Character Analysis: Dimitri (Feat Lousy)

 

Background

Full Name: Dimitri Alexandre Blyaiddyd

Age: 18 (pre-timeskip), 23 (post-timeskip)

Height: 180 cm | 5’11 (pre-timeskip), 188 cm | 6’2 (post-timeskip)

Occupation: Blue Lions House Leader (pre-timeskip), King of Faerghus (post-timeskip)

Titles: King of Delusion, Savior King, The Savage Boar (or just ‘Boar’)

-Suffers from Survivor’s Guilt and Aguesia.

-Will KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM! 

Dimitri was born as the Prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus to King Lambert and a mother who died to a plague shortly after his birth. Like most children of Faerghus, he learned sword-play from a young age. When he was 12, his father remarried a consort to the Emperor of Adrestia named Patricia (real name Anselma), who had left the empire in exile.

During this time, Dimitri befriended Patricia’s daughter, Edelgard (or ‘El’ as Dimitri calls her), who had been brought to Faerghus by her uncle during an attempted coup within the Adrestian Empire. When the time came for Edelgard to return to the empire, Dimitri gifted her a dagger, telling her to use it to carve her own path. Shortly after her departure, tragedy struck the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. 

On his way to the neighboring land of Duscar, the King, his nobles, and all of his knights were slaughtered and burned to death by unknown assailants. Only Dimitri survived, insisting the people of Duscar were innocent. But the nobles of Faerghus wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to profit, and blame for the tragedy was placed on the people of Duscar. Many of them were killed in retaliation, and their land was subjugated by Faerghus. Dimitri managed to save only one Duscar resident during the event, Dedue, who would become one of his most reliable allies. 

After the tragedy, the King’s childhood friend, Rodrigue, looked after Dimitri. Two years later, Dimitri got his first taste of true combat when he led a force of kingdom soldiers to quell a rebellion. He did exceptionally well, but beneath his normally composed demeanor, memories of the Tragedy of Duscar dwelled. In the midst of the battle, rage overtook Dimitri that brought unease to friend and foe alike. Witnessing this barbaric bloodlust first hand created a rift between him and his friend Felix, who gave Dimitri the disparaging title of ‘Boar’.

Outside the battlefield, Dimitri was fairly subdued, and enrolled into the Officer’s Academy at the Garreg Mach Monastery as leader of the Blue Lions house. His fate past this point depends on which house the player chooses. Should they choose the Blue Lions, Dimitri slowly becomes entangled in the matters of Those Who Slither in the Dark, the ones actually responsible for the Tragedy of Duscar, and comes to suspect the strange entity called the Flame Emperor is responsible for the entire affair.

Once he learned the Flame Emperor was in fact Edelgard, Dimitri snapped and mistakenly believed she was responsible for the Tragedy of Duscar. In a bid to end the rule of the Church of Seiros and establish a new system not dictated by Crests or nobility, Edelgard assumed rule of Adrestia as Emperor, and declared war on Faerghus and the Church of Seiros.

Dimitri meanwhile was falsely declared a traitor by one of Faerghus’ elites, Cornelia, and sentenced to death. Only through Dedue’s interference did he escape and spend the next 5 years wandering the land, slaughtering anyone who stood between him and vengeance. Until he reunited with his professor from the academy, Byleth, and the rest of the Blue Lions. 

Though they managed to reclaim the academy grounds of Garreg Mach, Dimitri’s relationship with his former allies was shaky at best, as was his sanity. He was still focused solely on charging Adrestia’s capital, Enbarr, and enacting vengeance on Edelgard, even at the cost of himself and every remaining ally. Dimitri’s cruelty reached its height when he captured and tortured an enemy General, Randolf. Byleth was forced to mercy kill Randolf before things escalated, but Randolf’s sister, Fleche heard of what Dimitri did and sought vengeance. 

But just as she was about to kill Dimitri, Rodrigue took the fatal blow for him. Seeing yet another person close to him die, Dimitri was left in torment, thinking Rodrigue would be yet another soul to haunt him, beckoning him to attain vengeance. But Rodrigue left Dimitri with some final words: He claimed everyone in Dimitri’s life died for what they believed in, and Dimitri’s life was his own to follow.

Though the voices of the dead would continue to haunt him, and he still intended to kill Edelgard, Dimitri finally chose to turn his attention to the living. Rather than relentlessly pursue Edelgard, he would first take back Faerghus’ capital, Ferdiad, and free his people who had been neglected for so long. As Dimitri and his troops reclaimed most of Faerghus, he learned more details behind the Tragedy of Duscar from Cornelia.

According to Cornelia, Dimitri’s step-mother Patricia was the one who helped Those Who Slither in the Dark instigate the tragedy. While this left Dimitri with many conflicting feelings, he focused on the war at hand and stopping Edelgard. Using the forces regained in Faerghus and receiving backing from the Leicester Alliance, Dimitri finally had the power to march towards Enbarr, and end the war once and for all.

Cornered, Edelgard unleashed the power of her two Crests, transformed into a monster, and attempted to kill Dimitri. But with help from Byleth, Dimitri was victorious. Despite vowing bloody vengeance for over half a decade, Dimitri was reluctant to end ‘El’s’ life, taking a wound from the dagger he gave to Edelgard before delivering the final blow.

With his kingdom reclaimed, the war ended, and a mountain of trauma and baggage behind him, Dimitri became the ruler of Faerghus, and the continent of Fodlan at large. Under the leadership of him and the Church of Seiros’ new Archbishop, Byleth, Fodlan entered a new era of prosperity. For the first time since the Tragedy of Duscar, Dimitri was truly at peace.

Experience

-Most children in Faerghus are taught to wield a sword before they know how to write their name, and Dimitri is no exception. From an early age he received instruction from seasoned knights of Faerghus, including Gilbert and an unnamed combat instructor. This training extended to combat, tactics, and academia.

-Dimitri would also regularly spar with more experienced peers, such as Felix’s older brother, Glenn.

-While lances are his preferred weapon, Dimitri knows how to wield all manner of weapons. Swords, bows, ETC.

-In terms of physical training, Dimitri’s abnormal strength made him a natural. He would regularly train by wearing heavy armor and running across mountains for nights on end, and lifting large boulders and multiple barrels filled with rocks.

-Dimitri first saw real combat shortly after the Tragedy of Duscar when he had to quell a rebellion. It was here that he first experienced his bloodlust, and tenacity.

-During his year at the Officer’s Academy, Dimitri received instruction from Byleth, a seasoned mercenary, and other gifted professors. The actual training he pursues depends in-part on what the player decides to teach him, but his support conversations show he very avidly sparred and practiced weapon combat in his free time.

-He and his fellow students also regularly went on field missions in which they would fight a variety of different foes in skirmishes. Be they bandits, would be rebellions, giant monsters known as Black Beasts, or members of Those Who Slither in the Dark.

-In Three Hopes, Dimitri receives some instruction in the art of magic from Annette. Though because of his poor aptitude in magic, this was something he struggled in.

-Over the 5 years after the Battle of Garreg Mach, Dimitri wandered the land, and was said to have brutally murdered multiple platoons of soldiers in his quest for revenge.

-After reuniting with Byleth, Dimitri continued his battle against the Empire, winning numerous large scale battles along the way.

-Even after the war, Dimitri continued to receive instruction and training from Gilbert and other seasoned veterans.

Equipment

Note: While Dimitri primarily uses lances, unlike other Fire Emblem titles, characters in Three Houses are capable of using most weapons outside their class’ specialty. Archer classes for example, are capable of using swords, lances, ETC and aren’t relegated to just bows. Dimitri’s backstory and support conversations also repeatedly show and mention him wielding more than just a lance. Knowing this, I will be including noteworthy equipment Dimitri can possibly wield. The full list of weapons can be found here…

Areadbhar: Dimitri’s primary weapon and one of the Heroes’ Relics: Ancient weapons forged from the bones of Nabateans, which are composed of a material tougher than any traditional metal or wyvern bones. Every Heroes’ Relic utilizes a Crest Stone, IE the heart of a Nabatean, and the core of their power. 

Heroes’ Relics can only be wielded by those with Crests. Should someone without a Crest try wielding one, they will quickly be overtaken by it and transformed into a Black Beast. Those with Crests can use Heroes’ Relics, but only with a compatible Crest can the full power of a Heroes’ Relic’s be utilized.

Creepily enough, because the Heroes’ Relics are made of bone, they are also semi-organic, and will sometimes move and twitch. 

In Three Hopes, the lance is capable of damaging enemies, even when they are guarding. And in Fire Emblem Heroes, it grants additional Atk, Spd, Def, and Res as long as the user’s HP is above 25%.

Noble Lance: A lance used by Dimitri’s younger self in Fire Emblem Heroes. Boosts attack power, and guarantees a follow up attack if Dimitri and his foe are either at full HP or below full HP.

Arrow of Indra: A special lance that utilizes Mag instead of Str.

Horse Slayer: A lance designed to be effective against mounted units.

Gradivus: A legendary lance once wielded by the defender of Fodlan’s throat. Boasts some of the highest stats of any non-Heroes’ Relic weapon.

Mercurius: A legendary sword used in the War of the Eagle and Lion that boasts some of the highest stats of any non-Heroes’ Relic weapon.

Levin Sword: A magical sword capable of calling down lightning.

Rapier: A thrusting sword, specializing in piercing armored units.

Longbow: A bow with extended range.

Parthia: A bow that boasts some of the highest stats of any non-Heroes’ Relic weapon. 

Ochain Shield: A sacred weapon with high Defense, that restores HP every turn, and negates critical hits.

Evasion Ring: Boosts Dimitri’s Evasion.

Elixir: Healing items every unit can carry into battle. Provides several shots of full HP recovery.

Abilities

Besides superhuman strength, speed, and agility, Dimitri has…

Weapon Mastery: Dimitri is adept or decent at mastering most forms of weapon combat, including: Lances, Swords, Bows, and Gauntlets. The only category he has difficulty mastering is axes (fittingly Edelgard’s weapon of choice). Though even this he can maximize his proficiency in, given enough training.

Hand to Hand Mastery: Through the Brawler class, Dimitri is capable of mastering Unarmed Combat, letting him fight just as effectively with his bare hands as he does with a weapon.

Minor Crest of Blaiddyd: Crests are magical abilities gifted to a select few. Usually from those who descend from the 10 Elites, the 4 Saints, or the 4 Apostles from Fodlan’s War of Heroes. All Crests stem from the blood of the Goddess Sothis, and the Nabateans, a race of dragon people created from the goddess’ blood. The abilities they grant can include anything from greater magical aptitude, to abnormal powers.

Dimitri’s Crest of Blaiddyd, grants him inhuman strength, which is reflected in his ability to deal double the damage of a regular combat art, in exchange for his weapon losing twice its durability points. In addition, it lets him wield the Heroes’ Relic, Areadbhar to its full potential.

Hanneman provides a general breakdown of Crests here… (37:30)

Electricity Manipulation: Dimitri possesses the innate ability to imbue his attacks with electricity through Azure Lightning. This gives his normal attacks a chance of producing the shock status ailment, in which a discharge of electricity will be emitted by the opponent when sent flying, damaging surrounding enemies. He can also strike foes with lightning, even from the opposite side of a battlefield with the ability Counter Attack.

Warrior Special: A special super attack every character in Three Hopes possesses. Dimitri’s consists of sweeping the foe into the air, performing a series of lightning-imbued lance jabs, and ending his attack with a powerful lance throw and ensuing shockwave of electricity.

Magic: While Dimitri’s in-game magic growths are less than ideal, and he lacks proficiency in the field, he is still capable of learning and utilizing multiple magic spells. This includes calling down lightning with Thunder, shooting a concentrated blast of electricity with Thoron, stealing enemy’s vitality through Nosferatu, healing wounds through Heal and Recover, and calling down beams of light with Aura.

Misc Unit Skills & Abilities

There are several different abilities characters in Three Houses and Three Hopes either innately have, or can learn through training. While Dimitri does, in theory, have access to almost all of these abilities, I will cover the noteworthy ones inherent to Dimitri, and that he can learn.

A full list of the skills & abilities can be found here and here…

Royal Lineage+: Dimitri’s personal ability in Three Houses. Boosts his avoidance when at full HP.

King’s Might: A support ability unique to Dimitri in Warriors. Greatly boosts HP and stun gauge damage inflicted on enemies who have been sent flying.

Essence of Lightning: Creates a more powerful version of any spell, combat art, or attack Dimitri performs that uses the element of lightning.

Swordbreaker/Sword Buster: An ability gained from lance mastery. Boosts a unit’s avoidance when fighting an opponent wielding a sword.

Reign: Dimitri’s tactical ability in Warriors. Raises his attack by 30% when attacking an opponent.

Lancefaire: The Great Lord and High Lord’s class skill. Grants further attack power when the unit is using a lance.

Miracle: From the Priest class. Provides a chance of surviving a lethal strike with 1% HP based on the unit’s luck stat.

Death, Armored, & Fiendish Blow: Passive abilities that will boost the unit’s strength, defense, or magic respectively if they’re the ones initiating the attack. In Three Hopes, Fiendish Blow will also boost the power of the lightning traits to Dimitri’s normal attacks.

Defiant Strength: The ultimate skill of the Hero class. Grants a strength boost when HP is at or below 25%.

Lethality: The ultimate skill of the Assassin class. Grants a chance of an attack instantly killing an opponent. Based on the unit’s dexterity stat.

Pavise & Aegis: Defensive skills from the Fortress Knight and Paladin classes respectively. Gives the unit a chance of halving either magic/bow damage or weapon damage. The chance is based on the unit’s dexterity stat.

Poison Strike: Automatically reduces a foe's HP by up to 20% if an attack lands. In Three Hopes, the skill grants each attack a chance of poisoning the enemy.

Seal Defense: The ultimate skill of the Wyvern Rider class. Reduces the opponent’s defense if the player unit initiates combat.

Seal Movement: An ability Dimitri learns from his budding talent in horse riding. Reduces the opponent’s movement after combat.

Counterbreak: Reduces all of a foe’s stats by 10 after perfect guarding an attack.

Lifetaker: The ultimate skill of the Dark Bishop class. Restores 50% of the damage a unit deals to a defeated opponent.

Renewal: The ultimate skill of the Bishop class. Recovers 20% of HP at the start of each turn.

Backbone: Reduces chances of being knocked back by attacks.

Stalwart Stance: Prevents traditional weapon damage (swords, lances, ETC) from pushing the unit back.

Apex Lance: Increases critical hit damage when using a lance.

Combat Arts

Dimitri is capable of learning several combat arts in Three Houses and Three Hopes. These can consist of magic based strikes, attacks that deal extra damage to armored units, special elemental attacks, ETC. I’ll cover the notable ones, but most of the skills for Swords, Lances, Axes, Bows, and Gauntlets should be learnable by Dimitri. The full list can be found here.

Wheelsweep: A spinning lance strike that covers a large amount of space from all sides.

Monster Piercer: A lance strike that’s extra effective against Black Beasts and monster units.

Frozen Lance: A lance strike that creates a surge of ice spires from the ground to harm enemies. Attack damage is based on the user’s Mag stat.

Glowing Ember: A lance throw that deals additional damage based on the unit’s defense stat.

Tempest Lance: A spinning lance strike that conjures a whirlwind.

Vengeance: A lance strike that increases damage based on how little HP the unit has.

Atrocity: The signature attack of Areadbhar. A lance combination strike in which Dimitri causes a surge of energy to rise from the ground before slashing down on a foe. It’s generally ‘super effective’ against any kind of enemy unit, bypassing armor and other defenses.

Windsweep: A spinning sword strike generates a cyclone of wind, and prevents foes from counter attacking.

Shadow Blade: A dark-based sword strike that deals damage based on Mag.

Feats

Strength & Destructive Power

-Even when he was just 9 years old, Dimitri’s inhuman strength meant he would often break swords by complete accident.

-Capable of slaying large Black Beasts single handedly.

-From a young age he would also train by lifting large boulders and multiple barrels filled with rocks.

-Overpowered a squadron of soldiers with a single lance throw.

Speed & Agility

-Capable of evading and moving in-tandem with the Meteor spell’s projectiles.

-Deflected Claude’s arrows. 

-Anyone who can learn the Sniper class is capable of targeting any part of a large battlefield and covering hundreds of meters in seconds with their arrows.

-Able to evade lightning and light spells.

Durability & Survivability

-Capable of surviving the Meteor spell.

-Tanked Thales’ magic unharmed.

Scaling

Who does Dimitri scale to?

Dimitri should safely scale to Rhea, Edelgard, Claude, and any member of Those Who Slither in the Dark, including Thales and Nemesis. Most of these characters Dimitri has fought and either defeated or held his own against. To start, Claude has admitted he wouldn’t be able to defeat Dimitri without resorting to trickery. Edelgard meanwhile defeated Rhea in her Immaculate One form during the Crimson Flower route, and Dimitri managed to defeat Edelgard after she had turned into a more powerful Hegemon Husk.

While he probably isn’t as strong as Byleth, other characters have held their own against Byleth, whom Dimitri should reasonably scale to. Nemesis for example was able to contend with Byleth, and even overpower them. It was only through Claude’s help that they managed to turn the tables. This is important because after fusing with Sothis’ soul, Byleth for all intents and purposes gained the full power of the Progenitor Goddess. Meaning there are grounds to scale Dimitri and the other house leaders to Sothis as well.

Thales

-Created an earthquake that shook the underground city of Shambhala.

Rhea

-Destroyed the wall of Garreg Mach Monastery.

-Survived two Pillars of Light exploding in front of her.

Sothis

-In Three House’s lore, survived Pillars of Light bombarding and completely eradicating Thinnis.

-Flooded the continent of Fodlan and the world.

-Restored most of the planet after it had been ravaged by war with the Agarthans (albeit, over time).

Note: There is some debate over how literal the Romance of the World's Perdition is meant to be. A detailed breakdown of the Japanese text VS. the English text can be found here.

However, despite some oddities, I believe the evidence overwhelmingly favors the flood being literal for several reasons...

-The text is located in The Abyss' forbidden library, which contains texts banned by the Church of Seiros. It makes sense they would ban a record stating their benevolent goddess flooded the continent, or that paints her in a bad light.

- While flowery, the text entry makes some pretty direct references that would only make sense if the flood was literal.

"The grotesque monstrosity resurrects to sink the world to watery depths."

"Defeat the one who is not god before the world sinks to watery depths"

"A flood named despair covered the world"

"To a place where the waters of despair do not enter."

It would be really silly to reference water and a flood 4 different times if it was just meant to be metaphorical.

-The start of The Book of Seiros Part II states Fodlan emerged from a 'cloudless ocean'. ("In the beginning, amid the great cloudless ocean, Fódlan came to be.")

Which would make sense if Sothis flooded it prior.

-This is very tertiary, but Lorenz mentions that the air in Shambhala is stagnant. This would make sense if it was meant to protect the Agarthans from a flood, since it would need to be air locked.

Because of all of this, the fact that there are no other details for how Sothis could have so thoroughly eradicated the Agarthans, and the fact that Sothis restoring life to the planet works as a corroborating feat, it is reasonable to claim that flooding Fodlan and the world is something Sothis is capable of doing.

Weaknesses

While he can technically use magic, Dimitri isn’t particularly good at it, which limits some of his combat options. He is a natural at combat and strategy, but still suffers from immense amounts of survivor's guilt, and can behave irrationally when it comes to the Tragedy of Duscar, or his personal grudge with Edelgard. And though he does have other weapons to fall back on, abilities designed to counter lance wielders could prove difficult for him to deal with.