Van is the last remaining member of the royal family in Fanelia. He is stubborn, makes rash decisions, and is extremely brave, to the point of being wreckless. Since his mother was draconian, Van can sprout wings whenever he feels he needs to, though he tries to keep this part of his heritage a secret. He is only 15 and sets off to slay a dragon to become king. Shortly after he completes this task (bringing Hitomi back with him) and becomes King of Fanelia, it is burned to the ground by a Zaibach army. Before leaving Fanelia he takes the Escaflowne, which soon becomes the center of the Zaibach Empire's focus. Van is a fierce fighter in the Escaflowne and is widely feared by any enemy. Even though Van doesn't hesitate to go into battle, he hates the thought of war. He is sometimes rude to Hitomi, but he sometimes seems jealous when Allen spends time with her. He likes to keep Hitomi around because of her powers, but it is revealed that he really does care for her.
Merle
Merle is a 13 year old cat-girl and Van's childhood friend. Since all of Van's family is dead or gone, Merle is like his family. When Hitomi comes to Gaea, Merle becomes very protective of Van and gets jealous whenever she's with him. She loves tormenting Hitomi, but she actually does care about her. Merle is always watching out for Van's safety and comforts him when he's sad.
The Escaflowne is a guymelef thats been in Van's family for years. Van uses it to battle in and it has special abilities that other melefs don't have; like transforming into a flying dragon. It is far more powerful than everyone thinks.
Balgus Ganesha
Balgus is the 70 year old leader of Fanalia's samurai army. He was one of King Goau's closest friend's and when the king dies Balgus helps to raise Van and mentors him to become a samurai and to one day become king of Fanalia. Balgus is on of the legendary Three Swordmasters of Gaea. He also mentored the young Allen Shcezar to become a great swordsmen. Balgus was killed during the battle trying to protect Fanalia from the Zaibach army.
Goau Fanel
Goau was the King of Fanalia. When he met his future wife, Varie, he was not afraid of her, even though he knew she was of the accursed draconian race. He seemed to be a loving and caring man, but he died 12 years ago. He had gotten sick and died when he was only 48.
Varie Fanel
Varie met Goau one night in a lake and said it was fate that they were to meet. One unusual thing about Varie is that she is draconian (a winged people) and it is said that she was the last full blooded draconian. Her and Goau get married and she becomes Queen of Fanalia. She has 2 children, Folken and Van, who she cares for very much. After Goau dies and soon Folken disappears, she wanders into the forest searching for her lost son. That was 10 years ago and everyone has presumed her dead. She later visits Van in spirit form and gives him an energist for the Escaflowne. She also appears in Hitomi's visions to warn her that her pessimistic thoughts are a danger to everyone.
Ruhm
Ruhm is a 25 year old wolf-man who is the leader of the wolf people in Arzas Village. He is a good friend of the Fanalian royal family.
Samurai Generals
There are 3 samurai generals in Fanalia:
72 year old Asona of the Horn Army
60 year old Luva of the Tusk Army
65 year old Yurizen/Hurisen of the Claw Army