History Fanfic / TheSaviorKingTheMasterTacticianAndTheQueenOfLiberation

* TranquilFury: Claude reacts to [[spoiler:the massacre in Hrym]] with what is described as "a calm you only felt when you reached the far side of fury".

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: In contrast to the original game's GrayAndGrayMorality. The characters aligned with Byleth are unambigously good, and those who remain aligned with Edelgard and Thales are portrayed as extremely evil, with Edelgard herself receiving a pretty severe case of AdaptationalVillainy. Dimitri never indulging in his darker impulses heightens this trope, as it leads to the heroes fighting a squeaky-clean war of defense against the Empire.

->''"Fate has a way of playing tricks on people even as it brings them together. Some of Foldan's legends say that when calamity comes, the goddess binds the souls of champions to ensure they fight at each other's side, onward to victory. Less spiritually-inclined individuals say that conflict makes friends, allies and more out of strange bedfellows. [[SophisticatedAsHell Or, in which Dimitri punches out a racist and history is changed as a result]]."''

* ALighterShadeOfGray: While Edelgard, Hubert and the antagonistic Agarthan's are portrayed as evil, the story also acknowledged the trauma Edelgard went through under the Agarthan's, [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse even if that trauma wasn't excused]]. The protagonists, on the other hand, despite their morally good stance for the most part, are still willing to shed blood on their hands when prompted and/or if they had no other choice, and allied Agarthan's such as Miles had complicated situations that made it impossible for them to fully be heroic in their stance. While the story still held the original ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' GreyAndGrayMorality to a degree, it's not as overtly gray and lighter in contrast.

* AdaptationDeviation:
** At the end of the battle of Fort Merceus, [[spoiler:instead of being killed in action (like on Azure Moon) or escaping (like on Silver Snow and Verdant Wind), the Death Knight is captured by the heroes]].
** Byleth is described as being 6'1". In canon, she's 5'5".
* AdaptationExpansion:
** Claude's POV has times where he recounts his childhood in Alymra and the [[HarmfulToMinors assassination attempts]] he had to endure due to his heritage.
** Byleth's status as the wielder of the Sword of the Creator is explored, with people such as the villagers from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus worshiping her as the Goddess' [[TheChosenOne new champion]]. She's [[AGodIAmNot not very comfortable]] [[StopWorshippingMe with all the extra attention]].
** Kronya is given a backstory. [[spoiler:Her mother was arrested on suspicion of being a dissenter, causing her and her sister Atra to enlist in the Agarthan military. She took to killing like a duck to water, went AxCrazy, and now worships the ground Thales walks on.]]
** The Wandering Beast a.k.a. [[spoiler:Maurice]] is given some backstory. [[spoiler:His parents were killed in the chaos of pre-Adrestia Fódlan, and the Agarthans offered him power in exchange for becoming their weapon]].
** The Death Knight's backstory, normally exclusive to canonical Crimson Flower, is recounted here. [[spoiler:Jeritza also reveals that the Agarthans have been experimenting on him, depriving him of sleep and drugging him to force out his Death Knight persona.]]
** [[spoiler:Nemesis]] is given a brief backstory. [[spoiler:He was a boy born from the corpse of his mother, turned to killing to survive, and eventually came across Agartha attempting to kill the sleeping Sothis by chance. He was clever enough to outwit the traps and kill her in hopes of becoming immortal.]]
** Agarthan culture in general is greatly expanded upon; Thales runs Shambhala like a cult, brainwashing his people into believing that surface-dwellers are animals that only exist to be ruled. Shambhala itself is described as a city-state with multiple 'levels' that's run like a dictatorship; neighbors are encouraged to spy on each other and report 'traitors'. Anyone who is accused of a serious crime is taken away by the StateSec in the middle of the night and never seen again. Children are indoctrinated into the army and sent out to perform missions; [[spoiler: Atra was only thirteen when she was sent to participate in the Tragedy of Duscur]] while [[spoiler: Marian is an assassin whose job is to 'mind' Edelgard during the war and kill anyone who interferes with Agartha's work.]]
* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: Unlike in canon, Byleth does not fuse with Sothis during the events of the Sealed Forest, as Yuri simply assassinates Solon before the mage can send Byleth to Zahras. Rhea still decides to take Byleth to the Holy Tomb directly after this, despite there now being no reason for her to do so.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: In contrast to the original game's GrayAndGrayMorality. The characters aligned with Byleth are unambigously good, and those who remain aligned with Edelgard and Thales are portrayed as extremely evil, with Edelgard herself receiving a pretty severe case of AdaptationalVillainy. Dimitri never indulging in his darker impulses heightens this trope, as it leads to the heroes fighting a squeaky-clean war of defense against the Empire.

* WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide: In the very distant past, [[spoiler:Sothis wiped out the armies of the ancient nations of Laputa and Agartha when they refused to stop warring with one another. When they then joined forces to fight ''her'', she destroyed both nations.]] This is treated as an unambiguous good act in the present, and the possibility that innocents may have died alongside the guilty is never brought up.

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: The narrative harshly condemns [[spoiler:Edelgard's]] war with the rest of Fódlan as nothing more than a base, imperialistic land-grab. The heroes' own invasion and conquest of [[spoiler:Adrestia]] doesn't receive the same condemnation, even as sympathetic characters such as Claude plan and discuss which of their [[spoiler:non-Adrestian]] allies are going to govern the region after deposing [[spoiler:Edelgard]].

** {{Inverted|Trope}} with the Flame Emperor and [[spoiler:Hubert]]. Due to the main characters being made aware of the existence of those who slither in the dark and the full extent of [[spoiler:Edelgard's]] collaboration with them much earlier than before, the main cast are much less sympathetic towards her and her goals than they are in the game. They're much quicker to call her out on her flaws and how working with such horrible people has caused her to degrade into a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist. [[spoiler:Hubert gets hit by this even harder. In game, his UndyingLoyalty to and genuine affection for Edelgard is depicted as a redeeming quality, and he is given a PetTheDog moment in ''Verdant Wind'' and ''Silver Snow'' by leaving behind a letter informing Claude or Seteth of the existence of those who slither in the dark to ensure their destruction in spite of his and Edelgard's defeat. This story is much less impressed with him, portraying his loyalty to Edelgard as BlindLoyalty at best and outright {{hypocri|te}}sy at worst given he spits on those who still believe in the Goddess as sheeple. He is also portrayed as responsible for getting several Agarthans killed in {{Uriah Gambit}}s designed to kill as many of them as possible, which leads to him [[TheDogBitesBack being killed by an Agarthan child assassin whose mother he had killed in the battle of Brdiged]] during the siege of Enbarr.]]

* CharacterShilling: Claude is widely praised for his strategic genius, [[spoiler:even by Thales, albiet only for the sake of insulting Edelgard,]] but see HollywoodTactics below to determine whether this is warranted, while Dimitri is renowned by the Adrestian citizens and soldiers for his kindness and mercy, even though neither he nor his army goes out of their way to spare Imperial soldiers until ''after'' he starts being praised for it.