History Characters / TheHeroicLegendOfArslan

* DisabledLoveInterest: She is this for Hilmes.

* DropTheHammer: His weapon is a huge mace that may as well not even count as an infantry weapon. He even does this with his introduction, turning a sword stuck in a tree trunk into an improvised hammer.

* ArcherArchetype: He's more so seen wielding his bow than any other of his weapons.

* ArcherArchetype: Skilled with a bow and arrow.

* ArcherArchetype: She, like Elam, uses her bow more than her other weapons.

* EnragedByIdiocy: Honestly, it's hard to fault him for losing his cool at every ridiculous setback and situation he has to suffer because of his brother's actions or Bodin's lunacy, not helped by the fact that he's the OnlySaneMan in the lustainian army actually trying to ''finish'' their conquest of the country, rather than resting on their laurels after their early victory over the parsons and Andragoras. It's almost enough to make you [[SympathyForTheDevil pity the poor bastard]] at times.

Second prince of Shindra, who leads an invasion of eastern Pars hoping to take advantage of the political situation. After his invasion is frustrated and he's captured, Arslan forces him to make an alliance with him, offering his help to ascend to the throne over his half-brother Gadevi in exchange for his assistance against Lusitania.

* LetThemDieHappy: After Gadevi's last attempt to kill him fails, Rajendra tells his agonizing father that he will send Gadevi to live in a temple where he'll be secluded but safe. Yeah, sure. As soon as the king passes away, Rajendra orders his older brother's execution, but at least the poor old man dies thinking his sons reconciled.

* EntitledBastard: Assumes for most of his life that his being the eldest legitimate son and "First Prince" means he automatically deserves the throne. He never really learns what responsibility and leadership actually means--something which is pummeled to him hard when he loses everything to Rajendra.

* MilesGloriosus: He loves to boast and delude himself that he's a much better fighter and tactician than he realy is, and takes it poorly when his troops fail to meet the standards he thinks he lives up to.

* RevengeMyopia: Which even he lampshades. He comits numerous death-penalty level offenses, gets caught red-handed, and when he's sentenced to ''one year'' of slavery (a very short term for this setting), he spits on Arslan's mercy, literally, and swears to seek out vengeance the moment he's given back his freedom. Arslan responds with a BreakingSpeech that has him look at the floor in shame.

* ParentalSubstitute: He acts as one to Etoile who is his squire and the grandchild of one of his friends. He wishes he could keep Etoile far away from the fighting

** He didn't exactly complain of his death when it was his own weapon that did him in.

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: He commits suicide when Saint Emmanuel is overrun by Parsian soldiers, either by throwing himself off the top of the Keep's tower with the rest of his followers, right in front of Etoile, in the manga, or by stabbing himself in the heart with a Dagger following a heartfelt conversation with Arslan in the anime, thanking the foreign price for his kindness towards an enemy, just in time for Etoile to enter the room and see Arslan having just apparently [[NotWhatItLooksLike stabbed her father figure to death,]].

* AttractiveBentGender: Hiromu Arakawa once drew Arslan (and Andragoras) as girls [[http://965cchikudasai.tumblr.com/post/130132418563/official-femarslan-femandragoras-by-hiromu Here's the result]].

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: {{Inverted}}. As the future Shah of Pars, Arslan is ''supposed'' to be this, in the same vein as his father [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Andragoras]], and has received instruction in sword-fighting and mounted combat from a young age, but the battle on the plains of Atropatene was his first time in a battlefield, ever, and a combination of his youth and inexperience makes him notably sub-par when compared to any of his retainers. He is capable of defending himself from {{Mooks}} and not getting completely overwhelmed when left alone in a fight, but rarely has any stand-out moment of fighting skill during his campaigns, and actually requires a bodyguard in the form of Jaswant to ensure he's not left vulnerable when Darius and the rest are fighting at the forefront of battle. To his credit, Arslan is very aware of this failing of his and has regularly been training to better himself in combat so as not to be [[TheLoad too much of a burden]] to his valued retainers, enabling him to hold off Shagad in single combat when the latter tries to take him hostage during a pitched brawl, landing a deep cut on his arm, but failing to dismount or outright defeat him.

* IceQueen: Tahamine is aloof and detached to everyone, including her own family. [[spoiler:Probably becuase neither of them ''are''. Andragoras is all but stated to have [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe forced her into becoming his queen]], stopping just short of MaritalRapeLicence until she consents, and Arslan isn't even her son, but an unknowing peasant boy raised as a public figurehead to stave off concerns until Andragoras finally gets through her iron will and makes a'proper heir' with her. Even if this makes her attitude towards Andragoras understandable, Arslan is unaware of the truth and honestly thinks of her as his mother, making her cold rejection of him an unnecessary cruelty]].

* [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend Violently Protective Boyfriend]]: [[spoiler: When the man harboring him sells him out to the Lusitanians, he makes a callous remark about Irina will be killed as well, this triggers Silvermask to go into full-on UnstoppableRage mode, killing all the Lusitanian soldiers.]]

** [[spoiler: It gets even worse, immediately following the attack, he kindles a friendship and romance with the princess of Maryam, Irina, promising once he claims his throne, he'll set her free. Once he discovers he was sold out by the man that he was being harbored by to the Lusitanians and informed they will takeover his country, all form of sweetness leaves him.]]

** Relatedly, A good deal of the earlier chapters showed the average citizen's concerns about Arslan as a SketchySuccessor to his mighty warrior father, with many assuming his disapproval and cold attitude towards him was a result of Arslan [[WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent not living up to his standards as a future king.]] After his defeat and imprisonment, Arslan starts rising to the challenge afforded to him in this crisis situation, recruiting many powerful and talented allies and assembling a large army to attack the invaders with, even achieving numerous victories against invading armies from bordering countries, all of which shows that he is indeed worthy of being a future ruler of Pars. All of this merely serves to drive Andragoras into outright hostility, even [[spoiler: exiling Arslan upon returning to take command of the army from him]], an attitude which confuses both enemies and allies around him for him becoming even ''more'' unwilling to accept Arslan now that he's finally been able to demonstrate his worth. [[spoiler:It's all but stated that Andragoras never intended for Arslan to be his heir in the first place, and once he started proving competent at the position, it merely served to make Andragoas decide that Arslan's worth as a public heir [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness was coming to an end.]]]]

* UngratefulBastard: [[spoiler: How does he greet Arslan after he breaks himself out sees that Arslan's managed to amass an impressive army and begin a similarly impressive military campaign? Exile him under the extremely flimsy pretenses of "treason",(doing his best to help their Kingdom survive in his absence) so that he can have the glory of taking back Ecbatana himself!]] Oh, and no, he doesn't even give him so much as an empty "well done". Hell, he doesn't even let Arslan visit his mother before leaving, or even ''let him spend one last night in the fort before setting out in the morning due to the late hour''.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Some translations romanize her name as "Alfreed".

* EvenEvilHasStandards: He didn’t try to harm or kill Bahman (his old teacher) and Princess Irina. Which is understandable, as Bahman taught him how to use the sword and bow and Princess Irina, was nothing but kind to him.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Translation of his name has switched between [[spoiler: Hilmes (as is in Koei's game adaptation, Kodansha's translation and in Funimation's version) and Hermes (in the Viewster translation)]].

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Translation of his name differs between Zandeh and Xandes.

* TheLoad: The least talented of his company, when his quest to free his homeland begins, all he really has to contribute is the legitimacy his name brings. To be fair, he's fully aware of this, and actively works to improve himself. A good part of the story is him [[CharacterDevelopment growing out of the scared child dependent on Daryun's strength and Narsus' mind to survive into a leader of men in his own right.]]