This page lists tropes for the Order of the Silver Phoenix, the main characters of Knight's & Magic. Beware of spoilers!
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Ernesti Echevallier
Ernesti "Ernie" Echevallier
Mecha Extraordinaire
Voiced by: Rie Takahashi (Japanese), Alexis Tipton (English, young child), Justin Briner (English, middle school)
The main character. A young boy - yes, really - who, as far as his parents can comprehend, fell in love with the Silhouette Knights when he first saw them at age 3. The audience knows that he's actually a reincarnation of a genius programmer who was a mecha otaku.- Ace Custom: His biggest dream is to design and ride his own personal Silhouette Knight, crafted by his own two hands. After a great many heroic deeds and accomplishments, he gets his wish.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Due to his unbelievable achievements both in Silhouette Knight development and in battle, he was given command of his own knight order even before finishing school.
- Later in the light novel, the exploits of Eru and his Silver Phoenix Knights have reach such levels that he is essentially the head of the nation's combined R&D efforts in new Silhouette Knight technology. And due to his raw combat ability both in his custom Silhouette Knight and on foot, he is recognized as the nation's last line of defense in case of a national emergency, and has command authority over ALL knight companies during such times.
- Awesome, but Impractical: His MO when designing Silhouette Knights, and personal armaments. Justified because his Earth programming experience brings with it a great many revolutionary designs, and every time they're implemented, learning about, not mention actually dealing with the drawbacks has to be handled in a Trial and Error sort of way. This is why an entire division is created just to analyze his Silhouette Knight and mass produce Boring, but Practical versions.
- Awesome by Analysis: Ernie lives and breathes this trope, to the shock and horror of many other characters. In the earliest light novel chapters, he masters "magic" by comparing spell formulas to computer programs. When he gets his hands on Dietrich's Silhouette Knight, since he can't reach the pedals to turn it on, he takes control by hacking the Magius Engine, and goes toe to toe, one on one with Behemoth, a monster so tough, it takes an entire battalion to beat one, suffering heavy casualties in the process. Ernesti holds it at bay, alone, for hours until reinforcements composed entirely of hardened veterans show up, and even they are stunned.
- Base on Wheels: The Silhouette Knight Carriages Ernie designed are built around the principle of rapid insertion of Silhouette Knights over vast distances without worrying about the Knights' running out of fuel during a mission that requires long-distance travel, along with boasting a carrying capacity to hold up to three Silhouette Knights inside along with several Silhouette Gears and replacement parts or Option Works dependant on the mission. The first one debuted was pulled by a single Tzendolg: a large Centaur-like Silhouette Knight designed for both speed and mobility and had a long operation time but at the cost of requiring two Knight-Runners that needed precise coordination to pilot the Tzendolg. Later on, the Tzendolgs' technology is fine-tuned to create the Tzendolimble which requires a single Pilot to function and that the Carriages are now pulled by a pair of them.
- Benevolent Boss: As the leader of the Silver Phoenix Knights, his subordinates have nothing to fear from him or his command.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Unfailingly gentle, kind, and polite. Piss him off however, and woe be unto you.
- Blood Knight: When he goes into battle, he really loves to tear his enemies apart, piece by piece. And while he considers the Vyver an abomination against everything he stands for, he also admits that it's a really Worthy Opponent for his Ikaruga.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: While he's not evil, Ernesti's less concerned with normal ethics than he is with his personal aesthetic ideals. The proper use of robots and their supremacy on the battlefield is essentially his religion.
- Challenge Seeker: Eru's most defining characteristic is that he likes to set up goals to achieve and the harder that goal is, the more invested he is in pursuing it. His dream of creating a Silhouette Knight of his own design is the ultimate goal he sets for himself and every hindrance he clears is treated as simply a stepping stone to his goal.
- Chaste Hero: Justified on two counts. First, he's a pre-teen, so romance really shouldn't ping his radar. Second, he's always loved "robots" more than people. That being said, don't mess with his friends and family.
- Not so much a pre-teen anymore in later LNs, but he still prefers riding and designing robots than entering a relationship.
- He eventually grows out of this and marries Addy in Volume 9.
- Child Prodigy: Of his own volition, he began training to be a Knight Runner at age 3, and in elementary school, got out of "magic fundamentals" class by using techniques that highschoolers have trouble learning, so he can go into the Silhouette Knights practical design class.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: Becomes the leader of the Silver Phoenix Knights, as appointed by the king of Fremmviria.
- Cool, but Inefficient: Combined with Awesome, but Impractical. His early prototypes always fall victim to this. Even his Ace Custom, Ikaruga, is officially listed as the most inefficient Knight in existence; its controls are so convoluted, only Ernie can use it.
- Cute and Psycho: Eru looks adorable, but when he is fighting, he shows a much more unhinged side.
- Ditzy Genius: He has a tendency to go off into his own little world when he starts working on Silhouette Knight designs and construction. He's so single-minded that right after he crashes a Kaldatoa, he's thinking of ways to deal with the problems involved, and until Ady yells in his ear, he forgets that he's just crashed his mech and is probably in trouble with his superiors.
- The Dreaded: His Silhouette Knight is called Kishin note by the Zaloudek Empire's forces.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Ernie's appearance really takes after his mother. So much so that, unless he actually spells it out, most people on either side of the fourth wall can't tell. His androgynous uniforms and outfits don't help.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He designed his own customized "magic staff" (Gun Blade) at age 5.
- Game Changer: Eru's innovations in Silhouette Knight technology jumpstarts what is essentially a technological arms race that had been stagnant for centuries. The Telestarle, for example, has been the only Silhouette Knight design after the Kaldatoah, and it took about 300 years and presumably generations of engineers before the latter overtook its predecessor.
- Honor Before Reason: His personal aesthetic code is that the only thing allowed to destroy a mech is another mech. So, for example, going into battle on foot (though he's capable of being effective that way) is cheating. Even more importantly, when the Vyver is first deployed, his goal is to prove the superiority of Silhouette Knight technology over battleships and cannons, because if the latter technology wins out, robots will disappear from the battlefield and his aesthetic code will have been meaningless.
- Instant Expert: Learns the spells to create an Ether Reactor in three months, when it normally takes human lifetimes.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: His Knight designs, from the very first, all have extra arms that carry weapons.
- Nice Guy: His rather odd moral code notwithstanding, he's a decent and friendly person.
- One-Man Industrial Revolution: Took his mecha hobby from his previous life and ran away with it in the new one.
- Only the Chosen May Pilot: Invoked. After the Telestale prototypes were stolen, many badly damaged or destroyed in the attempted recovery, and pursuit, Ernie set up a system where only the selected rider can use his prototypes from that point on. The Copper Fang Knights learn this the hard way in volume 7.
- Punch-Clock Hero: While it is true that he values the lives of Fremmevaria's citizens and takes his duties as a Knight Runner very, very seriously, he does it all purely for the joy of designing, building, and riding Silhouette Knights. When Carlitos tries to recruit him for Zaloudek, he takes the offer seriously but points out that Zaloudek really can't make him a better offer than he has as head of the Silver Phoenix.
- Reincarnation: Dies in modern Japan, wakes up as a baby in the Fremmevaria kingdom.
- Skewed Priorities: See Honor Before Reason. Ernesti considers his aesthetic code to be significantly more important than his job.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Two very prominent examples stand out. First, when the Behemoth starts stomping Silhouette Knights right in front of him, he flies into a rage, lampshading the trope by name. It happens again when the Copper Fang Knights break into his lab and start stealing his Telestarle Knight prototypes. When he learns Zaloudek was behind the theft, he goes into destruction mode, and his subordinates, who were all grievously harmed (either physically or emotionally) during the theft, happily agree with the sentiment.
Archid Alter
Archid "Chid" Alter
Voiced by: Shinsuke Sugawara (Japanese), Stephen Fu (English)
One of a pair of children Ernesti meets while "training" as all three were running atop the roofs of the city.- Half-Identical Twins: With his sister, Addy. Downplayed as their hair is noticeably different in both form and color.
- Heroic Bastard: He was born as the result of an illicit affair between his mother and a high-ranking nobleman. He's still a very good and upstanding individual.
- Hold the Line: Along with his sister, Addy, and Ernie, the casualties were absolutely minimal in the onrush of Demon beasts because they all held the beasts back until the highschool Knight Runner escorts could show up and help.
- Lady and Knight: He becomes the chosen knight of the Kurchsperca crown princess, and the two of them are adorable together.
- Only Sane Man: As he lacks any personality quirks, he is this when with his sister and Ernie.
- Rescue Romance: With the crown princess of Kurchsperca. Although the mission was only to rescue her from Zaloudek, she falls for him, hard, because he saves her from some truly horrific Altar Diplomacy, being forced to marry the man who murdered her father, at sword point.
- This Is Unforgivable!: When he heard the public announcement that the crown prince of Zaloudek was forcing the crown princess of Kuruspera to marry him at sword point, he went into a berserk rage. It was only due to the fact that the "esteemed" prince was not physically present that he got to live another day.
- You Are Not My Father: He wants nothing to do with the high-ranking noble who sired him through an illicit affair with his mother. For his part, the noble in question seems to be a decent human being in all other respects.
Adelroot Alter
Adelroot "Addy" Alter
Voiced by: Ayaka Ohashi (Japanese), Jeannie Tirado (English)
The second of a pair of children Ernie meets while "training" by running among the rooftops.- Ace Custom: Wields a custom version of the Syphrime, the first mass-produced airborne Silhouette Knight in existence.
- Berserk Button: Don't interfere with her "cuddle time" with Ernie.
- Childhood Friend Romance: She's been madly "in love" with Ernie since they met as small children. While it is completely one-sided, Ernie does nothing to rebuff her, and lets her use him as a pillow whenever she wants.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She really does not want to share Ernie with anyone. He's her body pillow!
- Cuddle Bug: Addy sometimes acts as if she believes her entire purpose in life is to hug Ernie.
- Cuteness Proximity: Whenever she's around Ernie and he's not otherwise occupied, she loves to glomp him and call him her "body pillow." Ernie does his best to simply ignore it.
- Dual Wielding: Favours two magic staves with shorter attached blades and her personal units tend to equip two short swords as their primary or back-up close combat weapons
- Half-Identical Twins: With her brother, Chid.
- Heroic Bastard: Like Chid, she's the product of an illicit union between her mother and an already married high-ranking noble.
- Hold the Line: In the prelude to Behemoth's arrival, she and Chid held back the onrush of Demon beasts to protect her fellow students.
- Relationship Upgrade: She got one by the vol. 9 and officially married Ernie.
- Rescue Romance: While romance was clearly not his intent, Addy falls for Ernie, hard, when he rescues her from falling of a roof.
- Satellite Love Interest: There really isn't much to her other than her crush on Ernie.
- This Is Unforgivable!: As enraged as Chid was upon learning of Zaloudek's intentions towards the princess of Kusperscha, she's doubly so. Had the crown prince of Zaloudek been anywhere nearby, she would have happily torn him to pieces.
Edgar C. Blanche
Edgar C. Blanche
Voiced by: Yasuaki Takumi (Japanese), Christopher Wehkamp (English)
- Ace Custom: The Earlcumber and the Aldirat.
- Battle Couple: With Helvi. Although it's yet to be confirmed if the two of them are romantically involved, they have the best synergy on the battlefield.
- Entertainingly Wrong: In several ways. When Dietrich initially flees the battle with Behemoth, he presumes that Dietrich is merely a boastful coward. When he sees Dietrich's machine return and put Behemoth on the ropes, though lacking the means to end the battle decisively on its own, presumes Dietrich is a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass. Lastly, when he sees Dietrich's cockpit completely crushed as a direct result of the final clash with Behemoth, he presumes Dietrich gained victory at the cost of his own life, and was preparing a true hero's funeral, until Ernesti breaks out, dragging an unconscious Dietrich behind him.
- Knight in Shining Armor: Embodies the ideal of everything a Silhouette Knight should be.
- Mighty Glacier: Relatively speaking. His custom units aren't slow by conventional standards but he tends to be prefer heavier defences and precisely timed strikes compared Dietrich's whirlwind of unrelenting attack or the high speed charges of the Tzendrorg units.
- My Greatest Failure: Failing to stop The Copper Fang Knights from getting away with stealing Helvi's Tellestarle is this to him.
- The Paragon: He's not only the top-scoring high-school student, but the prime example of what a Knight Runner should be.
- Rank Up: He later becomes the knight commander of his own knight order.
- That Makes Me Feel Angry: In Volume 7, when he learns that the stolen Telestarle prototypes were used by Zaloudek to make the "Tyrant" models and then used to start a Reign of Terror against Zaloudek's surrounding countries, he had no objection to Ernesti's plan to Leave No Survivors.
Dietrich Knitz
Dietrick "D" Knitz:
Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (Japanese), Josh Grelle (English)
- Ace Custom: The Guair, and later, the Guairlinde.
- Character Development: He goes from an arrogant and cowardly Knight Runner to a heroic and courageous one after interacting with Ernie and the others.
- Deliberate Injury Gambit: Knowing how outmatched he is when fighting Gustavo, and with retreat not an option, he deliberately allows himself to be struck several times in order to exploit openings in Gustavo's flurry of attacks. He does eventually win the fight, though at great cost.
- Dual Wielding: Pretty much every Silhouette Knight he pilots.
- Fragile Speedster: Downplayed example. His custom units tend to sacrifice armour, especially around the joints, for increased speed and agility
- Humble Pie: The battle with Behemoth really served to drive the cockiness out of him. While his boasting doesn't ever truly go away, he becomes competent enough to actually merit it.
- Miles Gloriosus: At first. Even in practice, no matter how badly he lost, he would always boast that he's actually the better duelist, blaming the pit crew for not doing their best to keep his Silhouette Knight in top working order for the loss. (And his complaints do have some merit.) In Episode 2, he taunted the Behemoth, thinking it was easy prey. Boy was he wrong.
- Moment of Weakness: When Behemoth uses its Breath Weapon to utterly annihilate a fellow cadet, he loses his nerve, panics, and runs away. Ernie dragging him back to the fight, literally kicking and screaming, with a bit of a pep-talk after the fact serves to take most of the rough edges off his character.
- Razor Wind: His preferred Silhouette Arms create short-range slicing attacks
- Red Is Heroic: Not at first, but as he becomes a better and truly heroic character, his penchant for having red as his color of choice highlights his courage.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: He shrieks when he realizes just how dangerous the Behemoth is, and then shouts incoherently when he wakes up and sees Ernie driving his Silhouette Knight, right at the beast he panicked and tried to run from.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Initially left despondent at having narrowly survived the Behemoth and a verbal lashing by David for the wreckage that was his Guair, Ernie slowly pulled Dietrich out of his funk by saying they worked well as a team in taking down the monster and saving the kingdom, later on when Ernie debuted the new Silhouette Gears as a supplement to Knight training Dietrich started to come around that Edgar thought he was a completely different person now.
Helvi Öberg
Helvi Öberg
Voiced by: Shizuka Itō (Japanese), Morgan Garrett (English)
- Ace Custom: Because of her job as a Test Runner, she often is the one to initially pilot most of Ernies' Silhouette Knight designs; with her personal Gray-Yellow Solodreah Knight Trandorkis being repaired and upgraded with both Strand-Type Crystal Tissue and Back Weapons to become the very first of the Telestales.
- Battle Couple: With Edgar. Although it's yet to be confirmed if the two of them are romantically involved, they have the best synergy on the battlefield.
- Boyish Short Hair: She keeps her hair short and engages in many traditionally male behaviors, like being a Knight Runner.
- Cleavage Window: Helvi's tops almost always show her cleavage.
- Heroic BSoD: She took her practice spar loss to Edgar quite hard because despite having the far better machine, he had the far better skill, and she ran out of mana at a very inopportune moment. When her Tellestarle gets stolen by The Copper Fang Knights, she takes it harder still.
- The Smurfette Principle: She is the only female highschool Knight Runner (female Knight Runners that have graduated are shown to exist though) shown to date, at least in Fremmveria.
Baston Termonen
Baston Termonen
Voiced by: Natsumi Fujiwara (Japanese), Ryan Reynolds (English)
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Ernie getting his treasured hammer back from a bunch of human bullies earned his friendship and respect.
- The Blacksmith: As is the case with all the dwarves shown in Fremmevaria, he's a blacksmith, as a racial specialty.
- Bullying a Dragon: It was only his inability to keep up with his human bullies that let them get away with it. Once Ernesti removed that handicap, the bullies didn't stand a chance.
- Fastball Special: Ernesti uses magic to launch him like a bullet at the bullies that were tormenting him.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Short, stumpy legs, no ability to use mana/magic, and perfectly at home in a smithy over a forge. Check.
David Hepken
David Hepken
Voiced by: Atsushi Imaruoka (Japanese), Cris George (English)
- Ace Custom: He gets a specialized Motor Beat specifically for the purpose of making his smithing and Knight construction work far simpler.
- The Blacksmith: He doesn't just work on the Knights, he's also a blacksmith tasked with forging the more mundane stuff, like swords and staves.
- Everybody Calls Him "Barkeep": He's most often addressed as "Boss". His real name is only mentioned once in the prologue of volume 5.
- Goggles Do Nothing: In the anime, he is constantly wearing goggles on his forehead, but has yet to be shown actually using them to protect his eyes while welding or other smithing tasks until episode 11.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Like Baston, he's a dwarf. However, Dwarves in this series aren't that big on beards, and David even had dreadlocks, something rarely seen on Dwarves.
