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Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/25/2025
08:48 PM
#199
Recency bias is real :(
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/25/2025
08:48 PM
#198
The problem is I do not remember them that well...I remember Maybelle the most but the other two are drawing blanks in my memory
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/25/2025
07:21 PM
#195
So you knew Hibelle? There are dozens of us...
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/25/2025
01:27 PM
#192
173. Douglas
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/01132f1a.jpg
At least if this whole army business doesn't work out, you have a future as a matchmaker.

The deputy commander of the Crossbell Guardian Force. An all-around good guy. Never really causes trouble for the SSS, helps with training us, has a nice personality. Was responsible for one of the harder sidequests in Azure from what I remember. Seems like he'd be nice to hang out with. Apparently he got Sonya and Sergei together years ago, so good for him. His nickname is Douglas the Demon, which I'd hate if they said it all the time, but they instead use it as a gag to talk about how stupid the nicknames in Trails are, which makes it incredible. He's down here however despite all the things I enjoy because he just doesn't show up enough or have more relevance to be memorable. I pretty much forgot who he was entirely until I started making this list, and I had to move him up a bunch of spots as I remembered more about him. But I can't justify putting him much higher than this. Wish he was more important!
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/25/2025
01:19 PM
#191
174. Victor Arseid
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e8630a59.jpg
Hair dye. Don't forget to leave the bleach in-

Laura's dear old dad is our next to fall. As the head of the Arseid family, he is one of the most influential characters in Erebonia through his travels and legacy as one of the strongest warriors in the country. They only control the area surrounding Legram, and are not one of the four great noble houses, but their impact is instead felt through their school of swordsmanship that they created and are the masters of.

Victor himself is kind-of sort-of of a traveling monk type of character, delegating his noble duties to his staff (and his daughter at one point). He teaches his swordsmanship to those who are interested, and offers wisdom to Rean at various points in the series. He isn't interested in picking sides in the civil war, instead teaming up with Olivier in the wild card faction, becoming captain of his airship, the Courageous. He seems like a somewhat down-to-earth guy when you do interact with him, he has a bit of that air of nobility about him, but mainly wants to talk about how Rean can become a better warrior.

That's all fine and why I like him, but why I hate his guts is because of his stupid ass fake death scene that he gets in CS3/4. I hate Trails for doing this so often and his might be the worst of them all, because it goes right from stupid ass fake death scene to stupid ass mask mind control plotline immediately after. They barely even give his corpse time to rest before bringing him back. They do make him lose an arm in the explosion that was supposed to kill him, and that's permanent. That's pretty cool, but they never really show him losing an arm having any impact on him at all. You'd think for someone who's supposed to be this great warrior that this would be a major blow to his effectiveness, but they still make him seem like he's just as powerful as he was before, so what's the point? Shit like that just pisses me off. It's lazy writing and I'm not sure who it appeals to, but they need to stop. If this had happened in CS1 then he'd probably be in my bottom 10, but he had enough of a decent run beforehand to let him rank a little higher.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/25/2025
01:00 PM
#189
That's definitely Harold
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/25/2025
12:46 PM
#187
If this was an ermine list sieg would've been #1 free
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/25/2025
11:40 AM
#185
175. Hugo Kleist
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/531c7200.jpg
As a businessman, it would be stupid of me not to flood the inner city with crack cocaine, right?

Mr. Kleist is the son of a highly respected and successful merchant who runs and owns the aptly named organization Kleist and Co. One of the more important student NPCs that we get in these games! The arc of Hugo and of this company during the Cold Steel games is basically in describing how Erebonia discovered Walmart. Through unscrupulous business tactics, combined with aggressively cutting costs in order to gain market share and force other businesses to shut down, they figured out how to Capitalism properly well before anyone on our planet did relative to their society's level of development, so props to them.

Hugo as an individual is somewhat annoying, given that he shares his father's proclivity for using the dark side of the force at times. However, he is shown to have somewhat of a conscience, as one of the reoccuring plotlines throughout the series was in him having to stop his even more evil employee (who's name I cannot remember) from doing even more evil things, such as destroying entire villages in order to raise profits. At least there is a line he won't cross, though I may have to rethink what I said earlier about them figuring out Capitalism, since morals have no place there. Regardless, he's a decent character, but not one that you can really feel all that bad for at the end of the day. I have to imagine he has very few fans compared to his opponent in his rivalry that he has with fellow student-merchant, Becky. More on her later!
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/25/2025
11:23 AM
#184
176. Friedel
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/77f14ce5.jpg
We're not here to listen to you speak, sorry.

Probably one of the "Who?" NPCs for some people. She only appears in CS1/2, and largely serves to be the champion of the fencing club. Has a small rivalry with Laura over being the strongest swordswoman. She apparently had a thing with Loggins, who is even more of a "Who?" NPC, so I didn't even rank him. Why did I remember Hibelle though? I don't know how my brain works. It has to be one of the weirder brains on Earth. I wonder if I can pay someone to have my brain studied after death. Anyway, she really ends up ranking this high because she's very pretty. Too bad you weren't a main character instead of a different main character that we have coming up relatively soon...
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/25/2025
11:10 AM
#183
colliding posted...
I hope this mean's Gaius's bird isn't ranked higher than Sieg, because that would be a crime
You can see in the first post but Zeo isn't ranked. Fuck that bird
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/25/2025
11:10 AM
#182
177. Guy Bannings
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/f1f2ce41.jpg
Legends say that Falcom ran out of money at the start of disc 2, and had to describe the rest of the game with text over a black screen.

Guy Bannings is another backstory character, given that he dies before the events of the series. His death, however, is a pivotal moment in the plot. One of Lloyd's driving motivations early on is in solving the crime of the murder of his brother.

By all accounts, he's portrayed as a pretty spectacular Guy (haha). He basically solves the entire plotline of the Crossbell arc by himself, being shot by Grimwood once he learned the truth behind the Crois family's actions. He also was investigating Marconi and Joachim along those same lines, all the while raising his little brother Lloyd by himself. Also also, before being shot by Grimwood, he managed to duel Arios to a draw. He also looks like a gigachad.

To put it simply, they write him to be a little too perfect for my tastes. He's basically just the smartest, strongest guy in the room at all times that can do no wrong, with an outstanding moral character and a heart of gold. Such characterization annoys me deeply. I think if we actually had to deal with Guy alive at any point he might have fallen down my list. But as it stands, I can write some of it off, since it might be a sort of 'unreliable narrator' situation where people don't want to speak ill of the dead. That's my headcanon, at least. Also, at the very least I have to respect someone who raises their brother alone after their parents die. That kind of thing is cool, man.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/25/2025
10:17 AM
#180
178. Sieg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7815a00c.jpg
Who knew you could say so much, with so little.

A literal bird ranks above 34 other characters. Why? I don't know. Sieg's just kind of neat, man. He's pretty smart, for a bird. He seems to understand English. Or Japanese, depending on how you're playing the game. I think that's pretty cool. I think the games should have more non-talking animal mascots. I think Celine would've been much improved as a character if she couldn't talk at all. Let's bring back animals guys.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/24/2025
03:54 PM
#178
I liked the last story I read in Reverie. I can't remember the other ones vividly enough to know how I feel about them but I think in general they're fine
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/24/2025
12:47 PM
#173
Something something small indie studio
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/24/2025
10:37 AM
#171
179. Stark
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/93474538.jpg
...why would you say that? That's the first thing that pops into your head?

Stark is not one of the more interesting students. He's portrayed as a smart guy from a merchant family I believe. He's also from Jurai, which is probably his most defining character trait. His plotline is that he feels inferior to Crow, a fellow Jurian. Given what Crow is shown to do vs. what Stark does throughout the series, I think those fears are justified. We can't all be power players though kid, it's okay.

He's a pretty unexciting character overall, but I liked his gambling sidequest he had with Rean in CS3 and how it tied into his backstory, and how they take that and expand on it in CS4, giving him a payoff with Crow. It was enough to make me like him a little bit, even if he's ultimately kind of bland.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/24/2025
10:25 AM
#170
180. Michel
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/3302fc70.jpg
I don't even think that's true Michel. I think you just wanted to let us know that you're a 'confirmed bachelor'.

The token gay guy! He doesn't really influence events in the story much; in general I suppose most guild receptionists are fairly uninvolved in the larger plot but Michel isn't helping their case. He basically exists as one of the mandatory characters that is doubtful of the SSS at first but then respects them after they prove themselves. He's also Arios' hypeman in the early stages of Zero. After Arios makes his heel turn, Michel trusts in the SSS to return him to the light side.

He's a nice enough guy, but all the overly flamboyant gay stuff doesn't really appeal to me. I think Japan does this a lot whenever they add any kind of homosexual to their games, they really want to make sure you know that they're gay so they dial it up to 200%. If they just toned it down a lot he'd move up my list a bit probably. For someone with so much presence though, nothing he did really stood out to me. They can't all be Kilika's I guess.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/24/2025
10:03 AM
#167
pyresword posted...
Actually you know what I'm deleting that post. The meme was funny but I'm realizing there's Daybreak spoilers in the comments of the thread. I guess here's just the original image sorry if you clicked on the first link.

https://i.redd.it/ezucl8ujwppf1.png

Anyway I like Ein.
To me that whole situation just reads like they've got it under control. Which implies they are very advanced and informed and capable, which is why I like the church so much. If that's not true then I'll be sad, but that's why I'm assuming they'll take a more active role soon when the threat starts to really amp up.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/24/2025
09:59 AM
#166
181. Principal Vandyck
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/630705f2.jpg
Say the line, Bart!

The token old guy. He reminds me a lot of the old captain in Bleach that I can't remember the name of. I think it's a Japanese stereotype or whatever you want to call it, that the old men are also the strongest and best leaders or whatever other admonishment they want to give them. In real life, old people suck. Not actually suck, but I really don't think that they should be in charge of things. Can we please stop electing geriatrics? Experience is invaluable, I agree! But it's a reality that physical and cognitive decline starts around 60 for most people. My grandmother is in her 70s and she's still generally intelligent and capable and gets around on her own, but I can't say I don't notice her recalling things slower than she used to, or repeating things or things like that. It's just nature. We don't need to lie about it, it's okay. Maybe, you know, talking directly to them we can play nice of course, but outside of that. It's like requiring the elderly to retake their driving test after a certain age. It's just practical.

Anyway, Vandyck for me plays a little too much into that whole 'Elderly God' archetype that I'm not a huge fan of. When he's simply acting as the principal of Thors, I think he's a pretty good character. Not anything special, but he's fine. Once he's put in charge of the Erebonian army again and stuff it became more annoying, but y'know, like I said that's just Japan. I get it. I'll rank him above some of the others for having a sense of humor and seeming like a generally good guy when he's on-screen, but low in general because of that other stuff.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/24/2025
09:32 AM
#162
182. Ein Selnate
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/8dead47e.jpg
Kevin really needs all the advice he can get.

This is a character that's not really a character! Well, she is, but...

So, she is heavily featured in the in-universe novel series Carnelia, which is the book series you collect in Sky1. Unfortunately for that reason, I never read it! I enjoy reading the novels in universe now because I know they act as teasers for characters or concepts that will appear in future games, but I didn't know that as an FC newbie, so I skipped it. I really should go back and read it some day, I'd assume it may have changed Ein's position on the list if I had. I haven't though, so here she lies.

She's the leader of the Gralsritter, who are basically the church military, mixed in with some Indiana Jones. Their main responsibility is in securing artifacts, which are basically various deus ex machina that we see throughout the franchise causing havoc. I have to imagine this collection would make the Church one of the strongest, if not the single strongest military force in Zemuria. To date however, we see them only acting in a limited capacity on what could be called special forces missions, rather than acting as an organized army. The whole church subplot is one of my favorite in Trails, so I really hope they start dialing it up in Daybreak and beyond as the franchise is supposedly coming to an end sooner rather than later.

Anyway, back to Ein. There's not much I have to go off of, given that I haven't read Carnelia, nor have I read the real-life Manga The Ring of Judgment, which is something that I had no idea existed until researching her to make this post. But apparently there was a manga released in Japan detailing some events that occurred between Sky 3rd and Zero, which has Estelle, Joshua, and Toval going on a mission on behalf of Ein to secure an artifact. I was too lazy to read the entire plot summary but I'm sure it's great. Anyway, in the actual games, the only time Ein has any speaking lines is in flashbacks in Sky the 3rd. I have to imagine she will take the forefront at some point in the story, given how important her position is to the events that occur in the series, but for now, we're left waiting. From what little I have been able to gather though, she seems like a cool character. I'm sure she has a lot of potential to move up the list in the future; I'm hopeful that she'll take a more direct role in the story soon.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/24/2025
09:11 AM
#161
183. Shizuku MacLaine
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/f29dc9e3.jpg
KeA took this as a personal challenge.

Shizuku is a very sweet girl, but I'm afraid that she is just a little dull. She's basically what I assume the cultural ideal of how a young girl should act in Japan is, which is probably why she has such a Japanese sounding name. Well, first name. Actually can we talk about how weird her name is? It's like the most Japanese first name ever and then her last name is like some Irish buddy cop movie ripoff. I don't know how they came up with that one. Anyway...Shizuku. She's overly polite and considerate of others, cheerful, cares endlessly about her fathers wellbeing. If I had to guess, I'd say Japanese audiences enjoy her more for that reason. And it's not like I don't like her, she's just...boring. Yeah.

Her backstory is very sad with her mother dying, going blind, raised by a single dad and all of that. She shows remarkable strength through it all! For whatever reason though it never really endeared me to her, maybe because I felt like I couldn't relate to her really. Oh well. As far as I remember she never came back in future games, so she's likely a character we'll never see again.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   Project L Early Access starts 10/7, yearly plans #fitegames
_stingers_
09/23/2025
05:59 PM
#14
Anivia would be so cool so theres 0% chance of that happening
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/23/2025
03:25 PM
#159
It didnt seem that different to me? What do you think is so different with the reverie mind control shit compared to cs4
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   Project L Early Access starts 10/7, yearly plans #fitegames
_stingers_
09/23/2025
01:27 PM
#2
Extra prize for duo is hilarious. I'm not sure if it'll actually incentivize top players to do it though since they're still splitting first place prize between themselves. Maybe if the 1/2 seeds aren't confident they can beat each other but they are confident they can beat everyone else in attendance they'd be incentivized to try it.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   Playstation State of Play - 9/24/25 @5PM ET
_stingers_
09/23/2025
10:20 AM
#3
Ff7 part 3 maybe
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   What's your username origin?
_stingers_
09/23/2025
09:03 AM
#131
The stinger was my favorite car in GTA3
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Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/22/2025
08:20 PM
#156
I don't know how anyone can have elliot that high
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Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/22/2025
01:39 PM
#153
184. Priscilla Reise Arnor
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/bccaa3c6.jpg
In real life, most women would be more than a little jealous here.

The Queen of Erebonia is our next to fall. She doesn't get as much screen time as the King, but when she shows up on screen she's a soothing presence. She's nice to everyone and generally behaves as you'd expect a Queen to. It's nice that she shows the same behavior towards Olivier as she does to her own children. I also like her design, she's very pretty and looks regal. She looks a little too similar to the King honestly, but I guess they wanted both parents to have blonde hair since all the kids do and Olivier isn't related to her by blood, so whatever. It works. She is nice and all but never really shows any side of herself that isn't a caring and benevolent Queen, so it gets a bit dull. I doubt she'll have much reason to show up during the Calvard arc, besides maybe a passing glance at some point so she'll remain here forever I expect.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/22/2025
11:00 AM
#149
Which aren't children but those two then lost to children so vis-a-vis the transitive property -
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/22/2025
10:59 AM
#148
colliding posted...
Wow, Gerhart doesn't go in the bottom tier? He has like 2 minutes of screen time. I guess it's a more interesting 2 minutes compared to Carl and Teo. I guess I see that. But yeah, I completely forgot he existed.

Also I don't remember the Reverie daydream in question but Cassius was clearly throwing
Him and Zechs lost to Arios and Daddy Arseid
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/22/2025
10:45 AM
#145
In the tournament daydream in Reverie Cassius loses to children, ackshually
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/22/2025
10:41 AM
#143
185. Gerhart Rogner
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/07fe557d.jpg
Unfortunately for the rest of us.

Gerhart is Angelica's farther, and the head of one of the four great noble houses of Erebonia. We're really going through the parents in this last stretch. In general they're all kind of boring, but I ranked Rogner higher (and in a new tier) mainly because he has an actual personality. He's similar to Albarea Sr, where his primary motivation is in keeping his house strong, but he differs in having some actual humanity behind it. He's somewhat of an antagonist at first, but he develops over the first few games to eventually leave the Noble faction in the civil war and become a neutral party, eventually joining Olivier's side and assisting the party.

For the most part I side with the kids when the parents are trying to force their views onto them, and I probably do agree with Angelica in reality, but my disdain for Angelica makes me want to side with Gerhart here when he forces her to leave Thors early on to get married to whoever it was. And he has the balls to fight her 1-on-1 in a mech battle, that's pretty cool. He loses of course, because children are always superior soldiers to adults in the Trails universe, but props for trying, guy. Ultimately he falls pretty low since he doesn't have much screen time to shine through, but for the most part I like the cut of his jib.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/22/2025
09:31 AM
#142
Bottom Tier
186 Teo Schwarzer
187 Carl Regnitz
188 Franz
189 Xin
190 Ada
191 Fritz
192 Black Alberich
193 Cedric Arnor
194 Kurt (Sky)
195 Sidney
196 Valimar
197 Helmut Albarea
198 Clara
199 Gideon
200 Margarita
201 Machias
202 Alan (Cold Steel)
203 Celine
204 Hibelle
205 Irina
206 Kairi
207 Vulcan
208 General Morgan
209 Dorothee
210 Elliot
211 Harold Hayworth
212 Georg Nome
213 Angelica

And that rounds out our bottom tier! Characters I am just bored or otherwise annoyed when they show up on screen. Next up is Low Tier, which are characters that are slightly more engaging or redeemable, or maybe they had a plotline in particular that I enjoyed but don't care for them outside of that.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/22/2025
09:27 AM
#140
186. Teo Schwarzer
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/9a0f3552.jpg
...kind of an odd thing to say in this situation, but go off king.

Next up on the list is Rean Sr! Well, kind of. The one that raised Rean, though not his true biological father. In my mind, he's really just the noble version of Carl. Generally good guy, only really cares about his own city, does good by them, but outside of that, pretty boring. He ranks above Carl for not being associated with Machias and also having about 5% more personality. He seems like he could be fun to be around if you get him drunk, but he spends most of his screen time just saying all the correct and proper things about how good of a son Rean is and to be safe and responsible and blah blah blah. It's not too hard to see where Rean got his personality from. I suppose that is well written in that regard, but yeah...boring. I wish we had a daydream in Reverie where some of the leaders got together after a conference and get drunk or something. It's always more fun to see the adults actually act like adults rather than parents. I liked his voice actor! That's about all I've got to say about ol' Teo.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/22/2025
09:19 AM
#138
187. Carl Regnitz
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e244ca99.jpg
...hothead? Were you raising Ash by mistake?

Machias Sr. proves the old adage that the apple does not stray far from the tree. He has evolved from bureaucrat to politician, but aside from that they're pretty much sporting the same coat of paint. He scores a few positions higher than his son due to being more tolerable, though it is not hard to imagine his personality was much the same as Machias in his youth. The benefits of age (and needing to be tolerable to get votes I suppose). He seems like a generally competent guy, always having been shown to be capable of assisting Heimdallr in any of the various crises that occur during the course of the games. He seems like a generally good guy too, never having been shown to do anything that would negatively impact his city. He really ranks low for being Machias Sr (clearly didn't raise the kid well enough to give him a real personality) and not being particularly any more interesting than his son is.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   it is the 21st night of september my dudes
_stingers_
09/21/2025
08:23 PM
#6
This song came on my Spotify today
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/21/2025
06:07 PM
#137
188. Franz Reinford
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b659ee5a.jpg
Just gotta go get some milk from the store real quick, I'll be right back...

Franz Reinford is another character that we don't really get to see much. Alisa thinks that he's dead for awhile IIRC. I vaugely recall something about Sharon killing him on a mission before she became the Reinford maid, though of course that's not true because 1) nobody dies in Trails and 2) Black Alberich took over his body. He shows up briefly at random through sheer willpower overpowering Black Alberich's body takeover, which seems out of character for some random scientist but I guess they wanted to give him some kind of cool moment. And then at the end of CS4, after the big bad dies he shows up in the true ending to give Alisa a proper goodbye which was nice. He chooses to use the god powers he got from the rivalries finishing to bring Crow back to life though, which is definitely a waste of collecting every Dragon Ball. Why not bring yourself back to life and raise your daughter? I'd say he mainly just ranks low for 1) that, 2) being associated with the whole gnome subplot, 3) Not having much screentime of his own, and 4) Deciding to marry Irina. God only knows how drunk they were when they met for that to have seemed like a good decision. Maybe Irina was cooler back in the day though, I don't know. Hopefully she had a better haircut.
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Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/21/2025
03:11 PM
#135
What don't you like about it? It looks cool imo
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Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/21/2025
01:44 PM
#133
189. Xin Lu
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d6a956b8.jpg
We were all 13 once, kid. I get it.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/40bf8237.jpg
(Actual pic)

Xin is the grandson of the leader of Heiyue, who are basically the Calvardian yakuza. We first learn of their presence in Crossbell via their branch office, where they interact with Lloyd and co. They seem to be a generally competent bunch, easily out-maneuvering the mafia syndicates that existed in Crossbell proper while they were there. From what I remember, Xin contributed basically nothing to those efforts. He is a child, so I get there's only so much he can do in the way of strategic planning, but we do have other genius children in this series so they could've had him do something if they wanted to. Instead, he largely functions as a spoiled brat, which, to his credit is much more realistic than the general approach they take to child characters in this franchise.

He does seem somewhat intelligent (or perhaps educated is more accurate), but he doesn't seem to do anything with it. Besides bossing people around and trying to act tougher than he is, his main character trait/reoccurring gimmick is that he's obssessed with Elie. I mean look lil dude I don't blame you for that one, but similar to all the other overly horny characters that we've seen at the bottom of this list, it's not a gimmick that I find particularly entertaining. If they aged him up to young adult and had him seriously pursue Elie romantically that would've been a more intriguing plotline, but with his age and how he goes about it, it just comes off as desperate. I'm assuming he'll be back in Daybreak so if they age him up a few years like they did for Renne in the final daydream in Reverie for that arc I can see him move up my list a good bit.
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Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/21/2025
01:30 PM
#132
191. Fritz
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/4c3e7f1e.jpg
...completely irrelevant.

Half of the main campus duo. They're lackeys for Cedric though they eventually split off from him the crazier he gets. That ability to reason scores them higher than Cedric himself, but besides that, they're pretty boring. This one happens to like chess.

190. Ada
The other half of the main campus duo. They're lackeys for Cedric though they eventually split off from him the crazier he gets. That ability to reason scores them higher than Cedric himself, but besides that, they're pretty boring. This one agrees to date Sidney, which is funny enough to score above Fritz.
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Board 8   »   Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (early) Review Zone
_stingers_
09/21/2025
12:01 PM
#18
Well the real joy of the franchise is in how it continues the same story of the continent in each arc. So while the sky trilogy is strong in its own right it's not the standalone reason for all the praise the series gets. It's a greater than the sum of its parts type of deal.
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Board 8   »   any windows 10 gamers out there?
_stingers_
09/20/2025
09:06 PM
#6
you can buy an oem key for like $3 or something if you just dl windows 11
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Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/20/2025
01:57 PM
#128
They have slightly more interesting things going on than useless Kurt!
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Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/20/2025
01:00 PM
#125
192. Black Alberich
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b4dcc48c.jpg
Wrong franchise, buddy. Monokuma is over there

The other half of the gnome subplot is the next to fall. I had him lower at first, but ended up moving him up a few slots because I like the idea, I just think they butchered the execution. The whole M. Bison moving bodies after death to be an immortal evil force is kinda cool, though how a story comes up with a method for resolving it is usually the make or break. In Trails case I'd say it's done okay, I mean him getting his power from the demonic big bad and then dying once that big bad is defeated is pretty by-the-books.

I already aired my grievances with the gnome subplot when talking about George, but I think the real failure is in the wasted potential with expanding on that whole faction in the actual plot. You can write up all the backstory you want but if it's not in-game, it doesn't matter. I'm sure there is some master document with some really interesting ideas about the gnomes buried somewhere at Falcom HQ, but they just didn't have the budget to get it in the game. Ultimately, that's what we have to judge off of, so Alberich is a victim of that poor planning.

I did think it was really obvious who he was when they were trying to introduce him in CS3. Not like, 100% obvious exactly who he was, but you could tell he was some kind of villain. They already pulled this exact bait-and-switch with Weissman, reusing it in basically the exact same manner is pretty lazy. Honestly, Trails in general tends to have a lot of similarities in each arc (haven't started Daybreak yet though so maybe they stray from this) but the whole 'every main party ends up acting exactly like the bracers' thing is the obvious one. I still have a personal theory that each region having a different group undergoing more or less the same arc is actually part of the larger plotline that is intentional, that they'll end up tying together saying some shit about history repeating itself to bring about a larger outcome or what have you. That's my hope at least, I'm not sure how much evidence there is to support it but I think it would be pretty neat. Anyway, the whole professor thing was stupid. Most of the stuff the Gnomes do is stupid. I don't mind some supernatural shit in my JRPGs but nothing involved with the gnomes felt like it had proper setup to have a dramatic payoff like it seems like they intended. In a different world this plotline would feel more complete, but in this one they stay firmly in bottom tier.
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Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/20/2025
10:41 AM
#121
193. Cedric Arnor
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/302e874f.jpg
Trust me, you can't handle her, lil bro. Settle for less.

The youngest prince of Erebonia has some big shoes to fill, and boy does he do a terrible job. There is a part of me that empathizes with Cedric, given how youngest princes have been treated throughout actual history (they don't get to do very much) and his less-than-ideal upbringing. I don't think the "being kept political prisoner into death machine pilot" pipeline is one known for turning out well adjusted men. My ability to empathize with him pretty much dies there though, because the rest of his decision making and characterization are not endearing to me.

For starters, his role in CS3 split into two parts. The first is largely to be an arrogant noble that looks down on the main cast for *insert reason here*. That was a plotline that was done to death in general over the first two games, getting to experience it again didn't add anything interesting to the franchise for me. The latter was to be a pawn of the Ironbloods in helping them woo the general populace to their side with propaganda. If he were actually a power player like Rufus I would respect that, but the game gives no indication that he's influencing events with his own will, he's pretty clearly just a royal pawn for Osborne. He does play the part pretty well from what I remember, so pity points for that, but I hate to see someone with so much inherent political power bend the knee to a third party willingly. What did he get out of it? I'm sure there was something but I don't remember. Was he just grateful for being given the divine knight so he helped them, and wanted more power like that? Or was there some other reason? Did he think he would be given a position of power in their new world order government if Osborne's plans ended up succeeding? I guess that's as good of a reason as any, but I don't recall his motivations that well.

Ultimately he ends up joining Ouroboros because he had nowhere else to go, which I guess makes sense to some degree. I don't like his daydream in Reverie where he becomes an Enforcer however. I guess any royal would have some degree of military training but Cedric was never shown to be a particularly skilled combatant at any other point in the franchise from what I recall. Him just kind of willpowering his way through Shirley's test felt cheap to me. I know they just want to give every portrait and voice acted character some title worthy of them, but Cedric really feels like more of a Gilbert to me than a Shirley or Sharon or what have you. It just felt unearned.

Oh and his personality sucks. I talked about it a little bit before but arrogant noble hiding insecurity has been done to death, and it doesn't make me like you. He never really has his 'come to Jesus' moment given that he becomes an Enforcer and all. Ultimately, I never felt any sense of payoff from his story.
Congrats Black Turtle!
Board 8   »   I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)
_stingers_
09/20/2025
09:22 AM
#118
194. Kurt (Sky)
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/85543a58.jpg
I just wanted an excuse to use a picture from the remake. I guess I started this topic at the right time!

For someone who has a decently big supporting role in the Sky arc, I'm a bit surprised they never brought Kurt back in any future games (that I could recall/find online). He wasn't the most important character, butimportant enough to get a small cameo, right? I guess not. Maybe that's because others feel the same way I do? Plainly, this character sucks. They don't give him much of a backstory, his design is generic (if he didn't have green hair he would actually just blend into the background), and his role in the plot can basically be summarized as "professional jobber". How many times can one man get hypnotized and fight against his friends before it does permanent damage to his psyche? I can't imagine the therapy it'll take to come back from hypnosis and attempted murder #3. You'd think the Bracer guild would eventually wisen up and fire him for the liability he is. Or at least develop some anti-hypnosis training videos. You know, with how fast technology advances in Zemuria, I think it's a real possibility that they have sanitized corporate training videos for new recruits at least by the middle/end of the Erebonia arc. That's a terrifying thought. Capitalism has gone too far this time...

I did briefly get fooled at the start of SC when they set up the fake ambush to serve as training for Estelle and Analace, but I do remember figuring it out before the end. That's about the only thing he does right throughout the story. The rest is him fighting you because he has switched sides and briefly serving as a generic, slightly more senior bracer guidance figure when he does have control over his brain. That latter part is not offensive enough to merit any real backlash, but it's not interesting, either. It's a role that is basically required to exist however, so it's enough to get him slightly up the list.
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Board 8   »   Anyone want my last 2xko invite
_stingers_
09/19/2025
02:21 PM
#7
Nobody is abusing it yet so I'm guessing there is some flaw with the gameplan. The TNS top8 yesterday had only 1 blitz and it definitely wasn't juggernaut
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Board 8   »   Kill My Ace Attorney Character
_stingers_
09/19/2025
01:33 PM
#289
Pirozhko
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Board 8   »   Kill My Ace Attorney Character
_stingers_
09/19/2025
12:25 PM
#264
Ahlbi Ur'Gaid
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Board 8   »   Kill My Ace Attorney Character
_stingers_
09/19/2025
11:45 AM
#254
illuminatusbubu posted...
Susato Mikotoba
Die
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Board 8   »   Kill My Ace Attorney Character
_stingers_
09/19/2025
11:18 AM
#242
Foxy
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