OOC ⊗ Biography Part I ⊗ History
A rather long and mostly theoretical background history of the Tales of Vesperia character, Raven. I am crazy. And there are spoilers. And head canon theories. You have been warned.
RAVEN : GAME CANON BACKGROUND
In this section I delve basically all that Raven does within the game. Or at least the key aspects of it. This will include some spoilers and hints of his otherwise unknown history. 98% of this should be factual and canon as it is basically an overview of the game.
Raven first appears in the game rather in a jail cell. The scene involves him speaking to a guard about some happenings about the guilds. Seems innocent enough. Once the guard leaves, he then talks to Yuri. The conversation cuts short when Alexei and a guard come to Raven’s cell and tells him to come out and follow him. Yuri is a bit confused as to why the Commandant would want to talk with him, but he’s distracted by the oh so shiny key that Raven slips under Yuri’s cell to help him escape. The old man then tells Yuri about a secret passage underneath a statue and is escorted off after Alexei.
The next time Raven appears is in Capua Nor. When the party is trying to confront the Magistrate, he causes more of an annoyance for them than anything else. He goes up to the guards and directs them to the group that had been hiding, forcing a battle. But after that, he waits for them on the other side of the manor…just not for long. As they approach, he takes one of the lifts up and though the group tries to pursue, they end up taking the lift down. What Raven is doing in there is unknown and can only be theorized.
His third brief appearance is in Capua Torim after the group finally manages to make it over. It is during this time that Yuri learns about his search for apatheia, a term that won’t appear again until a while later. It’s also the reason why Raven was at the Magistrate’s manor. As soon as the rest of the group shows up, though, the old man is off and running. (Well with Rita gunning for him, it’s only understandable.)
Raven then later joins the party in Kiev Moc (he is actually seen on the rooftop as the group is leaving saying to himself, “Kiev Moc, huh? How convenient…”), again giving off the philosophical, annoying, mysterious vibe and helps them go through the forest to the Aer Krene that they are sent out to investigate. It’s here that he also reveals Karol’s fear of bugs, though he somewhat tries to help the tyke by making him confront the bug monsters himself and showing he can do it. Once they reach the Aer Krene, they meet with a long, white haired man that Raven identifies as Sephiroth Duke. They witness him use a sword called Dein Nomos control and basically fix the aer that had gone out of control.
Afterward, when they return to the entrance of Kiev Moc, they find a hoard of monsters stampeding toward them. When it all clears, however, they find themselves in the presence of the Don himself (one of the people that Yuri has wanted to talk with). It is here that they learn that Raven is actually part of the guild, Altosk, one of the head guilds of the Union and led by the Don, the leader of the guilds. It was the Don who had assigned Raven to look after them, and it will be the Don again who sends Raven out on a messenger mission which coincidentally (or not) reunites him back with the group while travelling. During their travel, they learn that Raven’s recipient, Belius, leader of the Palastralle guild and the city of Nordopolica, is actually an Entelexeia, and they learn a little more about them as well as how they turn into cyano ciel crystals, also known as apatheia. From there, he continues on with their travels, and along the way the group begins to learn a little bit of Raven’s history.
For starts, when they first visit Mt. Temza, he already tells them how it was the main battlefield during the Great War. And a little further in, it is then revealed that he had least served in the knights. Not too strange, but surprising. He doesn’t offer more than that, however, and instead steers them forward, dodging any questions they threw at him.
While he is always there to help them (on the excuse he has nothing else to do and it’s along his agenda), Yuri notices that there is still some distance between him and all of them. At Egothor Forest, on their way to Myorzo, Raven does say something along the lines of questioning the notion of conviction and loyalty, and how being a dead man can change that. It puzzles Yuri for a moment, but there were more pressing matters to attend to. Like not getting blasted by the Hoplon Blastia Canon that was gunning for them and the various knights that littered the place.
But that question of loyalty will be come to light after they reach the Krytian city of Myorzo (which is also inside a giant jellyfish looking Entelexeia that flies around the world) and learn more about the Entelexeia, blastia, and the entity called the Adephagos. After the talk, both Raven and Estelle, who had earlier learned she is the “Child of the Full Moon” and whose power could actually destroy the world, disappear. Yes, Raven took Estelle. He had brought with him a blastia core from the outside that would activate one of the pods, so this was obviously pre-planned and took Estelle to…
[A BIG SUPER SPOILER WARNING FOR RAVEN HIMSELF]
…the Commandant Alexei himself, though the group does not realize this yet.
The next time the group sees Raven it is at the Shrine of Baction. And it’s not Raven who they meet first. It’s the First Captain of the Imperial Knights, leader of the Schwann Brigade himself: Schwann Oltorain. Repede is the first to recognize him as their old friend Raven and during the battle, he continually says that Raven is no longer here, but that they are facing Schwann. But after the battle, he proves that he really does not want to kill them. Rather, he wants them to kill him as show when he and Yuri do one last duel with Schwann basically letting Yuri slash at his chest.
Of course it doesn’t kill him, as much as Schwann had hoped. Instead, the group discovers why Raven always called himself a dead man. In place of where his heart should be, glowed a crimson red blastia core. As opposed to the usual cores, this one was powered by his life force. But why does Schwann have this?
Schwann had fought in the Great War ten years ago and had actually been killed in battle. However, Alexei literally replaced his heart with the blastia core. Due to the fact that Alexei could disable the core and basically terminate his life (again), Schwann had been working under Alexei and acted as a spy. This is when Raven was born. However, Raven acted as a double agent. Not only did he spy on the guilds for the Alexei, he also told the Don what was going on with the Knights. It’s clear why he was working for Alexei, but not so much for why he worked for the Don. There is one thing that the two had in common: Estelle. Both knew that there was something about her, just did not know what. A more detailed theory about this will be written in a different section as it’s a bit theoretical.
After explaining about his little heart condition, they hear an explosion and turn to see that the door had caved in, followed by ominous rumbling. Schwann tells them that Alexei planned to bury them inside. Now that he had done his job, there was no use for Schwann in Alexei’s eyes, and as he longed for his own death, Schwann just sat down, accepted his fate. Of course Yuri wouldn’t have none of that and after a bit of scolding makes Schwann stand and help them out. With one last shot he clears the rubble from the door. Unfortunately, the ceiling was starting to cave in and when a large piece falls, Schwann catches it and uses his own life force to help strengthen himself to hold up the ceiling. Though the others are hesitant to leave, he orders them to go and with Yuri to help force them on, they all make it out.
Just before the roof completely caves in, he says “It’s all up to you now,” and that is the last they see of him…
…Or not.
Surprise, surprise, they just can’t seem to get rid of that old man. When the group arrives into Heracles, they meet the one and only Raven the Great…followed by the Schwann Brigade. At first the group is a bit leery (and shocked to see him alive), but when Raven tosses Yuri his short dagger and tells him that he can decide what to do with him, Yuri decides that his life would belong to Brave Vesperia and that he was not allowed to die. Which was Yuri’s way of saying “We’re still sore about what you did, but we understand that you had no choice and redeemed yourself in the end. So you’re joining us now. Welcome back, old man.” Of course Yuri probably would never this but it’s nice to pretend. Also, everyone gave him a good punch/kick/slam to the wall (that would be Rita) as punishment.
How the hell did that old man come back from the grave…again? Well upon leaving Baction, the group had encountered the Schwann Brigade and told them what happened to Schwann. Of course, they would never leave their Captain to such a fate and probably hightailed it down there (and since they seem to have incredible running speed, it probably did not take them as long as it took the group to make it through the shrine) and dug him out of the rubble. It’s quite possible that the ceiling didn’t crush him if the pieces fell in a certain way. And how they managed to pretty much patch up Schwann and beat the group to the Hercales is again due to the Schwann Brigade and their swift traveling powers.
[/END RAVEN SPOILER]
Since then, Raven has been helping the group and has become closer to them than before, ready to atone for his mistakes as well as to live his own life. Nothing truly Raven-centric happens. From here on out, the group continues their journey to save Estelle. Once they do, they must go to Zaude, where they encounter Yeager (and in battle Raven mentions that the two were just destined to fight each other; theories on that in another section) and then later must battle Alexei himself.
Unfortunately Alexei still manages to unleash the Adephagos (quite unintentional, but that’s what happens to power hungry corrupted bastards) so now there’s a new problem the group has to solve. With Rita’s genius they do manage to find a way and much travelling and helping others and fighting and ridiculous tower climbing later, they encounter the final boss and vanquish the Adephagos. Note: The group never actually fights the Adephagos but instead blasts it with the power from every single blastia core in existence.
Except for Raven’s. His is special since it’s powered by his life force rather than aer. …It would have sucked otherwise.
Afterward, as suggested by the credits, Raven continues to help out rebuild the Union as well as help with the Knights. The Schwann Brigade really does not want to let him go. I mean really. However, he had left the Knights after Schwann’s “death” back in Baction. But he’s still seen either helping or actually leading his old brigade. So it’s quite possible he “joined” back in since he is the only veteran and senior officer with actual experience that could help Flynn in regards to leading the Imperial Knights.
SIDEQUEST: CASEY
Some more back story is revealed about Raven through a major sidequest for him as well as from general title/arte sidequests. One important one deals with a love interest of his past, Casey. Not much is known on how they met or what exactly happened, but what we do know was that back before the war, Schwann had some sort of relations with Casey. It’s later learned that Yeager was also interested in her.
The first mentioning of Casey, or at least the person, is when they acquire Fire Lillies from Ehmead Hill. Raven mentions how they were a friend’s favorite flower and he wanted to give them to them later. At Mt. Temza, Raven will throw them out over the barren where the Great War had been fought. It is then made apparent that the friend Raven had talked about was dead and somewhere buried amongst the rubble along with the many soldiers who had fought and lost their lives. Not too long after and before they turn to go, something falls from the sky and Raven is in disbelief. And he has every right to be so. What fell was Casey’s favorite compact, and this is how they learn that the friend was a girl. The final part of the quest brings them back to Zaude where they fight Gauche and Droite. After the battle, the compact slips out from Raven’s person and the two demand to have it, claiming that Yeager had been looking all over it. Though surprised and hesitant at first, Raven hands it over and receives a lovely bow in return. In fact it was Casey’s bow, the Divine Cannon.
Thus the love triangle between Raven, Casey, and Yeager is established and the questions of how Yeager could have met Casey and his own mysterious past are born. Theory on that later. Also, Raven doesn’t tell the group much about what actually happened in that particular part of his past. He does sound a bit bitter about it, but it would be a painful subject no matter. He’s alive but she’s buried somewhere under that sea of rock and sand when by all rights he should be dead as well. Least that’s how I see it. Again, more on that later.
SCHWANN: THEORIES AND IMPRESSIONS
In this section, there is a lot of head canon and theories on my impression of Raven’s past as Schwann. Unless specifically stated in reference to the game, most of this will be of my own design and do not claim it to be accurate. This is just how I see how his life as Schwann could have been possible from what I can glean from the game as well as just logical sense. There is still a lot of gray area that I do not dare try to fill in, but will give some possibilities.
WHAT IS KNOWN
Not much. Really. The only thing the game gives us is the fact that Raven’s real identity is Schwann Oltorain, First Captain of the Imperial Knights who served under the Commandant Alexei. He has his own Brigade, with Lt. LeBlanc and Privates Adecor and Boccos, and tends to not show himself. With good reason.
Schwann actually first appears in Caer Bocram when the group is apprehended by first Cumore and then the Schwann Brigade, who take control. You just see a pan up shot from behind (and it makes me squee every time, I won’t deny it.) but that’s definitely Schwann.
The second and last time Schwann appears before the group faces him in Baction is in Heliord. The first is a very, very small glimpse. After the aftermath of the Barrier Blastia going berserk, there is a clip of him watching from one of the towers. It’s only about two seconds. The third and final time is after the group leaves for Dahngrest. He walks out from behind the fountain and Alexei tells him that he has a job to do. After that, the only time the group is reminded of Schwann is due to his brigade tailing them.
One last hint that Raven is Schwann is in the Weasand of Cados when the group is confronted by the Schwann Brigade. Raven steps forward and yells with great authority, “ATTENTION!” and the three Knights stand at attention. While the group puzzles about this, Raven reminds them that they shouldn’t be sticking around and so the issue is dropped and forgotten.
Some other known facts about the mysterious captain is that he is a veteran of the Great War and is basically next in line to be Commandant. He is also well respected and is known to be kind and fair to his knights. His brigade is probably the most loyal out of all of them, and not just blind loyalty. They look up to him and are pretty torn when he leaves them. In fact, despite the fact that Schwann, or Raven at this point, left the Knights, they still consider him as their captain and continue to call themselves the Schwann Brigade.
It is hinted that LeBlanc would probably take over during the title question for his Imperial Knights Costume, but…my opinion is that LeBlanc would wind up going to Raven for advice and causing more trouble for Flynn and Raven would be thus be pulled back into service somehow. Raven also feels bad for leaving his Brigade, saying that Schwann was the one who brought them into this mess and that he should help them out of it.
After the incident in Baction, Raven declares Schwann as dead and only goes by Raven. Of course his Brigade still gives him high respect (Captain Raven instead. Just keep at Raven). However, his past life as a Captain will never leave him, as suggested in the end credits and has already been discussed in the previous section. (More theory on this later)
NOBLE OR COMMONER?
Here are my thoughts and opinions in regard to this question because he really could swing either way.
At a glance at Raven, one would assume he grew up on the streets of Dahngrest or the Lower Quarter of Zaphias. At any rate, no way could this fishy old man be part of a noble family, right?
Raven wouldn’t be…but Schwann Oltorain is a different story. Just look at the name. SCHWANN. It screams noble.
Also, while it is not uncommon for there to be knights born from the Lower Quarter, it is more likely for them to be of noble birth. The prestige, family heritage, legacy, all of that plus the honor and title of being a knight is enough to have families send their kids in. Personally, this is where I would place Schwann, but I also place him as from a low noble status rather than somewhere higher up. Though not as loose, he’s still not as uppity as all other nobles. It would also allow him to actually work up the ranks than through corruption and money.
Another reason why I would think he would not be of the Lower Quarter is because it seems that those of the Lower Quarter would mention in some fashion, particularly in regards to Flynn and Yuri being in the knights. Whether or not they like the guy or not, there would be something in comparison, especially since he is a First Captain and his brigade is there a lot. Even something along the lines of “He used to be one of us, now he has knights chasing his old family, sigh.” Well maybe not as harsh but something like that.
However, what makes me also think that could be of common birth is what Cumore states back at Caer Bocram. When the Schwann Brigade arrive as he is trying to seize the group and take charge, he complains about both Flynn and Schwann as being upstart commoners. So I settle this by going with low noble. Cumore is of the kind who would group low nobles akin to commoners. At any rate, Schwann did not come from a high class family in my opinion.
Also, it is debatable if he was also an orphan before joining the knights, which would also affect his status. At any rate, he certainly doesn’t mention his family and there is nothing known about it. As all the characters are orphans, I really would not be surprised if Schwann was one as well and that was another reason why he joined the knights. Or, they died while he was in service, but that’s a toss up into the air. I will believe, however, that his parents died, either before or during his service as a knight.
COMMONER: PUBLIC QUARTER & REASONS FOR ENLISTING
There is a third option for Schwann, which I belatedly thought of. The Public Quarter. That would basically put him in the middle class. He could still have the street-smarts which would provide the experience necessary for becoming a double agent into Dahngrest as well as enough manners to meld into that of the Knights.
I tend to forget that the Public Quarter is more than just where the shops are, and when one thinks of “commoner” they automatically think Lower Quarter. Therefore, I renounce all my earlier theories of him being a low noble and will treat Raven as if he had come from the Public Quarter. Whether or not he was orphaned is something that can be debated. It could be believed that orphans would be sent to the Lower Quarter, however it is possible that if Schwann’s parents did die, he could have joined the Knights because of that. Perhaps they went outside the barrier and were killed. That would be a good enough drive for Schwann to join the Knights. Whether it’s for vengeance or just not wanting it to happen again, again that’s a toss up.
Another possible reason for him to join the Knights is that he knew either Yeager or Alexei. This would be making Yeager a Knight, of course, but at this point, it really seems more and more likely that yes Yeager had to have been in the Knights. It would make all of Alexei’s future actions have a lot more sense and make the connections between all of them less confusing, particularly between Schwann and Casey. At any rate, Schwann could have known either and that could have been another reason for him to join. Schwann would be at most ten year younger than Alexei and could have seen him as a role model. However, this could also be established after Schwann enlists into the Knights. It depends on how one wants to closely associate Schwann with Alexei.
I am more to be less inclined to believe that Yeager and Schwann were friends. If they had been, Raven seriously put in a great distance between the two and he acts like Yeager was more of an acquaintance than an actual friend. There is no real “hatred” that is felt between the two, or so I believe. The only real interaction we see from them is when Raven confronts Yeager about the Don and then during the battle. However, whenever Raven does speak about Yeager, there is more of a friendlier respect as one would give to any other person they know, but not closely related.
RP CHILDHOOD
For Somarium, I’ve already screwed up and went ahead and went with the “low noble” idea. I also extremely screwed up and forgot about the age difference between Schwann and Alexei. Somehow, Alexei was already Commandant at the age of 25. OOPS. I…have no idea how to easily remedy this and am repeatedly kicking myself for not catching this. Apparently no one else caught it either. I wrote this huge essay report after the event. And am seriously regretting I did not plan/explore this better.
IF I can, I will probably pretty much redo the whole childhood thing. Put him as Public Quarter commoner as I should have done and in terms of Alexei, he should be either a Captain or Lieutenant. Oh what a lovely mess I have made.
For the future, however, I will stick with this. If we somehow learn through the manga about Schwann’s past and it’s proven otherwise. Well. Shit (pardon the French). Really I should just not cause myself headaches, but as there are certain characters who would just love to probe into his past, as well as the dream contents, having something like this established is necessary.
PRE-WAR: SERVICES AND RELATIONSHIPS
For Alexei to have given Schwann a second chance at life, the two must have been close in some way or another. I believe that Schwann probably served under Alexei and at the time of the war was either a Lieutenant or a lower ranked Captain. He must have also been an excellent knight like Flynn for Alexei to have an eye on him. It is known that Schwann is an excellent swordsman, both from being a boss battle (even if he did technically go easy on them) and his own admission that he had once dueled Alexei in the past and said that even “he” only lasted a few seconds. Course, that could be Raven just boosting his ego as no other names have been mentioned with great importance, it could be assumed that Schwann was one of the stronger captains.
This would also be the time that he meets Casey. How and when is up in the air. Either during training or maybe she was a new recruit and he was her superior, or vice versa, it’s unknown. I vote for them being of the same rank though not necessarily the same brigade/company. I also do not think they really established a relationship from what I get from the sidequest. I know that they were at least friends, but in an actual relationship is a different story. I think Schwann may have tried pursuing her or was in the process of taking it to the next step. I’m sure they were close and had some affections for each other but it just never went all the way.
And then there is Yeager. As stated in a previous paragraph, the possibility of Yeager being in the Knights is rather high and I am now more inclined to believe that yes, Yeager used to be in the Knights. Whether or not he was in the same company as Raven is a different story. It is not known who the other Captains were and I am going to assume that many of them actually died. Again, as stated before, there does not seem to be a really close relationship between Raven and Yeager whenever they interact. It seems more like the kind one would have with a known acquaintance, but not one to have known for years. Also, while it’s not stated, Yeager seems to be younger than Raven. Though that could be because Raven just makes himself seem older. Either way, I don’t think Raven knew much, if anything, about Yeager before the War and before entering Altosk.
I…also want to say that Raven did not know Yeager and Casey were in some sort of relationship. Only due to his surprise when he learned that Yeager had been searching for Casey’s compact from Gauche and Droite. Or maybe he did and sympathized with him. I’m not sure, I can see a lot of avenues this could take. It’s a tough call.
POST-WAR
After the war Schwann basically served under Alexei’s orders and did not really see his life as much of anything. He was sent to spy on the Guilds under the new identity of Raven, and in turn he also spied on the Knights for the Don.
However, I personally believe that Raven enjoyed his life with the Don and Altosk a hell lot more than he did back at the Knights. Though still being used, there is more of a relaxed and closer relationship between Raven and the Don. And it is obvious that he cared a lot more about the Don’s death than he did about Alexei, and worried about the Union than the Knights.
As Schwann he is the strict, firm leader, always following orders without much question. He of course knew Alexei had not always been as corrupted, but as the years went by it was more like he had little choice. There’s also the fact that Alexei could kill him at any moment’s notice and the only reason why he didn’t is because Schwann was a tool and useful to him.
As Raven he is more relaxed, fun, loose…just like the atmosphere of the guilds themselves. If he had to choose, he would certainly stick with the guilds. It’s basically his dream life, the life he wish he could live, especially after everything he’s been through.
RAVEN : GAME CANON BACKGROUND
In this section I delve basically all that Raven does within the game. Or at least the key aspects of it. This will include some spoilers and hints of his otherwise unknown history. 98% of this should be factual and canon as it is basically an overview of the game.
Raven first appears in the game rather in a jail cell. The scene involves him speaking to a guard about some happenings about the guilds. Seems innocent enough. Once the guard leaves, he then talks to Yuri. The conversation cuts short when Alexei and a guard come to Raven’s cell and tells him to come out and follow him. Yuri is a bit confused as to why the Commandant would want to talk with him, but he’s distracted by the oh so shiny key that Raven slips under Yuri’s cell to help him escape. The old man then tells Yuri about a secret passage underneath a statue and is escorted off after Alexei.
The next time Raven appears is in Capua Nor. When the party is trying to confront the Magistrate, he causes more of an annoyance for them than anything else. He goes up to the guards and directs them to the group that had been hiding, forcing a battle. But after that, he waits for them on the other side of the manor…just not for long. As they approach, he takes one of the lifts up and though the group tries to pursue, they end up taking the lift down. What Raven is doing in there is unknown and can only be theorized.
His third brief appearance is in Capua Torim after the group finally manages to make it over. It is during this time that Yuri learns about his search for apatheia, a term that won’t appear again until a while later. It’s also the reason why Raven was at the Magistrate’s manor. As soon as the rest of the group shows up, though, the old man is off and running. (Well with Rita gunning for him, it’s only understandable.)
Raven then later joins the party in Kiev Moc (he is actually seen on the rooftop as the group is leaving saying to himself, “Kiev Moc, huh? How convenient…”), again giving off the philosophical, annoying, mysterious vibe and helps them go through the forest to the Aer Krene that they are sent out to investigate. It’s here that he also reveals Karol’s fear of bugs, though he somewhat tries to help the tyke by making him confront the bug monsters himself and showing he can do it. Once they reach the Aer Krene, they meet with a long, white haired man that Raven identifies as Sephiroth Duke. They witness him use a sword called Dein Nomos control and basically fix the aer that had gone out of control.
Afterward, when they return to the entrance of Kiev Moc, they find a hoard of monsters stampeding toward them. When it all clears, however, they find themselves in the presence of the Don himself (one of the people that Yuri has wanted to talk with). It is here that they learn that Raven is actually part of the guild, Altosk, one of the head guilds of the Union and led by the Don, the leader of the guilds. It was the Don who had assigned Raven to look after them, and it will be the Don again who sends Raven out on a messenger mission which coincidentally (or not) reunites him back with the group while travelling. During their travel, they learn that Raven’s recipient, Belius, leader of the Palastralle guild and the city of Nordopolica, is actually an Entelexeia, and they learn a little more about them as well as how they turn into cyano ciel crystals, also known as apatheia. From there, he continues on with their travels, and along the way the group begins to learn a little bit of Raven’s history.
For starts, when they first visit Mt. Temza, he already tells them how it was the main battlefield during the Great War. And a little further in, it is then revealed that he had least served in the knights. Not too strange, but surprising. He doesn’t offer more than that, however, and instead steers them forward, dodging any questions they threw at him.
While he is always there to help them (on the excuse he has nothing else to do and it’s along his agenda), Yuri notices that there is still some distance between him and all of them. At Egothor Forest, on their way to Myorzo, Raven does say something along the lines of questioning the notion of conviction and loyalty, and how being a dead man can change that. It puzzles Yuri for a moment, but there were more pressing matters to attend to. Like not getting blasted by the Hoplon Blastia Canon that was gunning for them and the various knights that littered the place.
But that question of loyalty will be come to light after they reach the Krytian city of Myorzo (which is also inside a giant jellyfish looking Entelexeia that flies around the world) and learn more about the Entelexeia, blastia, and the entity called the Adephagos. After the talk, both Raven and Estelle, who had earlier learned she is the “Child of the Full Moon” and whose power could actually destroy the world, disappear. Yes, Raven took Estelle. He had brought with him a blastia core from the outside that would activate one of the pods, so this was obviously pre-planned and took Estelle to…
[A BIG SUPER SPOILER WARNING FOR RAVEN HIMSELF]
…the Commandant Alexei himself, though the group does not realize this yet.
The next time the group sees Raven it is at the Shrine of Baction. And it’s not Raven who they meet first. It’s the First Captain of the Imperial Knights, leader of the Schwann Brigade himself: Schwann Oltorain. Repede is the first to recognize him as their old friend Raven and during the battle, he continually says that Raven is no longer here, but that they are facing Schwann. But after the battle, he proves that he really does not want to kill them. Rather, he wants them to kill him as show when he and Yuri do one last duel with Schwann basically letting Yuri slash at his chest.
Of course it doesn’t kill him, as much as Schwann had hoped. Instead, the group discovers why Raven always called himself a dead man. In place of where his heart should be, glowed a crimson red blastia core. As opposed to the usual cores, this one was powered by his life force. But why does Schwann have this?
Schwann had fought in the Great War ten years ago and had actually been killed in battle. However, Alexei literally replaced his heart with the blastia core. Due to the fact that Alexei could disable the core and basically terminate his life (again), Schwann had been working under Alexei and acted as a spy. This is when Raven was born. However, Raven acted as a double agent. Not only did he spy on the guilds for the Alexei, he also told the Don what was going on with the Knights. It’s clear why he was working for Alexei, but not so much for why he worked for the Don. There is one thing that the two had in common: Estelle. Both knew that there was something about her, just did not know what. A more detailed theory about this will be written in a different section as it’s a bit theoretical.
After explaining about his little heart condition, they hear an explosion and turn to see that the door had caved in, followed by ominous rumbling. Schwann tells them that Alexei planned to bury them inside. Now that he had done his job, there was no use for Schwann in Alexei’s eyes, and as he longed for his own death, Schwann just sat down, accepted his fate. Of course Yuri wouldn’t have none of that and after a bit of scolding makes Schwann stand and help them out. With one last shot he clears the rubble from the door. Unfortunately, the ceiling was starting to cave in and when a large piece falls, Schwann catches it and uses his own life force to help strengthen himself to hold up the ceiling. Though the others are hesitant to leave, he orders them to go and with Yuri to help force them on, they all make it out.
Just before the roof completely caves in, he says “It’s all up to you now,” and that is the last they see of him…
…Or not.
Surprise, surprise, they just can’t seem to get rid of that old man. When the group arrives into Heracles, they meet the one and only Raven the Great…followed by the Schwann Brigade. At first the group is a bit leery (and shocked to see him alive), but when Raven tosses Yuri his short dagger and tells him that he can decide what to do with him, Yuri decides that his life would belong to Brave Vesperia and that he was not allowed to die. Which was Yuri’s way of saying “We’re still sore about what you did, but we understand that you had no choice and redeemed yourself in the end. So you’re joining us now. Welcome back, old man.” Of course Yuri probably would never this but it’s nice to pretend. Also, everyone gave him a good punch/kick/slam to the wall (that would be Rita) as punishment.
How the hell did that old man come back from the grave…again? Well upon leaving Baction, the group had encountered the Schwann Brigade and told them what happened to Schwann. Of course, they would never leave their Captain to such a fate and probably hightailed it down there (and since they seem to have incredible running speed, it probably did not take them as long as it took the group to make it through the shrine) and dug him out of the rubble. It’s quite possible that the ceiling didn’t crush him if the pieces fell in a certain way. And how they managed to pretty much patch up Schwann and beat the group to the Hercales is again due to the Schwann Brigade and their swift traveling powers.
[/END RAVEN SPOILER]
Since then, Raven has been helping the group and has become closer to them than before, ready to atone for his mistakes as well as to live his own life. Nothing truly Raven-centric happens. From here on out, the group continues their journey to save Estelle. Once they do, they must go to Zaude, where they encounter Yeager (and in battle Raven mentions that the two were just destined to fight each other; theories on that in another section) and then later must battle Alexei himself.
Unfortunately Alexei still manages to unleash the Adephagos (quite unintentional, but that’s what happens to power hungry corrupted bastards) so now there’s a new problem the group has to solve. With Rita’s genius they do manage to find a way and much travelling and helping others and fighting and ridiculous tower climbing later, they encounter the final boss and vanquish the Adephagos. Note: The group never actually fights the Adephagos but instead blasts it with the power from every single blastia core in existence.
Except for Raven’s. His is special since it’s powered by his life force rather than aer. …It would have sucked otherwise.
Afterward, as suggested by the credits, Raven continues to help out rebuild the Union as well as help with the Knights. The Schwann Brigade really does not want to let him go. I mean really. However, he had left the Knights after Schwann’s “death” back in Baction. But he’s still seen either helping or actually leading his old brigade. So it’s quite possible he “joined” back in since he is the only veteran and senior officer with actual experience that could help Flynn in regards to leading the Imperial Knights.
SIDEQUEST: CASEY
Some more back story is revealed about Raven through a major sidequest for him as well as from general title/arte sidequests. One important one deals with a love interest of his past, Casey. Not much is known on how they met or what exactly happened, but what we do know was that back before the war, Schwann had some sort of relations with Casey. It’s later learned that Yeager was also interested in her.
The first mentioning of Casey, or at least the person, is when they acquire Fire Lillies from Ehmead Hill. Raven mentions how they were a friend’s favorite flower and he wanted to give them to them later. At Mt. Temza, Raven will throw them out over the barren where the Great War had been fought. It is then made apparent that the friend Raven had talked about was dead and somewhere buried amongst the rubble along with the many soldiers who had fought and lost their lives. Not too long after and before they turn to go, something falls from the sky and Raven is in disbelief. And he has every right to be so. What fell was Casey’s favorite compact, and this is how they learn that the friend was a girl. The final part of the quest brings them back to Zaude where they fight Gauche and Droite. After the battle, the compact slips out from Raven’s person and the two demand to have it, claiming that Yeager had been looking all over it. Though surprised and hesitant at first, Raven hands it over and receives a lovely bow in return. In fact it was Casey’s bow, the Divine Cannon.
Thus the love triangle between Raven, Casey, and Yeager is established and the questions of how Yeager could have met Casey and his own mysterious past are born. Theory on that later. Also, Raven doesn’t tell the group much about what actually happened in that particular part of his past. He does sound a bit bitter about it, but it would be a painful subject no matter. He’s alive but she’s buried somewhere under that sea of rock and sand when by all rights he should be dead as well. Least that’s how I see it. Again, more on that later.
SCHWANN: THEORIES AND IMPRESSIONS
In this section, there is a lot of head canon and theories on my impression of Raven’s past as Schwann. Unless specifically stated in reference to the game, most of this will be of my own design and do not claim it to be accurate. This is just how I see how his life as Schwann could have been possible from what I can glean from the game as well as just logical sense. There is still a lot of gray area that I do not dare try to fill in, but will give some possibilities.
WHAT IS KNOWN
Not much. Really. The only thing the game gives us is the fact that Raven’s real identity is Schwann Oltorain, First Captain of the Imperial Knights who served under the Commandant Alexei. He has his own Brigade, with Lt. LeBlanc and Privates Adecor and Boccos, and tends to not show himself. With good reason.
Schwann actually first appears in Caer Bocram when the group is apprehended by first Cumore and then the Schwann Brigade, who take control. You just see a pan up shot from behind (and it makes me squee every time, I won’t deny it.) but that’s definitely Schwann.
The second and last time Schwann appears before the group faces him in Baction is in Heliord. The first is a very, very small glimpse. After the aftermath of the Barrier Blastia going berserk, there is a clip of him watching from one of the towers. It’s only about two seconds. The third and final time is after the group leaves for Dahngrest. He walks out from behind the fountain and Alexei tells him that he has a job to do. After that, the only time the group is reminded of Schwann is due to his brigade tailing them.
One last hint that Raven is Schwann is in the Weasand of Cados when the group is confronted by the Schwann Brigade. Raven steps forward and yells with great authority, “ATTENTION!” and the three Knights stand at attention. While the group puzzles about this, Raven reminds them that they shouldn’t be sticking around and so the issue is dropped and forgotten.
Some other known facts about the mysterious captain is that he is a veteran of the Great War and is basically next in line to be Commandant. He is also well respected and is known to be kind and fair to his knights. His brigade is probably the most loyal out of all of them, and not just blind loyalty. They look up to him and are pretty torn when he leaves them. In fact, despite the fact that Schwann, or Raven at this point, left the Knights, they still consider him as their captain and continue to call themselves the Schwann Brigade.
It is hinted that LeBlanc would probably take over during the title question for his Imperial Knights Costume, but…my opinion is that LeBlanc would wind up going to Raven for advice and causing more trouble for Flynn and Raven would be thus be pulled back into service somehow. Raven also feels bad for leaving his Brigade, saying that Schwann was the one who brought them into this mess and that he should help them out of it.
After the incident in Baction, Raven declares Schwann as dead and only goes by Raven. Of course his Brigade still gives him high respect (Captain Raven instead. Just keep at Raven). However, his past life as a Captain will never leave him, as suggested in the end credits and has already been discussed in the previous section. (More theory on this later)
NOBLE OR COMMONER?
Here are my thoughts and opinions in regard to this question because he really could swing either way.
At a glance at Raven, one would assume he grew up on the streets of Dahngrest or the Lower Quarter of Zaphias. At any rate, no way could this fishy old man be part of a noble family, right?
Raven wouldn’t be…but Schwann Oltorain is a different story. Just look at the name. SCHWANN. It screams noble.
Also, while it is not uncommon for there to be knights born from the Lower Quarter, it is more likely for them to be of noble birth. The prestige, family heritage, legacy, all of that plus the honor and title of being a knight is enough to have families send their kids in. Personally, this is where I would place Schwann, but I also place him as from a low noble status rather than somewhere higher up. Though not as loose, he’s still not as uppity as all other nobles. It would also allow him to actually work up the ranks than through corruption and money.
Another reason why I would think he would not be of the Lower Quarter is because it seems that those of the Lower Quarter would mention in some fashion, particularly in regards to Flynn and Yuri being in the knights. Whether or not they like the guy or not, there would be something in comparison, especially since he is a First Captain and his brigade is there a lot. Even something along the lines of “He used to be one of us, now he has knights chasing his old family, sigh.” Well maybe not as harsh but something like that.
However, what makes me also think that could be of common birth is what Cumore states back at Caer Bocram. When the Schwann Brigade arrive as he is trying to seize the group and take charge, he complains about both Flynn and Schwann as being upstart commoners. So I settle this by going with low noble. Cumore is of the kind who would group low nobles akin to commoners. At any rate, Schwann did not come from a high class family in my opinion.
Also, it is debatable if he was also an orphan before joining the knights, which would also affect his status. At any rate, he certainly doesn’t mention his family and there is nothing known about it. As all the characters are orphans, I really would not be surprised if Schwann was one as well and that was another reason why he joined the knights. Or, they died while he was in service, but that’s a toss up into the air. I will believe, however, that his parents died, either before or during his service as a knight.
COMMONER: PUBLIC QUARTER & REASONS FOR ENLISTING
There is a third option for Schwann, which I belatedly thought of. The Public Quarter. That would basically put him in the middle class. He could still have the street-smarts which would provide the experience necessary for becoming a double agent into Dahngrest as well as enough manners to meld into that of the Knights.
I tend to forget that the Public Quarter is more than just where the shops are, and when one thinks of “commoner” they automatically think Lower Quarter. Therefore, I renounce all my earlier theories of him being a low noble and will treat Raven as if he had come from the Public Quarter. Whether or not he was orphaned is something that can be debated. It could be believed that orphans would be sent to the Lower Quarter, however it is possible that if Schwann’s parents did die, he could have joined the Knights because of that. Perhaps they went outside the barrier and were killed. That would be a good enough drive for Schwann to join the Knights. Whether it’s for vengeance or just not wanting it to happen again, again that’s a toss up.
Another possible reason for him to join the Knights is that he knew either Yeager or Alexei. This would be making Yeager a Knight, of course, but at this point, it really seems more and more likely that yes Yeager had to have been in the Knights. It would make all of Alexei’s future actions have a lot more sense and make the connections between all of them less confusing, particularly between Schwann and Casey. At any rate, Schwann could have known either and that could have been another reason for him to join. Schwann would be at most ten year younger than Alexei and could have seen him as a role model. However, this could also be established after Schwann enlists into the Knights. It depends on how one wants to closely associate Schwann with Alexei.
I am more to be less inclined to believe that Yeager and Schwann were friends. If they had been, Raven seriously put in a great distance between the two and he acts like Yeager was more of an acquaintance than an actual friend. There is no real “hatred” that is felt between the two, or so I believe. The only real interaction we see from them is when Raven confronts Yeager about the Don and then during the battle. However, whenever Raven does speak about Yeager, there is more of a friendlier respect as one would give to any other person they know, but not closely related.
RP CHILDHOOD
For Somarium, I’ve already screwed up and went ahead and went with the “low noble” idea. I also extremely screwed up and forgot about the age difference between Schwann and Alexei. Somehow, Alexei was already Commandant at the age of 25. OOPS. I…have no idea how to easily remedy this and am repeatedly kicking myself for not catching this. Apparently no one else caught it either. I wrote this huge essay report after the event. And am seriously regretting I did not plan/explore this better.
IF I can, I will probably pretty much redo the whole childhood thing. Put him as Public Quarter commoner as I should have done and in terms of Alexei, he should be either a Captain or Lieutenant. Oh what a lovely mess I have made.
For the future, however, I will stick with this. If we somehow learn through the manga about Schwann’s past and it’s proven otherwise. Well. Shit (pardon the French). Really I should just not cause myself headaches, but as there are certain characters who would just love to probe into his past, as well as the dream contents, having something like this established is necessary.
PRE-WAR: SERVICES AND RELATIONSHIPS
For Alexei to have given Schwann a second chance at life, the two must have been close in some way or another. I believe that Schwann probably served under Alexei and at the time of the war was either a Lieutenant or a lower ranked Captain. He must have also been an excellent knight like Flynn for Alexei to have an eye on him. It is known that Schwann is an excellent swordsman, both from being a boss battle (even if he did technically go easy on them) and his own admission that he had once dueled Alexei in the past and said that even “he” only lasted a few seconds. Course, that could be Raven just boosting his ego as no other names have been mentioned with great importance, it could be assumed that Schwann was one of the stronger captains.
This would also be the time that he meets Casey. How and when is up in the air. Either during training or maybe she was a new recruit and he was her superior, or vice versa, it’s unknown. I vote for them being of the same rank though not necessarily the same brigade/company. I also do not think they really established a relationship from what I get from the sidequest. I know that they were at least friends, but in an actual relationship is a different story. I think Schwann may have tried pursuing her or was in the process of taking it to the next step. I’m sure they were close and had some affections for each other but it just never went all the way.
And then there is Yeager. As stated in a previous paragraph, the possibility of Yeager being in the Knights is rather high and I am now more inclined to believe that yes, Yeager used to be in the Knights. Whether or not he was in the same company as Raven is a different story. It is not known who the other Captains were and I am going to assume that many of them actually died. Again, as stated before, there does not seem to be a really close relationship between Raven and Yeager whenever they interact. It seems more like the kind one would have with a known acquaintance, but not one to have known for years. Also, while it’s not stated, Yeager seems to be younger than Raven. Though that could be because Raven just makes himself seem older. Either way, I don’t think Raven knew much, if anything, about Yeager before the War and before entering Altosk.
I…also want to say that Raven did not know Yeager and Casey were in some sort of relationship. Only due to his surprise when he learned that Yeager had been searching for Casey’s compact from Gauche and Droite. Or maybe he did and sympathized with him. I’m not sure, I can see a lot of avenues this could take. It’s a tough call.
POST-WAR
After the war Schwann basically served under Alexei’s orders and did not really see his life as much of anything. He was sent to spy on the Guilds under the new identity of Raven, and in turn he also spied on the Knights for the Don.
However, I personally believe that Raven enjoyed his life with the Don and Altosk a hell lot more than he did back at the Knights. Though still being used, there is more of a relaxed and closer relationship between Raven and the Don. And it is obvious that he cared a lot more about the Don’s death than he did about Alexei, and worried about the Union than the Knights.
As Schwann he is the strict, firm leader, always following orders without much question. He of course knew Alexei had not always been as corrupted, but as the years went by it was more like he had little choice. There’s also the fact that Alexei could kill him at any moment’s notice and the only reason why he didn’t is because Schwann was a tool and useful to him.
As Raven he is more relaxed, fun, loose…just like the atmosphere of the guilds themselves. If he had to choose, he would certainly stick with the guilds. It’s basically his dream life, the life he wish he could live, especially after everything he’s been through.