Rufus Albarea

Rufus Albarea (ルーファス・アルバレア), also known as Jade Rook, is introduced as the oldest son of Duke Helmut Albarea, head of one of the Four Great Houses, and half brother to Jusis Albarea.

Appearance
Rufus is a young man with long blonde hair tied into a braid and pale blue eyes. He carries himself with poise and a gracious countenance.

As the Jade Rook, Rufus wears a long basil green double-breasted overcoat with gold trim worn over breeches and laced up leather boots. Underneath that is a white long-sleeve dress shirt, accompanied by a magenta cravat with a turquoise jewel pin on the front. A navy blue cape is drawn over his shoulders, kept in place by a shoulder piece attached to his coat, similarly adorned with gold and blue gems.

Rufus's other outfits are variations on this theme, usually sporting minor differences such as shirt or collar type and color. His second outfit is predominantly white, using blue or red a secondary colour depending on the outfit.

Rufus is armed with a court fencing sword with a gold guard and green wrapping around the pommel. It is a double edged blade ending in a diagonal point. Later, Rufus utilizes one of the twin holy swords of House Albarea - the Holy Sword of Ishnard. It is an ornate double-edged golden sword with a star shaped cross guard and blue gem decorations. Rufus keeps it within a blue sheath.

Personality
Rufus Albarea is a hard person to define. While he always maintains a calm persona, it is hard to see what he thinks or whether he is being honest at times.

True to the word noble in both maturity and proper social standing, Rufus is kind and intelligent. His recognition was earned from the fine upbringing taught by good benefactors such as Baron Teo Schwarzer and Governor Carl Regnitz. He is modest, patient, and well-mannered, and is able to conduct pleasant conversations with those of high-class society. His respectful attitude towards both nobles and commoners makes him popular in the public eye.

Balanced by Rufus's good character is his high level of competency towards all responsibilities as a noble: being able to handle situations properly with the right solutions. This makes Rufus more respected by most who know him, especially his father who holds him in high esteem. Secretly, he sometimes shows a teasing side towards his half-brother Jusis Albarea, sometimes able to lightly toy and joke with him. Jusis displays mild frustration with this side of his older brother, but ultimately loves him dearly. Rufus can also be quite thorough in organization, showing skill in the coordination of many parties.

In part due to Helmut keeping Jusis at arm's length because of his commoner heritage, Rufus began to harbor doubt about his own purpose, desiring to be recognized for himself and not others regardless of the costs it would take. To that end, he decided to follow Osborne because it would be the fastest way to do so.

After being defeated by Jusis and his friends, Rufus slipped into a temporary depression for having prepared the field in advance and losing in the worst way possible. His overall view of himself improved significantly during his travels with Lapis Rosenberg, upon he realized his errors and wished to atone for his sins whenever he could, even if it meant having to destroy what he strived for in the past.

Background
Rufus is not Helmut's biological son - rather, he is the son of Helmut's wife and since-banished brother. Helmut knew that he had to uphold the honour of House Albarea, so he treated Rufus as his own child. Rufus was trained in court fencing, which utilized both elegant swordsmanship and arts.

He was initially unaware of any siblings until Helmut adopted his cousin, Jusis. Rufus got along well with Jusis, treating him as if he was a younger brother and trained him in court fencing. Rufus eventually learned of Jusis' heritage and that he was Helmut's biological son, but that the duke was intentionally keeping him at arm's length due to his commoner heritage. This caused Rufus to become skeptical of Erebonian nobility and questioning his purpose.

At the end of the Hundred Days War, the commoner-born chancellor Giliath Osborne was elected and restrained the Four Great Houses. In S.1194, at the age of 17, Rufus was tasked by his father to threaten Osborne and employed the jaeger corps Arngarmr. Osborne, however, saw through Rufus' plan and had the entire corps assassinated, leaving Vulcan as the only survivor. Rufus was then invited to a falconry competition in Heimdallr by Baron Teo Schwarzer, who taught Rufus a lot about the practice and its etiquettes. It is at the falconry where Rufus meets the man who turned the tables on his plan: Osborne had already worked out that Rufus was behind the attempted assault. He approaches Rufus to ask whether he was bored enough to want to play with fire and argues his life must be hollow carrying out the wishes of his family only because they are family. Osborne continues by expressing his anticipation toward the day that Rufus would overcome his father.

Rufus joined Osborne's group of Ironbloods as its primary member, having grown to dislike Helmut for his treatment of Jusis and wishing to make a name for himself. Realizing that he may be nothing but a substitute son for Osborne, he stresses that Osborne is very special to him and the other Ironbloods. They pledge full loyalty to him, not unlike how the Anguis of Ouroboros pledged their loyalty to the Grandmaster.

On behalf of Duke Albarea, Rufus deals with business both within the Kreuzen Province managed by his father as well as negotiating and coordinating with the rulers of other provinces. Citizens of Bareahard hold great pride in Rufus, whose abilities on his age are rivalled only by Prince Olivert Reise Arnor. Both are said to dominate high society conversations.

Alongside Olivert, Irina Reinford, and Carl Regnitz, Rufus served as a director for Thors Military Academy.

During the Erebonian Civil War, Rufus served as the chief of staff of the Noble Alliance. His reputation as a genius military strategist, who was said to hold nothing back in battle, served Duke Cayenne, leader of the Noble Alliance, to the utmost of his abilities. He flew on the Pantagruel alongside the other Noble Alliance fighters. Rufus first crossed blades with the members of Class VII (sans Rean) in Ymir where he easily defeated all of them alone, with Fie noting that he might even be stronger than Sara Valestein. Later, when Rufus learned of his father's razing of Celdic, he condemned his actions and gave Class VII the intel they needed to apprehend his father, promising that he would not intervene. He followed through with his promise as Class VII arrested Helmut for his crimes without interference from Rufus.

On the last day of S.1204, at the end of the war, Rufus suddenly arrived at the Infernal Castle to reveal himself to be the primary member of the Ironbloods, operating under his alias "Jade Rook". All of this time, Rufus had been a mole in the alliance secretly working for Osborne. Rufus killed Grianos, the familiar of Vita Clotilde, as he revealed his true colors. While the other Ironblood members knew there was a primary member, they had no idea who it was until he revealed his true colours that day. Rufus was also the only Ironblood who knew that Osborne had faked his death (the others suspected it but did not know for sure).

Immediately after taking Duke Cayenne captive, Osborne tasked his foremost Ironblood with the annexation of Crossbell. With the combined force of the Imperial Army of Erebonia (approximately 70%) and the Provincial Armies previously under command of the Noble Alliance, the combined powers of a Crossbell expeditionary force was enough to annex Crossbell without bloodshed in a few hours.

Rufus was then appointed the first Governor-General of Crossbell, leaving his family and past behind. As Rufus had been expected to succeed the now-arrested Helmut, Jusis ended up becoming interim duke in his place.

Rufus continued his duties as both Osborne's lead Ironblood and the state governor of Crossbell. As a governor, Rufus kept a steady quality of life and also improved the province's economy, even though his only interest was Erebonia's growth.

During New Class VII's field trip to the city, Rufus shared a chat with Rean wherein he explained how he met Osborne and became an Ironblood. Along with others, Rufus showed up at the top of Orchis Tower to discourage the continued presence of Ouroboros Enforcers McBurn and Campanella. During this time, it was revealed that Rufus was responsible for "Operation Birdcage" - a plot to keep members of the Special Support Section trapped on Mishelam, but allowed Tio Plato and Randy Orlando to leave, the former for the Epstein Foundation and latter to become an instructor at the branch campus. After the field exercises in the city concluded, Rufus decided to let the remaining SSS members and affiliates go.

Later, Rufus was present at Heimdallr during the final field exercise of New Class VII. He was responsible for identifying the gun used by Ash Carbide to shoot Emperor Eugent Reise Arnor III as one of Calvardian make (Ash had stolen it from an unconscious Calvardian agent). He was present when Osborne publicly framed Ash as a Calvardian spy to incite anti-Calvard sentiment.

Alongside his fellow Ironbloods, Rufus was present as the third and final roadblock the party faced inside the Gral of Erebos. He was the only one to show no sadness or hesitation at continuing to work with Osborne and face the party. Before the Ironbloods fought the party, Rufus revealed the truth about his heritage to Jusis for the very first time, explaining that he was bastard son of Helmut's banished brother and Helmut's wife; because Jusis was born to Helmut and a commoner woman, this meant that Jusis and Rufus were actually cousins. When Jusis asked Rufus why a man of Rufus' talents and self-made accomplishments would be subservient to Osborne, Rufus explained how the Ironbloods revere him due to his charisma, analogized to how the Anguis of Ouroboros view their Grandmaster.

Rufus then sparred with Jusis and the rest of the party. He later bore witness to the events once Rean reached the bottom of the Gral, including the death of Millium. When he saw six Divine Knights gathered together, he thought to himself about the final one, foreshadowing his imminent acquirement of it.

On 15 August, S.1206, Rufus succeeded in becoming the Awakener of the seventh and final Divine Knight, El-Prado, the Auric Knight, in Mishelam's marshlands. He had just returned from completing the trials when he saw New Class VII had bested two Sorge units in their Panzer Soldats. The two soldiers in the Zauber Soldats offered to assist Rufus, but he dismissed them as useless, easily fending off New Class VII's Panzer Soldats. As Black Alberich later commented, the Auric Knight was tied with Argreion as being one of the two most powerful knights, apart from Ishmelga. Even though he could have easily overpowered the entire group, he decided to let them go, believing that their efforts against him would be for naught.

During the Third Rivalry between Rean Schwarzer/Crow Armbrust and Arianrhod in one of the Spirit Shrines, after Arianrhod was defeated and subdued, Rufus came out of hiding and fatally stabbed Argreion in the back, causing El-Prado to absorb it, giving it power and newfound wings. This in turn killed Arianrhod as she was an Immortal; he showed no remorse for her death and quickly left the scene.

Later, Rufus and Rean finally got a chance to hold the Fifth Rivalry when Rufus fought alongside Black Alberich as the fourth roadblock the party faced in Tuatha De Danann. During this battle, Rufus wielded the golden Holy Sword of Ishnard (聖剣イシュナード), a weapon the founding fathers of the House of Albarea used to defeat Nosferatu. Fighting alongside Rean and Crow, Jusis then reveals its silver counterpart, the Holy Sword of Elvars (聖剣エルヴァース), which he had delivered to him by their butler, Arnauld.

After the battle, Alberich's true identity (Franz Reinford) began to resurface and he exited the area. Rufus then summoned El-Prado and called in one Mordred and Hannibal unit before battling Rean, Crow, and the Soldats of New Class VII. Rufus lost the subsequent Rivalry, causing El-Prado to be absorbed by Valimar, leaving him with nothing. Rufus asked the group how he had lost as he believed he had more than enough strength, and the group pointed out that his selfishness and inability to work with others led to his downfall. Jusis then proceeded to knock him out with a single blow. Rufus considered the loss to be one of his most deplorable ones due to how he had set himself up for success.

Rufus later regained consciousness and met up with Lechter and Claire, informing them that he would take the blame so they would not be prosecuted for their crimes, as they would be needed to keep Erebonia stabilized in the aftermath of the Great War. He later turned himself in to the authorities, upon which he would be imprisoned at Aurochs Fort and most of his assets were seized.

In 14 March S.1207, Rufus was the target of assassination by members of the newly created Black Guard. The Black Guard were following the orders by a Simulacrum clone of Rufus who dubbed itself the "Supreme Leader", possessing many of his traits and working for both its own benefit and the true mastermind of the game's events to create a "Crossbell Unified Nation". Rufus's resourcefulness enabled him to easily overpower his would-be assassins and interrogated one, learning about his doppelganger.

Taking a page out of Crow Armbrust's handbook, Rufus decided to adopt a mask and disguise for his new mission of investigating the Supreme Leader and putting an end to his plans. The masked Rufus, akin to the formerly masked Crow, assumed the name of "C". Using assets he stored in secret prior to his imprisonment that were never seized, Rufus hired Jingo as his transportation service due to her newly acquired airship.

Not long after beginning his mission, Swin Abel and Nadia Rayne delivered Lapis Rosenberg to the masked Rufus; he convinced Lapis to travel with him to help restore her memories as he felt she was the key to resolving the case, and he hired Swin and Nadia as mercenaries to help him in his quest. His mask was broken and his identity revealed not long after he formed a team with the trio, during a battle between his team and a team involving Rean, Jusis, and Crow, when the two teams crossed paths in and around Heimdallr. He insisted that he was not the Supreme Leader and he was investigating the imposter himself before fleeing on Jingo's airship.

Rufus continued in his mission, along the way enlisting Renne Bright, Arios MacLaine, and even Duvalie to help him pursue the truth regarding his imposter's nature and Lapis's identity. He later also teamed up with the teams of Lloyd Bannings and Rean, among which also were Rufus's fellow Ironbloods, who were all willing to work with him despite his past actions. During his journey, Rufus found himself empathizing much with Lapis as both of them were on a journey of self-discovery. He helped her regain self-confidence when she discovered that she was one of many clones, who she and Rufus defeated together. It was also revealed that during his time as Crossbell's Governor General, Rufus had allowed Ian Grimwood to help the people from prison, realizing it would be a waste of his talent to let him rot in a cell. Upon being reached, Grimwood revealed to Rufus's team of the existence of Elysium, a Singularity that was the key to the case and that Lapis was the "administrator" of, which was being hacked by the mastermind.

With the help of the unified teams, Rufus was able to defeat and destroy the Supreme Leader. Before doing so, he admitted that the old him would've likely agreed to work with him, showing how the true Rufus had grown. However, the defeat of the Supreme Leader did not mark the end of the mastermind's plan, as Project BABEL's Keruanos weapon remained, whose enormous power allowed it to effectively take the world hostage. The unified teams led a raid to confront and destroy it.

During the raid, Rufus was briefly reunited with El-Prado when he got to use it to fight off the Eighth Divine Knight of Zero, Zoa-Gilstein. Afterwards, the current owner modified the weapon to fire at targets based on people's consciousness; Rufus stepped away from the group's teleportation circle to remain near the weapon. Seeing it as the ultimate way to atone for his sins, Rufus then sent a broadcast across Zemuria, claiming responsibility for many of the calamities in the past few years, causing the people to direct their rage towards him.

After seeing a premonition of the imminent future which showed Rufus being destroyed with the weapon, Rufus's team, along with Lloyd and Jusis, rushed to save him, narrowly teleporting him away right before the weapon obliterated itself, thus putting an end to the mastermind's schemes and restoring order to the world. Rufus was presumed dead by most of the populace, but had survived with severe burns and injuries. With his former identity forsaken, Rufus had a clean slate and opted to accompany Lapis across Zemuria as her assistant alongside Swin and Nadia.

Trivia
Also see: this trivia (spoilers for ).
 * Besides Rean, Rufus was the only Awakener whose Divine Knight absorbed another one on-screen.