Zola

Zola (ゾーラ) is a non-playable character in Fire Emblem Fates on both routes. He is voiced by Hisashi Izumi in the Japanese version.

Profile
Zola is a mage of Nohr. He possesses the special ability to change the appearances of others, disguising as Izana in order to fool the Avatar. Though he may make morally wrong decisions, he occasionally shows good intentions, as evident when asking King Garon to forgive the Avatar.

Birthright
Zola disguises himself as Izana and attempts to kidnap and execute the Avatar and Sakura. However, he is stopped by Hinoka, Kaze and Saizo after the princess believes that Izana would never act so foolish because of his royal status. After the battle, he attempts to flee but is stopped by Leo, who prepares to execute him. However, the Avatar manages to convince him to let him go and Zola is exiled from Nohr instead. As he has nowhere to go, the Avatar decides to keep Zola in their party in order to keep an eye on him.

After the party holds off a demonic attack at sea, Takumi is attacked by an invisible soldier. Zola pushes him out of the way and takes the hit, gaining the trust of the Hoshidans afterwards. Later on during Chapter 12, Zola uses his magic on Azura to disguise her as Layla, as the latter needed to go to her grandmother but could not disappoint Garon, who was watching a performance by her today. He is revealed to be a spy after the spell drops, surprising the Hoshidans. He asks Garon to spare the Avatar, but Garon is angered by the fact that Zola would try to ask something from him, and executes him in response, in front of everyone.

Conquest
Zola disguises himself as Izana and takes the four Hoshidan siblings hostage. The Avatar and Nohr siblings arrive and stop his plans. After his plan fails, he attempts to beg for mercy but is killed by Leo.

Revelation
Like in Birthright, Zola disguises himself as Izana, but fails to fool the Avatar thanks to Gunter. Zola precedes to freeze the Izumo village, forcing the Avatar to fight their way through the glacier and eventually take Zola down. After his defeat, he runs into Izumo castle and takes Sakura hostage. However, Leo appears and promptly executes him for cowardice.

Personality
Zola, on the surface, is a cowardly man, willing to deceive others and obeys those who wield great power over him. He is willing to do whatever it takes to win, even taking hostages in order to ensure his survival. In Conquest and Revelation, he is executed by Leo, but in Birthright he is spared, allowing more of his personality to show. In reality, despite making poor choices, he often has the good intentions, such as protecting Takumi from an ambush and taking a grave wound in the process. At his very core, he at least has shown compassion for others as shown during the Birthright route, where he asks Garon to spare the Avatar because of their kindness. He is simply an opportunist, seeking safety in those who can grant him protection and is pitifully weak on his own.

Birthright Chapter 9 - The Kingdom of Gods

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Conquest Chapter 18 - Black and White Prince

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Revelation Chapter 10 - Voice of the Gods

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Chapter 10 (Revelation)
"Ugh...Lord/Lady Avatar...please forgive me..."

- Death quote in Chapter 12 of Birthright

Trivia

 * Zola retains his Dark Mage outfit in his appearance as a Sorcerer during Conquest's Chapter 18. While this may be purely for the aesthetic purposes of his character, it would imply that Zola's zeal within King Garon's ranks is relatively low.
 * Interestingly, this contrasts Iago's scenario, wherein he's shown to wear a more complete and ornamental version of the Sorcerer outfit, and can even wield Staves, something which no other Sorcerer in the game can do.
 * Like Iago, Hans, Mikoto, and Garon, Zola has unused blushing portraits within the games code.