Fire Emblem: Three Houses – Other Main Characters / Characters

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Sothis (Unmarked Spoilers)

Sothis

Class: Gremory (Three Hopes)

Height: 135 cm

Voiced by: Tomoyo Kurosawa (Japanese), Cassandra Lee Morris (English)

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

^{Click here to see Sothis in Fire Emblem Heroes}

Girl on the Throne/Vengeance's Vessel

"Your will and mine are now as one. Both sides of time are revealed to you...and you alone. You know I am the Beginning. What will you do?"

A mysterious girl with no memory of herself or her past who saves Byleth during a fateful night. She does not physically appear, appearing only inside their mind, so nobody except Byleth knows of her existence.

Adaptational Badass: In Three Houses, Sothis' Divine Pulse allowed her to stop time and then rewind it up to a certain point. It seemingly still functions this way in Three Hopes, though now it allows her and Byleth to move while time is stopped. When Shez experiences it for themselves, they see her teleporting around and mistake it for Byleth screwing with their senses.
Adaptational Jerkass: Sothis has a somewhat more strained relationship with Byleth in Three Hopes, being considerably more snippy with them and angry that they prevented her from killing Shez and took control of their body back from her. She's also quite eager to put Shez to the sword despite their only offense being their continued interference and grudge against Byleth. This is due to A) seemingly having all her memories back, and not having spent nearly as much time interacting with Byleth B) recognizing that Shez's powers are Agarthan in origin and mistaking them for one, and C) it's implied she senses Arval or Epimenides' presence within them.
Adaptational Late Appearance: In Three Houses, Sothis is awakened the night before Byleth and Jeralt have to protect the three Lords. In Three Hopes, Byleth is absent from this battle, thus Sothis doesn't fully awaken until the War Phase, two years after Byleth's last encounter with Shez. Interestingly this also seems to cause her to have a good deal more of her memory and knowledge of her powers than she did for most of her time in Three Houses.
Adaptational Superpower Change: In Heroes, Sothis is classified as a Breath user (a Dragon unit), while Three Hopes has her start out as Gremory. However, this is more downplayed as Sothis in Heroes does not transform into a dragon, her weapon animations are not breaths, and all of them nullify weapons that are effective against dragons, meaning that she fights more as a "close-range magic user" than as an actual dragon.
Ambiguous Situation: Sothis's S-Support implies that she fell in love with Byleth during the course of the game. She has no other Relationship Values, and the player can choose to S-Support her without any prior effort. If Byleth reciprocates, Sothis wonders if her own feelings somehow influenced theirs. No other ending is able to confirm or deny this, as Sothis never reappears.
Amnesiac Hero: She's lost all of her memories except her own name, but regains bits and pieces over the course of the game.
Ancient Astronauts: She arrived in Fódlan before the beginning of recorded history, long before the War of Heroes, from... somewhere else. In-universe legends several times attribute the celestial body known as the Blue Sea Star to be her original home, and her name is the Greek form of Sopdet, the Ancient Egyptian personification of the star Sirius.
Anguished Declaration of Love: When Byleth overhears Sothis wonder if her own feelings subtly influenced Byleth, a flustered Sothis decides to come clean and confess her love.
"Oh, fine! I shall admit... I do. I love you deeply! Overwhelmingly! Passionately! Ours is a love without an end!"
Antiquated Linguistics: Despite looking like a young girl, her speech patterns are somewhat archaic.
The Archmage: As a playable character in Three Hopes, she is an excellent mage who comes with the highest tier of all elemental magic (Ragnarok, Bolting, Fimbulvetr, Excalibur, and Abraxas) save for darkness.
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Implied to be what happens to her when she fuses with Byleth, as well as something of an innate/special nature of how her soul works. In Cindered Shadows Rhea explains that Sothis' soul is "omnipresent" (implied to mean she is present in both the material and nonmaterial world, but not all-knowing and literally everywhere at once) which is why it is at all possible to revive her (normal souls pass on completely to the afterlife and no known method can return them). We see this displayed by how even after seemingly leaving Byleth as a independent mind, she remains aware of the overall state of events in Fódlan and through Byleth can continue to influence the material world. She also is able to speak with Rhea when Rhea has a near death experience. Likewise, near the start of the game when she first reverses time, the magic circle she summons has the phrase "the goddess always lives in heaven and Fódlan." If S-ranked she can reverse this state and return to a more limited existence in Byleth's soul.
Beware the Nice Ones: Sothis appears to have made it her mission in life to teach and aid entire civilizations. Push her hard enough and you'll be reminded that the kindly serial uplifter is a goddess and perfectly capable of wiping highly advanced civilizations off the map if given enough reason to do so.
Big Damn Heroes: Despite having already merged with Byleth and giving up most of her individual personality, it's ultimately Sothis that wakes Byleth from their five year long coma.
Bizarre Alien Biology:
- She has a stone for a heart (a trait shared by her children) and can asexually reproduce with her own blood, though the children produced seemingly cannot reproduce this way and are never as powerful, lacking many of her other abilities. She can also shapeshift at will (her appearance as a young girl is stated to be the result of her changing her form to resemble a human) and has enough scientific knowledge to assist in building a futuristic Magitek society capable of making robots and ICBMs. Justified, as Rhea's explanation that Sothis came to the continent from "somewhere far away and descended upon [Fódlan]" implies that Sothis is an alien, though it's impossible to know for sure, as Sothis seemingly never spoke about where she came from and doesn't remember her past life anymore to confirm it.
- Related to the above, a text found in the Shadow Library that may have been written by an Agarthan refers to Sothis (or "the False God" as they call her) as having a "looming, heteromorphic vessel" suggesting that Sothis used a monstrous transformation in battle, or that they were at least aware she had more than one form.
Blood Knight: Three Hopes sees Sothis as clearly relishing in combat (note how her recommended classline is the offense-oriented Mage line instead of the defensive and supportive Priest classline), and one of her "ally scores high k.o. count quotes" shows that she does indeed look forward to a promising encounter.
"Another worthy adversary has appeared. No, wait, that one is on our side!"
Bratty Half-Pint: Downplayed. Sothis has a penchant for condescension and sarcasm, but she wants what's best for Byleth and sometimes has to be a little harsh with them.
Civilization Destroyer: She's credited to have singlehandedly wiped out Agartha from the face of Fódlan once the civilization tried to kill her to impose their supremacy, and according to Rhea, Sothis had to spend a good chunk of time afterwards reviving the ravaged land.
Cool Sword: She is often shown posing with the Sword of the Creator, one of the legendary Heroes' Relics — divine weapons crafted from dragon bones — in official artwork, and wields it herself as a playable character in Three Hopes. This is particularly morbid since the Sword of the Creator was made from Sothis' own bones following her murder at Nemesis' hands.
Cuckoo Nest: One of Byleth's Forging Bonds subplots in Heroes features Sothis having trouble internalizing her suddenly-corporeal body as a result of summoning. As a result, she's not convinced it's real and that Askr may simply be a dream she unwittingly pulled Byleth into.
Dark Is Not Evil: In Heroes, Sothis is a Mythic Hero of Dark, but in reality she is actually a good person underneath her rough exterior.
Death by Adaptation: In Three Hopes, she perishes with Byleth at Shez's hand, if they draw her ire by killing Jeralt. Albeit given what we know of her nature from Three Houses, what this means beyond her host being dead and her heart destroyed is unclear (as in Crimson Flower, despite the Crest Stone dissolving and Byleth becoming human, they are still able to connect with her on a metaphysical level); no longer being anchored to the mortal plane seems to not be a guarantee that Sothis' essence can be extinguished, but as far as Three Hopes's narrative is concerned, she's effectively dead.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Once you learn her backstory, she is basically a Divine Dragon champion for humanity in the vein of Naga, Mila, and pre-degeneration Duma and Anankos gone horribly wrong. Like previous such characters, she is a powerful being who is worshipped by humanity and can empower humans with blood-bonding. However, Nemesis murdered her in order to take that kind of power for himself and his followers, and in the present Rhea deliberately cultivates her reputation as an omnipotent creator goddess to justify several actions that are morally dubious at best and flat-out tyrannical at worst.
Demoted to Extra: She has a much smaller presence in Three Hopes than she did in Three Houses. She only appears in two or three scenes depending on your choices, and is recruitible in New Game Plus, but only playable in Record Keeper battles.
Deuteragonist: She is the secondary main character of Part I, and a significant part of the story is devoted to finding out who she is and why she's hitching a ride in your skull.
Discount Lesbians: She is the Goddess of the Church of Seiros and is a romance option for a female Byleth.
Divine Date: Due to both her status as the Goddess of the Church of Seiros as well as her status as one of Byleth's romance options.
Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: The Agarthans, in their arrogance, attempted to kill Sothis with all of the technology they had. Sothis responded by destroying the Agarthans and wiping their civilization off the map. That said, the surviving Agarthans were able to eventually kill Sothis after she went to sleep after reforming the land, but the civilization that they had built was already long gone.
Dragons Are Divine: While not explicitly confirmed as a dragon, the fact that all her children are various kinds of dragons, and she herself is definitely an otherworldly existence at minimum bordering on and worshipped as the divine makes her this.
Fatal Flaw: Wrath. If Shez kills Jeralt in Three Hopes, Sothis will take over Byleth's body and challenge Shez with the intent of killing them, both on Byleth's behalf and believing Shez to be an Agarthan descendant. However, Sothis pushes Byleth's body to its absolute limit and their battle with Shez ends with the death of her host, and by extension, Sothis herself.
Fusion Dance: To save Byleth and herself from the Fate Worse than Death inflicted by Solon, she merges her powers and most of her being with Byleth. This awakens the Sword of the Creator into the Sublime Sword of the Creator, gives Byleth the Enlightened One class, and causes their hair and eyes to turn almost the same shades of green as Rhea's. She vanishes for a good portion of the game after, but makes a few comments to indicate she has a presence still.
The Gadfly: In addition to her snarky attitude, Sothis has a tendency to be this and The Tease.
Gaia's Lament: In the distant past, after she was forced to annihilate the ancient Agarthans, Sothis spent much of her energy restoring the earth back to a livable state. Unfortunately, the now-drained Sothis had to rest, and the machinations of those who slither in the dark resulted in her getting slain in her sleep and things getting worse from there.
Gaia's Vengeance: In the distant past, the ancient civilization of Agartha dared to strike against her in their hubris. Sothis' vengeance curb-stomped them so hard that they were forced to go underground and become those who slither in the dark. A text in the Shadow Library refers to her as enacting cruel retribution upon "the children of men who spilled too much of the blood of life" by flooding the land with despair (it's unclear just what this flood really is).
God Is Dead: Played With. She was murdered by Nemesis a thousand years ago so he could use her corpse as materials to make the Sword of the Creator. That said, her soul still lives on, she is still able to affect the world with Divine Pulse, and even her Fusion Dance with Byleth doesn't actually destroy her as an individual. She can die in Three Hopes if Shez kills Byleth, but this might only destroy the limited existence in the material world.
God Is Good: The Goddess worshiped by the Church of Seiros is Sothis. She's as benevolent as the Church proclaims her to be, albeit quite wrathful if pressured beyond a certain point, even if others believe it to be a lie. The Church and Seiros, on the other hand, are not necessarily as good, though most of it's members are simply ignorant of the true nature of things.
Good Is Not Soft:
- Despite her kind nature, even as an amnesiac, Sothis sometimes displays a quite merciless view on justice that is, perhaps not surprisingly, similar to that of her daughter Rhea. Particularly when it comes to certain affronts to what her people regard as very important/sacred. She feels grateful to Byleth for them killing off the bandits who trespassed in Zanado, and even approves of Byleth killing one of Kostas' bandits hiding away in Abyss (as indicated by her Support going up). That said, she doesn't push for them to act on her sense of justice and simply urges for them to do what they think is best.
- In Three Hopes, she's largely inactive due to the story focusing on Shez's point of view, and even when she does awaken, she lets Byleth do as they please as usual. That is until Shez kills Jeralt. Sothis chooses then to take over Byleth's body and kills one of Shez's companions in retaliation after they cause Byleth some severe emotional distress. In Azure Gleam and Golden Wildfire, Byleth tries to stop her from going any further.
Have You Seen My God?: In Heroes, there is stirring in the Three Houses population that the Goddess of Fódlan has been summoned... but no one in Askr seems to realize Sothis is the Goddess in question, believing her to just be another odd Manakete added to the pile of odd Manaketes. Sothis herself, not wanting to open that can of worms, is perfectly fine letting everyone think that.
Hereditary Homosexuality: She is bisexual just like her daughter Rhea and her descendant (from a certain point of view) Byleth.
Hidden Depths: One of the memories she regains is that she once wrote a song, which Rhea is heard singing on the night of the ball.
Historical Badass Upgrade: She's by no means a weakling, having the ability to block orbital bombardments and heal a ravaged continent through nothing but sheer personal power. However, the texts of Seiros portray her as an omnipotent, omniscient capital-G Goddess, a level of power she isn't quite capable of.
It's All My Fault: Downplayed. She comes to the conclusion that Byleth's stoic behavior from infancy is because she was sleeping within them for most of their life. She is remorseful about it, but isn't given the chance to dwell on it too much, as she and Byleth combine souls soon after.
"It" Is Dehumanizing: A text in the Shadow Library likely written by an Agarthan only refers to Sothis as an "it", since they see her as a vengeful creature that rained unjust destruction upon them.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sothis is very sharp-tongued, and much of her early dialogue is scolding Byleth. But every decision she makes is to Byleth's benefit, from saving their life when they almost took a blow for Edelgard at the beginning, to giving them the Divine Pulse ability to turn back time, to (seemingly) sacrificing her individuality to fuse with Byleth so Byleth can escape Zahras.
Kneel Before Zod: As Fell Byleth (whom Sothis is in control of) in Heroes, one of her critical attack quotes is "You! Kneel."
Little Miss Almighty: She appears as a little girl, and was the single most powerful entity in Fódlan. A text in the Shadow Library, likely written by an Agarthan, describes how in their war with her they used their weapons to the point that several nations/lands were destroyed by them, only for Sothis to remain standing. Averted though in the form the Agarthans knew her as, which is the adult woman briefly seen near the start of the game looking down from her throne.
Little Miss Snarker: The little girl in Byleth's head is quite sharp-tongued. She retains this trait during Byleth's Smash Bros. reveal trailer; some things never change.
Living Memory: She's the ghostly impression of the dead progenitor goddess, remaining fully sapient, though she's lost her memories of her life. Only Byleth can see her when she manifests in the physical world (though she can speak through Byleth in Three Hopes), and she exists only within Byleth's mind and soul, communicating with them through their dreams.
Luminescent Blush: While all characters have this to varying degrees, Sothis' blush covers about half her face.
Magical Barefooter: Sothis goes perpetually unshod save the light adornment of a pair of gold anklets with sapphire stones, highlighting her otherworldly, blithe, and potentially bestial nature, and as the Goddess she’s easily the most magical entity on the continent.
The Maker: She's the goddess of the Church of Seiros, and she created the "Children of the Goddess" out of her own blood. The blade created from her bones is fittingly called the Sword of the Creator. How much of the rest of creation she is responsible for is somewhat ambiguous, however. When she first summons the magic circle to turn back time, among the sentences that swirl about it are phrases such as referring to the goddess as the "mother of all". These phrases are presumably true things about her given they are independent of any doctored lore, though how literal they are is still ambiguous. In Heroes she implies she's had at least some role in the creation of multiple worlds (pondering if the world of Heroes is one of the worlds she made), though it's not clear if that included the formation of life in those worlds or if she still had the power to do such things after she started living in Fódlan (her being exhausted just by restoring Fódlan implies she does not). Three Hopes doubles down on her creation abilities, though still leaving it ambiguous as to the specifics. Namely, both Myson and Sothis herself state that she was the sire of all humans in Fódlan (hence why the Agarthans regard all non-Agarthans as beasts), implying that humanity as it was ended up destroyed in the "war" between the Agarthans and Sothis and she was forced to recreate it in the process of restoring the land.
Meaningful Name: Sothis is the Greek pronunciation of Sopdet, an Egyptian goddess who is the personification of the star Sirius. In Egypt, Sirius was a very positive star, as its reappearance marked the flooding of the Nile and the return of fertility to the land. In Greece, Sirius was negative, appearing during the long, hot summer. And indeed, she is the Goddess who is called the "Fell Star" by those who slither in the dark, all of whom have Greek names and, interestingly, were originally banished from the surface by a flood Sothis called forth.
Mysterious Waif: Just what she is remains a mystery even to her for most of the game, though her appearance suggests that she may be a Manakete like Tiki or Nowi. This is given a lot of weight with the reveal of Rhea being a Sky Dragon, and her appearance in Heroes places her as a Breath Unit (a Dragon), though she doesn't transform in battle. Even when her identity is revealed, her origin remains mysterious. That mythology refers to her as having arrived on a star, and those who slither in the dark even calling her "Fell Star" could imply that she actually came from another world entirely. Furthermore, while Children of the Goddess like Rhea and Cichol are referred to as Children of the Goddess, it's stated she "made" them, not that she birthed them, and she made them by somehow using her own blood. As such, it just adds even more mystery to what exactly she is.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Uplifting the Agarthans by giving them advanced technology resulted in them using weapons of mass destruction left and right, eventually culminating in them trying to kill her with orbital bombardment. It ends up being a Curb-Stomp Battle in Sothis' favor, but she still had to sleep for a long time after fixing the entire continent/reviving humanity in general, which allowed Nemesis to get the drop on her and kill her, then desecrate her corpse to make the Sword of the Creator.
Not Quite Dead: Her physical body was killed by Nemesis to create the Heroes' Relics, but being an immortal goddess of time, that doesn't completely finish her off, and she remains alive in spirit form. Later, she says she'll vanish when she and Byleth perform their Fusion Dance. However, it's her voice that wakes Byleth from their coma. This is the most we hear from her after the Fusion Dance... unless Byleth S-Supports her. She implies she likely could have popped back up at any time if she chose to. That is rather than having truly vanished when her powers and spirit fused with Byleth, her mind is actually quite intact but in another world, as she states in the S-Support that she came back to "this world" because Byleth was lonely. She likewise will speak with Rhea, presumably from this other world, as Rhea mentions talking with her during her near death experience in her own S-Support with Byleth.
Older Than They Look: While she looks like a young girl, Sothis claims she is actually much older and is described as talking like an old lady. While datamining reveals her current body (as least as Byleth sees her) is physically 9 years old, her actual age is unknown and she lost her original body over a thousand years ago, but before that she had already been in Fódlan for over a thousand years (albeit an unknown amount of that time was spent in dormancy). Artwork depicting a Church of Seiros fresco of the goddess is implied to be Sothis' original appearance in life, as is a figure briefly seen near the start of the game, both confirmed in an interview to be the humanoid form Sothis had in life.
Our Archons Are Different: Sothis is portrayed as a cross between an Archon, the Demiurge, and the true Gnostic God. Tied to a star, she came down to reshape a pre-existing Fódlan and all of its souls in response to its rebellion, and the Agarthans in Crimson Flower portray her as holding back the inherent divinity of man. On top of that, the highest-ranking White Magic in the game is Abraxas, named after the highest of the Archons. On the other hand, Sothis and her divine children were cut to pieces and repurposed to make the Fódlan that would exist since the start of the Ardestian Calendar, and her existence being confined to Byleth's mind mirrors that of gnosis and the Gnostic God. Likewise, the Church of Seiros has repeatedly sought to bring about a return of Sothis through drawing remnants of Sothis's bloodline and knowledge together, though this has yet to work out for them.
Person of Mass Destruction: At her full power, Sothis is far and away the most powerful being in Fódlan. The nation of Agartha possessed magitech equivalents to modern weapons and beyond, including ballistic missiles and mechs. When they attacked Sothis... they were utterly destroyed in the war that ensued (Sothis built the Holy Tomb to protect her children from Agarthan weapons, but there is no sign she herself needed protection). Those who slither in the dark are their remnants. This didn't even tire her — fixing the damage to the continent/its people over an immense period of time did.
Pieces of God: Since Sothis supposedly creates life using her blood, and played a part in recreating everything in Fódlan, everything on Fódlan's surface contains a bit of her. The Agarthans thus decry Fódlan's humans as "beasts". This may stretch to anyone or anything who interacts poorly with Crest Stones, which would at least include those in Duscur (since Dedue uses one to become a Demonic Beast), but not the aforementioned Agarthans.
Physical Goddess: When she was alive, she easily qualified as this. She was able to single-handedly take on a nation that had technology equal to or greater than modern-day Earth, including orbital bombardment, and heal all the damage afterwards, albeit at the cost of needing to go into a coma-like sleep afterwards to heal.
Pointy Ears: Like her children, she sports these.
Power-Strain Blackout: Sothis experiences these, and even seemed to have these while she still had her body. Byleth experiences these instead after taking on her powers, and thus stops using them in cutscenes.
Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Sothis has one coded in, but because she's only an NPC, it cannot be heard in normal gameplay. She does get more in Three Hopes as a proper playable character.
"Leave all to me."
"They shall know fear."
Put on a Bus: If Shez recruits Byleth in Three Hopes, Sothis makes no further appearances or give her thoughts on the fact that they're now working with someone she knows is connected to Agartha. In their supports with Shez, Byleth indicates that Sothis has for reasons all her own decided to cease speaking with Byleth, at least for the time being (the context being Shez remarking on how they can no longer ask Arval questions, and Byleth remarking that that's how these things seem to go).
Reality Warper: Downplayed example in Three Houses. After Byleth is trapped by Solon in the darkness of Zahras in Chapter 10, Sothis uses the area's magical properties to project herself and her throne room in it, giving Byleth actual ground to stand on and the chance to grant them enough power to escape by fusing with them.
Recurring Element: She takes after Naga and her successors, i.e. a Divine Dragon who continues to watch over and influence the material world well after they lose their body and become spirits. Of course, there are notable differences in the path they take to becoming like this, and even to their own natures (i.e. Naga stating she is not a god while Sothis actually is one).
Red Baron: When she properly introduces herself to Byleth, Sothis says that she's also known as "The Beginning." Those who slither in the dark refer to her (and by extension Byleth) as "the Fell Star." At one point, Thales also calls her "the defiled beast," though this may be a term of contempt rather than renown.
Reincarnation: Rhea's ultimate plan was to create a vessel for Sothis to reincarnate into, something Byleth inadvertently became. However, Sothis is quite content with just existing alongside Byleth's mind, though it's never made clear how she felt about the idea of reincarnating via them. In Three Hopes, she is aware that Byleth was intended to be her vessel and is fine with that after regaining her memory, but at the same time makes it clear that she won't erase Byleth as a person; rather, it means their body is hers to wield if/when necessary.
Resurrective Immortality: Sothis is implied to have this, to the point that whether or not Nemesis actually killed Sothis is not 100% clear. The Holy Tomb had its name before the deed, and Rhea refers to Nemesis's act as stealing Sothis's "remains" in Verdant Wind, implying that (at most) Nemesis hacked apart what was already dead. What's more, the Agarthan book in the Shadow Library says Sothis "revived" to smite the world, implying that she was dead beforehand, and the Church of Seiros's teachings hold Sothis's repeated death and resurrection (her leaving Heaven for the world and returning periodically) without even mentioning a cause for it. Of course, with her body reduced to a Sword and a heart stone, Sothis wouldn't have had much to return to (before being given Byleth), and she couldn't even possess the Sword while Rhea was using her heart stone for vessels.
Revenge: Not on her part, but this is why she takes over Byleth's body and helps them try to kill Shez if the latter kills Jeralt.
Romantic Fusion: Later in the game, if Byleth chooses Sothis as the partner they wish to marry, Sothis will reveal that she is in love with Byleth no matter the gender and they will be married in mind, body and soul, to the degree that Sothis says that Byleth wearing one ring for the both of them is sufficient.
Screw Yourself: Played for Laughs if Byleth S-Supports her. After joining their souls together permanently, Sothis and Byleth become nearly one and the same, to the point that when Byleth asks how they can possibly give their new wife their ring, Sothis just says to wear it themselves.
Secret Character: She is unlockable as a playable character in Three Hopes on a New Game Plus file, for 60 Renown points. She cannot take part in main story missions, however.
Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: As you play through the routes, you gradually learn that the Church of Seiros is, while not really evil, at least keeping some major secrets from you (Rhea in particular is keeping a lot of secrets), so the player might suspect that Sothis, the goddess worshiped by the church, is also shady. As it turns out, while she can be sharp-tongued and wrathful when pushed too far, Sothis really is the benevolent goddess she's worshiped as; she even sacrifices her individuality to fuse with Byleth to help them escape the darkness of Zahras. One of the books (of dubious validity) in the Shadow Library paints Sothis as a false goddess who floods the world with "Despair" when mankind commits too many atrocities, but considering Agarthans were the ones who invoked Sothis' wrath in the first place...
Slain in Their Sleep: Sothis was killed by Nemesis while she was in her coma-like sleep.
Sleep-Mode Size: Played With. Sothis is weaker within Byleth's mind than she was in life (unable to use her true power directly as she lacks a body), but her form is not due to weakness specifically so much as remembering so little about herself, including what she looks like. Thus, according to a interview she adopted a form that was "halfway" to her original humanoid form, in both shape and size. This original form is seen briefly near the start of the game.
Smug Super: Three Hopes has Sothis not shying away from making a point to her fallen enemies how thoroughly outmatched they are, while still making it clear that she's nowhere near her original power in her current state. As the mother of all life in Fódlan who brought it back from the brink after the war against Agartha, she more or less has every right to boast.
Spanner in the Works: She ends up being this to Seiros', aka Rhea's, entire plan when she merges with Byleth. Rhea wanted nothing more than to bring back Sothis via Byleth, but never expected Sothis to not be interested.
Stripperiffic: Sothis's dress is cut in a way that would easily make her a Ms. Fanservice if she wasn't so youthful looking.
Symbiotic Possession: For the first half of the game various characters (such as Indech and Seteth) believe Sothis has in a sense reincarnated/incarnated in Byleth, her mind/memories being treated as something like a suppressed side of Byleth. In fact, they are truly different spirits, so they share the body and regard themselves as separate individuals. Put another way, Rhea thought Byleth's body had inadvertently become a vessel for Sothis's soul to escape from its Soul Jar, but Byleth had their own soul and it ended up a mix of this trope and Sharing a Body, with Byleth having control over the body. Whether or not Rhea accepts that they are not and cannot become Sothis depends on the route.
Time Abyss: While it's never discussed much in-game, Sothis is easily older than recorded history in Fódlan. She's also older than the recorded history of the previous civilization on Fódlan, Agartha. And going by her dialogue in Heroes... she's older than recorded history for at least one other world too. Sothis is very likely the absolute oldest character in the entire franchise. A developer interview noted that if one includes everything referenced in the game's lore of Fódlan's history, then it covers as much as 10,000 years of time, and Sothis arrived at the start of that known history. And then it's implied in Heroes that she's been helping create and uplift life on numerous other worlds even before she came to Fódlan.
Time Master: Her ability to manipulate time allows her to outright change the past, as shown when she uses it on Byleth to save them in the intro, and later gives it to them as well. This manifests in gameplay as the limited ability to undo moves, much like Mila's Turnwheel, while in Three Hopes it also allows Byleth to move while time is frozen.
Together in Death: In her S-Support epilogue, she promises that when Byleth inevitably dies, she will follow them to whatever afterlife awaits.
Truly Single Parent: There's no mention of her ever having a mate, and the Children of the Goddess are stated to have been born from her blood.
Tsundere: She constantly scolds and berates Byleth, calling them an idiot for any mistake or slight... but generally cares about them, even beyond her own self-preservation. Gets exaggerated if she is S-Supported, where she shows up because Byleth was lonely, only to berate them again. When she is finally confronted about her feelings, she loudly gushes that she is passionately, overwhelmingly in love with them.
Unstoppable Rage: If Shez kills Jeralt, Sothis makes it absolutely clear that she's just as pissed off as Byleth is and swears to cut them to pieces.
Villain Override: For a given value of "villain", but as you're playing from the perspective of Shez, Sothis is technically an antagonist in Three Hopes. When Shez has their first rematch with Byleth, this time it ends with Byleth on the backfoot, causing Sothis to awaken. This answers a long-standing question from Three Houses of if Sothis could take control of Byleth's body — she absolutely can, whether they like it or not, and the game makes it clear that you're now fighting her instead of Byleth. That said, it also makes it clear that Sothis taking over does not erase Byleth's individuality, and that Sothis has no desire to retain control outside of extreme situations. Byleth also has some capacity to resist Sothis when she does this.
Villainous Breakdown: Though not exactly a villain, during their final battle (if Shez killed Jeralt earlier), Sothis is completely in control of Byleth and calmly speaks about how she plans to get vengeance on Shez for Byleth's sake. However, as the fight goes on and she's pushed closer to her limits (and realizes she cannot move Byleth's body as well as she thought she could), she loses her cool more and more until she's barely able to form a single sentence due to her hatred of Shez.
"You wretched... hateful... thing!"
Voices Are Mental: When speaking through Byleth, she does so with her own voice.
Walking Spoiler: The truth behind her mysterious nature is crucial to several plot developments.
War God: Dedue reveals through his supports that Sothis was incorporated into the Duscur pantheon, viewed as a God of War prayed to before battle. Given what she did to Agartha and her vengeful nature, it's well deserved. As a playable unit in Three Hopes, Sothis is clearly relishing the battle given quotes like "To war, and victory!" and "Our glory awaits!"
What the Hell, Hero?: Dishes these out like candy on Halloween, albeit only Byleth can actually hear them.
- She gives one to Rhea for unknowingly letting a sociopathic madman work as her librarian.
- She gives one to Byleth for falling right into Solon's trap, despite Rhea telling them to their face that they were likely being baited and nearly getting the both of them killed.
- A more humorous example occurs when she attempts to wake Byleth from their 5 year coma; if you choose the dialogue option asking who is speaking, she berates you for forgetting so easily. If you instead comment that you're still sleepy, she berates you for not wanting to wake up when there is a literal war going on outside. Either way, she calls you childish and more or less drags you from your slumber to kick off the second half of the plot.
- In Three Hopes, she lambasts Byleth for stopping her from killing Shez when she had the chance, mistaking Shez for an Agarthan descendent. She gives them another earful when Byleth stops her again after she kills one of Shez's allies, though it's more subdued out of consideration for Byleth's grief.
You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry!: We see this darker side of Sothis with small hints in the original game but much more clearly in Three Hopes (as well as the Vengeance Vessel variant of the female Byleth in Heroes) where, while Sothis is at heart a benevolent goddess who wants what is best for Fódlan, she is the last person you want to piss off for good reason. Getting nearly your entire species completely wiped out for trying to wipe her and her kind off the face of the map (Three Houses) or having a vengeful swordsman upon whom Fódlan's brightest futures hinges upon slay your closest allies in retaliation for you doing the same (Three Hopes) are the biggest examples. Unfortunately for her and the one she is bonded with, this has led to disastrous results, namely the species she nearly wiped out almost doing the same to her and her kin the second go around (Three Houses) and getting her vessel killed by, again, the same person responsible for warranting such wrath in the first place (Three Hopes) which leaves Fódlan worse off than before without her chosen vessel to guide it to an unambiguously brighter future.

Shez

Class: Myrmidon → Fluegel → Swordmaster → Asura

Age: ??

Height: 170 cm

Male Shez Voiced By: Tasuku Hatanaka (Japanese), Damien Haas (English)
Female Shez Voiced By: Miyu Tomita (Japanese), Dawn M. Bennett (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shez_3h.png

^{Click here to see both Shezes in Fire Emblem Heroes}

Rising Mercenary/Keen Mercenary/Sharpest Blades

The Avatar of Three Hopes, Shez was a mercenary from a remote village in Ordelia territory who once encountered the mysterious "Ashen Demon" in Imperial Year 1179, before being left for dead and has been honing their skills ever since for the event of a rematch. They're willing to help out one of the three nations of Fódlan in an oncoming war.

The Ace: In terms of combat ability, they're this to whoever they side with thanks to their years of experience as a mercenary and the special power they gain thanks to Arval. By the time the war itself, the only person who's considered stronger is Byleth themselves.
Adaptive Ability: Their second sword that they can summon at will is this. During gameplay, it uses the same properties as the other sword they have equipped in their other hand, such as having the Anti-Cavalry and Anti-Armor traits of a Rapier or being a magic-focused sword such as the Levin Sword and Ridill.
Adaptational Weapon Swap: In Heroes, instead of their two swords, Female Shez wields the Crimson War-Axe. In their Forging Bonds event, it's indicated she still has the summoned sword at least, but does not use it. Female Shez's Legendary variant does use her two swords, but she's classified as a Blue Dagger unit instead as she throws her swords at her opponents.
Always Second Best: Towards Byleth. Despite how much more powerful they've become in the two years since their first encounter, the story and Shez's supports with them make it clear that Byleth is still out of their league as the latter has no issue keeping up with Shez even with minimal use of Divine Pulse. The only reason Shez can even kill Byleth at all during their final battle (if not recruited) is because they aren't fighting Byleth at all, but instead Sothis, the latter of whom lacked their skills as a mercenary and had difficulty controlling Byleth's body during their battle, both of which eventually allowed Shez to take the win. Indeed, should Byleth be recruited, after the chapters where Shez is forced to attack Byleth and they speak in camp, support points with them will go up if Shez acknowledges that Byleth could have killed them when they attacked, with Byleth agreeing and note that they held back as they realized Shez was not in control of their actions. This is all made even more clear when considering that Byleth never gained access to the Sword of the Creator in this timeline.
Ambiguously Bi: Regardless of gender, Shez can joke about hitting on Hilda to get Holst to spar with them with all his might. In addition, several of their supports have the same romantic undertones regardless of gender, such as Yuri saying that Shez will have to spend the rest of their life with him to use his real name. Shez can also note that Shamir sounds like she's flirting with them regardless of gender.
Ambiguous Situation: Their past is subject to a ton of speculation since they know nothing about their birth parents and very little of their adoptive mother. They're implied to have some connection to those who slither in the dark, given they're playing host to Arval — whose powers are derived from the same dark magic TWSITD practice and in fact an Agarthan creation — and were born in Ordelia territory, where TWSITD are based. Solon comes to the conclusion that Shez originated in Shambhala, which would make them an Agarthan, but the game provides no concrete answers or clear explanations for Shez's origins.
Anger Born of Worry: In their A support with Balthus, they have a moment of this with him when they learn he's going to continue keeping up the act of gambling his life on the battlefield after having told them earlier he would stop, following a close call with archers earlier, which is notable for being the only time their angry portrait is used in a support conversation with him.
Balthus: But since you admitted my way has merit, I think I'll keep rolling the dice. Gotta do what works for me, you know? Can't let one close call make me lose my nerve.
Shez: (shocked) Wait, what? Isn't that what almost got you killed today?
Shez: (angry) I take it back. You are definitely gonna die. Please stop.
And Then What?: Part of Shez's Character Development. Their ultimate goal is to find and beat the Ashen Demon after losing to them, and their motivation for sticking with their chosen lord is that they're more likely to run into Byleth during wartime than they are in times of peace. The problem that Shez soon realizes is that they have no other goal besides that. If they do succeed in killing Byleth, they can't help but feel bitter and realize they gained nothing other than get one of their comrades killed. It isn't until Shez abandons their rivalry with Byleth and focuses on helping make their chosen lord's dream of a new Fódlan into reality that they find a better, more worthwhile goal to strive for.
Anti-Cavalry: They can learn the dark magic spell Dark Spikes T, which does bonus damage to mounted units, and when it reaches level 3, can also tutor it to other units after a battle.
Arch-Enemy: Byleth becomes this to them after they single-handedly destroy Berling's Mercenaries and leave Shez the sole survivor. The latter wants nothing more than to defeat Byleth, though they don't understand or care to know why Shez wants to beat them so badly. In Chapter 10 on Scarlet Blaze and Golden Wildfire or Chapter 12 on Azure Gleam, Shez can potentially become this to Byleth as well if they kill Jeralt.
Armor-Piercing Attack: They can learn the Luna Λ combat art, which ignores the resistance stat of enemies.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: They're named a commander by their chosen Lord at the start of the Time Skip, in no small part due to their past as a mercenary and skills. In Scarlet Blaze and Azure Gleam, Edelgard and Dimitri even puts them in charge of a private military squadron made up of commoners and peasants since they feel (well, Dimitri specifically does, while Edelgard notes this was on Hubert's suggestion) Shez could relate to them more than nobles.
Bad Powers, Good People: Characters like Hubert point out that Shez's strange abilities bear an uncanny resemblance to those used by those who slither in the dark. Despite this, Shez throws their lot in with one of the Lords and fights to the bitter end for their liege's vision for a better Fódlan. It's later revealed that they're a vessel for Epimenides, an artificial counterpart to Sothis and a self-made weapon designed to kill her, much like how Byleth was made Sothis' vessel.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Their motivation for becoming loyal to the ideals of a given route's lord comes down to this in every case, though the particulars vary a bit:
- In Shez's supports with Edelgard, they explain that Edelgard earned their Undying Loyalty by giving them the time of day when no ordinary noble would. Her meritocratic ideals are what allowed Shez to rise from a lowly mercenary eating rats to survive to a general in one of the most powerful armies on the continent. As far as Shez is concerned, they wouldn't be shining half as brightly as they are by the end of the story if it weren't for her.
- For Claude the focus is on his acceptance of Shez as a friend despite knowing nothing of their background.
- With Dimitri it's both that Shez believes they would not be where they are today without Dimitri (a commander of an army of commoners out to help reform the Kingdom by showing that Crests are not needed for success), but also the king's belief that Shez's powers are not evil unless they are used for evil, giving Shez more confidence and peace of mind.
Big Eater: They are noted to have a big appetite, though they can also go for days without eating anything. Just like Byleth, this is a nod to their ability to share as many meals as they have activity points, though unlike Byleth the points don't have to be spent in a single day.
Blade Spam: In their unique classes, Fluegel and Asura, Shez rapidly cuts through enemy ranks with a flurry of sword swings.
Blow You Away: They can whip up tornadoes with their attacks to juggle enemies in the air. Their unique Warrior Special also has them throw around Razor Wind with their sword swings before finishing with a Sword Beam.
Breakout Character: As of this writing, there are currently five versions of Shez in Heroes, one of which is a Legendary Hero that debuted half a year after Three Hopes released and all of them were released before Three Hopes reached its 1 year anniversary. Considering that the previous Warriors game has none of its original cast in Heroes as of yet, Shez has basically become the face of the Fire Emblem Warriors spin-offs.
Brutal Honesty: They tend to be very honest with their thoughts. On the serious side, they don't mince their words when telling Edelgard the cost of the war she's waged on the Scarlet Blaze route. On the humorous side, they blatantly lampshade how much of a Tsundere Felix is, and they outright call Lysithea a child to her face.
Buffy Speak: In Shez's support with Claude, they can advise him to give the Five Great Lords "the old ba-bam" or "skirt around them with a nice whoosh" when trying to get through their bickering. This initially confuses Claude until Shez explains their thinking, that if Claude could somehow temporarily assert more authority, he could act more decisively and make executive decisions for the Alliance until the war ends.
But for Me, It Was Tuesday: In Shamir and Leonie's Paralogue, Shez helps the former deal with a mercenary group called the Guardians of Fódlan, who they previously dealt with at some point in the past. During the fight, some of the mercenaries attempt to ambush Shez. It doesn't take long for Shez to realize the mercs have a grudge against them, guessing they must have killed a few buddies of theirs, but is exasperated and confused why they would hold a grudge against them. They don't seem to recognize how the situation mirrors their own relationship with Byleth at the time.
Canon Name: Shez is this, though of course their name may be changed to whatever the player wishes.
Casting a Shadow: They have a vast array of dark magic at their disposal, and training in the Dark Mage class gives them the Essence of Darkness skill which powers up their dark attacks.
Challenge Seeker:
- Shez is eager to test themselves against strong opponents to better hone their skills as a warrior, asking to spar with the likes of Count Bergliez and Holst despite their reputations as peerless fighters. When Epimenides produces a phantom of Shez for them to fight, the phantom remarks that it isn't everyday that they get to fight themselves and how they'll enjoy this. Unlike the lords who deny their phantoms, the real Shez is thoroughly perturbed by their phantom as this is exactly what they were thinking.
- But Shez draws the line at gambling their life needlessly. While they get along extremely well with Balthus and are similar in many ways, they bicker with him over his tendency to throw caution to the wind and gamble his life for the thrill of it.
Character Customization: Like Byleth you only have control over their name and gender.
Character Development: Shez starts off as a bit impatient and brash, and very eager to get payback against Byleth for their humiliating defeat and the destruction of Berling's Mercenaries. As the game goes on, however, Shez's desire for revenge starts to wane as they become more invested in helping their chosen lord. If Shez abandons their rivalry with Byleth and focuses on more pressing issues instead, they become less brash and start thinking about what they can do to help make their chosen lord's wish for Fódlan a reality. It's also telling that, if Shez kills Byleth, the victory isn't as worth it as they thought it would be, and they instead wish they found another way to resolve things.
Cleavage Window: Female Shez's default outfit shows off her large breasts. She loses this in her second unique class Asura.
Commonality Connection:
- Why Dimitri and Edelgard (on Hubert's suggestion) name Shez a commander of a private military force comprised of commoners in their respective routes. While Hubert had an ulterior motive for putting Shez in charge, secretly believing them to be a mole, Dimitri earnestly believed Shez would be able to relate to soldiers with backgrounds similar to theirs instead of nobles.
- Dedue and Shez both face discrimination from the nobles of Faerghus for being two of Dimitri's most highly-ranked retainers despite being from Duscur and a lowly sellsword respectively. They both motivate each other to prove the naysayers wrong to show that they've earned their roles even if they originally got them through sheer happenstance.
- Shez and Ashe are both Happily Adopted orphaned commoners who feel blessed to have gotten an education most people of their standing can only dream of. Their support is devoted to them connecting over this fact as well as their budding curiosity about what their deceased parents were like, as Shez's mom kept to herself while Ashe's parents perished to an illness when he was young, leaving him with only hazy memories of them.
- Shez and Raphael connect in their C-Support over being orphaned commoners trying to make their way in the world.
- Hapi connects with Shez in their supports over having both grown up in secluded villages and for having mysterious powers.
Conditioned to Accept Horror: Shez isn't too broken up being the Sole Survivor of their mercenary group, being used to "parting ways" with others, including their own biological and adoptive parents. That being said, they do tell Lorenz in their B support that being a mercenary or no, they know nothing worse than watching an ally die before their own eyes.
Contrasting Sequel Main Character:
- Unlike Rowan and Lianna, royal siblings who meet and befriend various characters from different timelines and worlds, Shez is a mercenary with no special background (Mysterious Past aside) who works for and is part of Fódlan's roster. The twins also use their expeirence with their allies to become ideal leaders, meanwhile Shez adopts their lord's philosophy and mindset using their own experiences to help their lord.
- While Byleth was a blank slate with origins heavily tied to the Children of the Goddess, Shez has a clearly defined personality and has origins heavily tied to those who slither in the dark.
Cultured Badass: Zigzagged. Shez is a very down-to-earth person who admits that they aren't used to a lot of the luxuries they have, thanks to their Rags to Riches rise from a nameless mercenary to a general and personal confidant of one of the three most powerful figures in Fódlan. Dorothea's famed singing voice and fancy cups of tea don't resonate with them the way Shez thinks they should. But their travels as The Drifter means they have an open perspective and plenty of stories to tell about other mercenary bands, cultures, and places. For instance, in their supports with Raphael, they introduce him to alternative methods of preserving food (like smoking after curing) that greatly improve the quality of the food and thus the army's morale.
Curb-Stomp Battle:
- On the receiving end within the very opening chapter. Shez can barely damage Byleth and gets utterly thrashed until Arval gives them a power up, and even then it's still not enough to best Byleth.
- In the Gatekeeper's paralogue, Shez inflicted this on the three houses during the mock battle back in their days at the Officer's Academy, having wandered onto the battlefield completely by accident. Caspar describes fighting Shez as being like "fighting a brick wall" while Hubert says that Shez cut down the students like ripe wheat.
Curtains Match the Window: They have both purple hair and eyes.
Dark and Troubled Past: Shez never knew their birth parents, their adoptive mother died some time ago and they were kicked out of their village soon afterwards, and they've lost so many of their fellow mercenaries over the years that they purposely avoid forming intimate connections. They also mention that they've done "terrible things" over the course of their service as a mercenary.
Dark Is Not Evil: By Hubert's own analysis based on what he could find in Thales' notes in Scarlet Blaze, Shez's Super Mode is derived from the dark magic practiced by those who slither in the dark, increasing the already disturbing implications that Arval is associated with them somehow. However, several characters point out that even if their power is associated with their enemies, Shez uses them for what they believe is right. That, and they're leagues better than the likes of those who slither in the dark. Dimitri tells Shez that power is neutral, the good or bad comes from how they choose to use that power.
Deceased Parents Are the Best: Shez's adoptive mother is long gone by the start of the story, but Shez has nothing but good things to say about her. According to them, their mom "knew everything" and was skilled at all forms of combat, including magic. Shez's supports with Ashe have them try to discover who Shez's mom was, but they come up empty after exhausting all avenues of inquiry. But at the very end of the support, Ashe receives a letter addressed to Shez about the topic, but the player never gets to hear about its contents. Shez also mentions that their mom used to bake wonderful fruit desserts for them and that Mercedes' treats feel like tasting some of that old Comfort Food again.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Point of Divergence protagonist concept. Shez has absolutely no idea nor greater context for the rest of the story because they'd normally be dead before Three Houses began, and their rescue by Arval makes them a Spanner in the Works who influences the plot in unpredictable and rather excessive ways that completely alters the paths the main three lords take. For instance, Shez doesn't get quite as personally integrated with the cast as Byleth ever managed to and simply becomes as close to them as the lords would with the rest of their classmates. Lastly, Shez doesn't necessarily save the day or create a true Golden Ending, only helping the chosen lord fulfill their goals as the war continues to wage on regardless, and following through with their goal of killing Byleth ends up only making things worse as a consequence with a worthless conclusion. Outside of spoilers, Shez's sudden arrival and changing of history from a meta angle isn't something that goes unnoticed by some of the characters; Hubert in Scarlet Blaze for example, makes it a point that Shez suddenly coming out of nowhere and changing so much of the plans made behind the curtains was such a wild card, that he right away assumes Shez has to be some kind of sleeper agent for those who slither in the dark.
Doomed by Canon: Played With. Arval points out that Shez would have died alongside the rest of their comrades had they not intervened, all but outright confirming that Shez was killed by Byleth in the Three Houses timelines. The story of Three Hopes kicks off precisely because Shez survived their ill-fated battle with Byleth thanks to Arval.
Dual Wielding: Shez wields two swords at once in their personal class, one being a regular sword and one resembling a Heroes' Relic colored white and blue. Note that their official art switches in which hand they hold the summoned sword between genders.
The Dreaded: During expedition time with Byleth and when asked about memories of the past, they state that Shez is the only person they've ever feared on the battlefield, which speaks volumes to how much Shez has improved their battle skills as time went on.
Empowered Badass Normal: Initially, Shez is simply a skilled mercenary with no special powers like Byleth does in Three Houses. Arval saving their life and granting them supernatural abilities via teleportation and summoning a special second sword gives them the extra edge in battle.
Entertainingly Wrong: In their support with Byleth if the latter is recruited, Shez mistakenly identifies their unique ability as screwing with someone's senses since Shez feels disoriented whenever Byleth activates Divine Pulse. Byleth doesn't bother correcting them, instead being impressed that Shez is able to notice and react to their time powers at all.
Excellent Judge of Character: Shez is noted in multiple conversations to have a knack for reading people and possesses great insight into the way they think. Hubert trusts Shez enough to have them choose which mercenaries are most deserving of a promotion. Shez and Felix's entire support chain is devoted to them getting a better read on each other and opens with Shez pointing out that Felix cares a lot more about his friends than he lets on. However, Shez does not cut as deeply to the Lords' inner turmoil as Byleth does in Three Houses, never learning the true severity of Edelgard's Dark and Troubled Past or Dimitri's Survivor Guilt.
Et Tu, Brute?: In their B support with Lorenz, Shez had at a prior point saved Lorenz from being killed during battle, to which Lorenz says that he can't bear the thought of a commoner like Shez potentially sacrifice their life for his sake. One dialogue option has Shez point out just how ungrateful Lorenz sounds about repaying the person who saved his life.
Expy: It's hard not to see Shez taking some cues from Mia. Both are purple-haired, sword-wielding mercenaries clad in orange, and Shez's moments of agency outside of player-control (and sometimes in it) depicts them as a having similar personalities, being a Hot-Blooded Boisterous Bruiser who sees themselves as a Rival to Byleth, similarly to how Mia sees herself as one to Ike. Granted, Mia opts to be more of a Friendly Rival, as opposed to Shez wanting to outright kill Byleth assuming the player doesn't decide to recruit them.
Fashionable Asymmetry: Female Shez's right arm and upper right thigh are less armored/clothed than their left counterparts. Male Shez also wears a gauntlet on his left arm, but not his right. They both also only wear a kneepad on one leg.
Fatal Flaw: Revenge Before Reason. Shez is insistent on getting back at Byleth for having defeated them and slaughtering Berling's Mercenaries. This desire for revenge isn't helped as Arval, who for some reason also wants Shez to defeat Byleth, eggs them on and pushes for them to go after Byleth if the opportunity presents itself. Pursuing this rivalry leads to Shez getting their revenge, but they learn that their Vengeance Feels Empty and Byleth kills one of the chosen lord's allies (Judith, Randolph, Rodrigue) in retaliation before Shez cuts them down. From a gameplay standpoint, killing Byleth also locks you out of the route's Golden Ending.
Flash Step: Shez's unique ability, Shadowflash, is a speedy dash that lets them move so quickly they're only visible as a purple ball of light before they end the dash. Hitting a solid object will stop all their momentum however, and their ability to turn in this state is quite limited.
Flat Character: Downplayed. Often times in support conversations, they will talk about their mercenary life and how they would tackle said situation as a mercenary. While a bit repetitive, it makes sense: they've spent most of their life as a mercenary and - unlike Byleth who was raised by Jeralt - often spent it either hopping from troupe to troupe or by themselves until they got to Garreg Mach, with which they didn't spend the whole year at anyway. In other words, they learned to be who they are due to their mercenary life and uses that aspect to educate or compare to their peers, who have a vague understanding of their line of work and how that experience can be applied to the situation at hand.
Foil: To Byleth:
- Byleth is a mercenary with an infamous reputation as the Ashen Demon, and is part of an equally prestigious mercenary band led by their father Jeralt, once hailed as the strongest knight in history. Shez is simply just another mercenary who joined with a group that only cared about their next paycheck.
- Byleth was raised by their father while Shez lost both biological parents and was mostly raised by their adoptive mother.
- Byleth's Divine Pulse involves turning back time up to a certain point, while Shez's powers seemingly involve manipulating space, slightly altering their appearance, and giving them access to an unusual weapon resembling a Hero's Relic.
- In regards to their relationships with the lords, Byleth becomes a confidant of theirs and helps repress some of their worst qualities. While Shez helps them become a greater commander and leader overall, they aren't able to help them deal with some of their more underlying problems, and is treated as a close friend and comrade by the Lords. While they're both said to possess great insight into other's characters, Byleth can immediately see that see the lords have a darker side to them, whereas Shez does not pick up on the severity of the lords' issues, instead focusing on their actions. At the end of each route in both games, Byleth helps their lord become the best version of themselves helping them move on from their personal issues and grow as a person, Shez's more grounded and simplistic views gives them a bit of extra perspective allowing them to grow as leaders. More specifically, where Byleth's relationship with their chosen lord focuses on how they alter and better the lord's ideology/beliefs, with Shez the focus is placed on how Shez ends up taking on their chosen lord's beliefs and ideology. Their support does help the lord emotionally, but it is Shez who is the main one who is changed.
- Their impact in their respective games also differs. Byleth's story during the Academy Phase is mostly the same due to Rhea assigning them higher-risk missions compared to the other houses, but the War Phase drastically differs depending on the chosen Lord. The endgame even sees them becoming the ruler of a new country in Fódlan (Verdant Wind, Silver Snow) or Rhea's successor as the new archbishop of the Church of Seiros (Azure Moon). Shez's story is the opposite as they're only a student and get caught up in their respective house's dilemma, but the War Phase remains the same up until near the endgame since Shez, like Byleth, proves an invaluable asset that allows their chosen Lord to come ahead of the competition. All in all, Shez is more of a Supporting Protagonist while Byleth grows from this to share prominence in driving the plot with their chosen lord.
- Shez is a chatterbox who frequently makes small talk and expresses their opinions to others, versus Byleth who is The Stoic and rarely speaks or emotes due to the unnatural circumstances of their creation. This is even more apparent in support conversations if Byleth is spared and recruited as while Shez's antics and dialogue are almost indistinguishable from what their friends and fellow students would say and do, Byleth still has a mysterious aura around them.
- Byleth's unique advanced class, The Enlightened One is holy looking and gives Byleth access to light based magic, Shez's unique advanced class, Asura, is demonic looking, and gives Shez access to dark magic.
- While Shez does occasionally flirt with some of the other characters, they can't enter a relationship with anyone. Byleth on the other hand is mostly oblivious to the concepts of love and romance, yet they can enter a relationship with most of the cast.
Foreshadowing: Partway through the prologue, Shez is there to see Solon cast aside his Tomas identity, and a conversation with Arval afterwards likens it to their own shapeshifting Super Mode and the implications that might hold, not to mention Arval feeling raw emotion, neither positive nor negative, when they see certain individuals tied to that twist early on. Arval, or rather Epimenides, is an Agarthan creation, and thus their abilities are inherently tied to what those who slither in the dark use.
Friendly Rival: Shez's supports with Caspar establish a friendly rivalry between them as they both train to outdo the other, training and sparring together while earning a mutual respect for the other's determination to get better. It culminates in Shez asking for a spar with Caspar's father, to which Caspar offers some salient advice before Shez is subjected to Count Bergliez's Training from Hell. After that, Shez has a renewed appreciation for Caspar's energetic personality and determination for being able to handle that kind of beating every single day, and Caspar remarks how Shez has endured said training longer than anyone else has.
- Shez also establishes one of these with Byleth if they are recruited on any route.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Shez starts off as a no-name mercenary whose company gets destroyed by Byleth, virtually starting from nothing. They find an opportunity for success when they save the House Leaders, and at the start of the Time Skip on Azure Gleam and Scarlet Blaze, they're offered a position in the Kingdom and Empire's ranks as a commander. From there, they grow to become one of the most talented officers in their respected faction. This is even lampshaded in Edelgard's B-Support with Shez, where the latter notes that they had nothing and were no one important, but now everyone in the Empire knows their name.
Gendered Outfit: Male Shez is more armored, with a gauntlet on his left arm. Female Shez has a shorter sleeve on her right arm with no glove, an exposed upper right thigh, and a boob window, though all of these get removed when she promotes to Asura.
Had to Be Sharp: Several conversations note that Shez has a habit of training every single day without exception. According to Shez, it's simply the way of a mercenary. They treat every battle as if it could be their last. If they aren't strong enough, skilled enough, or smart enough to beat their opponent, that opponent will be their last.
Happily Adopted: Implied. While Shez doesn't speak about their adoptive mother much, even admitting to knowing little about her due to how she kept to herself, they have nothing but good things to say about her. Ashe's Support with Shez reveals that their adoptive mother taught them how to read and write, a privilege few commoners have.
Heritage Disconnect: While they were raised in the Leicester Alliance's territory, their hazy past and mercenary life and remoteness growing up leads to them not really considering any one area their home.
Heroes Prefer Swords: Shez wields two swords in their unique classes Fluegel and Asura.
Hey, You!: Although they have a canon name, they're only ever referred to as "you", "our mercenary friend", or any other titles and pronouns within fully voiced dialogues since they can be renamed via Hello, [Insert Name Here]. Averted in dialogues that are not fully voiced (such as conversations in the base camp), which will use whatever name was given to them in the dialogue subtitles.
Humble Hero: Despite their pride in their skills, Shez is prone to downplaying their own qualities in conversation. In their support with Raphael, Shez can say that they and cooking don't mix despite being a Supreme Chef in gameplay. They also continue to insist that they're Only in It for the Money for much of the story even as they risk life and limb for their employers and work harder than they have any real need to.
Hypocritical Humor: In Shamir and Leonie's Paralogue, Shez is incredulous that the Guardians of Fódlan would hold a murderous grudge against them, guessing they killed some of the mercenary group's comrades at some point... despite this being Shez's entire dynamic with Byleth for most of the game.
An Ice Person: They start with Blizzard for magic.
Idiot Hero: Downplayed as Shez is quite tactically intelligent, but discovering that Arval can bail them out of danger leads them to become extremely casual about their own life when it comes to training. An annoyed Arval points out after the prologue that they have saved Shez 22 times in six months, three times of which were after jumping off a cliff to, quote, "get tougher." They get better following this scenario.
Immune to Flinching: One of the skills they learn form the Asura class, The Creation, prevents all knockback as long as at least one bar of the Warrior Gauge is filled.
Inexplicably Awesome: Ultimately, it's never explained where exactly they come from or how they came to be hosting the consciousness of an ancient Agarthan archmage.
Innocently Insensitive: Their support with Annette has Shez getting into hot water with her after they wind up popularizing a tune she came up with before she finished writing the lyrics. Shez genuinely liked the song and found the lyrics about a man being eighty percent horse delightful, but can see how frustrated and annoyed Annette is and apologizes.
Irony: Shez, who has no time powers, surviving their otherwise-fated demise at the future Time Master Byleth's hands significantly changes the timeline to come.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Extremely blunt and headstrong, but nothing but polite to people they don't have a reason to hate, and always willing to put their own life on the line for others. That said, they are slow to form genuine connections with others (Arval noting a almost disturbing lack of sentimentality in them when their mercenary comrades are killed), having not been particularly close with anyone since the death of their adoptive mother. Even the band of mercs who took them in, while they respected them, are noted to have only been united by a desire for money. Finding genuine friendships, and a bigger purpose than getting their next meal, is part of their character growth.
Jumped at the Call: At the start of the Time Skip, Shez is offered either a position as the Commander of a newly formed private military outfit made up of commoners (Azure Gleam and Scarlet Blaze) or a high-paying job (Golden Wildfire). While it takes a while for Claude to actually be able to give Shez said job and instead find work in the Leicester Alliance's Riegan territory, they're immediately on board with Dimitri and Edelgard's offers since it gives them new opportunities.
Kill the God: If you fail to recruit Byleth, Sothis possesses Byleth and comes after Shez's head. Shez wins the ensuing fight and at least on a physical level kills the being worshiped as Fódlan's creator deity, along with Byleth.
Late to the Tragedy: In Chapter 10 of Scarlet Blaze/Golden Wildfire and Chapter 12 of Azure Gleam, Shez kills Jeralt after temporarily forcing Byleth back and killing their employer, then seemingly senses something is wrong and makes a beeline back to their allies. They arrive in time to see Byleth (or rather Sothis) kill Randolph, Judith, or Rodrigue in front of them and can do nothing to stop them.
Leeroy Jenkins: Zigzagged. Shez is one to discuss tactics and strategy before a fight and understands the importance of having a game plan even if it doesn't survive contact with the enemy. But Hilda notes that Shez has a tendency to dive into the thickest, most dangerous part of the enemy line in a given fight. Shez explains that this habit of theirs comes from their mercenary days. They needed to fight in a flashy, often reckless way to build a name for themselves in order to find work. If they just played it safe and brought mediocre results, there's no way they would've been hired again.
Lightning Bruiser: Shez possesses a strong Strength growth, an extremely high 68% Speed growth, and average growths in Defense and Resistance, ensuring that they'll be a speedy powerhouse who can take a hit while dicing through the enemy.
Long Hair Is Feminine: The female Shez has much longer hair than her male counterpart.
Made of Iron: Byleth getting empowered by Sothis in their second encounter during the war phase ends with Shez being punched in the gut and sent flying with almost no harm to them otherwise (as Crest-bearers are noted for having much higher strength than a normal human), though Shez being empowered by Arval at the time could have reduced some of that impact.
Magic Knight: Shez's unique Fluegel and Asura classes allows them to use magic in combat on top of their swords.
Magnetic Hero: While Shez is slow to form genuine connections due to the touch-and-go nature of mercenary work, their cheery and outgoing personality quickly endears them to others despite their dubious origins. Their support with Marianne has her approach them specifically because she wants to be as sociable as Shez.
Meaningful Name:
- "Shez" could be derived from Shax from the Ars Goetia and Great Marquis of Hell, coincidentally matching Byleth's own connection to the Ars Goetia since their name can also be read as Beleth, one of the Kings of Hell.
- "Shez" is also similar to "Schezo;" accordingly, they admit to Lysithea in their A-support that they aren't great with speaking and end up saying something strange when they try to use their own words.
- Shez's second unique class is called "Asura". In Hinduism and Buddhism, an asura referred to a classification of god-like beings, some of which were described as enemies of the gods. Fitting, given that Shez's Arch-Enemy is the Progenitor God Sothis's vessel.
Mentor Archetype: Acts as this to Leonie in their supports and throughout Golden Wildfire, who is impressed by Shez's skill as a mercenary long before they enrolled into the academy.
Mistaken for Flirting: In their A-support with Lysithea, Shez leaves her blushing and flustered by giving their honest opinion of her, which unwittingly comes across as a Love Confession.
Muscles Are Meaningless: A soldier can lampshade the fact that Shez is short and scrawny in build compared to them but incredibly powerful anyway. Female Shez takes this further in Heroes for her normal variant, wielding an axe one-handed that is almost as big as herself.
Mysterious Past: Shez remembers very little of their own past before being raised by their adopted mother (who they mention was a person uninterested in social interaction) in Leicester, and their profile in the prologue even lists the years where they were born and became a mercenary as "???". Shez's complete lack of documentable history draws suspicion from others like Hubert, Dedue, and Seteth, who worry that Shez could be a Sleeper Agent or The Mole for their enemies. Then there's how Arval is in their head the same way Sothis is in Byleth's, which may imply that Shez could be an Artificial Human created by the Agarthans to serve as a vessel for Epimenides much like how Byleth's mother Sitri was created by Rhea to be a vessel for Sothis.
New Transfer Student: After saving the house leaders, Rhea and the faculty of Garreg Mach offer them to enroll at the Officer's Academy as a student as thanks. Shez accepts, seeing it as an opportunity to get stronger. In reality, both sides know that Rhea and the others are keeping a close eye on Shez due to their mysterious power. Shez understands that declining was never an option, thus Shez decides to capitalize on their offer.
Never My Fault: Shez blames Byleth for their humiliating defeat and the destruction of Berling's Mercenaries. However, they're conveniently forgetting that their mercenaries attacked Jeralt's group, so Byleth killed them in self-defense. Shez also attacked them personally, meaning Byleth would've killed them in self-defense as well. Shez comes to realize this over time.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Early in the game, Shez namedrops Jeralt as the leader of a renowned band of mercenaries, which Alois takes notice of and mentions wanting to look into it at a later date. At some point in the Time Skip, Alois did reunite with Jeralt and joined up with his former captain's mercenary company.
- Shez's actions during the prologue create a major political shake-up in both Adrestia and Faerghus that gives Prince Shahid of Almyra the idea and opportunity to launch one of the biggest invasions ever recorded.
No Place for a Warrior: In Golden Wildfire, Shez has issues finding work that allows them to battle (as opposed to just train) prior to Claude recruiting them again two years after the prologue because the relative peace within the Alliance means less mercenary work is available (having to settle for guard duty and such instead). Arval even points out a silver lining in war starting up again is that it means they have a higher chance of running into Jeralt's mercenaries, and by extension Byleth, for Shez's rematch against them. Counter that with the other two routes where Shez is installed as a military leader, thus ensuring that they are well paid and are able to fight regularly. That said, Shez also notes this issue was self-inflicted by them choosing to stay in one area, that normally good mercs can find enough work even in peacetime provided they travel and know where to look, be it hunting monsters or guarding against bandits.
No Sense of Direction: They frequently find themselves getting lost or heading in the wrong direction. Reading maps is one of their biggest difficulties.
Non-Standard Character Design: Downplayed; Shez's hair is more vibrant-coloured than most other Fódlaneans, making them look like they fit right at home in the Game Boy Advance era of Fire Emblem. Other than that, since their outfits are what you'd expect from a Three Houses character, they don't really stand out all that much.
Number Two: Not to the extent of the House Leaders' closest aides, but over the course of the war, Shez becomes this to their chosen Lord.
Once Done, Never Forgotten: A sidequest from the Gatekeeper reveals that Shez, who had been exempted from the mock battle between the three houses due to their combat experience, ended up in the area of the mock battle due to getting lost while trying to get back to the monastery and proceeded to curb-stomp all three houses and their leaders completely by accident. Shez laments that they still get made fun of for the incident.
One-Handed Zweihänder: While not usually notable with the swords seen in their artwork, Shez can still easily swing their two swords one-handed, and they wield all swords like this in their unique classes Fluegel and Asura, even with equippable swords that would easily fall into BFS category, such as Ridill.
One-Man Army: While this is a given considering that they're in a Warriors game where every playable character can cut down Mooks by the hundreds and thousands in a single battle, one Paralogue shows a flashback to when Shez accidentally stumbled onto the mock-up battle between the three houses after getting lost on their way back to Garreg Mach, leading to them becoming a fourth party that all of the other classes try to defeat. Even with Shez being on their own, they manage to defeat everyone in battle, including 15 of the 25 students, culminating with all three house leaders at once. This cannot be just attributed to them being a simple mercenary, which several students note during the battle.
Only in It for the Money:
- While they're cheerful and friendly to people who've gotten to know them, Shez freely admits that they're a sellsword in it for the gold coins they'll have clinking in their pockets at the end of a job well-done. They'll freely admit this even to the Lords they're working for, who are often taken aback by how frank and open Shez is about this. This is gradually subverted though, as Shez comes around to the Lord they're fighting for's perspective and decide to fight for a better Fódlan as much as their paycheck.
- Shez discusses this with Petra in their supports. Shez's mercenary principles include seeing every contract to the end and refusing to take up another contract until they've finished their current one even if they're offered more money. After all, if they can't be trusted to fulfill their end of the bargain, who would hire them?
Outside-Context Problem: They're this to those who slither in the dark. Shez's powers, derived from Arval, are all but stated to be Agarthan in origin, and Hubert even says it's comparable to their dark magic. That said, even they have no idea how Shez came by them. When confronted in Chapter 12 of Scarlet Blaze and Chapter 13 of Golden Wildfire, Solon demands to know where they obtained such power. In the normal routes, they have no idea how Shez obtained such power nor care since they've become such a thorn in their side, but the alternate route has Solon realize Shez is actually a vessel for Epimenides, right as the latter sacrifices him to drag the Lords and Shez into Zahras. In Azure Gleam, Myson asks why and how Shez obtained Epimenides' power, only to realize that Shez must have their core in them. Shez asks him in confusion and anger over what he is talking about, but Myson stops talking and teleports away.
Parental Abandonment: Shez mentions that they never knew their birth parents, and were raised by their adoptive mother, who died while they were still young.
Pinball Protagonist: Zigzagged. The War Phase plays out mostly the same and siding with your Lord gives Shez (and by extension the player) a look at what's happening on their side, with only some minor differences occurring thanks to Shez's involvement. They become less of a pinball during Part II, where the routes begin to heavily diverge thanks to Shez's presence. This is especially prominent in Azure Gleam and the alternate story route in Scarlet Blaze:
- In Azure Gleam, Shez's absence in Edelgard's army and Dimitri's success leads to Thales and those who slither in the dark making a comeback, brainwashing Edelgard and installing Duke Aegir as regent. This also causes Claude to ally with the Kingdom instead of the Empire.
- In the alternate story route of Scarlet Blaze, Shez's actions allow Edelgard to recruit Jeralt's Mercenaries into their ranks. While this is also the case in Azure Gleam and Golden Wildfire, Scarlet Blaze's ending changes since Byleth doesn't convince Claude to betray the Empire as the secret chapters give the Lords a chance to talk and discuss their plans for Fódlan's future. As a result, the Empire has a much greater advantage and chance of ending the war quickly instead of being forced into yet another three-way war with the Kingdom and the Alliance.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: A soldier NPC refers to Shez as scrawny and barely taller than a child, yet they're among the most dangerous combatants in Fódlan who play a major role in determining the outcome of the war. This applies mostly to male Shez, who is among the shortest men in the cast (alongside Caspar, Ignatz, Ashe, and Yuri); meanwhile, female Shez is the same height, which makes her one of the taller women.
Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: As a show of professionalism, Shez invites both Hubert and Dedue to cut them down if they seem untrustworthy. Owing to their principles as a mercenary, Shez places personal integrity above all and understands if their murky origins and strange powers would mark them as suspicious even with the favor of their chosen employer. But by the end of their supports, both men eventually admit that Shez's actions have earned their trust time and again.
Power Dyes Your Hair: Using Arval's powers causes Shez's hair to turn reddish-orange with purple highlights.
Power Glows: Their second sword glows orange in its slits when in use, and the shoulder pads for their Asura class outfit also glows orange.
Power-Strain Blackout: Arval forces the initial use of the Awakened form on Shez to save their life, but can only maintain it just long enough to keep them on their feet until Byleth leaves, whereupon the accumulated strain causes Shez to pass out.
Power Tattoo: When in Awakening Mode, Shez develops white markings on their face and part of their neck, similar to the ones Arval has.
Punch-Clock Hero: Shez is a mercenary through and through at the start of the story, taking work wherever they can get and killing whoever they're sent against (with some exceptions as reputable mercs do have a code of honor, such as not killing regular people who can't fight, and not betraying their client should their opponent offer to pay them more). They freely admit that they're Only in It for the Money and it's only after getting to know the lords for years that they start believing in fighting for something bigger than themselves.
Purple Is Powerful: They have purple hair and are a rather skilled and powerful mercenary. Several of their attacks also incorporate the color purple, such as the Sword Beam at the end of their Warrior Special.
Rags to Riches: They start off as a common sellsword who admits in supports that they would have eaten half a rat to avoid starvation. Then they rescue the three lords from a bandit attack, and within months they've become a general in the personal confidence of one of the most politically powerful individuals on the continent. Shez's supports with Dorothea have them confide in her that they're not used to the luxuries they now have. Shez is unsure of how to appreciate Dorothea's opera singing nor can they tell if a cup of tea is actually good.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: When they use their Awakening, their eyes turn red, and they're more dangerous than ever. Epimenides finds this out the hard way.
Required Party Member: Shez must be deployed as a playable unit in all story missions and paralogues. Replaying story missions and paralogues via the record keeper are exempt from this, as are side battles on the war map.
Reverse Grip: Their artwork shows them wielding their second sword in reverse. In-game, Shez wields it normally.
Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Played with. Shez doesn't remember what happens before Byleth reverses time with Divine Pulse, but they do feel disoriented, implying they are affected and know at some instinctual level Byleth's done something, and can even react to it to avoid the worst outcome.
Scarf of Asskicking: Both versions of Shez wear a scarf in their default appearance and they're a powerful warrior. Once they promote to Asura, their single scarf gets replaced with four longer and more detailed scarves that together resemble a Badass Cape. When in Awakened form as an Asura, the scarves become segmented hexagons.
Second Hour Superpower: They start off as a common Myrmidon and promote to Fluegel during the tutorial battle.
Secret-Keeper:
- In Golden Wildfire they inadvertently find out about Claude and Shahid's family relation, but keep it a secret.
- In their Support with Yuri, Shez accidentally learns the former's real name after reading one of his mother's letters. While initially pissed, Yuri does ask Shez to keep it a secret. Their A-support has Yuri explain the origin of his real name, with him saying that only family and those close to him are allowed to know it.
Ship Tease: Several of their A-Rank Supports have this, especially with Linhardt, Petra and Yuri. Linhardt suggests Shez work for him as a bodyguard, saying he couldn't accept any "normal" or any other, while Petra asks Shez to come with her to Brigid once the war is over, and Yuri says that if Shez would be willing to call them by his real name, they'd have to spend the rest of their days by his side. Their letters to Shez if given the Merc's Whistle are almost explicitly romantic. Jeralt is also a Shipper on Deck for Shez and Byleth, asking Shez to stay by Byleth's side and look after them should anything happen to him.
Sinister Surveillance: Downplayed. In their support with Seteth, the latter admits that part of the reason they accepted Shez into the Officer's Academy was to figure out what their powers are in nature and whether they could be trusted. This has to do with its disturbing similarities to the powers used by those who slither in the dark.
Smarter Than You Look: While Shez can be impulsive and act like a meathead (such as when they hurled themselves off cliffs to toughen themselves up), leading one to think that they're solely a mercenary good for fighting and not much else, thanks to their adoptive mother they have an education on par with an average noble, with Ashe expressing surprise that they can understand a complex tactics book in their C-Support. Shez also explains to Bernadetta in their C-support how most mercenary companions didn't have mothers who raised them to be nice and proper, unlike Shez.
Sole Survivor: Byleth completely wipes out Berling's Mercenaries except for Shez, and that's only because Arval ensured they wouldn't die.
Soldier vs. Warrior: Discussed in their C-Support with Raphael when Shez mentions that being an officer in an army is much different from being part of a mercenary band, as while before they only needed to worry about themselves in order to get their pay when they were a mercenary, being part of an army means having to look after the whole group in order to maintain unit cohesion.
Sore Loser: Losing is listed as one of their dislikes, and they are motivated to take down Byleth because they lost to the Ashen Demon, despite the fact that they struck Byleth's company first and was given the chance to flee. They admit that wanting revenge is simply the only way they know to honor the people who took them in, and that they don't have any other connections or life to go back to. They can eventually get over the loss, which serves as a sign of their character growth.
Spanner in the Works: They're this to the entirety of Three Houses. The plot of Three Hopes kicks off because of Arval's intervention and Shez being too stubborn to die. They run into the house leaders first, and saving them leads Shez to take Byleth's place in the Officer's Academy, albeit as a student rather than as a teacher with Jeritza serving as the professor of whichever house Shez chooses. They then go on to throw a major wrench in those who slither in the dark's plans by saving Monica and outing Tomas, in turn kicking off a domino effect leading to them losing almost all their influence in Adrestia and Faerghus. This also has the unintended effect of causing political turmoil that allows Almyra an opportunity to invade since neither the Empire nor the Kingdom can help the Alliance repel Almyra and the Knights of Seiros are stretched thin helping said countries.
Summon to Hand: In Shez's C-Support with Sylvain they mention that their second sword, a mysterious weapon born when they first transformed, appears in their hand when needed and disappears the moment they let it go. They take advantage of this ability in various ways in many of their cinematic cutscene battles. For instance, in the ending cutscene to Golden Wildfire, Shez does this to distract The Immaculate One from obliterating Claude with an energy beam by jumping high into the air, summoning their sword ahead of themselves and grab it, and slash the lower jaw of The Immaculate One, causing her great pain and making her miss her aim at Claude, giving him the opportunity to Attack Its Weak Point for the kill.
Super Mode: Like all characters in Three Hopes, they have access to one in the form of Awakened. Unlike the others, theirs is a more prominent example in that they develop dragon-like properties. From a story standpoint, however, Shez is disturbed by this as it is very reminiscent of the shapeshifting abilities of those who slither in the dark; an implication that concerns them greatly.
Supernatural Sensitivity: Because Shez's dark magic is of the same variety as the Agarthans, they're able to feel its presence in someone. They use this ability on Scarlet Blaze to help Edelgard ferret out additional Agarthan spies masquerading as normal people and thus more effectively remove their influence from Adrestria, something Edelgard thought would be impossible to thoroughly do. In Azure Gleam, they can sense Myson's presence after their initial encounter with him.
Supporting Protagonist: While Shez does have goals of their own, they're basically a subplot compared to their assistance of their chosen Lord.
Supreme Chef: Shez is a very good cook. Even when they judge their own work as being lacking, the units they are feeding will happily state that it's some of the best food they've eaten. It should be noted that the worst rating Shez can get while cooking is a Nice with the only way for characters to dislike their cooking is when they dislike the dish itself. Yuri, who is himself also considered an excellent cook, compliments Shez's cooking skills when sharing a meal with them and Ashe.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Shez being a Supporting Protagonist who happens to be the host of a being revered by the main villains and close ally to a Lord brings to mind Robin, the Avatar of Fire Emblem: Awakening, who happens to be the host of Big Bad Grima.
Taught by Experience: Shez's support with Felix reveals that Shez doesn't subscribe to a particular school or style of combat. They created their current fighting form from all the experiences and things they've picked up during their time as The Drifter moving from one band of mercenaries to another. This makes Shez harder for their enemies and their allies to read until Felix demands to spar with Shez so they can learn each other's moves to better work together.
Temporarily a Villain: Due to Demonic Possession. If Byleth is ultimately recruited instead of slain, eventually Arval (or rather Epimenides) forcefully takes over Shez's body in an attempt to kill Byleth. For the following battle, Shez is a boss character rather than an ally.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Since Shez can summon back their second sword at will, they have adapted their fighting style to involve throwing the sword and summoning it right back. This is why Legendary Female Shez in Heroes qualifies as a Blue Dagger unit, as she attacks by throwing her sword.
Token Heroic Orc: The closest thing there is to a sympathetic Agarthan. This is because they were bonded to the consciousness of an Agarthan mage through unclear means and have powers derived from their magic.
Too Good to Be True: Shez's status as a Spanner in the Works, as far as Hubert is concerned, is this. They not only possess powers eerily similar to those wielded by those who slither in the dark, they unwittingly provide Edelgard the opportunity to break free from their influence, oust them from Adrestia, and carve a path for the Empire's victory. While he's always been paranoid and suspecting of every little thing, Shez's abrupt appearance out of nowhere and powers make him believe they're actually a sleeper agent. His fears are fortunately unfounded as Shez is nothing of the sort.
Took a Level in Badass: In their first match against Byleth, Shez ends up losing hard even after their hidden power awakens to give them an edge. By their second match over two years later, however, Shez's combat skills have improved significantly enough that they can now give Byleth a run for their money and would have almost killed them had Sothis not awakened to give Byleth their own power boost.
Undying Loyalty: Over the course of the story, Shez becomes quite loyal to their chosen Lord for varying reasons: Edelgard's merit-based system gives Shez the opportunity to go from a mere mercenary to a respected military commander and more, Dimitri's acceptance of them despite the apparent connection between them and those who slither in the dark and putting them in charge of a private military force meant to prove the Kingdom doesn't have to rely on Crests or Hero's Relics, and Claude's overall acceptance and friendship with them despite the former knowing little to nothing about their background.
Unknown Rival: They develop a one-sided rivalry against Byleth after the latter defeats them effortlessly during their first meeting and is very eager to pay the favor back in full. Surprisingly, while Shez gets a few rematches later in the game, they can choose to pass up a final confrontation and focus on more important matters, and their support with Byleth has Shez establish a friendly rivalry with them instead.
Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Despite their search for Jeralt's mercenaries in order to rematch Byleth, they don't react either internally or externally when Leonie mentions that she knows Jeralt and considers him her captain in their C-Support in the demo. This is due to a translation choice in the localization, as the original line never mentioned Jeralt, and the line is changed in the actual release.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In the Azure Gleam route, Shez becomes this for Edelgard and the Adrestian Empire as a whole. In spite of their surprise involvement giving Edelgard the opportunity to kick out Thales from the Empire, jail Duke Aegir, and reform the Empire for the better, their contributions with the Kingdom in this route eventually leads to Edelgard getting brainwashed by Thales into a Puppet Queen for both him and Duke Aegir. This not only causes Adrestia's corruption to return in full force and those who slither in the dark's influence to spread out further, the Imperial Army as a result begins employing scorched earth tactics and hiring unsavory people like Metodey as generals under their new leadership. It gets so bad Randolph asks Jeralt to keep the truth of what's happening under wraps just to protect his force's already low morale, and Balthus gets disgusted from Metodey's leadership ways and defects.
Vague Age: Though the game has characters state that Shez is about the same age of the other students (roughly mid to late teens or early twenties), Shez's in game history is vague on details, only having a note of where they were born (Leicester), and the year being just question marks. Shez notes they have no memory of their birth parents, and thus no knowledge of who they come from. During expeditions with Holst, he can tell Shez that while his own age is often overestimated by others, he's actually not much older than Shez is, which could hint that Shez is about as old as Mercedes if not more.^note
Vengeance Feels Empty: If they kill Byleth in the penultimate chapters of the normal routes, Shez mentions to Arval that they feel nothing after having finally defeated the one person they wanted to kill more than anything, bitterly wondering if there could have been another way to settle their rivalry.
Warp Whistle: Starting with Part 1 following the timeskip, Shez can use Shadow Slide to warp in battle to any allied strongholds on the map, up to a max of 3 times. Any adjutants assigned to Shez as they warp will come along with them.
What the Hell, Hero?: In Three Hopes, they, alongside Judith, call out Claude in Golden Wildfire for sacrificing Randolph's Imperial Army to Catherine behind everyone's back.
Shez: [with a furious voice tone and angry portrait] How does that make you any different from the nobles who just throw mercenary lives to the wind? Am I gonna be next?
Weapon Twirling: When Shez is a Fluegel/Asura, their tornado attack has them put their sword hilts together and twirling them above their head in order to summon the tornado.
Wrecked Weapon: In a rematch with Byleth, Shez manages to destroy their sword which turns out to be a Tragic Keepsake since Jeralt gave it to them prior to the ill-fated battle where he's killed.
Wrong Context Magic: Despite its appearance and its abilities being tied to Shez, the sword derived from Arval's power is specifically stated not to be a Hero's Relic, lacking both a Crest Stone and a slot to insert said stone. Shez also states on the Scarlet Blaze route that they weren't born with a Crest, nor did they gain one from Arval who unlike Sothis does not have any connection to a Crest whatsoever. In their supports, Linhardt makes mention that the sword's aura feels cold and almost inhuman compared to the Heroes' Relics' almost divine and terrible ones. Rather the sword is tied to Epimenides, an Agarthan and Arval's creator.

Arval

Class: Dark Bishop or Gremory

Voiced by: Mutsumi Tamura (Japanese), Melissa Hutchison (English)

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

^{Click here to see Arval in Fire Emblem Heroes}

Cycle Keeper

A mysterious being who feels like something is missing. They appeared by Shez when they were about to be defeated by the Ashen Demon, saving their life. They do not physically appear, talking to Shez like they are living inside of their head.

Adaptational Dye-Job: Their eyes and details are colored red in Heroes instead of their original orange. Oddly, this only applies to their artwork, as their sprite uses the correct colors.
Ambiguous Gender: Arval's appearance and voice are both quite androgynous, making it difficult to tell what gender they are at first. In spite of sharing their creator's appearance (who identifies himself as male), Arval's gender (and by extension their class) is determined by Shez's own.
Ambiguous Situation: It's never revealed how Arval came to dwell in Shez as a spiritual entity similar to Sothis, given that it's indicated that they did at one point possess a physical body of their own intended to serve as a replacement body for Epimenides.
Amnesiac Hero: Like Sothis, they lack any and all memories of the past prior to meeting Shez. That said, they do have some vague impressions of feelings towards people they've met in the past or feel they are connected to. With those who slither in the dark, Arval experiences "pure emotion", and heavily dislikes Sothis' presence. By Arval's own admission, the only thing they could remember was flowing water, perhaps the "flood" Sothis perpetrated when she destroyed Agartha, (perhaps more likely) the tank of water they are briefly seen in during the opening cutscene (which takes place long after the destruction of most of the Agarthans).
Artificial Intelligence: It's heavily implied by Epimenides that Arval is an artificial soul/consciousness made in his own image by testing his "soul rehousing" technology on himself.
Antiquated Linguistics: Played for Laughs. Arval attempts to talk similar to Sothis upon reawakening inside Shez, but quickly drops the act upon realizing it's far more complicated than expected.
Character Catchphrase: "We're partners in destiny". It gets to the point Shez themselves ends up finishing Arval's sentences for them after hearing it enough times.
Cool Sword: Arval's powers allow Shez to summon an unique magic sword which they swing alongside their weapon of choice in their unique classes. Many characters point out it appears to be similar to a Hero Relic but also seems to be made of some unknown and cold material they can't quite point out.
Dark Is Not Evil: Despite being an Agarthan creation, Arval shows little to no animosity towards the Children of the Goddess and non-Agarthans. They even develop a friendship with their host Shez, which is why in the alternate story routes they do their best to make sure Shez wasn't hurt while Arval's hijacked by Epimenides. In the normal paths, Arval even rebels against their creator's descendants. Furthermore, despite clearly sensing Sothis' presence with Byleth, Arval shows no hostility to them after they join up with Shez, only turning hostile because of Epimenides (who does blatantly hate the Children of the Goddess and non-Agarthans).
Deadpan Snarker: They're even sassier than Sothis, and almost always have a snarky quip for every situation, with a particularly sharp tongue toward authority figures. They do have a blatant soft spot for Shez though despite snarking at them all the same.
Demonic Possession: In the alternate story route, Arval forcibly takes over Shez's body in an attempt to kill Byleth, though it's also implied Arval themselves were Hijacked by Ganon via Epimenides.
Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Implied. Arval for the longest time didn't quite know why they existed, so after witnessing Shez' defeat at the hands of Byleth in the prologue, they became very fixated on the idea that defeating the Ashen Demon has to be their "destiny". In the branches where Byleth is recruited, Arval suggests Shez later to find later a new goal they can both focus into, and it's implied this is why Arval is convinced by Epimenides later on to stay out of his way when he wants to hijack Shez' body in Zahras, as he explains to his creation he only intends to fullfill Arval's "destiny".
Dub Name Change: In the Japanese release, they're called "Larva", whereas in the English release, they're "Arval".
Dreaming of Times Gone By: If Shez kills Jeralt, a Paralogue centering around Arval is unlocked, showing the latter as Epimenides engaged in battle against the Adrestian Empire and Seiros.
Everyone Has Standards: Played for laughs. In the prologue, Shez is about to tell Alois to his face that his jokes are not funny. Arval stops them before they can finish their sentence, saying Alois' heart would be unlikely to handle the shock very well.
Face–Heel Turn: They forcibly take over Shez's body in the alternate route, though it's heavily implied Epimenides forced their hand by taking the reins (with Shez noting the being they are fighting is not Arval, and Epimenides outright telling Arval to give up the body they and Shez share).
Fighting from the Inside: In the final battle between Epimenides, Arval resists their original self's control — enabling Shez to deal a finishing blow. Freed from Epimenides' control, the dying Arval expresses pride at how strong Shez has gotten.
Foil: To Sothis:
- Sothis is the very same "goddess" the Church of Seiros worships (who exaggerate her abilities and omniscience) capable of rewinding time, having slumbered within Byleth for an undetermined amount of time before awakening after Byleth is almost killed. Arval, on the other hand, is an artificial creation designed to be both Sothis' Agarthan counterpart with the additional desire of killing Sothis who awoke within Shez, despite having no seeming connection with them as Sothis does with Byleth and can manipulate space.
- Both take over their hosts at some point in the game, though whereas Sothis did it only twice, the first being to save Byleth and try to kill Shez before Byleth forcibly regains control and the second when Byleth offers control willingly to get revenge for Jeralt, Arval under Epimenides' control does so to kill Sothis and is very angry that Shez stopped him.
- Even their deaths are used to contrast each other. Both of them fade away while their host reach out to them but while Sothis willingly sacrifices herself to give Byleth the strength to save themselves, Arval has to be cut down after a long boss fight with Epimenides using Shez's own strength. Also while Sothis smiles while she dies and is implied to Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence, Arval laments how lonely they feel that Shez is strong enough to not need them anymore and is implied to be gone for good.
Foreshadowing:
- In Chapter 7, Arval warns Shez to be careful as they can sense something dangerous is about to happen. Near the end of the chapter, when Shez is seemingly about to defeat Byleth, Sothis steps in and takes control of Byleth's body.
- In Chapter 10 (or Chapter 12 if on Azure Gleam), Arval warns Shez they have another bad feeling, far worse than when Sothis temporarily took over Byleth's body. They have every right to be concerned, since depending on how the chapter plays out, Byleth willingly hands over control of their body to Sothis and goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Shez, both after Shez cuts down Jeralt and Byleth kills one of Shez's companions while trying to get at the enemy commander.
- Myson's death quote has him cursing at Epimenides for his defeat, which is after he refuses to give Shez any answers even if they share Myson's powers.
Gender Flip: The gender-exclusive class Arval has access to is dependent on the gender of the protagonist. If you pick a female Shez, they're a Gremory, which is an all-female class, while if you pick the male Shez, they're the male-only Dark Bishop.
Guardian Entity: Without Arval's protection, Shez would've died several times over by now, 22 in fact, and they're willing to hold this over Shez's head, especially considering how a lot of the near-deaths were from suicidally dangerous behavior like throwing themselves off a cliff to "get tougher" (and this happened 3 times). Arval notes as early as their first meeting that keeping them alive is tiring.
Arval: At any rate, we all make a few mistakes along the way. And by "we," I mean you. And by "a few," I mean far, far more than average.
Irony: Arval saving Shez is what gets the ball rolling on the whole story changing and turning Shez into a Spanner in the Works that drastically upends entire plotlines, for what seems like a purely impulsive decision. In the alternate routes, where it is revealed Arval is an Agarthan creation meant to kill Sothis and save Agartha, one of two things ends up happening.
- In the normal story routes where those who slither in the dark are opposed and Byleth is killed, Arval succeeds in what they were created to do, but ultimately goes against their creators and all but wipes out their leadership because they don't recall their purpose and are more concerned with ensuring Shez fulfills their goals to the very end.
- In the alternate route where Byleth is recruited, Epimenides is forced to manifest and try to kill Byleth himself, and when that fails, uses Zahras to take out the three Lords and Shez to prevent them from interfering any further, only for Shez, who Arval helped strengthen and was meant to become Epimenides' newest vessel, to kill him instead.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: While they seem to understand how their powers work, various aspects of society, etc. they have no memory at all of anything from before they met Shez. Even encountering Agarthans doesn't elicit memories but rather a outpouring of "pure emotion" that Arval can't tell is love or hate.
Limb-Sensation Fascination: When summoned in Fire Emblem Heroes Arval is given a new body, and they sometimes comment on things like the breeze across their face, or bumping into things.
Meaningful Name: Their Japanese name "Larva" refers to the immature stage of an insect or animal. Their English name is an anagram of the same word. Epimenides mentions Arval is/was intended to become him, making Arval as a result his creator's "larval state".
Noodle Incident:
- The events surrounding Arval's disappearance from Epimenides' control is never explicitly explained beyond the fact it was an accident, someone(s) might have stolen and/or freed them, and that Epimenides convinced himself Arval was gone for good.
- How Arval's core ended up on Shez' body is something which is never elaborated upon. Shez themselves recall having odd dreams which are implied to be them inside a liquid-filled container, but it's never clarified if that's actually Shez's dream or Arval's given the latter's first memories.
Non-Human Non-Binary: A mysterious supernatural being who, unlike the female Sothis, is not referred to by any gendered pronouns and has a very androgynous appearance.
Older Than They Look: Similar to Sothis, Arval's meeting with Shez and the way they carry themselves imply they're far, far older than what their young appearance suggest. Given Epimenedes created Arval before meeting his demise in the War of Heroes, Arval by proxy is at minimum over 1100 years old by the events of Three Hopes.
People Jars: The opening cutscene and Arval's own recollections suggest that Arval was grown in a liquid-filled container by Epimenides.
Phlebotinum Rebel: In the normal routes at least where those who slither in the dark are opposed. Arval is an Agarthan creation meant to restore them to their former glory, though since Arval never awakened as Epimenides in the normal routes, they're unaware of this and helps Shez and Dimitri or Edelgard get rid of them.
Reality Warper: Like Sothis, Arval is able to manipulate reality to a degree. When Shez is on the verge of death, Arval directly prevents it from happening - unlike Sothis who manipulates time to prevent it, Arval seemingly manipulates space to stop it from happening. Or at least uses some power to keep their body alive/held together, they at least early on don't explain what they are doing to enable Shez to recover, noting that for the time being they only need to know they will get back on their feet, not how they will.
Revenge Before Reason: Defied. While Arval fully encourages Shez to slay the Ashen Demon so they may get payback on the deaths of Berling's Mercenaries, Arval's approach towards it is more often than not far more objective than their partner, to the point they're the ones acting as the voice of reason when Shez fails to deal with them early into the routes, conforting them for their loss and pointing out they'll likely get another chance at it in the future.
Secret Character: Arval can be unlocked on New Game Plus for 60 Renown if players cleared the game and recruited Byleth. Like Sothis and Rhea, however, they can only be used in Auxiliary battles, though unlike them, they're playable normally in their exclusive Paralogue.
Smug Super: While not overly narcissistic, Arval is quite proud of their abilities and tends to lord them over Shez, often reminding them they're still alive because of Arval's powers.
So Proud of You: If you manage to defeat Epimenides after unlocking the requirements needed to enter the Golden Ending of each route, Arval will mention how proud they are of Shez for getting strong enough to defeat them. This is also an indicator that Arval is speaking through the latter's body, as Epimenides was pissed at Shez for going against what he calls "their destiny".
Spanner in the Works: More so than Shez. While the mercenary's survival is what kicks off the story of Three Hopes, it's Arval's intervention and saving Shez's life in the first place that causes the events of Three Hopes to happen at all.
Split Personality: A supernaturally-induced case: Arval, much like Sothis, is snarky and smug, but is consistently supportive towards Shez and comes to care deeply for them. However, they also unknowingly carry a vestige of their creator Epimenides' soul, who is very cruel, sees Shez as more of a tool, and harbors an obsession with destroying Sothis.
The Strategist: Arval has a very strategic mind and sometimes comes up with plans which they sometime lend to Shez when they're asked for ideas in the story.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Their overall presence is almost identical to that of Sothis in terms of being "a mysterious person who saves the protagonist's life, who only talks to them in their mind".
Toxic Friend Influence: Played with. Arval has no actual beef with Byleth like Shez does, but they're pushing their host to try and pursue their revenge when given the opportunity. When Shez suggests the possibility that they recruit Byleth instead, Arval tries to shoot down the idea and reminds Shez about what happened with Berling's Mercenaries, though they are impressed and even approve that Shez is thinking about what to do beyond their revenge. When Shez questions Arval about this assistance on defeating Byleth, they don't have an answer beyond the feeling that defeating Byleth is what they (Shez and Arval) are meant to do. It's heavily implied to be Epimenides' influence pushing Arval towards this, as when Shez does recruit Byleth, Arval makes no further mention of defeating them and even expresses pride about Shez thinking about long-term goals.
Unintentional Backup Plan: For Epimenides, as he didn't expect his long-lost missing creation would contain within them a vestige of himself which served as a backup.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Shez, who Arval often snarks at, but also helps with insight and advice. Downplayed in the sense that Arval is also very open about mentioning how much they love certain things about Shez, enjoy being around them, etc.
What Is This Feeling?:
- They admit to Shez after meeting Kronya in the prologue that they're filled with what they can only describe as "pure emotion", unsure if they were feeling affection or disgust. They also have no idea what they're experiencing when Shez slays Byleth in the normal routes, other than feeling as though a great weight has been lifted from them.
- Arval as a whole has trouble describing their emotions. They know they sometimes experience somethings, but always end up describing them from a very external perspective, as if it was something foreign to them.
You Can't Fight Fate: Arval seems to be a firm believer of "fate" or "destiny", believing it's theirs and Shez's destiny to defeat Byleth, the Ashen Demon. Whenever Shez advocates or suggests forgoing their rivalry with Byleth in favor of recruiting them, reasoning that their faction would be unstoppable with them and Jeralt's Mercenaries in their corner, Arval insists they defeat them, but by their own admission, they don't really understand why. And while Arval is willing to forfeit this "destiny" when Shez successfully recruits them on the secret branches, Epimenides exploits this aspect of their character to stop them from getting involved in their plans for Shez.

Characters / Fire Emblem: Three Houses – Other Main Characters

Sothis

Class: Gremory (Three Hopes)

Height: 135 cm

Voiced by: Tomoyo Kurosawa (Japanese), Cassandra Lee Morris (English)

Shez

Class: Myrmidon → Fluegel → Swordmaster → Asura

Age: ??

Height: 170 cm

Male Shez Voiced By: Tasuku Hatanaka (Japanese), Damien Haas (English)
Female Shez Voiced By: Miyu Tomita (Japanese), Dawn M. Bennett (English)

Arval

Class: Dark Bishop or Gremory

Voiced by: Mutsumi Tamura (Japanese), Melissa Hutchison (English)

Alternative Title(s): Fire Emblem Three Houses Sothis, Fire Emblem Three Houses Shez

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Characters / Fire Emblem: Three Houses – Other Main Characters

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Sothis

Class: Gremory (Three Hopes)

Height: 135 cm

Voiced by: Tomoyo Kurosawa (Japanese), Cassandra Lee Morris (English)

Shez

Class: Myrmidon → Fluegel → Swordmaster → Asura

Age: ??

Height: 170 cm

Male Shez Voiced By: Tasuku Hatanaka (Japanese), Damien Haas (English)Female Shez Voiced By: Miyu Tomita (Japanese), Dawn M. Bennett (English)

Arval

Class: Dark Bishop or Gremory

Voiced by: Mutsumi Tamura (Japanese), Melissa Hutchison (English)

Alternative Title(s): Fire Emblem Three Houses Sothis, Fire Emblem Three Houses Shez

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Index

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Male Shez Voiced By: Tasuku Hatanaka (Japanese), Damien Haas (English)
Female Shez Voiced By: Miyu Tomita (Japanese), Dawn M. Bennett (English)