Board 8 > I rank the Trails series characters (from Sky until Reverie) (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Millium is bad in CS1 and 2, mostly fine in 4, but then she's somehow really good in 3. I'd probably give her credit for producing one of the most emotional moments in the series, even if CS4 kinda undoes it because Trails just can't leave people dead.

Millium loses a lot of points for resurrecting. One of the worst moments in CS4.

I also hated her in the first two games, but her dynamic with Jusis in CS3/4 is actually quite fun.

MacArrowny posted...

Dusken Dancer absolutely sucks and was probably the worst thing in Reverie.

I'm still early in Chapter 3, but so far it's been cool to see her rallying spirit in weaponized like it was, and how the power of music for good or evil is a powerful vein of magic in its own right. I get why Elliot is so low on people's lists, but music actually has had a place in the Trails games from the start (Olivier, Luciola, Joshua) and power creep at least is being consistent across all fields. I'm certain things are going to fall flat like usual, Ilya's gonna have her mask break and she'll heal all the bad stuff in Crossbell, and she'll make some grope pact with Shirley or whatever, but I've enjoyed it so far.

MacArrowny posted...

Don't worry, there's no mind control in Daybreak...1 .

Unfortunately inaccurate. One of those dancer girls in Tharbad gets the mask treatment

Glad to see another Towa hater

Oh right lol forgot about that terrible part.

Towa too low IMO, Like she wouldn't be in the top tier or anything but seeing Ilya and Eugent a few spots ahead of her is kinda insulting lol. She lowkey has some of the best chemistry with Rean IMO.

As for Eugent, I think the reason he basically cedes power to Osborne is because he knows/believes that there's a literal book that tells the future and it's mostly "this empire is fucked, yo" so he just lets Osborne handle it because he's competent evil. Don't know if he knows Osborne's backstory as the incarnated Dreichels - if he does that might be another part of it. But yeah he's basically a whatever character.

Sorry to bogart the topic with a list of my own, but if we can have an audience submitted "best maids list" I think it's okay for me to rank CS romance options based on how wrong they are, from not at all OK to socially acceptable:

Altina - You're a sicko, plain and simple
Elise - You're a weird siscon, (and for someone this boring/annoying?)
Claire - You don't exist, because no one actually likes Claire
Alfin - You're a Delita / Jowy type who believe in marrying into royalty to change the system
Juna - You're a jealous type who doesn't like not being the main character
Sara - You're addicted to porn.
Musse - You're addicted to porn.
Fie - You like Fie, but you realize very quickly this feels weird.
Towa - You have "curious" taste in manga and anime.
Alisa - You care too much about canonicity. You always look up the "real names" of Persona protags.
Emma - You can ignore how boring she is for superficial reasons.
Laura - You can ignore how boring she is for sword-i-ficial reasons.
Crow - Damn the man! You're going to die on this hill.
Duvalie - Congratulations, you found the right answer.
Anelace - You're losing yourself inside a fantasy world of your own making.

Thorn posted...

She lowkey has some of the best chemistry with Rean IMO.

Yeah I mean I said that and I agree but thats like +0.5 points for me. Nothing else that she 'does right' really appeals to me a super lot!

colliding posted...

You always look up the "real names" of Persona protags.

not everyone does this? <_<

It's Alisa > Alfin > Towa > Emma > Duvalie.

I hate how Alfin will sabotage herself for Elise.

I guess the implication is that you name them the canon name instead of making one up because you want to adhere to said canon

Oh right, romances for Rean are Laura > Emma > no thanks

Romances for Lloyd are Rixia > no thanks

I guess I can't offer my opinion yet but I can say it's definitely not Laura!

Going through the Sky remake, I forgot Joshua was also building a harem just like Lloyd and Rean.

If only we had gotten Joshua/Kloe

The first thing Olivier does in the series is hit on Joshua!

colliding posted...

You like Fie, but you realize very quickly this feels weird.

I
colliding posted...

You're a Delita / Jowy type who believe in marrying into royalty to change the system

am feeling
colliding posted...

You care too much about canonicity. You always look up the "real names" of Persona protags.

personally attacked

Leonhart4 posted...

If only we had gotten Joshua/Kloe

you mean josette. girl needs a w somewhere

why discuss joshua ships rather than estelle ships tho

Kurt/Estelle by my arts

Leonhart4 posted...

Kurt/Estelle by my arts

You might be the first person to ever try and make that match

You have my arts

And my staff

Emma > Towa > Crow

Leonhart4 posted...

Kurt/Estelle by my arts

Kurtina/Myka

Leonhart4 posted...

Oh right, romances for Rean are Laura > Emma > no thanks

Romances for Lloyd are Rixia > no thanks

dapped

Romances for Rean: Alfin (narratively it's the most interesting/consequential dammit!) > Fie > Alisa
Romances for Lloyd: Noel > Rixia > no thanks

Thorn posted...

(narratively it's the most interesting/consequential dammit!)

is it really more interesting/consequential for Alfin to hook up with Rean than with another guy

It's consequential for Rean because then he potentially marries into royalty

And I, the player, am vicariously living through him

161 & 162. Ennea and Ines
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5c433907.jpg
Honestly they're together in half of their pictures anyway, so this wasn't very hard to find.

Part of the other half of the Stahlritter. Duvalie really syphoned all the fame out of that group, huh. We love our tsunderes! While the other two don't get nearly as much characterization as their poster child, they have their moments. I enjoyed them appearing in both the Crossbell and Erebonia arcs. For some reason they seemed a lot more intimidating in Crossbell. Maybe just because we knew less about them? I never felt too threatened by their presence in later games. Maybe except for the start of CS3, but that's probably because we were just given a brand new group of protagonists to fight them with and a slightly changed battle system. That brings back the novelty. I don't know who 'Juna' or 'Ash' are man, how are they going to beat them?

I enjoyed their presence in the Magical Alisa side story in Reverie. I don't really have much to say about what differentiates them, but I'm putting Ennea above Ines because I like her design better and bows are cooler than halberds. There's probably more, but to me they just blur together. Nothing sticks out to me immediately, so I'm putting them together.

160. Aurier Vander
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/8dca48da.jpg
Seeing 'cardplay' used as a noun is just taking me out man, I can't.

Some more fodder for the pile. Aurier doesn't get too much time in the spotlight, but I enjoyed what time she did get. I think that warrior moms are pretty cool. She uses a naginata, which are infinitely cooler than halberds. I don't know if we ever got to see her fight unfortunately, I only recall her training her students. But she's apparently pretty strong. She really just ranks this high because 1) She's very pretty, 2) She has a cool weapon and 3) She has such a cool name. 'Aurier' is like an alternate Aurora, which is also a cool name. If I have a second girl, it's honestly a contender. My first girl isn't born or conceived yet, but we've already decided that she will be named Elly, of course. (I've got one son and his name is Ethan. Unfortunately not gaming related, unless you happen to really like the protagonist of RE7/8).

Not to be confused with Coldplay

159. Gustaf
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d90cc8c8.jpg
And dating, in the Trails universe. Also how do they have computers but no child labor laws?

GUSTAF! Just pretend I said that with a Russian accent. I think this guy is pretty cool. Kind of a gentle giant, but he also makes bombs, which is a lot cooler than anything I could do at 17 years old (mainly just waveshine kids). He's most notable for being the drummer in the Thors Rock & Roll band and for being Laura's cooler older brother. Not really but they have the same hair, so...maybe Vander got around. He was travelling all the time and all, Aurier would never know. She would definitely have killed him though, for sure.

He does kind of seem like a childhood Victor though; I know he gets all stuffy and wise and shit like all the 'old' warriors in Trails, but you can tell he's got some personality underneath. I can see it. Not much else to say about Gustaf though, but I like the guy.

158. Pablo
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/8eb20267.jpg
You'll never guess what he's referring to.

Another student who doesn't get too much screentime, but I think his concept is just hilarious. A scottish redhead who's obsessed with trains is a novel concept in media, for me at least. I'm just glad they didn't make him Irish and give him freckles. That would be the 4kids localization, I guess. Are they still around or am I showing my age? I guess we're all in the same age group on this board anyway. That's why I love you guys. Also, why does every redhead in the trails series have the exact same shade of red hair? It's not the realistic one, either. I guess Elliot and Fiona are closer to 'real red' being more orange, but they suck, so who cares.

Anyway Pablo's funniest moment and one of the funniest moments in the whole series to me is when he bet Crow he could beat him in Vantage Masters putting up an (implied) porn mag as a bet, and then he loses and gives him a train magazine. I really just lost it man, that was too funny. And perfectly in character. They definitely lean a little hard on the whole 'Pablo likes trains' thing, but he shows up sparingly enough that it was always funny to me. He's also a member of the rock and roll club funnily enough, which I didn't think about until just now. I wonder if I associated them together subconsciously? I always just think of him as the train kid.

157. Albert von Bartholomeus
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/fa0da6c4.jpg
Prince by day, doctor by night...he is 'The Crowned Physician'! Coming soon to a theater near you.

The ruler of Remeferia is our next to fall. I'm not going to lie, I think I got him mixed up some with Alicia from Liberl a bit when I was making this list due to the whole 'von' thing. I thought he was related to Liberl somehow. I think he should probably be a bit lower, but it's too late to move him down, so he can sit here. He's fine, but he doesn't get a whole lot of screen time. Which unfortunately makes sense, since Remeferia as a whole is not explored very much, to date. I hope they get more screen time in the future, since I always love my winter kingdoms in media. You'd think they'd be more important since their main claim to fame is being the most advanced medically on the continent, but since we've spent so much time recently between Erebonia and Crossbell, all the medical talk has been centered around St. Ursula's. I guess we never need any large scale medical intervention because all of the wars get cancelled before anyone can die! Oh, Trails...

In general though, he tends to pale in comparison to Lucy, the prettier and more frequently used Remeferian representitive. He did get a scene in Azure where he diagnosed someone before the legendary Doctor Seiland could, which was kind of funny / strange. I guess he's a man of many talents! I don't know why a Prince would need professional medical training, but I guess it's to drive the point home that Remeferia is the medicine place. Hopefully they get more screen time in the future.

156. Lynn
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/17ddb06b.jpg
Yeah, god only knows who that could be...

Lynn is one of the Crossbell bracers, alongside Arios, Aeolia, and Scott. Lynn probably gets the least amount of screen time of the bunch if I had to guess, but she makes an impression. Actually I guess that might be Scott, but he's memorable for having a kid during the events of the story. Also for being the most generic design of all time. A plain brown haired guy named Scott is just funny. We've already got plain brown haired Lloyd, kid. There's no room for you.

Back to Lynn...She kind of reminds me of Estelle, in a way. She's punchy with her dialogue, she's got a sporty design, she seems impatient regarding incompetence, and is generally emotional. But not in any kind of negative way. I think if she got more screen time I'd move her higher, but we didn't get a huge opportunity to get to know her. I like her design though! I also like that she speaks her mind when a lot of the characters in Trails can be more polite...it's the traditional Japanese thing I suppose.

She apparently has some backstory with Kilika, so maybe she'll show up some in Crossbell? Probably a bit of a stretch, but I wouldn't mind seeing more Lynn. What else...I vaugely recall the fight with her and Aeolia in Azure to be pretty difficult. I think it took me a few tries. Lynn's pretty cool. We need more badass punching chicks in my Trails franchise.

155. Wayne
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/69816e60.jpg
Compensating, much?

Most notable for being the brother of the famous Myka from the Kurtina/Myka pairing, Wayne is the resident musclehead of the class. I didn't rank Myka so you can consider this a dual ranking, because she boosted his placement a bit. His gimmick is being obsessed with muscles and wanting to improve his body. There are worse goals in life, but you need to have some other hobbies, man. I guess he's in the swim club, but iirc he's only there so he can show off his muscles more, so...

The weird thing is he isn't some like, hugely roided up looking guy. He's solid but not as huge as some of the other guys in the series. I guess he's still in school, so he's got some time left to reach those heights. His gimmick was kind of funny, generally better than Pablo's at least though without the same highlight of the magazine thing that I loved about Pablo. The kids running away from him in his daydream in Reverie was funny, though. I think he's also the one that originally introduced us to the swimming minigame that you play a couple of times throughout the games. That was pretty fun. He's also one of very few students that is playable, when you have a sidequest where you have to beat Laura and Duvalie with him and Jessica. I guess that means the devs really liked him? Ultimately I'd say he gets this high from being boosted off of his association to Myka, though. She's really hilarious.

I don't think it ever happened, but I remember neeeeeeeding to see Pablo in Crossbell so he and Lyd could just talk about trains together.

154. Beatrix
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7b87e0f7.jpg
They say offense is the best defense, right? ....right???

Our resident physician for the first two Cold Steel games. I have a bit of a soft spot for the kind old lady nurse archetype, so I rather liked her. I also have a bit of a soft spot for when they give you a small glimpse into the backstory of an elderly side character that implies they had their own badass 'Hero's Journey' type of adventures in their youth. They had some throwaway line that she was one of the best snipers in the army in her youth and I just love that so much. She was also apparently one of the top healers in the army, which is not something I realized had their own ranking system, but I guess she just treated more wounded than everyone else? Casting Tear is hard work, after all. It's always funny to me to see that dissonance between like, actual healing being putting on bandages or whatever when in game it's just, cast the heal spell! Whenever those two concepts kind of clash in the cutscenes of a game I always think that's funny. You never see someone casting Tear at St. Ursula's is all I'm saying.

Anyway, as far as Beatrix goes, eventually she settles down and treats the wounded at Thors for a few years. She had a fun relationship with Fie where she let Fie skip class to take a nap in her office or whatever. I guess she has a soft spot for the people that have seen real combat at Thors. It's a shame we never see her again after transferring to the branch campus, but Vivi is much easier on the eyes, so I guess it worked out okay. I'd rank her higher but ultimately she's kind of forgetful after the first two games, unfortunately.

That's low tier! Here's the current list:

Low Tier
154 Beatrix
155 Wayne
156 Lynn
157 Albert von Bartholomeus
158 Pablo
159 Gustaf
160 Aurier Vander
161 Ennea
162 Ines
163 Millium
164 Duke Cayenne
165 Ilya
166 Eugent Reise Arnor
167 Towa
168 Laura
169 Gaius
170 Rocksmith
171 Leonora
172 McBurn
173 Douglas
174 Victor Arseid
175 Hugo
176 Friedel
177 Guy
178 Sieg
179 Stark
180 Michel
181 Vandyck
182 Ein Selnate
183 Shizuku
184 Priscilla
185 Gerhart Rogner

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

Next up is Mid tier, which will get us most of the way to my top 100. Mid tier is characters that I pretty much have good vibes about all the way through, or that may just pique my interest in another way.

GEHENNA TIER
Dario Giscard

I have no idea who that is but I agree

Dario is the loser who hangs out in the Millennium Hotel in Crossbell, if I'm remembering correctly

Leonhart4 posted...

Dario is the loser who hangs out in the Millennium Hotel in Crossbell, if I'm remembering correctly

Before that, he was the asshole harassing, stalking, definitely attempting to kidnap and implied worse St. Astraia students in Cold Steel III.

"We captured the scoundrel harassing the girls' school students and completed the request! I'd better not see him anywhere near Elise again..."

Oh man I forgot that was the same guy

I think Ennea was a victim of the D therefore G so I would probably rank her a smidgen higher for having some backstory

Add Aurier to the "forgot they existed" list for me. Also please don't show that cursed Rean costume ever again

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought it was D Therefore G

It was tough to say as someone who likes to read the player character's dialogue aloud

colliding posted...

I think Ennea was a victim of the D therefore G so I would probably rank her a smidgen higher for having some backstory

Add Aurier to the "forgot they existed" list for me. Also please don't show that cursed Rean costume ever again

Blame Google man I would never use that

I always just said DG in my head

colliding posted...

I think Ennea was a victim of the D therefore G so I would probably rank her a smidgen higher for having some backstory

IIRC, her parents were members so she grew up in the cult. Not sure if we was ever part of the experiments though. For some reason I want to say she was being raised as an assassin or something until she got got by Arianrhod or Duvalie and they took her in but I may have made that part up. I think it's almost all in a CS3 scene where the Stahlritter are talking to each other while running. Maybe after the Arianrhod fight at the Naval Fortress? Might come up a bit again in CS4 tho, particularly when you fight her on the way to Arianrhod.

I also just mentally say "DG Cult" (and the characters do too!) but yeah pretty sure it's explicitly stated all the way back in like Azure that technically it's "D therefore G"

Aurier is fantastic when she's around. High tier minor character. Definitely better than her husband (or her son).

153. Sonya Baelz
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/161654ab.jpg
Oh dear, did I leave those nuclear launch codes on my desk again? I'm so clumsy, teehee

Sergei's ex-wife and original deputy commander of the Crossbell Guardian Force, later promoted to full commander. She's shown to be an exceedingly competent and put together woman. She does not leave room for error and expects much from the SSS, even if they are not under her jurisdiction. I'd imagine part of that being that they ARE under Sergei's jurisdiction. I don't know if they ever explained why they got divorced? Probably because they are both too invested in their careers to pay each other enough attention if I had to guess, but I don't remember them really coming out and explaining it. They probably did and I just forgot.

Sonya's cool, she's not quite as fun as Douglas was but you definitely have to respect her. Being one of the few people Randy won't mess with says volumes. She definitely had a tough role to live up to, given all of the political turmoil that has plagued Crossbell over the last 7 games. She tried her best to help us without staging an all-out coup against Dieter once he started going crazy. Probably the best action to minimize bloodshed, though she gives the indication she would've gone all out for us if it came to that. All-in-all, seems like a good person and someone you'd want to have in your corner.