"A man of the world. He has been the hero's buddy for more than 10 years. He is good with his hands, and is great with a bow and arrow. His hobby is hunting His favorite food is fish cake."
— In-game description
Bow, known as Bosch Doggy in the Japanese version, is a playable character in Breath of Fire II. He has been Ryu's best friend and travelling companion since childhood, and when the main portion of the game begins, they have settled in HomeTown and taken jobs as Rangers.
A member of the Grassrunner race, Bow becomes Ryu's best friend when they were both children. He uses crossbows in battle and is incredibly proficient with healing spells. Orphaned at a young age, Bow is worldly but has a carefree character. His field ability is "Hunt", which allows the party to acquire food from defeated enemies by his crossbow in hunting ranges.
Bow is the first party member acquired, and is a mandatory party member for the the first part of the game. After completing their first mission as Rangers, Bow gets caught up in a thievery scandal and is wrongfully blamed for the theft at the Trout Mansion. Bow is forced to go into hiding while his friend Ryu sets out to find the real thief and clear Bow's name. This causes Bow to become absent from the party for remainder of the first half of the story, although he can be visited at Township. When he is finally cleared of his thievery charges, Bow rejoins the party. Bow seems to journey with the group primarily due to his deep friendship with Ryu and does not seem directly involved with any of the story elements in the last half of the game.
Bow is more outgoing and energetic than Ryu and enjoys showing off a little, especially when there is an opportunity to impress girls. Despite this, Bow takes his work seriously and proves himself to be strong and resourceful.
In Battle[]
Bow wields a crossbow for his weapon and can equip a decent variety of armor, ranging from robes to heavy armor. He has average stats, but obtains some of the best support and healing spells in the game, making him an ideal group buffer and healer (he is also the only character to learn the potent Cure X spell). Bow's special battle ability is "Shot", where he attempts to critically strike one enemy. The ability has very low accuracy, but guarantees an instant death attack if it connects.
When the right combination of Shamans is joined to Bow, he transforms into an armored knight form. His Shoot ability is faster in the field, and his combat ability changes to "Spray", where he attacks all enemies for low to moderate piercing damage.
Spell list[]
Abilities
Level
Name
In-game description
Effect
AP Cost
2
Cure 1
Recover HP 40 points
Restores 40 HP to one ally.
4
3
CurePsn
Cures poison
Removes Poison, Rotting and Zombie from one ally.
4
6
Def-Up
Raises Defense
Gives one ally Def-Up condition, increasing Defense by 20%.
5
16
Cure 2
HP recovers 100 points
Restores 100 HP to one ally.
7
20
Renew
Recover ability 70 percent
Has a 70% chance of reviving a party member with 1/4th of their HP.
10
23
Heal
Recover bad status
Removes Curse, Poison, Sleep, Rotting and Zombie from one ally.
8
26
Def-UpX
Def. Increases
Gives all allies Def-Up condition, increasing Defense by 20%.