Fire Emblem: Three Houses – Holy Kingdom of Faerghus / Characters

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesHolyKingdomOfFaerghus

Located in the northern part of Fódlan, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus was founded by Loog I, King of Lions in Imperial Year 751 after the War of the Eagle and Lion. Due to the harsh cold of the continent's frigid north, Faerghus is a highly disciplined kingdom that values chivalry and its knights above all else. Students from Faerghus are placed in the Blue Lions.

The routes supporting this faction are called Azure Moon in Three Houses, and Azure Gleam in Three Hopes.

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In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fe3h_faerghus_crest.png

Tropes Associated with the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus

Animal Motifs: Lions. Students at the Officers' Academy from the Kingdom are assigned to the Blue Lions and the founding king of Faerghus, King Loog, earned the nickname the "King of Lions".
Blind Obedience: One of the Kingdom's most treasured values, which is also a crucial flaw in their cultural practices, is their belief that knights should unquestioningly obey the orders of their liege lords regardless of consequence. At its most extreme, this is romanticized as the most important aspect of being the ideal, honorable knight. Named characters have varying views on this principle: Ingrid, Ashe, Dedue and Gilbert buy into it almost wholeheartedly, Dimitri and Sylvain have a more nuanced but indecisive perspective, and Felix is highly critical. Felix's hatred of this ideal, in particular, is one of the major reasons why he hates chivalry and knighthood and has grown distant from his friends, and it is also a failure to execute on this duty fully that drives Gilbert to punish himself in ways that Annette cannot understand.
Decadent Court: While not as spotlighted as the Adrestian Empire's nobility or the Leicester Alliance, remarks from a few characters reveal that many of the Kingdom's nobles viewed Lambert's push for reforms as a threat to their own authority, and they conspired with the Agarthans to instigate the Tragedy of Duscur.
Decapitated Army: On the Crimson Flower route, despite Dimitri's death, this situation is averted, as Faerghus' military and populace then rally behind Rhea and the knights of Seiros instead, due to the country's long-standing support for the church. On Verdant Wind and Silver Snow, this is mostly played straight, as Dimitri's death stops the momentum of the Kingdom's march towards Enbarr and results in his army scattering or dying with him, though Dedue will always survive that battle.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of The Good Kingdom comprised of Knights In Shining Armor. While the people of Faerghus may view themselves as a righteous and honorable people, some of their actions are far from such. This includes the Tragedy of Duscur, Lonato's rebellion, the actions of the Western Church, and some Kingdom nobles aiding in killing King Lambert. Because of their immense reverence for honor, knighthood and chivalry, the Kingdom is prone to self-righteousness, blind obedience, and irrational stubbornness.
Evil Reactionary: The reason several of the Kingdom's nobles went out of their way to oppose King Lambert's reforms to the point of assassinating him? Said reforms were about giving commoners a voice and the people of Duscur recognition, which undoubtedly clashed with their racist and classist views.
Faction Calculus: Balanced. Faerghus's knights rely less on raw power or numbers, preferring to balance out their forces.
False Flag Operation: A large portion of Faerghus' population holds prejudice toward the people of Duscur and treat them with suspicion or worse. Relations had been bad for some time already, but they completely fell apart when King Lambert and many Kingdom officials and soldiers with him were horribly slaughtered during a diplomatic mission to Duscur. This assassination was pinned on the people of Duscur and came to be known as the Tragedy of Duscur. In truth the assassination was a high level conspiracy by certain Kingdom nobles who opposed Lambert's reforms, said conspiracy also being enabled/planned by "those who slither in the dark" agents and taking advantage of the pre-existing prejudices toward Duscur to make them the scapegoats and sow instability in the Kingdom (the Tragedy inciting a series of bloody rebellions, bandit proliferation, and overall chaos that also drove a deeper wedge between the Western and Central Church). Said prejudices meant most in the Kingdom did not question that Duscur was to blame, despite the things that did not add up about it. As Sylvain notes, the people of Duscur logically lacked the power and numbers needed to so completely slaughter the king's elite forces, and it's implied they also lacked motive due to how Lambert was a reformist who sympathized with the people of Duscur, and therefore should have been the last person they would want to kill. Prince Dimitri's own testimony was ignored despite being the sole available witness and adamantly testifying that the people who attacked were not of Duscur. The resulting punishment/retaliation was the mass-killing of the Duscur population and the destruction of their land, the survivors losing all rights to govern their homeland.
Fantasy Counterpart Culture: France and England. The Kingdom's treatment of knights and chivalry parallels how real-world France and England treated theirs. The lion, which is an important animal in Faerghus, is also the symbol of England. Its Grim Up North traits and names also give it some elements to the Holy Roman Empire or Germany (particularly to Adrestia's Austria) and Russia. There's also major Celtic influences as well, shown by some of the names used.
- Faerghus (name of the Kingdom). Faerghus is a variation of the name, Fergus, an Irish, Scottish and Manx name meaning "man strength".
- Blaiddyd (surname of the Royal Family). Blaiddyd is Welsh for "Wolf Lord" and the name of a legendary Brittonic king who promoted the use of necromancy.
- Fhirdiad (Capital of Faerghus). Fhirdiad is a variation of the Irish Ferdiad, the foster brother of Cúchulainn from the Ulster Cycle.
- Arianrhod (A fortified fortress in Faerghus, also called the Silver Maiden). Arianrhod is a figure from Welsh mythology.
- Areadbhar (The Hero's Relic of House Blaiddyd). Aréadbhar was a spear in Irish mythology wielded by the hero, Lugh. It translates to "Slaughterer".
Fatal Flaw: Honor Before Reason. Their glorification and idealization of chivalry results in them always spurning surrender in favor of a fight to the death (with the notable exception of the Western Lords), which is the main contributing factor to the enormous amount of casualties they endure on routes where they're major enemies. It's particularly visible on the Crimson Flower route, where they persist in fighting the Empire despite their King being dead and their Kingdom fallen. It also results in them displaying Blind Obedience for whoever happens to command them, which directly leads the Kingdom to its downfall on the Silver Snow and Verdant Wind routes when the Kingdom troops choose to follow a blatantly unfit to lead Dimitri to their deaths rather than join forces with the Resistance/Alliance Army. On the Crimson Flower route the Kingdom remnants have no qualm defering to Rhea even after she sets their capital ablaze (after their King laid down his life to protect her and spent the past five years sheltering her no less), and even on Azure Moon it's made clear that Byleth being there is the only reason Dimitri doesn't end up leading everyone to an early grave (at least until he overcomes his self-destructive obsession with Edelgard).
Fighter, Mage, Thief: Fighter. The kingdom's military is disciplined and has a sense of chivalry instilled in them.
Fire-Forged Friends: On Azure Gleam, at the war's start Dimitri inserts Duscurian forces into the Kingdom Army, hoping it can work its way into peace between the two nations. Obviously, Faerghus and Duscur are not on good terms, with Faerghus believing Duscur was behind the assassination of the previous king and Duscur being subject to genocide by Fearghus because of it. However, as the route goes on, the hostilities between the two different peoples stars to mellow out, and they get closer and closer to the point where they start sharing and partaking in each other's cultures.
The Good Kingdom: It's a holy kingdom full of knights in shining armor. Its exact relationship with this trope varies depending on the route.
- On the Azure Moon and Azure Gleam routes, it's played completely straight. You are cast as the heroic kingdom trying to stop a power-hungry warlord (Azure Moon) or an evil cult (Azure Gleam) from conquering Fódlan (after Dimitri recovers from his Sanity Slippage and the Rightful King Returns on Azure Moon).
- On the Silver Snow and Verdant Wind routes, it's subverted. The Kingdom is beaten down into a puppet state, the rightful prince is utterly Ax-Crazy and gets himself and possibly many of his important followers killed, and it's ultimately up to either La Résistance or The Alliance to save Fódlan.
- On the Crimson Flower, Scarlet Blaze, and Golden Wildfire routes, it's zigzagged. The Kingdom is basically well-intentioned and is fighting against a war of conquest, making them a Hero Antagonist, but on Crimson Flower they continue to oppose you on behalf of the Church even after Rhea goes fully Ax-Crazy and burns Fhirdiad to the ground in order to kill you, and on the others Dimitri clarifies that the intentions are more about maintaining the show of legitimacy the Church provides.
Good Old Ways: Faerghus has a notably more traditionalist bend compared to the other two nations. They are undyingly loyal to historical allies (sometimes even beyond the point of reason, such as toward the Church at the end of Crimson Flower when Rhea is literally burning Fhirdiad to the ground) and the royal bloodline. In Three Hopes, Dimitri notes that the Kingdom would not easily accept Edelgard's radical reforms despite the fact that he himself does agree with many of those changes. Dimitri argues that implementing those changes slowly, while ensuring the stability that the people have lacked ever since his father's murder, is the only way reforms in Faerghus will actually stick. It's Played for Horror with the reveal that the Tragedy of Duscur was orchestrated by Kingdom nobles (spurred on by TWSITD) who felt Lambert's own intended reforms were so radical that it necessitated murdering their own king to stop them.
Grim Up North: Zigzagged. Faerghus is able to sustain a functioning and comparatively stable kingdom, but the cold environment forced them to adapt and makes them vulnerable to sieges or trade shortfalls thanks to their lower agricultural output. This is stated by Dimitri in Crimson Flower after the fall of Arianrhod and the deaths of Rodrigue, Felix, and Ingrid (if the last two aren't recruited). Dimitri says that if the Empire lays siege to Fhirdiad, then the Kingdom's defeat would be inevitable. Some regions, like House Galatea's territory, are specifically outlined to be not well off due to having land that is not well-suited to farming or particularly vulnerable to drought.
Had to Be Sharp: As Rodrigue explains to Shez in their C rank support, the winters in Faerghus are brutal and have killed countless people in the Kingdom's history. To survive, the people of Faerghus had to become adaptable, persevere, and overcome the hardships of the tundra.
Honor Before Reason: The Kingdom's Fatal Flaw, with its populace valuing honor and chivalry above all else. On the plus side, this leads them to value courtesy, generosity, and loyalty far more consistently than their neighbors. The downside of this is that their belief in their need to do what is honorable can lead to them needlessly throwing their lives away, following clearly unfit leaders to their predictable doom and getting easily manipulated into performing genocide or turning against their own royalty.
- In Three Houses, their zealotry leads to their destruction on the Silver Snow and Verdant Wind routes because they blindly follow Dimitri to Enbarr, despite the fact that he's become violently insane and only cares about killing Edelgard. Likewise, on Crimson Flower, when Dimitri falls in the Tailtean battle, the remaining Kingdom commanders join and support their other supreme authority, Rhea, even going along with her obviously insane order to torch their own capital city and last stronghold.
- In Three Hopes, their refusal to surrender in battles results in their having the fewest number of fighters be recruitable to other factions, and the highest number of casualties.
Hufflepuff House: On the Silver Snow and Verdant Wind routes, the Kingdom gets the least amount of focus of any of the three nations in Part II. The closest you get to visiting Faerghus is Chapter 15, which takes place on the Kingdom/Alliance border, and you only fight Kingdom forces in that chapter (against defectors to the Empire) and the Battle at Gronder on Verdant Wind, after which they are permanently removed from the war due to Dimitri's death.
Hypocrite: The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus's Tautological Templar tendencies mean that they have a habit of overlooking their less-than-savory characteristics and actions in favor of focusing on their own perception of honor and righteousness:
- In the backstory, the Leicester Alliance rebelled against the Adrestian Empire in part because they were inspired by Faerghus's own move for independence. The Kingdom then proceeded to annex and occupy the Alliance after the Empire failed to suppress the rebellion, and remained in power there for another century until the Alliance started another war for its freedom.
- In Azure Moon and Azure Gleam, it's revealed that Grand Duke Rufus and several Kingdom nobles (Kleiman, Elidure, Mateus, and Gideon) were the ones who helped orchestrate the death of King Lambert and framed the Duscur populace for the crime, leading to the Tragedy of Duscur. Rufus did it so he could have the throne for himself and expressed some remorse as he was being executed, but according to Kleiman's servant, the Kingdom nobles who took part in the Tragedy of Duscur believed what they did was justice because they felt King Lambert's reforms were far too radical. Viscount Mateus reinforces this to Baron Dominic, claiming that he did what he felt was right and bears no shame or regret...despite their actions having led to the mass deaths of the Duscur populace, the deaths of many Kingdom soldiers, knights and officials, the near collapse of Faerghus's government (and the resulting suffering of the common people due to bandit proliferation and riots) causing a revolt in Fhirdiad over who would become king and, on a lesser note, psychologically scarring Dimitri.
- After the murder of King Lambert and many of his retainers while in Duscur, certain nobles immediately blamed the people of Duscur for his death and responded by using their forces to slaughter the populace and pillage and raze their land. Duscur was then incorporated into Faerghus as a new viscounty, and the survivors were forcibly displaced, barred from returning, and oppressed elsewhere. The hypocrisy comes in that the nobles who were most involved in carrying out the retributive violence and expropriation were actually the ones involved in the king's death. While most of the rest of the Faerghus nobility and population was not involved in the slaughter nor the cover-up, neither group condemned nor meaningfully investigated (though the collapse of public order in the aftermath may have made this impossible), nor did they extend their chivalry to the everyday people of Duscur who wouldn't have been involved.
- The Western Church has been plotting to kill Rhea and take control of the Church of Seiros, and though they accuse the Central Church of being irredeemably corrupt and wicked, they themselves are deeply entangled in shady dealings and carry out a number of violently cruel actions. This includes attempting to assassinate Rhea on several occasions, manipulating others (most notably Lonato and Christophe) for their own agendas and raising rebellions. Even the leaders of nations at war with the Central Church never attempted assassinations against the Archbishop, preferring open action. Moreover, the Western Church believe themselves to be the true disciples of the Goddess, but are actually backed by Agarthan instigators, who are the least "true believers" in the Goddess in the entire game. Though they blame the Knights of Seiros for the Tragedy of Duscur, the Western Church advocates for the extreme separation of class, race, and culture to the degree that it serves as one of the primary rifts between them and Rhea herself. During Ashe's paralogue, the Western Church Bishop hypocritically claims they didn't use Lonato and instead helped him. Ashe is clearly infuriated by this and calls the Bishop out.
  Western Church Bishop: All we did was provide Lonato salvation from his misery!
  Ashe: Salvation!? You used him and threw him away!
- Lonato in Azure Moon also falls under this thanks to his rebellion. Though he is right that Christophe was executed under false circumstances, there actually were Kingdom nobles who were implicated in the Tragedy of Duscur, and Christophe still knowingly tried to help the Western Church assassinate Rhea due to being easily swayed by their arguments. To avenge his son for being executed for his supposed part in a rebellion, Lonato starts a rebellion himself that everyone recognizes he has no real hope of succeeding in, and in the process endangers innocent people both in the form of the militia who serve him willingly and the population who is caught in the violence. Lonato earnestly believes that he is on the side of righteousness, but in reality he is simply acting out of rage and grief and endangering everyone around him in the process, which makes it tragically easy for the Western Church to manipulate him, and get him killed, just as they did his son.
Knight in Shining Armor: The Holy Kingdom has a proud tradition of knights, and chivalry is one of their most important values. Their banner is decorated with a knight atop a griffon.
Knight Templar: The Kingdom's reverence for honor and chivalry results in some of its citizens attempting to justify themselves through a self-fulfilling perception of their own goodness. To varying degrees, all of Faerghus's less-sterling actions, including the genocide and persecution of Duscur, the betrayal of the Kingdom to the Empire by half its nobility, the organization of a False Flag Operation to murder Lambert and pin the blame on Duscur, and the Western Church's growing radicalism, manipulation, and power-plotting, all are internally excused either by their belief that they were merely following their own sense of justice, or in the case of the Western Church by their belief that they're inherently righteous. Perhaps one of the biggest examples is during Azure Moon, when Dimitri discovers that Viscount Kleiman, a noble who betrayed Faerghus, was involved in the Tragedy of Duscur. When confronting the servant who revealed this, the servant states that he believed the Viscount to be the embodiment of justice and he did what he thought was right, and does not apologize on behalf of his lord or for his own part in the act. Unsurprisingly, Dimitri chews him out for this in a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
Dimitri: And so, in the name of justice, he caused massacre upon massacre out of love for his homeland. You murdered your own king, killed our soldiers and involved innocent citizens. And yet you have the gall to speak of justice!?
Lawful Stupid: One of their biggest flaws is their obsessive devotion to honor and chivalry. This causes problems for Kingdom citizens on both a personal level (Gilbert left his family in shambles because of his self-flagellation over the Tragedy of Duscur, and Rodrigue's views on Glenn's death permanently strained his relationship with Felix) and the whole Kingdom on a macro level (throughout Verdant Wind, Silver Snow, and the first half of Azure Moon, the Kingdom army follows Dimitri despite the fact that he's clearly violently insane and doesn't care about the Kingdom's best interests. This leads to the collapse of Faerghus on Verdant Wind and Silver Snow. In the former case, Faerghus makes no attempt to coordinate with Leicester due to Dimitri's personal instability and refusal to consider Claude a separate enemy from Edelgard. The latter route is especially notable, since the Church of Seiros offers to assist them in battle against the Empire if they will only wait for the church's troops to recover, but Dimitri refuses to delay, and even though Gilbert recognizes the value of waiting for the Church to help them, he refuses to advise Dimitri otherwise.
Leitmotif: "The King of Lions" plays during scenes related to the Kingdom.
Martyrdom Culture: The Kingdom prides itself on knightly chivalry, right down to the idea that it's a knight's duty to die following their king or lord's orders. Naturally this has disastrous results on Silver Snow and Verdant Wind. Without Byleth around to give the now-unhinged Dimitri pushback, the Kingdom gets driven directly to their own destruction. In Three Hopes, this means the Kingdom's commanders are the least likely of the three nations to surrender when offered the chance, making them the least likely to be recruited to other houses, and the most likely to die in other routes.
Light Is Not Good: A kingdom associated with chivalry and the church, but nonetheless is steeped in Martyrdom Culture, militarism, and religious fanaticism. They're also the only one of Fódlan's three major nations to be directly and unquestionably responsible for genocide (against Duscur).
Meaningful Name: Faerghus is a variation of the name, Fergus, which means "man strength". It is very fitting for a nation of Knights In Shining Armor who prioritize martial skills and personal combat.
My Master, Right or Wrong: In Faerghus, some people romanticize Blind Obedience and portray it as the equivalent of being an honorable knight. In Azure Moon, after Gwendal is killed in the Valley of Torment, Gilbert states that it's the way of knights to obey their master's orders without argument and that Gwendal was a good man. Dimitri is not convinced by this since Gwendal willingly followed his master, Lord Rowe, after betraying Faerghus and siding with the Empire.
Proud Warrior Race: A knightly and chivalrous variant, but with some Grim Up North flairs, especially as children are taught to wield a weapon before they learn to read or write.
The Remnant: On the Crimson Flower route, the last remnants of the Faerghus army (led by Annette and Ashe, if they didn't defect) comprise about a third of the enemy composition of the final battle.
Royal Inbreeding: Ingrid tells Shez in their C-Support in Three Hopes that due to a millennium of intermarriage amongst the noble houses throughout Fódlan, almost all of them are to some degree related, and as a result it's not unusual for a noble to have a Crest that doesn't belong to their noble house, though it's preferred that they do if they're to inherit the family title (as only someone with the correct Crest can bring out the full power of a family's Relic). For instance, Ingrid mentions that the current Duke of Ifan, a branch of House Blaiddyd, has a Crest of Charon, her grandfather had a Minor Crest of Fraldarius, and another of her ancestors had the expected Crest of Blaiddyd. Downplayed due to both the sheer number of nobles and how distant the blood relations can be, Ingrid noting that the nobles are mostly all related only if you "go back far enough," and her point being not that everyone is closely related but that none of the major noble families can be considered truly "pure-blooded," and that only a bit of another family's blood is enough to potentially pass on a Crest in a otherwise distant relative.
Succession Crisis:
- First happened over a century ago when the esteemed King Klaus died suddenly without having established who would succeed him; his three heirs each took control of a region comprising greater Faerghus and eventually fought for control by rallying the local lords. While Mach in the west was forced to submit, Leicester to the east broke away entirely into the Alliance. The Kingdom hasn’t been properly united since this loss.
- King Lambert's assassination as a result of the Tragedy of Duscur briefly caused one of these, as while crown prince Dimitri survived, he was deemed far too young and inexperienced to take the reins in a tumultuous time. The Grand Duke of Itha and Lambert's older brother, Rufus (who was passed over the line of succession originally due to his lack of a Crest), took charge of the kingdom with the intent of passing it back to Dimitri once he came of age, though his regency has had its own share of problems thanks to the Western Church stirring up trouble and Rufus proving to be a fairly inept, skirt-chasing ruler.
- Depending on the route taken, this can potentially spring up again post-timeskip. Specifically on non-Crimson Flower routes where Dimitri is framed for the assassination of Rufus and forced to go on the run, with the major conspirator and court mage Cornelia becoming Faerghus' Puppet King. It's resolved on Azure Moon where Dimitri gets his act together and rallies his people to oust the puppet state, but on Verdant Wind and Silver Snow, Dimitri's death or ambiguous disappearance without an heir left behind effectively destroys any hope of salvaging Faerghus' ruling structure and leaves them out of the rest of the war.
Tautological Templar: The Western Lords and especially the Western Church dive headfirst into this trope. This results in self-justifying rhetoric towards actions such as the genocide of Duscur, the manipulations and radicalism of the Western Church, and the the murder of King Lambert. Viscounts Kleiman, Elidure, Mateus and Gideon are revealed to have been involved in the Tragedy of Duscur, having plotted to assassinate King Lambert and framed the people of Duscur for the deed. According to a co-conspirator, they believe what they did to be justice and continue to hold that belief even after beholding the catastrophic consequences and carrying out the cruelties that followed, because they acted out of love for their homeland and therefore their actions were just.
The Theocracy:
- It is called the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and was founded due to mediation from the Church of Seiros to end the War of the Eagle and Lion, which Loog initiated to fight for its independence from the Adrestian Empire. That said, it is noted that the country's rulers are long-time supporters of the Church and this automatically puts them at odds with the empire when Edelgard initiates her plan to destroy the Church's grip on Fódlan.
- On the Crimson Flower route, Dimitri readily grants Rhea and the knights of Seiros asylum after the Empire attacks the monastery, and fights alongside her troops in his Last Stand against Edelgard. Despite his death, the country's support of the Church also prevents it from collapsing, as its people and military then submit to Rhea's authority as archbishop.
- In Three Hopes, Dimitri and the Kingdom side with the Central Church not out of opposition to Edelgard's reform goals, but because if the Central Church is stripped of its legitimacy, then that would by extension, declare the Blaiddyd line's Divine Right of Kings illegitimate, and topple what stability the Kingdom had left after King Lambert's demise and would invite the Kingdom to come under undue Empire influence via their own church (which they believed to simply be a mouthpiece for the Empire). Downplayed in some respects; Dimitri's appreciation for the personal aid Rhea provided him and the Kingdom over the years also plays a part in their alliance, as does his belief that the Church and its people do not deserve the extremes Edelgard is going to, his wish being to preserve all sympathetic sides in the conflict if possible.
Undying Loyalty: The people of the country respect and adore serving both their royal family and the church. On the Azure Moon route, despite his long absence, the violent acts he committed, and the fact that he had been publicly declared a traitor by Cornelia, Dimitri receives a warm reception from his subjects when he finally returns to Faerghus to assume his responsibilities as king, having even openly rebelled beforehand when he returned. On the Crimson Flower route, after Dimitri is killed in battle by Edelgard, the populace then submit to Rhea's authority as the archbishop of the church. Despite Rhea's decision to burn Faerghus' capital to slow down the empire's advancement, the kingdom's soldiers still fight alongside the Knights of Seiros out of loyalty to their fallen liege.
Weapon Specialization: The preferred weapon of choice for most Kingdom warriors is the lance. It's reinforced by the fact that most Heroes' Relics from the Kingdom are lances, including Areadbhar, the Lance of Ruin, and Lúin.

Royal Family

King Lambert

King Lambert Egitte Blaiddyd

Voiced by: Shinobu Matsumoto (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lambert_portrait.png

Dimitri's father, and the King of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus until Imperial Year 1176.

Base-Breaking Character: Zigzagged In-Universe example. While Lambert was beloved by the Faerghus smallfolk, it is noted by Catherine that he was also a controversial figure with the nobility, due to him pushing for a major political reform at the time. Which is why some of the nobles chose to dispose of him once the ideal situation presented itself.
Prisoner from House Kleiman: My lord had long felt that King Lambert's radical ways were dangerous. At the time, he was approached with an offer to take part in the incident at Duscur...
Big Little Brother: Datamining shows that Lambert is 190cm and his older brother Rufus is 176cm.
Childhood Friends: Much like their sons Dimitri, Felix, and Sylvain, Lambert, Rodrigue, and Matthias grew up together and attended the Officers Academy alongside each other.
Former Teen Rebel: According to Rodrigue, he and Lambert used to sneak out of lectures during their days at the Academy. Evidently, though, both men grew up into heroic and noble figures.
The Good King: By all means he was one, even attempting a major political reform that would benefit the people of Duscur.
Love at First Sight: He was apparently taken with Patricia the moment he saw her, according to Dimitri.
Magically Inept Fighter: According to Rodrigue when you go on expeditions with him in Three Hopes, Lambert had no aptitude for magic.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Assuming Dimitri's memory of events is correct, then Lambert's last words to his son was a plea to avenge their deaths. Boy, did he take that to heart.
Lambert: Avenge us! Those who killed us... TEAR THEM APART! DESTROY THEM ALL!
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The supposed "radical" performs Lambert died for were apparently to give commoners better quality of life, end tensions with Duscur and make a peace treaty with Sreng. He was effectively condemned by others due to them being classist, racist and elitist.
Off with His Head!: How he died, according to Dimitri. This is the reason Dimitri is so focused on beheading the Flame Emperor, once he believes they had a hand in the Tragedy of Duscur.
Posthumous Character: Assassinated during the Tragedy of Duscur.
Recurring Element: Serves as the "long-dead father of the Lord character" archetype started with Cornelius for Dimitri, who's the closest to Marth among the three Lords.
Strong Family Resemblance: If he grew a beard and kept his hair neater, post-timeskip Dimitri would look exactly like his father.
Wide-Eyed Idealist:
- Since his days at the Officers Academy, Lambert held an incredibly idealistic dream of a world where the people of Faerghus can live in harmony with the people of Sreng and Duscur, despite the long standing hostilities between them. Upon becoming king, he did his best to see it through, even though his dream was met with struggles as Sreng was difficult to forge positive relations with due to their battle-loving culture, while Lambert's efforts to forge peace with Duscur led to ire from the western nobles and ultimately led to his assassination. Despite these difficulties, his son Dimitri has tried to continue working towards such a dream in his place, sharing a similar type of idealism and empathy for others.
- The idealism of Lambert's dream is noted in Three Hopes, when Matthias confides to Rodrigue about how his own cynicism has blinded him, and even reflects that when Lambert first spoke of his dream, that Matthias called him naive at the time, feeling that such a dream seemed like something only attainable in childhood storybooks and cradle tales, yet also noting that Lambert always saw the long view of things, seeing the entire continent unfolding before him in his goals and dreams.
Youngest Child Wins: Like Sylvain, he is the second son of his family who became heir because he had a Crest. His older brother, Rufus, was passed over in the line of succession for Faerghus' throne because he lacked a Crest, and was instead given the title of Grand Duke of Itha.

Patricia

Patricia / Anselma von Arundel

The younger sister of Volkhard von Arundel. At different times in her life, she served as consort to the emperor of the Adrestian Empire, during which time she gave birth to Edelgard, and Queen Consort of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, becoming Dimitri's stepmother.

Ambiguous Situation: Given that her brother Arundel was killed and replaced by one of those who slither in the dark it's entirely possible she could have been too. On the other hand, she still has a plausible motive for being involved in the Tragedy of Duscur even if this weren't the case, and the story offers no clear evidence for either.
Deal with the Devil: According to some, after being forced into exile in Faerghus, Queen Patricia wanted so badly to see her own daughter again, that she sacrificed the King (Dimitri's father) by conspiring with Cornelia to cause the Tragedy of Duscur to make it happen.
Dude Magnet: She was one of the Emperor of Adrestria's many paramours and the second wife of the King of Faerghus, and it was reportedly Love at First Sight for both men when they saw her.
The Exile: She was exiled from the Empire just a few years after giving birth to Edelgard. According to Dimitri, this was a result of finding herself caught in a "political strife" of sorts that also forced her to adopt a completely new identity in the Kingdom.
First Love: Doubles as Love at First Sight, but Ionius IX was this for her. However, by the time they met, he was already in a political marriage, which resulted in her being one of his paramours instead of his wife. Despite that and her exile from the capital, Edelgard believes they truly did love one another.
Good Stepmother: According to those who knew her, she seemed to be this to Dimitri, and apparently cared for him dearly, despite not being his biological mother. However, on the Azure Moon route, after being defeated, Cornelia claims that Patricia never loved Dimitri at all and instead conspired with "those who slither in the dark" to orchestrate the Tragedy of Duscur, just so she could return to the Adrestian Empire and reunite with Edelgard. Also, Dimitri's support conversation with Hapi reveals that while she may have cared for Dimitri, she also believed that Lambert was keeping her away from Edelgard during the time she was exiled from the empire, or so Cornelia told her. In Three Hopes Dimitri mentions that while Patricia was kind, she always seem to be looking past him while interacting with him, as if she was looking for someone else.
Love at First Sight: According to Edelgard and Dimitri, their respective fathers both fell for Patricia the moment they saw her.
Never Found the Body: There was no evidence that her carriage was attacked, and her corpse was never found. While Gilbert ultimately confirms she was in on the Tragedy (and in Three Hopes Thales states she was later killed for the sake of his ambitions), the player never finds out what her final fate was.
One Degree of Separation: It's revealed in Dimitri and Hapi's support conversation that Patricia had met Hapi herself and became acquainted with her, helping Hapi however she could throughout her captivity.
Poor Communication Kills: In his support with Hapi, Dimitri reveals that despite them being wed Patricia and his father were not actually allowed to be truly alone together, and that Cornelia made a point of getting between them when they tried to become closer. It's implied this was on purpose, to keep Patricia from asking Lambert about Edelgard, and thus learning that he was not trying to keep them apart but was doing what was required of him to protect exiled royalty in hiding.
Posthumous Character: Died during the Tragedy of Duscur. Or so it seems...
Strong Family Resemblance: According to a Village Chief NPC in Three Hopes on Scarlet Blaze in Chapter 8, Anselma shares much of her appearance with Edelgard, with the exception of hair color.
Unwitting Pawn: Cornelia used her and made sure to keep her from getting close to Lambert and talking with him to sort out any problems they had. All to make her a willing accomplice to the Tragedy of Duscur.
What Happened to the Mouse?:
- She's widely believed to have died at Duscur when her carriage was attacked. In Three Houses, the Azure Moon route revealed she helped Cornelia start the massacre in Duscur. Someone involved in the events at Duscur confirms all the involved had strict orders to avoid her carriage, implying her survival was needed by TWSITD for untold reasons. Furthermore, as Thales impersonated her brother, it raises further questions as to what became of her.
- In Three Hopes, Cornelia claims Edelgard was the one who killed her own mother, but Edelgard herself has no memory of the incident. Meanwhile, Thales tells Dimitri in Azure Gleam's final battle that Anselma was ultimately killed to fuel the flames of his group's ambitions, suggesting her final fate was in reality motivated by utilitarian reasons.
Woman Scorned: She was led to believe that Lambert was keeping Edelgard from her by Cornelia, leading her to become involved in the Tragedy of Duscur.

Grand Duke Rufus

Rufus Thierry Blaiddyd

Class: Prionsa (Three Hopes)

Voiced by: Shinji Kawada (Japanese), John Eric Bentley^notecredited as "J. Bentley" (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rufus_3h_portrait.png

The Grand Duke of Itha Plains, he is the elder brother of Lambert and the paternal uncle of Dimitri, and the regent of the Kingdom until Dimitri comes of age.

Alas, Poor Villain: In Three Hopes, despite Rufus having tried to have him killed multiple times, Dimitri still feels troubled about executing his only remaining close kin. Felix tells Shez that Dimitri has to do it because Rufus' treasonous actions leave Dimitri no choice.
Asshole Victim: In Three Houses, he's killed in order to frame Dimitri for his murder. Considering that in that game, he was established as an incompetent womanizer of a regent, and in Three Hopes, he actually was responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur, it's hard to feel sad for him.
Being Evil Sucks: Rufus' various crimes have left him a paranoid, nightmare-tormented wreck of a man, and a slovenly, inept ruler unable to utilize the great intelligence he was so known for in his youth. When he is put to death in Three Hopes, a part of him seems genuinely relieved.
Cain and Abel: Three Hopes reveals he was complicit in the Tragedy of Duscur, the event that got his brother killed.
The Caligula: He's described as an incompetent clod of a regent, with Faerghus suffering from instability including roving bandits, the scheming Western Church, and Lonato's rebellion all under his watch. This is all before Three Hopes fleshes him out with such reveals as being complicit in the Tragedy of Duscur and trying to get his nephew killed.
Climax Boss: He and "Cornelia" are the two last bosses faced before the timeskip in Three Hopes if Shez picks the Blue Lions.
Create Your Own Villain: A lot of things that went wrong in Dimitri's life, such as the Tragedy of Duscur, are all Rufus' fault, yet he is one to call him a monster either due to Psychological Projection, paranoia, or just because he is a massive jerk. Not only does Dimitri have the chance of becoming a rampaging boar due to all of the mental trauma he had suffered, but he is the one to both capture and execute him after Rufus makes his move in Three Hopes.
Death Seeker: Implied. Three Hopes shows that he's extremely miserable, and Rufus seems outright relieved when Dimitri finally kills him.
Dies Differently in Adaptation: If you side with Dimitri in Three Hopes, he gets publicly executed by Dimitri after he gets captured as opposed to getting assassinated by Cornelia during the timeskip in Three Houses.
Evil Uncle: In Three Hopes, it's revealed he kept Dimitri under effective house arrest, tried to have him killed a couple of times, and ultimately launches a coup against him. He is also emotionally abusive to his nephew, calling him a savage monster several times.
The Ghost: In Three Houses, he never appears onscreen and is at most only talked about by various characters before being Killed Offscreen by Cornelia to frame Dimitri in non-Crimson Flower routes. In Three Hopes he is Unseen No More.
Graceful Loser: Even though he acts like an unrepentant jerk during his limited screen time, when defeated by Dimitri, he finds his execution by his nephew "a fate that [he] much deserve[s]" and calmly accepts his death.
Guilt-Induced Nightmare: Implied, he tells Cornelia that every night he dreams a lion is ripping out his throat. His licentious, slovenly rule is implied to be due to him trying to drown out the festering guilt and paranoia from these nightmares.
Hidden Depths: A Knight from Faerghus notes his supposedly unmatched political acumen, and wonders what they might accomplish together had he worked together with his brother. Additionally, in Three Hopes, he finds it fitting to be punished for his crimes by Dimitri's hand, showing a degree of remorse.
Hypocrite: He constantly calls Dimitri a monster and taunts him over being willing to kill his own kin, but Rufus helped orchestrate his own brother's death during the Tragedy of Duscur and has tried to kill his nephew several times. In the end, Rufus has no right to call his own nephew a monster when he's the one who caused so much death and devastation.
Informed Attribute: Though he is mentioned to possess great political acumen, he is continuously manipulated by Cornelia and is by all accounts an awful and deeply unpopular ruler. It's implied this is due to his guilt and paranoia over his willing involvement the Tragedy of Duscur eating at him.
Karmic Death: Lambert supposedly died by decapitation, which was all Rufus' fault. So rather fittingly Dimitri returns the favor by beheading Rufus in Three Hopes.
Off with His Head!: In Three Hopes on the Azure Gleam route, he is publicly beheaded by Dimitri after being defeated.
Poor Communication Kills: In Three Hopes Dimitri sends him a missive in an attempt to have him step down without having a bloody battle in Fhirdiad, but Rufus interprets it as a veiled threat for his head and sends no answer back, forcing the conflict.
Regent for Life: Given Rufus was named regent of Faerghus after Lambert's death and meant to pass the crown to Dimitri when he comes of age, Three Hopes revealing he was complicit in the very disaster that got his brother killed and nearly killed his nephew, plus was willing to send his nephew to his possible death fighting, definitely seems to suggest he's fully willing to become this if circumstances permit.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: When we meet him, we quickly learn that he sees Dimitri as The Dreaded out of the fear of him being a vengeful beast out for his head. While he's not entirely wrong, as Dimitri does possess a hidden Ax-Crazy side that drives him to be obsessed with avenging those who died in the tragedy of Duscur, it's clear that this is born more out of his paranoia and whatever semblance of guilt he possesses, seeing as he ignores Dimitri's legitimate attempts to end his revolt bloodlessly.
Sibling Yin-Yang: He's described as being the polar opposite of his brother Lambert.
The Unfavorite: In a similar manner to Miklan with Sylvain, despite being the firstborn over his brother Lambert, Rufus was passed over the line of succession due to lacking a Crest. Unlike Miklan, he at least got the consolidation prize of having a noble title and some form of power though Three Hopes makes it clear he did in fact harbor resentment enough over it to be complicit in the very event that got his little brother and nearly his nephew killed.
Unwitting Pawn: Of Cornelia. His ineptitude and backstabbing ultimately serve only to further the agenda of Those Who Slither in the Dark.
Uriah Gambit: In Three Hopes, Dedue expresses his open contempt for Rufus and mentions his belief that Rufus had Dimitri involved in frontline combat during the Western rebellion in an attempt to get rid of him. Rufus confirms it himself in a conversation with Cornelia.
We Hardly Knew Ye: In spite of being the regent of Faerghus during the Academic Phase and the first Climax Boss during the Azure Gleam route of Three Hopes, he dies in Chapter 3 and appears only in this chapter.
What Happened to the Mouse?: His fate on the Crimson Flower route is left up in the air. While a line by Dimitri implies he's still alive by the time Chapter 16 concludes, what happens to him after Edelgard's final victory and the Kingdom is absorbed back into the Empire is unknown.

Eastern Lords

Rodrigue

Duke Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius

Class: Holy Knight (Three Houses), Cavalier (Three Hopes)

Age: 41

Crest: Fraldarius (Minor)

Voiced by: Taira Kikumoto (Japanese), Jake Eberle (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rodrigue_portrait_3.png

Head of House Fraldarius of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the father of Felix. He has a strained relationship with his son due to their differing opinions over his eldest son's/Felix's older brother Glenn's death during the Tragedy of Duscur.

Anger Born of Worry: Implied towards Lambert. In Three Hopes, when he sees Felix chastise Dimitri for being too careless about himself, Rodrigue thinks to himself how he and Lambert were just like that when they were younger.
Archnemesis Dad: On the Crimson Flower route, if Felix is recruited, the two end up on opposite sides of a war.
Childhood Friends: Much like their sons Felix, Dimitri, and Sylvain, Rodrigue grew up alongside Lambert and Matthias and attended the Officers Academy with them.
Combat Medic: As a Holy Knight, he's got access to the area-of-effect heal Fortify spell and the offensive Faith magic spell Aura. In his appearance as an allied, but uncontrollable unit on the Azure Moon route at Ailell, he's there to fight the forces of House Rowe and keep Dimitri healed up as well.
Contractual Boss Immunity: His personal skill is Commander, making Rodrigue immune to a multitude of effects other than just instant death and granting him resistance to gambits.
Dies Differently in Adaptation: In Three Hopes he either gets struck down by Byleth in retaliation for Jeralt's death or he gets killed after being fought as a boss in Scarlet Blaze, though in the latter's case, Rodrigue died after being fought as a boss on Edelgard's route in Three Houses as well.
Early-Bird Cameo: On all the routes, he makes a brief appearance during Part I in the monastery (specifically, he was to be the one originally tasked with retrieving the Lance of Ruin after it was stolen by Miklan, only to accept the Church intends to have the students and Knights retrieve it) before making his reappearance on Part II as either a major player on the Azure Moon route or a major enemy on the Crimson Flower route.
Foreshadowing: Twofold in Azure Moon:
- Despite joining your party during the story, he never becomes a playable unit. This hints he won’t be around for too long.
- His warning to Dimitri about how some people who fight in the name of revenge can end up losing their resolve along the way becomes this for the crown prince's fate as a whole. Not only does this hint that Dimitri in Azure Moon will eventually abandon his personal vendetta in favor of redeeming himself by following his duty, it also heavily suggests his fate in the Golden Deer and Church routes comes to pass partly due to self-sabotage on Dimitri's part.
Former Teen Rebel: According to Rodrigue, he and Lambert used to sneak out of lectures during their days at the Academy. Evidently, though, both men grew up into heroic and noble figures.
Guest-Star Party Member:
- In Three Houses, he's an allied unit on Azure Moon Chapter 15, as well as in Felix's paralogue.
- In Three Hopes, of the three characters who can be killed by Byleth, Rodrigue is the only one who is playable, meaning that you only have so many missions to play as him in Azure Gleam before Byleth bumps him off. Averted if you choose to pursue the Golden Ending as the requirement for it requires you to recruit Jeralt and Byleth, ensuring the latter has no reason to kill Rodrigue.
The Heart: Rodrigue's kind and sociable personality makes him a welcome presence among the Blue Lions, and he continues to act as this with his old childhood friends.
Heroic Sacrifice: He intercepts a fatal knife blow from Fleche in her attempt to kill Dimitri on the Azure Moon route. His death and the entire event becomes a huge wake-up call for Dimitri.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: Rodrigue doesn't think too highly of himself at times; in a conversation with Byleth on the Azure Moon route, he calls himself a "failure of a man," and laments his own mistake of turning Felix against him by speaking carelessly about Glenn's death.
Innocently Insensitive: The root of why he and Felix have a strained relationship. When Glenn died, Rodrigue, despite his grief, was at least able to feel peace that his son died doing what he believed was right. However, his attempt to explain this to Felix came across as him saying that he was glad Glenn died as a knight, causing Felix to resent him and the concept of chivalry. Rodrigue himself acknowledges that Felix has a point about how it came across; he just felt that Glenn would have been angry at himself if he didn't stand up for what he believed in.
Interface Spoiler: In Azure Moon, despite joining Dimitri's army as a knight fully capable of combat, Rodrigue does not become a unit usable in battle. This is because he is slain protecting Dimitri from an assassination attempt two chapters later, prompting Dimitri to undergo character development. Averted in Three Hopes where Rodrigue joins your army as a playable unit rather early on but dies later in the story if a certain decision is made.
It's All My Fault: In Three Hopes on the Golden Wildfire route, Rodrigue tells Sylvain that he wishes to take full responsibility for Matthias sacrificing himself for himself and Felix, saying it was the fact that they were losing being what led to it happening.
Killed Off for Real:
- In Three Houses, on the Crimson Flower route, he has to be killed to progress in the story. He also bites it during Azure Moon, where he sacrifices himself against a fatal blow meant for Dimitri, and in Silver Snow & Verdant Wind he dies off-screen at Gronder Field.
- In Warriors: Three Hopes, in the Azure Gleam route, if Shez kills Jeralt, Byleth will murder Rodrigue in retribution, making him a case of a playable character being killed off as a result of the player's decisions.
Killed Offscreen: On the Silver Snow route, he is counted among the dead at Gronder Field by Dimitri (or his ghost). Also heavily implied in the Verdant Wind route, as he never makes an onscreen appearance, and a recruited Felix mentions how worrisome it is that he hasn't heard anything from his father.
Knight in Shining Armor: He does his best to live by this ideal.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In Three Hopes, during his A support with Shez, which is only unlocked if you successfully recruit Byleth and Jeralt in Chapter 12, Rodrigue will muse about how incredibly lucky they were to win the battle against Randolph so decisively, believing that one mistake would have resulted in the Kingdom's base falling and Rodrigue himself dying. Both of these are exactly what happen if you mess up Byleth's recruitment.
Light 'em Up: He's no slouch when it comes to faith magic; his Aura can deal an immense amount of damage to his foes. In Three Hopes, training him a bit as a Priest gives him the Essence of Light ability, making his light-element attacks even more powerful.
Like Father, Unlike Son: While Glenn is suggested to be cut from the same cloth, Felix is an anti-social swordsman with reason magic potential, while Rodrigue is a personable Knight in Shining Armor that uses faith magic.
Like a Daughter to Me: He treats Ingrid very kindly, as if she were his own daughter. It's justified, as she was to be wed to his son Glenn before his tragic death.
Magic Knight: His default class is Holy Knight in Three Houses, which allows him to use Faith magic, and it's also his default class tree as a playable character in Three Hopes. In the same game, he can say during expeditions that he mastered magic while Lambert had difficulties with it.
Mutually Exclusive Party Members: In Three Hopes, he’s not playable outside of Azure Gleam; thus he cannot fight alongside Edelgard, Hubert, Caspar, Ferdinand, Monica, Manuela, Claude, Hilda, Lysithea, Leonie or Holst.
Nice Guy: Unlike his son, who's significantly rougher around the edges, Rodrigue is generally a polite and friendly individual, as shown in his interactions with Dimitri, Byleth and their allies. In Three Hopes he doesn’t show any malice towards Ashe and Mercedes if they defect to the Empire, even telling Ashe not to be ashamed for siding with Lonato.
Offing the Offspring: If Felix is recruited in Crimson Flower and made to face him in battle, he expresses regret that his son has strayed and as a parent it is his duty to clean up after his child's mistakes, before declaring that Felix "must die here and now!"
Older Than They Look: He looks more like Felix's older brother than father.
Outliving One's Offspring: He's already outlived his older son, Glenn. If Felix isn't recruited on Crimson Flower, he can also outlive his younger son, although it's downplayed as Rodrigue will also be killed on the same map.
The Paladin: Although his class itself is Holy Knight, he fits the role as a Knight in Shining Armor with powerful light magic.
Parental Substitute: To Dimitri, whom he calls a second father, and has a much better relationship with than his own son who actively tried to avoid Rodrigue following a comment he made about Glenn's death. Three Hopes expands this towards the rest of the Blue Lions.
Parents as People: He tries to be a good parent, but his relationship is strained with Felix over Glenn's death, and he even admits he shouldn't have said that Glenn died like a true knight as it wasn't comforting in the slightest. He even appreciates Byleth understanding him. However, when he dies on the Azure Moon route, Felix is devastated and demands that Dimitri not let the death be in vain.
Plot Armor: In Three Hopes' Azure Gleam route, Rodrigue will simply retreat if defeated in battle, even in Classic Mode, likely because he is very integral to the story. Unlike every other new playable character however, his plot armor will be revoked should Byleth and Jeralt not be recruited during the story.
Precision F-Strike: If his health drops below half in "True Chivalry", he curses that he was "Outmatched by a damn bandit..."
Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
"Prepare yourself!"
"I will not allow it!"
"On my family's honor!"
"For the king!"
Promoted to Playable: Rodrigue becomes a full-fledged playable character in Three Hopes on the Azure Gleam route.
Real Men Hate Sugar: His profile in Three Hopes shows that he dislikes sweets just like his son.
Recurring Boss: In Three Hopes, he’s fought twice in the Scarlet Blaze route.
Red Baron: He's known as the "Shield of Faerghus".
Removed Achilles' Heel: On the Crimson Flower route, he has the Cavalry Effect Null skill, which removes the weakness his class usually has towards anti-cavalry weapons.
Required Party Member: In Three Hopes, he joins automatically at the start of Part I of the Azure Gleam route.
Route Boss: In Three Houses, he is only fought if Byleth sides with Edelgard.
Serious Business: In his B-support with Shez in Three Hopes they talk about snowball fights, which seems to be something Rodrigue, Lambert, and Matthias took very seriously when they were younger, using strategies and subordinates and everything like they were in a real battle.
Shared Family Quirks: Three Hopes reveals that Felix inherited his dislike of sweets from Rodrigue. His A-Support with Shez additionally reveals how much he hates things being completely outside of his control and being powerless to affect positive change.
Skewed Priorities: Felix accuses Rodrigue of caring more about honoring Lambert's memory by protecting a village important to the late king than about saving the lives of his people.
Sore Loser: In Three Hopes, if he survives Chapter 12 of Azure Gleam, he will later admit in his A support with Shez that he despises the idea of losing in battle and was incredibly frustrated that Randolph and Jeralt came dangerously close to outplaying him.
Spared by the Adaptation: In Three Houses, he dies on all four story routes (while it isn't confirmed in Verdant Wind, it's heavily implied). In Three Hopes, he can survive the Azure Gleam route as long as Shez doesn't kill Jeralt (otherwise, Byleth kills Rodrigue in retaliation). He also pulls through Golden Wildfire since Margrave Gautier lays down his life to save him and Felix.
Strong Family Resemblance: If Felix let his hair down and grew a small beard, he'd look like Rodrigue with a different eye color.
Team Dad: He becomes one in Three Hopes thanks to being a playable character. He was already a Parental Substitute to Dimitri and has a son of his own, but Rodrigue also acts in a paternal fashion to Ingrid, and the other Blue Lions are quite fond of him.
Trauma Conga Line: Ye Goddess, he's suffered from this:
- The Tragedy of Duscur had him suffering the worst possible form of this with the deaths of both his own son Glenn and his best friend and liege King Lambert, while his best friend's son who he practically raised as another child was left traumatized with permanent psychological scars.
- His relationship with his remaining son Felix has been strained greatly following Glenn's death after he claimed that Glenn died as a true knight, which seemed to have been his way to cope and rationalize with it. Depending on the route and the player's actions, it's possible they aren't able to reconcile and their relationship deteriorates From Bad to Worse. The worst-case scenario is if Felix is recruited on the Crimson Flower route, leading to him allying with the people trying to conquer his home kingdom. Father and son end up on opposite sides of the war, and the possibilities are unpleasantly obvious.
- On the Azure Moon route, he suffers from his crown prince and ward Dimitri, who is also the sole remnant of his dead best friend and former king Lambert, being framed for treason and sentenced to death. While Dimitri does escape, Rodrigue is unaware of this and is left worrying for five years, all while his kingdom falls into chaos as a result of Cornelia's actions and the Empire's war. When he finally finds Dimitri again, he sees his crown prince has been driven into a feral and self-destructive warrior hellbent on revenge.
Tsurime Eyes: Like his son, his eyes slant upwards.
Unwitting Pawn: On the Crimson Flower route, Rodrigue dies at Arianrhod defending both the city and Cornelia from the Black Eagle Strike Force never learning that Cornelia was a plant for "those who slither in the dark" and has been for years.
Useless Useful Skill: When he appears as an ally in chapter 15 of Azure Moon, one of his two abilities (alongside Authority Lv 3) is Sword Prowess Lv 3, which is completely useless for him because he doesn't come equipped with any sword weapon and even has a Blessed Lance in his inventory.
What Happened to the Mouse?: On the Verdant Wind route, once the timeskip occurs, he is never mentioned again or appears. As the Kingdom is nearly steamrolled by the Empire in all routes but the Crimson Flower route, he likely died in battle. This is implied by Felix should you have him recruited in the route, mentioning that he hasn't heard a word from his father and the silence is worrisome.
What the Hell, Hero?: Should Felix join the Black Eagles and confront his father on the Crimson Flower route, the latter will not mince his words about his son's decision and declares his intent to kill him. By the end of the route, it's made clear Felix agrees with him.

Margrave Gautier

Margrave Matthias Raoul Gautier

Class: Great Knight

Crest: Gautier (Minor)

Voiced by: Ken Narita (Japanese), Ed Cunningham (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/margrave_gautier.png

Sylvain and Miklan's father, and the current lord of the Margravate of Gautier on the border between Faerghus and Sreng.

Abusive Parents: Despite his Parental Favouritism, it's suggested that he was a verbal variety towards Sylvain, with him apparently having berated him for never looking people in the eye when talking to them when he was younger and calling his ideals of achieving peace with Sreng naïve. That being said, his last words to Sylvain before his death in Golden Wildfire are to apologize to him for being a terrible father.
Childhood Friend: Was this with Lambert and Rodrigue, with them having also attended the Officer's Academy together.
Cynicism Catalyst: He used to be like Sylvain in his beliefs of peace with the Sreng people being possible. After his wife died in an attack and he taught a Sreng hostage the Fódlan language and other things only for him to escape to become a general of the Sreng forces, he began to foster a deep Fantastic Racism. However, he seems to be aware of his own cynicism, as he confides in Rodrigue after hearing Sylvain's perspective that his losses have clouded his own vision, and that deep down, he wonders if peace truly is possible after all.
Death by Adaptation: He survives in all routes of Three Houses; in Three Hopes he perishes in Golden Wildfire.
Face Death with Dignity: In Golden Wildfire, after Matthias apologizes to his son for being such a bad father, Sylvain notes that he was beaming in a way he's never seen before, hinting at Matthias being fully content with giving up his life to save Rodrigue and Felix.
Fantastic Racism: Shows open distaste for the people of Sreng for their constant raids on Faerghus' northern border and their part in the death of his first wife, and gets angry at Sylvain when he suggests a more peaceful end to the conflict.
The Farmer and the Viper: At some point after his wife's death, he received a political hostage from the Sreng people and, still believing in the possibility of peace with them, taught the man the Fódlan language and other topics, as well as played chess with him on occasion. The man thanked him by escaping back to Sreng to teach them everything he learned to empower their attacks on Faerghus. This served to further ignite his Fantastic Racism against them, with him viewing his acts of kindness as My Greatest Failure.
A Friend in Need: Sylvain points out after chapter 11 of Golden Wildfire that Matthias pulling a You Shall Not Pass! sacrifice for Rodrigue and Felix wasn't for honor or for the kingdom, but for his friends. And Sylvain doesn't want either Rodrigue or Felix to apologize for it because then his father's sacrifice would mean nothing.
The Ghost: In Three Houses he never appears onscreen. He's Unseen No More in Three Hopes.
Hero of Another Story: On the Azure Moon route he never joins Dimitri's party and is The Ghost, but he's the one who eliminates the remaining Empire loyalists and maintains civil order in the Kingdom after Dimitri retakes Fhirdiad. He also takes advantage of Dimitri retaking the Kingdom to investigate the Tragedy of Duscur further, eventually capturing a former vassal of one of its conspirators before sending him to Dimitri for questioning.
The Lost Lenore: His first wife, Miklan's mother, was a star pupil of the Black Eagles during their time at the Academy, and her death at the hands of the people of Sreng hardened Matthias' heart towards the conflict.
Like Father, Unlike Son: Matthias is a stern and serious man with a broad build while Sylvain is an easygoing and joke-cracking young man with a more slender build. According to Rodrigue in Three Hopes, Matthias was more like Sylvain in mindset until his first wife died during the conflict with Sreng and he become colder as a result.
Parental Favoritism: Due to how House Gautier operates, it only accepts heirs who have Crests. When Sylvain was revealed to have a Crest, he immediately became heir of House Gautier, robbing Miklan of his chance to inherit anything. Eventually, Matthias disowned Miklan and exiled him from his territory.
Parental Neglect: It was implied by Sylvain that after he became heir to House Gautier, Matthias neglected Miklan due to him not having a Crest. This would fuel Miklan's murderous jealousy towards Sylvain and blame him for all his troubles. Instead of comforting Miklan and reassuring him, Matthias disowned him and exiled him from House Gautier.
Pet the Dog: Gets three in Three Hopes:
- After Miklan dies at the hands of Gwendal defending Arianrhod, he expresses a desire to avenge him despite having disowned him.
- In Golden Wildfire, he sincerely apologizes to Sylvain for being a terrible father and for what he put him through, right before he marches off to his death.
- At the end of Dimitri, Sylvain and Rodrigue's joint paralogue, he calls Sylvain naïve for expressing his desire to achieve peace with the Sreng people, and storms off. When Rodrigue goes to talk to him, he confides in his old friend about how he used to be like Sylvain and wonder if he's become blinded by his hatred. Rodrigue manages to convince him genuinly apologise to Sylvain, with him also granting him the Lance of Ruin offscreen.
Red Baron: He's known as the "Wall of Ice".
The Smart Guy: According to Rodrigue, during their and Lambert's snowball fights, Matthias was the one who would use tactics and strategies as his key to victory. And Shez notes that Sylvain is also someone who similarly is cunning in his tactics.
Strong Family Resemblance: He looks a lot like Miklan but less scarred.
What the Hell, Hero?: Not directly, but Dimitri and Sylvain both express disappointment at Matthias for how he mistreated Miklan. Instead of treating him like a son, Matthias neglected him because he lacked a Crest. While the need for a Crest due to House Gautier's responsibilities and position is understandable, Matthias's Parental Neglect towards Miklan and Parental Favoritism towards Sylvain led to Miklan becoming a sociopathic, murderous bandit. The fact he implicitly still gave his elder son a quality education doesn’t make up for his failings elsewhere, and while Miklan is responsible for his own poor decisions, his father shares a portion of the blame for how things played out.
You Shall Not Pass!: In Golden Wildfire, he appears in chapter 11 when Rodrigue and Felix are beaten, putting himself between them and the Federation army to secure his friends' escape at the expense of his own life.

Count Galatea

Count Gunnar Galatea

Voiced by: Unknown (in Three Houses only)

Ingrid’s father, the current head of House Galatea. Having not inherited the family Crest, he puts a lot of stock into his only daughter to ensure their lands and people can thrive.

Alliterative Name: Gunnar Galatea, as shown in Three Hopes.
Childhood Friends: Although he’s somewhat older than them, Gunnar was in the same friendship group as Lambert, Rodrigue, Matthias and Duke Ifans. Rodrigue in particular speaks respectfully of him in Three Hopes.
The Ghost: He’s not shown in person in either game, though you do hear his voice in Ingrid and Byleth's supports.
Inadequate Inheritor: Neither he or his two sons were born with the Crest of Daphnel unlike his mother, which lent to lesser prestige or influence for his already-impoverished family. Then his third child, Ingrid was born later in life with the Crest, which led to him putting pressure on her.
Named by the Adaptation: His first name, Gunnar, is revealed in Three Hopes.
Parents as People: He’s one of the setting’s most nuanced examples of this, as despite his pestering Ingrid to secure a betrothal, he’s doing so because their family (and by extension the people in their territory) need to secure political alliances to survive and Ingrid is their best chance of this. The betrothal to Glenn of House Fraldarius had satisfied all parties involved but was rendered moot by his early death, forcing him to scramble for an alternative. Furthermore, Ingrid notes that he would starve himself during particularly bad famine periods to ensure she’d get enough to eat, which emphasises his care for her; and in Three Houses, it’s shown he nonetheless wouldn’t want her married off purely for capital (especially not to an amoral suitor) and wants Ingrid to have some control over the choice.

The Western Lords

Tropes Associated with West Faerghus

Following its secession from the Adrestian Empire in 751 and the annexing of Leicester in 801, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus consisted of three regions — the central lands of Faerghus, the eastern Leicester, and the western Mach. When King Klaus died in 861, his three sons each took power over one of the three territories as archdukes; while Leicester sought independence following the death of their archduke in 881, Mach was ultimately reunited with Faerghus.

Numerous lesser houses rule the West, who enjoy greater general wealth due to being more habitable than the frigid and inhospitable Eastern lands. They are also less centralized and not as devoted to the crown, although they are perhaps more devout to the Faith of Seiros (and harbour the Western Church in their territories).

All There in the Manual: In Three Houses, most information about Western Faerghus was relegated to in-game texts, including the Succession Crisis. This and more is more openly explained in Three Hopes, which also gives supplemental information related to each territory’s commerce.
Ascended Extra: The region is only lightly visited in Three Houses, whereas in Three Hopes it’s prominently visited in Azure Gleam (as are its various nobles featured) due to their rebellions, and to a lesser extent in Scarlet Blaze due to allying with Edelgard.
Fair-Weather Friend: Many of the Western Lords have what's best described as tenuous loyalties to the Kingdom, willing to side with their fellows if they seem to be in the stronger position but also willing to abandon them if things are going south. In Three Hopes, many of them are willing to be agreeable to Edelgard's terms, but once Dimitri takes advantage of the Empire needing to turn its attention to dealing with the Alliance trapping Count Bergliez's troops, it didn't take much to convince most of them to turn back to Faerghus' corner with what are essentially slaps on the wrist after he tears through a few territories. Only Count Rowe and his bannermen are still pro-Empire by the time Edelgard gets back to the Kingdom front, and that is with the caveat of Lonato and Gwendal having to placate him into holding out the siege of Arianrhod (and he'll still turncoat back to the Kingdom if things get bad enough during the actual fight within Arianrhod).

Count Rowe

Class: Mage (Three Hopes)

The head of House Rowe of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, located on the border of Faerghus and the Adrestian Empire. He is also the adopted father of Yuri Leclerc.

Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: It seems to be a family tradition. House Rowe is best known in the backstory for betraying the Empire after the fortress city of Arianrhod was constructed in their borders in order to watch over the newly-formed Holy Kingdom, only for them to swear fealty to Faerghus after the fortress was completed and be rewarded with the noble title of Count. In the present, Count Rowe has little issue joining with the Empire if they prove themselves to be in the stronger position. On the Scarlet Blaze route of Three Hopes, one NPC at the base camp mentions he's heard nothing but wary things about Count Rowe and questions if he can be trusted to stay loyal to the Empire. Even the playable cast admit it's a toss-up if he hasn't surrender Arianrhod back to the Kingdom because he actually believes Edelgard will arrive with reinforcements or just because his nerve hasn't failed him yet. Sure enough, if things get bad enough during the fight in Arianrhod the Count will turncoat back to the Kingdom and force you to put him down.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: While he's always The Quisling, his role on Scarlet Blaze where he's turning coat to your side deconstructs this. It's shown that he's very much a Dirty Coward and that everyone in the Empire quite sensibly worries about the possibility of him betraying them back to the Kingdom if things get dire enough. Gwendal and Lonato can only just barely convince him to make a good faith effort to protect Arianrhod from the Kingdom forces, and if you can't get to him before Dimitri defeats Gwendal then he'll commit yet another betrayal to save his own skin.
Dies Differently in Adaptation: In Three Hopes, he is slain in Azure Gleam by the Kingdom's forces during the insurrection of Faerghus' corrupt nobility. He can also be slain by the Imperial forces in Scarlet Blaze if his situation becomes dire enough for him to switch sides at the battle of Arianrhod.
Dirty Coward: A plot point on Scarlet Blaze in Three Hopes. Most of the Black Eagles question if Rowe will snap under the pressure of the Kingdom's siege of Arianrhod and turncoat just to spare himself Dimitri's punishment, and it's shown via cutscene that both Lonato and Gwendal are having to deal with his worrying and keeping him in Edelgard's camp. Sure enough, if things get bad enough during the battle of Arianrhod, Count Rowe will betray the Empire back to the Kingdom.
The Ghost: He never makes a physical appearance in Three Houses.
Killed Offscreen: In Three Houses, he is killed in Crimson Flower by Thales' javelins of light in retaliation for Edelgard's army killing Cleobulus.
Not Me This Time: Despite his House's well-known penchant for betrayal making him an obvious suspect, Hopes reveals that Count Rowe was completely uninvolved in the plot to assassinate King Lambert.
The Quisling: He betrays the Kingdom to the Empire out of personal cowardice. In Scarlet Blaze, if he thinks you can't protect him, he'll betray you back to the Kingdom.

Baron Dominic

Class: Paladin

Annette's uncle and Gilbert/Gustave's brother, and the head of House Dominic.

Anti-Villain:
- In Azure Moon, he sides with Cornelia's Faerghus Dukedom under the pressure his lands will be forcefully annexed otherwise. In Annette and Gilbert's paralogue, he refuses to give his niece the Hero Relic Crusher as the gesture would make clear he sides with the enemy, so he instead tries to capture Annette and his brother to protect them (and both will be treated as such if they fall during the paralogue). And upon his defeat, the Baron's more than happy to relinquish the weapon given the prior fight allowed him to keep appearances.
- In Azure Gleam, he's made the leader of the Western Lords who choose to rebel against Dimitri. However, it's clear that Baron Dominic was not only forced into the position, but is filled with great disdain towards the Western Lords for the part in the Tragedy of Duscur. While he acknowledges that he also had issues with King Lambert's reforms, he is utterly disgusted by the Western Lords assassinating their king, framing the Duscur populace and claiming what they did was righteous. He is ultimately convinced by Gilbert to stand down, and throws his lot in with the heroes in the end.
- In Scarlet Blaze, he is appointed as the leader of the central lords of Faerghus who try to repel the Imperial Army, and he refuses to surrender out of moral obligation to protect his people. However, Edelgard was willing to let him live had he surrendered, to which she and Hubert say the reason why he didn't is because of, while he took the role of leader both of his house and the houses fought in the chapter seriously, he was still forced into it against his will just because he was the descendant of one of the Ten Elites, which warped his mind into fighting to the death rather than go home a coward. Edelgard and Hubert take this as a sign of what Fódlan has turned into under the existing system.
Cain and Abel: The Cain to Gilbert's Abel. The two come to blows when Kingdom forces try to claim the Crusher.
Death by Adaptation: In Three Hopes he dies in the Scarlet Blaze route fighting the Empire.
Evil Uncle: Downplayed. He's not voluntarily evil, but the threat of Imperial invasion (Azure Moon) and the Western Lords' coercion (Azure Gleam) forces him to oppose his niece Annette.
The Faceless: In both Three Houses and Three Hopes, he gets a generic knight portrait with a helmet covering his face. Particularly noticeable in the latter game when plenty of other nobility characters who were The Ghost got full face reveals.
Heel–Face Turn: After being defeated, he surrenders, hands over his Heroes' Relic to his niece and swears to protect his sister-in-law.
Last Stand: In Three Hopes, when the Empire invades Faerghus in Scarlet Blaze, he refuses to surrender and goes down fighting in a last stand against the Empire's forces. Tragically, he cannot be spared due to this.
No Name Given: His first name hasn't yet been revealed despite his brother, niece, and (in Three Hopes) son all being explicitly named.
Punch-Clock Villain: He's not a bad person, but the threat of the Empire annexing his lands forces him to not only refuse to hand over his Hero's Relic to his niece, but also try to take her and Gilbert hostage.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: He delivers one to Viscounts Mateus, Elidure, and Gideon for their parts in the Tragedy of Duscur. While he admits he also had some issues with King Lambert's rule, he is disgusted that the Viscounts chose to assassinate him and frame the people of Duscur for the crime instead of trying to talk to him. He outright calls them 'base cowards' for their actions, which is definitely appropriate.
Token Good Teammate: He's the only notable Western Lord in the story who isn't corrupt or blinded by zealotry, a fact further emphasized in Three Hopes when he’s forced to fight alongside them. It's for this reason he's eventually persuaded by Gilbert later on during Dimitri's attack to turn coat.
Tough Love: According to Annette, he would scold her rather harshly for making mistakes. He truly loves her though, and wants to make sure she is safe, as evidenced by her Paralogue in Three Houses.

Lord Lonato

Lord Lonato Gildas Gaspard

Class: Paladin

Voiced by: Kazuhiro Anzai (Japanese), Dave B. Mitchell^noteCredited as "Raymond K. Essel" (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/feth_ronato.png

The lord of Gaspard in the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, one of the bannermen of Count Rowe, and the adopted father of Ashe. He raises an army of troops in rebellion against the Church of Seiros, an act that bewilders his adopted son.

Anti-Villain: Most people who know Lonato say he's a good man, and he's rebelling because he believes his son was wrongfully executed by the Church of Seiros. He even expresses remorse over fighting Dimitri.
Big Damn Heroes: On Scarlet Blaze in Three Hopes, using the Gaspard Reinforcements strategy when prompted will have two allied NPCs from the Gaspard militia rush in to support Gwendal, who will be close to death fighting Dimitri by the time the prompt happens, and thus provide the Imperial forces more time to reach them.
Dramatically Missing the Point: Gilbert remarks on this, saying that he allowed himself to be caught up in rage and grief for his son's death under dubious circumstances to the point of forgetting he had another son to look after.
Fatal Flaw: Grieving too much for his son Christophe, to the extent that everything else he loves becomes secondary, and he even becomes willing to strike down Ashe if he (thinks he) has to. This likewise allows the Western Church, the very people who manipulated his son, to manipulate him into a futile rebellion. Spelled out in Ashe's supports with Gilbert.
Gilbert: Lord Lonato took up his sword for his son. Even if that meant turning his back on the goddess... As a father, I cannot condemn Lord Lonato for raising an army. ...Yet, perhaps he too lost sight of what should be protected. Just as I did.
Ashe: I don't understand what you mean. What should Lonato have protected?
Gilbert: You, Ashe. Because you are also his son.
Fog of War: Intentionally causes this in his battle, with a Gaspard Commander creating the fog via magic to lower visibility.
Genius Bruiser: Aside from being a skilled warrior, talking with Ashe reveals Lonato taught him all about various herbs, such as identifying them and how to make medicines out of them.
Good Parents: Lonato loved Ashe as if he were his own blood, teaching him to read and offering him all the benefits of nobility despite Ashe's lowly birth. This is after he caught a young Ashe snooping around his mansion looking for valuables to steal. Thus his actions against the Church of Seiros shock the poor boy.
Hypocrite: Because of his rage at the Central Church for executing his son, Lonato rebelled against them in the name of avenging Christophe. Despite claiming to be on the side of the Goddess, he willingly involved innocent citizens and militia in his rebellion, doing the same thing he hated the Central Church for doing. Sadly, he was too blinded by his rage to realize that he was being nothing more than a pawn for the Western Church.
I Owe You My Life: In Scarlet Blaze of Three Hopes, due to being saved by Imperial forces, Lonato is one of the few rebelling Kingdom lords that's firmly on Edelgard's side not out of a sense of opportunism. As such, he vouches for Edelgard's support during the Kingdom's siege of Arianrhod and is a big part of why the notoriously-untrustworthy Count Rowe doesn't capitulate to Dimitri unless he quite literally crushes Gwendal right on his doorstep before the Imperial forces can reinforce their position.
It's Personal with the Dragon: From his perspective towards the Church; while he considers Rhea “vile” and her followers lackeys, his most personal ire is for the Archbishop’s most loyal knight Catherine, who personally betrayed his son Christophe (who was also her friend) to the Church, leading to his execution.
Locked Out of the Loop: While it would likely not have abated his resentment for the Central Church executing his son, apparently nobody thought he deserved to know the real reason they did so most; most saliently, the fact he didn’t know the Western Church had used his son as a pawn made him similarly malleable to be turned to their goals.
My God, What Have I Done?: On Scarlet Blaze of Three Hopes, if Ashe isn't recruited and instead dies, Lonato will lament that in avenging one son he just helped murder another, noting that he'll forever be tainted by this sin.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
"Clear the way!"
"Filthy servant of Rhea!"
"Impudent brat!"
"I will not fall!"
Revenge: Desires revenge against the Central Church for executing his oldest son Christophe for the Tragedy of Duscur. Specifically, Catherine herself, who is the one who detained his boy.
Revenge Before Reason: In Three Houses, Lonato got so caught up in anger against the Central Church and Catherine he allowed himself to be set up by the Western Church, the ones truly responsible for the incident Christophe got involved in and was executed for.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: Lonato is correct that his son Christophe’s execution was done on fabricated charges. What he doesn’t know is that Christophe was indeed guilty, but not of collaboration in the Tragedy of Duscur; rather, he was swayed into a scheme to assassinate Rhea. The Church feared that such a plot coming out, especially with the Kingdom reeling from the Tragedy of Duscur, would further destabilise the realm and so claimed Christophe was guilty of a different crime.
Route Boss: Unlike Three Houses, where he's always the Chapter 3 boss, in Three Hopes he's only fought in Chapter 5 of Azure Gleam; in Scarlet Blaze he’s an ally, and in Golden Wildfire the aforementioned events happen off-screen.
Sacrificial Lion: Unlike Kostas, Lonato has a lot more redeeming qualities to him (albeit revealed in an optional support unlocked after his death) and you hear from Ashe during the first two chapters what a good man he is. So when Lonato is the boss of chapter 3 and you are required to kill him, it signals that nobody, not even good people, will be safe from dying and what the story will be about.
Spared by the Adaptation: In Three Hopes' Scarlet Blaze route, the Empire quickly comes to Lonato's rescue once he begins charging towards the Central Church to avenge Christophe, thus avoiding the demise he faces in Three Houses.
Undying Loyalty: His men have this towards him, with many generics declaring their loyalty to him.
Universally Beloved Leader: Deconstructed and Played for Drama. Lord Lonato is so unconditionally loved by the commonfolk in Gaspard territory that when he rebels against the Church of Seiros, everyone from his village marches along with him and willingly throws away their lives for his cause. The end result causes a bloodbath which in Three Houses visibly shakes Byleth's chosen house, yet this exact volition and loyalty displayed to Lonato is why Edelgard believes it would be unfair to call his people victims.
Unwitting Pawn: The Western Church uses his grief over his eldest's death to make him attack the Central Church. Making it even more tragic because they were responsible for why Christophe got executed having swayed him into assisting in a different plot to assassinate Rhea.
Uriah Gambit: Per the Western Church's Bishop, Lonato was set up in a suicide mission for the sake of furthering the branch's goals, since they intended to have the Central Church discover the plot to assassinate Rhea, allowing the Western Church to infiltrate the Holy Mausoleum in the confusion.
Villain Has a Point: For as many lives as he ends and jeopardizes to get back at the Central Church, he's correct to believe they executed Christophe under false pretenses. In truth, he was killed for assisting in an assassination attempt on Rhea, and not for any involvement in the Tragedy of Duscur.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Raises a rebellion against the Central Church because he rightly believes it lied about the reasons for his son's execution, thus in his mind making the entity hopelessly corrupt. Catherine argues it was necessary to avoid further public panic and disorder in the wake of the king's murder, that the people didn't need to know Rhea herself was now being targeted.

Other Notable Figures

Cornelia

Cornelia Arnim

Class: Gremory

Voiced by: Akemi Okamura (Japanese), Jessica Gee-George (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cornelia_portrait_7.png

^{Click here to see Cornelia in Fire Emblem Heroes}

Saint Consumed

Originally an Imperial scholar invited into the Kingdom by King Lambert, she was later appointed the high position of court mage of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, in recognition of her deeds in saving the people from an epidemic. However, in the present, she gives a very different impression.

Actually a Doombot: As is revealed in certain paths, the real Cornelia was killed years ago and replaced by an Agarthan imposter named Cleobulus.
Adaptational Early Appearance: Both story-wise and chronologically, Cornelia appears far earlier in Three Hopes than Three Houses. In Three Hopes, Azure Gleam sees her appear in Chapter 3 before the Time Skip, while in Three Houses, Cornelia doesn't appear until Chapter 13 (Azure Moon), or Chapter 16 (Crimson Flower) after the Time Skip.
Break Them by Talking: When she's right next to her deathbed in both Azure Moon and Azure Gleam, she delivers some parting words to Dimitri for the clear purpose of messing with his mind:
- In Azure Moon, she reveals to Dimitri that it was his stepmother, the woman whom he saw as his own mother, who arranged for his father's assassination at Duscur for selfish reasons. The revelation greatly shakes an already unstable Dimitri, but not only does it not last long since Dimitri has also recovered a majority of his psyche thanks to Byleth and a previous incident, it also removes all the blame he once attributed Edelgard for the Tragedy.
- In Azure Gleam, Cornelia tells Dimitri his stepmother has been long dead, that she was involved in the Tragedy of Duscur because Lambert was keeping her away from Edelgard, and that her own daughter was the one who killed her. While Dimitri tries to remain skeptical of her claims, Cornelia's words ultimately end up convincing him that Edelgard might've been involved in the incident as well.
But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Played With. In Three Houses she readily admits she killed Dimitri's uncle and framed him for it, but also states that until Dimitri asked her she had "forgotten all about that loveliness".
Climax Boss: Of the Blue Lions route for both Three Houses and Three Hopes.
- In the former, her death is what kickstarts the Endgame where Dimitri has to deal with Lord Arundel and Edelgard.
- In the latter, her defeat allows Dimitri to overthrow his uncle and is the last battle before the Time Skip.
- In both cases, Cornelia's demise leads to revelations about the Tragedy of Duscur and Dimitri taking the throne.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: On the Crimson Flower route, despite the Black Eagle Strike Force aiming to kill her, Cornelia still orders her Titanus warriors to kill Kingdom soldiers if they can, despite the fact said soldiers are her only other hope of surviving.
Contractual Boss Immunity: She has the Unsealable Magic skill in all of her appearances.
Court Mage: Cornelia's position in the Kingdom is that of the primary court mage, awarded for curing the plague that ravaged it.
Death Faked for You: In non-Crimson Flower routes, after Dimitri manages to escape his execution for having allegedly killed his uncle, Cornelia publicly claims he was slain regardless for the sake of destabilizing the Kingdom. In Azure Moon, it's revealed the fact she never allowed anyone to see his body convinced Gilbert that Dimitri was most likely still alive somewhere.
Defiant to the End: In her last moments on Azure Moon, she readily accepts her impending death and spends her final act revealing uncomfortable truths to Dimitri to mess with him.
Disc-One Final Boss: In Azure Gleam, Cornelia serves as the first major opponent Dimitri has to deal with after a few successful missions against the Empire, as she stirs up a rebellion with the western lords of Faerghus that Dimitri is forced to deal with. She also gives him more motivation to face and defeat Edelgard, as with her last words she tells Dimitri that Edelgard killed her mother/his step-mother. After her death, the war with the Empire begins in earnest.
Exact Words: In Azure Gleam, at one point Dimitri questions Cornelia about why she cured Faerghus' plague in the past despite intending to wipe out the Kingdom's royal bloodline in the present, and her answer is that while Dimitri does have a point, that was "another lifetime completely". Given Cleobulus took over Cornelia's body after she had already cured Faerghus' plague, he is not lying on that front.
Fallen Heroine: Originally an Imperial scholar, she became beloved as a saint by the Kingdom when she cured the plague that ravaged the country, though the real one was likely killed and replaced by Cleobulus, a member of "those who slither in the dark", sometime after these heroic deeds.
False Friend: To Patricia, who was friends with the real Cornelia.
Foreshadowing: There are various hints scattered through the dialogue in the monastery over the course of the game that she is not what she seems, and that her interests do not align with either Faerghus or Adrestia. One bit of dialogue notes how her personality and behavior changed quite suddenly (much as is said about Arundel and Monica), and at one point after the timeskip a merchant wonders about why she has imposed ridiculous levels of taxation on the parts of Faerghus she rules over. He points out that it makes no sense to drain a region so completely if they intend to keep making use of it as a conquered land. However, the goals of "those who slither in the dark" are just that, the complete ruining of Fódlan.
The Ghost:
- On Silver Snow and Verdant Wind, she is mentioned a couple of times in dialogue and at the beginning of Part II when the narration explains the state of the world after the timeskip, but never personally encounters Byleth.
- Exaggerated example on Scarlet Blaze, as she never gets to make an appearance there and is mentioned a few times after she's been long since killed by Dimitri.
Giant Robot: On the Crimson Flower and Azure Moon routes, she commands several Titanus, giant metal warriors armed with BFSes that can fire Sword Beams. These are the very same mecha that guard Shambhala in the other two routes.
Graceful Loser: Takes her death on the Crimson Flower route well, declaring how everything is going as planned as she dies.^note She's similarly accepting in Azure Moon, simply remarking "so this is as far as I go".
The Heavy: For Part I of Azure Gleam, being the one responsible for most of the rebellions taking place within Faerghus that end up eclipsing Adrestia as the main threat, along with forcing Dimitri to learn more and more about the Tragedy of Duscur along the way.
Impossibly-Low Neckline: Her revealing dress appears to be strapless, so it looks as if it could fall off from a single motion.
Improbable Age: Idle dialogue from Sylvain in Chapter 8 reveals that she saved the Kingdom from a plague about 15-20 years ago. Datamining reveals that she's currently 30, meaning she would have had to have done this at no older than 15 and somehow become a Imperial scholar even younger than that. This is a hint that the real Cornelia was probably bumped off by the Agarthan plant Cleobulus who was younger than she was.
Interface Spoiler: Checking her status screen on both Crimson Flower and Azure Moon routes reveals she has Agarthan Technology as her personal skill, the same one Solon and Kronya had as enemies in Part I. This gives away that her true allegiance lies with "those who slither in the dark".
Jerkass: Even apart from being in league with those who slither in the dark, she can be casually rude to her allies, such as calling Gilbert a "senile old fool" when he protests Dimitri being sentenced to death for Rufus' murder.
Karma Houdini: On the Silver Snow and Verdant Wind routes, she abandons her position in Faerghus when Edelgard is defeated and is never seen again, getting no comeuppance for selling out the Kingdom to the Empire and causing Dimitri's exile and eventual death. It's unknown if she was killed during the fall of Shambhala or if she was even present there at the time.
Kill and Replace: All but explicitly stated to be the case. Her sudden shift in personality sometime after saving the Kingdom from the disease afflicting it and access to "those who slither in the dark"'s technology indicate that the real Cornelia was most likely murdered by the group somewhere between Imperial Year 1165-1168, and that some high-ranking Agarthan assumed her form and took her place. Said Agarthan's name is Cleobulus, as revealed in Three Hopes. Azure Gleam also provides a huge hint to her being replaced, as Dimitri points out that if she really wanted to destroy Faerghus, all she had to do was fail to cure the plague.
Killed Offscreen: In Three Hopes on Scarlet Blaze Ch. 10, talking to an Imperial General Gremory NPC will reveal that Cornelia was brought down and executed by the Kingdom army over the Time Skip sometime after the Imperial army successfully held Arianrhod. As said NPC directly mentions her collaboration with Arundel/Thales and "those who slither in the dark", it seems she was found out.
Lady of Black Magic: A cruel and self-serving Gremory, whose true allegiance lies with "those who slither in the dark", with powerful dark magic spells at her command.
Locked Out of the Loop: In Crimson Flower, it's all but stated Edelgard kept Cornelia in the dark about the Empire's movements to ensure she would be killed off during the Black Eagle Strike Force's siege of Arianrhod.
Magic Staff: On the Azure Moon route she wields the Asclepius, an ancient magic staff that restores her HP every turn.
Metaphorically True: By proxy of Three Houses, Cornelia's last words in Azure Gleam are all but stated to be this. For one, her claim that Lambert was keeping Anselma away from Edelgard is revealed in Dimitri & Happi's A-Support from Three Houses to be a lie she told to Anselma/Patricia for the sake of turning her against Lambert (as Lord Arundel deliberately hid Edelgard's identity back then for her protection). And second, her words about Edelgard killing her own mother are, per context provided in Three Houses ^Namely... and Thales' own words to Dimitri in Azure Gleam's endgame, heavily implied to be less that Edelgard herself killed Anselma, and more that Anselma was sacrificed by TWSITD for Edelgard's blood reconstruction surgery.
Ms. Fanservice: Falls into the series tradition of being the designated sexy mage antagonist. She wears a very revealing dress that exposes her legs, back and cleavage, and has large boobs.
Named by the Adaptation: Three Hopes reveals that her true Agarthan name is Cleobulus.
Navel-Deep Neckline: She has a plunging neckline so deep that it reaches her navel, which is unusual for a Gremory.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Very downplayed, but in Azure Moon, Cornelia's attempt to demoralize Dimitri by revealing Patricia's involvement with the Tragedy of Duscur ultimately helped undermine his hatred towards Edelgard and, by proxy, made his parley with her near the end of the route possible, as Dimitri had been fully convinced beforehand that Edelgard was the one responsible for the massacre.
No Name Given: Unlike Tomas and Monica, who were explicitly replaced by Solon and Kronya, or even Arundel, who was implicitly replaced by Thales, it's never revealed or hinted at what the fake Cornelia's true Agarthan name is. In Three Houses, at least. Three Hopes reveals her true name is Cleobulus.
Older Than They Look: Pre-timeskip Sylvain speaks of her and considers how beautiful she was said to be back when she saved the kingdom. He then adds how long ago that was (over 15 years before Part I of the game) and that he expects her to be pretty old by now and wonders if she has aged like fine wine. He hasn't actually seen her at this point, but she clearly doesn't look as old as Sylvain seemed to think she was even five years later. Downplayed of course given that Manuela shows how well even normal people can age, and while datamining the game reveals Cornelia's 30 years old (and 35~36 after the timeskip), we don't actually know if this refers to Cleobulus replacing her or simply to the age their disguise is meant to invoke...
Out of Focus: Cornelia's villainy is very much focused on the Kingdom-aligned characters, and as such she makes no onscreen appearances on Silver Snow and Verdant Wind routes in Three Houses, or the Scarlet Blaze and Golden Wildfire routes in Three Hopes. She is directly fought and killed by the player on Crimson Flower, but on that route only serves as a target of opportunity for Edelgard.
Poison Is Evil: Cornelia carries the Poison Strike skill every time she's fought.
Pragmatic Villainy:
- When Dimitri's return inspires uprisings among the Kingdom citizens, Cornelia refuses to send troops to suppress them. It's not out of any sense of mercy to the people, but rather because she knows she has to confront Dimitri with every soldier she has and can't afford to send any elsewhere if she is to have any chance of winning.
- On the Verdant Wind route with the defeat of the Empire and Dimitri's death, Cornelia disappears along with her most stalwart allies in the Dukedom. Due to not appearing at Shambhala, it's implied she held out with their forces across the continent to wait until they can regroup and continue the Agarthans' battle against the new United Kingdom of Fódlan, which is mentioned in Claude and female Byleth's ending.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
"I'll take good care of you!"
"Don't look at me like that!"
"Muahahaha!"
"Sweet dreams!"
Promoted to Playable: She makes her playable debut in Heroes. Or actually, her Agarthan imposter Cleobulus.
The Quisling: She's put in charge of the parts of Faerghus the Empire conquered, and wages war on the loyalists in the Empire's stead. This gets averted in Crimson Flower, where Rhea's retreat ensures Faerghus's stability and stops Cornelia from sabotaging it like she did in other routes. Furthermore, while she initially expects Edelgard to call for her support, Edelgard chooses to do away with her instead as part of her opening salvo against "those who slither in the dark".
Recurring Boss: She's fought three times during Three Hopes' Azure Gleam route — Chapters 3, 7 and 8.
Recurring Element:
- While the franchise is no stranger to the 'corrupt older politician that sold out the good kingdom and ruling like a tyrant' which was kickstarted by Jiol, Cornelia is the first female example of this type of character; other differences include a lack of cowardice and being competent at her job.
- Cornelia is also an example of the Dark Lady Archetype, being a skimpy, evil sorceress similar to Sonia and Aversa, and is heavily implied to be part of "those who slither in the dark".
Rule of Sexy: So what if her dress defies the laws of physics? It's hot!
Sadist: She revels in causing pain and suffering. Not only did she take Hapi captive and experiment on her just to discard her, Hapi makes it clear she loved tormenting her. In Three Hopes Dimitri lampshades how uniquely sadistic she is, noting it lacks any nuance. Cornelia considers this a compliment.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- On the Silver Snow and Verdant Wind routes, Cornelia is The Unfought, opting to abandon Faerghus after Edelgard's defeat.
- In Three Hopes, Cornelia abandons Rufus when his attack on Dimitri goes south, all while blaming Thales for everything going wrong here.
Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: While some of the heroes may be hit-or-miss when it comes to "sensible" attire post-Time Skip (i.e. Manuela, Dorothea, Petra, etc.), Cornelia puts them all to shame with how revealing her outfit is.
Smug Snake: Not in her original appearance in Houses, but definitely in her appearance in Hopes' Azure Gleam route. She talks a good game and enjoys taunting Dimitri any chance she gets, but all of her plans to eliminate Dimitri and take over the Kingdom end with her defeated and forced to retreat, until she can't run anymore and is executed by Dimitri. Additionally, her battle strategies never amount to more than a simple Zerg Rush, and when it inevitably proves not enough to overcome the Kingdom army her first response is to complain that Thales didn't send her enough soldiers. It's worth noting that in Houses, Thales calls her an idiot in the Azure Moon route.
Theme Song Reveal: The second clue that she is part of "those who slither in the dark"? The fact that "Those Who Sow Darkness" plays for her before the battle.
Token Evil Teammate: In the Crimson Flower route you can pick up from her dialogue that Cornelia is this to King Dimitri. Unlike the other routes, in which she openly betrays the exiled Dimitri in order to make her own power grab, Dimitri was anointed King in this route, so Cornelia is forced to publicly remain loyal. During the Black Eagle Strike Force's attack on Arianrhod, Cornelia sees it as the perfect opportunity to get rid of Lord Rodrigue and Gwendal in order to weaken the power structure around Dimitri.
The Unfought: She is fought and killed on the Crimson Flower and Azure Moon routes, but ditches the kingdom after Edelgard's death on the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes.
The Unreveal: Unlike Solon and Kronya, who have their identities and true forms revealed, Cornelia dies in her disguised form and doesn't revert back when she dies. Three Hopes reveals the Agarthan who impersonates her is named Cleobulus, but doesn't show their true form when she is killed.
Unusable Enemy Equipment: Her Asclepius cannot be wielded by any of the playable characters in Three Houses, but enough renown can buy you her staff in Three Hopes.
Villain Respect: Her Level 40 quote for the Summoner in Heroes has her admit she admires their "avaricious" desire for victory to the point they would even willingly ally with the likes of her, even stating it makes her feel right at home, thus crossing over with You Are a Credit to Your Race with the implicit positive comparison to her fellow Agarthans.
Wicked Witch: She may not look ugly, but her personality sure as hell is. Several characters even outright call her a witch when confronting her.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: On the Crimson Flower route, Edelgard opts to have her killed during the assault on Arianrhod, viewing it as a useful preemptive first strike against "those who slither in the dark".

Gwendal

Gwendal Roche

Class: Great Knight

Voiced by: Ryo Sugisaki (Japanese), Michael Sorich (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9e0bfa02_00.png

A knight in service of House Rowe within the Holy Kingdom. He is acquainted with Lord Lonato.

Alas, Poor Villain: Defied. While he's relatively sympathetic, some of the knights around the monastery say that mourning Gwendal's death would be an insult to the way he lived his life.
Blood Knight: He wishes to fight to the death in combat, and is unforgiving to his enemies even if they are kids. On the Azure Moon route, he even betrays the kingdom and fights against Dimitri's forces because he thinks they'll be a good challenge.
Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: According to both Ingrid and Sylvain, he was not happy when the latter hit on his daughter.
Contractual Boss Immunity: His personal skill is General, making Gwendal immune to instant death and resistant to gambits.
Cool Old Guy: Yuri will reveal in battle he was this to him in the past, treating him as an equal. He makes clear that it was all in the past, however, and Yuri striking against Rowe ruins the respect he once had for the youth.
A Good Way to Die: On non-Crimson Flower routes, he's happy when he meets his end, thanking Byleth's army for killing him.
Grumpy Old Man: He's rather crotchety and Claude remarks that he wouldn't forgive a crying infant.
Hold the Line: In Three Hopes on Scarlet Blaze, Gwendal pulls this against Dimitri during the Kingdom's attack on Arianrhod once they breach the walls. It's the main mission to get past the traps, unlock the gates, and fight through the Kingdom soldiers to reach them before Gwendal falls, as at that point Rowe in a panic will switch sides back to Dimitri to save his own skin and forcing the Imperial forces to put him down.
Honest Advisor: While he’s unflinchingly loyal to Count Rowe, he’s not adverse to criticizing him for his lack of insight and won’t mince his words — this comes across very clearly in Three Hopes where he spells out the reasoning for Lonato’s rash actions, all while Rowe flails impotently and moans about how the situation is affecting his position.
Insult Backfire: When fighting Dimitri, the latter calls him a lowly beast for betraying the Kingdom and fighting against them out of loyalty to his his liege lord Count Rowe. Gwendal responds by proudly agreeing:
Gwendel: I may be lowly, but this beast is loyal to his master.
Mighty Glacier: By virtue of being a Great Knight, he has high HP, defense and mobility but has a weakness in speed and resistance.
My Master, Right or Wrong: As a true knight, he and others muse that he would have been happy to fight for whatever side his master chose. Though it's also made clear he's not happy with Count Rowe siding with the Empire in most routes. Taken to its logical conclusion in Azure Gleam when he continues to protect Rowe's territory for the Empire even after Rowe has been killed in a failed rebellion against Dimitri.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
"Choke on this!"
"The lion's fury!"
"I will not waver!"
"You're weak!"
Red Baron: Known as the Gray Lion.
Spared by the Adaptation: Due to always being an enemy commander, he's guaranteed to die on all routes of Three Houses. In Three Hopes, he can survive the Scarlet Blaze route if the player comes to his aid in time.

Glenn

Glenn Govan Fraldarius

The firstborn son of Lord Rodrigue, Felix's older brother, and fiancé of Ingrid.

The Ace: Rodrique states that at the age of 15, he was already serving the King and Dimitri as a loyal knight.
All There in the Manual: In Three Hopes, an old letter to his parents can be found at the middle, revealing Glenn's full name.
Alternative Character Interpretation: An In-Universe example. Felix, Dimitri, Ingrid, and Rodrigue have conflicting opinions on him due to the nature of his death. Rodrigue and Ingrid see him as a heroic figure who died doing what he thought was right, and that his death was noble. Dimitri sees him as a tragic and loyal knight whose death was a Senseless Sacrifice, and not heroic, a perspective Ingrid comes to share by the end of their supports. Felix sees him as being a Lawful Stupid fool who gave up his life for a pointless reason as a result of his ideals. Nobody is painted as being right or wrong for their outlook on it, and Rodrigue concedes that Felix has a point about his frustration with it but argues Glenn would have felt horrible for running away.
Always Someone Better: To Felix, as Felix tells Byleth in their A-support how he was never able to best him before he was killed.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: According to Rodrigue, Glenn wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if he survived the Tragedy of Duscur through cowardice and instead chose to die protecting Dimitri.
Cynicism Catalyst: His death was this for Felix and Ingrid, causing Felix to become cold and angry, and causing Ingrid's xenophobia towards the people of Duscur to manifest.
Heroic Sacrifice: He died protecting Dimitri during the Tragedy of Duscur.
Knight in Shining Armor: By all accounts he was this, given how everyone talks about him posthumously.
"Not So Different" Remark: While Glenn seems to be very different from the Felix of the present day, Dimitri claims that Glenn was "sarcastic and looking for a fight", just like Felix, implying that the brothers are more alike than most think.
Posthumous Character: Died in the Tragedy of Duscur.
Small Role, Big Impact: He's a Posthumous Character whose physical appearance is never revealed and has only one known truly noteworthy deed to his name, yet his Heroic Sacrifice at the Tragedy of Duscur and the fallout as a result contributes to no less than four different characters' current outlooks (Dimitri, Felix, Ingrid, and Rodrigue).
Vitriolic Best Buds: Implied to be this with Dimitri. In Dimitri's supports with Ingrid, Dimitri recalls that he and Glenn often argued. Dimitri is surprised to hear Ingrid recall Glenn praising Dimitri, since Glenn was not as complimentary when speaking to Dimitri.

Christophe

Christophe Gaspard

The son of Lord Lonato, and adoptive older brother to Ashe.

Cool Big Bro: Of the adopted variety, towards Ashe. In Ashe's Support with Mercedes he favorably compares his Team Mom classmate to Christophe, stating that his older brother shared the same kind of playful and warm personality that made him very easy to get along with. Outside that, its made very clear that Ashe holds Cristophe's memory in incredibly high regard and fondness, and his death affected Ashe just as firmly as it did Lonato.
Everyone Went to School Together: He was a student at Garreg Mach around the same time Catherine (or Cassandra, as she was known at the time) was, both were members of The Blue Lions and actually became close friends during their school years.
Fatal Flaw: During Ashe and Catherine's C-Support, Catherine tells Ashe that Christophe was too trusting of others, which made him an excellent Unwitting Pawn for the Western Church. Had he not been so naïve and blindly idealistic, he would've realized that the Western Church was using him as a pawn to kill Rhea and secure their own power.
Posthumous Character: His death motivates Lord Lonato's actions, and is key to the supports between Ashe and Catherine.
Stupid Good: "Stupid" might be a far harsher word than necessary, but considering Catherine describes him as being foolish and the kind of man who did not have it in his nature to distrust others, it's tragically clear that his good nature, idealism, and genuine Nice Guy personality was ruthlessly taken advantage of and it made him a perfect Unwitting Pawn to be used.
The Unreveal: While the Kingdom’s customs indicate he has a middle name, it has never been revealed. This is particularly notable after Three Hopes revealed many hitherto-unknown first and/or middle names of notable figures from the original game, including deceased characters.
Unwitting Pawn: Ashe's support with Catherine reveals that while he wasn't involved with Duscur, he was part of another plot by the Western Church to assassinate Rhea, and she comments he was too naïve and idealistic because he was easily swayed by their reasons. While he knew the plot was to kill Rhea, he was unaware that the Western Church was only using him for the sake of increasing their own power.

Simon

Simon Dominic

Crest: Dominic

The son and heir of Baron Dominic, and Annette's cousin. He doesn't get along with his father, and chose to become a travelling troubadour.

Brilliant, but Lazy: Annette notes that despite Simon being an exemplary student who earned top marks at the Officer’s Academy, he has no personal ambition and would rather live a carefree life. This puts him at odds with his dutiful father, to the point on Scarlet Blaze he chooses to completely abandon the Kingdom due to not wishing to fight on the battlefield.
Father, I Don't Want to Fight: He leaves the kingdom in Scarlet Blaze due to not wanting to die in battle, claiming that's the place of warriors. Baron Dominic calls him a craven for not being there to wield the Relic.
The Ghost: He doesn’t appear in Azure Moon despite his father playing a brief but notable role in the narrative, and his uncle and cousin being major players.
King Incognito: In his appearance in Scarlet Blaze he just goes by the name of "Troubadour" while stating he can't reveal his identity for various reasons, and gives no outward sign of being heir to a noble house.
Non-Action Guy: By his own admittance on Scarlet Blaze, he has no place on the battlefield as he's not a "warrior" like his father or his uncle Gilbert.
Refusal of the Call: As the heir of House Dominic and possessing their Crest, Simon should be the one to not just inherit their house but wield their Heroes' Relic. However, he denies this birthright and wants to walk a more peaceful path.
Remember the New Guy?: Annette never mentioned him in Three Houses when talking about her close relatives, even when the context would have made sense. Partly justified by his wanderlust making it unclear of his status most of the time.
Shared Family Quirks: Like his cousin Annette, he’s a talented and diligent student with a carefree personality and a love for singing and music.
Wandering Minstrel: Despite being the heir to a barony, Simon chooses to travel Fódlan and sing.

Mercedes' adoptive father

A wealthy and ambitious merchant who seeks to better his own status at any cost. He adopted Mercedes due to her possessing the Crest of Lamine, and seeks to marry her off for his own benefit.

Abusive Parents: He treats Mercedes as nothing more than a bargaining chip to marry off in order to advance his own status.
Ambition Is Evil: He's an ambitious and unscrupulous Social Climber who is willing to use other people to advance himself.
Les Collaborateurs: He sucks up to Cornelia when the latter rules the Faerghus Dukedom, but switches to Dimitri when the latter liberates Fhirdiad.
The Ghost: Often mentioned in Mercedes' supports, especially hers with Ferdinand, but he never shows up.
Hate Sink: He is easily one of the most despicable minor characters in the game. Even Mercedes has nothing but contempt for him.
Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: He bribed the church that was sheltering Mercedes and her mother until they allowed him to adopt Mercedes.

Characters / Fire Emblem: Three Houses – Holy Kingdom of Faerghus

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In General

Royal Family

King Lambert Egitte Blaiddyd

Voiced by: Shinobu Matsumoto (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English)

Patricia / Anselma von Arundel

Rufus Thierry Blaiddyd

Class: Prionsa (Three Hopes)

Voiced by: Shinji Kawada (Japanese), John Eric Bentleynote credited as "J. Bentley" (English)

Eastern Lords

Duke Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius

Class: Holy Knight (Three Houses), Cavalier (Three Hopes)

Age: 41

Crest: Fraldarius (Minor)

Voiced by: Taira Kikumoto (Japanese), Jake Eberle (English)

Margrave Matthias Raoul Gautier

Class: Great Knight

Crest: Gautier (Minor)

Voiced by: Ken Narita (Japanese), Ed Cunningham (English)

Count Gunnar Galatea

Voiced by: Unknown (in Three Houses only)

The Western Lords

Count Rowe

Class: Mage (Three Hopes)

Baron Dominic

Class: Paladin

Lord Lonato Gildas Gaspard

Class: Paladin

Voiced by: Kazuhiro Anzai (Japanese), Dave B. Mitchellnote Credited as "Raymond K. Essel" (English)

Other Notable Figures

Cornelia Arnim

Class: Gremory

Voiced by: Akemi Okamura (Japanese), Jessica Gee-George (English)

Gwendal Roche

Class: Great Knight

Voiced by: Ryo Sugisaki (Japanese), Michael Sorich (English)

Glenn Govan Fraldarius

Christophe Gaspard

Simon Dominic

Crest: Dominic

Mercedes' adoptive father

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Voiced by: Shinji Kawada (Japanese), John Eric Bentley^notecredited as "J. Bentley" (English)

Voiced by: Kazuhiro Anzai (Japanese), Dave B. Mitchell^noteCredited as "Raymond K. Essel" (English)