This is a list of various miscellaneous characters situated within Erebonia, mainly those outside of the Imperial Family, the Four Great Houses, the military, and Thors Military Academy.

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Lamare Province

Kai and Tilia

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

Kai during Ring of Judgement

^{Kai during Cold Steel IV}

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tilia_28ring_of_judgment29.png

Tilia during Ring of Judgement

^{Tilia during Cold Steel IV}

Kai voiced by: Naomi Shindo (Japanese, Zero drama CD, Cold Steel IV), Hidemi Anzai (Cold Steel II drama CD)

Tilia voiced by: Ai Matayoshi (Japanese, Zero drama CD, Cold Steel IV), Machiko Toyoshima (Cold Steel II drama CD)

Appearances: Cold Steel IV

A brother and sister pair living in Alster Village. Kai works as an apprentice engineer, while Tilia sells flowers.

Canon Immigrant: After only appearing in the Ring of Judgement manga and a pair of drama CDs, the two finally make their game debut in Cold Steel IV.

Count Theodore Egret and Suzanne Egret

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

Count Theodore

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

Lady Suzanne

Theodore voiced by: Reigo Yamaguchi (Japanese, credited as "Takahiro Yamaguchi"), Ben Diskin (English)

Appearances: Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV

Musse's maternal grandfather and grandmother, the former of whom served as an advisor to the previous Duke Cayenne before retiring.

Outliving One's Offspring: They're still alive, while their daughter died in an accident with her husband back when Musse was a little girl.
Tea Is Classy: A conversation with Rean in Cold Steel III hints that Theodore is a connoisseur of tea and an advisor to royalty.

Diana

Appearances: Cold Steel IV

The owner of a general store in Milsante.

Blue Blood: Her exact title and rank isn't given, but she is from Erebonian Nobility.
Connected All Along: She's the daughter of Henry MacDowell and the mother of Elie. She's also a distant cousin of Aurelia LeGuin.
Damsel in Distress: The SSS rescue her during a sidequest in Cold Steel IV from a fiend abducting people, which is where her relationship with Elie is revealed.
Parental Abandonment: Left Crossbell after her husband Ryan divorced her, leaving Elie to be raised by her father Henry. Despite this, it's clear she still loves her daughter when the two meet during Cold Steel IV.
Uptown Girl: She is an Imperial Blue Blood and was married to a man from a country that had long since abolished such a class sysytem.
Unseen No More: She was first mentioned all the back in Zero, but didn't appear in the flesh until 5 games later.

Kreuzen Province

Annabelle

Annabelle as of Cold Steel III

^{Annabelle during Cold Steel I and II}

Appearances: Cold Steel | Cold Steel II | Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV | Reverie

A young noblewoman and lover of fishing whom Class VII first encountered in Celdic. Her father is a viscount, who tries to arrange a marriage between her and Lakelord III, which causes her to run away from home.

Birds of a Feather: She shares her love of fishing with Kenneth, her would-be future brother-in-law.
Cannot Spit It Out: Has a hard time expressing her feelings for Kenneth.
One-Track-Minded Hunger: She first appears as a young woman on an extended journey who takes up fishing to stretch her travel budget. By the time of Cold Steel II, catching and eating fish has become the entire point of her travels.

Toval Randonneur

See his section here.

Viscount Victor S. Arseid

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/victor_s_arseid_29.png

^SPOILERS

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto (Japanese), Michael McConnohie (English, Cold Steel I & II), Jamieson Price (English, Cold Steel III onwards)

Appearances: Cold Steel | Cold Steel II | Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV | Reverie

The Viscount of Legram, Laura's father, and one of the greatest swordsmen in the Empire, known as the "Radiant Blademaster." He is a man more interested in the well-being of his people than playing in politics, which led to his joining the "Crimson Wings" under Prince Olivert.

Action Dad: He's Laura's father and one of the biggest badasses in the series.
An Arm and a Leg: He loses an arm during the explosion of the Courageous.
Ancestral Weapon: The treasured sword Galland-Sharl, a sword that's been passed down to the heads of the Arseid family through the generations. It was originally owned by Sion Arseid, who was Lianne Sandlot's second-in-command during the War of the Lions.
Artificial Limbs: Discussed in Reverie during a victory dialogue together with George where Victor reveals that Reinford Group is currently developing Orbal Prosthetics. He thinks about getting one to replace his missing arm and wants George to help him with it who happily obliges.
Badass Longcoat: So badass, it comes off fine after his duel with McBurn.
Badass Teacher: Acted as an instructor to members of the Imperial Army for some time and was the one who taught Aurelia the Arseid style.
Baritone of Strength: Has a deep voice thanks to his Japanese and both of his English voice actors, befitting his status as one of the strongest swordsmen in Erebonia.
Big Damn Heroes: His debut in Cold Steel II has him joining the others in rescuing both Rean and Alfin from the Pantagruel. Later on he does the same again during the Finale as he arrives in time to hold off McBurn so that the party can advance in final dungeon.
BFS: His weapon the Galland-Sharl is about as big as Victor is tall. And unlike Laura, he can wield it with only one hand.
Blue Is Heroic: His hair is a very dark shade of blue and he wears a blue longcoat, and is a noble and chivalrous swordsman who instilled the values of honor and chivalry into his daughter.
The Captain: Of the Courageous. The position also comes with a hat.
Cool Mask: The reveal of his survival has him wearing a mask and siding with the Black Workshop.
Critical Hit Class: His default Master Quartz, Wodan, increases the wielder's critical hit rate the higher their HP is.
Curb-Stomp Battle: He provokes Rean into facing him in the training hall to push him to accept his power and learn to use it more constructively and the two make a very impressive display with flaring battle auras. Victor then effortlessly whomps Rean and then whomps him again for good measure when the latter's Superpowered Evil Side doesn't make him any more able to penetrate Victor's defenses or avoid his attacks. Laura's reaction to this is "I told you so".
The Dreaded: For all that Duvalie badmouths the Arseids, she's not crazy enough to want to duel with the Radiant Blademaster when he offers to give her satisfaction.
Dual Boss: Has a partner in the majority of his boss fights:
- He fights alongside his pupil Aurelia against Rean, Laura, Fie, and Sara during Chapter 4 of Cold Steel III.
- Cold Steel IV has him team up with McBurn, of all people, during Chapter 3.
- Finally, the tournament Episode of Reverie has him team up with Arios as the final opponents.
Duel Boss: Rean has to fight him solo in the first Cold Steel game.
Evil Knockoff: In Reverie, he has a Hollow copy that serves as a boss in the True Reverie Corridor, most notably during Rean and Arios' Trial Door.
Game-Breaking Injury: He is permanently injured by McBurn after their duel at the Infernal Castle and is no longer at the top of his game. McBurn still respects him though and wishes he could fight him again.
Going Down with the Ship: When the Courageous explodes all around him, Olivert, and Toval, all he can do is to take off his hat and wish for Aidios to guide Laura.
Ham-to-Ham Combat: Not only was he fighting against McBurn, he was also trying to out-ham him.
Handicapped Badass: He's no longer in his A-game in Cold Steel III due to a permanent injury from his duel with McBurn and it shows when Aurelia manages to cut his scarf in their Single-Stroke Battle. Doesn't seem to slow him down as much when he and Aurelia team up to fight against Rean, Sara, Laura, and Fie. As of Cold Steel IV, he also loses his left arm. Considering he's been using his BFS one handed anyway, this hasn't really been slowing him down to say the least.
Hopeless Boss Fight: His Duel Boss fight against Rean in Legram is unwinnable, and will end with him one-shotting Rean with his S-Craft after he's taken a certain amount of damage.
I Am Not Left-Handed: During the second round of his Duel Boss fight, Rean is capable of dishing and taking damage from him, making the fight seem barely winnable. Once Victor hits a certain HP threshold, he stops holding back and one-shots Rean with Radiant Phoenix Slash.
Informed Flaw: Claims to have suffered permanent damage to his respiratory system after his battle with McBurn at the end of Cold Steel II. Despite this, he's never shown or stated to have problems breathing, and his performance as a swordsmen barely seems to have changed.
Kill It with Water: Like his daughter, his attacks have a distinct watery theme to them, although his S-Craft mixes this with fire.
Limit Break: His S-Craft is Radiant Phoenix Slash.
Logical Weakness: He might be the best swordsman in Erebonia but as a human being, he still needs to breathe. McBurn damaging his lungs from all the heat caused him to become weaker than before.
Magically Inept Fighter: Just like his daughter, he has great physical strength at the expense of below-average ATS and EP. His default Master Quartz, Woden, was the first Master Quartz that was equipped with no orbal arts at all until it was fixed in Reverie.
Master Swordsman: Known as The Radiant Blademaster, he's in the top 5 best warriors in the Empire, if not the best, and he's fought Yun Ka-Fai, the teacher of many characters in the series, including Rean and Cassius Bright, to a draw. He's so good that it's been mentioned that if he ever gave into his desire to renounce his noble title and become a Bracer, the guild would start him out at S Rank (Currently held by a total of four people on the continent, including Cassius).
Moveset Clone: Unsurprisingly, as the one who taught Laura swordsmanship, his Crafts are identical to his daughter's. Further compounded by Cold Steel III where his daughter has learned the same S-Craft as him.
Mysterious Middle Initial: Just like his daughter. It later turns out, as predicted by a number of fans, to stand for Sandlot. However, he and Laura aren't direct descendants per se. Rather, their ancestors took up the name in honor of Lianne Sandlot.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The player doesn't get to see how he and Arios defeat Cassius and Zechs, but the victory looked pretty narrow.
One-Armed Warrior: He loses his left arm when the Courageous explodes at the end of Cold Steel III. He's still capable of fighting by wielding his sword with just his right hand, though he admits he's no longer at his best.
One-Handed Zweihänder: Holding his Ancestral Weapon with only his right hand? Piece of cake for him! And good thing too because in Cold Steel IV, he's left with his one sword hand.
One-Steve Limit: Averted in English; the owner of Monmarte in Edith, Calvard is also named Victor. However, their names are pronounced differently in Japanese.
Powerful and Helpless: Seemingly dies when the Courageous explodes with him, Toval and Olivert on it. Subverted as he lives.
Promoted to Playable: He's finally playable in Cold Steel IV, and again in Reverie.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He's not terribly keen on the power plays between the Nobility and the Commoners, takes a much more balanced view of social equality and is generally beloved by the people he rules over. This confuses the visiting soldiers of the much more traditionalist Cayenne family, who look down on Commoners. His views (and talents) are why Olivier asked him to be the captain of the Courageous.
Scarf of Asskicking: His prominent scarf that he wears constantly. This was cut by Aurelia in their Single-Stroke Battle, proving that Aurelia manages to surpass him, and that Victor is no longer in his prime.
Shipper on Deck: Seems keen on the idea of Rean hooking up with his daughter Laura.
Single-Stroke Battle: He loses when Aurelia ends up cutting his scarf while she is unharmed, upon which he declares that she has surpassed him. When he is fighting against his daughter Laura, during the end of his bossfight in Cold Steel IV, she cuts his mask, thus freeing him from the Curse's influence.
So Proud of You: He's very proud of Aurelia when she manages to cut his scarf in their Single-Stroke Battle during Cold Steel III, proclaiming his loss. He also tells his daughter Laura after she bested him in a Sing Stroke Battle while he was Brainwashed and Crazy in Cold Steel IV how proud he is on how much she's grown.
Superior Successor: Aurelia claims he has long surpassed his ancestor who served as Lianne's second-in-command during the War of the Lions when she challenges him to a duel in the third game. And this is after his fight with Mc Burn took a toll on his respiratory system.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: The party notes that Victor set a very high standard of attractiveness for Legram's female inhabitants.
The Worf Effect: Sadly, this is his entire role in the series, after trouncing Rean in his Superpowered Evil Side back in the first Cold Steel game and hyping up the fact that if the guild recruited him, they'd make him start at S-Rank, just to make his opponent look more powerful by comparison. To wit: McBurn damaged his lungs during their fight at the Infernal Castle, defeated by Aurelia in their Single-Stroke Battle because of said damage to the lungs, and finally defeated by Laura in their Single-Stroke Battle in Cold Steel IV while Vic only has one arm. It's a miracle he's still one of the strongest characters of the series despite all of this when he finally becomes a playable character.
- Then Reverie has him and Arios on the giving end of this trope, managing to defeat Zechs and Cassius during the tournament Episode.

Nortia Province

The Reinford Group

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reinford_28logo29.gif

Erebonia's largest heavy industry corporation, located in Roer. It produces everything from luxury automobiles to Tactical Orbments to tanks.

Irina Reinford

Voiced by: Yuko Sumimoto (Japanese), Jessica Straus (English)

Appearances: Cold Steel | Cold Steel II | Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV

The current CEO of the Reinford Group. She's also Alisa's (distant) mother and on the Board of Directors of Thors Military Academy.

Abusive Parents: She has spent years neglecting, patronizing, dismissing and verbally abusing her daughter.
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: In the second game, one of her directors usurps her control of the company, takes her prisoner, helps plunge the empire into civil war, and moves into her penthouse apartment. It's the last bit that she really takes offense to because she knows she can't really call him out on the first point as she did the same to her father.
Chekhov's Gun: Whether it is the same train or not is still unknown, but back in the first game, Irina talks to someone on the phone to "fast-track the construction of the special train". Cue the third game's train called the Derfflinger, Thors Second Branch Campuses' exclusive train.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Downplayed. As CEO of the Reinford Group, she doesn't mistreat her employees and does have Erebonia's interests at heart. However, the fact remains that she did twist arms to force her father to resign from the Reinford Group so that she could take it over herself, before that even went behind his back to help kick-start the construction of the Railway Guns of Garrelia Fortress.
Cynicism Catalyst: She was noted to have been a much more caring mother and decent parent prior to the death of her husband Franz.
Exact Words: While she does align with the Black Workshop in IV, Irina is quick to point out that her contract with them only covers testing the equipment her company is providing and doesn't say anything about helping them fight against Rean, Alisa, and their friends.
Foil: To Erika Russell. Irina is basically the end result of what would happen if Erika was more business centric and decided that work was more important than family. Their relationships with their daughters highlights this, as Erika is quite doting and protective towards Tita whereas Irina can barely even spare a thought for Alisa other than the basics.
Hypocrisy Nod: She acknowledges that she can't call out one of the directors who usurped control from her company because she did the same thing towards her dad.
I Want Grandkids: Downplayed in Cold Steel III when romancing Alisa. She never outright says it but the smile she gives Rean should the player talk to her right after Alisa's final bond event says it all.
Jerkass: She was apparently a better person in the past, but by the time of the games (and for many years before), she's a bit lacking in redeeming traits.
Moral Event Horizon: In-universe, Alisa thinks she crossed it when she forced her own father to resign from Reinford's board of directors and delivered the Railway Cannons to the Army, breaking her family apart in the process.
Parental Neglect: After her husband died, Irina barely dedicated any time to her daughter. Alisa comments that she was lucky to have dinner with her mother once a month.
Pragmatic Villainy: While Irina does tend to do business with unsavory groups and is highly amoral at best, in IV she eventually refuses to provide any more assistance to the Black Workshop since even she knows that ushering in the apocalypse isn't good for business.
Right Hand Versus Left Hand: Her company is so huge that she spends most of her time dealing with these sorts of issues. Which ends with the metaphorical right hand building Humongous Mecha for the Noble Faction while the metaphorical left hand didn't think those kinds of things existed, much less that they were being built.
Secret-Keeper: Figured out right from the start that her husband has been alive all this time and that he knew about his and Sharon's contract.
The Talk: As mentioned in I Want Grandkids, she gives a brief one to Rean in Cold Steel III should the player choose to romance Alisa. Reminding him that it can be difficult to raise a child, and that he should keep that in mind in case he and Alisa plan on... doing things.
Workaholic: She threw herself into her work after her husband died, so Alisa hasn't had much of a family life for the past seven years and even less since her grandfather left five years ago, because of Irina's actions. Alisa says that she only sees her mother home for dinner one time a month on average. And if Irina isn't eating with Alisa or some business partner, she skips having an actual meal in favor of just grabbing a nutrient bar. Ironically, she used to be the one to remind Franz to spend more time with his family, as shown in a vision from the Spectral Moon Mirror.

Sharon Kreuger

Sharon in her maid uniform

^SPOILERS

Voiced by: Yukana (Japanese), Mela Lee (English)

Appearances: Cold Steel | Cold Steel II | Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV | Reverie

The scarily competent maid of Reinford family to the point of parody. She acts like a big sister towards Alisa and the members of Class VII. She is actually Enforcer No.IX of Ouroboros.

Badass Fingersnap: The conclusion of her S-Craft.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Zig-zagged: apparently, when she first met Irina, she didn't care that Sharon was an Ouroboros assassin, simply acknowledging that she was a highly competent individual and offering her a job because of it. As a direct result of this, she had Undying Loyalty to the Reinford family, and told the other Enforcers that even if she's gone too far to be able to walk away from the Society like Joshua and Renne did, if they try to hurt the Reinfords, she will stand against her comrades in arms. Then Cold Steel III reveals that she only had to be loyal to the Reinfords until Alisa's dad returned. Once Alberich showed up, Sharon goes back to Ouroboros. However, when Irina states in Cold Steel IV that Alberich is not technically Franz, thereby making the contract still active, Sharon takes the chance to rejoin the good guys.
Big Damn Heroes: In Cold Steel II, she does this when Bleublanc disables the party from moving. And again during the Infernal Castle where along with Claire, helps distract Xeno and Leonidas to allow Class VII to advance.
Butler Space: Her being able to appear wherever her lady is unannounced is pretty much a Running Gag. Her being trained as an assassin since childhood played a part in this no doubt.
Cleavage Window: Sharon's assassin outfit includes an opening in the chest area, showing off how buxom she really is.
Cool Big Sis: Sharon cares for Alisa like a little sister and Alisa for her part admits she also sees Sharon as her big sister. Sharon was also the person who taught Alisa archery and self-defense. She's also this with Rean and Class VII during her time as their dorm maid and even well after graduation they have nothing but respect for her and consider Sharon as one of their own.
Creepy Good: In Cold Steel I and II, she's firmly on the side of Class VII, but they're nonetheless unnerved by her demeanor, especially after she reveals her past as an Ouroboros Enforcer without batting an eye. The fact that she hasn't seemed to have lost any of her edge in combat probably doesn't help in this regard.
Devious Daggers: She uses a fancy-looking knife as a weapon, fitting for a former assassin.
Dub Name Change: Her Binding Chains Craft is called Calamity Cross in the Japanese script.
Easily Forgiven: Alisa doesn't give Sharon much, if any, grief over Franz's death or going back to Ouroboros and fighting against Class VII during the end of Cold Steel III through the first half of Cold Steel IV.
Evil Costume Switch: In Cold Steel IV, her outfit changes to what she wore as an Enforcer of Ouroboros. She changes back to her maid costume following her Heel–Face Turn.
Evil Wears Black: Upon returning to Ouroboros and opposing Class VII in Cold Steel IV, she wore her previous assassin uniform, which consisted of a black skin-tight bodysuit.
Exact Words: Sharon had a contract with Franz where if he ever returned, she would be free to rejoin Ouroboros. This is the reason why she turns against Alisa and her friends in III, since Franz returned in the form of Alberich. However, in IV, Irina points out Alberich technically isn't Franz, so Sharon has no reason to abandon the Reinfords and she returns to Alisa's side.
Face–Heel Turn: She warns everyone that she would return to the society someday, which she did in the final chapter of Cold Steel III.
Fighting Your Friend: Comes with the territory of pulling off a Face–Heel Turn. Alisa wants to bring her back to the Reinfords however, as she doesn't want her maid and big sister to go away from her.
Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Her Enforcer uniform consisted of a skin-tight black body suit that highlighted her voluptuous figure.
Flash Step: Her Craft Shadow Stitch combines this with Dash Attack.
The Gadfly: Really enjoys saying things in order to mess with people, particularly Rean and Alisa.
Guest-Star Party Member: Both in Cold Steel II and Cold Steel III though the latter takes this up one further by not letting players customize her equipment and her quartz. In fact, the only thing players can even equip on her are the two accessory slots and her sub master quartz. She also becomes this in Cold Steel IV as she comes back to the party a lot longer but cannot be taken to the final dungeon (mainly because she's already dealing with her own final dungeon alongside a lot of characters though all of them come back for the True Final Boss fight).
Heel–Face Turn: She returns to the heroes' side in Cold Steel IV, and this time, it's permanent. By the end, she's left Ouroboros for good.
Hired Help as Family: She's officially the Reinford Family maid, but Alisa considers her a sister in all but blood.
I Want Grandkids: She's not Alisa's mother, but she brings this trope close in spirit should the player romance Alisa in Cold Steel III. Talking to Sharon afterwards during the Summer Festival has her quick to ask when Rean and Alisa plan on having a baby together so that she could pamper it.
Knows the Ropes: She utilizes wire as a weapon, such as in her Binding Chains Craft, where she uses them to grab the opponents and pull them towards her.
Lightning Bruiser: Fitting for an Enforcer, she hits hard and fast, with her Crafts all having rather deadly effects, and she has decent potential as an evasion tank.
Limit Break: Her S-Craft as of Cold Steel II is Death's Embrace.
Loophole Abuse: How Sharon comes back to the party in Cold Steel IV; she needed to wait for "Franz Reinford" and not "Black Alberich" to come back. Once Franz finally does show up in the Golden Ending, he asks Sharon to take care of his family. It also allows Sharon to finally leave Ouroboros for good.
Meido: She resides in the Third Dormitory (which is set aside for Class VII's exclusive use) and takes care of everyone. Irina sent her specifically to look after her daughter. One of her Notebook entries is titled 'Super Maid' because of how efficient she is.
Mid-Battle Tea Break: A non-comedic and literal combat example: Sharon's healing Craft from Cold Steel II, Tea Time, has her serving tea on a table to the rest of the active party with amazing results.
Ms. Fanservice: Sharon has always had a well-endowed chest, and the first half of Cold Steel IV has her walk around in an assassin outfit that leaves very little to the imagination.
Never Gets Drunk: She ties with Aurelia and Edel for the highest alcoholic capacity among the women in the Erebonia Arc (they ran out of liquor before the issue could be decided).
Ninja Maid: The fact that she's a maid that's also a competent fighter isn't too surprising. The fact that she's an Enforcer who will ultimately have to choose between siding with the Reinford family and Ouroboros, on the other hand...
Offscreen Teleportation: A running gag in Cold Stell I is that the party will leave Trista and say goodbye to Sharon, only to find her waiting for them at their destination with a fresh packed lunch. In actually, she hitches rides on faster trains and/or airships.
Oh, Crap!: At seeing McBurn again and as her enemy.
The Omniscient: Her ability to know what Alisa and the rest of Class VII will need apparently before they do verges on this. It gets to the point where the characters even comment on it.
- Not So Omniscient After All: A few key events show there's things even SHE can be shocked by, even if Class VII is involved. Some, more serious, such as encountering McBurn. There's also Anton suddenly confessing his love for her out of nowhere, which actually renders her speechless for a moment. And then there's Cold Steel III and her genuine surprise that Alisa managed to make a third generation Orbal Gear without her finding out. In Cold Steel IV, it is revealed that Franz's possession by Black Alberich is something that she didn't see coming.
The Power of Love: How Sharon explains her ability to get wherever Group A is going before they do and know what it is they'll need.
Promoted to Playable: She went from an NPC in Cold Steel I to a Guest-Star Party Member in Cold Steel II.
Purple Is Powerful: Has light purple hair, and as to be expected of an Enforcer, she is quite deadly.
Razor Floss: The wires she uses in are implied to be quite sharp.
Red Baron: Enforcer IX, The Severing Chains. Alternatively, The Severing Eclipse.
Secret Identity: She's revealed to be Enforcer IX of Ouroboros.
Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: Her Enforcer outfit shows off a significant amount of skin compared to her conservative maid uniform.
Shipper on Deck: She's the most prominent supporter of Rean getting together with Alisa. This is best demonstrated in Cold Steel III: while Juna and the others were taken aback by how intimate Rean and Alisa were being during their tender reunion, Sharon had this to say:
Sharon: Please feel free to share a steamy kiss.
Ship Tease: With Anton. Compared to other girls he's fallen for, her reaction to his affection is surprisingly positive, and the two share a nice moment the night before Cold Steel IV's final chapter.
Stripperific: Her Kreuger assassin outfit shows off a lot of her skin.
Supreme Chef: She manages to impress Jusis, who grew up in a city known for very nice cooking that caters to Noble tastes. Everyone else is even more impressed. The quality of meals in the Class VII Dormitory go way up once she arrives. This is reflected in gameplay in II where there are only two recipes in which she doesn't have good, great or excellent skill level: tomato burger (poor) and crunchy rice cracker (average).
Taking the Bullet: In Cold Steel III, she takes the bullet for Rean when McBurn throws a fireball at his direction, pissed that Rean isn't going all out. She then suffers injuries and is taken out for the rest of Chapter 2, only coming back the day when the Branch Campus leaves Crossbell.
That Man Is Dead: Before the battle with her Cold Steel IV, she tells Alisa that she is no longer "Sharon Kreuger" (as that was the name given to her by Irina when she first started working for her) and that she should stop thinking of her as a friend. Naturally, Alisa refuses and her efforts pay off in Cold Steel IV.
Tyke-Bomb: Was raised to be an assassin for a secret society. When the society in question was wiped out by Ouroboros, she and two other survivors were taken in by the Grandmaster.
Villain of Another Story: A secondary one. When Weissman was running his scheme in Liberl during FC, he had Campanella attack the Erebonian Bracer Guilds as a distraction to keep Cassius Bright too busy to stop the coup. While this was going on, Sharon was busy distracting Sara Valestein to keep her from making it back from North Ambria to help, to ensure that Cassius' work took as long as possible.

Gwyn Reinford

Voiced by: Keisuke Baba (Japanese)

Appearances: Cold Steel | Cold Steel II | Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV

Alisa's grandfather and Irina's father. He was the founder and former head of the Reinford Group up until his daughter forced him to resign from his position so that she could take over.

Dirty Old Man: He likes to make comments on the appearance of the female characters. Ironically, Sara thinks that if he were a little younger, he'd be right up her alley.
I Want Grandkids: Much like the rest of the Reinford family, Gwyn is eager for Rean and Alisa to get together and looks forward to being a great-grandfather.
Old Friend: To Albert Russel, whom he makes sure to visit at least once a year. Also to Schmidt, though they don't really get along in the traditional sense.
Shipper on Deck: A supportive member of Rean x Alisa. He even quickly deduces that the two met under "suspicious circumstances" as it were, and when confirmed, he demands to know every juicy detail much to Alisa's embarrassment.
Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Compared to his daughter, Gwyn is far more relaxed and fun loving in comparison. He even notes that he can't believe that he ended up raising a daughter that's so business-centric.
What the Hell, Hero?: Gives one to Irina and Schmidt in Cold Steel IV for assisting Alberich, though neither really pay him any mind.

Other Nortia Citizens

Professor Gerhardt Schmidt

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

^{Professor Schmidt in his younger days}

Voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka (Japanese), Christopher Corey Smith (English)

Appearances: Cold Steel II | Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV | Reverie

One of the three disciples of the late Professor C. Epstein. He works as a scientist and researcher for the Roer Institute of Technology and is responsible for the creation of the Panzer Soldat units used by the Noble Alliance throughout the Erebonian Civil War. After it's end, he's assigned as a "Special Advisor" over at Thors Second Branch Campus as a way of monitoring his actions.

Blue-and-Orange Morality: His moral alignment might as well be "science". He doesn't care what he has to do or who he has to side with (up to and including a faction trying to bring about the apocalypse) as long as it furthers his research.
Cynicism Catalyst: It's not really known how different he was prior to current events, but it's revealed by George, who was told by Makarov, that the death of Franz Reinford, Alisa's father and Schmidt's first and best disciple, actually caused Schmidt become an even bigger research obsessed recluse than he was before.
Deadpan Snarker: Most of his lines are pure snark or dismissals.
Exact Words: He corrects Rean in Cold Steel III where they were recalling their conversation during the civil war, he mentions that he designed the Soldat frames but didn't say that he "invented" the concept. It's to foreshadow Franz Reinford's capabilities disguised as a graduation report.
First-Name Basis: Professor Hamilton is the only person ever seen referring to him as Gerhardt; it's actually how his first name was revealed.
Foreshadowing: While working on his laptop, he remembers what George said that he never got to meet Professor Hamilton at Calvard as she was busy. Considering that Hamilton is Schmidt's classmate and friend, he grows suspicious of George's claims which foreshadows that George is hiding something.
For Science!: This guy's inventions have included the railway guns, Panzer Soldats, orbal jamming device and a weapon for Crow's Ordine and he doesn't care one bit that the stuff he's making is being used for war. Whenever he completes one thing to his satisfaction, he immediately grows bored of it and moves on to something else he considers worth his time. George manages to get him to help make a tachi for Valimar, but he expresses amusement at the idea of being any sort of "atonement" for the horrors he's unleashed on Erebonia.
Given Name Reveal: His first name, beyond the initial, is left completely unknown until Professor Hamilton mentions it almost offhand during Kuro.
Haughty "Hmph": He frequently lets out a loud scoff or 'Bah!' whenever he's annoyed by someone. Which considering his peronality is often.
High-Class Glass: He wears a monocle.
Insufferable Genius: He's a top-class engineer capable of amazing feats of invention, but he has such a cold attitude that both his former students, George and Professor Makarov, chose to leave rather than deal with him any longer than they have to.
Jerkass: There's rarely a scene where he isn't being dismissive or snarking at someone, which makes it clear why George and Makarov aren't too crazy on being around or working with him unless absolutely necessary.
Last-Name Basis: Was addressed exclusively by his last name until Professor Hamilton revealed his given name as Gerhard in Kuro.
Leitmotif: "A Heretic Researcher" from Cold Steel III.
Mr. Exposition: His primary role in the story is to explain the various technology that the protagonists encounter.
Must Have Caffeine: Always loves to drink coffee though he also puts sugar in his, in contrast to Albert who only does pure black. Both of them fight over this.
Not Me This Time: Considered a genius even among his fellow disciples, Schmidt is quite possibly responsible for every major technological advancement that Erebonia has gone through in the past few decades since the start of the Orbal Revolution. It was also through him that the Panzer Soldats came to be. However, Schmidt reveals to Rean that the Soldats were never actually his idea. The plans came from Alisa's deceased father, Franz Reinford, with Schmidt simply deciding to finish what he started in order to honor his memory.
Old Friend: To Gwyn, Russell, and Hamilton.
Perpetual Frowner: Fitting his personality, he's almost always seen scowling.
Pet the Dog:
- Retroactively, at first it appears he developed the Panzer Soldats solely out of scientific curiosity. In the third game, he admits he developed them as a way to honor his thought dead disciple Franz by making his inventions see the light of day.
- He gave a You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech to Altina after losing control of the Goliath Noa during a training exercise.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: In Cold Steel IV, he's disappointed with Alberich's mechs, telling him that Franz would have done a better job and grades him with zero points.
Tragic Keepsake: Keeps a pocket watch made and given to him by his Alisa's father, Franz Reinford who was his first disciple.
Vetinari Job Security: Despite having effectively helped build weapons for the villains, he still maintains a decent position to continue his research due to his brilliace as a scientist, and the political prestige he holds as one of Epstein's disciples.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Both Gwyn and him have this relationship with each other.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
- After Altina expresses doubts over herself after losing control over the Goliath Noa during a training exercise, Schmidt gives her a surprisingly reassuring speech to her that she did nothing wrong and that she's still human and not a machine.
- In Cold Steel IV he tells George that he still has a life ahead of him and that he should use it for good and expects George to submit his graduation report to him after the latter had failed in his own suicide thanks to Angelica.

Baron Teo Schwarzer and Lucia Schwarzer

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/teo_schwarzer_28hajimari29.png

Baron Teo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lucia_schwarzer_28hajimari29_8.png

Lady Lucia

Voiced by: Moriya Endoh (Japanese, Teo, Cold Steel drama CD), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese, Teo, Reverie), Takako Ohkoshi (Japanese, Lucia)

Appearances: Cold Steel II | Reverie

The ruling nobles of Ymir and the parents of Rean and Elise Schwarzer. Twelve years before the start of the series, they adopted Rean into their family and cared for him as though he was their real son.

All of the Other Reindeer: Their adoption of Rean, who is a commoner, resulted in them being ostracized by their Noble Peers, which played a part in Rean's feelings of inadequacy. The two of them don't mind or blame him for it and continue to love him regardless. And Teo's used to it since he's also had an adopted older brother who was a commoner: Giliath Osborne.
Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: The two have a bit of a fun with lightheartedly embarassing their son when he brings his students over home at the start of Reverie. It also extends to to his students when they speak of how Rean described them in his letters.
Juna: That's really flattering to hear...but also really EMBARASSING to hear in front of my classmates!
Rean: You're not the only one going red...
Blue Blood: The ruling lord and lady of Ymir.
Calling the Old Man Out: Non-verbal example during the timeskip between the second and third games. Things became rather awkward between Rean and Teo upon Rean learning that Osborne was his biological father and that Teo knew about it all along. They don't let it get in the way for too long and still care for each other.
Childhood Friends: Teo was friends with Osborne when they were younger. He saw Osborne as an older brother, and Osborne in turn, saw Teo as the only one he could trust with Rean's safety. He still wants to believe in the best of his old surrogate brother now, even if they aren't on speaking terms, though he admits he won't let him harm Rean.
Convenient Coma: What happens to Teo at the end of the prologue of Cold Steel II. He gets better throughout Act 1 and by Act 2, he's mostly recovered.
First-Name Basis: Teo always refers to Osborne as "Giliath" with Osborne himself calling Baron Schwarzer "Teo". Then again, both were adopted brothers.
Generation Xerox: He's the younger brother with noble blood to an older brother who has a commoner blood, Osborne. This is repeated with Elise being the younger sibling to an adopted older brother, Rean.
Good Parents: By all accounts, they both are nothing if not loving parents to their children. Especially with their adopted son Rean, who they show nothing but the same utmost unconditional love and care they give their biological daughter Elise.
Manly Men Can Hunt: Baron Teo has a strong love of hunting.
Master Swordsman: Not to the levels of Victor or anyone strong in the series, but Teo is skilled in Schwarzer fencing. He did really well too and was only defeated because the jaegers had a child as a hostage plus his back was turned.
Metaphorically True: When explaining how he came to adopt Rean, Teo mentions that he found him abandoned in a snowfield in the middle of a blizzard. As revealed in Cold Steel III, when Teo said that he meant that Osborne left him there, then told Teo about it, asked him to take care of his son, and forget about their relationship.
The Reveal: He and Osborne are actually brothers. As in, Osborne was adopted into the Schwarzer family many years ago and Teo grew up thinking of the former as an older brother. After the incident with Osborne's family, Osborne decides to abandon Rean in the area near Ymir and tells Teo to take of him in his place before severing ties with him.
Secret-Keeper: Both know that Elise has a crush on Rean and while Lucia supports it, Teo requires Rean to have his approval. Both also knew Rean's true parents all along and Rean surmises that there's no way a child so young could survive in snow for a long time.
Shipper on Deck: Lucia supports Elise getting together with Rean as said in the first Drama CD, though Teo still has some reservations about handing over his daughter, even to a man he raised. Lucia is still on that ship in Cold Steel IV in Elise's bonding event where Teo tells the story about Osborne, his adopted older brother, will do no harm to Ymir and the fact that he trusts him.
What the Hell, Hero?: Teo delivers this towards Rufus as to why he would side with the Noble Alliance.

Sutherland Province

Crimson Roselia

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

The Hexen Clan elder's current appearance

^{Her previous appearance}

Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi (Japanese), Amber Lee Connors (English)

Appearances: Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV | Reverie

A mysterious girl Rean encounters on his journey across various parts of Erebonia in Cold Steel III. For some unknown reason, only he can perceive her presence unless she decides to reveal herself to others. She's later revealed to be Emma's grandmother, Roselia Millstein, and the elder of the Hexen Clan, residing in the hidden village of Eryn.

Action Mom: She's just as capable of fighting, if not moreso, than her granddaughters.
Actually Not a Vampire: Despite her appearance, fangs, and ability to drink blood, she reveals that she isn't actually a vampire in Cold Steel IV. She is in fact the Holy Beast of Fire.
Affectionate Nickname: Most people even mildly close to her call her "Rose."
Been There, Shaped History: She is responsible for guiding Hector I to Testa-Rossa, Lianne to Algreion, and Dreichels to Valimar and the spirit shrines where the Zemurian Ores are stored. She's also one of the Holy Beasts that was guarding the Arc Rouge during the Great Collapse and her inaction when the two groups clashed wielding their respective Sept-Terrions, one of which was her charge, the Arc Rouge of Fire and the other being the Lost Zelm of Earth resulted in their fusion into the "Great One" or "Steel".
Big Damn Heroes: She and Zeit arrive at the end of Act 3 of Rean's route in Reverie to save the crews of the Courageous II and Gaius' Merkabah when they're about to crash after the Zeroth Knight appeared and shot them down.
Big Eater: She's shown with a large plate of food during Olivert and Schera's wedding. Reverie reveals that she had been on the panel of judges that decided what food would be prepared at the wedding, and she was clearly shown enjoying the dishes set out for her. Vita also tricked her into taking part in Olivert's tournament with a false promise of sweets for her.
Big Good: As the Elder of the Hexen Clan, she serves as this for the Erebonia Arc along with Olivert and Thomas.
Buxom Beauty Standard: The Japanese script has Randy specifically note that Roselia's older form has proportions on par with Elie's, an appearance he openly prefers over one that's "tinier than even how Tio Tot used to be."
Cassandra Truth: During the Daydream to decide the food to be prepared for Olivert and Schera's wedding, she makes several references to her age and status as a witch when talking down to Marquis Ballad. He just thinks she's a child with an overactive imagination.
Color-Coded Characters: The color crimson, as fitting her title, bright red eyes, red Magic Staff, Battle Aura and her ties to the Sept-Terrion of Fire, Ark Rouge. Her S-Craft is also called Crimson Blood Moon.
Contralto of Strength: When in her adult form or true form her voice becomes lower as expected of an ancient, powerful, and mysterious witch.
Death from Above: Her Bewitching Blood Moon S Craft launches numerous beams of magic down on the enemy from the sky.
Does Not Like Spam: Emma forces her to eat vegetables which she absolutely loathes. She even makes the "> _ <" face. Strangely, this appears to be a function of her child form, as when she manifests as an adult, she has more adult tastes and does not mind eating vegetables.
Dual Age Modes: She defaults to a short, child-like appearance most of the time, but can temporarily take on her previous adult appearance.
Elemental Eye Colors: She has bright red eyes, fitting as her primary element is fire and is elder of the Hexen Clan who are known as the "Kin of Flame" and is the Divine Beast of Fire.
Evil Knockoff: In Reverie:
- She has a Hollow copy that serves as a boss in the True Reverie Corridor, most notably when it fights alongside Vita's in Sara, Sharon, Aurelia, and Victor's Trial Door.
- Likewise, a copy of her Holy Beast form fights alongside a copy of Argres on the True Reverie Corridor's sixth floor.
Fiery Lion: Her true form as the Divine Beast of Fire is that of a giant panther with three tails and burning wings.
Foreshadowing:
- Her existence in the games is first mentioned in "Red Moon Rose" book series, as per Falcom's usual tradition. This is confirmed later by Azure Siegfried.
- As for her true form as the Holy Beast that was tasked with guarding the Arc Rouge, there are a few clues leading up to the reveal.
  - Her dislike of vegetables? She's a cat. Of course she would hate them.
  - Upon meeting Estelle and Lloyd, she claims to have heard about them from Ragnard and Zeit respectively. The two of them are surprised that she's been in contact with the Holy Beasts, but it makes perfect sense when it turns out that she's one herself.
Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: She's very friendly to humans regardless of her vampiric traits. She does, however, bite Rean's neck twice to soothe his pain; once at the Great Forest and the other at Bryonia Island. Except it turns out she's not actually a vampire at all.
Fusion Dance: She's the result of the Hexen Clan Elder fusing with the Holy Beast of Fire 800 years ago.
Geo Effects: Her first turn in her boss fight as her Divine Beast form has her unleashing flames all over the field that damage characters every turn.
Hair Flip: She flips her hand through her hair during her level up quote when playable.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde hair, and is a heroic individual aside from her usual eccentricities and trolling tendencies.
Hero of Another Story: As revealed in Red Moon Rose, she's done quite a lot of heroics. And that's not counting what she did as a Holy Beast...
Hot Witch: In her adult form, she's shown to be just as voluptuous as her granddaughters.
Immortal Immaturity: At times, she just acts like a kid despite being centuries old. Hilarity Ensues when Emma is scolding at her and she's putting her hands up in fear, being very afraid at her granddaughter. Comments from both her and other witches suggest this is a function of her child-like form, as she behaves more maturely - right down to her eating habits - when she manifested as an adult, prior to the creation of Celine and Grianos.
Interspecies Adoption: Is the Divine Beast of Flame who the human Emma and Vita refer to and care for as their adoptive grandmother.
Interspecies Friendship: She was close friends with Dreichels and Lianne, who were both humans, while the two were alive while she is a vampire who is in truth the Divine Beast of Flame.
Invisible to Normals: So far Falcom reveals that the only person who can see her is Rean. Turns out that's only because she wants to as she can show herself to others just fine. The only times when she doesn't appear to other people is when Rean's powers are going out of control in short bursts.
Javelin Thrower: Her Crimson Lancer Craft has her throwing her Magic Staff like a javelin at her enemy.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's a bit of a Troll, and can be as cryptic as one might expect of a witch, but is firmly on the heroes' side.
Kids Hate Vegetables: She's shown to be less than enthused when Emma tries to get her to eat some vegetables. She is much less reluctant to do so when in her adult form, however, indicating it's a result of her physiology.
Lady of Black Magic: Unsurprisingly, being the one who taught Emma and Vita everything they know of magic, she's quite a powerful and dangerous witch.
Last of Her Kind: She is the last of the True Ancestors.
Leitmotif: "Neck or Nothing" plays during the boss fight against her Holy Beast form in Cold Steel IV.
Legacy Character: The being known as Roselia is the result of the fusion of the elder of the Hexen Clan and the Holy Beast. When the elder was killed by the Gnomes over 800 years ago, her familiar took her place and fuses with the Beast, resulting in the Roselia we know. Should anything happens to her, she trusts Celine to become the third Roselia.
Life Drain: Fitting her vampiric motifs, her Bloody Fang Craft restores her HP and CP after doing damage.
Light Is Good: She has golden blonde hair, bright red eyes, wears a predominantly white dress, and for all her cryptic trolling tendencies, is still an all around heroic individual.
Locked Out of the Loop: It took her a while to find out that Erebonia had a curse, let alone one that was stalking Dreichels. So naturally, when she and Class VII looked into the mirror artifact, showing the hidden history of Erebonia, she did not take it well, making her call out Dreichels and Lianne for being in on it, yet not telling her for two and a half centuries.
Lunacy: She has several lunar motifs in her character. She was the protagonist of Red Moon Rose; her S-Craft Bewitching Blood Moon has a blood red moon appearing in the background, and near the end of Cold Steel IV, it reveals that on the night of the full moon, she's capable of regaining enough power to maintain her adult form for some time. She also reveals her true form and status as a Holy Beast when facing Class VII at the Moon Shrine after absorbing the ambient mana there.
Making a Splash: Her secondary element is water, giving her the same elements as Celine who she created to be her potential successor.
Magic Staff: She wields one in her artwork. The shape of the staff is curiously similar to Vita's now gone Kerykeion, albeit with different color (Roselia's is red while Vita's is blue). As it turns out, they're the same staff - Vita had borrowed it from her prior some time prior to Cold Steel I and returned it to her after the events of Cold Steel II, switching instead to a battle fan as a weapon.
Metaphorically True: She claims to be 800 years old. As a Holy Beast, she's actually much, MUCH older than even that, but she only took on her current form after fusing with the Hexen elder 800 years ago, so technically she wasn't lying.
The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: She acts much more mature and dignified in her adult form than in her child form, even seen in her tastes as she's shown to have a childish hate for vegetables in her regular form, but willing to eat them with some appreciation as an adult.
Ms. Exposition: At least twice in Cold Steel III, first to explain the role of Zoro-Agruga (well, partially), and later to reveal the nature of Erebonia's Sept-Terrions and their relation to the witches and gnomes.
Multiple-Tailed Beast: In her true form as the Divine Beast of Fire, she has three tails.
Of Corsets Sexy: She wears a purple and red corset over her dress. The sexy part happens when she changes to her adult form, where her now larger bosom results in the upper half stretching open, showing her to be as well-endowed as her granddaughters.
Obstructive Code of Conduct: Compared to both Ragnard and Zeit who can't tell too much about the Sept-Terrions in general because of their oath to Aidios, it's actually subverted with her as she tells Class VII a lot about these. In fact, she's the one who ends up being Locked Out of the Loop for what is truly going on.
Old Friend: Towards Lianne Sandlot (aka Arianrhod) and Dreichels.
Outliving One's Offspring: She considered Emma's mother Isola as a daughter, and was thus upset at her death.
Overnight Age-Up: She can briefly regain her former adult appearance when using her S-Craft or when in areas that are sufficiently rich in mana.
Overshadowed by Awesome: Despite all the knowledge living 800 years gave her, she is outsmarted by Renne and KeA.Using complex magic to find Rean is nice, but when KeA is able to see causality, she really can't compete.
Panthera Awesome: Her true form is the Holy Beast that guards the Arc Rouge, which is a Giant flaming winged panther!
Playing with Fire: Her main specialty involves the use of flames. It ends up being a clue as to who she really is.
Promoted to Playable: Becomes playable by Cold Steel IV and Reverie.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: She is the leader of the Hexen Clan and a powerful, centuries-old witch who has taught most of its members magic. She is also revealed to be a Holy Beast, and while she had lost some power from creating Celine and Grianos, she still shows the great power to be expected of one.
Really 700 Years Old: She's been around for at least 800 years. Actually, she is even older and was present during the events of the Great Collapse 1200 years ago as a Holy Beast.
Red Baron: Her Holy Beast form is referred to as the Burning Sphinx.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: She has the same eye color, red, as Rean when he is in Ogre Mode. She's also the one instructing the heroes to put the corrupted turtle back to sleep.
Red Herring: Specifically about the part in Red Moon Rose where she's depicted as a True Ancestor vampire, which is false as she's actually a Holy Beast.
Red Is Heroic: She is known as Crimson Roselia, has bright red eyes, fights with a crimson Magic Staff with her primary element being Fire, and shares the position of being the Big Good of the Erebonia Arc along with Olivert and Thomas.
Reduced Mana Cost: Her Brave Order, Crimson Pageant, reduces the EP cost of Orbal arts cast by the party to 0 for a few turns.
The Reveal: She was the witch who guided both Driechels and Lianne to the shrines to forge Valimar's weapon 250 years ago. She's also the witch who guided Lianne to her Divine Knight a few years before the War of the Lions. She's also the Holy Beast tasked with guarding the Fire Sept-Terrion, Arc Rouge.
Sadly Mythtaken: In-universe example. During her boss fight in the Moon Shrine she admits that she isn't a vampire or True Ancestor, as both were corrupted phrases likely made by the author of Red Moon Rose as Artistic License. She is in fact the Divine Beast of Fire.
Shapeshifter Default Form: Currently has the form of a small child (and a personality to match). This is eventually revealed to be because both her "adult" body and her true form takes too much mana to manifest in most places. Notably, she previously appeared as an adult woman - and still can in mana-rich areas - but she expended a great deal of her own personal mana to create Celine and Grianos and as a result can no longer appear in her adult form for the most part.
Signature Move: She seems to be fond of using the Zeruel Cannon Art as shown in cutscenes such as wrecking the Achtzehn tank Gilbert brought in during his attack on Eryn, and then when trying to use it to attack Rufus after he killed Lianne.
Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Ends up arguing a lot with Ballad of all people in Freddy's side episode in Reverie even though they're fellow judges for the food served for Olivert and Schera's wedding.
Skinship Grope: Gives one towards Juna◊ in Cold Steel IV while bathing in a hot spring.
Supernatural Gold Eyes: Similar to Emma, her eyes have taken a golden glow at certain points when using her powers, such as when transforming into her adult form or her true form as a Divine Beast.
Technologically Blind Elders: Downplayed, but it is shown at times in Cold Steel IV that she needs help figuring out the functions of her ARCUS II.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: She engulfs the tip of her staff with purple aura and throws it like a spear to her enemies with her Crimson Lancer Craft.
Time Stands Still: Happens the first two times she meets Rean, as everything is shown to be utterly still with a bright red light aside from the two of them.
Truly Single Parent: She birthed Celine and Grianos from her body.
Unstoppable Rage: When Rufus fatally stabs Lianne In the Back, she angrily screams at him before trying to attack him with a high powered fire art, only for him to block it with El Prado's barrier.
Vampire Lolita Archetype: She has the appearance of a blonde, red-eyed young girl in a fancy white dress. She possesses vampiric characteristics and a rather smug, brash attitude despite being Really 700 Years Old. Ironically, she isn't actually a vampire, but is in fact, the Divine Beast of Fire.
Vampiric Draining: Her Bloody Fang Craft restores her(and when playable, the rest of the party's) HP and CP after damaging the target.
Vitriolic Best Buds: While she and Arianrhod are reminiscing about Dreichels, Rose thinks of a few things that Dreichels would have said if she saw her with a child's body and all Rose can think of are playful teasing coming out of Dreichels' mouth.
Walking Spoiler: You can't learn her full story without spoiling yourself pretty much everything in the Erebonia Arc.
Was It All a Lie?: Asks Lianne if their friendship was real after learning that Lianne and Dreichels never bothered to inform her about the Curse of Erebonia for over two centuries.
What the Hell, Hero?: Calls out Lianne as to why she never said anything about the curse or Ishmelga stalking Dreichels for 250 years.
You Fool!:
- After finding out the truth about Ishmelga stalking Dreichels and Lianne knowing about it but kept her silence to not disturb Roselia, she calls Dreichels and Lianne utter fools.
- She expresses complete shock towards Emma's late mother Isola, upon learning that the latter had died after confronting Alberich on her own during the "Wishes of a Witch" Daydream in Reverie.

Heimdallr region

Reformist Faction

Giliath Osborne (Unmarked Spoilers for the first two Cold Steel games!)

Giliath Osborne

The Blood and Iron Chancellor

^SPOILERS

Voiced by: Joji Nakata (Japanese), Peter Beckman (English, Cold Steel I-III), Michael Sorich (English, Cold Steel IV and Northern War)

The leading figure in the movement to reform the Erebonian Empire's feudal power structure. Once a general in the Imperial army, it was thanks to his actions in hunting down those responsible for the Hamel Incident and brokering a ceasefire agreement between Erebonia and Liberl that resulted in the Hundred Days War coming to a close. As a reward for his actions, Emperor Eugent III granted him his now-current title as Chancellor of Erebonia, becoming the first commoner in history to ever achieve the title.

An apparent assassination on Osborne by Crow Armbrust would kick-start the Erebonian Civil War; however, it's later revealed that he somehow survived the attempt on his life. Afterwards he orders the Ironbloods to prepare for the annexation of Crossbell State. It's also during this time that he's revealed to be the biological father of Rean Schwarzer.

Abusive Parents: Osborne's actions towards Rean are not gonna win him any parenting awards. Once he reveals their relation to him, Osborne wastes no time strong-arming him into the Imperial Army's service to assist in the occupation of Crossbell and the Northern War, turning him into a phony war hero and emotionally wrecking him. He eventually take a step further in Cold Steel III by endangering Rean's students and setting Altina (Rean's protegee and sole emotional support during the above events) to die in order to launch the Great Twilight. Despite the issues between them, Rean takes all this in stride once he learns the truth behind his father's actions in Cold Steel IV and ultimately gain a much more nuanced view of his father.
Action Dad: Considering that he was once a former member of the Imperial Army this should come as no surprise.
Action Politician: Finally shows off his prowess in Cold Steel IV and he does not disappoint. Lampshaded by Ash.
Ash: I thought politicians were all bark and no bite.
Affably Evil: He has a lot of ambitions but he does care a lot for his immediate subordinates, respects his worthy enemies, and even takes time to talk to Rean and reveal more about himself in Cold Steel III despite his busy schedule. In his final battle with Rean and Class VII, he's pretty chill about everything though that's because at this point, Class VII already know what his reasons are. He even calls all of them by name rather than just generalizing it as "Rean and everyone else".
Ambiguously Human: It gets pointed out several times in Cold Steel III that Osborne might not be completely human anymore. Nothing can kill him and he's lived without a heart for 14 years, having given it to his son. As it turns out, his immortality is a side effect of him making a Deal with the Devil to save his son's life, as well as being an Awakener and thus an Immortal.
Anti-Villain: He had hints of him being this trope in Cold Steel III where he seemed aware of Erebonia's curse, and the Emperor who explicitly wanted to eradicate the curse gave Osborne free reign to act as he pleased. But it's Cold Steel IV where the trope truly sticks as all the foundations for his plans to get rid of it for good come to fruition, at the cost of his life.
Arch-Enemy:
- To Olivert who, while sharing the same views about the nobility in general, also opposes him for his rapid expansion within the empire and earn a lot of scorn from the other nations and its own citizens within the empire.
- To Crow due in part to his Osborne's machinations in Jurai is what eventually lead to Crow's grandfather, the former mayor of Jurai, dying of depression.
- To Rean. Though it's not until the finale of Cold Steel III that they truly become this as Osborne attempts to sacrifice Altina, one of Rean's students and the only person who truly knows how Rean feels because she's been with him to both Crossbell and North Ambria, to become the Sword of Plot Advancement, only for Millium to do it instead.
Archnemesis Dad: Rean isn't exactly his dad's biggest fan. At least until the end of Cold Steel IV.
Animal Motifs: As the reincarnation of Dreichels, his animal motif is a lion.
Back from the Dead: Despite Crow shooting him in the heart near the climax of Cold Steel I, he comes back without any scratches whatsoever at the end of Cold Steel II. It's thanks being Ishmelga's Awakener.
Badass Armfold: In Cold Steel III, this is how he responds to Rean approaching him inside a corrupted Valimar with a giant sword and his Superpowered Evil Side, not even all that intimidated.
Badass Army: As revealed in The 3rd, he has control over seventy percent of the Imperial Army though according to him, that's not a lot when he factors in what the Noble Alliance has. By Cold Steel IV, the army is bolstered by the National Mobilization Act and the Curse to the point of the only force being strong enough to challenge it is the Mille Mirage which is basically every other country unified.
Badass Boast: Following the Wham Episode in Cold Steel II and his massive finger towards Ouroboros, he warns Vita.
Osborne: I'll allow you to leave this time, witch. Slink back to your masters and the rest of that brood of serpents and tell them: If they even THINK of trying to stand in my way, I'll crush them beneath my heel.
Badass in a Nice Suit: Shows no problem fighting in his chancellor suit during the assault on the Black Workshop.
Badass Cape: His formal battle attire as revealed in the trailer for Cold Steel IV.
The Bad Guy Wins: He got exactly what he wanted in Cold Steel II where he manages to hijack the Phantasmal Blaze Plan and gets to occupy Crossbell. And in Cold Steel III, he manages to get his war against Calvard with Ash shooting at the emperor with a gun made in Calvard, Rean destroying the beast that engulfs the world in darkness, potentially kill off Olivert, Victor, and Toval in the exploding Courageous, and dividing Ouroboros into two groups. He still got what he wants in Cold Steel IV though at this point, it's clear that he's not really a bad guy anymore.
Balcony Speech: Makes one during the Divertissment chapter in Cold Steel II, announcing who the new government general of Crossbell is.
Baritone of Strength: Joji Nakata and his English voice actors, Peter Beckman and Michael Sorich, both give him a deep and booming voice. And as Cold Steel IV shows, he's one of the strongest people in Erebonia.
Beard of Sorrow: He doesn't show it but he is hiding a lot of tragedy in him.
Best Served Cold: Delivers this towards Ishmelga for ruining his life. He doesn't do this towards Lechter's father despite him being the one who gave the order to raze Osborne's house but instead made him go through a secret trial and executed him there; mainly because he knows that Ishmelga's corruption is the real problem.
Benevolent Boss: His Ironbloods are like his children.
BFS: His main weapon on foot.
Big Bad: Finally takes the position in Cold Steel III after years of buildup.
Black Knight: His Divine Knight is the black one of the seven.
Blood Knight: A political example. He's excited by the prospect of Olivert opposing his radical plans to reform Erebonia.
Blue Blood: Technically, ironically enough. He was elevated to a Count by the Emperor upon being annointed Chancellor. Was also, like his son, Happily Adopted by the Schwarzers. And then there's the whole thing of him being the reincarnation of Emperor Dreichels.
Body Double: He makes Duke Cayenne think that the reason Osborne survived is because he may have had a body double on that day. It's subverted because that's really him who got shot.
Bond Villain Stupidity: In Cold Steel IV, despite cornering the heroes on multiple occasions and could have captured or killed off all of them with nothing but an order, Osborne just lets them go to take a shot at him. It turns out that in reality, Osborne's trying to lose on purpose and give Class VII a chance once they've finally found out the truth at the Luna Sanctuary's Spectral Moon Mirror.
Boom, Headshot!: Tells Ash to shoot him in the head, only for the emperor to stop Ash as knows that it wouldn't work.
Bring It: During his boss fight, he taunts the three teams to bring it on when they start swapping from one team to another, claiming that whatever they're doing to him is nothing.
But Now I Must Go: Leaves Rean, content that he finally killed off Ishmelga and they finally have a father and son talk before he disappears alongside Rutger and Arianrhod.
Cartwright Curse: Lost his wife and nearly lost Rean a few days before the Hundred Days War.
The Chessmaster: Has plans within plans that even killing him wouldn't even put a stop to those plans. And then he just casually shows up and declares that he's the victor of the Civil War and against Ouroboros. He also out gambits a being not from Zemuria and is behind all the terrible things that have happened to Erebonia.
Co-Dragons: He and Black Alberich work directly for Ishmelga, though unlike Alberich, Osborne secretly plans to materialize and destroy Ishmelga.
Coat Cape: His attire for his final battle has him wearing a white Badass Longcoat as a cape.
Commonality Connection: One of the reasons the Emperor trust him so much is that they both lost loved ones because of the Curse and are trying to destroy it.
Conspicuously Public Assassination: He's shot and apparently killed in the middle of his public address rallying Erebonia to take up arms against Crossbell. His killer wasn't even doing a good job of hiding. Keyword is also "apparent."
Cool Old Guy: From Millium's point of view as he apparently bought Millium a present for a job well done that Millium did.
Cool Sword: He wields a BFS that can be ignited with black flames and he uses it with one hand.
Cynicism Catalyst: His wife's death, his son's near death experience, the Hamel Incident, and the Hundred Days War really took a toll on him. Before then, he used to be a nice and approachable guy and a promising commander of the army.
Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Although unexplained at the moment, Osborne's words during Rean's flashback indicates that he was quite reluctant to leave behind his then five year old son.
- The third game implies it was to keep Osborne's many political opponents from realizing Rean was still alive after the Hamel faction seemingly killed him so he wouldn't be targeted again or otherwise have them attempt to use him as leverage against Osborne, at least until Rean was older and strong enough to protect himself.
Dark and Troubled Past: He was once a good man and a general in the army until one day his house was raided by jaegers in an assault that killed his wife and left Rean mortally wounded and thus requiring Osborne to transplant his own heart to save his son's life. After the incident and leaving Rean with Teo, Osborne changed and eventually became the Blood and Iron Chancellor he's known as today.
Dark Messiah: His overall plan is to get rid of the curse of Erebonia for good. Unfortunately, this also means that many lives will be taken thanks to Osborne directing the people's wrath towards Calvard thanks to Ash becoming his scapegoat.
Deadpan Snarker: When dealing with Cayenne after he comes back from the dead, he claims that Cayenne's getting old and that he's getting blind or that Cayenne didn't realize that he may have had a body double and that figuring those things out are the least of Duke Cayenne's worries.
Deal with the Devil: The 3rd reveals what players might have suspected after SC, which is that Osborne is working with Ouroboros. This is quite possibly where he got Millium and Airgetlam from. Whether or not he's aware that Ouroboros's aid is likely to cease as soon as they get their hands on the Sept-Terrion du jour is unknown but he seems ambitious enough that if he knows, he wouldn't care.
- Subverted in Cold Steel II as not only did he outmaneuver Ouroboros by faking his death, he subverted one of the branches of the Thirteen Factories in to process. He also has one of his subordinates injure Vita, kill her familiar, and declare his intention to seize control of the Society's Phantasmal Blaze Plan. By the end of the game, it makes you wonder who was the devil in this bargain. Enough that by Cold Steel III, many players are convinced that he was the devil in the bargain when Ouroboros ends up joining forces with him to realize the Great Twilight Plan rather than the Phantasmal Blaze Plan.
- Played straight in Cold Steel IV where it's revealed that, he made a deal with Ishmelga to become his Awakener so that Ishmelga can save Rean's life.
Death from Above: His Atropos Blade craft has him holding his sword with two hands, jumping up and stabbing his sword to the ground, creating a shock wave that harms anyone near its radius. His Conqueror's Sovereignty Craft also rains down numerous bolts of lightning on the entire field.
Death Is Cheap: Comes back from the dead at the end of the civil war in Cold Steel II, all fine and dandy. In Cold Steel III, Eugent tells Ash that shooting Osborne in the head isn't gonna do much either. It's revealed in Cold Steel IV that Ishmelga and his fragment version of the Great One is the reason why he's able to come back from the dead.
Despair Event Horizon: His wife's death and Rean nearly dying was enough to abandon the kid to his foster younger brother to start his crusade.
Determinator: The biggest in the franchise after Ishmelga makes him his Awakener by constantly keeping him at bay and actually possessing his own will for 14 whole years in-game. Anyone else near him slowly succumbs to the temptations of the curse by Ishmelga feeding on their insecurities. When Rean finally completes the Great One complete with Ishmelga's curse, he can barely hold it down before he pulls off his Heroic Sacrifice in the normal ending of Cold Steel IV.
Died Happily Ever After: Ends up talking with Rean one last time in the boundary between life and death then walks away with a smile on his face, accompanied by both Rutger and Arianrhod who also have smiles on their faces.
Died in Your Arms Tonight: He physically dies in Rean's arms where Valimar carries Ishmelga. This is averted in his spirit form where he has a conversation with Rean one last time.
Disproportionate Retribution: In his backstory, he warned against the other noble military members to not start the Hamel Incident. They respond by raiding his house, killing his wife and nearly killing Rean. Osborne didn't take it well to say the least.
Didn't See That Coming: Probably the only time that he never saw coming was the Emperor volunteering to get shot instead of Osborne.
Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?: After Rean reforms the Great One and is suffering from the curse in the true ending, Osborne tells Rean to eject the Great One completely out of him so they can finally kill the curse. Ishmelga's not amused to say the least.
Dragon with an Agenda: Osborne turns out to be working for Ishmelga due to being forced into becoming the latter's Awakener. He plays along with most of Ishmelga's plans, but only because he needs Ishmelga to materialize into the physical plane so that the Ebon Knight can finally be destroyed. Additionally, he makes sure to start the final Rivalry as early as possible during the world war, making it so that Ishmelga cannot obtain the full power of the Great One and so that there's still a possibility to stop the war before too many people die.
Dual Boss: He's fought for the first time in the series alongside Arianrhod at the Black Workshop in Cold Steel IV. They're also ARCUS linked with each other.
Dying Moment of Awesome: In the true ending, after he is defeated and absorbed by Rean, Osborne instructs Rean on how to get rid of Ishmelga from him. To say he gave Ishmelga, the source of the curse of Erebonia, a massive middle finger to his face is a massive understatement.
Early-Bird Cameo: His existence is alluded to as early as Sky FC and his first on-screen appearance is from Sky The Third where he discusses things with Olivert but isn't in the center stage at that point in the story. He's mostly a background character throughout the series and only finally steps up in Cold Steel III to be a prominent character.
Earth-Shattering Kaboom: His Rush attack in his Divine Knight fight ends with him destroying the world and reducing it to rubble as seen in space. For massive damage, negative status effects, and debuffs.
Equal-Opportunity Evil: Whether they're jaegers, artificial children, former nobles, and even the group that he screwed out of the Phantasmal Blaze Plan to convert it to the Great Twilight Plan, he will use everything for his plans.
Establishing Character Moment: When he first shows up in the 3rd at Liberl, he's able to do it with no one the wiser, ends up talking with Olivert who he invites to his group, and ends up respecting Olivert's decision despite the two of them opposing one another.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For one, he still loves and is proud of Rean despite the two opposing each other. Shows to be genuinely fond of his Ironbloods as well, as well as his surrogate younger brother Teo Schwarzer for taking good care of Rean.
Evil Chancellor: He's set up as this, being the Chancellor of Erebonia while also serving as the leader of the Reformist faction that wants to end the power of the aristocracy by any means necessary, trading on a platform of aggressive expansionism. As there are lots of nobles among the heroes of the series, this would be a bad thing. At the same time, see Villain Has a Point. Subverted as he's a Well-Intentioned Extremist.
Evil Counterpart: He's what happens if Cassius Bright turned into a Well-Intentioned Extremist and decided to take matters into his own hands rather than joining the Bracer Guild.
Evil Is Bigger: There are probably only a few people who are somewhat near his height and build and most of the people he's associated with are smaller and shorter by comparison. Best shown in the group shot at the final chapter of Cold Steel III.
Evil Knockoff: In Reverie, he has a Hollow copy that serves as a boss in the True Reverie Corridor, most notably during Rufus, Lechter, Claire, and Millium's Trial Door.
Evil Sounds Deep: He's voiced by Joji Nakata, so of course he has a deep voice. Even his English voice actor has a rather deep booming voice fitting for a man known as the Blood and Iron Chancellor.
Evil Virtues: If one takes a look at the trope name's page, he's got it all; in fact, he'd be a hero of his own right if it wasn't for the fact that he's also become cynical, and the death of his wife, his son's near death experience, Hamel, and Hundred Days War took a toll on him.
The Extremist Was Right: He's ultimately proven correct when his methods, which are very extreme that ended up starting a world war with against Calvard and the rest of western Zemuria, ended up being the correct choice in the long run as it ends up freeing Erebonia and the rest of the world from Ishmelga's curse. Enough that the Grandmaster acknowledges that the end of the world has been averted for at least three years.
A Father to His Men: Towards the Ironbloods. He offers them praise whenever they do a job well done and shares an almost parental relationship with each of them. Special mention goes towards Millium, as he favors her enough that he decides to use Altina as a substitute for her in the creation of the Sword of the End.
Failure Gambit: His entire plan in Cold Steel IV has him counting on Rean and Class VII to best him in combat to have Rean absorb the Great One in the hopes of Rean being able to get rid of Ishmelga for good. He succeeds in the Golden Ending.
Faking the Dead: Given revelations in Azure, it's more or less universally assumed that he survived but chose to allow people to believe he was dead. Cold Steel II confirms his survival and it turns out the reason why Osborne can't die is because he has no heart as he transplanted that to Rean.
False Flag Operation: Olivert implies that Osborne secretly destabilizes surrounding states via jaegers and other means in order to create an excuse for Erebonia to annex them.
Final Boss: Of Cold Steel IV's normal ending.
Foil: Serves as one to Cassius Bright. Both men are commoners who served as decorated military officers who were well respected by their peers until they retired (Though Cassius does come back) and are highly competent individuals. However, the similarities end there as both men couldn't be any more different than each other if they tried, such as their relationships with their children who are both protagonists of their respective series. Estelle gets along with her father whereas Rean could care less about Osborne thanks to his actions.
- In a way, he's also a foil for Dreichels the Lionheart, his previous incarnation. Both want what's best for Erebonia, both ended up being in high positions of their areas (Dreichels is the emperor, Osborne is the Chancellor second only to the emperor), both are Awakeners to a Divine Knight, both ended up victorious in their Civil War, and both are stalked by Ishmelga, the curse of Erebonia. However, they couldn't even be more different from each other as Dreichels went in the Civil War to liberate people from their suffering while Osborne was out of the civil war till it was over, Dreichels had to liberate villages and cities while Osborne will make cities and villages be a part of the empire through underhanded but peaceful tactics, and Dreichels knew about the curse of Erebonia and resisted its influence but doesn't tell anybody about it until Lianne just sees Ishmelga in the act while Osborne didn't even know about the curse except through voices inside his head and wanted to tell someone about it but never did because he'd be thought as crazy till it was too late and had to make a deal with Ishmelga to save his Rean's life and fully exposes himself to the emperor.
Foreshadowing: The ending of Cold Steel III and his plans are already foreshadowed a long time ago back during The 3rd when Olivert claims that Osborne is going for a revolution and start wars left and right. Osborne agrees with the things he says. In fact, he claims that this is the first stage.
- In Cold Steel IV, his Dual Boss fight with Rean and New Class VII has him ARCUS linked with Arianrhod which is strange since Osborne was the one who screwed everything up for Ouroboros that they ended up having to work together and Arianrhod isn't known for using an ARCUS, let alone linking up with the man who hijacked their plan. It's a sign that Lianne Sandlot trusts and loves Osborne, the reincarnation of Dreichels.
Form-Fitting Wardrobe: His attire in the final chapter of Cold Steel IV has him wearing clothes that show off his muscles.
Four-Star Badass: Was a Brigadier General in the Imperial Army prior to becoming Chancellor. And the last games show that he most definitely is Badass.
Fond Memories That Could Have Been: Just before their last exchange, he laments that he would have loved teaching his sword style to Rean, had the two were given the chance to live their lives normally.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Downplayed due to his status as Emperor Dreichels's reincarnation, though it should be noted that Dreichels was originally considered the least likely of his generation to take the throne due to his commoner mother. In his current life, he was just a kid who used to live at Ymir with his adopted younger brother and decided to enroll at Thors, ended up rising up in the military, and had a wife and son. Then his life went to hell and ends up becoming the Chancellor of Erebonia who was able to conquer so many places with minimal bloodshed, outmaneuver an ancient conspiracy, started a world war and nearly brought the western continent to its knees, and actually laid the foundations for killing his long time stalker and the curse of Erebonia.
Generation Xerox: His backstory and current situation shares a number of similarities with his son. Both enrolled at Thors Military Academy at the age of 17. Both are considered outstanding individuals that many look to as examples and as leaders, and as well as being masters of a distinct fighting style and as well as being the Awakener to a Divine Knight. It's also revealed in Cold Steel III that much like Rean, Osborne himself was taken in by a Baron Schwarzer as his adopted child. He even grew up together with a younger sibling (Teo) who admired him.
Genius Bruiser: He is one of the smartest people of western Zemuria enough that he's able to be on top of the deals that he makes with cities and towns that end up getting absorbed into the empire and as Cold Steel IV shows, he's really good in a fight that it took three teams just to even beat him on foot and even then, he's still standing until the time came for the Divine Knight duel to commence. And by the time that duel is over, all four of the soldats are kneeling on the floor.
Good All Along: Cold Steel III hints at this, though it's Cold Steel IV that cements it as it's clear that he could have actually been a very cunning and powerful warmonger but instead chose to do the things that he did in order to solve Erebonia's problems and get rid of the curse for good.
Graceful Loser: When he gets shot by Crow at the climax of Cold Steel I, he gracefully accepts his loss, but then it's also going according to his plan anyway and Death Is Cheap for him. He also takes his loss well against Rean but that's because he was trying to lose on purpose in the first place.
Greater-Scope Villain: He's already been establishing himself as a major power ever since Sky FC where the first Big Bad of that game attempted a coup because of Erebonia becoming way too huge in its military power. And then there's the Crossbell arc, whose Big Bad is also motivated by fear of an Erebonian invasion (and is proven Properly Paranoid when Osborne conquers the place at the end of Azure). He then becomes the proper Big Bad of Cold Steel III.
Happily Adopted: Was adopted by the Schwarzer family upon the death of his biological parents, and by all accounts was quite happy as Teo still seems fond of him years later. His Ironbloods also look up to him as a father figure they serve loyally.
He Who Fights Monsters: In his youth he opposed wars and pointless bloodshed. Then he lost his wife when he learned of some other soldiers planning a False Flag Operation to annex a small neighboring kingdom. Now as the Blood and Iron Chancellor he's gone and annexed numerous other territories and starts one of the largest wars in the continent's history via False Flag Operation.
Hearing Voices: Had vaguely heard Ishmelga make it's offer to him at some points in his youth, but had payed them no mind until making a Deal with the Devil with him.
Heartbroken Badass: His backstory consists of him losing Kasia and nearly losing Rean. This is also the same guy who managed to nearly bring the world to his knees in one day thanks to the military technology advantage the empire has and laid the foundations for killing the curse of Erebonia for good.
He Knows Too Much: Learned about the plans of General Arundel and other noble officers' plan to start the Hundred Days War as a way to gain glory, who then sent a group of jaegers to his house where they killed his wife, and would have killed his son Rean as well had he not made a Deal with the Devil with Ishmelga.
Hero with Bad Publicity: By the end of the Erebonia arc, his masterminding the destruction of Ishmelga and with it the millennia-old Curse of Erebonia should by rights make him the greatest hero of Erebonia since Emperor Dreichels. However, since only a handful of people know about that, he is posthumously remembered as a monster for setting off the Great Twilight and his actions during it, which were necessary to make Ishmelga vulnerable.
Hidden Heart of Gold: His entire image of being a ruthless expansionist warmonger is all a facade in order to ensure that Ishmelga doesn't catch on to its lack of complete control over Osborne.
History Repeats: During the finale of Cold Steel II, Osborne looks down on Duke Cayenne, triumphant while Cayenne's pinned down at the floor with his loss. As revealed in Cold Steel IV, it turns out that a reincarnation of Dreichels was able to win against a descendant of Orthros.
Hope Crusher: At the beginning of Cold Steel IV, it's revealed that Juna, Kurt, and Altina ended up horrified when Osborne brought out Ishmelga and captured their teacher. Even Class VII were still reeling from the effects of Rean getting captured by the enemies before New Class VII had said anything about Osborne's Divine Knight.
Horrifying the Horror: In Cold Steel IV, he also ends up horrifying the curse of Erebonia after Osborne instructs Rean on how to get rid of Ishmelga.
Humongous Mecha: As revealed in Cold Steel III, he is the pilot of Ishmelga, the Ebon Divine Knight.
I Cannot Self-Terminate: If he could just kill Ishmelga and get rid of the curse of Erebonia just by killing himself, then he'd do it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, he needs to do a lot of complicated plans to fully bring Ishmelga down.
I Let Gwen Stacy Die: His wife's death and his son's Near-Death Experience are his biggest failures in life.
I Let You Win: It's made clear in Cold Steel IV that Osborne wants Rean to win in order for him to survive that by the time after his final battle occurs, Osborne tells Rean how to eject Ishmelga out of his body so they can deal with him once and for all.
Intergenerational Rivalry: He's a man in his 50s, and, aside from the leaders of the Noble Alliance, a majority of those who oppose him, such as Olivert and the protagonists, are young enough to be his children.
Invincible Villain: No matter what anyone does, it seems like nothing can put a dent in his plans. Olivert foiling his attempt to invade Liberl in SC? Doesn't matter, he never intended for it to succeed anyway. Getting assassinated in Cold Steel I? No problem, he survives unscathed and shows up at the end of the Civil War, declaring victory over both Vita and the Noble Alliance, proceeding to annex Crossbell and turn his son Rean into his Unwitting Pawn. And then it turns out he's not even human, and even a shot to the head can't faze him. It all comes to a head in Cold Steel III where despite the heroes' best efforts, he manages to declare war against Calvard, potentially kill off Olivert, and spread the Erebonian curse over the entire continent. The game then ends with him triumphantly holding Rean by the neck. He finally bites the dust in Cold Steel IV but also sticks one against Ishmelga, the true main bad guy of Cold Steel IV.
Irony: According to Craig, he was one of the leaders of the military who opposed any kind of conflict. Then his home burned, his wife was killed, and his child nearly died. He ends up starting the biggest war in western Zemuria against Calvard.
- In his previous life as Dreichels, he was remembered and venerated as The Good King who ended a bloody Civil War. In his current life, he'll be condemned as a ruthless dictator due to starting a large scale World War.
Killed Off for Real: He dies at Rean's hands in Cold Steel IV.
Knight of Cerebus: Anytime he shows up, the situation always ends up being so serious that there's no room for levity.
I Was Quite a Looker: In Cold Steel III, during the flashback where Craig reveals Osborne's past, Osborne is shown alongside Craig and Vandyck and all three were quite dashing.
Large and in Charge: He has a very imposing presence and he's unquestionably the real power in the Erebonian Empire.
Large Ham: He's usually more subdued, but when he starts chewing the scenery only Olivier can match him.
Late-Arrival Spoiler: The fact that he's not dead and that he's Rean's biological father is something that Cold Steel III casually mentions.
Leitmotif: "Majestic Roar" and "Celestial Coalescence" for his boss fights on foot and in his Divine Knight respectively.
Leonine Contract: Ishmelga orchestrates the Hamel incident and the attack on Osborne's home. This results in Osborne having to become Ishmelga's Awakener in order to save Rean's life.
Let No Crisis Go to Waste: He wasn't planning on having Ash attempt to assassinate the emperor, even going so far as to point at his head to tell Ash to shoot him there, but he's willing to capitalize on it.
Let's Get Dangerous!: Ever since his first debut he averts this as he remained something of a background politician throughout the series. It's not until Cold Steel IV that Osborne finally shows off his chops as a former general in the Imperial Army.
Life Drain: His Malevolent Massacre Craft restores some of his HP after doing damage. On foot, it also restores some of his EP and CP as well.
Like Father, Like Son: While flashbacks from Osborne's past show him as similar Rean, it's heavily implied that his next move had he won the Final Rivalry would have been the same as the one Rean pulls in the Normal Ending of Cold Steel IV : A Sealed Evil in a Duel Heroic Sacrifice.
Limit Break: His S-Craft is Black Lion's Roar.
The Lost Lenore: His wife Kasia is this to him, having lost her after an attack on his home by Jaegers and even nearly lost Rean during it as well.
Luke, I Am Your Father: Reveals himself to be Rean's biological father at the end of Cold Steel II.
Master Swordsman: He's a master of Hundred-form Military Combat, which incorporates attributes from the Vander and Arseid styles among others.In more practical terms, he is able to handle both New & Old Class VII at once.
May–December Romance: His wife Kasia was 10 years his junior. Because of this, he was actually shy about confessing his feelings to her till Vandyck decided to help get them together.
Mirror Character: Ultimately, he and Rean have a lot of things in common. This is later lampshaded with the two of them talking at the boundary between life and the beyond where they both have no issues about sacrificing themselves first before anyone else. More humorously, Osborne was evidently as clueless around women in his youth as Rean is.
Mundane Utility: He probably didn't even need to summon his Divine Knight just to go to his son and snap him out of his berserk self but ends up doing it anyway, partly because he wants to give his son a Neck Lift.
My Death Is Just the Beginning: Him dying at Rean's hands is just the beginning of him giving Ishmelga the middle finger over and over again till Ishmelga finally dies at Rean's hands in the true ending.
My Greatest Failure: He fails to save wife from dying, his son nearly dying, Hamel, and the Hundred Days War after he warned the nobles in the military to not even do the Hamel Incident. All of which happens within a few days.
Necessarily Evil: When Vita's gambit fails during Cold Steel II, it become clear to Osborne that in order to rid Erebonia of the Hate Plague that has been influencing it throughout its history, he need to set up a World War in Zemuria to bring forth the Great Twilight and the Rivalries, which will allow him to do something about the Curse.
Neck Lift: Does to Rean in the final scene of Cold Steel III, telling him that it's time for the world to be plunged in despair.
Nerves of Steel: Isn't even fazed too much that Crow shot him in the heart at the climax of Cold Steel I, only complimenting the boy and only pulls off a Badass Armfold when Rean in his Superpowered Evil Side is approaching him menacingly, looking like he was waiting for him.
Never Found the Body: Claire reveals halfway into Cold Steel II that Osborne's body mysteriously vanished after he was shot. It's a clue that he's only Faking the Dead.
Nigh-Invulnerability: To wit, shooting him in the heart with a BFG only inconveniences him at most. And in his final battle, it literally takes three teams just to beat him on foot and yet he's still standing strong when the ritual finally starts for the Rivalry to take place in their Divine Knights. And at this point, Rean has Valimar with the other four Divine Knights powers absorbed in him, Crow's Ordine, his students' Soldats, the ARCUS links from his friends, and McBurn's gift. By the end of the Rivalry, the four soldats are kneeling on the floor, Crow and Ordine can no longer participate in the final duel, and it takes a Single-Stroke Battle with Rean to finally bring him down.
Noble Demon: What makes him different from most of the big bads from other Trails entries is that his quest is a noble one where he wants the curse of Erebonia gone for good, he doesn't discriminate recruiting even nobles for his plans, is A Father to His Men, abandons his son to his foster younger brother who can actually raise him good, and has points that even Olivert agrees with.
No Body Left Behind: After he's defeated by Rean, his body disappears as he's no longer empowered by Ishmelga.
No Historical Figures Were Harmed: He's known as the Blood and Iron Chancellor, is known for his political savvy, aggressive expansionist policies and one of his key achievements was creating Erebonia's massive railway system. Sound familiar?
No One Should Survive That!: What Rean throws at him, stating that he should have been dead from that fatal shot to the heart. Turns out he has no heart, as it currently resides in Rean after Osborne had it transplanted into order to save his life.
"Not So Different" Remark: Osborne tells Rean that they both have a habit of sacrificing themselves for the greater good. However, he wants Rean to overcome this habit and live for the sake of his friends instead.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: He's usually a background character that the other characters in previous arcs have always been wary of. But the first time he shows off his chops is when he gives Ash an armlock, putting the boy down after he shoots the emperor. He shows off how terrifying he can be when he starts bringing out Ishmelga but it's when he brings out his sword on foot that the cast finally realize that he's not one to be trifled with, even after knowing that he's a former military general.
Old Friend: To Olaf and Vandyck during his time in the military. He's also this to Teo Schwarzer as both grew up together thanks to his adoption by Teo's father after the death of his parents.
Old Flame Fizzle: As revealed by his episode in Reverie, he met Lianne back around S.1197. Both are implied to still have feelings for each other but Osborne having no choice but to go through with the Rivalries and likely still carrying a torch for Kasia kept them apart once more.
Old Soldier: Was previously in the Imperial Army where he reached the rank of Brigadier General and is 56 years old by the time of Cold Steel IV and was still capable of giving the entirety of Class VII, most of whom weren't even half his age, the fight of their lives.
Ominous Walk: After summoning Ishmelga, he ends up slowly advancing towards Rean who is struggling from Crow holding him back. It's also how he starts his S-Craft on foot.
One-Handed Zweihänder: Holds his BFS with just one hand, even executing his S-Craft with just his right hand. He does however use both hands for his other crafts.
One-Man Army: It takes the entirety of Class VII (new and old) fighting against him in three teams to actually take him down in gameplay on foot. And even then, he's still in tip-top shape before Osborne fights Rean, Crow, and a member of new Class VII in a Divine Knight battle. He finally falls after engaging in a Single-Stroke Battle with Rean.
Our Liches Are Different: Since he gave his heart to Rean in order to save his life, Osborne has no heart in his body and is only kept alive through his pact with Ishmelga. This also allows him to survive Crow's assassination attempt on him at the end of Cold Steel I.
Overly Long Fighting Animation: His Limit Break in his Divine Knight is 47 seconds long of him just using a Pillar of Light that destroys Zemuria. For massive damage in gameplay to all party members that is.
Parental Abandonment: His parents died in an avalanche when he was thirteen years old, which is why he was adopted into the Schwarzer family. Teo regarded Osborne as a gentle and reliable older brother which is why they were close as Teo calls Osborne "Giliath-niisan". Then he does the same to Rean because of the things that he does throughout the story.
Parental Substitute: As revealed in Cold Steel III, he's this to Claire, Lechter, Millium, and Rufus. Millium even affectionately refers to him as "gramps".
Past-Life Memories: As shown in Cold Steel IV, as soon as Ishmelga contacts him after the death of his wife, he regains the memories of his previous life and essentially revert to being Dreichels.
Pet the Dog: According to Millium, he bought her a teddy bear present after a job well done, one that she still cherishes and reacquires it at the Eisengraf in Roer.
Pillar of Light: His Limit Break in his Divine Knight.
Pragmatic Villainy: Osborne has no problems using whatever resources he has in order to advance his goals, and he even includes himself if it helps him winning, best shown when he gets shot by Crow at the climax of Cold Steel I.
Red Baron: The Blood and Iron Chancellor, though he claims that "grisly moniker has worn out its welcome".
Redemption Equals Death: By the time we learn his motivations which grant him a degree of sympathy, it's too late and he ends up dying to help his son end the Curse that ruined theirs and so many other lives.
Reincarnation: It's revealed during Cold Steel IV that he is a reincarnation of Dreichels Reise Arnor. Valimar acknowledges him as such before asking whether he should address him as Dreichels or as Giliath Osborne.
Replacement Goldfish: Claire speculates that she and the other Ironbloods are this to him since he wasn't able to properly raise his own son. Osborne's own thoughts in Reverie's "Through Memories Aglow" daydream confirms that this is one of the reasons he took them in.
Resistance as Planned: His cunning, resources, combat prowess, status as an immortal due to being Ishmelga's Awakener, and having knowledge of the full version of Black Records have resulted in the many attempts to resist his rule and policies failing at best, merely assisting his plans further at worst:
- Is the Noble Alliance funding a terrorist group to assassinate him and starting a Civil War in retaliation against his curtailing their privileges? Their chief of staff is actually his right-hand man, poised to sabotage them from within.
- Olivert starts Class VII to gather promising youths to counter his radical policies. He fetches The Leader of the class as a war hero under his thumb to further assist in his plans by playing on his desire to minimize casualties.
- Musse and the Weissland Army are forming an international alliance to counter his planned invasion of Calvard via Mille Mirage? The Rivalries require bloodshed and conflict to trigger, so it only assists his plans further.
Retired Badass: Served in the Imperial Army as one of Principal Vandyck's subordinates and made it to the rank of Brigadier General before the Emperor appointed him as Chancellor. He's also a Thors alumnus which speaks for itself. And as Cold Steel IV shows, he's still a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.
Reverse Grip: His Malevolent Massacre Craft in the Divine Knight Clash ends with him putting his BFS in a reverse grip before delivering an upwards slash.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: When Craig narrates to Rean what he knows about Osborne, he mentions that the military found Osborne's home burned down, his dead wife, and a ton of dead jaegers. Considering Osborne's prowess, it's clear that he killed all of them.
Say My Name: In a flashback in Cold Steel IV while his house is burning and he's becoming Ishmelga's Awakener, he screams the latter's name in anger.
Self-Made Man: Born a commoner in Ymir, he went on to join the Imperial Army, making it all the way to Brigadier General before becoming the first commoner to become Chancellor. Though him being the reincarnation of Dreichels who had been prophesized to get as far as he did may muddy the waters in this regard.
Self-Sacrifice Scheme: In the end, it's made clear that had he won the Rivalries, he would have been glad to sacrifice himself to finally rid Erebonia of Ishmelga and the Curse for good.
Sequential Boss: Like True Zoro-Agruga before him, the climactic battle in Cold Steel IV involves using all of Class IV, split into 3 groups and swapping out after bring him down to certain HP intervals. After he hits 0, he summons his Divine Knight for a 1v3 battle against Valimar, Ordine, and New Class VII's Panzer Soldats.
Sharp-Dressed Man: His suit as he is a chancellor isn't too shabby.
Shock and Awe: His Conqueror's Sovereignty Craft has him call down numerous bolts of lightning on the enemy.
Single-Stroke Battle: Engages one with Rean in their final duel at the Final Rivalry.
The Slow Walk: It's how he starts his S-Craft in Cold Steel IV.
Status-Buff Dispel: His Conqueror's Sovereignty Craft cancels all of the party's buffs (with the exception of Brave Orders effects) before doing damage. His S-Craft, Black Lion's Roar, also removes all buffs (including Brave Orders) before doing damage.
Start of Darkness: He used to be a bright and optimistic man according to the people who knew him. Then his house was raided on because he didn't approve of the raid at Hamel and couldn't stop the Hamel incident.
Start X to Stop X: His plan to eradicate Ishmelga and liberate Erebonia from its curse involves unleashing the Great Twilight, plunging the entire Zemurian continent into a massive war, and basically doing exactly what Ishmelga wants him to do up to reforming the Great One. It's only once Ishmelga has been made whole again that it's possible to truly eradicate him.
Skyward Scream: Ends up screaming at the sky while seeing his house burning, his wife dead, and Rean nearly dying thanks to a wooden splinter piercing his heart, begging for anyone to help out his son.
So Proud of You: He's very proud that Rean grew up to be a strong, capable man.
State Sec: He created the Railway Military Police to help break the monopoly on power held by the Imperial Army at the same time that he created the railroad network. He also has a group of dedicated followers dispersed throughout the Empire called the Ironbloods.
Stab the Sky: When he uses his Limit Break in his Divine Knight, Dirge of Erebos, he stabs the sky and a pillar of dark energy flows out to the sky, enveloping the entire world in darkness and destroys the world.
Strong and Skilled: He is a Master Swordsman and as Cold Steel III shows, he doesn't need his sword to put you down. Just ask Ash and Rean.
Taught by Experience: The reason why he had Vulcan's entire jaeger squad exterminated leaving Vulcan as the Sole Survivor is because of the last time jaegers came to his house and burned it to the ground with his wife dead and his son impaled by a large object in his chest.
Thanatos Gambit: Lechter seems to believe that if Osborne's death wasn't staged, it was this. This is later on confirmed by Osborne by explaining that he has no heart right now because he transplanted it to Rean. This is also his real goal in Cold Steel IV, while laying the foundations for truly killing the curse of Erebonia for good.
Troll: He has a tendency to metaphorically stick his fingers in people's eyes. In Cold Stell III, during the first real interaction between him and New Class VII, he passive-aggressively mocks each member when greeting them by saying stuff he knows will upset them, calling the Crossbell Police the Crossbell Military Police in front of Juna, calling Kurt not by name, but as an heir of the Vander School of swordsmanship to make him feel insecure, briefly pausing when saying Musse's name, etc. Pretty much the only one who doesn't outwardly react negatively during the scene is Musse.
Too Powerful to Live: Osborne ends up being one of the most powerful, most charismatic, and most intelligent beings ever to walk on Zemuria and he's only fought at the final game of the Cold Steel saga. The fact that he's been trying to lose on purpose in Cold Steel IV makes it even more impressive. So it ends up being natural that he had to go out in style at the end of the game.
Tragic Hero: From Craig's point of view at least, he is one thanks to his wife's death and the Hamel incident.
Trapped in Villainy: If he could get rid of the problem of Erebonia just by himself, he'd do it right away. Unfortunately, thanks to a Deal with the Devil, he can't do it because he's got no way of getting around it. Killing him isn't even going to inconvenience him at all.
Unblockable Attack: His Conqueror's Sovereignty Craft removes all buffs before doing damage, including Craft Guard and Reflectors. It is also an Always Accurate Attack, rendering evasion tanking useless.
Undying Loyalty: Olivert suspected that Osborne isn't loyal to the emperor. He's wrong, as it turns out Osborne actually respects him, especially since they both lost the love of their lives. In fact, Osborne is the first one to be surprised when the emperor sacrifices himself to be shot by Ash in order to cure his curse.
The Unfought: Players don't get to kick his ass whatsoever throughout the entire series and Cold Steel III is no exception because if Rean ever tried to fight his dad, Osborne would just easily control his rage and heart; which he does at the end of the game. Averted by Cold Steel IV where he turns out to be one of the most powerful people on Zemuria on foot, requiring three teams to actually take him down in gameplay. And that's still just a warm-up for him before he engages Rean, Crow, and new Class 7 in their mechs on his own.
Universally Beloved Leader: Downplayed. Most of the commoners see him as a great reformist, but the ILF is made up of commoners who were hurt by his policies.
Unpleasant Parent Reveal: Very unpleasant to Rean who is shocked at the fact that the chancellor of Erebonia who has been annexing countries left and right, and is the reason why Crow wanted to revenge, is his father.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: To the people who knew him before he became chancellor, he was an approachable, kind man. Then his wife's death, his son's near death experience, Hamel, and the Hundred Days War ruined him.
Victorious Loser: At the end of the Cold Steel series, he ends fulfilling his objectives despite losing in his duel against Rean.
Villain Ball: Somehow manages to hold this in Cold Steel IV where he lets Rean and his company go despite the fact that he could perfectly capture them or wipe out his enemies in one go especially given his track record from the previous games. Turns out this is done on purpose because he doesn't really want to deal with a power vacuum if all the world leaders had died at Pantagruel and that was more on Cedric. And more importantly, he wants to lose the battle so he can win the real war which is to get rid of the curse of Erebonia for good.
Villain Has a Point:
- Despite being perfectly willing to ally himself with Ouroboros, he does have a very strong case against Erebonia's ruling nobles, who are trying to hold on to all the power while the common people are in much the same circumstances as they've been in for centuries when every other nation on the continent is seeing a massive movement toward more significant wealth and quality-of-life equality, which does not escape the notice of the common people of the Empire. Most of his reforms are aimed at improving conditions for the bulk of Erebonia's population. He's just not too concerned if a few citizens get harmed along the way, or about the people whose countries get taken over.
- While his annexations of foreign lands is a huge factor to his reputation as Evil Chancellor, some of the areas he absorbs into Erebonia do benefit from joining the empire. Jurai, for instance, was a Port Town whose ports were destroyed in a typhoon, leading to a rise in poverty. With the exception of Crow's grandfather, all of Jurai's leaders supported the annexation because of all the tax revenue they would gain from new trade. The epilogue of Cold Steel IV even reveals that despite talks of giving Jurai back its independence, some of its citizens want to remain with Erebonia because of how much better off they've been since joining the empire. North Ambria is in a similar situation, as the country has been poverty stricken since the Salt Pale disaster, which was more than twenty years before the events of Cold Steel. Before it joined the empire, its economy depended on a jaeger corps called the Northern Jaegers, which was responsible for atrocities like the arson of Celdic. After joining Erebonia, the corps disbanded, and new trade came in to revitalize the economy, so the region was no longer dependent on jaegers. A conversation between Rean and Valerie in Cold Steel III reveals that unlike the citizens of Crossbell, the people of North Ambria were much more open to the idea of joining the empire, implied to be because life was just that horrible beforehand.
- He also gets one such moment during the trade conference in Azure. The other leaders, Prince Olivert in particular, are disgusted when he gives the jaeger corps Red Constellation permission to kill the terrorists attacking the trade conference. Though as he explains, if they did get arrested by the proper authorities and deported back to their home countries, they would be facing either a life sentence or the death penalty for their crimes. As Osborne puts it, might as well cut to the chase and kill them now.
Villain Respect: Anyone who's willing to challenge him and his ideals for the greater good will earn his respect. Anyone who's only in it for only themselves would not get any of it. This is probably because his intentions are to make enemies powerful enough to defeat Ishmelga once they're done with him.
- Despite the fact that he was assassinated by the man, he respects Crow for actually managing to kill him in broad daylight. Though admittedly, he knew he was gonna come back from the dead anyway.
- He could have stopped Olivert's plans at any moment but he decides to let the crown prince take a shot at him and his reforms, claiming that he should go easy on him as a warm up.
- He praises SSS and their strength of heart yet manages to give them an Armor-Piercing Question of whether Crossbell can actually pull off the same thing that happened in Liberl during the Hundred Day War. He even starts remembering about what he said to SSS when they meet up again in Cold Steel IV and claims that it's been a long time since they've had that conversation.
- He respects Aurelia's skill for her swordsmanship and hopes she can reach the pinnacle one day before he starts summoning his Super Robot.
- Meanwhile for Musse, he respects the Mille Mirage movement and gives them his blessings before the group escape from the Black Workshop.
Villain with Good Publicity: Thanks to his total control of the Erebonian media in III and IV, he is able to control the narrative to make himself and his agenda look good.
Walking Spoiler: Considering he was supposed to have died at the climax of Cold Steel I only for him to reappear at the climax of Cold Steel II, and plays a huge part in III and IV, it was inevitable with him.
We Can Rule Together: In Star Door 8, he proposes an alliance to Olivert because they both oppose the Noble Faction's decadence, but the prince refuses and instead forms his own less extreme faction.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: He's doing all of these bad things that have happened throughout the series to release Erebonia from its curse of repeated tragedies to make sure it never happens again. It just so happens that so many people will have to die for them.
Wham Episode: Cold Steel II is this for him in that no one expected him to be a father, let alone the father of the protagonist, but also the fact that he didn't seem too pleased with abandoning him suggesting there's a much deeper reason for the actions he's been doing throughout the series up to this point.
- Cold Steel III takes this past eleven and break the dial! In short order: manages to get his declaration of war for Calvard by having Ash shoot the emperor (though that was something Osborne didn't expect, but still used very well) with a gun made by Calvard, enact a new law where every citizen must enlist in the army, wake up a corrupted divine beast, plans to have Altina die only for Millium to do it, and revealing himself to be an Awakener!
Wham Line: In Cold Steel II when he reveals himself to be alive:
Osborne: He would gain nothing. Which is why it's rather fortunate I'm very much alive.
- Then there's one that he declares in Cold Steel III which came out of nowhere:
  Osborne: Heed your master...Ishmelga.
Willfully Weak: It's clear that in his fights against Class VII, he's been holding back his true strength by visibly not using his BFS with two hands especially since he's wanting to lose. He still gives them one hell of a fight despite giving them the handicap.
Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing: His faction won the Civil War without him even lifting so much as a finger as his Ironbloods, especially Rufus, took care of it for him. And in Cold Steel III, he already won even before Rean and the others even tried setting foot in the Gral of Erebos. He only starts exerting some effort by calming Rean's heart down after he loses control of his Superpowered Evil Side because that's was originally Osborne's heart.
World's Strongest Man: He is a master of the Hundred Styles, and as his performance shows in Cold Steel IV, he is easily a match for Arianrhod and the strongest swordsman of the world.
Worthy Opponent: Considers Olivert as this especially since at one point in The 3rd, he offers the latter to work with him to oppose the Noble Alliance. Olivert refuses since he's very much afraid of Osborne's policies. His reaction when seeing the Courageous destroyed in the sky is just him closing his eyes and remembering Olivert's determination during The 3rd when he shoots the flowers in the sky.
- By Cold Steel IV, he sees Musse as this, while musing that she was a better opponent to deal with than Olivert according to one of the screenshots of the game.
Would Hurt a Child: His entire plan in Cold Steel III is to have Altina sacrificed to become the Originator Zero Sword to destroy the Nameless One and spread the curse of Erebonia. And then there's his first boss fight where he's willing to harm Altina and new Class VII.
Xanatos Gambit:
- In hindsight, the October campaign is this. Despite being taken aback by Crow's assassination attempt, all the events from this point onward essentially benefit him. If the Noble Alliance manage to come out on top, his second in command Rufus is basically at the driver's wheel of a group too proud to entertain the notion that he's playing against them and clearly not competent enough to prevent him from taking complete control. If Vita's plot to enact a Pseudo-Rivalry between Rean and Crow works, this is actually a really good news to him, because it mean he won't be forced to enact the World War in order to orchestrate the Rivalries. If the Imperial Army wins, the Noble Alliance is essentially gone as a political threat, allowing him to swoop in and secure his complete control over Erebonia.
- Although Osborne is fine with Rean winning the final Rivalry and destroying Ishmelga, his Daydream episode in Reverie reveals he would have sacrificed himself to destroy Ishmelga even if Rean didn't win the Rivalries. In fact, Rean's victory is his last minute Plan B, since he didn't expect Rean to break out of his berserker state.
You Will Not Evade Me: One of his attacks has him sending a beam of light towards his enemies, sucking them near him, and unleashes a slash that sends them flying away from him.
Younger Than They Look: As revealed in Cold Steel IV, he was turned into an Immortal shortly before the Hundred Day War and hasn't changed ever since, making him in his early forties rather than in his mid-fifties. The beard manage to hide it quite well.
Zero-Approval Gambit: Osborne carried out his plans to eliminate Erebonia's curse knowing full well that if he succeeded, he'd be publicly remembered as one of the world's worst tyrants and warmongers.

Carl Regnitz

Voiced by: Keisuke Baba (Japanese), William Salyers (English, Cold Steel IV)

Appearances: Cold Steel | Cold Steel II | Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV | Reverie

The Governor of Heimdallr and a member of both the Reformist Faction and the Board of Directors of Thors Military Academy. He is Machias' father.

Cool Uncle: Was this to Elsa Regnitz, his niece and Machias' cousin, and treated her like a daughter. Her death shook him very hard.
Cynicism Catalyst: The death of his beloved niece Elsa spurred by the machinations of her paramour's noble family which spurred him to join the Reformists.
Distressed Dude: Spends virtually all of Cold Steel II a hostage of the Noble Alliance and only appears in the scene where he is rescued in Final Chapter
Must Have Caffeine: According to Machias, he really enjoys his coffee. During his first bonding Event in the third game, Machias claims that Carl goes through at least 5 cups a day.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He's very popular with Heimdallr's citizens, and while he is part of the Reformist Faction with Osborne, he isn't as extreme. Notably, he opposed the National Mobilization Act and did his best to prevent its passing.
Reassigned to Antarctica: In Cold Steel IV, the reason he was sent to govern the city of Ordis is because he was against the war effort, and even tried convincing the public that Calvard wasn't responsible for the attempted assassination of Emperor Eugent.
Self-Made Man: The first Commoner to be Governor of Heimdallr as Jusis pointed out in the beginning of the game.
Was It Really Worth It?: An optional event with him in the third game has him admit wondering if joining the reformist as a way to avenge his niece was truly worth it considering the direction it was taking Erebonia.

St. Astraia's Girls School

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/st_astraia_crest_28sen29.png

St. Astraia emblem, circa S.1204

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St. Astraia emblem, circa S.1206

A combined middle and high school exclusive to girls located in Heimdallr's Sankt District, it is attended both nobility and sufficiently rich commoners.

Artifact of Doom: The school contains the Ring of Salvation, which is normally an Artifact of Hope that has healing abilities. Unfortunately, in a Reverie Daydream episode, a Devil took control of the artifact and used it to steal the life force of the students.

Elise Schwarzer

Elise as of Cold Steel III

^{Elise as she appeared in Cold Steel I and II}

Voiced by: Saori Goto (Japanese), Kira Buckland (English)

Appearances: Cold Steel | Cold Steel II | Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV | Reverie

The biological daughter of Baron Teo Schwarzer and Rean's adoptive younger sister. She attends St. Astraia in Heimdallr and is close friends with Princess Alfin, who consistently teases Elise about her feelings for Rean. As of Cold Steel III she has become the Student Council President of her school.

Big Brother Attraction: Elise has a crush on her (adopted) big brother. In the drama CD their mother is clearly trying to hook up her biological daughter with her handsome adopted son. The whole adoption angle makes this a bit less squicky.
Brother–Sister Incest: A non-blood related example is implied to be on the table if she's the chosen girl in Cold Steel IV; while it doesn't confirm anything, Rean does bring up the possibility of them needing to discuss their "relationship" in the future.
Catchphrase: "Y-Your Highness, please!", anytime Alfin is teasing her. Which is often.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Oh, yes indeed. Any time Rean fails to pick up on her attraction (or another girl - usually Alfin - starts flirting with him), she gets extremely upset and acts very passive-aggressive towards him.
Damsel in Distress: For most of Cold Steel II, she and Alfin have been separated from Rean and is forcefully separated from her best friend for most of the game. She's also used as a bargaining chip to force Rean to help out the Noble Alliance.
Dude Magnet: In Cold Steel III, all the male students at Thors Branch Campus (barring Kurt) seem to have a thing for her. Rean of course makes sure that none of them get a chance.
Early-Installment Weirdness: In the Japanese script, her Brave Order was pronounced Fuukajin in Cold Steel IV, but was changed to Kazehanajin in Reverie for some reason.
Guest-Star Party Member: In 'Reverie'' Elise is a party member during Rean's 2nd chapter, and unlocked for use in the Corridor when she joins there, but is unable to be used in the final chapter in the regular story. She's notably the only character in the game that has this distinction in the game, as all the other characters either are usable in the main story, or have to be unlocked specifically in the Corridor itself.
Harmful to Minors: Her backstory is seeing Rean hack a beast with nothing but a hatchet and loses control of his Superpowered Evil Side for the first time. It's a miracle she isn't afraid of Rean, especially since players get to see what Rean is like when he loses control as seen in the finale of Cold Steel III.
Hopeless Suitor: Despite her feelings, Elise is generally not treated seriously as one of Rean's potential paramours throughout the Cold Steel series. To be fair to her, she's actually okay with this so long as Rean himself is happy. Not so hopeless as of Cold Steel IV, though, as it allows the player to give her and Rean a Maybe Ever After.
Limit Break: Her S-Craft is Fragrant Garden.
Long Hair Is Feminine: Her waist-length hair goes well with her traditionally lady-like demeanor.
Love Confession: Finally confesses to Rean in a bonding event in Cold Steel IV.
Not Blood Siblings: As Rean was adopted into her family, the two of them are not related, which helps explain her Big Brother Attraction.
Oblivious to Love: She doesn't seem to get that Patrick is smitten with her, and she never will if Rean has anything to say about it.
Passive-Aggressive Kombat: She is quite capable of verbally tearing you apart with the most respectful tone and a smile on her face.
Promoted to Playable: Elise joins the party temporarily in the main storyline of Cold Steel II and then permanently in the endgame. Then after being demoted in Cold Steel III and IV, she's back to being playable in Reverie.
Petal Power: During her S-Craft animation, you can see petals of Cherry Blossoms flying around.
Prayer Pose: When doing her Holy Squall Craft, with kneeling.
Royal Rapier: She has one in some artwork done as part of a collaborative project, though she isn't seen using it during Cold Steel I, and Laura mentions that St. Astraia has no combat training in its curriculum. When she's Promoted to Playable in Cold Steel II, she has the rapier as her weapon. It was implied that Rean taught her some moves while also learning Schwarzer family's sword style.
The Scrooge: Rean's DLC episode in Reverie has the Schwarzer family travel to Longlai, a hot spring resort town in Calvard. Elise is worried about over-spending, even though her family tells her that they can afford to splurge. According to Rean, she always tries to spend as little as possible.
Spin Attack: Her S-Craft. Different from most examples since she has to spin first before delivering the circular slash while she stays put.
Student Council President: By Cold Steel III, she is the student council president at St. Astraia.
Sword Beam: Swallow Tail has her create a blue shockwave from her rapier that deals magical damage.
Too Unhappy to Be Hungry: The first thing Rean notices upon reuniting with her during the liberation of Leeves is that she's unhealthily thin, suggesting she's been too worried about him after he went berserk and ended up being captured by the Gnomes to have much of an appetite in the intervening weeks.
True Blue Femininity: Her eyes, as well as her outfit from Cold Steel III to Reverie, are blue, fitting for a proper lady of nobility.
Undying Loyalty: She'll always be loyal to Rean no matter what.
Yaoi Fangirl: Implied by Alfin, who herself is a fan of the Boys Love genre and apparently got Elise hooked as well.

Alfin Reise Arnor

See the Imperial Family.

Myka Brighton

Appearances: Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV | Reverie

Wayne's younger sister and a student at St. Astraia. She has little respect for her brother, but is very fond of his male classmates, especially Stark.

A Day in the Limelight: One of Reverie's Episodes is set at St. Astraia and focuses on her.
Ambiguously Bi: Myka is shown having an attraction to Kurt, both in his regular self and in his Kurtina disguise. Whether her attraction for the latter is admiration or outright romantic is not 100% stated.
Genki Girl: She tends to have a very happy-go-lucky personality.
Unwitting Pawn: In a Reverie Daydream episode, a Devil manipulates her memory and has her unwittingly drain the life force of people on campus, all so it can regain its power and run amok.

Other Citizens

Fiona Craig

Voiced by: Rina Sato (Japanese), Allegra Clark (English, Cold Steel IV)

Appearances: Cold Steel |Cold Steel II | Cold Steel IV

Daughter of Lieutenent-General Olaf Craig and older sister of Elliot.

Cool Big Sis: Towards Elliot, though he can be a little embarrassed by how doting she can be.
Promotion to Parent: She took it upon herself to act as Elliot's mother figure growing up.
Ship Tease: There are plenty of hints of something going on between her and Neithardt.

Herschel Family

Fred

Martha

Fred voiced by: Hiroshi Isobe (Japanese)

Martha voiced by: Mariya Ise (Japanese)

Appearances: Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV | Reverie

Towa's family, consisting of her uncle, Fred, her aunt, Martha, and her cousin, Kai. They run a general store in the west side of Heimdallr.

Only Six Faces: Despite his parents having unique designs, Kai is stuck with the same model as some other boys in Erebonia.

Aurier Vander

Voiced by: Yukana (Japanese)

Appearances: Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV | Reverie

The second wife of Matteus Vander and the mother of Kurt.

Action Mom: She demonstrates her skill in Cold Steel IV at the Mystic Core, stopping a Leviathan from rampaging before Zechs and Mueller finish it off.
Dual Boss: She teams up with Aurelia during the tournament Episode of Reverie.
Evil Knockoff: In Reverie, she has a Hollow copy that serves as a boss in the True Reverie Corridor, most notably when it fights alongside her husband Matteus' on the third floor.
King of Games: She's the last enemy Rean faces in Vantage Masters in Cold Steel III. Winning the match has her giving the Chevalier Master Quartz to Rean.
Mum Looks Like a Sister: Ash outright thought she was Kurt's older sister until the younger Vander shocked his class with the truth.
Naginatas Are Feminine: Her main weapon is an Eastern-style naginata.
Red Baron: "The Stormwatcher."
Second Love: She's the second wife of Matteus Vander.
The Stoic: This family is well known for this trait, but Aurier's ever calm and composed nature might just surpass that of the members with the Vander blood.
Strong Family Resemblance: Altina was originally going to rationalize Aurier's youthful looks with her not being Kurt's blood-related mother... only to realize that they look too similar for that to be plausible.

Micht

Appearances: Cold Steel | Cold Steel II

The owner of pawn shop in Trista who happens to be acquainted with Toval.

Patiry

Patiry as of ''Cold Steel III

^{Patiry during Cold Steel I and II}

Appearances: Cold Steel | Cold Steel II | Cold Steel III | Cold Steel IV | Reverie

An aggressive girl first seen in Heimdallr's Ost District alongside her "protégé" Kargo in S.1204. Two years later, she's working as a receptionist at the Times Department Store in Crossbell.

Fiery Redhead: She has red-hair tied in a ponytail and is quick to anger.
Tsundere: For all her antagonism towards Machias, it's clear that she's missed him ever since he enrolled at Thors.

Nord Highlands

Worzel Family

Lacan, Fatma, Thoma, Sheeda, and Lily Worzel

Lacan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/worzel_family_28hajimari29.png

Fatma, Thoma, Sheeda, and Lily, as of Reverie

^{Fatma during Cold Steel I and II}

^{Thoma during Cold Steel I and II}

^{Sheeda during Cold Steel I and II}

^{Lily during Cold Steel I and II}

Appearances: Cold Steel | Cold Steel II | Reverie

Gaius' family, consisting of his father Lacan, his mother Fatma, his younger brother Thoma, and his little sisters Sheeda and Lily.

The Ghost: While Lacan is mentioned in Reverie, he's spends the entire game offscreen.
He's All Grown Up: Rean and Emma are shocked to see how much Thoma has grown by the time they see him again in Reverie. Unsurprising, as he's now around the age Gaius was when he enrolled at Thors.

Other Characters

Minneth

Minneth in a flashback during The 3rd

^{Minneth during Reverie}

Appearances: The 3rd | Azure | Reverie

An infamous swindler from Erebonia posing as a merchant.

Arbitrarily Large Bank Account: Inverted; one of the clues that tip off the SSS about his Armorican Honey Factory offer being a scam in Azure is when they go to the IBC to check his account, and the receptionist reveals he only put in the bare minimum amount of money in the account to open it, which would be far too little to cover the costs for the construction of the massive factory he claims to have in store for the village.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In Azure, he presents himself to the people of Armorica Village as a kind man and generous Honest Corporate Executive offering them a new means of revenue, even giving one of the villagers a new Orbal truck at a greatly discounted price as part of the transaction. In reality, he was trying to con them out of their homes and livelihood, and upon being exposed by the SSS, immediately sends some military monsters on the town folk to hold them hostage so he could get away.
Con Man: He is a greedy swindler and conman. His main strategy seems to be to pretend to be a legitimate businessman to offer his mark a fake business proposal and talking them into signing over necessary properties to him as part of the arrangement, only to then sell said properties on the black market.
Does Not Like Spam: He can't even pretend to like sweets when a scam depends on him having a sweet tooth.
Early-Bird Cameo: He initially showed up in a flashback during The 3rd, but Azure marks his first in-person appearance.
Green and Mean: Dresses in a green suit, and is a greedy and selfish Con Man.
Hate Sink: Having driven a noble family out of their home and tried to do the same to an entire village, he proves himself to be a veritable sociopath after the Red Constellation attack on Crossbell when he steals supplies intended for a swamped hospital. Several characters remark that it takes a special level of scumbag to do something like that, and Arianrhod is so disgusted that she personally helps the SSS catch him.
Imposter Forgot One Detail: In Azure, he poses as a Quincy executive, but admits that he dislikes sweets. This ends up derailing his "Armorican Honey Company" scam, as Quincy executives have to have a sweet tooth because they personally taste-test products under development, making it clear that he simply appropriated the name for brand recognition.
Never Recycle Your Schemes: He tries to con the villagers of Amorica by claiming he was there as a representative of the Quincy Company, offering to build a factory nearby to make new sweets using their honey as the main ingredient and tries to talk them into signing over properties so he can manage the construction. Ian reveals that he used this exact same set up to con the Capuas out of their family lands, claiming he was trying to help them build a distillery using the barley in their lands, only to sell it all off to the black market.
Villain Team-Up: In Reverie, he teams up with the counterfeiter old lady from Calvard in order to scam Crossbell businesses with knock-off supplies, but the two are thwarted by Machias and Dudley.

Yun Ka-Fai

An aged swordsmaster and one of the most revered warriors across all of Zemuria. The founder of the "Eight Leaves One Blade" school of swordsmanship, he is the mentor of Cassius, Arios, and Rean, as well as the grandfather of Anelace.

The Alcoholic: According to Teo Schwarzer, Master Ka-Fai loves his booze.
Badass Teacher: Both experienced warrior and a teacher. Among his known students are Cassius Bright, Arios Maclaine, his own granddaughter Anelace, Shizuna Rem Misurugi, and lastly Rean Schwarzer.
Batman Gambit:
- When it comes to his students, it's actually fairly impressive how subtle and successful his gambits in teaching them are. When Anelace's letters suggest she's starting to falter in her views on swordmanship, he politely asks her to request that Cassius Bright return to the art of the sword now that he's back in the army; doing so eventually leads to Anelace fighting a duel against Richard and coming to a greater appreciation for how her weapon should be used.
- Similarly, Yun Ka-Fai uses subtle methods from afar to help Rean master his Superpowered Evil Side, cutting his training short and allowing Rean to figure things out for himself by leaving. He understood that no amount of training would matter if Rean himself couldn't understand his own value a person. Thus, Ka-Fai wanted him to learn that on his own. True enough, time with Class VII and his other friends allows Rean to learn this lesson which in turn is what allows him become a Divine Blade by the end.
The Chooser of the One: In Cold Steel III, he reveals in his letter sent to Rean that Ka-Fai decided to teach his last student, Rean, the Seventh Form and hopefully have Rean find out the true meaning of the Eight Leaves One Blade style. He even points out in the letter that both Cassius and Arios never found its true meaning.
Fantastic Fighting Style: Ka-Fai created the Eight Leaves One Blade school through combining the best elements of various eastern sword styles and martial arts. There are three levels to it: Beginner, Intermediate, and Divine Blade. Among its known practitioners, only Cassius, Arios, and Rean have achieved Divine Blade status and appropriately enough are considered strong warriors by others.
- The Calvard arc reveals that one of the styles that formed the basis of the Eight Leaves was the Black God One Blade school, which Ka-Fai taught to Shizuna, who has since become a Divine Blade herself sometime after Arios achieved said status, but before Rean did.
Hermit Guru: He wanders the continent from place to place and generally strives to avoid people. In spite of that, many aspiring swordsmen seek him out in order to learn from him.
Katanas Are Just Better: His Eight Leaves One Blade school centers around the use of a katana, specifically a tachi, and virtually every tachi-wielder seen in the games to date is a practitioner of it.
The Leader: Shizuna's Connect Event from Kuro II's Final Chapter reveals that Ka-Fai was the former head of Ikaruga.
Master-Apprentice Chain: Part of one through Cassius and Rean. Ka-Fai taught Cassius when he was a young man and now Cassius himself serves as a mentor to Richard and his children even if the latter aren't Eight Leaves students themselves. Same with Rean where the latter serves as a mentor to New Class VII, particularly Kurt as a fellow swordsman, even if none of them are Eight Leaves practitioners either.
Nonindicative Name: To a degree with the Eight Leaves One Blade style he founded. Though it's called Eight Leaves One Blade, there are only seven sword forms that practitioners learn and have to master at least one in order to become a Divine Blade. The eighth leaf as it were, is actually the school's unarmed form, a hand-to-hand combat style made for use in the event the practitioner is without a weapon to use.
Old Master: He's not just a master of the Eight Leaves One Blade style, he's its founder, and despite his advanced age several of the game's most powerful characters - from Victor Arseid to Cassius Bright - talk about him like he was at least their equal in combat.
Red Baron: He's known as "The Sword Hermit" as Ka-Fai likes to travel by himself a lot and never staying in one place for too long.
The Social Expert: He's remarkably perceptive when it comes to his students' emotional state and he uses very subtle methods to nudge them in the right direction.
Unseen No More: Despite being mentioned as far back as Sky the 3rd, he has yet to make an onscreen appearance. The closest thing we've seen of Ka-Fai is Rean's flash back where Ka-Fai first trains the boy. We finally get a portrait for him in Cold Steel IV, but he still doesn't appear in person.

Black Workshop (SPOILERS FOR ALL GAMES)

In General

A group first mentioned in Cold Steel II. It once served as a division of the Thirteen Factories headed by the Sixth Anguis of Ouroboros, but is now currently under the control of High Chancellor Giliath Osborne. They're later revealed to be comprised of members of the Gnome clan.

Black Alberich

Alberich in the body of Franz Reinford

^{Franz before Alberich's possession}

^{Alberich's previous appearance in a flashback}

^Zoa-Balor

^Leviathan

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto (Japanese), Armen Taylor (English)

Appearances: Cold Steel III (as Alberich) | Cold Steel IV (as Alberich and Franz) | Reverie (as Franz)

First introduced in Cold Steel III under the name of Lughman. He first meets Rean and his students during their trip to Crossbell City in Chapter 2. He's later revealed to be the head of the Black Workshop, with Alisa recognizing his appearance as that of her late father, Franz Reinford.

Archnemesis Dad: Seemed to be one to Alisa, until Cold Steel IV makes it clear that Alberich and Franz aren't actually the same person.
Awesome, but Impractical: Irina and Schmidt consider Black Alberich's Zauber Soldat creations inferior versions of Franz's, and for valid reasons. His Leviathan is supposed to be a stronger, autonomous version of the Goliath, but it goes haywire easily, making it a detriment to its own side. The Zauber Soldats in general also have a tendency to drive their pilots mad with the curse, unlike regular Soldats which are weaker, but safer to use. It's clear that an army of Zauber Soldats would be a nightmare to manage despite their increased power.
Big Damn Heroes: The first sign that the Golden Ending's going to go very differently from the Normal ending is when Franz Reinford shows up, having broken free of Ishmelga's influence, and tells Rean not to give up.
But Now I Must Go: Franz ends up disappearing from Alisa in the Golden Ending, content that his daughter has grown up so well.
Chekhov's Gunman: First appears during Cold Steel III Chapter 2 appearing to be a relatively harmless man which he most definitely isn't. It also turns out that he has another name too. Said name? Franz Reinford, Alisa's supposedly dead father.
Co-Dragons: Black Alberich and Osborne are the primary servants of Ishmelga, though unlike Osborne, Alberich is completely loyal to his master.
Death Is Cheap: Sharon was supposed to have killed him by accident, only for him to walk around Erebonia like it's nothing. Considering Rean and the new Class VII have met the guy several times, it's clear that death isn't gonna stop him that easily. Turns out it's because of Black Alberich who was controlling him. Once he's permanently gone, Franz dies as well, but is content to see Alisa all grown up.
Defiant to the End: In the Normal ending, upon discovering that Osborne's been defeated, thus robbing him of his ability to maintain a body, Black Alberich spitefully uses his last moments to "congratulate" Rean on his victory, knowing that he's doomed to be overtaken by Ishmelga.
Demonic Possession: While Franz was making his dissertation for Schmidt, he is eventually taken over by Black Alberich, a gnome from antiquity, who maintains his existence by possessing members of the gnome clan.
Disappeared Dad: His body is that of Franz Reinford, a.k.a. Alisa's supposedly dead father.
The Dragon: Revealed as this to Osborne in the climax of Cold Steel III...only for Cold Steel IV to reveal his true master as Ishmelga.
Dual Boss: He fights alongside Rufus during the final Chapter of Cold Steel IV.
Dying as Yourself: In the true ending of Cold Steel IV, he dies as Franz Reinford, free from the influence of Black Alberich.
Evil All Along: Played with; Franz Reinford was leaking various machinery plans to Ouroboros before Alberich had fully taken over, but this was implied to be because of Ishmelga's influence. Sharon was actually meant to be his liaison with the rest of the organization, with the job as the family maid as her cover. On the day he was possessed, Sharon was entering as an Enforcer to collect the data as usual, only for Black Alberich to reply with a staunch refusal, much to her shock. This results in the incident that would be known as the death of Franz Reinford.
Evil Sounds Deep: In both Japanese and English.
Faux Affably Evil: He maintains a polite tone, but almost every word out of his mouth drips with mockery, especially towards Alisa, whose father he bodyjacked. In the normal ending of Cold Steel IV, he sarcastically congratulates Rean for winning the Rivalries, knowing that the latter will be possessed by Ishmelga.
Fighting from the Inside: The real Franz regains control of his body in the true ending path, allowing him to remind Rean to use Argres's Earthen Prison. Even before the appearance of the Empyreal Fortress, he found opportunities to take control and create a new body for Millium.
First-Name Basis: In Cold Steel IV, Franz refers to Osborne by his first name, "Giliath."
Foreshadowing: When he first speaks to the party via Siegfried's orb, Alisa finds his voice vaguely familiar.
- There's also the hidden sidequest in Cold Steel II where players have to fix Irina's watch. Which includes gathering three rare materials, including Zemurian Ore, and the people mention that Franz was a genius and has a knack for these things.
Go Out with a Smile: Alberich's control over Franz disappears in the true ending of Cold Steel IV and he's able to return to his former self. However, as his life was tethered to the former, which also cannot be saved with the method used on Crow and Millium, he ends up disappearing together with the Divine Knights in the finale. Giving a smile to Alisa, content that she's grown up well, and revealing to Rean and Class VII that Millium has a backup body in the Black Workshop so that she could be fully restored.
Grand Theft Me: How Alberich has been maintaining his immortality all these years. He constantly seeks out descendants of the Gnomes and hijacks their bodies to further his own plans. Franz Reinford was simply the latest man to fall victim to this.
Hate Sink: In his relatively short screen time in Cold Steel III (only fully revealing himself in the final chapter), Alberich cruelly claims that marrying into the Reinford family was simply a part of his plan, and that he couldn't care less about his wife and daughter, presses the button that blows up the Courageous (something even Campanella found to be in poor taste), and reveals that he was the one who first gave magic to the witches and technology to the gnomes. Basically, the blame for much of what happens throughout the Erebonia arc can be traced back to him, and he shows zero remorse for any of it. What makes this worse is how he tries to act like this was how Franz felt, when in reality he was merely possessed.
Hero Killer: You know things have gone south when Alberich (possibly) kills off Olivert, Toval, and Victor in the most anti climactic way possible by detonating the Courageous while it is still in the sky...only for it to be subverted as George putting a mechanism in the ship to give them a chance to survive means that nobody died.
Hope Crusher: Crushes everyone's hopes after he destroys the Courageous, possibly killing off Olivert, Toval, and Victor.
Humongous Mecha: It's revealed in Cold Steel III that Franz was the one who invented the concept for the 5 current Panzer Soldat models.
- Cold Steel IV further reveals that Alberich created a new type of machine called the Makoukihei AKA Zauber Soldats, which combines the concepts of the Panzer Soldats with the Magic Knights. In particular, the colossal Final Zauber Soldat, Leviathan, was what he intended to submit to Schmidt as Franz's graduation thesis.
Limit Break: His S-Craft in Cold Steel IV is Luciferion Arc, which would later be used in Reverie by Zoa-Baronga itself.
Luke, I Am Your Father: Alisa recognizes Alberich as her father once she sees his face in Cold Steel III's final chapter. Cold Steel IV subverts this, however, by revealing that, while it is might be Franz's body, Alberich is another personality altogether that's possessing him.
Immortality Immorality: While it's not completely clear, he claims to have thrown away his humanity long ago, and has managed to persist by continuously possessing members of the gnome clan. He definitely fits the 'immorality' part, though. Subverted as Franz himself isn't immortal, as the moment Alberich disappears he ends up dying as well.
Marriage of Convenience: Subverted; during the climax of Cold Steel III, when Rean demands to know why Alberich's doing the things that he's doing and that shouldn't he be going back to his family, the latter claims that he only married into the Reinford family to obtain their technology and knowledge and has no love for them. However, Cold Steel IV reveals that Alberich is just saying that to throw off Alisa; the real Franz really did love his family.
Meaningful Name: The name Lughman is a direct reference to Lugh, a god from Irish Mythology responsible for the creation of the swords Airgetlam and Claiomh Solais, much like how he (as the head of the Black Workshop) is responsible for the creation of the Orion sisters and their combat shells which bear the same names the two swords of myth.
- His name Alberich alludes to the Big Bad from The Ring of the Nibelung, a Dwarf and Ultimate Blacksmith who created the titular Ring which caused unending strife and tragedy, just as Alberich here as tied to Ishmelga and the Curse of Erebonia and created Millium and Altina.
Mutual Kill: The body Alberich was using before Franz went out this way, in a fight with Emma's mother Isola.
Mythology Gag: He makes his first appearances posing as an affable professor before showing his true colors later on, just like what Georg Weissmann did in The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Black Alberich wants to use the Great Twilight and the upcoming war to upstage the Septian Church and become the new leading political power. He claims that his technology-based order will be better than the church's order, but Class VII points out that his plans will reduce human civilization to nothing and that he'd likely have no one to rule over. It's implied that he's banking on enough of humanity surviving so they can become dependent on his Zauber Soldats for Ishmelga's endless wars.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Once he fully reveals himself, his eyes turn out to have shade of red which matches the danger that he represents to the cast. Subverted with Franz, who despite being where Alisa got her red eyes from, is a relatively decent man.
Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Turns out Franz didn't die of an illness, and Sharon didn't accidentally kill him, either. He's been alive all along, plotting and supporting Chancellor Osborne from the shadows.
Robot Buddy: He fights using Zoa-Balor, a combat shell that serves as the basis for all that came after it, including Argetlam and Claiomh Solais. Even after Alberich's defeat in Cold Steel IV, it reappears in Reverie as a boss.
Take Over the World: What he intends to do the world after Ishmelga achieves his goals and turns into the Great One. He wants to completely consolidate technology around himself and Ishmelga, making the rest of the world completely reliant on him.
The Unfettered: The only thing that matters to him is ensuring Ishmelga's complete dominance, and he will absolutely let nothing hold him back.
Walking Spoiler: He's the leader of the gnomes and the Black Workshop. To say anything else would be giving away one of the biggest twists in the entire Trails series. He's also this in Cold Steel IV as not everything is as it seems with him.
White Hair, Black Heart: His current appearance is that of Franz Reinford, only with his hair completely white, complete with Red Eyes, Take Warning.

Azure Siegfried

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/azure_siegfreed_cs3.jpg

A mysterious white haired man in a mask who serves a representative of the gnomes. It's later revealed that he is in fact a resurrected Crow Armbrust.

Copper Georg

See George Nome.

Crimson Rossweiss

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

See Angelica Rogner.

Oz XX

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/_20201003113221_1024x576.jpg

Appearances: Reverie

The original product of the Black Workshop's Oz series, predating even number 1, created 500 years ago.

Mystical White Hair: She has a full head of white hair, fitting for an homunculus with ties to the Sept-Terrions.
Palette Swap: She uses KeA's model, only her jacket is black, her eyes are purple, and her hair is white (and lacking twintails).

Characters / Trails Series Erebonia Others

Lamare Province

Kreuzen Province

Nortia Province

The Reinford Group

Other Nortia Citizens

Sutherland Province

Heimdallr region

Reformist Faction

Giliath Osborne

St. Astraia's Girls School

Other Citizens

Nord Highlands

Lacan, Fatma, Thoma, Sheeda, and Lily Worzel

Other Characters

Black Workshop (SPOILERS FOR ALL GAMES)

Alternative Title(s): Trails Series Erebonia Chancellor Osborne

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Characters / Trails Series Erebonia Others

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Lamare Province

Kreuzen Province

Nortia Province

The Reinford Group

Other Nortia Citizens

Sutherland Province

Heimdallr region

Reformist Faction

Giliath Osborne

St. Astraia's Girls School

Other Citizens

Nord Highlands

Lacan, Fatma, Thoma, Sheeda, and Lily Worzel

Other Characters

Black Workshop (SPOILERS FOR ALL GAMES)

Alternative Title(s): Trails Series Erebonia Chancellor Osborne

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Index

Next