Fire Emblem: Three Houses – Leicester Alliance / Characters

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

The youngest and smallest of the three nations. The Alliance is a loose confederation of noble houses, located to the east of Fódlan. Initially formed in Imperial Year 801 in an attempt to secede from the Adrestian Empire, they were occupied and annexed into the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, only managing to gain their freedom in a second bid of independence in Imperial Year 881 upon refusing to recognize the heir of the deceased Faerghus archduke ruling their territory and succeeding with their victory in the Crescent Moon War of Imperial Year 901. Due to this past, they refuse to allow any king or emperor rule over them; however, they allow one family to lead them: House Riegan, as it was the house's duke of that time who led Leicester to victory. Each house's territory is technically an autonomous region, though they all swear allegiances of loyalty to each other. Leicester students are assigned to the Golden Deer.

The routes supporting this faction are called Verdant Wind in Three Houses, and Golden Wildfire in Three Hopes.

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In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fe3h_leicester_crest.png

Tropes Associated with the Leicester Alliance

The Alliance: A loose coalition of territories united under a single banner. It's deconstructed in that the nobles ruling the Alliance are far more concerned with their own personal advancement than the welfare of the nation as a whole; two of the three Part I paralogues involving the Golden Deer have you put down an ambitious and unscrupulous noble's attempts to gain more power, and in Part II the country falls apart when Adrestia declares war on everyone.
Ambition Is Evil: The Alliance is nowhere near as corrupt as the Empire at the start of the story, but they undoubtedly have morally unscrupulous lords. Many Alliance lords are mostly loyal to themselves and put the welfare of the Alliance aside. The most prominent example in Three Houses is Count Gloucester as in every route, after war breaks out, he defects to the Empire and is the leader of the Alliance lords who align themselves with Edelgard (albeit for pragmatic reasons rather than ambition).
Animal Motifs: Deer. The Alliance views deer as the protectors of their lands and Leicester students are assigned to the Golden Deer House in Garreg Mach.
Aristocrats Are Evil: Several Alliance lords are shown to be very opportunistic and more concerned about their own houses and agenda rather than the nation. The most prominent example is Acheron, who launches an attack on Gloucester lands out of a desire for power and betrays the Alliance when Edelgard declares war (unless Byleth sides with her).
Blue Blood: Unlike their neighbors, the Adrestian Empire and Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, they lack royalty and are governed by a coalition of nobility who refuse to swear fealty to any royal due to the Alliance's experience with them.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: While the nobles of the other nations have shades of this, it is most pronounced in the Leicester Alliance. Despite the vows of loyalty its nobles swore to each other, they are ultimately portrayed as opportunistic and more invested in furthering the interests of their own houses rather than the country as a whole. Of the five current ruling houses of the alliance, only House Goneril never betrays any ally or the Alliance itself at any point in either Three Houses or Three Hopes. Houses Edmund, Ordelia, and Gloucester will always follow their heirs' decisions in Three Houses, and negotiate with the Empire on the Scarlet Blaze route of Three Hopes. During the timeskip in Three Houses, Claude promotes conflicts between houses to keep the Alliance neutral. Claude can also potentially betray his allies in the Empire and the Church in or after the Scarlet Blaze and Azure Gleam routes of Three Hopes, respectively. Claude also betrays the trust of the Empire in Golden Wildfire, but his allies talk him out of further underhandedness.
Dark Horse Victory: Their victory in the war in Verdant Wind is essentially this. By and large, the main conflict of the war was between the Empire and the Kingdom, and the Alliance's only real reason they were involved to begin with was because both sides had to pass through their territories to attack the other. However, under Claude and Byleth's leadership, the Alliance ultimately comes out on top while the Empire and Kingdom are effectively destroyed.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of The Alliance. Though it is a land free from the rule of kings and emperors, it is a pit of vipers among the nobility. Many Alliance Lords are very opportunistic, self-serving, and more loyal to themselves than their nation as a whole. In all routes, after Edelgard declares war, several Alliance Lords, led by Count Gloucester, join the Empire and go to war with the Alliance faction loyal to House Riegan.
Divided We Fall: The Alliance's Fatal Flaw. The lords of Leicester are more concerned with their own ambitions and welfare than the greater good of the Alliance, resulting in a nation barely holding itself together. In all routes, because Alliance lords side with the Adrestian Empire when Edelgard declares war, Claude is forced to pit the Alliance against itself to make it appear as a unified front. Depending on which route Byleth takes, this could backfire and lead to the Alliance's destruction.
Dragon Their Feet: In Three Hopes, if on Scarlet Blaze the player takes the path that involves killing Claude, the epilogue mentions that the Alliance will still be at war with the Empire even without their leader with no end in sight.
Faction Calculus: Subversive. Leicester's military is looser than that of the other two nations, consisting of more peasant levies.
Fantasy Counterpart Culture:
- The various merchant republics of Italy (Genoa, Florence, Venice etc), with a bit of the Renaissance-era Kingdom of England thrown in. Their refusal to be led by a king and a quarter of the playable Golden Deer characters being the children of merchants draws this parallel. Additionally, a lot of the place names are taken straight from England, the Alliance being known for the use of the bow, and the presence of a fortified wall along the border add to the real-life comparison with England. In addition, many of the well known characters from the alliance are named after a Shakespearean play, King Lear.
- The country's governing system, comprised of autonomous states with their own hereditary rulers, and all of the rulers participating in a forum to decide on the governance of the country as a whole, calls to mind federal monarchies such as Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.
- As they were once part of the Empire, and are an Alliance/Confederacy, they also have some aspects of the Old Swiss Confederacy, and is even quite mountainous. The history of independence from a Holy Roman-esque empire and being a Hereditary Republic also brings to mind the Dutch Republic, though unlike that one, the Alliance is significantly less united (until Three Hopes at least).
Fatal Flaw: Their disunity. The Kingdom and the Empire both have their share of infighting among the leaders, but it's nowhere near as bad as the Alliance. Because of their Chronic Backstabbing Disorder tendencies and their status as A House Divided, the Leicester Alliance suffers from a grave lack of unity due to their leaders barely keeping it together. Though the ruling lords swear loyalty to each other, the majority of them are ultimately very opportunistic and are quick to turn on each other when it benefits them. In all routes, Edelgard takes advantage of this and rallies several Alliance lords to her side, led by Count Gloucester. Depending on which route the player takes, it could lead to the complete annihilation of the Leicester Alliance and Claude's death or disappearance. It's also brought up in Three Hopes that because of this disunity, their army is the weakest of the three nations; while Goneril is loyal and certainly a force to be reckoned with, it usually has its hands full beating back Almyran attempts to invade, and the other members of the Roundtable frequently waffle on sending out troops to support other members of the table and the other lords - even when they actually are unified on a particular matter. This is especially true of Ordelia and Edmund; the former mostly maintains its seat through its standing among the nobility but is noted to have almost no fighting force to speak of, and the latter was made a part of the Roundtable only recently because of its margrave's popularity as an orator for the people, who is, behind closed doors, notorious for withholding his impressive array of troops unless he is utterly convinced he's 'investing' in a measure that will give him either fame or fortune. Thus, a major plot development in both Three Houses and Three Hopes is that the Alliance frequently is only ever fighting with a fraction of what its army should be able to field. Tellingly, in Three Houses, they're almost a footnote in any route that isn't their own in the grand scheme of the war, always the first to fall and typically only ever able to muster up a significant fighting force for the battle at Gronder Field.
The Federation: In the Golden Wildfire route of Three Hopes they reform into the Leicester Federation, with Claude as sole ruler.
Fighter, Mage, Thief: Thief. A lot of their military are hunters proficient with bows.
Hereditary Republic: Despite it being explicitly stated that the country is not a monarchy, its governing positions are nonetheless generally hereditary, such as membership of the governing Roundtable, which includes the country's overall leader. However, a noble house in the Roundtable can lose its position through loss of standing among its peers.
A House Divided:
- Post-timeskip, due to the Chronic Backstabbing Disorder that the country's nobles suffer from, half of them are quick to support the Adrestian Empire when it declares war on the church, which basically fractures the Leicester Alliance from within. Claude is forced to effectively pit the two sides (the pro-Imperial faction and the anti-Imperial faction) against each other in order to maintain their neutrality.
- While the other two nations have their infighting amongst the leaders, it's notoriously bad for the Alliance. In every Three Houses route except for Verdant Wind, the Alliance ultimately ends up falling apart after the Battle of Gronder Field because they were never able to fully unify. In the Azure Moon route Claude reads the tea leaves and realizes it's best to put all of his hopes in Dimitri being able to win the war and lead a unified Fódlan. Claude does the same in Crimson Flower, arranging things so that no matter what happens, the Empire and Alliance will join together with minimal bloodshed. In Silver Snow, Claude goes completely MIA after the Battle and the Alliance collapses shortly after, with the lords becoming loyal to Byleth in the aftermath.
I Fight for the Strongest Side!:
- This is the main reason half of the country's noble houses sided with the Adrestian Empire in the face of the possibility that the empire may attack. They reasoned that their country cannot capably fight back and thus viewed capitulation to the empire as the only way to survive.
- Even in the Verdant Wind route, Claude is only able to fully unify the Alliance by getting them behind Byleth's status symbol as Seiros' chosen.
Keystone Army: The coalition of noble houses that comprise the country is so fragile that without a unifying figure to lead them, they will instantly fall apart due to infighting. On the Crimson Flower route, Claude's death or desertion leads to the entire country being too weak and disunified to resist the Adrestian Empire's forces.
Leitmotif: "Golden Deer and Crescent Moon" plays during scenes related to the Alliance.
Meaningful Name: "Leicester" derives from Leicestershire, the name of a town in England that was built on the site of a Roman settlement. The Leicester Alliance specializes in the bow, just like England, and was formerly Kingdom territory before breaking off and becoming its own nation.
Succession Crisis: One occurs for the leading House Riegan in the Imperial Year 1179, a year before the events of the game, when Godfrey, Claude's uncle and the family's heir, passes away unexpectedly, and his sister is unaccounted for. This is resolved when Godfrey's father, Duke Riegan, legitimizes his heretofore absent grandson Claude. Prior to this, Holst Goneril was viewed by many as the favorite to succeed Duke Riegan.
Thicker Than Water: This is the reason for the country's general disunity and lack of ability to put up any efficient resistance to outside aggression. Despite agreeing to mutually defend each other, the noble houses that comprise the Leicester Alliance are more loyal to their own interests than to the country's welfare as a whole.
We ARE Struggling Together: Despite the fact that aggression from the Adrestian Empire threatens the country's existence, it is difficult to get its nobles to mount a unified resistance when half of them think that it's better off to capitulate to Edelgard rather than fight. The best that Claude can accomplish is to try and keep the country from fracturing at the seams while giving off the impression of neutrality.
Weapon Specialization: The Leicester Alliance is famous for its use of the bow, especially since the majority of the Golden Deer students use bows (Claude, Leonie, Ignatz).
Wild Card: Due to the conflicting interests within the Alliance itself as well as Claude's own ulterior agenda, it can be very tricky to pin down which side the Alliance will fall on when the chips are down.
- In Three Houses and the first half of Three Hopes, the Alliance sides against the Empire out of self-preservation, although it can't exactly be said that they're friends of the Kingdom either.
- On the Scarlet Blaze route, the Alliance forms a pact with the Empire out of self-preservation after they make headway in the initial war. Depending on whether or not Byleth and Jeralt are recruited or not, they can remain with them through the end of the game or backstab them to try to fight everyone and take the continent for themselves.
- On the Azure Gleam route, the Empire's descent into corruption under Duke Aegir's misrule drives the Alliance firmly into the Church's camp.
- On the Golden Wildfire route, Shahid's interference kills the conflict between the Alliance and Empire. When Claude reforms the Alliance into the Federation, he brings the nation into the Empire's camp in order to advance his own agenda of breaking down barriers and ensure that Leicester gets a suitable slice of the pie if the Kingdom goes down.

House Heads

Duke Oswald von Riegan

The head of House Riegan and Claude's grandfather. He had to retake both his title and position as head of the Alliance Roundtable following the death of his son, Godfrey.

The Ghost: Doesn't appear in either Three Houses or Three Hopes. Justified in that he’s a frail old man who can't travel much, and dies at some point during the Time Skip.
King on His Deathbed: He's a sick old man forced to resume the duties of being the head of the leading house of the Alliance following the death of his son. Before Claude appeared, the next head of the Roundtable was up for debate.
Outliving One's Offspring: His son Godfrey died trying to defend merchants, forcing Oswald to retake the responsibilities of being Duke Riegan.
Soap Opera Disease: He's gravely ill, to the point of passing away during the timeskip.

Duke Godfrey von Riegan

The former head of House Riegan and Claude's uncle. He died in Imperial Year 1177 defending merchants from monsters.

Posthumous Character: He died before Claude arrived to the Alliance.
You Shall Not Pass!: He died trying to hold some monsters back long enough for Raphael's parents to escape. He sadly failed.

Judith von Daphnel

Marquis Judith von Daphnel

Class: Lord

Voiced by: Yoko Soumi (Japanese), Rachel Robinson (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/judith_portrait_7.png

The head of House Daphnel in the Leicester Alliance, who are considered amongst the elite defenders of their lands. During part II, she becomes one of Claude's most consistent and loyal allies.

Abdicate the Throne: Before the events of the game, she willingly gave up her seat as one of the five ruling lords of the Alliance.
Anti-Armor: Her rapier allows her to deal extra damage to armored units.
Anti-Cavalry: Her rapier also allows her to deal extra damage to horseback units.
Badass Normal: Despite lacking her family's Crest, she's more than happy to take to the battlefield when necessary, and is considered one of Leicester's elite warriors.
The Confidant: In Claude's paralogue in Three Hopes, he confesses to her that he is actually an Almyran prince and that his mother is currently living in Almyra. She is the only person he ever intentionally reveals this to, though Shez had figured it out from their confrontation with Shahid.
Contractual Boss Immunity: Her personal skill is General, making Judith immune to instant death and resistant to gambits.
Deadpan Snarker: She has quite the sharp tongue and shows no qualms about chewing up both Claude and Lorenz in the Verdant Wind route.
Death by Adaptation: While Judith does survive through Verdant Wind, Three Hopes's Golden Wildfire has her be the character who can die by Byleth's hand if Shez kills Jeralt.
Early-Bird Cameo: On the Verdant Wind route, she makes a brief appearance during part I in the monastery before becoming an important player in the story.
Famed In-Story: She’s a very renowned hero in the Alliance and the rest of Fódlan, to the point multiple characters in Garreg Mach, the Kingdom and Alliance have heard of her exploits.
Fragile Speedster: Judith’s good at dishing out damage and avoiding enemy attacks, but she falls short when it comes to receiving multiple hits.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: Despite joining your party during the story in the Verdant Wind route, she never becomes a playable unit. In a perplexing example, she remains that way during the story despite not sharing Rodrigue’s fate.
Killed Off for Real:
- On the Crimson Flower route, she has to be killed to progress in the story.
- In Three Hopes, if Shez kills Jeralt, Byleth will murder her in retribution.
Lady of War: A celebrated, dignified female commander who wields a rapier and leads a battalion of duelists in battle.
Lady Drunk: Downplayed. One of Catherine's comments implies she can be quite a heavy drinker.
Ms. Fanservice: Judith's unique lord wardrobe showcases her cleavage and accentuates her hips.
No Hero to His Valet: Judith has no shame calling out the Alliance's new leader on their sloppy job.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
"Past my prime? Never!"
"And now you've made me mad!"
"How invigorating!"
"Here's how it's done!"
Red Baron: Hailed as the "Hero of Daphnel".
Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- On the Crimson Flower path, she will make a hasty retreat if the battle is turning south for her. It's to no avail however as the map requires that she be killed before she can escape.
- Claude tells this to her again on the Verdant Wind route. Unlike on the Crimson Flower route, she never has to resort to running away.
Sorry That I'm Dying: When she's killed on Crimson Flower, Judith sends her apologies to Claude as she draws her last breath.
Surveillance as the Plot Demands: An unusual heroic version. Judith has a wide web of spies across all of Fódlan. On non-Crimson Flower routes, this proves to be quite handy as it lets her know Rhea was captured during Adrestia's invasion of Garreg Mach. On Silver Snow and Verdant Wind, she reveals this information to her allies as soon she provides them reinforcements, while in Azure Moon, Claude delivers it in her stead.
Team Mom: She acts as this towards the Golden Deer, with a tough yet motherly disposition. She dotes on Claude and Lorenz like kids, and greatly disapproves of Margrave Edmund having his daughter Marianne fight in the war while he stays behind.
Underestimating Badassery:
- On the Crimson Flower route, she notes she was told to run by "the boy" (Claude) if she was in danger but disregards it, believing she can certainly hold out until reinforcements arrive. The Black Eagle Strike Force proves her wrong, prompting her Screw This, I'm Out of Here! moment.
- On the Golden Wildfire route of Three Hopes, if Jeralt is killed by Shez, then she will decide to fight Byleth while telling Claude to let her show him how it's done, indicating that she believes she can easily take the Ashen Demon down. This decision results in her death.
Unique Enemy: Notable for being the only NPC in the Fire Emblem series thus far to be of the Lord class, which is normally given to the main player characer. She also retains the class in Three Hopes, even though it has been otherwise removed.
What Happened to the Mouse?: On the Silver Snow route, after Chapter 15 she is never mentioned again or makes another appearance.
What the Hell, Hero?: In Three Hopes, she, alongside Shez, calls out Claude in Golden Wildfire for sacrificing Randoph's Imperial Army to Catherine behind everyone's back. While outwardly calm, she's seething about as much as Shez is openly.

Margrave Edmund

The head of House Edmund and Marianne's adopted father (technically her cousin by blood). A skilled orator and politician, Judith gave up her seat as part of the Alliance Roundtable to him.

Ambiguous Situation: It's left unsaid how closely related he is to Marianne, including whether he's part of the same bloodline that she inherited her Crest from; at best it's indicated he doesn't have one, or at least not the same as hers.
The Ghost: Doesn't appear in either Three Houses or Three Hopes.
The Mentor: Many of Marianne's ending's in Three Houses mention that she studied politics under him, and several of them mention that he taught her husband political skills too.
Parental Neglect: He's not the best father to Marianne, failing to contact her on occasion. In one monastery conversation, Marianne wonders if Margrave Edmund has forgotten about her, and hopes that he has. In Three Hopes, Marianne is often surprised when he does contact her, and she usually has no idea what she should say to him when they do get to interact - it also doesn't help that he often views matters in terms of gains-and-losses for the house (including the war itself, which Marianne mentions that in supporting it, he must be expecting significant returns).
Promotion to Parent: He was made Marianne's guardian by default when her parents vanished (in unspecified circumstances), and being a living relative with the means to raise her. It's indicated that he's unsure how to be a parent and is trying his best in the circumstances.
So Proud of You: In multiple endings of Three Houses, Marianne grows into a more confident and strong-willed woman that her father becomes proud of. He eschews marrying her off in favor of properly teaching her to be his heir and she becomes a skilled orator and politician in her own right.

Count Gloucester

Count Erwin Fritz Gloucester

Class: Paladin

Crest: Gloucester (Minor)

Voiced by: Yasuyuki Kase (Japanese), Jason Marnocha (English)

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

The head of House Gloucester and Lorenz's father. He has the second-highest voice in the Alliance Roundtable, often clashing with House Riegan.

Abusive Parents: Zigzagged.
- Lorenz is shown to not question his father about anything even if it goes against his beliefs. He's also scared of failing his father as shown if he loses the Heron Cup and believes he will be disowned. While two of the four routes have him throw his son into battle knowing that it will get him killed and one route where he excommunicates his son for siding with Claude, Lorenz is able to get back in his father's good graces should he stand up and speak to him.
- He might not be the best father, but he doesn't take it well when Lorenz is almost killed while facing Edelgard in Chapter 6 of her route in Three Hopes and swears to make her pay.
The Artifact: In Three Hopes, he is still referred to as Count Gloucester by the game's subtitles even after he passes his title on to Lorenz.
Curtains Match the Window: Just like Lorenz, his hair and eyes are the same shade of purple.
Dirty Coward: Zigzagged repeatedly, as he's put in situations where one could really argue that trying to fight would be suicide.
- In the interim between Parts I and II, he leads the faction of the Alliance that supports cowing to the Empire. However, Lorenz provides a more nuanced view of his actions, noting that the Gloucester people would be the first to die if open war with the Empire broke out.
- At the end of the Verdant Wind route, he takes his men and flees from Nemesis. Given that Nemesis was able to defeat Holst, described as the biggest badass in the Alliance, it may have been a tactical retreat.
- On Scarlet Blaze Chapter 4 of Three Hopes, he (along with Acheron) allows the Imperial Army to pass through parts of his territory without resistance, allowing them to speed along their strike against Garreg Mach ahead of the other nation's projected timetables. Claude is caught flat-footed by this when he learns of the aftermath, as he annoyingly states both men "puffed their chests" about how they would hold the border. Judith however notes that this had been pre-planned and communicated via letters with the Empire. Unlike Acheron, however, Erwin was planning a double-cross for later.
The Ghost: He never appears onscreen in Three Houses, but becomes Unseen No More in Three Hopes.
Good All Along: Three Houses does not paint a pretty picture of the man, as it's implied he had Claude's uncle assassinated (with Raphael's parents being caught in the crossfire) and is also seemingly willing to murder Alliance merchants for his own petty gain. He comes off as a lot more honorable in Warriors: Three Hopes, and it also turns out that the assassination was carried out by double agents among his men without his knowledge.
Hereditary Hairstyle: As shown in Three Hopes, he has the same hairstyle as his son Lorenz after the Three Houses timeskip.
Hidden Depths:
- Despite his less than savory traits, Count Gloucester apparently works to develop new foods himself, suggesting he is somewhat of a chef.
- In Three Hopes, after passing on his Count title to Lorenz, an NPC on Chapter 10 of Scarlet Blaze states that Erwin spends his days quietly fishing in the Airmid River from the Great Bridge of Myrddin.
Humble Pie: At the end of Verdant Wind Lorenz states how his father fled from Nemesis and his army instead of staying to fight. While it was a smart move given how someone like Holst couldn't stop Nemesis, Lorenz states that this retreat will make his father go down in history as a coward.
It's All About Me:
- In Verdant Wind, Lorenz comments at one point his father's number one priority is the position his house and himself have in the Alliance.
- In Three Hopes he's shown in a more complex light. It's simplest to say all his actions and good intentions are reflected through the lens of how they affect him first and foremost. He has 0 issues handing over control of his house to Lorenz once he's convinced the best outcome for both himself and Alliance can be achieved through it. Until that point he's stubborn.
I Surrender, Suckers: He pulls off an impressive one in Chapter 4 of Golden Wildfire in Three Hopes, first surrendering to the Empire when the Great Bridge of Myrddin is overrun by Ferdinand's forces. Then he launches a surprise attack against the Empire's forces, driving them out of the bridge, retaking control, and eventually forcing them into a pincer attack, revealing that he planned this alongside Claude and Lysithea in secrecy. It's also noted however that he was fully prepared to actually surrender to the Empire if Claude hadn't held up his end of the bargain of defending Derdriu.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's something of a pompous ass, and his pragmatic fair-weather friend leanings don't do his image any favors. But as Three Hopes shows, he's ultimately a decent man who wants to do right by his people, and he's surprisingly kind to Lysithea and Shez during their interactions with him.
Know When to Fold 'Em: In Three Hopes on Scarlet Blaze, when his scheme to betray the Empire backfires, he is fully prepared to surrender and face possible execution to mitigate the damages done to his own people and bloodline, encouraging Lorenz to throw his lot in with the Empire should Edelgard emerge victorious.
Make It Look Like an Accident: It's heavily implied he was involved in the death of Claude's uncle and Raphael's parents. He set it up to make it seem like an incidental attack by monsters, but it's implied they were monsters trained by bandits he hired. For what little it is worth, Godfrey (Claude's uncle) was the target and Raphael's parents simply got caught up in the attack as they had been hired by the count. Raphael chooses to treat it as a rumor, but the appearance of monsters controlled by bandits set on interfering with trade to House Riegan in a paralogue supports said rumor. Three Hopes however, heavily implies that the whole ordeal was something that Erwin blamed himself for not being able to stop in time, and the true culprit of the crime remains unknown (possibly an agent of "those who slither in the dark" seeking to destablize the Alliance).
My Greatest Failure:
- It's heavily implied he sees the whole incident involving Claude's uncle Godfrey, and Raphael's parents as this on his part. He hired mercenaries to initially protect the merchants, but someone else from within House Gloucester had bribed the mercenaries into threatening the merchants to slow down House Riegan's profits, claiming the orders came from Count Gloucester. Not wanting to act like bandits, the mercenaries decided to drive monsters into their paths in order to scare away the merchants. This ill-conceived strategy worked for a while with no one getting hurt, but when they tried to scare off Claude's uncle, Godfrey started fighting them to the best of his ability, enraging them further and resulting in his death and Raphael's parents dying as collateral damage. Erwin's response was to immediately hunt down the mercenaries out of outrage and shame for letting the whole thing slip past his notice. As for the true culprit of the orders to the mercenaries, they had vanished by the time Erwin became aware of them.
- He also feels guilty for not doing more to help Count Ordelia during the Hrym revolt. Lysithea doesn't hold this against him though, pointing out that the Empire would just start interfering in House Gloucester as well if he tried to stand up to them.
Papa Wolf: In chapter 6 of Scarlet Blaze, if Lorenz is defeated before his father, no matter if he survives or not, Erwin will become enraged and swears revenge on the Empire for daring to hurt his son, though he surrenders in the end when defeated.
Pet the Dog:
- Mixed with Pragmatic Villainy, his only known good deed shown in Three Houses is hiring Jeralt to take care of the poachers that were harassing Leonie's village. Lorenz notes that it was simply duty, as Leonie's village had the rights to hunting in the area. His hiring of Jeralt directly led to his meeting Leonie.
- In Three Hopes, Erwin does not react well when Lorenz is heavily injured during their Dual Boss Battle in Chapter 6 of the Scarlet Blaze route (should you defeat Lorenz first) and tries to avenge him. His seemingly selfish actions are also often revealed to simply be him prioritizing the safety of the people under his protection.
The Quisling: In every route in Three Houses, Gloucester sides with the Empire, largely because his county's proximity to the Great Bridge means it's gonna be among the first to feel the flames of war. He will only switch to the Kingdom/Alliance/Resistance side if the Great Bridge of Myrddin is recaptured and he has nothing to fear.
Route Boss: In Three Hopes, he is only fought on Scarlet Blaze.
Shared Family Quirks: Both Erwin and his son have a tendency to announce themselves with their full name.
Strong Family Resemblance: Three Hopes shows that he looks almost identical to Lorenz, just older.
The Unfought:
- In Three Houses, the player never engages in combat with him even though he sides with the Empire. In the Azure Moon and Silver Snow route, he sends his son to fight instead.
- Averted in Three Hopes, where he shows he's fully willing to join the battle himself if need be.
Vitriolic Best Buds: He implies that he has this kind of relationship with Count Ordelia, noting that while they butt heads often at Roundtable conferences, they still respect each other.
Xanatos Gambit: His plan in Chapter 6 of the Scarlet Blaze route of Three Hopes is set up this way. If he and Lorenz succeed in stopping Edelgard's reinforcements, they'll break the morale of Count Bergliez's troops under siege and be hailed as the heroes of the Alliance for dealing a crippling blow to the Empire. If they fail, Erwin will accept all responsibility for betraying the Empire, including his own life if need be, and have Lorenz swear fealty to their conquerors in order to preserve House Gloucester's status even as Edelgard moves to take the rest of the Alliance, as he knows Edelgard will have need of influential governors of the conquered territories. Of course, he would very much prefer the first outcome, but as he tells Lorenz their house must always remain the top priority and so the plans must be made with that in mind.
You Monster!: After the Imperial Army has defeated Lorenz in chapter 6 of Scarlet Blaze, Erwin calls them "Heartless monsters" for daring to hurt his son.

Acheron

Viscount Acheron Lethe Phlegethon

Class: Mage → Cavalier/Warlock (Three Houses), Warlock (Three Hopes)

Voiced by: Ryou Nishitani (Japanese), Doug Erholtz (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ff5e96a1_00.png

The head of House Phlegethon, the smallest noble house in the Leicester Alliance. Acheron's known as "The Weathervane" for his political opportunism.

Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When defeated in Lorenz's paralogue, he unceremoniously begs to be spared.
Butt-Monkey: He's treated as a joke by the Golden Deer students before the timeskip; combined with his arrogance, they end up making a fool of him every time. When Claude faces him and Acheron is at his most haughty, Claude reveals they've set his castle on fire, and turns his taunt about the Alliance collapsing back at him.
Cavalry Refusal: On the Crimson Flower route, he's sent to reinforce Judith at Myrddin, but the moment he sees his fellow reinforcements fall he decides to cut tail and run for his life, resulting in Judith being forced to retreat and ultimately be cut down.
Contractual Boss Immunity: He has the Unsealable Magic skill in Land of the Golden Deer and in Part 2 of non-Crimson Flower routes.
Dirty Coward:
- In Lorenz's paralogue, he goes from confidently trying to kill the students fighting him to pathetically sobbing and begging to be spared the second he's beaten.
- On the Crimson Flower route in Three Houses, he runs away and leaves Judith to die if Leonie/the generic Paladin who replaces her is killed.
- In Three Hopes on Golden Wildfire he switches sides to the Empire the first chance he gets when they show up in force, attacking his former ally to get in the Empire's good graces. He gets promptly left for dead and forgotten. On Scarlet Blaze, he betrays the Empire due to being emboldened by Gloucester's own planned double-cross and hides behind a cadre of loyal subordinates while defending the Great Bridge of Myrddin, using them as meat shields.
Discard and Draw: On the Crimson Flower route, he drops his magical abilities in Part I for a horse in Part II.
Embarrassing Nickname: He's nicknamed "The Weathervane" for his political opportunism.
Fair-Weather Friend:
- "Friend" is pushing it, but all the other Leicester nobles are still nominally allied to him despite his infamous opportunism. Count Gloucester opts to spare him after he incites a violent conquest of his territory, considering it too inconvenient just to kill him. Claude, however, isn't so restrained.
- In Three Hopes, Acheron switches allegiances between Leceister and Adestria like he changes socks, all based on how he's viewing the tide of the war to go (usually by seeing where Count Gloucester moves and following it and Gloucester has the actual excuse of planning a double-cross against Adestria). Because of this, Hubert on Scarlet Blaze outright states that while they should be trying to get in the graces of some of the Alliance houses, Acheron should just be disposed of as soon as they meet him on the battlefield regardless of if he tries to get back in their favor since it'll just bite them in the ass otherwise.
The Friend Nobody Likes: In a country characterized by its nobles suffering from Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, he stands out in particular for his political opportunism, which garners him the distaste of practically every other noble house in the nation. It is particularly notable on the Verdant Wind route, where Claude doesn't even attempt to convince him to join the other noble houses in a united offensive against the Adrestian Empire. Instead, Claude simply remarks that he is "nothing but a nuisance" and should be shown no mercy for siding with the empire.
I Fight for the Strongest Side!: He is noted for being one to gravitate towards power, and either sides with the Adrestian Empire on the Azure Moon/Verdant Wind/Silver Snow routes, or flees from its forces on the Crimson Flower route.
Irony: Despite his infamous opportunism, he invariably ends up siding with the losing team in every route and will likely be unceremoniously cut down for it.
Karma Houdini Warranty: In Lorenz's paralogue, he gets away with launching an armed insurrection against Count Gloucester with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. He isn't so lucky in Part II; he will end up dead if you aren't Empire-aligned, and if you are, Edelgard's views on so-called "nobles" like him do not bode well for him remaining in a position of power even if he does survive.
Lame Comeback: If Claude fights him in Lorenz's paralogue, Acheron will respond to being called a "good-for-nothing" by pulling a No, You on Claude. Claude then remarks that Acheron not recognizing the future leader of the Alliance doesn't speak well of him.
Meaningful Name: All three of his names are three of the five rivers of the Underworld in Greek mythology; Acheron is the "river of woe", Lethe is the "river of forgetfulness", and Phlegethon is the "river of flames" — fitting for someone whose power comes from controlling a major river crossing and is known as an opportunist.
Poison Is Evil: His personal skill is Poison Strike, and he also has access to the Poison skill, which has a chance to inflict the poison ailment on any target he hits.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
"Unsightly, aren't you?"
"Scum!"
"I've got ya!"
"Just die already!"
The Quisling: In all non-Crimson Flower routes, he sides with the Empire and ambushes the resistance army while they are battling Ladislava.
Recurring Element: Acheron is the "corrupt noble that backstabs their faction for selfish gain" like Jiol, especially for the Golden Deer (and he'll also betray them when seen in other routes). He's a more classical example than fellow Jiol Cornelia, given that he is motivated by cowardice while she was either an Agarthan plant from the beginning or was murdered and replaced with said Agarthan plant.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: On the Crimson Flower route, he resents having to obey Claude's orders, and if the other general defending the Great Bridge of Myrddin dies, he flees with his units.
Skippable Boss: Acheron is one of the few bosses in Three Houses who can be avoided entirely during all of his appearances.
- In "Land of the Golden Deer", even though the mission is wrapped up as soon Acheron falls, it's also possible to win by simply protecting the marked tile in the map during 10 turns.
- In the missions located on the Great Bridge of Myrddin (Chapter 13 in Crimson Flower and 16 in other routes), by abusing the game's mechanics, it's perfectly viable to prevent Acheron from ever spawning by defeating the boss(es) already present on the map.^note
Tempting Fate: Brags about his fair-weather nature when engaged in combat, before quickly worrying if he's in for a beating. Given his lackluster stats, he is.
Acheron: As they say, if you can't beat them, join them. I'm not in for a beating, am I?
Too Dumb to Live: And in different ways, to boot.
- In Part II of Three Houses, he spawns in the middle of the battlefield. In the middle of your units who are likely stronger than him, and is likely to get one-shotted by any of them with no effort. ^note
- In Chapter 4 of Golden Wildfire in Three Hopes, he tries to defect to the Empire in the middle of battle, where he is very likely sandwiched between the Alliance's forces, or Goddess forbid doing so while right next to one of your playable units. Not only is he casually killed off, it's implied that the Empire's forces never even noticed his attempt to defect.
- Chapter 6 of Scarlet Blaze in Three Hopes has him betray the Empire, then brag about stealing from them while actively engaged in battle, then consider defecting back. This has Hubert state that his sheer self-serving attitude makes him useless as an ally and is to be killed, meaning his defection attempt is completely ill-fated. Notably, thanks to The Empire and Alliance eventually chartering peace, this makes him the only Alliance lord in the entire game whose death is required by the story.
What Happened to the Mouse?: On the Crimson Flower route should he either run off or be spared, he never makes another appearance.

Nobles

Holst

Holst Sigiswald Goneril

Class: Swordmaster (Three Hopes)

Age: 26

Voiced by: Takuya Matsumoto (Japanese), SungWon Cho (English)

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

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

Hero of Leicester

The heir of House Goneril, and older brother of Hilda. Charged with defending the Leicester Alliance from the neighboring kingdom of Almyra, he earned a reputation as the Alliance's greatest general.

The Ace: Hilda describes her brother as perfect at everything, and he's considered the Leicester Alliance's greatest general. All without a Crest at that, as noted in Three Hopes. Edelgard's support with Balthus in Three Hopes also makes mention that the latter's strength is proven by how he is the first and only person who's ever beaten Holst at a tournament held by House Goneril. Her supports with Byleth also deconstruct this by Hilda explaining that he was more or less forced to become one, as the expectations of their parents were intense and stressful. He's still good at what he does, but he had to work towards it, and it has made Hilda very self-conscious as a result. For his part, Holst is confident Hilda could be every bit as capable as him if she applied herself, since she already became stronger than most warriors without even really trying.
Always Someone Better: Toward Hilda. Hilda describes him as such. It's also deconstructed in that Hilda is letting herself be seen as worse to avoid responsibilities.
"I have a very impressive big brother. I'm not just saying that. He's strong, smart, nice. He's basically perfect."
Ascended Extra: He goes from being The Ghost in Three Houses to being Promoted to Playable in Three Hopes.
Badass Normal: He's one of the strongest fighters of the Leicester Alliance with many legendary feats, and he does it all without even having a Crest. In Golden Wildfire he goes toe to toe with Count Bergliez, Adrestria's strongest warrior and bearer of a Major Crest of Cichol, without breaking a sweat and effectively drawing.
Baritone of Strength: SungWon Cho gives Holst a baritone voice in the English dub. Holst is also Leiceister's mightiest warrior, to the point that he refuses to bring his full strength to bear against anyone who isn't an enemy, lest he accidentally kill them in a sparring exercise. Not even Shez's reputation as a One-Man Army is enough to convince Holst to agree.
Bash Brothers: Three Hopes reveals he's this with Balthus. He also develops this kind of relationship with Nader.
Big Brother Instinct: Hilda describes her brother as clingy and overprotective, and he's constantly sending her letters worrying about her life.
Boisterous Bruiser: The man loves a good fight.
Boring, but Practical: Since he lacks a Crest of Goneril, Holst can't use the family Hero Relic Freikugel to fend off the Almyrans. So what does he use? An Anti-Flying Unit sword.
Curtains Match the Window: Pink hair and eyes.
The Ditz: Downplayed but still there in Three Hopes. There are a couple of times where he shows a lack of good judgement and forethought outside of battle. This is best shown in his B and A rank conversations with Shez, where he utterly fails a scouting mission twice in a row via schemes that require only a little thought to realize the problem. He solves both via his skill in combat and learns from his mistake in each case, but it shows that behind his mask as The Ace, he still is impulsive and a little bit too confident when not under pressure to protect others. He also has a habit of eating mushrooms with zero knowledge if they are safe to eat or not, and often winds up on sick leave as a result.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Responsible sibling to Hilda's Foolish, being a highly accomplished commander.
The Ghost: While Hilda, Claude, Lorenz, and Balthus mention him quite frequently in Three Houses, he never makes a personal appearance. He becomes Unseen No More in Three Hopes.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: Is a close friend of Balthus. They can potentially end up as Best Friends-in-Law.
Hidden Depths:
- While he is otherwise very strait-laced and duty bound, he is not above critiquing the Church of Seiros' teachings, and in Golden Wildfire he fully supports Claude's desire to get rid of the Central Church. That said, he also objects to manipulating the church the way the Empire has, and seeks assurance from Claude that he will not seek to oppose the Church of Seiros as a whole.
  Holst: To accept the teachings of Seiros unquestioningly is to abandon reason itself.
- Holst has a reputation of being the ultimate Ace, immensely talented at everything he tries, hard working, overcoming and challenges that appear before him, the biggest badass around, and being universally liked and admired. Hilda's dialog spells out that he actually feels a lot of anxiety and pressure trying to live up to the high expectations that everyone has for him, and it crushes him whenever he can't measure up to those expectations, even if it's through no fault of his own. (And considering his reputation almost borders on memetic badass levels, there are probably occasions where it's outright impossible to live up to the image that people have in their heads.) Seeing this is part of Hilda's justification for not applying herself more and deliberately trying to lower everyone's expectations for her.
Hunk: Holst is a big, burly, and muscular man, something which Raphael is quick to notice during his introduction in Three Hopes.
Incorruptible Pure Pureness: In contrast to his Mr. Vice Guy best friend Balthus, Holst is completely upstanding, and in a generally endearing way. Hilda even calls him "incorruptible" in Balthus and Holst's support in Three Hopes.
Knight Templar Big Brother: According to Balthus, Holst would not only murder him if something happened to Hilda but would beat the tar out of him if he even laid a finger on her. Naturally, he's scared at the idea of pissing off Holst.
Balthus: Holst would have my head if he knew I raised a hand against you.
Hilda: As if he'd stop with your head!
Leeroy Jenkins: While he sticks to the plan while acting as a general, he tends to walk right up to the enemy and challenge them to a fight when he's acting alone. Shez cannot believe that his first idea after discovering an enemy guardhouse is to kick the door in and immediately challenge an entire heavily-armed platoon to a fight.
Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: His idea of a "scouting" mission is to walk right up to the enemy gates, announce his name, and dare anyone brave enough to look him in the eye to face him.
Likes Older Women: According to Balthus in his support with Claude, it's implied that he once had a crush on Claude's mother, Tiana von Riegan, and cried when he found out that she was gone.
Loved by All: Pretty much no one actually dislikes Holst. He was so well regarded he was presumed to lead the entire Alliance until Claude appeared. He has the full respect of his enemies and rivals alike in Nader and Count Bergliez. Edelgard won't even let Hubert snark about him.
Magic Knight: Has surprisingly balanced Strength and Magic stats, and his recommended class path ends with him becoming a Mortal Savant.
Man of Kryptonite: Holst's weapon of choice in Three Hopes is Wingthresher, a sword resembling a katana that lets him deal enormous damage to any Flying units, but especially in regards to Wyvern Riders and Wyvern Lords, of which Almyrans are noted for.
Mutually Exclusive Party Members: In Three Hopes, he’s not playable outside of Golden Wildfire; thus he cannot fight alongside Edelgard, Hubert, Caspar, Ferdinand, Monica, Manuela, Dimitri, Dedue, Sylvain, Ingrid, Felix, Annette, Rodrigue, Seteth, Flayn, Catherine, Mercedes or Jeritza in main storyline missions. However, Edelgard, Monica, Manuela, Mercedes and Jeritza can fight alongside him throughout Golden Wildfire as NPCs while he can similarly fight alongside Dimitri, Dedue, Sylvain, Ingrid, Felix, Annette, Rodrigue, Seteth, Flayn, and Catherine in Chapter 13 of Azure Gleam when he himself is an allied NPC.
My Name Is Inigo Montoya: Three Hopes shows that he has a tendency of announcing himself when he arrives on the battlefield.
My Sister Is Off-Limits:
- In Balthus' paired ending with Hilda in Three Houses, he has to win a duel against Holst to get Hilda's hand in marriage. In Three Hopes, he laughs if Shez suggests that he'd fight someone who made a pass at her... however, his portrait shows him with Cross-Popping Veins and Shez laughs nervously after seeing the response to their bad joke, implying that Holst might be more cross than he's letting on. It's also noted he has declared that he will be the one who determines if a suitor is right for Hilda, much to her anger and embarrassment.
- Averted in his A support with Claude in Three Hopes, where he Holst does give Claude his blessing to marry his sister, Hilda.
Nice Guy: According to Hilda, he's always kind and hates to disappoint people. He also seems to lack prejudice towards Almyrans despite being tasked with fighting them, as he tells Hilda in a letter in her A-Support with Cyril that one's character is more important than their place of birth.
Number Two: In Three Hopes he's this to Claude. He assists him in all his military operations, Claude trusts him enough to let him in on some of his schemes and he's also Claude's main political ally at the roundtable, as a staunch House Riegan loyalist who also fully supports all of Claude's decisions, from reforging the Alliance into the Federation on the Golden Wildfire route to allying with the Empire to take down the Central Church on all routes except Azure Gleam. He also cannot be poached from the Alliance army.
Officer and a Gentleman: Three Hopes shows him to be incredibly personable, the kind of man who has deep respect for the abilities of others (as seen when he openly praises Claude's tactical skills), incredibly charming, and a overall Nice Guy while utterly living up to his status as The Ace. This is discussed in the Scarlet Blaze route, with Edelgard reminding Hubert that Holst's skills extend outside of the battlefield, and he shouldn't be Damned by Faint Praise.
One-Man Army: In his supports with Shez, he mentions kicking in the door of an Imperial guardhouse and immediately challenging the entire heavily-armed platoon inside to battle. Then when reinforcements arrived, he dealt with them too. By the time Shez catches up with him, Holst is completely uninjured, simply dozing off in a bush from fighting all night.
Plot Armor: In Three Hopes' Golden Wildfire route, Holst will simply retreat if defeated in battle, even in Classic Mode, likely because he is very integral to the story.
Promoted to Playable: He was The Ghost in Three Houses, but he not only appears on-screen for the first time in Three Hopes, he also becomes an exclusive playable character in Golden Wildfire.
Required Party Member:
- In Three Hopes, he joins automatically in Chapter 5 of the Golden Wildfire route during said chapter's main story battle.
- He's also required in chapter 7. A playable employment slot is left out at the start of the battle as Holst will enter a bit into it as an ally, and he cannot be killed here, as he must be kept alive so he can fight Count Bergliez, and only after defeating the count can the player control Holst again.
Shock and Awe: Can access the Reason spells Thunder, Thoron and Bolting. His Unique Ability is Galvanic Surge, which allows him to temporarily increase his attack speed and his attacks become imbued with electricity.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: According to Hilda. Three Hopes shows that this is very much true, being a sun-tanned 6 foot/183 cm tall Hunk, even if he has pink hair matching his sister's.
Trademark Favorite Food: Mushrooms, according to Three Hopes. Even if he has... less than lucky encounters with them.
The Unfought: In Warriors: Three Hopes, he's one of only two major named characters (the other being Miklan) and the only playable character outright to never be fought in battle. On Golden Wildfire he's obviously on your side, on Azure Gleam the Alliance allies with the Kingdom midway through and armed conflict never occurs, and on Scarlet Blaze the Alliance allies with the Empire before you can fight him and he isn't present at Ailell if Claude decides to stab you in the back.
The Worf Effect: At the end of the Verdant Wind route, he is easily defeated by Nemesis. While he survives, the fact how the characters put him as a high profile warrior shows how dangerous Nemesis is despite just being brought back from the dead.
Worf Had the Flu: In Hilda's/Edelgard's paralogue, they're forced to take command of his position because he's suffering from severe food poisoning. Hubert describes it as him being incredibly pale and smelling bad.
Worthy Opponent:
- Granted, he does mitigate it by dryly using the wrong Nom de Guerre for Nader (as the Almyran general points out), but his brief interaction with Nader in the Three Hopes prologue has him show a warrior's respect towards the Almryan general, inviting Nader to "settle the score." In Golden Wildfire, when Nader defects from Shahid's army to Claude's, both are thrilled to finally be able to fight side by side.
- He has a more straightforward example with Count Bergliez, where they quickly praise each other's martial prowess in their brief duel. Their respect for each other leads to the Count to propose to Edelgard that they should call off attacking the Alliance.

Tiana

Tiana von Riegan

The daughter of Duke Oswald von Riegan, and Claude's mother.

The Dreaded: In Almyra, she is referred to as the "Demon Queen".
The Ghost: Has not made a physical appearance at all and is only mentioned.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Some of Claude's supports imply that she has a temper often resorting to violence. She earned the nickname "Demon Queen" for a reason.
The Runaway: She left Fódlan to marry the love of her life, the King of Almyra.
Stacy's Mom: Balthus and Holst found her hot in her youth. Even if she has aged according to Claude, Balthus still thinks she's beautiful.

Commoners

Berling

Class: Bow Knight

Voiced by: Chihiro Ishiguro (Japanese), Lisa Ortiz (English)

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

The captain of Berling's Mercenaries who took in Shez at some point after they lost their adoptive mother. She challenges Jeralt's Mercenaries and is killed in battle by Byleth.

Decapitated Army: With her defeat, the rest of her mercenary band quickly collapses against Jeralt's forces.
Didn't Think This Through: As soon as Jeralt's Mercenaries appear, she practically charges headlong into them, aiming for Byleth almost right away. Jeralt mentions in his support with Shez that he and Byleth had no desire to kill her, but her charging in after Byleth effectively put them in a no win situation, so they had no choice but to fight back out of self-defense.
Doomed by Canon: Considering Jeralt and Byleth are both fine at the start of Three Houses, her plan to usurp their status as top dog was doomed from the start.
Gameplay and Story Integration: A minor one, but she gets talked up for being strong and just happened to bite off more than she could chew. Her class, however, is a Master tiered Bow Knight, meaning that it's likely that by sheer mechanics she truly was a top contender of a mercenary on her own merits.
Glory Hound: Her entire reason for targeting Jeralt's Mercenaries is just to boost the reputation of her own mercenary band. It causes her death when Byleth appears on the battlefield, at which point she blindly charges in to kill Byleth for the sake of glory, and is cut down for it.
Informed Attribute: Berling is said to be as strong as an entire army, but she's wiped out barely a few minutes after the tutorial battle starts by Byleth.
One-Man Army: Jeralt describes her as an army unto herself in his Supports with Shez, which speaks volumes to how skilled Byleth was to make killing her look easy.
Overshadowed by Awesome: According to Jeralt's support with Shez, Berling is genuinely a very skilled and competent mercenary. Too bad she picks a fight with the Ashen Demon.
Sacrificial Lamb: She and her mercenaries are killed off in their first mission to motivate Shez to get revenge.
Suicidal Overconfidence: While it's rather understandable not to expect it from someone that looks so young, she still recognizes Byleth as the Ashen Demon and not only taunts but challenges them, leading to her entire mercenary band being annihilated. Jeralt outright mentions this issue, commenting if she hadn't charged in to try and kill Byleth, she wouldn't have been a target at all.
We Hardly Knew Ye: She's killed toward the end of the first battle in Three Hopes.
The World's Expert (on Getting Killed): Berling is described as an army unto herself and Shez truly believes that no one can beat her even if she's going up against Jeralt's Mercenaries. Yet unfortunately for Berling, she's front and center when Byleth, the Ashen Demon, takes the field. While Berling talks a big game, her subordinate Lazley goes down in seconds. Berling follows her less than a minute later.
You Monster!: Her final words are calling Byleth a monster.
Berling: No... Just when my dreams was... finally in sight... You... monster...

Maya

Maya Kirsten

Raphael's younger sister, whom he had to take care off after their parents died.

Adorably Precocious Child: According to Raphael, Lysithea reminds him of Maya because the two of them are so familiar in that they are smart, but very stubborn. In fact, when Raphael imitates Maya in his and Lysithea's B-support, Lysithea thought at first that it was her he was mimicking.
Childhood Friends: Just like her brother, she was very close friends with Ignatz.
The Ghost: While mentioned a lot, she never makes an onscreen appearance.
Raised by Grandparents: Due to her parents' deaths, she's being looked after by their grandfather while her brother attends the Officer's Academy.

Shez's Adoptive Mother

Shez's adoptive mother, who taught them how to read and write, among other subjects, and died of sickness several years prior to the start of Three Hopes.

The Ace: To Shez, at least. In their recollections of her they mention feeling that she could do anything, including magic, and she clearly taught them a lot. It's unclear if she was truly this beyond her adoptive child's view, however.
Deceased Parents Are the Best: Although not blood related, Shez loves her dearly well after her death.
Impoverished Patrician: In Shez and Ashe's Supports, the latter theorizes that she may have been a noble due to how she was able to give Shez an education on par with an average noble when most commoners are illiterate. If true, she likely gave up whatever life she had before adopting Shez, as their life prior to her death and afterward wasn't exactly one of luxury.
Mysterious Past: Shez notes that she didn't like talking about her past, so they learned basically nothing of her life pre-Shez prior to her death. In Shez's Supports with Ashe, they admit actually thinking about it now she was practically The Spook. Shez's Supports with Hapi imply that whatever previous life she had was not one she was proud of.
Posthumous Character: Died years before Three Hopes, with what we know of her coming from what Shez mentions both in-story and in their Supports.

Characters / Fire Emblem: Three Houses – Leicester Alliance

In General

House Heads

Duke Oswald von Riegan

Duke Godfrey von Riegan