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What is it about yellow video game men? First there was Team Instinct’s Spark, whom Pokémon Go fans turned into a dabbing jokester. The same thing is happening again with Claude, leader of the Golden Deer house in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. According to the internet, Claude isn’t just the heir to House Riegan — he’s also a huge jester.
And, to be fair, the game plays into this a bit. Where Edelgard and Dimitri, the other house leaders, are portrayed as serious characters, Claude is way more lighthearted. This turns out to be somewhat of a front — Claude can be a ruthless strategist on the battlefield when need be — but even so, his reputation on the internet has become extremely silly. Probably, it helps that the game’s central conflict is more of an Edelgard versus Dimitri situation, which metaphorically leaves Claude laughing nervously as he whispers “What the fuck?”
Don’t believe me? Take Joe Zieja’s word for it — he voices Claude in the game. As he says in the video below where he challenges Polygon to a duel to the death, Claude’s No. 1 weapon is memes. “We are the house of memes,” he declares, before asking Claude fans to flood the internet with even more memes.
Last week, @Polygon published an article stating that #BlackEagle was best house in #FireEmblemThreeHouses. I promised a battle plan for my #GoldenDeer to take back the top house slot - and here it is. #FireEmblem #ThisMeansWar pic.twitter.com/LSji3RKnt2
— Joe Zieja (@JoeZieja) August 7, 2019
Listen, Claude, in-game popularity isn’t everything. Claude is already taking over the internet, despite Edelgard’s reign as the most popular overall house. Memes are the currency of the internet, so it makes sense.
Here are some of our favorite Claude jokes and fan art:
golden deer arriving at the battlefield while dimitri and edelgard are at war pic.twitter.com/0MnY8okONp
— cath ★ claude's pompoms (@kingofalmyra) August 5, 2019
Golden Deer is the best house#FireEmblemThreeHouses pic.twitter.com/b4lGag127F
— Summer Bat @ SHAMIR PROTECTION SQUAD (@batsouppe) August 7, 2019
Black Eagles: our leader is a fascist
— di!!en (@dillexe) August 2, 2019
Blue Lions: we are all depressed
Golden Deer: pic.twitter.com/v926kcEjeH
Claude: okay we gotta get through this locked door, Dimitri quick give me your credit card.
— Rui@FE3H (@ravefirell) August 7, 2019
Dimitri: here.
Claude, pocketing it: cool. Edelgard kick the door down
Claude and Hilda when the war breaks and they're just chillin pic.twitter.com/rVIjgghuGc
— Nussy (@thatp2bitch) August 7, 2019
2 goths and a claude #fireemblemthreehouses pic.twitter.com/hQl3oZbYbG
— elle (indieket b18) (@elleshivers) August 5, 2019
Daily Lives of House Leaders
— i’m just a little man (@Flamboyant_King) July 17, 2019
A meme commission from tumblr! pic.twitter.com/XBvFC0XPvn
Dimitri and Edelgard are both white-ass clowns while Claude is in the bg just having this sign perpetually on him #FireEmblemThreeHouses pic.twitter.com/VRuT7Arbwy
— Kylee/키님 (@kyleenim) August 5, 2019
Claude is defentily the third wheel in dimileth #FireEmblemThreeHouses pic.twitter.com/Q6A2PsUGLj
— Dimitri's wife @ art block (@Floweryuus) August 5, 2019
Rhea: so what class do you want to teach? :)
— eiha @ NO FE3H SPOILERS ZONE (@LUPATIER) August 7, 2019
Dimitri: (attacking a training dummy using his teeth)
Claude: (mixing eraser shavings and glue sticks in a water bottle)
Edelgard: (tweeting about how you shouldn’t be afraid of cops if you haven’t done anything wrong)
Byleth: ehhhh...
If life is being rough, just remember that Claude loves you, no matter what happens! (Ov<) #FE風花雪月 #FireEmblem #FireEmblemThreeHouses pic.twitter.com/nLvyeSawpa
— Diyuki (Thesis Mode) (@_Diyuki) June 20, 2019
Enter the Fódlan Verse#FireEmblemThreeHouses pic.twitter.com/CW6FbtTOFN
— Will | Art Raffle Open (@Willanator93) August 6, 2019
#FE3H pic.twitter.com/xBMfK1YOF5
— eon || comms open! (@ieoniq) August 3, 2019
They say the teaching profession fundamentally changes you..?
— Irma 'Aimo' Ahmed (@aimoahmed) August 2, 2019
Went #GoldenDeer on my first run of #FireEmblemThreeHouses and having a baller of a time with #ClaudeVonRiegan & Co. Kudos to @JoeZieja for coining the most ICONIC house motto #FE3H #FE3Hspoilers #byleth #comics pic.twitter.com/LfynZCUZhG
My friend inspired me to draw this, think we were talking about Claude's cipher card where it looks like he's jumping down from somewhere and then this came up ✨
— cidate @ KOFI REQUESTS CLOSED (@cidateart) August 1, 2019
The day's been a bit tough so was nice to unwind with them;; (and lets face it; dimitri absolutely would catch him) pic.twitter.com/kUiiaIIscQ
edelgard: (traps a wasp under a cup)
— c* @ dimiclaude gang (@doppo) July 28, 2019
claude: (puts down two more cups)
edelgard: don’t
claude: (starts shuffling the cups)
edelgard: arrested for church crimes
— ☆ @ dimitri fire emblem time!! (@oofuris) August 4, 2019
dimitri: arrested for every crime
claude: arrested for handsome crimes
My itabag is growing pic.twitter.com/bPAfjzHARX
— Claude Loving Hours (@pumpkinperyton) August 3, 2019
"Hey Claude you want some tea?"#FireEmblem #FireEmblemThreeHouses pic.twitter.com/esS9n4wPdY
— Arkiel (Still trying to finish 3H) (@arktoons) August 3, 2019
STAN CLAUDE VON RIEGAN THE POC LORD AND HIS TACTICS
— Charlie | Clown In Training (@protecc_attacc) August 3, 2019
#FireEmblemThreeHouses pic.twitter.com/UZogy5kQCL
claude and the golden deers staying neutral while everyone else is killing eachother in Fodlan pic.twitter.com/6qYa9RF2Y2
— Zee (@Blun_Z) August 3, 2019
Life at the monastery ( Art by Khux propaganda ) pic.twitter.com/S2WtNSopLu
— Claude Von Riegan (@RieganVon) August 3, 2019
dimitri and edelgard fighting while claude just breakdances #FireEmblemThreeHouses pic.twitter.com/42DZuZS70d
— princess zelda (@fairyskeletons) August 2, 2019
I was supposed to do a quick study to figure out how to draw Claude , and this is what i did instead
— Yuuzea @ FE3H (@Yuuzeart) August 1, 2019
Use it wisely #FE3H pic.twitter.com/Ov1S5ZaRkc
Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude in that order pic.twitter.com/nsIyGwknBz
— Sofi @ claude von riegan pls call me (@chirithies) July 31, 2019
compilation of straight dudes having their gay awakening because of claude fire emblem pic.twitter.com/rZx20jW2gq
— quantum macaroni @ dimiclaude jail (@alisyons_) July 30, 2019
