(Hey, guess what? It’s the 2nd anniversary of The Contrarian Corner! Can you believe it? I certainly can’t. Time has really been blitzing by in these past two years. Of course, at the same time, I keep looking back over my list of articles and going “huh, when did I write that?”. Anyway, thanks for continuing to read and enjoy this blog!)
If this title confused you, don’t worry. Despite the shocking longevity of the Trails series of games, they have still managed to be fairly niche in the JRPG fandom. This is a shame, because there’s probably not a better example of incredible worldbuilding in video games than in this series. The individuals plots might be a mess, and each game might be just as easy to make fun of as it is to take seriously, but the worldbuilding and characters are top-notch.
In honor of the newest entry, Trails into Reverie, releasing the other week, let’s look at my Top 10 Favorite characters across the series. Also, apologies in advance for the Trails of Cold Steel focus. Can you tell which games I played first in this franchise?
10) Rixia Mao
Having yet to play the Crossbell duology, everything I know about Rixia comes from the Cold Steel tetralogy and Reverie, and yet Rixia still leaves a great impression. For starters, she’s a super-cool ninja girl who was once a famous assassin and now moonlights as a popular stage dancer. Secondly, she’s got a lot of great interactions with the Crossbell party members and NPCs, with Reverie really giving her some good plot-relevant scenes. Thirdly, she’s a powerhouse of a party member with great attack, crit rate, and evasion, so she’s always useful in battle!
9) Nadia Rayne
You have to be a pretty incredible character to worm your way into my heart despite only first appearing in the weeks-old Trails into Reverie, and yet here we are! From her role in the canonical supplemental novel that came packaged with the game, to her actual role in the game proper, Nadia is extremely entertaining. She’s a preteen former assassin with a penchant for napping on the job, who can still turn on the sickly-sweet terror when push comes to shove. Her budding romance with her best friend and partner Swin is very cute too. Less cute and more world-destroying is her incredible strength with magic that she wields in battle, including being able to land critical blows with her spells!
8) Ash Carbide
I almost stubbornly believed I would dislike Ash from the moment I started playing Cold Steel III, and yet I just can’t! I’ve never really been a fan of the foul-mouthed aggressive guy archetype, but Ash pulls it off better than I’ve ever seen before. For starters, his endlessly snarky quips are actually really funny, and he provides some of the best comedic relief in the series. Then, he shows his hidden depths by being one of the most insightful characters in the game, and also having a soft-spot for literature (which his classmates endlessly tease him for). Combined with a sympathetic backstory and surprising plot relevance in Cold Steel III, and Ash more than earns his place on this list.
7) Olivert Arnor
Olivert is one of the biggest “bros” in all of gaming, and the lengths that this man goes to to simultaneously help his friends save the world while also being a party-loving wildcard are endless! Almost unbelievably selfless, Olivert is the biggest supporter of your entire party during the first two games (indeed being the one responsible for creating Class VII), and the charming ways in which he keeps finding excuses to spurn his princely duties and pop up out of the blue are always fun. He’s essentially to your team’s victory during the civil war in the second game, and it’s great to have him finally fighting alongside you in battle come the third and fourth games in the Cold Steel tetralogy. I know that he plays a pretty big role in the Sky trilogy, so I’m really looking forward to seeing him in action there in the future!
6) Claire Rieveldt
Oh, Claire…
I don’t think I could count on both hands the number of times I begrudgingly shook my fist at the television screen in response to something Claire did. Not in a bad way, of course, because Claire is a fantastically written character. The issue comes from the inherent complexity of her desire to do what’s right conflicting with the fact that the man who raised her, trained her, and saved her life now asks her to do something objectively wrong. You and your allies come to blows many times with Claire both before and after she betrays you, until you finally get through her stubborn ‘icy-maiden’ exterior and help her see the light.
Which leads really nicely into a very touching scene between Rean and Claire in the most recent game, Reverie, that especially stood out to me as strongly written.
5) Juna Crawford
Juna joins alongside Ash in Cold Steel III, and serves as further proof that perhaps a smaller and more developed cast can carry a game better than a bloated one (not to specifically be mean to the OG Class VII, those guys and gals are still great).
I get really invested into the stories I watch/read/play, and that includes my emotions mirroring those of the characters. As such, I get really fired-up by Juna’s aggressively fiery go-getter attitude and desire to punch bad guys first and ask questions later. She grew up in a city protected by veritable superheroes after all, and was saved from death during her preteen years by a giant robot, so it’s no surprise she’d grow up wanting to righteously defend her home and family like a hero too! She’s outgoing, blunt to a fault, and super endearing. Plus, she has the unique capability of pummeling enemies either one-on-one, or switching to a ranged AOE style of damage depending on the situation, giving her a lot of battle versatility.
4) Musse Egret
Rounding out our trio of Cold Steel III-originating characters to find their way into my favorites, we have the duchess of deceit herself, Musse. From a sheer in-universe complexity standpoint, there might not be a more complicated character in the franchise.
Musse passes herself off as a smarter-than-average student smitten by her teacher, but it doesn’t take much getting to know her to realize she’s diabolically clever, and much more brilliant than she lets on. Nearly every line out of her mouth is laced with some sort of foreshadowing or double-meaning. It’s almost impossible to get a read on her or understand her true motivations, which she leverages to her advantage in order to organize an entire funded and stocked resistance against the corrupt government in Cold Steel IV, simultaneously unmasking herself as Duchess Mildine, heir to the largest noble family on the continent. She can also be deadly serious when she has to be, which prompts some great, emotionally heavy conversations with her from time to time. Also, in battle, her magic attack is almost as fearsome as her verbal smackdown skills.
3) Altina Orion
I believe I’ve said it at least once before on this blog, and I’ll say it again: I’m a sucker for stories about an emotionless machine-esque character discovering their humanity and finding a family in the world. From the moment Altina was introduced as a pawn of the enemy forces in Cold Steel II, it was apparent she’d eventually grow to be much more than that. But wow, does she really grow from there!
After dealing with her as an enemy, series protagonist Rean is forced into a partnership with her due to a bit of political scheming. This partnership gives the two of them enough rapport that she becomes one of Rean’s first students in Cold Steel III, which also marks her turn to protagonist. From here, Altina’s dead-pan delivery but heart-of-gold is really put on full display, and she proves herself a hero time and time again, even if the only thing she was ever built for was to be a weapon. She’s got a really cute relationship with her soul-sister Millium too, even if the turquoise-haired weirdo’s manic energy frequently exhausts her.
2) Laura Arseid
Honestly, the only thing Laura ever needed to do to find a place in my heart was to carry a sword, as I’ve always been drawn to swordsmen and swordswomen in fantasy entertainment (yes, I’m the boring guy who just uses a basic sword in RPGs). Thankfully for all of us, there’s a lot more to Laura than just that, and her journey across the Cold Steel tetralogy more than proves her worth in and out of battle.
In the story, Laura’s a tough-as-nails swordswoman working tirelessly to live up to her family name and her father’s legacy, and she has difficulty understanding the perspectives and lifestyles of others (causing her to butt heads with laidback mercenary Fie). With the help of her friends, Laura grows out of her shell and embraces more to life than just training (including her adorable obsession with the uber-cute Mishy plushie toy line). This enhanced mindset and willpower helps see her through some great struggles, like battling demonic beasts, or trying to rescue her father from the villainous organization’s mind control.
Also, I can’t move on without mentioning how mandatory Laura is to play as in Cold Steel I and II. Her slamming attack stuns all enemies on the field, enabling consistent and effortless advantage in each fight.
1) Rean Schwarzer
And to the surprise of absolutely no one (considering Rean placed #1 on my article of favorite RPG party members), the Ashen Chevalier himself takes the top spot. He’s essentially the perfect package, managing to still be my favorite in-battle party member from any RPG that I’ve ever played, and also an excellent deconstruction of the “Chosen One” trope that I get a little tired of seeing play out in literature.
So many stories opt for a “self-insert wish-fulfillment” type of origin for their protagonist, but I truly don’t envy the trauma-filled life Rean endures. His birth mother is deceased, his birth father is a tyrant, his friends and family are constantly in life-threatening danger, he’s frequently forced to turn against his allies due to circumstances outside of his control, and he struggles to rein in a dark power he was cursed with bearing since childhood.
At the same time (and as corny as it sounds), Rean’s the type of guy who is inspiring to watch. He goes through his ups and downs across the series, but he always picks himself back up again. Sometimes it’s by standing on his own two legs, and sometimes it’s only with the help of others (reinforcing the incredible idea that no one can triumph against adversity alone). Rean keeps fighting on, and never really loses the spark of that slightly awkward and overly earnest goofball personality that defines him.
Also, yes, of course, he’s also an absolute monster in battle who trivializes practically every single enemy encounter in the game, and most bosses too…but that’s just icing on the cake.
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
The Contrarian Corner 