From left to right: Princesses Hertrauda and Hertrude
Characters from the Principality of Fanoss, the main antagonists of the first game. open/close all folders
The Principality of Fanoss
The revenge-bent peoples of a Duchy that won an independence war with the Kingdom of Holfort in the past, and clashed many times since. Despite splitting off from the Kingdom, they lack most of Holfort's cultural oddities. Their official head of state is Princess Hertrude, and they first appear launching a surprise attack against the Kingdom.
- All There in the Manual: The Marie Route SS spinoff includes some additional information about them, especially regarding their magic flutes.
- Ancient Artifact: They specialize in understanding and utilizing these to get an edge against the Kingdom, who just treat artifacts like trophies to display.
- Ambiguous Robot: The monsters they summon to supplement their fleet are sort of like organic robots, as per Luxion's analysis of the flutes that summoned them.
- Apocalypse How: Their goal is sinking the entire continent Holfort Kingdom resides on.
- Defector from Decadence: Their national identity sees themselves as having split from the cruel and decadent Kingdom of Holfort. Leon sees some of the appeal of living in the Principality instead; if he were to decide to do so, it'd definitely make him such.
- Family Theme Naming: The non-twin princesses are named Hertrude and Hertrauda .
- Final Boss: Their Princesses are supposed to summon these for the first and third dating sims, called Guardian Entities.
- Guardian Entity: The Final Bosses they summon are ancient guardians of the Earth, Sea, and Air. These were created by ancient Precursors who existed in-between the fall of the New Mankind faction Luxion fought, and the rise of the modern nations.
- Heroic Lineage: Since they split off from the Kingdom, their nobles are descended from, and venerate, adventurers as well.
- Hypocrite: The Principality pretends to revenge for the war crimes the Kingdom committed years ago, by invading and wanting to exterminate every single citizen of that land.
- Magical Flutist: Ancient Artifact Summon Magic flutes are the reason they can stand up to such a larger country. They are Magitech items that create monsters based on programmed designs.
- Monster Whale: Hertrude's flagship was built on top of a Giant Flyer one. She even calls it cute.
- Off the Rails: They appear way earlier than in the game due to Leon and Marie messing with the game's storyline.
- Princesses Rule: Justified Trope. Their government form is Principality (meaning ruled by a Prince or Princess). As an independent Duchy, they're too small to name a king or queen.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: Revenge for this happening to their capital, is part of their motivation for attacking the Kingdom. They actually did a lot more of that themselves, but The Conspiracy rewrote their history. As well, Earl Garrett leads a raid to try to do this to the Kingdom's capital before the main fleet arrives.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: As videogame villains, this is their color scheme, including their Princesses' having Raven Hair, Ivory Skin, and Red Eyes.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: What drives their troops to be so ruthless in their assaults on the Kingdom, is avenging Kingdom war crimes.
- Quality over Quantity: Their military doctrine. They have the latest in warship technology, and drill their airship crews into a finely oiled machine, in order to defeat the superior numbers of the Kingdom.
- Quantity vs. Quality: Their Epic Ship-on-Ship Action fights with the Kingdom play out like this, with the Kingdom's forces having greater numbers, but old and outdated ships, being un-drilled and poorly coordinated, resulting in their airships often scraping against one another due to incompetence. All while the Principality keeps fine order. They also have their own quantity in the form of expendable summoned monsters.
- Sky Pirates: Supported these through their ties with the Offrey Household. Their household being close to the Principality, was why Brad was engaged to their daughter; House Field is in charge of defending the border against them.
- Technologically Advanced Foe: While not as advanced as Luxion, they are more advanced than the Kingdom, which is in a state of decay. They know a lot more about Lost Technology than the Kingdom, with Hertrude recognizing exactly what the artifact Leon found within the elven ruins could do. They can even reverse-engineer these items to some extent.
- Wearing a Flag on Your Head: The manga adaptation has all of their Summon Magic monsters do this.
- Written by the Winners: Since they won their independence, The Conspiracy was able to cover up their past war crimes.
The Fanoss Dynasty
Princess Hertrude
Hertrude Sera Fanoss
Voiced by: Sora Amamiya (JP)
"How cruel such spineless people are. They are not worthy of being nobles."
First Princess and co-leader of the Principality of Fanoss, a Duchy that broke away from the Kingdom of Holfort several years in the past. Leads their first surprise attack.For Hertrude's Marie Route Side Story tropes, see here.
- Affectionate Nickname: Her little sister calls her by a shortened version of her first name.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Loses her family, the war, and is forced to live under strict supervision of the Kingdom while her people pay heavy reparations. Volume 3 ends with a side-story of her mourning her sister and having no one to comfort her.
- Altar Diplomacy: After losing the second invasion, is set up with an Arranged Marriage to Julius as part of the peace treaty, who promptly pretends to attack her to break it off. She then offers Leon to rule at her side as an alternative, but he rejects it.
- Despair Event Horizon: After her sister dies, and it's revealed that the two of them have been mere puppets all along, resulting in her ordering the final boss to attack both sides. Marie snaps her out of it, by giving a Then Let Me Be Evil speech in her place, convincing her she's not alone.
- Foreign Exchange Student: Stays in the Kingdom as one, after being captured by Leon, as a pretext for colluding with Marquess Frampton's faction. She's assigned someone to watch her, but it's implied he's under Frampton's payroll.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Her little sister, Hertrauda.
- Femme Fatale: Deconstructed Trope: She tries hard to be this and win Leon over to the Principality's side. However, she is too sheltered and impatient to pull it off. Not to mention, Leon Has a Type, and she's not it.Hertrude: “W, why are you looking at me with pity now? What are you doing that for?”
- I Lied:
- After Leon gets arrested, she visits his cell and offers him the peaceful life he always wanted, if he joins the Principality. Leon sees through it, knowing she wouldn't be able to uphold it even if she wanted to.
- Eventually betrays Frampton by reneging on a deal to have the Principality invasion let the Kingdom's army retreat after Frampton cedes the border territories.
- Lord Country: Her independent Duchy is named after its Royal Family.
- Magical Flutist: Her main weapon is a flute that can summon monsters on a massive scale.
- Manipulative Bastard: She works with Frampton in order to sow division in Holfort's ranks. She helps frame Leon as a Principality spy to get him imprisoned and unable to fight when Principality invades. Then she pulls a Cavalry Betrayal on Frampton and the Kingdom's forces, having no more use for him. By the time Leon gets out of prison, the Kingdom is on the verge of collapse with most of its ships destroyed and many of its nobles fleeing instead of fighting.
- Power Floats: In the manga adaptation, she floats in the air when using her magical flute.
- Princesses Rule: Justified Trope being ruler of a Principality.
- Puppet Princess: Unknowingly, by their nation's War Hawk faction. Only learns of it on the verge of their final defeat.
- Replaced with Replica: Tries to fool Leon with a fake magical flute, but Luxion can sense where the real one is.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Uses her Magic Flute to attack both the Kingdom and Principality, after finding out her sister and her were merely puppets for her country's war party. What breaks her out of it, is Marie giving a speech for her, which shows her she's not alone.
- This Cannot Be!: Her reaction to Mylene revealing the truth about Fanoss atrocities, both pre-dating, and vastly outweighing, the Kingdom's aggression towards them.
- Tragic Villain: Is being manipulated by The Conspiracy, who murdered her parents.
- Villain Has a Point:
- Leon tends to agree with her criticisms of the Kingdom. Which only encourages her We Can Rule Together offers.
- Angelica has no rebuttal when Hertrude calls Leon a Failure Hero for not destroying his enemies (particularly Vandel) when he had the chance. To prove her point further, Leon ends up killing them anyway after they regroup and come back for revenge, slaughtering many Kingdom soldiers and civilians on their way.
- We Can Rule Together: Offers this to Leon many times, almost seeming desperate to get him onside, even doing research on his true motivations. Gets close to succeeding, before Luxion informs Leon that her current offer isn't honest, implied to be to make him look more guilty of treason after his Frame-Up.
- You Are Not Alone: Marie standing up for her, is what makes her stop attacking all sides after crossing her Despair Event Horizion.
Princess Hertrauda
Hertrauda Sera Fanoss
Hertrude's beloved younger sister, second Princess and co-ruler of the Principality of Fanoss. According to Marie, she was the Final Boss of the third Otome Game.For Hertrauda's Marie Route Side Story tropes, see here.
- Affectionate Nickname: Her older sister shortens her first name when talking in private.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Dies from using the magical flute to command the Final Boss, in Hertrude's arms, pushing her past the Despair Event Horizon.
- Magical Flutist: Like her sister, uses one that summons and commands monsters. She's actually better at it than her sister, being able to summon two Guardian Entities at once.
- Puppet Princess: Like her elder sister, to the Principality's War Party, who conspired to kill her parents.
- Protectorate: For Princess Hertrude.
- Satellite Character: For her sister Princess Hertrude.
Other Nobility
Earl Garrett
Earl Garrett
Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda (JP), Mauricio Valverde (LA SP)
An arrogant Principality vassal and officer who holds a large sway over the country's military, and likes to gloat.For Garrett's Marie Route Side Story tropes, see here.
- Dastardly Whiplash: His mustache-twirling is certainly a homage to this.
- Dirty Coward: Always looks out for number one, and thinks of turning coat if the situation gets too dire.
- Glory Seeker: Seeks to restore his pride as a commander after being defeated.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: Literally to Leon for speaking out against Angelica giving herself up, and orders the other students to do it too. Later on, Leon celebrates victory over Garrett by trampling him under boot.
- Never My Fault: Blames others for his losses.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Takes an advance force to raid Holfort Kingdom's capital, attacking civilians and hoping for a chance to get revenge on Leon. Leon kills him for it.
- Secret-Keeper: About the Principality's true history that's been rewritten, and The Conspiracy in control of it, being its most story prominent leader.
- Smug Snake: Generally arrogant and condescending.
- Spell My Name With An S: The English translation of the light novels spells his name as "Gelatt".
- Traumatic Haircut: Played for Laughs. At Leon's suggestion, Luxion performs some laser-hair-removal treatment on his mustache. Garrett swears vengeance.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Swears this about Leon beating and humiliating him.
- War for Fun and Profit: As a War Hawk, he encourages war with the Kingdom.
- And Your Little Dog, Too!: His gloating to Angelica when she's his hostage.
The Black Knight
Viscount Vandel Him Zenden, 'The Black Knight'
Voiced by: Hidenari Ugaki (JP), Urike Aragón (LA SP)
"The strongest knight in the land. The enemy of the Kingdom. The tyrant of the battlefield."
Mentally unstable, virtually unstoppable, and the main reason the Otome game was Pay To Win. In a past conflict, Kingdom forces killed his wife and child in front of him, and he'll never give up his quest for revenge.—Narration
For Vandel's Marie Route Side Story tropes, see here.
- Achilles' Heel: As powerful as he is, his main weakness is Team Spirit. He focuses too much on one opponent, leaving him vulnerable to distractions, which is his downfall in any fight against the heroes.
- BFS: A blade made from Fantasy Metals, big enough to need both hands of his mech, sharp enough to cut through the shields and armor of Partner, and feeding on blood.
- Bio-Armor: An Ancient Artifact Living Weapon, left over from the New Human war against the Old Humans, sent to the Principality by Frampton, can turn into this for him at will. Comes with a Prehensile Tail, and Too Many Eyes that can shoot a Magic Missile Storm.
- Blood from the Mouth: The main sign that the Living Weapon suit is killing him.
- Cast from Lifespan: After his first defeat at the hands of Leon, he dons a living armor stolen from the Kingdom, at the cost of it slowly killing him.
- Crusading Widower: He is driven to avenge the deaths of his family at the hands the Kingdom's forces, which happened right in front of him during a raid on the Principality's capital.
- Determinator: Damaging him, just makes his rage all the stronger.
- The Dreaded: The most feared enemy of the Kingdom.
- Family Extermination: His young wife, and daughter were slaughtered by Kingdom troops in front of his eyes. He's been on a mad quest for revenge ever since.
- Go Out with a Smile: After being defeated by Leon for the last time and then seeing Marie looking out for Hertrude, he dies peacefully.
- Hungry Weapon: His BFS feeds on the blood of its enemies.
- Lightning Bruiser: Much like Arroganz, having extra large armor, doesn't stop him from being nimble.
- Mark of Shame: After coming back to the Principality in defeat, Vandel is stripped of his knight title. With nothing else to lose and burning for revenge against Leon, he eagerly agrees to use the Demon Armor Piece as he knows it will kill him.
- Master Swordsman: In the past, he beat Chris' father, regarded as the best swordsman in the Kingdom.
- That One Boss: In-Universe. Being unable to defeat Vandel was the main reason Leon was forced to buy Luxion back on earth. Indeed, even with Arroganz, he's still this.
- One-Man Army: Can take on airships, usually crewed by hundreds, all by himself.
- Parrying Bullets: Can do this with missiles.
- The Power of Hate: What he attributes his effectiveness to.
- Red Baron: Usually referred to as The Black Knight.
- Secret-Keeper: About the Principality's true history that's been rewritten, and The Conspiracy in control of it.
- Super-Strength: The Living Weapon arm attachment stolen from the kingdom he equips, makes him strong enough to wield his BFS on foot, when retrieving it, cutting a gorey path through Kingdom soldiers on the way out.
- Villainous Friendship: The princesses think of Vandel as a friend. However, he helped murder their parents, and lied to them as part of The Conspiracy, using them as puppets, in order to get his revenge on the Kingdom. That said, he still cares for their well-being and goes out of his way to rescue Hertrude.
