"A land grotesque as its people. You dreamt of utopia. You saw the tribes united as one. That dream died long ago. You should have done the same. Your kingdom... will perish alongside you. By my hand."
Louis Guiabern is the main antagonist in Metaphor: ReFantazio. He is a charismatic prodigy and an army officer, supposedly of the clemar tribe.
He is one of the candidates of the upcoming election to become leader who vouches for true meritocracy, built on skill and rationality over birth and circumstance, attracting strong public support especially among radical youths.
Appearances[]
- Metaphor: ReFantazio: Major Antagonist; Final Boss
Personality[]
At first glance, Louis is a meritocrat who values rationality and appoints officers based on their capabilities rather than tribe or origin, contrary to the traditional methodology of the masses and Sanctism. He has no prejudice against tribes and will recruit even halfbloods into his elite ranks as long as they can prove their competence, even if such a person would otherwise be considered an outcast based on tribe and status.
Deep in his core however, he is a broken, power-hungry and hypocritical madman who radically wishes to evolve the entire kingdom's population into humans by force. Greatly angered by the ongoing injustices of the world, which include pogroms caused by Sanctifex Forden and his being framed for the sanctifex's assassination of the prince, Louis realizes that the only way to unite all tribes and end the racism of the world is through forced evolution, creating a land of equality at the expense of culling those who cannot handle the transformation and retain their sanity. He is also hard to find trust in anyone to confide his real plans to, which limited his chances of being convinced of better alternatives to his plan, and with Cirsium Zorba likely being the only one Louis could truly rely on based on the necromancer's blind faith and half-human transformation.
He is extremely unscrupulous, regularly enabling humans to invade and attack nearby urban settlements to rally popular support and using his own elda knowledge of the populations' original human origins as a tool to destroy the protagonist's strong reputation through a forced transformation into a human in front of the public. As a victim of Forden's lies, Louis dislikes lying and does not directly lie, although he will twist words to fit in his narratives or omit important details about himself.
In spite of his general hypocrisy, insanity and lack of trusting others, Louis seems to somewhat care about his comrades and those he felt having shared similar experiences with him. This is shown when he attempts to kill Basilio Magnus and Fidelio Magnus took his brother's place to be killed instead, Louis appears to be oddly silent despite Zorba's gloating on Fidelio's death, indicating that to some extent he was disheartened by Basilio's betrayal. He also took every chance he could get to meet with the protagonist, whether through their earlier amiable meetings or his outright challenge to their duels and face off at the Tyrant's Star. Louis viewed the protagonist as a rival and nemesis to his human utopia vision, one who he expected to understand the kingdom's injustices he faced as a fellow member of the elda tribe and a fellow reader of the same copies of the fantasy novel they both own. Louis would also offer a hand for him to join his cause for his human utopia before becoming disappointed at the protagonist's refusal.
Louis displays some personal grudge towards the Sanctist Church, especially Forden due to the the santifex's pogrom that burned down his hometown and blaming him for the prince's curse that lead to his supposed death. The count would spite them at every opportunity he could during the Tournament for the Throne, such as complimenting the protagonist for openly humiliating the church by exposing the Sanctoress Joanna Calendula as an indirect serial killer that relied on a human. However, he would claim to the protagonist's faction that he would not be so petty as to solely focus his every action as revenge against the sanctifex, and that any form of grudge he has towards Sanctism and Forden is merely a cog in his overall ambition of creating an utopia of new humans.
Originally, Louis in his youth respected King Hythlodaeus V and was inspired by his ideals when the clemar visited his village, and has dreamed of himself and the elda leaving the sanctum to roam a new world where his tribe has no need of hiding. However, such ideals that Louis had perished due to the kingdom's injustice conducted under Forden's leadership and how the king failed to believe in Louis' innocence over the prince's assassination, which lead to Louis' radical approach to ending all injustice through forced evolution. Even though he had lost his dream of a better and unified world, Louis still held some form of respect for Hythlodaeus V as he kept the king's fantasy novel, provided him euthanasia when the clemar no longer desired to live, and declaring he will carry on the king's ideals and vision of a better world (albeit in Louis' own additions towards the overall idea).
Profile[]
Louis Guiabern is a royal army officer who managed to become nobility at a young age, wielding military prowess and overwhelming magic and combat abilities. He is also regarded for his capabilities as a military strategist, possessing both insight and psychological insight. However, this went so far his own allies became wary of him, dubbing him a "monster in the making." Unbeknownst to his followers with the exception of Cirsium Zorba, he is not a clemar nor is Guiabern his real name. He is actually an elda of the Charadrius family of medics and one of the few surviving victims of Sanctifex Forden's pogroms against eldan sanctuaries. Disguising himself as a clemar by wearing a pair of fake horns, Louis entered Euchronia's military in hopes of gaining enough strength to enforce equality through force, and using his family's magical lore to become one of the greatest mages known to Euchronian history.
Some of Louis' contributions include keeping the United Kingdom of Euchronia's unity in check, as he would put down both the Principality of Oceana and Montario's bursts of independence.
He is supposedly held responsible for assaulting the prince by inflicting a curse on him. The assailant had command of high-level magic and had the appearance of the child, leading to a conclusion that Louis is the perpetrator, leading him to be condemned by the palace. Allegations could not be made against him, however, as Louis did not leave behind any evidence. In reality, the culprit was Aestivum Forden, who orchestrated a conspiracy to assassinate the prince by blackmailing Rella Melancoryphus Cygnus with the safety of her sister due to his disgust against the elda race and to take the throne for himself, only for the unwilling Rella to botch the assassination and cast a curse that would slowly kill him instead. Louis had no ill-will towards the royal family at the time, and greatly respected King Hythlodaeus V as a friend to the elda; that the king believed the manipulative Forden over himself, as a long-term friend and ally, shattered what was left of Louis' idealism. He came to believe the only way to enforce true justice and equality was to forcefully merge all tribes into one by mutating them into humans with a corrupted version of his family's healing magic, with the strongest-willed regaining their minds and humanoid forms to repopulate the world with those able to overcome their anxieties.
Twelve years later, the disillusioned Louis would directly assassinate Hythlodaeus, during the events of the game; while it was obvious he was behind the assassination, his popularity and lack of direct evidence left him in the clear for actual investigation, and Forden decided to cover up it was an assassination at all to preserve the status quo. Louis would also use his corrupted healing spell to transform random civilians into humans and send them into attacking villages to garner attention to the crisis, exploiting people's desperation into support as he is one capable of ridding the continent of the monsters. Some of his zealots that helped his actions, such as Captain Klinger, who let many people in danger or die to feed Louis' point.
Prologue[]
"Good people! Is Forden truly fit to be king!? Or, shall you cast off the shackles of blind faith!? We need not be chained to birth or tribe. In my world, we are a people equal and united! I shall be your shield from the human menace. Together, peace is within our grasp!
No future exists without the power to eliminate the human crisis! Those who stand at my side, who oppose the powers that be, my protection is yours! Or refuse my hand and perish! I will lead us over your corpses."
During the prologue, Louis is first seen desecrating the funeral for Hythlodaeus V, where he brings attention to himself with his arrival through his flying gauntlet the Charadius, declaring himself royalty, adorning the air with royal flowers that are considered to be taboo for anyone else to use, even publicly mocking the deceased king for his weakness. He also brings attention to the scandal he fanned the flames to: the human crisis, by directly dropping a corpse of a giant human. With that, he establishes a narrative by promising to rid of the problem with his undeniable strength and wit and become the next ruler.
To everyone's surprise, however, Hythlodaeus V's election magic is triggered, declaring that the next king will be determined by the faith of citizenry. Though Louis has tremendous support, he is rivaled by Aestivum Forden who takes the lead, and criticizes Louis for his behavior. Louis himself has a step over Forden too, using his views of meritocracy over blind faith to successfully garner public support. Even though he's accused of killing the former king, he indirectly admits to it, dismissing his demise as cause to his weakness and betrayal of his responsibility as leader.
However, Louis doesn't know that there's a planned assassination on his head for his actions, as with Strohl's distraction by riling up an uproar against him, Grius is given an opening to catch Louis off-guard and kill him. His attempt is unsuccessful, as Louis is protected by the election magic thanks to his popularity, after which for Grius' defiance Louis slits his throat in immediately, scaring the people into submission. After the announcement of the Tournament for the Throne ends, the Skyrunner Charadius bombards the Grand Cathedral and drops his right-hand man, Cirsium Zorba, from the sky, who announces that he and Louis will enact an attack called "Day of Calamity" at the final day of the king's mourning. He lets Zorba take over most of his operations for the rest of the Grand Trad arc.
Martira Arc[]
According to Albus Batlin, Louis did not participate in the monster headhunting competition. Instead, he was still out there hunting and slaying humans (likely by transforming random civilians into humans, summoning them into settlements and killing them himself just like before). Despite this, his popularity is still increasing and is expected to match Forden's.
Brilehaven Arc[]
The party was approached by Louis and the Magnus brothers during the aftermath of the monster head exhibit and Sanctoress Joanna's public execution, claiming to walk by during a human hunt. He compliments the protagonist for forcing the Sanctist Church and Forden to embarrass themselves in front of the crowd before Junah asks him to make leave. Junah then turns back to the protagonist, telling him that Louis will send a messenger to him tomorrow, indicating that Louis has interest in recruiting the party as they currently have a common goal in taking down the Sanctist Church. The party speculates that if Louis was the assassin, he might have the cure for the curse, and instigates a plan to infiltrate his Gauntlet Runner, the Skyrunner Charadrius.
Followers[]
Much like with Will and Forden, Louis has a band of followers who are deeply loyal to his cause. All of them were either killed in combat, defected or turned into humans by him by the end of the game.
- Cirsium Zorba - Louis' right-hand man and necromancer
- Idaeus Glodell - an independent contestant who infiltrated Louis's ranks to sake his ego
- Basilio Magnus - defected under disgust for Fidelio's death
- Fidelio Magnus - sacrificed himself to protect Basilio from being killed by Louis
- Juani Cygnus - spy of the resistance; defected
- Captain Klinger - willingly allowed humans to destroy settlements under Louis' orders
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Louis is one of the bearers of a copy of the fantasy novel.
- Louis' depiction within the game bears resemblance to traditional depictions of Lucifer.
- His first name is shared with Louis Cypher, a name often used by Lucifer when in human form, and are arrogant, meritocratic and bent on rebellion against the powers that be. However, while Lucifer's incarnations in the series usually had genuine well-intentions and firm convictions, Louis turns against his own beliefs and ultimately lost himself to his hatred against Forden.
- His long hair is blond, like in Lucifer's Louis Cypher form and his Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne forms. As an elda, he also lacks any physical mutations and he is almost always seen clad in ornate gold and white armor, making him stick out in front of other characters. This ties to the biblical Lucifer being known as the most beautiful of all angels prior to his fall.
- His angelic descent at King Hythlodaeus V's funeral, as well as killing said king for his ambitions and making a blatant desecration of the funeral bears symbolic connections to Lucifer's identity as a fallen angel who strongly desires a world of freedom and chaos while attempting to overthrow God. His control over the humans, many of which have designs based on the legions of hell as depicted by the artist Hieronymus Bosch, might also be interpreted as an allegory to Lucifer commanding armies of fallen angels and demons to plague and destroy mankind.
- His human form is based on the devil (Dis) from The Divine Comedy. However, his characterization as a somewhat tragic and complex character with completely unjustified motives bears resemblance to the Paradise Lost iteration of Lucifer, which is portrayed in a similar manner.
- Louis is also inspired by the mythical Caladrius, also known as Charadrius, which is his true last name that he also gave to his runner, the Skyrunner Charadrius.
- The Caladrius has been speculated to be based on the Plover, of which one genus is called Charadrius.
- His outfit being nearly completely white to invoke the near white feathers of the mythical Caladrius.
- Louis origins as a child of healers, relating to Calandrius role as a healer that can cure some, while leaving others to die, and his ability to use his healing magic to instead turn people into Humans.
- Louis never refers to himself as a clemar anywhere in the story. He only wears a pair of fake horns and expected people to assume he is one.
- Louis is one of the very few major Atlus antagonists and final bosses that remain as the main antagonistic force throughout the course of the entire game rather than hiding or downplaying their involvement in some form or way. Uniquely, the protagonist's motivation for going after him also changes over the story; first to release the prince from his curse; when the curse was revealed be the result of a Sanctist Church conspiracy, to win the Royal Tournament; and when his past and his true plan of transforming all of humanity into humans was exposed, to put an end to his insanity.
References[]
Metaphor: ReFantazio Monsters
| |
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Humans | |
Enemies | Homo Tenta - Homo Oppo - Homo Fios - Homo Orelon - Homo Frostine - Homo Fizic - Homo Pento - Homo Luano |
Bosses | Homo Gorleo - Homo Fulquilo - Homo Avades - Greatworm Homo Butera - Homo Jaluzo - Sea Horror Homo Sabara - Homo Flaemo - Homo Margo & Dragon God Eht - Homo Sondro - Mutant Zorba - Destroyer Charadius |
Other Enemies | |
Demi-humans | Goborn - Manhunter Goborn - Hexer Goborn - Archer Goborn - Kapcerto Sondro |
Birds | Wild Corvo - Raptor Corvo - Kokasadors |
Insectoids | Nocross - Vesp - Papyros |
Plants | Canibaflo - |
Beasts | Feral Hundo - Watchdog Hundo - Mad Watchdog Hundo - War Wulhas - Hyeno - Vicious Hundo - Manjula |
Undead | Spekto of Lament - Summon Knight Skeleto |
Mollusks | Gelatino - Serpetia - Vampiric Gelatino - Aquatic Shuper - Terrestrial Shuper |
Mimics | Lifewrought Gargoz - Pyrite Imitec - Sandworm Valmo - Waterworm Valmo - Spellwrought Gargosta |
Personnel | Louisian Sword Captain - Sanctist Monk |
Bosses | Captain Klinger - Cirsium Zorba - Undead Grius - Monk Captain Gideaux - Heismay - Glodell & Hector - Louis Guiabern - Sogne the Icebound - More - Redscale Apocalypse Dragon - Devourer of Stars - Devourer of Nations - Devourer of Flames - Elegy of the Soul |
Tournament Candidates | Milo the Adonis - Loveless the Hedonist - Rudolf the Roussiante Lion - Catherina the Bounty Queen - Lina the Machinist - Demo Man Goddard - Jin the Charlatan - Roger the Libertarian |