I love Dimitri for how tortured he is :>>> The devs woke up one day and decided that their next Blue Prince should have 20 illnesses in addition to the usual Blue Prince shenanigans and some of those would be plot-relevant :)))
PTSD, survivor's guilt & nightmares are the standard stuff. And then he has visual & auditory hallucinations, accompanying headaches that lead to insomnia, suicidal tendencies, questionable sanity, self-deprecation & self-flagellation, loss of taste, scars aching under bad weather, loss of his right eye leading to strains, general discomfort in social situations, bloodlust, superstrength that hinders daily life, numbness in his left hand from that dagger, overwork, difficulty accepting help, etc.
I wouldn't be surprised if he developed more health conditions down the line :)))
Ofc, not every character has to suffer this much to be a good character, no matter how cathartic I find it. What I like is the variety of these...traits in the narrative.
Some are woven in as an essential part of Dimitri as a person, his feelings, his actions, his friends' responses, and the plot of Azure Moon as a whole.
While others are just inconsequential fun(?) facts you can find if you reach the end of a specific support chain, or pay attention to exploration dialogues, or luck out to receive specific notes from the Advice Box.
There are a lot to know about the character, but due to the mystery aspects of the story and Dimitri being reserved and in denial, you will often see him unravels first, before learning the reasons to then recontextualize his actions.
It makes him really fun to examine & reflect on :))))) and the inconsequential tidbits are like little rewards you get for digging in deeper :>
There are ambiguity, there are layers, there are no straight answers. There are things you don't need to know & might never know.
And yet there are clear causal relations. You can tell Dimitri came to bear these burdens precisely because of who he is at the most basic level, as well as the culture of the homeland he so dearly loves. You get to see how they shape his decision-making, informing both his mistakes and successes. In fact, that's kinda what Azure Moon is about.
Dimitri grew and changed, but he can never be "cured". The scars won't disappear, that eye won't return, his hatred won't stop simmering and the voices won't silent. But still, he goes on.
It all greatly helps you ignore the fact that he's just a fictional creation meant to serve a purpose.
Another thing I really really like is how they let him be an absolute d*ck and have the rest of the cast openly acknowledge it. Whatever he'd been going through did not absolve him of his faults.
Felix has always been known to be vocal, but it's not like his other classmates had nothing to say either...
That army was held together by sticks & glues & Byleth fr :))))))))))))))))))))
I believe that the true villain of Azure Moon is Dimitri himself. Defeating Edelgard is practically a victory lap.
The writing surrounding his conditions, to me, manages to not be too in-your-face, leaving ample room for the audience to interpret & draw parallels.
Dimitri's journey in Part II not only mirrors Byleth's in Part I, but also that of many of the Blue Lions as well as the broader history of Faerghus.
I want to chew him up and spit him out and ruffle his hair and squish his cheeks :3
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