User:Cukie Gherkin/Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd is a character in the 2019 video game Fire Emblem: Three Houses. He is the leader of the Blue Lions at Garreg Mach Monastery and the prince of the kingdom of Faerghus, alongside Edelgard von Hresvelg of the Black Lions and Claude von Riegan of the Golden Deer. His house is one of the houses the protagonist, Byleth, can serve as a professor to, and is accompanied by multiple other students, including Dedue Molinaro and Felix Hugo Fraldarius.

Appearances
Dimitri is a playable character in the video game Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Dimitri is the prince of the kingdom of Faerghus, one of multiple territories in Fodlan, and the only survivor of the Tragedy of Duscur, which saw his father and other royals killed. Most people of Duscur, the people purportedly behind the killings, were killed in pogroms, with one Duscur, Dedue Molinaro, saved by Dimitri, who became loyal to him. Dimitri eventually grew to acquire a blood lust, which created a strain in the relationship between Dimitri and Felix Hugo Fraldarius. He later enrolled at the age of 17 at the Officers Academy in Garreg Mach Monastery, operated by the Church of Seiros and Archbishop Rhea, serving as the house leader of the Blue Lions. He is able to have dialogue with certain characters both in and out of the Blue Lions, including the protagonist, Byleth, whom he can enter into a romance with if the character is female and serves as the professor of the Blue Lions. He is accompanied by Edelgard von Hresvelg, the leader of the Black Eagles, and Claude von Riegan, the leader of the Golden Deer, hailing from the Adrestian Empire and the Leicester Alliance respectively. He has various other childhood friends in the Blue Lions, including Sylvain Jose Gautier, Ingrid Brandl Galatea, Felix, and Dedue.

At the beginning of the game, he is first met alongside Edelgard and Claude fleeing bandits. They are saved by Byleth and their father, Jeralt, a pair of mercenaries. Once rescued, Byleth and Jeralt join the three leaders at Garreg Mach, where Byleth becomes a professor who educates the house of their choice in general knowledge and combat. If the player chooses to lead the Blue Lions, they will be made to follow Dimitri's route. Unlike most characters, Dimitri can only be recruited in the Blue Lions route. At some point, Dimitri confides in Byleth the fact that he and Edelgard are stepsiblings. Byleth and Dimitri face multiple obstacles through their schooling, including hostilities from a group called Those Who Slither in the Dark and a figure called the Flame Emperor. Dimitri confronts the Flame Emperor, believing them to be responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur, though they deny it. They later confront the Flame Emperor in the Holy Tomb, intent on stealing the Crest Stones inside. Following a battle, Dimitri discovers that the Flame Emperor's true identity is Edelgard, plotting to take over Fodlan as a unified leader and destroy the Church and Crest system. This causes him to go mad, vowing to execute Edelgard under the belief that she was responsible for the tragedy. Edelgard then deposes her father and becomes Emperor of the Adrestian Empire, before declaring war on the Church. During the battle, Rhea transforms into a dragon and attempts to stop Edelgard, but Thales, the leader of Those Who Slither in the Dark, causes them to fall into a ravine.

While Byleth was in stasis, Dimitri is branded a traitor and imprisoned for regicide, only to be freed by Dedue. When Byleth returns five years later, they find Dimitri with long, disheveled hair and an eyepatch, surrounded by the corpses of Imperial soldiers, suffering from the trauma five years past. They later reunite with the Blue Lions (including any students recruited into the Blue Lions from other houses), Together, they reclaim the Monastery and plot to defeat Edelgard. He makes allies in his quest, including Rodrigue, the father of Felix. During this part of the story, Dedue's survival depends on whether his paralogue - an optional side mission - is completed before the time skip. When Dimitri is near death, Rodrigue saves him, reawakening Dimitri's conscience and making him discard his quest for vengeance. He is informed that the Alliance is under attack by the Empire, offering Claude his assistance. After defending the Alliance, they attacked the Empire. He speaks with Edelgard to learn why she started this war, but is unable to come to a compromise in either direction. He ultimately kills her after defeating her in battle, assuming leadership over Fodlan.

Dimitri appeared in Fire Emblem Heroes as a Legendary Hero, types of Heroes that can only be summoned in certain in-game events. A summer-themed version of Dimitri was added to Heroes as well.

Dimitri was featured as part of a line of plush toys, including Byleth, Edelgard, Claude, and Roy.

Concept and creation
Dimitri was created by Chinatsu Kurahana for Three Houses. When designing the characters' aged-up versions following the time skip, Three Houses director Toshiyuki Kusakihara intended for the experience of the past five years to be reflected in their appearance. He noted that he gave Dimitri an eyepatch in his story route but not the other characters' routes to reflect that he went through more hardships during his route than others. Dimitri is voiced in English by Chris Hackney. Hackney discussed how he related to Dimitri's struggles, noting that while he does not relate to the specific trauma, he felt that his inner conflict was something anyone could relate to. He discussed how he loved him immediately after seeing the audition script. He stated that he experienced "unexpected emotional turmoil" while recording the scene where Rodrigue dies, calling it his favorite scene to record. He spoke of needing to take 15-minute breaks after particularly emotional scenes and crying during some recordings.

Reception
Dimitri has received generally positive reception. Nintendo Dream staff identified him as having strength, kindness, and vulnerability, which made him a lovable character. They noted that Dimitri was the number one Three Houses character in their survey. Polygon writer Patricia Hernandez discussed the brutalities surrounding the game's five-year time skip, specifically how it impacted Dimitri. She noted how he came out of it with a "shockingly idealistic attitude" where he trains to become strong enough to help others, though she noted that there were "easy-to-miss" moments before the time skip, such as Felix discussing Dimitri being not just an efficient killer, but someone who enjoys it. Hernandez was initially skeptical by Felix's view of Dimitri, wanting to believe Dimitri was a good person, but realized how traumatized and damaged he was by his family's murder when Edelgard's plot is revealed. She felt that this moment not only gave Dimitri someone to blame for his family's death, but also the betrayal of someone he went to school with being his enemy was too much for him to handle. She argued that his visual change in the Blue Lions route reflected his direction as a character, now sporting "unruly hair" and an eyepatch while exhibiting behaviors such as speaking to voices in his head telling him to kill Edelgard. She found his descent into darkness one of the most unsettling parts of the game, calling it "astonishing" that a video game was able to make this dark turn work well. EGM Now writer Malindy Hetfeld discussed the similar trauma held by Dimitri and Edelgard over the destruction of their families, arguing that while Dimitri's trauma is more obvious, declaring war on an entire continent over their trauma is not the "level-headed option." The Mary Sue writer Madeline Carpou regarded Dimitri as one of the hottest video game men, believing that he was a contributing factor to why many newcomers to Fire Emblem got into Three Houses. Carpou also appreciated the addition of a support conversation between Dimitri and Bernadetta von Varley in Three Hopes, finding that the repetition of him trying to get Bernadetta to open up may be unenjoyable to some, but not to her.

Dimitri's route, particularly in relation to the other routes in the game, was the subject of critical commentary. When discussing the superior route to take in Three Houses, Siliconera writer Lucas White argued that Edelgard's was superior to the other routes, Dimitri's included. He called Dimitri's route the "neoliberal" option, stating that he took over the system to introduce "gradual progress." He felt that each route presented their ideology and leader in its best light, explaining that Byleth's involvement both helps implement their ideology while also helping them cope with their trauma, such as teaching Dimitri to abandon his vengeance. The Gamer writer Stephanie Minor discussed Dimitri, Edelgard, and Claude's routes, particularly which route's philosophy was the most justified. Minor felt that, while Dimitri's criticisms that Edelgard was taking away people's faith and would thus leave them confused instead of being able to enjoy a better world were correct, he did not offer up a viable alternative. She compared his methods to Claude's, namely his desire to educate the masses and help them become strong, arguing that Fodlan would not be where it is if this worked. She came to the conclusion that all three leaders' routes were doomed to fail. Fellow The Gamer writer Jessica Ramey, while stating that she was not arguing in favor of another route, argued that Dimitri's route is the bad ending of Three Houses. She felt that his route's ending fails to make any changes that would address the factors that led to war in the first place, noting how this route has the Agarthans survive the conflict. She felt that it wasn't necessarily bad writing to have this happen, as it may have complicated his arc of discarding vengeance, but still felt that they could have done it as a post-game story segment like it was done in Edelgard's route. She appreciated that the Ashen Wolves downloadable content added a new paired ending between Dimitri and Hapi where he learns about what the Agarthans did to her, leading him to defeat the Agarthans. She also felt that Dimitri's endings fail to address what she considers a toxic military culture of discarding their families and lives in service to military.

Game Revolution writer Jason Faulkner felt that the relationship between Dimitri and Dedue was "incredibly complex" due to the troubled history between Dimitri and Dedue's people. Paste writer Substitute Thapliyal suggested that the relationship between Dimitri and Dedue could be read as "explicitly queer." Dimitri is among the most common character shipped with another character in Three Houses fanfiction, particularly in one ship with female Byleth, the second-most popular ship in the fandom. The Mary Sue writer Princess Weekes hypothesized that part of why he's so popular is because he suffered trauma and writers wanted to write stories about him being comforted.