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You and your mother think of nothing more than stealing my throne. You plague me. Return to the manse!”
—King Desmond to Zephiel

Desmond is a non-playable character in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. He is the king of Bern and the father of Zephiel and Guinivere.

Though unnamed in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, he played a key role in Zephiel's antagonism in said game.

Profile[]

Descended from the Eight Legends, Hartmut, Desmond is the king of Bern and husband to Hellene of Etruria. The marriage was forced politically, much to his frustration. Desmond held true love for an unnamed commoner woman and despite his marriage, took her as a mistress. Through Hellene he fathered a son, Zephiel first while his mistress bore him a daughter Guinivere a few years later.

Having despised his marriage to Hellene, he viewed Zephiel with scorn. Despite his wishes, by birthright, Zephiel would eventually succeed him, even though he showed favoritism towards Guinivere. Hellene further exasperated his hatred of the marriage by taunting that the laws of Bern made Zephiel his successor whether he wished for it or not. To slight her, he forced Hellene and Zephiel to live in the Royal Manse outside the castle while his mistress and Guinivere was allowed to live in the castle.

Despite the bitter relationship between his parents, Zephiel genuinely desired to earn favor with Desmond and was nothing short of a prodigy in his education and training. Further supported by the people of Bern who viewed the prince as a worthy successor to the throne, Desmond grew paranoid that Hellene and Zephiel were plotting to usurp the throne from him. To make matters worse for him, Zephiel and Guinivere had a close sibling relationship despite him actively preventing them from meeting as often has he could. Though he declared that he would rather have Guinivere succeed him, even with Zephiel's acceptance at the time, the common folk called for Zephiel's eventual coronation, forcing Desmond to take drastic measures.

Desmond cut a deal with Sonia to assassinate his son on the eve of Zephiel's comming of age ceremony and, in exchange, would not interfere with The Black Fang's plans if successful. A timely rescue and defense by traveling lords Eliwood, Hector, and Lyn prevented Zephiel's assassination. His plan failed and it seemed that Zephiel's ascension would carry out no matter how hard he tried.

Years would pass after this with Zephiel's popularity continuing to grow. Desmond tried once more to kill Zephiel, this time inviting Zephiel to the castle under the pretense of having accepted his son after years of denial. Zephiel eagerly drank from the goblet Desmond offered him laced with poison. Zephiel grew deathly ill and had been presumed dead, with word reaching him of his son's passing. He planned on blaming both Hellene and his tutor Murdock for Zephiel's death and planned to exile them as a result. A funeral was arranged for Zephiel and when Desmond approached the casket, Zephiel sprung to life, revealing that he survived the assassination attempt and murdered Desmond in cold-blood.

Desmond's ill treatment of Zephiel resulted in the new King's jaded outlook on humanity as a whole and thus plunged all of Elibe into a war that nearly lead to the destruction of the continent and potential rule by War Dragons.

Personality[]

Desmond is highlighted by his cold, selfish outlook on his life. He was dissatisfied with his political marriage, though not entirely by his fault as Hellene fanned the flames of his bitterness through her taunting. Though denied true marriage to his love, he took his real lover as a mistress and fathered a child through her. He showed blatant favoritism towards Guinivere, despite her being illegitimate, and saw Zephiel as a reminder that the child of his true love would never be his true successor. He did seem to care for Guinivere, but he used her mainly to spite Hellene and Zephiel, even refusing to let his two children interact despite their fondness for one another.

Even though Zephiel proved to be nothing less than a loving son desperate to win his father's love and approval, his hatred of Zephiel as the physical manifestation of his denied wishes fueled his selfishness. In fact, as the years progressed, his hatred grew into paranoia that Zephiel and Hellene were plotting to steal everything from him. When Guinivere was presented with a fox cub as a gift from Zephiel, a gift she wanted to cherish, Desmond had the fox disposed of simply because he viewed the gift as a means of stealing Guinivere from him. This fear and bitterness lead him to plot two assassination attempts on his son. Though the first one ended without much incident as the truth was never made light, the second one ultimately sowed the seeds of resentment in his formerly loving son and resulted in Desmond's death for all of the abuse he had dealt to him despite his former attempts to appease his father.

Choose Your Legends Placement History[]

Round Placement Character Version Votes

CYL1 Ineligible
CYL2 Ineligible
CYL3 Ineligible
CYL4 Ineligible
CYL5 493 CYL Desmond Portrait
The Blazing Blade
11
CYL6 505
↓12
CYL Desmond Portrait
The Blazing Blade
7
↓4

CYL7 427
↑78
CYL Desmond Portrait
The Blazing Blade
4
↓3

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