The decently large cast of For Honor's story campaign
. A few whom would make reappearances in the multiplayer, either through events or it's own story and such.
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Playable Characters
The Warden
"I took. An oath... To fight for peace."
- Voiced by: Liam O'Brien (Male) and Jennifer Hale (Female)
The Warden is a courageous and talented young knight from the lands of the Iron Legion. Wardens are expected to be noble and brave – living embodiments of virtue – and this one has the potential to be that and more. But after years of fighting endless battles for no worthy cause, The Warden has begun wandering, seeking a purpose that is equal to their talent and genuinely worth fighting for. That search comes to end in Ashfeld, among the warriors of the Blackstone Legion.
- The Atoner: They deeply regret their actions when serving in the Blackstone Legion, and decides to raise a rebel army against Apollyon to make up for it.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Holden makes them a knight and recruits them into the Blackstones for their skill.
- Bookends: Near the start of their story, they fight a group of deserters. By the end they have deserted and are raising an army against Apollyon.
- Duel Boss: The Orochi fights them one on one at the end of Chapter 3.5.
- Evil Costume Switch: After the first chapter, the Warden is brought into the Blackstone Legion, trading Daubeny's white and teal for the orange and black of the Legion.
- Famed In-Story: The Warden is apparently famous enough that even the Orochi, who spent years in prison, has at least heard of them. Well, taking down a legendary Jarl like Gudmundr single-handedly is no simple feat, and such one should not go unnoticed by other factions.
- Frontline General: Most of their missons set the Warden fighting on the frontline along with men. They were responsible for protecting the ram used in the attack of Svengard fortress, and acted like A Father to His Men.
- Good Costume Switch: After defecting from the Blackstone Legion, the Warden wears the yellow and green colors of the Iron Legion.
- Got Volunteered: When Lord Daubeny is offered Trial by Combat, he turns around and tells the Warden to fight Combat by Champion for him. This is also how the Warden joined the Blackstone Legion.
- Hero on Hiatus: Is revealed to have gone missing a few years after the events of the campaign, with Holden being chosen as The Scapegoat for their disappearance.
- Honor Before Reason: The Warden's oaths are very serious business, and even when they start to realize how bad Apollyon really is, they cannot just break their oath to serve the Blackstone Legion. It isn't until they force the Warborn into a state of perpetual war to avoid starvation that they finally break their oath in disgust.
- Knighting: Starts off as a mercenary but is knighted by Holden Cross after showing their skill in battle.
- Naïve Newcomer: Not to the world or war, but rather Ashfeld and its Legions. They are disappointed by their first Lord Daubeny's cowardice, then by news of deserters from the Legion, while maintaining their allegiance to Apollyon despite her obvious evil.
- One Riot, One Ranger: Apollyon sends them alone to reinforce the last Iron Legion keep.
- Private Military Contractors: They were part of the "Mercenary Company" variety before their elevation to a knight.
- Rags to Riches: Was elevated to Knight by Holden Cross after they won Combat by Champion.
- Rebel Leader:
- Turns into one after leaving the Blackstone Legion.
- By the Epilogue, they have become the new Lord Warden and is the one who organizes the meeting.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After destroying the grain storehouse for the Warborn (but leaving enough food for the vikings to return and fight over with each other), the Warden quits the Blackstone Legion in disgust at starting a war rather than preventing one.
- Supporting Protagonist: They serves as this in the grand scheme of the plot. After becoming a Defector from Decadence with their rebel army, the Warden serves as the Token Heroic Orc, contrasting from the thoroughly villainous Blackstone Legion under Apollyon.
- To Be Lawful or Good: After seeing Apollyon's philosophy in practice, the Warden realizes they're on the wrong side, but knows that "a Warden's vows aren't easily broken".
- Unskilled, but Strong: Upon observing their fighting technique while fighting his second, Holden Cross reminisces that it was undisciplined, but showed great talent.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Calls out the Iron Legion deserters for abandoning their posts and territory to the Vikings.
- At the end of the first chapter, they call out Mercy for breaking her oaths to keep peace and protect the people by helping the Legion start a vast war with the Vikings.
- Worthy Opponent:
- Considers Gudmundr one as such after triumphing over him. He did not reciprocate the respect.
- Also does the same for the Orochi, which is reciprocated. During most of their duel, the Warden is begging for the Orochi to see reason and not force them to kill the supposedly-noble Emperor's Champion.
Holden Cross
"Trial by combat! Right now!"
"Come on, warriors. Show them how you fight
- Voiced by: Evan Buliung
The Blackstone Legion commander, a Lawbringer who Knights the Player Warden at the end of the tutorial and later the Player Character Lawbringer. Holden would reappear in the game's multiplayer during Year 4 as the new "Gryphon" hero.
- Ambition Is Evil: Inverted. Apollyon specifically notes Holden shows little to no ambition despite his limitless talent and skill. Holden only later defects to the Iron Legion once the Warden begins rallying other potential Blackstone defectors to oppose Apollyon's regime.
- Badass in Distress: Gets captured by the Order Of Horkos but is then saved by Lord Daubeny of all people.
- Bald of Evil: One of the few characters shown without a face obscuring helm, Apollyon's Dragon has a shaven head. Later becomes a case of good due to a Heel–Face Turn.
- The Bus Came Back: Returns in Year 4 as "Gryphon". A new knight hero who opposes Warmonger.
- Cool Old Guy: His return as the "Gryphon" shows that he has aged quite a bit, yet he's still a force to be reckoned with.
- Damage-Sponge Boss: He becomes one in the Apollyon's Legacy game mode, gaining truck loads of extra HP.
- The Dragon: To Apollyon. Until he, like the Warden, becomes a Defector from Decadence.
- The Dreaded: Being The Dragon of Apollyon but also a Lawbringer has given him a fearsome reputation. With Daubeny considering a one-on-one duel against him as "an execution".
- Frontline General: Being commander of the Blackstone's Vanguard is his main job, and he fights alongside his men. It continues even in his defection into the Iron Legion and becoming Gryphon.
- Graceful Loser: After his second is killed he accepts the loss and even knights the Warden for their skill.
- Heel–Face Turn:
- He defects from the Blackstone Legion and joins the Warden against Apollyon, along with Stone and Mercy. His reasons for doing so were left unclear, but at the start of the campaign he already refuses to use his daemon name - Asmodai, wants to bring casualties of first campaign mission to a minimum via Trial by Combat, asked Warden to not encourage Mercy's brutality, was confused that her laws of selection applied not only to Knights. He also objected to not finishing their campaign against the Vikings by destroying their food supplies, and was taken aback that Apollyon left enough food for them to survive, and thus leaving them the chance to recover and continue their war.
- In Year Four, he returns as the Gryphon hero, openly fighting against the Order of Horkos. Which interestingly enough, has members that style themselves after his old boss Apollyon.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic:
- A good indication of his Heel–Face Turn is probably because he's one of the few characters we get to see without their helmet on.
- In Year Four, in order to contrast against Astrea and her Warmongers whom don terrifying helmets, Holden "Gryphon" Cross goes bareheaded into battle.
- I Am the Noun: One of his battle cries is "I am the Vengeance of Ashfeld!".
- I Have Many Names: Goes by Holden Cross, then Asmodai after joining the Blackstone Legion, back to Holden Cross after defecting to the Iron Legion and finally becoming Gryphon once he becomes a mercenary.
- Meaningful Name: His last name, Cross, could be viewed as foreshadowing his eventual opposition to Apollyon, who named herself after a demon.
- Older and Wiser: By his return in Year 4, he has definitely aged andbecome wiser due to the experience he has accumulated thanks to his time as being a wordly mercneary.
- Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: Tells Stigandr this almost verbatim in the ending of the campaign. after the viking punches Cross in the face for his part in instigating the Viking civil war.
- Reasonable Authority Figure:
- He's attacking Lord Daubeny's castle just to get Daubeny, and announces so as much. When he gets inside the walls himself, he kills four men that attacked him immediately before yelling out to everyone to stop the battle and offer Daubeny Trial by Combat, then Combat by Champion, to spare both their men. Spares Daubeny after his second loses and gives ranks to The Warden for their aptitude in said trial.
- Even before turning on the Blackstone Legion, he is clearly upset that Apollyon chooses to leave some food for the Vikings simply to try and prove her philosophy right, rather than burning it all and potentially removing a major threat to their people. He legitimately still cares about his oaths, and wants to help the commonfolk of their lands.
- Red Baron: Like Apollyon, he took a demon's name upon becoming part of the Blackstone Legion; Asmodai. However, in recent years he has preferred to go by his given name. Seeing no point in it unlike his master. Although later on whe would gain the "Gryphon" moniker, which he seems to prefer now.
- The Scapegoat: Became this when the Lord Warden ended up going missing, which lead him to leaving The Order of The Lawbringers.
- This Is Gonna Suck: After realizing his only way forward is to cross ice already cracking under catapult fire and is probably not strong enough to handle him nor his armor, he's well aware of how bad an idea it is.
- Trial by Combat: Invoked at the end of "Warlords and Cowards". Being a coward, Daubeny refuses to face him, leading to their seconds (the player character being Daubeny's) fighting instead.
- Token Good Teammate: Was this for the Blackstone Legion alongside the Warden. Which is why he joined them when they defected from Blackstone.
- Walking the Earth: After leaving the Order Of The Lawbringers and meeting the Chinese mercenary Lin Yao, he began romaing Heathmoor as a mercenary. Learning all sorts of tricks and taking inspirations from all sorts of cultures.
- Villain Takes an Interest: He quickly develops a respect for the Warden after watching them single-handedly keep his forces at bay, and best his second in a duel, knighting and recruiting them into the Blackstones for their skill.
Mercy
- Voiced by: Erin Cottrell
- The Atoner: While not stated outright, she is shown with the Warden's group later on after they defect from the Blackstone Legion, indicating that she's abandoned the former cause.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Mercy was always a bit off, but the tasks she had to perform as a Peacekeeper pushed her over the edge.
- Dark Action Girl: A merciless, sociopathic agent of Apollyon.
- Guile Hero: Her idea of getting past a Warborn fortress is to sabotage the gate wheels in such a way that the mechanism tears it off the cliffside.
- Heel–Face Turn: She defects from the Blackstone Legion along with Holden Cross and Stone.
- Ironic Name: Mercy is merciless.
- The Oathbreaker: Her oath to fight to prevent war and keep peace has all but been abandoned, and she Became Their Own Antithesis. The Warden calls her out on this as s/he quits, and apparently Mercy finally agrees and joins the reformed Iron Legion.
- Sociopathic Soldier:
- She states that she feels nothing for the people she kills or her fallen comrades, whom she pretends to mourn to fit in with the Blackstone Legion. She eventually abandons the Blackstone Legion to join the Warden, after the Warden calls her out on her betrayal of her oath as a Peacekeeper.
- However, she also notes that she sometimes wishes she could feel the same sorrow her fellow soldiers feel.
- Softspoken Sadist: She never raises her voice.
- Survival Mantra: During her playable mission in "Sabotage", Mercy might repeat a few mantras to herself as she works.Mercy: Service is life. Service is life. Doubt is death. Doubt is death.
- Talking to Themself: Does this quite frequently.
The Raider
"For our people."
- Voiced By: Travis Willingham (Male) and Sarah Elmaleh (Female)
- Awakening the Sleeping Giant: The Raider only got involved in the story when Ragnar begun leading raids against other Viking villages.The Raider: ...And so, I came down from the mountains. I joined the Warborn, and then we did something about it.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Is known only as "the Raider."
- Evil Laugh: In the Samurai story, where the Vikings become the villains, the Raider is last seen leaving on a boat giving a roarous laugh as they sail out of sight with the spoils of the Great Raid. This can get a little hammy, given the Orochi, Ayu, and the rest of the Samurai cast are less than ten feet away with archers at their command.
- Defeat Means Friendship: The Raider leads an attack on Ragnar's Vikings after they begin raiding other Warborn. After their village is sacked, all the food they stole retaken, and Ragnar himself killed, they surviving members of Ragnar's Vikings are quick to join the Raider.
- Don't Make Me Destroy You: During their attack on Ragnar's village they shout for their enemies to surrender to avoid further bloodshed, and offer Ragnar a Last-Second Chance before they kill him.
- Karma Houdini: Leads the Warborn in raiding and sacking the Samurai's lands, and makes off with their plunder before the Samurai can stop them, laughing all the while. There is no sign of them ever suffering any comeuppance for this later on either.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Borders on grey, but while the Raider is one of the two main villains alongside Apollyon, they are nowhere near as bad as the warmongering leader of the Blackstone Legion. They are unapologetic about raiding the Myre, but they did this primarily to feed their own people, and it's outright stated that they only got involved in the conflict because Apollyon destroyed the Warborn's winter food storage - they would have stayed in the mountains otherwise.
- Pragmatic Hero: They, along with the rest of the Warborn, vow to raid Apollyon. However, in order to do that, they first need to raid the Chosen and take from their lands to supply the war against Apollyon.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers one to Ragnar, a Raider fighting against his own kind.Raider: What you've done is wrong. You feast while all around you people starve! You and your warriors will learn to live like the rest of us... or you will become food for the crows.
- Storming the Beaches: Fitting for a Viking-style warrior, the Raider leads a raid on the Kaiyo Kabe fortress in "Up the Beach", complete with riding a Viking warship, and jumping off it onto the beach before storming the fortress itself.
- The Unfought: The Raider and the Orochi never get to settle things after the former retreats from the Myre with the Samurai's plundered loot. They share a moment where the Viking laughs in the Champion's face as their boat is leaving though.
- Villain of Another Story: Was directly responsible for the Warborn raiding the Samurai and sacking the Imperial city.
- Villain Protagonist: As the leader of the Warborn who invaded the Myre, The Raider is essentially the biggest villain in the story save Apollyon.
- Whatever Happened to the Mouse?: The Raider and their allies, save Stigandr disappear from the plot after the Orochi spots them sailing down a river in the Myre. While the Warborn do attack The Shard in the climax, there is no indication that the player character is among them. Given the nature of the Framing Device, though, it's likely they survived long enough to at least tell their story to the others.
Stigandr
"We're no peacemakers!"
- Voiced by: Fred Tatasciore
- The Atoner: His chapter in the Viking campaign is a Suicide Mission taken to atone for getting defeated and captured by Siv. In the ending, he agrees to try to help stop the war raging through the three realms, even admitting that it will likely get them all killed, because Apollyon tricked them all.
- Funny Background Event: In the practice arena, "The Pit", Stigandr is seen sitting on a throne drinking mead while cheering the warriors on.
- Malevolent Masked Men: Though he's a friendly Viking to the raider and his companions, he's still a terrifying warrior to his enemies. In the ending, he's also the only one out of the trio who doesn't take off his helmet.
- Nemean Skinning: Stigandr wears a bear's pelt on his head.
- Recruitment by Rescue: He joins the Warborn after the Raider frees him from Siv's prison.
- Suicide Mission: He breaks into the Legion held docks alone to make up for the humiliation of being captured by Siv. Subverted in that not only does he survive, but reinforcements show up to help him take the docks once the gates are open.
- Supporting Leader: As a Warlord, he serves as the de-jure commander of the Raider's forces, despite not being technically in charge.
- True Companions: With Helvar if their brief dialogue together when he is first introduced is anything to go by.Stigandr: (After being rescued) What took you so long?Helvar: (Shakes hands) Finding Vikings you hadn't pissed off.Stigandr and Helvar laugh together
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: It's his idea to go raid the Dawn Empire, which leads to the Blackstone Legion causing civil war amongst the Samurai as well.
- Who Dares?: When the Warden sends Holden Cross on a meeting with Ayu and Stigandr to make amends, the latter backhands him for his part in starting the infighting between the Vikings.
Runa
"Told you."
- Voiced : Nika Futterman
- Action Girl: As a Valkryie she's a master of the shield and spear-based combat, and in her playable mission she pretty much single-handedly raids a Chosen monastery.
- Army Scout: Like other Valkyries, she's a tracker and a scout, and in her playable mission "Reconnaissance" she scouts the Myre in search of a map to lead the Vikings through.
- Didn't Think This Through: She interrogates a mook for information, forgetting that they don't speak the same language.Stigandr: Well? What'd they say?
Runa: (Shrugs) I don't speak Japanese. - Whatever Happened to the Mouse?: Disappears along with The Raider and the other Vikings from Chapter 2. Again, given the nature of the Framing Device, she at least survived long enough to tell her part of the story.
The Orochi
"Hero, more like."
- Voiced in English by: Josh Keaton (Male) and Courtenay Taylor (Female)Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: José Gilberto Vilchis (Male)
- Actually, I Am Him: The Orochi declares that Seijuro will be stopped by the Emperor's champion, and when Seijuro claims they are still imprisoned, the Orochi stares him down until he realizes they're standing in front of him.
- Always Someone Better: Encounters this during their battle with Apollyon, explicitly saying that she's better. The Orochi's next thought is that they'll just have to surpass even their own skill to win.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: It's downplayed, but the Orochi has numerous quirks about them, such as having an amicable conversation with the corpse of a dead Daimyō over where Ayu is, snarking out of turn to the Emperor, and cheerfully hurling a kunai into an elephant to anger it. Nonetheless, they're a terrifyingly-skilled fighter and the scariest warrior in all of the Empire and Ayu uses them for the most dangerous and crucial of missions.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The Orochi expresses this to Seijuro, citing the need for great commanders like him to help work together to fight Apollyon.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Rather than using the chaos of the Warborn raid after getting freed by Ayu and company to get away, they instead choose to help push them back.
- Combat Pragmatist: More than willing to use fire, explosives, and poison traps to push the Vikings out of their city.
- Deadpan Snarker: When the Orochi isn't yelling in anger at the foolishness or savagery of his people, they're usually quietly snarking at their allies.(to a wounded Momiji) I don't suppose you could limp faster?
(to a dead Daimyo that Ayu killed) I don't suppose you would know where Ayu is, would you?
(when Ayu sends them to stop the Vikings) "Liberate the docks." As if it's that simple. - The Hero: In the grand scheme of the plot the Orochi, as the Emperor's Champion, is the one to face down Apollyon in the end.
- Hot-Blooded: The Orochi's most notable character flaw is that they are aggressive and impulsive. They were originally imprisoned for speaking out of turn, they refuse to abandon the defense of Koto despite Ayu (their own Daimyo) objecting, and when the Warden tries to reason with them, the Orochi immediately attacks. At the same time, however, the Orochi's passion and intensity are what make them a Magnetic Hero who wins the Undying Loyalty of their companions and even shames Seijuro into joining Ayu's army.
- Humble Hero: Despite their great skill, the Orochi never lets the fame from being the "Emperor's Champion" get to their head.
- Locked in the Dungeon: The Samurai campaign begins with them being imprisoned and released by Ayu, Momiji, and Okuma. The Orochi admits that their skills have gotten somewhat rusty while they were imprisoned, and admits during the duel with Seijuro that the latter has had the last three years to hone their skills while the Orochi is still out of practice.
- Magnetic Hero: The Orochi seems to have a talent for getting people to see things the way they do, from getting Ayu to help push the Vikings outside of the Imperial City rather than just using the chaos to get away (Which Ayu lampshades by noting that as the Orochi's daimyō she technically doesn't have to listen to them), to getting Seijuro and his forces to join them by offering their sword to him to kill the Orochi with so he could take their place.
- Master Swordsman: Known as the best warrior the Chosen have to offer. Even after being locked up for an untold amount of time, their skill with a blade is still incredible.
- Old Friend: With Tozen. He comments that they're the only finer swordsman among their people, and the Orochi questions how the Vikings got past the bridge when he was there.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: The Orochi's unfortunate habit of speaking out of turn puts an end to their promising career and ends up getting them imprisoned. Ayu seems to tolerate their mouth a bit more than the previous Emperor, though they avoid snarking directly in her face.
- Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: When Seijuro rejects their first offer of becoming general, the Orochi offers their katana so Seijuro can kill them, rather than leave the Chosen divided in the face of Apollyon's Blackstone Legion.
- Red Baron: Aside from the Orochi's class, he/she is also known as "the Emperor's Champion." Apollyon claims that the Vikings would never have gotten into the city if they'd been freed earlier.
- Undying Loyalty: To their people as a whole, to the point that they would let Seijuro kill them and take their place as the Emperor's Champion if it means uniting their people.
- World's Best Warrior: The Champion is the most powerful warrior of the Chosen, and recognized in-universe as a warrior with unmatched skill. Apollyon herself believes that had the Orochi been on the bridge in place of General Tozen, the Viking invasion would've been stopped cold.
- Worthy Opponent:
- Considers the Warden one after dueling them, and the feeling's mutual on their end.
Orochi: I had taken my measure of that Warden. Once you cross swords with someone, you know their heart.- They also seem to consider Apollyon a more antagonistic one, noting that she's outright better than the Orochi and that they'll need to "exceed myself" to actually beat her. When Apollyon is finally fatally wounded, the Orochi lets her monologue and listens to her last words instead of executing her like he has with her minions.
Ayu
"Apollyon wants us to go to war with ourselves! I refuse!"
- Voiced by: Sumalee Montano
The Orochi's Daimyō and a skilled Kensei.
- Action Girl: As a Kensei she has devoted herself entirely to bushidō, the Samurai code of chivalry and combat, and has mastered use of the ōdachi blade.
- Ambiguously Evil: Ayu is disturbingly quick to kill the other Daimyo she's trapped with in the swamp, despite thinking the whole exercise is sick game by the Blackstones. She even goes as far as to justify her actions by claiming each one is evil or corrupt as she cuts them all down.
- Ambition Is Evil: An observable has Apollyon state that she believes that Ayu is lying to herself about her motives and really does want the power of being Empress, rather than trying to keep the other contenders from tearing the Chosen apart through their flaws. The other Daimyō also accuse her of this while fighting her. While she does claim the throne, she also responds immediately to the Warden's attempt to end the war, though she admits it is a futile gesture that will likely get everyone killed.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Invoked by Apollyon, who strands Ayu and three other power-hungry Daimyō in the Myre to fight each other for the right to reclaim the throne. She bests all of them in combat, and later successfully takes the Imperial Palace before becoming the new Empress.
- The Empress: After ousting Seijuro, she becomes the new Empress.
- Everyone Has Standards: While hunting down the other three Daimyō in the swamp, Ayu is audibly pissed at each of their failings: Ranja, for hiding behind her piety, Kizan for his greed, and Dokuja for his cowardice.
- Frontline General: She fights right alongside her army when sacking the imperial city.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: She is released along with three other notoriously bloodthirsty Daimyō by Apollyon so that they can fight to be the new Emperor.
- Lady of War: She's a Daimyō (Japanese feudal lord) and a skilled Kensei (which involves devoting oneself to the chivalric code of bushidō), and overall maintains a chilly and elegant demeanor. Fitting her elegant demeanor, the ending shows her without her mask, and she's quite fair, and like Cross she's shown with very close-cut hair.
- Malevolent Masked Men: Like most Samurai characters, she is always depicted wearing her mask. The exception is the ending, where she's shown without her mask while meeting Cross and Stigandur.
- Only Sane Man: Among the Daimyō disgraced at the command of the Emperor, Ayu is the only one who isn't overtly villainous. While Apollyon and the rival Daimyō say that she is ambitious and seeks the power of the throne, she's also the first to respond to the Warden's overture of peace and tries to bring an end to the war.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: She gives each of the other Daiymōs one as she hunts them down. Kizan for being a greedy bastard, Ranja for being cruel despite her piety, and Dokuja for being a Dirty Coward.
NPCs
Iron and Blackstone Legions
The Blackstone and Iron Legion Banners
Apollyon
"I bring war."
The warlord of the Blackstone Legion, a former Warden and the one who works to continue the Forever War between the three factions.Voiced by: Catherine Kidd (English), Hiroko Kiso (Japanese), Kerygma Flores (Latin American Spanish)
- Always Someone Better: She discusses this on one Observable. In her opinion, every warrior is destined to be killed by someone more skilled than they are. However, she does not believe that they should let this stop them.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: Year Four's Test Your Metal event takes place in a festival thrown on the anniversary of Apollyon's death which celebrates her defeat, in the middle of the Shard that was once her fortress.
- Ax-Crazy: Although she’s a very self-controlled case, her whole reason for breathing is to cause eternal anarchy by sowing wanton death and destruction.
- At Least I Admit It: As far as Apollyon is concerned most people are just as bloodthirsty and warlike as she is, the difference is just that she readily and shamelessly admits her true nature.
- Badass Cape: Sports one with the colors of the Blackstone Legion, and is in fact the only character in the game until the release of the Centurion to wear a cape.
- Badass Normal: Compared to the Warmonger, who uses alchemical poison in their fighting style, Apollyon fought with only her skilled swordsmanship and greatnote strength.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Zig-zagged. While the Orochi manages to kill Apollyon, by that point, she did not care about dying - by having the Chosen invade Ashfield, she had already made them invaders to the Legions, and the Enemy Mine they had with the Iron Legion was shattered when the Warborn entered the fray, triggering a bloody Mêlée à Trois between the Iron Legion, Warborn, and Chosen, and a war that would rage for years after Apollyon's death and Posthumous Villain Victory. On the other hand, the final scene in the game involves Cross, Ayu, and Stigandr coming together to try to bring peace to the region after seven years of warfare, indicating that Apollyon's "age of wolves" may come to an end earlier than she had hoped.
- Battle Trophy: She keeps hundreds of crests from all the legions she's destroyed, decorating nearly every room in her castle with them. She chose not to remove the standards of all the castle's previous owners for the same reason.
- BFS: She wields a longsword in combat, similar to the Warden class.
- Big Bad: She serves as the central antagonist, finding the concept of peace so distasteful that she deliberately provokes the three factions to continue warring against each other.
- Big Damn Heroes: Her introductory scene has her saving the Warden and Stone and fighting off the deserters until the rest of her forces arrive.
- Black Knight: A rare female example. She fits the idea to a T, being a villainous knight in black armor who's a major physical threat.
- Blood Knight:
- During an observable when she reminisces about the time she spoke with a Dawn Empire monk about the meaning of peace, Apollyon mentions that the monk felt that true peace came from complete personal serenity. In her eyes, that's how she feels on the battlefield.
- Apollyon's ideology of constant war is so infectious that it spawned an entirely new group known as the Order of Horkos, a secretive group of surviving Blackstones dedicated to continuing her work of sabotaging all forms of peace.
- The Chessmaster: Works her hardest at this, engineering the inter-faction war's resurgence. She's rather successful on the whole, despite some hiccups. She isn't even surprised when the Warden manages to get much of the Blackstones to turn on her, and her only reaction to seeing Holden personally leading the Iron Legion troops besieging her fortress is "At last."
- Conservation of Ninjutsu: During the opening phase of her boss fight, she's backed up by a Warden and a Peacekeeper, and uses a fairly standard set of moves and only a single unique unblockable. During the second stage, she approaches the Orochi on a narrow staircase and the fight is much, much harder as she is extremely aggressive, with the Orochi even saying he'll need to "exceed himself" to beat her. In the final stage, she's extremely fast, aggressive, and uses several unique moves, including a nasty unblockable charge.
- Cool Helmet: Her helmet's general shape is much like a skull. With a bunch of holes where its mouth should be and a bunch more in its eye sockets, it hits right into the Uncanny Valley to resemble some kind of undead zombie.
- The Corrupter: Zig-zagged. While she calls herself a teacher and wishes to impose her "Wolves vs Sheep" philosophy on the world, she never attempts to directly sway anyone to her way of thinking. Rather, she creates chaos that enables those who are already ruthless and corrupt to rise. However, her philosophy and personality was strong enough that when she met Vortiger, she convinced him to pledge himself and his order to her with the promise of power. Furthermore, an entire group of surviving Blackstone Legion knights would continue her work in secret, naming themselves the Order of Horkos and working secretly to sabotage any attempt at peace.
- Dark Action Girl: Yes. She's the Big Bad of the singleplayer portion of the game and kicks tons of ass as the warlord of the Blackstone Legion, and also serves as the game's final boss.
- Dash Attack: In her boss fight she uses a unique charged attack where she charges at the player and impales them on her longsword. The Warmonger class gets this as part of their moveset, though it is only available as a parry punish.
- Death Seeker: Implied in her banter with the Orochi during the Final Boss battle.Will you finally be the one?
- Dissonant Serenity: Apollyon notes in one of the observables that she feels most at peace with herself on the battlefield, and this shows in her fighting style. She will often walk with her sword held casually over her shoulders, and her impaling charge looks like she's casually swinging her sword like a cane dance before running you through with the blade.
- Divide and Conquer:
- She destroys most of the food supply of the Warborn at the end of "Wolves Among Sheep" but leaves just enough so they will fight each other over what's left rather than uniting against her.
- After murdering the Chosen's Emperor she executes all but the most despicable Daimyos, knowing that the rest would have immediately united against their common enemy.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Surprisingly, despite her wolves and sheep mentality, an observable reveals that she is willing and able to allow the commoners of Ashfeld to leave the Shard before it comes under siege and actually tries to protect them. In her own words, they can't help that they were born sheep. However, she also notes that they shouldn't be allowed to forget this fact.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: Surprisingly, her Might Makes Right attitude extends to not just the Legions of knights, but to her enemies in the Viking Warborn and samurai Chosen as well. This is first seen when she spares a Warborn Raider from execution, because she was impressed with his ability to kill over 40 of her own soldiers.Holden Cross: I had thought that her laws of selection only applied to us.
- Establishing Character Moment: Her introduction in Chapter 1.3, when the Warden first meets her, sets up her character perfectly. She arrives to almost single-handedly wipe out the group of Legion deserters that would have overpowered and killed the Warden. After a group surrender, two of these men try to kill her with knives only to be quickly subdued. Finally she establishes her predator or prey mentality by having those who quietly surrendered executed as "sheep" and recruited the two who had tried to kill her into the Blackstone Legion.
- Enemy Civil War: Invokes this twice, first by pitting the Viking clans against each other by leaving just enough of the Vikings' food stores untouched for the surviving clans to battle over the scraps, and forcing the Samurai daimyos to hunt each other in the Myre for control of the Chosen. In both cases, she did it to ensure the "wolves" among the factions would rise over the "sheep".
- Evil Is Bigger: Downplayed. At 6'1" she towers over just about everyone she comes in contact with due to most people suffering from malnutrition.
- Evil Sounds Deep: She has a deep voice, and is the Big Bad.
- Evil Wears Black: Her Armor is noticeably black compared to others in the Legion.
- Final Boss: Of the Samurai chapter. The Orochi fights her as the Final Boss of the entire singleplayer campaign.
- Flunky Boss: In the first stage of her boss fight, the Orochi has to fight off both Apollyon and a warden and Peacekeeper. Once they're defeated and the fight moves to the next two stages, she becomes much more dangerous.
- Foreshadowing: An observable in one mission of the Knight chapter has her talk about how the Legions are in fact descended from the Centurions of an ancient Empire that nowadays people think has collapsed, taking its Centurions with it. Apollyon then goes onto say this is false, that the Centurions still exist, and she has met them. At the end of the game's first season, the Centurion was added to the Knight faction as a new Hybrid class.
- Freudian Excuse: She saw her home destroyed by raiders as a child after a Lawbringer decided they weren't worth protecting. This gave her a survival of the fittest mentality and hatred of authority figures which pervades her entire world view.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Was originally just a child whose village was destroyed by Warborn due to being abandoned by a Lawbringer, before murdering him and taking his armor. After that, she rose to the position of Warlord among the Iron Legion and was sent by the Iron Legion to Ashfield among others to settle the area. It is here that she has decided to re-ignite the war.
- Frontline General: The leader of the Blackstone Legion has no issue fighting alongside her men.
- Genghis Gambit: Apollyon pulls an odd twist on this, intentionally putting herself in a position where everyone hates her and the Blackstone Legion: she leads the Warden into committing a terrible atrocity so that they will quit in disgust and reform the Iron Legion to fight her, she provokes the Vikings into fighting each other until one clan manages to unite them and lead them against her, and she assassinates the Dawn Empire's Emperor and throws them into chaos so that a Daimyo will arise to unite them and lead them to war for revenge. Apollyon twists it because she knows that the vast cultural gulf between each faction and their thousand years of bloodshed and animosity means that while all three will come after her, they'll also inevitably fight each other on their quest for revenge and trigger the war she hopes for.
- Genius Bruiser: Between having an in-depth knowledge of her foes as individuals, their cultures in general, and creating a plan to incite war between all three factions that goes more or less without a hitch, Apollyon is about as cerebral a woman as she is a fearsome warrior.
- Hidden Depths: She possesses an in-depth understanding of Viking and Samurai culture, which is quite a feat considering how isolated the factions' population centers are from one another. She's compared the Legion's sermons, discussed philosophy with a monk from the Myre, and asked Vikings about their traditions.
- Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Apollyon has the motifs of both War (Wields a sword, wears black armor, and even calls herself a personification of war) and Famine (Her plan to get the Vikings to war against one another is to burn their storehouse and have the survivors fight over the scraps.), and in the Viking and Samurai chapters is even seen riding a pale yellowish horse.
- I Am the Noun: When a captured Seijuro asks her who she is while he's at swordpoint:Apollyon: War... I am war.
- I Hate Past Me: She dislikes thinking of her past and origin as a farm girl, and did everything she could to wipe out all evidence of it after taking up her new persona.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: She seems fond of impaling her enemies with her longsword. She also uses a Dash Attack in her boss fight in which she charges and impales the player after winding up.
- Kick the Dog: During the final battle, she has the escape tunnels in the Blackstone stronghold sealed so that the civilians under their protection can't run aways
- Klingon Promotion: Heavily implied, since she says there were seven warlords before her, but she claimf they were all "-too weak, too noble, or too blind to lead us", before saying how all seven of her predecessors are all dead and buried in their tombs.
- Legacy Character: Astrea and the other Warmongers have taken up Apollyon's mantle and her ideals, even going so far as to wear similar armor, mimicking her voice, and rebuilding the Blackstone Legion under the banner of the Order of Horkos.
- Leitmotif: Wolves Among Sheep.
- Made of Iron: In her introductory cutscene she is stabbed in the side by a Peacekeeper, and slashed multiple times, but keeps going like none of it happened. This also proves true in her boss fight, where she's the most durable enemy in the game.
- Meaningful Name: Apollyon is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew term Abaddon, which appears in The Bible as a place of destruction, in the tanakh, abaddon often appears alongside the place שאול (sheol), meaning the realm of the dead. In the New Testament Book of Revelation, an angel called Abaddon is described as the king of an army of locusts; his name is first transcribed in Greek (Revelation 9:11—"whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, The Angel of Death." (Ἀβαδδὼν), and then translated ("which in Greek means the Destroyer" (Ἀπολλύων, Apollyon))).
- Might Makes Right:
- Firmly believes in this. She wears the armor of the Lawbringer who left her village to burn, as a message to anyone who would try to use the law against the strong.
- Interestingly, in another observable she says that she understands and doesn't blame those who want to avoid war, and that the strong and mighty should be the ones to shelter and protect the meek and peaceful people. However, she also says that the weak should also not be allowed to forget that they are weak and must be protected by the strong.
- Mighty Glacier: Her one exploitable weakness during her boss fight. She has truckloads of HP, hits hard, and has solid defense for the most part, but the majority of her attacks are extremely slow compared to the Wardens she's modeled on. Against a speedy murder machine like the Orochi Apollyon might as well be standing still which makes her extremely easy to punish for reactive players.
- Mr. Exposition: Albeit indirectly. The Observables she narrates shed a great deal of light upon the world and its inhabitants.
- Multi-Melee Master: In a cutscene, she purposely doesn't bother using her sword and beats down two armed and armored deserters with just her fists.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Invoked, as the warlords of the Blackstone Legion took up demon names to intimidate their foes. Apollyon can also be translated from Greek as "The Destroyer", and she mentions this in one of her observables.
- Narrator: She is the narrator of the single-player campaigns as well as the various Observations.
- Never Mess with Granny: It's not clear just how old she is, but her hair is gray, indicating she's at a respectable age and was already an adult 20 years before the story's events. And she is dangerous enough that she serves as the game's final boss.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Unlike the other NPCs and bosses her design is not based on any of the base game's hero classes. It isn't until Year Four that the Warmonger class appears, who base themselves off of Apollyon.
- "Not So Different" Remark: In her death speech to the Orochi, she tells them that in the end, all she wanted was for everyone to admit they were just as bloodthirsty and warlike as she was on the inside.
- One-Handed Zweihänder: While she primarily uses her sword two-handed, she can do an overhead smashing attack just bringing the blade down with her right hand alone.
- Promoted to Playable: Subverted. While Apollyon herself isn't directly playable due to the fact that she's been long gone by now, the Warmonger is essentially a playable version of her. The Warmonger has many of Apollyon's attack animations and even has Apollyon's actual armor set in their loot table. The main difference between the two is that Apollyon uses a customized Warden sword, while Warmonger uses flamberge-bladed swords along with the claws on her gauntlet, as well as alchemical weaponry.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Even more so than most knights. She spares those who fight back against her and slaughters those who surrender, viewing those who don't as cowardly sheep unworthy of life.
- Rage Helm: The upper portion of her helmet resembles a skull.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: The head of the Blackstone Legion, and one of its most powerful warriors.
- Sanity Slippage: It's subtle but her mental state seems to fluctuate over time. For 20 years and then some she was a very cynical but clearly very capable Warden and leader in the Iron Legion, eventually attracting enough clout to have a sizable number of knights break off and willfully join her in the Blackstones, and always referring to herself as a Warlord and a teacher. Even in the earlier story missions (Specifically the Warden's), her wolves and sheep mentality is present but somewhat muted. Years down the line, by the time she murders the Samurai Emperor, she's abandoned all pretense of normalcy, and even humanity, as she actively introduces herself as an embodiment of War. Her Strong vs. Weak mentality ends up turning the Knight controlled Ashfeld into a hellish land of oppression through sheer lawlessness, almost as if her victories destroyed whatever inhibitions she had left. Of course, considering what happened to the previous seven leaders of the Blackstone Legion, she may have just been better at hiding her insanity back then.
- Serrated Blade of Pain: Her personal sword has serrated edges at the base of the blade.
- The Social Darwinist: Believes that everyone in the world is either a sheep or a wolf, and the wolves should lord over the sheep. To this end, she's willing to trigger war between all three factions.
- Start of Darkness: According to her, her village was destroyed by Warborn after a Lawbringer decided that her village wasn't worthy of being saved. She was eight years old and bitter over her tragedy until she murdered said Lawbringer and took his armor.
- That Man Is Dead: She and the other warmasters who founded the Blackstone legion took on new names. She doesn't speak of her old one and few people know it.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: There was quite a bit of resistance after she took command of the Legions in Ashfeld, for good reason. When the Samurai invade Ashfeld years after she pushed the Vikings out they discover that it has become a lawless squalor where the strong do as they please and the innocent suffer.
- Unique Enemy: In her boss fight she uses a few unique abilities that no other Warden-class Knight opponent can use.
- Villainous Legacy: She dies at the end of the campaign, but the Blackstone Legion is still standing. They fragment later on, but eventually manage to reform as the Order of Horkos and continue to spread her philosophy alongside great devastation.
- Villain Respect: In general, she shows great respect for those who fight back, no matter the odds, even going so far as to spare the lives of those who fight on in the face of certain death. She also honestly respects the Orochi for their martial skill as they duel.
- Walking the Earth: If the observables are any indication, Apollyon had spent years traveling the lands of all three factions. She's spoken to Vikings, Samurai, and even met Centurions from the Empire in the south.
- War Is Glorious: Her personal philosophy is that perpetual war is needed to keep people strong and weed out those who are not willing to fight for their lives. This puts her in direct conflict with the philosophies brought forth by the Player Characters.
- Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Averting this is her end goal. The factions are already savage and bloodthirsty in her eyes, and just denying their true nature, with the wolves being forced to hide among the sheep. By creating open war she hopes to do away with these claims and "free" the wolves. Her theme is even called Wolves Among Sheep.
- World's Strongest Man: Apollyon is an extremely strong and resilient swordswoman. With her sword, she can cut down fully armored knights and samurai in seconds. With her bare hands and brute strength she can lift up fully grown men and women as though they were children and then beat them to death. Her durability lets her shrug off blows that draw blood and even deep stab wounds with the knife still inside. The only character that can defeat her is the Emperor's Champion, another master swordsman, who even admits that they'd have to surpass themselves to even stand a chance.
Lord Hervis Daubeny
"You! You, will be my second."
- Voiced by: Andreas Apergis
- Be Careful What You Wish For: He wanted a particular keep above all else, and got it, only to suffer a Humiliation Conga when the Blackstones he crossed in order to get it come looking for revenge.
- Big Damn Heroes: In his return for Year 5, he makes one hell of a imprssion by saving Holden Cross.
- The Bus Came Back: Returns in Year 5 Season 1 after saving Holden Cross from the Order of Horkos and becomes the host of the Chimera Banquet. Suffice to say, Daubeny has come a long way since he last showed up.
- Combat by Champion: Was given a Trial by Combat but decided to use The Warden in his place.
- Dirty Coward: When Holden Cross offered Trial by Combat explicitly to spare further bloodshed by Lord Daubeny's men, he first complains that he can't fight Holden and even backs out of fighting the man's second, then volunteers the mercenary Player Character to fight in his stead in Combat by Champion. When aforementioned wing ornaments became available they were even named "Daubeny's Shame".
- Downplayed in that he does fight in combat outside of the duel.
- Doom Magnet: The keep he's holding has switched hands multiple times. Daubeny only being the most recent occupant.
- Funny Back Ground Event: In the practice arena, "The Ring", Daubeny can be seen sitting on a throne watching the combatants duking it out, with his Large Ham dialogue thrown in for good measure.
- Gone Horribly Right: Try to invoke Combat by Champion rather than Trial by Combat in case if he failed. However, Holden Cross decided to strip him of his title and give it to The Warden after they showed aptitude in combat.
- Happy Ending:
Word of God states that after his business with the Blackstones are settled he leaves for the south lands and lives a happy life there. - Humiliation Conga: He suffers this in "Warlords and Cowards". His castle is wrecked, his men take heavy casualties, and the best soldier among his army upstages him after he cowardly backs out of a trial by combat. Then, after the soldier wins the combat for him, his sword gets confiscated, given to the soldier, and said soldier joins the army of the man that just wrecked his castle. On the flipside, he manages to avoid being executed and successfully leaves the Blackstone Legion.
- Insignia Ripoff Ritual: Receives the equivalent after the Combat by Champion is concluded, Holden Cross confiscating Lord Daubeny's sword, knighting the Warden with it, then granting the sword to the new knight while tossing the Warden's old mercenary sword back to Daubeny.
- Miles Gloriosus: Has fancy golden armor, snazzy wing ornamentations that weren't initially available to PC Wardens, a sweet castle, and an army of knights under his command. He's also a craven coward whose castle makes him a target for the Blackstone Legion, makes a hired sword fight a duel in his stead, and isn't generally respected by anyone.
- Obfuscating Stupidity:
- Word of God says that, despite appearances, he's actually calculating, intelligent, and even somewhat brave. This actually checks out, looking over his actions; he's the first member of the Blackstone Legion to actually leave it, he knows he couldn't possibly defeat Holden Cross in single combat (or his second) which is why he sends in the Warden, and he manages to survive past the end of the game despite pissing off the most dangerous faction around. Of course, making smart decisions to keep yourself alive doesn't make you a good person, but he is at least more competent than he first appears.
- Also according to Word of God, his use of the Warden as his second was a (successful) ploy to get Cross (and the Blackstone Legion) to finally leave him alone.
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- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He leaves Ashfeld and heads south once his business with the Blackstones is concluded.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After his first appearance has him put through the wringer, Word of God states he got his Happy Ending after all that and even makes a grand return in Year 5 by saving Holden then hosting the Chimera banquet.
Ademar
Holden Cross' second in command during the siege of Westhold Castle, who fights The Warden in single combat but loses both the duel and his life in the process.
- Combat by Champion: Represents the Blackstone Legion in one against the player Warden.
- Death by Origin Story: The Warden's, specifically.
- Duel Boss: Acts as the boss of the first chapter of the Knight's arc.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: Despite being Holden Cross' second, he is forgotten without a word.
- Knight in Shining Armor: While there are a number of Warden characters fought during the campaign, he is the only one acknowledged as a (former) Warden besides the player character and Apollyon.
Stone
"Is this a joke?"
- Voiced by: Robert Montcalm
- Bash Brothers: With the Warden after the latter helps break the Viking siege. It helps that they both served the Iron Legion in the past and are both recent inductees to the Blackstones.
- Chained by Fashion: Like most Conquerors has a chain wrapped around his forearm.
- Deadpan Snarker: Upon noting that one of the deserters is another Conqueror in a similar outfit, he remarks that one of them is going to have to change.
- Epic Flail: As a Conqueror, he wields one.
- Fire-Forged Friends: With the Warden, after they help break the Vikings' siege on his fortress. Considering their similar origins as low-class soldiers who ended up in high positions through merit, it makes sense. When the Warden defected from the Blackstone Legion, Stone is seen at his side as well.
- Is This a Joke?: He says this ad verbatim when he sees that the Blackstone Legion reinforcements consist of only the Warden.
- Recruitment by Rescue: After the Warden helps him drive the Vikings from the fortress, he joins Apollyon's forces and fights alongside the Warden.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: Has the front part of a skull rather prominently displayed on his helmet.
- Trading Bars for Stripes: Word of God confirms that he's a former criminal. And while his exact crime was not given, it is stated that he didn't do anything bad.
- Undying Loyalty: To the Warden, due to being originally Iron Legion. He's loyal enough that the Warden specifically picks only Stone to back them up while investigating Iron Legion deserters, due to the Warden's suspicions about the true nature of the Blackstones.
- You Are in Command Now: Stone was not originally the commander of the Iron Legion fortress, and only became so after its leadership and everyone else who could have assumed command were all killed in action.
Julius Salavander
A former member of the Regal Legion, after his home sub-factions surrender to the Blackstone he would find himself becoming the commander of the garrison occupying the Viking shipyards at Odinguard.
- Bling of War: You can tell he was former member of the Regal Legion by his gold armor.
- Cool Helmet: Wears a gold version of the Merope helmet, which is essentially the iconic Templar helmet
- Flunky Boss: In order to get to him Stigandr and Helvar have to fight through his forces.
- "Get Back Here!" Boss: Runs away upon spotting Stigandr's forces, only to fight back once cornered.
Ramiel
The legendary first warden, who made a pact with a dragon to bring peace to Heathmoor.
- Dragon Knight: Supposedly made a pact with a dragon to bring peace to Heathmoor.
- Our Founder: He's the first Warden. Statues of his can be found on some maps.
- Posthumous Character: Exaggerated — he's been dead since well before the story started, being from The Time of Myths.
Warborn
Gudmundr Branson
- Voiced by: Robin Atkin Downes
- All There in the Manual: His surname is never mentioned in the game itself, but is given in the credits.
- Bear Hug: He'll give the Warden one during the last phase of his boss fight, disorienting them and draining their stamina.
- The Beastmaster: He controls a pack of Savage Wolves.
- Canis Major: His wolves are noticeably very large.
- Defiant to the End: Curses the Warden for destroying his fortress even as he lays dying and the Warden tries to give them the respect due to a Worthy Opponent.
- Final Boss: Of the Knight chapter.
- Flunky Boss: He has a pack of wolves attack the Warden while they fight him.
- Foreshadowing: During Mercy’s mission, some Vikings can be overheard saying he is a master of the sword and shield.
- "Get Back Here!" Boss: First you fight him atop the Legion siege engine, and then you chase him through the fortress.
- The Good King: Outright described as such by Apollyon in an observable.
- Heroic Blue Screen of Death: He’s kneeling in shocked silence at the sight of his burning hall when the Warden catches up to him.
- Large and in Charge: He has to be at least seven feet tall, and towers over the Warden.
- Meaningful Name: Gudmundr is a misspelling of the ancient Scandinavian name Guðmundr, which was derived from the elements guð "god" and mundr "protection".
- Nemean Skinning: Gudmundr wears a wolf's pelt as part of his armor, with a wolf's head over his right pauldron.
- Old Soldier: Gudmundr has a full white beard, but age has obviously not slowed him down one bit. One line of dialogue from the Vikings mentions that he's "forgotten more about combat than anyone else knows."
- See You in Hell: His last words to the Warden are "To Hel with you."
- Undying Loyalty: He was clearly loved by his men - the first time he leaves for his "Get Back Here!" Boss methodology is because after the two fall off the siege engine, a trio of Viking minions get between you and gesture for him to leave rather than stay, and he struggles with them a bit before relenting (and then you cut the trio down in seconds, of course).
Ragnar
- Voiced by: Noah Danby
- Bandit Clan: He leads one among the Vikings, stealing from other Vikings in the wake of Apollyon's invasion. According to ambient dialogue during Mercy's mission, he's an escaped criminal and even other Vikings are worried about what he's going to do.
- Chekhov's Gunman: While not confirmed, the Viking Raider Apollyon spared from execution during the Warden's story shares his character model and armor. This combined with his ruthlessness and general demeanor, having killed forty men during the battle and laughing as the soldier next to him tries in vain to get him to his knees, would suggest they are the same person, especially as he later wound up unwittingly helping Apollyon's plan.
- The Dreaded: Other Vikings are afraid of him, and in the ambient dialogue in Mercy's mission, the Warborn refer to him as a "demon's son."
- Face Death with Dignity: He is completely unafraid when the Raider kills him. He refuses to surrender or try to unite their people, mocking the idea of becoming a farmer or trader, and his last words to The Raider are a simple "Valhalla."
- Foreshadowing: He's mentioned in the Icelandic ambient dialogue in Mercy's mission.
- "Get Back Here!" Boss: After he is defeated in the hall, he escapes on a horse, forcing the Raider to chase him down.
- Malevolent Masked Man: Wears a partial horned mask over his face.
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Mocks the Raider for believing that the Vikings shouldn't fight among themselves.
- Starter Villain: For the Raider in the singleplayer campaign.
- While Rome Burns: He and his closest companions spend the entire time during the Raider's attack feasting and drinking in their hall, until Helvar "knocks."
- Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Apollyon sees him as one. While he fights alongside the other Vikings, once there isn't enough food to go around he quickly resorts to raiding other clans for food.
- Wrecked Weapon: During The Raiders' "Reason You Suck" Speech; Ragnars' axe is cleaved in two at the handle. Ragnar tries to use the top part of his axe in one last attack against the Raider, only to be disarmed before being killed.
Helvar
- Voiced by: Patrick Seitz
- Everybody Has Standards: He's appalled by the gruesome display outside Siv's fortress, which also doubles as Hypocritical Humor.Helvar: "That's just barbaric."Runa: "I've seen you take scalps."Helvar:(Beat) "That's different!"
- Hero of Another Story: According to dialogue between him and Stigandr, Helvar was the one who put together The Warborn in order to help save his Jarl.
- Plucky Comic Relief: He's the funniest of the Raider's companions.
- True Companions: With Stigandr if their brief dialogue when the latter is introduced for the first time is to be believed.Stigandr: (After being rescued) What took you so long?Helvar: (Shakes hands) Finding Vikings you hadn't pissed off.Stigandr and Helvar laugh together
Siv the Ruthless
- Voiced by: Amber Goldfarb
- Ax-Crazy: Even for a Berserker, she's decidedly unhinged.
- Chewing the Scenery: Have we mentioned she's completely nuts yet?Siv: Raider! RAIDER! RAAAAIDERRRRR!!!
- Dark Action Girl: She's a villainous, psychotic Viking.
- Decapitation Presentation: Puts her enemies' heads on pikes outside her domain.
- Noodle Incident: She has "history" with the Raider and whatever it was she is mighty angry about it. Word of God states that they've had sex.
- Say My Name: As soon as Siv realizes who's attacking her, most of her dialogue is bellowing out "RAIDER!" in fury.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: She apparently has "history" with the Raider and was about to call them on it when they tell her to shut up. She dies shortly after to their axe.
Chosen
Saburo Fujikiyo
The boss of the Myre fortress, who is a legendary general that kept the fortress against all attackers - at least, until the Raider and the Warborn storm the gates.
- Despair Event Horizon: When The Raider confronts Saburo, he laments how his fortress is lost, his men are slaughtered... and how he'll soon join them. He then goes down fighting trying to take revenge on The Raider.
- Foreign Cuss Word: Addresses the Raider in Japanese as "kisama", which is basically Japanese for "Bastard" as it's the rudest possible way to address someone.
- Worthy Opponent: It goes both ways. Saburo is just as legendary among the Warborn as the Chosen, and he also acknowledges The Raider's power during their duel.
General Tozen
"Outstanding."
The Dawn Empire general who guards the way into the Imperial City.
- Chrome Champion: He wears a unique pure gold armor set.
- Combat Pragmatist: While honorable he's not above using misdirection and doppelgangers for an advantage. When none of this works on the Raider he removes parts of his armor so he can outmaneuver them.
- Doppelgänger Attack: Makes the Raider fight three copies of himself at the start.
- Final Boss: Of the Viking chapter.
- Hold the Line: His job is basically to hold the bridge protecting the Imperial City from invaders.
- Leave Him to Me!: Fights the Raider personally, knowing they're too much for any of his men.
- Old Friend: Appears to have known the Orochi, stating that they're the only swordsman better than him. The Orochi also questions how the Vikings crossed the bridge into the Imperial city with him guarding the bridge.
- Ominous Fog: His arrival is marked by a cloud of fog rolling in and dying Vikings stumbling out of it.
- Shed Armor, Gain Speed: He removes most of his armor to gain a speed boost in the last phase of his boss fight.
- Welcome to Corneria: In earlier versions of the game, during the second stage of his boss fight he would repeat the line "You are a Raider... Legendary!" on an endless loop every few seconds. Later on in the fight, he will also say "I must defeat you!" on a continuous loop as well.
- Worthy Opponent: Considers the Raider this as he dies. His last words as he dies are even a simple, awed "Outstanding...."
Momiji
"This is how you ended up here in the first place."
- Voiced by: Melanie Minichino
- Action Girl: She serves as a combat partner several times throughout the Samurai campaign, where she proves her skill with the naginata.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Her bubbly attitude belies the fact that she's just as dangerous to her enemies as any other Nobushi.
- Career-Ending Injury: Referenced when she takes an arrow to the knee and the Orochi has to escort her to safety, but she's just fine in the next mission, since the missions are often set months apart and it takes time for armies to move. She even references the famous The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim line.Momiji: My knee. I hope I can keep adventuring!
Okuma
"Go. You got this."
- Voiced by: Jonathan Adams
- Bash Brothers: With the Orochi, when they team up over several parts of the campaign, especially in the final battle at the Shard.
- The Big Guy: He's the biggest and toughest of the Orochi's friends, and he frequently uses that bulk to smash through the toughest resistance. At one point he also forces open a portcullis to let the Orochi continue chasing down Apollyon.
- Hold the Line:
- If you run towards the gates before finding Momiji during the battle for the Samurai capital, you'll see him fighting dozens of Viking mooks by himself.
- After getting the Orochi past the portcullis at the Shard, he stays back to defend against the Blackstone Legion forces.
- Servile Snarker: While he's quick to obey orders, Okuma is pretty snarky about it.
- Story-Breaker Power: Meta example. Okuma has no playable chapter to himself, presumably because For Honor's story runs on the day one build of For Honor... when Shugokis could wait until they were in critical health to instantly kill anybody with Demon's Embrace.
Ranja
- Voiced by: Julianne Gossman
- The Chosen One: Claims to be, anyways.
- Churchgoing Villain: As stated by Ayu, piety does not excuse villainy.
- Duel Boss: Of the three Daimyō that Ayu must hunt down in the Myre, Ranja is the only one who fights Ayu one-to-one.
- Light Is Not Good: Her attire is bright, she is very pious, and even kneeling before a statue when Ayu finds her. Doesn't change the fact that she's ruthless and evil.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: She's one of the few bosses to actually use Revenge on you, and she activates it the moment Ayu challenges her. It's not clear if this is due to her own fanatical piety or if she's drawing from some supernatural power.
Kizan
A Shugoki and one of the five Daimyō spared by Apollyon.
- Fat Bastard: A war criminal and he's a Shugoki, who are fat, so that makes him this by default.
- Greed: His greatest sin, according to Ayu, who claims he would take more than the Chosen could provide.
Dokuja
A rather cowardly Daimyō who was spared by Apollyon, along with four others.
- Dirty Coward:
- If you catch up to him before he reaches the docks, he immediately flees. Even then, he lets his men fight you first and only attacks if they have been killed.
- Ayu also accuses him of having retreated from a battle they were on the same side of in the past.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: While described as a coward, he still puts up a fight when finally cornered.
- We Can Rule Together: Tries to dissuade Ayu with this. Could also be seen as a failed attempt at Know When to Fold 'Em.
Seijuro
- Voiced by: Louis-Philippe Dandenault
- Ambition Is Evil:
- Apollyon notes that people didn't want to give Seijuro power because of his naked ambition, but she actually considers his power-hungry tendencies to be a virtue. He openly declares his intent to kill the other Daimyōs before going after Apollyon, though he has no qualms about her leaving him the palace so he can declare himself Emperor.
- In the "Samurai of Harrowmount" weekly quest, Seijuro makes another attempt at taking over the Dawn Empire after Apollyon's defeat by occupying the titular fortress. He and his lieutenants are slain in the process.
- Defeat Means Friendship: After Ayu's forces storm the palace and he is bested by the Orochi in a duel he finally admits defeat and bows to Ayu's leadership.
- Defiant to the End: Even as Apollyon has him on his knees at her mercy he openly declares that he'll kill her, after he's done with her other prisoners. When Ayu marches on the palace with a force too large for him to have any hope of defeating, he decides to go down swinging. In the end, he initially refuses to serve Ayu and only yields when the Orochi offers him their place as the commander of Empire's armies, telling him that Apollyon is their real enemy.
- Do Not Go Gentle: He knows full well that he can't win against Ayu's combined forces, but plans on making a Last Stand to remember.
- Duel Boss: He and the Orochi fight one on one for the Emperor's throne, the Orochi fighting on Ayu's behalf.
- Token Evil Teammate: After he admits defeat and accepts Ayu's leadership.
