Rufus Albarea

Rufus Albarea (ルーファス・アルバレア), also known as the Jade Rook (), is the eldest son of Duke Helmut Albarea and the older brother of Jusis Albarea. As Duke Albarea's first-born child, he is next in line to lead House Albarea.
==Profile==
===Appearance===
Rufus is a young man with long blonde hair tied into a ponytail and pale blue eyes. He carries himself with poise and a gracious countenance. 
As the Jade Rook, Rufus wears a basil green double-breasted overcoat with gold trim worn over breeches and laced-up leather boots. Underneath is a white long-sleeve dress shirt accompanied by a magenta cravat with a turquoise jewel pin on the front. A navy blue cape is drawn over his shoulders, kept in place by a shoulder piece attached to his coat and decorated with a gold border. 
As governor-general of Crossbell, Rufus wears a similar outfit to his Jade Rook apparel, but with a white-and-blue color scheme, black undershirt, and red cravat. In Trails into Reverie, the blue parts of this outfit are replaced with red and black. 
In Trails of Cold Steel II and III, Rufus wields a court fencing sword with a gold guard, green wrapping around the pommel, and a blade with a diamond-shaped tip. In Cold Steel IV, Rufus uses one of the twin swords of House Albarea, the Holy Sword of Ishnard, an ornate golden sword with a star-shaped cross guard and blue gem decorations.
===Personality===
True to his noble upbringing, Rufus always presents himself with poise and eloquence. He rarely loses his composure or expresses negative emotions, a skill which has greatly benefited his public image but also makes him difficult to read. He is modest, patient, and well-mannered and is adept at interacting with other members of high society. His respectful attitude towards both nobles and commoners makes him popular in the public eye.
Balanced by Rufus's good character is his high level of competency towards all responsibilities as a noble: being able to handle situations properly with the right solutions. This makes Rufus more respected by most who know him, especially his father who holds him in high esteem. Secretly, he sometimes shows a teasing side towards his half-brother Jusis Albarea, sometimes able to lightly toy and joke with him. Jusis displays mild frustration with this side of his older brother, but ultimately loves him dearly. Rufus can also be quite thorough in organization, showing skill in the coordination of many parties.
In part due to Helmut keeping Jusis at arm's length because of his commoner heritage, Rufus began to harbor doubt about his own purpose, desiring to be recognized for himself and not others regardless of the costs it would take. To that end, he decided to follow Osborne because it would be the fastest way to do so.
After being defeated by Jusis and his friends, Rufus slipped into a temporary depression for having prepared the field in advance and losing in the worst way possible. His overall view of himself improved significantly during his travels with Lapis Rosenberg, upon he realized his errors and wished to atone for his sins whenever he could, even if it meant having to destroy what he strived for in the past.
===Background===
Rufus is not Helmut's biological son - rather, he is the son of Helmut's wife and since-banished brother. Helmut knew that he had to uphold the honour of House Albarea, so he treated Rufus as his own child. Rufus was trained in court fencing, which utilized both elegant swordsmanship and arts.
He was initially unaware of any siblings until Helmut adopted his cousin, Jusis. Rufus got along well with Jusis, treating him as if he was a younger brother and trained him in court fencing. Rufus eventually learned of Jusis' heritage and that he was Helmut's biological son, but that the duke was intentionally keeping him at arm's length due to his commoner heritage. This caused Rufus to become skeptical of Erebonian nobility and questioning his purpose. 
At the end of the Hundred Days War, the commoner-born chancellor Giliath Osborne was elected and restrained the Four Great Houses. In S.1194, at the age of 17, Rufus was tasked by his father to threaten Osborne and employed the jaeger corps Arngarmr. Osborne, however, saw through Rufus' plan and had the entire corps assassinated, leaving Vulcan as the only survivor.
Rufus was then invited to a falconry competition in Heimdallr by Baron Teo Schwarzer, who taught Rufus a lot about the practice and its etiquettes. It is at the falconry where Rufus meets the man who turned the tables on his plan: Osborne had already worked out that Rufus was behind the attempted assault. He approaches Rufus to ask whether he was bored enough to want to play with fire and argues his life must be hollow carrying out the wishes of his family only because they are family. Osborne continues by expressing his anticipation toward the day that Rufus would overcome his father.
Rufus joined Osborne's group of Ironbloods as its primary member, having grown to dislike Helmut for his treatment of Jusis and wishing to make a name for himself. Realizing that he may be nothing but a substitute son for Osborne, he stresses that Osborne is very special to him and the other Ironbloods. They pledge full loyalty to him, not unlike how the Anguis of Ouroboros pledged their loyalty to the Grandmaster.
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On behalf of Duke Albarea, Rufus deals with business both within the Kreuzen Province managed by his father as well as negotiating and coordinating with the rulers of other provinces. Citizens of Bareahard hold great pride in Rufus, whose abilities on his age are rivalled only by Prince Olivert Reise Arnor. Both are said to dominate high society conversations. 
Alongside Olivert, Irina Reinford, and Carl Regnitz, Rufus served as a director for Thors Military Academy. 
=== ===
During the Erebonian Civil War, Rufus served as the chief of staff of the Noble Alliance. His reputation as a genius military strategist, who was said to hold nothing back in battle, served Duke Cayenne, leader of the Noble Alliance, to the utmost of his abilities. He flew on the Pantagruel alongside the other Noble Alliance fighters. Rufus first crossed blades with the members of Class VII (sans Rean) in Ymir where he easily defeated all of them alone, with Fie noting that he might even be stronger than Sara Valestein. Later, when Rufus learned of his father's razing of Celdic, he condemned his actions and gave Class VII the intel they needed to apprehend his father, promising that he would not intervene. He followed through with his promise as Class VII arrested Helmut for his crimes without interference from Rufus.
On the last day of S.1204, at the end of the war, Rufus suddenly arrived at the Infernal Castle to reveal himself to be the primary member of the Ironbloods, operating under his alias "Jade Rook". All of this time, Rufus had been a mole in the alliance secretly working for Osborne. Rufus killed Grianos, the familiar of Vita Clotilde, as he revealed his true colors. While the other Ironblood members knew there was a primary member, they had no idea who it was until he revealed his true colours that day. Rufus was also the only Ironblood who knew that Osborne had faked his death.
Immediately after taking Duke Cayenne captive, Osborne tasked his foremost Ironblood with the annexation of Crossbell. With the combined force of the Imperial Army of Erebonia (approximately 70%) and the Provincial Armies previously under command of the Noble Alliance, the combined powers of a Crossbell expeditionary force was enough to annex Crossbell without bloodshed in a few hours.
Rufus was then appointed the first Governor General of Crossbell, leaving his family and past behind. As Rufus had been expected to succeed the now-arrested Helmut, Jusis ended up becoming interim duke in his place.
=== ===
Rufus continued his duties as both Osborne's lead Ironblood and the state governor of Crossbell. As a governor, Rufus kept a steady quality of life and also improved the province's economy, even though his only interest was Erebonia's growth.
During New Class VII's field trip to the city, Rufus shared a chat with Rean wherein he explained how he met Osborne and became an Ironblood. Along with others, Rufus showed up at the top of Orchis Tower to discourage the continued presence of Ouroboros Enforcers McBurn and Campanella. During this time, it was revealed that Rufus was responsible for "Operation Birdcage" - a plot to keep members of the Special Support Section trapped on Mishelam, but allowed Tio Plato and Randy Orlando to leave, the former for the Epstein Foundation and latter to become an instructor at the branch campus. After the field exercises in the city concluded, Rufus decided to let the remaining SSS members and affiliates go.
Later, Rufus was present at Heimdallr during the final field exercise of New Class VII. He was responsible for identifying the gun used by Ash Carbide to shoot Emperor Eugent Reise Arnor III as one of Calvardian make (Ash had stolen it from an unconscious Calvardian agent). He was present when Osborne publicly framed Ash as a Calvardian spy to incite anti-Calvard sentiment.
Alongside his fellow Ironbloods, Rufus was present as the third and final roadblock the party faced inside the Gral of Erebos. He was the only one to show no sadness or hesitation at continuing to work with Osborne and face the party. Before the Ironbloods fought the party, Rufus revealed the truth about his heritage to Jusis for the very first time, explaining that he was bastard son of Helmut's banished brother and Helmut's wife; because Jusis was born to Helmut and a commoner woman, this meant that Jusis and Rufus were actually cousins. When Jusis asked Rufus why a man of Rufus's talents and self-made accomplishments would be subservient to Osborne, Rufus explained how the Ironbloods revere him due to his charisma, analogized to how the Anguis of Ouroboros view their Grandmaster.
Rufus then sparred with Jusis and the rest of the party. He later bore witness to the events once Rean reached the bottom of the Gral, including the death of Millium. When he saw six Divine Knights gathered together, he thought to himself about the final one, foreshadowing his imminent acquirement of it.
=== ===
On 15 August, S.1206, Rufus succeeded in becoming the Awakener of the seventh and final Divine Knight, El-Prado, the Auric Knight, in Mishelam's marshlands. He had just returned from completing the trials when he saw New Class VII had bested two Sorge units in their Panzer Soldats. The two soldiers in the Zauber Soldats offered to assist Rufus, but he dismissed them as useless, easily fending off New Class VII's Panzer Soldats. As Black Alberich later commented, the Auric Knight was tied with Argreion as being one of the two most powerful knights, apart from Ishmelga. Even though he could have easily overpowered the entire group, he decided to let them go, believing that their efforts against him would be for naught.
During the Third Rivalry between Rean Schwarzer/Crow Armbrust and Arianrhod in one of the Spirit Shrines, after Arianrhod was defeated and subdued, Rufus came out of hiding and fatally stabbed Argreion in the back, causing El-Prado to absorb it, giving it power and newfound wings. This in turn killed Arianrhod as she was an Immortal; he showed no remorse for her death and quickly left the scene.
Later, Rufus and Rean finally got a chance to hold the Fifth Rivalry when Rufus fought alongside Black Alberich as the fourth roadblock the party faced in Tuatha De Danann. During this battle, Rufus wielded the golden Holy Sword of Ishnard (聖剣イシュナード), a weapon the founding fathers of the House of Albarea used to defeat Nosferatu. Fighting alongside Rean and Crow, Jusis then revealed its silver counterpart, the Holy Sword of Elvars (聖剣エルヴァース), which he had delivered to him by their butler, Arnauld.
After the battle, Alberich's true identity (Franz Reinford) began to resurface and he exited the area. Rufus then summoned El-Prado and called in one Mordred and Hannibal unit before battling Rean, Crow, and the Soldats of New Class VII. Rufus lost the subsequent Rivalry, causing El-Prado to be absorbed by Valimar, leaving him with nothing. Rufus asked the group how he had lost as he believed he had more than enough strength, and the group pointed out that his selfishness and inability to work with others led to his downfall. Jusis then proceeded to knock him out with a single blow. Rufus considered the loss to be one of his most deplorable ones, seeing how he had set himself up for success.
Rufus later regained consciousness and met up with Lechter and Claire, informing them that he would take the blame so they would not be prosecuted for their crimes, as they would be needed to keep Erebonia stabilized in the aftermath of the Great War. He later turned himself in to the authorities, upon which he would be imprisoned at Aurochs Fort and most of his assets were seized. 
======
In 14 March S.1207, Rufus was the target of assassination by members of the newly created Ebon Defense Force. The Ebon Defense Force were following the orders by a simulacrum clone of Rufus who dubbed itself the "Supreme Leader", possessing many of his traits and working for both its own benefit and the true mastermind of the game's events to create the "United Nation of Crossbell". Rufus's resourcefulness enabled him to easily overpower his would-be assassins and interrogated one, learning about his doppelganger and the plans it set in motion.
Taking a page out of Crow Armbrust's handbook, Rufus decided to adopt a mask and disguise for his new mission of investigating the Supreme Leader and putting an end to his plans. The masked Rufus, akin to the formerly masked Crow, assumed the name of C. Using assets he stored in secret prior to his imprisonment that were never seized, Rufus hired Jingo, who had just acquired a new airship from the Epstein Foundation.
Not long after beginning his mission, Swin Abel and Nadia Rayne delivered Lapis Rosenberg to the masked Rufus; he convinced Lapis to travel with him to help restore her memories as he felt she was the key to resolving the case, and he hired Swin and Nadia as mercenaries to help him in his quest. Aware that Olivert and Scherazard had been abducted by rogue elements of the Imperial Army, Rufus used the incident as bait to lure Class VII to Heimdallr, cryptically telling them that he would cleanse the underground of its filth. Class VII took the bait and encountered them in the city at night, where Rufus and his group lured them into the catacombs and exposed the rogue elements within. Both groups later met at Himmel Cemetery, and in the ensuing fiasco, C's mask was sliced in half by Jusis, revealing his true identity to them. Rufus told them that he was not the Supreme Leader, and when Rean asked him about the prince, he told them to head to the Nord Highlands before making his leave with Jingo's ship, telling them that they would meet again in Crossbell. 
Rufus continued in his mission, along the way enlisting Renne Bright, Arios MacLaine, and even Duvalie to help him pursue the truth regarding his imposter's nature and Lapis's identity. He later also teamed up with the teams of Lloyd Bannings and Rean, among which also were Rufus's fellow Ironbloods, who were all willing to work with him despite his past actions. During his journey, Rufus found himself empathizing much with Lapis as both of them were on a journey of self-discovery. He helped her regain self-confidence when she discovered that she was one of many clones, who she and Rufus defeated together. It was also revealed that during his time as Crossbell's Governor General, Rufus had allowed Ian Grimwood to help the people from prison, realizing it would be a waste of his talent to let him rot in a cell. Upon being reached, Grimwood revealed to Rufus's team of the existence of Elysium, a Singularity that was the key to the case and that Lapis was the "administrator" of, which was being hacked by the mastermind.
With the help of the unified teams, Rufus was able to defeat and destroy the Supreme Leader. Before doing so, he admitted that the old him would've likely agreed to work with him, showing how the true Rufus had grown. However, the defeat of the Supreme Leader did not mark the end of the mastermind's plan, as the Retributive Tower's Keruanos weapon remained, whose enormous power allowed it to effectively take the world hostage. The unified teams led a raid to confront and destroy it.
During the raid, Rufus was briefly reunited with El-Prado when he aided Rufus against Zoa Gilstein, the Zeroth Knight. Afterwards, the current owner modified the weapon to fire at targets based on people's consciousness; Rufus stepped away from the group's teleportation circle to remain near the weapon. Seeing it as the ultimate way to atone for his sins, Rufus then sent a broadcast across Zemuria, claiming responsibility for many of the calamities in the past few years, causing the people to direct their rage towards him.
After seeing a premonition of the imminent future which showed Rufus being destroyed with the weapon, Rufus's team, along with Lloyd and Jusis, rushed to save him, narrowly teleporting him away right before the weapon obliterated itself, thus putting an end to the mastermind's schemes and restoring order to the world. Rufus was presumed dead by most of the populace, but had survived with severe burns and injuries. When he regained consciousness a week later, he was met by Olivert, who told him that the world believed him to be dead and thus he he had lost his identity, his home and could not atone for his sins. Olivert did remark however that had he "survived" the incident, he would have been put on death row for his additional crimes. Per Lapis's request, he decided to travel with her alongside Swin and Nadia.
=== ===
Rufus leaves Swin and Nadia for an undisclosed reason following Lapis falling into a lifeless state. At the climax of the Octradium, Lapis and Rufus contact the party remotely and transport Marielle Aymé to them so she can say her final goodbyes. Rufus only appears as a shadowed portrait.
A hollow Core AI voice dubbed 'R.A' is available, stated to be a criminal at large in the Republic.
=== Character Notes ===
==== ====
<tabber>
EN={| class=article-table
! colspan=2 |Rufus Albarea
|-
| rowspan=8 |
| colspan=3 |Reborn ILF / House Albarea
|-
| colspan=3 |C's true identity. Upon the war's end, he wholly shouldered the Ironbloods' role in its atrocities and was imprisoned.
|-
| colspan=3 |Two GoalsC has two goals: the first to eliminate the imposter who seeks to use their name for ill, and the second to settle a past debt.
|-
| colspan=3 |ReflectionRufus reflects on his life beneath a sea of stars, recognizing that he has never had a reason for being or found a real, genuine purpose.
|-
| colspan=3 |Perfect ReplicaRufus meets his perfect replica, and upon defeating it, he declares that its quest for singular perfection was what ultimately made it brittle and weak.
|-
| colspan=3 |You're Not AloneRufus stays behind within the Retributive Tower in order to destroy it, not yet realizing his comrades are rushing back in desperately to save him.
|}
|-|JP={| class=article-table
! colspan=2 |ルーファス・アルバレア
|-
| rowspan=8 |
| colspan=3 |新生帝国解放戦線／アルバレア家
|-
| colspan=3 |仮面を被っていた《Ｃ》の正体。終戦後は《鉄血の子供達》筆頭として責任を負い、投獄されていた。
|-
| colspan=3 |２つの目的命を狙われる原因になった“偽者”を究明と、先の大戦の責任者として“後始末”をする大きな２つの目的を掲げた。
|-
| colspan=3 |回想夜空の下で己の人生を振り返るルーファス。そこにあるのは未だに存在意義を見つけられず、本物の何かを手に入れられなかった自分だった。
|-
| colspan=3 |偽者相対する偽者の自分は“完璧なるルーファス・アルバレア”。しかしその完璧さこそ脆さであり弱さであることを今の彼は知った。
|-
| colspan=3 |独りじゃないバベルを破壊すべく、ルーファスは独り巨塔に残った。そんな自分を救おうとする仲間がいることに、彼はまだ気づいていない。
|}
</tabber>
== Gameplay ==
=== Weapons ===
==== ====
=== Crafts ===
==== ====
=== Brave Order ===
==== ====
Name 	BP	Effect
Criminal's Raidクリミナルレイド 	1 	Critical Rate +30% (5 turns)CP+15
Dark Requiemダークレクイエム 	2 	Arts Casting Time -70% (8 turns)Restores 20% EP
==Gallery==
=== ===
Rufus Albarea (Sen).png
Rufus Albarea OP (CS I).png|Opening
Rufus Albarea - SD Model (Sen).png
Rufus Albarea Initial Design - Concept Art (Sen).jpg|Concept art
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Rufus Albarea - Bust (Sen II).png|Portrait
Rufus Albarea - S-Craft (Sen II).png|S-craft
Rufus & Cayenne OP (CS II).png|Opening
Rufus Ship - Concept Art (Sen II).png|Concept art of Rufus' private airship
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Rufus Albarea (Sen III).png
Rufus Albarea - S-Craft (Sen III).png|S-Craft
Rufus Albarea - Blood and Iron & Children (Sen III).png|In "Blood and Iron & Children"
Cedric Arnor & Rufus Albarea OP (CS III).png|Opening
Rufus Albarea - Fine-tuning Sketch (Sen III).png|Concept art
Rufus Albarea - Introduction (CS III).png|Introduction
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Rufus Albarea - Iron Knight S-Craft (Sen IV).png|S-craft (as a Knight of Blood and Iron)
Rufus Albarea OP (CS IV).png|Opening
Ending 6 - Ironbloods (Sen IV).png|Rufus takes the blame for the Ironbloods as Claire and Lechter continue their respective roles
Rufus Albarea - Screenshot 1 (Sen IV).jpg|Pre-production screenshot
Rufus Albarea - Screenshot 2 (Sen IV).jpg|Pre-production screenshot
=== ===
Rufus Albarea (Hajimari).png|Full artwork
Supreme Leader Rufus Albarea - S-Craft (Hajimari).png|S-Craft
Rufus Albarea OP (Reverie).png|Opening
Rufus & Jusis 2 - Flashback (Hajimari).png|Flashback
Rufus & Jusis 3 - Flashback (Hajimari).png|Flashback
Rufus & Jusis 4 - Flashback (Hajimari).png|Flashback
Rufus & Jusis 6 - Flashback (Hajimari).png|Flashback
Rufus Albarea & Giliath Osborne 1 - Flashback (Hajimari).png|Flashback
Rufus Albarea & Giliath Osborne 2 - Flashback (Hajimari).png|Flashback
Rufus Albarea Concept Art (Hajimari).png|Concept art
C Unmasked Key visual (Hajimari).png|Key visual
C Unmasked with Lapis (Hajimari).png|With Lapis Rosenberg
Rufus and Lapis Key Visual (Hajimari).png|Key visual
C Unmasked - S-Craft (Hajimari).png|C S-Craft
C Unmasked White - S-Craft (Hajimari).png|C S-Craft (DLC)
HOT-SHOT - Picnic (Hajimari).JPG|HOT-SHOT
HOT-SHOT - Picnic 2 (Hajimari).JPG|HOT-SHOT 2
C Unmasked SD (Hajimari).png|SD
C Unmasked Alt outfit (Hajimari).png|DLC outfit
C Unmasked Swimsuit (Hajimari).png|Swimsuit
C reveal (Hajimari).png|Reveal
C Unmasked concept art (Hajimari).png|Concept art
C's Sword Concept Art (Hajimari).png|C's Sword
=== ===
Lapis Falls into Slumber - Visual (Kuro II).png|Flashback
Imperial Picnic Front at Creil - Visual (Kuro II).png|Flashback
=== ===
Rufus (Kai Web CM).png|Web CM
=== The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel: Northern War ===
Rufus Albarea & Giliath Osborne OP (NW).png|Opening
Rufus (NW).png
==Trivia==
Also see: this trivia (spoilers for ). 
*Besides Rean, Rufus was the only Awakener whose Divine Knight absorbed another one on-screen.
==References==
Notes
Sources
Category:Characters
Category:Trails of Cold Steel Characters
Category:Trails of Cold Steel II Characters
Category:Trails of Cold Steel II Bosses
Category:Trails of Cold Steel III Characters
Category:Trails of Cold Steel III Bosses
Category:Trails of Cold Steel IV Characters
Category:Trails of Cold Steel IV Bosses
Category:Trails into Reverie Characters
Category:Kai no Kiseki Characters
Category:Four Great Houses
Category:Noble Alliance
Category:Thors Military Academy
Category:Ironblood
Category:Swordsmen
Category:Divine Knight Users