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Holy Empire of Sanbreque

General Tropes

"The Holy Empire of Sanbreque, where ambition is divine."

Capital: Oriflamme

The largest theocratic force in Valisthea, whose capital of Oriflamme is built around Drake's Head. Drawing on the abundant aether of their realm's Mothercrystal, the people have long lived lives of comfort and prosperity under the watchful eye of the Holy Emperor, who is worshipped as the living incarnation of Greagor - the alleged one true deity - by his people. The provinces that make up the Empire are home to the Dominant of Bahamut, Warden of Light, who serves as the Empire's champion in times of war. Though the people of the Empire have long lived prosperous lives owing to the aether drawn on from their Mothercrystal, this prosperity has been put under threat by the spread of the Blight, and the upper echelons of the Empire now seek new fertile lands.

Ambition Is Evil: The empire is described as a place where ambition is divine in the (appropriately named) "Ambition" trailer. Despite being already the most powerful nation in Valisthea, they continue to covet the lands of others and try to bring the entire continent under one banner. To this end, the empire is willing to burn settlements to the ground as well as kill and enslave Bearers to further their conquest.
Animal Motifs: As seen on the game's official website, and briefly in the "Ambition" trailer, the empire's emblem depicts two dragons, symbolizing the Eikon Bahamut, who, as the game's official website notes, serves as the Empire's champion.
BFG: Imperial Cannoniers lug around a literal cannon whose barrel is wider than Clive's torso and longer than the already gigantic Cannonier is tall.
Dragon Tamer: The dragoons of Sanbreque tame wyrms to help them in battle and guard important places. One of the item description notes that unlike dragons in the wild, the tame dragons live to a much older age and thus larger size due to their care.
The Empire: One whose emperor desires to have the Empire's banner flying over every city in the western half of Valisthea's twin realms. They succeed in expanding into Rosaria and later the Crystalline Dominion.
False Friend: Joshua's comments during the sacking of Phoenix Gate reveal that Rosaria was completely blindsided by the attack due to considering Sanbreque their ally.
Flower Motif:
- The wyvern tail is Sanbreque's national flower. It has poisonous roots which are harvested to create the ink used for Bearers' brands.
- The flower is used as a symbol of Dion's duty to the empire. When Dion loses control as Bahamut and tries to attack the heart of Drake's Tail, the heart absorbs part of his subconsciousness in defense and the Mothercrystal blossoms into a wyvern tail to manipulate Dion into protecting the Mothercrystal instead of destroying it.
Giant Mook: Imperial Champions and Cannoniers are hulking men significantly larger than the typical Imperial soldier. They wield equally massive weapons: giant axe-hammers for the Champions, enormous cannons for the Cannoniers.
How the Mighty Have Fallen: They get hit hard over the course of the story; first, their Mothercrystal Drake's Head is the first Mothercrystal to be destroyed by Cid and Clive. Along with the aetherflood springing up from under the city, it compels the emperor to invade the Crystalline Dominion and go as far as to move the capital there, leaving Oriflamme abandoned. Later, Dion instigates a coup in order to oust Anabella and Olivier. Then the Emperor dies shielding his son from Dion's attempted fratricide. Then Dion is driven mad after unintentionally killing his father and is forcibly turned into Bahamut by Ultima and uncontrollably rains artillery on his own people. Then it turns out the new capital of Sanbreque was built on top of Ultima's giant mobile base and gets torn apart as Ultima raises the whole thing. And Dion dies, ensuring the imperial bloodline is permanently snuffed. By the end of it all, most of Sanbreque and the Crystalline Dominion are a hollow ruin, but smaller pockets (like Lostwing and Northreach) are focused on rebuilding and reestablishing their government.
Light Is Not Good: The empire's emblem is made up of bright colours and its champion is known as the Warden of Light. That said, it is a deeply racist and domineering state that punishes those who simply ''disagree' with their notions of slavery, and that's nothing to say of their key role in the fall of Rosaria. That said, it's averted with Prince Dion, the Warden of Light himself, in that he is a fully heroic character.
Love Ruins the Realm: Downplayed. It's clear from day one that the Holy Empire is on the path to ruin, with its deeply-embedded Moral Myopia leading to strategic myopia as it obsesses with throwing every other living being on Valisthea under the bus to ensure that its banner is the last flag waving on a dying continent. Despite this, it's inarguable that the corruptive influence of Emperor Sylvestre's impulsive, narcissistic second wife Anabella locked in and massively accelerated Sanbreque's downfall.
Meaningful Name: The Empire's original capital city is named Oriflamme. The oriflamme was the battle standard of the medieval kings of France; its raising in battle meant that no quarter was to be given to the enemy.
Moral Myopia: The Holy Empire of Sanbreque is one of the most pleasant places to live for non-Bearer human citizens, and its people and rulers are determined to keep it that way... by ruthlessly exploiting or exterminating everyone else. The Sanbrequois are enthusiastic slavers and brutal imperialists, and most of the rest of Valisthea has a litany of horror stories about them. Unfortunately, this attitude comes back to bite them when their increasingly selfish rulers decide that they're expendable, too.
Mythology Gag: They are a reference to the Kingdom of San d'Oria from Final Fantasy XI and the Holy See of Ishgard from Final Fantasy XIV. From both they take their vaguely French aesthetics and are the home countries of the Dragoons, while from Ishgard specifically they take their theocratic society, overall visual style and bond with dragons. Sanbreque's imperialistic inclinations and abuse of magic-users also makes it a send up to the Garlean Empire from the latter game. The similarities are underscored by how the emperors of Sanbreque and Garlemald are both referred to as "Your Radiance", reflecting the deific reverance both rulers have from their people.
Power Crystal: As noted on the game's official website, the empire draws its aether from Drake's Head, the Mothercrystal which the empire's capital of Oriflamme is built around.
Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: All of the presently-active kingdoms of Valisthea in the 'modern day' are awful in their treatment of Bearers in their own ways, but this is Sanbreque's preferred Kick the Dog flavour. The Bearer slave trade exists all across Valisthea, but the Empire's slaveholding is particularly developed and widespread, and their unique Bearer brands are the most commonly visible in the continent.
The Theocracy: The emperor is also worshipped as a living god, making the empire this. That being said, they're this at a lower level than the Iron Kingdom, where religion has much more influence. It's a tool for propaganda in the Empire, but it's the proverbial rock on which the Iron Kingdom is built.
Vestigial Empire: While still a powerful force in Valisthea, its clear that the Empire has been undergoing a steady decline in recent years. Their centers of food production have been all but wiped out by the Blight while aetherfloods have started popping up in and around their Mothercrystal, threatening their crystal production. Meanwhile, they have so many of their forces tied up at Belenus Tor that Benedikta is able to conquer Caer Norvent with only a token force, commenting that their army is not quite as strong as their front line might indicate—and the Empire ultimately loses Belenus Tor to Waloed anyways. While they are able to conquer the Crystalline Dominion midway through the game, it is clear that this was a move born of desperation as the Empire was in danger of outright collapsing otherwise.

The Imperial Family

Sylvestre Lesage

Voiced by: Andrew Havill (English), Kazuhiro Yamaji (Japanese)^{Foreign VAs}

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ff16_sylvestre.png

"There will be losses, it is true. Yet for every citizen who falls, another can be bred. For every home that burns, another can be built. The Empire will live on."

The emperor of Sanbreque, and Dion's father.

Abdicate the Throne: In a rare occurrence for The Emperor of a Final Fantasy game, Sylvestre willingly abdicates the throne in favor of his younger son Olivier at the urging of his wife Anabella.
Ambiguously Evil: Downplayed. By the time Sylvestre appears on-screen, he's very much a villain, albeit one of lesser importance in comparison to fellow antagonists Hugo Kupka and Barnabas Tharmr. What's ambiguous is how evil he was prior to meeting and marrying Anabella Rosfield. Dion's dialogue during his coup implies Sylvestre was The Good King to Sanbreque who had its best interests in mind, albeit a Well-Intentioned Extremist who was willing to betray the Rosaria dukedom, Sanbreque's ally, and install Anabella as vicereine in exchange for annexing Rosaria. When Sylvestre makes his appearance in the story proper, he's already bought into Anabella's spiel about "sovereign blood" and fully corrupted by it after the second Time Skip.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He's a ruthless, selfish imperialist who ends up marrying (and being influenced by) someone even more ruthless and selfish, and it should come as no surprise that his reign is chiefly signposted by a long string of betrayals:
- First, he breaks his alliance with the Grand Duchy of Rosaria to carve up their land between his empire and their old enemies in the Iron Kingdom.
- Years later, when the Iron Kingdom deploys the Dominant of Shiva (their greatest prize for their help destroying Rosaria) against the Dhalmekian Republic, Sanbreque's old enemies, he sends a squad of Imperial assassins to kill her.
- After aetherfloods and the Blight begin to threaten the Imperial capital of Oriflamme, he violates the international Truce Zone around the Crystalline Dominion in order to conquer them and steal their capital, Twinside.
- When Dhalmekia declares war on Sanbreque for their treaty breach, he green-lights a plan from his wife Anabella to fatally split their forces by inviting the Dominant of Titan, Hugo Kupka, to launch a genocidal invasion of the militarily-irrelevant Imperial Province of Rosaria, hanging the Sanbrequois troops and citizens in the region out to dry.
- He sidelines his eldest son and the heir to the throne, Dion, by crowning his preteen brother Olivier emperor instead, both to appease his wife and as a deliberately insulting provocation born out of paranoia.
- After Dhalmekia sues for peace and stands down the army besieging Twinside, he orders Dion to break the truce and launch an attack, turning their retreat into a massacre. This one ends up being his undoing, mainly because it's a double betrayal - the ensuing battle would ravage Twinside as well, causing vast numbers of Imperial casualties that he's prepared to accept and Dion isn't. Deciding that turnabout is fair play, Dion proceeds to launch a coup against him, Olivier and Anabella.
The Emperor: Sylvestre is the emperor of Sanbreque, believing fully in the dominion of his empire and his own divinely ordained rule. However, over the course of the story he comes to believe his son Olivier is more fitting.
Expy: Of Queen Brahne from Final Fantasy IX. Both are powerful rulers obsessed with meaningless war and whose children suspect they are being manipulated by an outer force. In reality, both were already ambitious from the start, their manipulators only giving them a push, and ultimately leading to their deaths by Bahamut.
God-Emperor: Like all emperors of Sanbreque, he is worshipped as the reincarnation of the nation's goddess, Greagor. It provides his advisors with a strong incentive not to disagree with him too often or too severely, for fear of committing not only treachery but blasphemy, and serves to emphasise what a big deal it is when his guards and ministers refuse to rally to his and Olivier's side during Dion's coup.
Heel–Face Door-Slam: Dion's passionate speech about how he's being manipulated by Anabella and that continuing to follow on his path of conquest will only lead to the whole Empire being destroyed and the citizens loyal to him dead genuinely affects Sylvestre, and he appears to be starting to be convinced, but then "Olivier" steps in with goading words and Sylvestre dies shielding the boy he still believed to be actually his son, losing the chance to start redeeming himself for all that he had done to Valisthea.
Moral Myopia: His philosophy of rule is the Sambrequois standard - protect the citizens who the empire deems human and screw everyone else - and he pursues it through treachery, conquest, and the industrial abuse of Bearer slaves. While his later Motive Decay is largely attributed to his wife's toxic influence, the game indicates that it was the basic Lack of Empathy necessary for the above behaviour that made her job so easy.
Motive Decay: He was never a particularly pleasant person or benevolent ruler, but for most of his reign, he operated according to a form of Moral Myopia that could make him look like a Well-Intentioned Extremist if you squinted. His second wife's callous selfishness gradually rubbed off on him, though, until he started openly expressing his disdain for the lives of the people he'd sworn to serve. When Dion justified his coup by repeating his words back to him about breeding back any losses the Empire would suffer from breaking a truce against Dhalmekia, even he seemed astonished by how far he'd fallen.
Not Brainwashed: When Joshua tips Dion off about Ultima's machinations, Dion confronts his father and asks him whether Ultima is the one driving him to anoint Olivier as the successor and continue his bloody war of absolute conquest. Sylvestre insists that he has no idea who Ultima even is, and his mind is his own. Dion believes his father is telling the truth, and it turns out he really is; it is not Sylvestre who's been possessed or influenced by Ultima, but Olivier.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Sylvestre starts holding Dion at arm's length and heeding Anabella's word over his more because his astrologers have foreseen that Dion would become a traitor and he wanted to assert control to prevent a loss of power. After learning that Anabella was the one who told the astrologers to feed Sylvestre that lie, Dion decides to instigate The Coup to remove her and Oliver from power, turning traitor just as his father feared.
Take Over the World: He expresses the desire to have the imperial banner of Sanbreque flying over every city in Storm — the western half of Valisthea. While he was already ruthless enough to mastermind a bloody coup at Phoenix Gate in the prologue, his second wife (and collaborator in the coup) Anabella was clearly a corrosive influence on him and egging him on to become increasingly megalomaniacal, all to fulfill her own ambitions.
Taking the Bullet: Sylvestre dies by intercepting Dion's thrown spear before it could pierce Olivier.
Tragic Villain: He at one point did care about his citizens and wanted to do right by them, but his fundamental lack of empathy drove him to ruthlessly conquer other nations for his empire's benefit. Then his sociopathic second wife corrupted him further for her own ends, turning him into a tyrant even to his own people. Just when he realizes how far he's fallen, he ends up sacrificing his life to protect the boy he thought was his son, who in reality was an undead husk being controlled by a cruel god.
Unwitting Pawn: Ultima manipulates him by masquerading as his youngest son.
War for Fun and Profit: When the Blight begins creeping into the Empire's northern provinces, Sylvestre simply orders his army to invade the Crystalline Dominion to make up for the lost land.
We Have Reserves: When Dion objects to his plan of conquering the Dhalmekian Republic even though they're open to negotiations, he dismisses the threat of potential losses on the basis that more citizens can be bred to replace those who fall, and more homes can built to replace those that are burned to the ground.

The Empress (Spoilers for the Prologue)

Tropes for Empress Anabella Lesage can be found at the Grand Duchy of Rosaria page.

Dion Lesage

Voiced by: Stewart Clarke (English), Yūichi Nakamura (Japanese)^{Foreign VAs}

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ff16_dion_1.png

"When our people look to the heavens, the sight of him [Bahamut] gives them hope."

Dominant of Bahamut, the Warden of Light, and the eldest imperial prince. He is also the leader of the Dragoons, the empire's noblest order of knights.

11th-Hour Ranger: While his human form doesn't directly fight alongside Clive and Joshua, he does aid them in the final battle as Bahamut, and fights alongside the core heroes before that in cutscenes late in the approach to Drake's Spine in Ash.
The Ace: Dion is the Dominant of Bahamut, making him one of the most powerful individuals in the world. He is also a Loved by All leader, a skilled warrior, and a handsome prince of the most powerful empire in Valisthea. When he snaps and loses control of his Eikon, Dion as Bahamut is so formidable it requires two Eikons, Ifrit and Phoenix, working together to defeat him. And while Benedikta and Hugo both lost their minds after having their eikonic powers drained by Clive and never recovered, Dion survives his battle with Clive and Joshua, and is eventually able to regain his control of Bahamut even though he had been drained by Clive as well.
And Now for Someone Completely Different: Downplayed; you briefly control him during quick-time events in the first stage of the final boss fight.
Armor-Piercing Question: While launching his coup, Dion calls out his father for putting his ambitions above the well being of his people, in the process deconstructing the We Have Reserves rhetoric he's been spouting throughout the story. It's potent enough to make Sylvestre seriously doubt his cause and be reflective about what's he's doing, even for a moment.
Dion: "For every citizen who falls, another can be bred. For every home that burns, another can be built." Those were your words. But when the last of your citizens has fallen, and all of their homes have been reduced to ash...What will become of your empire? Of its rulers? Of your god?
The Atoner: After destroying Twinside while not in control of his Eikon on top of his accidental murder of his father, he feels immense guilt and tries to find redemption for it to the point of having no regard for losing his life in the process. When he takes the hit for Joshua and dies, the look on his face shows that this noble action for a greater good was his atonement.
Beware the Nice Ones: As loyal as he is to his father, Dion is ultimately more committed to his people's well-being and despises Anabella's manipulation and influence over his father. Dion has so much influence and good will among his people and his troops that he could have forcefully taken the throne if he wanted to. The only reason Dion hadn't done so earlier is his faith that his father would see reason and stop the war by himself. Not only that, Dion doesn't hesitate in the slightest to threaten murdering his half-brother to put Anabella in her place, which he does as soon as he is given the opportunity to. The fact that Olivier is his half-brother and Anabella is screaming in despair doesn't even slow Dion down. Finally, Dion condemns his father in front of the whole council in such a way that the Emperor goes from being dismissive and firm to starting to truly doubt his actions.
Bullying a Dragon: On the receiving end, courtesy of his father and stepmother, and by Ultima's proxy, Olivier. While both Anabella and Sylvestre pay dearly for underestimating Dion (albeit unintentionally in the latter case, as Dion's murder of his father was accidental), Ultima is all too happy to take advantage of Dion's anger and drive him to lay waste to his own homeland.
Death Seeker: When he comes to the conclusion that the fall of Twinside was fault of him and him alone, his actions make it clear he sees no other path to redemption. Terence, Harpocrates, Joshua and Clive all recognize this in him, but fail to talk him out of it.
Dion: And what have I but regret? My life ended in the Dominion. I fear death no more.
Determinator:
- It's not made clear if this is the result of natural fortitude, or from going berserk thanks to Ultima's machinations, but the fact is he takes an absolutely insane amount of punishment during his battle against Clive and Joshua, and then simply recovers and begins the battle anew. His boss fight has more phases than any other, even more than Ultima, and eventually Clive, and the players doubtless, become exasperated that he just keeps coming back. The brothers have to combine their Eikons as Ifrit Risen in order to finally subdue Bahamut. And even after he's finally defeated, Dion still manages to muster enough strength to destroy Olivier before passing out.
- Beyond that, even after having his power absorbed by Clive, he still has the willpower to transform into Bahamut without losing control, unlike Benedikta and Hugo, who completely lost their minds after having their powers absorbed by Clive.
Dragon Knight: Both literally and figuratively. He is the commander of the Dragoons, a Recurring Element in the franchise who are, as usual, an elite corps of knights whose equipment and fighting style is inspired by the hunting behaviour of dragons. He's also the Dominant of Bahamut, meaning he can literally turn into a giant dragon if and when he chooses to.
Dragon Tamer: He has "tamed wyrms a-thousand and slain that tenfold", at least if you believe what the bards have to say.
Dying Moment of Awesome: Dion doesn’t make things easy for Ultima when performing a Heroic Sacrifice giving Ultima all he’s got before Ultima deals the final blow.
Expy: Being the bastard son of an increasingly ruthless ruler of a theocratic dragon-themed nation, who happens to be an honorable man beloved by his countrymen despite his origins, in charge of the realm's elite knights, and driven to patricide by circumstance makes him very reminiscent of Aymeric De Borel from Final Fantasy XIV.
Fantasy Character Classes: While XVI lacks the classic Job System, in an interview with IGN the devs confirmed that Dion is meant to embody the Dragoon archetype.
Foil: Dion acts as one to Clive. Dion is, by all accounts, the perfect prince. He's dashing, graceful, gifted with the power of an Eikon associated with light and the sky, and fights for the sake of his people. By contrast, Clive is a disheveled marquess who has lost everything, becomes the Dominant of an Eikon associated with hellish flames and darkness, and fights to avenge his family. And while Clive and Joshua are extremely close siblings, Dion possesses a mutual disdain for his half-brother Olivier, and tries to murder Olivier when Dion realizes that Olivier is a pawn being used to continue Sanbreque's senseless conquest. Both of them are also driven berserk by Ultima, resulting in them failing to uphold their oaths, and have to deal with the hard truth that they laid waste to their own people upon losing control of their Eikon powers. The devs even described them as opposites in an interview.
Maehiro: Clive ... is a character with a somewhat dark atmosphere, having sworn revenge. And so, [Dion] is a character who was created as a reflection of kinds, made in the traditional image of a prince. He’s an all-round Superman, with an Eikon’s power, good looks, and skilled in both the martial and intellectual arts.
Genre Refugee: In any other Final Fantasy title, Dion would likely be The Hero or at the very least one of the main characters from the very start; he's a Knight in Shining Armor and an Ideal Hero who ends up going against his homeland when it falls victim to the control of an evil overlord while wrestling with his own dark side, meaning that he'd usually fit in with the likes of Cecil Harvey, Celes Chere, or Noctis Lucis Caelum. But this being Final Fantasy XVI, he's instead the Token Good Teammate of Sanbreque's royal family and who ends up going through the wringer once he catches onto Ultima's plans.
Good Is Not Soft: When he comes to the conclusion that such action is for the benefit of his realm and his people, he does not hesitate for a second to sentence both his step-mother and her child to death.
Guest-Star Party Member: Downplayed. Dion, as Bahamut, joins the party for a single entirely cinematic battle.
Heel–Face Turn: Not that he was much of a heel to begin with, but speaking with Joshua and learning of Ultima's schemes is the final nail in the coffin for his already considerable doubts of what his father was doing, forcing him to attempt what amounts to a benevolent coup. He later properly joins with the Hideaway after some prompting from Byron and Joshua.
Heroic Bastard: Whereas Olivier has noble blood on both sides of his family, Dion's mother was a commoner, and the only reason Dion is able to hold any sway within the Empire is due to having awakened as Bahamut's Dominant - a fact Anabella is too eager to rub in his face.
Heroic Sacrifice: Dion meets his end by taking Joshua's place in order to stop Ultima from killing Clive, buying the brothers enough time to survive and gather what's remaining of their powers to finally defeat their foe. He takes the whole blow of Ultima's attack as a price, and falls to his death, satisfied with his choice and conclusion, While Joshua ends up being killed anyway, Dion’s Sacrifice allowed Joshua to save Clive’s life and give him Phoenix keeping this from being a Senseless Sacrifice.
Hope Bringer: As Sanbreque's Dominant and the Empire's greatest champion, Dion's presence on the battlefield instantly raises the morale of his men, who all cheer upon his arrival. It's more or less stated that the reason he goes along with the Empire's expansionism is to provide moral support for his subjects more than actually wanting to wage a war of conquest.
I Have Many Names: The prince has many titles befitting his station: Dion the Bold, Prince of Dragoons, Odin's Nemesis, Dominant of Bahamut.
Inappropriately Close Comrades: Dion's lover is his second-in-command, Terence, and it is implied they have to keep it secret for this reason rather than because they are gay, as both would rather run away together where their ranks wouldn't matter.
Insistent Appellation: Dion addresses Joshua and Clive by their Eikons, "Phoenix" and "Ifrit", instead of their names or titles. However, he insists Joshua simply call him Dion instead of "Your Highness". It appears to be a mark of respect born of his exceedingly polite, formal personality - he speaks as if he hasn't quite earned the right to address them by their human names.
Javelin Thrower: Dion's spear is as good for throwing as it is for skewering. This maneuver is actually what does in his father and half-brother, the latter even being done while he's otherwise on the ground.
Knight in Shining Armor: Though his country and father fail to match his genuine benevolence.
Laughing Mad: Dion cackles through Anabella's outpour of grief at his killing of Ultima-as-Olivier. However genuine his pleasure, between guilt-induced hallucinations of the father he killed and grievous wounds from his battle with the Rosfield brothers, he's clearly not quite in his right mind.
Light/Darkness Juxtaposition: He's first seen battling with Barnabas' Eikon, whose status as the Warden of Darkness contrasts with Dion's Eikon's status as the Warden of Light.
Light Is Good: In stark contrast to his country, Dion is a genuine Knight in Shining Armor and the Dominant of the Light Eikon Bahamut.
Like Father, Unlike Son: Thanks to Anabella, Sylvester became a cold, domineering, and ruthless emperor who no longer cares for any of his subjects. Dion is... very much the opposite.
Loved by All: He is adored among the people of the Empire. It is also noted that songs celebrating the heroism and battle might of the warrior prince are commonplace among the lips and lutes of the bards of Sanbreque. It's pretty telling that once he rebels against his father, most of the troops of Sanbreque immediately follow along without any hesitation and refuse to disobey his commands, especially as Dion makes sure his forces are also committed to protecting the lives of the citizens. Even more than that, his men still follow his command even after he went into frenzy and destroyed the Empire's capital as Bahamut. At the hideaway, no one really speaks of Dion until the fall of Twinside, when people are stunned to learn of Dion's kinslaying.
Nice Guy: He might be the commanding officer of an invading army, but Dion is actually a kind, sensitive man who wants to do right by the citizens of Sanbreque and those he cares about.
Noble Top Enforcer: A heroic, kind-hearted Knight in Shining Armor Loved by All who unfortunately happens to be the top general of a ruthless, expansionist slaveholding empire.
Patricide: Despite genuinely being disgusted with his father's actions, he kills him completely by accident when he tries to kill Olivier to end the war.
Red Baron: On top of his title as Warden of Light, Dion's official bio also confirms that Bahamut is known as the King of Dragons.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: His decision to sentence Anabella and Olivier to death, specifically the latter. Anabella is understandable given her betrayal of Rosaria and Nazi-like Fantastic Racism towards Bearers, but Olivier is merely a child who's being used as a political pawn and isn't old enough to understand the full implications of his actions. Or at least it seems that way, until it's revealed that "Olivier" was actually Ultima in disguise, something Dion only realized too late.
The Rival: Is one to Barnabas Tharmr due to them being Dominants of the two most powerful Eikons (Bahamut and Odin respectively), and is seemingly set up as one to Clive, but this ends up being subverted when it turns out Dion is as idealistic and good-natured as Clive is.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: He is the leader of his country's most famous knightly order on top of being a crown prince.
Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: He's initially presented as a Knight in Shining Armor against Clive's Unscrupulous Hero, seemingly setting them up for a Polite Villains, Rude Heroes dynamic, and Joshua believes that Dion would believe his story despite him serving The Empire and them having met only once years before, which may look like Joshua walking into a betrayal. But as it turns out, he is a genuinely good person to his core who disagrees the Empire's expansionist campaign and only participates to provide moral support for the people, as well as countering Odin whenever he shows up on the battlefield. The moment he realizes something is amiss, he ends up rebelling against his father and stepmother - and only fails because he didn't anticipate how powerful Ultima actually was, who then sends him into a frenzy as Bahamut.
Sibling Team: He joins his stepbrothers in the final stretch of the game to take on Ultima.
Son of a Whore: It's implied his mother was a prostitute, as Anabella taunts him that she was a "whore who weighed her child's worth in gil".
Star-Crossed Lovers: Since he dies in the final battle, he leaves Terence behind - assuming, of course, that Terence didn't die as well.
Straight Gay: His lover is his second-in-command named Terence; both of them are male. Besides that, Dion doesn't show any stereotypical traits for gay men.
Token Good Teammate:
- He's the only one in Sanbreque’s royal family to possess anything resembling a conscience and be a genuinely well-meaning man. This is in strong contrast to his father and stepmother, who turn out to be thoroughly loathsome egomaniacs despite paying lip-service to the good of the people, and are responsible for some of the most horrific atrocities in the storyline. He himself turns on them when it becomes clear that Anabella hates him and wants to cast him aside in favor of Olivier, and he's also the only one who catches on to Ultima's manipulations, which both his parental figures completely fell for.
- He's also this among the Dominants that Clive is forced to fight, not including Jill, as the only reason they even fought is because Dion had gone berserk from accidentally killing his father and Clive was trying to stop him before his rampage brought about more destruction. In the aftermath, Dion harbors no animosity towards Clive and readily joins him in his fight against Ultima.
The Unfought: Of a sorts. Aside from Joshua, Dion is the only Dominant that Clive never fights as a human. However, the extended battle with Bahamut no doubt makes up for that, even if Dion wasn't actually in his right mind during the fight.
The Unreveal: We never find out what he looks like Semi-Primed.
Uptown Boy: Dion has a secret relationship with his closest attendant, Terence, who both love each other dearly. However, their relationship is complicated by their difference in status, as an enormous scandal would break out if they were ever discovered embracing one another. Dion himself wishes that Terence were his master instead, while Terence insists that he will always be Dion's loyal servant.
Warrior Prince: The heir to the imperial throne and head of the Dragoons, whose skill in battle is sung about by bards.
The Wise Prince: The dutiful and dignified prince of Sanbreque, that is skilled at the militant and diplomatic portions befitting of his station, but its his devotion to his duty that keeps him from truly embracing the things that make him happy.
What You Are in the Dark: He could've pressed on after the urchin girl nursed him back to health and forget about her completely - but he directs Terence to deliver her gold to support herself with in exchange for her help.
Would Hit a Girl: At the very least, Dion has no qualms about ordering for Anabella's execution.
Would Hurt a Child: Eventually, Dion snaps and tries to murder his brother to stop the war - and ends up hitting his father by accident instead when Sylvestre unexpectedly jumps in front of his spear. Later, he succeeds, but this is after finding out his brother was nothing more than an undead puppet the entire time.
World's Strongest Man: Completely evenly matched with Barnabas Tharmr as the most powerful Dominant in the story. Whereas Barnabas is a swordsman of downright monstrous strength, Dion is more of a Person of Mass Destruction who can burn an entire city/army in an instant. And much like how Clive was little match against Barnabas for the most part, the odds are only tilted in his favor once Joshua joins the fight, and even then only barely.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: In an end-game sidequest before Dion's departure for Origin, Harpocrates tries to make amends for leaving his tutor position at the imperial court years ago while the young prince became burdened with duty. As Dion is weighed down by guilt from the events at Twinside, Harpocrates tries to comfort Dion by gifting him a wild purple wyvern tail to show him that while it shares its poisonous roots with the common white wyvern tail, its roots "do not define it... just as [his] do not define [him]". Sadly, Dion does not believe he deserves the flower until he fulfills his duty at Origin, and asks Harpocrates to keep it until he returns.

Olivier Lesage

Voiced by: Quentin Ballard (English), Kenshin Kobayashi (Japanese)^{Foreign VAs}

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ff16_olivier.png

The crown prince of Sanbreque and the Emperor's youngest child... who has a dark secret.

Ambiguously Evil: It's initially left ambiguous just how much Olivier actually agrees with his mother's plans, as his quiet and largely submissive demeanor implies that he may just be mindlessly going along with her designs. This ambiguity goes out the window when Dion confronts him after launching his insurrection, where he makes it clear that he absolutely does want to Take Over the World and reduce his brother to a mere underling, and shortly afterwards, he reveals that his true goals are even worse, since he's been a puppet of Ultima's the entire time.
Ambiguous Situation: In the end he turns out to be a puppet for Ultima to manipulate, but at what point Olivier became Ultima's puppet is unclear, as is how much autonomy he had, if any. The Final Fantasy XVI Ultimania artbook reveals that Ultima has been using him as his akashic puppet since his birth, meaning that Oliver has essentially been an Empty Shell his entire life.
A Child Shall Lead Them: Thanks to his mother, his father names him as the Emperor and abdicates the throne. Deconstructed, as it's obvious he's in no position to be a leader and she only wants him to be Emperor to act as her puppet.
Creepy Child: Olivier is almost always shown with a vacant expression, childishly playing with a toy knight as he's wordlessly dragged along by his mother. There are only two points where he behaves anything like a normal child; first when he grumbles about having to meet with the council after Sylvestre has anointed him the successor and second when he petulantly mocks Dion for his insurrection, which is immediately followed by The Reveal that he's Ultima's puppet and was never a normal child to begin with.
Dead All Along: Whatever Olivier currently is (if he as a person ever existed in the first place), he has become a soulless puppet for Ultima to talk through. Somehow, not even the Emperor or Anabella, Olivier's birth parents noticed anything unusual about him, even until Dion's coup at Twinside. When Dion stabs him, he disintegrates into aether the sane way Akashic monsters do.
Death of a Child: If being hollowed out by Ultima to use as a meat puppet didn't do him in, getting harpooned like a fish by Dion's spear certainly does.
Momma's Boy: He is only ever seen clinging to Anabella and otherwise hanging on her every word, until he takes the throne himself. And even then he is only a Puppet King at best.
- The Inner Voice feature of the Grand Cast, which shows what a given important character is thinking, only shows one thing from Olivier: internal grumbling of "Mummy, I'm bored." In fact, he has no Inner Voice captions toward anyone else in the cast—not even his own mother. This suggests that despite clinging to her, Olivier didn't even care about her.
Princeling Rivalry: His mother sets him up in one with his half-brother Dion, using her own wiles to set up a treaty with the Dhalmeks and allowing him to take credit for it to elevate his station so he can earn their father's favor and seize the position as the heir to the throne.
Puppet King: Even after sitting the throne, he declines to voice any policies or commands to his ministers, instead letting his father and mother speak for him in all things. It's pretty clear that the only reason he was given the throne in the first place was so his mother could rule the realms through him.
Royal Brat: He is blatantly apathetic toward his responsibilities as a potential ruling sovereign. At all times he appears completely disinterested in whatever political discussions are ongoing in his vicinity, even after he has been crowned Emperor. The only things that gain his attention are his toy soldier and his mother.
Toy-Based Characterization: He's quite fond of his rag-dollish knight toy, and the fact he's always in a similar pose as the toy shows he's no different as this to his mother, and Ultima.

The Imperial Military

Sir Terence

Voiced by: Timothy George (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ff16_terence.png

Second-in-command of the Dragoons, a young knight and Dion's lover.

Childhood Friend Romance: From Japanese in-game text and info from Dion's English voice actor, Terence was a minor noble who was a squire and childhood friend to Dion. They became separated by rank until Terence worked his way up the chain of command to rejoin his side.
Inappropriately Close Comrades: Terence's lover is his commanding officer, Dion. It is implied that they need to keep it secret for this reason rather than because they are gay, as both would rather run away together where their ranks wouldn't matter.
Mirror Character: To Jill, being a lover from childhood of a Dominant (in his case, Dion) and acts as the Number Two.
Number Two: To Dion, within the Dragoons.
Put on a Bus: Dion tasks Terence with finding Kihel and taking care of the girl to repay her for saving his life. Terence is not seen for the remainder of the game, though the Inner Voice feature added in later patches at least indicates he was able to escape Twinside with the girl before its destruction by Ultima.
Straight Gay: Like Dion, he displays no stereotypically gay traits.
Undying Loyalty: Terence loves Dion and follows him without question, even if he disagrees with what Dion tells him to do, and supports him in his coup to wrest control of Sanbreque away from Anabella, his stepmother.

The Holy Order of the Knights Dragoon

An elite unit of Dragoons that serve the holy empire, reporting under Dion Lesage, Dominant of Bahamut and Warden of Light. They are the empire's pride and joy and their most deadly soldiers.

Alas, Poor Villain: The Knight of the Splendent Heart defends the gate to Oriflamme long after the city has been abandoned and everyone around has turned Akashic, becoming obsessed with revenge on "Cid the Outlaw" as he sees the man as being responsible for the fall of Twinside and "driving Bahamut to madness". He fights against Clive out of devotion to Sanbreque and Dion especially, and after defeating him Clive can only regret that Dion couldn't have been there to prevent his senseless death.
Dragon Knight: They never actually ride dragons, but they tame and use wyverns and dragonets in battle.
Dynamic Entry: The Knight of the Blinding Dawn and the Knight of the Dying Sun both make their entrance by dropping out of the sky to nearly skewer Clive with the Dragoons' signature Jump attack.
Elite Mooks: The Dragoons are the cream of the crop for the Empire's fighting forces. They're only encountered as bosses in the beginning portions of the game, but start appearing as normal enemies in later dungeons.
In a Single Bound: Like Dragoons throughout the series, they are known for leaping up high before crashing down onto their enemies.
Mythology Gag:
- The Knight of the Blinding Dawn strikes Kain Highwind's classic pose before leaping down to face Clive. Furthermore, he has the same voice actor as Estinien, another Dragoon.
- All four of them tend to use attacks usable by player Dragoons in Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV, such as Mirage Dive.
No Name Given: None of the Dragoons aside from Dion and Terence are named.
Optional Boss: The Knight of the Splendent Heart is a notorious monster hunt mark, while the others are fought through the story.
Red Baron: All of the prominent ones that Clive fights have names meant to display their majesty and power: Knight of the Blinding Dawn, Knight of the Dying Sun, Knight of the Lasting Dark, and Knight of the Splendid Heart.
Warm-Up Boss: Although it's not the first boss fought in the game, the Knight of the Blinding Dawn fought near the end of the prologue serves as the introduction for the game's humanoid bosses.

The Black Shields

Serving under Empress Anabella Lesage, vicereine to Rosaria, they are a unit of knights meant to be a twisted recreation of Rosaria's traditional Shields, intent on stamping out any challenge to her rule — especially those who shelter and protect Bearers.

Asshole Victim: Several of the ones Clive kills get well-deserved deaths due to their blatant brutalization of the Rosarian people.
Badass Creed: "To dwell in darkness that we may purge the night and welcome lasting dawn. One these, our swords we swear." In a subversion, it's an oath taken from Rosaria's Shields, and invoked before executing or continuing their heinous acts against helpless people.
Black Cloak: Almost all of them sport a piece of black fabric, befitting their status as dark "knights".
Black Knight: All of them wear black armor, symbolic of how they have twisted the ideal of Rosaria's First Shields.
Crushing the Populace: Their primary purpose is to enforce Anabella's rule over Rosaria with an iron fist, and they will do so with any force necessary. At least two entire villages are essentially wiped out by their deeds.
Dark Is Evil: Unlike the rest of their kingdom, they wear black armor, and are some of the most evil soldiers encountered.
Equal-Opportunity Evil: They are willing to work with anyone who agrees with their narrow-minded views of the Bearers.
Evil Counterpart: To the Shields of Rosaria. When Clive meets them, he's absolutely livid that his mother went so far as to pervert the ideals and knight order of his home to suit her own ends.
Fantastic Racism: They agree with Anabella's insular opinions of the bearers completely and anyone who disagrees with their views is punished severely.
Hate Sink: They turn out to be one of the most loathsome factions Clive faces off against, with nearly every scene they're in involving them committing horrific atrocities against largely defenseless Bearers. Their cruelty is matched only by their borderline delusional levels of self-righteousness, as they genuinely seem to believe that carrying out these "dark deeds" is essential to bring about a new dawn for Rosaria. Unlike Anabella, who they work for, there is absolutely nothing humanizing or redeemable shown about these people, and you're encouraged to slaughter them to your heart's content. In fact, they continue to be an odious presence even after Anabella's death, as a late-game sidequest reveals that their remnants simply went to work for the former Supreme Justice of Sanbreque, who did such wonderful things like hunting Bearers for sport and having a colleague's entire family killed when he dared to take him to task over this. As with their master, the Black Shields are the most universally despised characters in the entire game.
The Horseshoe Effect: Despite their self-righteousness, they are incredibly guilty of numerous sins, including pride. It is their atrocities that turn them into the monsters they claim to oppose.
Make an Example of Them: One village has all the corpses of its Bearers strung up as a symbol to show what would happen to any village that supports Bearers.
Overly Long Name: Their official title, "The Holy Order of Shields of the Blackened Pinion".

The Bastards

As a whole

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ff16_bastards.png

Tiamat, Biast, and Aevis

An all-Bearer squad in the Sanbreqouis army, elite fighters tasked with taking down even Dominants.

Animal Theme Naming: The codenames Tiamat doles out to the Bastards—Aevis, Biast, Wyvern, and his own Tiamat—are all types of dragon.

Tiamat

The Sergeant of an all-Bearer squad in the Sanbrequois army, rumoured to have been born the son of a noble. He recruited Clive from the front lines to act as a special-ops agent. His last mission was to assassinate the Dominant of Shiva, which was already a suicide mission that somehow went even worse.

Drill Sergeant Nasty: Most of his banter is him snidely snarking to his subordinates.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He's loyal to the Empire to the death, but is flabbergasted by Clive abandoning their mission to save Jill, as if he's unable to comprehend Clive having the desire to not be a slave-soldier, or that he might not be unfailingly loyal to the Empire like he is when Clive was only made into a Branded after the Empire destroyed his home and killed his family.
Evil Counterpart: He serves as a minor one for Clive as "Wyvern", being a Magic Knight in service to Sanbrequois and showcasing some similarities in the way they both combine spell craft and swordplay in a fight, such as Tiamat coating his blade in magical energy like Clive can coat his in flames. The main difference is that Tiamat seems to have actual loyalty to Sanbrequois despite being a Bearer in a kingdom known for its Fantastic Racism practices against them, and calls Clive out for "betraying" them for Jill's sake.
Guest-Star Party Member: Downplayed. Tiamat fights alongside Clive against Jill and the Ironblood, but doesn't officially get any kind of party member designation unlike other guests.
Happiness in Slavery: Downplayed; he's not exactly happy to be a slave per se, but he is fanatically, blindly loyal to the Empire. He is not only content with his lot in life, he seems downright offended that the other Bastards don't express the same level of loyalty and subservience as he does, spending most of his on-screen time grilling and talking down to them. After Clive refuses to kill Jill and attempts to reason with Tiamat, he refuses to hear any of it and immediately tries to kill Clive, thinking him a traitor.
Mentor Occupational Hazard: In the end, Clive has to put down his former mentor to save Jill.
Non-Elemental: As a Bearer, Tiamat is capable of magic and is shown to use the non-elemental Ruin spells.
Only Known by Their Nickname: As with Aevis and Biast, his true name is never revealed.
Spell Blade: His only named ability is Enruin. En- abilities in the series imbue the users weapon with the associated magic, in this case the Non-Elemental magic Ruin.
Ungrateful Bastard: His opinion of Clive when the latter turns coat right when they're about to kill Jill, having personally trained Clive when he joined his unit and gave him the codename "Wyvern".

Wyvern

For his entry, see under Clive Rosfield in the Protagonists page.

Aevis

Voiced by: Adam El Hagar (English)

A member of the Bastards under Tiamat's leadership, he's assigned to kill Shiva's Dominant.

Guest-Star Party Member: Downplayed. Aevis fights alongside Clive against Jill and the Ironblood, but doesn't officially get any kind of party member designation unlike other guests.
Only Known by Their Nickname: Only ever referred to by his codename of Aevis.
The Smart Guy: He seems to take this role in the Bastards, deducing who Jill is at a distance through his knowledge of the Iron Kingdom and their beliefs and noting the large number of priests in the group below them is a sign that she must be the Dominant they're searching for.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He gets killed by the Ironblood just moments after defeating Jill.
Would Hit a Girl: When Clive's stunned at realising their target is his childhood friend Jill, Aevis has no problems stepping in himself to cut off her head whilst she's unconscious, only being stopped by an axe to the jugular from the attacking Ironblood.

Biast

The second longest serving member of the Bastards under Tiamat's leadership, he's assigned to kill Shiva's Dominant.

Bait-and-Switch: He and the rest of the bastards are a 4-man team heading into a combat situation alongside Clive, a typical party set-up that implies he and the rest of them will be fighting alongside Clive in a similar manner as past games. Then he's swiftly and anti-climatically killed as collateral damage before reaching a single combat encounter, making it clear that there is no Plot Armour or special importance attached to him or any other character in the story.
Not Enough to Bury: He gets crushed under a falling rock, reducing the number of the Bastards down to three.
Only Known by Their Nickname: Only ever referred to by his codename of Biast.
Sacrificial Lamb: Of a sort. His violent and pointedly gory death as collateral damage from Titan and Shiva's fight is a major sign to the player that this game does not play nice with its characters or the violence depicted.
True Companions: His Active Time Lore entry mentions that he and Tiamat have fought alongside each other for years, which has led to Biast being able to trust Tiamat with his life. Unfortunately…
We Hardly Knew Ye: He's the first casualty of the Bastards' operation, with barely anything known about him, and most of what is comes mainly from his Active Time Lore file. He doesn't even get into any kind of combat situation alongside Clive before getting smashed.

Lostwing

Quinten

Voiced by: Angus Wright (English), Masaaki Ihara (Japanese)^{Foreign VAs}

The enigmatic leader of the village of Lostwing, which makes its home in a valley with a ruined Fallen airship. A former official of the Sanbrequois government turned trusted ally of Cid.

Best Served Cold: He's been plotting his sadistic revenge on the former Supreme Justice of Sanbreque for many, many years, and openly admits that the entire Lostwing village was essentially a front for him to recruit volunteers he could use for an army. What keeps Quinten sympathetic is the fact that the former Supreme Justice really was that bad of a man who fully deserved everything Quinten had planned for him, and that Quinten himself was completely upfront about his true intentions to his own people, Bearers and non-Bearers who knew the same pain borne from injustice, showing that he genuinely did care for them instead of seeing them as mere pawns.
Birds of a Feather: Quinten's Lostwing is made up of not only Bearers who have suffered injustice, but non-Bearers who have as well, Quinten himself being among the latter.
Dark and Troubled Past: Quinten has a past as a judiciary official of the empire, and with the support of the Lord Chief Justice, he caught all sorts of criminals and stopped corruption where he could. However, Quinten learned that the Chief Justice was in fact one such corrupt official who, among other things, hunted Bearers for sport. Disgusted, Quinten tried to expose him, and the Chief Justice's response was to murder Quinten's entire family in retaliation. This drove Quinten to leave his post and swear revenge, establishing Lostwing for this very purpose.
Everyone Has Standards: Part of what keeps a taskmaster like Quinten sympathetic to the player. Despite being part of a village in the Empire, Quinten does sympathize with Bearers, hence his cooperation with the likes of Cid.
- After the fall of Sanbreque's Mothercrystal, talking to Quinten will reveal that he's unhappy that the Bearers under his protection are straining themselves more for the village because the magic they wield has diminished with said Mothercrystal's destruction. He'd even insisted that the Bearers use more mundane means to work.
Good Is Not Nice: Despite being one of Cid's allies, he's not very nice about it. He tells Cid and Clive that he doesn't want them around for too long, he only gives them the floor to sleep on, and he only grudgingly helps them since he doesn't want further danger to the villagers. His quest for revenge, while completely understandable given what kind of man his sworn enemy is, also has a sadistic streak to it, as after he finally corners his target, he brutally kills him offscreen, and when he comes back, his apron is covered in blood.
It's All About Me: Rather subtle, but it's present throughout his character. One of Quinten's Inner Voice comments is "I like a man who makes himself useful. To me." Clive even comments that Quinten believes Cid the Outlaw as one of his allies, not the other way around.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he can be bitter and callous, Quinten isn't heartless with his co-conspirators in Lostwing. In his questline, while he and the able-bodied prepare to exact revenge on the former Chief Justice, Quinten has Clive help the other Bearers—children, seniors, and the crippled—evacuate Lostwing, and asks that they are given a place in the hideaway. Later, when he learns that an aetherflood has swept into Lostwing itself, Quinten rushes into the village, realizing in a panic that someone innocent might have tried to find shelter here before the flood. Despite the danger of turning Akashic, Quinten survives thanks to Clive getting him out quickly. Once the other Lostwing survivors help him through his loss of purpose, Quinten decides to rescind his earlier plea to Clive, choosing to build something new with the survivors.
Supporting Leader: He is the effective mayor of Lostwing, and one of Clive's primary points of contact for any business in Sanbreque.
Vengeance Feels Empty: Quinten succeeds in killing the man who ruined his life, but all those who came to help him battle the imperial soldiers died as well, which was most of Lostwing's able-bodied adults. Furthermore, Lostwing itself fell to an aetherflood, forcing the survivors to escape. It isn't until a few of the villagers remind him that they are a family and that they can make a new Lostwing that he finds a reason to live again.

Northreach

"The Dame" Isabelle

Voiced by: Katherine Kingsley (English), Kaori Kimura (Japanese)^{Foreign VAs}

Known as the Dame, a mysterious and secretive ally of Cid's. She is the proprietress of the Veil, Northreach's "foremost house of ill repute." Highly respected by the populace of Northreach.

First-Name Basis: While known as the Dame to most, she tells Clive to call her Isabelle. Cid is later incredulous when he learns she is allowing this after having only just met her, implying that very few get that privilege.
Given Name Reveal: Her actual given name is Carla, which she went by before fleeing the Dominion. Isabelle is an alias to hide from the authorities for the crime of bedding a Bearer.
High-Class Call Girl: She is a courtesan, and a highly respected one at that.
Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Genuinely a good person with the respect of her people, regarded as one of Northreach's leaders. The soldiers of the garrison are some of her most frequent customers to the Veil, so everyone wants to be on her good side. She uses this influence to protect Bearers as best she can, and sends information back and forth with Cid and the hideaway.
I Owe You My Life: This is why she is so intent to protect Northreach and the Veil. The Veil gave her the support she needed when she first arrived there, and so she swore to do the same when they would need it in turn.
Known Only by Their Nickname: The people of Northreach refer to her exclusively as "the Dame". Only those close to her get to call her Isabelle.
The Lost Lenore: She fell in love with a Bearer many years ago when she still worked in the Crystalline Dominion, something that was and is still strictly taboo. When people found out, the two were forced to flee to Northreach under pain of death, but he died of his wounds shortly after they arrived. She was able to pull through with the support of everyone at the Veil, indebting her to the other courtesans and Northreach as a whole from then on, and she became determined to protect it as one of its leaders.
Mama Bear: Isabelle looks out for her courtesans first and foremost, and all of them respect her in turn.
Miss Kitty: She is the one who runs the Veil and looks after all of her courtesans, always making sure they are safe first and foremost and even helping them learn to read. She also has the eyes of the captain of the town guard, Philippe.
Ms. Fanservice: She wears a low-cut dress with much of her cleavage showing, and is known to attract the attention of others for it. It's justified since she's a courtesan whose business requires her to attract people with her feminine wiles.
Muggle–Mage Romance: The reason she had to flee the Dominion—she is the Muggle who fell in love with a Bearer Mage. In an inversion of the usual trope, the power imbalance in the relationship favored her (the Muggle), as Bearers are treated as a Slave Race across Valisthea.
No-Sell: Late in her questline, the Duke of Oriflamme tries to discredit Isabelle as a leader by revealing her real name and her "crime" (sleeping with a Bearer) to the people of Northreach. While it's a surprise, Isabelle doesn't deny it, and it fails to sway the people against her at all; between her and the Duke, the residents of Northreach choose to rally to Isabelle's plea to defend the town from the Akashic, while the soldiers cooperate with Phillipe's defence rather than follow the Duke's orders.
Secret-Keeper: The Rising Tide DLC reveals that Isabelle knows all about the Motes of Water living in hiding in Mysidia, and she helps keep their secret safe - including sheltering and employing some of their people. It is Isabelle and the Veil that facilitates their meeting with Clive.
Supporting Leader: She is a major figure in Northreach, and one of Clive's primary points of contact for any business in Sanbreque.
The Team Benefactor: Isabelle is one of the hideaway's three biggest donors, along with Martha and Charon. She doesn't even mind when Gaute forgets to pay back her loan because of how much Clive and the others have done for her already.

Philippe

Voiced by:

Captain of the garrison in Northreach, dedicated to the safety of its people and particularly Isabelle, whom he earnestly loves.

Good Counterpart: To a minor character named Yannick, another imperial soldier stationed in Northreach in Part 1. Both are imperial soldiers and Hopeless Suitors enamored with a courtesan at the Veil. Whereas Yannick held a toxic Entitled to Have You attitude toward one of Isabelle's courtesans, leaving her terrified of him and resulting in them both getting killed; Phillipe acknowledges his love for Isabelle but never acts upon it toward her, respecting her as her own person, and he chooses to put the town's safety as his first priority because Northreach is important to him as well. This amounts to Isabelle and the Veil being able to trust Phillipe.
Hopeless Suitor: He's in love with Isabelle, but she shows no signs of reciprocating other than acknowleding him as a good man and trusting him with the defense of Northreach.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Captain of the military garrison in Northreach in the empire, and one of Isabelle's stoutest allies — and by extension, Clive's. In the wake of Ultima's Primogenesis creating more Akashic hordes, the previous captain losing his head to one causes most of the soldiers to panic, but Phillipe fills this role by talking it out with them.
Resign in Protest: When the former High Cardinal of Sanbreque moves into Northreach in order to reestablish the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, Philippe is among those who opposes him. Unable to stand against it without causing an all-out civil war to break out in Northreach, Philippe resigns from his post to protect his home in his own way, forming a town watch with some of the citizens.

Characters / Final Fantasy XVI - The Holy Empire of Sanbreque

Holy Empire of Sanbreque

The Imperial Family

Voiced by: Andrew Havill (English), Kazuhiro Yamaji (Japanese)^{Foreign VAs}

Voiced by: Stewart Clarke (English), Yūichi Nakamura (Japanese)^{Foreign VAs}

Voiced by: Quentin Ballard (English), Kenshin Kobayashi (Japanese)^{Foreign VAs}