Helmut Lugenburg

**First Appearance** | Episode 12 (Ragnarok Online)

**Helmut Lugenburg** is one of the seven prince candidates for the Rune-Midgarts throne. He prefers a militaristic approach to ruling a kingdom and believes strength lies with the size of one's army. He has a young servant name Kalbern, whom he beats from time to time.

On iRO, this character is mistranslated as Helmut Rowenberg.

## Story

**SPOILER WARNING:** Plot and/or ending details follow.
Helmut meets the adventurer that has been chosen to evaluate the candidates for the Rune-Midgarts throne and talks about how he will improve the military might of the kingdom if he is chosen as king.

He meets the adventurer again after being reunited with his 3 siblings and grandfather for another Royal Assembly. After quickly introducing himself, Helmut directs the adventurer to his brother Wolfe to learn more about their family.

The adventurer returns some time later and Wolfe notes that he/she looks a little tired. The adventurer expresses how he/she had to go through a lot of work in order to investigate the rumor and Wolfe apologizes for all the trouble. Agnes overhears the conversation and asks what the rumor is about as she likes to gossip. Myer pops in and asks about the rumor as well. The adventurer asks if it would be alright to talk about the rumor with everyone and Wolfe decides that it would be fine since the rumor is about their family and it would be in their best interests to come together and figure out a solution. The adventurer then explains that the rumor talks about how if Helmut Lugenburg were to be chosen as king, he would drag the country into war. It was also rumored that one of his brothers is helping to fund war efforts. The adventurer believes that since the rumor has been circulating around Prontera, it would only be a matter of time before it spread through all of Rune-Midgarts. Wolfe quickly notes how specific the rumor is and suspects it must have been spread by someone within the family. Agnes is surprised that one of them have started the rumor and Wolfe correctly suspects Myer. Myer admits to starting the rumor and the entire family is shocked. Wolfe wonders if he had fun getting children to partake in his little ruse and Myer responds that it proves that the upper echelons of society aren't the only ones with the power to influence the common people. Wolfe demands to know how many people he got to spread the rumor and Myer expresses that he has friends in the church, markets, and backstreets that were more than willing to help out. Wolfe becomes furious that Myer is doing all he can to spoil his plan all because of immature sympathy. Myer argues back that all his plan will do is drag innocents into a war that doesn't need to happen. Wolfe counters that Myer is too young to understand why he and Helmut want to realize their dream of war. It was only 14 years ago that they were powerless to do anything despite being at the top of society as a royal family. Myer questions what would come next after they strengthen their family's power and unify the continent. Just because they achieve their plans, that doesn't mean it'll stop there. The fact that the four of them were able to grow up without their parents only goes to show how lucky they were compared to other families that weren't as fortunate. The world that Helmut and Wolfe are fighting for would only be good for the select few. Wolfe asserts that some sacrifices are necessary for the greater good. Myer counters that he knows that he only wanted to support Helmut for his own ends as Myer being the Lugenburg candidate for the throne didn't bother him until Wolfe suddenly started backing him. Wolfe points out their name and fame are useless outside of the kingdom and that the only way to gain power is to become as rich as possible. He realized this when he saw that the Wigners commanded great power wherever they went because of their wealth. Myer fires back that he can't use Helmut as a figurehead if Helmut fails as a king; money can't buy everything, but Wolfe refuses to see things otherwise because of what happened to their parents. Wolfe brushes his concerns off as nothing but idealist fantasies. Myer exclaims that he would be just as happy being his alter ego Jonathan instead, as he does not trust Wolfe and his weapon of mass destruction.

At this point, Maximilian and Agnes had enough of all the arguing. Agnes notes that everyone has their own idea of happiness, pointing out that Helmut is happier on the front lines, Wolfe is happier dealing with money, and Myer is happier on the streets. She cannot fathom why they would think that was not enough and that fighting and starting a war would accomplish nothing. They've fought each other for long enough and it was time to stop. Helmut agrees that Wolfe and Myer need to stop fighting and Myer decides to leave the villa entirely. Maximilian also agrees that the fighting needs to cease as it only begets an endless cycle of violence. Revenge will not bring back his son and daughter-in-law and they would not want their children to to take revenge for them. Maximilian admits that he has allowed the children to do whatever they wanted for too long and wishes they would follow what their sister says and avoid starting another war. Helmut suddenly decides to leave and Kalbern leaves with him.

He makes his way to the border checkpoint near Aldebaran and takes his place as border patrol leader with Kalbern at his side. The adventurer eventually catches up to him and Helmut warns the adventurer that it was dangerous there as they had recently fought off a slew of monsters. The adventurer reminds him that he/she is very experienced with dealing with monsters and Helmut apologizes for the rudeness. He asks why the adventurer was there and the adventurer answers that his grandfather wants him back at the Prontera palace as he shouldn't be away during a Royal Assembly. Helmut declares that he will not return as his place is with the border patrol. The adventurer tries to convince him to come back, but Helmut reiterates his resolve, saying that he resents the people that left his parents to die so he grew up without them. He thought that the right path was to develop power over others so they have no choice but to obey. He trained himself hard to attain his goal of unifying the entire continent and gain absolute power. But after hearing what Myer and Agnes had to say, he realized that doing so would cause the same grief and sorrow that he and his siblings were forced to grow up with. He decided to stop pursuing absolute power and simply help protect the kingdom as part of the border patrols. He will return to support his family for the Ritual of Blessing, but he has chosen to give up his position as heir of the family and relinquish it to Wolfe. In doing so, Wolfe will have the power he wants without needing to go to war and Myer would no longer need to sacrifice his well-being for the family. The adventurer leaves to tell his grandfather.

Helmut later appears at the Ritual of Blessing with the rest of his family. The ritual begins with Kronecker leading everyone to chant their blessings upon the chosen candidate Peter Heine.

*On behalf of the seven royal families supporting Rune-Midgarts*

*Here is the new appointed representative*

*May the blessing starlight reach the glory of the earth*

*Please allow the power from the source to be granted for all beings*

*The courage to charge forward and strike the enemy*

*The heart to embrace everything in this world*

*The strong will to protect everything within reach*

*The intact pride of justice and faith that never bends no matter what*

*The virtue of looking up to others with a humble mind*

*And the wisdom to see the truth*

Before the ritual could complete, an intruder appears and strikes down Peter. The intruder elaborates that he heard that a piece Ymir's Heart was hidden in the Room of Consciousness, but it turned out to be a fake. The adventurer and the royal families attempt to approach the intruder, but the intruder threatens that if they take another step he will destroy the fake Heart of Ymir. Kronecker is surprised that the Heart of Ymir is fake, which causes the intruder to realize that none of the royal families know where the real one is hidden if they were ignorantly carrying out the ritual with a fake. The intruder is frustrated that he wasted his time with a fake and decides to leave without causing more of a scene. However, he quickly backtracks on his word and destroys the fake Heart of Ymir. The royal families are then accosted by more intruders, but they are able to fend them off with the help of the adventurer. The intruders disappear and the royal families evacuate the ritual hall.

## Gallery

* Helmut's new character sprite introduced in Episode 16.
* Helmut's dialogue image in RO.

## Trivia

* Helmut is a common given name in the German language. Its second part "Mut" is clearly German for "courage", "vigour", but there are different theories regarding the origin of the first part, relating it to historical languages' words for "bright", "hell", "helmet", and "sword".

## References

1. ↑ Successor to the Throne
2. ↑ Successor to the Throne
3. ↑ Invitation to the Royal Banquet
4. ↑ To Wolfe
5. ↑ Participating in the Banquet
6. ↑ Wikipedia 2013 Oct. 29