| “ | You must survive. Merely because there is still a role that I require you to fulfil. | „ |
| ~ Thales. |
| “ | For thousands of years, we have existed underground, living on only that we might someday see our vengeance realized. Here and now, that vengeance is finally within our grasp. | „ |
| ~ Thales' most famous quote |
Thales (also known by his alias, Volkhard von Arundel) is the main antagonist within the Fódlan Saga of Nintendo's Fire Emblem franchise.
He is the main antagonist of the 2019 tactical video game Fire Emblem: Three Houses and one of the two main antagonists (alongside Seiros) of its 2022 spin-off sequel Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes.
He is the leader of Those who Slither in the Dark (also known as the Agarthans), the master of Solon, Kronya, and Cleobulus/Cornelia, as well as being the employer and "ally" of the engimatic Flame Emperor. He is behind most of the actions throughout the saga, including the Tragedy of Duscur and the war throughout Fódlan.
Due to his actions, he is the arch-nemesis of Byleth Eisner, Edelgard von Hresvelg, and Dimitri Alexander Bladdyid, as well as the second arch-nemesis of Seiros/Archbishop Rhea and Sothis.
He was voiced by Masaki Terasoma in Japanese, and by Christopher Corey Smith in English.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
In General[]
- For all of his talk about gaining revenge for what happened to his people, he doesn't care about them at all; he would gladly sacrifice them if he doesn't need them anymore and only save or avenge them when he can manipulate them and/or use them for his own purposes.
- And this is made worse, because the Agarthans are not sympathetic at all. They caused their own downfall due to their racism, hubris, and misanthropy towards humanity, something that Thales and his minions have inherited, as they look down on everyone except their own race. So in the end, Thales' so-called revenge is just an excuse for him to take over the world and eradicate Sothis and her kin.
- He is ultimately responsible for causing numerous massacres and wars in the land of Fódlan, causing numerous lives to be lost as a result.
- He is responsible for Edelgard becoming the Flame Emperor and thus is also (indirectly) responsible for her heinous actions.
- Planned on eliminating Edelgard and her allies after destroying the Church of Seiros and their allies.
- His vile and evil nature is so terrible, that some of the other antagonists like Edelgard and Hubert despise him.
- In Three Hopes, He is indirectly responsible for the creation of Arval and his actions.
Backgroud[]
- As revealed in Three Hopes, he was a part of the War of Heroes, which means he killed countless people during the war.
- It's heavily implied he was responsible for killing the original Volkhard von Arundel so he could infiltrate the Adrestian Empire and rule the empire behind the shadows.
- After infiltrating the empire, he slowly installed puppets around the Adrestian Empire. the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the Leicester Alliance to gain hidden significant power and support.
- He supported Duke Ludwig von Aegir's Insurrection of the Seven, allowing the seven houses (including his) to shift the power of authority from the emperor to the cabal houses.
- He experimented and tortured numerous people, with many of them either dying as a result or left traumatized. This included:
- Edelgard. She and her ten siblings were and experimented on, with all but Edelgard dying as a result. Edelgard was given a second crest but it shorten her lifespan and she was heavily traumatized by the torture and death of her siblings.
- Lysithea. Like Edelgard, she too was tortured and experimented on alongside her other relatives, which led to her getting a second Crest and shorting her lifespan to the point that she will die very young.
- Hapi. While he wasn't directly involved, he allowed Cornelia Arnim (who's actually Cleobulus) to experiment on her, which led to Hapi gaining a curse to summon monsters when she sighs. This led to Hapi on depriving herself from showing emotions while building resentment towards the Knights of Seiros.
- He was responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur, which led to numerous deaths and destruction, including most of the Blaiddyd House bloodline, which means that he is responsible for Dimitri's trauma and mental problems.
- Indirectly killing Dimitri's father, King Lambert, as mentioned by Edelgard in Three Hopes.
- The tragedy also claimed the life of Glenn Fraldarius, son of Rodriuge, older brother of Felix, fiancé of Ingrid, and one of Dimitri's friends. His death caused Felix to become cynical and cold towards others, hate chivalry, as well as shattering the relationship with his father.
- This also led to Dimitri's estranged friendship with Felix, who became disgusted by Dimitri's violet nature, and call the latter dehumanizing names such as a "boar", a "monster", a "beast", and the "boar prince", and even goes so far as to use the "it" pronoun in reference to him after the timeskip. This also resulted in Felix having a negative relationship with Dedue.
- He also framed the Duscur people for killing King Lambert and the people who were tragically murdered, which led to hate and discrimination towards them. This also led to the Kingdom nearly exterminating them all and their land falling under House Kleiman's control.
- Even Ingrid, who is known for her kind nature, was among the people who blamed Duscur and thought they got what they deserve, mainly for the death of her fiance, Glenn. This also resulted in her having a one-sided hostile relationship with Dedue.
- This would also lead to the surviving Duscur people to rise up in a rebellion against Kingdom, with intentions to kill Dimitri, blaming him and several nobles for the discrimination they were put through.
- He is also 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.
- It's heavily implied that he and his slithers were responsible for causing the death of Godfrey von Riegan, the previous heir of the Leicester Alliance and Claude's uncle, by causing a monster attack that killed him and his traveling party. This also included Raphael's parents, making him and his younger sister Maya orphans.
- This is more evident when a damaged book in the Shadow Library of Abyss believed that Godfrey's demise was a result of foul play. Furthermore, the writer believed that Count Gloucester couldn't be responsible for causing his demise because he stated that Gloucester ordering Godfrey's death was "too conspicuous".
- A year before the events of the game, he sent Solon and Kronya to infiltrate Garreg Mach Monastery. This led to the death of Tomas the librarian and Monica, who were used as disguises to infiltrate the Monastery.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses[]
The White Clouds/Academy Phase[]
- Is one of the people responsible for orchestrating Flayn's abduction at the hands of the Death Knight.
- Is indirectly responsible for the tragedy at Remire Village, caused by Solon.
- Assists Kronya in killing Jeralt by preventing Byleth from attacking her.
- Ordered Solon to sacrifice Kronya, due to her failure to kill Byleth and their students.
- In the non-Empire routes, during the Invasion of Garreg Mach, he hurls a ball of magic towards Byleth, who was attempting to aid Rhea in fighting off the invaders, throwing them off to a valley and being asleep for five years. This also led to Rhea being capture by the Flame Emperor.
The Crimson Flower Route[]
- Even as an "ally", Thales continues to antagonize Edelgard, as he commits tactics to mess up with her arrangements just so he could keep her in line.
- In Hubert's Paralogue he attempts to put Edelgard in line under the pretense of dealing with Demonic Beasts in the Sealed Forest that went wild and attacked Agarthan scientists. Despite acting polite, it is only a facade to try to manipulate Edelgard.
- Although he gets angry about Cleobulus/Cornelia's death, it's more because of Edelgard making a rash decision and not out of genuine care for her. This is reinstated by his reaction to Cornelia's death in Azure Moon; only calling her an idiot for failing to defeat Dimitri.
- He uses his "Javelins of Light" to attack House Rowe and to put Edelgard in line.
- Despite talking about Fodlan under Adrestia's rule somewhat fondly, it is obvious that he only sees this as a way to crush his opponents (primarly Church of Seiros)
The Azure Moon Route[]
- He is responsible for Cleobulus/Cornelia's coup, which led to the death of Grand Regent Rufus and Dimitri's sanity slippage, and reacts with anger after learning of her failure.
- Still disguised as Volkhard, he leads the Invasion of the Leicester Alliance in hopes of killing their leader, Claude and destroying the alliance.
- When defeated by Dimitri and his forces, the dying Thales denies Dimitri the satisfaction of his involvement in the Tragedy of Duscar and encourages him to kill Edelgard.
- Despite his death, the Agarthans were still terrorizing people in his name, as evident with an Agarthan squad lead by Myson in the final chapter.
In both the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes[]
- In the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes, he uses his "Javelins of Light" to destroy Fort Merceus. The only reason the Leicester and Almyran/Resistance Army survive is because of Death Knight's whim.
- In the Battle of Shambala, he and the slithers attempt to kill Byleth Eisner (and potentially Claude and the Golden Deer House or the Church of Seiros, depending the route the player chooses).
- Following his defeat, he uses his "Javelins of Light" to destroy his base to kill his enemies in an act of spite. Not only does it show that he holds no true care towards his brethren but additionally left Rhea heavily injured and on the brink of death.
The Verdant Wind Route[]
- Before dying, he and his fellow Agarthans managed to resurrected Nemesis, allowing the barbarian warlord to raising a ancient army to try to kill Seiros, making him indirectly responsible for Nemesis' rampage that caused countless casualties and destruction.
The Silver Snow Route[]
- His destruction of Shambahla indirectly caused Rhea to lose control of her powers and attempt to raze Fodlan as The Immaculate One in a frenzy, forcing the Resistance Army to fight and (depending on Byleth's support with Rhea) potentially kill her.
Ferdinand & Lysithea's Paralogue: Retribution (Azure Moon, Verdant Wind, and Silver Snow Routes)[]
- In Ferdinand & Lysithea's Paralogue, it is revealed that he imposed massive taxes using Duke Aegir's name, resulting in the Duke's death by angry rioters (despite Ludwig's selfish and opportunistic nature and somewhat deserving his fate, due to his actions, such as being one of the masterminds behind the Insurrection of the Seven and the Crest Experiments, it still left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, especially Ferdinand who was distraught by his father's death).
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes[]
The Scarlet Blaze Route[]
- Following Edelgard's coup against him and Ludwig, Thales quickly escaped from Enbarr and went into hiding, avoiding his punishment for his crimes for three years.
- He formed an alliance with Ludwig in causing a series of riots in the Hrym and Ordelia terrritories, allowing Ludwig to capture Fort Merceus. This forced the Empire forces to divert their attack on the Holy Kingdom so they could stop the chaos in the territories.
- After learning that Rhea and the Church plans to attack and reclaim Garreg Mach Monastery and kill Count Grégoire von Varley, he uses this as an opportunity to cause further chaos by attacking both the Empire and Church forces alike.
- During the final battle, he attempts to kill all of his enemies including Shez, Edelgard, Byleth (potentially), and Rhea.
The Azure Gleam Route[]
- During the Battle of the Fortress City, he ambushes Dimitri and Edelgard, forcibly transforming the latter into the Hegemon Husk, and forcing her to kill the soldiers of both the Kingdom and the Empire.
- After taking Edelgard, he minds controls her with a powerful mind control spell that leaves her unable to speak willingly.
- He allied with Ludwig to battle against the Kingdom forces, using him and Edelgard as a puppet to control the Empire behind the Shadows.
- He attempts to kill Rhea, as well as Dimitri and the Kingdom forces at Garreg Mach, using his forces and Edelgard to achieve his goal.
- Despite his death, the effects of his mind control on Edelgard has left her in a defenseless and childlike state.
External Links[]
- Thales on the Villains Wiki
- Thales on the Fire Emblem Wiki
- Thales on the Hate Sink Wiki
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 Pure Evils
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Fire Emblem Gaiden & Echoes: Shadows of Valentia See Also | ||