Gilbert

"Nice to meet you, teacher. I am Gilbert, who will be accompanying you on this task. I do not know how useful I will be, but I shall try my best to cooperate with you."

- Gilbert talking to Byleth

Gilbert is a character from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. He teaches at the Officers Academy and is one of the Knights of Seiros. As an instructor at the Academy he offers lessons in Lances and Axes.

Profile
One of Knights of Seiros, Gilbert was originally Gustave, a noble from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. He can be a hard person to get to know, though he does seem to love fishing and cooking. He is Annette's father, but has not seen or spoken to her in years after changing his name.

Gilbert was once Baron Gustave Dominic, a knight who protected the royal family of Faerghus. Following the Tragedy of Duscur in Imperial Year 1176, in which King Lambert and many other nobles were killed, Gilbert was deeply appalled by his inability to protect the king. He renounced his noble title, which was then passed onto his younger brother.

He would eventually find employment in the Knights of Seiros, going under the alias Gilbert Pronislav. By the Imperial Year 1180, he still is among the strongest soldiers of the Knights and has unexpectedly been reunited with his daughter who joined the Blue Lions house, though he purposefully keeps his distance from her, much to her displeasure.

Gilbert joins Byleth's chosen house on their mission to reclaim the Lance of Ruin from Miklan; It should be noted that even if this mission is played on casual mode Gilbert will still have permadeath.

Azure Moon
After the five year timeskip, Gilbert has searched for Dimitri, whom he finds fighting bandits in a nearby town. Gilbert alongside the reunited Blue Lions rescue Dimitri and Byleth, the latter whom had been missing over the five years. With the unrest in Faerghus and having previously served under King Lambert, Gilbert pledges loyalty to Dimitri and assists him throughout his campaign against the Empire.

He primarily serves as an advisor, helping to guide Dimitri throughout the war. While at unease by Dimitri's initial unhinged behavior, he provides his support and provides alternatives to not only help Dimitri achieve his goals, but not act too rashly or recklessly on his initial quest for vengeance.

Paralogue
Should Annette be in the same army as Gilbert and the two have established a C-Support, Annette decides to visit her uncle in order to obtain the Hero's Relic of House Dominic, Crusher, in order to give their army a boost in power. Gilbert advises that she does not do this as House Dominic has sided with Cornelia and will likely not give it. Despite this, Annette has decided to pursue the weapon anyways and Gilbert goes off with her to protect her, but asks Byleth and their army to wait outside just in case a fight happens. Just as he expected, his brother refuses to hand her the weapon and even threatens to capture her. Thanks to Byleth and their army, Lord Dominic is defeated, but left alive as the battle was merely a ploy to not only hand Crusher to Annette, but also protect his people from Cornelia's wrath. He promises to Gilbert to keep his wife safe while they continue their fight. Gilbert thanks Byleth in the aftermath of the battle and asks for them to continue to protect his daughter.

Verdant Wind
If Annette was drafted into the player's army during the academy phase, then after Dimitri's death at the hands of imperial soldiers in the aftermath of Chapter 17, she will mention that Gilbert was seen carrying his liege's body away from the battlefield if spoken to at the monastery during Chapter 18.

Personality
Gilbert is a deeply faithful, serious and polite person. His expression doesn't change much, nor does he talk much about himself or his past. Deep down, he is a stalwart, honest, and loyal knight having served for years under King Lambert. However, the Tragedy of Duscur changed him as his failure to protect the king or die for him became one of his greatest regrets of his life. He is a voice of reason and wisdom, effectively assisting Dimitri in the Azure Moon route to not only appease his desire for vengeance, but also guide him on a path that benefits the greater picture of the future for Faerghus.

While he decided to separate himself from his family out of shame by his own volition, he never forgot his family. He stubbornly refused to interact with his daughter even after she had been accepted into the Officer's Academy where he worked, as he felt that he does not deserve to be with his family. If Annette and Gilbert are given time together, they can eventually reconnect, even revealing that he continued to write letters on important days to them, but never had the heart to send them. By this point their relationship is restored and he can return home under his original name.

Base Stats
NPC=


 * -|Azure Moon=

As an Enemy
Battle of Garreg Mach

Growth Rates

 * 55%
 * 45%
 * 20%
 * 45%
 * 30%
 * 15%
 * 45%
 * 10%
 * 35%
 * }

Maximum Stats

 * 101
 * 65
 * 35
 * 62
 * 42
 * 40
 * 61
 * 35
 * 49
 * }

Learnt Magic

 * D
 * Thunder
 * Heal
 * D+
 * Nosferatu
 * C
 * Thoron
 * Ward
 * C+
 * B
 * B+
 * A
 * A+
 * }
 * B
 * B+
 * A
 * A+
 * }
 * B+
 * A
 * A+
 * }
 * A
 * A+
 * }
 * A+
 * }
 * A+
 * }
 * }
 * }

Overall
Gilbert serves as a powerful physical tank once obtained, having high defense, strength and health, as well as reasonable dexterity. His personal skill further improves his durability by reducing incoming damage by 2 as long as he has a battalion. All of his other growths are low, however, especially his luck and resistance, so he will be easy prey for enemy mages and can often find himself on the receiving end of critical hits. His starting speed is also comically low. One could remedy this to an extent by choosing to promote him into a Paladin for the stat boost, but likely he will not grow enough to completely remedy this.

Gilbert's start as a Fortress Knight and his skill strengths mean that promoting him to Great Knight is the ideal path for him. He has no skill weaknesses, but his low magic and limited spell list mean any magic-based classes are not advised. Due to how he only joins you after Chapter 12, and most of his skills start at an E rank, it is difficult to get him to any other classes besides Great Knight. Paladin can be a reasonable class to switch him to as well in order to get Aegis, helping to protect him against magic attacks.

Depending on player investment, he could take time to add some effort to his Brawl stat and make him into a War Master as well since his Axe affinity is high enough that it needs only a little more training to meet the requirement. Even though the class is not an entirely perfect fit, it provides Quick Riposte upon mastery which is an alternative method to give him a means to perform follow-up attacks so long as his Health is over 50% when an enemy initiates on him.

Supports

 * Byleth (S-Support with both genders of Byleth)
 * Dimitri
 * Dedue
 * Ashe
 * Annette
 * Hanneman
 * Manuela
 * Alois
 * Catherine

Quotes

 * Gilbert/Quotes

Possible Endings
Gilbert - Veteran Patriot
 * Gilbert returned to Fhirdiad and resumed his duty as a knight, faithfully serving King Dimitri for many years. When he finally retired, it is said he spent the rest of his days coaching the young prince in the art of combat.

Gilbert and female Byleth
 * When Byleth took on the role of archbishop in Rhea's place, she devoted herself to official business as the new leader of the Church of Seiros. Reaching an agreement with the Kingdom, she worked tirelessly on the restoration and development of all of Fódlan. Behind her achievements was the knight Gustave, formerly known as Gilbert of the Knights of Seiros, who remained always by the archbishop's side. Byleth came to rely on Gustave for nearly everything. It is said that she continued to call upon Gustave for instruction and advice well into his retirement.

Gilbert and Annette
 * Gustave discarded the name of Gilbert and reaffirmed his oath of fealty to King Dimitri and the royal family. After returning to Fhirdiad, he reunited with his wife, who had returned to live with Baron Dominic, and his beloved daughter, Annette, who had begun teaching at the capital's school of sorcery. Though it was initially an awkward reunion, over time the family rekindled their love for one another. As the shadow of war receded from the Kingdom, the three spent their days happily making up for lost time.

Etymology
Gilbert is a given name of Norman-French origin, derived from Germanic Gisilberht or Gisalberht. The first element, Gil-, comes from Germanic gīsil, meaning "shaft of an arrow" or gisal "pledge, hostage", while the second element, -bert comes from Germanic -behrt, short form of beraht, meaning "bright" or "famous".

Trivia

 * Gilbert is one of the characters who can have S-Supports with both a male and a female Byleth, albeit platonic rather than romantic. The others are: Rhea, Mercedes, Dorothea, Edelgard, Sothis, Linhardt and Alois (platonic as well)
 * Gilbert shares his Japanese voice actor, Hiriomichi Kogane, with Awakening 's Virion.
 * Oddly, Gilbert is missing his personal skill as NPC during Chapter 5's mission.