| “ | Cornelia: Well, so be it. Still, I'll give you a little gift... Dimitri: It's over, Cornelia. If you have any last words, now is the time. Cornelia: Right you are. Very well... I have an old tale that I would like you to hear, if I may. About something that happened ten years ago ... Something Patricia said about how she wished to see her real daughter again, no matter who or what she had to sacrifice to do so... And about how I made her wish come true, at the cost of the king's head... Dimitri: The king's head? You mean Duscur... You monster! You mean to say that my father... everyone... was killed by my stepmother?! Cornelia: That's right. Her family meant everything to her... You certainly know that feeling, do you not? Ah, poor little prince. Unloved by the only mother he ever knew... How pitiful. Dimitri: How dare you! Cornelia: There's nothing left for you now... Nothing but despair. |
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| ~ Cleobulus/Cornelia revealing the awful truth behind the Tragedy of Duscur to Dimitri, shortly before his death in the Azure Moon route. |
Cleobulus, also known as the woman he's impersonating, Cornelia Arnim, is a major antagonist of the Fódlan Saga within Nintendo's Fire Emblem franchise.
He is a member of Those Who Slither in the Dark, and one of Thales' confidants. As Cornelia, he serves as the court mage for the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, having infiltrates the kingdom in order to lead it to its destruction. He is the second arch-enemy of Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, as well as the arch-enemy of Hapi, whom he tortured and experimented on since she was a child.
In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, he is one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Hubert von Vestra) in the Azure Moon route and a major antagonist in the Crimson Flower route. In Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, he is one of the secondary antagonists in the Azure Gleam route.
He was voiced by Akemi Okamura in Japanese and Jessica Gee-George in English.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
In General[]
- Alongside the likes of Thales and Solon, he is one of the most ruthless and sadistic members of the slithers, loving to put his enemies in despair, mainly out of a sadistic desire to see them broken.
- He wishes to take control of the entire Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, just so he could lead the nation to its destruction. It would have caused the deaths of thousands of people, both nobles and civilians, had he been successful.
- He is a treacherous backstabber who betrays his allies whenever the opportunity arises. Despite her fanatical devotion to the slithers, he isn't totally loyal to their leader Thales, being willing to disobey him and sometimes even speaks ill of him, such as referring to him as an "old fool".
Background[]
- In order to infiltrate the Kingdom's court, he murdered the real Cornelia Arnim and took her identity in order to get good graces from King Lambert.
- It's heavily implied that alongside Thales, he was responsible for killing Volkhard von Arundel, allowing Thales to impersonate him and infiltrate the Adrestian Empire, taking control of it behind the shadows.
- Tricked a young girl named Hapi into becoming his guinea pig, to try to discover more about crests. This led to Hapi gaining the ability to summon monsters whenever he sighs, causing her to become slightly emotionless and cynical.
- Alongside Thales and several others, he was among the main conspirators behind the Tragedy of Duscur, which caused thousands of deaths, and cause the people of Duscur to have a bad reputation in Fódlan:
- He convinced Dimitri's stepmother Patricia to be a part of the tragedy of Duscur, by making her believe that Dimitri's father and her second husband, King Lambert, was keeping her away from the daughter he had from her first marriage. This led to Patricia assassinating Lambert in hopes of reuniting with her daughter.
- Manipulated Dimitri's uncle Rufus into joining the conspiracy against his brother, leading to aforementioned tragedy of Duscur and said brother's death, and attempting to kill Dimitri himself several times.
- Because of causing numerous deaths, including that of King Lambert, he is also responsible for causing Dimitri's trauma and mental problems, which also led to his estranged friendship with Felix, who became disgusted by Dimitri's violet nature, and call the latter dehumanizing names such as a "boar" and a "monster".
- Moreover, his involvement in the tragedy led to the hatred and near-extermination of the Duscars, as well as the eventual control of their lands by House Kleiman. Also as a result, several of the survivors of Duscur rose up in rebellion against the Kingdom, wanting to kill Dimitri.
- He is also indirectly responsible for causing the deaths of several nobles whom were suspected to be involved in the tragedy, one of them being Christophe, which led to Lonato having a personal grudge towards the Church (particularly towards Catherine) and rising in rebellion.
- This also resulted in Ashe's despair over losing his older adopted brother, which got worse as his adopted father betrayed the church and was killed as a result. He even holds a hostile relationship with Catherine, blaming her for the deaths of his brother and father.
Three Houses[]
The Azure Moon Route[]
- He assassinated Grand Duke Rufus, just so he could become the regent for the Kingdom. He also framed Dimitri for the assassination and taunting the loyal knight Gilbert over the fact that Dimitri was going to be executed. This ends up leading to Dimitri's vassal and close friend Dedue supposedly dying (whether he does or not, it depends on how the player handled the game itself) and Dimitri going on his downwards spiral into borderline villainy.
- Additionally, he is heavily implied as being the reason Dimitri lost one of his eyes, something that is even more evident in Three Hopes, where Cleobulus bemoans failing to take one of his eyes from him.
- Allying with the Adrestian Empire, he surrenders the entire kingdom under the empire's rule and transforms the kingdom into an oppressive dukedom with the support from the western nobles, opposing anyone still loyal to Dimitri.
- According to a merchant, Cleobulus imposed a ridiculous amount of taxes in the parts of the kingdom they controlled.
- Attempts to kill Dimitri and his forces at Fhirdiad.
- Right before his death, he taunts Dimitri by saying that it was his stepmother who helped cause the tragedy of Duscur and that she never really cared for him or his father, all just so he could cause despair on Dimitri.
The Crimson Flower Route[]
- Despite serving under Dimitri, it's heavily possible that he would've betrayed him if the opportunity arises.
- He attempts to kill the Black Eagles Strike Force in order to lull the Kingdom troops into a false sense of security. He then planned to backstab the kingdom army that came to his aid and take over the kingdom for himself.
Three Hopes[]
The Azure Gleam Route[]
- He manipulates Grand Duke Rufus into attempting a coup d'état so they could take over Faerghus and use Rufus himself as a puppet king.
- After failing to defeat Dimitri and his forces, he abandons Rufus to be defeated and dies by his nephew's hands.
- He attacked Count Rowe and his convoy, killing many in the process, while forcing the count to join her.
- He murdered Margrave Gautier's messengers in order to falsely send reports of the Sreng people breaking through the Gautier terriorty.
- He blackmails and manipulates the warlords involved in the tragedy of Duscur into helping him during the civil war between him and Dimitri.
- He threatens the people of Fhirdiad with his advanced weapons, forcing Dimitri to surrender in order to save his people.
- He would sadistically taunt Dimitri about killing him, while stating that he will kill Dedue, Roderigue, and Gustave in order to hurt him mentally.
- He tried to kill Dimitri and his forces in the Liberation of Fhirdiad, while trying to kill the civilians out of spite.
- After he was defeated, he and his slithers quickly escaped Fhirdiad.
- He blackmails Baron Dominic into helping him and the western lords in their war against Dimitri under the threat of harming his people, appointing him as the leader of the western forces.
- He and the western rebellion tries to kill Dimitri and his forces, as well as Baron Dominic.
- Before dying, he reveals the truth behind Duscur, telling Dimitri of his stepmother's death involvement in the plot of the tragedy, simply just so he could see the despair on his face, while deceiving him into believing Edelgard was responsible for Patricia's demise.
Trivia[]
- Cleobulus is never seen in his true form and in the Japanese version versions, Thales refers to him with genderless pronouns.
- In the data of Three Houses, Cleobulus appears as a male warlock with a generic protrait, but as this is unused, it is unknown if this is canon.
External Links[]
- Cleobulus on the Villains Wiki
- Cleobulus on the Fire Emblem Wiki
- Cleobulus on the Hate Sink Wiki
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 Pure Evils
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Fire Emblem Gaiden & Echoes: Shadows of Valentia See Also | ||