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Aug 1, 2025

Something has crossed my mind recently about Veyle. And it’s the similarities between her and a lot of characters. There are plenty of things that define Veyle’s role in the narrative. This is, first and foremost the relationship between Alear (the main protagonist of Fire Emblem Engage).

The other thing worth noting is spoiler territory, but goes as follows:

1. Veyle is the Fell Dragon and the daughter of the main antagonist: Fell Dragon Sombron. And all of the abuse that she endured because of it. Keep in mind that Alear is also Sombron’s child, and the sibling Veyle was looking for.

2. One of which being victim of a magically born evil personality that causes a lot of problems throughout the game. Most notably, the death of Lumera. Once Veyle learns of this, Veyle is horrified and does her best to atone after finally being free from her evil self.

3. While she is the last unit you get in the game’s story, she is technically the Sixth Member of Alear’s main team. Main team includes (excluding Vander) Alear themselves, Alfred, Diamant, Ivy, and Timerra.

I want to compare and contrast a lot of characters from different media. This isn’t to mock Engage, and DEFINITELY NOT Veyle. This is just meant to be a fun compare and contrast between the most notable traits of Veyle’s character. And of course, I will very blunt with spoilers for Engage. Along with the characters and series I mention here.

Fire Lord Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender

Zuko is the comparison that I mostly saw because of TVTropes. Saying that Veyle is a variant of the “Virtuous Character Copy” of Zuko, everyone’s favorite complex character and Fire Lord. The main thing that makes Veyle this unique variation of the trope towards Zuko is their alignments. Or at least how their alignments played out.

Let’s keep in mind that both Zuko and Veyle both have evil fathers that serve as the main threats our protagonists (Aang and Alear face). Both pursue to find the protagonists for XYZ reasons. And finally, both of them would join forces with Aang, Alear and their respective allies nearing the end of their home world’s stories.

But this is where the differences come into play. Zuko chasing the Aang, while mainly because of Ozai’s influence and words over him, was a decision he made of his own free will. Whereas Veyle had a spell casted upon her that would create an evil personality that is devoted to her father’s every whim. I think a lot of the complaints have with Veyle and her evil personality plot point comes with Veyle wishing she did the things she did without a magical implanted evil alter ago.

A lot of people fail to realize that it doesn’t change the fact that Veyle was in an abusive position and was being used. Heck, the reason why Veyle went through what she did in the first place was because she defied Sombron’s wishes. Whereas Zuko did it in order to restore his “honor” by wining Ozai’s approval.

And finally, the main reason why Veyle and Zuko would join the main characters are different, with the outcome of it becoming more apparent. It took Zuko betraying his uncle (and true father in spirit) Iroh, the only person who ever kind to him, and Azula taking claim for “killing” the Avatar, that Zuko finally won Ozai’s favor. And by this time, Zuko finally realized his mistake. And by the time of the Black Sun, Zuko swears his loyalty to Avatar and to the fall of his father.

In Veyle’s case, she was good from the start, but was forced into a position she wanted no part of. And more importantly, the reason why Veyle would have the courage to take back her agency is because of Alear. Keep in mind that this is after Alear dies protecting her, and her losing consciousness after Dark Veyle regains control afterwards.

Veyle at this point had all but given up hope that she will ever be loved. And she is perfectly fine with dying knowing that Alear is with her. As finding Alear, her sibling, had been her goal from the start. And she didn’t realize this truth until after they died for her sake. For her, this is closest she was going to get to a happy ending. It takes Alear telling her not to give up and for them to come up with the plan to revive them as a Corrupted (one of Veyle’s main powers) to give their friends a fighting chance.

After Veyle and Zuko have made their changes to the good side, the remaining cast with a few exceptions show skepticism. Aang and the Gaang (save for Toph) are clearly not going to trust Zuko. Especially not after their last encounter where he had the chance to turn around, but chose not to in the Season 2 finale.

After Zuko proves himself in the episode he officially joins, Aang changes his mind, but only out of pragmatism and trust for Aang. It takes a few episodes for each of the cast members to find it in them to trust and accept. This is especially the case for Katara, who had a moment with Zuko earlier prior to his act of betrayal.

Thankfully for Veyle, it doesn’t take that long for her to win the trust of the Royals (Mauvier, who could count as a Iroh figure for Veyle, doesn’t count). This is because most of them have already had a bad run in with Veyle. Mainly Alfred, Diamant and Ivy. Alfred, for killing his goddess Lumera, for stealing the rings entrusted to him and his country, and for general relations with Sombron. Later on EVeyle ordered the destruction of Flora Port, an area in his homeland of Firene.

Diamant is also ticked with Veyle mainly because of Sombron too. But this is also because his father King Morion was sacrificed and turns into a Corrupted by Sombron in order to revive him. And also for stealing the Emblem Ring that his kingdom has been known for.

And finally, Ivy, had the most reason to hate Veyle out of everyone. Her country Elusia worships the Fell Dragon Sombron, and she was once in service to him and her father Hyacinth most of all. Despite having faithfully served Sombron and revived him, Sombron killed Hyacinth without remorse. And to make matters worse, Zephia, the person associated with EVeyle, and the one who put Veyle through this, also brainwashed her sister Hortensia into killing her.

And despite Timerra being the least affected by Evil Veyle’s actions, she has been on guard since chapter 15. Even after learning about her evil personality, Timerra still was skeptical of her potentially using this to her advantage.

It takes Alear, who is corrupted, much to everyone’s chargin, convincing everyone that they are themselves, and fighting together with them and Veyle that the others accepted Veyle. From this point onwards, all of the main characters have fully accepted Veyle as their sixth member with no strings attached. This includes the side cast with the exception of Hortesina (she comes around in their A support).

Overall, I think TVTropes had the right idea to compare Veyle and Zuko’s characters together. I love Zuko’s character, and he is one of the characters many, myself included look at when it comes to redemption arcs. The Atoner trope is one of my favorite tropes ever, and Veyle, IMO, fits the trope well.

Shoto Todoroki and his broken family

Speaking of Zuko, we have another character that is also gets compared to him. Shoto Todoroki from My Hero Academia like Zuko has fire powers, an abusive father, and more importantly, a scar on his face. Although, really look at this deeply, Veyle is a lot more less like Shoto than she is with Zuko. Still, I think it’s a comparison worth making.

So as stated before, like with Zuko, Shoto and Veyle have a bad parent relationship with Endeavor and Sombron respectively. Endeavor, like Sombron had, many children in order to suit their wants. Sombron so that he can take over worlds (yes, worlds). And Endeavor so that he can give birth to a child that would be strong enough to overthrow the Number 1 Hero: All Might.

Shoto and Veyle are both the last and youngest child Endeavor and Sombron gave birth to. Both of them are designed to be narrative foils to the protagonists Izuku Midoriya (All Might’s successor) and Alear (Lumera’s successor). And a bit of a minor similarity, both of them have different color shadings of hair.

Now weirdly enough, the difference between these characters are mainly attributed to their respective fathers. Sombron kills his children for being “defects” via burning, drowning or being eaten by the Corrupted. He treats Alear and Veyle like this too for different reasons.

Endeavor mainly neglected the other children he had that wasn’t Shoto as he tries to groom him into the ultimate middle finger to All Might’s. That being said, Endeavor never killed any of them. And, at the very least, he didn’t try having Shoto brainwashed to follow orders.

The main difference between Sombron and Endeavor is that Endeavor eventually changed his ways. Like Zuko, he got his wish because All Might was forced to retire after the fight with All For One. But because it didn’t feel earned, everything Endeavor did to surpass him was all in vain. And thus, as the show goes on, Endeavor changes and strives to atone for his family, however too late his efforts may be.

But Sombron refused to atone for his actions. Even after being defeated by Alear and Veyle, he refuses to acknowledge them as family or as individuals. Sombron only cared about his wish to reunite with Zero Emblem. And refuses to let go of his wish until it was finally satisfied at the very end. Leaving Veyle denied of any chance to be loved by him.

And while Shoto, and most of his family, refuse to accept Endeavor back, you can see the differences between how these two characters are written. And this is also the case when it’s revealed that his first born child Toya, under the name Dabi, was alive and was responsible for a lot of death and the fall of the hero society from that point onwards.

Now to bring the discussion back to Veyle and Shoto, it goes back to the theme of legacy. Alear being Lumera’s successor because the latter saved Alear and showed them kindness. While Veyle was trapped and forced to be Sombron’s successor against her will. This falls in line with Shoto and Midoriya o both being successors of All Might and Endeavor for different reasons.

The main difference in their characters comes because of their circumstances. Alear and Veyle started off as friends, until Alear learned half of the truth of Veyle’s involvement in Lumera’s murder. It takes knowing that about Veyle’s other personality and for Alear to learn that they are the sibling Veyle was looking for that they forgive Veyle and vow to save her.

Shoto has no qualms with Izuku personally, but he wants to beat him both to prove himself and to spite Endeavor. Midoriya is an understanding, and kind soul that he helps Shoto be more accepting of the Fire side of his quirk (which is from Endeavor, he has ice powers from his mother). Since then, Shoto has been one of Midoriya’s closest friends and Vice Versa.

It’s also with mentioning the Evil Veyle takes a lot after Dabi/Toya. Shoto, after learning who Dabi is, decides to fight him because Dabi represents what he could have become if not for his bonds with Midoriya and the others. The main difference is that Dabi (rightfully so somewhat) hate Endeavor’s guts, while EVeyle was made to be obedient to Sombron.

Why is Veyle the “Sixth Ranger”?

For the Power Rangers and Super Sentai comparisons. What exactly is a Sixth Ranger, and why does the trope apply to Veyle? The Sixth Ranger/Additional Warrior (Sentai term) trope is made for when a character/party member joins a team/cast of characters later than what is established.

So for example, post chapter 13, the only characters that don’t die for the sake of cutscenes include the four Royals and Alear himself (Vander again, notwithstanding). Veyle joins the team during chapter 22. However, because Engage only has 26 chapters of the main story in total, this means that Veyle is more of an Eleventh Hour Ranger.

This is where the Sixth Ranger of choice that I’m comparing to Veyle is Abarekiller Mikoto Nakadai from Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger and his American counterpart: Trent Mercer from Power Rangers Dino Thunder comes into play. Why am I comparing the two counterparts? You’ll see why as we talk about it.

Personality wise, Veyle takes after Trent the most. As both are good hearted people that wanted to be heroes. And more importantly, both of them suffered from a power induced split personality. This had caused mistrust to sow because of it.

Whereas Veyle and Nakadai serve the similar roles of being the additional member of their respective parties despite being a last minute addition. Also, keep in mind that Nakadai was originally meant to stay evil. They both have a white color scheme to them, though I think silver is a more fitting color for Veyle, and is a common Sixth Ranger color scheme in Super Sentai.

However, besides being ostracized for reasons, Nakadai and Veyle couldn’t more different in both personality and demeanor. And this is even after Nakadai changed. Nakadai is aloof and collected, and more importantly, was in complete control of most of his actions as he screws over people around him for amusement. Nakadai was a lot like Veyle’s evil personality.

Nakadai was the vessel for one half of the final boss of his home series. While Veyle’s split personality was forced upon her. Both of them break free from their chains. But Nakadai’s freedom came at a price. The timer of his Dino Minder’s explosion, which was already established to be a thing, has reached its breaking point. Nakadai sacrifices himself to save everyone. While Veyle got to live on, defeat Sombron and continue helping people.

Like Veyle, Trent also had a strained relationship with his father Anton Mercer. And like the both of them, had an evil personality in Mesogog, the main enemy of Dino Thunder. Anton changed for the better and was able to mend his relationship with Trent, but Veyle wasn’t so lucky.

Engage gets compared to Power Rangers a lot for some of the wrong reasons. But out of all the comparisons to Super Sentai and Power Rangers, Abarekiller/White Dino Ranger were the best comparisons I could make when it comes to Veyle’s role in the story. It also helps that Trent is compared to Tommy Oliver (the mentor of the DT Rangers), the original Sixth Ranger who also went through the same problems Trent did. Tommy’s Sentai counterpart Burai also has similarities to Veyle, but that’s a post for another day.

The genius Ken Ichijoji

Now there is another Sixth Ranger in Digimon Kouichi from Digimon Frontiers, and is another show that is compared to Super Sentai because the characters there turn into Digimon. Kouichi would likely be a better and more similar to Veyle than Ken is. But I want to focus more on the atonement side of Veyle’s character this time around. So I chose Ken for this comparison for that reason.

Now Ken’s parents are nowhere near as bad as Sombron. The problem more lies in their neglect of him in favor his older brother. So in this aspect, Ken and Veyle are similar to each other. Only problem is, Ken wished death on his brother after a fight, and he died in a car accident. Ken would later be infected by a Dark Spore, that draws out a person’s darker side for greater strength. This is how Ken became the big bad of the first half of 02.

Ken’s dynamic with Davis/Daisuke is the main focus of Digimon 02 in a similar fashion to Alear and Veyle. Both of them start out friendly with each other until that they learned about their evil personas. However, like with Alear, as time went on, Daisuke/Davis makes a conscious effort to help Ken change.

Unlike with Veyle, Ken’s actions were still his own, he was just ignorant of what his actions were really entailing. Ken was enslaving Digimon because he thought it was a realistic video game. Once he finally learns the truth, he completely loses it. Much like how Veyle reacted once Alear’s accusations about her evil self’s actions were true.

From there, Ken and Veyle have made efforts to atone for their actions. However like with Zuko, it took a while for the Digidestined that wasn’t Davis/Daisuke to accept Ken’s atonement. Whereas Veyle was almost immediately won the trust of everyone (with one single exception, she still came to accept her).

This is also a minor comparison based on player choice. If you choose to have Alear as an Emblem engage with Veyle, then you can compare this to Daisuke and Ken having the ability to fuse their Digimon together. This is the other reason why I chose Ken for the Digimon comparison over Kouichi. Because Koichi’s brother connection isn’t with the leader like with Alear.

The power of Riku’s darkness

Riku is the perfect representation of both the path to atonement as well as the power of darkness. And by the power of darkness in Veyle’s case, I meant her status as a Fell Dragon. Veyle uses a Tome that spews our dark fire. Something that Riku does from time to time.

More importantly, Riku started out as a close friend to Sora and Kairi before the destruction of their island. Riku wanted to travel through words beyond his own, and he gets his wish. He then meets Maleficent (Kingdom Hearts has Disney characters) and gaslights the teen into believing that Sora only cares about his Keyblade and his new friends Donald and Goofy more than he cares about him and Kairi.

From this point onwards, Riku antagonists Sora, steals the Keyblade from him and his friends, and even tried to kill Sora. And keep in mind, this is BEFORE Ansem Seeker of Darkness possesses him. It takes this, Sora’s death, and Ansem trying to kill Kairi that Riku realizes how badly he screwed up.

After this point, he had hated the darkness and feared being near Sora after all that had happened. But after going through his own journey, Riku had come to terms with the power of the darkness. He would make amends with Sora after they both beat Xemnas and their friendship never wavered since.

While Riku does get possessed by Ansem, Riku was still a victim of well timed manipulation. Not unlike Veyle, just without the split personality part, Veyle’s naïveté is what made her exploitable. Riku had to take his own journey, while Veyle had been alone for most of her journey finding Alear. Veyle wanted to find Alear because they were the only person who was kind to her. While Riku’s desire to visit other worlds nearly destroyed his relationships with Sora and Kairi.

It took Veyle being inspired by Alear and fighting alongside the others for Veyle to finally be able to make some loving relationships. While Riku meets Mickey on the path of atonement, and he has been close to him like Sora is to Donald and Goofy.

And above all else, both Veyle and Riku have a rocky relationship with their powers that are seen as evil across the series. The power of darkness is generally seen as dangerous force in the Kingdom Hearts series. While Fell Dragons have been seen as evil for most of the series. But Riku has learned to master the power of darkness, even to the point of becoming Keyblade Master. Veyle abandoned her Dragonstone to forge her own path to power separate from Sombron.

Jellal of the Crime Sorcière

For Veyle and Jellal, the thing that made me want to mention him is because he made a Guild of people who want to atone for their sins. It’s a cool concept, and if Veyle was in the world of Fairy Tail, she would be right at home. Of course, we need context for how this came to be.

Jellal used to be a slave, alongside his on and off girlfriend Erza Scarlet (one of main characters and hitters of Fairy Tail). Jellal was one day at a breaking point until a young Ultear arrived and used her powers to brainwash him into being a Zeref cultist. Needless to say, his relationship with Erza was never the same ever since.

Once Natsu defeats him, it takes a while, but he is eventually freed from his mind control. And once he regains his memories on all of the trouble he caused, he is none too happy about it. Even letting himself be jailed after helping Natsu fight a more immediate threat. It’s, ironically, thanks to the woman that brainwashed him that he, she, and Ultear’s surrogate daughter Meredy would make their own crime fighting guild.

The stark similarities and differences come with how Veyle and Jellal are treated. It takes fully being freed from EVeyle, and fighting alongside the Royals briefly that Veyle earned the trust everyone, except Hortensia. While it took a lot, and I do mean by a LOT of grief and trials for Jellal to at last be forgiven.

Both Veyle and Jellal are mistreated for something that they had no control over at the time. And both still choose to atone despite that. It took Alear convincing her to not give up that Veyle would have a lot more mental strength to face people who expressed hate for her evil self actions (including Hortensia and Corrupted Lumera).

Jellal was suicidal at various times, self punishing to a fault, and Erza (usually) needed to slap sense into him. He has gotten better about this as of recent, but still. It just shows what regret can do to the kindest of souls.

Protecc Veyle and Sophie

Now this comparison mainly exists because Veyle and Sophia share the same English Voice Actress: Megan Taylor Harvey. Sophia from Persona 5 Strikers is an AI program created by Kuon Ichinose to understand the human heart. By Ichinose’s abusive past led her to believe she had no heart. So she deemed Sophie to be a failure. This is much in the same vein of how Sombron treats Veyle.

Joker and Sophia have a surrogate older brother younger sister dynamic. Like with Alear and Veyle, their dynamic serves as one of the main focuses in the story. With Sophia having a little more time with Joker. With Veyle being completely obvious that she reunited with their sibling.

Sophia also gets mind controlled near the end of the game. However, thanks to her connection with Joker and the others, she breaks free and gains her true Persona: Pandora. Although Veyle doesn’t get some new power for freeing herself from her evil self, her reviving Alear was a key player in Alear being fully revived by the Emblems and becoming an Emblem as a result.

Finally, Sophia eventually gets Ichinose to change her ways and become a better person. And after Strikers story, they can be together to mend their relationship. Once again, for Veyle, that dream was a pipe dream for Sombron she is forced to let go of.

The bond between others: Pyra and Mythra

Finally, this last one may seem strange. Pyra and Mythra and Veyle may seem like an odd comparison. But I mainly did this because I couldn’t think of anything else. That and it’s funny that both characters share a bond with a main character voice by Hiro Shimono; he voices Rex and Male Alear.

Pyra and Mythra are mainly more different from Veyle than similar. As Pyra is a split personality from Mythra. But the two treat each other as siblings. Something I’m sure Veyle wishes she could do without being erased from existence. Pyra and Mythra were suicidal for most of Xenoblade 2, while Veyle only nearly accepted death after Alear died and her consciousness was loss to her evil self.

Both Alear and Rex give Veyle and the Aegis girls the hope to face their demons. Again, if you treat is as such, it’s thanks to Veyle that the Emblems chose to revive Alear as an Emblem. So their bond allowed Alear to achieve new power. In a somewhat similar vein to Rex awakening the true power of the Aegis.

These are the best character comparisons I could think of. Give me some more in the comments. Be it for XYZ reasons, same VA reasons, you name it.