Why We Love Bestelle! (Trails Estelle Character Analysis) 

Wow, doing this analysis gave me an even GREATER appreciation for Estelle than I already had. Also, I do want to thank everyone on twitter who shared just one of her ENDLESS snarky moments! Unfortunately, Trails character analyses will likely be on hold now for a while since I'll be starting up the CS 1+2 story summaries next. Please look forward to them! ^^ *~Follow Me~* 🐤Twitter: @VirgiliaLady twitter.com/VirgiliaLady 🎮Twitch: www.twitch.tv/ladyvirgilia 💬Discord: discord.gg/PVbPmDB 🌟Patreon: www.patreon.com/LadyVirgilia

Not gonna lie whenever I see her in games past Sky and SC I get a big smile on my face

My favorite thing about Estelle is that she isn't ignoring her trauma, or the truth of the world. She doesn't hide from the terrible things that happens, and yet despite them she chooses to believe in people anyway. She chooses to shine despite how dark things get, and in so doing she is able to show others how to do the same!

"Bestelle does nothing but move forward relentlessly, without looking back" Gee, thanks, Crow.

I'd have to add, XSEED definitely added their own flavor when translating dialogue, and with that, added a lot of personality to Estelle as well.

Finally got some time to finish watching this. Excellent, deep and insightful analysis as always Lady! What's great about about Estelle for me is that compared to other characters, her backstory isn't what you would consider as 'tragic' as some of the others in the Sky Arc, though of course, the loss of her mother cannot be thrown aside. But despite this, many of us still consider her to be one of the best characters in the series, if not, the best. Her ability to push on with full force no matter what's thrown at her is a testament why she's known as personified sunshine by others in the series. For me personally though, the growth of her character is what will always make Estelle stand out to me. Her journey through FC and SC especially give us front row seats to the maturing of her character, while still maintaining that attitude that we all fell in love with.

Estelle 4 Smash. Make it happen!

Man, my favorite Estelle moment... so hard to choose. I loved Estelle in Luci's dream, Estelle and Joshua on the beach, Estelle in the border confrontation with Erebonia, Estelle breaking down in the SSS building when she finds out Renne was just there, and all the countless times something she says cracked me up, and many others as well. But I think my favorite of all has to be when she speaks to Renne at the end of 3rd. It's such a capstone and a magnifying moment that truly shows to you how far she's gone, from a naive girl who lacks focus to someone with great emotional maturity, exhibiting motherly qualities as well. Bestelle for life!

2:37 *Sad Kevin Noises* In all seriousness great video. I love character analysis videos from any piece of media and it's a crime there aren't more for Trails. Estelle is indeed Bestelle.

I just finished FC for the third time, the last one was in 2017. (B)Estelle is simply wonderful. What an incredible character!

I have grown to truly adore the Trails series!!! It's all thanks to your channel! Thank you so much

Great video. Love me some Estelle, such a great protagonist. "Time for U-L-T-R-A-V-I-O-L-E-N-C-E" is one of my favorite lines in any RPG.

Your character analysis made me love Estelle even more! Her development is just amazing and I will never get tired of her smug attitude. As an Estelle and Kiseki fan, thank you for making this video and look forward to future ones!

I've grown to love and appreciate each of the Trails protagonists, but Estelle will forever be my top favorite Trails protagonist. Not only is she such a well-written and fleshed out character (warmed my heart to see her grow so much throughout the series), but she's a constant inspiration in my life whenever I feel down. I love how positive and confident she is, and how she doesn't falter in whatever her goal is. She rarely lets herself loathe in self-pity or depression and is a positive influence on others (even to those who may not necessarily be "good"). She also has shown multiple times that she is her own person and does not let others hold her down/define who she is or want to be. For instance, I noticed that where other protagonists like Lloyd and Rean both kind of live and wallow in family and friends shadows, she brushes it off with her own style and isn't hindered by her father's achievements when others bring them up. She often comments a lot that she is Estelle, not "Estelle, daughter of Cassius Bright", and that is very much true. She isn't given an edge because of who her father is, she quite literally blazes her own trail by her own efforts. It's another inspiring aspect of her character that I love! So with all that said, Estelle is bestelle forever ❤

The first three games seriously have some of the best narrative & character development I've seen in any JRPG, and I love it for that! Estelle really is one of the best characters in JRPG history imo.

One of my favorite youtubers featuring one of my favorite game characters! Thank you always for your Estellesque positivity and dedication. ^__^

Great vid as always Lady!

Saw this on the falcom subreddit. It's obvious the amount of work and research you put into this video. You just earned a sub. Great work!

I love all of the Characters from Trails Series 😊

I did not expect for Kevin to be your favorite protag in the series. Interesting hahaha.

I really like all your vids!

Estelle is definitely Bestelle! So many touching moments with her character, that absolutely devastated me and made me care for her so much! It's incredible to see her character arc so beautifully realized throughout the Trails series.

I kinda forgot just how much I love Estelle and her games, but seeing the reunion scene totally brought it all flooding back to mind. She's awesome.

I remember when I first played Sky FC. It was actually after I had played Trails of Cold Steel and some bit of Cold Steel 2. I decided to pick up the games from the very beginning, and wow, Estelle left a strong impression on me immediately. Way stronger than Rean had. I went through her journey and loved how funny she was, how sassy she could be, and how she just wasn't afraid to speak her mind. The only issue I had was how Joshua is her adopted brother. It's a bit of an iffy thing. While it wasn't as bad as the issues I had with Rean and Elise, it was still a bit weird. I personally believe that the story would not lose any impact if Estelle had no romantic feelings for Joshua and she only ever saw him as her brother, and getting him back was to help bring a family member back. Aside from that, seeing how she can acknowledge her flaws and mistake often, but never lets them stop her completely. She takes her flaws and learns to have them empower her further. Trails SC has her acknowledge that she's been reliant on Joshua, so she decides to be a bit more independent, but not to a toxic degree as she still relies on others to aid her. When she tried to reach out to Renne, she learned that she was being too naive about it and thus needed to consider it deeper and decided to allow Renne to have her agency and freedom to make her own choice, but wants Renne to at least be aware that she has another path in life. Estelle learns from her mistakes and becomes stronger from them. In fact, it isn't a stretch to say that Estelle's very existence is what allows the rest of Trails to actually exist. Without Estelle helping Renne find redemption, the SSS would be killed by Joachim. Without Estelle, Olivier might not have been inspired by her to step up as Prince Olivert and create Class VII, which would play a critical role in stopping the civil war and later the world war. This very much goes to show how Estelle proved Weissman wrong. Estelle expressed how her mother sacrificing herself to save her is what inspired her to become a bracer, and that by extension helped her bring out the best in others.

Absolutely outstanding! We absolutely need this kind of analysis on other characters! Personally I think Joshua would be perfect

I'm coming to this a year late, but I'm so grateful that you were able to highlight my main reason for loving estelle more than the other two main protags: she is willing to be vulnerable. Rean and Lloyd are so defined by their savior complexes that it's almost obnoxious, and frankly gets in the way of them developing as people. Estelle on the other hand is capable of being vulnerable, and is capable of being saved by others. She really is just more human & relatable than either Rean or Lloyd (though I think between the two, Lloyd is better simply because his protagonist nonsense is a result of his intellect and capabilities as a detective, not his being born a chosen one)

Loved Bestelle and the rest of the sky cast to be honest, didn’t want to say goodbye to them at the end of Trails the 3rd, love the vids, keep up the great work. 😊😃

estelle is so much fun ^^

Estelle best girl!!

Awe.... I'm really sorry to hear about your Mother. I know what it's like to lose a parent at a young age, as I lost my father when I was just 12. Am really sorry to hear about your illness as well. Some can only ever imagine the struggles that some people have to go through every single day. In the end though, we simply have to push forward and use that struggle as strength.

I've only known Estelle from cold steel 4 and I keep hearing how she's everyone's favorite so I'm gonna watch a walkthrough of the sky arc. I also liked her crafts in CS4

I adored Estelle from the start! Her compassion, kindness, and snarky comments all blend to make a girl who is willing to go the extra mile to save people, even if they like her or not. She is so relateable (much as I like Rean and Lloyd, I too was raised in a small town and had to learn about the wider world in school). And, I gotta say, Kevin is the 2nd character to put a giant smile on my face (was it your file in P5 that had the protag named Kevin Graham? if so, excellent taste).

I love Estelle as a protag so much, even having completed the Sky trilogy at this point, I am terrified of journeying into Crossbell and leaving her behind but like Estelle herself said, I know our paths will cross again.

Loved this analysis on my baby girl!

She's pure. Pure kickass.

Bestelle, she is just so human and loveable! As much as I love Kevin and Lloyd (and dislike Rean) none of them are even remotely close to Bestelle. Lovely video :) And props to you and your mom for keeping strong :)

Estelle really is just the best! She's definitely one of my most favorite jrpg protagonists. I love her consistantly positive and bright attitude, which is so different from the broody type of character you would often see (I have nothing against them though!) And that just makes her emotional moments hit that much harder!

As a christian (currently work as a youth pastor) and fellow kiseki fan, it made me smile hearing that you also share a christian faith! Really neat! Ive so enjoyed all your kiseki content :D

Estelle is a shonen protagonist down to the core, complete with all the anime tropes that Kiseki loves to invoke. She doesn't really grow much compared to Joshua, nor is she filled with much depth or complexity. Usually, I would hate that and find it boring, but Kiseki manages to perfect that mold with Estelle by just playing every trope so straight they circle around and become charming and fresh again. Her utter faith and kindness toward everyone around her ultimately saves and redeems them in one way or another, with Joshua and Renne serving perfect examples. Not only that, but her spunky, hilarious personality is definitely fond to look back on after the dourness of Kevin and Rean. Finally, her relationship with Joshua is beautiful and still my favorite relationship in Kiseki, establishing and exemplifying the main themes of forgiveness, dealing with loss, and finding meaning in life the series explores further. All in all, Estelle is a fine example of beauty in simplicity, being a character who is executed so well in the role she's given. Estelle is definitely my favorite Kiseki protagonist right after Kevin.

Estelle is such a well done example of the all-loving hero. She isn't sickeningly sweet and always nice to everyone, she's not afraid to bust out the big stick or playfully rib other people, or get angry and sad, and that is the real key. Writers who write that kind of character miss the entire point by making them emotionally stunted when their emotivity should be their greatest strength. By contrast, Estelle is extremely in touch with her emotions and comfortable with them (with like, some exceptions in FC, but she grows and learns to deal with her attraction too!), and is very good at understanding them and using them to give herself strength, and at the same time understand other people's emotions and get through to them with those. In my memory, only Avatar the Last Airbender managed to nail writing that specific character archetype as well.

having grown up in avery rural, out in the boonies, really small town, and then moving to the capital city for starting school, I can say that you are 100% correct about the small town mentality and it was a part of what made Estelle endearing to me. I still remember the day in 1st grade that a friend told me: "my family has a new car!" and my answer was "we have horses".

Great analysis. Somehow Estelle always reminds me of the original Sailor Moon, they're eerily similar in a way.

Now that I know your past, I'm the biggest authority on Joshua Astray.

just finished up watching a friend of mine play both FC and SC and it has just reaffirmed my appreciation for the Trails games and their fantastic script writing. Falcom really knows how to write great stories and characters and doesnt rush building them up or presenting how they grow from their experiences. The Trails series has this uncanny ability to make you care deeply about characters like Estelle, so much so that they feel more like real people rather than video game characters. Awesome video also Estelle best girl Kevin best dude cant fucking wait for the next arc!

YES BEST ELLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You really can't stop bestelle xD

I reallllly want to watch this but I haven’t played past sky trilogy yet so I don’t want to spoil myself

I adore her so much. Honestly, I'd love to have her as the main protag of the Calvard arc.

I like Estelle also, but not forget her with Joshua as team. I also happy to see many Legend of Heroes characters in CS4 and more in the new planed game, which want show us, what all do after the End of CS4. But there Estelle was one of the first characters, you has right she a special charm.

13:01 "... a legend, or a myth..." - cut to Zeit. Well played.

Aww... jeeze I wanna play this game again. Gonna hole out for another 140 hrs straight, guys. Wish me luck...

Speaking of Estelle, it would be nice if we have another female protagonist for a future arc of the Trails series.

Maaaaaan, I want to watch this video. I can already tell I'm gonna love it because I'm halfway through Trails in the Sky 1 and I already adore Bestelle! But, this is not a story I want spoiled. Lots of love though!

Damn. I thought I knew how Estelle is Bestelle but when you recapped what she did for Joshua and Renne, articulated the boundlessness of her love and kindness for them, the moment your video showed Estelle "catching" Renne after three long games at last, the waterworks just came. Seriously, I think Falcom spoiled us rotten with protagonists like Estelle from the get go. Don't get me wrong, I love Lloyd and Rean, but their stories are not quite as touching as Estelle's. I understand that studios want to make main characters as mildly bland as possible to facilitate player projection, but going all in on amazing stories and personalities like Estelle will trump any self-projection anytime.

Wow, what a phenomenal look at the best JRPG protagonist ever! I have occasionally found it a little difficult to fully express why I find Estelle such a wonderful and inspiring character, but I guess I can always just link them this video in the future. Your inclusion of how she stands out from the cultural norms is also a really interesting thing as well because I'm not quite an expert on such things, so it's cool to think that Estelle is such a fan favorite despite (or maybe even because of?) that. If we're talking about our favorite Estelle moments, I think mine has to be the speech she gives Renne at the end of the 3rd. She speaks so many truths that can be difficult to think about, and it helps Renne face herself. But the beach scene is beautiful, exactly like you said. A masterpiece of storytelling!

I respectfully differ. I cant relate to her life. Unfounded optimism isnt good, sometimes skepticism is also necessary for better outcome. Estelle gets away with her nature only because Joshua is there to back her up.Among the protags the most relatable one is perhaps Lloyd Bannings being thoughtful of a situation and caring about the wellbeing of his team. THE ESSENCE OF A TRUE LEADER.

Estelle is my favourite character!

A character developed so naturally but still remains to be herself at the same time, such is the best girl I like so very much.

I think the main thing that makes her great is just the writing quality in general. The first two Trials games absolutely knocked it out of the park narratively! Games just aren't this well written anymore and it's a damn shame! These days all we ever seem to get is the usual Anime tropes that literally nobody can relate to, as Anime characters don't seem to act like anyone does in real life. Thus it's completely unrelatable. It's a damn shame really, as we may never again see the sort of hard hitting writing quality we got with some of the earlier JRPG's.

Everyone should love BESTelle!!

I'm just imagining the people who get to 31:27 without having played 3rd yet...

As far as being able to convert an Enforcer to the light, Rean does seem to have an impact on Scarlet in CS II. And Lloyd does talk Grimwood out of his plan. Not Enforcers, but antagonists nonetheless.

Bestelle is Number one for me I only played FC and SC though, i skipped Third chapter(please dont hate me) im playing Zero now and azure after. Im not watching the vid till the end sorry because spoilers but im happy everyone loves Estelle Edit: im just gonna watch your summary for the Third lol,thanks for making these vids!subbed

yups bestelle indeed

Estelle's emotions are so diverse in her series. That's why every emotion she express has more weight and significant. I don't hate Rean, but Rean felt like a self-insert character compared to Estelle. New director of the series is pretty mediocre at developing characters in a natural way compared to ex-director Falcom CEO Kondo who is now writing for Ys series since Memories of Celceta.

Nayuta? Who's that? No seriously, I just finished Sen no Kiseki IV and kinda craving more content.

Because she is a bestselle-r.

She is so good that is really sad that LLoyd go to be the dense one and the trails guy is the Harem one :v

Lol hell, I have never been one to crush on fictional characters, but I gotta say that if there was ever one that I ever crushed on, it was this one! She's been mah Waifu for as long as I can remember!

It's time for some U-L-T-R-A-V-I-O-L-E-N-C-E. Bestelle solidifying herself as one of the best protags in any jrpg.

Estelle will ALWAYS be BESTELLE!

I just like her cuz she's cute.

25 hours into Trails FC Evolution. Should I wait till I finish to watch the video? Spoilers ahead? 😆

Since Trails sometimes resembles Star Wars i inevitably had to compare Estelle and Joshua to Rey and Kylo Ren. That was...very revealing and made the new Star Wars look SO much worse. Anyone who wants to write a girl protagonist needs to study Estelle first.

I was a tiny bit put off by her meanness toward Olivier but her positivity and her lack of actual malice even is what made it okay. And her other positive attributes are so awesome, you can't help but love her. Plus, I think I liked Olivier more than I was supposed to because I played Sky after playing CS1-3.

I didn't know you were Japanese

I'm willing to spoil to watch this

I have to admit, I didn't like Estelle in the beginning. She was too incompetent and clumsy. But I slowly began to like her. She's still only my 3rd favorite, though. First place goes to Rean Schwarzer.

Wanna say that Estelle would be best girl if it weren't for Kloe

Transverse what?

I hate Esettle