Who is the main villain of FE10?

[Icelerate]

Personally, I consider Lekain to be the main villain of the game. He's directly responsible for the atrocities in Daein which leads to the events in part one. He has no relevance in part two except for the Begnion dracoknights going into Crimea which wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the corruption of Begnion's Senate. In part three, he's the reason everything bad happens such as the Laguz being provoked, the blood pacts, the coup, Valtome being appointed as leader and provoking Crimea. In part 4, he no longer has as much relevance but he still has more screen time until his death. 

All Sephiran does in part 3 is get captured and later on conducts an uprising. In part one, he sends the Black Knight to protect Micaiah. 

He does end up convincing Ashera to pass her judgement but Ashera really didn't need convincing.

I don't think Ashera constitutes as the main villain because she only becomes relevant in part 4 and wasn't even the cause of all the calamities.  

 

[Modamy]

I agree that Lekain is the most likely choice for main villain of most of the game. FE 10 is weird in that since it it shows multiple conflicts involving different parties there is no one true villain of the entire game, but Lekain is the one who is the most prominent. It also makes for a fun subversion that while he is an endgame boss he's pretty much unrelated to everyone else you fight there despite proclaiming he's a chosen one.

[Etrurian emperor]

I think Sephiran is the main villain because at the end of the day its all his schemes and his desire to destroy the world that drives the plot. 

Lekain is what Tvtropes would describe as ''The heavy''. He is the villain with the most screentime and the most personal hostility to the heroes but he's also somewhat of a junior villain in the grand scheme of things. They do tie him pretty heavily to Sephiran though by being the one who corrupted him. 

I don't view Ashera as the main villain. She's incredibly passive and only starts getting involved when Sephiran wakes her. She didn't plan the events of the plot nor does she drive the story. 

[Troykv]

Lekain and Sephiran share many aspects that makes them fit in the Gharnef archetype (mostly Sephiran because he has a closer connection with the Evil Dragon); Lekain it's the Gharnef you should hate because he's pretty much the reason behind the Sephiran's Face-Heel (Misaha's Death and the Serenes' massacre); and ended up turning himself into the Gharnef for using his strings to get power in Begnion and start his plan for the world's purge. 

Lekain it's like that bully that ended up making his bullied ones become mean.

Ashera has pretty much the same objective the "Evil Dragon" has in most of the games (specially the ones where the "Evil Dragon" isn't also the "Gharnef", or another example of main villain the franchise would have, too)

Edited July 3, 2018 by Troykv

[RosesThorns]

I guess it really depends on what point of the story you're looking at, because Ashera would technically be the person who would destroy the world, only because Sephiran woke her and showed her the evil in the world, which was instigated by Lekain due to his selfish desires. So either you could say the Ashera is the villain because without her the world can't be destroyed, or that Sephiran is because he woke Ashera, or Lekain because he convinced Sephiran.

I'd personally say that Sephiran is the main villain of FE10 because he was the one who woke Ashera, which then in turn set the events for Endgame RD. But honestly it's kind of all three because they all contributed to it in some way, shape or form.

 

I honestly like Sephiran the most as well because he doesn't have any stupid plot device like Lekain had, and Ashera was just kinda there to be the final boss,

Edited July 3, 2018 by RosesThorns

[Shadow Mir]

As I see it... Ashera is immediately out of contention for the main villain spot for only being relevant in part 4. Which leaves Lekain and Sephiran. At the end of the day, I say Sephiran since his schemes are what drives the plot - Lekain has more screentime, but in the grand scheme of things, he's more of a junior villain.

[Interdimensional Observer]

In defense of Sephiran, he didn't exactly need to do much. Elibe wasn't just going to open the Dragon's Gate or generate enough Quintessence for Nergal to do so. Jugdral wasn't just going to produce a Major Loptyr Blood and bring Loptyr back into the world. Archanea wasn't just going to let Gharnef rule it. Magvel just wasn't going to return the Demon King. Ylisse and Valm weren't just going to free Grima. In all of these cases, the Gharnef need to meddle a lot because otherwise their goals wouldn't be attained.

Sephiran on the other hand had a world that didn't need so much direct manipulation. The Senate was corrupt without him, he just had to let it fester and rot even more. The Laguz and the Beorc already distrusted each other and had fought wars in the past, he didn't have to invent this. The Thousand Year Covenant with a heavy punishment for failure he did invent- but not originally for the purpose of continental euthanasia! If Rafiel didn't exist, he would have needed to do more to spur a war between the Laguz and Beorc, but that is about it in RD.

And of course, RD also makes clear he is the one behind Ashnard in PoR, and implies he was the traveling old man who gave Ashnard the Blood Pact that let him become King of Daein. Ashnard was so hungry for battle, Sephiran hardly needed to advise him beyond telling of him of the false tale behind Lehran's Medallion and dangling it in front of him. RD also adds in the Nasir 4-Final-1 Base Conversation that Sephiran came very close to success via Ashnard- fairly minimal manipulation and helping of a madman, some monitoring thereafter, and few other sleights of hand: telling the BK to let Elincia set sail after Chapter 11, and bringing the full might of Begnion into war on Ike's side.

Fighting Sephiran with Pelleas also suggests he was Izuka's real master. I'm sure the Senate would have been fine with a permanent Occupation Army, Sephiran on the other hand did have more to gain with a freed Daein, a full military power restored being able to produce more chaos than just by opposing a petty Occupation Army as a powerless resistance.

[thecrimsonflash]

Sephrain was the reason for most everything in PoR and RD, he was pulling all the strings in the background, lakein was a pawn who thought himself to be the king, we don't know exactly how the laguz messengers died, but it seems likely that sephrain would be a good fit for the culprit as that would not require any reasoning for the alliance to attack and the senators would respond in kind to any attack (provoked or otherwise), looking back to PoR, sephrain helped ashnard get to the throne by using the blood pact, the civil war in begion also played into sephrains hands perfectly to, sephrains reasoning for supplying the crimea liberation army with troops would be to escalate the war to awaken yune easier, this is lso why he supplied ashnard with blessed armor, he wanted to rig the battle out of crimea's favor and have ashnard invade gallia, the unforeseen factor in all this was Ike having ragnell (I doubt that zelgius told sephrain what happened to it), in the end sephrain was the villain, ashera was more of a force of nature and lekain was a pawn doing exactly what would be predicted of him, sephrain likely allowed himself to be captured so he could be made a martyr for half of begnion to rally behind, the main point of his plan was to escalate the war by any means necessary, and the war in daein and begnion was enough to drive everyone over the edge, the only thing he didn't consider was micaiah, his plan would have worked flawlessly otherwise.

[Rezzy]

Sanaki is the true villain.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Main villain: Sephiran. I voted this one because ultimately the biggest issue and threat to those that are good is Ashera's waking and punishment to the Beorc and Laguz. Everything else bad is all part of and leads up to what Sephiran wants in the grand scheme of things.

Best villain: I vote Lekain on this one. He was the one senator who perpetually gave the player more and more reason to despise the fucker but come Endgame he ends up being a pawn to the bigger threat and wasn't the one that orchestrated Ashera's wake via war.

[GamerX51]

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

And of course, RD also makes clear he is the one behind Ashnard in PoR, and implies he was the traveling old man who gave Ashnard the Blood Pact that let him become King of Daein

How, exactly, did RD make all this clear?  I've beaten that game literally dozens of times, and I don't recall any point at which it's even implied that Sephrain did anything beyond taking advantage of Ashnard's violent, aggressive nature. And I certainly don't recall the game ever dropping a hint that Sephrain might have been the aforementioned traveling old man with the blood pact.

Edited July 3, 2018 by GamerX51

[Interdimensional Observer]

13 minutes ago, GamerX51 said:

How, exactly, did RD make all this clear?  I've beaten that game literally dozens of times, and I don't recall any point at which it's even implied that Sephrain did anything beyond taking advantage of Ashnard's violent, aggressive nature. And I certainly don't recall the game ever dropping a hint that Sephrain might have been the aforementioned traveling old man with the blood pact.

The "makes clear" part applies to the Ashnard manipulation, the Blood Pact part is only implied, but I think there is enough evidence to pin it on Sephiran.

The exact language used to describe the man who made Ashnard's Blood Pact is "a traveling wise man", no mention of age. The Japanese extended script goes a little further:

Spoiler

Tauroneo:
“Who was he!? That wise man…?”

Almedha:
“I do not know the details… To cure my illness, that man gathered at Daein the most bizarre people on the continent… Izuka was one of those people. He said he was a scholar studying the properties of wildlife… but, in truth he was nothing more than a madman hell bent on developing biological weapons… Oh ho ho ho.”

That Tauroneo line isn't in the English, but it does raise a point, who would concoct a Blood Pact? This one little line should ideally get the player thinking this is no ordinary, forgettable individual, although maybe I read a little too much into it.

Given its sheer power, the Blood Pact can't be an easy thing to make, it would be a bit absurd if such a nation-crippling device was Magic 101. The Begnion Senate certainly has the resources to find and get someone to make one, and Izuka seems capable, but how just many lone traveling wise men would know how to make one and then offer it to someone? It can't be Izuka who made Ashnard's though, otherwise Almedha should have said that, and "bizarre" might not be a bad word for the eccentric Sephiran.

Arguments to support "a Traveling Wise Man" = Sephiran:

1. Sephiran is the most powerful magic user in all of Tellius, having lived nearly a thousand years and being the loyal first servant of the goddesses, it is certainly within his grasp to create for Ashnard a Blood Pact. 
2. Sephiran has the motive to give Ashnard one. Getting Ashnard on the Daein throne will give him an entire country as a tool to spread chaos, which will help facilitating the coming of the judgement Sephiran desires to come to pass. He already gave Ashnard the Medallion and Lillia in the past, and in the future gives him the Black Knight. What is say he didn't help him in some way between these two events?
3. And if this was not enough, Sephiran is noted for traveling in disguise.

• When you first meet him in PoR, he is pretending to be a pilgrim.
• Sanaki later says in PoR Sephiran likes donning disguises and traveling.
• He later traveled with Zelgius to Gallia incognito to check on the Medallion in Greil's possession.
• Between these events, when Zelgius sought out Sephiran to cure his Brand, he calls him in the flashback "Lord Sage"- a synonym for "wise man".
• Even the civilians who tell Sephiran about Misaha's assassination and then pound on him when he accidentally reveals his wings from the doubly tragic news, call him "Lord Sage". And this was at the very moment before he even went mad! 
• This isn't one circumstance of Sephiran being a traveling and or wise man, this is five cases when it is shown or stated. Enough circumstantial evidence to assume any traveling wise man in a serious plot role is Sephiran, and getting Ashnard on Daein is a serious affair.
• And for Sephiran it makes sense, traveling is how he can spot opportunities to take advantage of to bring forth the judgement. 

[Icelerate]

Sephiran being the "travelling wise man" makes more sense than some random guy. The blood pact is a tool of the Begnion Senate and the only "travelling wise man" in the Senate is Sephiran. 

This begs the question, who exactly created the blood pact and when in Tellius history was it invented? 

[Rezzy]

14 hours ago, Icelerate said:

Sephiran being the "travelling wise man" makes more sense than some random guy. The blood pact is a tool of the Begnion Senate and the only "travelling wise man" in the Senate is Sephiran. 

This begs the question, who exactly created the blood pact and when in Tellius history was it invented? 

I think Sephiran created it.  After a few centuries, he doesn't care about who gets hurt, and it helps to accelerate the discord to end the world.  I wouldn't be surprised if he had a hand in Pelleas's pact.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Wait, wasn't yesterday's wording for the second question on the poll "Who is the best villain?"

[Icelerate]

9 hours ago, Rezzy said:

I think Sephiran created it.  After a few centuries, he doesn't care about who gets hurt, and it helps to accelerate the discord to end the world.  I wouldn't be surprised if he had a hand in Pelleas's pact.

If Sephiran created it, when did Begnion get its hand on it? We know for a fact Begnion had the blood pact since before Naesala's reign probably at the time of Kilvas' creation. To estimate the time, we need to know when did Sephiran left Goldoa because he obviously wouldn't have been giving blood pacts while Deghinsea is watching over him. I think it was when Kurthnaga was very young due to Kurthnaga and Sephiran's conversation in 4E5 but if Sephiran went to Begnion a century before the game started, wouldn't the fact he doesn't age catch on? Maybe he had disguises and was initially a travelling wise man who helped the Senate covertly before becoming the Prime Minister. 

Hold on, Sephiran went mad 20 years prior to the game so he couldn't have been the one responsible for the creation of the blood pacts since Kilvas was afflicted by the blood pact a long time ago. 

Sorry if my thought process was haphazard. 

[SavageVolug]

I'd say Lekain is the main villain and he's a villain I like to hate. However I would say Sephiran could easily contend for main villain status seeing as he put into motion the whole mess we find ourselves in to begin with involving the Medallion. As we know he was trying to get the Goddess awoken and wanted the world to be destroyed.

[Jotari]

I love Sephiran and probably would give him the title, as he basically plays Lekain like a fiddle, however, I think it's very important to consider the reason why Sephiran even has all these schemes in the first place. Ie, the Serenes Massacre which Lekain organised. So, while he is manipulated by Sephiran throughout the games (at least ostensibly, one of my earliest threads on this site was questioning exactly what Sephiran does in Part 3), he's still very much the driving force behind all of the conflict in the game both directly and indirectly.

[Etrurian emperor]

Sephiran having created the bloodpact is unlikely. Blood pacts were already used in the reign of Neasala's predecessor and considering Laguz age slowly its likely that the previous king of Kilvas reigned long before Sephiran entered the senate.

I never really thought about it but Sephiran being the traveling sage that told Ashnard seems a lot more likely. We know that Sephiran knew what Ashnard was like and that it would serve his plans well if he became king. We also know that Sephiran visited Daien during that time because we seem him talk with Zelgius in the guise of a traveling sage. Zelgius was still young and Grail still in his prime so the timing of that encounter was likely before Ashnard came to power.

[Interdimensional Observer]

13 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

I never really thought about it but Sephiran being the traveling sage that told Ashnard seems a lot more likely. We know that Sephiran knew what Ashnard was like and that it would serve his plans well if he became king. We also know that Sephiran visited Daien during that time because we seem him talk with Zelgius in the guise of a traveling sage. Zelgius was still young and Grail still in his prime so the timing of that encounter was likely before Ashnard came to power.

626 is the year of both the "plague" and Gawain suddenly leaving Daein, and we know Sephiran gave Ashnard the Medallion and Lillia (who must have been put under a really strong sleeping spell like Leanne, albeit by Sephiran here). 625 is the year of the Assassination and Massacre. So Sephiran really was betting everything on Ashnard from the get go- a Heron, the Medallion, and a Blood Pact'ed throne all bestowed on him at once in less than a year after Sephiran went off the brink.

Given Zelgius's flashback says he still serves under Gawain, the exact course of events must be very tight. We don't know if Sephiran already met Ashnard at this specific moment, but if he hadn't, it would be very soon. With a hint of irony, Sephiran by handing Ashnard the Medallion and Lillia caused Gawain's flight, bringing Zelgius into his tutelage sooner than Zelgius may have intended.

 

But yes, the Kilvas Blood Pact mustn't have had Sephiran's hand in it, I would fathom he was still in Goldoa (although there is this odd part where Kurthnaga remembers Sephiran from when he was a baby, but never saw him after that, not sure if that means Sephiran remained within Goldoa but never went to Dheg's court, or had outright left the country). The Ashnard Blood Pact most likely was his creation. He was certainly privy to the Pelleas Blood Pact, but whether he wanted it or not is uncertain, he needed Daein arisen again, but we don't know if he then wanted the Blood Pact on top of that.

[Jingle Jangle]

I'll say that Lekain the the main villain of the game, since he's the leader of the Begnion senators and responsible for a good amount of the actions of the Tellius games. Sephiran and Ashera have too little screen time to be considered the main villain in my opinion.

Edited September 25, 2018 by Jingle Jangle