Georg Weissmann

Georg Weissmann (ゲオルグ・ワイスマン), also known under his aliases The Faceless (白面), Professor (教授) and alter ego Professor Alba (アルバ教授), was a former bishop of the Septian Church who served as the Third Anguis of Ouroboros. He serves as the main antagonist of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC.

Appearance
Georg is a middle aged man with combed back dark blue hair and red eyes which are accompanied by small round spectacles. In his initial appearance as Professor Alba, he wore a rugged overcoat in earthy green with several belts and a mantle. He also wore a white shirt, blue tie and dark blue trousers.

Following the revelation of his true identity and position, Georg wears an alb, a traditional churchly vestment in off-white with strong purple and fuchsia accents and a golden hem. he wears a pendant around his neck with Ouroboros' emblem on it, and he carrier a staff formed with the properties of the Divergent Laws.

Personality
Georg Weissman was a cruel and calculating individual. However, originally, his personality was that of a good, kind boy, until the horrors of the Salt Pale Incident took away his home and family. With no place to go but the Church, Georg soon became obsessed with the endless possibilities of the Sept-Terrion and the mysteries behind the Divergent Laws. It is even appropriate to say that he was mystified by the Salt Pale and it corrupted him.

After that, Georg took on a darker persona. He became evil, tricky, sadistic, reckless, sociopathic and obsessed with his experiments. He became ruthless and was willing to do anything to uncover the mysteries of the Zemurian Civilization. He was obsessed with Joshua, proud of the work he had done in tuning him to be a living weapon.

Georg believed that mankind was misguided in general, seeing that man was either too violent or too relaxed that they would live like farm animals. He concluded that in order to reach their true potential, there had to be a "balance" of the two, which he believed would only be possible through a greater power, namely, the Aureole. His belief in this theory made him underestimate the value of working together and strengthening through bonds, which he considered to be "laughable" and only done by "insects and beasts".

Georg was also good at faking sympathy and acting kind with his Professor Alba persona. After he joined the Organisation, he earned his nickname "Faceless" because nobody could see his true face and he could erase himself from people's memories.

Georg also often employed help from both suspecting and unsuspecting people alike for most of his plans.

Background
Georg Weissmann was born and raised in North Ambria. At the age of 13, the Pillar of Salt hit North Ambria's capital Haliask and killed both of his parents in the process. During the Septian Church's involvement in the re-construction of North Ambria as a state, Weissmann was taken in by the Church.

Weissmann quickly thereafter became devoted to the Septian Church. At the age of 18, he assumed office in the Congregation for the Sacraments and was promoted to bishop in S.1190 at the age of 23. In his position as bishop he gained access to the Church's Apocrypha and in them discovered the mysteries of the Stigma, an inexplicable phenomenon among the Gralsritter's secretive division that endlessly fascinated Weissmann.

In his pursuit to re-create the Stigma for his own benefits, i.e. creating a personal military unit of "superhumans"(超人, choujin), he started looking for the Sept-Terrion, almighty gifts bestowed upon humanity by Aidios. Aiming for the Aureole, a Sept-Terrion situated in Liberl, Weissmann manipulated the Imperial government of Erebonia into employing a specific Jaeger guild to attack Hamel. The attack, now known as the Tragedy of Hamel, led to the Hundred Days War. Erebonia's attempt to annex Liberl, however, ended prematurely through Cassius Bright's intervention and Weissmann's plan to unearth the Aureole was unsuccessful.

His attempts at re-creating the Stigma, a practice strictly forbidden by the Septian Church, were discovered and verified in S.1195. Weissmann was excommunicated from the Church. Around that time he was invited by the Grandmaster to assume office as the Third Anguis at Ouroboros.

In S.1202, Georg Weissmann set about completing the Gospel Plan. He first lured Cassius Bright out of the county with the aid of Campanella and then proceeded to use Alan Richard, the Intelligence Division and other susceptible persons to create a scenario that would result in the breaking of the first seal located underneath Grancel Castle.

Georg Weissmann is the secret main antagonist of the game. He is seen taking on the alias of Professor Alba and is first introduced when Estelle and Joshua Bright discover him after arriving at the top of Esmelas tower in the course of escorting Nial Burns and Dorothy Hyatt for a newspaper article. After introducing himself and giving a brief description of his job and what he was doing there, he gives Estelle and Joshua some brief history on the tower. In the course of his explanation though, Joshua begins to feel sick around him and the group takes a break. After Joshua recovers, Estelle and Joshua escort Professor Alba back to Rolent.

Georg Weissmann as Professor Alba is then seen again at various points around the story encountering Estelle and Joshua at the various other towers.He then helps out Estelle and Joshua during Albert Russell's kidnapping by explaining that he saw the men that kidnapped Albert heading to Carnelia Tower. He also helps in getting Estelle and Joshua to Grancel when they have trouble at a checkpoint. Professor Alba can then be seen at the museum in Grancel for the rest of the game and he even comes to cheer Estelle and Joshua on during the finals of the Martial Arts Tournament.

After the first seal was unlocked, Georg Weissmann encountered Joshua Bright again at the park behind the shopping mall. There, he congratulated him for becoming a Senior Bracer and when Joshua confronted him on his true identity, he revealed his true colors. After some more talking, Georg restored Joshua's memories and freed him from the Organisation. He then taunted him some more by mentioning how he betrayed the Brights, and invited him back to Ouroboros, if he so wished. He then left to prepare for the next phase of the plan.

Later that year, Georg met up with Campanella, Leonhardt and the other cooperating members, namely, Walter the Direwolf, Bleublanc the Phantom Thief, Renne the Angel of Slaughter and Luciola the Bewitching Bell to proceed with the next phase of the Gospel Plan.

Loewe and Weissmann later enter a cave in the Nebel Valley. Inside the cave, Loewe and Weissmann find Ragnard, the Ancient Dragon. He then summons his weapon and proceeds to conduct the final experiment by subjugating the dragon, Ragnard, and placing a Gospel on its head. He then orders Leonhardt to carry out the experiment while he summons the Glorious.

Some time later, Ouroboros lakeside base is infiltrated by a group of Bracers consisting of Grant, Carna, Kurt Nardin and Anelace Elfead. In the attempt, Weissmann captures all of them and places them under hypnosis. He then allows Kurt to escape in order to lure Estelle Bright to the top floor of the building and uses the other three as guards. He also deploys three Joshua dolls to lure Estelle's group to a gas chamber room. After the three Joshua dolls are defeated, a panting Estelle and co. hear the sound of clapping and turn around to see a shadowy Renne, Leonhardt and Georg Weissmann in the back of the room. Sitting on his throne, Georg Weissmann congratulates them and laments that they were late in realizing the deception, snapping his fingers and dividing the two parties whilst knocking them out with anesthetic gas.

A short while later, Weissmann contacts Estelle and Renne through the intercom system on the Glorious, where Estelle has been taken. Weissmann greets Estelle in the sanctuary and formerly introduces himself, not as professor Alba, but as the Third Anguis, Georg Weissmann. Evading some of Estelle's more pressing questions about his plans, Weissman states that the question she wants to know the most, the location of Joshua can be answered if she were to join them, drawing him back in. Weissmann explains Joshua's history and how he rebuilt his mind, explaining that it is only natural that he should want to see the fruits of his research. Estelle attempts to strike him, but multiple enforcers appear and defend him. Weissmann leaves without a confirmed answer, stating he will receive one when he returns. Estelle was rescued from the ship in his absence.

Following the deactivation of the Tetracyclic Towers, Weissman uses an incantation ritual to summon the Aureole from its prison dimension. he and the the enforcers marvel as it manifests above Valleria Lake.

Angered that Estelle and Joshua, together with their friends were solving the troubles brought about by the widespread Orbal Shutdown Phenomenon so quickly, Weissman asks the enforcers to storm Grancel to buy more time.

On the Liber Ark, Weissmann left several taunting messages in various terminals, specifically aimed at Joshua. After the group defeated Loewe, Weissmnan appeared and struck the former Enforcer from behind with a bolt of lightning, before activating Joshua's Stigma and putting him into a trance. Taunting the others and deploying two Reverie Dragons, he left for the core sector with Joshua.

Upon being confronted by the trio, Weissmann asked Estelle if she knew about the Aureole and explained its history. He was disappointed that she failed to understand his message, and even more upset that she believed that humans should live normally, without the influence of powerful artefacts like the Aureole. He then used his Evil Eye to immobilize the party, before sending Joshua to attack Estelle. Joshua overpowered her, and a gleeful Weissmann ordered him to kill her, intending to lift the Stigma's control after he killed her. Much to his surprise, Joshua attacked him, although he was able to parry the attack with his staff. Weissman soon noticed that the Stigma had disappeared on Joshua's shoulder and demanded to know how he removed it. He learned from him that both Father Kevin and Cassius had been responsible, vowing not to underestimate the former and cursing the latter. Declaring that he would not be defeated and that Joshua was a "shambling mess of an Enforcer", he called in four Combat Shells and engaged the group, only to be defeated.

In desperation, Weissmann decided to absorb the Aureole, which turned him into a monster with an impenetrable barrier. However, Loewe soon arrived; although he had stated before that he had no interest in fighting Weissmann, he could not tolerate the "cowardly" attack earlier. In this moment, Loewe, who had long since deduced that Weissmann was involved, forced him to admit his role in the Tragedy of Hamel, enraging all party members present. Loewe's sword, made from the Divergent Laws, broke through Weissmann's barrier. Weissmann was enraged, called Loewe an insect and shoved him away with a fatal shockwave that destroyed his Reverie Dragon, before fighting the group once more.

Despite his newfound powers, Weissmann was defeated once again, and the Aureole suddenly disappeared, much to his confusion. Seeing that he was in no shape to fight and badly injured, he teleported away in an attempt to escape, only for Kevin to intercept him. Weissmann used his Evil Eye to immobilize him, only for it to be repulsed. Father Kevin soon shot him with a stake crafted from the Salt Pale. He was enraged that the church would allow Kevin to kill him in such a way, but Kevin stated that the church could no longer overlook his "recent activity". Weissmann cursed Kevin just before he was completely salifinified and died.

Ironically, Georg Weissmann was fated for failure and ended up dying in the same way as his parents, via an arrow crafted from the same Salt Pale that killed them.

Legacy
Campanella arrived shortly after Weissmann's death, taking his staff and shattering his salifinified statue. Campanella stated that he had no reason to save him, as he was only tasked to observe the results of the Gospel Plan.

Campanella then reported the death of Weissmann to the Anguis and the Grandmaster. The Grandmaster felt guilty for her role in his death, as she had half-expected it and left all the decision making to him. His fellow Anguis noted that his recklessness, obsession with Joshua and underestimating the Fifth Dominion led to his downfall, with the Second Anguis expressing regret for not having controlled his behavior.

His seat would remain unoccupied for two years, after which the Grandmaster offered it to Mariabell Crois, who accepted the offer and replaced him as the third Anguis.

A replica of Weissmann was created in Phantasma where he met Kevin and Ries in the depths of Gehenna. Weissmann bemoaned his failure to recognize Kevin as the Fifth Dominion. He offered Kevin to become the new Lord of Phantasma if he cast aside his humanity, but Kevin refused. In response, Weissmann summoned Astarte and Rostrum, but all three were defeated thanks to Kevin's new Stigma powers. Before he faded, Weissmann stated that he would watch Kevin and enjoy watching him struggle until he accepted the reality around him.

Trivia

 * His surname is composed of the German words for "to know" / "white" (weiss, usually spelled as weiß) and "man" (Mann).