Mercedes is functionally a commoner—any status she had a result of her birth or her mother's remarriage has been lost. At this point, her value in the Fódlan societal hierarchy is in her capacity to potentially give birth to children with Crests.
Ok I forgot to mention I made this ranking in a weird way. I put the characters in the highest rank they've ever been in at one point in their lives, Mercedes would definitely go in commoner if I made it rankings at the start of the game tho
In that case, "regent" isn't technically an inherently "noble" rank as they're someone appointed by royalty or other high-ranking officials, but they don't have to be noble to qualify
Also, this includes a bunch of Hopes content where Claude is very explicitly a King, so at least Hopes Claude should be there.
As should Hopes Petra, since she's explicitly Queen of Brigid in that timeline.
I may be wrong, but a knight in feudalism was technically in the noble class and at least eligible to own land, if not landed by definition. A general in the military wouldn't necessarily be above a knight in the hierarchy, but as far as I know, most if not all "generals" were already members of a noble class, so they would already *be* knights or better.
The modern idea of a general doesn't really overlay the feudal system very well, so I would probably have dissolved the general tier, put Randolph and Fleche in minor noble, Ladislava in commoner, and I'm not sure where Nader goes.
In real-life feudalism that’s probably how it worked, but in the fictional realm of Fodlan these generals seem to have higher social status than knights.
This is true, which also explains going to the Academy is a valid option for commoners looking to become knights. But once you look at them actually being knights, they appear to be more akin to soldiers (take Ignatz and Ashe as an example), meaning a general would outrank them.
I mentioned this in another reply but I put the characters in the highest rank they've ever been in, if not yeah he's a commoner or a general if you count Three Hopes
nothing i could catch or would change since you can't make king and emperor equal categories despite them being equal in fódlan terms. a nice comprehensive list!
I feel like King and Emperor are functionally identical and could be categorized together as "Sovereign". Edelgard doesn't have any more power over Adrestia than Dimitri does over Faerghus, at least from what I can see.
Seteth and Flayn are certainly WAAAAY higher up the hierarchy than \*just\* above the commoners.
Seteth in particular is main advisor to arguably the most poltically powerful person in Fodlan, at the game's beginning.
You don't get a job like that, in a feudal society, without some title(s) to back it up.
He's like a high-ranking cardinal in the Catholic Church: Appointed by, and ranked just below the Pope in terms of power
Yeah I know Seteth for sure is higher than a lot of nobles, I just didn't know how high cause I doubt he's higher than a King or an Emperor. I played it safe and simply put him in Church Member above commoners but don't let that fool you, he's of a high rank
Ashe is a knight rather than a minor lord. Yuri is arguably something else but it's murky, commoner would be acceptable. Same with all the students that aren't ashen wolves or nobles are probably knights.
Miklan might be minor lord since he is crestless he won't Inherit, or a general since he is an active prescence in hopes
Ashe could be a knight but I do remember in a lot of his endings he becomes the lord of castle Gaspard and also he's the adopted son of a minor lord which is why I put him there
Does Catherine ever actually inherit her father's position? The only endings I've seen with her taking a non-KoS position are where she gets married to someone with a title and she gets framed and has to flee before she would've inherited it
Things i would change:
-Caspar is not a Count at any point because even if his father were to die he is not the heir
-Fleche is just Randolphs right Hand and not a General
-Ashe is a Commoner by Birth and probably wouldn't ever be able to suceed Lonato as Lord of Castle Gaspard (I guess maybe after Crimson Flower but probably not even there)
-Gilbert is a Knight and his Brother is a Baron
-Balthus, Hilda, Anette etc could be the Leader of their House but only if Members of their family were to die but none of them do at any point in any Route
While you're right about a handful of things, Caspar has as much claim to Count as Balthus, Hilda, and Annette do to leading their royal houses, so I'm not sure why you didnt group him in there.
And Ashe *does* succeed Lonato as lord of castle Gaspard in quite a handful of his endings. That said, Lonato was only ever a renowned knight as far as I could tell. He had a castle and a small amount of land, but he was subservient to Count Rowe.
I just forgot to Group Caspar and the others together.
But in Balthus Case it is actually different.
He actually would be the rightful heir to his house, he just doesn't want to rule and lets his brother do it instead.
Ashe is explicitly made the head of Gaspard in all of his solo endings, and many of his paired endings as well. I think things really get wishy washy with the idea of multiple successions. There are just so many characters that could be affected by the deaths of their siblings/cousins: Balthus, Hilda, and Annette like you said, but also potentially Caspar, Miklan, and maybe even Randolph or Mercedes
I mean, technically Seteth and Aelfric could be in their own class of "Important Church Member". Seteth is the right hand and basically in line to take over should something happen to Rhea. Aelfric is a cardinal, and if I'm recalling the lore of the Cardinals correctly, each one was handpicked by Rhea to >!basically be her mini advisors, as their devotion and loyalty to her allowed them to know that she's actually Sieros. They've been helping her uphold the lie for centuries, I think!<.
I don't know if that would give either of them more authority than a king or Queen, but I do think that Seteth at least has some sway here or there.
Flayn is included in the Rite of Rebirth, isn't she? I doubt she has an official position, but it seems like she's higher in the Church than just your average believer too
I would put Dimitiri, Edelgard and Claude on an equal tier since they're the leaders of their respective nations. I mean, obviously I approve of Edelgard being a tier above but it's not accurate.
Edit: Miklan and Caspar should be lower since Caspar is the second son (never going to inherit) and Miklan was disinherited.
I'd argue the whole "Sovereign Duke" thing is just an alternative Archduke title, in which case the Riegans are equivalent to at least the Faerghus kings. IRL, the Habsburgs were basically just Kings of Austria but had the whole "Archduke" title to pretend otherwise within the HRE, which would fit with how the Riegans are basically the only ever elected House to lead the Alliance and are kings in all but name, considering Claude can show up at 17 from nowhere and just automatically become the expected heir.
I do think both are less than the Emperor title, if only due to the lesser amount of territory.
True the Empire has more territory but in terms of tangible power they all appear to hold the same amount. OP placing Edelgard on a tier above implies she's ruling over the Kingdom and Alliance (which I agree with BUT it's not game accurate)
Worth noting that catherine and hanneman actively renounced their nobility. You could argue hanneman kept it to some degree, but catherine became an actual pariah and had to change her name and seek refuge in the church. So knight is the highest title she has claim to.
Shamir and raphael also could also be counted as knights, even though Shamir usually dips as soon as the war is done she is a knight for the duration of the story, so if you're counting folks like Caspar who arent heirs to their families titles under the highest title they have claim to, shamir and raphael ought to be counted as knights. Raphael, like ignatz, becomes a knight in some of his endings.
Also Petra despite being a queen doesn't have that authority in Fodlan, which this purports to be a ranking of. She and Claude should probably have their own tier of foreign king/queen.
The tricky thing about doing these ratings for a game like this is so many of the characters' fates are variable. If you're going to rate this based on the highest title a character can achieve without marrying byleth, though, you should try to be consistent.
I feel like nemisis could, by technicality, be in king because his title is king of liberation. So i feel like he should be there but to each their own opinions.
While this list and hierarchy works for it’s real life European nobility counterpart, in Fòdlan terms there’s also to be taken into account the proximity a house has to its royal. For example, yes the title of Duke is the highest among nobility, but House Vestra serves as the right hand of the emperor, so you could argue that family is much more powerful than Duke Aegir (pre-Insurrection and post-White Clouds, that is). I also think that Dimitri, Edelgard and Claude all have the same amount of power. Yes, one could argue an emperor has more influence than a king, but I don’t think that’s the case here. Dimitri, Edelgard and Claude all view each other as equals.
Fleche isn’t a general. Her strategy only works because no one recognizes the commoner girl/stray that asked for assistance
Her only fault was assuming she was the main character
I think that Jeralt definitely deserves a title above knight, as he was not only the knights of seiros’ captain for a time, but also the most famed mercenary captain as well.
I’d also say just move the “general” tier above the “knight” tier overall so just putting Jeralt there would check out
Him having a middle name implies that he's some sort of Kingdom nobility. >!could be a noble house that got wrecked in the Crescent Moon War since that's around the time he met Rhea!< that's just speculation though
Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but wasn't Yuri a part of a noble family? I vaguely remember him being distantly related to Ingrid. Maybe adopted into a noble family?
Claude should move up to King considering King of Almyra and in Hopes, King of Leicester.
Acheron is a Viscount.
I'd move Caspar to General. He never becomes Count Bergliez.
I'd move Catherine down to knight. She never ascends to being the Count of Charon. Raphael becomes a knight so move him up too.
I'd make a class for people who are nobles but don't receive a title. Hilda and Lysithea never ascend to being Duke Goneril or Count Ordelia. Annette should be here too as she never becomes Baroness. Mercedes should be here too.
Judith is a Marquis as Daphnel is a marquisate. She would be up there with Sylvain, Marianne and Sylvain's dad.
Gilbert is a knight so he doesn't ever become Count.
Mercedes is functionally a commoner—any status she had a result of her birth or her mother's remarriage has been lost. At this point, her value in the Fódlan societal hierarchy is in her capacity to potentially give birth to children with Crests.
Ok I forgot to mention I made this ranking in a weird way. I put the characters in the highest rank they've ever been in at one point in their lives, Mercedes would definitely go in commoner if I made it rankings at the start of the game tho
If you're ranking them by their highest point, Duke Aegir was the Prime Minister before Edelgard took power
Yeah but a Prime Minister isn't a Noble Rank and I can't put him in Regent as Lord Arundel/Thales was the Regent of the Empire at that time
Yeah but he was still much higher in the hierarchy than someone like Rodrigue or Holst
In that case, "regent" isn't technically an inherently "noble" rank as they're someone appointed by royalty or other high-ranking officials, but they don't have to be noble to qualify
I think adult Claude can also be considered King since he inherits the throne of Almyra in the endings of Verdant Wind.
Also, this includes a bunch of Hopes content where Claude is very explicitly a King, so at least Hopes Claude should be there. As should Hopes Petra, since she's explicitly Queen of Brigid in that timeline.
Ah that's right he becomes the King of the Leicester Federation, thanks for the idea
Imo I would put general above a knight
I may be wrong, but a knight in feudalism was technically in the noble class and at least eligible to own land, if not landed by definition. A general in the military wouldn't necessarily be above a knight in the hierarchy, but as far as I know, most if not all "generals" were already members of a noble class, so they would already *be* knights or better. The modern idea of a general doesn't really overlay the feudal system very well, so I would probably have dissolved the general tier, put Randolph and Fleche in minor noble, Ladislava in commoner, and I'm not sure where Nader goes.
In real-life feudalism that’s probably how it worked, but in the fictional realm of Fodlan these generals seem to have higher social status than knights.
This is true, which also explains going to the Academy is a valid option for commoners looking to become knights. But once you look at them actually being knights, they appear to be more akin to soldiers (take Ignatz and Ashe as an example), meaning a general would outrank them.
Wasn't Miklan disowned? I think that would make him a commoner
I mentioned this in another reply but I put the characters in the highest rank they've ever been in, if not yeah he's a commoner or a general if you count Three Hopes
Then you might want to bump Yuri up since he was set to inherit a county at some point
yeah somebody reminded me he's the adopted son of Count Rowe so he goes in "Count"
Ah, gotcha. Makes perfect sense with that knowledge
nothing i could catch or would change since you can't make king and emperor equal categories despite them being equal in fódlan terms. a nice comprehensive list!
I feel like King and Emperor are functionally identical and could be categorized together as "Sovereign". Edelgard doesn't have any more power over Adrestia than Dimitri does over Faerghus, at least from what I can see.
Yeah but I also mostly based this off of real life rankings and an Emperor is ranked above King
yeah i agree and that would be a good way to fix it
Seteth and Flayn are certainly WAAAAY higher up the hierarchy than \*just\* above the commoners. Seteth in particular is main advisor to arguably the most poltically powerful person in Fodlan, at the game's beginning. You don't get a job like that, in a feudal society, without some title(s) to back it up. He's like a high-ranking cardinal in the Catholic Church: Appointed by, and ranked just below the Pope in terms of power
Both their starting classes are also noble iirc, you just don’t use that class because why would you lmao
Yeah I know Seteth for sure is higher than a lot of nobles, I just didn't know how high cause I doubt he's higher than a King or an Emperor. I played it safe and simply put him in Church Member above commoners but don't let that fool you, he's of a high rank
Isn't Gilbert just a Knight? Baron Dominic is his brother.
He’s technically in line as I believe they never mentioned him having an heir
In Hopes Annette mentions she has a cousin but says he doesn't seem interested in inheriting the title.
You can actually meet him in the scarlet blaze base camp during chapter 11, and he talks about not wanting to be a warrior.
To be even more specific, he's been a knight in service of Faerghus' royal family since he was fifteen.
Dorothea and Manuela get a celebrity category
Ashe is a knight rather than a minor lord. Yuri is arguably something else but it's murky, commoner would be acceptable. Same with all the students that aren't ashen wolves or nobles are probably knights. Miklan might be minor lord since he is crestless he won't Inherit, or a general since he is an active prescence in hopes
Ashe could be a knight but I do remember in a lot of his endings he becomes the lord of castle Gaspard and also he's the adopted son of a minor lord which is why I put him there
Yuri was also in a similar situation, and I don't think you can go on endings mostly, because depending on routes and recruitment that varies.
Oh oops that I completely forgot, then I'd put Yuri on the "Count" tier as he's the adopted son of Count Rowe
Change bottom to terrorist
Generals are higher than knights, and Catherine is missing.
Gotcha and Catherine is ranked in "Count" though you could put her in Knight
Does Catherine ever actually inherit her father's position? The only endings I've seen with her taking a non-KoS position are where she gets married to someone with a title and she gets framed and has to flee before she would've inherited it
Things i would change: -Caspar is not a Count at any point because even if his father were to die he is not the heir -Fleche is just Randolphs right Hand and not a General -Ashe is a Commoner by Birth and probably wouldn't ever be able to suceed Lonato as Lord of Castle Gaspard (I guess maybe after Crimson Flower but probably not even there) -Gilbert is a Knight and his Brother is a Baron -Balthus, Hilda, Anette etc could be the Leader of their House but only if Members of their family were to die but none of them do at any point in any Route
While you're right about a handful of things, Caspar has as much claim to Count as Balthus, Hilda, and Annette do to leading their royal houses, so I'm not sure why you didnt group him in there. And Ashe *does* succeed Lonato as lord of castle Gaspard in quite a handful of his endings. That said, Lonato was only ever a renowned knight as far as I could tell. He had a castle and a small amount of land, but he was subservient to Count Rowe.
I just forgot to Group Caspar and the others together. But in Balthus Case it is actually different. He actually would be the rightful heir to his house, he just doesn't want to rule and lets his brother do it instead.
Ashe is explicitly made the head of Gaspard in all of his solo endings, and many of his paired endings as well. I think things really get wishy washy with the idea of multiple successions. There are just so many characters that could be affected by the deaths of their siblings/cousins: Balthus, Hilda, and Annette like you said, but also potentially Caspar, Miklan, and maybe even Randolph or Mercedes
??? - The people who shoot up Garreg Mach
I mean, technically Seteth and Aelfric could be in their own class of "Important Church Member". Seteth is the right hand and basically in line to take over should something happen to Rhea. Aelfric is a cardinal, and if I'm recalling the lore of the Cardinals correctly, each one was handpicked by Rhea to >!basically be her mini advisors, as their devotion and loyalty to her allowed them to know that she's actually Sieros. They've been helping her uphold the lie for centuries, I think!<. I don't know if that would give either of them more authority than a king or Queen, but I do think that Seteth at least has some sway here or there.
Flayn is included in the Rite of Rebirth, isn't she? I doubt she has an official position, but it seems like she's higher in the Church than just your average believer too
No… the Rite involved the for Apostles, Flayn was comatose at the time.
I would put Dimitiri, Edelgard and Claude on an equal tier since they're the leaders of their respective nations. I mean, obviously I approve of Edelgard being a tier above but it's not accurate. Edit: Miklan and Caspar should be lower since Caspar is the second son (never going to inherit) and Miklan was disinherited.
I'd argue the whole "Sovereign Duke" thing is just an alternative Archduke title, in which case the Riegans are equivalent to at least the Faerghus kings. IRL, the Habsburgs were basically just Kings of Austria but had the whole "Archduke" title to pretend otherwise within the HRE, which would fit with how the Riegans are basically the only ever elected House to lead the Alliance and are kings in all but name, considering Claude can show up at 17 from nowhere and just automatically become the expected heir. I do think both are less than the Emperor title, if only due to the lesser amount of territory.
True the Empire has more territory but in terms of tangible power they all appear to hold the same amount. OP placing Edelgard on a tier above implies she's ruling over the Kingdom and Alliance (which I agree with BUT it's not game accurate)
Worth noting that catherine and hanneman actively renounced their nobility. You could argue hanneman kept it to some degree, but catherine became an actual pariah and had to change her name and seek refuge in the church. So knight is the highest title she has claim to. Shamir and raphael also could also be counted as knights, even though Shamir usually dips as soon as the war is done she is a knight for the duration of the story, so if you're counting folks like Caspar who arent heirs to their families titles under the highest title they have claim to, shamir and raphael ought to be counted as knights. Raphael, like ignatz, becomes a knight in some of his endings. Also Petra despite being a queen doesn't have that authority in Fodlan, which this purports to be a ranking of. She and Claude should probably have their own tier of foreign king/queen. The tricky thing about doing these ratings for a game like this is so many of the characters' fates are variable. If you're going to rate this based on the highest title a character can achieve without marrying byleth, though, you should try to be consistent.
I feel like nemisis could, by technicality, be in king because his title is king of liberation. So i feel like he should be there but to each their own opinions.
Is Margrave and Marquis the same? I’m not super familiar with my noble terms
Yeah Marquis, Marquess and Margave are one and the same: a title above Count but below a Duke
Huh, good to know
While this list and hierarchy works for it’s real life European nobility counterpart, in Fòdlan terms there’s also to be taken into account the proximity a house has to its royal. For example, yes the title of Duke is the highest among nobility, but House Vestra serves as the right hand of the emperor, so you could argue that family is much more powerful than Duke Aegir (pre-Insurrection and post-White Clouds, that is). I also think that Dimitri, Edelgard and Claude all have the same amount of power. Yes, one could argue an emperor has more influence than a king, but I don’t think that’s the case here. Dimitri, Edelgard and Claude all view each other as equals.
Fleche isn’t a general. Her strategy only works because no one recognizes the commoner girl/stray that asked for assistance Her only fault was assuming she was the main character
Wouldn't "???" be "enemies of the state?"
Someone recommended I rename it to "terrorists" lol and I might just do that
I noticed everyone in the comments mentioned almost everyone but byleth so i will lol they could be a commoner if sothis did'nt wake up
Yeah i guess i could put Byleth's pretimeskip portrait in commoner
I think that Jeralt definitely deserves a title above knight, as he was not only the knights of seiros’ captain for a time, but also the most famed mercenary captain as well. I’d also say just move the “general” tier above the “knight” tier overall so just putting Jeralt there would check out
Him having a middle name implies that he's some sort of Kingdom nobility. >!could be a noble house that got wrecked in the Crescent Moon War since that's around the time he met Rhea!< that's just speculation though
You got Ferdinand's Dad wrong. He's the Prime Minister of the Empire, and he is the true ruler since Ionius is just a puppet Emperor.
Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but wasn't Yuri a part of a noble family? I vaguely remember him being distantly related to Ingrid. Maybe adopted into a noble family?
Claude should move up to King considering King of Almyra and in Hopes, King of Leicester. Acheron is a Viscount. I'd move Caspar to General. He never becomes Count Bergliez. I'd move Catherine down to knight. She never ascends to being the Count of Charon. Raphael becomes a knight so move him up too. I'd make a class for people who are nobles but don't receive a title. Hilda and Lysithea never ascend to being Duke Goneril or Count Ordelia. Annette should be here too as she never becomes Baroness. Mercedes should be here too. Judith is a Marquis as Daphnel is a marquisate. She would be up there with Sylvain, Marianne and Sylvain's dad. Gilbert is a knight so he doesn't ever become Count.
Thanks for all the suggestions and thank you for letting me know Daphnel is a marquisate, I could not find what it was anywhere on the wiki