History Characters / FireEmblemThreeHousesEdelgard

* CharClone: Has several traits that make her fit the criteria. Wears red? Check. Blonde hair? Platinum blonde but otherwise check. Has a dark and troubled history? Check. Willing to use force to get what she wants? Check. [[spoiler:She even wears a mask as the Flame Emperor and primarily serves as a rival to a heroic blue-themed individual who also happens to be her stepbrother.]]

[-''Main Characters:'' [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesByleth Byleth]] | '''Edelgard''' | [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesDimitri Dimitri]] | [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesClaude Claude]] | [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesRhea Rhea]] | [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesShez Shez]] | [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesOtherMainCharacters Other Main Characters]] \\
''Secondary Characters:'' [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesHubert Hubert]] | [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesFerdinand Ferdinand]] | [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesBernadetta Bernadetta]] | [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesSylvain Sylvain]] | [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesIngrid Ingrid]] | [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesFelix Felix]] | [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesLysithea Lysithea]]\\
''Houses:'' [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesBlackEagles The Black Eagles]] | [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesBlueLions The Blue Lions]] | [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesGoldenDeer The Golden Deer]]\\

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration:
** In addition to the Lord-friendly prerequisite boons of swords and authority, Edelgard's boons of axes and heavy armor are tied to one of the preferred infantry fighters the Empire uses (heavy armored axe wielders; the Empire is also noted for its magic wielders). Very early in the game, Ferdinand will even tell the player that the black heavy armor worn by Empire soldiers is one of the inspirations for the Black Eagles' class name.
** Aside from bows, her main bane in Faith is deeply rooted in her [[spoiler:[[FlatEarthAtheist pronounced misotheism]] and her desire to end the Church of Seiros and [[FantasticRacism remove the Children of the Goddess from power]], to the point that she initially shares the Agarthans' goal of wiping out the few of them that remain. However, she will [[CharacterDevelopment soften that outlook]] with Byleth on her side and allow them to live as long as they're out of power -- an offer that Seteth and Flayn may accept but Rhea ''[[LastStand won't]]''.]] Tied to this is that she's one of two characters who can't be deployed in the paralogue "Legend of the Lake", as it involves [[spoiler:the party meeting The Immovable, a giant turtle who's heavily implied to be one of the Children of the Goddess: Saint Indech]].
** [[spoiler:As one of the victims of Crest Experimentation, whose intent was to create a {{Supersoldier}} with enough power to kill Sothis and the remaining Children of the Goddess, Edelgard has among some of the highest stat caps in the game, and the second highest overall stat cap total at 390 (only [[MagikarpPower Cyril]] exceeds her at 395, and that is primarily because of his Aptitude skill).]] [[AllThereInTheManual An interview with the development team]] even cites that [[spoiler:the experiments Edelgard and her family went under were a more "refined" version of the experiments that Lysithea and her siblings went through, which explains not only her far higher stat caps, but the fact that Edelgard is generally more robust and powerful, whereas Lysithea is weaker and more prone to bouts of illness. Edelgard even has a Magic cap on par with other Magic-inclined units (72) in addition to the second highest Strength cap (81) after Dimitri (87).]]
** Her Hidden Talent is in Reason Magic, which is rooted in knowledge. [[spoiler:She's also one of five characters who can innately learn Dark Magic, which makes sense as someone who's had contact with those who slither in the dark. [[DramaticIrony Ironically]], despite presenting herself as someone who epitomizes cool, hard logic, Edelgard's perception of history - rooted in both the false history the Empire had created for generations as well as the Agarthans' long-standing hatred of both the Goddess and surface-dwellers - is ultimately incorrect, and Edelgard is [[StubbornMule too stubborn]] to accept anything different.]]
** Unlike the other Lords, Edelgard only has three support partners from outside her house rather than the five Dimitri and Claude get: Lysithea (who [[spoiler:also has two Crests]]); Hanneman; and Manuela (both of whom hail from the Empire), reflecting her distance from others. The ''Cindered Shadows'' DLC added a fourth in Constance, but much like Hanneman and Manuela, Constance is from Adrestia. Additionally, Constance has ''every'' reason to seek Edelgard out, meaning that even if Edelgard didn't want to grow close to Constance, there was no way Constance would let her stay away.
** Edelgard has a hard time trusting other people and only confides in the ones close to her. The player has to reach her C+ support level to be invited to her coronation in Enbarr, which in turn is an obligatory pre-requisite [[spoiler:to get an opportunity to side with her after the Holy Tomb battle later. Choosing her route is a prerequisite for her B-support (unlike most other characters, whose C- and B-supports are accessible pre-timeskip). In other words, you must get to know Edelgard better to stay on her good side.]]
** Edelgard is most open about rewarding trust, hard work, and dedication. As such, she gets supports with professors Hanneman and Manuela, which the other house leaders don't. Additionally, she has a paired ending for every support except her one with Petra, making the greatest proportion of supports among house leaders to reach an ending. Her support path with Petra, and Petra's solo ending, also implies what their ending would entail.
** In ''Three Hopes'', Edelgard is much more open about her trauma received at the hands of those who slither in the dark. This bears fruit on gameplay by making it easier to recruit Lysithea, and then again by being the setting for her shared paralogue with Lysithea and Hapi.

* FantasticRacism: [[spoiler:Her harsh and dehumanizing rhetoric against Children of the Goddess certainly paints a picture of this. This is expressed in her distrust of them holding power over humans, unlike the Agarthans that want them all destroyed.]].