Celiose Cole

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Our Brave Generalissimo.

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Meta•Fact: Though not acknowledged in Kupopolis canon, Celiose once died and was brought back to life with a Resurrection Potion. This potion was acquired by using Relm to sketch Intangier 888 times wearing the Cursed Ring, and defeating the mythical Tenth Dragon using X-Zone with Umaro in your party

Celiose Cole is the Generalissimo of the Grand Army. His victories protected the Web in several wars, establishing his reputation as one of the greatest military minds of all time.

Fast Facts

Born 4 WR, in Albrook, to Locke and Celes Cole.

Became commander of the REF at the age of 17(!).

Five feet, nine inches tall.

Blonde hair, gray eyes.

Married to Shana Cole, early 25 WR.

Known for his distaste for politics, politicians, and the media.

Once had a stuffed chocobo named Napoleon the Figgy. (Once, Kefka attempted to impersonate Celiose, and revealing that this stuffed animal was on the honeymoon bed was how the real Celiose proved his identity.)

When he fights on the front lines, he can do so either with his sword, Illumina, or his Seraphim, Archangel.

Also, a terrible singer.

Early Life

Celiose was born in Albrook, in 4 WR. The son of two of the Fourteen Against Kefka, Celes and Locke Cole, Celios already had a heroic parentage. Born shortly after Albrook joined the Tasnica Republic, Celiose was born a Tasnican citizen, and though the Tasnicans are quick to 'claim' him as 'theirs', Celiose seems to have had little affection for the Republic outside their military traditions.

Growing up, Celiose was a prodigy. He learned to read at a young age, and excelled at several subjects at school. Some historians have opined that in more peaceful times Celiose may have grown up to be a great scientist, but in the years of the Great War, it was inevitable that any bright young man would focus on the military arts. Celiose was very much a 'mama's boy', taking after his mother, the former imperial general Celes. His father, Locke, still did solo adventuring, and was often away from him. This contributed to much resentment from the young Celiose.

Celiose lied about his age to join the REF as an artilleryman. In fact, his very first surviving military writing is a table of artillery ranges. He almost certainly would not have been accepted if not for the Republic Expeditionary Force's disaster at the Battle of North Viper in 14 WR; Tasnica needed people to fill its ranks as fast as it could.

The Great War

REF Service

Celiose rose quickly through the ranks, as his intellectual and theoretical understanding of war was well ahead of his contemporaries. Celiose emerged as "the brains" behind the restructured, reborn REF, emphasizing co-operation between all arms, thorough professionalism, and the importance of supply. Celiose's paper Supplying War is still required reading in almost every military academy in the Web. All this earned the attention of Rhodes Palmerston, who decided to gamble by promoting the young man to General of Artillery and putting him in charge of the REF.

This was a highly controversial move. Celiose was still very young (17), and although he had seen some small skirmishes, he was an untested commander. Although everyone acknowledged his brilliance and potential, the REF Officer Corps preferred an officer with more experience and grit. Fortunately for Celiose, he formed a friendship with Burzmale Julian, a more experienced officer who helped "sell Celiose". Burzmale was probably one of the only close personal relationships Celiose would have in his life.

The Ticonderan Legions seized the Ice Country in 21 WR; the following three-year campaign made Celiose's reputation. While previously he had been mostly behind the scenes as an organizer and theoretician, on the battlefield he grew into a commanding, charismatic figure with an unparalleled 'grip' of the battlefield. The Ticonderans first opposed the REF's "re-conquest" at the town of Todoburg. Celiose's ability to maneuver his artillery around the battlefield to deliver accurate fire caught the Legions off guard. A well-timed cavalry flank netted the REF a multitude of prisoners. This was the first "Celiosian envelopment", a tactic which he would repeat time and again during the Great War, even as tanks replaced cavalry.

From then on, Celiose was well accepted as a leader to his men. Even though he was a charismatic presence and steely professional, the underlying core of his popularity was simple: he won battles.

Still, Celiose could, at times, get a little too confident in his own abilities and plans. After training special ski troops to launch a surprise encirclement at the Battle of Frozen Bay, the Ticonderans almost broke out. Celiose, desperate for more men to plug the line, went to the military hospital and asked the wounded for volunteers. Torstensson Lenart, crippled with Tuvin's Syndrome, responded: "I am old. I am infirm. But I will lead this defense!" Enough men stepped forward to plug the line, and most people regard this as a heroic episode for Tasnican arms. This was key to containing the Ticonderans on top of a large chunk of ice. Celiose then lit up a huge artillery barrage, and drowned the last remaining Legionnaires in the Ice Country.

Generalissimo

The Ice Country campaign came at a critical time in the Great War. It secured the Mana Dimension and the Tasnica Republic against aggression. It was also a severe defeat for the previously invincible Ticonderan Legions. Rhodes Palmerston used this opportunity to try to form an alliance: the Grand Army Charter. It is unlikely that Rhodes would've gotten the support for such an initiative if there was no obvious leader. Celiose's reputation made the Grand Army possible, and he was given the title of Generalissimo in 24 WR. For the rest of the war, Celiose would be the undisputed "head strategist" of the war effort. Only a handful of other people in the Web have ever had to direct a war on this scale--and Celiose was the only to win.

Only shortly after being appointed Generalissimo, Celiose demonstrated the political callousness that would mark his entire career. He appointed follow Tasnican Burzmale Julian as his second-in-command, much to the objection of the House of Lords, which desired a more diverse command team. Celiose refused. Celiose had an adamant confidence in his own ability to recognize military talent. Burzmale Julian and Torstensson Lenart were invaluable in forging the multinational hodgepodge of forces into a single, unified army. Celiose recognized the importance of air and naval operations in the context of the larger strategy, and choose innovative thinkers like Gage Rizett and Howe Lingane to lead the Luftwaffe and Kriegsnavee, respectively. At first, the GA's intelligence operation was shoddy, but the addition of Praxer Riose in 25 WR would eventually create on of the Web's most formidable intelligence agencies: the Celpo.

Celiose initially structured the forces of the Grand Army along REF lines. He was, perhaps, a little too enamored of magitek armor and undervalued traditional infantry. Celiose was a military innovator, but it would take time and experience in the field to determine what worked.

Celiose's first campaigns as leader of the Grand Army were against the NeoEmpire, based in the Esper Dimension. The NeoEmpire provided very tough opposition as they had their own magitek armor. Progress was initially slow; Celiose was able to win battles, but the Grand Army lacked a decisive victory that could put the NeoEmpire out once and for all. The addition of several dwarf-made tanks transformed the battlefield. Celiose used armored spearheads to encircle and destroy a large Imperial army outside of NeoVector. Celiose then assaulted NeoVector itself, with the help of several freelance adventurers such as Kusaku and War Moogle.

Celiose had a run of success, winning victory after victory. With the help of Kusader, he attacked Zeromous with the new technology of Ultima missiles.

When Chrystalis returned from her self-imposed exile, she met with Celiose, at Kupopolis. This partnership would transform the war effort as they participated in high adventure around the Web. Celiose would meet many other key figures, and Winlan, Hyrule, and even Ticondera would all join the Grand Army Charter. Celiose met Shana Goldmoon, the woman he would later marry. A woman brainwashed into the service of Ganon, Shana was struggling to overcome her past deeds. Celiose was taken with her apparent vulnerability, and she was taken by his apparent fortitude. Celiose realized Shana had great depths of strength, and Shana realized Celiose was concealing some personal weakness. Ganon tried to abuse this relationship by re-asserting his mind control over Shana, but Celiose invaded his castle and killed him.

During this time, Celiose also met Christian Cole, his half-brother. Christian was the illegitimate son of Locke Cole with Zelda Goldmoon. Celiose wanted nothing to do with Christian, at the time a young boy. He represented his father's unfaithfulness towards his beloved mother. The simmering frustration Celiose had with Locke exploded, and although Celes Cole did her best to smooth things over the lingering animosity between the two would last for years to come.

Nonetheless, this phase of the war was problematic for the Grand Army in many ways. It could take territory, but struggled to hold it. It became clear that the Grand Army would have to grow even more and take over the lion's share of the warfighting throughout the Web. It was also clear that this would be a potentially painful transition. The Light Gods again departed the Web, further limiting available resources. This would permanently embitter Celiose to the gods; he cared little for any apparent divine plan and came to believe that the fate of the Web would be settled with "blood and iron."

Celiose's war

The Grand Army was now firmly bearing the brunt of the war effort. Ironically, it was a victim of its own success: they had proven they could win so often, it was expected to be able to fight everywhere. The transformation from a single multinational task force to a web-spanning army was a painful one.

Burzmale Julian, perhaps one of Celiose's only personal friends, betrayed the Grand Army for the Dark Wrath. Although outwardly he showed only his customary cool calculating countenance, in private (to Shana) he was furious. Burzmale's betrayal was probably the only moment where Celiose's confidence in his own ability to direct the war was thoroughly shaken. His typical disdain for political niceties caused a schism with Emperor Camilison of Ticondera at a critical moment, and a vast GA army was lost to Burzmale. Attempts to fight back and launch counterattacks, at Wisdon among other places, all floundered. Celiose realized that the GA had to go on a prepared, strategic defensive. He did, however, greenlight Gage Rizett's strategic bombing campaign as a way to fight back. There was enormous political pressure on Celiose to do more, to free people suffering under the Dark Gods' yoke, but Celiose's plan was to defend and break the back of the Dark Wrath's military power before launching a major offensive.

For the rest of the war, Celiose was never able to find a satisfactory replacement for Burzmale in the post of Lt. General. His first pick, Kuance Lero, proved to be a major disappointment. This represents an uncharacteristic blemish on Celiose's otherwise superlative record for recognizing military talent and putting the right people in the right job.

Celiose recognized that although the Dark Wrath had the upper hand, the GA was far from beaten. He expected the Dark Wrath to seek a decisive battle someplace the GA would almost certainly have to defend, probably in a dimension where they already had a foothold. Celiose felt Hyrule, Winlan, and Eblan, as important member states in Dark Wrath-dominated dimensions, were the most likely targets.

Celiose correctly guessed what Burzmale would do (invade Hyrule) but did not anticipate what Torak would do (attack Albrook). Celiose prepared for Burzmale's invasion of Hyrule by increasing the GA presence there and placing one of his ablest commanders, Torstensson Lenart, in charge. Torak's attack on Albrook would've caught Celiose by surprise simply because it was a "wrong" thing to do, but Celpo spy efforts alerted Celiose to the possibility of invasion. Albrook was already heavily fortified and was a GA staging area for operations throughout the Web; it was very easy for Celiose to rapidly concentrate a large number of forces there. In a decisive, month-long battle, Celiose roundly encircled and destroyed a large Dark Wrath army. Along with siege of Trianable, this victory was a major turning point in the war.

After Albrook and Trianable, Celiose took the rare step of calling a full meeting of virtually the entire Soldierly Council to plot strategy. Celiose sensed that this was the moment to seize the initiative and destroy the Dark Gods' armies once and for all. Possessing a battle-hardened, well-equipped army, Celiose decided to "go for the throat" by invading Transbaron rather then try to reclaim Ticondera or liberate Dragon, where the terrain would greatly favor the defensive.

Victory

During the last phase of the war, Celiose wore several different hats. He was still, as Generalissimo, responsible for overall direction of the war and equipment of the army. He was also in charge of the GA's contribution to the Transbaron campaign, ('A' Expeditionary Force, or AEF), which eventually comprised four GA armies. He also assumed command of GA First Army. One cannot help but wonder if Celiose would have been better served with a little more delegation. Although his conduct of operations was excellent, it was far from flawless. He tended to treat his men as if they were indestructible. His crossing at Arderine Pass was extremely bloody, and was only salvaged by crushing firepower. Although most of the fighting in Crystal was dominated by a series of sieges and fortification-busting, Celiose did manage to fight one more large mobile battle in the Damcyan desert, in a victory that destroyed most of the Dark Wrath's best remaining troops.

Celiose's daughter with Shana, Erdeny Cole, was born and her growth was hyper-accelerated along with Valsu and Jade Saizer. The three were known as "the Shining Ones", and although during the war they played a key role in a few battles, the fact Erdeny basically skipped her childhood made it hard for Celiose to relate to her. (Celiose is not the most relatable guy on a good day, anyway.)

In the last months of the war, the Grand Army commanded such enormous superiority in all areas the final battles in Baron itself were borderline anticlimactic.

Although analysis of Celiose's generalship during the Great War has filled many tomes, and much can be said of his positive qualities as commander, most historians believe that it is his ability to see and manage the 'big picture' that really sets Celiose apart. He had a vision for how a vast, multi-national army should look and act, a vision which incorporated several other military innovations. And he had a strategy for how that army would win the war; he remains the only commander in history to successfully wage a full-scale, webwide conflict.

After the Great War...what now?

Celiose Cole had spent his whole life fighting the Great War. Although he firmly believed that the war was winnable, and he was the one to do it, he gave little thought to what a post-war Web would look like. Immediately following the Great War, the GA was still on full war footing; after all, the Dark Gods had come back from near-defeat before, they could certainly do so again. Many of the Web's nations were almost completely ruined. Crystal and Dragon were in shambles, Esper was as politically divided as ever, Ticondera was moving towards revolution, and Tasnica had to spend the next several years paying off a huge war debt. Celiose was not only the web's military leader but its political leader. However, he failed to treat the two tasks differently. He regarded all developments as a potential threat to GACA, and treated them as such, even as he prepared more terrifying weapons with the stated goal of deterring potential aggression. This policy would ironically lead creating more threats to the Grand Army. It was the brutal policies of this era, and of the Great War, that give rise to Roland Boderick's faction of the Omnisent.

Celiose's personal disconnectedness destroyed many of the relationships he had forged in the war. When the Light Gods appeared again in the Web, Celiose confronted them. He was enraged at the gods for having 'done nothing' even as millions of people died ostensibly in their name. Celiose was as big a legend as the gods themselves. He told the Light Gods that their active interference in mortal affairs would have to end, and they sadly acquiesced.

Celiose began to become more alienated from his wife. He simply did not know how to live; he needed war to find his peace. Never naturally empathic or personable, Celiose became increasingly remote and distant, even to Shana, the only person able to reach him.

KMT War

Kuvalla-Medina-Ticondera were an unlikely alliance, all of whom had their own reasons for opposing the GA. Medina opposed the GA simply because Guardia had aligned with the GA; Ticondera believed that a webwide communist revolution would sweep the 'capitalist artifice' of GACA aside. Kuvalla, though, was almost a personal matter. Kusader was a hero of the Great War who had fought beside Celiose, but feared what the Grand Army was doing in the post-war world. He cast his lot in with some dubious allies, perhaps well aware his stand was doomed, but determined to make a statement nonetheless.

The KMT war was quick and brutal. The GA's victory was never in doubt, and its brutal methods gave fodder to the growing Omnisent. If Celiose had been more a diplomat, and less inclined to solve every problem with force, its possible that the war could have been avoided entirely.

Omnisent Movement

The OmniSent had early existed as a covert, anti-Dark Wrath movement; it was in 28 WR, after the KMT War, that Rudra Tairen revealed its existence to many Web heads of state. The OmniSent were a far-flung spy network; their motto was "Knowledge is Power". Rudra herself was an idealist, who believed that if all the nations of the Web shared all their secrets, a lasting peace could be attained.

Many of the nations of the Web, including Guardia, the nascent Esper Union, and others found the Omnisent's agenda threatening. Celiose, in stark contrast to his earlier behavior, was dismissive of the threat. He famously described the OmniSent as "a bunch of reporters". To Celiose, the idea that such an organization could pose a threat to the largest and most fearsome military machine in history was laughable. In private correspondence with Rudra, he was even surprisingly candid about his own failings and struggles. Celiose confessed that the rule of military force was the only thing he really understood, that he had difficulty negotiating the more delicate politics of peacetime, and even that he was estranged from his wife. Celiose and the Grand Army took no action against the Omnisent.

A rogue faction of the Omnisent tried to assassinate Doan, King of Guardia and one of the Omnisent's most vocal opponents. His son, Derik, assumed the throne as regent for a time. In a brash course of action that earned him the nickname "the Firebrand", Derik demanded the Grand Army attack the Omnisent. Celiose refused. This prompted Derik to do the unthinkable and ask the House of Lords to sack Celiose. Travin Rumanski of the Scandian League supported the movement, perhaps angry that Celiose had decided to bomb his country during the Great War rather then liberate it. Indeed, Derik had tapped into a well of resentment against the politically tone-deaf Generalissimo. The House opted to replace Celiose with Jomini Benedek, an aging Doman who was much more politically malleable.

Celiose was pretty sure he'd be back in the saddle sooner or later, and spent most of his "time off" in Albrook, staying abreast of all things military. Rudra, posing as River Aurora, gained employment as Celiose's serving girl. With this persona, she befriended both Celiose and Shana. Rudra helped reconcile the couple from their recent 'icy spell'.

Hivan War

The Hivans were extradimensional space insects that invaded the Web in 30 WR. Their Hiveworld arrived in the Crystal Dimension, and they launched several colonizing forces throughout the Web. The Web was collectively confused and shocked by this encounter with something completely alien to their experience. Jomini Benedek, still Generalissimo, was slow to mobilize the Grand Army's response. After a major GA defeat in Baron, the House of Lords recalled Celiose to duty.

Celiose was again in his element. He restored confidence and 'grip' at the top of the GA as he served as strategist and overall manager of the war effort. Again, Celiose displayed a knack for matching the right people for the right jobs; Model Steinmetz, in particular, proved an inspired choice to lead the defense of Zenan Bridge. After the Hivans initial suprise was blunted, Celiose was able to organize a web-wide counter-offensive. Celiose's return to service was as much a turning point as any particular battle.

The House of Lords awarded Celiose his third Hero of the Grand Army as a way to apologize. Celiose's military talents were indispensable. Somewhat chastened by his experience with Rudra, Celiose and the Grand Army tried to play a smaller role in Web politics as the modern Great Powers began to emerge in pre-eminence. Even during the Imperialist War, Celiose was reluctant to use the vast might of the Grand Army to intervene on the behalf of one member state over another.

OmniSent Conflict

Not one of his prouder moments.

Leviathan War

He was on vacation in Aryth, then came back and stopped it.

New Wraith

Booya.

Aryth War

Kicked DeLaykrinn's ass.

Budget Cuts

Alliance Congress 1, Celiose Cole 0. Now most of his Great War staff is washed up.

Kupopolis Neo

Celiose dies of old age at the very beginning of Neo, and the Second Great War begins immediately afterwards. Shana outlives him by a bit. Celiose is the grandfather of Avarael Cole.

Trivia

Has a hard time buying groceries.

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Figgy

Celiose Cole was nominated for a Figgy in 1996 in the Best Character category ...and won!

Figgy

Celiose Cole was nominated for a Figgy in 1996 in the Best Male Character category ...and won!

Figgy

Celiose Cole was nominated for a Figgy in 2000 in the Best Male Character category ...and won!