Who do you think will be the main Villain?

[HappyHawlucha.]

I think some sort of twisting of history is taking place here:

That battle in trailer 1 with the whipsword guy and the green haired woman most likely an ancestor of the Church of Seiros' leader, so perhaps the ancient battle between the whipsword guy(allied with Sothis, can see her like Byleth can) and the green haired woman(who want to get rid of Sothis) resulted in the whipsword guy's forces being defeated and the whipsword being sealed with Sothis inside. Byleth is a descendant of the whipsword guy, as he can also see Sothis. The Church of Seiros are sort of keeping Sothis prisoner inside the sword, and the reason Byleth comes to the church in the first place is because Sothis told him to go so that he can steal the sword and free her. Idk how this exactly links into the church being associated with the same symbol as Sothis and the whipsword guy's army but I'm just spitballing because I ain't got anything better to do :P

[Lord-Zero]

The real Big Bad will be Camilla, of course.

Bad joke aside, the Church as the real villains is a little tooo cliché but I can see it happen. 

[BZL8]

Wild Guess: assuming that a theory is true, Byleth is the human reincarnation of the Demon King Formortiis. Watch as the "Three Houses" plot ends up being a complex Xanatos Gambit to leave them in control of the entire continent, only to be sacked by the three heroes, who use the rediscovered legendary weapons of a lost fourth kingdom (a.k.a. an ancient kingdom that was once or has affiliations with the kingdom of Renais) to destroy Formortiis again, but not without Byleth's plan creating massive amounts of collateral damage to the kingdoms and continent and leaving the Church in shambles.

Another wild guess that is also related to the Demon King is that Sothis is actually the manifestation of the memories, thoughts, and powers of Formortiis masquerading as a divine entity of the Church and Byleth is the empty vessel. At some point, a Fusion Dance happens, and the Demon King proceeds to wreck havoc on the continent, where the three kingdoms must work to stop Formortiis. 

Edited March 9, 2019 by BZL8

[YingofDarkness]

It's the Church. If any religion in a JRPG is prominently displayed they will be evil. Even if it isn't everybody in the church, it will still be either a separate faction within the church, or a separate religion all together. They made it even more obvious with how they portrayed that church lady with her face shadowed in a brightly lit room. She's evil.

[Thane]

9 hours ago, YingofDarkness said:

They made it even more obvious with how they portrayed that church lady with her face shadowed in a brightly lit room.

Quote

"In a dim cathedral where light peeks through, a person is standing alone with their arms spread out. There’s a slight eeriness in their majestic figure…"

And we've been seen fighting the Western Church at least, so yes. Hopefully they've got a decent motive.

[Jedi]

Just gonna call "Demonic Dragon God" right here.

[GamerX51]

I think IS could end up going the KOTOR route and end up having Byleth (The avatar) end up being the Main antagonist for this game. It would certainly be a radical departure from their usual MO. And it would also fit into the whole "School" theme they have going: Byleth teaches the three lords how to fight and lead, knowing that they're going to have to fight him at some point.

[TheDreamReturns]

Given what the last two mainline non-remake games have given us with "kind, motherly looking woman":

I don't think they'd DARE make them evil. Forgive me if I sound pessimistic but I think it might be a little more obvious than that.

That, and given what we've heard from Edelgard in the E3 trailer, the crests have something to do with the conflict in this game and (GASP) WAIT A SECOND 

I can't post any more pictures because of the data limit but I think you guys get where I'm coming from here. This is just an uninformed guess, but I think the crests grant power to their users at the cost of their sanity (or something like that). They're powerful tools used as deterrents to keep the piece, but due to their corrupting influence on the users they could easily wind up starting another conflict if they're used. So instead of whipping them out for war they're merely shown to keep each other at bay. 

However, thanks to Jedah 2.0 here the conflict ends up starting anyway. How? (Y'all ready for another guess) I think Jedah 2: Electric Boogaloo here secretly brainwashed "Nicegirl McGoodwoman" or some other person in power into starting another war so he and his allies can take over all of Fodlan from the shadows. We've seen Fire Emblem use mind control before,

Spoiler

Gharnef, Nergal, Anankos and Tattarah

have used it before to get what they want so I think it's completely plausible. There's also a moment in the newest trailer where the same darkness you see above is closing in on Byleth and a split second where we see someone with orange hair staring forward with shadows around their eyes as if they're terrified. 

 

Not to mention that the crest was shown to be the weapon to a monster that we saw breaking through a wall, so I'm guessing Albino Validar here had something with those being made as well.

Remember, this is all just a hunch based on some scattered bits of information that I slapped together using series history and basic logic. I have no clue how the game is going to turn out either, but I think it's highly likely that InValidar is the main antagonist and green church waifu is just a victim of manipulation.

I wish I could use more images to illustrate this better, guess I'll just have to make do with these.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by TheDreamReturns
Additional Information Added

[SushiCat]

8 hours ago, TheDreamReturns said:

I can't post any more pictures because of the data limit but I think you guys get where I'm coming from here. This is just an uninformed guess, but I think the crests grant power to their users at the cost of their sanity (or something like that). They're powerful tools used as deterrents to keep the piece, but due to their corrupting influence on the users they could easily wind up starting another conflict if they're used. So instead of whipping them out for war they're merely shown to keep each other at bay.

I think that's a very good guess, and I think they may be even showing one of the students getting corrupted, namely Sylvain.

Spoiler

We have some sort of battle with a so called Black Beast that attacks using the Crest Stone of Gautier, which happens to be Sylvain's last name.

Spoiler

We then have this eye you mention that could be his. The hair color is similar (a tad more orange), as are the eyebrows and eyelashes.

Spoiler

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by Sushi_Cat
Correcting typo

[Chitsuuki]

57 minutes ago, Sushi_Cat said:

We then have this eye you mention that could be his. The hair color is similar (a tad more orange), as are the eyebrows and eyelashes.

  Hide contents

I think probably that this is more a relative to Sylvain

[Ayra]

3 hours ago, Sushi_Cat said:

 

  Hide contents

 

That's an interesting theory, but I'd say it's likely a woman's eye.

https://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?/topic/86443-every-character-organized-by-housewith-images/

If you look every single character art for this game, the women's eyes are round just like this and the men's eyes are more narrow and rectangular. The one single exception in the entire cast is Ashe, who has rounder eyes.

Also, the way the "hair" (I don't know the name in English for them, sorry) flares out is generally used for feminine characters.

It's certainly possible that it is a man (a surprised expression will give larger and rounder eyes, and the eye curls could fit on a feminine male character) and those two things are not a guarantee of anything, but if I had to take a bet, I'd bet on this being a woman. 

Edited March 15, 2019 by Ayra

[SushiCat]

3 hours ago, Chitsuuki said:

I think probably that this is more a relative to Sylvain

 

1 hour ago, Ayra said:

That's an interesting theory, but I'd say it's likely a woman's eye.

https://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?/topic/86443-every-character-organized-by-housewith-images/

If you look every single character art for this game, the women's eyes are round just like this and the men's eyes are more narrow and rectangular. The one single exception in the entire cast is Ashe, who has rounder eyes.

Also, the way the "hair" (I don't know the name in English for them, sorry) flares out is generally used for feminine characters.

It's certainly possible that it is a man (a surprised expression will give larger and rounder eyes, and the eye curls could fit on a feminine male character) and those two things are not a guarantee of anything, but if I had to take a bet, I'd bet on this being a woman. 

Maybe it's his mother/sister? I would say that there's a good chance some of the students will have to face some of their relatives, either due to different allegiances (pro or con church) or like in this example due to some type of crest corruption.

Edited March 15, 2019 by Sushi_Cat

[TheDreamReturns]

Honestly I hope I'm wrong in the "corrupted" stuff because I hate the idea of characters being made evil by magical means, it's such a dumb cop out. which is part of the reason why i expect it but you didn't hear that from me

On 3/14/2019 at 8:53 PM, TheDreamReturns said:

 They're powerful tools used as deterrents to keep the piece...

Sorry about this, theory crafting gives me mad brainrot. Getting back on topic.

This looks like an attempt at corrupting/harming our protag with some dark power that I seriously doubt is coming from the head of the church given what we've seen. So I think Sauronald Mcdonald is definitely our baddie.

[PrincessAlyson]

19 hours ago, TheDreamReturns said:

So I think Sauronald Mcdonald is definitely our baddie.

Sorry if this is too big, but this guy definitely screams VILLAIN. Sauronald Mcdonald is hilarious, btw.

[ElectiveToast]

I hope it’s left up to interpretation. No set bad guy or good guy, but giving the player the choice to look into their morals and decide what is best for Fódlan. 

 

 

In other words, Fates done right. 

[Ottservia]

3 minutes ago, ElectiveToast said:

I hope it’s left up to interpretation. No set bad guy or good guy, but giving the player the choice to look into their morals and decide what is best for Fódlan. 

 

 

In other words, Fates done right. 

I think you’re giving IS a bit too much credit there. IS doing moral ambiguity right? Yeah no I don’t think that’s happening 

[ElectiveToast]

8 minutes ago, Ottservia said:

I think you’re giving IS a bit too much credit there. IS doing moral ambiguity right? Yeah no I don’t think that’s happening 

 

“What sure will you choose?” And the previous trailer about Edlegard saying that the crests are bad while also being empress (she even wears red, which is traditionally the enemy color) seems to imply to me that they’re willing to give it another shot. I wouldn’t dismiss it so quickly. 

Edited April 8, 2019 by ElectiveToast

[TheDreamReturns]

11 hours ago, ElectiveToast said:

 

“What sure will you choose?” And the previous trailer about Edlegard saying that the crests are bad while also being empress (she even wears red, which is traditionally the enemy color) seems to imply to me that they’re willing to give it another shot. I wouldn’t dismiss it so quickly. 

Normally I wouldn't either, but then we have the presence of the avatar (which don't exactly have a reputation of being compelling characters whose actions are open to criticism), yet another inhuman looking obviously evil dark sorcerer, and the rampant """anime-ness""" (I know how dumb that sounds but I don't know how to word it any other way) and to me personally, that seals it. It's not like it's a bad thing though, Fire Emblem just isn't a series suited for moral ambiguity anyway.

Even Fates would have been better off if it just went all the way and let us play as team bad guy with Conquest instead of attempting to pull something it was no where near nuanced enough to even attempt. I say leave moral ambiguity to franchises that can pull it off, I have faith that Three Houses will be a good game but let's be realistic here.

[Guest This Guy]

I'd be satisfied if the Church WASN'T the villain, or at least not the entire thing given the 'West Church' Troops.

Because when you've done a trope so many times that EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHERS predicts it the moment they are shown, it's time to stop using the trope as a twist.

[Cysx]

15 hours ago, Ottservia said:

I think you’re giving IS a bit too much credit there. IS doing moral ambiguity right? Yeah no I don’t think that’s happening 

Eh, they've pulled it off a few times. Some supports even have it as a consistent theme, it's not that rare. Just... when it comes to their plots in recent memory, they kept things morally straightforward, for some reason.

[Rose482]

20 hours ago, ElectiveToast said:

“What sure will you choose?” And the previous trailer about Edlegard saying that the crests are bad while also being empress (she even wears red, which is traditionally the enemy color) seems to imply to me that they’re willing to give it another shot. I wouldn’t dismiss it so quickly. 

Did you just suggest that IS could do something right story wise?!?!?!?!?! 

But anyway, I do agree with you that this game shouldn't be dismissed so quickly becasue from the things I'm seeing about it, it does look like it has potential to be very grey, like I don't see the church being the only villains in this? Like I doubt that all the other 3 countries will just team up and go after the church, if that's the case that would be a very easy victory for the good guys, so I'm sure something will go down to stop it from being that easy.

Edited April 9, 2019 by Rose482

[Ottservia]

9 hours ago, TheDreamReturns said:

Normally I wouldn't either, but then we have the presence of the avatar (which don't exactly have a reputation of being compelling characters whose actions are open to criticism), yet another inhuman looking obviously evil dark sorcerer, and the rampant """anime-ness""" (I know how dumb that sounds but I don't know how to word it any other way) and to me personally, that seals it. It's not like it's a bad thing though, Fire Emblem just isn't a series suited for moral ambiguity anyway.

Even Fates would have been better off if it just went all the way and let us play as team bad guy with Conquest instead of attempting to pull something it was no where near nuanced enough to even attempt. I say leave moral ambiguity to franchises that can pull it off, I have faith that Three Houses will be a good game but let's be realistic here.

Any story about war is suited for a morally ambigious just IS doesn't know how to do it right and whenever they try it just ends up being bad at least if the past two games are anything. Seriously why do they got to make the protagonist right all the damn. Like why are they not allowed to be wrong?! if there's one thing a morally ambiguous story it's a protagonist that's allowed to be wrong which IS can't seem to do well(?)(They can do it but not when it matters? I dunno how to explain it). I mean there's nothing wrong with a black and white story I'm just saying whenever IS tries to tell a morally ambigious story it's always presented as black and white. Like one kingdom is so obviously evil and the other is so obviously good. and when it comes to duel protagonists one is so obviously right while the other is so obviously wrong and in a morally gray story, no, neither is supposed to be right or wrong at face value. Later it can be revealed one is right or one is wrong but not that early where the audience needs to not know who to route for.

Edited April 9, 2019 by Ottservia

[TheDreamReturns]

10 hours ago, Ottservia said:

Any story about war is suited for a morally ambigious just IS doesn't know how to do it right and whenever they try it just ends up being bad at least if the past two games are anything. Seriously why do they got to make the protagonist right all the damn. Like why are they not allowed to be wrong?! if there's one thing a morally ambiguous story it's a protagonist that's allowed to be wrong which IS can't seem to do well(?)(They can do it but not when it matters? I dunno how to explain it). I mean there's nothing wrong with a black and white story I'm just saying whenever IS tries to tell a morally ambigious story it's always presented as black and white. Like one kingdom is so obviously evil and the other is so obviously good. and when it comes to duel protagonists one is so obviously right while the other is so obviously wrong and in a morally gray story, no, neither is supposed to be right or wrong at face value. Later it can be revealed one is right or one is wrong but not that early where the audience needs to not know who to route for.

It’s because they want to play it safe and keep everything simple and digestible to maximize the player base and profit, but really it’s because Fire Emblem just isn’t the kind of franchise to present that kind of nuance. It never was, from what I’ve heard anyway.

Hell, Fates never promised to be morally gray at all. Aside from a clumsy attempt here and there, the right and wrong are made clear from the start. We all kind of just saw the potential and were dissapointed when it didn’t follow through with what was never stated to be there in the first place.

Honestly though, I’m fine with this. They don’t need to jump the shark to put out a good product, I’m not expecting a masterpiece. I’m just hoping the big evil villains have more to them than just being big evil. There doesn’t need to be this big revelation where the main character was wrong the whole time or anything, I just want to see them do what they do already but just....beyond the bare minimum.

As for the main characters being unquestionably righteous.....avatar unit.

Again, I don’t want to sound like an annoying pessimist, I just want to be realistic.

[Ottservia]

48 minutes ago, TheDreamReturns said:

Honestly though, I’m fine with this. They don’t need to jump the shark to put out a good product, I’m not expecting a masterpiece. I’m just hoping the big evil villains have more to them than just being big evil. There doesn’t need to be this big revelation where the main character was wrong the whole time or anything, I just want to see them do what they do already but just....beyond the bare minimum.

again nothing wrong with a simple black and white by the numbers story. So long as it's handled well, I don't really see much of an issue I mean I personally find awakening's story to be pretty good despite popular consensus. It's not that there needs to be this big plot twist where the protag realizes he was wrong the whole time. I just want them to struggle with some kind of conflict and not be a generic nice guy Light novel protagonist(See Alm and Corrin). 

48 minutes ago, TheDreamReturns said:

Hell, Fates never promised to be morally gray at all. Aside from a clumsy attempt here and there, the right and wrong are made clear from the start. We all kind of just saw the potential and were dissapointed when it didn’t follow through with what was never stated to be there in the first place.

Y'see the thing about fates's story is that its premise is inherently morally gray by definition or rather it needs to be told in a morally ambiguous manner in order to be good. Thing is it's not which leads to a lot of its problems.

48 minutes ago, TheDreamReturns said:

As for the main characters being unquestionably righteous.....avatar unit.

was more so referring to Alm with that statement but Corrin can lumped in there too I guess(But then again corrin is just a confused mess of a character so it's kind of hard to pinpoint the exact problem)

Edited April 10, 2019 by Ottservia

[TheDreamReturns]

47 minutes ago, Ottservia said:

was more so referring to Alm with that statement but Corrin can lumped in there too I guess(But then again corrin is just a confused mess of a character so it's kind of hard to pinpoint the exact problem)

Honestly, I don't hate Alm. He was a decent protag and was pretty basic at worst. I consider the "everyone agrees with him" stuff to be leftover jank from Fates.

Corrin can be partially responsible for the deaths of a character's family members, along with the lives of innocent bystanders who had nothing to do with the conflict AND leave them the hastily crowned ruler of a wartorn nation after a battle that was ultimately even more pointless than war already is and said character will just be like "meh it is what it is, ur still a good boi luv u hero".

56 minutes ago, Ottservia said:

Y'see the thing about fates's story is that its premise is inherently morally gray by definition or rather it needs to be told in a morally ambiguous manner in order to be good. Thing is it's not which leads to a lot of its problems.

And it can't do that because it:

1. Made the half player insert/half distinct protag the center of attention and as a result, spent time that should have been devoted to worldbuilding and character development and doing ANYTHING interesting, and instead used it on "Corrin Corrin is the best, Put your patience to the test".

2. Made the conflict so laughably black and white it (blah blah blah y'all have heard this garbage before). 

3. EVERYTHING remotely related to the third path.

4. (something something waifu something)

1 hour ago, Ottservia said:

again nothing wrong with a simple black and white by the numbers story. So long as it's handled well, I don't really see much of an issue I mean I personally find awakening's story to be pretty good despite popular consensus. It's not that there needs to be this big plot twist where the protag realizes he was wrong the whole time. I just want them to struggle with some kind of conflict and not be a generic nice guy Light novel protagonist(See Alm and Corrin). 

I know what you're saying, I get it. Having a more layered protagonist who isn't just "nice boy/girl who wants peace" would be nice. I agree with that.

The gist of where I was going with all this is that in a series that apparently never needed "moral ambiguity" in it's conflict to tell a decent story and at certain points feels as if it's actively avoiding it, Blood Pacts anyone?, expecting it from a new title that shows promise but still mixes in trends from big, successful, money-making games criticized for their writing....no. Not happening. I still see static, paragon protags on the horizon. I'll gladly gobble my words right up if I'm wrong, but from what we've seen from both this game's footage and past entries, it looks like I'll still have room for desert.

GETTING BACK ON TOPIC even though it's my fault for derailing buy y'all didn't see that ;)

One thing I forgot to mention about Voldemorty is that when we see his face he doesn't have a big stupid evil smile on him, in fact him crushing the crest ball whateveritwas shows him pretty frustrated, This could happen after a failed attempt at whatever he was planning with it, if my slapped together "corrupt those in seats of power" theory was right then this could be after he tries to corrupt Byleth, his enemy (which I've already mentioned), only for it to obviously fail. Either due to psychic protection from Sothis or the glowy blade of the chosen one or hell, both of them.) but he looks strangely calm. Maybe he has more on his mind than world domination and resurrecting the final boss?