Discussion Characters / FireEmblemThreeHousesDimitri

Is Dimitri really an example of White Man's Burden? Aside from it being described as mostly a story trope rather than a character trope, Dimitri doesn't fit many of the aspects described on the page. He is more tormented than saintly and he is not remotely ordinary. He also did not save Dedue out of pity but out of a sense of duty and survivor's guilt. And while it can be argued Dedue's major role is to advance Dimitri's own character development,the same can be said for several other characters associated with Dimitri who are of his own people.

Concerning the recent edits by Da Lucaray, I think they misrepresent Dimitri and events in the game. Dimitri is also working to end feaudalism in his own way, as we see with the authority and positions he grants various non-nobles and his changing of the government to give regular people more power.

I deleted Bookends as to my understanding they require actual scenes that match, not simply references. Not to mention the rebellion Dimitri fought to stop took place two years before the events of the game, they are not the last thing he did before the game starts. Even if unseen events were allowed for the trope, the scenes would be too different given the past event involved Dimitri going wild with bloodlust whereas with Edelgard it is him offering mercy and then defending himself.

I left Hypocrite for the moment so we can discuss the merits of it. To my understanding Dimitri is talking about different things. He is not against Edelgrd's reforms so much as the way she is implementing them. Here's the dialog I assume is relevant regarding him calling people weak or strong:

Edelgard: "You're wrong. That very cycle is exactly what I have devoted my life and my power to destroying. If after all of this you believe the weak will still be weak, that is only because they are too used to relying on others instead of on themselves."

Dimitri: "Yes. Perhaps someone as strong as you are can claim something like that. But you cannot force that belief onto others. People aren't as strong as you think they are. There are those who cannot live without their faith...and those who cannot go on once they have lost their reason for living. Your path will not be able to save them. It is the path of the strong, and so, it could only benefit the strong."

He seems to only be arguing that Edelgard is ignoring people who are not able to rise up on their own and "rely on themselves" the way her meritocratic ideals call for, he is not calling them weak in the sense of not being able to accomplish things, as he explains later in what I assume is being called hypocritical here:

Dimitri: "And do you intend to become a goddess yourself? Will you steal the power to take action from the broken-hearted masses you claim to defend? The ones who can truly change the way of the world are not the rulers, but the people. Pushing your own sense of justice and your own ideals onto even one other person is no more than self-righteousness."

Edelgard: "Maybe it is self-righteousness, but it doesn't matter. Someone has to take action and put a stop to this world's endless, blood-stained misery!"

Dimitri: "Do you not believe in the power of people to join together and rise up? Humans are weak creatures. But they are also creatures who help each other, support each other, and together, find the right path. I have learned that humans are capable of all that from the professor...and from everyone in my life."

Again, he seems to be only arguing against Edelgard's methods, whereas he is calling for people cooperating for goals they can agree on and that in the long run more can be accomplished this way with less violence. Basically he sees people as strong when they cooperate and rely on others to help where they are lacking, even if they are weak on their own.

From what I've heard though, in Japanese a lot of this talk boils down to Edelgard not having people she can rely on the way Dimitri does, and thus they cannot come to an agreement as she believes she does not have the options he does.

Lastly, as far as I can tell the Hypocrite trope requires that a character genuinely be a hypocrite. It's not YMMV so there is probably no room for ambiguity.

I made a sweeping edit to this page. Here are my reasons.

I changed all instanced of "Nabatean(s)" to "Child(ren) of the Goddess", because that's the term used in the game.

I removed quotation marks around "those who slither in the dark", because that's a description, not a name.

I changed a few mentions to Edelgard to the Flame Emperor to make spoilers unnecessary.

Examples I removed:

• Downer Ending: His fate in all routes save Azure Moon. Because of his (misguided) obsession with revenge against Edelgard, his kingdom falls to ruin and his bloodline dies out since his uncle is murdered^note though he might survive on Crimson Flower and Dimitri himself dies childless.

An NPC dying tragically does not a downer ending make, particularly because those endings are very upbeat.

• First Guy Wins: On the Azure Moon route, he is the first potential love interest for a female Byleth to join the party.

This is a harem trope, and since you can choose who you marry it doesn't really count.

• Likes Older Women: While not all of his potential wives are older than him, the majority are (female Byleth, Catherine, Mercedes, Flayn). There's also all his subtext with female Byleth, who is by default 21/22 to his 17/18, in the main story.

LOW is about an explicit preference for older women, not just being willing to pursue a relationship.

• The McCoy: Of the three lords, he's the most emotional and moralistic of the three, upholding the ideals of chivalry and honor and the belief that the knight should protect the weak and innocent from evil. At the same time, he also has to fight with his own inner demons due to his Survivor Guilt. He reconciles these conflicting aspects in Azure Moon, where he expresses sadness and pity when Edelgard refuses his offer of mercy and redemption after having to kill her with his own hands, a stark contrast to his initial bloodthirst.

This trope is specifically part of a trio; Claude and Edelgard are not part of a trio with Dimitri.

• (Not So Different)
  • Both Dimitri and Edelgard share the belief that the Goddess will never answer the calls of humanity. Where they differ is how they process this information. Besides, when breaking it down to the basics, despite their contrasting political ideas, both Dimitri and Edelgard are willing to inflict significant harm on the living out of a sense of responsibility towards people dear to them who are already dead.
  • If either's supports with Mercedes is any indication, Dimitri is, personality-wise, not too far off from the Death Knight a.k.a. Jeritza. They both have a bloodthirsty dark side that they struggle to contain with varying success, and they both had compassion and love for their dear ones motivating their murders and contributing to the inner darkness overwhelming them. Gameplay-wise, they share swords and lances as their primary weapon proficiencies.

This trope is about characters realising they're more similar than they think.

• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: His last name is Blaiddyd, the name of a legendary Briton king who encouraged the practice of necromancy. Considering he's riddled with Survivor's Guilt that leads him into losing his sanity as the story goes on...

This trope is about a theme, not just one character. The correct trope is Meaningful Name, under which that example is already listed.

• Spanner in the Works: The Flame Emperor's plan to have the Lords specifically Dimitri and Claude assassinated in the prologue goes down in flames after a) Claude immediately opts to retreat rather than stand his ground and b) Dimitri immediately follows after him forcing Edelgard to flee as well.

It's really only Claude who is the spanner there.

• Status Quo Is God: Downplayed. Like the other house leaders, Dimitri recognizes that the current nobility and crest system is flawed and needs to be changed. Unlike the others, though, he doesn't feel that changing the system right away will fix it, and believes that a united Fódlan needs to stay as it is and bring about gradual change from within so that society doesn't fall into chaos as a result of the sudden change. His endings on Azure Moon indicate that his plan worked, but it took hard work to do so.

This trope is about ongoing series, not self-contained works like Three Houses.

Wasn't the Hermit the Crest of Gloucester?