The Best Villain in the Fire Emblem Series: Arvis (Holy War) Part 2

 

When people talk about Arvis's character, the first thing they think about is that he's a well-intentioned extremist. Arvis's entire goal was to bring about a peaceful world free of discrimination. He says so to Manfroy in Chapter 5:

"I don't care if I have the Loptous Clan's blood in me. I have Saint Maera's blood and he fought for the good of the people. The Fire God Fjalar is also one of my ancestors. I will use my power to create a world which is free of prejudice. One where all peoples can live without fear of repression! Of course, Sigurd knows way too much. Consider him a sacrifice to the greater good." — Arvis, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

Arvis is ruthless, and also very conniving. I mean, this is the same guy that turned on both Reptor and Sigurd, and killed them both in the process. He seems to care about his family a lot. His relationship with Azel is interesting. On the one hand, Azel tells Sigurd that Arvis scares the crap out of him, but on the other hand Arvis also tells Sigurd to look after him. Plus, we're also told that the family he made with Deirdre (ew) was a legitimately happy one before Julius got possessed. He stayed faithful to Deirdre, and they appeared to have a happy marriage. That would imply that he wasn't all bad.

Like Edelgard, Arvis's plan was legitimately beneficial to Jugdral. The early days of his empire were peaceful and prosperous. Not only was Arvis a family man, he also seemed to be a good ruler. Awakening also characterized him as polite, implying that this guy would not appear as an evil dude to someone who wasn't already familiar with him.

Arvis is a character that only seems to have more depth the longer I learn about him. One of the fascinating things about Holy War is that there's a wealth of interesting designer notes and behind-the-scenes stuff to read. Kaga has some really interesting insights and comments on the game. If you haven't read the stuff, I highly recommend them (there will be links later on, I promise). One of those interesting behind-the-scenes notes came from a designer's note page. In that page came this interesting tidbit about Arvis:

Q: Did Alvis know that Diadora was his half-sister?

A: Not in the beginning. Within the palace, there were few people who could tell him about Prince Kurth and Cigyun’s relationship, and he was only 7 years old when his father committed suicide, so he would likely have been uninterested in the palace gossip that was occurring during that time. Afterwards, his beloved mother Cigyun disappeared, but because of his powerful trust in his mother he wasn’t disturbed by the rumours. Alvis always held the belief that his mother would return for him. He became the ruler of the Velthomer family in his youth and his influence frightened the nobles. Often he would quarrel with them after they disrespected his mother (even though they spoke the truth) and in extreme cases, he even killed people.

Although he had no interest at all in girls, when he first saw Diadora he fell in love at first sight, which may have been influenced by his mother complex. After marrying Diadora, he noticed that Diadora often seemed to be another person, and was afraid that one day she would leave his side like his mother did. Gripped by this thought, he lived his days with great unease (so we can see how much he loved Diadora…) and heard rumours that “Sigurd’s wife had gone missing”, leading him to carefully watch Sigurd. So during Chapter 5, he progressed with his plan (to let Diadora meet Sigurd), which was caused by his inability to let go his endless worry. He obviously shouldn’t have checked, but he was unable to control himself; that was the extent of Alvis’s sorrow. Following that, he investigated Diadora’s past, traveling to the Spirit Forest, and found out that she was Cigyun’s daughter.

However, after discovering his wife was in fact his sister, his feelings still hadn’t changed. He simply tried his best to not let Diadora find out the truth. The sorrow that Diadora would feel after discovering the truth was the most unbearable thing for him… In the end, although Diadora never recovered her memory, she did discover that Sigurd was her husband, but she didn’t hate Alvis at all. When her own son Julius was about to kill her, she didn’t show any resistance, which is due to her subconsciously trying to repent for her crime. Regarding Diadora’s character, there are many ways one could judge her, but as for this issue, it is still too early to draw a conclusion.

(Source: https://serenesforest.net/general/designers-notes/holy-war/playing-guide/) 

Just so we're clear, this is a picture of Arvis and his mother Cigyun. 

Wow. Just wow. There is so much to unpack from that quote! Arvis has hardcore mommy issues. According to Kaga, Arvis's mother complex is what led him to fall in love with Deirdre in the first place. HOLY OEDIPUS COMPLEX BATMAN! SIGMUND FREUD IS FANGIRLING FROM HIS GRAVE! What stands out to me is Kaga's stated reason why Arvis had Deirdre meet Sigurd in Chapter 5. He wasn't doing it just to flaunt her in front of him. Arvis was legitimately trying to witness whether she was "his" or not. In reality, Deirdre and Sigurd meeting during Chapter 5 came about as a twisted form of self assurance on Arvis's part. He was worried about losing Deirdre the way he lost his mother. I always believed that Arvis had Deirdre meet Sigurd as a way of flaunting her and humiliating him. But after reading that quote, that just recontextualizes that entire scene.

Plus, I feel like this quote adds another gross layer to Arvis and Deirdre's relationship. Arvis eventually figured out that Deirdre was his half-sister, but still loved her and still continued with their relationship anyway. What's worse is that he actively hid the truth from her. So, he basically deceived the woman he loved out of fear of losing her. That's another layer of messed up right there. That essentially means that he learned that his relationship with Deirdre is both incestous and based on lies, but chose to go along with it anyway. 

What's even worse is that Deirdre found out the truth...but still didn't hate Arvis? I'm sorry, but that just doesn't compute. Why wouldn't she hate Arvis? I hope someone explains that one to me, because it doesn't make any sense why she wouldn't hate him after regaining her memories and finding out everything that had happened. 

So when I say that Arvis is a "motherfucker" I mean that in more ways than one. The biggest takeaway from Kaga's quote is that Arvis has some deep, twisted insecurities ultimately brought about from his mother leaving him at a young age. Those insecurities also extended into his marriage with Deirdre, leading to one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the entire franchise. Before I wrap this up, I'll also add a brief note. 

Brief Note: Arvis has two fitting themes within Holy War, and both of them deserve a mention:

The first theme is the one that plays when we first meet him in the Prologue. This theme fits the Arvis of the first generation because it's ominous, but not directly threatening. You can tell that there's something up with this guy, but you can't quite put your finger on it. That actually matches Arvis's character, because he doesn't initially come across as a direct threat, but he's also not entirely trustworthy either. There's something sinister about him, and that's what this theme captures really well.

And here's the second Arvis theme. This is what plays when you fight him as a boss. It's a decent theme that signals to the player "it's time to battle this guy." In a way, that works since that's exactly what Emperor Arvis wants Seliph, and by extension the player, to do. It's time to fight him, because Arvis wants his misery to end. 

Final Thoughts: Arvis gets the spot for "Best Villain in the Series" for a variety of reasons. He has the best feats out of any villain. He killed the main character, stole his wife, and then proceeded to rule the entire continent. In spite of all his achievements, Arvis also gets a thick layer of karmic punishment heaped upon him. All of his achievements paved the road for his downfall later on in his life. He lived long enough to see everything he clawed and connived for brutally ripped away from him piece by piece.

 The same man who orchestrated the deaths of all his "allies" including the main character, was also a puppet who was manipulated by Manfroy in the long run. He was both manipulator and manipulated. 

Arvis is a layered character who became twisted up inside from his mother leaving him at age 7. This led to deep seated fear and paranoia that extended even into the early stages of his relationship with Deirdre. He was a visionary who sought to end the suffering of all Jugdral, and he would achieve this outcome through any means necessary. But because he too was a puppet, he had to watch everything he loved go down in flames. Arvis is a brilliantly written character that is frankly one of the best villains I've come across in any fictional medium. All of the above is why he gets the chosen title of "Best Villain in the Fire Emblem Series."

The Best Villain in the Fire Emblem Series: Arvis (Holy War) Part 1

 

And here's a villain placement that literally everybody saw coming from a mile away. Arvis for me is the best villain in the Fire Emblem franchise for several reasons. The first reason is "feats." Out of every villain in the franchise, I consider Arvis's accomplishments in Holy War to be the best. Let's examine what this guy accomplished in the game. 

In one chapter, just one chapter, of Fire Emblem 4 Arvis managed to:

- Manipulate Langbart and Reptor into fighting Sigurd. He even turns on Reptor and wipes his forces out.

- Lures Sigurd into a trap by hosting a "celebration" for his return. During the "celebration" he flaunts Deirdre in front of Sigurd, humiliating him in the process. Bytheway, Deirdre's his half-sister.

- Proceeds to kill Sigurd and wipes his army out in one fell swoop.

- Takes over the entire continent of Jugdral. And bytheway, he was greeted with cheers during the early days of his rule too. 

Holy....wow. I...even typing this out again after playing the game so many types still brings back memories of how shocked I was when I first witnessed this. How many villains are you aware of who get to steal the main character's wife, kill the main character and rule the entire world? That is the most monumental, gut wrenching plot twist in the series. The only plot twists I can think in any fictional story that affected me to the degree that the plot twist in Chapter 5 did are the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones and the Eclipse from Berserk. 

How many villains achieve that level of success? I'm sure they exist, but I can't think of any off the top of my head. That plot twist still sticks with you years after the fact. It is dark, it is epic, it's a huge reason why Holy War is often touted as having the best plot in the series. And Arvis is the one who made it all happen. 

Now I could just end this post right here, and I would feel justified in my ranking. Arvis achieved what no other villain in the franchise could. But, oh no dear reader. There is SO MUCH MORE beneath the surface to this motherfucker that we have to talk about it. 

You see, I used to hate this bastard with a burning passion. What he did to Sigurd is unforgivable! So, what caused me to stop hating him, and to start appreciating him to the point where I consider him the best villain in the franchise? Well, the interesting thing about Arvis is that everything this man took from deceit and treachery was ripped away from him, and he was powerless to stop all of it. During the second generation of Holy War, Arvis receives the greatest karmic comeuppance I've yet to see a villain get. Let's take note of everything that happens to him shall we?

• So Arvis eventually has two children with Deirdre: His son Julius, and his daughter Julia. Sometime during the Second Generation of Holy War, Julius gets possessed by the Loptyr tome, effectively becoming Fire Emblem Satan.

• Julius, who has now been possessed by the Loptyr tome, proceeds to murder Deirdre, and Arvis was too powerless to stop it. This man had to witness his wife being murdered by his possessed son. 

• What about his daughter Julia? Well she eventually teams up with Seliph, the son of the man that he just murdered. Julia joins the player's army in Chapter 6 of Holy War. She gets captured by Manfroy at the beginning of Chapter 10. What was she doing between that time? Julia was helping Seliph dismantle Arvis's empire country by country. So Arvis's daughter spends the majority of the Second Generation undermining and destroying his empire.

• Speaking of Arvis's empire, we're told by Lewyn that during the early days of Arvis's rule life was peaceful. The early days of the Grannvale Empire were actually pretty good. It seems like Arvis was a pretty good ruler. But then, everything changed when the Loptyr Cult attacked. Now his once peaceful utopia is turned into Hell on Earth. Innocent children are being sacrificed to the dark god Loptyr everywhere in Jugdral…and Arvis was too powerless to stop it. 

               Earlier in this post, I mentioned that Arvis was "greeted with cheers during the early days of his rule." Well that all changed once the Loptyr cult swooped in and started sacrificing people's children to their dark god. Most of the average Jugdrali didn't know that it was Manfroy and possessed Julius who were the main culprits behind the child hunts. They all think it's Arvis who's behind this. To them, he's the face of the empire. They think Arvis is the one who's ordering the child hunts to happen.

                In the first generation Arvis is the one who "spearheaded the mission" to frame Sigurd and House Chalphy for the death of Prince Kurth, a crime Sigurd didn't commit and did not condone. Now the average Jugdrali citizen believes that Arvis is behind the child hunts, a crime that he didn't commit and did not condone. So Arvis ended up being framed for a crime he didn't commit, just like Sigurd. In the eyes of his citizens, Emperor Arvis went mad with power. Even after he dies, I'm willing to bet that most people remembered him as a tyrant.

Fun fact # 1: Thracia 776 references Arvis and the child hunts in a conversation between Amalda and Palman in Chapter 17B: 

So apparently, we do have a confirmation that Arvis did "approve of the child hunts," which further explains why the people of Jugdral would hate him. Something tells me that Julius was the one who was really behind this, and that Arvis was being pressured into doing it. 

Fun fact # 2: Arvis being viewed as a villain "in every Jugdral saga ever" is referenced in Awakening by Chrom. Chrom even asks why Arvis comes across as pleasant. So even outside of Holy War, Arvis is still viewed as a bit of a villain. I actually liked this bit about the game, and to this day I still feel like Awakening hit the nail on the head in regards to how Arvis was portrayed.

           Shortly before he dies, Arvis's daughter Julia had been captured by Manfroy. The last he sees of Julia is her being taken away by Manfroy, who threatens to kill her if Arvis doesn't do battle with Seliph. So as far as he's aware, Julia's going to be killed by the man who played him like a fiddle. By this point in the game he's lost everything. That's why he gives the Tyrfing to Bishop Palmark. Arvis wants Seliph to kill him. The once proud emperor of Grannvale wants to die because all his hopes and dreams were torn from him, and he was forced to watch all of it. In the end, he was too powerless to stop his fate.

After Seliph obtains the Tyrfing, Arvis mocks him by making light of poor Sigurd. On the surface, one would think that he's just being an evil prick. But in light of everything I just mentioned, it becomes clear that Arvis is finally embracing the role given to him by the people: He's acting his part as a villain so that Seliph will hate him enough to put him out of his misery. Right now, the quote that comes to mind is a quote from The Dark Knight:

 Sigurd died a hero. Arvis lived long enough to see himself become the villain. Sigurd may have been branded as a traitor to Grannvale, but eventually his name was redeemed and he lived on as a folk hero and a legend among the commoners of the Empire. Arvis began as the Emperor who ushered in an era of peace, but he died as the villain, his name forever tainted by what happened in the latter end of his empire. 

We the Fire Emblem fanbase may be in awe of what he did to Sigurd, but I get the impression that Arvis eventually regretted what he did to Sigurd in his later years. Part of the reason why he wanted Seliph to kill him is that he was seeking redemption for the shit he pulled in the first generation. If we could interview Arvis in his later years, I'd be willing to bet that he'd express regret over killing Sigurd. 

So here we have a villain who rose to heights that no villain in the series had ever achieved, but ultimately fell far lower than any other villain on this list. Karma's a bitch, and Arvis paid a heavy price for everything he did. Once again, I could just end here and I would feel justified in placing Arvis as the greatest villain in the Fire Emblem franchise. But wait dear reader, there's still so much more to his character that we haven't discussed yet.

# 2: Edelgard / Rhea (Three Houses) Part 2

One cannot discuss Edelgard without mentioning Rhea. Rhea is another great villain who deserved to be mentioned alongside Edelgard. The way I see it is that Rhea is the best written Gharnef in the series. Like most Gharnefs, she wants to bring back a deity. What's interesting about the way Three Houses does this is that Sothis is Rhea's mom, so there's a personal connection here that goes beyond resurrecting a deity to gain power. Plus we actually get to interact with Sothis. Unlike Loptyr, Sothis isn't evil. If Rhea's plan to revive Sothis were to succeed, her plan wouldn't screw Fodlan over. Another interesting tidbit about Rhea is that the reason why she went insane gives her a degree of sympathy. She saw her family get slaughtered in front of her while their remains were used to create weapons of war. 

Now to be fair, this is far from being the first time that a supernatural beings remains have been used as an explanation for how Regalia get created in Fire Emblem. But here in Three Houses it takes on a horrifying angle. We never hear this explanation from the point of view of someone who was there, and had a personal connection to the beings that got slaughtered. It's easy to see how an event like that would mess Rhea up. 

Even before the war happens, the game does a fantastic job at setting up Rhea as creepy and untrustworthy. She orders you to put down a rebellion and even tells Byleth that it will be a good lesson in teaching the students not to cross blades with the church. Another way of saying that would be "Mess with me and die." Jeralt does not trust Rhea, which puts the player on alert. It also doesn't help that RPGs traditionally portray religion in a negative light, which means that Rhea being the leader of a powerful church will most likely wind up as being evil.

To make matters worse, she's not upfront with her motives either (like why she wants Byleth to sit on the chair in the Church Tomb). She also hides the fact that she's so heavily attached to Byleth because she sees them as a host to the goddess. The end of the Crimson Flower route reinforces the idea that she really does not care about humanity, as if the revelation of her lying to everyone didn't tip the player off already.

What's interesting about Rhea, how she and Edelgard compare and contrast each other:

"Both of them share more similarities than either would probably admit. The most obvious one is that both of them are willing to do some very questionable things for the sake of their view of the world. Both of them have a lot of blood on their hands, and both of them are willing to distort the truth for the sake of preventing chaos and confusion. They also both are extremely attached to Byleth, though for very different reasons. Both are willing to let the faithful of Serios continue worshiping a god that is not there (Edelgard explicitly states in supports that she has no intent to actually destroy the Serios faith, just it’s power structure. We can debate on if Edelgard is aware of Sothis’ current state or not, though I feel like her relations with the slithers would indicate she does, but the result either way is the same). And on a somewhat more technical level, both of them turn into monsters to serve as the final boss of some routes.

 

There’s also how they treat their allies (though that should really be in quotation marks in Edelgard’s case). Edelgard actively hates those who slither and intends to have them all wiped out to a man (this also means that both of them have attempted genocide on these people which, while none of the ones we personally see are anything beyond chaotic evil, is still kind of fucked up), and while Rhea pretends to be on Dimitri’s side in CF she really couldn’t give less of a shit and sets his capital on fire once the man is dead on the off chance that it might get a couple of Imperial troops caught in the blaze.

However, they naturally have very different goals. Rhea is symbolic of the status quo, wanting to maintain the current order (that she instituted in the first place) for the sake of a possible golden age that would come about if she could bring Sothis back. Edelgard wants none of that shit and intends to tear the structure the church has instituted down, and rebuild it from the ground up.

 

More interestingly to me however, is how they themselves view themselves and their goals. Edelgard frequently questions if what she’s doing is right through CF, but she never really strays from her initial views. As much as she questions herself, it never goes very deep, and her course remains steadfast. This is true in other routes as well. Rhea is much less willing to stop and consider what she’s doing, but if she’s forced to, she goes much deeper with it and radically changes as a person as a result, either realizing that what she’s done wasn’t worth it and steps down from power, or she turns into a revenge fueled monster that throws any noble qualities she did have out the window."

(Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/dl9qs3/good_intentions_gone_bad_a_rhea_breakdown/) 

So let's bring it home. Why are Edelgard and Rhea this high up on the list?

In Edelgard's case, it's because she's a villain whose motivations and goals are extremely well fleshed out. To the credit of the game, we see that the status quo really is that bad. The crest system is awful, the Church of Seiros passes lies as historical fact about the true nature of Fodlan, and the leader of said church is batshit crazy. Why wouldn't you want to overthrow it? All peace in Fodlan costs is the lives of thousands of innocent people. This is the central debate of Three Houses, as stated eloquently by someone else:

"Does the evils of the Crest system and Church justify the actions and alliances that Edelgard takes to fix them?.... The debate comes down is do the churches evil justify a revolutionary war? That's the first hurdle that some folks debate. Then the second hurdle is does winning the war, justify using someone like the Slithers?"

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/ebzpxm/spoilers_the_crest_system_world_is_horrible/

And this is why Edelgard is # 2 on this list. She's a complex character that forces the player to debate the merits of her actions. It's a debate that has no easy answers. I know a lot of people are tired of the debates between Edelgard, Rhea, and Dimitri, but I'm not. I find the presence of such heated debates to be a sign that Three Houses did something very right: It made a morally gray villain, gave us a morally gray conflict, and it did a fantastic job at laying down the pros and cons.

Edelgard is nuanced. The conflict that she brings is legitimately thought provoking. She has a valid point of view. Without her, Three Houses wouldn't be as excellent of a game as it currently is. What's also neat is that Edelgard kind of succeeds regardless of what route you play. The Church of Seiros at the very least get reformed, if not torn down. Crests either go away or are wiped out entirely. Rhea either dies or steps down in every route available.

Edelgard is basically a new age Arvis. In fact, it's uncanny just how similar those two are:

• Edelgard's disguise is called "The Flame Emperor" while Arvis becomes an emperor that uses fire magic.

• Both of them get to be emperors in their respective games, and both succeed at their goals.

• They're both characterized as extremists who will go to any lengths in order to achieve their perfect utopias. Their utopias are unified, and both characters are willing to conquer their respective continents to get that dream achieved.

• Both of them work with a team of shadowy cultists in order to achieve their goals.

• Both of them have dual holy bloods, one of those holy bloods is "the bad guy holy blood." Arvis has Loptyr blood while Edelgard's Crest of Flames was supposed to be last seen from Nemesis.

• The Velthomer house crest is the Fire Emblem in Genealogy. The Crest of Flames is the Fire Emblem in Three Houses. 

A big reason why Edelgard is as high up as she is, is because Rhea served as a really effective foil. Rhea's insanity, and her negative effect on Fodlan, earned her a spot on this list too. Rhea took a well worn archetype and gave it more depth and nuance. It was because of her awful actions that Edelgard could shine. 

In the end, Three Houses knocked it out of the park with two stellar villains. Edelgard (and Rhea) will definitely go down as on the greatest villains the series has ever seen.

# 2: Edelgard / Rhea (Three Houses) Part 1

 

So I'm going to start this conversation by analyzing a meme. Yes, I'm being serious. The meme I'd like to talk about is this one:

This is a meme that Zak Goldfinch posted about a year ago in Guyden. It confirmed an observation I had made about the fandom and female lords. The Fire Emblem community has a strained relationship with the female lords in this series. Based on what I've seen from the writing of these games, I don't think this was intentional. We're supposed to root for characters like Celica and Eirika, but many don't. So on a surface level, it would appear that Edelgard is simply following a time tested formula. But there's a key difference here. Edelgard is a female lord who's controversial by design. 

The main reason why has to do with the main conflict at the heart of Three Houses: Is Edelgard justified in declaring war on the Church of Seiros? This is a question I asked about a year ago. I even made a poll of it on Facebook. Even to this day, I'm still surprised at how even the results were:

Over 400 participants, and the results are dead even. Based on the comment section of said poll, it's safe to say that she's a character who elicits strong reactions from people. Unlike other games, Three Houses puts its main conflict front and center, and then lets the player make up their own mind about whether Edelgard is justified or not. This is a bold idea for a Fire Emblem game. In previous games we might be able to sympathize with a villain's motives, but the games always made it clear that those villains were wrong. Three Houses doesn't do that. Thanks to how that game is written, you can unironically agree with Edelgard and be taken seriously.

 Since Edelgard made the # 2 spot on this list (along with Rhea who I'll be discussing momentarily) I'd like to talk about why people might like her, why people might dislike her, and why she's this high up.

Why Some People Like Edelgard

• The Crest system sucks and it needs to be abolished: One point that everyone can agree on is that the crest system has been negatively affecting Fodlan. In Fodlan, a character's fate is dictated by whether they have a crest or not. Those who have crests get to be leaders while those who don't have crests get nothing.

      The crest system is basically the Holy Blood system from Jugdral, but worse. At least in Jugdral you can count on getting Holy Blood if your parents have Holy Blood. In Fodlan no such guarantee exists. If your parents both have crests, you can still be born without one. This is exactly what happened to Sylvain's brother Miklan, and his entire life was ruined from just that one event.

      Miklan isn't the only character in the game whose life was ruined because of the crest system. The whole reason why Sylvain's such a skirt chaser is because he resents women who only value him for his crest. Ingrid was going to marry a douchenozzle because her family needed prominence and her suitor wanted her crest. Edelgard and her siblings were experimented on because the powers that be wanted a powerful heir to the throne with a stronger crest. Edelgard's siblings died, and while she lived she had to endure torture. Her life span was reduced meaning that she could no longer live as long as she would have been able to normally. This isn't even the full list of characters whose lives have been ruined by crests, which just goes to prove how awful the system really is.

Even Seteth admits to Ingrid in one of their supports that he has "mixed feelings" about the crest system. Considering how high up on the food chain he is in the Church, that admission says a lot about how terrible crests are. 

If it weren't for the Church of Seiros, the crest system wouldn't be in place. Once again, everyone who's played Three Houses agrees that the Church of Seiros at the very least needs a reform. The Church lies to everyone by covering up the real history of Fodlan, and even Rhea herself performs experimentations on people in the hopes of resurrecting her mother. So basically, the Church of Seiros is actively lying to people, and they've been doing so for a thousand years. 

• Edelgard's Plan Benefits Humanity: If Edelgard wins, then Fodlan benefits. Her entire plan is to replace the crest system with a merit based one. One interesting nuance about Edelgard's character is that she steps down after conquering Fodlan. Edelgard isn't power hungry, despite the fallacious accusations against her of being so. What she really wants is the power to benefit all the people of Fodlan, uniting them against the Church of Seiros. Edelgard is a rare example of a villain who's plan is actually beneficial to the world that she lives in. 

• Rhea's crazy and needs to go down: Rhea follows the tradition of most Fire Emblem dragons and is shown to be mentally unstable. Is that really the type of person who should be ruling Fodlan? Rhea jumps at the chance to immediately execute anyone who crosses her. The end of the Crimson Flower route shows us that Rhea is willing to burn down a city with innocent people inside. It's also obvious that she's not trustworthy even before that incident. A lot of people who side with Edelgard hate Rhea, and want to see her die.

Reasons to Dislike Edelgard

• She declares war on the entire continent: No matter what route you play in Three Houses, Edelgard will always be the one who declares war on the continent. This means that she's responsible for the deaths (either directly or indirectly) of thousands of innocent people. While most people agree that the Church of Seiros is bad, the cost required to get rid of them is just too high. 

• She teams up with Those Who Slither In The Dark: While the Church may have held up the system of crests, it was Those Who Slither in the Dark who were the ones that performed the crest experiments. Those Who Slither in the Dark are consistently portrayed as an evil organization so teaming up with them does not make Edelgard look good. It's even worse that she's teaming up with the people who were the reason why her lifespan got shortened. To any Edelgard fan who reads this and is about say "Did you play her route? It explains why she teamed up with them," the answer would most likely be, "Yes, we've probably played her route and they know why she did it. That still doesn't help her case."

• She attempted to assassinate Dimitri and Claude at the beginning of the game before they were in a position to do anything.

I could probably keep going in terms of listing the pros and cons to Edelgard, but this post is getting long and I think the point has been made already. There are very strong reasons to either like or dislike Edelgard, which is why the fanbase is divided on her. Like her or hate her, she is a memorable character that accomplished what she set out to achieve.

# 3 - The Black Knight (Tellius Games)

 

Kicking off the Top 3 is none other than The Black Knight, aka the Darth Vader of the Fire Emblem series. The Black Knight can only be described as an unstoppable force of nature that made the Tellius games as great as they are. So, what makes the Black Knight awesome?

The Black Knight's main claim to fame is kicking off Ike's character arc by killing his dad in the beginning of Path of Radiance. The Black Knight would have killed Ike if it weren't for the Gallia laguz nearby. Up until this point, the game had gone to great lengths to tell the player that Greil was supposed to be a powerful fighter in his own right. Petrine refers to Greil as fighting like a demon. The game still hypes up his fighting skill even after he's gone. Greil was considered one of the Four Riders of Daein. The lore of Path of Radiance makes it clear that he is a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, which is why the Black Knight's easy victory is so shocking. The Black Knight kills Greil in only a few moves, and then reacts to Greil's death the way Saitama reacts to most of his kills in One Punch Man:

        "Is that all there is? No charge? No resistance?"

And just like that, our main character's father dies. And from there comes Ike's entire arc: Getting strong enough to get revenge on this motherfucker for what he did to Greil. But as the player soon finds out, this is way easier said than done. Not only does the story hype the Black Knight up, the game reinforces it too. Anytime the Black Knight shows up on screen YOU RUN! Why? Because this dude can one-shot every single character in your army without taking any damage! Running away from the Black Knight feels like something straight out of a survival horror game. This is another way in which the Black Knight and Darth Vader are similar, because as anyone familiar with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order could tell you, when Darth Vader shows up YOU RUN!  

Eventually you level-up, and when the Black Knight shows up again, the player thinks that they should be able to take him right? Right? Lol nope. This is chapter 24 in the game when Ike faces off against the Black Knight again, and he still can't deal any damage. When you do finally face off against him, you need to proc Aether in order to win. Even at your best, you still have to rely on dumb luck to beat him. No other Fire Emblem villain I can think of is this effective at feeling like an unstoppable force of nature. In addition to being so freaking strong, he also has warp powder. So theoretically speaking, you are never safe from him. It's a miracle Ike won at all. 

According to Radiant Dawn, Ike canonically won the third fight against the Black Knight....but only because the Black Knight let him win. Yet another similarity between the Black Knight and Vader is that these guys can only lose against our heroes because they held back. Even when you think you've won, it turns out that you didn't actually win. It isn't until the end of Radiant Dawn when the Black Knight is defeated for real by Ike. I will point out that it still bugs me to this day that The Black Knight can be more easily beaten by a hammer than Ragnell in that fight. Plus, the Black Knight is much easier to beat that time around. Then again, Ike did get way better in-universe so there is an explanation present as to why he would win like this. 

Fun Fact: The explanation for the Black Knight holding back against Ike is a change made only to the localization. In the Japanese version, the explanation was that the Black Knight's warp powder "malfunctioned." Supposedly, Ike only fought a "shadow" of the Black Knight. I'm actually surprised that the localization of a game ended up making a change for the better. This explanation actually makes far more sense while also staying in character for him.

Here's another fun fact that Blaine brought up: Take a look at how many characters this dude defeats in the series:

- Greil: Killed by the Black Knight. In universe, he's a beast of a fighter. Also The Black Knight's mentor too.

- Ranulf: Gets beaten by The Black Knight twice. He would have died in Path of Radiance if Sephiran hadn't stopped the Black Knight when he did.

- Skrimir: Got rekt by Zelgius in single combat.

- Jarod and his men: The second to last chapter in Part 1 of Radiant Dawn is just The Black Knight soloing Jarod's mooks. I'm surprised Jarod somehow survived that encounter.

- Tibarn: Tibarn didn't lose, but Zelgius held him off Tibarn's hawk form with one freaking arm! That's super badass!

On a personal note, Path of Radiance was my first Fire Emblem game. I still remember how intimidating the Black Knight was back when I was new to this game. I didn't even beat the Black Knight during my first playthrough. I actively ran away from him and thought that he couldn't be beat. I eventually learned about Aether, and during my second playthrough of Path of Radiance, I was determined to beat The Black Knight at all costs. It took me a couple restarts to do it, but the first time I beat him was one of the greatest feelings in the world. Even to this day, defeating the Black Knight is easily one of the most satisfying moments of victory for me. So for me the Black Knight fight also has a huge sense of nostalgia in addition to everything else that's been mentioned. 

Another major positive for The Black Knight is that he has one of the greatest boss themes in the series:

The Black Knight's theme screams "I am unstoppable! Prepare to get destroyed!" Plus his Mastery Skill in Radiant Dawn is deliciously overkill. It negates enemy Defense and multiplies his strength by 5. That's overpowered enough to destroy anyone in the game, including Ashera. The only way to deal with that is to fight him with someone who has Nihil. 

Before I end this piece, I do want to bring up another major factor that added to the Black Knight's awesomeness. For all of Path of Radiance (and a decent chunk of Radiant Dawn) there's an incredible sense of mystery to him. Nobody in either the player's army, or the enemy army, knows who he is or where he came from. All you learn is that Greil trained him. That mystery made him both frightening and cool. 

In fact, people liked the mystery so much that some members of the fanbase were disappointed when it was revealed that the Black Knight was Zelgius. For the record, I am not one of those people. As far as I can tell, the reveal works. Zelgius had been built up in Radiant Dawn to be a powerful fighter, and there's nothing in Path of Radiance to suggest that Zelgius couldn't be The Black Knight. 

I also find that what we do learn about him makes sense and works for his character. Zelgius killed Greil because he wanted to surpass his master. This is a surprisingly unique motivation for a Fire Emblem villain. You'd be more likely to see this in Dragonball Z or Street Fighter. When you consider the Black Knight's actions regarding Ike, it actually makes sense that this would be the reason why The Black Knight would fight against Greil. 

I've seen some people call Zelgius "tragic" or "sympathetic" and I have to disagree. Sure, it sucks that he's a Branded and that he'd have to deal with all the crap that entails, but the story makes it seem like nobody except for Sephiran even knew that he was Branded to begin with. I've never seen Zelgius as tragic. His motivation and backstory make sense for his character, but not tragic. They're simple motivations, but they work.

 So to conclude this post, the reason why The Black Knight is one of the greatest villains in the Fire Emblem series is:

• He's a badass villain that can curbstomp your army for most of his existence. No other villain in the series gives off this presence of being unstoppable like he does.

• The aura of mystery surrounding him is cool. When his identity and motivations are eventually revealed, they're simple motivations that make sense for his character. 

There's never been another Fire Emblem villain quite like the Black Knight, and his popularity among the fanbase is well deserved.

# 4 - Travant (Holy War)

 

And here's a villain that everyone predicted would be on the list. I also alluded to Travant being on this list back in my Michalis post:

 "Michalis is the character that spawned an archetype of bad guys who are usually ambitious rulers that will do bad things in order to preserve either themselves or their people. Travant is the most famous example of this archetype, but he's far from the only one."

(Source: https://thecrusadergrant.blogspot.com/2020/12/top-10-villains-list-honorable-mention.html) 

Michalis may have invented the archetype of the enemy leader doing bad things for the sake of his people's prosperity, but Travant perfected the archetype. So who is Travant, and why is he rated so highly on this list?

Travant is the leader of the kingdom of Thracia, a nation whose land is barren. Throughout Fire Emblems 4 & 5, we see Thracia consistently portrayed as a nation where it's citizens are poor and starving. The only thing Thracia has going for it is that it has wyverns, and a king willing to do anything to make his people prosper.

Another major characteristic of Thracia is that it has been constantly trying to invade it's northern neighbor, the Munster District. The Munster District (formerly known as the Manster District aka the place where Quan, Leif, and Finn are from) is Thracia's northern neighbor whose land is fertile. In addition to wanting his people to prosper, Travant has another major goal:

“My fondest wish is to return this land to what it was in the days of Dáinn and Njörun. ...Even if it damns me to the deepest pit of Hell.” 

Travant also wants to unite Thracia and Munster into one country. When you combine his two motives together (Munster has resources that Thracia doesn't, plus he wants the two kingdoms unified) you get why he wants to invade Munster. Sure, Munster is Quan's home, so naturally you see Travant as a bad guy since he's trying to invade it, but to his credit his reasons make sense for why he'd want to invade his northern neighbor. And this becomes a major reason behind why Travant is an excellent villain: His motivations make perfectly good sense.

Another fun tidbit about Thracia is Munster comes from a conversation in Chapter 8x of Thracia 776:

When viewed in this light, it makes even more sense why Travant would want to invade Munster. But wait, there's more. Travant doesn't merely get to invade his neighbor, he actually gets to win. In Chapter 5 of Holy War, you the player have to watch both him and his army ambush and destroy Quan, Ethlyn, and their entire force. It's a gut wrenching scene. And it also helps to set Travant apart from most of the villains on this list. Travant is one of the few villains in the franchise who actually gets to kill a playable character. That's a pretty big deal. Not many other villains get to say that. As if that wasn't enough, Travant also takes Quan's daughter, Altenna, and raises her as his own. After killing Quan and Ethlyn, he destroys Leonster and effectively takes over the Munster District for a short period of time. 

Just as victory was in his reach, the Grannvale Empire swoops in and takes Munster from Travant. Thracia gets defeated and Travant has to sign a treaty with the Grannvale Empire. To his credit, Thracia is the only kingdom in Jugdral that doesn't get annexed by Grannvale.  The fact that he managed to avoid being conquered by the most powerful military juggernaut in the series is an impressive feat on its own. 

Unfortunately for him, the treaty (along with his country's standing with the Grannvale Empire) put him in a really shaky situation as he has to deal with the fact that said Empire could destroy him if he makes one wrong move. This is why Travant and Thracia act like they do during the Second Generation of Holy War, and in Thracia 776.

By the time the player gets to fight him in the Second Generation of Holy War, he's already caught between a rock and a hard place. His reputation as ruthless and opportunistic proceeds him so Seliph and Leif know better than to turn their backs on him. While both Seliph and Travant are enemies of the Empire, they really can't come to a truce either. In spite of the fact that they have a common enemy and would have both benefitted from a temporary alliance against Grannvale, you still have to fight him in Chapter 9 of Holy War. In a move that seems fairly weird for him, Travant decides to rush toward Leif and Seliph. He even hands the Gungnir to Arion. This might seem weird for him, but there are two lengthy posts on reddit that explain why he would do that:

              "Trabant: “Here, I’m leaving this lance with you. Don’t you lose Thracia now, you hear?”

Areone: “…Isn’t this the Gungnir? Father, what’s the meaning of this? You’re not going into battle without it, are you?"

Trabant: “I’ve had enough, Areone. It’s me they’re after anyway. Do as you see fit after I’m gone, okay?

Areone:“Are you suggesting I call for a truce!? You know I could never do that!”

Trabant: “Like I said, do as you see fit. I only ask that you see an end to the people’s suffering. Farewell, Areone!”

Notice how he never really tells Arion exactly what to do and trusts him to come up with the best solution on his own (unfortunately it takes him a while as well as Altenna convincing him to finally come up with it). This tells me that at this point (right before he enters the field) he's not wholly committed to this conflict, but at the same time there's a bunch of factors that's keeping specifically Travant (not Thracia, and not Arion) from calling a truce.

1. Travant's and Thracia's reputation. A Thracia led by Travant was known for behaving almost like vultures, relying on underhanded, ruthless, or shady tactics. While Seliph would probably be willing to give Travant a chance, the rest of the crusaders may not be as willing. The possibility of Travant backstabbing them exists. A cynical man like Travant wouldn't even fancy the idea of acceptance or forgiveness. Arion's reputation however, is at least less tainted.

2. And this brings us to Leif and the rest of the Northern Thracians. There is so much bad blood there. Leif, Finn, and Nanna may not be so eager to welcome Travant into their ranks. Travant murdered Leif's parents and kidnapped and brainwashed his sister (and even resulted in her "death") and they've murdered a few of his men as well.

3. And yet he's probably way too prideful to just go up and apologize since in his eyes, he probably still thinks that everything he did was justified for the sake of his people and kingdom. He's also probably not ready to have his sacrifices amount to nothing as ruthless as he is. His pride probably drives him to try and be the one to unify all of Thracia.

And so here's my interpretation of this chapter. I don't think Travant is thinking 100% rationally here. A part of him still wants to hold onto Thracia and wants what's best for Thracia and that means unifying it, but those two are not necessarily going to go hand in hand and it drives him to make some crazy, suboptimal decisions. So in a desperate attempt he tries to take all the precautions to push Seliph's army out by blackmailing Hannibal, petitioning Grannvale for help, and sending Altenna with the Gae Bolg out at the enemy, even if it's a stupid idea since Grannvale's just going to sweep in and grab all the loot anyway.

But once Altenna learns the whole truth of her birth I think this is where Travant gives up on even holding onto the kingdom of Thracia for himself. This moment feels like where his mindset finally shifts. She was most likely his key pawn in unifying the subcontinent, but with her lashing against him, he knows that his goals are now even further away. And once Arion "kills" (knocks out) Altenna, he's just done. Maybe he feels a bit guilty for exploiting her and then having her meet such an early end and that he needs to pay for all of his crimes. Or maybe it's finally hit him that his brutal tyranny will never accomplish his dreams. Either way, he does point out that Arion didn't need to kill her which is probably his indirect way of expressing that he didn't want her to die. Kinda like how he indirectly tells Arion not to follow his lead. And so, he passes on the Gungnir in hopes that Arion would lead differently, and goes off to his death, with the intent of ending this conflict immediately."

To complement /u/AiKidUNot excellent post about his characters motivations, I would also add that the regional politics meant a conflict was most likely inevitable.

• First is the Empire. Thracia actually almost managed to unify the Thracian peninsula after Quan's death, but Leidrick and Conote's army betrayed him (just like earlier they had betrayed Quan's father in his defence of Northern Thracia) and gave the region to the Empire. This means Thracia is in a very shaky footing with the Empire, in which any misstep could end with them easily being wiped out of the continent; in fact, they're the only independent nation remaining besides the Empire. This is why Thracia and the Empire are 'allied', even when Thracia 776 shows Trabant using almost every dirty trick in his book to undermine the empire.

• This brings us to the crucial moment, his attempt to capture Manster. Thracia 776 gives us a lot of context for this, because we can see that what they attempt is basically the same they did with Tahra just in a larger scale. Its very likely Trabant actually didn't want to engage Seliph's Liberation's Army directly for Manster; what was there was Sety and the Magi group, and they were at all effects independent of Seliph's army. Thracia 776 even adds to that by making their army NPC units (as in, separated from the Empire) who only attack you after Sety takes Manster. Trabant's hope was probably to get Manster, and then let Seliph go to Grannvale while he would snipe the rest of the peninsula from his back once the fighting there got messy. However, Leif itself was allied to the Magi group and Seliph would never let innocent civilians die, so the takeover devolved into war. Overall however, with Leif as one of Seliph's most important allies, there was never a chance for peace between them; they knew that the moment they turned their backs to him Trabant would attempt to get the rest of Thracia, and getting sandwiched between Grannvale's central armies and Trabant's dracoknights would be the worse situation possible. Even while allied, Grannvale would never send much forces to help Thracia, and the desert would make a theoretical Imperial invasion of Isaach and Northern Thracia very slow, so at that moment it made the most strategic sense to tackle Trabant.

• At this point, Trabant's only choice is to strengthen his alliance with the Empire, as he knows he himself alone has no hope against Seliph. He probably still thought that there was space for a comeback if he managed to get the entire Thracian Peninsula from Seliph. But I think he never envisioned the war lengthening so much. With what he tells Arion he seems the imply that he wants him to make peace after his death, but Arion's pride doesn't allow him to forgive the Liberation Army for the death of his father.

• On Hannibal, again Thracia adds a lot of helpful context. It turns out Hannibal was the one sheltering a Lenster resistance group to undermine the Empire. While Trabant would likely agree to it (anything to weaken an enemy), it is as expected that a paranoid like him would fear that the general maybe got too attached to some of its members and would betray him now that the situation looked grim. That besides Hannibal obvious hate for the Empire.

(Source for both lengthy quotes: https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/6okyag/fe4_why_was_trabant_acting_so_strangely_in_the/)

As if all this wasn't enough, Travant's goals become realized after his defeat. What's even more crazy is that they're realized through Leif. After the end of the war, Leif united Munster and Thracia together. Knowing what we know about Leif, it's safe to assume that Thracia prospered under his reign. So in the end Travant won even if he didn't live long enough to see his goals ultimately realized. 

So to sum it all up: The reason why Travant is # 4 on this list is because of all the following:

1. His motivations make perfect sense. He's not evil, just a dark shade of gray pitted against our heroes. As a result, we know where he's coming from.

2. He gets to kill two playable characters. That's a noteworthy achievement for a Fire Emblem villain. Both of those kills are canon and the player can't do anything to undo them, which makes this feat all the more memorable.

3. His goals are ultimately realized, so he wins in a roundabout way.

When you take all of the above factors into account, it's not hard to see why Travant is such a great villain who's remembered as fondly as he is among the Fire Emblem fanbase.