" (If Isaac says no) "Then you can all go back to the village without me."
- Jenna: "If you put it that way, we don't have much choice."
- Kraden: (In the Elemental Star Chamber) "As I have told you many times, the elements are the source of all matter. Earth, water, fire, and wind--these are the four elements. Legend holds that the four Elemental Stars contain the purified essence of each element. And now, those legendary stones are before us! The Venus Star... the elemental stone of earth! Mercury Star, possessing the power of water's many forms! There is the Mars Star, glowing red with the fire contained within! And Jupiter Star, bound with the wind's fury!!!"
- Jenna: "Kraden... Why are you getting so excited?"
- Kraden: "How can you be so calm in the face of such wonders!? You're looking at the very source of all Alchemy!"
- Kraden: "Do what you will with me. Just let Jenna go!"
- Saturos: "Your bravery speaks well of you, old man, but you cannot help Jenna now."
- In Gateway Cave:
- Kraden: (After Jenna defeats a wild Punch Ant) "My! That was invigorating! He wasn't too strong... I never knew fighting could be so fun! Ah, but we'd better get on to the peninsula..."
- On Idejima:
- Kraden: (Referring to Menardi's Lemurian Ship) "At first glance, it seems like a normal ship, but... There's something odd about it..." (Darts onto the ship)
- Jenna: "Kraden, wait! Oh, I swear! You're like a kid with a new toy!"
- Jenna: (Idejima has now broken away from the mainland and is floating east out to sea. Jenna and Kraden are lying down on their backs passing time) "Oh, Kraden... How long will this island continue to drift?"
- Kraden: "I don't know... I wish you could tell me."
- Jenna: "Sheesh... You're no help in times like this."
- Kraden: "Hey, I'm hungry..."
- Jenna: "How can you even think about food?"
- Sheba: "Nobody knows what lies beyond the Eastern Sea."
- Kraden: "Unfortunately, I am a student of Alchemy, not geography..."
- In Kandorean Temple:
- Kraden: "Felix, do you think this cave was designed to test one's control of Psynergy?"
- Poi: (If Felix says no) "You are quite mistaken... You should listen to the old man. He speaks wisely."
- Kraden: "Tha--HEY! Who are you calling an old man? You're no schoolboy yourself!"
- In Alhafra:
- Kraden: (To Briggs) "Oh-ho! I was hoping we could avoid any ugliness, but you leave us no choice! We'll bring you in against your will if we must, but either way, you're coming with us! Isn't that right, Felix?"
- Kraden: (To the Mayor of Madra) "Oh, pish posh! We don't need any reward, do we, Felix?"
- Kraden: "So... Maybe we should start searching for another ship then... ...Not that I was planning on "borrowing" the Madran's ship!"
- In Garoh:
- Kraden: "Adepts borrow their abilities from the power of the elements... While lycanthropes borrow theirs from the power of beasts... This is why they take the forms of animals... They may look frightening... But we must try to communicate with them. Lycanthropes... Werewolves... A whole village in hiding..."
- Jenna: "Is it just me... Or does Kraden seem a little TOO happy to have found werewolves?"
- Kraden: (If Felix says yes) "What? Me? Happy to find werewolves? You must be joking! I guess I'm just curious about all the secrets of these new lands..."
- Jenna: "Any real scholar would be thrilled to explore a new land full of mystery, huh?"
- Sheba: "So, are there werewolves only on Osenia?"
- Kraden: "Ummm..."
- Sheba: "If so, how could you even have known about them, Kraden?"
- Kraden: "Er... I, uh..."
- Jenna: "Yeah... That is weird."
- Kraden: "All right, so I lied! I'm glad we found werewolves! There! Are you happy!? And you know what!? I even want to get a closer look if I can! So let's go! Let's find us some werewolves!"
- Kraden: "Hrmm, well...To be honest, I hadn't thought of it that way before..."
- Maha: "Perhaps you simply did not give it enough thought."
- Kraden: "How insulting! I, sir... am a SCIENTIST!"
- In Kibombo:
- Kraden: "I am on this quest for many reasons... one of them being that I wish to see Lemuria. If you would allow it, that is... I'd like to visit Lemuria myself."
- Piers: "If this is something you would do for Babi, then I cannot permit it."
- Kraden: "What? Why not?"
- Piers: "Babi is a thief. He is not well loved in Lemuria."
- Kraden: "It is partially on behalf of Babi... ...but there's more to it than that! I want to go to Lemuria so that I can see the full power of Alchemy! I want to aid Piers so that he will take us to Lemuria... What do you say, Felix?" (If Felix says no) "Why, Felix? Why? Please, we simply have to!"
- Kraden: "Felix... Do you have any idea exactly what this "Great Gabomba" really is?" (If Felix says yes) "If you have unraveled that which I cannot, then perhaps you are the greater scholar. But doesn't this witch doctor magic seem not unlike some kind of Psynergy? Wouldn't it be quite fortunate if we were to get our hands on that power ourselves?" (If Felix says yes) "Oh! You didn't need much convincing at all, did you, Felix? I needn't remind you, but... We're going to need every kind of Psynergy we can muster to complete this quest..."
- At East Indra Shore:
- Kraden: "Well? Well!? It's not nice to test the patience of an old man. Will you take us or not?"
- Piers: "We will go to Lemuria, Kraden."
- Kraden: "I figured it was too much to... What did you just say!?"
- Piers: "I will take you to Lemuria." (Kraden visibly shakes with glee)
- Jenna: "Kraden? Are you OK?"
- Piers: "Is he OK!?"
- Kraden: "Piers! Are you... Are you serious?"
- On the Lemurian Ship:
- Kraden: "Then it's decided!"
- Piers: "What's decided?"
- Kraden: "The sea is vast... We can go wherever we please! So, let's explore a bit, Felix!"
- Back in Alhafra:
- Kraden: (In regards to the Mayor of Alhafra and the tantrum he just threw over Briggs stealing his ship) "What an awful person. Do you suppose he's always this self-centered?" (If Felix says yes) "Yes, he's terribly irritating. You're quite right, Felix. I'll wager Briggs is returning to Champa, personally. Well, it doesn't matter. I think I've had enough of this town. Shall we be leaving?"
- At Lemuria:
- Kraden: "So, you people really take your kings seriously, don't you?"
- Guard #1: "Insolent pup! Do not dishonor the king of Lemuria! We are peaceful, but quick to anger!"
- Kraden: "Pup? I must be twice your age! Who are you calling "pup"?"
- Guard #2: "You wish to see Lemuria, and yet you know so little of us! I am far older than you. Show respect!"
- Kraden: "Pah! Older than me?! Inconceivable!"
- Piers: "Er... Actually, Kraden, these two are perhaps older than all of you combined... Babi must have spoken of this to you. In Lemuria, time passes quite slowly."
- Kraden: "Ah... Well...I suppose I recall something of that sort or another... Maybe... But to imagine for a moment that these two gentlemen are older than I am? It's a bit much! But perhaps I was rude, and I hope you accept my apology. My ignorance misled me."
- Kraden: "What a fascinating coincidence! We've stumbled across Pier's uncle's house!"
- On Jupiter Lighthouse:
- Isaac: "All right, Felix! We want to know what's going on!"
- Kraden: "It's all quite complicated, Isaac. There are a number of extenuating circumstances."
- Garet: "What are you talking about, Kraden?"
- In Contigo:
- Isaac: "Wait for the end of the world to come or wind up accidentally triggering it ourselves... What a choice..."
- Kraden: "Nothing is certain. There is no way to prevent the world from reaching its natural end. However, we can fight to save the world from withering away due to the actions of men."
- On the Lemurian Ship:
- Kraden: "Sheba, you may not know this, but you and I are very similar..."
- Sheba: "What do you mean?"
- Kraden: "Well, it's not exactly the same situation, but... I was born in a poor village. My memories are hazy, but I still remember it. I was only four when Babi took me under his wing. You see, even though I was young, I was quite intelligent. Babi had heard about me..."
- Isaac: "And Babi took you to Tolbi to further your education, to raise you as a scholar..."
- Kraden: "I was separated from my parents so early in life... I've never known the comforts of a true home."
- Sheba: "Faran has always been like a father to me... I must have been very lucky."
- Kraden: "I should say so."
- Sheba: "Thank you, Kraden... I feel better now..."
- Kraden: "I'm glad I could help."
- In Prox:
- Kraden: "We've climbed three lighthouses already... What's one more? Let's go to Mars Lighthouse!"
- On Mars Lighthouse:
- Kraden: "Wise One! You can't continue to protect the lighthouses! You know what's happening! It is your duty to protect all of Weyard! If Weyard is destroyed, you will have failed us all!"
- Kraden: "Both Kyle and your parents were very dear to me. My sorrow joins yours, friends. We must light the beacon, if for no other reason than to provide them with a proper funeral."
- Kraden: (If Felix tries to run away from the aerie) "Do not let your sadness overwhelm you, Felix! Go! Once the beacon been ignited, you can mourn as much as you need. I will protect you."
- Back in Prox:
- Kraden: "You know, I shall always regret that I didn't get to look upon the beacon's light from afar..."
- Elder of Prox: "I understand your regret... As a scholar of Alchemy, you would have been most impressed."
- Elder of Prox: "Our village will not soon forget that you saved us from the edge of destruction. Do visit us again."
- Kraden: "When that time comes, I may no longer be in this world."
- Puelle: "Don't say such things... I'm sure a long life awaits you."
- Kraden: "This ancient ship of ours actually flies above the ocean... It's quite a cozy ride."
- Kraden: "What's the matter, boys? Are you reluctant to depart?" (If Felix says yes) "After all that we've been through, you can't possibly be nervous about this small trip!"
- Isaac: "Kraden... Why did the Wise One change our parents into a dragon? Why did he make us fight them? I mean, we almost killed them... He tried to make us kill our own parents. Why?"
- Kraden: "Do you think that he intended for them to die from the start?" (If Felix says yes) "I cannot speak for him, but I think he knew that they would be revived by the beacon's light. We cannot hope to fathom the motives of a being as all-powerful as the Wise One..."
- Isaac: "You don't know either, Kraden?"
- Kraden: "I can only hazard a guess... The Wise One... wanted to test you."
- Isaac: "What do you mean, test us?"
- Kraden: "I cannot tell you more... It is up to you to find the answer. Will we use Alchemy to wage war, to raise armies? Or will we use it to grow wise, to rise above our petty feuds and perform great deeds? You were willing to sacrifice everything for this quest. I'd say you've risen to this challenge. Oops! Is everyone else that far ahead of us? We'd better hurry and catch up to the others before they leave us behind! After all, I'm not terribly interested in trying to walk all the way back to Vale. If you feel the same, then we'd better be hurrying. Isaac! Felix! We're off!"
In fan circles
Kraden is a popular character in the fandom for his blend of snarkiness and gentlemanly demeanor, and for his oftentimes warm, grandfatherly role to the rest of the younger main characters. He is noted for being just as important to the overall series' plot as a lot of the playable party members, appearing in most cutscenes and contributing to their plot progression, prompting suggestion that he could be considered one of the various main characters of the games. Since he is in a vastly different age group from the rest of the game's cast, he is hardly involved in the various shipping scenes.
Kraden was adopted as the mascot of the Golden Sun community message board, The Temple of Kraden, and the members there make it an endearing tradition to revere him as a godlike figure with comically extreme devotion. RyuKenshin, author of the infamous mock Wheat Sword FAQ and prominent member of the Temple, created a FAQ in a similar vein describing a method on how to get Kraden as a playable character in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Though it is clearly impossible to achieve this in the actual games, the FAQ is nonetheless reprinted here