# 8: Ishtar (Holy War)

 

The first Jugdral villain to grace this list is the one and only Ishtar! Ishtar is easily my favorite Camus character in the series thus far. In order to understand where I'm coming from let's review what the Camus archetype is. The Camus archetype is basically a high ranking enemy leader who usually isn't evil, but will fight the main characters out of loyalty to their enemy country. These characters exist to show a side of gray to each of the stories that they're in. The idea behind Camus characters is that not everyone the player fights against is evil.

Over the years, some members of the fandom have started to criticize these types of characters. Fire Emblem games tend to have the main rulers of the enemy nations be really evil people. It can make the Camus look stupid when they continue fighting for this obviously evil ruler. This can be compounded by the fact that many Camus characters in the series often have friends and allies that are on the players team. The most infamous example of a poorly written Camus is Xander from Fates. However, I find that there are multiple examples of well written Camus characters, and Ishtar is my favorite among them.

The first question we should ask ourselves is "Why would Ishtar continue to fight on the side of an Empire that routinely sacrifices children?" The big reason here is that most of her relatives are high up on the Grannvale food chain. Half of the chapters in the Second Generation require you to kill her family members. That's a pretty powerful incentive to keep her on the enemy's side. Before you fight her for the first time you have to kill off her brother and his fiancée. You also defeat her dad and drive him back before she even enters the story. Then after you beat her in your first fight, you kill her dad. Then two chapters later you kill her mom. It makes total sense for her to stay on Grannvale's side. Plus her boyfriend's the Emperor of Grannvale. So Ishtar has a powerful reason to stay on the enemy side. 

Another fascinating element to Ishtar's character is her family dynamic. Based off the conversations we see in the game, her dad treats her like a weapon to be used against her family's enemies, while her mom continually pressures her to marry Julius in order to advance their family's interests. Here are two conversations from Holy War that shows us this dynamic:

Hilda: “Ishtar, where’s His Imperial Highness?”

 

Ishtar: “Ah, mother… He just left for Barhara.”

 

Hilda: “I see. I think he likes you, dear. You think he’ll ever make you his princess?”

 

Ishtar: “I don’t know.”

 

Hilda: “Ishtar, you listen up! We Freeges are of noble rank within Grandbell. And I’m originally from Velthomer, just as the Imperial family is. Who could possibly make a more worthy partner for His Highness than yourself!?”

 

Ishtar: “Yes, mother.”

 

Hilda: “Now, on to these rebels… the ones responsible for killing my husband and my dear Ishtor. They stole Alster from us, as well. Celice and his family shall forever remain the Freege’s bitter enemy! Ishtar, I’ll stay here to confront the rebel army when they arrive. You go on back to Miletos and get the children ready to send to the capital.”

 

Ishtar: “Yes, mother.”

Ishtar: “Your Highness, I wish to take the Weissen Ritter out and fortify the palace’s defense. I request your permission to leave the Royal Palace.”

 

Yurius: “Hmph… Why do you need to join the battle all of a sudden? They can send as many soldiers as they want. They can’t defeat me… You just stay put.”

 

Ishtar: “I mean no disrespect… but do understand I take great pride in being a warlock of Freege. With the murder of my parents and my brother… it pains me to sit here doing nothing. Please allow me to fight!”

 

Yurius: “You have a death wish or something, Ishtar? Or are you just trying to elude me?”

 

Ishtar: “No… Of course not. I love you, Yurius. You know that.”

 

Yurius: “Heh heh… Alright, you do what you want. I’m not stopping you.”

I found a few posts on reddit that summed up her dynamic is that of an "abused wife." She knew Julius before he got possessed by Loptyr. You get the sense that Julius was born as a regular person who just happened to get possessed by the Fire Emblem equivalent of Satan. Ishtar loved Julius back when he was a regular person. Then he got possessed, and while she still loves him to a certain extent the relationship just isn't the same for her anymore. One big reason is that Ishtar actually opposes the child hunts. Arvis entrusted her to help get the children either to safety, or to be hidden from Julius. I'll end this post with a quote from a reddit user who adequately summed up Ishtar's character, and why I and so many other Fire Emblem fans like her character:

"Ishtar is by and large a good person trapped on the wrong side, half out of loyalty to better days, and half out of fear. The former stops her from just jumping ship to Seliph's side, and the latter stops her from just being the evil overlord's wife, and actually try and keep a semblance of justice in place."