Kingdom of Liberl: Estelle's Party | Liberl Royalty and Military | Liberl Civilians
Crossbell State: Crossbell Government and Influential Groups | Crossbell Police and Military | Special Support Section | Crossbell Civilians
Erebonian Empire: Erebonia Imperial Family and Four Great Houses | The Ironbloods | Erebonia Military | Thors' Staff and Instructors | Thors Class VII (Rean Schwarzer | Original Class VII (Part One, Part Two) | New Class VII) | Main Campus Classes | Branch Campus | Erebonian Civilians and Major Groups | Imperial Liberation Front
Republic of Calvard: Calvard Miscellaneous | Arkride Solutions Office
Other Nations: Remiferia Miscellaneous | Elsaim Miscellaneous
Notable Groups: The Bracer Guild | Ouroboros (The Seven Anguis | Enforcers) | Jaeger Corps | Septian Church
Others: Ancient Zemurian Civilization | The Sept-Terrions and the Holy Beasts | Posthumous Characters
The original group's logo
In our hearts, the flames of silent anger. In our hands, the hammer of judgment that shall topple the dictator. That is our cause. Our purpose.
— Comrade C
A terrorist group active in the Empire whose stated goal is nothing less than the death of Giliath Osborne. They have far greater money and resources than their size would suggest, leading many to conclude that they must have a wealthy backer, later on confirmed to be the Noble Alliance.
In March of S.1207, the existence of a group known as the "Reborn Imperial Liberation Front" was announced by a figure known as C, the same moniker used by the original group's leader—much to the chagrin of the original C.
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Original Imperial Liberation Front
Comrade C
The leader of the Imperial Liberation Front, with a mask to hide his face and a synthesizer to hide his voice, not even his companions know him as anything but "Comrade C".
To learn more about his true identity, see here.
Comrade G
Michael Gideon
- Voiced by: Kohei Matsumoto (Japanese, Cold Steel), Kenji Akabane (Japanese, Azure), Xander Mobus (English)Appearances: Azure (unnamed) | Cold Steel
The cold sub-commander of the ILF who spearheads their plans. He is normally addressed as "Comrade G".
- Affably Evil: While he's thoroughly contemptuous of Class VII and doesn't bother to hide his disdain for them, he's far more respectful towards the SSS. He admits to their accusations of extremism and claims that he doesn't exactly want to endanger innocent lives in pursuit of his goals. His group clearly isn't happy about teaming up with the xenophobic Calvardian terrorists either and he even agrees that the backup plan of blowing up Orchis Tower was taking things too far. It makes the SSS all the more horrified when he's unceremoniously executed by the Red Constellation soon afterwards.
- Asshole Victim: Gets executed by the Red Constellation at Orchis Tower. Considering he was a terrorist who had plotted several of the ILF's more heinous plans such as trying to trigger a war between the Empire and the Republic via a False Flag Operation in Nord, abducted, drugged, and held a blade to Princess Alfin's throat (who should be noted was only 15 and was completely innocent of the grievances he and the rest of the ILF held towards Osborne) and lead on attack on the West Zemuria Trade Conference, it's hard to feel sorry for him when he's eventually Killed Offscreen in Cold Steel, especially since he was nothing but a smug, contemptuous asshole in his encounters with Class VII. He's portrayed more sympathetically when his death is actually shown in Azure, as he's more respectful in his interactions with the SSS and acknowledges how extreme his actions are, and the SSS themselves are horrified upon his execution, though this is mostly because they don't like killing people on principle.
- Bad Boss: He leaves his wannabe-jaeger catspaws behind to be eaten by a gigantic spider. He's better about taking care of his own people.
- Bus Crash: Played with; from the perspective of the Cold Steel arc, he is killed offscreen during the terrorist attack on Orchis Tower at the hands of The Red Constellation. However, the added portraits in the Kai version of Azure establishes that he was the leader fought by the SSS, meaning the player can actually see the moment he dies.
- Canon Character All Along: The Kai version of Azure gave portraits to the leader of the group that attacked Orchis Tower, retroactively confirming that he was Gideon the entire time.
- Even Evil Can Be Loved: In Cold Steel IV, during one of Crow's bonding events, Gideon's grandmother can be found praying for him in the Saint-Arkh Cathedral, where Crow leaves Gideon's glasses for her, to help her move on and she still loves him even though she agrees his actions are unforgivable.
- Evil Is Hammy: He shows a strong theatrical style when revealing his identity and explaining the mission of the ILF to Class VII.
- The Extremist Was Right: Players can find books about his researches in Cold Steel III and it turns out that he knew that Osborne would put out a national mobilization law in one of his books.
- Foregone Conclusion: His eventual fate. Anybody who has played the Crossbell games would know that he dies during the terrorist attack on Orchis Tower.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He doesn't have much in the way of redeeming qualities aside from the fact that the person he's opposing is even worse.
- Hand Cannon: His pistol is very large and allows him to hit multiple targets at once with explosive ammunition. Claire uses the same model of gun so it's presumably military-issue.
- Inconsistent Dub: The English translation for the first Cold Steel renders his first name as Mikhail, though subsequent entries in the Erebonia arc go with "Michael" instead.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Manipulated the mercenary group Bugbear into launching attacks on Imperial and Republican bases, then left them to be killed by a monster he unleashed after they outlived their usefulness to him. His ILF detachment was manipulated into attacking Orchis Tower, then they were hunted down by Red Constellation after having outlived their usefulness to the conspirators. He even knows he wasn't going to make it out alive.
- Lesser of Two Evils: In his book, "Marching Towards Dystopia," he admits he doesn't agree with the Noble Faction on all issues, but he believes Osborne and the Reformist Faction are worse because of all the unrest they cause with their expansionist policies, which they will take advantage of to seize power and turn Erebonia into a military dictatorship. It's implied that others in the ILF share the same mindset, since many members are commoners too. He also deconstructs this by pointing out that the nobility's Appeal to Tradition means they can't mount an effective argument against the Reformists, leading to the latter group becoming more popular despite having terrible long-term goals.
- Moral Myopia: Disparages Osborne as nothing more than a tyrant who will bring Erebonia to ruin while espousing how he and the rest of the ILF are true patriots who will fix it, all the while committing acts of terrorism that endanger many innocent lives who were barely even remotely connected to Osborne or his policies while receiving help from Duke Cayenne, who by all accounts would be far from an improvement.
- Musical Assassin: He has an Artifact called the Demonic Flute which enables him to control monsters, up to and including summoning an ancient spider-demon and resurrecting a dead dragon to fight your party. That nonsense ends after Rean destroys it before he can use it again.
- Politically Motivated Teacher: He used to be an assistant professor at Heimdallr's Imperial Academy, but was fired for constantly speaking out against Osborne and distributing tracts and fliers in public.
- Revenge: Averted. Of the leaders, he's the least motivated by revenge, since he opposed Osborne even before he was fired from the Imperial Academy. While the others hate Osborne for wronging them in the past, Gideon's hatred is mostly based on Osborne's future policies.
- Starter Villain: Out of the many conspiracies and organizations lurking in Erebonia, Gideon is the weakest member of the weakest group, and is fittingly both the first actual villain faced by Class VII and the only one of the four ILF leaders who doesn't make it to Cold Steel II.
- Would Hurt a Child: After his plans fall through, he has no problem putting a knife to Alfin's neck in order to ensure his escape. He only pulls back because C orders him to do so while coming to his rescue.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: He sees himself as the latter, naturally.
Comrade S
Scarlet
Scarlet as an ILF member
SPOILERS
- Voiced by: Hiromi Nishikawa (Japanese, Cold Steel series), Naoko Komatsu (Japanese, Reverie), Mela Lee (English)
Another leader of the ILF, wielding a templar sword and arts with equal skill. She is normally addressed as "Comrade S".
- Ace Custom: Two of them, her reactive armor equipped Spiegel in Cold Steel I and her Kestrel in Cold Steel II.
- The Atoner: In Cold Steel IV, she's revealed to have rejoined the Gralsritter and is working to atone for her actions as a terrorist.
- BFS: Her Spiegel wields a sword which is huge by definition. She laments that Reinford hasn't yet managed to make a mecha-scaled version of her templar sword. Cold Steel II gave her the Kestrel Soldat and a Soldat-sized templar sword.
- Bow and Sword in Accord:In Reverie, she's begun wielding a bowgun in her off hand in addition to her templar sword, similar to Rufina Argent.
- The Bus Came Back: After not being seen onscreen since Cold Steel II, she makes her return in Reverie, assisting in Crossbell's liberation.
- Death Seeker: In Cold Steel II. With the Chancellor presumed dead and thus her only goal in life fulfilled, she finds no more value in life and wishes to have one last battle before she dies so she can be reunited with her lost friends. Fortunately, Rean is able to save her before that happens.
- Even Evil Has Standards: She may be a terrorist who would point a gun at Crossbell, but even she's appalled at Duke Albarea burning down one of his own territories for no reason other than the Imperial Army was using it as a base for some time. The only reason why she's fighting Rean is because she wants to die and meet up with Vulcan and Gideon.
- Eyepatch of Power: Whether it's cosmetic or not is unknown, but she does wear one.
- Fallen Heroine: She was once a Squire in the Gralsritter, but joined the Imperial Liberation Front in order to avenge her family, giving the terrorist group a member with the skills of a Church Militant. After the Erebonian civil war, she rejoins the Gralsritter as Wazy's Squire.
- Flawed Prototype: The Kestrel unit she fights Rean with in Cold Steel II. It has a mech-scaled version of her templar sword and is a lightly-armored but very fast model that can dodge most attacks easily and can outright blitz regular units. However, similar to V's Goliath, its great speed and maneuverability places a great strain on its orbal engine which results in it exploding at the end of her boss fight. Also, just like V's Goliath, it was probably intentional since she's a Death Seeker at that point.
- Flechette Storm: Her S-Craft, Bloody Storm.
- Freudian Excuse: Osborne's aggressive plans to modernize the empire via the railway system caused the destruction of her hometown. While they were paid a fair price for the loss of their land after Osborne's eminent domain seizure, they weren't able to find a replacement farm, her dad was drowning in his sorrows, and died. She was still training when it all happened and she has no idea where her family is anymore.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: During the finale of the first Cold Steel game, you can't defeat her Spiegel while on foot because she's effectively invincible.
- Karma Houdini: She ends up rejoining the Church after the end of Cold Steel II while suffering little punishment for her crimes as a terrorist.
- Limit Break: Her S-Craft is Bloody Storm.
- Ms. Fanservice: She has quite the large bust, not to mention all the listed traits.
- My Rules Are Not Your Rules: Her Spiegel has an ability called Reactive Armor which she will use the first turn she gets. It grants her infinite Craft Guard and Arts Reflection. That means every single attack you land will either be useless or actively harmful to you.
- Playing with Fire: All of her Crafts have a fire theme and when swung, her templar sword appears to catch fire.
- Sigil Spam: Her tattoo is the symbol of the Imperial Liberation Front.
- The Smurfette Principle: The only major female figure of the Imperial Liberation Front.
- Sole Survivor: The last member of the Imperial Liberation Front that is still alive. Also, if she got the news, then the only one of them to ever find out that their nemesis, Giliath Osborne, remains alive. This lasts up until Crow comes Back from the Dead.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: She's nowhere to be seen in Cold Steel III, only getting a single brief mention, and it's not known what happened to her after the civil war. In Cold Steel IV, while she doesn't appear in person, one of Crow's bonding events reveals she went back to the Gralsritter, and is now working under Wazy. She finally makes her return in Reverie as an ally of the SSS.
- Whip Sword: She uses a templar sword, the magazine where Falcom revealed this even dared readers to start engaging in Wild Mass Guessing over this fact. Cold Steel does not reveal the reason she uses one, though Cold Steel II does. She was in the middle of her training and was about to go on her first mission for the church when the stuff that had happened in her hometown made her abandon it.
- Worf Had the Flu: In the very first Soldat fight, she isn't fighting at her best because she's using a regular Soldat-sized sword instead of a Templar Sword, though Rean is at a similar disadvantage due to fighting barehanded in their first duel and using a non-tachi sword in their second duel. Despite this, she puts up a good fight in both of her Soldat duels all while fighting someone with a superior machine.
Comrade V
Vulcan
- Voiced by: Takahiro Fujimoto (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English)Appearances: Cold Steel | Cold Steel II
An enormous man and the last of the leaders of the ILF. He is normally addressed as "Comrade V".
- Benevolent Boss: Despite enjoying the thrill of battle like most jaegers, his unit switches to easy missions whenever many greenhorns join. Unfortunately, he wrongly assumed that the request to intimidate Osborne was going to be one of those easy jobs, resulting in everyone except for himself being killed.
- BFG: He uses a massive, err, vulcan cannon. One-handed.
- The Brute: The biggest guy among the Imperial Liberation Front.
- Death Seeker: In Cold Steel II. Like with Scarlet, with the Chancellor presumed dead and thus his only goal in life fulfilled, he finds no more value in life and wishes to have one last battle before he dies so he can be reunited with his lost friends. He eventually gets his wish, much to the dismay of Rean and everyone else present.
- Disproportionate Retribution: His reason for hating Osborne. When he was still the leader of Arngarmr, the group was hired by a noble (later revealed to be Rufus) to give Osborne "a warning" shortly after the man came into power. Osborne predicted such a thing would happen and had a trap waiting. Then, Osborne proceed to annihilate every Arngarmr member, with Vulcan being the only survivor. Now It's Personal.
- Dual Wielding: His Spiegel uses a pair of massive hammers.
- Flawed Prototype: The Goliath he uses to fight Rean in Cold Steel II. It's huge enough to pick up or swat away other regular Soldats with its hands, has wrist-mounted flamethrowers, and a HUGE scaled up version of his Vulcan Cannon mounted over it's right shoulder. Its biggest problem is that it taxes the orbal engine to compensate for its massive weight. This was deliberate as Vulcan's a Death Seeker.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Before his boss fight in the Sachsen Iron Mine, he reveals to Class VII that his grudge against Osborne was due to the latter wiping out the rest of his old jaeger corps. While they do feel some sympathy towards his loss, they all immediately point out that Osborne was well within his rights to use lethal force to defend himself from a hostile mercenary corps sent to 'teach him a lesson'. To his credit, he does agree that he doesn't have much of a moral highground to stand on, he just doesn't care.
- Gatling Good: With a central barrel that functions as a miniature Wave-Motion Gun.
- Hypocrisy Nod: He admits his grudge against Osborne is Revenge Myopia, since Arngarmr was hired to antagonize him in the first place. However, he still feels obligated to avenge his jaeger group.
- Limit Break: His S-Craft is Destruction Cannon.
- Private Military Contractors: A former jaeger, once the leader of a group called Arngarmr, of which he is the only surviving member.
- Revenge Myopia: His grudge against Osborne is due to him being responsible for the deaths of the rest of his old Jaeger Corps. However, Osborne only did so in self-defense because he and his old crew had accepted a job to 'put him in his place'. Even Class VII (who are no big fans of Osborne and are adherents of Thou Shall Not Kill) claim Osborne was well within his rights to defend himself from them, even if killing the entire corps may have been excessive. To his credit, he admits he doesn't have much of a moral leg to stand on but feels obligated to avenge his former comrades.
- Sole Survivor: Of his previous jaeger corps Arngarmr, who were wiped out by Osborne. One of Crow's bonding events in Cold Steel IV shows there was one other survivor, whom Crow gives V's dog tags to.
- Suicide by Cop: Disobeys explicit orders to hang back to pick a fight with Rean instead, just so he can go out in a blaze of glory.
Reborn Imperial Liberation Front
C (Unmarked Spoilers!)
A masked man in black who serves the leader of the Reborn Imperial Liberation Front. He is the third protagonist of Reverie, together with Lloyd and Rean.
For information on his true identity, see Rufus Albarea.
Lapis Rosenberg
SPOILERS
- Voiced by: Azumi Waki (Japanese), Lizzie Freeman (English)
A living doll made by Rosenberg Studios. She was found in a trunk that Swin and Nadia were tasked to deliver to C. With no memories barring her name and her status as a Rosenberg doll, she decides to join C in hopes of finding out her identity.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Her linked victory quote with Rufus after he takes off the C mask and they grow closer at the end of chapter 3 is Rufus patting her head.
- Affectionate Nickname: Nadia calls her "LP."note
- Benevolent A.I.: She is the administrator of Elysium, a powerful AI that developed itself after the war of Cold Steel IV and gained autonomy. At some point in time, the Elysium system separated itself from the autonomous existence. The separated entity with a free will is Lapis.
- Big Eater: While designed to take energy from septium, she can get it from food instead, and has a seemingly infinite capacity.
- Birds of a Feather: Once she knows C's true identity, they hit off it off quite well, as they find out that they're similar to each other, trying to find out the meaning of their existence in life. It's because of her that Rufus manages to finally move on and cut his old self in half.
- Distinction Without a Difference: From her perspective, she's not gonna help out Lloyd and everyone else on dealing with the Retributive Tower, even stating that she wouldn't do it if Rufus asked. They're not asking help from her; rather she's asking help from them as she's the main party responsible for the Elysium system.
- Dub Name Change: Her S-Craft was called Lapis in the Mirror in the original Japanese script.
- Enemy Scan: Her Emerald Eye Craft works just like Detector.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: She's a doll in the form of a young girl in a stunning Victorian-era dress.
- Identity Amnesia: When she is first introduced, she has no prior memories asaide from her name and being a Rosenberg doll. She joins up with C and the rest in hopes that she will rediscover the truth of who she is.
- Leitmotif: Reverie gives her the aptly-named "Lapis" as her theme.
- Limit Break: Her S-Craft is My Mirror Image.
- Me's a Crowd: When Rufus and Lapis get separated from Swin, Nadia, and Renne near the climax of chapter 3, Lapis encounters a whole bunch of dolls that look like her. She ends up getting dogpiled by the dolls with her wondering if she's just like them until Rufus pulls her out and tells her she's her own being.
- Morality Pet: Goes both ways for Rufus and her as she sees Rufus being the one who reached to her at her time of need. Meanwhile, Rufus sees Lapis as this and is the reason why he can finally move on as he tells the fake Rufus that a few days ago, he would have taken up the fake Rufus' offer of being the one who would unite all of Zemuria to surpass Osborne.
- Morph Weapon: Her axe can transform into the same case she was carried in.
- No Social Skills: Being an amnesiac doll who was just activated, she lacks understanding of human social norms and customs. When Nadia suggests the two go around Heimdallr to check on some snacks, she asks if she wants to get fat.
- The Not-Love Interest: To Rufus. She tells him that he doesn't need to change himself to surpass his father figure Osborne and the two find solidarity with each other, culminating in Rufus helping her out of her breakdown in Chapter 3 of his route. However, as Lapis has the appearance of a young girl and Rufus is in his 30s, their relationship is more akin to a father and daughter.
- Phrase Catcher: A couple:
- When she does something a doll shouldn't be able to do:
Nadia: Rosenberg technology is to be feared.- Whenever she awards "points" within earshot of Swin, he'll likely comment on how he doesn't understand her criteria.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's a small doll, yet her strength stat is through the roof.
- Proud Beauty: Rosenberg dolls are considered priceless works of art In-Universe. As Rosenberg's self-appointed Magnum Opus, Lapis is quick to boast of how adorable and pretty she is.Lapis: (upon finding a rare/valuable item from a treasure chest) It's almost as pretty as me!
- Running Gag: She likes rating people's names based on how "cute" she finds them.
- Say My Name: Constantly screams Rufus' name whenever something happens to him.
- Token Mini-Moe: She's the shortest and youngest-looking member of not only the Reborn ILF, but of the entire cast of Reverie. Even Altina, Millium, and KeA are taller than her.
Swin Abel
Swin during Reverie
Swin as of Kuro II
Swin in his Aramis uniform
- Voiced by: Gakuto Kajiwara (Japanese), Daman Mills (English)
A boy who once worked as a killer for the organization known as the Garden, he left the group behind alongside his partner Nadia. In Reverie, they were tasked with delivering a trunk to C, who then asked them to lend their services to him. While initially reluctant, Swin eventually accepts.
- A Day in the Limelight: In Kuro II:
- He acts as the protagonist of Kuro II Chapter 1B, with him and Nadia acting as "substitute Spriggans" while Van is on an extended business trip out of Edith.
- Also, while Agnès acts as the POV character for Chapter 2B, it still largely focuses on him and Nadia experiencing school life for the first time at Aramis.
- Affectionate Nickname: Nadia almost always refers to him as "S."note
- Bifurcated Weapon: He combines both of his swords into a single BFS during his Revelation Craft and his Three of Swords S-Craft.
- Blue Is Heroic: He dresses primarily in blue, and while he is more of an Anti-Hero compared to the usual protagonists of the setting, he clearly wants to put his past as a child assassin behind him and is more mentally stable and morally grounded compared to Nadia, who claims he was too kind for the lifestyle. He even makes it clear to C that he'll only help out on the condition of not having to kill anyone.
- The Bus Came Back: After missing out on Daybreak, Swin makes a comeback in Kuro II.
- Casting a Shadow: His primary element is time, fitting for the series tradition for characters with a Dark and Troubled Past such as Joshua, who he shares quite a few things in common with.
- Connected All Along: Once hitched a ride with a Spriggan named Van Arkride back when he and Nadia were still on the run.
- Costume Evolution: His return in Kuro II has him wearing a new blue jacket with white sleeves and a yellow bandana wrapped around the left arm.
- Crippling Overspecialization: All of his offensive crafts are focused on inflicting a Mark on the enemy. However, it is Awesome, but Impractical as they only guarantee a Critical Hit when Swin hits them next. By contrast, his other teammates' Crafts all inflict much more varied and useful effects.
- Critical Hit Class: In Reverie, his normal attacks and Crafts have a chance to inflict a mark on the enemies which ensures the next attack that hits them will be a guaranteed Critical Hit.
- Dash Attack: His Mark Craft has him rush over to his targets to slash them. The Kuro II version even has him go past the enemy as he slashes.
- Dishing Out Dirt: His secondary element is earth.
- Dual Wielding: He uses two swords that can be combined into one.
- Dub Name Change: His Zoom Zone Craft was called Quick Zone in the original Japanese script.
- Evil Knockoff: In Reverie, he has a Hollow copy that serves as a boss in the True Reverie Corridor, most notably when it fights alongside Nadia's and the Emperor's on the sixth floor.
- Exact Words: Swin said that he'd follow Garden-Master so long as the latter "was Ace." Attempting to kill Nadia, something the real Ace would never do, is all the proof he needs to switch sides.
- Face–Heel Turn: He betrays Nadia and the Arkride Solutions Office at the end of Kuro II's Intermission to join with Garden-Master. Later, he reveals that he was the first victim of erosion by the Oct-Genesis and returns to the heroes' side after the battle against Garden-Master and Grendel-Zolga.
- Foreign Exchange Student: Due to a mysterious message from the third C, he and Nadia act as exchange students from Remiferia during Kuro II Chapter 2B. They stay long enough to participate in the school festival.
- Hero of Another Story: He's the protagonist of "Three & Nine," a book series obtainable in Cold Steel IV.
- Innocently Insensitive: He accidentally ends up driving Lapis to tears during their first meeting by asking her several questions in regards to her identity, which she has no memory of and is deeply troubled by. Nadia smacks him up the head for it, though he does become apologetic after it's pointed out to him.
- Ironic Name: His last name is Abel, but he was the one who killed his Big Brother Mentor Ace (even if it was in self-defense) rather than the other way around. As additional irony, he has earth as his secondary element, when the Biblical Abel was stated to have been murdered by his brother bludgeoning him with a rock.
- Karma Houdini: For the crime of betraying Nadia and the Arkride Solutions Office to join Garden-Master to see if the man is Ace or someone hijacking his body by stealing the fragments of the final Oct-Genesis from Van, he somehow gets a Relationship Upgrade with Nadia by no longer treating her as a younger sister. Justified since he revealed before his last boss fight that he was the first victim of Corrosion and was manipulated as a result.
- Like Brother and Sister: He outright refers to Lapis as his "other little sister-figure" in Kuro II. The use of "other" in this statement causes Nadia to lament on how she herself is still stuck in the "little sister-zone."
- Limit Break: His S-Craft during Reverie is Three of Swords, which became a regular Craft in Kuro II and was succeeded by Cross Numbers.
- Morality Pet: For Nadia. When the two get forcefully separated upon entering the Retributive Tower, the two start worrying for the other, and Nadia starts wondering what she should do now that Swin isn't with her. Lloyd and Rufus tell Nadia to calm down and on Rean's end, he tells both Lapis and Swin that the other group will be fine.
- Oblivious to Love: He generally thinks of Nadia like a little sister he has to take care of, but he's either completely unaware that she's in love with him (despite her constant glomping), or simply ignores her advances.
- Only Sane Man: He's the only member of the Reborn ILF who seems to consistently have his head on straight, leaving him to react to the other members' antics.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: He wears blue jackets in contrast to Nadia's primarily pink outfits.
- Reverse Grip: He wields one of his swords like this on his left hand. He also sheathes his swords in this manner.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: He and Nadia get the lion's share of focus and development in Kuro II, while Van and the rest of the Arkride Solutions Office end up mostly playing support.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Swin is often shown as serious and stoic, but just as often shows a kind, gentler side.
- Survivor's Guilt: His backstory in the "Three & Nine" books has him killing his old partner, Ace, due to the two of them failing to escape from Garden. His guilt from this is why he's dedicated himself to take care of Nadia, Ace's little sister.
- Thou Shall Not Kill: He only agrees to work for C so long as he's fine with him and Nadia not killing people. Emperor Dogma is the exception to this rule, however, as he and Nadia made sure that the out-of-control Monarch's Regalia is destroyed to kill off the Emperor. In fairness, he wasn't a human being and also was supposed to be dead.
- Tyke Bomb: He was raised by the Garden since age 7 to kill people, often for the amusement of their master, the Emperor.
Nadia Rayne
Nadia during Reverie
Nadia as of Kuro II
Nadia in her Aramis uniform
- Voiced by: Manaka Iwami (Japanese), Suzie Yeung (English)
A girl serving as Swin's partner in the organization known as the Garden, she joined him in escaping from their masters to lead new lives for themselves. After fulfilling a request to deliver a trunk to C, she accepts his offer to work for him.
- Abusive Parents: Her alcoholic father saw her only as a source of child labor to get money so he could buy more liquor. She has no idea if he was still alive by the time she and Swin went independent, nor does she care.
- Battle Couple: She wants to be one with Swin, and they've got the "work great as a team" part down pat. Sadly for her, he's Oblivious to Love, so it's still a work in progress.
- Birds of a Feather: She shares her analysis skills and mischievous streak with Renne and Musse, and they seem to get along quite well whenever they're seen interacting. Reverie even has a group victory quote showing Towa being less than thrilled at the three teasing the idea of using their skills for world domination.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Despite her genius intellect, she has, on multiple occasions, expressed a desire for a life where she can just slack off all day. This even shows in her nickname sense, as she just takes the first letter of their given name plus maybe some other letters to make her nicknames: Swin is "S", Lapis is "LP", Rixia is "RX", etc.note Her nickname for C is just "Mask".
- The Bus Came Back: As with Swin, Nadia makes a return in the second Daybreak game after missing out on the first.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Implied to have this mindset in Reverie, where she tells Lapis that when she (Nadia) grows up, she'll have a super mature body that'll get Swin to swoon over her. Likewise, if she's in the party when you first approach Shizuna and Lucrezia on the beach during Kuro II's Intermission, she'll note that, if she had a body like theirs, Swin would be hers.
- Cheery Pink: Her hair and outfit are pink, and she's usually shown with a cheerful and mischeivous disposition.
- Connected All Along: Once hitched a ride with a Spriggan named Van Arkride back when she and Swin were still on the run.
- Cool Big Sis: She acts as a teasing older sister figure towards Lapis.
- Costume Evolution: Her outfit in Kuro II has long sleeves that aren't detached, and the previous boot and knee-sock combo is replaced with thigh-high boots.
- Cute and Psycho: She usually shows a rather cheerful and mischievous streak, but it's clear her upbringing as an assassin has had a strong effect on her mentality, such as in Act 2 of C's route where she intimidates an Ebon Defense Force soldier by giving a detailed description of how to torture someone into a broken crippled heap with a smile on her face.
- Dope Slap: She smacks Swin upside the head with her teddy bear when his initial questioning of the amnesiac Lapis' origins drive the young doll to tears.
- Dub Name Change: Most of her unique moves were changed in the transition from the original Japanese script to the English localization.
- Her Brave Order went from Fancy Spell to Fanciful Spell.
- Her Nemesis Pierce Craft became Punitive Pierce.
- Her Teddy Thread Craft became Threaddy Bear.
- Every Man Has His Price: When C first offered to have her and Swin to assist him, she refused due to finding him suspicious. Then C writes her up a check offering enough mira to, in her own words, have her and Swin set for life, and she proceeds to do a total 180 and enthusiastically agrees to it.
- Evil Knockoff: In Reverie, she has a Hollow copy that serves as a boss in the True Reverie Corridor, most notably when it fights alongside Swin's and the Emperor's copies on the sixth floor.
- Gratuitous French: When using her Pierce Fortissimo Craft in Kuro II, she'll sometimes count to 3 in French. Otherwise, she'll just do the count in Japanese.
- Hero of Another Story: She's the heroine of "Three & Nine," a book series obtainable in Cold Steel IV. And is rather miffed by the fact that she isn't getting a cut of the royalties from said book.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Nadia lampshades the height different between herself and Swin during Kuro II, and not in a particularly happy way:Nadia: If you get any taller, we'll look even more like brother and sister!
- Improbable Weapon User: She uses large sewing needles as weapons, throwing them in her regular attacks, her Punitive Pierce Craft from Reverie, and her "Pierce Fortissimo" Craft from Kuro II.
- Knows the Ropes: Some of her crafts utilize thread:
- Her Threaddy Bear craft from Reverie has her wrap up her opponents in it before they're pierced by hidden blades.
- Her Wonderful Stitch Craft from Kuro II has her use it to trip up her opponents.
- Leitmotif: Kuro II gives her "Dream Is a Lazy Life
" as her theme. - Limit Break: Her S-Craft is Nadia Specialnote in Reverie and Na-chan Festival in Kuro II.
- The Nicknamer: She sometimes gives people she likes nicknames by just referring to them with one or two letters from their first name.note This isn't universal, though, as she doesn't refer to Renne with a nicknamenote , while she refers to Rufus with just his name, although she simply referred to his C identity as "Mask".
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Both of her outfits are primarily pink, while her partner Swin wears blue jackets.
- Psycho Pink: Her hair and wardrobe are pink, and she has a few Cute But Psycho tendencies as a result of her time at the Garden.
- Purposely Overpowered: At the final fight the C route Chapter 3, she gains a Brave Order so powerful, it would have snapped the game in half if it wasn't permenantly lost after the battle was over: for only two Brave Points, she can give the whole party five turns of level 3 status buffs across the board and a 700% increase in break damage. This is done to show how she's completely analyzed the Emperor's capabilities, leaving him with no chance of winning. And given the fact that the boss has a turn limit, players will need it.
- Skewed Priorities: Rather than contemplate the implications of "Three & Nine," the story of how she and Swin escaped, becoming a best seller, she'd rather complain about how they didn't get any money out of it. Royalties are apparently Serious Business for Nadia, especially considering that they were broke at the time.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: She and Swin are in the front and center of Kuro II's plot, while Van, the actual main viewpoint character, is mostly just along for the ride.
- Teen Genius: Considered to be one of Garden's best assassins, especially in regards to her analyzing skills, and she was barely a teenager even after ditching.
- Third-Person Person: She consistently refers to herself as "Na-chan" in the Japanese script.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After constantly failing to make any progress with Swin, the final chapter of Kuro II has him be the one to ask her out on a date. This surprises her so much that she started acting uncharacteristically demure.
- To the Pain: When C's group captures an EDF soldier and interrogates him for information, Nadia steps up and describes how she'll slowly cut off his limbs and then sew them back, in such a way he woudn't be able to move them. Then she'll sew his mouth and eyes shut so he won't be able to do anything but think. All the while making stuffed toys comparisons and never breaking her cute tone. She's about to continue, but the guy breaks and spills the beans. When asked about it later, Nadia answers that it was a bluff; she doesn't do that stuff... anymore.
- Torture Technician: Can describe exactly how to take someone apart and leave them a broken, crippled wreck in gruesome detail. Though she later insists that she doesn't actually do that sort of thing... anymore.
- Tyke Bomb: As with Swin, she's been raised as an assassin from a young age. The training seems to have left a bigger impact on her psyche than her partner's, as even after leaving that life, she shows signs of slipping into assassin mode from time to time, forcing him to snap her out of it.
- Uptight Loves Wild: Inverted; she's the wild one who obviously loves the uptight Swin, even when he claims to only think of her as a younger sister.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Though they might not be a couple, her protectiveness of Swin can reach Yandere-levels. Once she recovers from the shock of Swin almost being killed by Garden puppets during Kuro II Chapter 2B, she pulls out her needles and gives this line:Nadia: Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill...I'll kill everyone who laid a hand on Su-chan...!
- You Killed My Father: Zigzagged according to "Three & Nine". While Swin did kill her older brother, she didn't hold a grudge against him for it. But she did pretend to a grudge in order to get into a position where she might be able to strike against Emperor, who had engineered the scenario in which Swin was forced to do so, as that was who she truly blamed for his death.
- Younger Than They Look: In Reverie, she looks around the same age as the 16-year old Tita, despite only being 13 at the time,note making her younger than Altina. Her default character portrait in Kuro II exaggerates this, as Katsumi Enami's more mature-leaning art style makes her look even older than she does in-game.
