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Characters / Trails Series Rean Schwarzer
aka: The Legend Of Heroes Trails Of Cold Steel Rean Schwarzer

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Warning: Due to his involvement in the plot, spoilers relating to events/reveals that happen during the Cold Steel games and Reverie shall be left unmarked.

Rean Schwarzer

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rean_schwarzer_28hajimari29_2.png
Rean as an Instructor at Thors Branch Campus
Rean in his Thors uniform
Rean in his summer uniform
Rean as he appeared in Cold Steel II
Rean at the start of Cold Steel IV
Rean during the majority of Cold Steel IV
Rean going through assimilation in Reverie
Tyrfing S
Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama (Japanese), Sean Chiplock (English, games), Eric Vale (English, Northern War)

"We stand before a great darkness, but remember, darkness can't exist where light is. Let's be that light!"

The main protagonist of the Cold Steel saga. A kind and respectable young man, Rean's insecurities regarding himself lead him to enroll at Thors Military Academy in order to find purpose in his life and a place to belong. He is assigned to Class VII and eventually becomes its unofficial leader. He is a practitioner of the Eight Leaves One Blade and later becomes a pilot for the divine knight Valimar.

He becomes involved in the Erebonian Civil War, his deeds for which make him known as a national hero to Erebonia as the "Ashen Chevalier". A year and a half later, he becomes a teacher at the Thors Branch Campus and begins teaching the New Class VII.

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  • #1 Dime: Crow's 50 mira is part of the shrine at his desk alongside the pictures of his friends and family.
  • 10-Minute Retirement: He's forced out of your active party for about exactly this long following an injury he receives when fighting a Fate Spinner in Chapter 2 of Cold Steel I. He becomes active again once his arm heals up. And yes, the speed with which it happens is foreshadowing; although it's not his foreshadowing. It happens again when he takes a break from your active party to force Laura and Fie to fight together.
  • 11th-Hour Superpower: Happens in Cold Steel I where he gains access to Valimar and proceeds to beat Scarlet's Spiegel with him. A second time happens during his fight with Crow and later the Vermillion Apocalypse where Rean somehow activates a Super Mode of Valimar's that allows him to keep up with Ordine's own Super Mode. A third time happens right before the Final Boss fight of Cold Steel III begins, wherein he obtains the divergent sword from Millium's soul and together with Valimar, both are then corrupted by Rean's Superpowered Evil Side. Rean then proceeds to unleash hell upon the Divine Beast. He also receives another one in Cold Steel IV from McBurn as a one time gift that allows the party to heal their HP, EP, and CP to full and cures status debuffs and ailments, just in time for Osborne's Divine Knight fight.
  • Above the Influence: Much to Musse's dismay, he will not hit on her no matter how hard she tries coming on to him. Even when she starts influencing his head, Rean still manages to snap out of it albeit barely. If the player picks her for the fireworks event in Cold Steel IV, he'll mention to Musse that she'll have to wait until she's graduated before she can even think of getting into that kind of relationship with him.
  • Accidental Pervert:
    • His attempt to save Alisa from being hurt during Class VII's orientation involved his unintentionally getting a face full of Alisa's boobs. One magazine article on the game wondered if Rean was trying to compete with Lloyd in this department.
    • In the audio drama "Returning Home," he decides to go for a soak in the hot springs during mixed bathing hours, only to walk on Alisa and Laura, who are under the mistaken impression that it's women-only hours. He gets a terrible beating before Alisa and Laura find out to their horror and shame that they're the ones in the wrong.
    • And again for a third time during an optional sidequest in Cold Steel II involving a monster near the hotsprings in Ymir. Just as the girls notice it, Rean rushes in and catches a view of all of them in their towels. They make sure to punish him off-screen afterwards after the monsters have been caught.
    • Following the swimming challenge on Cold Steel II's final free day, everyone plays tag following Millium's suggestion.
    Narration: As usual, poor, pitiable Rean found himself accused of many scandalous acts he had no intention of committing.
  • Ace Custom: Subverted in Cold Steel III. If he's not piloting Valimar, he just uses a regular Drakkhen to teach the class. Played straight in Reverie where he is the test pilot of a custom ashen-colored high-performance prototype named Tyrfing S.
  • Ace Pilot: In real life, for a pilot to be considered an ace, they need to take down 5 enemy vehicles (8 by the standards of Erebonia's historic counterpart). By the end of the second game, he and Valimar have defeated a magic knight, over a dozen Panzer Soldats, as well as Crow (who has 3 years more experience) and delivered the finishing blow on Testa-Rossa. During the Divertissement he entered the battlefield by cutting down two of Calvard's airships, which prompted them to retreat. And in Juna's backstory, Rean appears right away and one-shots a Calvard airship like it was nothing. He's a combination of both a Steamroller and a Plugger. By Reverie, he's gotten so good at piloting that a basic Drakkhen can no longer keep up with his reflexes when he has a friendly duel with Kurt and Ash in the Tyrfing Project minigame.
  • Achey Scars: He has a nasty scar across his chest that pains him on occasion most ominously, when Osborne speaks to him. In Cold Steel III, it turns out that the scar is from when he was pierced with a wooden splinter when his house was attacked as a kid. Osborne had to transplant his heart to save Rean's life as Rean's heart was destroyed. Cold Steel IV reveals just how big the wooden splinter was and it is huge for a human, let alone a child, to even have lodged in their chest.
  • Adopted Into Nobility: Part of his issues at first. While there's no question that he loves his adopted parents, which is completely mutual, he felt like a burden since their adoption of him led to them being ostracized by their fellow noble peers. This gave him the misguided conception that it would be better if he distanced himself from them. He thankfully realizes that was wrong.
  • Adoption Angst: Had this at first. Though it was less about any misgivings towards the Schwarzers themselves, as it was due to the fact that his being adopted made his adopted parents ostracized by their fellow peers due to the rigid class system. As a result he saw himself as a burden to them and initially sought to distance himself from them, without their prompting or consent. He thankfully is taken out of this mindset as his family reaffirms that they care for him far more than they do about their reputations and status.
  • Adoption Diss: Somewhat subjected to this as a child as there were those who questioned the idea of adopting a commoner child into a noble family. Patrick also did this to him before the former's Character Development. This also ends up driving him to try and relinquish his claim to the Schwarzer family upon graduating, to the great displeasure of his stepsister Elise who considers it a completely pointless act of self-sacrifice.
  • Adoptive Name Change: He was born Rean Osborne but was renamed Rean Schwarzer after the Schwarzers took him in.
  • Aesop Amnesia: Once per game, he has to learn that he's not alone and that he can rely on other people. Though in his defense, every time he learns the lesson, circumstances beyond his and his friends' control keep driving him to do things by himself thanks to his Martyr Without a Cause tendencies.
  • Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Is prone to pat other people's head, most notably Elise, Alisa, Towa, Alfin, Altina, Juna, and Celine especially in her Cat Girl form. He's also on the receiving end of this himself from Sara, Toval, and Crow. Especially Crow.
  • Afraid of Their Own Strength: He's afraid that if he ever gave in to his Superpowered Evil Side, he'd start slaughtering everybody, both friend and foe. Victor calls him out on it and tells the guy to start accepting that it's a part of him. Fortunately enough for him, Alfin manages to finish the job and tells him that he really shouldn't worry too much about Elise. Unfortunately in Cold Steel III, his fears come to fruition after Millium's death wherein he completely loses control of himself at the climax of the story and unintentionally dooms Erebonia.
  • Age-Appropriate Angst: Him being adopted is one thing. Him awakening to his Superpowered Evil Side to defend himself and Elise from a monster is another story. Losing his friend and finding out his dad was the reason why his friend went to go on a revenge to avenge his grandfather was the point where he nearly breaks down.
  • Age-Gap Romance: Not all of his love interests are the same age as him. Sara and Towa are respectively seven and one years older than him. Fie is two years younger than him; Juna, Alfin and Elise are all about three years younger than him; Musse is four years younger; and Altina is physically six years younger than him. He also has a decent amount of Ship Tease with Claire and Duvalie, who are respectively six and three years older than him.
  • All Your Powers Combined: His final S-Craft in Cold Steel IV combines all of the forms of the Eight Leaves One Blade style; Helix, Gale, Karma Flame, Autumn Leaves, Morning Moon, Scarlet Sky, and Void before sheathing his sword.
  • The Alleged Boss: Downplayed example with him and his students. While far from incompetent, and genuinely decent, his students have not been above disobeying him, and at times were disrespectful to him (especially Ash and Juna). Rean likewise isn't much for formalities and eschews the more strict hierarchy to get closer to them acting more as a friend than a teacher at times, making them True Companions with him as much as the old Class VII. Mostly type 4, with a hint of type 2.
  • Amazon Chaser: Any of his potential love interests are all kinds of action girls and he has no problems chasing after them if the player desires, especially when it comes to Laura.
  • Amnesiac Hero: The only thing he remembers when he was just a kid when Baron Schwarzer found him was his name. Everything else was a blur until he sees his family for the last time in the second game before rescuing the Imperial family and Elise where he starts recalling a bit more. He fully remembers and sees his father's face after he confronts him at the Infernal Castle and is shocked at the revelation.
    • Cold Steel IV takes this to its logical conclusion where after he takes in some of the dark aura from killing the Nameless One, he starts forgetting his real name.
  • Ancestral Weapon: In a very roundabout way with Valimar as it's revealed that his father, Giliath Osborne, is the reincarnation of Dreichels Reise Arnor. The man who served as Valimar's previous Awakener during the War of the Lions. Valimar even initially greets Osborne as Dreichels before correcting himself during the finale of Cold Steel IV.
  • Anger Born of Worry:
    • One of the reasons why Rean was so angry at Celine at the beginning of the second game was because he felt that he abandoned his classmates against a Divine Knight with a more experienced pilot to their deaths.
    • Much to his chagrin, he frequently experiences this when dealing with his students in Cold Steel III. Most prominently displayed when he chastises his students for directly disobeying his orders and recklessly intervening during Chapter 1.
      Rean: If you were actual soldiers, you'd be in front of a court-martial right now!
    • Three instances in Cold Steel IV, born of trauma related to Millium's death:
      • In a bonding event with Altina, she goes on a solo mission to Ymir without telling anyone else, having discovered that the IDF is planning to take the town hostage to lure Rean out. Rean is horrified when he finds out and, once Lechter has assured him that it won't happen again, he hugs her out of relief and yells at her to never do it again.
      • During the Ouroboros attack on the Pantagruel, Musse orders a suicide attack on the ''Glorious'', which is averted when Olivert reveals himself to be alive and arrives in the Courageous II. After the attack is repelled, Rean reveals that he overheard her order and approaches her with an expression that is calm but a clear sign that she's in deep shit, telling her that he needs to talk with her about being willing to needlessly throw her life away like that.
      • During his Bonding Event with Emma, Emma attempts a forbidden Spell to enter his subconscious in a vain attempt to relieve him of the Curse, leaving out how she's likely to end up an Empty Shell if it failed. Rean immediately cuts off the spell and snaps at her for being so reckless.
    • In general, his Martyr Without a Cause tendencies has resulted in him being on the receiving end several times as his friends and loved ones call him out on recklessly endangering himself without considering how hurt they would be at the thought of losing him.
  • Angry Collar Grab: He grabs Osborne's collar at the climax of Cold Steel II where Osborne shows up alive, then yells at him for making all the work Crow did meaningless.
  • The Apprentice: He was taught in the Eight Leaves One Blade school of swordsmanship by Yun Ka-Fai, the first protagonist who actively practices it. Over the course of the game, he goes from beginner rank to intermediate, finally achieving the rank of Divine Blade in Cold Steel IV.
  • Apocalypse Maiden: The Black Records have recorded him as the one who will trigger the Great Twilight by slaying the Nameless One, which he does at the end of Cold Steel III.
  • Archnemesis Dad: Osborne, who is his actual biological father. Rean has little love for him after the events of Crow's death and the annexation of Crossbell. However, it's not until the climax of Cold Steel III that the two finally come to blows with one another as Rean tries to stop his father from potentially dooming Erebonia. However, by the final battle in Cold Steel IV it's clear that Rean doesn't hate Osborne anymore for what he had to go through to truly get rid of Erebonia's real issue.
  • Armor-Piercing Attack: His final S-Craft in Cold Steel IV cancels all defense guards and reflects before applying damage. After gaining the Sword of the End, he is able to pierce through Holy Beasts and McBurn's true form.
  • Asleep for Days:
    • Cold Steel II opens with Rean awakening atop a snowy mountain range with Valimar after having been asleep for a month due to Valimar being badly damaged in the dramatic battle at the end of the first game. The Awakener shares the pain and damage, but Valimar has expended a massive amount of mana energy, all in bringing Rean back to health.
    • In a flashback in Cold Steel III, he apparently slept a few days after seeing a bunch of jaegers at North Ambria start killing citizens and gave in to his rage. This is Foreshadowing for his inevitable meltdown when he loses control of his ogre power.
    • After being rescued from the Black Workshop in Cold Steel IV, he spent two days asleep in Eryn from exhaustion from the ordeal.
  • The Atoner: Is NOT happy about his role in triggering the Great Twilight at the end of the third game and is determined to make up for it in the fourth game, even if he was Not Himself during the time.
  • Badass Bookworm: There are achievements for having him collect books whenever he can (with the one in the first game even called Honorary Literature Club Member) and he can land in 7th place during the midterms of the first game.
  • Badass Boast: During his escape of the Pantagruel with Alfin, he delivers one to both Duvalie and Bleublanc. See the entry for I Am Your Opponent below.
  • Badass in Distress: Briefly when he's captured and taken to the Pantagruel in the second game. Happens again in Cold Steel IV, where Rean spends the entirety of Act 1 imprisoned within the confines of the Black Workshop as the others all work to find a way to rescue him.
  • Badass Longcoat: A black one in his DLC costume for the second game. His attire for the third game also has him wearing a white coat as part of his instructor uniform at Thors II.
  • Badass Teacher: In Cold Steel III, he becomes an instructor at Thors 2nd Branch School in Leeves, located on the western side of Erebonia and a suburb of Heimdallr.
  • Badass Transplant: Turns out the reason Rean has a scar and his chest and that it aches constantly and gives him access to ogre powers is because his heart is not his own. It's his father's, aka Osborne's heart, that's inside of him.
  • Bad Powers, Good People: An all around nice guy who'll stop to help anybody in need. However, he firmly believes that his powers are terrible in that he could accidentally kill someone in a fit of rage if he's not careful. Fortunately enough for him in the second game, he finally comes to terms with it and accepts those powers for his own strength. But then Cold Steel III happens and he fully loses control over it in his rage and slaughters the Nameless One, fully unleashing the Curse of Erebonia.
  • Barbie Doll Anatomy: One of the costumes that he shares with Emma for New Game Plus in Cold Steel IV is him being fully naked but not showing off his privates, all covered up in glowing markings. It's because Emma dives into his subconsciousness to try and hold off the effects of the curse within him.
  • Battle Aura: He always puts out a red aura before he starts kicking ass. It turns into a black and purple color when his powers are activated.
  • Battle Couple: All of the women he can get together with (or atleast had Ship Tease with in the case of Claire and Duvalie) have fought alongside him in battle, if only briefly in some of their cases.
  • Battle in the Center of the Mind: His final test before becoming a Divine Blade is him fighting a duel against his own self in ogre form.
  • Beat the Curse Out of Him: Subverted in Cold Steel IV where new Class VII holds him off while he attacks them but he doesn't snap out of his berserk self (in fact, he becomes even more enraged for a while). It takes their ARCUS II's and Celine in her Cat Girl form telling them what to go inside his subconsciousness and snap him out from within.
  • Became Their Own Antithesis: Before the Civil War: an optimistic young man who wants to figure out what he wants to do with his life, saddled with some problems about his family. After the Civil War and the occupation of Crossbell: he doesn't have the spirit that he used to have, becomes the thing the Noble Alliance wanted him to do when they kidnapped him by participating in a war he doesn't even like but forced to so that there won't be that much bloodshed, and is almost jaded.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: In his letter to Elise in the first game, he mentions that he's going to distance himself from their family so that they could gain the respect they deserve from their fellow nobles and enlist in the army. By the end of Cold Steel II he ends up doing just that but not in the way he expected.
  • Being Good Sucks: How he comes to view his role as Erebonia's national hero. Though he can help end wars faster thanks to Valimar, he's not at all proud at having to take part in the conflicts he's been in.
  • Benched Hero: At the climax of Cold Steel III, he's captured by Osborne, requiring Juna and Class VII to bring him back. Save for brief appearances, he barely appears throughout Act 1 of Cold Steel IV.
  • Berserk Button: While it is played for laughs during the Cold Steel saga, disrespecting or being a little too pushy with Elise tend to make him significantly aggressive.
  • The Berserker: Throughout the Black Workshop where he's in his Superpowered Evil Side, he will swing his sword at nearly anyone while he makes his way towards Valimar and the Sword of the End.
  • Better to Die than Be Killed: When Ishmelga tries to take him over near the end of Cold Steel IV, Rean attempts to perform a Heroic Sacrifice by having Valimar fly up into the atmosphere and self-destruct rather than risk becoming the Ebon Knight's puppet to spread the Curse any further. Franz thankfully offers him an alternate solution in the Golden Ending.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Much like Estelle and Lloyd, Rean is quite nice and helpful towards the people around him, but will get angry and fight those who threaten the innocent and his loved ones. However, unlike Estelle and Lloyd, Rean's rage can turn completely murderous if provoked enough and result in him instinctively activating his ogre power. Best seen when he nearly slaughters the Northern Jaegers that attacked Ymir after believing they had killed his adoptive parents and again when Millium is killed in front of him which results in Rean killing the Nameless One and then brutalizing its corpse in a fit of vengeance.
    • This gets Played for Laughs in one quest during Cold Steel III where, after discovering that Elise had been harassed by a nobleman, Rean quickly decides catch the ones responsible himself and promises to end them. Even musing on using Valimar as a way to scare them, and all with a gleeful smile on his face. Juna and the others have to call him out on it. And that's not mentioning Rean's response to hearing the news.
    Rean: *text box font size doubled* The only suitable punishment for that is D E A T H.
  • Beyond the Impossible: In Cold Steel IV's climax, he is able to separate Ishmelga from his soul using a powered up version of Spirit Unification, something not even Osborne could achieve.
  • Be Yourself: This is Valimar's advice to Rean after Rean hears that Dreichels used to pilot Valimar.
  • BFS: The tachi he forges for Valimar is almost as big as Valimar himself.
  • Big Brother Mentor: Towards the students at Thors Branch Campus, especially to the new Class VII that he personally instructs.
  • Big Brother Instinct: He's fiercely protective of Elise, something that dates back to an incident from their childhood wherein his Superpowered Evil Side activated for the first time and he defended her from a monster. New Class VII have to force him to sit out a sidequest involving a banker's son sexually harassing St. Astraia students because Elise was targeted and he's too pissed to think of a nonviolent solution. Also extends to some of his younger peers as well.
  • Big "NO!": After Vulcan's suicide, he lets out one.
  • Big "WHAT?!": In Cold Steel II, after finding out that the mysterious hooded man aiding him and his friends is actually Thomas.
  • Big "WHY?!": In Cold Steel II upon realizing that Osborne is alive, Rean screams this in his face, demanding to know why he was still alive and thus rendering all of Crow's efforts in taking him down meaningless.
  • Birds of a Feather: When he and Lloyd are finally able to meet on friendly terms, the two pretty much instantly hit it off by virtue of having near-identical roles among their respective teams, common hobbies, and similar personalities.
  • Black Eyes of Crazy: His sclera turn black when he fully loses control of his powers at the end of Cold Steel III until he's rescued from the Black Workshop.
  • Black Sheep: Saw himself as this to House Schwarzer at first, due to the circumstances of his adoption making them outcasts amongst the nobility. They of course disagreed with this sentiment, making it clear that they love him unconditionally and care for him far more than they do their status which lets him get over it.
  • Blade Lock: Engages in this with Kurt in his bonding event in Cold Steel III. And in Reverie, he engages in this with Matteus Vander, and ends up losing while the latter was wielding his BFS with one hand.
  • Blade Spam: Autumn Leaf Cutter, Enlightened Domination, Termination Slash - Dawn, and all the variants of his Cold Steel III S-Craft have him slashing his targets at high speeds.
  • Blemished Beauty: The large scar on his chest does not detract from Rean's Chick Magnet status, as none of his friends or love interests ever express any negative opinions over it.
  • Blessed with Suck: His Superpowered Evil Side in general. While it does give him the benefit of a power boost which would be helpful in tight spots, it also comes with the price of Rean being consumed by feral rage and thus becoming prone to attacking anyone close to him if he's not careful. He starts taking steps to mastering this power of his in Cold Steel II. Unfortunately in Cold Steel III his power starts growing beyond his ability to control and eventually culminates in him completely losing it after Millium's death.
    • His status as Valimar's Awakener is also this. Though having the power of a Super Robot on his side is all well and good, it results in Rean participating in several conflicts he has no real interest in but does so at the behest of the government since he could help end them quicker due to Valimar's power.
  • Blue Blood: Rean is a member of Erebonia's ruling aristocracy by adoption, though not one of the great houses. Cold Steel II confirms that he's a commoner by birth though his biological father was also elevated to the nobility a year after Rean's adoption. Said dad also wants to get rid of the nobility. Then Cold Steel IV reveals that his father Osborne was not only also adopted into nobility by the Schwarzers, but is also the reincarnation of the former emperor Dreichels the Lionheart.
  • Bonding over Missing Parents: One reason why both he and Fie have a close bond with each other, as both of them are orphans who don't know their birth parents and were taken in by foster families: the Schwarzers for Rean and Zephyr for Fie.
  • Book Ends: Throughout the first two Cold Steel games. The first time Rean and Crow fight together was against a gigantic animated suit of armor. The last time they fight together is inside their Humongous Mecha taking on the Vermillion Apocalypse, which while technically a giant mech, currently is simply animated by malice.
    • The first time he comes to Trista during prologue of Cold Steel I, he admires the scenery, sees the lino flowers, and is optimistic about his new school life for the next two years. The Epilogue of Cold Steel II starts out with him coming back from Crossbell via train and after coming out of the train station, he sees the blooming lino flowers again. This time, he's lost all of his optimism and has become a lot more cynical about his situation.
    • His master tasks him with mastering the Seventh form of the Eight Leaves One Blade School in order to get his powers under control. In Cold Steel IV, he uses a technique seemingly of his own creation, Seventh Form: Enlightened Spirit Unification, to permanently separate Ishmelga from his soul and give him a corporeal form in the real world.
  • Boots of Toughness: Goes from his school shoes in the first game to wearing boots from the second game onward.
  • Bothering by the Book: As a sign of independence from the Chancellor, Rean refuses to involve himself in national affairs unless formally requested to do so by the imperial government in writing. Of course, since Osborne is the imperial government, all this really means is that he's forced to write up official orders and have Lechter deliver them before Rean will move.
  • Bridal Carry: He carries Alfin in this fashion twice. Once at Heimdallr and another when escaping the Pantagruel. He also does this to Fie during their bonding event at Celdic where Rean finds her sleeping on the floor and decides to carry her to the bed instead.
  • Bring It: When he uses Morning Moon, he'll always tell his enemies to "Bring it on!"
  • Broken Ace: Rean is an extremely skilled swordsman even at the start of the series, being a practitioner of the Eight Leaves One Blade school of swordsmanship wherein he studied directly under the school's founder much like Cassius Bright and Arios Maclaine, is well liked by his peers, rather attractive and a Chick Magnet, has a Super Mode and Humongous Mecha among his arsenal, and eventually becomes the national hero of Erebonia known as the Ashen Chevalier. Despite all that however, Rean is consistently plagued with self-doubt, his Super Mode comes with a heavy price, and his status as a national hero serves as nothing but a heavy burden to him.
  • Broken Pedestal: In Reverie, he is considered as this to the rebel soldiers as Rean was the reason why they joined the army to fight against Calvard and yet Rean supported ending the war. Rean's companions call them out on it.
  • Brought Down to Badass: With Ishmelga finally dead at the end of Cold Steel IV, Rean ends up losing his ogre power by the end of the game. Subverted however as Reverie reveals that Rean does in fact still have the power itself, it just lacks the curse aspect that made him overly aggressive when using it with Spirit Unification.
  • Brutal Honesty: In Cold Steel III, he tells Kurt in Chapter 1 that his swordsmanship is still inadequate enough to help him on his military business.
  • But for Me, It Was Tuesday: As revealed by Juna when talking to Kurt and Altina, Rean had once saved her and her siblings lives from a Calvardian airship back during his mission in Crossbell. Rean for his part doesn't remember this, and it's not until Juna's siblings mention this to him (not knowing that he's their savior) that he finds out.
  • But Now I Must Go: Inverted. He's the one who stays at Thors while everyone else leaves at the end of Cold Steel II.
  • By the Power of Grayskull!: Anytime he calls Valimar, he always clenches his fist forward and then raises his hands to the sky while delivering his famous:
    Rean: "Heed my call, Valimar the Ashen Knight!"
  • Calling Parents by Their Name: Thanks to the nature of their relationship, he never actually calls Osborne "father" and instead simply refers to him either by his name or title. He finally calls him "dad" at the end of the Golden Ending just before Osborne disappears for good.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: Something he didn't even mean to do at the end of Cold Steel II yet coincidentally happened.
  • Can't Drop the Hero: Players cannot take him out of the party, though he can be taken out of the battle line-up and has not participated in some battles because of things happening in the plot.
  • Casting a Shadow: His primary orbment element is time, though it doesn't really show in his Crafts, delaying turns aside. Mainly ties to the series tradition of tying into his Dark and Troubled Past.
  • Celebrity Is Overrated: Becomes known as a famous war hero as the Ashen Chevalier after Cold Steel II. He's less than pleased about it considering it's made him a face for the Empire's militarism and his role in annexing Crossbell and North Ambria.
  • Celibate Hero: By Cold Steel IV, the women in his harem have started to confess to him, long before the final bonding event. Despite this however, Rean does acknowledge it but doesn't say anything about it till the final bonding event mostly because he's already accepted that as the ultimate Sacrifice of Ishmelga's curse, he would have to die at the end of the Rivalries.
  • Chain Lethality Enabler: Rean's default Master Quartz for all four Cold Steel games and Reverie, Brigid, restores the CP of whoever equips it anytime they kill an enemy.
  • Character Development:
    • Starts out as someone with low self-worth and an inability to realize that the people around him genuinely love and appreciate him (at one point he claims that he'll someday "make it up" to his foster parents, which is an awful thing to say to the people who love him unconditionally) before becoming someone who is more confident in himself and the love that people have for him. By the end of Cold Steel II, however, he's almost delved right back to where he started. He still holds the same confidence he has in himself and others, but he's become very cynical and jaded after failing to save his friend and being forced to participate in a war he had no real interest in.
    • Grows and matures quite a great deal in Cold Steel III, culminating in him becoming an instructor for the Branch campus. His experiences have given him greater insight and wisdom, and he's better able to help others by often cutting to the root of their issues. He's also more direct and aggressive with others when the situation calls for it (in complete contrast to the previous games where his anger and ire were only directed at his enemies, even that was rare). Despite all this, he still recklessly puts the well-being of others before himself, and tends to have tunnel vision when it comes to his students. Learning how to rely on them instead of pushing them away is one of his primary character arcs in Cold Steel III.
    • In Cold Steel IV after being saved by friends in the Intermission, Rean is able to finally move past his insecurities and become the person he was always meant to be. He ends up becoming a more confident version of himself, willing to share his burdens with others and never hesitates in the face overwhelming adversity (both inner and outer) culminating in him finally becoming a Divine Blade after passing Cassius' test.
    • A huge part of his character development is centered around his understanding of the Eight Leaves One Blade Seventh form: Void. Initially, Rean has difficulty grasping the true meaning behind the words "form Is Emptiness, emptiness is form". The phrase essentially boils down to the idea that nothing (Void) is separate from anything else and that everything is connected. Yun Ka-Fai teaches him this concept in the hopes that he will realize that it applies to his own life, that his existence is an indelible part of everyone else's life and vice versa. While Rean is able to grasp the meaning of these words by Cold Steel II, he is only able to reach true understanding in Cold Steel IV during his trial of the Divine Blade. Cassius asks this question whilst assuming the form that Rean fears most: his ogre self.
      Cassius: Will you offer yourself to him to reach the peak of swordsmanship?
      Rean: No. I will exist alongside him. We will be as one.
    • His character development from the past games is apparent in Reverie, as Rean comes across as wiser and more amenable to receiving help from others, but Reverie fully completes his character development by having him confront the personification of his past mistakes, self-loathing and self-sacrificial tendencies in the form of his alternative self. When offered the chance to sacrifice himself to defeat Ishelmga-Rean and take responsibility for the latter's existence, Rean refuses. Rean acknowledges his tendency to sacrifice himself only ended up hurting his loved ones in the end, and reasons that he himself needs to be alive and happy, if he wants to make his friends and family happy in return.
  • Character Tic: Tends to stroke his chin when thinking about a problem or an event. This is foreshadowing of who his birth father is.
  • The Chew Toy: An In-Universe example. As much as he's adored by his companions, everyone in Class VII, his students, and his friends often take great pleasure in making fun of him for various things such as his ability to come up with dorky speeches on the spot or his ability to attract women. Best shown during Cold Steel IV where the story of his deeds aboard the Pantagruel (entering Duvalie and Altina's room unannounced, the latter while she was sleeping, and his daring rescue of Alfin) is revealed and results in everyone having something to say. Rean, for his part, can only facepalm as he says the following:
    Rean: Instructor Sara, Towa. Requesting permission to burst in to tears.
    Sara: Permission denied.
  • Chick Magnet: Oh so very much. It's lampshaded repeatedly by other characters that Rean is someone blessed by Aidios to have so many women pining over him. Both Randy and Joshua compare him to Lloyd over this and note that Rean is the greater one of the two by way of looks, reputation, and sheer number of women. By the time Cold Steel IV rolls around, he can potentially get together with Alisa, Laura, Emma, Fie, Sara, Towa, Alfin, Elise, Juna, Altina, or Musse. Then there's the Ship Tease he gets with Claire & Duvalie...
  • Child of Two Worlds: Born a commoner but was adopted into nobility. This gives Rean a unique standing in Class VII as, with the exception of Alisa whose family wealth practically makes her a noble in all but name, the rest of his companions in both old and new Class VII are either nobles (Laura, Jusis, Kurt, and Musse), commoners (Elliot, Machias, Emma, Millium, Altina, and Ash), or foreigners (Fie, Gaius, Crow, Sara, and Juna).
  • The Chosen One:
    • He's chosen by Valimar after completing a series of trials during Cold Steel I. When Valimar speaks to him during the epilogue of Cold Steel II, it's made clear that he and Valimar both must choose the other in order to form a contract.
    • Cold Steel III reveals that his master, Yun Ka-Fai, had taught Rean the Seventh Form - Void out of the belief that Rean could master it and that through it he would be able to succeed where both Cassius and Arios have failed; learn the true meaning of the Eight Leaves One Blade style.
    • Cold Steel IV reveals another two: first, that he was chosen as the Sacrifice to unleash the curse of Erebonia ever since he had gained the scar on his chest. Second, that in all of KeA's visions about the future, he is the key to ending the Great Twilight prematurely thus preventing the world war from turning into a continental bloodbath.
  • Chronic Hero Syndrome: A gameplay mechanic: the more you help out people, the higher the Academic Rank he is, allowing him to access some of the best items.
  • Chuunibyou: According to the description of his Unspeakable DLC costume, Rean used to wear a tattered longcoat, a visor, and a set of headphones to bring out his "inner darkness" during his impressionable younger years. As seen in a few 4-koma gag comics, Rean is very much embarrassed by this phase of his life.
  • Clark Kenting: In Cold Steel III, he will pull out his glasses if he talks to the public, particularly when he talks with other NPCs at Crossbell in chapter 2.
  • Classical Anti-Hero: Rean is a heroic individual, but throughout the story it's clear he is defined by a strong case of self-loathing and lack of self-worth making him a Martyr Without a Cause. His self-esteem was already low from the start due to the circumstances of his adoption which made his adopted family outcasts amongst the nobility, and fear of his unknown powers, and it only grew worse thanks to the Civil War, Crow's death, and his status as the Ashen Chevalier making him The Face of the Empire's expansionism, with most of his character arc involving him overcoming these flaws and accept the fact that he can, and deserves to be loved.
  • Clothing Damage: Cold Steel IV shows that his Cold Steel III outfit has been left in tatters after having been held captive by Osborne and Alberich within the Black Workshop. He later trades the outfit in for a new one after his rescue, though the player can undertake a sidequest to regain the Cold Steel III one as a costume.
  • Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: He and especially Jusis serve as this to Millium, doing their utmost to keep her more impulsive actions in check. He's also a downplayed version of this to Crow, particularly in Cold Steel I.
  • Close-Range Combatant: Unsurprising considering that he's a swordsman. Outside of arts, his only ranged attack is Arc Slash and its upgraded variants.
  • Clueless Chick-Magnet: Just like Lloyd before him, Rean ends up attracting the attention of numerous women, but is always oblivious to it. He only gets better when the girls themselves confess to him.
  • Combination Attack:
    • Exclusively one with Crow in their mechs: Union Slash - Deadly Domination.
    • Meanwhile in The Northern War, he ends up finishing a monster with Lavi by slashing at it at the same time. Notable in that they're not ARCUS linked as Lavi's using an Enigma while Rean still has his ARCUS.
  • The Complainer Is Always Wrong: In regards to his powers, which he saw as a source of shame and Angst. Those who witness him using it in the first two games tell him to try and embrace them and put them to use as an asset despite how clearly uncomfortable he is with the subject. Come the third game, its clear he was right to be wary of them as they start going out of control and taking a toll on him culminating in him triggering the Great Twilight when he goes postal at the end of the third game.
  • Connected All Along: In Cold Steel II, it's revealed that Rean met Alisa when they were children when Alisa's family went on a vacation trip to Ymir. Then it turns out that their fathers are more connected with each other than at first glance. Cold Steel IV reveals that he's also secretly connected to Lianne Sandlot, as she had been watching over him since childhood in order to help keep him safe because of his connection to Osborne. The latter of whom is the reincarnation of Dreichels Reise Arnor, the man that Lianne had sworn fealty towards and had loved.
  • Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Estelle and Lloyd were brown haired commoners from states that had ben antagonized by Erebonia, fought with blunt weapons (a staff and tonfas respectively), started their games as rookies for their organizations, and were related to the Big Good or The Ace whose legacies they are either unaware of (Estelle) or try to live up to (Lloyd) and raised by stable and loving blood relatives. Rean meanwhile has black hair, is a Blue Blood from The Empire, fights with a tachi, being the first protagonist to study the Eight Leaves One Blade School instead of being merely acquanted with one, and was raised by adopted parents, started his adventures as a student only getting into action due to Olivert's actions and turns out to be the son of Giliath Osborne which leaves him ashamed and exacerbates his self-worth issues. Both were also Badass Normal unconnected with Zemuria's more paranormal aspects while Rean is heavily immersed in it by becoming Valimar's Awakener and his unique power as the Sacrifice of Ishmelga's curse making him The Chosen One.
  • Cool Board: Gets to ride in one in the snowboard mini game of Cold Steel II.
  • Cool Mask: Ends up wearing one in the opening of Cold Steel IV, however it doesn't show up in-story, being nothing more than DLC.
  • Cooldown Hug: Gets one from Towa in the second game after finally unloading all of his grief for failing to save Crow and bring him back to the academy.
  • Cooldown Manipulation: Rean's Arc Slash (from the first two games) and Gale (from Cold Steel III to Reverie) Crafts have a chance to delay enemies from acting. His Spirit Unification Craft also allows him to move the very next turn after it's activated.
  • Cool Sword:
    • Being an eastern style blade in a predominantly western style setting, his tachi tends to be viewed as unique as a result. It has no special powers on its own but even Elliot admits that it's beautiful blade. Its grip and guard are also more ornate in appearance than the swords wielded by fellow Eight Leaves students Arios, Richard, and Anelace.
    • Then there's the Zemurian Ore tachi that he has forged for Valimar's use, guaranteed to cut through almost anything that isn't made of the same material or is stronger. It unfortunately gets destroyed during the finale of Cold Steel III during the battle against the final boss, but is later restored at some point of Cold Steel IV. However, by that point, Rean has already switched over to the Sword of the End which allows him to kill the Nameless One (though that is not a good thing).
  • Cool Teacher: Develops into this in Cold Steel III, after becoming the instructor of the new Class VII. This also extends to pretty much the entire student body of Thors Branch Campus as Rean is more than willing to help and motivate any student in need.
  • Cosmic Plaything: For all of his powers, abilities, and main character status, the plot still manages to find ways to screw him over in the worst possible ways ever conceived. This is finally averted by of Cold Steel IV, killing the being that made him, his family, and Erebonia cosmic playthings.
  • Costume Evolution: His canon wardrobe is as follows:
    • A Class VII school uniform in the first Cold Steel game.
    • A red jacket, black shirt, and blue pants in Cold Steel II.
    • His instructor uniform, which serves as his outfit of choice in both Cold Steel III and Reverie.
    • His all-black ensemble in Cold Steel IV.
  • Counter-Attack: Morning Moon, which is the fifth form of the Eight Leaves One Blade school that Alan Richard specializes in. Rean himself mainly utilizes the form as one of his crafts when piloting Valimar, which allows him to automatically dodge and counter enemy attacks.
  • Covert Pervert: As shown with some of his monologues about the women around him, the games like to remind us that Rean is a young man with a healthy libido. Thankfully not as much as Angelica.
  • Cracking Up: Non-battle-related example. Chance that he'll do this if you manage to hold still Rean's sprite.
  • Cradling Your Kill: After defeating Osborne in the Final Rivalry, he's shown holding the latter's Divine Knight in Valimar's arm until it Disappears into Light.
  • Crazy Enough to Work: As seen in the second game, this guy is crazy enough to try to escape from the Pantagruel with Alfin despite the overwhelming odds against him. Duvalie and Bleublanc both lampshade for this.
  • Criss-Cross Attack: His third S-Craft, 7th Slash - Fallen/Shredded Leaves and its variants have him blitz the enemy while slashing them.
  • Cry into Chest: Ends up unloading all of his grief about Crow's death towards Towa during the epilogue of Cold Steel II after she tells him that it's all right for him to cry and hugs him.
  • Cultured Badass: He's very knowledgeable in the ways of the East despite not having been there, can serve green tea, pretty good at playing the lute, versed in the ways of the sword, and will kick a lot of ass.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: In Cold Steel III he delivers the mother of all curb stomps onto the Final Boss once his ogre power goes out of control, transforming Valimar into a new form and corrupting the Sword of the End forged from Millium's soul. He ends up utterly destroying the beast as a result. Then, after he finally finishes it off, he still hacks at it in rage.
  • Curse That Cures: Flashbacks show that a large chunk of wood had pierced his heart when the jaegers sent by Arundel attacked his childhood home. Had Osborne not agreed to a Deal with the Devil with Ishmelga to transplant his heart into his son, Rean would have died then and there.
  • Cutting Off the Branches: Due to lack of save carry over from the previous games, Cold Steel III shows that he has yet to officially romance a girl. Instead, it establishes him as a Celibate Hero with multiple girls interested in him.
  • Cutscene Power to the Max:
    • Manages to destroy Soldats in one swing but not so much in gameplay. Though you never fight those basic Soldat types in a regular battle past that point, which might just imply he's grown in skill to the point where he can disable them in one attack. There's also his escape at Pantagruel against boss level enemies by himself while carrying Alfin where players can't replicate any of his feats during it.
    • Reverie tops this at the climax of chapter 3 where he scales to the top of the mountain while dueling the fake Arios.
  • Damage Over Time: A few of his crafts like Flame Impact/Dragon Impact, Azure Flame Slash, Termination Slash - Dawn, and Crimson Slash give him a chance to inflict Burn.
  • Dance of Romance: Potentially in Cold Steel I where Rean can get girls to dance with him if he has a high bonding level with them. The guys meanwhile don't get any dancing scene but instead have them sitting down right away. Happens again in Cold Steel III where, during Alfin's debut party, Rean ends up dancing with Elise, Alfin, Alisa, Towa/Sharon, Altina, and Juna. Though only the former three technically count at this particular moment, as they have fully established crushes on Rean, with Alisa being potentially his girlfriend by that point if the player chooses her.
  • Dangerous Forbidden Technique:
    • His ogre power in general. Using it comes at the cost of Rean potentially losing control of himself in a fit of rage if he isn't careful with it. In Cold Steel III this becomes even more apparent when his power starts growing beyond his ability to control.
    • In Cold Steel IV He's able to enter this form at will, though he's only able to control it for three turns before completely losing control with a 30% chance of snapping out of his berserk state.
  • Dare to Be Badass: Gives a pre-recorded speech saying this to Juna to snap her out of her Heroic BSoD in Chapter 2 of Cold Steel III.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: A few days before the Hamel Incident, his original house with the Osborne's was raided because his dad didn't want the Hamel Incident to happen. Rean's mother dies and Rean was impaled with a wooden splinter where his scar is at, damaging his heart. Osborne then transplants his heart to Rean's via unknown means and gives Rean to Osborne's foster younger brother Teo and tells the latter to forget about their sibling relationship as Osborne was about to do the things that he did throughout the series.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: His primary orbment element is time, which is the darkest element in the series, yet he is very heroic. This also applies when he's in control of his Super Mode which makes things scary when he starts losing control over it. In the fourth game he wears an all black outfit, and due to the effects of The Great Twilight, permanently has white hair and red eyes, which gives him a rather intimidating appearance, though he's no less heroic than the previous games.
  • Dash Attack: His S-Craft in Cold Steel III starts off with him slashing the enemies in range in this manner.
  • Date Peepers: One late hidden sidequest in Cold Steel II has him peep on a date with Anton and Sharon. He also accidentally peeps on Olivert and Schera during their date in Cold Steel IV, even overhearing the former proposing to the latter. Rean quickly leaves in order to avoid being a Moment Killer.
  • Dead Alternate Counterpart: Subverted as it's revealed in Reverie that his Normal Ending self actually did not die from self-destructing Valimar in space. Instead, he has an "Eternal Rivalry" against Ishmelga where they've tried to combine with one another, only to fail repeatedly.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Mostly when he acts as the Straight Man to his more eccentric peers such as Crow or Sara, though he shows it at other times.
  • Death Glare: In New Game Plus mode, if you don't pick anyone to dance with during the festival, he'll stick around with Elise and pull one of these on Patrick when he tries to ask her to dance thus scaring him away. In Cold Steel II, he gives one of these to two bean stealing monkeys in town, scaring them off. And in Cold Steel III, he gives one to a nobleman after Elise confesses that she has been harassed by him alongside other students from St. Astraia. Rean was not amused with the last one.
  • Death or Glory Attack: How Spirit Unification works: it costs 100 CP that boosts Rean's strength, speed, and defense and makes him immune to most status ailments. However, it only lasts three turns and once those turns are up, he reverts to his base self. It's usually best to use Spirit Unification in conjunction with him unleashing a 200 CP S-Craft to maximize its effects (and his ogre form 2nd S-Craft usually has the highest S-Craft rating in the game). Exaggerated with Demon Unchained in Cold Steel IV where once the three turns are up, he enters into a berserk state where he has a permanent strength buff but he can only attack an enemy. He can't even counterattack enemies in this state nor can he use ARCUS links, and him snapping out of it manually depends on how many turns the game takes to bring him back or have another party member waste their turn and cure the ailment.
  • Death Seeker: Defied in Cold Steel IV. In their first bonding events, Laura accuses Rean of searching for a place to die and Emma yells at him for accepting his role as a sacrifice. For his part, Rean claims he's accepted that he may die, but he does in fact want to live.
  • Declaration of Protection: He swears that he will protect Elise as her big brother. Deconstructed in Cold Steel II where he feels the pressure that Elise is used as a bargaining tool to force Rean to fight for the Noble Alliance. Rean almost was about to give in when Alfin snaps him out of it.
  • Deconstructed Character Archetype: He deconstructs a few character tropes:
    • His Humble Hero status where he's willing to sacrifice himself to save others ends up being more of a Martyr Without a Cause where it borders on near suicidal tendencies. People call him out on it more than anything else.
    • His chosen one status as the pilot of Valimar ends up forcing him to participate in wars he doesn't even want to join but knows has no choice because if he didn't join, the wars would take much longer and more innocent people will die.
    • His ogre power that no one knows how it works or where it came from. While people have been telling him to start accepting it as a part of him, it's not like they know what it is which ends up breaking his body in the long run.
  • Defeating the Undefeatable: In Cold Steel III, with the help of the Sword of Plot Advancement, he's able to slay one of the Holy Beasts, sacred creatures that are supposed to be completely unkillable. This is not a good thing.
  • Delayed Causality: Many of his crafts tend to have this such as Autumn Leaf Cutter, Termination Slash - Dawn, and Enlightened Domination.
  • Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: One of the reasons why he went to Thors was to find out what he wants to do in life.
  • Deus Angst Machina: Ooh boy, Rean has got it rough... To wit:
    • As a kid, he was abandoned at a snowy field. Then he discovers that he has powers that outright terrify him as his personality shifts to evil, and finally he finds out that his friend and classmate is the leader of the terrorist group and trounces him, forcing him to separate from his classmates to certain doom.
    • And in Cold Steel II, he thought his parents died and his hometown nearly razed, gets separated again from his classmates after reuniting with them, fails to save Vulcan to make him atone for his crimes, fails to save Crow from his Heroic Sacrifice, finds out his real dad and that his dad is the Evil Chancellor all along, and finds himself going to war with another state that he has no reason to fight against other than being shackled with the responsibilities of being a national hero. It's a wonder the worst thing he did in the epilogue was to slightly snap at Claire for thinking that she hid information about who his dad was.
    • In Cold Steel III' he's forced to go on grueling missions as a military officer (at a rate of once per month). The North Ambria campaign was particularly traumatic for him, and it marked the downward spiral for his power, permanently losing the ability to fully control it. Said game's finale manages to take this up a notch where Millium ends sacrificing herself right in front of him in order to forge a new sword for Valimar, he gives in to his Superpowered Evil Side, engulfs the world in darkness after killing the Final Boss in pure rage, and then later is captured by Osborne.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The first character of the series to kill a Holy Beast sent by Aidios to guard her treasures, corrupted or not. Howeever this is not a good thing.
    • In Cold Steel IV, using Millium as his sword, he slices Ishmelga, the source of the curse and everything wrong with Erebonia, into two after it desperately attacks Rean one final time. This time, it's a good thing.]]
    • Right before that, he's the first confirmed character onscreen to make Cassius Bright kneel! Granted the guy comes back up really quickly but still! Even the party in The 3rd couldn't make him kneel after his boss fight.
  • Died in Your Arms Tonight: At the main story of Cold Steel II, Crow dies in Rean's arms. In Cold Steel III, Millium dies while he's riding Valimar. Finally in Cold Steel IV, Osborne physically disappears in his arms.
  • Die or Fly: He first awakens his ogre powers when he encounters a monster up in the mountains and was desperately trying to protect Elise.
  • Disc-One Nuke: In Cold Steel III, he is the one who can do the infinite mira trick with the first recipe obtained in the game.
  • Dismissing a Compliment: His low self-esteem results in him downplaying any praise or compliments he receives in regards to his abilities or accomplishments.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Played for Laughs in Cold Steel III where in the St. Astraia Side Quest, after Elise reveals that she was harassed and one of them even stroked her cheek, Rean's solution is to tie the culprits to Valimar and fly them up to the sky. While he never does manage to go through with it thanks to New Class VII's thinking of doing it by themselves, this doesn't stop him as he instead settles to wreck the man's car with an Arcane Gale and give the guy a Death Glare.
  • Dissonant Serenity: When he learns in Cold Steel III that Elise has been harassed, his idea of retribution is to tie the culprits to Valimar and go for a turn around Erebonia. All with a big smile on his face. New Class VII is quick to put him out of the case.
  • Diving Save: Does this to Lavian Winslet in The Northern War while she's falling.
  • Doom Magnet: Trouble really loves seeking out Rean, who would rather it not find him thank you very much.
  • Doomed Hometown: Surprisingly subverted in the second game. Though it was razed by jaegers during the prologue, it was rebuilt rather quickly afterwards.
  • The Dreaded: During the Divertissement Chapter of Cold Steel II it's revealed that he has more or less becomes this towards the Calvard Republic. As soon as both he and Valimar appear, and quickly make short work of two Calvard gunships, the rest of their army quickly retreats.
  • Dreaming Of Things Gone By: In Cold Steel III, as soon as he steps inside Hamel, he sees a vision of a young Loewe, Karin, and Joshua and then watches Hamel destroyed and finally Osborne carrying his young self.
  • Driver Faces Passenger: In Cold Steel I, he spends a lot of time looking at his chosen passenger for the bike scene rather than the road. Fortunately for him, there are no cars passing by from Trista to Heimdallr. Crow lampshades this if he's chosen by telling him to keep his eyes on the road (though admittedly, Rean guesses correctly that Crow was just escaping the school because the faculty found out about his gambling plans).
  • The Dulcinea Effect: This is what Alisa thought of what Rean did when he tried saving her from the trapdoor at enrollment and got a face full of Alisa's chest in the end.
  • Dual Boss: He teams up with Machias to fight against Laura and Fie and loses. He becomes this again when he teams up with Altina to fight against Lloyd and Rixia in Cold Steel II. In Cold Steel III, there's an optional boss fight with Rean and Randy in Valimar and Randy's Hector that the students can participate.
  • Dub Personality Change: He quips a lot more in the English dub more than in the original Japanese.
  • Duel Boss: Serves as one for Jessica during a quest in Cold Steel III where Rean spars with her one-on-one with players taking control of Jessica. He also serves as one for both Fie and Sara during bonding events in IV.
  • Dueling Player Characters:
    • Against Lloyd in Cold Steel II with the twist that Rean is the boss fight.
    • In Reverie, he faces C and his team twice during the end of Act 2. Unlike in Cold Steel 2, you play both sides succesively.
    E - H 
  • Ear Cleaning: He gets one in Cold Steel III in a late chapter bonding event with Musse who is very enthusiastic at cleaning his ears after winning their match in Vantage Masters, with the winner of the match getting to choose what to do with the loser (the other option was to scrub his back at the bathroom). Rean is not happy nor is he comfortable with her cleaning his ears.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: After everything—his mother's death, his father's abandonment, his adoption woes, his struggle with his ogre power, his grief over losing both Crow and Millium, and his general insecurity, he was finally able to move past it all, get his two friends back and protect the people who are precious to him until the end. It took him four whole games, but he was finally able to get a happy ending.
  • Elemental Eye Colors: His eyes turn red whenever he activated Spirit Unification during the Cold Steel Saga, which matched his secondary element of fire. When he lost control of his powers, his sclera turned black, matching his primary element of time.
  • Elemental Hair Colors: He has black hair and his primary element is time.
  • Elemental Powers: His Unite attacks and the available arts that Rean can cast with whoever is partnered with him during Valimar battles all have different elemental properties based on who he selected as his partner.
  • The Enemy Weapons Are Better: Subverted. Due to Valimar being weaponless at the beginning of Cold Steel II, Rean steals a sword off one of the enemy Soldat units in order to compensate. However, while the sword is indeed useful to him for a number of battles it's not nearly as useful it could be to Rean due to him to being a practitioner of the Eight Leaves, One Blade style school of swordsmanship which requires him to use a Tachi-style blade to make full use of its teachings. Luckily for Rean, he later receives one forged from Zemurian Ore and it remains Valimar's weapon of choice for the remainder of the game and beyond.
  • Enlightenment Superpowers: His Spirit Unification Craft is a result of him using the 7th form of the Eight Leaves, Void, to control the Curse. The form is heavily based on his state of mind and sense of self, getting stronger as he gains a better understanding and appreciation of his self-worth and outgrows his previous emotional hangups.
  • Enthusiastic Newbie Teacher: He becomes an instructor at the Branch Campus not even two months after graduating from Thors, and he is the youngest member of the teaching staff. While he was somewhat inexperienced at first, and had started off on the wrong foot with some of his students (mainly Juna), he quickly comes to his own, and his students all come to greatly value him as their instructor.
  • Epiphany Therapy: After a much needed pep talk with Alfin about how he's not alone, and that he should not be using Elise as an excuse for his place in the war, he finally starts accepting his ogre power and masters it.
  • Evil Me Scares Me:
    • One major aspect of his growth during Cold Steel and Cold Steel II is to master his ogre power, having been traumatized by what it could do during his youth.
    • His reaction towards Ishmelga-Rean, a version of himself from the normal ending of Cold Steel IV who sacrificed himself during the final rivalry in order to be rid of Ishmelga only for the two of them to fuse and become one.
  • Evil Overlord: His "Prince of Darkness" DLC costume is supposed to evoke this image in Cold Steel II.
  • Exact Words: When he first meets the noble-hating Machias, he reassures him that he "doesn't have a single drop of noble blood in him". This is true... but he never said he wasn't a noble: he's adopted. As revealed in Cold Steel III, this was done towards him when he's told the truth of how he came to be in the care of the Schwarzer family. Osborne went to Teo and asked the latter to take care of his son and to forget their relationship. So From a Certain Point of View, Rean really was abandoned at a snowy field. Just that his father (Osborne) told Teo about where to find and raise him in Osborne's stead.
  • Experienced Protagonist: By the time of Cold Steel III, he's pretty much this after the events of the first two games. During the timeskip, Rean had also taken part in other conflicts on Erebonia's behalf thanks to his status as the Ashen Chevalier. To reflect this in gameplay, the scaling EXP system penalizes him less than his students when he's overleveled, ensuring he can stay ahead of them.
  • Extra Turn: Activating Spirit Unification allows him to immediately move on the next turn automatically. Him having Time as his primary element also gives him room to equip the Chrono Burst Art.
  • Extreme Mêlée Revenge: Implied to have done this to the bear that he killed as a child. He unknowingly does this again towards the Nameless One after seeing Millium killed right before his eyes. Unknowing because he wasn't planning on killing the Nameless One but rather just put it back to sleep. When he comes back to his senses, he's in shock as to what he has done.
  • Eye Color Change: His eyes turn red whenever he uses Spirit Unification. Goes even moreso when he loses control of himself at the end of Cold Steel III, where he gets Gold Eyes with Hellish Pupils and black sclera.
  • Face Death with Dignity: How he accepted his death in the normal ending of Cold Steel IV. Reverie reveals that death would be more preferable than having to suffer for an eternity fighting against Ishmelga.
  • Face Palm: He's more active in doing this in Cold Steel III as best shown when his students went to the casino at Raquel and helped him and the other adults out. Except they were not permitted to be there, nor were they supposed to be there in the first place as they're all still minors.
  • Falling into the Cockpit: Teleported technically, but his first use of Valimar pretty much went exactly as described as Rean himself had no prior training in piloting Valimar before even with the knowledge he received from their contract with each other.
  • Failure Hero: The first three games end up with Rean failing in his goals. In Cold Steel I, he and Class VII fail to prevent the Noble Alliance from invading Trista. In Cold Steel II, he fails to keep his promise to Towa to bring Crow back as the latter ends up dying. In III, Millium ends up dying right in front of him which leads to Rean going berserk and killing the divine beast, accidentally releasing the curse of Erebonia upon continent in the process. Defiantly avoided in IV, where he outright ends up saving the world.
  • Failure-to-Save Murder: He came to regard Crow's death as his greatest regret, despite how little he could have done to prevent it. He was also greatly ashamed at not being able to prevent as many civilian casualties as he would have liked during the Northern War, which triggered the Heroic RRoD that caused him to lose what little control over his powers he had left by the start of Cold Steel III. Millium performing a Heroic Sacrifice to save him at the end of Cold Steel III caused him to utterly snap and fully lose control of himself.
  • Fake Ultimate Hero: Played with. He's a heroic individual with a list of genuine accomplishments under his belt, but after becoming the "Ashen Chevalier" some of his feats end up being exaggerated by Osborne in order to play up his status as a hero. Despite this, Rean chooses to keep up with it because he sees it as a necessity. Osborne is proud of him for not becoming a Miles Gloriosus after becoming the Ashen Chevalier.
  • Famed In-Story: By the end of Cold Steel II, and especially as of Cold Steel III, he's become a rather famous figure in Erebonia because of his exploits as the Ashen Chevalier.
  • Fantastic Fighting Style: Much like with Cassius, Arios, Richard, and Anelace before him, Rean is a student of the Eight Leaves One-Blade school of swordsmanship. He was directly mentored by Yun Ka-Fai himself, and his area of specialty is the Seventh Form: Void.
  • Fashionable Asymmetry : Only wears one fingerless glove in his right hand in his summer uniform. According to the one-shot manga, Link of Hearts case:A.R., Alisa gave it to him and kept the other.
  • Fatal Flaw: His Martyr Without a Cause tendencies born from a lack of self-worth that a lot of people call him out on.
  • Fate Worse than Death: The fate of his Normal Ending self in Cold Steel IV, as revealed in Reverie, is that he and Ishmelga kept vying for control as they try to merge with one another only to fail in the cold atmosphere of space.
  • A Father to His Men: He will prioritize the safety of his friends and his students more than himself much to their chagrin.
  • Fight Magnet: Attracts a lot of opponents seeking to challenge him either because of his ogre power, a chance to fight an Eight Leaves One Blade practitioner, his status as the Ashen Chevalier, or a combination of all three, much to his chagrin.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: In his case, it's with Altina, who goes from kidnapping his sister and the princess, to working together as his partner at Crossbell in the Divertissement Chapter of Cold Steel II. It's enough that the both of them can activate an ARCUS link just fine.
  • First Kiss: Possibly Alisa if players romanced her in Cold Steel III (Cold Steel II would have been Rean and Alisa's first kiss but Cold Steel III doesn't consider it canon). Otherwise, Laura is his first kiss in Cold Steel IV if players either started a new game without the Old Save Bonus of the previous game, or if players did have an Old Save Bonus but didn't romance Alisa in Cold Steel III; at least going by bonding events.
  • Final Boss: Together with Altina, he serves as the last Boss Battle for the Divertissement Chapter of Cold Steel II.
  • Fire/Water Juxtaposition: His secondary element is fire, while his best friend and rival Crow has water for his secondary element.
  • Fist Pump: Anytime he's gonna do one of his speeches, expect him to do this pose while he's at it.
  • Flaming Sword: Flame Slash, his first S-Craft, along with its upgraded form Azure Flame Slash, his second S-Craft Termination Slash - Dawn and his final regular Craft Flame Impact with its upgrade Flame Dragon. By Cold Steel III, his regular attack has fire properties whenever he swings his sword.
  • Flash Step: He performs this when using Gale. In Cold Steel III, time slows down while he uses Spirit Unification to reach his target in cutscenes showing how fast he really is moving.
  • Foil:
    • To Alisa. Both of them are friendly and compassionate individuals, but whereas Rean is calm and rational, Alisa initially starts out somewhat more hotheaded until she mellows out in later games. Both of them are also commoners, but Rean was adopted into nobility while Alisa was born into a family so wealthy they might as well be nobles. Both also initially came to Thors with the intention of forging their own paths in life separate from their families, but whereas Rean did it to distance himself from the Schwarzers because he felt he was a burden on them (but otherwise loved them dearly), Alisa did it because she was no longer able to stand how her mother tore their family apart and decided to basically run away from the Reinfords altogether, even hiding her surname from her classmates until Sharon showed up. Rean uses a sword while Alisa uses a bow.
    • Also towards Sara, once Rean becomes an instructor himself in Cold Steel III. While both are similar enough in being a Cool Teacher who are simultaneously humorously mocked by their students, Rean takes his job seriously and can be very hands on with his students, whereas Sara is a laid-back moocher who likes to leave her students to solve their problems on their own. Rean (being Rean) will go the extra mile in performing his duties as an instructor whereas Sara tends to leave it in the hands of others unless she has to.
    • By Cold Steel IV, Rufus is another foil for him. In short order, both are the adopted older brothers to their younger siblings, both are Awakeners, both are raised by a noble family, both use swords as their weapons, and both have a relationship with Osborne. The differences however are that while Rean ends up loving his adopted parents, Rufus thinks of his relationship with Duke Albarea as a sham; while Rean took the trials to become a Divine Knight with his friends inadvertently, Rufus took the trial by himself and intentionally sought out his Divine Knight; Rean is a practitioner of an eastern style of swordsmanship while Rufus practices western court fencing; Elise is very loyal to Rean and falls in love with him, while Jusis ends up seeing Rufus as a Broken Pedestal; finally Rean is the biological son of Osborne but at the same time is very estranged with his father while Rufus seeks approval from Osborne to be his son while knowing that in the end, Osborne still loves his real son.
  • Forgotten First Meeting: As revealed in Cold Steel II, Rean actually met Alisa as a child when her family took a trip to Ymir. After Alisa wondered off from the town and got lost and scared, Rean eventually found her, gave her a snow bunny as a way to calm her nerves, and then took her back to Ymir.
  • The Four Gods: In Cold Steel III, his final brave order obtained after defeating Aurelia in an optional duel in the final chapter has him invoking Kōryū's name. And in Cold Steel IV, his upgraded defense Brave Order has him invoking Genbu.
  • From Zero to Hero: Goes from a kid who lived on the northern outskirts of the empire in Ymir to the National Hero of Erebonia known as the Ashen Chevalier.
  • Full-Potential Upgrade:
    • He spends the second half of Cold Steel II trying to find enough Zemurian Ore to make a suitable tachi for Valimar so he could use the full breadth of his techniques for Divine Knight battles when the enemy's regular swords proved ineffective.
    • By Reverie, his piloting skills have improved to the point that the usual Panzer Soldats end up breaking down when he tries going all out with them, resulting in him taking part in Project Tyrfing to get one that's more capable of keeping up.
  • Futile Hand Reach: Does this in Cold Steel III where he reaches out his hand towards Azure Siegfried and asking the latter if he forgot everything they've been through. He also does this in Alisa's first bonding event in Cold Steel IV where he tries reaching out to her to try and comfort her but doesn't get to.
  • Generation Xerox: In Cold Steel III, he receives a letter from his foster father where he explains more about his real parents. Osborne also was abandoned as a kid on a snowy field, though in his case, both of his parents died when Osborne was 13 years old thanks to an avalanche and he was then adopted to the Schwarzer family, with Teo being Osborne's adopted younger sibling as he was 5 then, just like Elise is Rean's adopted younger sister.
  • Genius Bruiser: If players make him to the highest academic rank possible at least. Even then, his status as a Instructor who teaches history in Cold Steel III cements him as this.
  • Genre Refugee: His Nice Guy tendencies, Chronic Hero Syndrome, being a Clueless Chick-Magnet, his mysterious Superpowered Evil Side and being The Chosen One of a Humongous Mecha would fit Rean right in as a Stock Light-Novel Hero, who tend to be overpowered and win most fights they're in. However, he's in a Trails game, a franchise where things don't always go well for the heroes.
  • The Ghost: He doesn't physically appear in the first two Kuro games, but he is brought up in conversation, with Kuro II revealing that he's traveling with Prince Olivert.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom:
    • After losing control of his ogre power at the end of Cold Steel III, his eyes are yellow with a black slit in the middle.
    • When Rean uses Demon Unchained, which is essentially a cursed Spirit Unification, in Cold Steel IV, he enters this state.
  • Good Old Fisticuffs: If he's unarmed, then he can always utilize the unarmed form. He does this in some of his fights piloting Valimar.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: He's a good guy with a very prominent scar. And it turns out the scar itself is actually insignificant compared to what's behind the scar as his heart was destroyed when he was a child, forcing Osborne to transplant his heart to Rean's.
  • Got Volunteered:
    • The reason he initially gets roped into helping out the student council in Cold Steel? It's because Sara lied to Towa that Rean had "agreed" to help them out with whatever they needed. Rean is understandably annoyed. However, after hearing from Towa how often busy she and the rest of the student council is, he relents to his newfound status as the student council's personal gofer for the sake of helping ease her workload.
    • Also this in regards to his missions as the Ashen Chevalier. Unlike the above, Rean does not really like having to follow the government's orders all the time, but does it because he's bound to save more lives that way than if he didn't.
  • Guilt Complex: As a result of his Martyr Without a Cause tendencies, he tends to feel guilty when things go south even if he can't reasonably be blamed, such as the annexations of Crossbell and North Ambria, which would have happened with or without him, or Ash's assassination attempt on the Emperor thanks to the curse, which he had no way to know about. It gets worse upon learning his biological father is Osborne and begins to feel responsible for the people affected by his actions. He comes to a head after he triggers the Great Twilight and has effectively resigned himself to die in order to atone for it, despite having not been himself when he did it.
  • Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: He fights primarily in melee with his tachi while many of his female love interests fight from afar, either exclusively (Alisa, Emma, Alfin, Towa, and Musse), or while mixed with melee (Sara, Fie, and Juna).
  • Hammy Herald: With Valimar as his mecha, he has to ham it up, complete with arm gestures and language that oozes ham.
  • Ham-to-Ham Combat: With Crow in their final duel during the finale of Cold Steel II. Everyone in Class VII mocks them for this after Rean wins.
  • Handshake Substitute:
    • Several of his link victory quotes with his male party members have him performing a either a fist bump or a high five with them.
    • He gives Randy a fist bump in Cold Steel III after Randy asks Class VII to take care of the Ouroboros problem in Crossbell and help out Lloyd and the others trapped at Mishelam.
    • He and Lloyd raise their fists at each other as a sign of respect, first when the former sees him off at the end of the Crossbell mission in Cold Steel III, and again when the two of them team up to fend off Ourobros assault on the Pantagruel at the end of Act 2 in Cold Steel IV.
  • Happily Adopted: Though not without its share of troubles, Rean is mostly happy about being adopted by the Schwarzer family.
  • Hates Their Parent: He was horrified at finding out who his real father is at the end of Cold Steel II. Come Cold Steel III and the first time they see each other, it's clear that Rean would rather not talk with him. He finally comes to terms with Osborne in Cold Steel IV after seeing how his father became the way he is and finally acknowledges him. Before their final battle begins, Osborne also names Kasia, Lucia, and Lianne as Rean's mothers.
  • Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: In a bonding event with Alfin at Roer, when Alfin starts shipping Rean with Crow after Rean explains his relationship with him just like a game of Blade, he's not amused to hear that the princess decided to ship him with Crow while she offhandedly mentions that she's jealous of Crow.
  • The Heart: Is usually the one who acts as a mediator whenever some of his classmates argue (with examples being Jusis with Machias and Fie with Laura) and the one who can have the easiest time maxing out bonding links with the others. The moment he's taken out of the picture, Class VII almost immediately falls apart as seen in Cold Steel IV where his capture together with Millium's death have demoralized his old class to such a degree that they all fail to take any real action for two weeks until Juna snaps them out of it.
  • Heartbroken Badass: Crow's death takes a heavy toll on Rean as seen at the end of Cold Steel II. Cold Steel III ups the ante by having Millium die right in front of Rean without him being able to do anything at all.
  • Hero Antagonist:
    • During the Divertissement Chapter in Cold Steel II, he and Altina are the antagonists for Lloyd and Rixia.
    • He's also this in The Northern War, as the cast in that anime are trying to spy on him and the empire's secret weapon (Valimar).
  • Hero Does Public Service: During his first free day in Cold Steel I, he's more or less forced into the role because of Sara. Though being the reliable guy that he is, Rean quickly adapts to it. He also does it to help lighten the work load on Towa's shoulders despite the latter's worries that he's wasting away his precious free days. Lampshaded by Machias during the epilogue of Cold Steel II, calling him the "ever reliable gofer". He still continues doing this in Cold Steel III that Michael has to call him out on it, though Aurelia steps in and encourages this behavior to cultivate a good relationship with the people living at Leeves.
  • Hero on Hiatus: Save for brief appearances, he is not available throughout all of Chapter 1 in Cold Steel IV, as he's captured by the Black Workshop. Rescuing him is the primary goal of Class VII, which entails having to find out where the Black Workshop is located.
  • Heroes Prefer Swords: He's the first protagonist in the series to actually use a sword.
  • Heroic BSoD: While aboard the Pantagruel, he's trying to find what he wants to do for the war. He considers allying with the Noble Alliance to swiftly end the war, despite their goals not really coinciding with his. Crow calls him out on it, and Alfin snaps him out of it. There's also him not being able to fulfill his promise to Towa, Angelica, and George: get Crow back with him.
  • Heroic Rematch: Against Crow in their mechs. The first time was just Crow toying with Rean; the second time was Crow totally stomping on Rean; and the third time was the charm, where he finally won.
  • Heroic RRoD: The use of his ogre powers tends to leave Rean exhausted afterwards. By Cold Steel III, his ogre powers have grown so much that they start taking a toll on Rean every time he uses them. It's not until Emma gives him a pendant to hold off the terrible effects that he starts to formally use it in battle again. And even then, that didn't stop Rean from fully giving in to his rage and destroying the Final Boss with ease.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Attempted to do this when Class VII is thoroughly defeated by Scarlet with a Soldat equipped with a Reactive Armor by him tapping in his Superpowered Evil Side. He never goes through with it because this is when Valimar shows himself to Rean for the first time. The normal ending of Cold Steel IV also has him, Crow, and Millium sacrificing their lives to get rid of the Great One for good. Reverie reveals that Rean actually survived and is locked in eternal combat with Ishmelga, with both trying to take control of their shared undying bodies.
  • Heroic Self-Deprecation: Deconstructed. Rean's extremely low opinion of himself tends to annoy the people around him more than anything else, since they can tell he's either not giving himself enough credit or just putting himself down for no good reason. He works on this flaw considerably as the games progress, but he nevertheless remains as humble as they come.
  • Heroic Suicide: In the Normal Ending of Cold Steel IV, he tries to have Valimar fly into the atmosphere and self-destruct as a last-ditch effort to destroy Ishmelga and the Curse for good. Sadly, Reverie reveals that the attempt wouldn't work.
  • Heroism Equals Job Qualification: By virtue of his deeds throughout the civil war and Osborne playing them up, he ends up becoming a national hero to Erebonia as a whole and ends up becoming a provisional military officer in various operations on behalf of the empire.
  • Heroism Won't Pay the Bills: Subverted in Cold Steel III, where his skills actually help him out in his job of teaching the students.
  • Hidden Depths: Knows how to play the lute, something that he shows off to Elliot in the second game. He's also knowledgeable about ballroom dancing, something Alfin points out to Rean when Elise told her about it. He gets to show this off in Cold Steel III during Alfin's debut party.
  • His Story Repeats Itself: At the climax of Cold Steel II, Crow dies in his arms after Crow gives him an opening to rescue Cedric with Emma and Celine frantically trying to heal him to no avail. After their duel in Cold Steel IV, Crow loses and is about disappear for good with Emma and Celine trying to heal Crow yet again, when Rean won't have any of it and shares the life energy that Valimar's absorbing to Ordine, back to Ordine so that Crow will live.
  • Horrifying the Horror: For one last time in Cold Steel IV, Ishmelga tries to save his own skin by begging Rean for mercy. Naturally, Rean refuses and cuts him down into two, claiming that it's time for humanity to move on. Ishmelga's shock and expression despite being nothing more than just a bunch of eyes really says it all as it's clear that he's shaking.
  • Hot-Blooded: Downplayed; he usually has one of coolest heads in his group, but put him with Crow, and all the hot-blooded passion is in full view.
  • Hot Teacher: He becomes an instructor at Thors Branch Campus in Cold Steel III and some of his own female students (chiefly Musse) remark that he's rather handsome, with his female classmates remarking that he's even better looking than he was when they were still students.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: He's definitely much taller than Towa despite being the younger of the two. To a lesser extent with Alisa and Fie. Meanwhile, out of all his students in New Class VII, he's closest to Altina, who is 30cm shorter than him, thanks to them working together for the Intelligence Division.
  • Humble Hero: He repeatedly insists that he's not someone who deserves any praise. Justified as many of the things he gets praised for stem from conflicts he neither understood nor cared about but was forced to take part in because he's an Awakener, with him only accepting out of a desire to keep the bloodshed to a minimum.
  • Hyper-Awareness: Can sense anybody within his vicinity. Seems to be a trait of anybody practicing the Eight Leaves One Blade style as Cassius Bright also has this. As seen in Chapter 5 of the first game, Rean's senses are acute enough that he can even spot Towa, Olivert, and Osborne on the Eisengraf as it's speeding by. Claire notes that Rean must have the eyes of a hawk for him to be able to do that. Cold Steel III has a few events that play these for laughs when his students repeatedly attempt to spy on him, only for him to call them out after his conversation with the present party is finished.
  • Hypocrisy Nod:
    • Played for Laughs after his final fight with Crow in Cold Steel II, when Crow calls him out on saying that their fight had nothing to do with their classmates despite using their ARCUS links to help defeat him. Rean doesn't deny this, but states that at a certain point, he just did it unconsciously.
    • At the end of Chapter 1 of Cold Steel III, he calls out his students for disobeying orders and stealing a Drakkhen to follow him to help him fight off Ouroboros. When Elliot, Fie, and Laura point out they did the same thing as students, he concedes the point, but does point out as their instructor he can't let it slide.
    • When Musse orders the Pantagruel to ram into Ouroboros' flagship in a kamikaze attack out of desperation, with full intention of Going Down with the Ship near the end of Cold Steel IV's second act, he chastises her for being so willing to throw her own life away. Though he admits he is one of the last people to admonish someone on recklessness or self-preservation, he still decides punishment is in order.
  • Hypocrite Has a Point:
    • The end of the first Special Ops mission in Cold Steel III has Rean calling out his students for going against his orders and stealing military equipment and going AWOL just to follow Rean and his friends in fighting against Ouroboros. While Rean acknowledges his hypocrisy when his friends point out that they've also broken military rules in the past (like at the climax of Cold Steel I where they engaged against a Panzer Soldat on foot), he's still right in that what new Class VII did is much worse (pointing out that if they were actual soldiers they would have been court-martialled at that point), and that as their instructor, he can't let it slide.
    • After Musse orders the Pantagruel to crash into the Glorious in a Desperation Attack with full intention of Going Down with the Ship Rean chews her out for being so reckless with her life. Rean may be a Martyr Without a Cause who has more or less resigned himself to dying in the Rivalry as atonement at that point, but he had every right to admonish his student for such a stunt.
  • Hypocritical Humor:
    • Rean will sometimes express surprise that one of his friends is able to say such profound things so casually, most notably Gaius during chapter 3 of Cold Steel I and Elliot during chapter 4 of the same game. In each case, the person in question will say that Rean is the last person who should be saying that to them.
    • When hearing how General Craig considered having his children escorted by tanks as a security measure, he can only sweatdrop at how overprotective he is despite his own overprotective tendencies towards Elise.
    • In a conversation with Randy about Lloyd, he notes that Lloyd must have a lot of women after him thanks to being a baby face. Randy agrees, but then quickly points out Rean has an even bigger baby face which, combined with his black hair and status as a celebrity, means he's "playing on easy mode."
    I - M 
  • Iaijutsu Practitioner: The fifth form of the Eight Leaves One Blade style, Morning Moon, involves drawing the sword from the sheath to deliver a quick slash at the enemy. Also featured prominently whenever Rean uses Arc Slash and Autumn Leaf Cutter.
  • I Am a Monster: What he feels in regards to himself due to his unknown powers after an incident where he brutally butchered a monster as a child. Part of his central character arc is moving past this.
  • I Am Not Left-Handed: Pulls this off on an unknowing Lloyd and Rixia twice during his and Altina's mission to prevent them from completing their mission. The first is when he starts to use Spirit Unification, a move that puts even Rixia on edge because of how sinister Rean's aura is, but is interrupted. The second is after the first one, where Rean then decides to pull out Valimar instead which forces both Lloyd and Rixia to retreat. On a lesser note, he can also fight without his sword thanks to having learned the unarmed form of the Eight Leaves One Blade style as taught to him by Yun Ka-Fai.
  • I Am What I Am: His adopted status, origins, and fear of his unknown powers left him with a poor sense of self-worth. Over time, he learns to love and cherish himself and let go of his emotional hang-ups as he sees that there are many who are willing to love him unconditionally in spite of them all.
  • I Am Your Opponent: Rather awesomely in Cold Steel II when facing Blueblanc and Duvalie after activating his Super Mode (or "ogre power") at will for the first time.
    Rean: Eight Leaves, One Blade school, intermediate level... I, Rean Schwarzer, will be your opponent!
  • Iconic Sequel Character: Despite only being introduced in the 6th game, he's practically become the face of the Trails Series and is very popular in the polls, in part due to being the protagonist of 5 consecutive games.
  • Identity Amnesia: At the end of Cold Steel III, Rean goes completely berserk, giving into his "ogre power" and is captured by the Empire. In Cold Steel IV, he is chained up in the Black Workshop, completely out of his mind and having forgotten everything about his past. Anytime his name appears on-screen in scenes involving him, it appears blurry and struck out. When your party finally comes to rescue him, they end up in a "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight with him, or "???" as the game names him. If you scan him, the description reads "Sacrifice to the Great Twilight, driven so berserk he doesn't even remember his name, much less recognize his students."
  • I Gave My Word: Promises Towa, Angelica, and George in Cold Steel II that he will bring back Crow. Tragically, he fails. However, he's finally able to live up to the promise in Cold Steel IV as he successfully convinces a resurrected Crow to join them after preventing him from sacrificing himself to power up Valimar.
  • I Got Bigger: He grew taller between Cold Steel II and III, going from 173cm to 178cm.
  • I Hate Past Me: If his Magical Girl Alisa costume DLC is anything go by, he would rather not talk about the time he pretended to be an "evil overlord".
  • I Know You Know I Know: He pulls this off in Cold Steel IV in his first bonding event with Crow where Crow pretends to not know about Vantage Masters, only to pull off a move that would give Crow an advantage. While it is true that it is Crow's first game of VM, Crow has seen Zephyr play VM while he was still Azure Siegfried. Rean then pulls off his trump card and wins in their match with Crow remarking that Rean grew up.
  • I Let Gwen Stacy Die: What he feels after Vulcan dies from the exploding Soldat. He then swore that he would not let anyone else die after that. He only succeeded with Scarlet, but Crow was killed after a Heroic Sacrifice. Cold Steel III adds Millium to the list as his weapon was wrecked very easily plus Valimar was being chewed up. It would have been Altina had Millium not swooped in at the last minute.
  • I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: When his students first meet him and call him by his title of Ashen Chevalier, he tells them to stop that as he feels more ashamed by the title and what he's done to earn it than anything else.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: He does this to the beast after hacking it so many times in Cold Steel III. Unfortunately, this also releases black Pleroma Grass into the world and blankets the world in darkness. When the cutscene returns back to Rean, he still keeps hacking at it! During Osborne's flashback in Cold Steel IV, Rean finally sees that he was impaled in the heart by a gigantic wooden splinter that should have killed him if not for Osborne making a Deal with the Devil to save Rean's life.
  • Implausible Fencing Powers: In Cold Steel I he perfectly cuts through solid steel in order to break a lock on gate preventing entry to Lunaria Nature Park during Chapter 1. A feat that impresses even Laura because of how precise and silent the technique was as opposed to how she would have simply broken it with brute force.
  • Improbable Age: Spends most of Cold Steel III as a 20-year old teacher. And he started this job when he was still 19.note 
  • In a Single Bound: Showcased in Cold Steel II during his escape aboard the Pantagruel where, while carrying Alfin in his arms, he jumps really high twice to reach another floor in order to escape both Duvalie and Bleublanc. In Cold Steel IV, he jumps towards the portal from a really great height with Millium following him. In Reverie, he scales an entire mountain while fighting the fake Arios.
  • Incompletely Trained: Played with. While Rean describes that Ka-Fai had cut his training short due to his inability to move past his fear of his ogre power, Cassius reveals that any student that's been allowed to leave Ka-Fai's side have already been set to the path of mastery to begin with. However, it's also revealed that Ka-Fai intends to reunite with Rean one day and aims to teach him the final secrets of the Eight Leaves One Blade style.
  • Indy Ploy: As the leader of Class VII he has a tendency to come up with plans on the fly when the situation calls for it. One of the most notable examples of this is in Cold Steel II when he escapes the Pantagruel together with Alfin. There's also him preventing Crow from disappearing by having Valimar return the power that was he was absorbing from Ordine in Cold Steel IV.
  • Innocently Insensitive: Despite being The Heart, Rean has a habit of saying or doing things that end up putting him at odds with one of his friends or acquaintances, most notably Alisa during his first month at Thors and Machias during the second. In general, a major flaw of Rean's, especially in the first game, is that while he may always mean well, he frequently shows it in the worst way possible.
  • Instant Expert:
    • Played with in regards to Valimar during their first outing. Though he was given knowledge on how to pilot Valimar through their contract with each other, it doesn't mean that Rean would become automatically good at piloting him either. While he does well enough against Scarlet in her Spiegel, his fight against Crow and Ordine ends up less than successful.
    • Played straight when it comes to being a teacher at Thors Branch Campus. He only graduated somewhat recently and likely had very little time to train as an educator, yet his lessons are easy for his students to understand and he's able to help them in areas outside of his subject matter.
  • Instant Fanclub: In Cold Steel III, it's revealed that he has one at St. Astraia much to Elise's dismay. When word gets out that he's at campus, the students immediately all start to fangirl over him which forces Rean and everyone to return at a later time.
  • Inter-Class Romance: While the circumstances of his adoption muddies the issue, he is still considered a nobleman, and all of his love interests besides Elise, Laura, Musse, and Alfin are commoners, with the latter two being well above him in terms of status as a Duchess and the Princess respectively. Downplayed in Alisa's case since she comes from one of the wealthiest families in Erebonia, making her a noble in all but name.
  • Interface Screw: A minor variant happens in Cold Steel IV, where players can barely read his name. This signifies his current state of mind after losing control of his ogre power at the end of Cold Steel III. It's bad enough that he can't even remember his own name. It even extends to people outright saying his name in his presence as it ends up being muted out. This also includes Millium's name as well.
  • Ironic Echo: In Cold Steel II, his stance is that he and the rest of Class VII should not be directly involved in the Civil War as they're nothing more than students. While at the end of the day their actions end up helping the RMP and the Imperial Army, it's mostly through a coincidence of their goals aligning with one another rather than an outright desire to aid the reformists. This gets turned on its head later when he willingly participates in the annexation of Crossbell since he believes with Valimar's power he could help reduce the bloodshed and help to quickly put an end to the conflict.
  • Irony: He's the kind of guy who would be willing to sacrifice himself to protect others. At the end of three games, he's been the recipient of three heroic sacrifices to protect himnote .
  • I Should Have Been Better:
    • During the Epilogue of Cold Steel II when pressed by Towa, he break down into her arms for failing to bring Crow back. Despite her own sadness, Towa assure him that he shouldn't blame himself like that as he did everything he could.
    • In a discussion with Sara during Cold Steel III, he expresses this sentiment regarding his inability to capture the Northern Jaegers' heads during the Northern War because he was busy protecting citizens. Sara tells him the war was rigged from the start and he made the best possible choice.
  • It's All My Fault: Rean has a tendency to blame himself whenever something goes wrong with him present, even when it's clearly someone else's fault or just completely beyond anyone's control:
    • After the incident between him and Alisa on their first day, he spends much of the subsequent month trying to apologise for it, believing he should have known the trapdoor was designed so they wouldn't get hurt from the fall and the whole thing wouldn't have happened if he hadn't tried to play the hero. As Alisa points out to him when they both apologise, however, there's simply no way he could have known that, and she's the one in the wrong regardless of how one looks at it.
    • After he reveals that he's a noble to the rest of the class, Machias is pissed at Rean for lying to him, and the two remain on rocky terms until their next field study, with Rean eventually saying that he should have been up and front with Machias from the beginning. However, Machias did kind of put him on the spot with his outburst about nobles so he can't really be blamed for dodging the question. Additionally, Rean technically didn't even lie; he said he didn't have a drop of noble blood in him, he never said he wasn't adopted.
    • He tells Elise that he fully intends to essentially disown himself from the Schwarzers, blaming himself for all the trouble his family has suffered over the years and believing that distancing himself from them will allow them to gain the respect they deserve with their peers. He also acts as though he needs to repay his parents for looking after him all those years, even though they did so because they love him unconditionally as though he were their real son. Fortunately, he eventually realises that this decision won't do any good, and his family care far more about him than they do about their reputation among the masses.
    • At the start of II, he blames himself for failing in his battle against Crow at Trista despite the fact that he had no real way of winning said duel at all, since he had only become an Awakener that very same day while Crow had been one for three years.
    • In Cold Steel III, he blames himself for not seeing through Ash's anguish and shooting at the emperor, unaware that the emperor actually made a Heroic Sacrifice. Randy tells him to not blame himself as he's also partly to blame for not seeing it when Ash was also his student as well. And by Cold Steel IV, he blames himself for killing the Nameless One and spreading the curse as far as Crossbell and beyond.
  • It's Personal with the Dragon: During Cold Steel II, Crow is his number one priority. Vita and Duke Cayenne by comparison aren't given as much attention.
  • It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: After Rean uses Valimar to subdue the Noble Alliance and help end the war, he is portrayed in the press as a war hero and strong-armed by the Intelligence Division into assisting in the Imperial Army's occupation of Crossbell. He goes along without complaint, but it's abundantly clear to everyone who knows him that the burdens of the civil war, Crow's death, and the empire's militarism are taking a heavy toll on him. And then there's his role in the prophecy of the Great Twilight recorded in the Black Records.
  • It Has Been an Honor: In the normal ending of Cold Steel IV he tells his friends and students that their time together was fun before blowing himself up in the atmosphere alongside Crow and Millium.
  • Jack of All Stats: His Brave Orders in Cold Steel III and Cold Steel IV are standard attack and defense buffs, no casting time for arts, and, if unlocked, increased critical hit rates. None of these are too powerful, but they're so useful and cost effective that players end up using a lot of them especially during duel boss fights.
  • Just Following Orders: This is what he says when he and Altina are there to stop Lloyd and Rixia from erasing the data on the Crossbell orbal net.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: Rean is the first protagonist of the series to actually use a sword, particularly a tachi, as his weapon of choice. And as with previous examples of tachi users in the series however, it's not any inherent property of the weapon itself but the skill of the wielder.
  • Kiai: He lets out a "Seiya!" in the Japanese audio anytime he uses Arc Slash.
  • Kill It with Fire: His secondary element is fire and it shows in some of his Crafts.
  • Knight in Shining Armor: For Alfin, who considers Rean as such after his daring rescue of her aboard the Pantagruel in Cold Steel II. Rean in general also acts like a knight errant throughout the games, always willing to give aid to those who require it, has an honorable attitude and noble upbringing despite his commoner heritage, and is unafraid to fight for what's right as well.
  • Knockback Slide: Happens to him in Reverie when he fights against Matteus when the latter sends knocks him back after they clash.
  • Known Only by Their Nickname: To the people who don't know him, they refer to him as the Ashen Chevalier.
  • Large Ham: He usually keeps to himself but when it's time to bring out the ham, boy does he bring it with gusto. Crow usually brings this trait out to him, although many of his speeches end up overflowing with this.
  • Lap Pillow: Ends up on the receiving end of this twice. Once from Emma in Cold Steel II in her Bareahard bonding event and the other from Musse in Cold Steel III after Musse wins their match in Vantage Masters and makes Rean choose between two cards (the other option was to scrub his back in the bathroom).
  • Last-Name Basis: Patrick, Lechter, Michael, Randy, and Aurelia always refer to him as "Schwarzer", though Randy calls him "Rean" by Chapter 2 in Cold Steel III. Lechter also calls him "Rean" after his quest in Cold Steel III.
  • Last-Second Word Swap: When it comes to Crow, he usually switches from saying "I" to saying "we" so that he involves the rest of Class VII.
  • Late-Arrival Spoiler: As of Cold Steel III it's nearly impossible to talk about Rean without mentioning any of the things he does throughout the first two games at least once. This includes things like him becoming Valimar's Awakener at the end of Cold Steel I, and later becomes the Ashen Chevalier at the end of Cold Steel II because of his actions during that game. There's also the fact that Giliath Osborne is his biological father. Ditto Cold Steel IV where Rean kills the Nameless One after Millium dies and she transforms into the sword that is capable of defeating one of Aidios' seven guardians of her treasures, dooms the continent, and gears Erebonia up for a war against Calvard.
  • The Leader: Though he never refers to himself as such and even wonders why he's always put in charge, it's clear that the members of Class VII all agree on seeing him as their leader whether it be in battle or in other activities. Especially seen in Cold Steel II. While Towa is the acting captain of the Courageous and Alfin the official authority of the group as a member of the royal family, it's clear that Rean is basically the one in charge as Class VII's unofficial leader and Valimar's Awakener. In the Divertissement Chapter, he also ends up leading Erebonian troops in fighting off enemy forces from the Calvard Republic.
  • Lawful Pushover: Despite being their Instructor, Rean shows to be unable or unwilling to discipline his students when they misbehave or act without orders, even tries to lighten their punishment when Major Michael decides to punish them for sneaking off to Raquel. In fairness, they did most of that to help him acquire intel or defeat a major enemy in a Soldat.
  • Legacy of the Chosen: As he finds out in Cold Steel II, Rean's not the first person to actually pilot Valimar. There were others before him throughout history, with the most recent prior to him being none other than Dreichels the Lionheart. Upon discovering this, Rean begins to subconsciously compare himself to the late emperor until Valimar advices him to simply be himself.
  • Legendary in the Sequel: As of Cold Steel III, there's not one person in Erebonia or outside of it who hasn't heard of the Ashen Chevalier and his role in helping to put an end to the civil war in Erebonia and as well as his actions in helping pacify the conflicts in Crossbell and North Ambria.
  • Leitmotif: Blue Destination more or less serves as one for him. It first ends up playing when Rean achieves control over his ogre power for the first time aboard the Pantagruel, and plays through several more instances throughout the game such as during his fight with Crow and later when Lloyd and Rixia have to fight against him and Altina. It also ends playing when he and Azure Siegfried end up fighting each other in Cold Steel III.
  • Life-Saving Encouragement: Whenever he tries to put himself down too much or becomes too willing to sacrifice himself, his loved ones are quick to admonish him for it and tell him how much he means to them. A key factor in him outgrowing his Martyr Without a Cause tendencies is his realizing that his disregard for his well-being only hurts his loved ones more than helps them.
  • Lightning Bruiser: He fits as one in all four Cold Steel games. His Strength and Speed are are typically very good, and his durability and ATS stats tend to be solid. In the first two Cold Steel games, he excelled at delaying enemy turns. In Cold Steel III and Cold Steel IV, he excels at breaking enemies and has some of the best Brave Orders in the game.
  • Like Father, Like Son: With Osborne. Several characters note that the two of them resemble each other in a number of ways, one of which is being thickheaded when it comes to women. Osborne even lampshades that both of them have a penchant for sacrificing themselves for the sake of others as well.
  • Limit Break: His S-Craft in Cold Steel I is Flame Slash, which would later be upgraded into Azure Flame Slash by the end of the game. In Cold Steel II, he gains Termination Slash - Dawn during the final chapter; it's also his S-Craft during his and Altina's boss battle in the Divertissement Chapter. For Cold Steel III, his S-Craft is 7th Slash - Fallen Leaves*, which would later be upgraded in Chapter 4 into 7th Slash - Shredded Leaves*; on top of that, Cold Steel IV and Reverie give him a second S-Craft called Breaking Dawnnote  in the intermission before the former game's Final Chapter. Whenever he pilots Valimar in all four Cold Steel games, or his Tyrfing S in Reverie, his finishing move is Enlightened Domination*. Finally, his union attack in Cold Steel III, Cold Steel IV, and Reverie is Starfall Slash.
  • Limp and Livid: When he breaks free from his chains in Cold Steel IV, he's slightly hunched and struggling to walk for a bit before he grabs his sword nearby.
  • Literal Change of Heart: According to Osborne, a wooden splinter actually pierced his heart when he was a kid and was dying. Osborne had to transplant his heart to Rean's just so his son could survive.
  • Little "No": Anytime Altina asks him if he's thinking of something indecent.
    Altina: Instructor, you aren't thinking of something indecent, are you?
    Rean: [exasperated] No, I'm not.
  • Living Emotional Crutch: He's this for Class VII. When he gets captured in Cold Steel IV, they all end up being lost as to what to do for an entire week before Juna had to call them out when New Class VII just woke up.
  • Living Legend: Starting in Cold Steel III, people who don't know him see him as a legendary man who was able to end the Civil War of Cold Steel II, bring fear into the hearts of Calvard soldiers in Divertissment, has the respect of the Northern Jaegers for Rean's role in the North Ambria war and in fact claims that they don't blame him for his role, and is one of the reasons so many soldiers drafted for the world war. This becomes a plot point in Reverie where said soldiers were disgruntled at the fact that Rean chose to support the end of the war rather than taking part of it.
  • Mad Dictator's Handsome Son: Although whether he's really mad or not is another story, Rean's dad is Osborne, the true ruler of Erebonia known for his militaristic and expansionist policies that have many resentful of him such as Crow.
  • Mage Killer: A few of his attacks like Autumn Leaf - Cutter, Arc Slash, and Crimson Slash allow him to nullify enemies who cast arts. Meanwhile in the Brave Nine collaboration, his main use other than dealing damage, is to deny any mages he hits from casting any spells.
  • Magnetic Hero: He is able to turn both Class VII into his True Companions, is generally well-liked and managed to get a Heel–Face Turn out of Crow and Arianrhod.
  • Man Hug: Delivers this towards Machias in Cold Steel II in their reunion. He also shares a very passionate hug with Crow in Cold Steel IV while giving Crow the power that he absorbed from Ordine back to Ordine to preserve Crow's life, tying their lives together.
  • Mark of the Supernatural: In Reverie, once the Assimilation Effect begins, his left eye turns yellow while his right eye remains purple.
  • Martyr Without a Cause: Downplayed, in that he often has very good reason to put himself at risk, given the nature of threats he faces off against, but his fellow associates both within and outside of Class VII note that even without all this, Rean doesn't seem to need much of a reason to fall on his sword. An early indicator of this can be seen when Jusis calls him out on this by trope name when he talks with Rean at Bareahard, and when Elise confronts him about planning to forfeit his standing within the Schwarzer family, completely unprompted, simply because he never felt worthy of being considered one of them.
  • Master Swordsman: Comes with the territory being that he's a practitioner of the Eight Leaves One Blade style. In the beginning Rean considers himself a mere failure of one, but his skills are good enough to impress Laura who herself is considered to be the best swordswoman of their year at Thors. He later takes it up a notch in Cold Steel IV. After completing a test from Cassius Bright, Rean finally becomes a Divine Blade.
  • Meaningful Name: His last name, Schwarzer, means "the black one" in German. He is the only member of Class VII, and the first Trails protagonist , with black hair, has Time as his primary element, and his primary outfit in Cold Steel IV is black, though ironically his hair is stuck in silver due to being stuck in his Spirit Unification state through most of the game. It's also revealed that his fate was set in stone in the Black Records, with most of the problems in his life due to the machinations of the Ebon (another term for black) Knight Ishmelga.
  • Melee Disarming:
    • In Cold Steel I, he slashes Gideon's Demonic Flute before he can summon more monsters when trying to rescue Alfin and Elise.
    • He disarms an enemy soldat and takes its sword for Valimar early in Cold Steel II. Later on, he knocks Crow's double saber out of his hands at the end of their duel on the Pantagruel at the end of Cold Steel II's Intermission.
    • At the end of the battle against the Northern Jaegers at Juno Naval Fortress in Cold Steel III, he uses Gale to disarm them when they try to commit suicide.
  • Mirror Boss: Ends up fighting his ogre self in Cold Steel IV, using the same techniques as him. In reality, he's fighting against Cassius but in his head, he's fighting against himself.
  • Mirror Character: As far as Claire is concerned, both Rean and Osborne are very similar to one another from their facial features to the atmosphere they put out. Their backstories also ended up beings mirrors of one another starting with the abandonment issue on a snowy field (in Osborne's case, his parents died due to an avalanche), being adopted as the older sibling to a Schwarzer (Teo for Osborne, Elise for Rean), to attending and graduating from Thors, both ended up in the army, both went from bright and optimistic to cynical and jaded due to circumstances, and finally both father and son ended up becoming an Awakener to a Divine Knight.
  • Mirrored Confrontation Shot: Inverted in his case with Crow in the Cold Steel II OST artwork where both Rean and Crow are facing away from each other in a back-to-back pose.
  • Missing Mom: His biological mother is nowhere to be seen. Turns out, she died a few days before the Hamel Incident with his mom telling Osborne to take care of him. It also turns out that Rean mostly inherited her looks.
  • Mission Control: In Cold Steel III, he's this for the 4th level of Einhel Keep, while the player uses the students of the new Class VII plus Tita. Players can still use his Brave Orders, however.
  • Mistaken for Pedophile: In Cold Steel III, both Juna and Kurt assume the worst when Altina starts narrating that Rean walked in on her sleeping and did things to her. Rean has to provide the proper context to explain that it didn't happen that way.
  • Mook Horror Show: In Cold Steel II, after finding out that his father was shot and bleeding while his mother was lying on the ground, he unleashes his Superpowered Evil Side and starts slicing and dicing the Northern Jaegers who invaded Ymir.
  • Moral Myopia: Inverted; Whenever Rean helps somebody in some way, his general attitude is Think Nothing of It, but whenever someone does something nice for him, he sees it as a debt he must repay even at the cost of his own well-being. It gets to the point where Elise has to outright tell him that acts of kindness are not debts to be repaid.
    Elise: You care so much about the people who matter to you, so why can't you understand that those people care just as much about you?
  • More Friends, More Benefits: Though it applies to all of the playable characters, Rean has a much easier time grabbing all of the passive bonuses for links the more he spends time with the other characters via the bonding system.
  • More than Just a Teacher: By Cold Steel III, he becomes an instructor at the Thors Branch Campus, partially as a way to get away from Osborne's influence. Quite a few characters (such as Cedric) note that his skills and accomplishments as the Ashen Chevalier would make him eligible for other more glamorous positions than training students at what is seen as 'a trashbin for undesirables', but he is shown to be rather satisfied with it.
  • Mr. Exposition: Explains a lot of things to his classmates, especially when it comes to martial arts and people who are experts at it.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Already noted to be handsome in the first two Cold Steel games, he becomes even more so by Cold Steel III as mentioned by Alisa and several others. He also got really ripped after the Time Skip as demonstrated in swimming classes where he's also the advisor.
  • Multi-Melee Master: Downplayed; He mostly fights with a tachi, and shows a decent amount of skill in it's unarmed form. He also has some skill in Western-style swords from lessons from his adopted father, which he puts to use in Soldat battles through the first half of Cold Steel II and during lessons at the Branch Campus. He also had no problems wielding the Sword of the End in Cold Steel IV.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: For every other Divine Knight Awakener, all they do is just raise their hand and call out their Divine Knight. Meanwhile for Rean, he has to bring his fist forward and then raises his hand to the sky, calling for Valimar's name.
  • Must Make Amends: In Cold Steel IV, he shows a great amount of guilt towards triggering the Great Twilight despite being Not Himself when he had done so. As such, he is fully dedicated towards trying to complete the Rivalries as soon as possible to end it as a way to atone, and is fully resigned with dying in the process to make up for it, which the others call him out on.
  • Mystical White Hair: His hair turns silver whenever he activates Spirit Unification.
  • My God, What Have I Done?:
    • His backstory where he starts becoming afraid of his powers when he destroys a beast with nothing but a hacksaw and giving in to his Superpowered Evil Side to protect Elise is this trope. And in Cold Steel III, when he finally snaps himself out of his rampage courtesy of Osborne calming Rean's heart (that used to belong to Osborne), Rean starts to have this reaction after he kills the beast that they were supposed to put to sleep in the first place.
    • A more subtle example, but over the course of Cold Steel III he becomes more and more regretful about helping invade Crossbell. Through his interactions with Juna and Randy, and by seeing the situation in the country with his own eyes, he is able to realize the injustice of it, and by the end of the game, he, together with key figures from Crossbell, is actively working against the people who orchestrated the takeover. Though it should also be noted that he was already extremely remorseful even before coming to Crossbell for the field exercise seeing how it affected the people there simply amplified his regret even though as pointed out by Randy when Rean commented that the people in Crossbell must hate him which takes place before they even get there that he never assisted in the annexation of Crossbell and simply helped defend them from Calvard when they attacked after the fact and thus has no reason to feel guilty. Although Rean still feels responsible as a member of the empire.
  • My Greatest Failure: He considers failing to bring back Crow alive to be his. Then in Cold Steel III, Millium's death is another one for him. He also has a hard time letting go of the fact that he doomed the world by killing the Nameless One and ushering in the Great Twilight, but he doesn't let it stop him from doing what needs to be done.
  • My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Aside from his normal ability to sense the presence of others, he also has another form of sensing thanks to his ogre power. Through the scar on his chest aching, it's sometimes a tell tale sign that something supernatural is near Rean such as when McBurn is present or Roselia appears out of nowhere to talk with him during Cold Steel III. It also happens when he's near Osborne at times which is likely due to the fact that Rean's heart is actually Osborne's to begin with.
  • My Sister Is Off-Limits: As Patrick can attest to, Rean won't let anybody just up-and-have his younger sister Elise; said person will need to be screened by Rean himself first. Naturally, he does this completely unaware of Elise's Big Brother Attraction. He's so well-known for this that the servants in the Hyarms mansion call him (half-jokingly) the "Iron Wall Brother." In Cold Steel III, this has extended to the male students at Thors Branch Campus, to the point that his grip was apparently cutting off the circulation to Ash's shoulder when the latter made a comment involving Elise. Finally subverted at the end of Cold Steel IV. Provided Elise's bond event isn't maxed out, Rean will actually give Patrick his blessing when the latter admits to wanting to confess his feelings to Elise. That said, he still comes across as rather terrifying.
    N - S 
  • Navel-Deep Neckline: His Magical Alisa DLC costume has him wearing his coat that is buttoned right in the middle, leaving a V.
  • Neck Lift: Osborne holds him up by the neck (while both are in their respective Divine Knights), to halt his attempted Roaring Rampage of Revenge at the end of Cold Steel III.
  • Nerf:
    • In Cold Steel III, instead of Arc Slash, he has Crimson Slash, a cheaper attack that can inflict Burn and impedes but no longer delays enemies.
    • In Cold Steel IV, for story reasons, Spirit Unification is replaced with Demon Unchained. For the first three turns, Demon Unchained is largely a renamed Spirit Unification, but because the Great Twilight is preventing him from reliably controlling it, there's a significant nerf: after the three turns are up, Rean goes berserk instead of reverting to normal, resulting in him being uncontrollable for a while, and only has a strength buff in this state. The only way to get him out of this state without waiting for him to randomly come to his senses after a turn is Curia or an art, item, or Craft that behaves like Curia. Fortunately, the game allows Rean to learn Arcane Gale in his base form rather than needing to transform after he gains some levels.
    • Cold Steel III onwards nerfed his Morning Moon craft during mech battles, as it does not allow Rean to dodge attacks that hit all allied mecha.
  • Nephewism: As he finds out in Cold Steel III, his biological father Osborne was himself adopted by Schwarzer family, making Rean's adoptive father Teo his "uncle," in a sense.
  • Nice Guy: As Jusis would attest, Rean's kindness knows almost no bounds, especially come Cold Steel II.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His killing of the Nameless One ends up engulfing entire continent in darkness. Though to be fair to Rean, he was not in control of himself at the time.
  • No Badass to His Valet: To the empire, he's the national hero who the one who ended the Civil War and Calvard's worst enemy. To his friends however, he's their dork, Sara's gofer, and he overexaggerates his needing to protect his little sister. Especially this to his students in Leeves. Between Juna's Tsundere behavior, Kurt's initial dismissal of his skills as being solely due to Valimar, Altina's developing snark and making him out to be a womanizer, Ash's Delinquent attitude, and Musse's teasing, and their general Military Maverick attitude of disobeying his orders, he almosts looks like a No-Respect Guy.
  • Noble Male, Roguish Male: He's the noble to Crow's roguish, being a kind-hearted, proper man who tries to avoid conflict as much as possible in contrast to the latter, who prefers slacking off, playing jokes, and gambling.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Not satisfied with just curb stomping the Nameless One, he goes on top of the thing and keeps on slashing at it repeatedly and no one can even hold him back.
  • "No More Holding Back" Speech: At the climax of Reverie, as Rean is pressed by his alternate self to make an Heroic Sacrifice to get rid of Ishmelga, he refuses and reflects on how he finally understands that sacrificing himself won't make anyone happy.
    Rean: The me from before did try to hold up the weight of the world on his own. I used to think that as long as I could save everyone else, I didn't care what become of myself. Once I became the Sacrifice, I decided that I didn't deserve to be happy. But it's not about whether or not I deserve it, I have to become happy. Because a person cannot be happy alone and because a person should not be alone in distress, if I want the people who are precious to me to be happy, I have to first be happy myself.
  • No Shirt, Long Jacket: His Magical Alisa DLC costume for the second game has him wearing a black coat with no shirt underneath.
  • Non-Protagonist Resolver: He and Class VII aren't the ones who ultimately end the Civil War. That's all on Osborne and Rufus who reveals himself to be the primary member of the Ironbloods. Osborne however does pin the accomplishment on Rean to make him into a national hero.
  • Non-Standard Skill Learning
    • In Cold Steel II, Rean gets his second S-Craft during the final chapter. 
    • He gains his final S-Craft, Breaking Dawn, near the end of Cold Steel IV after beating Cassius in a duel at Mishelam. 
    • He first obtains Spirit Unification as a Craft during the Intermission of Cold Steel II. He then gains different variants and upgrades of his Spirit Unification throughout the story in both Cold Steel IV and Reverie.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: The final episode of the Northern War anime has Rean noting that he and Lavi aren't so different from each other with Rean telling Lavi that he was only trying to protect his friends and family during the Civil War before people started calling him the national hero of Erebonia (though he omits the part where Osborne forced that title on him).
  • Not with Them for the Money: Several of his love interests are more well off than him, chiefly Alisa (the heiress of the largest company in Erebonia), Musse (the Duchess in charge of the Empire's wealthiest province), and Alfin (an Imperial Princess who has effectively become the heir to the Imperial Throne after the end of Cold Steel IV). At no point does their wealth or status play any role in his attraction to them if they are chosen, nor do any of them try to use their respective wealth or status to try and win his heart.
  • Obi-Wan Moment: Tells his students and friends goodbye before he, Crow, and Millium die to destroy the Great One for good in the normal ending of Cold Steel IV.
  • Oblivious to Love: If a girl (especially Elise) has romantic feelings for Rean, expect those feelings to go right over his head unless the girl outright confesses. Randy put it best in Cold Steel IV:
    Randy: 'Grats, Lloyd. You're not the most clueless guy in the room for once.
  • An Offer You Can't Refuse: He gets hit with this trope twice in the second game. The first time happens during the Intermission Sequence aboard the Pantagruel where Rean is given a choice to work for the Noble Alliance for a chance reunite with Elise again and help end the Civil War quicker. Fortunately enough for Rean, Crow tries to convince him to do what is right even if they end up on opposing sides. Alfin later snaps him out of his dilemma as well, telling Rean that he shouldn't prioritize Elise but instead to follow what he wants to do. The second time happens when Osborne orders Rean to become a national hero and help in participating in the annexation of Crossbell. This time, Rean accepts due in part to wanting to prevent as much bloodshed as possible.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: During the North Ambria Campaign, he was able to sneak into Haliask, the capital of North Ambria, and while he was helping with the evacuation of the citizens, thousands of archaisms were unleashed onto the city. The last thing people have heard about him is that he used both Spirit Unification and Valimar at the same time and demolished all the archaisms. Prior to that, there's also Rean's mission in Crossbell, which save for the Divertissement Chapter in Cold Steel II and Juna's flashback in Cold Steel III, we don't really get to see much of.
  • Oh, Crap!: In Cold Steel III, he makes a huge one when he hears Abend Time on the radio and hears Vita's voice.
  • One Head Taller: To several of his female love interests such as Alisa, Emma, Alfin and Elise.
    • When Rean meets Lavi in the Northern War anime, Lavi reaches only up to Rean's shoulders.
  • One-Hit Polykill: In Cold Steel II, he manages to cut through three Spiegels with one slash while testing out his sword coated in Zemurian Ore at Aurochs Fort.
  • One-Way Trip: Upon defeating Osborne in the Final Rivalry, he finds he can't fend off Ishmelga's attempts to take him over and decides to try to perform a Heroic Sacrifice to end the Curse for good. Subverted, as he's uses the Earthen Prison to find a way to expel Ishmelga from him to be killed for good in the Golden Ending.
  • Once an Episode: In every Cold Steel game, he'll be a boss fight. This rule is at its loosest in Cold Steel III, where he is only fought in mech battles aside from one sidequest where he spars against Jessica.
  • Once Done, Never Forgotten: Altina will never miss a chance to mention how he came to her room while she was asleep and call him indecent for it all the way to Cold Steel IV. The rest of his classmates likewise won't let him forget his daring rescue of Princess Alfin where he was holding her in a Bridal Carry to tease him, especially since Alfin would word it in a way to seem like something more inappropriate had occurred.
  • Only I Can Kill Him: A gameplay and a downplayed example in Cold Steel IV where he's the only one who can defeat McBurn's demon form by having him summon Valimar and cut him up with Millium's sword to dispel his barrier and bring him down to his knees. And even then, McBurn's still fine but he's started to finally remember his former self and his new goal and that was enough to calm him down.
  • Only I Can Make It Go: Rean is the only one who can pilot Valimar as his Awakener. The rest of Class VII can board Valimar, but cannot pilot him as Alisa finds out.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: While he can be be prone to anger, he's usually calm about it. At least until he sees Osborne alive despite all of Crow's efforts to kill him. He then runs toward him and grabs his collar, demanding from Osborne why he's still alive. He later gets another moment in Cold Steel IV. After discovering the truth behind Osborne's fall to darkness and as well as finding out the true culprit behind the Curse of Erebonia, Rean nearly succumbs to the curse himself out of pure rage.
  • Open Secret: By Reverie, everyone who is at least acquainted with him already know that his father is Giliath Osborne. In Lloyd's chapter 2 of said game, Lechter outright says that he's at Crossbell as a member of the Ironbloods because Osborne's biological son cannot help them as he and his team are busy trying to find Olivert and the missing Courageous II.
  • Painful Transformation: The activation of his ogre power always causes physical pain to Rean as he clutches away at his heart whenever transforming. Thankfully, he gains control of it through Spirit Unification, but overusing it can still lead to some physical pain and tiredness.
  • Parental Abandonment: Abandoned in a snowy field at that! Though Rean does think (and confirmed by Baron Schwarzer) that the entire abandonment issue was deliberate since Rean reasons that a child so young would have died from freezing after a few hours. In Cold Steel III, it turns out that both Teo and Osborne knew about each other and were related by adoption for years before Osborne asked Teo to take care of his child and to forget about their relationship.
  • Parrying Bullets: Downplayed and played straight in two different occasions in Reverie. He manages to cleave a 8 meter artillery shell in two with his Tyrfing S at the climax of chapter 3 and he parries the bullet aimed at Juna in chapter 4 by Juna's Evil Counterpart.
  • Patricide: He defeats Osborne which then had Ishmelga be absorbed into Valimar which also kills off Osborne. Admittedly it was the final part of the Rivalries and it's clear they'd rather not do it but the trope still sticks.
  • Patrick Stewart Speech: Rean states that, while humanity in general has prospered because of the curse brought about by the Sept-Terrion of Steel, he's not becoming Ishmelga's host, because at that point, humanity is ready to move on from the latter.
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: Anytime his family or friends are in harms way, his first instinct is to transform into his Superpowered Evil Side and start wrecking at whoever messed up his friends and family, possibly even killing them. His victims include the bear in his backstory with Elise, Ol-Gadia before Crow joins him, the Northen Jaegers after seeing his mother and father lying down with blood on Teo's body, and the Nameless One after Millium dies.
  • Piggyback Cute: Does this to Fie in their bonding event at Bareahard because one of her boots had the sole open up. It reminded Fie of her foster dad.
  • Playing with Fire: A good chunk of his Crafts and all of his S-Crafts involve fire, usually usually by setting his sword ablaze which is his secondary orbment element.
  • Plot-Powered Stamina: Shows this off in Cold Steel IV during the Intermission. Granted he was in a perpetual ogre power state at the time, but it should be noted that Rean had been chained up for little over a month, spent that time mostly awake, and likely has not eaten much during said period either. Yet despite all this, he's capable enough to rampage throughout the Black Workshop aided by Celine, Crow, and Duvalie, gets into a fight against McBurn and the Stahlritter, gets into a fight against New Class VII, and after snapping out of his rage, he then gets into a fight against Osborne and Arianrhod. At the end of this Rean looks barely out of breath, though he does end up falling asleep for over a day upon returning to Eryn.
  • Power Dyes Your Hair: His hair turns white whenever he accesses his hidden power.
  • Powered by a Forsaken Child: His most powerful sword in Cold Steel III is forged from Millium's own soul.
  • Power Incontinence: His main issue with his ogre power is that he goes into a berserker rage when it manifests. While he manages to master it in Cold Steel II, by the time of Cold Steel III, his powers are once again going out of control and he has to wear a pendant that Emma gives to him to keep the terrible effects of his powers at bay. This drawback disappears at the end of Cold Steel IV.
  • Power Up Full Color Change: His hair changes to white, his eyes turn red and is constantly surrounded with a purple aura anytime he activates his ogre powers.
    Rean: "Farewell, Ishmelga. I'm not sure if you even have a soul, but I hope you find your way to Aidios."
  • Propaganda Hero: Becomes this as the Ashen Chevalier after Cold Steel II, where he's treated as a war hero and frequently sent to missions across the Empire making him the face of Erebonia's militarism, which lead to some awkwardness when meeting certain characters such as Juna.
  • The Promise: In Cold Steel II, he makes a promise to Towa, Angelica, and George that he'll bring Crow back so that their group can be reunited once more just like Class VII. Tragically, he fails as Crow dies from his wounds from the Vermillion Apocalypse. It's subverted when Crow comes back to life by III however, and after defeating him one last time in IV, Rean's able to convince Crow to return to the fold for good.
  • Properly Paranoid: Constantly worries that he will harm someone innocent or something bad will happen if he gives in to his ogre power. In Cold Steel III his fears end up becoming true as he loses control after Millium dies and accidentally dooms Erebonia in darkness after slaying the beast that was holding the curse of Erebonia at bay.
  • The Protagonist: Of the Cold Steel series, spanning four games in total which makes him the longest running protagonist in Trails as a whole. He's also one of the three main protagonists in Reverie, sharing the role together with returning protagonist Lloyd Bannings and the newly introduced C.
  • Protagonist Power-Up Privileges: In Cold Steel III and Cold Steel IV, his status as the protagonist makes him the only character to have more than one Brave Order. In fact, he has a grand total of four, though he loses 2 of them in Reverie to show how he's not the sole protagonist. Compared to his predecessor protagonists, he gains a lot of power-ups throughout his arc. In order: his Super Robot, his controlled Superpowered Evil Side, his Zemurian Ore sword, and Millium becoming the Sword of the End. By the end of Cold Steel IV, he loses all of them. Downplayed in Reverie; he gains a standard, but cutting edge prototype mech, however it is weaker than Valimar. It temporarily gains a power boost when Valimar's spirit briefly returns in the final battle but it loses the boost after.
  • A Protagonist Shall Lead Them: Though Emma and Machias are the President and Vice-President of their class respectively, Rean is the one who ends up being the actual leader of Class VII as a group.
  • Psychologist Teacher: Ends up helping his students and their problems in Cold Steel III.
  • Pummeling the Corpse: What he does in his berserk state towards the corrupted Holy Beast that he already killed. Repeatedly.
  • Pun: Since Rean's biological father is the reincarnation of Dreichels the Lionheart, and Osborne had to transplant his heart into Rean in order for Rean to survive, you could technically say Rean has a "lion's heart".
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Tells Millium "Don't. YOU. Dare." when the latter, jealous of how Class VII met together before she transferred in, decides to do something special.
  • Pure Awesomeness: In a hidden sidequest in Cold Steel II, he scares off a couple of monkeys just by releasing his aura and glaring at them.
  • Purely Aesthetic Glasses: In Cold Steel III he starts wearing a pair of glasses as part of his role as an instructor such as when he's giving lectures to his students. He takes them off otherwise however.
  • Purple Is Powerful: The battle aura for his Super Mode is purple. This is shown fully well in the final battle of Cold Steel III where his portrait has a constant purple aura. Most of his crafts also turn purple in color.
  • Putting on the Reich: Can aesthetically pull this off together with the rest of the men in Class VII through DLC in Cold Steel IV which gives them access to purple military uniforms like the ones worn by the Imperial Army.
  • Quick Draw: Whenever he uses Autumn Leaf - Cutter, he sheathes his sword then immediately draws it out at fast speeds. It's also how he executes the fourth form in his second S-Craft in Cold Steel IV. His Crescent Slash skill from Cold Steel III and on also counts as this.
  • Rage Breaking Point: Rean hits one in the second game when Crow dies and Osborne is revealed to still be alive. This is also usually the key to his ogre power awakening, as he nearly loses it whenever his loved ones are in imminent danger as seen when Millium dies and her soul is used forge the Sword of the End. He then subsequently slaughters the Holy Beast responsible and would have done the same to Osborne and Alberich before being stopped.
  • Real Men Cook: Subtle implication on his cooking ability in Cold Steel that there's no recipe he's bad/terrible at, meaning lesser chance in making peculiar dishes; He has 2 dishes certified as "Excellent" but average in everything else. There's an event in the 2nd game where he shows his skill in the kitchen by helping Millium cook a meal for the rest of Class VII. He is not amused by her antics/lack of patience.
  • Red Baron: Comes to be known as the Ashen Chevalier after his actions in both the Erebonian Civil War and in the Crossbell campaign. He is referred as this by a lot of people in the following games. Although he does become a Divine Blade by Cold Steel IV, by Reverie he hasn't come up with his own spin of the title, viewing himself as too inexperimented for that.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Any time his Superpowered Evil Side is out. Even if he finally has control over it. It's when his eyes turn gold is where he fully loses control over his powers. He's stuck with his red eyes throughout Cold Steel IV though he loses it, and his white hair, after killing Ishmelga.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Played with in regards to Crow as both end up playing the role of Red and Blue to each other at various points throughout the story. Taken further with their elements. Both have time as their main element but Rean has fire for his secondary element, whereas Crow has water instead.
  • Refusal of the Call: In Reverie, when Rean's counterpart tells him to sacrifice himself just like he did in the Normal Ending of Cold Steel IV, Rean refuses to do so, reciting the lessons he's learned up until that point as he realized that for the people he loves to be happy, Rean himself needs to learn to be happy as well.
  • Relative Button: Do anything shameful or harmful to Elise and Rean will make sure you don't get to act on it. Even Ash, who playfully just claims that everyone at St. Astraia is innocent and that Elise could get converted at some point, nearly had his arm limp due to Rean gripping his shoulder really hard.
  • Replacement Goldfish: Though she initially tries to deny it, Claire sees Rean as one for her deceased younger brother. She eventually realizes the folly of this and decides afterwards to look at Rean as his own man.
  • The Reveal: How he came to be in the care of the Schwarzer family is revealed in Cold Steel III. His house was raided when he was a kid and actually had his heart pierced from wood splinter a few days before the Hamel Incident. Osborne then transplants his heart to replace Rean's.
  • Revenge Before Reason: Admittedly he was goaded by the curse but at the climax of Cold Steel III, he wants nothing more than to kill the Nameless One for killing Millium. It's when he forcefully brought back to his senses is when he realizes he had made a fatal mistake.
  • Reverse Grip: In Cold Steel IV, the way he uses the fifth form in his final S-Craft has him unsheathing his katana by reversing his grip and jumping while slashing the target.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: In Cold Steel II he nearly pulls this off on the jaegers responsible for razing Ymir after believing that they killed his parents. Fortunately, he was able to snap out of it after discovering that Teo and Lucia were still alive. In Cold Steel III, he goes on a full rage, losing control of his Superpowered Evil Side after Millium dies and her soul is used to forge a new sword for Valimar. Then he solos the Final Boss, even managing to cut off one of its arms easily, and after said final boss fight, he still starts hacking at it in rage.
  • Rousing Speech:
    • He often does this that his classmates start wondering how he even manages to say these things with a straight face. Lampshaded by Millium in Cold Steel II:
    Millium: Eh, no biggie. We're Class VII! Throw in a few of Rean's trademark speeches and we're rarin' to go!
    • At the beginning of Cold Steel IV final dungeon, everyone decides to put him on the sidelines for once and do the speech themselves.
  • Running Gag: Several traits of his are usually brought up for laughs. His ability to come up with speeches on the spot is one, wherein characters such as Alisa and Millium tease him for it. His status as a Chick Magnet is also poked fun at several times. There's even his sister complex regarding Elise.
  • Sanity Slippage: The first time he ever transformed as a child, he only had one thing in mind which was to kill the beast that was making his sister afraid with nothing but a hatchet. He's detested it ever since.
  • Scars are Forever: His scar on his chest has been there since he was a child. He got it from a wooden splinter piercing through his chest and destroying his heart in his past. Osborne had to transplant his heart to save his life.
  • School Teachers: Just like his teacher before him, he is cool, hot, and badass. Rean however would be the first one to admit that he's nowhere near as great as Sara.
  • Screaming Warrior: Downplayed in that he doesn't scream that much during battles for the most part apart from a kiai or two. But when Crow is involved in the duel, then all bets are off and the screaming begins.
  • Screw Destiny: Because of the players actions after finishing Cold Steel IV for the first time when he dies, he's able to alter his fate from dying by visiting a shrine that has the spirit of Argres, the Holy Beast of the Sept-Terrion of Earth. This is also his response to his Cold Steel IV Normal Ending self in Reverie where that Rean offers him to follow his destiny of taking in Zoa-Gilstein's power and fly up to the atmosphere and detonate himself, just like what his Normal Ending did.
  • Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: In the first Cold Steel game's opening, it's more like Rean Schwarzer Is About To Slash You.
  • Second Hour Superpower: In Cold Steel II, he obtains Spirit Unification when Act 2 starts, allowing players to play around with it for 3 turns.
  • Secret-Keeper: At the end of Cold Steel II New Game Plus and for most of Cold Steel III, he knows that Thomas is the Second Dominion and doesn't reveal this to his friends for a year and a half.
  • Self-Care Epiphany: Rean is an all-around Nice Guy who is eager to help anyone in need, but his low self-esteem and tendency towards self-sacrifice are shown to grate his loved ones who try to convince him to stop his self-destructive tendencies and learn to care for himself as well. By Reverie, witnessing how much his self-sacrificing tendencies can hurt his loved ones through Ishmelga Rean allows him to finally take the lesson to heart, with him resolving to finally cherish himself and find a way to be happy to show his gratitude to everyone.
    Rean: This time I’ll be happy—no, I’ll show him that I can be. Because this is the best way to thank all the many people who saved me.
  • Serious Business: Hot springs are very important to him. So is snowboarding, as shown by his uncharacteristically proud reaction when Ash claims he'd beat his record at Ymir.
  • Sexy Mentor: Several characters have called him handsome, and he goes on to become an instructor at Thors Branch Campus, where he can potentially have a Teacher/Student Romance with one of his female students in the New Class VII.
  • Shared Signature Move: His crafts reference the other forms of the Eight Leaves One Blade school that had been used by previous characters. Most abundant is his use of the second form Gale, the favored form of Arios Maclaine. His Arc Slash craft (and its upgraded variant Crimson Slash) are based on Anelace's Piercing Wave S-Craft. From Cold Steel III onwards, he gains the Helix Craft, the favored form of Cassius Bright. In Daybreak, Shizuna Rem Misurugi ends up copying his Spirit Unification technique. 
  • She Is Not My Girlfriend: Pulls this a number of times when questioned about the nature of his relationship with his female classmates from Class VII. Notable with Victor, Laura's dad and Erebonia's greatest swordsman, and Xeno and Leonidas, Fie's old comrades from her days with Zephyr. All three men more or less warn Rean of what would happen if he did anything "inappropriate" towards them. Rean is justifiably unnerved both times.
    • Played with in regards to his relationship with Alisa in Cold Steel III. When directly asked about the nature of his relationship with her, Rean tends to either avoid answering or even blatantly dodges the question.
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: By the time Cold Steel III begins it's clear that Rean has become tired with all the fighting he's done on behalf of the empire. Regardless, he still presses on like always.
  • Shipper on Deck:
    • Played for Laughs with both Jusis and Machias. By Cold Steel IV, even he can't resist shipping both Agate and Tita together if Rean picks Tita during the purifying the hot springs sidequest.
    • He spends almost the entirety of the Overture chapter shipping various people together. It's all sorts of wholesome.
  • Shirtless Scene: During his Battle in the Center of the Mind when his students try to break him out of the Curse, he's mentally depicted in his mind without a shirt.
  • Shoot the Shaggy Dog: He never manages to fulfill what he was supposed to do at the climax of each game. From failing to put a stop to Crow and the Noble Alliance's invasion of Trista in Cold Steel I, to failing to save Crow himself in Cold Steel II. Then there's the Downer Ending of Cold Steel III...
  • Shout-Out: His 'hidden power' transformation makes him look like Mile did in A Tear of Vermillion after being resurrected as one of Octum's Apostles.
  • Sibling Team: With Elise in Cold Steel II and Cold Steel IV, especially when linked up.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: Rean's primary orbment element is time, with fire as his secondary element; Elise's primary orbment element is water, with time as her secondary orbment.
  • Signature Move: For the mech fights, his finishing move is Enlightened Domination. Meanwhile on foot, the moves he keeps using throughout all four games are Arc Slash and its upgraded version, Crimson Slash, and Gale. In-universe however, he's far more well-known for his Spirit Unification that even the members of the Arkride Solutions Office know about it and are shocked that Shizuna Rem "Hime" Misurugi, also known as the one who broke his tachi, also knows this technique.
  • Simplified Spellcasting: His Divine Song Brave Order from Cold Steel III and it's upgraded form Dark Moon in Cold Steel IV allow the party to cast orbal arts without charging for a few turns along with an ATS boost. His final Bonding Events with Emma and Elliot in Cold Steel IV have each of them give him a special accessory to half the time of any orbal arts he casts when they're equipped.
  • Single-Stroke Battle: His final battle with both Osborne and Ishmelga Loge ends with him winning the strike. His duel against the Simulacrum Arios in Act 3 of Reverie ends with both charging each other with Arcane Gale, with Rean the only one left standing.
  • Single Tear: After beating the Final Boss of Cold Steel II, he sheds one tear because Class VII's time is finished. They still have a few days of being together, but as a free day, it's finally over for them.
  • Sins of Our Fathers: The discovery that Osborne is his biological father caused Rean no small amount of grief, as he felt nothing but shame towards him for his actions as Chancellor which ruined many lives, such as his friend Crow. The man strong-arming him into his role as the Ashen Chevalier did him no favors, to the point he outright refused to recognize him as his father until the end of Cold Stell IV let him understand his true motives.
  • Skyward Scream: He lets out one at the prologue when the Garrelia cannons were fired. He lets out another one after Vulcan's death.
  • Speed Blitz: His Gale Craft and it's upgraded variants consist of him slashing the enemy apart in between numerous Flash Steps. His third S-Craft has him delivering a Criss-Cross Attack while moving fast enough to generate several Speed Echoes.
  • Speed Echoes: Uses some to avoid Xeno and Leonidas while escaping the Pantagruel with Princess Alfin. In Cold Steel III, his upgraded S-Craft has two other afterimages of him slashing his targets.
  • Spider-Sense: Thanks to his training from Yun Ka-Fai, he's able to sense things that most others can't. The only ones who actually do share it with Rean are Fie and Gaius. He also has another in the form of his scar aching issue which mostly pops up whenever he's in the presence of Osborne or McBurn.
  • Spirited Competitor: Just like Laura, he actually loves to test his mettle against foes and worthy rivals. He's just a lot more subdued about it than Laura.
  • Status Buff:
    • Just like Estelle Bright, he has the Motivate Craft that increases the parties strength and gives a bit of CP. This is replaced by his Brave Order, Raging Fire in Cold Steel III onwards which has the same effect.
    • His Spirit Unification Craft and its later variations all grant him a boost to his STR, DEF, and SPD, as well as debuff immunity for three turns. His Upgraded Enlightened Spirit Unification in Reverie adds a boost to ADF as well and increases the buffs' duration to four turns.
    • His Brave Orders all increase the party's stats. Iron Will/ Black Tortoise grants 50-60 percent Damage Reduction, Divine Song/ Dark Moon increases ATS while also allowing instant casting, and Gold/ Divine Dragon increases critcal hit rate by 50-60 percent along with granting the Insight Status (which increases evasion and accuracy). He loses the latter two in Reverie.
  • Status-Buff Dispel: His final S-Craft, Breaking Dawn (Luminous Abyss when in his Awakened state), cancels all enemy buffs before applying damage.
  • Stepford Smiler: While he is all smiles on the outside, he has a lot of emotional baggage, with the whole adoption thing to a noble family while he's a commoner, to his Superpowered Evil Side, and him needing a place to belong to the world. And then he adds another one to the list: Crow's death. Towa calls him out on the last one.
  • Stern Teacher: While usually friendly and mellow with the new Class VII, Rean isn't afraid to bring out the riot act whenever he feels that they've done something they shouldn't or should be ashamed of.
  • Stock Light-Novel Hero: He's a huge deconstruction in the Trails series where everything that goes wrong will go wrong. His power acquisition of both Spirit Unification and being an Awakener works against him because the former is too hard to control while the latter forces him to be a "war hero" fighting in conflicts he'd rather not be a part of. The power ceiling of the series is high enough that even with this power acquisition, he won't be able to catch up to the bigger threats in the setting. He's a Magnetic Hero and Chick Magnet, but he also has self-care issues due to being abandoned by his biological father, causing him to neglect how much people will be hurt by his self-sacrificing habits. Finally, he goes to a prestigious military school and while he is able to find a sense of fulfillment there, the curriculum also forces him into battles that he and his class aren't ready for.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Noted by Claire herself to resemble Osborne slightly. As seen in a flashback during Cold Steel III however, it's seen that Rean quite clearly takes after his birth mother, Kasia Osborne, in terms of looks.
  • Super Mode: In Cold Steel II Rean comes to terms with his "ogre power" and gains the Craft Spirit Unification which allows him to tap into it at will. For three turns, it boosts his stats, makes him immune to status ailments and changes his Crafts to even more powerful ones. Even after he destroys Ishmelga at the end of Cold Steel IV, Reverie shows that he still has the Ogre Power and can still use Spirit Unification but without going berserk. By the end of the main game, it's been upgraded into Enlightened Spirit Unification.
  • Supernatural Angst: He isn't exactly happy about his powers but at the same time knows that it won't go away.
  • Supernatural Gold Eyes: In the final battle of Cold Steel III, he has golden eyes with black sclera instead of his normal red in his Super Mode. It's a sign that he's completely lost control of his powers.
  • Superpowered Evil Side: In situation of extreme emotions like when trying to protect Elise, he loses control of himself and turns mostly feral while gaining a massive power boost. This ogre power is a massive source of angst for him, leading him to reject it and take up the sword to acquire control on himself. After a Get A Hold Of Yourself Man speech by Alfin in Cold Steel II, he is able to master it and turn it into his Super Mode. It is revealed in Cold Steel III that Rean is still prone to losing control of this state and it is linked to Osborne's heart inside Rean. He loses it at the end of Cold Steel IV after the curse is destroyed.
  • Super Prototype: He gains the Tyrfing-S in Reverie which is built by Makarov, partly because Rean broke one of the Drakkhens in the Project Tyrfing side story. But mainly because Makarov decided to make one for his graduation project.
  • Survivor Guilt: He ends up being hard on himself after Crow sacrificed his life to give Rean an opening to save the prince. He also ends up being hard on himself when Millium dies right in front of his eyes.
  • Swipe Your Blade Off: His victory animation will always have him swipe his blade before sheathing it.
  • Sword Beam: His Arc Slash where after unsheathing his sword, a beam fires out in a straight line. The upgraded version, True Arc Slash, has a bigger radius.
  • Sword Plant: His defeated pose has him stabbing the ground while kneeling.
  • Sword Pointing: He's fond on doing this while making a grand speech.
  • Sympathy for the Devil: He starts to sympathize with the Imperial Liberation Front in Cold Steel II thanks to their backstories having to do with something Osborne did in their lives. That said, he still wants them to answer for their crimes instead of taking the easy way out. He especially this way about Crow, to the point that he lashes out at Osborne for being alive despite everything Crow did to try and take him down.
    T - Y 
  • Tainted Veins: When Ishmelga tries to take him over near the ending of Cold Steel IV, Rean gains several black marks across his face and neck, making his veins glow a burning red color. His Alternate Self, Ishmelga Rean, retains the same marks as well, along with a few on his left hand.
  • Taking the Bullet: During the Field Study to Bareahard in Chapter 2 of Cold Steel I, he pushes Jusis and Machias out of the way of a sneak attack of a monster they fought that was Not Quite Dead and ends up getting struck in the back. He ends up fine thanks to Emma's help. He also has this as one of his Link abilities.
  • Taking You with Me: Takes Ishmelga with him in death in the normal ending of Cold Steel IV with Crow and Millium joining for the ride. However, it's revealed in Reverie that he ends up surviving but is forced into an endless battle with Ishmelga.
  • Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He has dark hair and by the time of Cold Steel III, he's grown to be 178cm tall (5'10). While he's not the tallest member of the main cast, he's still quite good looking.
  • A Taste of Power:
    • During the Intermission Sequence in Cold Steel II, Rean gets unlimited access to his Super Mode just in time for two boss fights back to back with his Dual Boss in Bleublanc and Duvalie that players only need to do a set amount of damage, and his duel with Crow that players need to win. Unfortunately after that, the unlimited turns go away and the game will restrict it to three turns only.
    • In Cold Steel IV, the entire Black Workshop level has him fully buffed in his out of control Demon Unchained and starts the game at level 90 compared to the rest of Class VII who hover between levels 84-87. Unlike Cold Steel II however, players can run around as Rean in this state which makes enemies almost impossible to kill off Rean even on Nightmare runs.
  • Taught by Experience: Many things that he's learned for Cold Steel I and Cold Steel II have applied by Cold Steel III. Best shown during his first foray with the new Class VII where he warns them right away to watch out for the floor underneath them which comes to pass when a trap door opens up much like it did with Rean and his friends.
  • Teacher/Student Romance: He can form one with Sara in Cold Steel IV, though by that time, she's no longer his teacher. Likewise, he will only consider a relationship with Juna, Altina, or Musse once they've grown up and stopped being students.
  • Teacher's Unfavorite Student: Discussed and subverted. When Ka-Fai left him during his training, Rean's low self-esteem naturally lead him to believe it was because his master saw him as a lost cause. The ensuing letter correspondence he receives from his master however, ensure that was not the case, with Ka-Fai expressing a degree of pride at his growth. Then in Cold Steel IV, Cassius reveals that Ka-Fai did the same with his other students when he believed they were on the way to mastery, and he in fact considers Rean one of his most valuable pupils who is likely to surpass him in discovering the true meaning of the school's teachings.
  • Team Dad: He quickly takes the role of a father to his students in Cold Steel III. Juna even sarcastically says "Thanks, DAD" to him when he's playing Mission Control for a level.
  • Tearful Smile: After the final boss of the second game, complete with a single tear.
  • Technician vs. Performer: His fights with Crow can come off as this as Rean is taught by a master swordsman while Crow is usually self-taught and cruises by with his double-bladed saber, his guns, and his guile.
  • Technicolor Eyes: His eyes are purple normally but turn red whenever he activates Spirit Unification. When he succumbs to the Curse from the end of Cold Steel III to Cold Steel IV, his eyes turn gold with Hellish Pupils and black sclera.
  • Technicolor Fire: While his flame attacks and his first S-Craft are the regular red color, his upgraded S-Craft, Azure Flame Slash, is blue. In his Superpowered Evil Side, the color of the flames are purple, though it's back to blue after he masters his Super Mode in Cold Steel II. It becomes purple again in Cold Steel III and Cold Steel IV, including his second S-Craft where in his base self, they're all different colors but after he's used Spirit Unification or Demon Unchained, it's all purple.
  • Tell Me About My Father: In Cold Steel III, people who knew Osborne before he became a chancellor end up telling Rean what they know about him through either a letter or in person.
  • Tell Me How You Fight: If someone is on the screen and they are well known in martial arts, Rean is the man who will explain to the rest of his classmates of their fighting styles and the proficiency of said person's weapon.
  • Thanks for the Mammary: Got a face full of Alisa's breasts during the early part of the first game. It's why Alisa was pissed off at him for three weeks, though she really wanted to apologize for it for making a big deal out of the situation.
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill: After defeating the final boss of Cold Steel III, he starts hacking at it so many times that even when it's lying on the ground and dying, he still keeps on doing it over and over till the corpse finally disappears.
  • Think Nothing of It: Being the humble guy he is, Rean tends to downplay it whenever people try to thank or praise him for his good deeds.
  • This Is Gonna Suck: His basic reaction when Laura and Fie team to fight him and Machias after their spar at Mater Park during Chapter 4 of Cold Steel III. Also, whenever an opponent catches their second wind and/or reveals they were holding back.
  • This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Claims that he has to leave Class VII to go to the Infernal Castle by himself because Crow is waiting for him there. Class VII, Towa, and Angelica aren't having any of it.
  • This Is Unforgivable!: After seeing the hidden past of Dreichels and Lianne, Osborne, Franz becoming Black Alberich, and Rutger coming back from the dead, he blames Ishmelga for everything, complete with him nearly giving in to the curse.
  • Thou Shalt Not Kill: Much like the rest of his classmates, this is his stance for the most part as he'll try to knock enemies unconscious instead of outright killing them. He foregoes this rule in Cold Steel IV when faced with Osborne, calmly accepting the fact that he needs to kill his biological father in order to save the world. He also doesn't hesitate to end Ishmelga's life during the True Ending either, recognizing that even without the apocalypse, Erebonia is doomed to fascistic stagnation and self-inflicted tragedy so long as that thing exists.
  • Token Adult: He is the sole adult when leading New Class VII in their field studies as their instructor.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Takes several leaps in strength throughout the Cold Steel games. The most notable example of which would be how he initially fares against Crow both on foot and in their Divine Knights. He was initially outclassed on both fronts, but several months of training and fighting for the former and over a month of piloting for the latter helps him to eventually close the gap and allow him to defeat Crow. Come Cold Steel III and Rean's strength and skill is taken even further as he becomes strong enough to defeat Wallace Bardias in combat, and even manages to bring Aurelia Le Guin down to a knee during a spar. This is eventually taken to its logical conclusion in Cold Steel IV where, after passing a test from Cassius, Rean finally becomes a Divine Blade.
  • Took a Level in Cynic: After the series of whams he gets after the end of Cold Steel II from Crow dying, to lashing out at Osborne for not being dead so Crow can get some closure, to finding out that Osborne's his real dad, to participating in the war against Crossbell, he starts to act very cynically. The way he talks with Claire after arriving at Trista in the epilogue starts it all off and he even has this to say once he exits the station:
    Rean: (thinking) It's not like the excitement of that day has faded away or anything. So why? Why do I feel so cold...?
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Briefly at the beginning of Cold Steel II towards Celine for forcing Valimar away from the fight against Ordine, possibly leaving all his friends to die as a result. Again in the epilogue towards Claire, having become upset at her because he thought that she knew the truth about his real father being Osborne. Much like with Celine, this is only brief as he later apologizes to her.
  • Too Many Belts: His second game regular costume has quite a bit (see his image above), but his DLC costume has quite a number of them. And then there's his outfit in the third game where there's even more.
  • Tormented Teacher: His students are a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits and Military Mavericks who aren't above disobeying his orders or having fun at his expense, sometimes to his face, which is shown to grate on him at times. Some of his co-workers weren't above causing him some headaches either, mainly Schmidt and Aurelia. Then there's the fact that not even taking the job as an instructor was able to keep him away from Osborne's or Ouroboros' machinations, with the monthly assignments he and his students take resulting in them having to deal with terrorist attacks on a regular basis.
  • Tornado Move: One of the new moves he has in Cold Steel III is that he delivers two quick slashes with his sword, on fire, and then delivers a third slash with a tornado forming in front of him.
  • Tragic Bromance: How he sees his relationship with Crow. Despite only knowing him for less than a year, he still remembers him fondly, regardless of how Crow hurt him badly at one point.
  • Tragic Keepsake: If going by the ending of Cold Steel II, Crow's 50 mira counts. Cold Steel III confirms this in a screenshot where Elise looks at Rean's belongings with one of them being Crow's 50 mira beside his pictures of Class VII and his family.
  • Tranquil Fury: One of the side quests in Cold Steel III has him and new Class VII investigate and detain a couple of delinquents harassing the Saint Astraia students thanks to Alfin's absence. When the group finds out that one of them tried to have their way with Elise, and even stroked her cheek, Rean is completely furious but keeps it under a cheery facade as he describes his plan to punish them with Valimar.
  • Transformation Is a Free Action: Played straight with Spirit Unification or Demon Unchained as while it does cause the turn bar to move, it's still his turn afterwards. So is summoning Valimar throughout Cold Steel II as none of the Noble Alliance soldiers even think of attacking him while he's summoning his mech.
  • Trash Talk: Does this at Pantagruel towards both Bleublanc and Duvalie, right before he uses his ogre power for the first time.
  • Trauma Conga Line: In short order in Cold Steel II: fails to save Crow and keep his promise to Towa, Angelica, and George, finds out that Osborne is his father, and finally said father makes him into a national hero where circumstances force him to participate in a war he has no stake on because he's the only guy who can pilot Valimar. Then in Cold Steel III, the entirety of the finale is pretty much this as he suffers one thing after another, culminating in dooming Erebonia in darkness from the curse spreading throughout the country.
  • Trauma-Induced Amnesia: He's shown to have no recollection of his earlier childhood with his biological parents following the Jaeger attack that resulted in his mother's death and his own near death.
  • Tritagonist: Of Reverie. His route is the most disconnected from the main plot, with him not even making it to Crossbell until Chapter 4, the penultimate chapter. However, he is the protagonist with the connection to the main story's Big Bad.
  • Troubled, but Cute: Has a lot of problems in his life, yet still managed to gain quite a bit of female attraction.
  • Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Killing a monster far larger than you with nothing but a hatchet and in your Superpowered Evil Side would shake you considerably. This is the reason why he decided to train under Yun Ka-Fai.
  • Try Not to Die: His one order in Cold Steel III towards his students is to not die against Campanella.
  • Tsundere: He's not one, but in Cold Steel III Fie does refer to him as such when he bluntly states to Kurt that his swordsmanship would not be enough to aid him during Rean's mission to investigate Ouroboros during Chapter 1.
  • Turn the Other Cheek: Isn't even angry at Crow for stomping him and inadvertently putting him in a coma for a month. He's more concerned as to why he'd do those actions instead.
  • *Twang* Hello: It's how he introduces himself in Cold Steel III during the prologue of the game against the Stahlritter before the How We Got Here settled in (and the event itself is repeated when the game finally catches up at that scenario). This also doubles as his field attack that gives the party a triple advantage against his enemies, and his first craft in the game.
  • Twerp Sweating: Is a victim of this, courtesy of both Xeno and Leo aboard the Pantagruel where the two really want to know if Rean did date or do something to Fie. Hilarity Ensues.
  • Umbrella of Togetherness: He shares an umbrella with Rosine in a hidden quest in the first game. In Cold Steel III, he has this together with Towa.
  • Unique Protagonist Asset: Rean has two. The first asset is his ogre power, a mysterious ability that allows him to boost his own capabilities at the cost of his sanity. The only other character in the series to show a similar ability is McBurn. The second asset is Valimar, a Humongous Mecha of great power wherein there are only six others like it in existence. He eventually loses Valimar at the end of Cold Steel IV, but is revealed to have kept his ogre power in Reverie just without the curse aspect that makes him go berserk.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: Initially when it comes to piloting Valimar. At the start it's made clear that Rean's successes against the Noble Alliance's Panzer Soldats are inevitably due to Valimar himself being a much more superior machine in comparison. When pitted against Crow, who also has a Divine Knight and much more experience, both are easily taken down twice. By the third match they're able to fight on more equal terms since Valimar had been equipped with the Zemurian Tachi, allowing Rean to fight at his full potential as an Eight Leaves One Blade style practitioner, but even then both are barely able to pull out a win and only do so thanks to Rean subconsciously creating combat links with everyone in Class VII during the fight. By the time of Reverie, Rean has so much experience in piloting Soldats that he's able to defeat Crow in the Soldat simulator, all while both are using the Tyrfing model while having no access to combat links.
  • The Unsmile: A side quest in Cold Steel III has him flashing one of his biggest "smiles" while dealing some very harsh threats to the guys who have been harassing Elise and the students at St. Astraia.
  • Unstoppable Rage: The end result of him having the sword forged from Millium's soul, combined with losing control of his Superpowered Evil Side results in one of the most horrific curb stomps delivered towards the Final Boss in video game history.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Killing the corrupted beast in Cold Steel III was not the plan, but Rean unfortunately does this because he loses control of himself and his powers after seeing his friend die in front of him.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Unfortunately, no matter what he does, he'll always be a pawn to Osborne. Anything he does will only further Osborne's plans. He knows this and can't do anything about it. And the one time he can finally stop him, he gives in to his rage and Superpowered Evil Side and kills the beast for Osborne. And just to make things worse, Osborne calmly snaps him back to reality just by stretching his hand towards Rean without even touching him.
  • Upbringing Makes the Hero: Thanks to his kind and loving adopted parents, his very understanding little sister (who has a crush on him but he doesn't know that), Rean actually turned out far better than if he were ever raised by Osborne and/or people being scared by his Superpowered Evil Side.
  • Vampire Bites Suck: He gets bitten by Roselia twice in Cold Steel III. Once at the Great Forest, and the other at Bryonia Island. Both times happen because his ogre power went a bit berserk and her bites were there to calm them down. His students, after seeing the bite, think that he had one crazy night after Sara and Claire both kissed him on his cheeks at two separate occasions on the same night. Subverted when it turns out that she's not a vampire at all.
  • Veteran Instructor: A war veteran who technically only was a provisional officer ends up teaching at the Thors Branch Campus.
  • Vocal Evolution: Compared to his student years where he has a higher pitched voice to his teacher years where his voice is a lot deeper. It's more noticeable when he uses Gale as it's the one move he keeps throughout the Cold Steel arc.
  • Waking Up Elsewhere: Cold Steel II begins with him waking up in the Eisengard mountain range, far north from Trista which was Rean's last location prior to being forcibly evacuated by Celine in order to save him and Valimar from Crow.
  • Warrior Therapist: Definitely provided a bit of therapy during his bonding scenes with the rest of Class VII and helping to resolve the situation between Jusis-Machias and Laura-Fie conflicts.
  • Weapon Twirling: His final S-Craft in Cold steel IV has him twirling his sword twice before sheathing it and then starts attacking the enemy by unsheathing his blade and forming a Tornado Move for his first attack.
  • What the Hell Are You?: Loudly questioned by Duvalie after he shows off his mastered Super Mode.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Rean has been both on the giving and receiving end of this trope on different occassions:
    • On the giving end:
      • In Chapter 1 of Cold Steel III, he chastises his students for disobeying his orders and interfering during Rean's fight against Ouroboros, telling them that they would have been court-martialled if they had been actual soldiers.
      • In their first bonding event in Cold Steel IV, he ends up calling out Sara for being so willing to sacrifice herself to bring Rean back to his senses after he takes in the curse that was possessing both Nidhoggr and the Northern Jaegers at the grave site of Sara's father.
      • In a bonding event with Altina in Cold Steel IV, she goes on a solo mission to Ymir without telling anyone else, having discovered that the IDF is planning to take the town hostage to lure Rean out. Rean is horrified when he finds out and, once Lechter has assured him that it won't happen again, he hugs her out of relief and yells at her to never do it again.
      • During the Ouroboros attack on the Pantagruel, Musse orders a suicide attack on the Glorious, which is averted when Olivert reveals himself to be alive and arrives in the Courageous II. After the attack is repelled, Rean reveals that he overheard her order and approaches her with an expression that is calm but a clear sign that he's extremely mad, telling her that he needs to talk with her about being willing to needlessly throw her life away like that.
      • During his Bonding Event with Emma in IV, Emma attempts a forbidden spell to enter his subconscious in a vain attempt to relieve him of the Curse, leaving out how she's likely to end up an Empty Shell if it failed. Rean immediately cuts off the spell and snaps at her for being so reckless.
    • On the receiving end:
      • Elise angrily shouts at him before running away after he stated his desire to cut himself away from the rest of the family after graduating from Thors as he thought of himself as a burden to them, clearly hurt that he doesn't realize how much she and his adopted love him and would be far more hurt with him cutting them out of his life than whatever damage his adoption has done to their reputations.
      • During their first Bonding Event of Cold Steel IV, Laura rebukes him on resigning himself to die during the Rivalries if it means putting a stop to the Great Twilight.
  • Willfully Weak: Because of his ogre power, Rean tends to hold back more than he should which leads to people calling him out on this more often than not. He's also this in regards to his students, holding back and allowing them to take the lead at times so that they don't rely on him too much else they stunt their own growth as individuals.
  • With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: The main reason why he's so hesitant about fighting at his full strength. As beneficial as it is, using his ogre power results in Rean becoming more aggressive and feral the more he draws strength from it and will eventually lose control of himself. Being a pacifist at heart, the idea of this frightens Rean. He makes motions to try and get his ogre power under control and somewhat succeeds by Cold Steel II after his talk with Alfin leads to an epiphany about himself, but this eventually revealed to be only temporary as by Cold Steel III his power has started growing even stronger than it was before and he now needs outside help to control it. Sadly this is for naught, as at the end of that game, he loses control and butchers the Nameless One out of revenge for Millium's death.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Finds out that his student shot the emperor thanks to a curse, loses his allies and friends that he trusted throughout the series and is forced to fight them, sees his most trusted allies blown up in an explosion, finds out that his Zemurian tachi isn't enough to even dent the Nameless One and is nearly chewed, nearly sees his student and friend Altina sacrifice herself to protect Rean, and sees Millium killed in front of him. End result: Rean loses control of his Superpowered Evil Side, hacks the Nameless One in rage and dooms Erebonia to have every citizen become bloodthirsty for Calvard because the gun Ash uses is made from Calvard. Yeah, guy cannot catch a break.
  • The Worf Effect:
    • The Zemurian Tachi suffers this throughout III. Despite being made of the strongest metal known in Zemuria, it's snapped in half during the battle against the Aion Type Alpha II and later again during the battle against the Nameless One, showcasing how powerful both are when not even Rean's previous opponents in Crow and the Vermillion Apocalypse could manage the same feat.
    • Rean himself undergoes this during his short story in Reverie. Although they don't actually fight, his encounter with Shizuna results in her taking Rean by surprise and snapping his tachi in half. This is well after Rean had already become a Divine Blade and fought and defeated various enemies of great skill, demonstrating Shizuna's own strength and the potential danger she poses.
  • Worth Living For: His Martyr Without a Cause tendencies come to a head during Cold Steel IV when he's outright resigned himself to death to try and atone for the Great Twilight, and is shown to still be wondering if he deserves to live and be happy by Reverie. He eventually outgrows it as he realizes just how much his loved ones care for him, with him deciding to value himself for their sakes.
  • Wrecked Weapon:
    • During the climax of the story, Rean's Zemurian tachi he forged for Valimar gets wrecked after the beast bites it. He then obtains a new sword from Millium's soul after she dies protecting him.
    • In Reverie, one of the short stories of the future Calvard arc ends with his tachi being completely busted by the "Princess," a woman claiming to be his senior apprentice.
  • Wrong Context Magic: One of the main reasons he grew up fearful of his ogre power is that it is something so uncontrollable, unexplainable and unlike anything you can find in Zemuria.
  • You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Has been on the giving and the receiving ends of this trope on several separate occasions:
    • On the giving end, he did this to Jusis and Emma when reuniting with them in Cold Steel II when they're both clouded by self-doubt for keeping secrets of their identities, and connections to the rebels respectively. A good chunk of his supports with Altina in Cold Steel III involve him doing this to the latter in regards to her insecurities.
    • His lack of self-worth has resulted in him being on the receiving end of this on numerous occasions. Whether its due to his angst at being adopted into a noble family and thinking he's a burden to them, his fears of his powers, failing to bring back Crow alive, his actions as the Ashen Chevalier and especially after bringing out the Great Twilight at the end of Cold Steel III. How well he takes them to heart is instrumental to whether or not he'll survive or lose his life in a Heroic Sacrifice at the end of Cold Steel IV.
  • You Are Not Alone: During the epilogue in Cold Steel II, he's starting to feel the burden of being a national hero, who then joined the war at Crossbell and ended it much quicker. Fortunately enough, his friends all tell him that he really shouldn't be holding onto all those burdens. This is the focus of his character development in Cold Steel IV, with the main theme of the game itself being the lesson of people being stronger and better when they work together. Rean can only finish Ishmelga off if he accepts the help of not only the Holy Beast of Earth, but also from all his friends and comrades, who gave him enough energy through the ARCUS to expel Ishmelga out of his body. The last boss fight is also all the 39 characters against Ishmelga, with Rean finishing it off for good with Millium's help and Osborne's guidance.
  • You Are Not My Father: Towards Osborne when learning about their true relationship. Outright tells Olaf that Baron Teo Schwarzer is the only man he would call father when the former tells him more about Osborne's history. Subverted at the end of Cold Steel IV, where he acknowledges both Teo and Osborne as his fathers.
  • You Can't Fight Fate: In Cold Steel III, it turns out that all of his actions from the climax of Cold Steel II (the Vermillion Apocalypse) to Cold Steel III were already preordained within the Black Records and that someone will be the one who will kill the corrupted divine beast and fulfill a thousand year promise. Unfortunately for Rean, that guy is him.
  • Your Days Are Numbered: In Cold Steel IV, Rean is well aware that due to becoming a Sacrifice, it's only a matter of time before the curse consumes him for good, and so he'll likely have to die before that happens. The Normal ending plays this straight, as the only way to eradicate Ishmelga is via a Heroic Suicide, but the Golden Ending allows him to subvert what fate has in store for him and make it out alive.
  • You Did Everything You Could: How Towa comforts him when he fails to bring Crow back to the academy.
  • You Remind Me of X: Upon finally meeting Rean herself, Renne notes that he somewhat reminds her of Loewe.
  • You Wake Up in a Room: One of his flashbacks reveal that when he first has consciousness after Baron Schwarzer rescues him is that he wakes up in a room with Elise tending to him as a kid.

Alternative Title(s): The Legend Of Heroes Trails Of Cold Steel Rean Schwarzer

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