The followers of Giliath Osborne, serving as his eyes and ears throughout the Empire. They can be found in all walks of life, but particularly in the organizations he founded, the Imperial Intelligence Division and the Railway Military Police, the latter of which he founded in part to break the monopoly on power held by the Army.

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In General

Anti-Villain: Despite working for Osborne it's shown some of them are relatively decent, and only do so due to loyalty to the man, and belief that his actions are for the best.
Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Claire, Lechter, and Rufus in Reverie have lost their way after Osborne had died and wondered throughout the game where they can even go from there.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: From Class VII's perspective as their individual members go from assisting them to opposing them at several different points across the story.
Heel–Face Turn: By the time of Reverie, all of the original Ironbloods are on the heroes side with the implication that this time it's permanent. Cedric on the other hand has joined Ouroboros as an enforcer, though he has become a little better than he was at the beginning of Cold Steel III.
I've Come Too Far: Claire and Lechter feel this way in regards to The Great Twilight and Operation Jormungandr. Neither of them clearly want to do it but see it as the only way to be rid of the Curse of Erebonia for good.
Locked Out of the Loop: None of the other members were aware that Rufus was not only an Ironblood, but also the first of them who is Osborne's immediate right hand until the events of the Infernal Castle at the end of the Civil War. Same with Rean being Osborne's son.
Nom de Guerre: Each of the Ironbloods have their own unique callsign used by each other and other characters.
- Claire: Icy Maiden
- Lechter: Scarecrow
- Millium: White Rabbit
- Rufus: Jade Rook
My Master, Right or Wrong: They ultimately stick with Osborne, regardless of any misgivings they might have.
Parental Substitute: Several of them see Osborne as a father-figure, hence their loyalty to him.
Praetorian Guard: To Osborne, being his most trusted subordinates.
Pre-Final Boss: In Cold Steel III, Rufus, Lechter, Claire, and Millium serve as the last bosses fought before the Nameless One.
Replacement Goldfish: Claire and Rufus both believe the group in general are this to Rean, Osborne's real son who he was unable to raise himself.
State Sec: Effectively are this for Osborne as the heads of the RMP and Intelligence division are amongst their members.
Support Party Member: In Cold Steel IV, Claire and Lechter provide their Brave Orders during the True Final Boss battle against Ishmelga, but they're too exhausted from their previous battle to fight directly.

Major Claire Rieveldt

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

Claire in her RMP uniform

^{Claire in her off-duty clothes}

^{Claire as an Instructor in Crossbell}

^SPOILERS

Voiced by: Miyu Matsuki (Japanese, Cold Steel I and II), Ami Koshimizu (Japanese, Cold Steel III onwards), Rachel Kimsey (English)

Rank: Captain, Major (Cold Steel III)

A Captain in the Railway Military Police, known as the Icy Maiden. She first appears to assist Rean's group during their field study in Celdic. She has a close sisterly relationship with Millium. In Cold Steel III, it's revealed that she and Michael Irving are cousins.

Awesomeness by Analysis: Her fighting style, overall. In a bonding event with Rean, she reveals that her S-Craft is a result of her performing on-the-fly calculations to fire her orbal gun at the exact angle and time to cause the perfect reflections off of the mirror devices she throws out.
Badass Cape: Wears a short shoulder cape as part of her Knight of Blood and Iron uniform near the end of Cold Steel IV.
Badass Teacher: She had served as an instructor at Crossbell's Police Academy after it was annexed between the end of Cold Steel II and III which is how she had become acquainted with Juna, who she then recommended for the Branch Campus.
Broken Pedestal: Subverted with Juna. Juna held great respect for her for recommending her for the Branch Campus despite her status as an Ironblood making her a fervent follower of the man who annexed her home. Juna's admiration doesn't dissipate much even when she learns of Claire's involvement with keeping her heroes in the SSS imprisoned in the Birdcage.
Cold Sniper: Her reintroduction in Cold Steel II shows her disabling a Panzer Soldat with a single shot and with all the emotion of ordering a cup of coffee.
Combat Pragmatist: When fighting New Class VII the start of Rean's route in Reverie as part of Matteus' test of their strength, she lures New Class VII into a trap by setting off a specialized Orbal mines that trapped Musse and Ash in a barrier that drained their strength while keeping Juna and Altina pinned down with her Sniper Rifle and her mirror devices allowing her to strike them from many unexpected angles.
Conflicting Loyalty: Her Undying Loyalty towards Osborne ends up pitting her against the combined Class VII, and she is clearly struggling with it.
Contralto of Strength: Rachel Kimsay gives her a suitably low voice in the English dub befitting her combat prowess.
Cool Big Sis: Towards a few characters: Millium, Rean (enough that Sara expresses jealousy at her playing the role if she has the highest link level with him out of Class VII's supporters in Cold Steel II), Juna (whom she acted as an instructor towards prior to Cold Steel III) and Altina.
- On Rean's end, she partially does it because she's using him as a replacement for her dead brother Emil, something Michael can see and calls her out on. She decides to stop this as of Cold Steel III as it is disrespectful to both her brother and Rean. On Altina's end, she kind of loses points when she goes along with sacrificing her. Though at the very least, she is very uncomfortable with doing it.
Crutch Character: In Cold Steel III where she temporarily joins Rean and the new Class VII in chapter 1 on their way to Saint-Arkh and her Brave Order ends up being miles better than almost everyone in the cast. Of course she's only available sporadically.
Dark and Troubled Past: Her entire family died thanks to her uncle sabotaging the vehicle she and her family were on after her uncle was found guilty of making cheap instruments instead of high quality ones. Turns out said uncle is also afflicted by the curse of Erebonia.
Dash Attack: Her Mortal Mirage Craft has her dash ahead of her enemy before shooting them in the back.
Death from Above: Her Frigid Rain Craft has her form a large chunk of ice above the enemy before shooting it to have the fragments fall on top of them.
Driven to Suicide: Ends up pointing a gun to herself for all the things she's committed in Cold Steel IV. Musse disarms her by shooting at her gun before Claire can pull the trigger.
Elemental Hair Colors: She has pale blue hair, fitting with her title as the Icy Maiden and her primary element being water.
Embarrassing Nickname: By the time of Cold Steel III, she's starting to feel embarrassed at being called the Icy Maiden at her age (26).
Extra Turn: Her Flawless Leadership Craft in Cold Steel II allowed her teammates to immediately move on the next three turns. Her Perfect/Infinity Order Brave Order retains the same effect.
Fighting Your Friend: During the final boss gauntlet of Cold Steel III and throughout Cold Steel IV, she and the Ironbloods have to face off against the party in one of the most emotional fights of the entire game.
Foil: To Sara, aptly enough. They have nearly identical arcs, but Claire's has hers much later in life than Sara did; we only see Sara's second half. Both are shouldered with survivor's guilt, among many other different kinds of guilt, over their past, and their primary motivations for pretty much everything is working towards a future where what happened to them won't happen to anyone else. For Claire, it was unfettered greed and the noble system all but ensuring that she had no voice after the accident. For Sara, it was unending starvation on a national scale. Both of those systemic problems are inextricably linked to one another. Not mention how they both see themselves as forever indebted to surrogate father figures who gave them a place to belong and make a difference.
- Also to Musse. On the surface the two seem totally different with Musse as a cheerful and always smiling student and Blue Blood while Claire is an serious adult commoner and member of the RMP. They both also have a fair amount of Ship Tease with Rean, though while Musse is unashamed The Tease towards him despite being younger than him, Claire is more uncertain due to being older than him and her initially thinking of him as a Replacement Goldfish for her dead younger brother. Both are competent women defined by their great intelligence and analytical skills, both fight with Orbal firearms and have the same Orbal Element slots of Water and Space, with their S-Crafts involving a Reflecting Laser and also have the same Japanese voice actress. Both also play different roles in the Great Twilight, being on opposite sides, yet both end up being Driven to Suicide from the guilt of their actions and inevitable casualties even while seeing them as necessary.
Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Her second outfit in Cold Steel IV is very snug around her busty figure. Rean lampshades it when the two are alone.
Formal Characters Use Keigo: She consistently speaks in a polite and formal manner in the Japanese script, highlighting her refined demeanor.
Futile Hand Reach: Reaches her hand out twice to Rean. First was during the epilogue of Cold Steel II as he walks away from her, angry about his work as the Ashen Chevalier then again as he ran passed her and the rest of the Ironbloods at the climax of Cold Steel III.
Geometric Magic: She uses her shot laser to create one during her S-Craft.
Guest-Star Party Member: She shows up as a temporary party member in Cold Steel II and III.
The Gunslinger: She uses an orbal Hand Cannon and sniper rifle as her weapons.
Hand Cannon: Her large military-issue pistol.
Jurisdiction Friction: She's the frequent cause of it, using her authority to intervene in matters concerning the railway system.
Kill It with Ice: Her Frigid Rain Craft.
Limit Break: Her S-Craft from Cold Steel II onwards is Kaleido Force.
Locked Out of the Loop: In Cold Steel IV, she has been kept in the dark about the fact that Millium was still alive.
Majorly Awesome: Is promoted to major by the time of Cold Steel III.
Mysterious Past: Until Cold Steel III, her past before joining the Ironbloods is left mostly a mystery.
The Needs of the Many: For Claire, Osborne's plan to kill/remove the curse would've been a very bloody, but ultimately necessary act.
Rank Up: When first introduced, Claire started out as a Captain in the RMP. Following the end of the civil war, she was later promoted to the rank of Major by the time of Cold Steel III.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Has helped and supported Class VII on regular occasions and doesn't hesitate to give them praise, advice and assistance to their endeavors despite them technically not being on the same side as Olivert brought them together and (mostly Jusis and Sara) not having the highest opinion of her superior Osborne.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Subverted, as while she does have red eyes and loyally works for Osborne, she's shown in a rather sympathetic light and even at her worst, seems openly conflicted on her superior's more underhanded methods and the inevitable body count that will ensue from The Great Twilight. She's also clearly guilty of everything she's done after the end of Cold Steel III onward, to the point of being Driven to Suicide.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Her blue hair and serious demeanor greatly contrast with Sara (who has reddish purple hair and is more energetic if childish and immature) whenever the two have to team up.
Reflecting Laser: Her S-Craft Kaleido Force, in which she bounces an orbal laser off a number of scattered mirrors.
Reluctant Fanservice Girl: When meeting Rean at Mishelam, she admits to feeling somewhat embarrassed at how skintight her Knight of Blood and Iron Uniform is.
Reporting Name: Known as the Icy Maiden.
She Cleans Up Nicely: Not that she's unattractive in-uniform but when Rean meets her casually so she can talk to him off the record, he's floored by how good she looks in a dress. Happens again when he along with Elliot and Machias see her in her casual clothes for the first time in Cold Steel II.
Ship Tease: In Cold Steel II, there's some notable tension when she's speaking with Rean right before the epilogue's dungeon, which doesn't escape the eyes of Alfin, Elise, and Toval. Cold Steel III ups the ante, with her declaring she's going to stop looking at Rean as a replacement for her dead little brother, right after kissing him on the cheek. Then there's their secret meeting in the Overture chapter of Cold Steel IV where Rean even drops his tachi on the floor after Claire points her gun at Rean. Finally in Reverie, she and Rean have a moment while taking a bath at the Ymir hot springs in Rean's first chapter where the two of them wonder if they can even "attain their happiness" after what the two of them have gone through in Cold Steel IV. Fittingly enough for the last point, none of Rean's immediate harem have a moment like this in the game.
Sole Survivor: Her immediate family is dead thanks to a vehicular accident.
Spread Shot: Her Mortal Mirage Craft animation.
State Sec: She's introduced as one of the Ironbloods, Osborne's loyal followers. She's also a Captain in the Railway Military Police.
The Stoic: Her Ironblood callsign is Icy Maiden for a reason.
- Not So Stoic: In the epilogue of Cold Steel II, she's noticeably uncomfortable in her conversation with Rean, and she wants to assure him that her suspicion of him being related to Osborne was not the only reason she watched over him, but feels that she's in no position to do so.
- A decent fraction of her screen-time in Cold Steel III actually has her pretty emotionally vulnerable, from her somewhat awkward reunion with Rean, her strained relationship with her cousin Michael, to her having to fight the party during the finale. The biggest moment was when Millium flies down to sacrifice herself instead of Altina, as she sounded notably distraught.
The Strategist: Her ability to put together information quickly and predict the actions of others is what makes her invaluable to Osborne.
Team Mom: Of sorts, she acts as a surrogate sibling/parental figure to Millium and later Altina.
Unflinching Walk: The conclusion of her S-Craft with an addition of a Hair Flip.
Vetinari Job Security: Despite being affiliated with Osborne, she manages to escape legal punishment and ends up as head of the RMP because her skills are far too valuable.

Major Lechter Arundel

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

Lechter in his Intelligence Division uniform, as of Cold Steel III

^{Lechter as a student at Jenis Royal Academy before the Sky series}

^{Lechter as shown in Star Door 8}

^{Lechter disguised as a tourist}

^SPOILERS

Voiced by: Masakazu Morita (Japanese), Max Mittelman (English, Cold Steel I-III, Reverie, Northern War episode 5), Phillip Reich (English, Cold Steel IV), Matt Shipman (Northern War episode 6 onwards)

Rank: Captain, Major (Cold Steel III)

Initially appearing as the slack-happy Student Council President at Jenis, he is in fact an agent in the Imperial Intelligence Division and is Osborne's confidential secretary, spy and field agent.

Allegiance Affirmation: He openly works for Osborne but he privately meets with and has friendly conversations with Olivier (one of the biggest obstacles to Osborne's ambitions) and Kloe and it's not clear who he would support at the end of the day. The fact that he actively helps the SSS in Azure in the company of an agent from Calvard fuels further speculation, though given the timing that might have had to do with Osborne getting shot at around that time, leaving the Ironbloods on their own. His allegiance is fully revealed in Cold Steel III and it's towards Osborne, to atone for his father's sins for what happened at Hamel. However, in his Reverie Daydream episode, he states that he would have tried to kill Osborne if the latter strayed from the goal of ending the curse.
Always Someone Better: He's one of the sharpest, cleverest characters in the series known for thinking multiple steps ahead and having razor-sharp intuition. Despite that, he failed to take revenge on Osborne for having his father executed, being outmaneuvered by the chancellor at every turn. This led to him working for Osborne instead.
Asleep in Class: Briefly shown dozing in class at point in a flashback of Kloe's time at the Jenis Royal Academy in Trails in the Sky The 3rd.
The Atoner:
- The reason why he works for Osborne is because his father is one of the people who allowed the Hamel incident to happen and he's desperate to atone for his crimes.
- In Maya's sidequest in Cold Steel IV, it turns out Maya's father Joseph served as a sniper under his father. This led to Joseph becoming a a depressed wreck out of guilt for following Brigadier General Arundel's orders during the Hamel incident. As such, Lechter feels obligated to act as a spotter for Joseph during the sniping contest against Maya.
Badass in a Nice Suit: Wears one when on work for the Intelligence Division, and proves to be quite capable in a fight.
Beware the Silly Ones:Beneath his usually flippant demeanour, lies a dangerous cunning mind and is quite capable in a fight as well.
Big Damn Heroes: His first appearance in Reverie had him bailing out Lloyd and Rixia who were fending off members of the Ebon Defense Force by knocking out the last member before he could call for reinforcements.
Blatant Lies: About half of what he says.
Brilliant, but Lazy: The teachers at Jenis note that he's constantly truant, but he still performs well academically, much to their chagrin.
Casting a Shadow: His secondary element is Time.
Code Name: Identifies himself to the other Ironbloods as Scarecrow.
Cunning People Play Poker: He shows himself to be much sharper than his usually flippant demeanor suggests, and appropriately enough, the Crossbell games show that he's very good at poker. When he's finally Promoted to Playable he also gets a Craft based on magical poker cards to either debuff the enemies or buff his allies.
Deadpan Snarker: The other half of what he says.
Driven to Suicide: After his and Claire's final defeat in Cold Steel IV, he points a knife to himself for the things that he's done. Ash ends up disarming him before he could kill himself.
Elemental Hair Colors: Is a redhead, and his primary element is fire.
Enemy Mine: He assists the SSS and Kilika in helping fight off Crois' regime near the end of Azure as his actions have caused just as many problems for Erebonia as they have for Crossbell and Calvard.
Finger Gun: His S-Craft, Knight of Rubrum, ends with him pointing his finger at the enemy before firing a a blast of magical energy at them.
Flaming Sword: He sets his rapier on fire before slashing his enemies apart with it in his Laevateinn Craft and S-Craft Knight of Rubrum.
The Gadfly: More than anyone else in the series, he loves messing with everyone because he can. He's not even subtle about it.
The Gambling Addict: He spends most of his free time while at Jenis in Ruan, at the casino and would rather stare at a slot machine than at Kloe, though he may have been doing it just to mess with her. When he appears in Crossbell, guess where he's most likely to be found on any given day?
- This translates into his craft in Sen III where he either can heal one ally, give one ally a lot of buffs, give one enemy many debuffs, or instantly kill one enemy if not immune through a randomized card like Crow's.
Guest-Star Party Member: He and various other Guest Party Members join up with Rean for a late-game dungeon in III.
Gut Feeling: Has extremely good intuition, which was why Osborne recruited him to the Ironbloods.
Hypocrite: For all his talk about trying to atone for his father's sins, Lechter, whether he realizes it or not, is actually committing sins just as grave, if not more so, than what his father has done by the finale of Cold Steel III.
Impoverished Patrician: Came from a family of petty nobility that had a title and not much else. His father was a major backer of the Hamel incident and the subsequent invasion of Liberl in the hopes of conquering himself some family lands.
Limit Break: His S-Craft is Knight of Rubrum.
Magic Knight: While he doesn't appear directly in battle as of Cold Steel II, in cutscenes we see him use strong arts and an impressive-looking Craft with his sword, strongly suggesting this. When he's finally playable for a brief time in Cold Steel III, his stat is geared more toward the "knight" in magic knight.
The Magic Poker Equation: While playing a high-stakes poker game with wild cards, his opponent gets a Royal Flush. Lechter reveals that his own hand was a superior five Aces. Just to make this even more improbable his opponent was literally endowed with supernatural luck at that point and Lechter still won.
Not Me This Time: He drops one of the biggest WhamLines in Azure by revealing that he had nothing to do with the Red Constellation's attack on Crossbell, despite managing them for their prior contract of intercepting and massacring the ILF contingent out for Osborne's head. This immediately takes the story in a much darker direction as the SSS realize that Dieter and Mariabell Crois have played them (and Crossbell at large) for fools.
Not So Stoic: Throughout most of his appearances, he's been totally in control. However, in the last chapter of Cold Steel III, he notably panics when he realizes that Millium was going to sacrifice herself in place of Altina, showing him truly vulnerable for the first time, as well as proving how much he cares about Millium.
One-Hit-Point Wonder: His Master Quartz, Chevalier, deals more physical damage the less HP the user has. It does the highest amount of damage at 1 HP.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Was this back in his school days - despite somehow ending up as Student Council President, he was so bad at the job that the primary duty of the rest of the council was to track him down and force him to do his work. This went away after he graduated and started doing his real job (spy) full-time.
Playing with Fire: His primary element-restricted slot is fire, and his default Master Quartz is the fire-elemental Chevalier.
Professional Gambler: His cover identity in Crossbell.
Promoted to Playable: Lechter is playable for the first time during a small section of Cold Steel III.
Rank Up: When first introduced, Lechter was a Captain in the Intelligence Division. Following the civil war, he was promoted to the rank of Major by the time of Cold Steel III.
Red Herring: His speech mannerisms matching those of the Fourth Anguis end up being this, as he really was loyal to Osborne the entire time.
Reduced Mana Cost: Inverted; when he's fought as a boss during Cold Steel IV, he can cast the Dis-Order Riot Flame, which doubles the EP and CP cost of all orbal arts and crafts for a few turns.
Refuge in Audacity: He lives here in Chapter 3 of Zero.
Royal Rapier: Fights with one.
Ship Tease:
- Metric tons of it with Kloe, to the point where Elie becomes quite curious of the exact nature of their relationship.
- To a lesser extent, with Lucy as well. She punched him a lot for slacking off during his days on the student council, but she also seems to express some regret over it. And Lechter was quite surprised when she gave him a tearful hug upon visiting her prior to the events of Azure, as he was fully expecting her to hit him for disappearing without a word.
Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Green eyes, bright red hair, and underneath his usually flippant demeanour, lies a cunning intelligence officer.
Sins of Our Fathers: His dad is one of the people who ordered the Hamel incident to happen. He then works for Osborne to atone for those crimes.
The Slacker: While at Jenis Royal Academy.
Stealth Mentor: To Kloe.
Student Council President: While he was at Jenis he somehow managed to get this job despite having no interest in doing any of the work required of the position.
Sunk Cost Fallacy: When meeting with Class VII at Crossbell's Wetlands in Cold Steel IV he claims part of the reason he and Claire keep serving Osborne after Millium's death is because they think that by putting the Curse down for good, they could at least make it so she didn't sacrifice herself for nothing. The Class disagrees.
Try Not to Die: Expresses this to both Kloe and Lucy in Cold Steel IV at Pantagruel just before he leaves.
Verbal Tic: A Japanese-only one. He tends to finish his phrases with "Da nee."
Vetinari Job Security: Despite being affiliated with Osborne, he manages to escape legal punishment and ends up as head of the Intelligence Division because his skills are far too valuable. Though he didn't entirely just slink back to his old job like nothing happened as Reverie shows. The rest of his division doesn't trust him much anymore, and there are other members he has to answer to now to make sure he's on the up and up. Calvard's intelligence members are also shown to have a grudge against him.
You Killed My Father: Cold Steel IV reveals he initially joined the Ironbloods to avenge his father, one of the instigators of the Hamel tragedy that Osborne had executed. However, he tells Claire during the Golden Ending of IV that he had trouble acting on his desire for revenge, in part because Osborne served as a Parental Substitute for him.

Millium Orion

See her section on Old Class VII's page.

Rufus Albarea (MASSIVE Unmarked Spoilers!)

Warning: due to Rufus’ importance to the plot, spoilers regarding him throughout the games he appears in will be left unmarked.

Rufus Albarea

Rufus as Governor General

^{Rufus during Cold Steel I and II}

^{Rufus as a Knight of Blood and Iron}

^{Rufus as of Reverie}

^{Helmord G}

Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa (Japanese), D.C. Douglas (English)

Jusis' older brother, a champion of the Noble Alliance and a member of the Board of Directors of Thors Military Academy. It's later revealed that he's actually an Ironblood and Osborne's right hand man. At the end of Cold Steel II, he begins serving as the Governor General of Crossbell.

During Cold Steel IV, he becomes part of the plan to unleash the Great Twilight upon Zemuria. After being defeated, he is arrested to ensure his fellow Ironbloods, Claire and Lechter, return back to their jobs. During Reverie, he escapes after finding out that there is an imposter of him in Crossbell. Taking the identity of C, he forms the Reborn Imperial Liberation Font to get to the bottom of it all and find out his course in life.

Ace Custom: During the final battle against Ishmelga Rean, he reveals he had an intact Helmord modified to his preferences just in case, with a gold color scheme.
Affably Evil: He maintains a formal, respectful and sophisticated manner even while opposed to the members of Class VII.
Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Once they get closer in Reverie, Rufus pats Lapis' head in their shared victory quote.
Always Second Best: Regards himself as second best to Rean, remarking that he and the other Ironbloods were merely his replacements to Osborne during his final boss fight in Cold Steel III. He feels that despite his efforts, Osborne will always prefer the former over him due to his status as Osborne's real son, despite the fact that he served Osborne faithfully, while Rean was unaware of his relationship to the Chancellor for a good while, and upon finally learning the truth, began actively opposing him and clearly not thinking highly of him until the end. Rean going on to best him in the Rivalries seems to reinforce this, as he's left remarking that he stood no chance against his father's real son.
Ambition Is Evil: His villainous actions were all driven by his desire to surpass Osborne as a way to vindicate his sense of self-worth.
Ancestral Weapon: When facing Class VII for the last time in Cold Steel IV he uses the Holy Sword of Ishnard, a golden longsword which has been used by the Albarea family for generations and the other half to the silver Holy Sword of Elvars which is used by Jusis.
Antagonistic Governor: He becomes the governor-general of Crossbell after leading the occupation of the city, which resulted in his antagonizing the SSS and other members of La Résistance as the symbol of Imperial conquest. In Cold Steel IV, he reveals that one of the primary reasons he took up the position was because he assumed (correctly) that with the state's history in the occult, it would become a likely site for the Trial Grounds for the Divine Knight El-Prado once it was annexed into Erebonia.
Anti-Hero: By Reverie, while he has performed a Heel–Face Turn, he still demonstrates his trademark ruthlessness and efficiency, such as his taking credit for Olivert and Schera's disappearance to lure Class VII out to thwart an impending coup, and upon running into a lone EDF soldier, was prepared to have him tortured for information.
Armor-Piercing Attack: His S-Craft in Cold Steel III and IV, Agrios Calibur, cancels guards and reflects before applying damage, just like Rean's final S-Craft, Breaking Dawn. In Reverie, his new S-Craft, Blutgang Rain, doesn't have All-Cancel and instead just has a high Break rating, though his Simulacrum keeps his old S-Craft.
The Atoner: He decides to be arrested by the end of Cold Steel IV as a scapegoat for Osborne's crimes and to let Claire and Lechter be free to clean up the mess post-war. By the end of Reverie though, he is this for real.
Badass Cape: His first outfit and governor-general uniform included a fancy cape, and he is a competent enough Master Swordsman who can fight without being impeded by it.
Badass Longcoat: He's worn a total of four longcoats throughout his appearances, each of which were as stylish as he is deadly.
Badass Normal: The only Ironblood that doesn't have a special ability, but manages to be the reliable leader of them.
Baritone of Strength: He has the lowest voice of all the Ironbloods (next to Osborne) to emphasize his noble bearing and combat prowess.
Barrier Warrior: His Divine Knight El-Prado has a barrier that stops most attacks. Strangely, he never uses this ability in mech battles, either as a boss fight in Cold Steel IV or while playable in Reverie.
Bastard Angst: Reveals to suffer this after revealing the truth of his origins at the end of Cold Steel III. His status as a bastard child while playing the the role as Duke Albarea's heir has given him an identity crisis as he sees his relationship with the Duke as a sham and sees Osborne as his real father. However, he's convinced that he'll be either a Replacement Goldfish or The Unfavorite compared to Osborne's real son Rean, despite the two not getting along for most of the series, and thus craves power to surpass Osborne as a way to vindicate himself. He even vocalizes it during his final boss fight during the Rivalries:
Rufus: Finally, I will challenge my 'father' and surpass him at long last! Only then, will I be able to prove that my life has more worth than that of an unwanted bastard child. I will be the one to decide the meaning of my existence!
Bastard Bastard: He's revealed to be an illegitimate child just like Jusis. Unlike his "brother" however, he's not even Duke Albarea's son at all, having been born from an affair from Helmut's brother with his wife, making him the Duke's nephew and Jusis' cousin biologically. He's also the one who dishonorably back-stabs Arianrhod.
BFS: In his final boss fight in Cold Steel IV, he fights with the Holy Sword of Ishnard, which is nearly as long as he is tall and resembles the greatswords preferred by the Arseid and Vander style practitioners far more than the usual swords he and Jusis use for court fencing, with his Divine Knight El Prado having a scaled-up version made out of Zemurian ore. The sword he favors in Reverie, while not as big, is also rather long.
Big Brother Instinct: He's the person Jusis gets his love for the traditions of Erebonian knighthood from and he looks after his little brother, including persuading their father to bring him into the family in the first place. He also adopts this role for all of Class VII and will drop whatever he's doing to check up on them if they get in serious trouble. It's later revealed in Cold Steel III that they're not actually brothers at all, they're cousins as Rufus' biological father is Duke Albarea's brother.
Big Brother Mentor: Towards Jusis who he practically raised. Which is why Jusis is shocked that Rufus became the antithesis to everything he taught Jusis about nobility.
Birds of a Feather: He and Lapis form a bond due to their shared goal of finding out what their purpose in life is.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In his first appearance, he gave off the air of an affable Reasonable Authority Figure to Class VII in sharp contrast to his aloof younger brother and classist asshole of a father, and even when serving as an antagonist in Cold Steel II, he came off as A Lighter Shade of Black than the other members of the Noble Alliance, especially Duke Cayenne and his father. Cold Steel III onwards however confirms this was all an act and that underneath the affable persona lay a very ruthless man who is primarily motivated by self-interests, and Daddy Issues, who was willing to stoop to any low to achieve his goals, regardless of who may get caught in the crossfire. He thankfully gets better by Reverie.
Blade Spam: His Soul Slicer craft (renamed to Soul Eater when he's Promoted to Playable) has him thrusting his sword at his opponents at high speeds before he finishes with a Dash Attack. His Unite Attack in mech battles, Shining Edge, also starts with him delivering a series of rapid thrusts at the enemy.
Blow You Away: His default Master Quartz in Reverie, Cherub, is of the wind element, which is also the secondary element of his ARCUS II.
Blue Blood: He's Duke Albarea's successor and they're one of the Four Great Houses.
Boomerang Bigot: Despite being born into one of the most powerful noble families in The Empire, he works with Osborne to dismantle the nobility as he came to see the entire class system as a sham due to Duke Albarea treating him as a tool to improve and maintain the Albarea family reputation despite him being born from A Family Affair between his brother and wife, while treating Jusis, who was his real son, as The Unfavorite for having a commoner mother.
Break the Haughty: After he loses the Rivalry and Rean absorbs El-Prado, he has a breakdown before accepting his loss, only for him to mourn that in the end, a fake adopted son like him is no match for the biological sons of the father that he was with (Duke Albarea) and the father he wants the most (Osborne).
Broken Ace: At first glance, Rufus seems to have it all. The handsome heir to one of the Four Great Houses, a Master Swordsman, a highly intelligent strategist, administrator and charismatic leader of the Ironbloods who became the Noble Alliance's Chief of Staff and eventual Governor General of Crossbell. But there's more to him deep down. He's suffering a major identity crisis and Inferiority Superiority Complex as a result of being a Bastard Bastard with Daddy Issues, which lead him to crave power in order to surpass Osborne as a way for validation, leading him to more villainous behavior by the third and fourth Cold Steel games.
Cavalry Betrayal: Near the finale of Cold Steel II, Rufus seemingly comes to Duke Cayenne's rescue by slashing Vita from behind and killing her Familiar Grianos when she's on the verge of attacking him, only to reveal his allegiance to Osborne and proceeds to arrest him along with the other Ironbloods.
Cavalry Refusal: Played for Laughs during the the liberation of Crossbell during Reverie's finale, where he runs into Class VII and the SSS as they were about to face the Asmodyne Menace and proceeds to leave them to fight it on their own in favor of confronting the Supreme Leader.
Celibate Hero: In stark contrast to the previous protagonists, his fellow Ironbloods, and even his younger brother Jusis, Rufus has never shown any interest in romance or had any Ship Tease with any other characters whatsoever in all his appearances or backstory.
Character Development: At the start of the Erebonia Arc, Rufus starts of as a kind-hearted man but during the events of Cold Steel II he becomes involved with Osborne's schemes and subsequently became more cruel. This culminates in him helping Osborne start the Great Twilight and stabbing Arianrhod in the back. Following his defeat by Class VII and going to prison, he starts wandering what he will do now. After breaking out of prison to find out who the imposter Rufus is, he teams with Lapis, Swin and Nadia. During his time with them, he learned to be himself and not seek to surpass his "father" as a way to feel his identity validated. The result is someone that is willing to atone for his past crimes and being much more kind than he was in the previous games, as he travels around the continent together with The Reborn Imperial Liberation Font.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He ultimately ends up betraying both the Noble Alliance and Ouroboros. He was also planning to betray Osborne as well before he's defeated by Rean and Crow, although in this case, it's less "betrayal" and more "surpassing his father".
Classy Cravat: Wore a magenta one in his first outfit, then replaces it with a thinner crimson one as part of his uniform as the Governor General of Crossbell which fits his initial elegant personality. His outfit as C also has a white one, though it's somewhat obscured by the collar of his trenchcoat.
Code Name:
- His Ironblood code name is Jade Rook.
- In Reverie, he decides to get Crow's previous codename C as a way to hide himself while investigating why there is a fake Rufus in Crossbell.
Color-Coded Characters: He is heavily associated with the color green; it is the color of his family's insignia; his main wardrobe during the first two Cold Steel games is mostly green; his Code Name in the Ironbloods is Jade Rook; the background of his text in his route in Reverie is in green; and his secondary orbal element is wind.
Combat Pragmatist: Despite the fact that he's supposed to be of noble bearing and should fight with grace and dignity as one befitting of his status, he values efficiency over honor and does not fight fair. In Reverie, he uses his ARCUS II in his duel against Duvalie to distract her.
Continuity Cameo: Appears as a Hollow Core AI voice DLC pack in Kuro II under the name "R.A.". According to the DLC's description, he is put under surveillance by the CID after the events of Reverie. He also makes a voice-only appearance after the final battle of Kuro II.
Contrasting Sequel Protagonist: He became one of the protagonists of Reverie, and he is greatly different from the previous heroes:
- Estelle, Lloyd, and Rean were first introduced as teenagers just starting their careers who then gained fame and renown through their adventures. Rufus, by contrast, is an adult who had previously acted as a major antagonist and had lost his lofty position and reputation when he had been imprisoned at the end of Cold Steel IV, and ends up legally dead as one of the most hated men in Zemurian history after his Zero-Approval Gambit at the end of Reverie.
- All three main protagonists grew up in modest upbringings but with loving families, which shaped them into the idealistic heroes they are in the present. Rufus, meanwhile, was born to House Albarea, who, while one of the most powerful noble families in Erebonia, are also a Big, Screwed-Up Family where he was treated as a Trophy Child, which forged him into the self-centered and ruthlessly pragmatic villain he was throughout the Cold Steel saga.
- All three came to oppose Osborne due to his role in Erebonia's militarization and expansionist policies, whereas Rufus was The Dragon to Osborne and played a strong hand in those very same policies, even becoming the governor-general of Crossbell.
- Gameplay-wise, the first three main protagonists fought with Eastern-style weapons (a Martial Arts Staff, tonfas, and a tachi respectively) and were primarily physical damage dealers, while Rufus favors Western swords and is a versatile Magic Knight.
- He is the only one of the protagonists who seems uninterested or incapable of fishing (which was usually done by Swin during C's route in Reverie) and has no Ship Tease with any characters or any interest in romance whatsoever in contrast to Estelle (who became an Official Couple with Joshua) or Lloyd and Rean (who are confirmed Chick Magnets who could have potentially gotten together with whichever female party member the player had chosen). Even the previous one-shot protagonist, Kevin, was a shameless flirt and had a bit of Ship Tease with Ries.
Cool Mask: Wears one as C in Reverie. He's shown to have a spare in case his current one breaks, but prefers to not wear one, as they make it hard to breathe.
Cool Shades: His disguise in the final chapter of Reverie has him wearing sunglasses. He points out that he would stand out a lot more if he wore a mask and Crossbell citizens can't exactly find out that he's still around the area.
Cool Sword: His court fencing sword looks quite nice. By Cold Steel IV he also brings out his Ancestral Weapon, the Holy Sword of Ishnard, a golden sword that's almost as long as he is tall with a scaled up version made of Zemurian Ore used by his Divine Knight, El-Prado. In Reverie, he favors a BFS with a black blade.
Costume Evolution:
- Throughout the first two games, he's shown wearing a green double breasted overcoat with gold trimmings and a brown belt worn diagonally across the chest over a white dress shirt, a light purple cravat, with a blue cape on his shoulders, green breeches and brown boots.
- After revealing his true identity as an Ironblood and becoming the Governor General of Crossbell, he wears a Palette Swap version of his original outfit that's mostly white and dark blue in place of the original green color, the cravat and chest belt are bright crimson, his boots and dress shirt being black.
- By Cold Steel IV he wears his Knight of Blood and Iron uniform that includes a skintight black shirt and trousers with a white longcoat with brown pauldrons with the sleeves rolled up.
- His outfit as C in Reverie includes a black trench coat with violet linings, a hood, golden pauldrons, boots of a similar color scheme, white gloves and slacks, and his face obscured by an ornate black mask that vaguely resembled a knight's helm. He looses the mask and hood upon having his identity revealed, revealing that his hair has been cut short and occasionally wearing sunglasses.
Crazy-Prepared: In Reverie he has assets scattered throughout the empire and tells both Swin and Nadia that the assets that were confiscated from him were just a small portion. He also prepared clothes for Lapis to hide her joints and plants a transmitter in her to make sure they don't lose her. He has a spare mask in case one breaks, a RAMDA so he can explore with no one spotting him and can share the effects to other people as shown with Swin in his chapter 2 and the entire party in chapter 3, and finally he has sunglasses for when he wants to walk around in public. Randy calls him out on how prepared he is for any situation in the final chapter. Additionally, his golden Helmord was loaded alongside Rean and Crow's Tyrfing's aboard the Arseille II.
Critical Hit Class: One of his Brave Orders, Criminal's Raid, allows him to increase the critical hit rate of the rest of the party. Meanwhile, his default primary Master Quartz, Cherub, increases the critical hit rate of whoever wears it.
Dark Is Not Evil: Played with in Reverie where the only things dark about him are his clothes and his sword but it's a good mirror compared to his clone self who wears predominantly white clothes, signifying the Light Is Not Good side of him for his actions in the previous games.
Dash Attack: After thrusting his sword at high speeds with his Soul Eater Craft, he does a dash and slice with his sword slicing upwards.
Deadpan Snarker: Despite his usually refined mannerisms, he proves he can be as sharp tongued as his brother at times, as demonstrated with his reply to Duke Cayenne's request for assistance during the climax of Cold Steel II:
Cayenne: Y-You... You did come to help me, didn't you?
Rufus: As a commoner might put it... "In your dreams."
Death Faked for You: At the end of Reverie, Olivert reveals that the world in general believes he had died when the Retrubutive Tower was destroyed, making him Legally Dead thus free to live to do as he wants.
Death from Above: His S-Craft in Reverie, Blutgang Rain, ends with him forming a magic circle above the enemy before launching a Storm of Blades at them.
Death Seeker: Downplayed; at the end of Reverie's main story, he muses that he missed his chance of meeting the goddess after saving the world with a Zero-Approval Gambit, since Lloyd, Zeit, Jusis, Lapis, Swin, and Nadia rescued him before he could meet his end.
Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: One of his character arcs in Reverie is finding himself after he lost everything in Cold Steel IV.
Determinator: While he was doing his Zero-Approval Gambit speech, he was suffering from multiple injuries from when he was incapacitated by Zoa Gilstein and from the burns due to the Retributive Tower charging up its divine lightning. Olivert even muses that had Lloyd and his team been a second late, he would have died from the burn injuries alone. And this was before he was about to be vaporized by the laser itself.
Deuteragonist: Of Reverie. While he doesn't have as much screentime as Lloyd, he's the one driving the plot forward, and his Character Development plays a major role in the story.
Disappeared Dad: His true biological father was Duke Albarea's younger brother who had an affair with his wife. Helmut apparently banished him shortly afterwards, making it unlikely Rufus had ever even met him.
Dragon with an Agenda: He appears to be Duke Cayenne's right hand man, but it's revealed that he's actually working for Osborne and later helps the latter to subvert the power of the Noble Alliance after the events of the civil war.
Dual Boss: During the finale of Cold Steel IV, he fights Class VII along with Black Alberich before initiating the second to last Rivalry.
Earn Your Happy Ending: While he can no longer atone for his sins as "Rufus Albarea", he can finally go on a journey of self discovery without anything tying him down as himself. He ends up being content with it as he becomes "the attendant to a doll."
Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- For all his ruthlessness, it's shown that he does genuinely care for his younger brother Jusis, and a good chunk of his resentment towards Duke Albarea was being disgusted by his unfair treatment of him despite Jusis being his real son while Rufus was born from an affair from his wife and brother.
- He also deeply respects Osborne and sees him as Parental Substitute, referring to him as father at several points.
Everyone Has Standards:
- The actions of his father disgust him and he gives the protagonists his blessing in bringing him to justice. Considering his back story, he was already long disgusted by his father's actions from the get-go.
- Even as he's become an unambiguous villain in Cold Steel IV, even he is furious with Prince Cedric for unilaterally deciding to murder everyone aboard the Pantagruel, and openly rebukes him for it.
Evil Counterpart:
- To his younger brother Jusis, as while both were bastard children, Jusis became a Heroic Bastard who found True Companions amongst Class VII and has come to value the good of Erebonia and its people over any care of his status and pedigree. Rufus, meanwhile, became a self-centered Bastard Bastard and ruthless villain obsessed with his goal of surpassing Osborne, innocent casulaties be damned.
- To Rean and Olivert, especially the former, whom he is a Foil to. All three were outsiders effectively adopted into noble families, but Rean and Olivert were Happily Adopted by the Schwarzers and Reise Arnors, respectively, whose unconditional love for them and equal treatment of their siblings shaped them into the heroes they are in the present and overcome whatever issues they had from their status. Rufus, by contrast, had the misfortune of being part of House Albarea and was brought up as a Trophy Child by Duke Helmut, which gave him a strong identity crisis from the resulting Bastard Angst. On top of that, he had to watch his uncle Helmut treat his real son like garbage for being half commoner, ultimately driving him towards villainy.
Experienced Protagonist: At the minimum age of 29, Reverie gives him the title of oldest protagonist in the Trails Series.
Face Death with Dignity: He was fine being blown up by the huge beam raining down on the Retributive Tower, even considering it a fitting end given how he spent most of his life without a clear sense of purpose and committed all kinds of atrocities as a result. While the simulated vision has him dead, he ends up being alive due to Lloyd and company coming back for him.
Family Relationship Switcheroo: He is introduced as Jusis' half-brother. Just before his boss fight at the end of the third game, Rufus reveals that he was actually conceived from an affair between Helmut's wife and brother, making him the Duke's nephew and Jusis' cousin in reality.
Fantastic Fighting Style: He is a master of Imperial Court Fencing, which he also taught to Jusis.
Fiction 500: Being the heir of one of the most prominent noble families in Erebonia, he is hinted to be quite wealthy. Even after having some of his assets taken after his arrest at the end of Cold Steel IV, he still had enough in his offshore accounts that he could offer Swin and Nadia money to, in the latter's words, be set for life without batting an eye.
The Final Temptation: At the beginning of the final chapter of Reverie when facing his clone, his clone offers to step aside to let Rufus become the man who would unite Zemuria under his control to finally surpass his father. For a moment, Rufus looks like he's about to accept the offer until Lapis calls out his name and after remembering their conversation at Jingo's airship, he tells his clone that he can shove it.
Foil:
- To Jusis; Rufus is presented as the sort of noble that his little brother has always looked up to and always wanted to become. And then it turns out he actually suffers from the same Bastard Angst that Jusis has dealt with his whole life, making the similarities between them closer. However, while Jusis is able to forge his own identity and purpose through his friends in Class VII, Rufus instead seeks vindication through a pursuit of more and more power, and essentially latching onto Osborne as a replacement father figure.
- To Rean; Both are the adopted older brothers to their younger siblings, both are Awakeners, both are raised by a noble family, both use swords as their weapons, and both have a relationship with Osborne. While Rean ends up in a loving family, has friends that helped him during the Divine Knight Trials and is a practioner of eastern-style swordsmanship, Rufus has a strained relationship with Duke Albarea, became a Awakener at his lonesome and practices western court fencing. However, during the events of Reverie he becomes very similar to how Rean used to be in terms of doing everything alone, even sacrificing himself in order to save other people.
- To Crow, the previous leader of the Imperial Liberation Front and holder of the identity C: Crow was born in a city state that was annexed by Erebonia and founded the Imperial Liberation Front as a means to get revenge on Osborne. He started out as a villain by committing numerous terrorist attacks that endangered and killed many innocent people, culminating in his helping trigger a Civil War. Rufus, meanwhile, was born into one of the most powerful noble families in Erebonia and became Osborne's right-hand man before taking up the mantle of C to atone for his sins by assisting the heroes to oppose his doppelganger. Aside from taking credit for Olivert's kidnapping (which he then helped them thwart), he also gave them the means and information to prevent a Military Coup instigated by disgruntled soldiers trying to restart the war against Calvard.
Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Rufus claims his upbringing as an unwanted bastard son is the reason why he'll do anything to win the Rivalries and become the most powerful man in the world, all to validate his existence. Class VII points out that even if Duke Albarea never truly loved him, Rufus still could have formed a bond with Jusis and the Ironbloods to fill in that void, but he chose to shut them out in favor of his own selfish ambitions.
Genius Bruiser: Duke Cayenne left almost everything in regards to running Noble Alliance up to him and as he shows against Class VII in Cold Steel II, it's clear that he knows his way around a fight. He was the one who taught Jusis how to use a sword after all.
Glass Cannon: He has strong offenses, (physically and magically), with the strongest S-Craft of Reverie's three protagonists (5S with S rank break rating after upgrade), but his defenses are somewhat lower than Rean and Lloyd's. He's also the only one of the three protagonists of Reverie who lacks a defensive Brave Order, and whose self-buff craft doesn't offer any boosts to his defenses.
God Hood Seeker: In Cold Steel IV, he is the only Awakener out to win the Rivalries to take the powers of the Great One for himself as a way to validate himself in contrast to the others who are trying to bring the Curse to an end (Osborne, Arianrhod, Rean, and Crow) or are indifferent towards it (Rutger and Cedric).
Graceful Loser: After losing his Rivalry, he recognizes Class VII's strength and states that he's proud to have a hand in making their class. He also lets Jusis punch him, knowing he deserves it.
Hated by All: Invoked in the ending of Reverie; when the Retributive Tower's Divine Lightning has been set to target wherever negative emotions are at their peak, he sends out a message throughout all of Zemuria claiming his intent to use the Retributive Tower's Divine Lightning to bring the continent under his heel as part of a Zero-Approval Gambit to focus their hatred on him to ensure the Retributive Tower will be targeted and destroyed once and for all.
Hates Their Parent: Although he's raised as though he's the son of Helmut, it's clear that he has no love for him due to Helmut's messed up way of keeping his biological son at arms length just because Jusis has commoner blood in him and has considered Osborne as his true father.
Heal Thyself: His Soul Eater Craft restores some of the party's HP and CP after doing damage.
Heroic Sacrifice: In the ending of Reverie, he enacts a Zero-Approval Gambit to ensure that the Retributive Tower would be destroyed by it's own Divine Lightning while being fully prepared to remain on the tower and die from it, seeing it as a poetic end for all his crimes. It was only thanks to the timely rescue of Lloyd, Jusis, Lapis, Swin, and Nadia that he survived.
Hopeless Boss Fight: The boss fight against him in Ymir in Cold Steel II is unwinnable and will end with him one-shotting the party with his S-Craft once his health goes down a certain amount.
Humongous Mecha: For Cold Steel IV, he becomes the Awakener of the Auric Divine Knight, El-Plado. In Reverie, he pilots a custom gold Helmord.
Hyper-Competent Sidekick: During the Civil War, he proved to be a far more capable warrior, leader, and strategist than his father or Duke Cayenne while acting as the Noble Alliance's chief of staff. Sadly for them and the Alliance in general, he turned out to be the Mole in Charge working to sabotage them from within at the behest of his real master, Osborne.
I Hate Past Me: His robot self acts like how he would in the past. He ends up hating how he was trying to find his purpose in life by trying to surpass Osborne just to feel the love from a parent. He ends up moving on from this thanks to his conversation with Lapis and slices his fake, saying goodbye to his previous self in the process.
I Have No Son!: Inverted; After knowing that Jusis is treated like crap despite Jusis being an illegitimate son of Duke Albarea while Rufus isn't even related to Duke Albarea by blood, he disowns him in secret and considers Osborne to be his true father.
I Just Want to Have Friends: Reverie reveals that he got jealous of Jusis thanks to Class VII being there for him. By the end of the game, he ends up getting some in the form of Swin, Nadia, and Lapis.
In a Single Bound: He's capable of jumping from one ship in the air to another, as shown in Cold Steel II when the Infernal Castle first shows up. And in Reverie, he jumps from the fence at Himmel Cemetery to Jingo's airship at the end of Chapter 2 of both his and Rean's route while carrying Lapis in his arm.
In the Hood: As his C disguise, he wears his hood on top of wearing his mask to hide his hair.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: Much of his issues are linked to his anguish about him not being the real son of his fathers.
Instant Expert: He's able to effectively pilot his Divine Knight the moment he obtains it and curb stomps Juna, Kurt, Ash, and Musse in their soldats despite it being his first time. He even has a weapon already equipped unlike Rean who started out with nothing.
Instant Runes: His Blutgang Rain S-craft ends with him forming a magic circle above his enemies to launch a Storm of Blades at them.
Intergenerational Friendship: He's a man around 30 years old, and his friends in Reverie are Lapis (a living doll who looks like a little girl) and Swin and Nadia (both teenagers).
Invisibility Cloak: Reverie reveals that he took some of the RAMDA units confiscated from the captured Hercules members in Cold Steel III for himself. He uses the stealth function to let him, Swin, Nadia, and Lapis sneak around undetected while trying to uncover information on his imposter, who declared himself the Supreme Leader of Crossbell.
It's All About Me: His goals in Cold Steel IV amount to wanting to defeat Osborne in the Rivalries. Not because he has any particular use for the Great One's power, purely because he wants to be able to declare himself superior to his self-proclaimed father.
Jack of All Stats: He's very well-rounded as a playable character that players can build him with any kind of preference and he'll do really well with it. In fact, the players complaint about him is that he's got too many useful tools at his disposal.
Karmic Nod: When he's expecting to die at the end of his Zero-Approval Gambit in Reverie, he can only remark that it would be a fitting end for him due to all the crimes he committed throughout his life.
Lack of Empathy:
- When Juna goes through a Heroic BSoD upon learning about the SSS being locked away in the Bird Cage, he merely smirks and walks away like nothing happened, despite his role in it.
- Throughout the finale of Cold Steel III, he appears totally unphased at releasing the Curse of Erebonia throughout the Empire and triggering a bloody war against Calvard, and barely bats an eye at the fact that they were about to sacrifice Altina, a fourteen-year-old girl who is the younger sister of one of their other members, to forge the Sword of Plot Advancement. By contrast, Claire and Lechter are shown to be highly reluctant throughout the whole affair and come to deeply regret their part in it.
- When Millium sacrifices herself to become the Sword of the End in place of Altina, he shows barely any reaction to the sight, and would even write it off as a necessary step for his ambitions if Jusis is brought along when he first summons El-Prado, despite knowing that she and Jusis were rather close to each other. By contrast, Claire and Lechter were deeply shocked and saddened by the sight—to the point of being Driven to Suicide.
- Whereas Claire and Lechter were shown to feel deeply reluctant and guilty throughout Cold Steel IV over the inevitable bloodshed from Operation Jormungandr, to the point that they saw themselves Beyond Redemption and were Driven to Suicide, Rufus was more concerned with trying to win the Rivalries to validate his existence and for the most part carried on in his usual manner like nothing happened.
Large and in Charge: He is the primary member and leader of the Ironbloods, and he is also the tallest of them. He is also the leader and tallest member of his party in Reverie by virtue of being the only adult amongst them, until Duvalie and Arios join (the latter of whom is around the same height as him, but was willing to follow his lead due to their shared interests).
Laser-Guided Karma:
- All his plotting as an Ironblood ends up amounting to nothing upon his defeat at the Empyreal Fortress. He then decides to turn himself in and be tried for all the Ironbloods' crimes in order to let Claire and Lechter go free and work to clean up the mess they all made.
- In Reverie, ironically, he is attacked on the back by Ishmelga's arrows while protecting Lapis, in a very similar way to how he stabbed Arianrhod.
Legacy Character: Becomes the second character to use the alias C as leader of the Imperial Liberation Front after Crow Armbrust.
Life Drain: His Soul Eater Craft in Reverie restores some of the party's HP and CP after doing damage.
Light 'em Up: When he is Promoted to Playable in Reverie, he has Mirage as his primary element.
Light Is Not Good: He has blond hair and Icy Blue Eyes, and he starts wearing a white uniform upon becoming Governor General of Crossbell after revealing his status as the Ironblood's primary member. He would then go on to become the Awakener of the Auric Divine Knight with a golden sword to match. He is also shown to be the most ruthless and least sympathetic of the Ironbloods, showing little regard for the damage caused by Osborne's plans, starting off with his total lack of reaction to Juna's breakdown over the SSS' imprisonment in the Crossbell chapter of Cold Steel 3. And he gets worse over time, showing little reaction to Millum's Heroic Sacrifice, stabbing Arianrhod In the Back, and having no qualms over triggering the Great Twilight.
Like Father, Like Son: Or like Evil Uncle and nephew technically. When his true colors are revealed, he is revealed to be very ambitious and self-centered in his goals to surpass Osborne, as Duke Albarea was in his attempts to take control of the Noble Alliance. He just happened to be much more competent than Helmut ever was, and even at his worst still came off as more likable than him as well.
Limit Break: His S-Craft in Cold Steel II is Eternal Ruination, while in Cold Steel III and IV, it's Agrios Calibur. For Reverie, whether masked as C or unmasked as Rufus, his S-Craft is Blutgang Rain. Finally, his finisher attack in mecha battles is Golden Caliber, and his unite attack is Shining Edge.
Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He is very handsome and has shoulder-length blond hair. He ends up cutting it short by Reverie.
Magic Knight:
- Being the the one who taught Jusis how to fight, he is even better than his younger brother. Many of his crafts are improved versions of Jusis' own and he also tends to fire off high level arts in his boss fights.
- As El-Prado's pilot, he can cast the EX Art Divine Arc, being the only enemy Divine Knight to use one along with their crafts in a boss battle.
- Of the three protagonists of Reverie, he is the only one whose personal equipment and self buff craft give a boost to his AST along with STR in contrast to Rean and Lloyd's whose equipment and Crafts only boost their physical stats. He also has the highest ATS stat and EP pool of the three, along with being the only one of them who has a regular craft that does magic damage (Renegade Edge) and a Brave order focused on Arts support in Dark Requiem.
Man of Wealth and Taste: He is always shown well-dressed, with his wardrobe consisting of stylish suits, cavarats, and longcoats, and was an antagonist during the Cold Steel games. He still keeps his elegant style as C and during his turn to the good side in Reverie.
Master Swordsman: In Cold Steel II he gets a chance to show his swordsmanship off by singlehandedly taking on most of Class VII and winning at Ymir and later killing Grianos with a single blow.
Melee Disarming: He disarms Duvalie at the end of their duel in Act 3 of Reverie.
Mole in Charge: Is one to the Noble Alliance, acting as it's Chief of Staff for most of the second game before revealing himself to be an Ironblood working for Chancellor Osborne tasked with weakening it from within.
Moveset Clone: Several of his Craft resemble Jusis and Cedric's, if in appearance, if not effect. Chiefly his Soul Slicer/Eater to the latter's respective Arc and Melt Slicer Crafts, Renegade Edge to Jusis' Treasure Blade, and Cedric's Talisman Blade. By Reverie, Jusis gains a new Craft where he uses his Ancestral Weapon in a manner resembling Rufus' Zewarl Craft. Justified as he was the one who taught them swordsmanship.
Must Make Amends: In Reverie he works to uncover and stop his doppelganger who has taken up the title of Supreme Leader as a way to make up for some of his past crimes.
Nephewism: At the end of Cold Steel III, he reveals that Duke Albarea was in fact his uncle biologically, as he had been born from A Family Affair between the duke's wife and brother. While he appears to be Helmut's favorite, he was in fact treated as a Trophy Child and felt his relationship with the duke was a sham, leading him to turn his back on House Albarea and see Osborne as his true father.
Noble Top Enforcer: While he was the Noble Alliance's chief-of-staff, he was much more affable and capable than either his father or Duke Cayenne, even giving Class VII his blessings to arrest the former when his father torches Celdic. Subverted when working for Osborne, where he shows his more unsavory side as Governor General of Crossbell, and proves to be more interested in self-serving goals.
One-Letter Name: In Reverie, he takes on the C moniker to lure Class VII to Heimdallr so he can help them out in his own way while trying to investigate what's going on and why there's another "him" out there.
One-Man Army: Kicks the ass of all of Class VII when he's fighting them in Cold Steel II. Likewise, in Cold Steel IV, he proceeds to utterly manhandles New Class VII and their soldats when he first gets his hands on El Prado.
One-Handed Zweihänder:
- By his final boss fight in Cold Steel IV he's wielding the Holy Sword of Ishnard. He wields it one handed like his usual court fencing swords, despite it being as long as he is tall, rivaling the greatswords preferred by the Arseid and Vander styles, with his Divine Knight El-Prado wielding a similarly large sword singlehandedly.
- His sword in Reverie is noticeably longer than his first one, with the pommel shown to reach his sternum when he performs a Sword Plant at the end of his victory quote. He still wields it with one hand in all but one of his Crafts, as he did with his original court fencing sword.
Palette Swap:
- His uniform as the Governor General of Crossbell is virtually identical to his original outfit from the first two games, but with the original solid green color scheme replaced by a mix of white and dark blue, the white dress shirt he wore underneath it along with his brown boots replaced with black ones, and his original magenta cravat and the brown sash across his chest replaced by red ones.
- One of his DLC costumes in Reverie is a white recolor of his C outfit, with and without the mask.
Paper-Thin Disguise: His disguise for walking publicly in Crossbell in the final chapter of Reverie is to wear sunglasses and his short hair.
Parental Substitute: Throughout Reverie, he quickly becomes a father figure to Lapis, Swin and Nadia. Doubly so in the case of the latter two, since they no longer have parents.
Perpetual Smiler: He almost always has a confident smile on his face throughout his appearances.
Play-Along Prisoner: He was fine being imprisoned for the crimes he committed as Governor General of Crossbell... until his former goons tried to assassinate him and he learned that an impostor had taken over Crossbell. After that, he broke out fairly easily and dug into assets he'd hidden from the Erebonian authorities to investigate what was going on.
Practically Different Generations: He is 10 years older than his half-brother (actually cousin) Jusis.
Pragmatic Hero: Though he's on the heroes' side in Reverie, he still retains his trademark ruthless efficiency. During the liberation mission in the Finale, Rufus's group comes across Rean and Lloyd's parties facing the Asmodyne Menace. Rather than help them out, he deems this a useful distraction and immediately ditches them to go on ahead and confront the Supreme Leader - much to everyone's exasperation.
Pragmatic Villainy: It's implied that he only murdered Arianrhod in Cold Steel IV in order to take her powers for himself. He's also openly disgusted with Cedric's attack on the Pantagruel and chastises him for jeopardizing the Great Twilight plan. As ruthless as Rufus can be, he's not the type of man to go around killing people for no good reason.
Princely Young Man: Kindly in manner, noble in bearing and birth, and one of two most gossiped-about men in the Empire (and the other is Olivert). Though the "birth" part is subverted in that he's not the son of Duke Albarea, but rather Duke Albarea's wife who had an affair with her brother-in-law.
Promotion to Parent: He was the one who convinced Duke Albarea to take Jusis in, and by all accounts did more to raise him than their father ever did.
Promoted to Playable: Goes from a major antagonist in the Cold Steel series to being the third protagonist of Reverie. Can't get promoted anymore than that.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: He is the Chief of Staff of the Noble Alliance, then becomes the Governor General of Crossbell after revealing himself to be the Ironbloods' primary member and Osborne's de-facto right hand man, as well as a brilliant strategist and a master of court fencing who then goes on to become the Awakener of El-Prado, which is noted to be one of the strongest Divine Knights.
Reasonable Authority Figure:
- In his first appearance, he was quite cordial to Class VII and even assisted in getting Machias off the hook after his father tried to have him arrested on false charges to use him as a political bargaining chip. Later on, he helped break up an altercation between the RMP and Nortia Provincial Army at Roer. He also seemed like the voice of reason amongst the Noble Alliance's leadership, but turns out to be a subversion when he reveals himself to be Osborne's right-hand man, who works for him for mostly self-interest and proves to be quite the underhanded and ruthless individual.
- Downplayed during his time as Crossbell's Governor General. While Rufus did obstruct the SSS, Arios notes that he otherwise kept the region stable and didn't oppress the citizens more than was necessary for the Great Twilight and completing El Prado's trial.
Recurring Boss: He's fought as a Boss Battle a total of seven times throughout the games:
- He first faces all of Class VII (sans Rean and Sara) in a Hopeless Boss Fight at the end of Act 1 of Cold Steel II.
- He serves as the Pre-Final Boss of Cold Steel III along with the rest of the Ironbloods.
- He's fought three times in Cold Steel IV; first against the members of New Class VII and their Soldats at the Wetlands after getting El-Prado near the end of Act 1, then as a Dual Boss along with Alberich at the Empyreal Fortress before facing Rean and Valimar in El Prado in the finale.
- He faces Rean's group twice near the end of Act 2 of Reverie along with Swin, Nadia, and Lapis in a case of Dueling Player Characters.
Redeeming Replacement: To Crow Armbrust as C and leader of the Imperial Liberation Front. The former started the group as a means to get revenge on Osborne and came into conflict with the heroes by committing numerous terrorist attacks that endangered and killed many innocent people, many of whom weren't even involved with his vendetta, culminating in him helping kick off a brutal Civil War. Rufus, meanwhile, took up the mantle of C and started his reborn Imperial Liberation Front as a way to atone for his crimes by putting a stop to the plans of his doppelgänger. He mostly assists the heroes by giving them the means and information to rescue the kidnapped Prince Olivert and preventing a Military Coup instigated by disgruntled soldiers trying to restart the war against Calvard before risking his life to put an end to the threat of Elysium for good.
Redemption Demotion: When he is Promoted to Playable, he loses a few tricks he had as a boss. His Chevalier's Call Craft, which increased the entire party's STR and ATS, is replaced by Noblesse Rune, which only grants the aforementioned buffs to Rufus himself. His new Blutgang Rain S-Craft lacks the very powerful All Cancel effect his Agrios Calibur S-Craft had as a boss.
Reformed, but Not Tamed: By Reverie, he's working alongside the heroes to deal with a larger threat in the Supreme Leader, but still shows his trademark ruthlessness and pragmatism.
Refuge in Audacity: In Act 3 of his route in Reverie, he infiltrates Crossbell by showing up at the airport while disguised in his Supreme Leader uniform and admonishes the EDF troops stationed there when they question him by claiming he had already called them ahead of time and questioning their competence. It works, to the shock of the others.
Regenerating Mana: His default Master Quartz, Cherub, allows him to regain EP when attacking enemies with his regular attacks and crafts, and regenerates CP when he attacks with orbal arts. His second Brave Order, Dark Requiem, also restores 20% of the party's EP upon activation.
Secret Identity Vocal Shift: Like his predecessor Crow, his mask as C has a built-in voice modulator to make his voice much deeper in order to better hide his identity.
Secret-Keeper: He's one of the few who truly know who Rean's father is.
Shock and Awe: His first two S-Crafts have him strike his enemies with lightning while they are trapped in a Sphere of Destruction before he slashes it apart.
Sibling Yin-Yang: He and Jusis prove to be near opposites once he reveals his true colors. Jusis was initially aloof and proud to everyone, but was revealed to desperately crave his father's approval and genuinely strove to embody the ideal of Noblesse Oblige, and proved to become an all-around heroic character who came to value the good of Erebonia and its people over any care for his status and reputation. Rufus, by contrast, appeared affable at first, but upon revealing his status as Osborne's right-hand man, he proved to be extremely ruthless and motivated by self-interest, and he admitted to holding the system of nobility he was born into and his father in contempt due to his status as a bastard child who had been propped up as the family's golden child.
Simplified Spellcasting: His second Brave Order from Reverie, Dark Requiem, greatly decreases the casting time and delay of the party's orbal arts for several turns, making it possible to spam arts in rapid succession.
Spam Attack: His Soul Slicer Craft (renamed to Soul Eater when he's Promoted to Playable) has him thrust his sword at high speeds before ending it with a Dash Attack. When he's playable, this craft also gives everyone including himself some HP and CP.
Spectral Weapon Copy:
- In Cold Steel IV, his Agrios Calibur S-Craft has him forming a gold spectral sword (which bears a strong resemblance to the Holy Sword of Ishnard) before slashing his enemies apart.
- His new S-Craft in Reverie, Blutgang Rain, has him summon several levitating copies of his sword to slash his enemies along with the one in his hand, before launching a Storm of Blades at them.
Spin Attack: His Arc Blade Craft as a boss has him slash the enemies around him while briefly spinning.
Sphere of Destruction:
- His first two S-Crafts, Eternal Ruination and Agrios Calibur, have him trapping his enemies in one before slashing it apart.
- His Renegade Edge Craft in Reverie has him form several around the enemy before detonating them all with a Sword Beam.
Sphere of Power: His Divine Knight El-Prado is shown creating a spherical barrier around itself in cutscenes.
Stab the Sky: He points his sword towards the air near the end of his Blutgang Rain S-Craft when forming the magic circle to launch a Storm of Blades at the enemy.
Status Buff: His Chevalier Call craft as a boss increases the enemy party's STR and ATS stats. When he's Promoted to Playable, his Noblesse Rune Craft has the same effect (and animation), but only applies the buffs on himself while also curing him of any debuffs and granting the party an extra Brave Point. His Zewarl Craft also increases his speed and grants him the Brandish buff (20% increase to damage from physical attacks and Crafts) before applying damage.
Status-Buff Dispel: His second S-Craft, Agrios Calibur, cancels all buffs before doing damage. This also includes Craft Guard and Reflect making it an Unblockable Attack.
Storm of Blades: His S-Craft in Reverie has him summon spectral copies of his sword to assist in slashing apart his enemies before sending numerous copies raining down on them from above.
Straw Hypocrite: In the first two Cold Steel games, he acts like nobles are inherently supposed to be honorable and that they have a right to political power, but this is all a facade in order to become one of the leaders of the Noble Alliance and manipulate them on Osborne's behalf. In Cold Steel III, he admits that he holds the nobility in contempt and sees their so-called honor as a smokescreen to justify their own selfishness. He believes Osborne's openly ruthless pragmatism is the only thing worth emulating and eventually stops pretending to care about honor, as shown when he stabs Arianrhod after she's defeated by Rean and Crow.
Strong Family Resemblance: He and his younger brother (actually cousin) Jusis greatly resemble one another, aside from Rufus' longer hair and taller height.
Stronger Sibling: Unsurprisingly, being the one who taught Jusis swordsmanship and being 10 years older than him, he's much stronger than his younger brother. Several of his Crafts are improved versions of Jusis' own.
Supporting Protagonist: His route in Reverie mostly involves helping Lapis regain her memories.
Surpassed the Teacher: In Cold Steel IV, he reveals the identity issues brought on by his status as a bastard child have left him with a near obsessive desire to surpass his father-figure and mentor Osborne as a way of self-validation. His defeat at the hands of Rean and Class VII has him lamenting how he never stood a chance at succeeding at his goal, which is shown to still haunt him as of Reverie.
Swiss Bank Account: He ends up hiring Swin, Nadia, and Jingo to help him with his plans in Reverie. When the latter wonders how he's going to pay them since the Imperial government had confiscated his assets upon his arrest, he admits that he had split his assets amongst several offshore accounts just in case and that the ones confiscated were just a small fraction of what he had.
Sword Beam: He launches several at the end of his first S-Craft Eternal Ruination to detonate the Sphere of Destruction he trapped his enemies in. His Renegade Edge Craft has him summon several orbs that surround his enemies before he delivers a slash beam to detonate them. It also has a chance to delay enemies and also uses his ATS stat.
Sword Pointing: He's fond of pointing his sword at his enemies.
Taking the Heat:
- He allows himself to be blamed and arrested for all the Ironbloods' crimes so that Claire and Lechter can go free and help rebuild Erebonia at the end of Cold Steel IV.
- During the first two Acts of Reverie, he dons the identity of C and sends a broadcast taking credit for Olivert and Scherazard's disappearance and declares his intentions to attack Heimdallr next as part of a Batman Gambit to lure Class VII to the capitol to stop a Military Coup in its tracks, before giving them clues to find the real culprits behind Olivert's disappearance.
- During his Zero-Approval Gambit at the end of Reverie, he takes credit for the crimes of his doppelganger, the Supreme Leader, and also claims the troubles in North Ambria and the Civil War were a result of his plans to ensure all the world's hatred would be focused on his location to ensure the Retributive Tower's destruction.
Team Dad: As the oldest member of the New ILF, he often participates as the resident father figure by taking of the others and growing protective of them. Jingo lampshades this, as she remarks that the New ILF is "like a father taking his kids to a picnic".
Teeth Clenched Team Work: He ends up performing an Enemy Mine with the protagonists to deal with his doppelganger in Reverie. It's abundantly clear that several of them aren't happy to deal with him at first, especially the SSS and Duvalie for his taking over Crossbell and murder of Arianrhod, respectively, but they put it aside since they need all the help they can get.
That Man Is Dead: At the end of Reverie, Olivert tells him that "Rufus Albarea" is believed by the public at large to have died in the destruction of the Retributive Tower, making him a free man.
Token Adult: He is the only adult member of his party in Reverie before Duvalie and Arios join up later.
Too Many Belts: The longcoat of his Knight of Blood and Iron uniform has two belts across the chest along with a third around it's waist, and another on each of his biceps to connect to the pauldrons, making a total of 6 when counting the one fastening his trousers. His trenchcoat as C has three belts across the breast and another 3 smaller ones coiled around his sleeves around the forearms.
Took a Level in Jerkass: Played with. He's shown to be very polite and respectful throughout the first two Cold Steel games, being an Anti-Villain at worst. The end of the second game reveals he was on Osborne's side all along, becoming much crueler. However, his dialogue in the third game indicates that he never really believed in honor from the start, meaning he was just hiding his nastier traits during the first two games rather than going through negative character development.
Took a Level in Kindness: At the end of Cold Steel IV, after losing to Class VII and learning he can't realize any of his goals alone, he lets himself be arrested so Claire and Lechter can clean up the post-war mess in Erebonia. In Reverie, after someone comes for his life in jail, he decides to investigate what is happening, going on a journey where he learns to rely on other people. Listening to Lapis' opinion over how someone doesn't need approval of other people in order to stay as themselves, he comes to terms with his own identity issues and leaves his past self behind, to the point other characters point out, from time to time, how much he changed.
Trophy Child: In the beginning of Act 3 of his route in Reverie, he confirms Duke Albarea mainly treated him as a means to further House Albarea's status and reputation more than anything else, which greatly contributed to his hatred of the Duke and desperate need to validate his existence as something more than a tool or an unwanted bastard child.
Undisclosed Funds: Reverie reveals that he had spread some of his wealth and assets across numerous offshore accounts, which the Imperial government wasn't able to detect. The exact amount he has isn't stated, but considering his first meeting with Nadia and Swin had him offer the two a check with enough money to be set for life and act like it was nothing, it implies he has quite a lot saved up.
Undying Loyalty: Played with. He considers Osborne his true father and like Cedric, seeks to emulate the chancellor's image as a strong and ruthless leader. Unlike Cedric, he wants to defeat Osborne in the Rivalries and prove himself worthy of his "father." He even calls out his clone in Reverie where he never managed to figure out that Osborne is a man who only loves his children and is disgusted at his past self.
The Unfettered: He values efficiency over all else. Any action, no matter how ruthless is fair game, as long as it benefit him. [After he became Governor General of Crossbell, while he is mentioned to use brutal tactics, he managed to stabilize public order and develop the economy. In Reverie, this is revealed to be the reason Lapis was sent to him. She ran simulations on how she could reach Elysium, and she concluded that Rufus was the man who would get the job done the fastest.
Villainous Valour: After Ishmelga is defeated and Osborne's crimes come to light, Rufus decides to take all the blame as a scapegoat so Claire and Lechter can avoid punishment.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: His biggest issue is that ultimately, he felt like he should prove himself worthy as try as he might, he's not the real son of either of his "dads". Duke Albarea's relationship with him is a sham and while Osborne does love the kid, he ultimately thinks that Osborne couldn't love him like his real son despite Osborne and Rean being estranged with one another. By Reverie, he gets over this.
What You Are in the Dark: With his team being the first to arrive at Simulacrum Rufus's place, the latter tells him that he's offering Rufus to become the Supreme Leader. He's only surrounded by his team and he has one chance to become the ruler of the continent to finally surpass Osborne as a chance to finally prove himself worthy of him. It's only because of Lapis's words to him that he refuses the offer though he muses that if he had never met Lapis, Swin, and Nadia and that he never made his short journey to Crossbell, he would have accepted the deal right there and then.

Newest Ironblood (Spoilers for Trails of Cold Steel IV)

See Cedric Reise Arnor.

Characters / Trails Series Erebonia Ironblood

Rufus Albarea

Alternative Title(s): Trails Series Rufus Albarea

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Rufus Albarea

Alternative Title(s): Trails Series Rufus Albarea

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