Top 8 Black Eagles Students

8- Hubert

Since I do not dislike any of the Black Eagle’s students, putting one of them as my least favorite was quite difficult. However, I decided that I had to give the position to Hubert simply due to the fact that I do not like a lot of his support conversations. He is not just stern with others, most times he’s aggressive in confrontations where he doesn’t need to be. These traits are quite toxic and in real life I want to hit people who act like Hubert.

He’s just far too accusatory. However, on the flip side I do appreciate Hubert’s intelligence and support for Edelgard. He makes some of her decisions easier to make and he bares a lot of burdens for her. Not only that, at times Hubert shows genuine care for his companions such as his support conversation with Bernadetta. In combat Hubert is quite flexible and having a strength in Lances is very helpful and makes him a great Dark Knight.

7- Linhardt

Linhardt is smart but lazy. This character archetype doesn’t really bother me, but Linhardt’s main quirk of falling asleep or complaining about being tired in every cutscene is a little bit draining. Also, Linhardt is super into crest research but the player never really sees him researching crests. Most of Linhardt’s showings are telling and not really showing at all. He seems apathetic at most times but he also has an aversion to fighting due to having a fear of blood.

Linhardt is a good guy at his core, and most of his supports showcase this. In his support with Lysithea in particular he is very intrigued by her second crest, but ends up apologizing after making her feel bad about it due to him being unaware of the suffering it has caused her. He even proposes a way to get rid of a crest to rid Lysithea of her premature demise.

6- Ferdinand

Ferdinand is a royal and boy does he like to flaunt that. When Ferdinand is not talking about being a royal he is trying to compare himself to Edelgard, which frequently causes him dismay. He doesn’t want to be better than Edelgard for any selfish reasons, he simply doubts himself when he sees her skills. As the game progresses Ferdinand realizes that his father has committed crimes that get him banished from the Empire.

Instead of defending his father selfishly Ferdinand realized that his father deserved banishment, and even expresses sorrow he couldn’t have taken down the man himself as Edelgard beat him to it. I can respect Ferdinand’s views on nobility, and in each support conversation its more and more easy to like and not be annoyed by Ferdinand’s bragging tendencies. I also had a lot of success with Ferdinand as a unit, and found him to be my go to cavalry unit in both my Black Eagle runs.

5- Caspar

Caspar is short, short tempered, and has a huge lust for battle that he can’t satisfy. Many times Caspar gets himself beat up for little to no reason other than him wanting to fight. If Caspar sees injustice he jumps to the scene like some sort of Shounen protagonist. Caspar has also had a lifelong friendship with Linhardt that I admire a lot. They balance each other’s characters out really well in support conversations, and Caspar’s other conversations are quite humorous when they focus on his naivety.

In his support with Hilda post timeskip Hilda is down to get dirty but Caspar simply can not figure out what the Girl is talking about. Similarly, Caspar’s conversation with Dorothea has hilarious sexual tension that I did not expect to see in a Fire Emblem game. As a unit Caspar is quite capable with high strength, hp, and speed that makes him most suitable for the Brawler class.

4- Dorothea

Dorothea may seem like an easy to see through girl with a boy complex, but that doesn’t cover the surface of her character. Dorothea was an orphan who was abandoned by a noble due to her lacking a crest. Dorothea barely scraped by until one day when a rich man heard her singing. This encounter led Dorothea into the Opera where she was suddenly admired and loved by all nobles. Her resentment for nobles didn’t go away, as she knew that one day her voice and looks would fade, which would lead her back to the streets she was raised on.

Through out the first part of Fire Emblem Three Houses Dorothea is fixated on finding a husband, but after the 5 year timeskip she shows more emotional maturity. However, Dorothea is also suffering from depression due to the constant fighting and struggling the war has caused her. Dorothea is a beautifully done Fire Emblem character. Her affinity for swords and magic makes her one of the best dancer options too.

3- Bernadetta

Bernadetta comes off as an anxious girl who has an apprehension to social contact and people in general. She locks herself in her room during most of her time and practices art and keeps up with her studies. During the beginning of the game, Bernadetta doesn’t seem to trust anyone, and she frequently has anxiety attacks in her conversations. However, in most of her supports she ends up befriending whomever she builds support with by the end due to them being able to find new understanding for her.

The conversation with Byleth in particular reveals the reason behind Bernadetta’s apprehension for social contact. Bernadetta’s father was highly emotionally abusive, and he would often restrain her in a chair and tell her that she was never going to be good enough or good enough to marry. Although Bernadetta is still quite reserved, after the time skip she’s realized herself a lot more. She no longer spends all of her time in her room, and she is able to express herself much more clearly due to the help of her friends.

Bernadetta’s crest is particularly clutch, as it has a 5 percent chance to activate an additional attack whenever Bernadetta attacks. While the percentage is low, the crest does activate often throughout gameplay, but using the Brave Bow will cause it to not function like normal.

At the end of the day I like Bernie due to her growth as a character and her being so damn cute.

2- Petra

From the get go Petra had my attention. Her design is beautiful, and her stats are amazing which makes her a great unit even though she lacks a crest. Petra is from a different territory called Brigid, and as such the language most people in Fodlan use is secondary to her. Petra always strives for perfection, and her language shows that. She always tries to make herself sound proper, causing her language to sometimes sound too literal which differs from her meaning. Her language quirk is quite adorable, and I must admit that I’ve thought of making Petra my Waifu once or twice.

Petra wants nothing more than to honor her country, and lead it into a new dawn. For this reason I think her and Edelgard’s characters are quite similar, except for personality differences of course. Although Petra misses her home she knows that Fodlan is giving her new opportunities that she can not pass up. Petra’s confidence, intelligence, and understanding for others makes her a character I love to have tea with.

Her strength in swords and bows makes her a wonderful thief, and she is the speediest out of all the Black Eagles.

1- Edelgard

Since the moment I saw Edelgard I grew an attachment to her. An axe wielding female lord is an addition to the series that has been long needed. Edelgard’s complexion combined with her demeanor makes her stern and forward in her conversations. Despite her tragic upbringing, Edelgard still remains empathetic and cares about her companions. Byleth in particular causes a stern interest in Edelgard, and by not picking her path Edelgard is shown to be a lot darker and makes decisions some would say are straight up evil. While I have yet to see what these decisions are I do not believe they are uncharacteristic of someone at war to commit. This is Fire Emblem; war is the pivotal theme of the series. Why Edelgard would turn against the church and want to lead Fodlan into a new dawn is simple to see.

Edelgard was born the youngest out of 10 siblings who all possessed crests. Edelgard and her siblings had the misfortune of being experimented on which led all of them but Edelgard to go completely insane and then die. While the experiment on Edelgard was a success and she possesses two crests, the experiment made her hair turn completely white. Edelgard and Lysithea were subjected to similar experiments, and in their support conversation Edelgard shows support for Lysithea’s condition which in turn leads them to become friends.

Edelgard has seen exactly the suffering that the Church and the Archbishop have caused. Her strategies to gain power and overthrow the church are ends to justfiy the means, but she heavily looks down upon unnecessary killing. Her strategies in the beginning of the game do accidentally lead to Jeralt’s death, but she never intended for his death to occur. What Edelgard does intend is to end the tyrannical rein that Seiros has bestowed onto the continent for so long.

The Demonic Beasts and the suffering she has endured are constant reminders that Edelgard must change the world. Edelgard will even cooperate with those she hates just to gain a favorable position in the war. She stands by evil-doers with the intention of using them and killing them when she is able to stop them. Her plans to overthrow Seiros are also aligned with her plans to overthrow those who slither in the dark.

With her backstory and motives aside, Edelgard has my favorite personality out of everyone in the Black Eagles. Edelgard is task oriented and follows her own principle with bigger ideals in mind. She constantly strives to improve her own skills so she can be successful in her mission. Her sternness covers up the happy girl that Edelgard has locked inside, which she can no longer return to after enduring so much trauma.

While this may make her seem like a basic character, this is not true. Edelgard is able to open up to others and sympathize due to her tragic upbringing. Many times Edelgard is able to provide meaningful advice to whomever she supports with. Her bond with Byleth in particular is the most meaningful. Edelgard admires Byleth, and misses them sorrowfully if their paths are to diverge from one another.

The bond between Byleth and Edelgard is what made marrying her a no brainer decision when I did her route. Edelgard’s Empress design is wonderful, and the promotion is excellent as well.

At the end of the day, Edelgard remains my favorite Fire Emblem Three Houses character due to her excellent writing and her willingness to move herself and the world forward despite her tremendous inner suffering.

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