LogFAQs > #975434649

7- Weissmann

He barely appears. But he's still great here, even if it's not really him. He knows Kevin killed him, and he's still more interesting in making an evil disciple out of him. The guy is just so nasty! This is one of my favorite villains ever.

We also learn the weapon that killed him came from a mysterious thing that killed his parents, but Weissmann himself doesn't seem to care about that. There is evil to be done.

Weissmann will always have a place in my memory as the monster who made one of my favorite love stories ever possible, because he provided the massive barrier that only Estelle could overcome.

He loses his place to Kevin because well, Kevin's game.

6- Agate

Did he just fall 2 positions? Is it the Agategate? Well, it's nicknamed Agategate, right?

Well, no. I thought a lot about this, but it's not Agate's fault, at all. Or Tita's, for that matter (it's pretty normal for a teenage girl to have a crush on an old guy). It's the fault of the other Russels (fuck them). It's the fault of the mysterious poltergeist who possessed the entire playable cast during that one scene and made them think this is ok (because if there is no poltergeist I'll have to knock the entire player cast down a tier). It's the fault of Falcom. It's the fault of the sizable portion of the playerbase who likes this crap. It's also the fault of capitalism, who incentivizes, when it doesn't outright force, companies like Falcom to cater to those degenerates, in order to stay financially healthy.

But I digress. Well, if it's not Agate's fault, then what? It's because the other characters just had reasons to climb, that's what.

So let's assume Moon Door 1 Part 2 never happened, which is something Agate himself would agree with. What else does he get?

He does get a door, the one with the Ravens. Where he is a side character. I enjoyed his role there very much, though. Because it doesn't make sense. Estelle and Joshua only had to enter some sewers and recover a treasure chest to become junior bracers. The Ravens had to enter the dome of the freaking dragon, which some very strong monsters and multiple floors, get to the top, and then fight Agate himself. And after they won, Agate says they are barred from doing missions as bracers whenever they are together.

It's not a plot hole though, it's because Agate is just that strict. And it plays perfectly with what we know of his character from FC. He reminds me of some teachers I had in college, usually one per semester, who were ridiculously strict compared to the rest, for no reason whatsoever. If you ever go to college, try to avoid classes with Agate if you are making your semester schedule!

It's not much. But I was considering letting Weissmann pass him for the reasons mentioned in his write-up, and just for this bit, I'm letting Agate keep the 6th place. The guy is just great. Long live Agate, and may Japan's perversion never corrupt his badass soul.

5- Kevin

And this is it. Let's crack open the beautiful mess that is our favorite instant Earth Wall provider.

The first thing that I noticed about Kevin is that his trauma over killing his mother makes no sense. He went out and when he returned, she was dying on the floor. He killed nobody. It took me a while, but then I realized he just wanted to blame himself, because that's how human minds work sometimes.The hint here is that everything is in Kevin's head.

He did kill Rufina, though. But that was completely not his fault. He was possessed by a magical thingy given by a goddess, with no warning, which he had no training or means to control. But something in Kevin just broke that day. He decides he was a monster beyond redemption, and willingly walked into a downward spiral of self loathing. Along the way, he probably killed a lot of people, which probably made he hate himself more, and isolate himself from Ries and anyone else who would have cared about him, which probably didn't do good for his mind. So when we meet Kevin in the game's, he is deeply depressed. His head is broken, more broken than anyone's except maybe Renne.

But Kevin is a good actor, which makes sense since he's a good spy. He's also god tier at reading people, so he can say what they want to hear, and he's very skilled, so he can bail them out whenever necessary, and earn their trust. Kevin one of the most dangerous people in Zemuria, easily, for those things, and for all the weapons and resources he has access to. It makes me understand why Orobouros has to operate in the shadows, if this is the faction that opposes them. Kevin is a duality, because he also knows how to look like a monster when he wants to keep people away (something that, fortunately, doesn't seem to work with Josh). He is just a master with people. I also love how Kevin's status as a dominion was kept as a complete secret from the public just so he could get a chance to put that salt pale into Weissmann, because the later is too smart to let anyone from the Gralsritter get close to him.

So the spiral descends, and Kevin unconsciously creates an entire hell just to punish him, and willingly walks into it. It may or may not be a metaphor for suicide. I love the set up, the way the game immediately lets on Phantasma is directly related to Kevin, how it slowly shows he's broken as he interacts with Ries, and how it builds the tension to the big reveal. And then Ries shows what she is awesome and brings him back the light.

I have a problem with all of this, though. The resolution. Once he and Ries jump into Gehenna, I felt like Kevin recovered too easily. He decides he doesn't want her to die with him, but for the rest of the game, he just makes speeches about how he's a changed man and how he's thankful to everyone. It's weird and I'm not sure if it's realistic, because with how broken he was, he should take a lot longer to heal. My headcanon is that after the end of 3rd, Kevin will still spend a lot of time suffering and hating himself, albeit maybe now with Ries by his side, he can slowly recover. But in-game, it feels a little too easy, especially compared to the huge effort that took to recover Joshua. I guess since Joshua had a Bestelle while Kevin only had a Ries, they had to bridge the gap somehow.

I think I'm nitpicking, but I have to explain why he's only 5th place in my list since he's amazing. But the people above him are the gold standard for character writing (and the gold standard for bards). If Kevin's is not perfect, he can't hang out with those guys. But he gets close enough.

5- Kevin
6- Agate
7- Weissmann

High Tier

8- Ries
9- Richard
10- Kloe
11- Nial
12- Anelace
13- Tita
14- Zin

Mid Tier

15- Scherazard
16- Dorothy
17- Campanella
18- Gilbert
19- Cassius
20- Dunan
21- Mogran
22- Aina
23- Kilika
24- Amalthea
25- Loewe
26- Julia
27- Maybelle
28- The Ravens
29- Osborne

Low Tier

30- Beaublanc
31- Walter
32- Mueller
33- Don
34- Luciola
35- Kurt
36- Hans
37- Sieg
38- Erika
39- Rufina
40- Cid
41- Mary
42- Ein Selnate

Boring Tier

43- Kyle
44- Jill
45- Albert Russel
46- Queen Alicia
47- Dan Russel
48- Clem

Actually a Bad Character Tier

49- Lechter
50- Josette

Unranked
(previous rankings)

(God Tier)

(1) Estelle
(2) Olivier

(Very High Tier)

(3) Renne
(5) Joshua