History Characters / TrailsSeriesEreboniaIronblood

* CharClone: He's a blond BlueBlood and was a DragonWithAnAgenda to the Noble Alliance, and proves himself a capable warrior and cunning strategist. He also is introduced as a BigBrotherMentor to Jusis similar to Quattro Bajeena, before becoming more villainous, even having Char's ChronicBackstabbingDisorder. And when he does get a HumongousMecha, it's bright gold like the Hyaku Shiki, Quattro's mech of choice in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam.]]'' Though while Char had the Hyaku Shiki when he was at his most heroic, Rufus gained El-Prado when he's at his most villainous. Further compounded in ''Reverie'', where he wears sunglasses in public and has shorter hair when he's not wearing his C mask and has access to the gold-colored Helmord G.

''Notable Groups:'' [[Characters/TrailsSeriesTheBracerGuild The Bracer Guild]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesOuroboros Ouroboros]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesJaegerCorps Jaeger Corps]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesSeptianChurch Septian Church]]\\

''Erebonian Empire:'' [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaNobility Erebonia Imperial Family and Four Great Houses]] | '''The Ironbloods''' | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaMilitary Erebonia Military]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsStaffAndInstructors Thors' Staff and Instructors]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsClassVII Thors Class VII]] ([[Characters/TrailsSeriesReanSchwarzer Rean Schwarzer]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesCrowArmbrust Crow Armbrust]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsClassVIIOriginal Original Class VII]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsClassVIINew New Class VII]]) | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsMainCampusClasses Main Campus Classes]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsBranchCampus Branch Campus]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaOthers Erebonian Civilians and Major Groups]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesImperialLiberationFront Imperial Liberation Front]]\\

!!Tropes:

''Erebonian Empire:'' [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaNobility Erebonia Imperial Family and Four Great Houses]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaChancellorOsborne Giliath Osborne]] | '''The Ironbloods''' ([[Characters/TrailsSeriesRufusAlbarea Rufus Albarea]]) | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaMilitary Erebonia Military]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsStaffAndInstructors Thors' Staff and Instructors]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsClassVII Thors Class VII]] ([[Characters/TrailsSeriesReanSchwarzer Rean Schwarzer]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesCrowArmbrust Crow Armbrust]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsClassVIIOriginal Original Class VII]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsClassVIINew New Class VII]]) | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsMainCampusClasses Main Campus Classes]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsBranchCampus Branch Campus]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaOthers Erebonian Civilians and Major Groups]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesImperialLiberationFront Imperial Liberation Front]]\\

[[folder:Rufus Albarea]]

([[Characters/TrailsSeriesRufusAlbarea See his page here]] but be warned that all spoilers are unmarked)

-->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MiyuMatsuki (Japanese, ''Cold Steel I'' and ''II''), Creator/AmiKoshimizu (Japanese, ''Cold Steel III'' onwards), Rachel Kimsey (English)

[[/folder]]

* IceMagicIsWater: Her primary element is water and her Frigid Rain Craft has her conjuring and shooting a large block of ice to do magic damage.

* ElementalHairColors: Has pale blue hair, fitting with her title as the [[RedBaron Icy Maiden]] and her primary element being [[MakingASplash water.]]

* RedOniBlueOni: Her blue hair and serious demeanor greatly contrast with Sara (who has reddish purple hair and is a more energetic if [[SenseiChan childish and immature]]) whenever the two have to team up.

* HeelFaceTurn: By the time of "Reverie", all of the original Ironbloods are on the heroes side with the implication that this time it's permanent. [[spoiler:Cedric on the other hand has joined Ouroboros as an enforcer, though he has become a little better than he was at the beginning of ''Cold Steel III''.]]

See her section on [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsClassVII Class VII's page]].

* AllegianceAffirmation: He openly works for [[EvilChancellor Osborne]] but he privately meets with and has friendly conversations with Olivier (one of the biggest obstacles to Osborne's ambitions) and [[ShipTease Kloe]] and it's not clear who he would support at the end of the day. The fact that he actively helps the SSS in ''Azure'' in the company of an agent from Calvard fuels further speculation, though given the timing that might have had to do with Osborne getting shot at around that time, leaving the Ironbloods on their own. His allegiance is fully revealed in ''Cold Steel III'' and it's towards Osborne, [[spoiler:to atone for his father's sins for what happened at Hamel.]]

([[Characters/TrailsSeriesRufusAlberea See his page here]] but be warned that all spoilers are unmarked)

''Erebonian Empire:'' [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaNobility Erebonia Imperial Family and Four Great Houses]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaChancellorOsborne Giliath Osborne]] | '''The Ironbloods''' ([[Characters/TrailsSeriesRufusAlberea Rufus Alberea]]) | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaMilitary Erebonia Military]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsStaffAndInstructors Thors' Staff and Instructors]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsClassVII Thors Class VII]] ([[Characters/TrailsSeriesReanSchwarzer Rean Schwarzer]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesCrowArmbrust Crow Armbrust]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsClassVIIOriginal Original Class VII]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsClassVIINew New Class VII]]) | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsMainCampusClasses Main Campus Classes]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsBranchCampus Branch Campus]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaOthers Erebonian Civilians and Major Groups]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesImperialLiberationFront Imperial Liberation Front]]\\

''Erebonian Empire:'' [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaNobility Erebonia Imperial Family and Four Great Houses]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaChancellorOsborne Giliath Osborne]] | '''The Ironbloods''' | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaMilitary Erebonia Military]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsStaffAndInstructors Thors' Staff and Instructors]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsClassVII Thors Class VII]] ([[Characters/TrailsSeriesReanSchwarzer Rean Schwarzer]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesCrowArmbrust Crow Armbrust]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsClassVIIOriginal Original Class VII]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsClassVIINew New Class VII]]) | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsMainCampusClasses Main Campus Classes]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaThorsBranchCampus Branch Campus]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesEreboniaOthers Erebonian Civilians and Major Groups]] | [[Characters/TrailsSeriesImperialLiberationFront Imperial Liberation Front]]\\

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rufus_albarea_sen_iii.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Rufus as Governor General]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Rufus during ''Cold Steel I'' and ''II'']]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rufus_albarea_sen.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:SPOILERS]]Rufus as a Knight of Blood and Iron https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rufus_albarea___iron_knight_s_craft_sen_iv.png[[/labelnote]]]]
%%[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:SPOILERS]]Rufus as of ''Reverie'' https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c_unmasked___s_craft_28hajimari29.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:SPOILERS]]Rufus as of ''Reverie'' https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c_unmasked_concept_art__hajimari.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:SPOILERS]]Helmord G https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gold_helmode_concept_art_28hajimari29.png[[/labelnote]]]]
-->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/DaisukeHirakawa (Japanese), Creator/DCDouglas (English)
-->'''Appearances''': ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Cold Steel]]'' | ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Cold Steel II]]'' | ''[[Anime/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteelNorthernWar Northern War]]'' | ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Cold Steel III]]'' | ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Cold Steel IV]]'' | ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsIntoReverie Reverie]]'' | ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesKuroNoKiseki Kuro II]]''

Jusis' older brother and a champion of the Noble Alliance. Also a member of the Board of Directors of Thors Military Academy. It's later revealed that he's actually an Ironblood and Osborne's right hand man. At the end of ''Cold Steel II'', he begins serving as the Governor General of Crossbell.
----
* AceCustom: [[spoiler:He ends up piloting the auric-colored Helmord G during the endgame of ''Reverie'''s main story.]]
* AffablyEvil: He maintains a formal, respectful and sophisticated manner even while opposed to the members of Class VII.
* AffectionateGestureToTheHead: [[spoiler:Once they get closer in ''Reverie'', Rufus pats Lapis' head in their shared victory quote.]]
* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:He burns every bridge he has by the end of ''IV'', throwing away his place in the nobility and openly speaking of his eventual plan to defeat Osborne and gain the power of all the Divine Knights and become a perfect immortal being. Then Rean and Crow crush him in their Knights and take away his Divine Knight, leaving him broken with no one to turn to and nobody to protect him from the fallout so he ends up in jail taking the full brunt of Osborne's and his own crimes. Subverted in that he willingly gave himself up though in order to protect Claire and Lechter from sharing that fate, as Erebonia would need them to stabilize in the aftermath.]]
* AlwaysSecondBest: Seems to regard himself as this to Rean, remarking that he and the other Ironbloods were merely his replacements to Osborne during his final boss fight in ''Cold Steel III''. He feels that despite his efforts, Osborne will always prefer the former over him due to his status as Osborne's real son, despite the fact that he served Osborne faithfully, while Rean was unaware of his relationship to the Chancellor for a good while, and upon finally learning the truth, [[ArchnemesisDad began actively opposing him]] and clearly not thinking highly of him until the end. [[spoiler:Rean going on to best him in the Rivalries seems to reinforce this, as he's left remarking that he stood no chance against his father's real son.]]
* AncestralWeapon: When facing Class VII for the last time in ''Cold Steel IV'' he uses the Holy Sword of Ishnard, a golden longsword which has been used by the Albarea family for generations and the other half to the silver Holy Sword of Elvars which is used by Jusis.
* AntagonisticGovernor: He becomes the governor-general of Crossbell after leading the occupation of the city, which resulted in his antagonizing the SSS and other members of LaResistance as the symbol of Imperial conquest. In ''Cold Steel IV, [[spoiler:he reveals that one of the primary reasons he took up the position was because he assumed (correctly) that with the state's history in the occult, it would become a likely site for the Trial Grounds for the Divine Knight El-Prado once it was annexed into Erebonia.]]
* AntiHero: [[spoiler:By ''Reverie'', while he has performed a HeelFaceTurn, he still demonstrates his trademark ruthlessness and efficiency, such as his taking credit for Olivert and Schera's disappearance to lure Class VII out to thwart an impending coup, and upon running into a lone EDF soldier, was prepared to have him tortured for information.]]
* ArmorPiercingAttack: His S-Craft in ''Cold Steel III'' and ''IV'' cancels guards and reflects before applying damage, [[{{Foil}} just like Rean's]]. [[spoiler:Sadly, players can't do this in ''Reverie'', as he has a new S-Craft, while the previous one is used by his imposter.]]
* AsleepForDays: [[spoiler:At the end of ''Reverie'', he wakes up a week after the Retributive Tower incident due to the injuries he sustained.]]
* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:He decides to be arrested by the end of ''Cold Steel IV'' as a scapegoat for Osborne's crimes and to let Claire and Lechter be free to clean up the mess post-war. By the end of ''Reverie'' though, he is this for real.]]
* BackStab: [[spoiler:Stabs Arianrhod in the back when she was already defeated and dying from her duel with Rean and Crow in their Divine Knights.]]
* BadassBiker: [[spoiler:Somehow learned how to bike during his time as governor general. He can ride the bike in the final chapter of ''Reverie'', and can optionally have Lapis riding behind him.]]
* BadassCape: His main outfits feature one combined with BadassLongcoat.
* BadassLongcoat: Has one in all of his outfits. [[spoiler: Not even his becoming C is an exception.]]
* BadassNormal: The only Ironblood that doesn't have a special ability, but manages to be the reliable leader of them.
* BaritoneOfStrength: Has the lowest voice of all the Ironbloods (next to Osborne) to emphasize his noble bearing and combat prowess.
* BarrierWarrior: [[spoiler:El-Prado has a barrier that stops most attacks.]]
* BastardAngst: [[spoiler:Reveals to suffer this after revealing the truth of his origins at the end of ''Cold Steel III''. His status as a bastard child while playing the the role as Duke Albarea's heir has given him an identity crisis as he sees his relationship with the Duke as a sham and sees Osborne as his real father. However, he's convinced that he'll be either a ReplacementGoldfish or TheUnfavorite compared to Osborne's real son Rean, despite the two not getting along for most of the series, and thus craves power to surpass Osborne as a way to vindicate himself. He even vocalizes it during his final boss fight during the Rivalries:]]
-->'''Rufus:''' [[spoiler: Finally, I will challenge my 'father' and surpass him at long last! Only then, will I be able to prove that my life has more worth than that of an unwanted bastard child. I will be the one to decide the meaning of my existence!]]
* BastardBastard: [[spoiler:He's actually an illegitimate child just like Jusis. In fact, unlike his "brother", he's not even Duke Albarea's son at all, having been born from an affair from the Helmut's brother with his wife, making him the Duke's nephew and Jusis's cousin biologically. He cements the first word of the trope when he dishonorably back-stabs Arianrhod.]]
* BastardUnderstudy: Was introduced as the star of the Noble Alliance, being well regarded even by Duke Cayenne and as his father's favorite. Turns out to have been TheMole, who set them up for failure at the hands of his true master, Osborne. [[spoiler:He also plans to try and defeat Osborne during the Rivalries as a means to surpass him, but is bested by Class VII before he could go through with it.]]
* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: At the start of ''Reverie'', he disguises himself as C and sends a message to Class VII where he takes credit for Olivert's disappearance and claims to be planning to target Heimdallr next, knowing that they would come to the capitol to investigate so that he could lure them to discover some disgruntled Imperial Army troops and EDF soldiers who were planning to mount a coup d'etat and put a stop to them.]]
* BeYourself: [[spoiler:While he teaches this towards Lapis, it's also clear that he ends up realizing that he and Lapis are so similar to one another, trying to find what their purpose in life is in ''Reverie''.]]
* {{BFS}}: In his final boss fight in ''Cold Steel IV'', he fights with the Holy Sword of Ishnard, which is nearly as long as he is tall and resembles the greatswords preferred by the Arseid and Vander style practitioners far more than the usual swords he and Jusis use for court fencing, [[spoiler:with his Divine Knight El Prado having a scaled-up version made out of Zemurian ore. The sword he favors in ''Reverie'', while not as big, is also rather long.]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: He's the person Jusis gets his love for the traditions of Erebonian knighthood from and he looks after his little brother, including persuading their father to bring him into the family in the first place. He also adopts this role for all of Class VII and will drop whatever he's doing to check up on them if they get in serious trouble. [[spoiler:It's later revealed in ''Cold Steel III'' that they're not actually brothers at all, they're cousins as Rufus' biological father is Duke Albarea's brother.]]
* BigBrotherMentor: Towards Jusis who he practically raised. Which is why Jusis is shocked that Rufus became the antithesis to everything he taught Jusis about nobility.
* BirdsOfAFeather: [[spoiler:He and Lapis form a bond due to their shared goal of finding out what their purpose in life is.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: In his first appearance, he gave off the air of an affable ReasonableAuthorityFigure to Class VII in sharp contrast to his aloof younger brother and [[AristocratsAreEvil classist asshole of a father]], and even when serving as an antagonist in ''Cold Steel II'', he came off as ALighterShadeOfBlack than the other members of the Noble Alliance, especially Duke Cayenne and his father. ''Cold Steel III'' onwards however confirms this was all an act and that underneath the affable persona lay a very ruthless man who is primarily motivated by self-interests, [[spoiler:and DaddyIssues,]] who was willing to stoop to any low to achieve his goals, regardless of who may get caught in the crossfire. [[spoiler:He thankfully [[TookALevelInKindness gets better]] by ''Reverie''.]]
* BlackSwordsAreBetter:[[spoiler:His main weapon in ''Reverie'' is a longsword with a black blade.]]
* BladeSpam: In ''Cold Steel III'', one of his crafts has him thrusting his sword at his opponents at high speeds before he finishes with a dash attack.
* BlowYouAway: [[spoiler:His default Master Quartz in ''Reverie'', Cherub, is of the wind element, which is also the secondary element of his ARCUS II]].
* BlueBlood: He's Duke Albarea's successor and they're one of the Four Great Houses.
* BoomerangBigot: Despite being born into one of the most powerful noble families in TheEmpire, he works with Osborne to dismantle the nobility as he came to see the entire class system as a sham [[spoiler:due to [[AbusiveParents Duke Albarea]] treating him as a tool to improve and maintain the Albarea family reputation despite him being born from AFamilyAffair between his brother and wife, while treating Jusis, who was ''his real son'', as TheUnfavorite.]]
* BoringButPractical: [[spoiler:His ''Soul Eater'' Craft can impede arts, and can restore some of the party's HP and CP after doing damage all for the low cost of 30CP and a rather low cooldown.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler:After he loses the Rivalry and Rean absorbs El-Prado, he has a breakdown before accepting his loss, only for him to mourn that in the end, a fake adopted son like him is no match for the biological sons of the father that he was with (Duke Albarea) and the father he wants the most (Osborne).]]
* BridalCarry: [[spoiler:Carries Lapis like this when he finds her sleeping at Jingo's airship in chapter 3 after he had time to think about his thoughts on his life when he and Lapis had their talk about who Rufus is.]]
* BrokenAce: At first glance, Rufus seems to have it all. The handsome heir to [[BlueBlood one of the Four Great Houses,]] a MasterSwordsman, a highly intelligent strategist, administrator and charismatic leader of the Ironbloods who became the Noble Alliance's Chief of Staff and eventual Governor General of Crossbell. But there's more to him deep down. [[spoiler:He's suffering a major identity crisis and InferioritySuperiorityComplex as a result of being a BastardBastard with DaddyIssues, which lead him to crave power in order to surpass Osborne as a way for validation, leading him to more villainous behavior by the third and fourth Cold Steel games.]]
* BrokenPedestal: At the end of ''Cold Steel II'', he broke Jusis opinion of him. Less because of Rufus being a part of the Noble Alliance and more because of him revealing himself to be an Ironblood, one that wants to get rid of the noble system in the empire, and him governing Crossbell instead of Bareahard and also not fulfilling his duty as a board member of Thors, waiting for Jusis to graduate. Jusis even admits to Rean in the epilogue that he doesn't even know Rufus anymore if players talk to him after school. [[spoiler: When he kills Arianhrod after her defeat, Jusis is so disgusted he stops calling him 'brother' altogether, addressing him as simply 'Rufus Albarea'. By ''Reverie'' however, the pedestal is [[RebuiltPedestal slowly back to normal]], as Jusis is back to calling him 'brother' after seeing he is not the same as before]].
%%* CainAndAbel: The Cain to Jusis's Abel, [[spoiler:though by blood, they're cousins]].
* CallBack: [[spoiler:Rufus, as C, tells Lapis in ''Reverie'' to join him since their interests align in finding out their mission in life. At the end of the game, Lapis throws this back at him after surviving his ZeroApprovalGambit.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Considering how much he changes over the course of the Erebonia arc and ''Reverie'', he is up there as one of the characters with this trope in full effect. In ''Cold Steel I'', he is introduced as Jusis' older brother and someone that is kind and behaves himself as a noble should, with elegance and knowledge. In ''Cold Steel II'', this image is still there up until the end, when he reveals himself as an Ironblood who hates his father. In both ''Cold Steel III'' and ''Cold Steel IV'' [[spoiler:he slowly lets his own goals change his noble ways, with him laughing at Juna and Crossbell's situation, helping Osborne with the Twilight, not giving much thought at Millium, his fellow Ironblood, dying, and backstabbing Arianrhod after she was already weak and defeated by Rean and Crow. After he was defeated by Class VII and learning the hard way how he lost because he always thought he would be better without the help of anyone, he lets himself be arrested so Lechter and Claire can be free and clean the post-war mess in the empire. By the start of ''Reverie'', someone came to kill him while he was in jail, making him flee for his life and investigate what's happening. In this game, we learn that Rufus has been going through an identity issue caused by his abusive father and his empty role in the noble families, which made him try to surpass Osborne, the man he considered his real father, as a way to know why he was born and what's his purpose in life. In this small journey, he made new friends in the form of Lapis, Swin, and Nadia, and together with them he learned to be himself and not seek to surpass his "father" as a way to feel his identity validated. The result is someone that is willing to atone for his past crimes and being much more kind than he was in the previous games, as he travels around the continent together with Lapis, Swin and Nadia.]] His character in ''Cold Steel I'' and ''Reverie'' can be seen as two completely different people.
* CharClone: Lacks the mask, sunglasses, and red color scheme and wasn't seen with a HumongousMecha but still qualifies. He's a blond BlueBlood and was a DragonWithAnAgenda to the Noble Aliance, and proves himself a capable warrior and cunning strategist. He also is introduced as a BigBrotherMentor to Jusis similar to Quattro Bajeena, before becoming more villainous, [[spoiler:even having Char's ChronicBackstabbingDisorder. And when he does get a HumongousMecha, it's bright gold like the Hyaku Shiki, Quattro's mech of choice in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam.]]'' Though while Char had the Hyaku Shiki when he was at his most heroic, Rufus gained El-Prado when he's at his most villainous]]. Further compounded in ''Reverie'', [[spoiler:where he wears sunglasses in public and has shorter hair when he's not wearing his C mask and has access to the gold-colored Helmord G.]]
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler:He ultimately ends up betraying both the Noble Alliance and Ouroboros. He was also planning to betray Osborne as well before he's defeated by Rean and Crow, although in this case, it's less "betrayal" and more "surpassing his father".]]
* ClarkKenting: [[spoiler:His disguise in the final chapter of ''Reverie'' has him wearing sunglasses and nothing else. Somehow it does manage to fool the Crossbell populace.]]
* ClassyCravat: Wears a magenta one in his first outfit, then replaces it with a thinner crimson one as part of his uniform as the Governor General of Crossbell. [[spoiler:His outfit as C also has a white one, though it's somewhat obscured by the collar of his trenchcoat]].
* CodeName: Much like his fellow Ironbloods, he has one. His is Jade Rook. [[spoiler:In ''Reverie'', he decides to get Crow's previous codename C as a way to hide himself while investigating why there is a fake Rufus in Crossbell.]]
* CombatPragmatist: Despite the fact that he's supposed to be of noble bearing and should fight with grace and dignity as one befitting of his status, he values efficiency over honor and does not fight fair. He even pulls off one [[spoiler:in ''Reverie'' where he uses his ARCUS II in his duel against Duvalie to distract her.]]
* ContinuityCameo: Appears as a Hollow Core AI voice DLC pack in ''Kuro II'' under the name "R.A.". According to the DLC's description, he is put under surveillance by the CID after the events of ''Reverie''. [[spoiler:He also makes a voice-only appearance after the final battle of ''Kuro II''.]]
* ContrivedCoincidence: In ''Cold Steel IV'', [[spoiler:the day that Class VII decides to visit Crossbell is the day that he obtains his Divine Knight.]]
* CoolMask: [[spoiler:Wears one as C in ''Reverie''. He's shown to have a spare in case his current one breaks, but prefers to not wear one, as they make it hard to breathe.]]
* CoolShades: [[spoiler:His disguise in the final chapter of ''Reverie'' has him wearing sunglasses. He points out that he would stand out a lot more if he wore a mask and Crossbell citizens can't exactly find out that he's still around the area.]]
* CoolSword: His court fencing sword looks quite nice. By ''Cold Steel IV'' he also brings out his AncestralWeapon, the Holy Sword of Ishnard, a golden sword that's [[{{BFS}} almost as long as he is tall]] [[spoiler:with a scaled up version made of Zemurian Ore used by his Divine Knight, El-Prado. [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c_s_sword_concept_art__hajimari__1.jpg The sword he uses in Reverie also counts.]]]]
* CostumeEvolution: Goes through this the most out of all the Ironbloods:
** Throughout the first two games, he's shown wearing a green double breasted overcoat with gold trimmings and a brown belt worn diagonally across the chest over a white dress shirt, a light purple cravat, with a blue cape on his shoulders, green breeches and brown boots.
** After revealing his true identity as an Ironblood and becoming the Governor General of Crossbell, he wears a PaletteSwap version of his original outfit that's mostly white and dark blue in place of the original green color, the cravat and chest belt are bright crimson, his boots and dress shirt being black.
** By ''Cold Steel IV'' he wears his Knight of Blood and Iron uniform that includes a skintight black shirt and trousers with a white longcoat with brown pauldrons with the sleeves rolled up.
** Most extreme is [[spoiler:his outfit as C in Reverie which includes a black trenchcoat with violet linings and a hood and golden pauldrons, boots of a similar color scheme white gloves and slacks, and his face obscured by an ornate black mask that vaguely resembled a knight's helm. He looses the mask and hood upon having his identity revealed, revealing that his hair has been cut short and occasionally wearing sunglasses.]]
* CrazyPrepared: [[spoiler:Hoo boy, where to begin in ''Reverie''. For starters, he has assets scattered throughout the empire and tells both Swin and Nadia that the assets that were confiscated from him were just a small portion. He also prepared clothes for Lapis to hide her joints and plants a transmitter in her to make sure they don't lose her. He has a spare mask in case one breaks, a RAMDA so he can explore with no one spotting him and can share the effects to other people as shown with Swin in his chapter 2 and the entire party in chapter 3, and finally he has sunglasses for when he wants to walk around in public. Randy calls him out on how prepared he is for any situation in the final chapter. That's not even on getting his golden Helmord that was loaded alongside Rean and Crow's Tyrfing's aboard the Arseille II.]]
* CriticalHitClass: [[spoiler:One of his Brave Orders, Criminal's Raid, allows him to increase the critical hit rate of the rest of the party. Meanwhile, his default primary Master Quartz, Cherub, increases the critical hit rate of whoever wears it.]]
* CurbStompBattle: The fight with him in the first chapter of ''Cold Steel II'' will, no matter what, result in him defeating all of your team with his S-Craft. The most you can do is reduce his HP to a certain threshold to earn his respect.
* DareToBeBadass: [[spoiler:After Rufus gets incapacitated in his FinalBoss fight against Zoa Gilstein, he tells Lapis, who is about to go towards him while she's connected to the Elysium system to disrupt Ishmelga Rean, to continue the fight and show him something "the one and only Lapis Rosenburg" can do.]]
* DarkIsNotEvil: Played with in [[spoiler:''Reverie'' where the only things dark about him are his clothes and his sword but it's a good mirror compared to his clone self who wears predominantly white clothes, signifying the LightIsNotGood side of him for his actions in the previous games.]]
* DashAttack: After thrusting his sword at high speeds with his Soul Eater Craft, he does a dash and slice with his sword slicing upwards.
* DeadpanSnarker: Despite his usually refined mannerisms, he proves he can be as sharp tongued as his brother at times, as demonstrated with his reply to Duke Cayenne's request for assistance during the climax of ''Cold Steel II'':
--> '''Cayenne''': Y-You... You did come to help me, didn't you?
--> '''Rufus''': As a commoner might put it... "In your dreams."
* DeathFakedForYou: [[spoiler:At the end of ''Reverie'', the man named "Rufus Albarea" is dead when the Retributive Tower was destroyed with him inside it according to Olivert. Olivert then asks who the person he's conversing with is, jokingly referencing how the wandering bard Olivier Lenheim is a dead ringer for him and how the man before Olivert may be a dead ringer for Rufus Albarea.]]
* DeathFromAbove: [[spoiler: His S-Craft in ''Reverie'', ''Blutgang Rain'', ends with him forming a magic circle above the enemy before launching a StormOfBlades at them.]]
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:Downplayed; at the end of ''Reverie'''s main story, he muses that he missed his chance of meeting the goddess after saving the world with a ZeroApprovalGambit, since Lloyd, Zeit, Jusis, Lapis, Swin, and Nadia rescued him before he could meet his end.]]
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: [[spoiler:One of his character arcs in ''Reverie'' is finding himself after he lost everything in ''Cold Steel IV''.]]
* {{Determinator}}: [[spoiler:While he was doing his ZeroApprovalGambit speech, it turns out that he was suffering from multiple injuries from when he was incapacitated by Zoa Gilstein ''and'' from the burns due to the Retributive Tower charging up its divine lightning. The fact that he makes a stoic face delivering his speech while suffering these injuries makes him this trope. Olivert even muses that had Lloyd and his team been a second late, he would have died from the burn injuries alone. And this was ''before'' he was about to be vaporized by the laser itself.]]
* {{Deuteragonist}}: [[spoiler:Of ''Reverie''. While he doesn't have as much screentime as Lloyd, he's the one driving the plot forward, and his CharacterDevelopment plays a major role in the story.]]
* DisappearedDad: [[spoiler:His true biological father was Duke Albarea's younger brother who had an affair with his wife. Helmut apparently banished him shortly afterwards, making it unlikely Rufus had ever even met him.]]
* TheDogBitesBack: His giving Class VII his support in arresting Duke Albarea for razing Celdic is a retroactive example, as the later games clarify that [[spoiler:despite originally seeming like [[ParentalFavoritism the Duke's favorite child,]] Rufus saw his relationship with Helmut as a shame as the latter only kept him around for appearances, as admitting he was actually born from AFamilyAffair between his brother and unfaithful wife would have been a great blow to his reputation, and primarily saw him as more of a tool to improve House Albarea's reputation than anything else.]]
* TheDragon: Initially appears as one to Duke Cayenne, but...
** DragonWithAnAgenda: It's later revealed that he's actually working for Osborne and later helps the latter to subvert the power of the Noble Alliance after the events of the civil war. [[spoiler:He is also technically this to Osborne, as he believes the best way to show his appreciation for his "father" is by surpassing him.]]
* DramaticUnmask: [[spoiler:During the end of Act 2 of his and Rean's route in ''Reverie'', Jusis ends up cutting off his mask, revealing his identity as C, and with him revealing that the Rufus Albarea who re-occupied Crossbell as its Supreme Leader is an imposter.]]
* DualBoss: [[spoiler:He fights alongside Alberich at the Tuatha de Danaan in ''Cold Steel IV''.]]
* DuelBoss: [[spoiler:He ends up dueling against Duvalie in chapter 4 of ''Reverie''.]]
* DuelingPlayerCharacters: [[spoiler:The trope name itself is a spoiler for him but he ends up dueling against Rean in ''Reverie'' in their chapter 2 with the game actually switching perspectives of who is in the player's control.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:While he can no longer atone for his sins as "Rufus Albarea", he can finally go on a journey of self discovery without anything tying him down as himself. He ends up being content with it as he becomes "the attendant to a doll."]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: For all his ruthlessness, it's shown that he does genuinely care for his younger brother Jusis, and a good chunk of his resentment towards Duke Albarea was being disgusted by his unfair treatment of him [[spoiler:despite Jusis being his real son while Rufus was born from an affair from his wife and brother.]]
** He also deeply respects Osborne and sees him as ParentalSubstitute, referring to him as father at several points.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** The actions of his father disgust him and he gives the protagonists his blessing in bringing him to justice. [[spoiler:Considering his back story, he was already long disgusted by his father's actions from the get-go.]]
** [[spoiler:Even as he's become an unambiguous villain in ''Cold Steel IV'', even ''he'' is furious with Prince Cedric for unilaterally deciding to murder everyone aboard the Pantagruel, and openly rebukes him for it.]]
* ExperiencedProtagonist: [[spoiler:At the minimum age of 29, ''Reverie'' gives him the title of oldest protagonist in the ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries''.]]
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:He was fine being blown up by the huge beam raining down on the Retributive Tower, even considering it a fitting end given how he spent most of his life without a clear sense of purpose and committed all kinds of atrocities as a result. While the simulated vision has him dead, he ends up being alive due to Lloyd and company coming back for him.]]
* AFamilyAffair: [[spoiler:Was born as the result of one between Duke Albarea's wife and his brother.]]
* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo: [[spoiler:Is introduced as Jusis' half-brother. Just before his boss fight at the end of the third game, Rufus reveals that he was actually conceived from an affair between Helmut's wife and brother, making him the Duke's nephew and Jusis' cousin in reality.]]
* FantasticFightingStyle: He is a master of Imperial Court Fencing, which he also taught to Jusis.
* TheFinalTemptation: [[spoiler:At the beginning of the final chapter of ''Reverie'' when facing his clone, his clone offers to step aside to let Rufus become the man who would unite Zemuria under his control to finally surpass his father. For a moment, Rufus looks like he's about to accept the offer until Lapis calls out his name and after remembering their conversation at Jingo's airship, he tells his clone that he can shove it.]]
* {{Foil}}: To Jusis, naturally. Rufus is presented as the sort of noble that his little brother has always looked up to and always wanted to become. [[spoiler:And then it turns out he actually suffers from the same BastardAngst that Jusis has dealt with his whole life, making the similarities between them closer. However, while Jusis is able to forge his own identity and purpose through his friends in Class VII, Rufus instead seeks vindication through a pursuit of more and more power, and essentially latching onto Osborne as a replacement father figure.]]
** By ''Cold Steel IV'', Rean ends up being a foil to Rufus where they have almost the same circumstances but ended up very differently. [[spoiler:Both are the adopted older brothers to their younger siblings, both are Awakeners, both are raised by a noble family, both use swords as their weapons, and both have a relationship with Osborne. The differences however are that while Rean ends up loving his adopted parents despite being of commoner birth, Rufus thinks of his relationship with Duke Albarea as a sham despite being of noble birth from his mother's side; while Rean took the trials to become a Divine Knight with his friends inadvertently, Rufus took the trial by himself and intentionally seek out the Divine Knight by his lonesome; Rean is a practitioner of the eastern style of swordsmanship while Rufus practices the western court fencing; Elise is very loyal to Rean and falls in love with him, while Jusis ends up seeing Rufus as a Broken Pedestal; finally Rean is the biological son of Osborne but at the same time is very estranged with his father while Rufus seeks approval from Osborne to be his son while knowing that in the end, Osborne still loves his real son.]]
** And by ''Reverie'', [[spoiler:he is very similar to how Rean used to be in terms of doing everything alone, even sacrificing himself in order to save other people.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: There's a lot more to him than meets the eye but the game is very subtle at giving out the clues until TheReveal happens:
** Never really lords his noble status too much despite being the Chief of Staff of the Noble Alliance, only gives constructive criticisms to both Carl and Claire, and even praises a minor noble like Baron Schwarzer. While at first it paints him as a NiceGuy, it also foreshadows that he's not nearly as loyal to the cause as he first may seem.
** The biggest hint is in the second game where after Rean is taken in by the Noble Alliance, Rufus takes the time to apologize for what happened at Ymir at the beginning of the game and Baron Schwarzer demands to know why Rufus would even join the Noble Alliance in the first place.
** And then there's him giving Class VII the go-ahead to arrest his dad with Fie claiming that Rufus would actually benefit having both Duke Albarea's forces and Class VII take each other out with Rufus claiming that is not the case. And then there's him telling Aurelia and Wallace to go back to Heimdallr after the latter two criticize Rufus as to what's happening at Eastern Erebonia with him luring the two away by making them fight against the 3rd and 4th Armored Divisions. That's because he needs Class VII to go and rescue the royal family, distract everyone else with the Infernal Castle, and secure and pick up Osborne, and destroy the credibility of the Noble Alliance from the top and within.
** In ''Reverie'', [[spoiler:his identity as C is one. C uses the same type of court fencing as Rufus and also has some noble bearing whenever he fights. He is also familiar with the workings of combat shells, is wealthy enough to forge a contract with Swin and Nadia, and managed to put his hand on at least 2 RAMDAs. It's no surprise that when the mask breaks, it reveals that C is Rufus.]]
*** In addition, [[spoiler:C's orbment has fixed slots of wind and mirage, the two elements Rufus favored in previous games, as well thematically fitting Jusis's own slots of wind and space, and is notably NOT time, the element you'd expect to go with the dark warrior motif of C hinting of his true identity and that C's dark garb is just a facade.]]
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: [[spoiler:Rufus claims his upbringing as an unwanted bastard son is the reason why he'll do anything to win the Rivalries and become the most powerful man in the world, all to validate his existence. Class VII points out that even if Duke Albarea never truly loved him, Rufus still could have formed a bond with Jusis and the Ironbloods to fill in that void, but he chose to shut them out in favor of his own selfish ambitions.]]
* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
** [[spoiler:His Divine Knight, El Prado is shown to have the ability to project a powerful barrier which he used to fend off New Class VII's Soldats in Mishelam, as well as when Roselia tried to attack him in retaliation for Lianne's death. He does not use this ability at all during the Divine Knight battles.]]
** [[spoiler:During the cutscene at the end of his duel against Duvalie in ''Reverie'', he'll cast the Ivory Nail art on her to hold her in place regardless of whether players have equipped him with the necessary quartz to use said Art or not.]]
* GeniusBruiser: Duke Cayenne left almost everything in regards to running Noble Alliance up to him and as he shows against Class VII in ''Cold Steel II'', it's clear that he knows his way around a fight. He was the one who taught Jusis how to use a sword after all.
* GracefulLoser: [[spoiler:After losing his Rivalry, he recognizes Class VII's strength and states that he's proud to have a hand in making their class. He also lets Jusis punch him, knowing he deserves it.]]
* GreatEscape: [[spoiler:An offscreen moment in ''Reverie'' as he was fine being imprisoned when suddenly, someone wanted to kill him and then finds out that there's another Rufus running around out in the open. He then breaks out to investigate what is going on.]]
* HatesTheirParent: [[spoiler:Although he's raised as though he's the son of Helmut, it's clear that he has no love for him due to Helmut's messed up way of keeping his biological son at arms length just because Jusis has commoner blood in him and has considered Osborne as his true father.]]
* HealThyself: [[spoiler:His Soul Eater Craft, restores some of the party's HP and CP after doing damage.]]
* HeroesPreferSwords: [[spoiler:The fact that he becomes a hero in ''Reverie'' is a spoiler by itself. He's the second protagonist of the ''Trails'' franchise to wield a sword as his weapon.]]
* HighCollarOfDoom: Most of his outfits have rather pronounced collars. [[spoiler:The doom part is downplayed with his outfit as C, as that is when he is at his most heroic.]]
* HumongousMecha: [[spoiler:For ''Cold Steel IV'', he becomes the Awakener of the Auric Divine Knight, El-Plado. In ''Reverie'', he pilots a custom gold Helmord.]]
* HyperCompetentSidekick: During the CivilWar, he proved to be a far more capable warrior, leader, and strategist than his father or Duke Cayenne while acting as the Noble Alliance's chief of staff. Sadly for them and the Alliance in general, he turned out to be the MoleInCharge working to sabotage them from within at the behest of his real master, Osborne.
* IHatePastMe: [[spoiler:His robot self acts like how he would in the past. He ends up hating how he was trying to find his purpose in life by trying to surpass Osborne just to feel the love from a parent. He ends up moving on from this thanks to his conversation with Lapis and slices his fake, saying goodbye to his previous self in the process.]]
* IHaveNoSon: [[spoiler:Inverted in his case but still played straight. After knowing that Jusis is treated like crap despite Jusis being an illegitimate son of Duke Albarea while Rufus isn't even related to Duke Albarea by blood, he disowns him in secret and considers Osborne to be his true father.]]
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: [[spoiler:''Reverie'' reveals that he got jealous of Jusis thanks to Class VII being there for him. By the end of the game, he ends up getting some in the form of Swin, Nadia, and Lapis.]]
* InASingleBound: He's capable of jumping from one ship in the air to another, as shown in ''Cold Steel II'' when the Infernal Castle first shows up. [[spoiler:And in ''Reverie'', he jumps from the fence at Himmel Cemetery to Jingo's airship at the end of Chapter 2 of both his and Rean's route while carrying Lapis in his arm.]]
* InTheBack: Slashes Vita from behind before killing her familiar Grianos during the climax at the Infernal Castle. [[spoiler: Then fatally wounds Arianrhod this way when she tries to defect in Cold Steel IV.]]
* InTheHood: [[spoiler:As his C disguise, he wears his hood on top of wearing his mask to hide his hair.]]
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: [[spoiler:Much of his issues are linked to his anguish about him not being the real son of his fathers.]]
* InstantExpert: [[spoiler:He's able to effectively pilot his Divine Knight the moment he obtains it and curb stomps Juna, Kurt, Ash, and Musse in their soldats despite it being his first time. He even has a weapon already equipped unlike Rean who started out with nothing. Of course as seen when Rean himself was first starting out, knowing how to use a Divine Knight doesn't compare to actually being tested in battle and he's completely destroyed in his duel with Rean who has two years and several wars worth of experience piloting Valimar where as Rufus only just obtained his Knight in the final game of the saga.]]
* IntergenerationalFriendship: [[spoiler:He's a man around 30 years old, and his friends in ''Reverie'' are Lapis (a living doll who looks like a little girl) and Swin and Nadia (both teenagers).]]
* InvisibilityCloak: [[spoiler: ''Reverie'' reveals that he took some of the RAMDA units taken from the captured Hercules members in ''Cold Steel III'' for himself, with him lending some to Swin, Nadia, and Lapis to let them sneak around while trying to uncover the identity of his imposter who declared himself Supreme Leader of Crossbell.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: His goals in ''Cold Steel IV'' amount to [[spoiler:wanting to defeat Osborne in the Rivalries. Not because he has any particular use for the Great One's power, purely because he wants to be able to declare himself superior to his self-proclaimed father.]]
* JackOfAllStats: [[spoiler:He's very well-rounded as a playable character that players can build him with any kind of preference and he'll do really well with it. In fact, the players complaint about him is that he's got too many useful tools at his disposal.]]
* KickTheDog: Gains a few as he TookALevelInJerkass from ''Cold Steel III'' forward:
** When Campanella reveals the Birdcage situation which results in Juna going into a HeroicBSOD he smirks for a bit before walking away like nothing happened despite his role in it.
** Shows barely any reaction to [[spoiler: Millium's HeroicSacrifice]] in contrast to Claire and Lechter who were both so shocked and saddened by it [[spoiler:that it eats away at them throughout ''Cold Steel IV'', and they're nearly DrivenToSuicide upon their final defeat. If the player brings Jusis to the first battle against El-Prado, he'll ask Rufus if Millium's sacrifice was worth it. Rufus coldly says it was worth it for the sake of his own ambitions, even knowing that Jusis was particularly close to Millium.]]
** [[spoiler: Soon after getting his hands on the Auric Knight]] he sees two of his soldiers who had just been beaten by Class VII and refers to them as disappointments. When the two offer to assist him in battle he outright calls them useless and threatens to kill them if they intervene.
** [[spoiler: Fatally stabs a defeated and defenseless Arianrhod InTheBack to steal her Divine Knight's core.]] Everyone who witnessed this act declared it and he were [[ThisIsUnforgivable Unforgivable.]]
* LackOfEmpathy: Rufus is a man of many skills and talents. Unfortunately, after revealing his true colors as Osborne's right-hand man, it's made clear compassion is not one of them:
** When Juna goes through a HeroicBSOD upon learning about the SSS being [[GildedCage locked away in the Bird Cage,]] he merely smirks and walks away like nothing happened, despite his role in it.
** Throughout the finale of ''Cold Steel III'', he appears totally unphased at [[spoiler:releasing the Curse of Erebonia throughout the Empire and triggering a bloody war against Calvard, and barely bats an eye at the fact that they were about to sacrifice Altina, ''a fourteen-year-old girl'' who is the younger sister of one of their other members, to forge the SwordOfPlotAdvancement]]. By contrast, Claire and Lechter are shown to be highly reluctant throughout the whole affair and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone come to deeply regret their part in it]]. 
** When [[spoiler:Millium [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices herself to become the Sword of the End]] in place of Altina]], he shows barely any reaction to the sight, [[spoiler:and would even write it off as a necessary step for his ambitions if Jusis is brought along when he first summons El-Prado, despite knowing that she and Jusis were rather close to each other]]. By contrast, Claire and Rufus were deeply shocked and saddened by the sight— [[spoiler:to the point of being DrivenToSuicide]].
** Whereas Claire and Lechter were shown to feel deeply reluctant and guilty throughout ''Cold Steel IV'' [[spoiler:over the inevitable bloodshed from Operation Jormungandr, to the point that they saw themselves BeyondRedemption and were DrivenToSuicide,]] Rufus was more concerned with [[spoiler:trying to win the Rivalries to validate his existence]] and for the most part carried on in his usual manner like nothing happened.
* LaserGuidedKarma:
** [[spoiler:All his plotting as an Ironblood ends up amounting to nothing upon his defeat at the Empyreal Fortress. He then decides to turn himself in and be tried for all the Ironbloods' crimes in order to let Claire and Lechter go free and work to clean up the mess they all made.]]
** In ''Reverie'', ironically, [[spoiler:he is attacked on the back by Ishmelga's arrows while protecting Lapis, in a very similar way to how he stabbed Arianrhod.]]
* LateArrivalSpoiler: Due to ''Creator/{{Falcom}}'' celebrating their 40th anniversary, [[spoiler:Falcom doesn't even hide the fact that Rufus is C who is carrying Lapis.]]
* LegacyCharacter: [[spoiler:Becomes the second character to use the alias C as leader of the Imperial Liberation Front after Crow Armbrust.]]
* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: [[spoiler:Fights against Class VII in ''Cold Steel IV'' without setting up anything that would allow him to cheat since he felt that El-Prado with Argreion's power is more than enough to match Valimar, Ordine, and the rest of the soldats. This comes back to bite him when he loses the fight.]]
* LightEmUp: [[spoiler: When he is PromotedToPlayable in ''Reverie'', he has Mirage as his primary element.]]
* LightIsNotGood: Blond hair and IcyBlueEyes, and he starts wearing a white uniform upon becoming Governor General of Crossbell after revealing his status as the Ironblood's primary member [[spoiler: and would go on to become the Awakener of the Auric Divine Knight with a golden sword to match]]. He is also shown to be the most ruthless and least sympathetic of the Ironbloods, showing little regard for the damage caused by Osborne's plans, starting off with his total lack of reaction to Juna's breakdown over the SSS' imprisonment in the Crossbell chapter of Cold Steel 3. [[spoiler:And he gets worse over time, showing little reaction to Millum's HeroicSacrifice, stabbing Arianrhod InTheBack, and having no qualms over triggering the Great Twilight, whereas Claire and Lechter are uncomfortable with it from the start and almost DrivenToSuicide from guilt.]] [[spoiler:He gets better in ''Reverie'' where he becomes this trope's [[DarkIsNotEvil opposite]].
* LimitBreak: His S-Craft in ''Cold Steel II'' is Eternal Ruination, while in ''Cold Steel III'' and ''IV'', it's Agrios Calibur. [[spoiler:For ''Reverie'', whether masked as C or unmasked as Rufus, his S-Craft is Blutgang Rain. Finally, his finisher attack in mecha battles is Golden Caliber, and his unite attack is Shining Edge.]]
* MagicKnight:
** Being the the one who taught Jusis how to fight, he is even better than his younger brother. Many of his crafts are improved versions of Jusis' own and he also tends to fire off high level arts in his boss fights.
** [[spoiler:As El-Prado's pilot, he can cast the EX Art Divine Arc, being the only enemy Divine Knight to use one along with their crafts in a boss battle.]]
** [[spoiler:Of the three protagonists of ''Reverie'', he is the only one whose weapons and self buff craft give a boost to AST along with STR in contrast to Rean and Lloyd's whose equipment and Crafts only boost their physical stats. He also has the highest ATS stat and EP pool of the three, along with being the only one of them who has a regular craft that does magic damage (''Renegade Edge'') and a Brave order focused on Arts support in ''Dark Requiem''.]]
* MasterSwordsman: We don't see it in ''Cold Steel'' but it's strongly implied. In ''Cold Steel II'' he gets a chance to show it off by singlehandedly taking on most of Class VII and winning at Ymir and later killing [[{{Familiar}} Grianos]] with a single blow.
* MirrorMatch: [[spoiler:Subverted as while they look alike, Rufus'a attire and hairstyle is different from his clone who is wearing a red version of his governor general uniform. Their S-Crafts are different as well.]]
* MoleInCharge: Is one to the Noble Alliance, acting as it's Chief of Staff for most of the second game before revealing himself to be an Ironblood working for Chancellor Osborne tasked with weakening it from within.
* MoreDespicableMinion: Shows traces of this in ''IV''. While Osborne is shown to be a WellIntentionedExtremist who is taking part in the Rivalries [[spoiler:because he genuninely wishes to see the Curse ended]] Rufus shows he's mostly interested in [[ItsAllAboutMe his own advancement]] and gains several KickTheDog moments. [[spoiler: He gets better by ''Reverie''.]]
* MrFanservice: [[spoiler:Putting him in his swimsuit costume, a ''speedo'', reveals that he is ripped.]]
* NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech: [[spoiler:Delivers this towards his simulacrum self, finally letting go of his obsessions to surpass his father to find meaning in his existence.]]
--> [[spoiler:'''Simulacrum Rufus:''' I trust that you have your answer? Of course, there was only ever one to give.]]
--> [[spoiler:'''Rufus:''' Indeed there was. (pulls out his sword, surprising his other self) I am me, and I am NOT you. You have been frozen in time before the Empyreal Fortress' fall, but I am here in the present.]]
--> [[spoiler:'''Simulacrum Rufus:''' What!?]]
--> [[spoiler:'''Rufus:''' I moved past my obsession with overcoming my father long ago. I know now him as he was: a man who loved deeply and achieved what he set out to do. If you know him any other way, then you haven't the right to call yourself 'perfection'. Begone, impostor--abominable specter of my past crimes. You are not needed in Crossbell's new future nor in the Zemuria of tomorrow. My patience for your delusional view of my father's potential, so brazenly articulated using my face, wears thin.]]
* NobleTopEnforcer: Was this to the Noble Alliance while secretly being the MoleInCharge, being much more affable and capable than either his father or Duke Cayenne. Subverted when working for Osborne, where he shows his more unsavory side as Governor General of Crossbell.
* NotMeThisTime: [[spoiler:His role in ''Reverie'' is trying to figure out who the "Rufus Albarea" running around in Crossbell is. He's also accused of kidnapping both Olivert and Schera, though in this case, he himself took credit for it to further his purposes, and only reveals that he didn't do it at the end of Chapter 2.]]
* NotTheIntendedUse: [[spoiler:He plants a tracker at Lapis to make sure she doesn't get lost as she's very important in his journey in ''Reverie''. He never expected that he was going to use the tracker to find her among a pile of dolls that look like Lapis.]]
* OneLetterName: [[spoiler:In ''Reverie'', he takes on the C moniker to lure Class VII to Heimdallr so he can help them out in his own way while trying to investigate what's going on and why there's another "him" out there. It's implied in ''Kuro'' that he's the one who sent the Arkride Solutions Office about a warning that will happen on the day of Calvard's independence in the final chapter though ''Kuro II'' confirms that particular C is different from Rufus. He does ultimately show up at the end of ''Kuro II'' as a voice.]]
* OneManArmy: Kicks the ass of ''all of Class VII'' when he's fighting in ''Cold Steel II''.
* OneHandedZweihander: His first sword was of a reasonable enough length to be used with one hand; the others he used were less so:
** By his final boss fight in ''Cold Steel IV'' he's wielding [[AncestralWeapon the Holy Sword of Ishnard]]. He wields it one handed like his usual court fencing swords, despite it being as long as he is tall, rivaling the [[{{BFS}} greatswords]] preferred by the Arseid and Vander styles [[spoiler:with his Divine Knight El-Prado wielding a similarly large sword singlehandedly]].
** [[spoiler:His sword in ''Reverie'' is noticably longer than his first one, with the pommel shown to reach his chest when he performs a SwordPlant at the end of his victory quote. He still wields it with one hand in all but one of his Crafts, as he did with his original court fencing sword.]]
* PaletteSwap: His uniform as the Governor General of Crossbell is virtually identical to his original outfit from the first two games, but with the original solid green color scheme replaced by a mix of white and dark blue, the white dress shirt he wore underneath it along with his brown boots replaced with black ones, and his original magenta cravat and the brown sash across his chest replaced by red ones.
** [[spoiler:One of his {{DLC}} costumes in ''Reverie'' is a white recolor of his C outfit, with and without the mask.]]
* PaperThinDisguise: [[spoiler:His disguise for walking publicly in Crossbell in the final chapter of ''Reverie'' is to wear sunglasses and his short hair.]]
* PerpetualSmiler: He almost always has a confident smile on his face throughout his appearances.
* PlayAlongPrisoner: [[spoiler:He was fine being imprisoned for the crimes he committed as Governor General of Crossbell... until his former goons tried to assassinate him and he learned that an impostor had taken over Crossbell. After that, he broke out fairly easily and dug into assets he'd hidden from the Erebonian authorities to investigate what was going on.]]
* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: 10 years older than his half-brother Jusis.
* PragmaticHero: [[spoiler:Though he's on the heroes' side in ''Reverie'', he still retains his trademark ruthless efficiency. Most notable during the liberation mission in the Finale; when Rufus's group comes across Rean and Lloyd's parties facing the Asmodyne Menace, rather than help them out, he deems this a useful distraction and immediately ditches them to go on ahead and confront the Supreme Leader - much to everyone's exasperation. Funny enough, his pragmatism is exactly why Lapis, as Elysium's administrator, sought him out in the first place.]]
* PragmaticVillainy: [[spoiler:It's implied that he only murdered Arianhroad in ''Cold Steel IV'' in order to take her powers for himself. He's also openly disgusted with Cedric's attack on the Pantagruel and chastises him for jeopardizing the Great Twilight plan. As ruthless as Rufus can be, he's not the type of man to go around killing people for no good reason.]]
* PreMortemOneLiner: [[spoiler: Delivers one before stabbing Arianrhod in the back.]]
--> '''Rufus:''' [[spoiler: No. All legends must have an end. It's time to lay you to rest.]]
* PrincelyYoungMan: Kindly in manner, noble in bearing and birth, and one of two most gossiped-about men in the Empire (and the other is [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Olivert]]). [[spoiler:Though the "birth" part is subverted in that he's not the son of Duke Albarea, but rather Duke Albarea's wife who had an affair with her brother-in-law.]]
* PromotionToParent: He was the one who convinced Duke Albarea to take Jusis in, and by all accounts did more to raise him than their father ever did.
* PromotedToPlayable: [[spoiler:Goes from a major antagonist in the ''Cold Steel'' series to being ''the third protagonist'' of ''Reverie''. Can't get promoted anymore than that.]]
* QuestGiver: In ''Cold Steel I'', he's the one who gives task to Rean's field study group in Bareahard.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: He is the Chief of Staff of the Noble Alliance, then becomes the Governor General of Crossbell after revealing himself to be the Ironbloods' primary member and Osborne's [[TheDragon de-facto right hand man,]] as well as a brilliant strategist and [[MasterSwordsman a master of court fencing]] who then [[spoiler:goes on to become the Awakener of El-Prado, which is noted to be one of the strongest Divine Knights.]]
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: In his first appearance, he was quite cordial to Class VII and even assisted in getting Machias off the hook after his father tried to have him arrested on false charges to use him as a political bargaining chip. Later on, he helped break up an altercation between the RMP and Nortia Provincial Army at Roer. He also seemed like the voice of reason amongst the Noble Alliance's leadership, but turns out to be a subversion when he reveals himself to be Osborne's right-hand man, who works for him for mostly self-interest and proves to be quite the underhanded and ruthless individual.
* RefugeInAudacity: [[spoiler:In Act 3 of his route in ''Reverie'', he infiltrates Crossbell by showing up at the airport while disguised in his Supreme Leader uniform and admonishes the EDF troops stationed there when they question him by claiming he had already called them ahead of time and questioning their competence. ''It works'', to the shock of the others.]]
* TheReveal: He's the one who sent Vulcan and Armgarmr to go after Osborne to "rough him up". That failed but he ended up being impressed by Osborne, plus his apathy towards his father and the nobility, and ends up being the primary member of the Ironbloods in secret.
* SecretIdentityVocalShift: [[spoiler:Like his predecessor, Crow, his mask as C has a built-in voice modulator to make his voice much deeper in order to better hide his identity.]]
* SecretKeeper: He's one of the few who truly know who Rean's father is.
* ShockAndAwe: His S-Crafts have him strike his enemies with lightning while they are trapped in a SphereOfDestruction before he slashes it apart.
* ShutUpHannibal: [[spoiler:Tells his other self to shut up as he finally lets go of his obsessions to surpass his father Osborne.]]
* SiblingYinYang: He and Jusis prove to be near opposites once he reveals his true colors. Jusis was initially aloof and proud to everyone, but was [[WellDoneSonGuy revealed to desperately crave his father's approval]] and genuinely strove to embody the ideal of Noblesse Oblige, and proved to become an all-around heroic character who came to value the good of Erebonia and its people over any care for his status and reputation. Rufus, by contrast, appeared affable at first, but upon revealing his status as Osborne's right-hand man, he proved to be extremely ruthless and motivated by self-interest, and he admitted to holding the system of nobility he was born into and his father in contempt [[spoiler:due to his status as a bastard child who had been propped up as the family's golden child]].
* SimpleYetAwesome: His strongest regular Craft Oracle Blade [[spoiler:renamed as Zewarl when he's PrmotedToPlayable,]] consists of him merely gripping his sword in a proper two handed grip before slashing the enemy three times.
* SimplifiedSpellcasting: [[spoiler: His second Brave Order from ''Reverie'', greatly decreases the casting time and delay of the party's orbal arts for several turns, making it possible to spam arts in rapid succession.]]
* SingleStrokeBattle: [[spoiler:He finishes his fight against his fake robot self with this.]]
* SpamAttack: One of his attacks has him thrust his sword at high speeds before ending it with a DashAttack. [[spoiler:When he's playable, this craft also gives everyone including himself some HP and CP.]]
* SphereOfDestruction: His first two S-Crafts, Eternal Ruination and Agrios Calibur, have him trapping his enemies in one before slashing it apart.
** [[spoiler: His Renegade Edge Craft in ''Reverie'' has him form several around the enemy before detonating them all with a SwordBeam.]]
* StatusBuff: [[spoiler: When he becomes playable in ''Reverie'', he has two Crafts that can increase his stats. His ''Zewarl'' Craft inscreases his speed and grants him the Brandish buff(which increases the strength of his normal attacks and Crafts), and his ''Noble Rune'' Craft increases his STR and ATS stats while also curing him of any debuffs and granting an extra Brave Point.]]
* StatusBuffDispel: In ''Cold Steel III'', his S-Craft has the ability to do this. Which makes it particularly deadly, as the dispel effect occurs before it does damage, [[UnblockableAttack and reflectors and Adamantine Shield are considered buffs...]]
* StormOfBlades: [[spoiler: His S-Craft in ''Reverie'' has him summon spectral copies of his sword to assist in slashing apart his enemies before sending numerous copies raining down on them from above.]]
* StrawHypocrite: In the first two ''Cold Steel'' games, he acts like nobles are inherently supposed to be honorable and that they have a right to political power, but this is all a facade in order to become one of the leaders of the Noble Alliance and manipulate them on Osborne's behalf. In ''Cold Steel III'', he admits that he holds the nobility in contempt and sees their so-called honor as a smokescreen to justify their own selfishness. He believes Osborne's openly ruthless pragmatism is the only thing worth emulating and eventually stops pretending to care about honor, [[spoiler:as shown when he stabs Ariarhod after she's defeated by Rean and Crow]].
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: [[spoiler:It doesn't matter how smart or strong you are, you can't rise above everyone in Zemuria on your own, and even Osborne, Cayenne, and the Society have people they could depend on to help them out. When his attempt to take Rean's power and the sword fails he's totally screwed because he burned all his bridges before that. It's clear in ''Reverie'' that he definitely learned these lessons and it's why he was qualified to execute his ZeroApprovalGambit to make sure the man named "Rufus Albarea" is officially dead and start a new life with Lapis, Swin, and Nadia.]]
* SupportingProtagonist: [[spoiler:His route in ''Reverie'' mostly involves helping Lapis regain her memories.]]
* SwordBeam: He launches several at the end of his first S-Craft ''Eternal Ruination'' to detonate the SphereOfDestruction he trapped his enemies in. [[spoiler:His Renegade Edge Craft has him summon several orbs that surround his enemies before he delivers a slash beam to detonate them. It also has a chance to delay enemies and also uses his ATS stat.]]
* SwordPlant: [[spoiler: His victory quote in ''Reverie'' ends with him tucking his sword to his side and planting it on the ground.]]
* SwordPointing: He's fond of pointing his sword at his enemies.
* TakingTheHeat: [[spoiler:Allows himself to be blamed and arrested for all the Ironbloods' crimes so that Claire and Lechter can go free and help rebuild Erebonia.]]
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:His ZeroApprovalGambit plan in ''Reverie'' has him pull all of the world's hatred and fear to himself as Ishmelga, in his final moments, programs the divine lightning to activate anytime someone shows any kind of negative emotion. He then manages to destroy the Retributive Tower with himself getting caught in the blast. The only reason why he's not dead is because Lloyd and company arrived to save him before the tower gets destroyed after seeing Elysium's final vision.]]
* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:At the end of ''Reverie'', Olivert tells him that "Rufus Albarea" is believed by the public at large to have died in the destruction of the Retributive Tower, making him a free man.]]
* ThisCannotBe: [[spoiler:He's in disbelief that he lost his Rivalry against Rean in ''Cold Steel IV'' despite pointing out that he should have been able to come out on top due to the preparations that he has done.]]
* ThisIsUnforgivable: [[spoiler:He fatally stabs a weakened Lianne InTheBack when she's about to join the heroes. Everyone who witnessed this was absolutely disgusted and decided he was BeyondRedemption, with Jusis himself [[BrokenPedestal ceasing to call him brother altogether]] after the fact.]]
* TooManyBelts: [[spoiler:The longcoat of his Knight of Blood and Iron uniform has two belts across the chest along with a third around it's waist, and another on each of his biceps to connect to the pauldrons, making a total of 6 when counting the one fastening his trousers. His trenchcoat as C has three belts across the breast and another 3 smaller ones coiled around his sleeves around the forearms.]]
* TookALevelInJerkass: Played with. He's shown to be very polite and respectful throughout the first two ''Cold Steel'' games, and even when fighting on the opposite side of the heroes he's an AntiVillain at worst, who shows distaste at the Noble Alliance's more evil actions. [[spoiler:Starting from the end of the second game though, when it's revealed he was on Osborne's side all along, he becomes much more cruel and has a lot more KickTheDog moments, which reaches its peak in the fourth game when he kills Arianhrod. However, his dialogue in the third game indicates that he never really believed in honor from the start, meaning he was just [[BitchInSheepsClothing hiding his nastier traits]] during the first two games rather than going through negative character development]].
* TookALevelInKindness: This, too. [[spoiler:At the end of ''Cold Steel IV'', after losing to Class VII and learning the hard way how he can't realize any of his goals alone, he lets himself be arrested so Claire and Lechter can clean up the post-war mess in Erebonia. In ''Reverie'', after someone comes for his life in jail, he decides to investigate what is happening, going on a journey where he finally makes his first meaningful connections besides Jusis, in the form of Lapis, Swin, and Nadia. Learning to rely on other people and listening to Lapis' opinion over how someone doesn't need approval of other people in order to stay as themselves, he finally comes to terms with his own identity issues and leaves his past self behind, to the point other characters point out how much he changed from time to time.]]
* TrophyChild: [[spoiler:In the beginning of Act 3 of his route in ''Reverie'', he confirms Duke Albarea mainly treated him as a means to further House Albarea's status and reputation more than anything else, which greatly contributed to his hatred of the Duke and desperate need to validate his existence as something more than a tool or unwanted bastard child.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: Played with. He considers Osborne his true father and like Cedric, seeks to emulate the chancellor's image as a strong and ruthless leader. [[spoiler:Unlike Cedric, he wants to defeat Osborne in the Rivalries and prove himself worthy of his "father." He even calls out his clone in ''Reverie'' where he never managed to figure out that Osborne is a man who only loves his children and is disgusted at his past self.]]
* TheUnfettered: He values efficiency over all else. Any action, no matter how ruthless is fair game, as long as it benefit him. [[spoiler:After he became Governor General of Crossbell, while he is mentioned to use brutal tactics, he managed to stabilize public order and develop the economy.]]
** In ''Reverie'', [[spoiler:this is revealed to be the reason Lapis was sent to him. She ran simulations on how she could reach Elysium the fastest, and she concluded that Rufus was the man who would get the job done the fastest.]]
* VillainousValour: [[spoiler:After Ishmelga is defeated and Osborne's crimes come to light, Rufus decides to take all the blame as a scapegoat so Claire and Lechter can avoid punishment.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: It's pretty much impossible to talk about him in ''Reverie'' without spoiling quite a bit of the game, what with him [[spoiler:actually being C, ''the third protagonist''.]]
* WellDoneSonGuy: [[spoiler:His biggest issue is that ultimately, he felt like he should prove himself worthy as try as he might, he's not the real son of either of his "dads". Duke Albarea's relationship with him is a sham and while Osborne does love the kid, he ultimately thinks that Osborne couldn't love him like his real son despite Osborne and Rean being estranged with one another. By ''Reverie'', he gets over this.]]
* WhamEpisode: Really, he might as well be bunking with this trope as he has done a lot of whammies throughout the Erebonia arc.
* WhamLine: He's a ''master'' of this, starting in ''Cold Steel II''.
** Whose side is he really on?
--> '''Cayenne''': Y-You... You did come to help me, didn't you?
--> '''Rufus''': As a commoner might put it... "In your dreams."
** Although he doesn't deliver the line, he does confirm something that Osborne mention in ''Cold Steel'' while talking with Karl:
--> '''Jusis''': All this time, you were an Ironblood!?
--> '''Rufus''': The group's primary member, in fact.
** After Rean rants to Osborne as to why the guy is still alive after being shot by Crow:
--> '''Rufus:''' (puts his hand on Rean's shoulder) That's enough. Just as you have your reasons that guide your actions, so, too, does His Excellency. [[LukeIAmYourFather And I believe you factor into those reasons more than you might think]].
--> '''Rean:''' Wha...?
** ''Cold Steel III'' ramps this up in one sentence when Jusis asks why he's going so far for Osborne's plans and that their father might be foolish, but Rufus should know better about what's going on especially since Rufus could rival Osborne himself:
--> '''Rufus:''' [[spoiler:It's simple really... It's because I'm not my father's son. Put plainly, Helmut Albarea is not my father.]]
** And finally, in ''Cold Steel IV'', he delivers this line before [[spoiler:stabbing Arianrhod in the back.]]
--> '''Rufus:''' [[spoiler:No. All legends must have an end. It's time to lay you to rest.]]
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: [[spoiler:With his team being the first to arrive at Simulacrum Rufus's place, the latter tells him that he's offering Rufus to become the Supreme Leader. He's only surrounded by his team and he has one chance to become the ruler of the continent to finally surpass Osborne as a chance to finally prove himself worthy of him. It's only because of Lapis's words to him that he refuses the offer though he muses that if he had never met Lapis, Swin, and Nadia and that he never made his short journey to Crossbell, he would have accepted the deal right there and then.]]
* WhyAreYouNotMySon: Inverted, as he genuinely prefers and respects Osborne as a parental figure far more than he ever did Duke Albarea.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: [[spoiler:At the end of ''Reverie'', due to Rufus Albarea being [[DeathFakedForYou officially dead]] to the public, he can no longer live in the Empire.]]
* ZeroApprovalGambit: [[spoiler:Pulls off one at the end of ''Reverie'' where he concentrates the hate of the world on him so that he can make the Retributive Tower to self-destruct on itself, taking him with it as he stays behind the tower while everyone else got away. He's only saved thanks to Lloyd, Lapis, Swin, Nadia, Zeit, and Jusis coming back for him (after Elysium gives them one last peek into the future) with Lloyd pulling his badge to arrest him to save his life.]]

[[quoteright:300:[[labelnote:Claire as an Instructor in Crossbell]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/northern_war_claire.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]]]