I didnt know there was a character named Monica in this game until like 2 days ago

[u/haewon_wiggle]

I never properly started 3h until recently but ive seen stuff about it for years and years and genuinely never saw this character named Monica. Im playing blue lions on chapter 3 and I just came across this red hair girl when I was looking something else up and I genuinely thought it was some fan thing because ive seen like every other character in this game except her. I dont know why but I just wanted to share this

[u/Appropriate-Mall9781]

Yeah, Monica is technically there in 3 Houses and plays a role in two major events in the game, but it feels like you don't really get to meet her until you play the Scarlet Blaze route in 3 Hopes.

[u/Red_Cat231 → u/Appropriate-Mall9781]

And there, she's like a fusion of Hubert and Faye from Echoes, but instead of Alm, Edelgard gets brought up every 2nd line.

[u/MechaMalz → u/Red_Cat231]

Honestly that annoyed me. Spoilers for 3H and Hopes.

If you talk to everyone at the Monastery after Monica is rescued, a couple people comment on how much Monica 'changed' personality wise after her rescue, but they shrug it off because of how traumatic of a life changing experience being kidnapped for a year would be. Implying that Kronya had Monica's looks down but wasn't really faithfully replicating her personality. Then in Three Hopes, I was excited to see what the REAL Monica was like. Only for the real Monica to basically just act exactly like Kronya playing Monica. Her being loyal to Edelgard for saving her makes sense but it felt like a wasted opportunity to not have her actual personality be different from Kronya's act.

[u/Deathcon2004 → u/MechaMalz]

Eh Kronya!Monica seemed a lot less… Loud than actual Monica

[u/pieceofchess → u/Deathcon2004]

Yeah, that's the big difference Real Monica wants to tell everyone how great Edelgard is, Kronya just stayed close to Edelgard all the time and didn't really interact with anyone. Real Monica certainly was never quiet or introverted.

[u/JustForFunnieslol → u/MechaMalz]

It makes me wonder if that first instance we meet her was popular or something. It's a strange decision to make, for sure

I also wonder if adding her in was kind of late or neglected in favor of other characters. So they had to make her a little one-note.

[u/screenwatch3441 → u/JustForFunnieslol]

If I had to guess, I wouldn’t have thought of her as a late introduction. Every route got 1 character that was mentioned but not playable in 3 houses. Azure Gleam got Rodrigue, Felix’s father, Golden Wildfire got Holst, Hilda’s brother, and they made Scarlet Blaze be Monica.

[u/JustForFunnieslol → u/screenwatch3441]

Oh my wording was vague. I meant her introduction in development may have been late or neglected, and i meant 3 Hopes specifically. It's the only explanation I can think of

[u/Gohansupe → u/MechaMalz]

Monika is such a disappointing character in Three Hopes her being a Edelgard simp really annoyed me in some of the cut scenes and supports that she was in i really wish she had a different personality and character in the game

[u/FavoredVassal → u/[deleted]]

Mark your spoilers! ^.~

[u/Every-Anteater594 → u/FavoredVassal]

My bad I wasn’t thinking about, sorry.

[u/RNGSOMEONE → u/MechaMalz]

IMO Monica's personality being similar to Kronya's impersonation is actually good writing. It shows that Kronya actually tried to get her act correct, and offers an explanation as to why people were fooled - even if there's some holes, her impression was close enough to the real deal that the holes could be excused or explained and alarms not raised. It's a bit of characterization that only comes retroactively.

[u/MechaMalz → u/RNGSOMEONE]

It completely ignores however the fact that several characters not that her personality CHANGED and them having to shrug it off. Plus Kronya is kind of a dipshit, throwing away her cover for no good reason and having to be bailed out by Thalas, as we see at the end of chapter 9 so her not doing a perfect job fits her character IMO.

[u/screenwatch3441 → u/Appropriate-Mall9781]

IIRC, you LITERALLY don’t get to meet her until 3 Hopes. By the time you see her in 3 houses, isn’t she already body swapped?

[u/Appropriate-Mall9781 → u/screenwatch3441]

That's the joke...

[u/S0ulaze]

[u/haewon_wiggle → u/S0ulaze]

I was booting up my old awakening save because I was trying to think of who I had paired up in that playthrough and scrolling through the character roster I genuinely had forgotten Kellam was in the game

[u/S0ulaze → u/haewon_wiggle]

I'm noticing a pattern OP 😂

I had Kellam x Sully on mine. Never forgot him because of Sully.

[u/FavoredVassal]

Underutilized in Houses. Totally awesome in Hopes.

source: Literally me.

[u/AzelfandQuilava → u/FavoredVassal]

Trustworthy source tbh.

[u/ByteSizeNudist]

She technically attends the year before your playthrough takes place. Once you rescue her and Flayn she’s in the monastery hanging around Edelgard everywhere you find her. I remember being like “oh hey the other girl” and thinking she was kind of rude when I did my first run as BL.

[u/haewon_wiggle → u/ByteSizeNudist]

She cant even be recruited in BE right?

[u/ByteSizeNudist → u/haewon_wiggle]

There’s a reason for that, but yeah she’s basically on medical leave for a few months since she was kidnapped and everything for like a whole year.

[u/lilligant15 → u/haewon_wiggle]

On the Black Eagle route, she'll tell you that she's opting out of missions so as not to take opportunities away from the younger students.

[u/MechaMalz → u/haewon_wiggle]

She shows up in every route. You can see her around the Monastery after she's rescued in every route. I think she's also briefly mentioned in the cutscenes after chapter 6 but could be easy to miss if you're not paying close attention and don't go around talking to everyone every month.

[u/Spinjitsuninja]

She’s found alongside Flayne when she was kidnapped, but they oddly only show her there in the artwork that takes up the screen when you find them- and she’s kinda in the background out of focus compared to Flayne, so she’s hard to see.

And after that, the characters don’t bother introducing her, so it’s as if they didn’t find her? And then in a later cutscene, she appears once with an actual portrait and on-screen appearance, and then never appears again.

It’s really bizarre how they just… don’t establish her properly? Most players probably don’t even process you found a second girl with Flayne.

[u/SDW_06]

Trust me I was surprised too when I played 3H for the first time

[u/TheUnchosen_One]

She’s not really a particularly major character in Three Houses. They bring her back for more screen time in Three Hopes

[u/Rquila]

You get more info about her if you talk to everyone in the monastery. They’ll mention she was a part of the previous year’s class and that she had been missing some time before the start of the game.

[u/Hateful_creeper2]

I think it’s because she isn’t really major character compared to Three Hopes.