- "My future is as boundless as my power and ambition! No one need stand with me, for I need no man!" —Werner
Werner is a character in Octopath Traveler. He is the former leader of the mercenary group the Black Brotherhood, and took advantage of Erhardt's strong hatred for King Alfred and his neglect to save the people of his home-village Grynd to fall the kingdom of Hornburg. In the present, he runs a tyrannical regime in Riverford, executing the people for the most trivial of offenses. He is the true main antagonist and final boss of Olberic's story.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
Werner is a middle-aged man dressed in a black jacket and boots, white shirt, and a purple cape.
Personality[]
Werner is an ambitious and utterly ruthless man, valuing power and ambition above all else and seeing nobody as his equal. He was able to carefully mastermind the fall of Hornburg behind the scenes over the course of twelve years without arousing suspicion, with no support other than large amounts of money from Lyblac, demonstrating high patience and intelligence. Eventually, Werner realised that Lyblac planned to bring destruction to all humanity and was dangerous to continue working for—unlike Yvon or Mattias—and parted ways with her to pursue his own ambitions. Nevertheless, his actions while working for Lyblac eventually led to his end when Olberic learned of his hand in Hornburg's fall and decided that he was too dangerous to be allowed to live.
Werner would later prove his intelligence again when he easily saw through Harald's diversion while he and his men planned a rebellion in Riverford, and was able to accurately deduce where they would strike. As a result, it was only through the combined efforts of Olberic and the reformed Erhardt that the rebellion didn't fail.
Contrary to his ruthlessness, Werner usually speaks softly, but it's nothing more than a façade. He does not care about the lives of those he ruined in the aftermath of Hornburg's fall, nor for those who died under his iron-fisted rule of Riverford, but acknowledges upon his final defeat at the hands of Olberic that everybody has different ideas as to how important lives and nations are.
Story[]
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(I don't think this is where I should be going at the moment...) The following section contains potential story spoilers! |
24 years prior to the events of Octopath Traveler, Lyblac hired Werner, who was a mercenary at the time. Her intention was to bring ruin to Hornburg, so that she would gain access to the Gate of Finis.
4 years later, Werner would establish his own sellsword company, the Black Brotherhood. He spent several years gathering information on Hornburg and strengthening ties within the kingdom, primarily by setting up bandit attacks on border towns with his own men and intercepting them.
Werner would accept Erhardt into the Black Brotherhood and had him recruited as a member of the king’s own guard. Taking advantage of Erhardt’s strong hatred for King Alfred, Werner was able to convince Erhardt to commit regicide, 12 years after having established the Black Brotherhood. Having completed his mission and gained his rewards, Werner decided to part ways with Lyblac. Though he was tempted to stay with her and gain greater rewards and power, he was smart enough to be afraid of her and believed continued association with her would lead to his death.
He then disbanded the Black Brotherhood and used the riches he had accumulated to buy lands and status, taking over the city of Riverford by disposing of its former lord and ruling it with an iron grip. He executes people who commit even the smallest crime by burning them at the stake.
After hearing of a riot in the town square, Werner deduces it to be a distraction and confronts the resistance group led by Harald, discovering Olberic among their ranks. As he gave the order to kill the resistance, Erhardt appears to help turn the tide of battle. Surprised to see the Twin Blades of Hornburg reunited, he commands his guards to finish them before retreating further into his manse.
He is eventually cornered by Olberic, and after a tense battle, he is defeated. He commits suicide by his own blade, but not before telling Olberic the reason behind Hornburg's fall and cursing him for the cause for which he wields his sword.
At the Gate of Finis the party battles what appears to be Werner's ghost. After its destruction it leaves behind a tome containing his thoughts post-death. He recounts how he brought about Hornburg's destruction after meeting Lyblac, and how he grew to see that she was a being determined to bring ruin to all humanity. He ends his tome admitting he saw the humor in that, despite fleeing from her, the actions he did for her are what ultimately led to his death when Olberic came to slay him for what he had done to Hornburg, and presently to the people of Riverford.At the start of battle, Werner will activate an aura that makes his attacks have a chance of inflicting terror.
Werner will increase his shields each time he is broken, up to a maximum of 9 shields. After the first break, he will begin locking off weaknesses. The weaknesses that are locked will change after recovering from each break.
At low health, Werner will increase his actions per turn to 3.
- An aura of dread pervades the battlefield...: Used as the first action of the first turn. Werner temporarily gains a third action per turn during the first turn only, superseding all other actions. For the remainder of the battle, all of Werner's physical attacks have a chance to inflict
Terror for 2-5 turns.
- Werner shifted his weight...: Used whenever Werner recovers from a break. The following effects occur:
- Werner increases his shields by 2, up to a maximum of 9.
- Werner will seal and unlock his weaknesses, rotating them in the following order:
- You cannot hope to keep pace with me...: Used once Werner reaches 50% of his maximum HP. Werner increases his actions per turn to three.
- Attack: Physical attack, single target.
- Oppression: Debuff. Targets entire party. Decreased Physical Attack and Decreased Physical Defense for 3 turns.
- Sweep: Physical attack. Targets entire party.
- Double Strike: Physical attack, single target. Hits two times.
- Boot to the Head: Physical attack, single target. Chance to inflict Unconsciousness for 2-3 turns.
- Rule by Fear: Incapacitates all allies afflicted with Terror. Only used if at least one ally is afflicted with terror.
- The effect will be nullified on targets equipped with Vivifying Stone Equip: Prevents instant death.
- The effect can be redirected via Incite.
- The effect cannot be reflected through skills such as Reflective Veil nor avoided through Sidestep.
- Fear shall reign supreme... // Werner raises his sword high!: Werner enters boost mode for 1 turn. Uses Terror of a Tyrant if not broken before Werner's next action.
- Terror of a Tyrant: Heavy physical attack. Targets entire party.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Werner is the only Chapter 4 boss to not have a weakness to any weapon or element used by his story character with his main job.
- Erhardt says about Werner, "I've never seen anyone swing a blade like he does. It's more than just strength and skill—there's something about him that strikes fear into the men's hearts." This fact is emphasized during Werner's boss battle, where his sword attacks can inflict Terror.
- "Werner" is a Germanic name that means "the defender" or "the defending warrior."
- In his boss sprite, Werner appears to be left-handed, but when he draws his sword in his character sprite form, he does so with his right hand. Concept art demonstrates that the developers were aware of this discrepancy, but ignored it.[1]
- Concept art reveals that the lining of Werner's cape was planned to be either red or black. However, his boss sprite settled on a deep maroon color.[2]
- During the game's development, Werner's order didn't call for a horse, but the boss designer put him on one anyway to add an air of majesty. Who would have thought that his battle would be indoors?[3]
- Werner shares many parallels as the first battle with Mugen from Octopath Traveler II:
- Both are riding atop a horse during their respective battles.
- Both are the main antagonists for the respective warrior's stories.
- Both specialize in inflicting the Terror status effect.