Edelgard von Hresvelg

Edelgard von Hresvelg
Fire Emblem character
Edelgard as depicted in Fire Emblem Heroes
First appearance	Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019)
Designed by	Chinatsu Kurahana
Voiced by	English Tara Platt[1] Japanese Ai Kakuma[1]
In-universe information
Weapon	Swords, axes
Origin	Adrestian Empire

Edelgard von Hresvelg (Japanese: エーデルガルト＝フォン＝フレスベルグ, Hepburn: Ēderugaruto fon Furesuberugu) is one of the main characters in Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019) and later on its spin-off Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes (2022), both of which are part of Nintendo's tactical role-playing video game franchise Fire Emblem. She is the heir to the once-mighty Adrestian Empire, and the leader of the Black Eagles, one of the Officers Academy's three titular student houses located in Garreg Mach Monastery, where Byleth Eisner spends at in the game.

While she begins as the player's ally, a mid-game plot twist reveals her to be the enigmatic Flame Emperor (炎帝, Entei), a guise under which she plots to overthrow the Church of Seiros and conquer the other nations of Fódlan to create a society in which Crests — hereditary birth marks demonstrating noble blood and unique potential — hold no sway over social status. In order to achieve this, she is willing to wage war against the Church and ally with the mysterious faction known as Those Who Slither in the Dark to achieve her ambitions.

If the player chooses to teach the Black Eagles House at the start of the game and meets certain other requirements, they are given the option of joining her cause, with her becoming the main protagonist of her routes and becoming a far better person as the story progresses. In all other scenarios where the player opposes her, she becomes one of the game's main antagonists.

Edelgard has been noted as one of the most popular characters in Three Houses, and praised by critics for her characterization, although aspects of her portrayal, such as her instigation of the war that drives the latter half of each story path, have been criticized. Her story path, Crimson Flower, has also been praised and called realistic for its grey morality, though some have criticized its short length and rushed presentation compared to the other story paths.