| Site News |
|---|
| Warning: This wiki containsspoilers. Read at your own risk! Social media: If you would like, please joinour Discord server, and/or follow us onX (Twitter),Bluesky, orTumblr! |
Dryas
| ||||||||||||
|
| “ | Thracia... No, this entire continent is watching over our fight. We must not only win: our victory must be one that gives courage to the people suffering from Imperial oppression. We should march in proudly from the front, flying the flag of Leonster. | ” | — Dryas |
|---|
Dryas (Japanese:ドリアスDorias) was a knight and Duke ofLeonster, and the father of fellow Leonster knightSelphina. A devoted warrior and strategic mind who was willing to sacrifice anything for the future of Leonster, Dryas played a key role in ensuring the young princeLeif survived the kingdom's downfall, and years later served as a tactician and advisor to the prince in his revolutionary war against theGrannvale Empire's control of Leonster.
Biography
Leonster's downfall
By Grann 762, Dryas had achieved the rank of general in the Leonster army despite his relative youth. In the prelude to the battle of River Thracia, Dryas was the only active general who remained behind in the Leonster capital, and so he was present when news returned from the front of KingCalf's demise in battle. When news of Thracia's imminent attack on the capital came, Dryas was tasked by QueenAlfiona with working withFinn to ensure her infant grandson,Leif escaped and evaded capture. As part of Alfiona's plan, Dryas and his subordinates split up from Finn, Leif,Lachesis andNanna and took a different escape route, in order to draw less attention, with the intent of having everybody rejoin Finn's group later.[1]
Three years later in Grann 765, Dryas, Leif, Finn and a retinue of Leonster refugees lived inUlster under the protection of its royal family. After a failed assassination attempt onBloom by an unknown party, Dryas assisted Leif, Finn, Lachesis and Nanna in escaping from the city; in a battle he waged against the Grannvale army to buy Leif time, he lost his right arm. Some time afterward, he entered the protection ofHannibal ofThracia and took up residence in Hannibal's mountain mansion, along with Selphina and other fugitive Leonster knights and nobles. In the intervening time, he took to training the young Leonster knights in his custody.
Guiding Leif
Following the Ulster battle, Leif had long believed Dryas to have died to protect him, and after meeting Hannibal himself eleven years later he rejoiced at the opportunity to reunite with Dryas. In Grann 776, Dryas, Selphina and the knights still resided at Hannibal's mansion, and Leif was sent by Hannibal to meet with them. Before Leif could arrive, however, the territory around the mansion experienced the sudden appearance of the Thracian army. Dryas assumed thatTravant had learned of the Leonster refugees occupying it, but having received word from Hannibal of Leif's approach, he insisted that they wait for Leif and hold their ground. Upon Leif's arrival at the mansion, Dryas pledged his support as a tactician and his trainees joined Leif's army.
Following the escape fromTarrah, Dryas came into conflict with August over the army's next move. While Leonster was the agreed-upon destination for the revolution army, Dryas believed that the army should take the northern high road to Leonster in order to act as an inspiration to those suffering under Grannvale's rule, despite being fully aware of the inevitable casualties afforded by this direct route; August criticized him for his stance of putting glory over the lives of his men. Either way, upon reaching and reclaiming Leonster, Leif's army received word of a Grannvale crackdown onUlster, and Dryas volunteered to lead an advance guard to assist the situation there while Leif remained behind to build up Leonster's defenses. A day later, Leif received word that Dryas's army had been overrun and decimated by Grannvale's might, and that Dryas had distracted the army to buy his surviving men time to escape, dying in battle as a result.
Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
Role
Dryas is a non-playable character, appearing only in cutscenes, but he does have one effect on gameplay. In all chapters in which Dryas is with Leif's party (from10 to18 onward), Leif gains an additionalauthority star.August has the same effect, so both being present awards Leif two authority stars.
Personality
Dryas lived for his service to the Leonster royal family, being willing to sacrifice anything, including his own life, to ensure its survival without even the slightest hesitation. His loyalty to Leonster was unwavering, to the point where he seemed to exhibit a false, idealized view of the late PrinceQuan, erroneously believing him to have been the sort to spare his enemies.[2] For all of his respect and reverence for Leif and the rest of the Leonster family, Dryas had no reservations about criticizing members of other ruling families, even going so far as to brutally lambast the late king of Ulster right toMiranda's face.[3]
While fundamentally a good and honorable man and an excellent tactician, Dryas nonetheless had an interest with symbolic inspiration and glory to the point of considering losing men in such gestures to be a worthy sacrifice; this was made primarily evident in his argument with August over which route to take to Leonster, with his assertion that taking the more heavily fortified and direct northern route would be superior solely because of the army's ability to use it to rally the spirits of the people, regardless of casualties.[4] He had no problem with openly admiring any similar knightly honor and military efficiency exhibited by enemy forces.[5]
Choose Your Legends placement history
| Round | Placement | Character | Votes |
|---|
| CYL 5 (2021) | 661 |  Dryas Thracia 776 | 58 |
| CYL 6 (2022) | 725 (+62) | Dryas Thracia 776 | 37 (−21) |
| CYL 7 (2023) | 660 (−65) | Dryas Thracia 776 | 45 (+8) |
| CYL 8 (2024) | 636 (−24) | Dryas Thracia 776 | 56 (+11) |
| CYL 9 (2025) | 753 (+117) | Dryas Thracia 776 | 25 (−31) |
| CYL 10 (2026) | 742 (−11) | Dryas Thracia 776 | 19 (−6) |
| Total results | This character has 6 entries across all Choose Your Legends polls. | 240 |
|---|
Trivia
- According toThracia 776's website, Dryas was designed to look 54 years old.[6]
Etymology and other languages
| Names, etymology, and in other regions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | Name | Definition, etymology, and notes |
| English | Dryas | Used in official websites. Dryas (Ancient Greek:ΔρύαςDrýas) is a name borne byseveral figures in Greek mythology that comes fromδρῦςdrŷs "oak". |
| English (unofficial) | Dorius | Used in theProject Exilefan translation. Named afterDarius the Great; intended to parallelAugustus. |
| Japanese | ドリアス | Officially romanized asDorias. |
| Spanish | Dryas | -- |
| French | Dryas | -- |
| German | Dryas | -- |
| Italian | Dryas | -- |
| Portuguese | Dryas | -- |
| Traditional Chinese | 多利亞斯 | Dryas |
Gallery
| Sprite Gallery | |
|---|---|
|
Official artwork
Artwork of Dryas fromThracia 776.
Artwork of Dryas with other characters fromThracia 776.
Artwork of Dryas with other characters fromThracia 776 Illustrated Works.
Artwork of Dryas with other characters fromThracia 776 Illustrated Works.
Cipher artwork
Dryas in artwork ofLeif.
References
- ↑Fall of Leonster
- ↑"Dryas: But you led your forces equally well, Lord Leif.
Leif: Do you mean how I left General Largo alive?
Dryas: Yes. Fighting with a just heart like that is exactly what Lord Quan would have done." — Dryas andLeif,Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 - ↑"...Princess Miranda, I believe you are wrong. The Empire was always plotting to take Ulster. The prince was only an excuse to launch an attack. This may be rude, but your father was much too weak to be a king. He had a fine band of knights, but he refused to fight when Thracia was invaded, and neither did he come to Lenster's aid when we were in danger. And this is the result. Ulster's collapse was your father's responsibility, and nobody else's!" — Dryas,Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
- ↑"Dryas: Lord Leif, we must head west on this mountain path to exit onto the northern highroad."
August: Count Dryas, are you sure we want to take the coastline? I believe we should head east down the mountain and attack Leonster from the south.
Dryas: The thick forests of Millefeuille lie to the south of Leonster. Those forests are well-known for people losing their way in them.
August: I'm aware of that. But that also means that the Empire's defenses would be lax. With our small numbers, we must take full advantage of the terrain.
Dryas: I disagree. Thracia... No, this entire continent is watching over our fight. We must not only win, our victory must be one that gives courage to the people suffering from Imperial oppression. We should march in proudly from the front, flying the flag of Leonster.
August: The northern highroad is practically Leonster's front door. Legions of enemy soldiers will be defending it. We will lose many of our troops.
Dryas: I understand. But their deaths will be in glory and honor.
August: Glory? ...Count Dryas, you knights are not the only ones fighting this battle. Some of us don't appreciate having your values one-sidedly forced upon us." — Dryas andAugust,Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 - ↑"Dryas: General Largo... Quite a fine warrior.
Leif: This is the first time I've ever fought the Friege army, but they were stronger than I expected... If that's what a small group of border guards is like, then I can only imagine how powerful the main army is.
Dryas: Yes, the Friege family is a strict and respectable line of nobles, so they enforce honor even into their lowest ranking soldiers. I'm sure they are among the strictest and most organized armies on the continent." — Dryas andLeif,Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 - ↑Character ～登場人物の紹介～, ファイアーエムブレム トラキア７７６,Retrieved: 18 June, 2024
 | This article is part ofProject Characters, a project focused on writing articles for every character present in theFire Emblem series. |
