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

The Septian Church is a monotheistic religion formed around the worship of the Goddess In The Sky Aidios, and is the most widespread and practiced religion in Zemuria, along with being one of the most prominent organizations in the franchise, appearing across all games. The High Seat of the Septian Church is located in the city-state of Arteria.

It's headed by a Pope and has several different organizations based around it:

The Congregation for Divine Worship supervises all rituals of the Church, including the church and Sunday schools. The congregation is overseen by a cardinal.
- The Papal Guard fall under the jurisdicition of the Congregation for Divine Worship, charged with the defence of Arteria.
  - Iscario is a covert operations squad within the Papal Guard, often tasked with hunting down anyone deemed as "heretics."
The Congregation for the Sacraments controls the heritage and retrieval of artifacts. The congregation is supervised by a cardinal.
- The Gralsritter are an organization within the Congregation for the Sacraments tasked with the direct investigation and retrieval of Artifacts.
  - The Dominion lead the Gralsritter. Only those with the power of Stigmas reach this rank. Under them there are a specialized group of Knights and low-rank Squires.

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Tropes that apply to the Septian Church:

Crystal Dragon Jesus: They're effectively the Catholic Church but with a female deity. They hold similar aesthetics, as well as doctrines (such as belief in a Fire and Brimstone Hell where sinners go) and political structure (the leader is a Pope who rules from a theocratic City-State). The only thing that's missing is a proper Messianic Archetype.
Good Counterpart: The Church as a whole is one to Ouroboros. Both are organizations working on a massive scale across all of Zemuria, both have ambigous founding dates and origins, both have specialized agents who manifest superhuman powers (the Anguis and Enforcers for Ouroboros, the Dominions for the Church) and both have an interest in collecting Artifacts, and while Ouroboros wants to use them for their own personal gain, the Church wants to seal them away so that they can't be misused.
Jurisdiction Friction: The Gralsritter and the Papal Guard are implied to butt heads with each other. Sure enough, Daybreak sees two Dominions using Almata's Battle Royale as a means to square off with an Iscario squad.
Saintly Church: The Septian Church as a whole act as positives figures both in the plot of the series themselves and the lore. In almost every game the Church directly or indirectly helps the main characters. On top of that, the Septian Church doesn't particularly impose itself or its beliefs on populations. A big example is how the nomads of the Nord Highlands practice both Animism and worship the Goddess at the same time.

Goddess

Aidios

The Goddess worshipped by the Septian Church and the majority of the population in Zemuria. The Goddess in the Sky is not only revered as the creator of humanity, but also the one who gifted them the power of the Sept-terrions.

The Ghost: Has yet to physically appear in the series, though there's some extremely strong proof that She does indeed exist, such as the Holy Beasts.
God Is Good: She's portrayed as nothing but purely good by the Church, explaining why the majority of the continent's population worships Her.
I Have Many Names: As revealed in Daybreak, "Aidios" is merely what She's known by in the West. She is known as "Arusha, the Goddess of Wings" in Central Zemuria, and "Heavenly Mother"^note天上聖母 "Tenjou Seibo" in the East.
Meaningful Name:
- 'Dios' is the Spanish word for God. The full name also sounds like 'Adìos', which on top of being a common farewell, also means 'Go with God'
- Dios also derives from Deus, which in itself is derived from an Indic deity whose name roughly translates to 'Sky Father', fittingly for a Goddess associated with the sky.
- In the Japanese version her name is 'Eidos' - a Greek word for the concept of "form/type/essence". That was changed for the Western release to avoid trouble with Eidos Interactive.
Mother Goddess: She's a feminine goddess who's credited for the creation of the world and humanity.

Congregation for Divine Worship

Archbishop Eralda

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

Voiced by: Yasunori Masutani (Japanese, Azure Evolution)

Appearances: Zero | Azure | Reverie

The archbishop in charge of the Crossbell Cathedral. He is known for being quite intimidating and has an open dislike of the Gralsritter.

Jurisdiction Friction: He's never forgiven the Congregation for the Sacraments for their handling of Bishop Owen, and absolutely will not tolerate the Gralsritter's presence in Crossbell for any reason until the Azure Tree both forces him to and causes a Jerkass Realization. This forces Gralsritter who have to go to Crossbell, such as Ries and Wazy, to work undercover. It's implied that he interferes with investigations into artifacts, and he refuses to cooperate with the SSS the moment he realizes there's Pleroma Grass growing in Crossbell. On the plus side, he teaches his clergy Thaumaturgy to avoid having to let Gralsritter into Crossbell.
Reasonable Authority Figure: The Azure Tree crisis doesn't change his opinion of the Congregation of the Sacraments one bit, but it does cause him to stop stonewalling the Gralsritter.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: After the Azure Tree appears, he begins to wonder if his hatred of the Congregation of the Sacraments made him this, fearing having to sneak around behind his back prevented Wazy and Ries from adequately responding to the Azure-Zero Project.

Gralsritter

In General

Arbitrary Headcount Limit: An in-universe example, throughout history there has never been more than twelve Dominion alive at the same time, and thus there likely can't be more than twelve Stigma holders at the same time in the entire world.
Badass Preacher: The Gralsritter, from the Badass Normal Knights and Squires to the Stigma-having Dominion, are this. Several of them also moonlight as wandering priests and nuns, either as to disguise their identity or because they're geniuenly very religious.
Leitmotif: "Celestial Ark" from Azure serves as the theme for the Dominions' personal airships, the Merkabahs, being used both in said game as well as Cold Steel IV.
Meaningful Name: A Stigma, the powers of the Dominion, is the Greek word for a mark on the skin, which is fittingly how they manifest. They may also derive from Stigmata, the spountaneous appearance of Jesus' wounds of crucifixion on the hands, fitting for the power of a religious group and for how it awakens.
Position of Literal Power: Every Dominion bears a Stigma, which grants them considerable magical power.

Dominion

First Dominion Ein Selnate

Ein Selnate

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ein_selnert__the_3rd.jpg

Voiced by: Tomoko Naka (Japanese)

Appearances: The 3rd

The head of the Gralsritter.

The Ace: The only character known to have seen both fight suggests that Ein might be capable of fighting Arianrhod equally. Even if he's wrong, that still says a lot about how good Ein must be.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: According to Crossbell Archive, being the Dominion most skilled at drawing out the power of your Stigma means you get to be in charge of the other eleven and in charge of the group that wields a lot of power within the Church.
Combat Pragmatist: If the Carnelia books are even remotely accurate Ein has no problems kicking (or killing) an enemy when they're down, or any issues with fighting dirty generally.
Crazy-Prepared: Crossbell Archive implies that she plans ahead with a vengeance. She was Elie's host during the latter's eyebrow-raising time studying forbidden scriptures in Alteria and it's implied she groomed her as a future ally for the Gralsritter at the same time she was training Ries and setting up Wazy as a new Dominion
Deadpan Snarker: For a holy knight, she's amazingly snarky.
Death Glare: She delivers a couple of epic ones in Ring of Judgment.
Famed In-Story: Carnelia is a popular series of books, most people reading them don't know that the title character is not only real but much cooler than her fictional counterpart.
Heroes Prefer Swords: We've yet to see her fight but she is seen in artwork wielding a sabre and she helped teach Ries how to use her Templar Sword.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: She was very close to Rufina and tries to keep an eye on Kevin and Ries as a result.
Invented Individual: Inverted, the invented individual is a cover for the real individual, created for Plausible Deniability purposes.
Nun Too Holy: She snarks and she smokes and she's kind of a troll.
The Paladin: She's the First Dominion, making her de facto the strongest Knight sworn to the service of the Church. She is also (possibly) the most powerful character in the franchise.
Private Military Contractors: According to the Carnelia books, she's an ex-jaeger.
Red Baron: Like all the Dominions, she chose her own title: Carnelia
Troll: Her appearance in Ring of Judgment smacks of this. She hires Estelle and Joshua with the promise of information on Renne's whereabouts and after they complete the job, she tells them that Renne did not rejoin Ouroboros after the Liber Ark incident and that information is 100% certain. It's also 100% useless and Ein knows it.
- She then shows her very well concealed soft side almost immediately afterwards, giving them much more helpful information that is 'only 99.9% certain'.

Second Dominion

See Thomas Lysander.

Third Dominion

The Ghost: While not being seen in person, their Merkabah is seen participating in the attack on the Retributive Tower during Reverie.

Fourth Dominion

Celis Ortesia

Voiced by: Fairouz Ai (Japanese)

Appearances: Daybreak | Kuro II

A woman with a fiery disposition who, alongside her colleague Leon, arrives in Calvard in S.1208 to help deal with the mafia syndicate Almata.

Ascended Extra: She didn't get to participate in gameplay during Daybreak, but a promotional screenshot shows that she will in Kuro II.
Affectionate Gesture to the Head: She does this to Gaius in the Dominion group shot in the ending of Daybreak.
BFS: She wields a big, red sword. It's segmented down the blade like Ries and Scarlet's weapons are, showing that it's a two-handed variant of a Templar Sword.
Berserk Button: As Leon puts it, pointing out Celis's height and/or "baby face" will easily set or off. As such, she did not appreciate Walter referring to her as a "kid" during Chapter 4 of the first Daybreak game.
Brainwashed and Crazy: During Chapter 3B or 3C of Kuro II, she falls under the influence of the 8th Genesis, causing her to try and kill Van.
Dual Boss: Fights the party alongside Ashlad in Chapter 3B or 3C of Kuro II.
Eye Colour Change: She gains Supernatural Gold Eyes when using her Stigma's full power.
Fake Memories: In Kuro II Chapter 3B or 3C, her memories are rewritten by the 8th Genesis to make her believe that Van, as Vagrantz-Zaion, fatally wounded Bergard.
Fiery Redhead: She has long, red hair and a pretty short temper.
Fire-Forged Friends: She and Leon hated each other back when they first met, but after a certain event, they managed to form a genuine bond.
Flaming Sword: Her Surtr's Judgement and Ogunolisha Crafts have her create fire around her sword.
Ground Pound: The final part Surtr's Judgement has her slam her sword on the opponents during her descent onto the ground.
Guest-Star Party Member: She's playable during Kuro II Chapter 1A. Aside from that, she can only be used in Marchen Garten.
Identical Stranger: Celis basically looks like an older version of Shirley Orlando and even shares a similar temperament.
Last-Name Basis: Kuro II shows that she mostly calls people outside the Gralsritter by their surnames, contrasting Leon who tends to refer to others by their given names.
Limit Break: Her S-Craft is Fiamma Midgard.
Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: She's foul-mouthed and prefers brute force, while Leon is polite and fights with grace.
Noodle Incident: The incident that cemented her partnership with Leon isn't elaborated on during Kuro II.
Older Than They Look: She's 27 years old, but gets mistaken as a teenager due to her height and "baby face."
Playing with Fire: Utilizes fire in battle, with the element even playing into her Stigma's design.
Promoted to Playable: She went from an NPC in Daybreak to a playable character in Kuro II.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The fiery Red to Leon's cool blue. It's also reflected in their hair colors, their uniforms, and even their Stigmas.
Shaping Your Attacks: Fiamma Midgard has her shape the fire around her extended Templar Sword into the form of a snake.
Sword Plant: She sticks her sword in the ground before performing her Ogunolisha Craft.
Vitriolic Best Buds: No matter how much she and Leon argue, their bond as partners is quite clear.
Whip Sword: Like many members of the Gralsritter, her weapon is a Templar Sword. Unlike the ones used by previous characters, hers is a two-handed broadsword.

Fifth Dominion

Kevin Graham

Kevin as depicted in Sky

^{Kevin as depicted in Azure}

Voiced by: Ryohei Nakao (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English)

Appearances: SC | The 3rd | Azure

A wandering priest of the Septian Church. First appears in SC, and becomes the protagonist of The 3rd. He wields a crossbow.

Abusive Parents: Although his mother used to be nice, she tried to kill herself and him out of despair when things got bad.
Adapted Out: Does not appear in the OVA.
Ascended Extra: From a Sixth Ranger to the main character of The 3rd.
Badass Preacher: He's a wandering priest who is quite capable of defending himself from monsters and bandits. Actually, he's the Fifth Dominion, one of the twelve most powerful Knights who protect the Church and as a result, very high up in the hierarchy of badassdom.
Bad Habits: Kevin is a good person but he does sometimes take advantage of the automatic respect his priestly outfit gets him. He's also a shameless flirt.
Beware the Nice Ones: Don't let the smile and goofy demeanor fool you, he's able and willing to defend himself and anyone in his charge.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Downplayed but it's there: he's not above inflicting cruel executions on people he deems heathens (granted, Weissmann was an Asshole Victim). And as we learn from 3rd, he considered using Estelle and Joshua to get to Weissmann, even if it meant getting them hurt. He gets better.
Breakout Character: Goes from a supporting party member in the second game to the protagonist of the third game.
Cast from Hit Points: Sacrifice Arrow gives up some of Kevin's CP in order to restore it to an ally.
Childhood Friends: He first met Ries and Rufina when he was 8, and he would come to see them as family after coming to live with them at Aster House.
Church Militant: He's part of the Gralsritter, and a Dominion to boot.
Continuity Cameo:
- Makes an appearance in Cold Steel IV, attending Olivert's wedding and reeling Ries from eating more.
- In Reverie he is piloting one of the ships with the calvary in the finale, though he is not seen in person.
- Makes an appearance in Daybreak's ending credits, along with the other named Dominions, during Bergard's visit to his former colleagues.
Contrasting Replacement Character: His role in SC, aside from background dealings, is to fill the void Joshua left behind as Estelle's guy friend and possible love interest, though only partially since he's a Guest-Star Party Member until Joshua comes back. While Joshua is The Comically Serious, Kevin is cheerful and ditzy.
Darker and Edgier: Is this in The 3rd even before everything comes out, signified by his portrait showing him without his white outer jacket, his rerecorded lines and his new Craft "Death Punisher."
Death Seeker: His title "The Heretic Hunter" isn't a boast, it's a reminder. He wants to be punished for his perceived failure to prevent his mother's suicide and his accidental killing of Rufina and he willingly takes on all the worst jobs because of it. He later becomes The Atoner over the course of The 3rd, to the extent that his first appearance in Azure (he succeeds in saving someone from a situation where in the past he failed).
Developer's Foresight: If he's in your party during the Final Boss of SC, he'll slip away shortly after the fight ends, because he's the one who hunts down and kills off Weissmann without Estelle or Joshua knowing.
Experienced Protagonist: The protagonist of Sky The 3rd and already having so many accomplishments under his belt as the Heretic Hunter.
Failure Knight: He was determined to become a Knight so he could protect Rufina and then that had to happen. He didn't take it well.
Failure-to-Save Murder: He sees himself as being responsible for his mother's death because he ran away when it was obvious what she was planning rather than trying to stop her (or get help to stop her). Of course, he was six at the time but that doesn't stop him from blaming himself.
Greater-Scope Villain: Played with, in that it's somewhat out of his control, but Kevin himself, or rather his own self-loathing, is technically responsible for the events of The 3rd, creating the copy of Gehanna in Phantasma and in turn the Lord of Phantasma.
Hell Seeker: He sort of gets his wish, because he was trying to rescue Ries after the latter took the bullet for him and they two both wound up in Gehenna. Of course, by this point he now wants to atone in a healthier way. Good thing it wasn't really hell.
Heroic RRoD: After he used his stigma power at the end of Chapter 4 boss, he's too tired to go on and needs to rest for the entirety of Chapter 5, entrusting the artifact to Ries.
He Who Fights Monsters: Deliberately does this to himself and asks to fight monsters because he believes he deserves it. He's stopped before he can go completely off the slippery slope thanks to Ries' presence and his experience in the 3rd.
Holy Hitman: Kevin's special duties for the Church include assassinating particularly vile heretics. He doesn't quote scripture that frequently, though. That's what Ries is for.
Idiot Ball: He just had to hold it in SC when he lets Campanella escape with the staff Weissman owned, being unaware that it was the Aureole. He literally hands Ouroboros their first victory and the first phase of their plan finished just by letting Campanella get away with the staff. He doesn't even pull out his crossbow and fire a regular arrow or cast an art at Campanella. Admittedly, he had no idea that it was the Sept-Terrion, but still.
Laughing Mad: You'd react the same way if you were told that you were getting a promotion after you just killed your big sister figure and superior.
Leitmotif:
- "The Crimson Stigma" from The 3rd plays during the first boss battle he uses his Stigma in.
- Azure gives him "Feelings, A Place to Arrive At" as his theme.
Limit Break: In SC, his S-Craft is "Grail Sphere." The 3rd also gives him "Spear of Loa" and "Spear of Ur."
Manipulative Bastard: Throughout all of SC and half of The 3rd'', almost everything he says and does is in some way a lie calculated to advance his agenda
Manly Tears: He finally shed some tears when he and Ries has to kill Rufina for the second time to ensure that a second Phantasma couldn't come into being.
Meaningful Rename: Kevin's decision to change his Dominion title at the end of The 3rd is meaningful on its own, and not only because it's the first time in the entire history of the Gralsritter than anyone has done that. What he changes it to is even more meaningful as his new title is adapted from Rufina's own.
Mirror Character: With Weissmann, surprisingly. Both are clergymen who lost their family at a young age, both also put on a quirky and friendly facade in the present. Even one of Kevin's crafts, "Mortal Punishment" has spears similar to those from Weissmann's S-Craft. Almost makes you wonder what would happen if he didn't meet Rufina...
Mix-and-Match Weapon: His crossbow has a hidden blade in it, which he uses for his Crossgear Rage and Mortal Punishment crafts.
My Greatest Failure: He unintentionally caused the death of his parent-surrogate Rufina.
My God, What Have I Done?: His entirely understandable reaction to the aftermath of his Stigma manifesting.
Nice Guy: His flirtarious behavior aside, Kevin is a pretty friendly man when you get to talk to him. Turns out, most of it is an act. In reality he can be quite cold and calculating, as his murder of Weissmann showed. By the end of The 3rd, he's starting to become this for real.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Boy did he ever. Arguably he's even better at it than Olivier, as while it's clear that Olivier's more than he appears to be after just a single chapter, Kevin obfuscate his stupidity on several layers. The players would think that when he reveals himself as a gralsritter that's all there is to him, but turns out not only is he not the new guy on the team, he's a Dominion, one of the leaders of the Gralsritter, and he killed Weissman with a completely different attitude he's been showing the whole game.
Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: Kevin asks Ein to kill him following the Aster House incident. She gives him a What the Hell, Hero? speech and tells him that he's pledged himself to the Septian Church and he's not going to get to take the easy way out. He also offered the same thing to Ries after he told her what really happened at Aster House, and while she gets angry, it's not because of what he did, but because he shoulders all of it by himself. She topped it off with a declaration of You Are Not Alone for good measure.
Power Incontinence: Kevin suffers from this in the most tragic way possible when his Stigma fully awakens. The combination of the fact that he's a novice Squire and the Artifact his Stigma just absorbed was known to transform the bearer into a demon did not do anyone any favors.
Power Makes Your Voice Deep: After he reveals his stigma in The 3rd, his voice becomes deeper, darker, and more menacing.
Rain of Arrows: His second and third S-Crafts, Demon Lance Loa and Holy Lance Ur, summon an enormous number of arrows to follow the one launched from Kevin's bowgun. The latter combines this trope with Pillar of Light
Red Baron: Known as "Heretic Hunter". After the events of The 3rd, he changed his alias into "Thousand-Hand Guardian"
Sexy Priest: He's good looking and he doesn't mind taking advantage of it to flirt a bit.
Ship Tease: While his relationship with Ries can be seen as family, there's still some amount of this between them, especially at the ending of The 3rd.
Sixth Ranger: While he is playable at the start of SC, it isn't until the second half of the game he fully joins the party.
Single-Use Shield: Grail Sphere grants all allies within its huge reach Max Guard. At 200 CP, it grants a double-use effect.
Two First Names: Both "Keven" and "Graham" can be used as given names.
Walking Spoiler: The ending of SC reveals there's more to him than being a Gralsritter squire.
What the Hell Is That Accent?: Asked in-universe where Kevin's Japanese speech is distinguished by his use of full-on Kansai-ben. Dorothy wonders if that's how people from Alteria speak, though Kevin reveals that while he works there, it's not his actual home. There's a certain level of Obfuscating Stupidity involved in his use of it.
Willfully Weak: Kevin could have revealed the full extent of his powers at any time before Chapter 4 of The 3rd but aside from blocking Weissmann's mental manipulation he keeps his skills in general and his Stigma in particular a secret until Ries' life is on the line. There's a couple of in-universe reasons for this, including not wanting to put Weissmann on his guard, the strain involved in using his full powers and the fact that he's afraid what might happen if he loses control again.

Eighth Dominion (former)

Gunther Barkhorn, also known as the Roaring Lion, was the Eighth Dominion of the Gralsritter before he allegedly died and passed his Stigma and position to his student.

For more information on him, see here.

Eighth Dominion (current)

See Gaius Worzel.

Ninth Dominion

See Wazy Hemisphere.

Eleventh Dominion

Leon Balthazar

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

Voiced by: Soma Saito (Japanese)

Appearances: Daybreak | Kuro II

A man with a cool head who, alongside his colleague Celis, arrives in Calvard in S.1208 to help deal with the mafia syndicate Almata.

Ascended Extra: Like Celis, he couldn't be a part of gameplay in Daybreak, but gets to in the sequel.
Covert Pervert: He made it a point to see the R-17 version of "Golden Blood" during his stay in Calvard.
De-power: He's unable to use his Stigma (and therefore, his S-Craft) when he first appears in Kuro II Chapter 3B or 3C. He gets it back right in time for the party to make their way towards Celis and Ashlad
Early-Bird Cameo: His proper debut is in Daybreak, but his Merkabah does make a brief appearance in Reverie.
Eye Colour Change: His eyes turn blue when using his Stigma's full power.
Fire-Forged Friends: Her and Celis hated each other back when they first met, but after a certain event, they managed to form a genuine bond.
Flechette Storm: His Frigid Pain Craft has him launch the segments of his sword at the opponent.
Good Is Not Nice: He might be on a mission for the greater good, but he can still act quite condescending towards Van.
Guest-Star Party Member: He's playable during Kuro II Chapter 1A and for a section of either Chapter 3B or 3C. Aside from that, he can only be used in Marchen Garten.
An Ice Person: Utilizes ice in battle, with the element even playing into his Stigma's design.
Limit Break: His S-Craft is Niflheim.
Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: He's polite and fights with grace, while Celis is foul-mouthed and prefers brute force.
Noodle Incident: The incident that cemented his partnership with Celis isn't elaborated on during Kuro II.
Promoted to Playable: He went from an NPC in Daybreak to a playable character in Kuro II.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The cool Blue to Celis's fiery Red. It's also reflected in their hair colors, their uniforms, and even their Stigmas.
Royal Rapier: He wields a rapier in battle. Like Celis's BFS, the segmented sections show that it's a variation of a Templar Sword.
Spell Blade: His Celestrene Craft has him create an ice blade on top of his sword to slash the opponent with.
Sword Plant: Niflheim ends with him stabbing his sword into the ice-covered ground, shattering the landscape.
Vitriolic Best Buds: He and Celis might trade barbs often, but it ultimately doesn't affect their partnership.
Whip Sword: Like Celis, his weapon is a variant of the Templar Sword.

Squires and Knights

Rufina Argent

See Posthumous Characters.

Ries Argent

Ries in her Gralsritter habit

^{Ries, disguised as a regular nun, as depicted in Azure}

Voiced by: Houko Kuwashima (Japanese) , Michelle Ruff (English)

Appearances: The 3rd | Azure

A Squire of the Gralsritter, Rufina's younger sister and Kevin's childhood friend. She wields a Templar Sword in battle.

Anger Born of Worry: Whenever she gets angry with Kevin, there's usually some shades of this. This is most pronounced when she gets angry after Kevin reveals his past and what happened at Aster House, not because he killed her sister, but because he's been shouldering the burden by himself and not letting her help him.
Awesomeness by Analysis: Ries can judge a person's character remarkably quickly after she met them in person, as demonstrated with Gilbert and Renne. She can also sees through Kevin whenever he lies or is not being honest through a combination of this and being his Childhood Friend.
Badass Normal: Between challenging extremely powerful devils by herself, or willingly allowing herself to go to hell (because in her words, she'll come back) despite the fact that she's a simple squire with no special powers, she's this in spades.
Berserk Button: Do not get between this girl and a meal.
Big Eater: She spends her entire salary on food. In her defense, she does have an eye for sales and cost-performance.
Brutal Honesty: She's really blunt when it comes to describing unpleasant traits in people directly to their faces like when she says how Gilbert is so full of himselfand how Renne is being a self-centered child despite her evident high intelligence.
Ries: (to Gilbert) You couldn't look more like a nobody if you tried. You're the kind of person who constantly throws himself into things too big to handle and ends up sabotaging himself without anyone lifting a finger. And you refuse to learn from any of your failures too.
Childhood Friends: She first met Kevin when she was roughly 4 years old, and she would come to see him as family after he started living at Aster House with her and her sister Rufina.
Church Militant: Like Kevin, she's a member of the Gralsritter.
Comfort Food: After running off because she doesn't want to put up with Kevin obviously lying to her about his past during the events of Chapter 4 in The 3rd, Ries can be seen for most of the rest of the Chapter sitting in a corner of the Garden, eating.
The Comically Serious: Has shades of this, especially when proposing to solve a problem by destroying whatever is in front of her.
Continuity Cameo: In Cold Steel IV, eating as usual at Olivert's wedding.
Cry into Chest: She cried into Kevin's chest after they killed Rufina's copy to ensure a second Phantasma couldn't come into being.
Family Abandonment: Her sister died and Kevin vanished five years prior to the start of the series and she doesn't understand why. This led to a 'now what do I do?' crisis before she decided to join the Gralsritter.
The Determinator: Her determination in the face of impossible odds is notable, even for a series filled with people with immense willpower. Nothing will stop her from helping Kevin. She dares the Lord of Phantasma to send her to hell because in her words, she'll just come back.
Deuteragonist: The 3rd focuses on her almost as much as it does Kevin. Also, barring the prologue, she's a Required Party Member in almost every chapter, with the only one she's not available in being immediately followed by one where she is and Kevin isn't.
Flechette Storm: Ries' Thousand Sparrows Craft, and its upgrade Infinite Sparrows, launch the segments of her Templar Sword to attack the enemy from all directions.
Food as Bribe: Kevin has learned that bribing Ries with food is a pretty effective technique.
He Will Not Cry, so I Cry for Him: Throughout the entirety of chapter 7, Kevin didn't even shed a tear when he told her everything that had happened; Ries cried in his place instead.
The Lancer: As a Squire, it's her job to be the right-hand partner to Kevin.
Like Brother and Sister: Her relationship with Kevin is at least at this level. While she claims that it's just in the past, and they're not close any more, Estelle claims that, while there might not necessarily be romance between them, they're still important to each other. Eventually, Ries admits this to be the truth.
Ries: We're FAMILY, Kevin.
Light Is Good: Has Mirage-aligned slots and her S-Crafts summon angelic creatures. She's also one of the main protagonists in The 3rd.
Limit Break: Her S-Crafts are Heavenly Strike and Heavenly Sphere.
Living Emotional Crutch: She's basically Kevin's in the 3rd. The only reason Kevin even starts to work to become a better person and get out of his "want to be punished" mentality is because of Ries; he even admits that he'd probably stay in Gehenna if Ries is not there with him. Her decision to share his burden at the end and how determined she is to let him know that she'd always be there for him did a lot, so much that by the end of the game Kevin wanted to change his title as a Dominion because he found something he wanted to do other than hunting down heretics.
Non-Standard Skill Learning: She learns her first S-Craft after defeating the first chapter's boss in The 3rd.
Nuns Are Mikos: Actually justified, as she swears an entirely different set of vows from ordinary nuns.
Nun Too Holy: Very lightly toyed with, she's a bit of a glutton and prefers to resort to violent solutions but she's definitely a good person and very sincere in her faith. Also, she's part of the Church Militant wing of the Septian Church so she probably gets a bit of a pass doctrinally.
The Paladin: She's a nun who likes to quote scripture, wields a Templar Sword, has the Orbment setup to be a decent caster, has Mirage-aligned Slots which are the closest the series gets to a 'light' element, good strength, a useful support craft and her S-Crafts summon angelic guardians.
Paper-Thin Disguise: Is posted to Crossbell Cathedral in Azure, wearing almost the same habit she always does and fooling absolutely no-one. But this is precisely the point.
Red Herring Mole: In Azure, she's sent to Crossbell Cathedral to act as one in-universe. Due to the Jurisdiction Friction mentioned elsewhere on this page, the Gralsritter can't operate openly in Crossbell. Ries' posting to the Cathedral is such an obvious Gralsritter plant that the Bishop never suspects their real mole in Crossbell is Wazy, who's posing as a gang member.
Satellite Character: Her characterization outside of being Kevin's Childhood Friend and Lancer is very limited during The 3rd.
Serious Business: Food. Even as a little girl she could tell you which brand of chocolate had the best ratio of taste to cost... and yes, that can totally be calculated mathematically.
Ship Tease: While her relationship with Kevin can be seen as family, there's still some amount of this between them, especially at the ending of The 3rd.
Ries: Would you like to hold hands?
Summon Magic: Both of her S-Crafts summon angelic guardians to smite enemies.
The All-Solving Hammer: Her preferred method of solving all problems is to hit them with her Templar Sword until they go away. When Kevin calls her out on this she usually replies that she was only joking. Kevin doesn't buy it.
Trademark Favorite Food: As a child, Quincybell chocolate. As an adult, egg sandwiches and bread generally.
Training Montage: Narrated actually, as Ries describes her Squire training in one of the drama cds.
Whip Sword: Her weapon is a Templar Sword◊.
You Are Not Alone: Practically her reaction once she finds out that Kevin's been holding up all of the burden of his past alone. She reminds him that they're family, that he can at least shares his troubles with her and let her help him, and even when she's about to be thrown into Gehenna she swore that she'll come back so that Kevin won't be alone ever again. Even when he has to kill the copy of Rufina at the end, she decides to do it with him just to hammer the point home that she won't let him shoulder his sin alone, no matter how much it pains her.

Abbas

See Saber Viper and Testaments.

Rosine

See Class III/IV/V First Year Students.

Scarlet

See Comrade <S>.

Papal Guard

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/iscariot_emblem_concept_art_29.png

Brainwashed and Crazy: During Chapter 3B or 3C of Kuro II, many members of Iscario, included Ashlad, fall under the influence of the 8th Genesis, causing them to try and kill Van.
Hammer of the Holy: To reinforce their status as servants of the church, Iscario utilizes maces, and the Punishment Craft involves beating down opponents with them.
Light 'em Up: The Chakram Craft involves creating sending spinning saucers of light at the target.

Papal Guard Captain (Spoilers for Kuro no Kiseki II)

As revealed in Bergard's letter to Van, a formal leader for the Papal Guard does not currently exist. Instead, the members of Iscario report to somebody referred to by the Pope and First Dominion as "The Saint of the End."

For the identity of said individual, see Nina Fenly.

Ashlad

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ashrad_concept_art_29.png

^{Ashlad with his hood down}

Voiced by: Shunsuke Takeuchi (Japanese)

Appearances: Daybreak | Kuro II

A member of Iscario. He first appears in Calvard's underground area around the same time as Celis and Leon, with the two sides coming into conflict with one another.

Ascended Extra: After being confined to cutscenes in the first Daybreak game, the second game has the player fight against him and his subordinates in battle.
Baritone of Strength: Ashlad is a man with a deep voice who fearlessly leads his team to go toe-to-toe with two Dominions.
Blatant Lies: Whenever he claims to be nothing more than a normal traveler, expect somebody else to call him out on his complete lack of credibility.
Dual Boss: Fights the party alongside Celis in Chapter 3B or 3C of Kuro II.
Fake Memories: In Kuro II Chapter 3B or 3C, his memories are rewritten to make him believe that Van was labelled a heretic for the supposed murder of Bergard.
In the Hood: He keeps his uniforms hood up for most of his appearances in Daybreak to better hide his face.
Hammer of the Holy: As with his subordinates in the church's special operations group, he carries a mace, and he'll give opponents a particularly bad beatdown with it in the Punishment Craft. During fights where his hood is down, he also has access to the Judge Sandros Craft, where he hits his targets with a giant gavel he generated from his mace.
Light 'em Up: His Divine Chakram Craft is a more powerful version of his subordinates' Chakram Craft, meaning that spinning disks of light are going to fly at whatever target he points them to.
Number Two: He's the second-in-command of Iscario.
Reasonable Authority Figure: While he diligently fulfills his duty of hunting down heretics, this primarily comes from the idea the law failed to bring them to justice. If somebody else has a way of doing so without killing said heretic, he will step aside, especially if that somebody has a more personal reason for their actions. This is best seen in the first Daybreak game: when he realizes that Elaine has every intention of arresting her father Edmond for sponsoring Almata and has the means to do so, Ashlad stands down and lets the Bracer take care of her personal business.
Status Buff: His Oracle Armor Craft boosts the magic stats of him and his allies.

Characters / Trails Series Septian Church

Tropes that apply to the Septian Church:

Goddess

Congregation for Divine Worship

Gralsritter

Dominion

Ein Selnate

Celis Ortesia

Kevin Graham

Leon Balthazar

Squires and Knights

Papal Guard

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Index

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Characters / Trails Series Septian Church

Edit Locked

Tropes that apply to the Septian Church:

Goddess

Congregation for Divine Worship

Gralsritter

Dominion

Ein Selnate

Celis Ortesia

Kevin Graham

Leon Balthazar

Squires and Knights

Papal Guard

Previous

Index

Next