This is the list of characters of An Eagle Among Lions. For details of the characters as they appear in the source material, go here.
Beware of spoilers.
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Time Squad
A group of time travelers and time traveler-adjacent operatives. Edelgard
Edelgard von Hresvelg
The Emperor of Adrestia, who had successfully conquered and united Fódlan under the Adrestian Empire and defeated the Church of Seiros. On the morning after her wedding to Byleth Eisner, she finds herself back six years in the past in an alternate timeline. Now she must get to the bottom of the mystery of her unwitting time travel and figure out how it is connected to the latest scheme of Those Who Slither and what the Hurricane King is plotting.
- Becoming the Mask: She initially got close to Dimitri and the Blue Lions in hopes of learning Dimitri's true goals and what his ties to Those Who Slither in the Dark were, and was fully willing to oppose him should it help her get back home. As she gets to know Dimitri better, however, she empathizes even more with his situation and starts helping him become a better leader for his own sake, and ends up genuinely coming to care for him as her stepbrother.
- Big Sister Mentor: She acts as a mentor to her younger siblings Pascal and Hedwig and her stepbrother Dimitri, and an advisor to her eldest brother Burkhart, who she is mentally about the same age as but has far more experience as a leader than.
- Brainy Brunette: Although her hair is white as a result of the crest experiments, in the body of her alternate self, she is this as she serves as the strategist with Byleth for the Blue Lions.
- Broken Pedestal:
- Averted when she finds out about Sothis's connection to Byleth and the latter's Time Master powers - while she's shaken, she's still clearly in love with her. And after discovering her main use was to Set Right What Once Went Wrong, if anything she's even more in love with her.Oh, my dear Byleth, Edelgard thought, shaken, how many times have you watched us—watched me—die?
- Played straight when she meets the versions of her siblings from the other world and realizes that they are flawed human beings rather than the idealized visions her shattered memories conjured up.
- Averted when she finds out about Sothis's connection to Byleth and the latter's Time Master powers - while she's shaken, she's still clearly in love with her. And after discovering her main use was to Set Right What Once Went Wrong, if anything she's even more in love with her.
- But Now I Must Go: Ultimately leaves Fódlan Alpha to return home to Fódlan Beta, trusting her friends to finish all of the unfinished business she leaves behind.
- Cheap Costume: During the Battle of Garreg Mach, in order to keep her identity hidden from Burkhart and Rhea, she cobbles together a makeshift costume out of spare pieces of valkyrie armor, a Hurricane King mask and voice modulator, and some of Hilda's perfume.
- Discard and Draw: Her other self's body is initially weak and lacks the Crest of Flames, but has more stamina due to not being burdened with two Crests. And of course, becoming part-dragon later is another massive boon compared to her original body.
- Doesn't Like Guns: Downplayed. When she is given a gun in Chapter 73, she takes a disliking to it due to how disquietingly empty it feels to her and how little training one would need to kill someone with it.
- Eye Scream: During an ambush by the fake Hurricane King, an arrow manages to snipe her left eye and kill her before Byleth uses Divine Pulse to save her. Although she ends up unscathed physically, her Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory makes her still feel phantom pain from that eye, and she ends up covering it up for a while afterwards.
- Playing with Fire: As part of her secret lessons in preparation for the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, she and Sylvain learn black magic under Mercedes' tutelage.
- Pragmatic Hero: While noticeably kinder than she was at the start of Three Houses, Edelgard is still stern, strict and ruthless in her tactics. For instance, while she is more conscious of putting herself in direct danger due to "her" body not really being her body, she seems to act without regard for the more long-term consequences that her other self will have to deal with when they return home. Edelgard rationalizes the growing mess she makes of Ellie's life as having her hand forced, but only after Hubert calls her out on it.
- Spotting the Thread: When pretending to be her supposed impersonator Vepar, Edelgard blurts out a few times how unaware she is of Agarthan concepts as well as not knowing the name of Cornelia's impersonator, Namatara. Thankfully, no one suspects her beyond a small question.
- The Strategist: She shares this role with Byleth within the Blue Lions, planning out their course of attack and formation.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Thanks to Byleth and the Black Eagle Strike Force, Edelgard is more open and kind, particularly to those whom she considers her friends. One of her first acts when she arrives in this timeline is to gently comfort alternate Benerdatta.
- Trauma Button: In Chapter 30, Edelgard is nearly force-fed melted down Crest Stones by Rhea in a misguided attempt to make her into another Enlightened One like Byleth. This reminds her so much of the Crest Experiments that when she is briefly returned to her world by Divine Pulse, she breaks down in Dorothea's arms.
- What You Are in the Dark: She could have minded her own business in this timeline's conspiracy and focused on finding a way back to her world, since her counterpart is not involved with Those Who Slither in the Dark. Even then, she finds herself getting involved in this timeline's affairs, starting with her showing the Blue Lions where Flayn is being held. Thales even lampshades this.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Rats, as they remind her of being held captive in the dungeons when she and her siblings were experimented on. The irony of her alternate counterpart's fondness for pet rats is not lost on her.
Hilda
Hilda Valentine Goneril
At first, the only difference between this Hilda and the one Edelgard knew from six years ago seems to be her friendship with Ellie. Edelgard soon discovers that this Hilda really is the same person from her own world, who somehow found herself in the same situation as her: trapped in a past alternate timeline. They agree to work together in order to get back to their world.
- Faking the Dead: Hilda was presumed dead after the Battle of Derdriu in Edelgard's world, which is why Edelgard initially disregarded her as the other time traveler. As it turns out, she faked her own death per Claude's orders and left Fódlan with him before the beginning of the story.
- Irony: In the original timeline, Hilda was one of the defenders in the Battle of Garreg Mach. In this timeline, Hilda fights in the same battle as one of the attackers.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: She understandably hates Edelgard due to her starting a war and conquering her home, to the point where she briefly considers trying to sabotage Edelgard's hopes of returning home. Edelgard reminds her that the best chance either of them have returning home is for them to cooperate, and with some convincing from Claude, Hilda reluctantly agrees.
Claude
Claude von Riegan/Prince Khalid of Almyra
Among the three house leaders, Claude appears to be the only one who hasn't changed that much in this alternate timeline. That is, until Edelgard receives mysterious messages that she confronts him about and, while he isn't a time traveler, Claude has quickly grasped the situation regarding Those Who Slither and the time shenanigans that Edelgard and Hilda are involved in, including Dimitri's actions as the Hurricane King. He is the one who formed the Time Squad, though Edelgard still suspects he is hiding something.
- Dead All Along: The Claude native to Fódlan Alpha was consumed by Desdinova a long time ago. What's left of him serves as a meat puppet to further his counterpart's aims.
- Dragon Rider: He managed to master his Flying class in time for the mock battle at Gronder Field and is an expert on the field compared to Dimitri. It's witnessing him using the strategies that his older self used is what made Edelgard suspect him as the other time traveler at first.
- Giver of Lame Names: He was the one came up with the group's name, which amounts to Exactly What It Says on the Tin.Hilda: Um... Time Squad?
Claude: You’re a squad of time travelers. Time Squad.
Hilda: Claude. I’m saying this as someone who knows future you really, really well. You’re better than that. - The Leader: He's still the house leader of the Golden Deer.
- Out of Focus: Since he hasn't changed that much in this alternate timeline and the focus is mostly on the Blue Lions, he doesn't show up often. That is, until Edelgard discovers that he might know more than he lets on and he becomes important in decoding the secret messages that the Agarthans use.
- Tragic Hero: In the world where he was the victim of the Crest experiments, he was absolutely fucked from the start due to facing off against a Thales with perfect knowledge of his actions due to a convoluted Time Loop Trap. Thales shanked him in his moment of triumph, and it's only thanks to more time traveling on his own part that he is able to finally earn his happy ending.
- Wild Card: Despite being part of the Time Squad, Claude's allegiances, motivations and goals remain ambiguous, to the point Edelgard suspects of him being an Agarthan. While he's not an Agarthan, for now, and makes it clear he's working against The No-Eyed People, he's keeping plenty of secrets from his allies that even Hilda is starting to be wary of him. One of these secrets includes Dedue being his secret informant about the Agarthans' activities.
Jeralt
Jeralt Reus Eisner
Byleth's father and leader of the Blade Breakers before resuming his role as the Captain of the Knights of Seiros. In Edelgard's world, he was killed by Monica/Kronya. After revealing herself as a time traveler to him while drunk, Edelgard warns him to stay away from Glenn/Kronya in hopes of sparing Jeralt from this fate and he soon becomes the group's connection to the knights’ intelligence and operations, and one of the few people Edelgard can trust in this world.
- Career-Ending Injury: The injuries he sustains in the final battle put an end to his mercenary career. He ends up following his daughter into teaching.
- Deadpan Snarker: He makes some dry remarks about the numerous names the Agarthans keep getting and how each are elaborate and a mouthful.
- Never Gets Drunk: As a side-effect of being a first-generation Crest bearer, he has superhuman alcohol tolerance. It takes, in his own words, half a keg of beer to make him tipsy.
- Seen It All: The reason he's so quick to believe Edelgard when she tells him her situation in Chapter 9.
Sothis
Sothis
A mysterious amnesiac girl who resides within Byleth, whom is the only one who can see and interact with her. She is revealed to be the Goddess of Fódlan that the Church of Seiros worships. Whatever Those Who Slither are planning, it is connected to messing with the fabric of time, which in turn, affects Sothis and Byleth.
- Amnesiac God: She had no idea she was even a god (or at least, viewed as one) until Hilda and Edelgard told her.
- Brought Down to Badass: She's a ghost capable of rewinding time in the modern day, thanks to Nemesis killing her in the past and Rhea implanting Byleth with her Crest Stone. She was also a full-blown Physical Goddess when she was alive, and more than capable of taking on all of Agartha single-handed.
- Eldritch Abomination: Chapter 37 shows us Sothis's true form, a corpse which seems to exist within all worlds and looks something like a massive one-eyed skeleton. In true Cthulhu fashion, the aspect of her that isn't part of Byleth seems to lie dreaming, not dead.
- God Is Good: Much to Edelgard's surprise, while Sothis may be sharp-tongued, she's every bit as benevolent as the Church of Serios says she is.
- Sharing a Body: She's bound to Byleth, in both timelines. Considering she's her first (and arguably her closest) friend, neither of the two minds. To the point the normally stoic Byleth is left sobbing after her Heroic Sacrifice.
- The Smart Guy: She's the only person on the side of the good guys who really understands temporal mechanics, despite her amnesia.
Hubert
Hubert von Vestra
Edelgard's trusted retainer and loyal companion. In the alternate timeline, this Hubert is more cheerful and faithful to the teachings of the Goddess as a result of alternate Edelgard never have gone through the Crest experiments. He soon gets caught up with conspiracies that Edelgard keeps getting involved in.
- Adaptational Gender Identity: Canon Hubert is by all accounts a cisgender man. This "Hubert" eventually comes out as a transgender woman named Heidrun.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Gives one to Edelgard after hitting his near-breaking point and making it clear just how much crap she has dragged him into and how much crap her counterpart is going to have to clean up when she gets home:Hubert: Lady Edelgard... is my Edelgard making as much of a mess of your life as you are of hers?
Edelgard: She's trying her best not to.
Hubert: And you could not extend to her the same courtesy?!
- Foil: He is the most prominent Adrestian character whose life was radically altered for want of the Agarthan's presence, and the ways he contrasts the canon Hubert highlight the ways things are different. This Hubert never lost faith in the Goddess the way the canon Hubert did, is nowhere near capable of being The Fixer as he was in canon, and eventually becomes somewhat more openly critical of Edelgard.
- Grew a Spine: Getting dragged into crisis after crisis causes him to become openly critical of Edelgard in a way his counterpart never could.
- Honorary True Companion: He never formally transfers into the Blue Lions, but he accompanies them on enough missions due to his personal loyalty to Edelgard that he's basically one in all but name.
- An Ice Person: This Hubert primarily specializes in ice magic due to never encountering the Agarthans and learning their dark magic.
- Old Friend, New Gender: During the eight years between Hubert going back to the past to deliver Edelgard's letters to her past self and reuniting with the Blue Lions, "he" transitions into a woman named Heidrun.
- The Slow Path: Hubert goes back in time eight years to deliver instructions to Edelgard's past self and then makes her way back to the present the old-fashioned way.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Hubert's reaction to the Remire massacre is to puke his guts out. Edelgard notes that her Hubert wouldn't have even flinched, a testament to the relatively charmed life this one has lived.
- What the Hell, Hero?: In Chapter 29, Hubert has a breakdown and reads Edelgard the riot act over how much danger he's been forced to deal with since she took over her counterpart's body.
Garreg Mach Monastery
The Blue Lions
The House that is composed of students hailing from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. Byleth is their professor and because Those Who Slither set their sights on the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus as their base of operation in this timeline, the Blue Lions seem to get the worst luck out of the three houses. Dimitri
Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/The Hurricane King
Artwork by axe_drawings
The crown prince of Faerghus and house leader of the Blue Lions. Edelgard had previously slain him as the King of Delusions back in her world, but here he's alive, but not exactly well. In this timeline, he took Edelgard's place in the Crest Experiments and was the sole survivor of the Tragedy of Duscur. Manipulated by 'The Men in Black' (Those Who Slither) into believing that Rhea and the Church of Seiros are the ones responsible for the Tragedy and the experiments, Dimitri secretly plots to overthrow the church in order to avenge the dead with their help, donning the mask of the Hurricane King. The question now is if Edelgard should join him, usurp him, or oppose him for the sake of alternate Edelgard and Fódlan.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In addition to suffering through the Tragedy of Duscur as in canon, he is also the main victim of the Crest experiments. This Dimitri has had it rough, to put it lightly.
- Adaptational Badass: Original Dimitri was already a One-Man Army and one of the strongest fighters in Fódlan. This Dimitri gets the Crest of Flames on top of that, and is now killing Demonic Beasts with his bare hands.
- Anti-Villain: Dimitri is Edelgard's Flame Emperor's equivalent in this timeline and like her, plans to declare war on the Church of Seiros. While genuinely earnest and kind, Dimitri is also more violent and unhinged as the Hurricane King compared to Edelgard in her Flame Emperor guise, particularly towards those who have close ties to the Church like Seteth and Flayn and is more invested in getting revenge than making Fódlan a better place. However, his vendetta against the Church stems from the Agarthans manipulating him into believing the Church of Seiros were the ones behind the Tragedy of Duscur and the Crest Experiments when in reality, the Agarthans were the ones behind it and set themselves up as his savior so that he would be more compliant in their partnership.
- Ax-Crazy: The events of the tragedy and the experiments left him psychological scarred, though he hides it quite well, with only Felix aware of the side of him that he calls 'The Boar'. As the Hurricane King, he allows this side to manifest, becoming more violent and sadistic in this guise, particularly to those whom he believes are the ones responsible for the tragedy and the experiments, which in this case, is the Children of the Goddess. It should be noted that whenever he's in his Hurricane King persona, he unleashes his unhinged side in a controlled state compare to his bouts of insanity during the Remire incident and the fight against Solon in the Sealed Forest.
- Awesome Moment of Crowning: In Chapter 18, Dimitri is crowned King of Faerghus. The coronation is kept a secret from the rest of Fódlan save for Edelgard, Byleth, Dedue, Rodrigue/Thales, Cornelia, Mercedes and the seven nobles (and Gwendal) who attended the coronation.
- Beneath Suspicion: Surprisingly enough. No one suspects Dimitri of being the Hurricane King, connected to the conspiracy or the current coup that Adrestia is facing between Bukhart and Anselm, because of his straight-forward personality to the point of lacking any guile. Even Felix, who fully knows about Dimitri's bloodthirsty side, can't fanthom Dimitri having the wits to pull of a Secret Identity. Only Sylvain of all people seems to start connecting the dots after Mercedes is revealed to be the Death Knight, but even he admits it's a crazy theory.
- Beneath the Mask: He presents himself in a kind, caring and heroic matter, with his classmates and subjects viewing him as an earnest prince who values chivalry and justice despite the tragedy. Underneath it all hides a bitter, revenge-obsessed and traumatized man, which he fully shows when he dons the guise as the Hurricane King.
- Big Bad Friend: He's the respected house leader of Blue Lions and was childhood friends with Felix, Ingrid and Sylvain. He is also the Hurricane King who has made himself an enemy of the church and plans on declaring war on them.
- Big Little Brother: Or step-brother. He is younger than Edelgard by six months (and with main Edelgard, six years) and is a foot taller than her.
- Black Knight: His attire as the Hurricane King gives this impression with his black armor and midnight-blue cloak that Edelgard initially thought he was this timeline's version of the Death Knight.
- Blood Knight: Whether as himself or the Hurricane King, Dimitri feels comfortable during combat and enjoys it— perhaps a little too much that Felix was disgusted with him for taking sadistic glee when they were putting down rebels.
- Blue Is Heroic: Played with, Dimitri's primary color scheme is blue and he's viewed in a heroic light by his subjects and Dimitri's genuinely a kind and earnest young man. But at the same time, he's also an Anti-Villain in this timeline— the blue color scheme on his Hurricane King outfit being darker.
- Bonding over Missing Parents: After learning that Edelgard is his step-sister, talking about Edelgard's mother and Dimitri's step-mother is one of the things they bond over.
- Covered in Scars: His body is covered in scars from the experiments like Edelgard's. Unlike her though, he's not afraid in showing them to others.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: His Crest was already well-known for granting him incredible strength in both worlds, but after being implanted with the Crest of Flames in this timeline, his powers increase tenfold and makes it harder for him in handling dexterous task and Edelgard notices that he's afraid of touching others in fear of accidentally hurting them with any sudden movement.
- Disease Bleach: He used to be blonde, but the crest experiments he was subjected to in this timeline resulted in his hair turning white like Edelgard's back in her world and artificially shortening his lifespan. The public believe Dimitri's hair turned white from the shock of witnessing his father's murder.
- Dragon Rider: As part of his secret lesson for the mock battle at Gronder, Ingrid was tasked into teaching him flying for their strategy. He managed to master it in time for the mock battle, but he's still no match against the more experienced Claude.
- Eye Scream: Gets his eye put out in Chapter 61 fighting the past Thales.
- Fantastic Racism: He hates the Children of the Goddess due to believing they caused the pain he suffered through. He's particularly more violent and sadistic whenever he's dealing with them such as cutting the cheeks of an unconscious Flayn to taunt Seteth and nearly choking Seteth to death. Outside the mask, he attempts to at least tolerate them in order to maintain appearance. Then after Byleth becomes the Enlightened One in the Sealed Forest in Chapter 22, he can hardly suppress his loathing towards them, to the point that Dedue has to pull him away before his anger gets the best of him.
- Foil: To Edelgard. While they have similar backgrounds and motives, Dimitri's way too focused on avenging the dead than to making the world a better place, as opposed to Edelgard, whose primary motivation was to rid Fódlan of its injustices.
- Freudian Excuse: He hates the Church and the Children of the Goddess because he was imprisoned and tortured for two years after the Tragedy of Duscur, saw numerous other children die because of the experiments - and also saw all of this take place under a False Flag Operation that made him think they were responsible instead of the Agarthans.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: After he and Edelgard lean of each other's respective deceptions, they become close allies, although he still works for the goal of defeating those who caused the Tragedy and removing Rhea's influence over Fodlan.
- The Heavy: As the Hurricane King, he is responsible for most of the conflict that the Blue Lions face during the early months of the term.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Dimitri's pale visage makes his blue eyes stand out as much colder and distant than in the original timeline. It does match his Anti-Villain and Defrosting Ice King status in this timeline.
- The Leader: He's still the house leader of the Blue Lions in this timeline.
- Malevolent Masked Men: As the Hurricane King, he's essentially a masked terrorist who plots to destroy the Church like Edelgard did in her world.
- Nice Guy: He is genuinely a kind and earnest young man with a strong sense of justice. At least initially...
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: Dimitri's the crown prince, and later, King of Faerghus and is a formidable fighter. As the Hurricane King, he commands an army to assist him in destroying the Church and is capable of taking out multiple foes on his own.
- Real Men Wear Pink: At Bernadetta's urging, he takes up crocheting as a healthier form of stress relief than wrecking things in the training yard.
- Red Baron: Dimitri is well-known across Fódlan as "The White Lion of Fhirdiad" for his white hair, chivalrous nature and combat prowess. And unbeknownst to the public, he's also called "The Hurricane King". After publicly declaring war on the Church, he adds "Silver Nemesis" to his titles.
- Royalty Super Power: As the prince of Faerghus, Dimitri bears the Crest of Blaiddyd which is well-known for granting inhuman strength to its wielders. It was because of his Crest that Dimitri was the Agarthan's most prized test subject during the Crest Experiments.
- Secret Identity: Dimitri lives a double life of a student at the Officer's Academy and house leader of the Blue Lions, and as the Hurricane King conspiring against the Church of Seiros in this timeline.
- Secret Identity Vocal Shift: His mask has a built-in voice modulator to maintain anonymity.
- Trauma Conga Line: In addition to the Tragedy of Duscur, here he was also kidnapped by the Agarthans, tricked into thinking they were from the Church thanks to a False Flag Operation, and subjected to the Crest Experiments instead of Edelgard.
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Due to the experiments, Dimitri has little to no recollection of his past, including his childhood— neither remembering his childhood friends nor the days he spent with Edelgard as a child, including being unable to remember that she was his step-sister for this very reason. Dimitri admits that he didn't know who he was when he managed to escape and it took some time for him to recover some of his memories after he was rescued.
- Unwitting Pawn: Despite his cordial relationship with the Agarthans, Dimitri is just a prized weapon for Thales and his fellow Agarthans to use in their plan to take over the surface world.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He developed a fear of rats during his time imprisoned in the dungeons when he and the other children were experimented on.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Like Edelgard in her world, he doesn't have much time to live due to the experiments he went through as the Crest implantation drastically shortened his lifespan. It's presumably the reason why he feels the urgent need to 'avenge the dead'—he himself doesn't have much time left.
Dedue
Dedue Molinaro
Dimitri's ever-loyal retainer. Edelgard's only memory of him was him willing to sacrifice his humanity for Dimitri and dying on the same day as his king in her world. In this timeline, he was saved by 'The Men in Black' from the genocide of his people and trained by them to be their spymaster; essentially taking over Hubert's role back in Edelgard's world. One of the few people who knows Dimitri's alter-ego, he assists his lord from the shadows in their plan to overthrow the church.
- The Dragon: He's Dimitri's right-hand man behind the shadows, organizing his troops and making preparations for the war.
- Dragon with an Agenda: Played with. While he's genuinely loyal to Dimitri more so than to the Agarthans, he seems to have goals on his own, that differentiates from Dimitri's. Ultimately, it turns out that his own personal ambitions aren't incompatible with Dimitri's and that he does genuinely care about Dimitri.
- Mercy Kill: When the Blue Lions encounter several Agarthan mages horrifically fused to the ruins of Zanado, Dedue snaps the neck of one who was still breathing and suffering.
- Out of Focus: Early in the story he isn't given much focus save for being Dimitri's right-hand man who carries out his lord's wishes and interrogates Edelgard to asses his suspicion. Then it's revealed he's been doing much behind the scenes; being the one directing Dimitri's war plans before it can start.
- Rags to Riches: Goes from a baseborn blacksmith's son to the personal retainer of the crown prince of Faerghus to a Kingdom general to the Viscount of former Kleiman territory (i.e. Duscur).
- Secret-Keeper: He's one of the few who knows that Dimitri's the Hurricane King and assists him from the shadows.
- Sole Survivor: Of the Duscurian genocide, much like in the original timeline.
- Stealth Expert: For a man of his stature, Dedue is surprisingly stealthy; being able to sneak up on a person without making a sound or spying on a target. Justified as he was trained to be a spy by the Agarthans.
- Undying Loyalty: Edelgard notes that Dedue is best known for his loyalty to Dimitri and is willing to do anything for him, even if it means throwing away his humanity.
- Wild Card: Although he was saved from genocide by the Agarthans and trained by them to be their spymaster, it seems Dedue's loyalty lies solely in Dimitri and not to the Agarthans. It soon becomes apparent that he doesn't like them and is implied to have suspected them to the ones responsible for the genocide of his people and Dimitri's suffering, but he still works for them because they're useful to their cause and would be troublesome enemies. He even hinders Edelgard's efforts to expose the truth to Dimitri and is secretly working with Claude by being his informant for unknown reasons.
Mercedes
Mercedes von Martritz/Rusalka
One of the few people Edelgard bonded over outside the Black Eagles back in her world, this Mercedes is still the sweet and loving young woman in this timeline, though with some notable differences. She was among the children who were kidnapped and experimented on with Dimitri and was the only other person aside from him who survived; becoming the Lysithea of this timeline. After the experiments, she was adopted by Cornelia and though her crests greatly boosted her magic, her health continues to falter.
- Adaptational Badass: Canon Mercedes is a fairly non-descript Squishy Wizard who is nowhere near the top heavy hitters of the setting. This Mercedes has two Crests from the Agarthans' experiments, giving her great magical power, and she's also the Death Knight.
- Age Lift: In canon, she's one year Emile's senior. In this fic, she describes him as her older brother.
- Beneath Suspicion: No one could've believed that the sweet and caring Mercedes would be involved in the conspiracy with Dimitri and Dedue, nor turn out to be this timeline's version of the Death Knight.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's a Nice Girl just like in the normal timeline, will try to avoid killing her classmates and others if possible and is said to wield incredible magic that is said to be second to none if she went full out. She is also the Death Knight—and has also made several attempts on her friend's lives at the behest of the Agarthans.
- Cast from Lifespan: Mercedes' second Crest greatly boosts her magic, but it puts a heavy strain on her body, which the effects are showing.
- Casting a Shadow: She's a master of dark magic in this timeline thanks to being a surviving victim of the Agarthans' Crest experiments.
- Composite Character: This incarnation of Mercedes takes elements from canon Mercedes (name and basic history), Lysithea (role as the Flawed Prototype for the Agarthan's Super-Soldier project), and Jeritza (spooky Black Knight alter-ego and role as The Dragon to the secretly antagonistic lord).
- Creepy Good: A warm-hearted young woman with a particular love of the macabre. She settles into this quite nicely after being exposed as the Death Knight and pulling a Heel–Face Turn.
- Deadly Distant Finale: After being turned into a Demonic Beast due to overuse of the Rafail Gem to keep her alive, Mercedes is taken in by Hapi and Burkhart and dies shortly afterwards, as explained in the epilogue.
- Delicate and Sickly: Due to being implanted a second Crest during the experiments, Mercedes' health is very frail compare to Lysithea's.
- Demonic Possession: She is possessed by Cornelia through the latter's heart, which is implanted in Mercedes' body (unbeknownst to her).
- Disease Bleach: After being implanted with a second Crest, Mercedes' naturally blonde hair turned white and she slowly became frail as she gets closer to the end of her artificially shortened lifespan. Mercedes attributes her hair graying from a stressful childhood.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Like canon Mercedes, she's a Cool Big Sis-type figure who loves sweets and baking and is very warm-hearted. She also has a love of the macabre, to the point of stylizing her Death Knight alter-ego around the grim reaper, and she's an incredibly dangerous warrior.
- In the Blood: She became the Death Knight of this timeline just like her brother in the original timeline.
- Mystical White Hair: Despite her natural hair color being blonde, Mercedes now has pure white hair and is a talented magic-user. According to Annette, Mercedes once told her that her hair was the source of all her power.
- Put on a Bus: Drops out from the school and goes with Cornelia to Fhirdiad in chapter 13. She returns to the Blue Lions in Chapter 48.
- Rags to Royalty: Due to Cornelia's marriage to Burkhart, she goes from a nobody to a princess of Adrestia.
- Red Baron: During her days at the Royal School of Sorcery, Mercedes gained the moniker "The Walking Phantasm" for her white hair and magical abilities. She also has another title: "The Death Knight".
- Secret-Keeper: Mercedes is implied to know more than she lets on and is involved in the conspiracy with Dimitri and Dedue. This is confirmed and she knows that Dimitri is the Hurricane King. Why? Because she's the Death Knight in this timeline.
- Tragic Dropout: Because of her declining health, she's forced to drop out of the academy and return back to Fhirdiad with Cornelia in Chapter 13. Mercedes wishes she could stay a little longer and fulfill her promise to Annette to graduate together, but her health has to take priority.
- You Can't Fight Fate: She admits that she has coped with things like her shortened lifespan and having to kill countless people and betray her friends as the Death Knight by thinking of it all as pre-ordained.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Like Lysithea, Mercedes' lifespan has drastically shortened due to having a second Crest unnaturally implanted into her. Even worse is that unlike Lysithea, Mercedes is a young adult and is already showing signs of her declining health - enough that even Annette suspects that Mercedes might not have long to live. By the time they meet her again as the Death Knight, her armor is now her life support.
Felix
Felix Hugo Fraldarius
The lone wolf and swordsman of the Blue Lions. Edelgard remembers that the Felix in her world was killed by Ashe in Arianrhod. Serious and dedicated to his swordsmanship, he's one of the few people aware of 'The Boar' which was the reason for his estrangement with Dimitri, though he is unaware of his childhood friend's sinister actions as the Hurricane King.
- Abdicate the Throne: In the epilogue, he takes the throne of Faerghus from Dimitri and remains in charge just long enough to transfer power to elected officials and step down to become a swordsmanship teacher at Garreg Mach.
- Antagonistic Offspring: He doesn't hold his father in high regards as usual, but he takes it a step further by reporting to the Knights of Seiros and having them arrest his father for interrogation in Chapter 26. Though it is justified in this case as he overheard his father and Glenn might be planning a coup against Dimitri (in reality, Thales and Kronya are discussing further action to regain Dimitri's trust after Solon's actions in Remire) and his father was close friends with Cornelia who recently fled from the Knights of Seiros after forcibly turning Hapi into a Demonic Beast. Needless to say, after being released by the knights, Rodrigue isn't pleased at all with Felix.
- Blood Knight: Felix enjoys challenging others to a fight in order to hone his swordsmanship, but even he himself was disgusted and disturbed by Dimitri unleashing 'The Boar' during that rebellion. Edelgard is quick to point out that Felix's similar to Dimitri judging on how he was quick to give his 'brother' a beatdown for insulting the late Ashe in Ingrid's stead, a comparison he doesn't like.
- Brutal Honesty: Like in the original timeline, he's still harsh and honest.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Calls his father out on multiple occasions, to the point it nearly got him expelled.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: After beating 'Glenn' up to a pulp for insulting the recently deceased Ashe, Byleth assigns him to compete in the White Heron Cup as the Blue Lions' representative as punishment. Should he lose the Cup, he'll be forced to do the Blue Lions' laundry for a month.
- Dance Battler: After winning the White Heron Cup, Felix starts to incorporate some of the dancing methods he learned into his swordplay.
- Dark Horse Victory: Somehow, grumpy and battle-obsessed Felix brings home the White Heron Cup for the Blue Lions. It sure didn't hurt that Ferdinand botched the Black Eagles' chances by nominating himself instead of the far more qualified Dorothea.
- Hates Their Parent: He hates his father, much like in the original timeline as he avoids him whenever they are in the same room. In this timeline he may be a little more justified in that, as his father was replaced by Thales.
- If Only You Knew: Repeatedly makes statements to the effect that the brother he knew died in Duscur and he has no interest in reconnecting with him now. Little does he know just how literally true his analysis is.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: He's right to suspect his father for being up to no good. What he doesn't know however are the reasons why or the ramifications of them nor that Dimitri is deeply involved with them. The other thing he doesn't know is that his father has been long dead and currently an imposter has taken on his appearance.
- Undying Loyalty: Upon learning how he died in Edelgard's world, he points out that no cause would have convinced him to turn his blade on his king and country no matter how righteous.
Sylvain
Sylvain Jose Gautier
- Ladykiller in Love: He has a reputation of being a casanova, but seems to have genuinely fallen in love with Bernadetta, much to everyone's surprise (including his own).
- Smarter Than You Look: Like in canon, he acts like a dumb fop, but he's more perceptive than he lets on.
- He's the first student without inside knowledge to float the idea of Dimitri being the Hurricane King, although Ingrid and Felix convince him the idea has no merit.
- During the Battle of Garreg Mach, he quickly figures out that the Wandering Flame (Edelgard in disguise) is a woman due to her short stature and perfume.
- During the fight with spider-Cornelia, he is the one to notice that dark magic passes through her anti-magic barrier.
Ingrid
Ingrid Brandl Galatea
- The Bus Came Back: After deserting the Blue Lions in Chapter 50, she returns to the main cast at the end of Chapter 58, with Chapter 59 explaining what she's been up to in the intervening period.
- Et Tu, Brute?:
- Takes it the worst to discover that Dimitri is the Hurricane King.
- Takes it very badly to discover just what Edelgard is and what she was capable of back in her home world.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: When she rejoins Dimitri right before the battle of Garreg Mach, she makes it perfectly clear that she hasn't forgiven him and is only there out of personal loyalty to Edelgard.
- Put on a Bus: She leaves the Blue Lions in Chapter 50 due to disgust towards Dimitri and Edelgard.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Dimitri reveals himself as the Hurricane King, Ingrid attacks him in a rage and is knocked unconscious. When she comes to after the ensuing battle, she deserts him on the spot. She returns to his side out of personal loyalty to Edelgard, but upon learning about Edelgard's actions as the Flame Emperor in her own world she hits her breaking point again and leaves for Galatea.
Annette
Annette Fantine Dominic
- Et Tu, Brute?: She is easily the closest to Mercedes among the Blue Lions, and takes it the worst when it turns out she's the Death Knight.
- Heroic BSoD: After she destroys the Death Knight's mask, and learns that Mercedes is their Secret Identity, she falls into a traumatized rut and pretty much just goes through the motions for the next few chapters.
- Out of Focus: She's the Blue Lions student with the least amount of focus and involvment in the story.
- Rapid-Fire "No!": Her response to learning Mercedes is the Death Knight is to rapidly mutter, "no... no, no, no, no, no, no, no...".
- Secret-Keeper: During a lull in the Battle of Garreg Mach, Edelgard reveals to her that she is the one disguised as the Wandering Flame in order to get her to open up to her.
Ashe
Ashe Ubert
- Character Death: Double subverted in Chapter 14. He falls into a time vortex and is presumed dead by the other Lions. Then it turns out that he actually survived and was transported to the Imperial year 735, but he lived out the rest of his life in the past and his "future" self is long dead.
- Composite Character: This Ashe turns out to be none other than Pan the Tactician, the latter being his own time-displaced self.
- Famous Ancestor: Turns out to be Pan the Tactician himself. When the distant descendant tasked with delivering his final letters to his former classmates fulfils his duty, he is ecstatic to discover he's a distant descendant of Pan.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: He is transported to 445 years in the past and lives out the rest of his life in that time.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He has very little character focus before being killed off via time warp, but he is the one who convinces Vual to defect from Agartha.
- Stable Time Loop: As Pan the Tactician, he was a vital player in securing Faerghus independence, which would eventually lead to his past self being transported to 735 and becoming Pan the Tactician.
- Trapped in the Past: The disaster at Remire ends with him transported 445 years in the past. He never does manage to find a way back to his own time.
- Write Back to the Future: He writes letters to his classmates from 782 telling them about his life in the past and giving them closure over his death.
- You Will Be Beethoven: It turns out that Pan the Tactician, the famed strategist who had a pivotal role in the War of the Eagle and Lion, was actually a time-displaced Ashe Ubert.
Glenn
Glenn Fraldarius/Kronya
Felix's older brother and Ingrid's former fiance, who was presumed dead after he was kidnapped alongside Dimitri and his step-mother during the Tragedy of Duscur. That is, until they found him unconscious in the catacombs where Flayn was kept. In reality, the real Glenn has been dead for years and the 'Glenn' they found is really Kronya; an agent from Those Who Slither in the Dark who has taken on his form. Her role as Glenn is to control Dimitri and drive a wedge between him and his classmates— to ensure that when the time comes, Dimitri will have no one but Those Who Slither as his only allies.
- Adaptational Heroism: In canon, she's an unrepentant Hate Sink apart from one Alas, Poor Villain moment. In this story, a lot of time and effort are able to eventually coax a functional human being out of her.
- Angst? What Angst?: In-universe, 'Glenn' seems incredibly cheerful for someone who went through horrible sets of experiments and was missing for years. Makes sense though, given it isn't truly Glenn.
- Arranged Marriage: As 'Glenn', his engagement to Ingrid resumes, though the latter is not looking forward to it now because of 'Glenn's' change of personality.
- Artificial Human: According to her, she was molded/created, not unlike cars or trains.
- Creepy Crossdresser: "Glenn" is actually a woman named Kronya using the real Glenn's identity as a tool to keep Dimitri under the Agarthans' thumbs.
- Dead All Along: The real Glenn Fraldarius has been dead for a long time, having died horribly during the Crest Experiments.
- Dead Person Impersonation: For her mission in this timeline, Kronya took on the form of the deceased Glenn Fraldarius.
- Disabled in the Adaptation: In canon, there's no indication that she has any sort of disability. Here, it's eventually revealed she needs glasses.
- Faking the Dead: She is apparently silenced by Thales' forces, but eventually turns up alive and taking orders from Dedue.
- Glasses Curiosity: Towards Ignatz Victor. It turns out she needs prescription lenses.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: She is close to allying herself with Edelgard after the latter promises to protect her from Thales and Dimitri only to get killed off by a mysterious cloaked figure. Subverted when it turns out her death was faked, and she pulls a genuine Heel–Face Turn afterwards.
- I Am Not a Gun: Implied, as in Chapter 26 she states how she wants to live even after she has outlived her usefulness for Thales to the point she's willing to betray him for the chance to live longer. Too bad she gets killed off shortly after, presumbaly to keep her silent.
- Jerkass Has a Point: After Kronya assassinates Count Varley on Burkhart's orders, she goes off script and plants evidence on an innocent soldier rather than destroy it outright. While framing an innocent is undoubtedly cruel, Edelgard acknowledges that she's right to point out that Burkhart can't just go "oops, we lost the assassin" and the plan would benefit from a scapegoat.
- Not Himself: Several of the characters note how different Glenn is from his former self. Justified, as it isn't Glenn.
- Speak Ill of the Dead: After Ashe dies, she talks ill about him, which leads to Felix beating "him" up.
Bernadetta
Bernadetta von Varley
- Legacy Character: Discussed, played for laughs, and defied in Chapter 48. When Mercedes finally has a chance to reunite with her friends after being exposed as the Death Knight, she points out that Bernadetta was able to tell a scarier story than her and jokingly offers her the costume. Bernadetta politely but firmly refrains.
- Morality Pet:
- Alongside with Marianne, she becomes one for Dimitri, helping him calm down whenever he's having a fit and teaching him crocheting as an alternate method in dealing with his frustrations and anxiety. Dimitri has even shown to be concern whenever Bernadetta believes that the Hurricane King will kill her next.
- She becomes the morality pet for Sylvain, as he doesn't try to flirt with her like the other girls and treats her kindly, even coming to her defense against her father.
- Sixth Ranger: Transfers to the Blue Lions after the Battle of the Eagle and Lion.
Raphael
Raphael Kirsten
- Go Out with a Smile: His grin never leaves his face as he and Goneril mortally wound each other.
- Mutual Kill: He and Goneril deliver simultaneous death blows to each other and die together in the final battle.
- Sixth Ranger: Transfers to the Blue Lions after the Battle of the Eagle and Lion.
The Black Eagles
The House which has students hailing from the Adrestian Empire. Professor Hanneman is their instructor and since alternate Edelgard is no longer the sole heir to the Empire, Ferdinand is the house leader. Ferdinand
Ferdinand von Aegir
- Arranged Marriage: As an agreement with their fathers, he is engaged to the alternate Edelgard, much to the original Edelgard's dismay.
- The Leader: Due to Edelgard no longer being the sole heir, Ferdinand is the house leader of the Black Eagles in this timeline.
The Golden Deer
The House composed of students from the Leicester Alliance. Since Lysithea never went through the Crest Experiments in this timeline, her older brother Arcturus, attends the Officer Academy in her stead. Leonie
Leonie Pinelli
- You Monster!: She's (understandably) horrified when she's made to believe that Edelgard, Byleth, Catherine, and Alois killed Hapi.
Arcturus
Arcturus von Ordelia
Scion of House Ordelia and Lysithea's older brother. Due to never going through the Crest experiments in this world, he attends Garreg Mach in what would have been Lysithea's place.- Out of Focus: He has very little plot focus, and mainly serves to highlight how Lysithea's life has changed for the better without the Agarthans' influence.
The Church of Seiros
Fódlan's religious authority headquartered at Garreg Mach Monastery. In Edelgard's original timeline, she waged war against the Church and all but dismantled it as an institution after her victory. Though it still stands in this alternate timeline, it's only a matter of time before the Hurricane King makes his move against the Church. Rhea
Rhea
- Big Bad Ensemble: One of the story's two main antagonists, alongside Thales. Removing her stagnant influence over Fódlan is one of Edelgard's main goals.
- Heel Realization: Realizes how badly she's failed Fódlan after Byleth (imitating Sothis) dresses her down.
- Mad Scientist: She's spent years trying to craft a vessel for Sothis, and has also been researching ways to turn humans into Nabateans. Edelgard is her first successful test subject, and she also converts Heidemarie and Catherine.
- Not Me This Time: She has done a lot of shady shit over the years, but she wasn't responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur. That was the Agarthans disguised as Knights of Seiros.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Her goals are, at least in theory, good. It's a pity she never shares them with anyone else - and that the methods she uses to get to them, in both worlds, are typically at best questionable.
Seteth
Seteth
- Ambiguous Situation: For several chapters it's unclear whether he's alive or not, as the Seteth at Garreg Mach isn't the real him but rather the Agarthan mage Vual in disguise. As of chapter 33, the true Seteth has returned.
- Irony: Seteth and Flayn leave Garreg Mach at first for safety. They return to Garreg Mach after deeming the current situation too dangerous to live elsewhere.
- Put on a Bus: Leaves with Flayn after deeming the monastery too dangerous to live in. An Agarthan imposter wearing his face eventually comes back to the monastery, leaving his fate uncertain. Chapter 33 confirms Seteth being alive, with him returning badly injured.
- Uncertain Doom: After Edelgard realizes he has been replaced by Vual, she has no idea if the real Seteth managed to make it to safety somehow. He eventually shows up alive, if not exactly well.
Flayn
Flayn
- Jerkass to One: She's normally a very sweet and kind girl. The only person she shows open hostility towards is Vual, who impersonated her brother and took advantage of her to infiltrate Garreg Mach Monastery.
- Put on a Bus: Leaves the monastery alongside Seteth after the encounter with the Death Knight. She eventually comes back though in Chapter 26.
Aelfric
Aelfric Dahlman
- Cruel and Unusual Death: He was stabbed to death thirty-seven times by, presumably, the Hurricane King.
- The Unseen: He's mentioned a few times in the story, but never appears in person even up until his death.
Gilbert
Gilbert Pronislav/Gustave Eddie Dominic
- Adaptation Personality Change: Downplayed. In canon, by all accounts his loyalty to the Kingdom outstrips his loyalty to the Church, although the two never come into direct conflict. In this story, he sides with the Church over the Kingdom when Dimitri declares open war.
- I Have No Daughter!: Disowns Annette when they first cross blades after she sides with the Kingdom over the Church.
- It's All About Me: As Edelgard points out, his self-flagellation over the Tragedy of Duscur prioritizes making himself suffer over taking care of the people who still love him.
Officer's Academy Instructors
The other professors in Garreg Mach Monastery. Hanneman
Hanneman von Essar
- We Used to Be Friends: After witnessing Cornelia turn her adoptive daughter into a Demonic Beast, Hanneman is appalled by her actions and her involvement in the Tragedy of Duscur, noting that she's not the same woman he knew before. He's even more right than he realizes; the real Cornelia has been dead for a while and it's an Agarthan mole taking her form.
Manuela
Manuela Casagranda
The Three Nations
The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus
Lord Rodrigue
Rodrigue Achille Fradarius
The regent of the Kingdom, father of Felix and Glenn and Dimitri's surrogate father figure. When Edelgard meets him for the first time, she senses some familiarity in him for some unknown reason, possibly as one of the enemies she killed during the war.- Abusive Parents: He's physically and emotionally abusive to his children Glenn and Felix.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The loyal, knightly and collected presenting Rodrigue is actually a cruel and manipulative individual.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has a caustic and sarcastic streak to him.Sylvain: We found your son!
Rodrigue: [looking at Felix] I see you have. Good job, Sylvain. I will tell Margrave Gautier to be extra proud of you when next I visit him.
—
Felix: And why did the knights let you out of your cell?
Rodrigue: Because, I was investigated and interrogated quite thoroughly over this past week and no evidence of wrongdoing or malfeasance could be found. It is customary for innocent people to be released, in case you were unaware. - Faux Affably Evil: Presents himself in a calm, collected and polite manner, much like his counterpart in the original timeline. In reality, this timeline's version of Rodrigue is actually cunning, ruthless and manipulative. He isn't even this timeline's Rodrigue to begin with but rather Thales impersonating him.
- Foreshadowing: Early on, Edelgard notices how there's something familiar about him. This serves to imply that something isn't quite right with the Rodrigue from this timeline and that he's someone Edelgard is far too familiar with.
- Impersonation-Exclusive Character: A variation. While we have an idea of what the actual Rodrigue most likely was like based on his counterpart from the original timeline, we never encounter the real Rodrigue of this timeline, and as such don't know what he truly was like or how he differianted from his counterpart.
- Kill and Replace: The Rodrigue of this world was killed at some point, and now Thales has assumed his appearance to take advantage of Dimitri.
- Parental Substitute: To Dimitri. Felix even says that Rodrigue views Dimitri as more of a son than him. This is taken in a much darker tone when it's revealed that Thales killed Rodrigue at some point and has taken on his form as a way of ensuring Dimitri's trust and subservience.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He has to tell "Glenn" to tone down his brazen cruelty, as it draws suspicion on him and could compromise his plans.
- Tranquil Fury: Even when Rodrigue is at the brink of rage, he's unnaturally serene, holding his true emotions back. Occasionally this facade cracks, such as in his conversation with Dimitri in chapter 31, where he aggressivily scolded him for not being harsh towards Felix.
- Undying Loyalty: Played with. While the original Rodrigue was most likely very loyal to the Blaiddyd family much like his original timelines counterpart, Thales uses this to his advantage as a means to earn Dimitri's trust and subservience.
- Walking Spoiler: It's almost impossible to talk about this timeline's version of Rodrigue without revealing his true nature or the way he has affected Dimitri.
Hapi
Hapi von Rusalka
Adoptive ward of Cornelia von Rusalka, with all the unpleasentness that implies.- Elective Mute: She is completely silent because she doesn't know exactly how to trigger her "summon monsters" power. She drops this when Edelgard figures out how said powers work.
- Faking the Dead: In chapter 32 Edelgard, Byleth, Catherine and Alois fake her death in order to ensure that Thales' agents cannot silence her more permanently when they inevitably restore her humanity.
- He Knows Too Much: She is turned into a demonic beast in order to ensure she cannot grass on Cornelia after being captured. Fortunately, Hanneman is eventually able to figure out how to restore her humanity.
- Rags to Royalty: Due to Cornelia's marriage to Burkhart, she goes from a nobody to a princess of Adrestia.
- Samus Is a Girl: She is introduced at Remire as a cloaked figure who is presumed male, but is quickly defeated and unmasked as the female Hapi.
- Trauma Button: She reacts badly to having her cheek touched because Cornelia would place her hand on her cheek right before slapping her.
Count Galatea
Sigmund Ulrik Galatea
- Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed. He was a participant in the Tragedy of Duscur in this story, but he only did so in the hopes of benefitting his starving people, didn't realize his co-conspirators were motivated by nothing but selfish powerlust and were plotting regicide, and had to be threatened into silence afterwards.
- Adaptation Name Change: His given name is changed from "Gunnar" to "Sigmund". This sticks out since most such discrepancies were retconned out after the release of Warriors: Three Hopes, but the author kept this one since they felt the name Sigmund was more appropriate for this take on the character.
- Parents as People: He did the best he could for his beloved daughter Ingrid, to the point of taking part in the Tragedy of Duscur in the hopes of gaining concessions for Galatea.
The Adrestian Empire
Lord Arundel
Volkhard von Arundel
- Cool Uncle: He's a very pious and warm-hearted uncle to Edelgard and her siblings (even if he is only blood-related to Edelgard).
- Spared by the Adaptation: In the original timeline he was long dead. In this timeline he is alive and wasn't replaced by Thales.
Ellie (Edelgard Alpha)
Edelgard von Hresvelg ("Ellie")
The Edelgard von Hresvelg of the timeline the original Edelgard swapped places with, who had a far more mundane and happy life than the original Edelgard did. It's later revealed that when Edelgard swapped timelines, she exchanged her place with her counterpart.- Action Survivor: She's forced to adapt and survive when Thales busts out of prison in order to assassinate her once and for all. Ellie quickly comes up with a plan to lure Thales out into the open ocean and toss him there so he can never harm anyone again and will never die (and trigger the javelins of light's dead-man switch).
- Affectionate Nickname: Her siblings call her Ellie, and it becomes her de facto name later on in the story (used both by characters and the narrative) to distinguish her from canon Edelgard (whose own Affectionate Nickname is just "El").
- Alternate Self: An alternate version of Edelgard living in a world where the Agarthans chose to twist Dimitri into their puppet against the Children of the Goddess instead of her.
- Birds of a Feather: To her timeline's Hilda - the two of them are apparently close friends. As it turns out, though, to the horror of Edelgard and Hilda in Chapter 23, they're not "close friends" anymore.
- Born Lucky: Deconstructed. Compared to Edelgard, she's lived a much more trauma-free, normal life so far - "normal" in this instance being ninth in line for the throne and betrothed for political purposes. No matter what she does, it seems life already has plans for her which has left her unmotivated and bored.
- Break the Cutie: Needless to say, her life so far has left her very ill-prepared for being the ruler of a war-torn continent in a world where her entire family is dead. The first real conversation she has with her other self is in the midst of her throwing a tantrum over the pressure and loneliness she feels, even with Edelgard's closest friends helping her as best they can.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: It's implied that she could be just as competent a ruler as the original Edelgard is - but she's ninth in line for the throne here, and ever since her Arranged Marriage was set up several years ago, she had little ambition or interest in working until she swapped places with Edelgard. From that point on, it gets downplayed; she confides to Edelgard that doing meaningful work for a change feels good, even if she hates the work itself, and gradually starts to take a more active role in imperial affairs rather than relying solely on Edelgard's inner circle to manage things until they both return home.
- Hero of Another Story: It's made clear whenever canon Edelgard is able to visit her home world that her counterpart has her hands full trying to make sure she still has an empire when she gets back. Since canon Edelgard can't be with her most of the time, she and the reader only catch glimpses of what she's been up to.
- Puppet Queen: Theoretically, she's the sole ruler of the united Fódlan. In practice, she's an imposter and a figurehead, and actual policy is being dictated by de facto regents Ferdinand and Hubert in accordance with the canon Edelgard's will until they can all figure out how to get her home.
- Red Baron: After returning home to Fódlan Alpha, she becomes known as the Saint of Liberation and the One-Winged Angel.
Hedwig
Constance
Constance von Nuvelle
- Red Herring Mole: The heroes are led to believe Constance is an Agarthan spy. Come chapter 29 and Hilda's failed attempt at the "neck trick" as wel as the spy being someone else proves otherwise.
Count Varley
Grégoire von Varley
Minister of Religious Affairs in Adrestia. Also Bernadetta's "father", in the strictly biological sense.- Abusive Parents: He very much lives up to the horrible stories Bernadetta tells about him. He never misses an opportunity to insult Bernadetta, and he also physically abuses his son Eugen.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Downplayed. In the canon games, all of his worst actions are done offscreen, and when he appears in Warriors: Three Hopes in the flesh he's mostly a snivelling wimp and his interactions with Bernadetta are basically awkward (although this may be because they only occur in life-or-death combat situations). Here, he's a brazen asshole who spends every other breath insulting and demeaning Bernadetta.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: Everybody who knows him celebrates when Burkhart has him assassinated.
- Groin Attack: According to Immanuel, he took a mule kick to the groin shortly after Bernadetta was born that destroyed one of his testicles and rendered him impotent.
- Hate Sink: The only person who treats him pleasantly is Anselm, and that seems to only be because he needs his support (the second he's out of earshot, he makes it clear he's disgusted by him). Every other character who interacts with him onscreen despises him for his naked cruelty and incompetence.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Heartless prick he may be, but even he isn't plumb stupid enough to call Burkhart's half-siblings "legitimized bastards" to Edelgard's face. The instant his son Eugen does so, he is horribly embarrassed, ends the evening on the spot, and drags Eugen off to "discipline" him.
- Sanity Ball: His only glimmers of competence come when he's in the presence of his son Eugen, who is just as cruel and has even less of a filter.
- Would Hurt a Child: He's willing to call for the death penalty on a thirteen-year-old girl on charges of treason to cover up his own seditious acts.
Leicester Alliance
Hilda
Hilda Valentine Goneril
The original Hilda of the alternate timeline, who is revealed to have swapped places with her counterpart like Edelgard did.- Birds of a Feather: How her and the alternate Edelgard first met - they were fellow slackers, and became friends over it. And as it turns out, they're more than friends now.
Antagonists
The Hurricane King's Army
Death Knight
Death Knight
One of the few constants is that the Death Knight still exists even in this alternate timeline. He's known as a behemoth of a black knight who terrorizes and sprits away the faithful and devout in defiance of the Goddess and is the Hurricane King's prominent enforcer, though he appears to have closer ties to the Agarthans. What's more, the Death Knight is definitely not Jeritza as he's dead in this timeline, which brings up the question on who the mysterious Death Knight in this timeline is.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: This Death Knight is far more polite and affable than the bloodthirsty brute from the original game.
- Affably Evil: What differentiates him from Jeritza's Death Knight is that this Death Knight appears to be an intelligent, calm and polite individual whenever he's not hamming up and actively trying to kill his targets. Even when unmasked, Mercedes remains unflinchingly polite and kind, even congratulating her classmates for beating her before promising that she will kill them all the next time they meet.
- Ambiguous Gender: Despite being referred to as male by the characters, several of his allies don't refer to him by gender at all, with the Agarthans even call him 'it'.
- Anti-Villain: The Death Knight in this timeline is a ghostly knight who terrorizes those in the Church and works for the Hurricane King, though he is less bloodthirsty and unhinged compared to Jeritza back in Edelgard's world. When Edelgard meets him for the first time, he stops the Hurricane King from killing Seteth and harming the Blue Lions and Sylvain notes that whenever the Blue Lions face him, he seems to be 'playing' with them compared to whenever he fought other enemies. And like Dimitri, she is also a victim of the Agarthan's cruel manipulations to view them as saviors and her poor health is the result of the Crest Experiments she went through.
- Black Knight: Like the canon Death Knight, this Death Knight is a masked, black-clad knight with unclear affiliations who serves as a major physical threat to the heroes.
- Dark Lord on Life Support: As it turns out, the Death Knight armor isn't just military equipment - it's also a life support system for Mercedes. By Chapter 33, the inner layer is the only thing keeping her alive.
- Determinator: Despite being outnumbered by the Blue Lions in Chapter 33 and slowly being beaten down, the Death Knight still chases after them with the intent on killing them. She only relents after Annette unintentionally unmasks her and she's low on stamina.
- The Dragon: Serves as this to the Hurricane King, being his most powerful enforcer. However, Chapter 33 shows him ignoring a direct order from Dimitri, and the fact Dimitri, Byleth, and Edelgard are willing to forgive her and beg her to come back to them, only for her to turn them down as well, suggests that the Agarthans have more influence over his loyalties than Dimitri does.
- Dramatic Unmask: Her mask gets destroyed by Annette in Chapter 33. Annette — and the rest of the Blue Lions — don't take it well at all when they learn who she is.
- Easily Forgiven: While it's likely partly due to shock at the revelation (plus the fact that none of them have ever died at her hands), and Manuela believing that she could have been manipulated by Cornelia due to needing her armor to live, none of the Blue Lions (or Manuela) seem to be exceptionally angry at Mercedes for her multiple attempts on their lives after learning who she is.
- Energy Bow: His bow and crossbow fires glowing purple arrows, eliminating the need for quivers.
- Foreshadowing: There are plenty of hints that Mercedes von Rusalka's face is hiding behind the Death Knight's mask in this world:
- The first time the Death Knight appears, Mercedes is conspicuously absent, having had an apparent coughing fit that forced Dimitri (the Hurricane King, and the Death Knight's boss) to take her to the infirmary.
- Mercedes regularly uses the tower where "Glenn" met with his superiors as a hideaway for private study, and notes that she keeps some of her supplies stored there.
- When interacting with Mercedes shortly before the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, Edelgard concludes that Mercedes is in on Dimitri's plans.
- Mercedes summons an illusion of the Death Knight against Ignatz during the Battle of the Eagle and Lion.
- The Death Knight of this world uses a bow as a backup weapon. Bows are Mercedes' only decent physical weapon option in the original game.
- Right after Edelgard's second encounter with the Death Knight, Mercedes is hospitalized again and forced to withdraw from Garreg Mach outright.
- After being overpowered by the Blue Lions in Remire, the Death Knight says "How... frightening. Won't you please... go easy on me?" Canon Mercedes uses the exact same turn of phrase if she fights the Death Knight in Chapter 4 of the original game.
- Glass Cannon: The Death Knight is just as talented of a warrior as his counterpart in Edelgard's world, but has no stamina to speak of. This is because the experiments that gave Mercedes her powers also drastically shortened her lifespan.
- Handicapped Badass: No one would believe that the feared Death Knight is actually an ill girl on life support.
- Heel–Face Turn: In Chapter 48, upon learning that Cornelia is dead, the Death Knight turns to Dimitri's side for good.
- Just Toying with Them: His early fights with the Blue Lions have him pulling his punches. This is because Mercedes genuinely sees them as friends out of costume and doesn't want to cause them harm until she has no other choice.
- Legacy Character: After being unmasked, it becomes a minor running joke that Mercedes wants someone to inherit the Death Knight mantle. Bernadetta is offered the mantle and flatly refuses; Sylvain and Heidrun are offered the title after recovering some prototype Death Knight armor from Research Facility Omega; in the epilogue, it's rumored Ingrid puts on the mask.
- Mage Marksman: This Death Knight seems to specialize in bows and is a formidable magic-user. This is a hint to the Death Knight's true identity.
- Magic Knight: A scythe-wielding knight who can use dark magic.
- Morph Weapon: His signature scythe can actually shift into two additional different forms; one is a bow and the other is a crossbow that can be attached to his armor and can fire purple energy as ammo.
- Oh, Crap!: Upon realizing that Annette destroyed her mask — revealing that she's Mercedes.
- Powered Armor: Unlike with the Death Knight in the original timeline, this Death Knight appears to be wearing armor made by Agarthan technology. The armor also contains additional weaponary such as claws and poisoned daggers. The true purpose of the armor is functioning as a life-support for the wearer.
- Samus Is a Girl: He's presumed to be male like his original counterpart, but is ultimately revealed to be Mercedes in this timeline.
- Secret Identity: When not conspiring against the Church of Seiros, the Death Knight is the sickly Mercedes in this timeline.
- Secret Identity Vocal Shift: His mask has a built-in voice modulator to sound more intimidating and protect his true identity.
- Sinister Scythe: Wields a wicked scythe, his signature weapon.
- Super-Strength: A behemoth with remarkable strength that is on par with the Hurricane King, easily able to lift up an iron gate with one arm. It is likely enhanced strength that her armor grants her.
- Vader Breath: The Death Knight is known for the sound of his raspy death rattle echoing through the air. Without the voice modulator, the wearer is actually breathing heavily from the strain of her body.
- Villain Teleportation: He makes good use of this for his escapes, including two times which he used to help him and the Hurricane King to leave the area quickly.
- Walking Spoiler: It is hard to talk about the Death Knight without the reveal of their true identity in this timeline.
Those Who Slither in the Dark/The Men In Black/The No-Eyed People/Agarthans
Thales (Unmarked Spoilers)
Thales/"Lord Rodrigue"
- Big Bad Ensemble: One of the two main antagonists of the story, alongside Rhea. He schemes to destroy the surface humans and take Fódlan for his own, and his experiments into time travel are responsible for Edelgard getting sucked into the other world.
- Break the Haughty: After being defeated in Chapter 74, he's reduced to a limbless, pathetic wretch desperately screaming about how he will have his revenge but having nothing, not even his own self-confidence, to back it up.
- Older and Wiser: The version of Thales Edelgard witnesses in Fódlan Delta through Desdinova's memories has all of the wisdom gleaned from his failures with Edelgard and Dimitri, and it shows. He flawlessly dupes that world's Claude into dancing on his strings, and Claude never suspects his Yuri disguise of any ill intent until the dagger is literally in his back.
- Sadist: He takes genuine pleasure in other people's pain, especially Edelgard. When she (pretending to be her own Agarthan imposter) speaks out of turn one too many times, Thales orders her finger broken and admits it's been way too long since he last heard her screaming in pain.
- Shadow Archetype: His backstory sets him up as a possible worst-case scenario for Edelgard's path. He claims to have once held the same kinds of revolutionary ideals she did, only for things to keep getting in the way and eventually turn him into the power-hungry monster he is today.
- Taking You with Me: He has a dead man's switch set up so that if he dies, the javelins of light will turn Fódlan into rubble.
Namtara
Namtara/"Cornelia"
- Cruel and Unusual Death: She's blown to pieces by a bomb tied into her hair. When Edelgard finds her corpse, what's left of her is described in graphic detail.
- Meaningful Name: Is named after an entity with powers that cause disease, pests and death.
- Named by the Adaptation: Downplayed. The "Cornelia" we see in the original game never had her true name revealed, which was revealed here. With the release of Warriors: Three Hopes, this crosses into Adaptation Name Change as that game gives her the real name Cleobulus.
- Not Quite Dead: She's presumed dead when Ingrid blows her up with semtex, but it's eventually revealed she has implanted her own heart into Mercedes and is able to come back through her.
- One-Winged Angel: When she possesses Mercedes, she turns their body into a giant spider monster.
Other Characters
Yuri
Yuri Leclerc
A former friend of Dimitri's and a victim of the Crest experimentations.- Adaptational Gender Identity: Canon Yuri is by all accounts a cisgender man. The version of Yuri who lived in Desdinova's world went by they/them pronouns, and Desdinova mentally notes that calling them his "man on the inside" is poor phrasing, indicating that this Yuri is non-binary.
- Death by Adaptation: Yuri died in childhood in this timeline, a far cry from the person they would become in canon.
- Posthumous Character: Yuri is long dead, and their only impact on the story is to motivate Dimitri's revenge.
Vual (Unmarked Spoilers)
Vual/"Seteth"/"Albus Duerr"
- Chekhov's Gunman: He's introduced as a random unnamed mook who helps the heroes because he doesn't want to be retconned out of reality before being apparently killed off. He is sent back to the past along with Ashe, befriends him, defects from Agartha, and joins the heroes in the present day.
- Culture Clash: He occasionally notes how different Agarthan culture is to the surface dwellers'. His argument with Seteth over the latter's fable indicates that Agarthans hold individualism in higher esteem than the surface, and are somewhat more desensitized to violence.
- Double Agent: He feeds the Agarthans false information on behalf of humanity.
- Heel–Face Turn: He's an Agarthan who spent 445 years among humanity, befriended them, and ended up defecting.
- Mr. Exposition: He introduces Edelgard, and by extension the reader, to certain facets of Agarthan history and culture.
- The Slow Path: He was sent back 445 years in the past along with Ashe. Unlike Ashe, an ordinary human, being an Agarthan replicant allows him the longevity to simply wait out the years and return to his own timeframe the hard way.
- Token Heroic Orc: He's the first completely sympathetic Agarthan character introduced.
Canon Timeline Characters
Byleth
Edelgard's teacher and beloved wife, Morality Chain, and many other things.
- Morality Chain: She is, both in canon and here, the one thing that kept Edelgard from descending into a full-fledged Knight Templar/case of She Who Fights Monsters.
- Secret-Keeper: She never told Edelgard about her connection to Sothis - or her sacrifice to save her.
