Nintendo Switch smash hit Fire Emblem: Three Houses has a remarkable way of endearing players to its characters. Over the course of the game, Byleth comes to truly care for the likes of the timid Bernadetta and roguish Claude. Heck, even the controversial Edelgard has a huge fanbase, being even more interesting and multi-faceted than a lot of her fellow units.
Those Who Slither In The Dark, however, have precisely zero redeeming qualities, being hateful villains through and through. Kronya is a member of this deadly and enigmatic order, and because forewarned is forearmed, we’re going to take a look at some interesting details about her you might not have known.
10 She Has Suitably Sneaky Abilities
Kronya is encountered in Chapter 10, Where The Goddess Dwells. On the battlefield, she has a range of sneaky skills that complement her deceptive and underhanded personality very well.
With Locktouch, Stealth and Keen Intuition, she has a perfect rogue’s skillset, which allows units to open chests and doors without lockpicks, makes them less likely to be targeted by foes and grants a big buff to Avoid when battling ranged foes respectively. Given everything we learn about Kronya during this mission, none of this is surprising.
9 Her Personal Ability Fits This Theme Too…
While a unit’s skills are a huge part of what makes them effective on the battlefield, and there’s a lot of scope to customize them accordingly, the Personal Ability cannot be changed. These are unique to each unit, giving them a buff or other advantage that ties in with their nature. The Black Eagles’ sleepy Linhardt, for instance, has Catnap, which restores 10% of his HP when he chooses the Wait command in battle.
Kronya, upon the revelation of her true identity, is discovered to have Agarthan Technology as her Personal Ability. This also plays into her preferences for stealth and underhandedness, reducing the damage caused by foes adjacent to her by 3.
8 …Though It’s Actually Not All That Personal
As Pokémon fans will know, the Pressure Ability is just a little too commonplace among Legendary Pokémon. It seems to just be slapped onto many of them by default, as a reference to their huge and imposing nature.
In the case of Three Houses, the bigwigs among Those Who Slither In The Dark all seem to have Agarthan Technology as a Personal Ability. Besides Kronya, Solon has it, as does Myson and their leader Thales. Cornelia has it too.
7 She’s Just As Deadly And Deceptive In Fire Emblem: Heroes
It was inevitable that this insidious threat would slither her way into Fire Emblem Heroes too. The hit mobile title always does a nice job of bringing the essence of characters to life, so fans can rest assured that this take on Kronya will be very faithful to her Three Houses iteration.
In this title, too, she has handy passive effects that reduce her opponents’ capabilities in battle. New Moon boosts her own output by having the effect of Def/Res -30% during combat with her, while her exclusive weapon (the dagger Athame) gives her bonus damage and speed if her foe has less than full HP. With effects like Vantage thrown in, she can be an enormous threat.
6 Her Unit Class Is Perfect For Her
With all of this in mind, it’s clear that Kronya is a monstrous presence on any battlefield. She’s far from the tankiest warrior around, but is capable of impressive damage output while debilitating her foes and reducing their own effectiveness.
As a specialist in carefully planned bursts of speedy damage on key targets, she’s tailor-fit for the role of an assassin. Appropriately enough, this is the unit class she adopts. Though she’s only seen in battle for a brief time, she was clearly born to take the role of Assassin. Darn her.
5 She Has Some Brilliant Exclusive Dialogue With Leonie
As fans will know, Byleth’s father Jeralt meets a sad end at Kronya’s dastardly hands, with her cruelly stabbing him while his back was turned. While Byleth takes this with all the stoic, utterly silent grace that they take absolutely everything (a dramatic change of facial expression being the extent of things), Leonie is devastated by the loss in her own way.
Byleth’s father had saved Leonie’s small home from poachers when she was younger, leading her to wish to follow in the mercenary’s footsteps and see him as a shining example. She took his death very personally, and if she engages Kronya in battle, it shows. Before attacking, she’ll state, “you’ll pay for what you’ve done… I don’t care if it takes my last breath. I’ll kill you!” Granted, Kronya is supremely unconcerned (“please! My powers are beyond your comprehension. You’re just a filthy worm!”), but this is an uncharacteristically vengeful moment on Leonie’s part and we’re here for it.
4 She Has Very Interesting Biology
It’s made quite clear that the Agarthans are almost entirely devoid of humanity, emotions, empathy and such (Kronya being the only one to really show emotion, ironically enough). Their exact nature is hotly debated, though one thing we can say is that Kronya certainly appears to have some mechanical parts.
Her heart, as seen in the charming cutscene where Solon double-crosses and sacrifices her, has a very distinctive mechanical look. Agarthans certainly aren’t humans as we know them, but we don’t quite have the answers as to their true natures.
3 Her Battalion Plays To Her Strengths Too
As Kronya only makes brief appearances on the battlefields of Three Houses, there are a lot of details about her as a unit that players may have missed out on. One of these is the nature of her Battalion, which is pure Kronya to the core.
Simply titled Kronya Subordinates, this aptly named exclusive Battalion gives the dastardly Agarthan a minor increase in Charm. More importantly, it buffs her Avoid to an enormous extent. Couple this with the fact that it provides an Onslaught Gambit (an aggressive one that disrupts the enemy) and it’s a perfect fit for this sneaky, manipulative warrior, who used the innocent guise of Monica to perpetrate her evil deeds.
2 She May Have Killed The Real Monica Von Ochs
Prior to the battle against Kronya in Chapter 10, she had actually been lurking in Garreg Mach for quite some time. Under the guise of Monica von Ochs, she was a Black Eagles student. She could be found around the monastery and spoken to, revealing herself to be an enigmatic but friendly enough young woman.
In that fateful battle, though, we learn that ‘Monica’ was simply Kronya in disguise. After this revelation, Seteth suggests that the real Monica von Ochs had probably been killed by Kronya or another member of her group, so her form could be used for the their own ends.
1 She’s The Key To Upgrading The Sword Of The Creator
With everything we’ve learned so far, then, it’s clear that Kronya is one of the least likable characters in all of Three Houses. A remorseless villain through and through, she gets her just desserts at the hands of an even less sympathetic villain.
All’s well that ends well, then. Interestingly, though, her treacherous acts do have an upside. The battle with Kronya is instrumental to Byleth’s acquisition of the Sublime Creator Sword, which happens automatically after the battle. This weapon’s power, in turn, allows Byleth to continue the fight, meaning that Kronya played her own inadvertent part in saving the realm. It’s one heck of a stretch, but it’s technically true.
NEXT: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: 5 Reasons Why You Should Give Byleth A Chance (& 5 Why You Shouldn’t Bother)
