Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc is a Catholic saint and considered a national French heroine. She is famed for leading French troops in victory against the English which contributed to ending the Hundred Years' War.

She is featured as the French opposite of her English equivalent, Edward the Black Prince, in Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War. Her character's height for all of her appearances is 165 cm (5'5").

Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War
Joan appears before players midway through the game when they have achieved three star Fame. Referred to as simply "Girl" and a simple peasant, she strives to protect her village from the English invaders. As she is mocked by fellow French soldiers for her audacity, the player's character supports her and battles to safeguard her home. Her valiant efforts made while repelling enemy troops is acknowledged by the French army and she is praised for her skills.

Once players reach four star fame, she will seek them out at the Tavern and reveal her true name. Leading a unit of lance horsemen, she fights at the Battle of Orleans and is victorious. Her triumph in this battle has the French troops worship her as an angel, believing she is the key to ending the long war.

However she grows uncomfortable with the attention she receives and begins to perform worse in battle. It is during this time, she is captured by the English and imprisoned in Rouen, but the King does not send troops to aid her. Players are given an opportunity to rescue her along with her subordinates La Hire and Gilles de Rais.

Realizing she must persevere to win the war and share her burdens with her friends, Joan will give players command of her army for the final battle in the game.

Warriors Orochi
As she was in the midst of gathering troops, Joan is mysteriously transported to the dimensional realm in Warriors Orochi 3. Confused and lost in the new world, she is quickly surrounded by the serpent forces at Komaki-Nagakute. In her moment of despair and fear, Magoichi appears to rescue her and allows her a chance to escape to Mt. Ding Jun. Running away from the battlefield, a scared Joan is surrounded by her possessed men, but she is saved by Zhou Tai and company. Encouraged by her rescuers that she does have the strength to fight, Joan agrees to join their cause.

Remembering Magoichi's sacrifice for her, a brave Joan begs Kaguya to send her back in time to save him and the Saika mercenaries from suffering severe losses. With his men saved in the past, she returns to the future to save Magoichi himself at Mt. Ding Jun. Her efforts earns Magoichi's grateful allegiance to the coalition.

Development
The director really wanted to add her into the Warriors Orochi cast since her character allowed him the most creative freedom. Her weapon is the director's own invention to the project. He believes her moveset will embody the freedom he felt with her.

Personality
Joan is portrayed as a modest young girl whose sole desire is to save her people and her fellow soldiers from suffering the plagues of war. She is gentle yet her very presence seems to inspire her comrades in battle. Despite her young age, gender, and social status, she has an uncommon strength rarely found in the French ranks of the time, and this ultimately leads to her success in general when it comes to warfare. She will rarely refer to a higher power of being or being called upon by a supernatural force to fight for the French.

Character Symbolism
Her fourth level weapon for her Warriors Orochi appearance is named after a white lily; lily flower petals also appear during her special attacks. The flower is one of the argued inspirations and namesake for the fleur-de-lis, an emblem which is seen throughout Europe's history but often associated with the French monarchy. White lilies are also known as respectful flowers to offer at graves or funerals, as they symbolize a peaceful afterlife for the departed.

Voice Actors

 * Yumi Tōma - Japanese voice

Quotes

 * "Your heart is pure and unsullied. I've never seen one so clean. But this means you must be strict with yourself. You must fight with love in your heart."
 * "Yes. I will remember your words..."
 * Aya and Joan; Warriors Orochi 3

Ground Moveset

 * undefined: Shoots a gust of wind from her hand.
 * , undefined: Swings her spear up in an arch, knocking opponents into the air.
 * ,, undefined: Twirls her spear like fan.
 * ,, , undefined: Forms a tornado around her accompanied by pink flower petals.
 * ,, , , undefined, undefined: Summons lightning bolts. EX: Triggers a rain of holy arrows.
 * ,, , , , undefined: Slams her spear into the ground, which erupts chunks of earth in a line in front of her; juggles enemies caught in it.


 * Dashing : Powerful stab with her spear.
 * , undefined: Shoots a fireball from her spear.
 * , : Powerful slash of her spear.
 * Creates a small burst of energy, followed by a larger one, accompanied by lily petals.


 * Special Attack: Summons a field of holy energy that strengthens herself with a blue aura and causes small gusts of wind when she attacks. Also strengthens nearby allies, doubling their attack for 30 seconds.

Horse Moveset

 * undefined:

Fighting Style
In her Warriors Orochi incarnation, Joan is capable of using very broad and wide spear swings. She has very decent range and moderate attack speed, which helps prevent her from being interrupted during attacks from in front of her. But because of this she is left open from behind for attack.

Her JumpC, C1, and C3 through C5 have her use powerful Magic attacks, so she would greatly benefit from the Blast Weapon Infusion skill, as does her EX Attack, which summons arrows from the sky to rain down on enemies. Her Special Skill and C3 through C5 attacks also trigger the Absorption and Osmosis Weapon Infusion skills as well, which helps keep her Health and Musou bars up in the most dire of situations. That combined with the Iron Gauntlet accessory, ensures she wont be interrupted should one attack her from behind.

Humble Beginnings
Jeanne d'Arc was born in the french village of Domrémy. Her father, Jacques d'Arc was a farmer who owned about 50 acres (202,000 m²) of land - 30 acres (121,000 m²) of pasture, 10 acres (40,000 m²) of cropland, and 10 acres (40,000 m²) of forest alongside Jeanne's mother, Isabelle Romée. She had two brothers, Pierre and Jean, and a sister named Catherine.

From the young age of 12 she claimed to received what she claimed to be visions from God, her first vision was when she was out alone in a field and saw visions of figures she identified as Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, who told her to drive out the English and bring the Dauphin to Reims for his coronation.

Joining the French Army
At the age of 16, she asked a kinsman, Durand Lassois, to bring her to nearby Vaucouleurs where she petitioned the garrison commander, Count Robert de Baudricourt, for permission to visit the royal French court at Chinon. Baudricourt's sarcastic response did not deter her. She returned the following January and gained support from two men of standing: Jean de Metz and Bertrand de Poulengy. Under their auspices, she gained a second meeting where she made a remarkable prediction about a military reversal near Orléans.

Upon her arrival, Jeanne effectively turned the longstanding Anglo-French conflict into a religious war. But this course of action was not without its risks. Charles's advisers were worried that unless Jeanne's orthodoxy could be established beyond doubt – that she was not a heretic or a sorceress – Charles' enemies could easily make the claim that his kingdom was a gift from the Devil. To circumvent this possibility, the Dauphin ordered background inquiries and a theological examination at Poitiers to verify her morality. In April 1429, the commission of inquiry declared her to be of irreproachable life, a good Christian, possessed of the virtues of humility, honesty and simplicity.

She arrived at the siege of Orléans on 29 April 1429, but Jean d'Orléans, the acting head of the Orléans ducal family, initially excluded her from war councils and failed to inform her when the army engaged the enemy. However this did not prevent her presence at most councils and battles. The extent of her actual military leadership is a subject of historical debate. Traditional historians such as Édouard Perroy conclude that she was a standard bearer whose primary effect was on morale.

Leadership
Jeanne d'Arc rejected the cautious strategy that characterized French leadership during previous campaigns. During the five months of siege before her arrival, the defenders of Orléans attempted only one aggressive move and that ended in disaster. On 4 May the French attacked and captured the outlying fortress of Saint Loup, which she followed on 5 May with a march to a second fortress called Saint Jean le Blanc, which was found deserted. The next day she opposed Jean d'Orleans at a war council where she demanded another assault on the enemy. D'Orleans ordered the city gates locked to prevent another battle, but she summoned the townsmen and common soldiers and forced the mayor to unlock a gate. With the aid of only one captain she rode out and captured the fortress of Saint Augustins. That evening she learned she had been excluded from a war council where the leaders had decided to wait for reinforcements before acting again. Disregarding this decision, she insisted on attacking the main English stronghold called "les Tourelles" on 7 May. Contemporaries acknowledged her as the heroine of the engagement after she was wounded in the neck by an arrow but returned to lead the final charge.

The sudden victory at Orléans led to many proposals for further offensive action. For the next several years Jeanne would lead the french army to multiple victories over the European army. On 29 December 1429 Jeanne and her family were granted nobility, due to her loyalty to the French Monarchy.

Capture & Trial
A truce with England during the following few months left Jeanne with little to do. However, the truce with England quickly came to an end. Jeanne traveled to Compiègne the following May to help defend the city against an English and Burgundian siege. A skirmish on 23 May 1430 led to her capture, when her force attempted to attack the Burgundian's camp at Margny.

While it was customary for a captive's family to ransom a prisoner of war. Jeanne was in an unusual circumstance. Many historians condemn King Charles VII for failing to intervene. She attempted several escapes, on one occasion jumping from her 70 foot (21 m) tower in Vermandois to the soft earth of a dry moat, after which she was moved to the Burgundian town of Arras. The English government eventually purchased her from Duke Philip of Burgundy. Bishop Pierre Cauchon of Beauvais, an English partisan, assumed a prominent role in these negotiations and her later trial.

The trial for heresy was politically motivated, as the Duke of Bedford claimed the throne of France on behalf of his nephew Henry VI. Jeanne had been responsible for the rival coronation, hence condemning her was an attempt to undermine her king's legitimacy. Legal proceedings commenced on 9 January 1431 at Rouen, the seat of the English occupation government. The procedure was irregular on a number of points.

Under ecclesiastical law, Bishop Cauchon lacked jurisdiction over the case. He owed his appointment to his partisan support of the English government which financed the trial. Clerical notary Nicolas Bailly, commissioned to collect testimony against Jeanne, could find no adverse evidence. Without such evidence the court lacked grounds to initiate a trial. Opening a trial anyway, the court also violated ecclesiastical law in denying her right to a legal adviser. Upon the opening of the first public examination Jeanne complained that those present were all partisans against her and asked for "ecclesiastics of the French side" to be invited.

The trial record demonstrates her remarkable intellect. The transcript's most famous exchange is an exercise in subtlety. Asked if she knew she was in God's grace, she answered: "If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me." The question is a scholarly trap. Church doctrine held that no one could be certain of being in God's grace. If she had answered yes, then she would have convicted herself of heresy. If she had answered no, then she would have confessed her own guilt. Notary Boisguillaume later testified that at the moment the court heard this reply, "Those who were interrogating her were stupefied."

Though despite the fact the court was unable to find her 100% guilty of heresy, the political power of European Family tilted the court in their favor by continuing to break court law and she was eventually prosecuted as "Guilty of Heresy and a Practitioner of Witchcraft".

Execution
Heresy was a capital crime only for a repeat offense. Jeanne agreed to wear feminine clothing when she abjured. A few days later she told a tribunal member that "a great English lord had entered her prison and tried to take her by force." She resumed male attire either as a defense against molestation or, in the testimony of Jean Massieu, because her dress had been stolen and she was left with nothing else to wear.

Eyewitnesses described the scene of the execution by burning on 30 May 1431. Tied to a tall pillar at the Vieux-Marché in Rouen, she asked two of the clergy, Fr Martin Ladvenu and Fr Isambart de la Pierre, to hold a crucifix before her. A peasant also constructed a small cross which she put in the front of her dress. After she died, the English raked back the coals to expose her charred body so that no one could claim she had escaped alive, then burned the body twice more to reduce it to ashes and prevent any collection of relics. They cast her remains into the Seine from the only bridge called Mathilda. The executioner, Geoffroy Therage, later stated that he "...greatly feared to be damned."

Retrial
A posthumous retrial opened twenty five after the war ended, at the request of Inquisitor-General Jean Brehal and Jeanne's mother Isabelle Romée. Pope Callixtus III authorized this proceeding, also known as the "nullification trial". The aim of the trial was to investigate whether the trial of condemnation and its verdict had been handled justly and according to canon law. Investigations started with an inquest by a priest, Guillaume Bouille. Brehal conducted an investigation in 1452. A formal appeal followed in November 1455. The appellate process involved clergy from throughout Europe and observed standard court procedure. A panel of theologians analyzed testimony from 115 witnesses. Brehal drew up his final summary in June 1456, which describes Jeanne as a martyr and implicated the late Pierre Cauchon with heresy for having convicted an innocent woman in pursuit of a secular vendetta. The technical reason for her execution had been a Biblical clothing law. The nullification trial reversed the conviction in part because the condemnation proceeding had failed to consider the doctrinal exceptions to that stricture. The appellate court declared her innocent on July 7, 1456.

Gallery
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