Rider (Fate/Crossover - Cordelia)

Rider (ライダー, *Raidā*) is the servant of Lee Chaolan in the ??? Holy Grail War.

"*Our only limits are the ones we place on ourselves*." — Cordelia

## Profile

### Identity

Rider's true identity is **Cordelia**, The sole survivor of Ylisse's pegasus knights. Humble and supremely talented.
Cordelia is a member of Ylisse's Pegasus Knights, and is a childhood friend of Sumia. Her duty is to protect the royal family, though she also guides Sumia when the latter is in trouble. She rides a pegasus named Aurora. During her days as a recruit, it was apparent that she was a prodigy in nearly everything she attempted to do, except running. It was her lack of running skill that led her to the squad in the first place. Eventually she would enter the Pegasus Knight squad as an official member, though she was heavily hazed. Her senior officer was Phila who expressed confidence in her abilities and assured that she would become an exemplary knight.

During an undisclosed incident in the past, she was rescued by Chrom, the prince of Ylisse. Charmed by his dashing rescue, Cordelia became smitten by the prince, but she decided to keep these feelings to herself as she noticed that his affections were for someone else.

Cordelia and her squad were stationed in Ylisstol to protect the capital while Emmeryn was being escorted away to protect her from the Plegian army. However, her squad was decimated by a surprise attack by Plegia on the capital. Cordelia was fighting off Plegian forces in the capital with the rest of her squad when her senior squad members elected that she leave the capital and warn Emmeryn, Phila, and the Shepherds; as well as to preserve their legacy. Due to their sacrifice, Cordelia was the only one to survive.

Cordelia manages to make contact with the Shepherds at Border Pass just shortly after the Hierarch betrays them to a Plegian force lead by Vasto. After the Shepherds manage to defeat Vasto's forces, Emmeryn decides to return to the capital to parley with Gangrel with Phila in tow for protection. Cordelia volunteers to accompany them back to Ylisse; however, Phila orders her to stay with Chrom and his army, which she reluctantly agrees to.

### Personality

Cordelia is considered to be a genius who can do most things flawlessly; though she hates being referred to as such, mainly because it reminds her of being teased by her seniors, who called her a genius many times in a hazing manner. However, in actuality, it is because Cordelia realized that her comrades truly meant it, proven when they sacrificed themselves so that Cordelia could escape and thus would be their legacy. She is aware of her prodigious talents and as a result is seen as a prideful individual by Libra, and arrogant by her senior Pegasus Knight. She is not without flaws, however, as she admits to Virion that she is a bit ill-tempered, and in some conversations, she shows to have little self-esteem.

Cordelia has strong, unrequited feelings for Chrom ever since he saved her during a incident from when she tried to do too much on her own, but she keeps them hidden since she knows that he has feelings for someone else; thus, making a relationship with him impossible. This is reflected in the game and Fire Emblem Warriors with Chrom and Cordelia being unable to support one another. Around Chrom, most notably in the Summer Scramble, she acts quite nervous, tense, and overwhelmed by emotion when around him, having a hard time every time she speaking to him, once even fainting at the idea of physical contact with him. Her clear affection for Chrom is noticed by many of the other men in the army that she can support, with this particularly being on a reason of conflict with her future daughter, Severa. Cordelia can eventually move past these feelings towards Chrom if she achieves an S-Support. This is reflected in one of her Event Tile quotes with her daughters as well as more specifically to Robin in the Summer Scramble.

Based on her supports, she is not satisfied with the term "average", as she aims to be perfect in mastering her skills and anything she does, with Chrom saying it both her greatest strength, and her greatest flaw. Her perfectionism caused many of her fellow Pegasus Knights to haze her, believing that she was looking down on them, by to also throw their lives away when Gangrel attacked Ylisstol, believing that she was the future of the Pegasus Knights. This also causes her to be unable to initially understand Sumia's tendencies to perform flower fortunes before a battle, but she accepts Sumia's hobby upon Sumia explaining her reasoning. She is described by Lon'qu and Libra as a workaholic, as she continuously fretted over unfinished work for the army and stressed over it, even exhausting herself too much by trying to do too much on her own.

In her supports with Robin, she feels remorseful that her squad gave up their lives for her; but she decides to live and fight on in their memory. It is revealed in her supports with Stahl that she plays the harp, and one day hopes to be as good as Phila was.

In the Roster Rescue and Summer Scramble DLCs, she is shown to be embarrassed by her modest bust size, constantly wearing her breastplate to make it seem that her breasts are bigger than they really are. Cordelia sighs the most in the army.

### Relationships

#### **Lee Chaolan**

Upon being summoned, Lee was drawn to Rider because of her gorgeous looks, but she turned down his advances, as his conceited, flamboyant attitude turned her off, finding them mildly amusing at best and insufferable at worst. For the early stages of the war, she merely tolerated him as her master, though still serving him loyally on the battlefield. As the war progressed, she began to see his better side, most notably his willingness to risk his life for her and others against Berserker, and saw him as a good man deep down, instead of merely a flirtatious buffoon.

## Role

Summoned by Lee when he was chosen by the Grail as master of the Rider-class servant, Lee was instantly taken back by his Servant's beautiful appearance. His attempts to charm her fell flat, however, but they would remain working together in the ??? Holy Grail War. Overtime, his better nature would shine though and win her over, and in turn, he grows to see her as a valued companion. This comes to ahead when Lee risks his life to save her and a group of hostages from a trap set by Berserker that nearly kills him.

When Kazuya and Berserker enacted their plans and expose the War to the public, Lee and Rider were forced to join forces with the remaining Masters and Servants, along with the representatives of the Church and Association overseeing the War, to put a stop them. She and Lee help to develop a strategy to defeat them before they can reveal the War.

## Abilities

Cordelia is a skilled lance user, and excels most in Pegasus riding, being the best member of the Ylisse Pegasus Knight Squad.

Cordelia's unique Crest, Sol, is a classic Fire Emblem skill. Instead of a Skill-based chance of healing half the damage dealt as it typically has in turn-based Fire Emblem games, it has a Luck-based chance of healing the wielder any time a strong enemy is defeated.

### Noble Phantasm

#### **Pegasus of Paragon**

Cordelia summons a battalion of pegasus knights, which appear from behind her and fly forward to ram into enemies continuously. She then flies around and then unleashes a powerful thrust on the enemies.

#### **Gale Falcon**

Cordelia flies around the enemies in circles, generating a large yellow orb in the center that sucks enemies in. She then readies her spear, and unleashes a powerful flying thrust.

## References

https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Cordelia

https://koei.fandom.com/wiki/Cordelia