#the fafnir knight

[rosebloodcat]

Etrian Odyssey Homebrew?

I wonder how possible/doable it would be to translate Etrian Odyssey stuff to dnd? Because I kind of want to figure it out.

I think most of the classes would be fairly easy to map to already existing classes (Landsknecht = Fighter, Protector = Paladin, Survivalist = Ranger), but there are some more out-there ones that would need some work, like the War Magus and Hexer. And some that are technically races by shown more as classes so I would probably change those to races.

And the various in-game races would be run to make usable as, you know, actual playable races! (And not just the ones you actually get to play as in EO5.)

Not to mention the spells/abilites that are “class” specific and the many cool monsters...

So, uh, to my fellow EO players who also play dnd, got any suggestions for how to map them to a potential Homebrew to play?

[bsinoranges]

Im restarting my EO2U game (again, when willI ever finish) and I want to use the default name for the Fafnir Knight (there doesnt seem to be any) what names do you guys use???

Do you straight up use Fafnir? Help a girl out ;;

[littleeyesofpallas]

Oh fun. we finally get to the pay off on those little piles of rubble that block us but that we can still see over and don't break up the continuity of the room. Flying FOEs with patrol patterns for us to dance around are introduced here.

I'll be honest, it's been so long since I last played EO2 that I don't really remember a lot of the finer details. I would have assumed from what we've seen so far that the flying enemies here should have been, like, beefed up recolors of those pterosaur enemies we saw on the previous level? They are still kicking around of course, along with a new enemy, the "Flying Lizard" which is very clearly some kind of dragonoid. But in fact what we get as new FOEs are these Vampire Bats.

It's a fun theme that we get all aerial enemies, but as ever the question arises "why would nature conspire against man like this?!" Later EO games would lean more into the dynamics of enemies that interact with one another beyond indiscrimiante team ups, but would make more sense for there to be pecking order here. Like it would be kind of cool if some form of little guy might show up in larger flocks as random encounters, but if one was ever left alone, or weakened enough, it could activate some kind of "summon" where a bigger predator monster joins the battle and finishes it off. It'd be a cool if baiting those predators into battle was the only way to encounter them.

Anyway it's weird that the FOE is maybe the smallest looking of the enemies here? Not that they can't be more menacing by having a unique gimmick like healing, but I dunno they just don't feel like they should be the most dangerous thing on this floor? Maybe if they appeared in like a swarm rather than alone, sort of like how the Venom Flies appear as multiple actual bugs per single unit of enemy. A swarm of blood sucking bats chasing you thru the halls, bleeding you out I could understand as a genuine menace.

Speaking of weird non threatening enemies... we also get the Hypnosis Owl added to the line up, and I gott say, I really forgot how just... weird they are? Like... why do they look like that? Why did you abstract the concept of an owl that far from what an owl is? Those colors? That anatomy? What did owls do to deserve this...

Anyway we make it through the maze of flying things to get up to F5. We have a few new encounters added to the randos: Rafflesia and King Snails, flanked by the snails we're already familiar with. I'm always a sucker for a man eating plant, but it's always funny to me how Japanese game devs just have such a fixation on the rafflesia specifically. And yet half the time the monsters or items bearing the name don't even actually resemble the real world corpse flower all that much?? I have no idea why... Like, ecologically they're not native to Japan, and not generally placed in places where tehy are in-world. Anyhow, this one technically has something like a real rafflesia at the core of its design at least, but I've definitely seen ones that are just random flower monsters.

The snail having eyes that aren't at the end of its stalks weirds me out for some reason. i keep looking to the stalks to look it in the "face" only to have to look down and find its weird beady little red eyes peering out of those blackholes. tis unnatural...

Interestingly we do kinda get to run a marathon of FOE fights from all the ones we've seen up until now on previous floors, so that's kinda fun. But then finally we come up on the den of the King of Beasts himself...

[chronicle-of-torment]

-You arrogant fool,- the commander’s head rang like thunder.- I see you didn’t heed my words... And for what? Here you will find nothing but your death.

-He showed up... My death won’t change anything here! – the knight’s voice broke into a scream, with difficulty overcoming the roar of the flames and the raging wind.- The millstones of fate are turning faster and faster, the tournament is gaining momentum! No corner of this world can escape their deadly course! Flowers! They are shining brighter! I may not be able to compete with you, you can’t stop them, you can’t stop us! Don’t you know this?.. Dragon,- he seemed to spit out the last word with notes of contempt and hatred in his voice.

[your-fave-is-being-blended]

can you please ignore my previous request and blend flavio from etrian odyssey 2 untold instead? thatd be funnier

Flavio from Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight is being blended!!

You cannot save him.

[obscuredilfoff]

Propaganda below the cut!

Bado

hes an adoptive father of 2 and a lazy conman who only cares about making easy money, but also doesnt enjoy it if theres even a person who isnt having fun with his schemes (unless its his adopted daughter, who's a knight that tries to stop him from scamming the towns people)

Bertrand de Gervaise

HE IS MY EVERYTHING HE'S DEFINITELY THE REASON I LOVE DILFS SO MUCH I won't spoil anything but there's a huge plot twist involving him and it shook me to my core when I first played the game in like high-school and it's stuck with me ever since. I just love jaded old men so much he's so silly I love him so much

[krumparrian-portfolio]

Sir Karluf and the Sons of Hreidmar

[styx-ophelia]

what the... etrian odyssey on the dashboard??

[knights-of-ishgard]

one of the reasons i stopped posting stuff was partially bc of the godaweful caster role q in ew where they retconned basically all of zephirin's established lore and i got rly angry/frustrated/heartbroken about it, which is why i started to invest my time and energy in another subject/ship i have for around a year now.

not it's not len and fafnir, but he plays a role in lenthes' hc!

i still hate the canon q and now i just say fck the canon lore, honestly 🤷

[arcadian-caim]

Etrian odyssey really does set off a particular spark in the brain for people who loves making ocs

[zorua-adorable]

the desire to start a new playthrough of eo2u since it’s been a while & I never finished the story mode VS the desire to start a new playthrough of eou since it’s been a while & it’s the first of the two

AND

the desire to start a new playthrough of eou since it’s been a while & I miss the story mode gang VS the anger at eou only having one save file

[kujirara]

Adventure Log 1:

Ancient Forest, part 1

“We’ve been walking for HOOUURS can’t we sit down and rest for a minute?” Eri, the Dark Hunter, yells, while stretching her arms.

“It’s barely been 10 minutes…”

“Do not let your guard down, Eri. The creatures here are stronger than you could think.” Anastacia warns her.

“Come on, we’re on the first floor. There is nothing that dangerous over… ACK!”

Eri suddenly turns around and swings her whip, but the only thing she hits is a tree. The creature that attacked her – A red mole with amazing claws – craved its nails in her back and is holding into it, in a way where it moves when she moves.

“Eri, stay quiet for a second.” Helena, the Alchemist, says in a disturbingly calm tone. “I need you not to move.”

Suddenly, the Dark Hunter feels an intense power hitting her, something way stronger than anything the Mole could have done, and feels the heat of the blood - and the flames - hitting her back right before falling on the muddy ground pain.

“HELENA, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?” Apollo, the Troubadour, yells in anger.

“It worked, didn’t it? The mole is dead.” Helena quickly approaches Eri, thrown in the ground and barely conscious. “I’ll pass the medicine on your back now, okay? You know how much it burns… Eh, I don’t think you’re listening anyways.”

“Now what? Do we call Sylvia?” Lilo asks.

“No need, Sylvia was the one to give me this medicine anyways. She promised it would heal basically any damage a monster this low level could cause. She’ll get up in a minute, I’m sure.”

“But this burn was not caused by a monster…”

“Honestly, she has been hit by me so many times during our training, I don’t think she even feels it anymore.”

“This… Are you aware that this does not make it any better, correct?” Anastacia says, with genuine concern in her voice – a rare thing for her.

“Eh, it will be okay. I think she is into that, actually.”

“Huh…”

And so, the time passed.

-

“Another dead end, how exciting…” Eri says, ironically. “I hope you are marking all this in the map, Lilo.”

“I am! Don’t worry about it”, Lilo, the Survivalist, innocently answers. Eri rolls her eyes.

“Hey, what’s that?” Apollo suddenly points to the top of the tree at the dead end. “There is something tangled in the tree. Doesn’t look like a normal vine…”

“It’s a whip.” Anastacia, the Princess from a faraway land, says in a serious and imposing voice, as she is used to when giving orders. “Lilo. Get it.”

“Of course, Miss…” Lilo quickly but carefully goes up the tree. Despite her constant passivity towards everything, she is skilled in her areas. “This looks really old, are you sure you want to pick it up?”

“Yes. Someone must have lost it, and it is our duty to give it back.”

“I understand…” she then proceeds to untangle the whip from the branch, something a normal person would take a long time due to the complexity of the nods, she can finish in just a couple minutes.

--

On the way back to the entrance of the labyrinth, after carefully avoiding the giant deer, Lilo suddenly stops in a crossroad.

“What’s wrong?”

“This path… we didn’t map it.”

“Oh for fucks sake, then map it!” Eri yells, then starts walking towards the unmapped room. “See. There is a chest here that we missed. Your fault.”

“Hey, come on, stop being mean with her. None of us noticed the path, it’s not only her fault.” Apollo, the Troubadour comments.

“She is the survivalist here. Noticing paths and marking them down is her only role. And she failed to fulfill it. Yes, it was her fault.” Anastacia says in a surprisingly imposing tone. “We are lucky it was not a big deal this time. Pay more attention.”

Helena rolls her eyes.  “What even is in the chest?”

“It was Nectar. Those items are rare around here; we almost lost something very precious. Because of you.”

Lilo says nothing; she only lowers her head and puts down a chest marker on the map.

---

After completing the map fo the first floor and reporting to the Duke, the Graveyard guild moved on to the second floor.

"Attempt at an ambush, behind Eri." Lilo says casually, while preparing her bow. The second the Venomflies pop out of the woods, attempting to spread their venomous powder, a combo attack - Flank Shot quickly followed by a Volt Fomula - Eliminated half of them. A swing of Eri's whip was just enough to deal with the rest.

The battles were getting easier to manage. The explorers were starting to let their guard down.

"So, what did you think of those Dinos back there?", Apollo asks.

"They are stupid. Very big and scary at first glance, sure, but they can't see anything a palm in front of them. I bet we can set them on fire easily." Helena says.

"No, I don't think we can... they might be easy to dodge, but if they catch us I bet we're done for good."

Lilo gestures to the rest of the group. "Hey, guys, I found a shortcut over here, I think it takes us back to the entrance."

"Perfect." walks towards the small open space inbetween the trees. "Good job, Lilo. We can head back now."

"Anastacia, you should see this over here." The voice of Eri is heard a little far away, from her back. Anastacia sighs and turns around.

"What is that, a sunflower? What is so surprising about a flower?"

"It... It's a monster!" Lilo suddenly yells. "What are you doing so close to it?"

"Hey, come on. It's just a flower. What bad could it do?"

Suddenly the creature moves, as if pointing its head - its flower - to the party's direction. And another flower, that until this moment was hiden in between the trees, appears, doing the same movement.

"Guys, this might be dangerous, we should flee. Now."

"Retreat." The Princess orders. Apollo and Helena, with this order, turn and move towards the shortcut, but not Eri. Eri refuses to move.

"Come on, are we really gonna flee from flowers?" she says, taking out her whip. She is confident. She does not believe this fight can be lost.

The sunflowers shoot their Solar Flames: a burst of energy coming from the center of the flower. The first flower, the one closes to Eri, would hit her straight on the chest. She would not survive such a powerful shot, that close.

"Get down!" Anastacia yells, as she throws her body in Eri. Eri falls to the side, but Anastacia is hit directly by the beam.

Eri's eyes widen in horror the moment she realizes what she has done. She picks up the fallen princess, and turns her eyes to the shortcut behind them. Before she can move, or say anything, arrows pass trough her. Multiple arrows, about 8 of them, hit the flowers, one after another, in a burst of power. All the flowers, dead in an instant.

"Eri, what the fuck? COME QUICK!" Helena yells. Eri gets up and runs towards the exit, still carrying Anastacia in her arms.

----

Anastacia is laying on the ground. She has a bed in her room, but she does not wants to use it. Not now.

A knocking sound. Someone is at the door. Anastacia does not wants to answer it.

"Excuse me... I'm getting in, in case you're undressed." It is Eri. "Hey, how are you? Physically, I mean. The nectar worked well?"

"Yes, I am alive." Anastacia answers, without really looking at the door. Her eyes are completely fixed in a singular point in front of her.

Eri sits in front of her. "Hey, I just wanted to let you know, I understand."

"What?"

"I understand. I understand what you are going trough now. Dying is a traumatic experience. I have died before."

"..."

"I used to drink Nectar as a recreational drug. It is a really strong medicine, despite the sweetness, and drinking it when you don't need it can fuck up with your mind. Dying hurts physically, and reviving hurts mentally."

"..."

"...I'm thankful that we found that Nectar. I wouldn't want you to die. You are one of the few cool people in this guild."

"...thank you for using it on me."

"Of course. Just wanted to let you know that I am here for you in case you need it. It's hard to bear psychological damage by yourself, I'd know it."

Anastacia answers with a nod.

"Ok... Well, I'll let you rest now. The Duke called us specifically. Tomorrow we are going there. Hope you can still keep going."

"I can. Don not worry about me."

Eri nods, and smiles. And this was the end of Graveyard Guild's first day of adventuring.

Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Nuzlocke

This is my first time trying a EO Challange Run. I kinda just wanna see how long it will last, and document my journey.

Ruleset:

Game will be played on Expert Difficulty, Classic Mode.

Only 1 character of each class will be created at the start of the game.

All character’s levels must be kept below the cap for each stratum.

The level cap for each stratum 3x the last floor of the stratum. (15 for 1st stratum, 30 for 2nd, etc).

Once a character dies in combat, they must be released from the guild; if the whole party is defeated/a game over is reached, all 5 characters must be released. Ressucitate, Revive and other revival skills are not allowed.

All characters get a second “life” after a game over during a boss battle, only once per boss per character.

Floor jump not allowed. Ariadne Thread is allowed.

May only reassign SP after defeating a Stratum Boss.

Grimoires are allowed.

Medica, Amrita and other healing itens are allowed.

BUYING Nectar is not allowed. Using it is.

The Plan

For exploration, a Survivalist is a must have. With a ruleset like this, surprise attacks could and will be fatal. Risk Perception and Stalker are needed as fast as possible. Keeping a Protector with Flee could also be useful for random encounters, especially early on, tho both of those can be taken out with Grimoires later.

For the first stratum boss, the plan is simple: Dark Hunter for Leg Bind, Troubador for Flame Fantasia, Alchemist for Ice damage, and Sovereign for Elemental Link and buffs. The last slot would be Survivalist, probably.

Of course all of this is insanely RNG-dependant, and the rules might be bent to better suit my own playstyle, but those are the rules I'm going to plan around. Wish me luck lol

[wyverewings]

if tumblr was for dragons it would be called tumblair. is this anything.

0 notes

~

🦎 hatchlingshoard Follow

been thinking about getting other stuff besides gems for my lair. maybe animal bones?

5 notes

🐉 sowingdragonsteeth Follow

humans will claim they’re allies and then support knights

1,053 notes

🐍 laidlyworm Follow

hey I won’t be posting to tumblair for a while, have to look for a new home. my dad found out about my cursed transformation and kicked me out.

🐍 laidlyworm Follow

update: I’m living with @/gargouille, I’ll continue posting but it might be infrequent since I’m trying to adapt to my new life

53 notes

🐲 hydraheadfive Follow

🦀

realized I haven’t posted karkinos much lately

54,096 notes

🔥breath-of-fire Follow

hey go check out the reluctant dragon if it’s in your area, it’s such a good play holy shit

hatchlings dni

174 notes

🐍 lindworm-prince Follow

why the fuck doesn’t anyone on this app give a shit about wyrms like we’re also dragons you know?????

🐲 wyvernofmordiford Follow

I shit you not, my ex thought wyrms were privileged????

⬜️ flamebreathingflyer-deactivated

they literally are though. dragonphobia stems from the belief that anything magical is evil, and wyrms aren’t magical because of their lack of flight. hope this helps!

🐊 cocaswife Follow

i don’t think dragonslayers care about the amount of limbs i think they just want everything with scales to die

🐉 blushingserpent Follow

update: flamebreathingflyer is the guy who tried to steal from fafnir’s hoard and ended up flying away in a storm and got struck by lightning because he had a lot of metal on him

👑 fafnir Follow

Yeah, that whole thing was wild.

758,376 notes

🐲 goldenscales Follow

what if I tried to sleep on my hoard like in that one rumor

🐲 goldenscales Follow

hopital

5,309 notes

[littleeyesofpallas]

so... I figured even with Picnic difficulty's massive handicap, I should probably go use the inn for the second time before challenging an actual boss monster. but the moment i got back to town they locked me into a little miniquest/tutorial???? Like I legit could not leave town again until I started an ad campaign for the cafe. meanwhile we left Hrothgr down there with his dog who's bleeding out, chomping at the bit to go solo the boss and get himself killed. Like, is this really the time to be micromanaging the governor's granddaughter's pet project????

Also i know there were little bits of the menu still grayed out that probably should have been a dead giveaway, but i dunno i hadn't realized this whole cafe thing was going to be as involved as it is.There's this neat map of Lagaard that's a new art asset, and this whole shtick about having the right amount of ingredients to make the right types of food to appeal to certain demographics in specific areas of town. and here i just thought it was a cute gimmick for the buff store.

Anyway, after like 12 hours of us faffing starting an ad campaign to sell coffee to furniture artisans, taking a nap, and slapping some extra rock onto ourselves (god dont even get me started on this weird clunky grimoire sahrd system right now...) we go back to pick up Hrothgr from his camping spot in the random wilderness outside the doors of the boss monster, so that he can join us fighting the Chimera. Not that we really need his assistance.

i JUST WANT TO GET BACK TO THE STORY GDDMNT

[stars-and-clouds]

Okay guys but think about Aymeric for a minute.

He is adopted into a family of nobles when he comes from, possibly, a low born mother who was possibly forced into sleeping with a powerful man like Thordan. Had to keep quiet about it and possibly lose her son right after giving birth. Aymeric grew up hearing rumours about being a bastard, about not deserving his life, about how lucky he is, how he was probably a mistake.

And now he is the only one alive to carry on the Borel name, becomes the lord commander of the temple knights at a very young age, then lord speaker of Ishgard, slayer of Fafnir, unifier of dragons and men after a thousand year of war. All this while he grows up hearing he will never be good enough. Imagine how insecure that must make him. Having achieved so much will not make him think "wow, I really am amazing. Sure showed them!" It will just stress him out even more, thinking he can't do it, he isn't capable enough to carry these responsiblities out, not deserving enough to. In fact, idk if we've ever seen him being proud of himself or even happy? Doesn't he always want to jump to the next task? He is too humble for someone in his position, sometimes it's like he doesn't believe he is actually as good as he is said to be.

I think this is shown by his decision to give up his position as lord commander as soon as they finish dealing with Nidhogg. Like, he will do his duty and stop. Because he doesn't think he can do it anymore. He thinks he is not important enough so he goes to confront his father by himself in the lion's den itself, so to speak. Practically kills his father, almost kills his best friend to do his duty, brings about peace and much needed change and gets stabbed for it. How shit must that make him feel about himself?

Aymeric is so good at being a well spoken, smooth politician, we forget to see how broken he must really be inside and he is all alone. Even Lucia isn't with him anymore, having to stay at Garlemald.

The way his eyes light up every time he sees the warrior of light, calling them 'my friend,' every second sentence, as if pleading to be called the same. Writing to Estinien whenever he can, having a deep wanderlust and adventurous spirit but being unable to fulfil it. He is so much like G'raha in this sense but unlike him, Aymeric hasn't gotten his happy ending yet.

The man is so alone but so dutiful. So insecure but so good at hiding it. He craves connection but his duty forces him to be unable to make it. I cannot imagine how hard he has it.

He needs hugs 😭

[epicspheal]

A Strong and Upstanding Heart! A Lance Analysis

Imagine you're a kid in the 90s playing Pokemon Red and Blue…you’ve gotten all eight badges, made it through Victory Road and bested Lorelei, Bruno and Agatha. Now the only person that you think stands before you and the title of Indigo League Champion is a certain cape loving Dragon Master…

That’s right we’re talking about Lance! Lance is definitely one of those character who has very different interpretations depending on whether or not you’re looking at the anime, games or manga. For the sake of consistency with my other analyses…I’m only sticking to the gameverse and any media that corresponds to it (mainline games, Pokemon Masters EX and Generations). 

Let’s start with his name…in English it’s a weapon. Which is very befitting a dragon master as in many pieces of European Folklore knights wielded lances to slay dragons. But considering in Pokemon Lance doesn’t slay dragon-types but befriends them you could compare him to many of the heroes of dragon-rider fantasy who often had weapons they carried while on the back of their flying reptilians. Lance in the games is very knightly in demeanor and one could very easily imagine him riding on the back of his Dragonite wielding a lance. In French his name is Peter which is actually derived from petard which is another medieval weapon again reinforcing that knightly demeanor. His German name is Siegfried who is a legendary hero who bested the dragon Fafnir, further symbolizing Lance as a proud warrior. 

But then his Japanese is Wataru which has a couple of different meanings. First is “Watatsumi” who is a legendary kami and water deity in Japanese folklore that happened to be a dragon. But also it is derived from “wata” which means “cotton” which his Korean name also is derived from. When we think of the language of flowers we usually think of Roses and Forget-me-Nots. Yet cotton has a lot of symbolism. Cotton is known to mean “fortune, gratitude, cherish, well-being and receiving blessings”. When we think of Lance, he’s had a lot of blessings in his life. He was born into a prestigious dragon clan and was chosen as the heir of said clan before he went to the league. He became an Elite Four member which is an esteemed position many trainers could only dream to have. He even manages to become champion afterwards which as a title bestowed upon very few. So much of his life is very much blessed and Lance recognizes that blessing and cherishes it. 

Now let’s take a look at his team. His team varies throughout the series due to his changing roles from Elite Four to Champion so we’ll be covering both

Starting with his Elite Four team, the first thing that often stands out is that he lacks a lot of diversity on his team with him having 3 Pokemon from the same family and two of them being unevolved. While some people may consider it poor team building (at least from a more competitive mindset) it actually means a lot storywise. We have to remember that Pokemon was originally meant to end at GSC and we know by then Lance has ascended to the rank of champion. So him having two Dragonair actually makes sense in that context as it was foreshadowing his growth in his strength as a trainer. Now let’s take a look at his movesets. One thing that sticks out is that he really loves the move Hyper Beam, Outrage and SafeGuard. Hyper Beam is a very powerful move with the drawback of causing the Pokemon to not be able to move after for one turn after its use. It definitely establishes Lance as a power player with a hint of recklessness since the use of Hyper Beam does leave his Pokemon so vulnerable. However it also shows the trust he has in his Pokemon’s power to have that move consistently in the movesets. Outrage is another high-risk, high reward move that allows him to utilize STAB as it’s a dragon type. Again this further solidifies Lances hyper offensive strategy and his trust in his Pokemon. However this is where the move Safeguard comes into play as the move actually protects against the self-inflicted confusion status. This shows that Lance is strategic with his hyper-offensive strategy

Now let’s look at his team as champion! We can see he now has three full Dragonite which again shows that him having Dragonair in the Kanto games was an intentional choice to foreshadow his eventual ascent up the ranks. And now we also see that all of his Pokemon share the flying type which leads to the joke that Lance should be known as the “flying type champion”. His movesets for his Pokemon have also drastically changed. He has way more variety in types which helps to enable better coverage. He still relies on high-risk, high-reward moves but with more focus on moves that have lower accuracy (Thunder, Blizzard, Fire Blast, Dragon Rush). This change in strategy reflects his growth in the time between the original Kanto events and the Johto events. He’s had to step up to the role of Indigo League champion which warrants a change in tactics. That being said, he still definitely relies on his old faithfuls Outrage, Safeguard and Hyper Beam on his signature Dragon type.

His rematch team in HGSS shows more Dragon types and a shift in strategy to involve more set up (Dragon Dance, Swords Dance and Double Team) as well as some more evasive techniques (Roar to get rid of bad matchups)

I also wanted to bring up his team when pairs up with his cousin Clair. His signature Dragonite in these match-ups knows the move Dragon Meteor- a powerful move that can only be learned by Dragon types that have a high enough trust in their trainer. This shows that he has a strong bond with his dragon types which is something Clair at the time hasn’t quite yet gotten to.

"Ah! I've heard about you, <player>! I lead the Elite Four. You can call me Lance the dragon Trainer. You know that dragons are mythical Pokémon. They're hard to catch and raise, but their powers are superior. They're virtually indestructible. There's no being clever with them. Well, are you ready to lose? Your League challenge ends with me, <player>!"

I really like this introduction quote from Lance as he does a good job selling the power of Dragon type Pokemon to the player. Not only that you can see how much pride he has in being the leader of the Elite Four.

"I still can't believe my dragons lost to you, <player>. You are now the Pokémon League Champion! …Or, you would have been, but you have one more challenge left. There is one more Trainer to face! His name is… <rival>! He beat the Elite Four before you. He is the real Pokémon League Champion."This quote here gives us a look into the mindsight of Lance in Gen 1 where he’s a little overconfident in the powers of his team. Which makes sense because as we know up until Blue and Red no one had managed to make it to the league at all meaning that he’s held the title of the strongest for a long time. So him getting beat by not one, but two 11 year old kids in succession was definitely a shock to the system.

"That red Gyarados wasn't acting right. As I feared, somebody must have forced it to evolve… Did you come here because of the wild tales? You're <player>? I'm Lance, a Trainer like you. I heard some rumblings, so I came to investigate… I saw the way you battled earlier, <player>. I can tell that you're a Trainer with considerable skill. If you don't mind, could you help me investigate?" This is our first conversation with Lance in the Johto and you can actually see a change in his demeanor. He’s not boasting about the superior powers of dragon types or his own skill as a trainer. He’s actually more humble with his approach saying he is a trainer “like you”. Also right now he’s focused on trying to solve the mystery of the Red Gyarados, showing that he is taking the mantle of being the champion of the Indigo League very seriously

"Dragonite, Hyper Beam."I just had to put in his iconic phrase in this analysis. We know what’s coming here- he’s about to blast a poor Team Rocket grunt to kingdom come and give him PTSD (as we know from Pokemon Masters as the grunt he hyper beamed is currently on Pasio). We see here how he has no tolerance for evil-doers

"Sorry, <player>. I saw how well you were doing, so I just hung back. Now all there is left to do is to turn off that odd radio signal."A lot of complaints about champions prior to gen 8 were that they let the protagonist take down the bad guys with little to no assistance. But here we get some reasoning from Lance as to why he took a backseat. He noticed that the player could handle the grunts by themself so there was no need for him to step in. 

"It's this machine that's causing all the problems. I don't see a switch on it… We have no choice. We have to make all the Electrode faint. That should stop this machine from transmitting that strange signal. It's no fault of the Electrode, so it makes me feel sad. <Player>, let's split the job.I really like this quote because it complements the “Dragonite, Hyper Beam” quote. Even though he is no-holds barred when it comes to evil, he recognizes that the Electrode are innocent and don’t deserve to suffer even though they have to be fainted in order to help save the Pokemon affected by Radio transmission.

"I've been waiting for you. <Player>! I knew that you, with your skills, would eventually reach me here. There's no need for words now. We will battle to determine who is the stronger of the two of us. As the most powerful Trainer and as the Pokémon League Champion… I, Lance the dragon master, accept your challenge!"Lance’s pre-battle quote before the champion battle is a nice progression from his pre-battle quote when he was an Elite four member. Again he comes to this battle with a more measured, less haughty response than three years prior (although he does kind of borrow Blue’s “I’m the most Powerful Trainer” bit). You can tell how much he’s grown not just in strength, but in attitude.

"…It's over. But it's an odd feeling. I'm not angry that I lost. In fact, I feel happy. Happy that I witnessed the rise of a great new Champion!"

Again we can see more of this growth from the defeat quote as champion versus when he was the leader of the Elite Four. Here we see he’s not in disbelief, nor is he upset that yet another kid bested him. In fact he’s happy to have seen the growth of another champion. 

"I'm glad to be on your team, Silver!"Alright now onto some Pokemon Masters EX quotes. I chose this one of the team ups because I like how we see throughout the game, we see how much Lance looks out for Silver and is proud of him. A far cry from when they first interacted in the Johto games where Lance had to give him some tough love by completely annihilating his team. It all comes full circle for Silver during the Johto Neo Champion arc where he’s finally able to win against Lance, and Lance couldn’t be prouder of him. 

"You all haven't changed one bit, I see! I must admit, I'm looking forward to these battles myself!"I really like this line from the Normal Champion Stadium where the original Indigo Elite Four and Blue team up. It’s nice to see how he interacts with some of his former colleagues 

"(I guess he's right. I was very happy to witness my challengers surpass me.) But maybe that means I'm starting to forget what it feels like to WANT to win.) [...] I still remember how frustrating it was to lose to Red and Blue back in Kanto. Both Dragonite and I need to approach this like challengers, not Champions..."I really like this quote from the Arc-Suit chapter as we see Lance coming towards an important realization. He’s been so focused on being an ideal champion, a trainer who can be a role model to others and mentor as well, that he’s forgotten what made him want to aim for the title of champion in the first place. His drive to win. His joy for the taste of victory. He thinks about his losses to Red and Blue and how he was frustrated he was bested by kids. And now he’s realizing that if he wants to continue to grow stronger, he has to approach battles like he’s not at the pinnacle of what it means to be a trainer.

"It's true that you're strong, Clair. And it's good to have confidence in your own abilities...but there's a limit to what's good and what's not. Too much pride can make you overconfident, and overconfidence can make you vulnerable." 

"You can be a little impulsive sometimes, Clair...but that earnest, straightforward attitude of yours is one of your greatest strengths as well. If you can learn to hone that, the sky is the limit!"I really like the relationship Lance has with his cousin Clair. Even though their personalities clash a bit, we see how much he does care for her even when he is chastising her. He wants her to be the best version of herself that she can

"A long time ago, when I was a member of the Elite Four but not Champion, I was defeated by a Trainer.He claimed to be the greatest of all, and he had the strength and skill to back it up. But eventually, a stronger Trainer came along, and even he was defeated... It was then that I realized something. That title—"the greatest"—can inflate your ego, but it doesn't really mean anything. It's an illusion, there one minute and gone the next...The way I see it, seeking to grow and improve yourself is far more worthwhile than chasing a fleeting illusion of greatness."

This quote here shows the moment where we can see the shift between his Gen 1 and Gen 2 personalities. It was the quick succession between Blue and Red as champion that allowed him to temper himself when it comes to chasing success. Sure he still values the title of champion, but he realizes that just because he obtained it that he can’t rest on his laurels, lest someone else come by and snatch the title away from him

"Leon, I think that capes should be more simple! When you're the Champion and greet new challengers with a swoosh of your cape...I understand that the details of your cape speak volumes about who you are. But for me, the simplicity of my cape helps me stand out more!" The dialogue about capes between Lance, Steven and Leon was a cute little interaction between the three champions regarding capes. We see Lance prefers simple capes compared to Leon’s whose cape is filled with advertisements. We know Lance has a huge fondness for capes even back from the Fame Checker where a woman from the Celadon Department Store mentions he comes by to purchase capes frequently. Even though he disagrees about designs for capes with Leon, we know from further into the conversation that he still greatly respects the symbolism Leon’s cape has showing him to be an open-minded and respectful individual

"I noticed you weren't your usual self right before our match.It was almost as if you were so worked up, you couldn't tell what was happening with your partner. Iris, you must remember that you're no ordinary Pokémon Trainer. You are a role model to others, and you represent Unova as Champion. I hope you can understand that and conduct yourself accordingly."

Ah so this is dialogue from the Iris event that definitely rubbed some people the wrong way. We know from earlier in the event that Iris was struggling with knowing that people seemed to find her an embarrassment as the champion from Unova. And then her Hydreigon goes out of control. We see here Lance actually could tell that something was up, but didn’t know the full context. His words do come off a bit harsh here to someone who knows everything going on with Iris, but you can see that he was trying to help her out. He understands the weight that comes with being champion, and also the weight of being a dragon tamer. 

"It's never too late. You can start with whoever needs you most."I really liked this line from Lance to Diantha once Iris is able to regain confidence in herself. Diantha was lamenting the fact that she didn’t think about mentorship as a champion (as she was kind of removed from the Team Flare plot in the gameverse canon). And we have Lance who's not admonishing her for that but showing there’s room to grow.

"Someday, stories about me will be passed down to future generations of our clan as well. If I think about it that way, it reminds me that I have to be on my best behavior.I'd like to be a good role model for all future dragon masters."This quote from Lance really helps to shine light on why he is so passionate about being a good role model and having a strong and upstanding nature. He realizes that he will forever be immortalized in his clan’s history and in the Hall of Fame. He wants to make sure the legacy he leaves behind is one that makes people feel energized and not ashamed

"This outfit shows off Gyarados's power as a dragon! What's that, you say? Gyarados isn't a Dragon-type Pokémon? Haha, not all dragons are Dragon-type Pokémon!" I remember this quote making rounds on social media as we get to have some in-universe acknowledgement that dragons =/= dragon types! It’s a distinction that you would expect a dragon master like Lance to know!

Lance is an iconic character and he’s a really good case study on how Gamefreak has always cared about their characters even as far back as gen 1. A lot of people deride the first region as being barebones but he’s one of the many characters regions that has had layers woven into him from the beginning as we can see his growth between the events of Kanto and Johto. He grows from the proud (and just a tad cocky) leader of the Elite four to a wise noble Champion and Dragon Master