Edelgard von Hresvelg

Edelgard von Hresvelg is one of the protagonists in Fire Emblem Three Houses. She is the princess and future ruler of the Adrestian Empire. Possessing a Crest of Seiros, she is the leader of the Black Eagles in the Officers Academy. Born in 1162, Edelgard is the fourth daughter of Emperor Ionius IX. In Imperial Year 1171, at the age of 9, she was taken by her uncle Lord Volkhard von Arundel to Fhirdiad in the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus during the Insurrection of the Seven. Volkhard was one of the key conspirators against Edelgard's father, and with his help, Duke Aegir stripped the emperor of much of his power. Unbeknownst to Volkhard or Edelgard, her mother had also escaped to Faerghus under the alias Patricia and married King Lambert. She later met and befriended Dimitri, though he did not learn that she was his step-sister until years afterward. The two spent much time together, with Edelgard teaching him how to dance. Edelgard returned to the Empire in 1174 with her uncle, never learning that her mother was Dimitri's stepmother. Before she departed, Dimitri gifted her a dagger, which she has held onto since despite forgetting how she obtained it.

Why She Rocks

 * 1) She would normally hold herself with a dignified air despite being full of melancholy and wistfulness.
 * 2) As heir of the Adrestian Empire, she is an exemplary student and a natural leader. This is unsurprising since she is a leader of The Black Eagles.
 * 3) While generally a private person, she does recognize the importance of her duties and expresses confidence and faith in the abilities of her allies.
 * 4) She’s a pretty good dancer which would lead her to teach Dimitri at a young age how to dance. Another talent she does have is being able to draw portraits (even though she is embarrassed to show them to others).
 * 5) Regardless of what you think about her role involving making a scheme on taking over the continent, she is willing to sacrifice anything which proves that she’s not a huge coward. Edie will use whatever it takes to achieve her goals, using some of her allies begrudgingly to amass power and influence.
 * 6) *In her ending, she dedicated most of her life to reshape the delicate political structure of Fódlan.
 * 7) When she met Dimitri, it was cute to see that both characters met each other during childhood. As time went on, it was implied that she no longer remembers Dimitri nor that dagger he gave Edelgard. Sad, but impactful. Ironically enough, Dimitri’s death stuck her (although she denies it).
 * 8) If you side with her, she does understand that she would be responsible for the deaths of countless lives. Speaking of siding with Edelgard, she fears that she would have become “a harsh ruler with a heart of ice” if she walked her path on her own. In comparison to the other routes when she is portrayed as a harsh or incompetent ruler, she has several fleeting moments of peace and happiness as an ally during the Crimson Flower route.
 * 9) To further talk about the player, she has a strong attachment to the player regardless if you side with her or not. As an enemy, she regrets that you did not follow in the same footsteps. Even the Crimson Flower route features Dorothea noting that Edelgard was the most emotionally affected by the player's disappearance. Edelgard's fondness for Byleth goes so far as to encourage Byleth to call her El and even let Byleth give her orders on the battlefield despite her dislike of not being in control.
 * 10) Her transformation as a Hegemon Husk is epic.
 * 11) It was surprising that the Flame Emperor in Chapter 11 in her route was her. To add more suspense, she shocks players that she’s the enemy unless if they choose to join her forces.
 * 12) In her New Future variant, she does claim that she is still learning quoting “I have learned—am still learning—much from you. In that way, you have become as important to me as my teacher”. In other words, the more you learn.
 * 13) She’s pretty for her own level.
 * 14) Very beautiful design, even by Fire Emblem standards.
 * 15) If she makes supports with Ferdinand in the game, she gets children, and the children of Edelgard and Ferdinand were encouraged to choose their own paths.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Outside of Crimson Flower, Edelgard is seen as and acts like a tyrannical, self-righteous ruler. Despite claiming to be doing this 'for the people', she willingly sacrifices innocent civilians in routes outside her own, using them as shields to impede the invading army's progress, and works with the people that tortured her, despite clearly knowing they are at fault for everything going wrong in Fodlan, making her motivations questionable.
 * 2) Displays a rather dark sense of humor at times as noted in Chapter 7. In fact, Edelgard's sense of humor is horrible because she fails to make any joke sound funny with the way she says it.
 * 3) Her arguments against the church's rule (tyranny, exploiting the masses, enforcing Crests) generally has little to do with the church's actual sins (censoring information, manipulating history, and human experimentation).
 * 4) During her route, it's clear that Edelgard doesn't have a true grasp on what actually happened in the past regarding the Ten Elites. She regards Nemesis, a cruel bandit that nearly wiped out an entire race of people and crafted weapons from their bones, as a noble liberator.
 * 5) Her plan for Fodlan is a meritocracy, a system that is just as bad as the current one as it would still benefit the nobility in the end. This can also be seen as a positive to why she's a very well-written character, as she could be seen as similar to the Archbishop she opposes.
 * 6) During Crimson Flower, Edelgard is played up as a great hero that can do little to no wrong and that everyone loves and worships. It can get very tiring after a while, despite her good writing.
 * 7) Her fans are completely insane and love her. Any criticism is met with immense hatred and arguments.
 * 8) Ended a 1,000-year era of peace.

Trivia

 * Edelgard was voiced by Cristina Vee in the original E3 2018 trailer for Three Houses
 * Edelgard is one of the few Lords in the Fire Emblem series to not feature the color blue either in her hair or her clothes, a distinction she shares with both Celica from Gaiden and its remake as well as fellow Three Houses lord Claude.
 * She uses red colours for her battle models.
 * Edelgard and Jeritza are the only characters in Three Houses able to learn both Black and Dark Magic by leveling up Reason.
 * Edelgard appears to be ambidextrous. In her artwork, Edelgard is seen wielding her axe with either her left or right hand, although her battle model only depicts her wielding it with her right hand.
 * Edelgard is the first female character to be of the Rudolf Archetype.
 * Edelgard stands at 158cm (approximately 5’2”).
 * Edelgard has placed high in several character polls done in magazines for Fire Emblem: Three Houses
 * The name Edelgard means "Noble Protector" in German.
 * Her personal nickname El is the name of the head of the old Canaanite pantheon of gods named El where was the father of the gods and creator in Canaanite mythology. El is also one of the many names of the Abrahamic God, who has ties to Canaanite and Semitic myth.
 * Edelgard's surname Hresvelg comes from a Norse mythology called Hræsvelgr (Old Norse "Corpse Swallower"), a giant who takes the form of an eagle.
 * She spawned memes that make fun of her height and her quote "The crests are to blame"
 * Despite Edelgard often being considered quite popular, she is divisive amongst the fanbase for the poor writing during Crimson Flower, her obsessive fans, and knowing that Those Who Slither in the Dark exist and responsible for much of the evil in Fodlan, but still going after the church.
 * She has never won a single Voting Gauntlet in Fire Emblem Heroes, despite her popularity.