Family[]
Joshua Bright[]
Joshua Bright is Estelle's adopted brother. By the time the two start as junior bracers, Joshua has been a part of the Bright family for five years. The circumstances behind how he was found and adopted by Cassius Bright are explored in SC. Their relationship grows over the course of the Trails in the Sky series.
The two are the most prominent foils in the whole Trails series. Estelle starts as very expressive and ditsy with very little clue on how to think strategically. Joshua is reserved to the point of being laconic (and accused of being distant), but he has a mind for strategy and diplomacy. She starts as hot-headed; he is consistently cool-headed. Her personality commands a room; his suffuses it, one person at a time. As a team, they are excellent; individually, they have particular weaknesses. They are inseparable as siblings, so close together that others mistaken them as an item. Estelle during FC ridicules that idea, but Joshua shows disappointment that she thinks so.
Estelle and Joshua enjoy the simple things together. They picnic together, relax at a resort together, enjoy ice cream together, etc. Joshua seems very happy being beside Estelle constantly.
Estelle prides herself in being the "biggest Joshua expert" in the world. This means she can hear what Joshua is saying to her, and infer also what he is not saying, or what he means to say deep down. Generally, her insight into Josh's feelings are good. However, Estelle doesn't or won't recognize Joshua's feelings of affection for her until much too late. This is a sticking point for Joshua, and for others looking in from outside the two's relationship. It is clear as day how the two siblings feel about each other, and it seems clear to Joshua how he feels; however, Estelle drags her feet coming to terms with her affection to Joshua.
Cassius Bright[]
Cassius Bright is the father to Estelle and Joshua. They know him as dad, and sometimes as a slacker or messy dad. Others know him as many other names: the hero of the Hundred Days War, the former Colonel and Commander in Chief of Liberl's forces, and most famously as an S tier Bracer. There are few other bracers even on the international stage to have achieved this rank; no other has been introduced in the series as of yet. Thus, powerful clients from around the Zemurian continent hire Cassius. This means that Cassius has often had to leave Estelle and Joshua to Schera's care for long spurts of time.
His extended absence is what inspires Estelle and Joshua to start their Bracer adventure beyond Rolent. Their main objective as junior bracers is not only to become senior Bracers, but while pursuing that qualification, also uncovering Cassius's whereabouts.
By SC, Cassius is found; however, he takes on a different kind of absence from Estelle and Josh. He retires from the Bracer Guild and returns in the Liberlian Army to manage the aftermath of the events from FC.
Lena Bright[]
Lena Bright is Estelle's mother and Cassius's wife. She was lost tragically during the 100 Days War while saving Estelle's life. Much as Joshua is hesitant to open about his past, Estelle too is hesitant to open up about her mother. Estelle does bargain with Joshua that when they're both ready, they'd share to each other their pasts. This happens by SC.
Lena's absence from Estelle's childhood leaves a gaping hole. Estelle eventually confronts this wound, and by doing so, it invigorates her with new energy.
Friends[]
Scherazard Harvey[]
Scherazard Harvey is Estelle's first best friend. She has known the Bright family for several years prior to the start of FC. Schera prides herself in being a good "big sister" role model to Estelle. Her relationship with Cassius Bright inspired her to become a Bracer. That in turn inspired Estelle and Joshua to become junior Bracers. Schera therefore becomes the two's first bracer mentor.
Olivier Lenheim[]
Olivier Lenheim is a traveling bard that Estelle, Joshua, and Schera meet outside of the Haken Gate. He is an incorrigible flirt towards Estelle and Schera, but when both reject his advances, Olivier then targets Joshua, which irritates Estelle even further.
Kloe Rinz[]
Kloe Rinz becomes Estelle's best friend very quickly. Estelle is enchanted by her beauty and demeanor, and even Joshua was at first bashful around Kloe. The three get to know each other well during their time completing Bracer errands in Bose, and visiting the Mercer Orphanage. Kloe invites the three to stay with her as her guests at the Jenis Royal Academy. There, Estelle, Josh, and Kloe take the lead roles in the school play with a twist: gender switching the lead roles. Estelle and Kloe perform as the blue and red knight fighting to win the maiden's love (performed by Joshua). During their girls' night sleepover, Kloe asks about Estelle's feelings towards Joshua, which makes Estelle trip over her words. Kloe doesn't believe that Estelle says she has no feelings towards Joshua. That gives Estelle pause.
Julia Schwarz, who has kept a close eye on Kloe for many years, observed that after befriending Estelle and Joshua, Kloe has a spring in her step.
Agate Crosner[]
Agate Crosner is a powerful B ranking Bracer when Estelle and Joshua meet him. They call him a hot head for his quick temper, and he calls them wet behind the ears. Agate holds a grudge particularly against Cassius Bright because of their shared history.
Tita Russell[]
She becomes the Sky trilogy team's mascot because she is petite and adorable. She wields a cartoonishly large hand canon.
Zin Vathek[]
He is an A ranking Bracer who acts as an accomplished mentor to Estelle and Joshua. His experience is tremendous. He too has known Cassius Bright personally due to past collaborations (which are explored in subsequent stories). He invites Estelle and Joshua to compete alongside him in the Grancel Martial Arts Tournament. Olivier acts as the fourth member.
Anelace Elfead[]
Anelace Elfead and Estelle first met as competitors in the Grancel Martial Arts Tournament. She was a novice senior bracer (F rank), which was not much more advanced than Estelle and Joshua. She plays a role alongside her Bracer mentors in defending Liberl against the Palace coup.
Anelace and Estelle get to know each other much more during their months-long training in SC at the Bracer guild in Le Locle. Anelace is a disciple of Estelle's father's preferred school of swordsmanship: Eight Leaves One Blade. Anelace's grandfather taught Cassius Bright. When both complete their advanced Bracer training, Anelace confesses her true feelings towards Estelle: she wants very badly to be Estelle's Bracer rival. They'd motivate the other to excel in order to remain worthy rivals. Estelle accepts the offer.
Kevin Graham[]
He is a mysterious wandering priest who offers his services to anyone in need. He is as incorrigible a flirt as Olivier, even towards Estelle. This leads to a very bad first impression of each other. For Kevin Graham first meets Estelle when she is heartbroken and at her worst in SC. Thus, his flirting strikes Estelle as insensitive. He is immensely helpful and protective of Estelle and her friends when he is serious. He escorts Estelle all the way back to her cottage in Rolent even when she insists on traveling alone.
He puts on airs of flashiness and 'everything's fine!' which even Estelle cannot fully comprehend. His psychology is explored in depth during Trails the Third. His flippant behavior keeps Estelle and her friends at arm's distance. However, he is a powerful ally and contributes immensely during SC.
Allies[]
Alan Richard[]
Alan Richard's connection to Estelle Bright is that he was a subordinate to her father during the 100 Days War. He firsthand saw Cassius's tactical brilliance. Alan Richard is also Cassius's protege, in that Alan Richard took over Cassius's position in the army following Cassius's retirement, and also became a disciple of Cassius's preferred school of swordsmanship: the Eight Leaves One Blade school. By holding Cassius in such high regard, Alan Richard values meeting his children.
However, Alan Richard's relationship with Estelle and Joshua fluctuates as the series progresses. He acts as an antagonistic force during FC because he leads the black guard agents that Estelle and Joshua are investigating. He also leads the palace coup that tried to oust Queen Alicia and Princess Klaudia. His black guards pose constant threats to Estelle and Joshua throughout FC. One of Estelle and Joshua's many objectives is to figure out the purpose of the Black Agents, and who employs them. When the Palace coup fails, he ceases being a concern for Estelle and Joshua personally.
By Trails the Third, Alan Richard joins Father Kevin and Estelle (and friends) in the Garden of Recluse. He becomes an indispensable ally.
Toval Randonneur[]
He is the 'zero caster' Bracer who helps Estelle and Joshua not in any game specifically, but in the Trails in the Sky side adventure manga, Ring of Power. The manga adventure takes place after the events of Trails the Third. He is the contact that tells Estelle and Joshua that Renne is hiding in Crossbell.
Lloyd Bannings[]
The two meet during Estelle and Joshua's travels in Crossbell during Trails to Zero during a monster extermination mission. He is instrumental in helping Estelle and Joshua find Renne in the city.
Rean Schwarzer[]
It is hinted that Rean knows of Estelle and Joshua primarily through knowledge of their father, Cassius, because both Cassius and Rean are master practitioners of the Eight Leaves One Blade school of swordsmanship. The two officially meet during the climax of the second act of Trails to Cold Steel IV.
Enemies[]
Georg Weissmann[]
Georg Weissman acts as the main antagonist to Trails in the Sky SC. He himself is a very powerful and dangerous leader within the shadowy organization, the Orobouros. His title in this organization is Georg Weissman, Third Anguis, "the Faceless". This is a fitting sobriquet: he was omnipresent throughout FC, disguised inconspicuously and always trailing the protagonists. He orchestrated the events of FC and set the ground work for the events in SC. This effectively makes him like a puppet master. Yet, nobody remembers his face. By SC, his plans become unstoppable, which allows him to disregard his hidden identity, even to Estelle. He considers her a nuisance, a mere bug, who could not possibly be strong enough to stand in his way.
Leonhardt[]
Leonhardt is a mysterious and powerful special ops soldier clad in black armor whose motivations and background are mysterious to Estelle and Josh. Figuring out who employs him and for what purpose are one of the many objectives of Estelle and Josh. His very presence disturbs Joshua, which Estelle cannot figure out why until much too late in FC.
Estelle, Kloe, and Schera finally confront Leonhardt during the palace coup. Though he reveals his true identity, this leaves Estelle only with more questions than answers. He flees before any answers are given.
His true identity is revealed towards the end of FC. Leonhardt and Joshua share an important history that is explored more during SC. He remains as the secondary antagonist in SC, as Alan Weissmann's lieutenant.
His opinion of Estelle evolves over the course of FC and SC. She was a ditsy nuisance at first who did not deserve Joshua (given his background). His opinion evolves as he observes Estelle constantly meeting the challenges that he and the Orobouros were presenting to her. Surely, his Enforcers could easily beat her down, but none could wear her down; Estelle's grit and determination to see things through the end were commendable, even to Leonhardt. Her ability to organize and lead a team were developing quickly.
The two finally meet and discuss openly about themselves once Estelle is kidnapped onboard the society's flagship, the Courageous. One of the many subjects they discuss is being recruited into the Orobouros, much like he and Joshua (and Renne) once were years earlier. He thinks the Orobouros would be a terrible fit for Estelle, for, despite her personal hardships, her heart remains incorruptible. The other Enforcers have corrupted hearts, which is why they fit in well. Estelle takes this time to reaffirm to Loewe that she will find and rescue Joshua. For the most part, Loewe is pleased with their conversation.
Complicated[]
Renne Hayworth[]
This section describes Renne Hayworth's relationship with Estelle and Joshua broken up over multiple games over multiple arcs. It is advised to proceed reading with discretion.
Renne Hayworth first introduces herself to Estelle and her friends in SC as a lost and helpless girl searching for her parents. Despite how worried for Renne Estelle and the others are, Renne herself is playful, energetic, and blase about finding her parents. Thus, Renne passes her afternoon in search of her parents by tagging along with Estelle and her friends. While Estelle runs bracer errands, Tita offers to watch Renne. This leads to a girls' night sleepover with Estelle, Tita, Kloe, and Renne. Renne seems to genuinely enjoy this time together. Estelle opens up about her brother, and Renne attentively listens. Unbeknownst to Estelle, Renne already knows much of Joshua, due to their shared profession, which Joshua did prior to being a part of the Bright family. The following day, Renne leads the others on another wild goose chase to find her, which makes Estelle worry sick about her safety.
Much like "the faceless", Renne is actually the manipulator behind the troubles in Bose in SC. She sends Estelle on wild chases for her own amusement. When she finally introduces herself to Estelle and her crew as Renne, the Enforcer no. XV, "The Angel of Slaughter", she lords over Estelle how she had the ability to slaughter her and her friends (including Tita) at any moment she chose. Renne also blames Estelle for Joshua's abandonment. Though at first these words deflate Estelle, since Estelle understands the extent of the enemies' powers compared to her own, Estelle quickly recenters herself and berates Renne for relying on killing, maiming, or overpowering others to get whatever she wants in life. This is spoiled behavior. Surprisingly, this stern response confounds Renne. Due to her strength, Renne had never been denied anything from anyone, including those older. Thus, to hear from Estelle, who was still a minor level Bracer, that she should behave herself and stop being conceited was new. Renne is at first entertained by Estelle's speech, and offers to "not kill her yet", but Estelle declares that she's not done disciplining Renne. Renne flies away on her Pater-Mater. Pater-Mater acts as her make-believe parents that offer Renne whatever her little heart desires. That's no parent.
Halfway into SC, Estelle is abducted onboard the Orobouros's flagship, the Courageous. Renne is tasked with keeping an eye on Estelle as the ship's prisoner. She, along with the other enforces on board offer to recruit Estelle into the Orobouros, which Estelle flatly rejects. Loewe, whom Renne respects deeply, expected Estelle to reject the offer; her heart is too incorruptible. His opinion that Estelle is genuine deeply impresses Renne. This gives her more doubt about her own place within the Orobouros society. The rest of SC includes Estelle and Josh chasing Renne throughout Liberl. Renne becomes irritated, and then upset to see Estelle and Joshua. This indicates that power of influence has shifted away from Renne and into Estelle's and Joshua's hands. Estelle and Joshua believe that Renne's affiliation with the Orobouros is detrimental to Renne and that she is better off in their care (or with a proper family). Estelle and Joshua seem to touch a nerve with Renne (perhaps Renne sees how happy Joshua is alongside Estelle), but instead of confronting Estelle and Josh maturely, Renne reverts to her spoiled behavior of running away from her problems. This works insofar as only to distance herself physically from the two; Renne has already developed emotional baggage with Estelle and Joshua, and carries this with her. In other words, her time with Estelle had highlighted what was missing from her life, and what she thought Orobouros was providing: family and love.
In Trails the Third, Renne awakens in Estelle's arms in the Recluse Garden. Thinking this a dream, and a pleasant one, Renne squeezes tighter in Estelle's embrace. After realizing this is not a dream, and having demonstrated her deep feelings towards Estelle in front of witnesses, Renne reals back and reverts to her Angel of Slaughter character. It takes immense effort to calm Renne down from wanting to slaughter the whole squad in the Recluse Garden.
By the end of Trails the Third, having worked alongside Estelle and Joshua, Estelle and Joshua place Renne at another important crossroads: the two offer Renne to join the Bright family as their sister. This causes a flurry of complicated emotions in Renne. Said succinctly, their offer is too much for Renne to handle emotionally. Once again, she responds by running away. Presumably, through Joshua, Estelle learns of Renne's past in "Paradise". The player experiences these memories through Star Door 15. One of the many reasons Renne keeps running away is her guilt having experienced her childhood in Paradise. She's worried that Estelle couldn't possibly accept her as a family member after learning of her past. Estelle, to her credit, is not one easily dismayed by any such news.
By this point in Estelle's and Joshua's Bracer career, with a lull in activity in Liberl, the two dedicate their next efforts to finding and adopting Renne into their family. This brings the two to Crossbell City. Here, Renne seeks the services of the Rosenberg Dollhouse studio, because the engineer here can fix Renne's Pater-Mater. She avoids her birth family at all costs. Estelle and Joshua in cognito help the Hayworth family in hopes of uncovering Renne's past and whereabouts.
During the climax of Trails to Zero, Renne helps Estelle and Joshua and the SSS defeat the D:G cult for good. Renne is at this point so worn down from running away from Estelle and Joshua (who show no sign of letting up) that she caves and is finally caught by Estelle. She is now officially a part of the Bright household. The journey to get to this point is Renne's character arc. Her journey was not possible without Estelle showing kindness and sternness and genuine care from the very beginning.
Their relationship furthers even after joining the Bright family in CS IV. Estelle and Joshua, knowing her history of running away from emotional responsibilities, were hesitant to lose sight of her, even when she transferred to the Jenis Royal Academy as a student. They were worried she'd run away yet again. However, it seems that by CS IV, Renne has made so many substantial friends, and her inclusion in the Bright household gives her such a place in the world that she finally will settle down for good.
By Trails to Reverie, Renne has been a member of the Bright family for several months, but Renne's and Cassius's relationship remains distant.
Josette Capua[]
Their first interaction in FC went smoothly because Josette was playing a front as a polite and decent Jenis girl in order to persuade the mayor of Rolent to offer her funds. But then Estelle overheard Josette's comments back at her Capua sky pirates airship that she thought Estelle was too easy to fool, which angered Estelle to no end. Thus, the two had a confrontational relationship throughout FC. The beginning of FC is about hunting her down and bringing her to justice.
By the start of SC, Joshua had freed Josette and her sky pirates in order to use their services for his undercover missions. Despite Joshua's aloofness and iciness, Josette starts to grow affections towards him, which are not reciprocated.