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May glory run crimson through our veins!
Tropes pertaining to the Red Army as a whole.
Badass Crew: Like the Black Army, the Red Army is comprised of masterful sword fighters that train everyday to hone their skills. The ranked leaders are the best of them (well, except for Kyle), and trained for their positions all their lives.
Childhood Friends: Lancelot and Jonah
Color-Coded Characters: Each member has a specific Color Motif that corresponds to them. Overall, their theme color is obviously Red.
Dysfunction Junction: Virtually each of the leaders of the Red Army has some kind of troubled past, which is at odds with the refined way they do work.
Lancelot: had his father killed and his body displayed for all to see on the Black Bridge. When he inherits the title of King, he discovers there’s been a long line of King of Hearts colluding with the leader of the Magic Tower, and his father was killed by the current leader for disagreeing with him. Lancelot then has to abandon his two best friends and keep them, Alice, and his entire army in the dark to protect them and figure out a way to destroy Amon alone. All the while pretending to be Amon’s pawn.
Jonah: grew up in a noble family with a strict upbringing, and knew that he would be the Red Queen from the start. He reveals to Alice that he was often bullied for his looks and prestige as a child, and later for standing up for his younger brother, Jonah being the only one who ever showed affection to Luka. When Lancelot gives him courage after being beaten up, he decides then to dedicate his loyalty to Lancelot as his king. This is made more heartbreaking where he briefly thinks his best friend and king has betrayed his trust and his army after all these years. What’s more, Jonah’s determination to prove himself worthy had caused him to push Luka away as a child, and now his relationship with his beloved little brother is broken.
Edgar: was raised by his uncle after the death of his father, and his uncle adhered to the past 100 years of the Jack of Hearts being the personal assassin for the King and Queen, teaching his nephew everything he knows about killing, scheming, and presenting a facade of affability to throw people off his trail.
Zero: spent his childhood growing up in the Magic Tower, a place that is hardly a warm and friendly place. His parents or where he came from are never mentioned, and neither is his leaving the Tower and his rise through the army to Ace of Hearts, though he explains to Alice that he eventually transferred to the same boarding school and Edgar took it upon himself to make Zero his protege. He was born in the Magic Tower as the first human created from magic refined from Magic Crystals, and was named Zero as the (actually) first attempt at such. He was completely isolated in the Magic Tower, born to be used as a research subject by people that didn't care for him or even see him as human, watching the other children who were "born" as he was die. When his magic ran out at 14, he was able to live, but couldn't be researched on at the Tower anymore. Instead of killing him, the Senior Disciples decided instead to send him out into the world he was unfamiliar with, to see how long he lasted since he managed to outlive the others. Even after he arrived at the boarding school where he would eventually become Edgar's swordsman protege, he isolated himself from others because he felt different, and buried his feelings of loneliness in working to earn his place as Ace of the Red Army.
Kyle: As with the rest, he came from a noble family that always took the place of 7 of Hearts but it was actually Kyle’s older brother who was meant to be the army doctor. The position fell to Kyle after his brother died, during the Day Lost to Darkness. Every time he visits his parents his father, the former 7 of Hearts who never got over his son's death, insists on talking about it over drinks with Kyle.
Everyone Has Standards: While they’re not nearly as friendly as the Black Army, and have no qualms threatening and kidnapping Alice to get her to their side, none of them have any intention of harming her, and they’re all unwilling to provoke the Black Army needlessly. The times when the Red Army soldiers attack the Black soldiers and Alice, it’s always younger new recruits trying to prove themselves to their leaders and win King Lancelot’s favor, and they’re always punished by Lancelot and Jonah for it. Even the Black Army knows this, as they acknowledge that the Red Army has rigid rules that they always play by.
First-Name Basis: Oddly enough for the army much less friendly they all refer to each other by first name instead of titles.
Good Is Not Soft: Despite initially being cast in a more antagonistic light at first, the Red Army aren’t the bad guys of the story. However, they do have strict rules they abide by and punish those soldiers who perform unsanctioned acts, usually by removing them from the army and sending them back home. Also, they’re not afraid to engage in large battles involving swords and magic. Even the two ranked leaders who are kinder to Alice display this. Zero is the best swordsman in the Red Army, and as the Ace is in charge of the vanguard. He also declares that the time for the armies to fight has come. Kyle, despite being no good in a fight, doesn’t back down from treating horrible wounds without clamming up, and is surprisingly vehement against anyone who would throw their lives away.
Non-Uniform Uniform: Each member wears their uniform differently, ostensibly to signify their rank in the Chosen Thirteen:
Lancelot: As King, he wears his uniform the most neat, with the biggest deviation being the large and rather dramatic fur-lined cape draped over his shoulders. He also carries his sword with him at all times, and wears a sash across his chest.
Jonah: Wears a scarf-like sash around his waist, and a smaller and less flamboyant cape over a shoulder.
Edgar: Wears his uniform crisply with a high collar, white gloves, and pronounced coattails.
Zero: Wears a cropped jacket with the sleeves rolled up, as opposed to a more standard suit jacket, and has several small daggers sheathed in a belt. He also appears to wear several ropes of bracelets on one wrist.
Kyle: being the resident medic, his biggest deviation is the white lab coat he wears over his normal army uniform, with a stethoscope always around his neck.
Opposing Sports Team: They’re this to Alice and the Black Army
Playing Card Motifs: Hearts
Red Is Heroic
Revenge: Their reason for declaring war on the Black Army when Alice falls into Cradle. They believe Lancelot’s father and their former King was killed by someone from the Black Army, and his body displayed on the Black Bridge. It wasn’t the Black Army.
The Team: Played pretty much as you’d expect, with a couple of them wearing different hats.
Lancelot: Very obviously The Leader since he’s the King of Hearts, while also being viewed as The Hero by his men, especially Jonah.
Jonah: As the second-in-command, he’s in the prime position to be The Lancer, though he’s usually too loyal to Lancelot to disagree with him much. His high class (and high maintenance) demeanor even gives him some rare gender inverted elements of The Chick, oddly enough.
Edgar: Is generally a more faithful version of The Lancer than Jonah, being able to prod at his King’s reasons for doing things like disappearing by himself and keeping Alice, making it clear he’s onto Lancelot’s true intentions. Also shows signs of The Smart Guy, if only for his ability to read people and situations, as well as his scheming nature.
Zero: Often being the least rude or standoffish of the bunch, you could make a case for him being The Heart of the group, as he usually has reservations about taking more extreme measures against Alice and the opposing army. He’s also the best candidate for The Big Guy, being the Ace of Hearts with the implication that he worked his way up to the position as opposed to being handed it through family.
Kyle: being the member with the least amount of combat ability, but the best medical expertise, puts him firmly in The Smart Guy category. He even graduated from university at sixteen. - Harr
