Edelgard von Hresvelg is a fictional character who first appears in ''
Fire Emblem: Three Houses'' (2019), part of the ''
Fire Emblem
is a fantasy tactical role-playing game franchise developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. First produced and published for the Famicom in 1990, the series currently consists of sixteen core entries and five spinoffs. Game ...
'' series of
tactical role-playing game
Tactical role-playing games (abbreviated TRPGs), also known as strategy role-playing games and in Japan as (both abbreviated SRPGs), are a video game genre that combines core elements of role-playing video games with those of tactical (turn-bas ...
s. She is the leader of the Black Eagles, one of the titular three student houses of the Officers Academy within Garreg Mach Monastery where the
player character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
spends the game, and the heir to the once-mighty Adrestian Empire. While she begins as the player's ally, a mid-game
plot twist
A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist or surprise ending. It may change the aud ...
reveals her to be the Flame Emperor, a guise under which she plots to overthrow the Church of Seiros and conquer the other nations of Fódlan to create a society in which Crests — hereditary birth marks demonstrating noble blood and unique potential — hold no sway over social status. If the player chose to teach the Black Eagles at the start of the game and has met certain other requirements, they are given the choice of joining her cause. In all other scenarios, she becomes one of the game's main antagonists.
Edelgard has been noted as one of the most popular characters in ''Three Houses'', and praised by critics for her characterization, although aspects of her portrayal, such as her instigation of the war that drives the latter half of each story path, have been criticized. Her story path, Crimson Flower, has also been praised and called realistic for its grey
morality
Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of cond ...
, though some have criticized its short length and rushed presentation compared to the other story paths.
Characteristics
Edelgard possesses long, white hair and lilac eyes. At a certain point, she is revealed to have been experimented on as a child to possess two "Crests", markings passed down through the bloodline that bestows magical powers upon the wielder, in an attempt to create a worthy heir. This turned her hair from brown to white and left her with lasting psychological trauma, which was worsened by the fact that she was the only survivor of ten siblings to be similarly experimented on. Despite already possessing the Minor Crest of Seiros, she was given the Crest of Flames (the "Fire Emblem") by force, drastically shortening her lifespan.
In battle, she has a particularly strong aptitude for swords, axes, heavy armor, and commanding units, while faring poorly with bows and light magic. She has a hidden talent with dark magic that can be brought out through classroom instruction.
Edelgard has a dignified and modest personality, and is rarely seen acting casually in public.
The character Hubert von Vestra is Edelgard's most dedicated and loyal retainer, and rarely leaves her side. Called a "towering, jealous henchman", he threatens to murder Byleth if they try to cause Edelgard harm.
Fictional biography
Edelgard was born in Imperial Year 1162 as the ninth child of the emperor of Adrestia. In her teenage years, a group of corrupt Adrestian nobles reduced her father to a powerless figurehead, cooperating with "those who slither in the dark", a secret group of ancient
subterranean dwellers, to abduct her and her siblings. The royal children were subjected to inhumane experiments to implant them with two "Crests", draconic marks that grant the bearer great magical power; Edelgard was the sole successful test subject and survivor. She swore revenge on both "those who slither" and the Church of Seiros, the latter of whom she blamed for her suffering due to promoting Crests as divine blessings and lending holy legitimacy to the experiments done to her and her loved ones. To defeat the Church, conquer Fódlan, and promote societal reform, Edelgard reluctantly allied herself with "those who slither", creating a secret persona, the Flame Emperor, to conduct her operations against the Church.
During the game's events, Edelgard is rescued from a bandit attack by
Byleth
In demonology, Beleth, also spelled Bilet, Bileth, Byleth, or Bilith, is a king of Hell who has eighty-five legions of demons under his command. He rides a pale horse, and a variety of music is heard before him, according to most authors on d ...
, the player character. Byleth is made a teacher at the Officer's Academy where Edelgard studies; depending on the player's choices, Byleth can take charge of one of the three houses at the Academy, one of which is Edelgard's. As the Flame Emperor, Edelgard acts as the initial antagonist of the game's first half, and events come to a head when, after she is crowned Empress, she reveals her duplicity and attempts to steal the monastery's Crest Stones. On the Silver Snow and Verdant Wind story routes, Edelgard becomes the game's secondary antagonist, and Byleth leads the player's forces to defeat the Empire and kill her. On the Azure Moon story route, Edelgard is the game's primary antagonist. She serves as Dimitri's
narrative foil, and light is shed on her childhood friendship with him. At the game's end, Edelgard and Dimitri are unable to resolve their differences peacefully, and Dimitri is forced to kill her in battle. On the Crimson Flower story route, Byleth defects to her side. Edelgard launches a military campaign to defeat the Church, ultimately succeeding in the game's climax.
Appearances
Shortly after her appearance in ''Three Houses'', Edelgard was also added to ''
Fire Emblem Heroes
is a free-to-play tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for Android and iOS. The game is a mobile spin-off of the ''Fire Emblem'' series featuring its characters, and was released on February 2 ...
'' as a New Hero. In February 2020, she received a legendary form in her timeskip attire. In August 2020, she received a Choose Your Legends form, dressing her in her emperor attire from ''Three Houses''. In May 2021, she received a fallen form, reminiscent to her form as Hegemon Edelgard from the Azure Moon route in ''Three Houses''.
Edelgard was later announced to return as one of the main playable characters of ''
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes'', a
musou spin-off set in a
parallel universe from ''Three Houses''. In this game, she and the others are instead rescued by Shez, a mercenary rival to Byleth, which triggers a series of alternate events to happen from the main game. In this timeline, she instead cuts ties with "those who slither in the dark" rather than work with them and declares war two years later on the Church of Seiros. In Scarlet Blaze and Golden Wildfire, she forms an alliance with Claude to take down the Central Church and Kingdom (though in Golden Wildfire, Claude attempts to take out the Central Church first so they wouldn't need to wipe out the Kingdom). She and Shez ultimately defeat both Rhea and Thales and allow the two to seemingly kill each other. In the Azure Gleam route, Thales uses his dark magic to subdue Edelgard and put her under his control, reducing her power and influence similar to her father. Dimitri allies with Claude and Rhea and manages to kill Thales, but spares Edelgard after seeing how Thales' actions have affected her mental state as he and his allies crush the corrupted Empire.
Outside of the ''Fire Emblem'' series, Edelgard appears in ''
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is a 2018 crossover fighting video game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series, succeed ...
'', where she is a background character in the Garreg Mach Monastery stage and a spirit, as well as the basis for one of Byleth's alternative costumes. She also appears in a theme for ''
Tetris 99
' is an online version of the tile-matching video game ''Tetris'', developed by Arika, and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch in February 2019. The software is free, but only to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. Incorporating eleme ...
'' based on ''Fire Emblem: Three Houses'', as well as in ''
WarioWare: Get It Together!'', in a microgame based on ''Fire Emblem: Three Houses''.
Merchandise
In 2020,
Good Smile Company
is a Japanese manufacturer of hobby products such as the Nendoroid and figma product lines, as well as scale figures. In addition to production and manufacturing, its business includes design, marketing and distribution. Its products are usuall ...
released an Edelgard
Figma.
Reception
Edelgard was noted as being the subject of a "fandom explosion", featuring
fan art
Fan art or fanart is artwork created by fans of a work of fiction and derived from a series character or other aspect of that work. They are usually done by amateur artists, semi-professionals or professionals. As fan labor, fan art refers to ...
and
cosplay
Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...
, as well as being the most-deployed character in the game as ranked on its internal leaderboard. Patricia Hernandez of
Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
stated that "much of the fandom in ''Fire Emblem'' now revolves around shipping and romance, and it seems as if most people are falling for Edelgard." Over time, however, her ranking was noted to have been supplanted by the character Dorothea.
Daniel Friedman of Polygon stated that "the developers at
Intelligent Systems
is a Japanese video game developer best known for developing games with Nintendo and the ''Fire Emblem'', ''Paper Mario (series), Paper Mario'', ''WarioWare'', and ''Wars (series), Wars'' video game series. Originally, the company was headqua ...
have evidently been reading some
George R.R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels '' A So ...
along with their
J.K. Rowling
Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...
, as there's an unmistakable
Daenerys Targaryen
Daenerys Targaryen ( ) is a fictional character in the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' by American author George R. R. Martin. She is a prominent Narrative mode#Third-person view, point of view character, and is one of ...
vibe to Edelgard," calling her "intense, driven, and willing to pay any price or inflict any cost on others to achieve her goal."
XeeCee of
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
stated that "Edelgard is right about everything," and despite singling out her evil actions as the Flame Emperor, said that "when all was said and done
..I was comfortable with my choices. For the first time in what feels like a long time, a video game had offered me the chance to play as a medieval revolutionary". Stating that "what makes this entry so different is its commitment to building out a world with believable politics", XeeCee stated that they "joined
delgardimmediately" when given the option to turn against the Church, calling her "the avatar of all the class resentments bubbling in Garreg Mach for the first half of the game" and saying that "considering the ills I'd seen throughout the game up to this point, her unmasking as the Flame Emperor wasn't a
heel
The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg.
Structure
To distribute the compressive for ...
turn, but a call to arms." Lucas White of
Siliconera
The GAMURS Group, simply known as Gamurs, is an esports media and entertainment publisher. Established in December 2014, the group operates multiple brands focusing on the esports and entertainment news markets, including the websites: ''Dot Espo ...
agreed with this, claiming that "supporting Edelgard is the most morally sound choice", and stating that "Edelgard pursues a complete, violent upheaval of everything, literally destroying the Church and reforming the Empire into something new". Despite saying that "Edelgard is no innocent in ''Three Houses'' violent world. She schemes, assassinates, and betrays," he concludes that "her mission is the only one that holds Rhea and her secret society accountable for their actions."
The optional support and romance between Edelgard and Byleth, the main character, was called a "lovely, touching scene" by Todd Harper of Vice, but also criticized due to the fact that is "90% the same" no matter what gender Byleth is. Harper states that, with regards to female Byleth, "that queer reading that hit me right in the gut emotionally has absolutely, positively no impact whatsoever on the actual story of ''Three Houses''."
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hresvelg, Edelgard von
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