In some ways that kind of rewarding the player reflects a lot in some of the characters... sure they are willing to fight and kill to protect their home if need be, but are not “kill them all, let god sort them out” bloodthirsty types.

Yeah Arthur became hands-down the best knight in the game. His stats spike like crazy in his later levels. As for best overall... I think he ties with Bleu, another character you had to work with (but not as much) who turned into an absolute destroyer in his later level stats.

Dear God... Landstalker and Shining Force 2 are two of my all-time favorite games! I still have my Sega Genesis and my copies of Shining Force 1 & 2 that were a large part of my junior high years. I also used to have Wild Arms on my PS1... this article has me on a death march down memory road.

Cyclops was fused with energy powered hero The Ray, who at the time wore a jacket similar to the one in the picture.

That is what I remember hearing too. GL and Batman were allowed to keep most of their continuity in some form or another going into The New 52 due to being the top two superhero book sellers for DC, so they wanted those books to more or less stay the course with just minor adjustments.