He was once a star pupil of Gotoh, along with Miloah, but due to his lack of a caring heart, he was disqualified to become the inheritor of the Aura spell. Out of jealousy, Gharnef stole the Darksphere, which twisted his soul, and crafted from it the spell Imhullu. Sometime afterwards, he visited an orphanage ravaged by war and used the feelings of despair in Eremiya, the orphanage's bishop, to wipe her memories and bewitch her to put other orphans through brutal training to become assassins. Eventually, he put his plans into motion. He took over Khadein by killing Miloah, revived Medeus and his Doluna Empire, and manipulated Michalis into killing his father by spreading a rumor that King Osmond was planning to choose Minerva as his successor. He worked with Doluna and their allies to conquer the world, although he planned to eventually betray them in the end and crush Medeus with the Imhullu spell and the Falchion. He led the attack on Altea (and may have been the one to kill Marth's father Cornelius) in order to gain the Falchion and kidnap Elice, so that he could gain use of the Aum Staff. However, Marth later defeated him and slew Medeus, but Gharnef survived by hiding his soul in the Darksphere.
When he heard about Hardin's sorrow, Gharnef disguised himself as a merchant and offered him the Darksphere, which twisted his soul. By using Arkaneia's army and Eremiya's assassins, he then gathered four noble sisters, Lena, Maria, Nyna, and Elice, to be sacrificed for Medeus' revival. A member of Marth's army eventually killed him once again with the Starlight spell and thwarted his plan.
“You dare to oppose me, fool? You must not value your life. Cower before the might of the magic Imhullu: once forbidden, now unleashed!”
— Gharnef's battle quote in Chapter 15 in Shadow Dragon
“Agh! What... Where did you get...Starlight...? Still, you are a fool...Your power is not enough to defeat Medeus...I shall be waiting in the pits of the inferno...for when he sends you to join me... Heh heh, ha ha ha!”
—Gharnef's death quote in Shadow Dragon
“Haha... It’s already too late... This world is done for...”
—Gharnef's death quote in Monsho no Nazo book 2
In the original Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi and its remakes and sequels, there was the bishop Gharnef, who caused the events of the game and manipulated several to achieve his goals. Since then, a Dark Magic user or Bishop has usually manipulated the events of the game, usually being responsible for the main conflict. Also, they are usually defeated just before the final boss, with the only exceptions being Fomortiis and Veld, who are the final bosses of their respective games.
Ephidel - A character and archetype who starts out that Ephidels are manipulators who work on a smaller scale, often manipulating several smaller events to defeat the party. Unlike Gharnefs, however, Ephidels are often commanded by a higher antagonist or, mostly in titles where a Gharnef is present as well, are being manipulated themselves.