Saint-Germain, Code:Realize - Guardians of Rebirth Character Analysis
So far, Victor was a great guy that successfully remedied Cardia’s poison (to a certain degree) and Van Helsing was powerful but too inattentive to Cardia.
Next up to play as and analyze was Saint-Germain, the sophisticated, reliable noble in this game.
Saint Germain has an educated, sophisticated persona.
Initial Impressions of Saint Germain
In the story he seems very reliable. He is physically powerful, and Van Helsing is even willing to leave fighting to him at times out of respect for his ability.
Saint Germain is not intimidated by potential threats, and is willing to defend Cardia if needed.
In addition, he is always willing to listen to people and attempt to give good advice. Given his polite way of speech and ability to soothe others, it seems like he is a perfect gentleman. In addition, he owns the mansion that everyone is using as a hideout and lets everyone stay without making a fuss. He seems very laid back and understanding, instead of being arrogant about his wealth.
He always seeks out Cardia to check up on how she is, and gives her helpful advice.
Activating Saint-Germain’s Storyline
The same goes for Saint-Germain as the other gentlemen. When Cardia is being taught by the gentlemen, always opt to follow Saint Germain.
Spoilers Below
Author’s Note: I am sorry to say again, there will be a discussion of violence against women and potentially some disturbing images relating to this theme below. Please do not read if you are sensitive to these issues. Thank you.
Pros and Cons to Saint-Germain’s Storyline
Pros
- He is wealthy and is older than Cardia. This makes him better able to protect her by keeping her out of dangerous situations in the long run.
- He was initially an immortal, but at the end of the game is simply more robust than a normal person. Even though Cardia still has her poison at the end of the game he is able to kiss her and do basic touching due to his own inhuman healing abilities and endurance.
- He is a great fighter. This ensures he is physically able to protect Cardia from any hostile threats as they arise.
Cons
- He kills Cardia’s brother before her very eyes. It is clear this is very disturbing to her.
- He was a member of “Idea,” an organization that deemed Cardia a threat to the entirety of humanity in the long run and ordered her demise as a result. In other words, he is an assassin that was explicitly ordered to kill Cardia. Though the ending is happy, (and he defects from Idea) he still attempted to kill Cardia.
- It is very hard to keep Saint-Germain from killing Cardia. Usually in visual novel games, a “bad end” can mean a guy doesn’t like the heroine and date her. Not here. When the player is presented with two choices and you choose wrong, Saint-Germain kills Cardia (the player). Saint-Germain killed Cardia about four times during my play through. In other words, he is extremely determined to kill Cardia. That is absolutely not acceptable.
Seeing this usually means Saint-Germain killed Cardia by his own hands.
He is Wealthy and Older than Cardia
Saint-Germain’s wealth is obvious. He likes to collect art, and his mansion is clearly decadent.
In addition, not only does he have a mansion, he has two. The second “hideout” mansion is an exact replica of the first one. Down to the paintings. Making any large building such as that perfectly customized inside and out would be incredibly costly. The money required for such a feat is far beyond having a “second home.”
As seen in the background, Saint-Germain has quite a large mansion. He clearly has many resources and is able to move Cardia around as needed to keep her safe in the long run.
A possible source of this incredible wealth is Saint-Germain’s longevity. Though it is unclear what Idea pays him, given a long enough life just about anyone could accumulate wealth. This longevity also gives him a great deal of experience and expands his options when encountering a dangerous situation.
Saint-Germain is still being classy here, but he is making sure this person knows that he is aware they were followed. It is a great response since he is not openly provoking this person.
Saint-Germain Was an Immortal with In-Human Powers
By the end of the game it is unclear how long of a life Saint-Germain will have in the long run, but that doesn’t change that he was an immortal imbued with special abilities. The source of these powers were through Omnibus, the leader/visionary of Idea.
This ancient and powerful woman is Omnibus, the leader of Idea. Saint-Germain is one of her Apostles.
She has the power to see the course of human history and is charged with trying to protect humanity as a whole from going down certain destructive paths. To this end, she has Apostles, which are some sort of agents of God. Saint-Germain was one of these, but defects from this organization at the end of the game.
Due to this very unique situation, Saint-Germain is able to recover from injuries much faster. At one point in the game, he takes Cardia’s hand and places it to his face. This allows her to burn him terribly. Once her hand is gone though, he heals immediately.
In some ways, this is very kind of Saint-Germain. Due to Cardia's poison, her direct touch burns through just about anything. Saint-Germain is using his abilities to allow her to experience the warmth of direct touch, even at his own pain and expense.
At the end of the game, he even kisses Cardia. It seems he uses his fast battle-hardened reflexes to ensure he doesn’t linger too long and trusts his healing abilities to take care of the rest.
Saint-Germain is a Great Fighter
To be honest, it is unclear in this game if Saint-Germain or Van Helsing is superior in fighting ability.
In one point in the game, Saint-Germain has to kill other Apostles of Idea to try and free himself and Cardia from their terrible hunter and prey situation. He kills quite a few Apostles, and ultimately defeats Guinevere, one of the strongest of the Apostles.
However, this is a double edged sword. Though this is mostly a “pro” since he is able to defend Cardia and he does leave Idea, it could arguably be a “con” since if he turns on Cardia later she will absolutely be helpless.
The writers in this game make sure to keep things in perspective by using the other characters.
Saint-Germain Kills Cardia’s Brother
For anyone who doesn’t know, Cardia’s brother is not her ally.
He is the one that reveals to Cardia her true (non-human) nature and insists she cannot have feelings because she is not human. He makes it clear that he hates her.
Finis enjoys taunting Cardia, and he made sure to lead her to the location shown in the background. Those "things" in the tubes are failed attempts to make Cardia. Thanks, Finis.
Saint-Germain, in his story and in the others, is the one who defends Cardia from him and kills Finis. However, he does this right before her eyes.
For the first time, Saint-Germain opens his eyes to the player. This simple change adds extra impact to this scene for the gamer, and indicates there might be more to Saint-Germain then meets the eye.
That is a little disturbing, for a potential romantic interest. In addition, Cardia is unnerved by his general demeanor. Saint-Germain treats the entire situation like it is nothing. He just killed someone, and is in an underground laboratory with misshapen corpses in tubes. This calm behavior is clearly not normal. Cardia notices this and is unnerved by it. As a player, it is absolutely a red flag as well.
This is a perfect example of when to walk away from a potential romantic interest.
Saint-Germain was Cardia’s Attempted Assassin
As an Apostle of Idea, he was instructed to kill Cardia. This was unknown information through the other gentlemen’s lines.
Cardia’s Critical Point: Leaving the Mansion
Through all of the storylines so far, Cardia reacts to the unfortunate news that she is a homunculus and not a human by wanting to leave the gentlemen. She worries about what danger her very existence puts them in.
During Victor’s line, he appears to stop her. Van Helsing does nothing and she gets captured by a serial killer.
Saint-Germain appears, like a gentleman, to oblige her and take her away to another mansion.
It seems innocent enough.
When they arrive, he gives her the option to go back to the others. If the player chooses this, you get a game over and Saint-Germain disappears without a trace.
Like a true gentleman, he lets Cardia choose to be with the others or enter his creepy, hidden extra mansion.
Choose to stay at the mansion, which is the only way to continue the story?
His demeanor changes. During dinner, he opens his eyes. The only other time this happened is when he killed Cardia’s brother.
This absolutely sends chills down the gamer's spine. This build-up was implemented by the writers and game developers perfectly.
As it turns out Saint-Germain drugs Cardia during dinner, and when she is dazed, carries her to her room. Her cage.
Cardia wakes up.
It turns out Saint-Germain hoped to use the poisoned dagger he has unsheathed to end her life painlessly as she slept. It didn't work out as he planned.
She survives, and spends quite a bit of time at the mansion. Namely because Saint-Germain poison-proofed her room, and limited her ability to escape. The doors and windows are also locked, and the windows are powerful enough to withstand Cardia throwing a chair at it.
She keeps on trying to get him to not kill her and talk to her. Explain himself. He is absolutely chilling. While playing, I got the feeling it was clear he was many times the serial killer than Jack the Ripper in Van Helsing’s line. Saint-Germain isn’t the maniacal killer. He is the chilling, taunting, possessive type. In the real world, this is absolutely the last type of killer anyone would want to be in the hands of.
This is just one example of Saint-Germain displaying disturbing behavior even when he is not actively trying to harm Cardia.
Good news is Cardia manages to escape eventually. She reunites with the other gentlemen and they are horrified by how long she was held captive by him when it was clear the entire time that he had an intent to kill her.
This all occurs in Saint-Germain’s story and is not due to player error. It is an unavoidable fact that Saint-Germain attempted to kill Cardia, and toyed with her in a manner that seemed more fitting for the worse (or best, depending on perception) serial killers.
Hard for Player to Keep Cardia Alive in Saint-Germain’s Hands
There is an unavoidable attempt on Cardia’s life by Saint-Germain’s hands in his storyline. However, it is also notable that if players choose a wrong option at any turn, Saint-Germain will kill Cardia. This is an important note, because it means that Cardia/the player have to be perfect. If you do not respond perfectly to Saint-Germain he will kill Cardia.
Choose wisely when prompted by the game. Picking the wrong option will virtually ensure Cardia's demise.
Yes, Saint-Germain was on a mission. Yes, he defected from Idea and wants to just love Cardia at the end of the game. But that kind of “perfection” required in responses in order to avoid being murdered is a mark of pathology. As a general note, Van Helsing did not threaten Cardia to nearly this degree. The most physically threatening person to Cardia thus far is undoubtedly Saint-Germain.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Saint-Germain’s line is as mysterious as the man himself. Is he safe because he no longer has Omnibus or Idea giving him orders? Or was he a part of that organization long enough that pathology got more intrenched in him and he risks lapsing back to murderous behavior? Was he a part of that organization because there was a lurking darkness in him and killing people was fine for him?
After all, Saint-Germain was an assassin for too long. He absolutely must have a psychological problem or be too prone to violence. Even if he wasn’t that way before entering Idea, he must be that way now. Most of my reason for feeling this way is based upon his chilling behavior displayed when he captured Cardia and was going to kill her. He told her. He dangled the truth in front of her face. He even made meals for her (when she made it clear she didn’t need it, not only because of the situation but because she is non-human) just so he could talk to her. Remind her of her imminent death by his hands.
When captive by Saint-Germain, he also did place his hands on her throat and choked her until she passed out. She wasn’t sure if she would wake up ever again. It doesn’t matter if he had a “reason” or not. Most abusers will claim they have a “reason” for their actions, valid or not. Does Saint-Germain just need to leave Idea and everything will become sunshine and roses? Is it really that simple? General life experience tells me no. He might be fine for awhile, but I am not sure he would be trusted to stay safe for Cardia in the long run.
Even the other gentlemen at the very end of the game do not want Cardia to leave with Saint-Germain. This is fantastic, because in a way even the game’s writers are admitting to the folly of her decision to go alone with Saint-Germain.
Of course this is a visual novel, and they went into the sunset happily at the end. But from an analytical perspective, Van Helsing just might be safer for Cardia as a romantic partner than Saint-Germain. And that says a lot.
Thanks to the creators of this game. Code:Realize - Guardians of Rebirth belongs to Aksys Games, Idea Factory, Design Factory, and Otomate. I make no profit off of this website or from writing this, and I hope this article was informative. There is still a lot to learn about Saint-Germain that was left out of this article. So if interested, make sure to play the game!
Additional Note: I tried to make this article a little more robust than the others since Anime Nerd Girl replied on a previous article from this website that she liked Saint-Germain the most (based upon very basic initial impressions presented in that article). I am not sure if Anime Nerd Girl still feels the same way towards Saint-Germain, but hopefully this article will still provide her with some entertainment and information if she reads this! I always like to reward people who interact with me. Thank you to all of my supporters!
A truly picturesque image from this game. Thanks for the interaction and support Anime Nerd Girl!
