Gnaeus (Honkai Star Rail)

"Major Spoilers Ahead!" This Article Contains Spoilers - WARNING: Before her death, Maria wanted to inform you that the article you're about to read contains spoilers. Turn back now and read a different article if you have not watched/played/read the following works yet.

Ensemble Dark Horse
Full Name	Gnaeus (Pre-Apotheosis) Nikador (Post-Apotheosis)
Alias	Nikador's Reason (As a Fragment) Silent Gladiator Guardian of Amphoreus Demigod of Strife (Previous Cycle)
Origin	Honkai Star Rail
Powers/Skills	Kalyx Superhuman Combat Prowess Lance Mastery Demigod Divinity (After Ascension)
Family	Other 4 Nikador Fragments (Post-Apotheosis)
Allies	Chrysos Heirs The Trailblazer Mem Dan Heng Castorice Aglaea Tribios (Tribbie, Trianne, & Trinnon) Mydeimos Phainon Hyacine Cifera (Unknown) Polyxia / Thanatos Calypso / Cerces Khaos / Kephale??
Enemies	The Black Tide King Eurypon
Goals	As Previous Cycle's Demigod of Strife Fend off the Black-Tide creatures from Amphoreus (Passed to Mydei) As Nikador's Reason Fragment Restore Nikador's fragmental souls as a whole Grant Nikador honorable warrior's death Have Mydei ascended as a Demigod (All Succeeded).
Why Do People Love The Character?	Gnaeus' death cemented as a moment of awesome, which grant Nikador, the Strife Titan an honorable warrior's death. Being the Strife Titan's sense of Reason, he succeeded his goal to restore the Nikador's sanity. Also not to mention, Hunter Peterson's jaw-dropping performance. He also appears again during Phainon's Trial of Strife and calls out Mydei's indecisiveness for delaying Mydei's own ascension. Mydei eventually taking the Trial of Strife and succeeded ascending in his character trailer. In addition, the person that fragmental Gnaeus based on was the historical Chrysos Heir member who was a faceless Kremnoan Military Hero who was a wise mentor of for Polyxia and Calypso, with a fame of defending Amphoreus from the Black-Tide.
Type of Ensemble Dark Horse	Wise Military Hero

“	I AM NIKADOR, THE LANCE OF FURY, THE MESSENGER OF TURMOIL, AND THE EMBODIMENT OF STRIFE! REMEMBER THIS: I AM THE SCAR THAT THIS WORLD NEEDS!!!	„
	~ Gnaeus, or rather Nikador's sense of reason, before restoring Nikador's fragmental consciousness, seeking to become whole.

“	Journeys and epics are only glorious and magnificent because all things eventually fades to dust.	„
	~ Gnaeus

Gnaeus was a supporting major character in turn-based role-playing video game Honkai Star Rail. He is a gruff, taciturn, yet silent gladiator of the Castrum Kremnos with mysterious origins. In actuality, he's Nikador's Sense of Reason that has been stripped away by the corrupt officials of Castrum Kremnos during King Eurypon's reign, resulting the Strife Titan corrupted by the Black Tide. After assembling Nikador's Soul Fragments as a whole, he requests the Trailblazer to give him / Nikador a honorable warrior's death. During the Phainon's Trial of Strife when Mydei, Dan Heng, and The Trailblazer search and rescue Phainon after he fails the trial, he appears again as a familiar divine echo who calls out Mydeimos' indecisiveness for delaying his own ascension. Before ascending as "Nikador" (or rather part of the Strife's Titan), Gnaeus was the previous member of Chrysos Heir who protected the people from the Black Tide calamity since the beginning of the Era Bellica when Black Tide descends.

He is voiced by Zhao Zihan in Chinese dub, Yu Maeda in Japanese dub, Jang Byeong-gwan in Korean dub, and Hunter Peterson in English dub.

What Makes Him Ensemble Dark Horse? 

• Gnaeus, at first was a mysterious male gladiator of the Castrum Kremnos who partaking the gladiator matches of the Kremnoan arena. While at first being ridiculed as a fool by the Kremnoan arena tournament recruiter, he proves the arena recruiter wrong as Gnaeus is wiser than he thought. He acknowledges that the Kremnoan Officials have wage pointless war, while also being so delusional by splitting Nikador's soul fragments in the name of honor, resulting Castrum Kremnos' downfall. 
  • The Fire-forged friendship between him, The Trailblazer, and Castorice during the journey in the past of Castrum Kremnos.
• While Gnaeus caught a sneaky weapons peddler for robbing the weapons from the deceased contestants, Gnaeus initially about to kill the weapons peddler for his disrespect, but Castorice's insistence for mercy that some coward fears death, which gave the reason for Gnaeus to spare him since the weapons peddler was no warrior, so he's not worth to kill.
• It revealed that the individual Gnaeus that the Trailblazer & Castorice encountered in the past memory fragment wasn't a person, but rather Nikador's Soul Fragment of Reason who was left wandering in Castrum Kremnos, wanting to restore Nikador as a whole. He's actually based on the same person who was a Chrysos Heir and has been fighting the Black-Tide creatures since the beginning of Era Bellica before the founding of Castrum Kremnos.
  • He had interacted with Calypso and Polyxia, the former Chrysos Heirs as close comrades, before they begin to ascend as Demigods in the Previous Cycle.
• Gnaeus restoring Nikador's soul fragments and therefore granting the Strife Titan honorable warrior's death cementing the fanbase a jaw-dropping moment of awesome, even if Nikador's upgraded final boss fight was known for high difficulty spike. 
  • Additionally, Hunter Peterson's baritone of power during Gnaeus' "death" captures the fanbase that it can be mistaken for any best moments from the film 300 or the video game series God of War.
• During Phainon's Trial of Strife, Gnaeus appeared as a Divine Echo that calls out Mydeimos' indecisiveness for not choosing his ascension to protect the people of Amphoreus. In Mydei's defense, he worried about his people being trapped in the endless cycle of warmongering. Mydei eventually taking the Trial of Strife by himself after Krateros calls him out for the same reason as both Krateros & Phainon predictably failed the Strife trial. 
• Gnaeus appears again in Mydei's Trial of Strife in Mydei's character trailer. Unlike Phainon, Mydei succeeded the trial, granting his apotheosis as a demigod and only for completing Nikador's abandoned mission by ending the Castrum Kremnos' history for his people's safety. 
• While Gnaeus / Nikador was in fact known for being a Brutal but Honorable warfather, He tragically was vilified in-universe as a "Savage God" and "Mad King" by the people outside Castrum Kremnos, with some portrayal of Nikador being the Savage, Sadistic, and even Stupid Brute. The fact that the corrupt Kremnoan authorities (Especially King Eurypon, Mydei's Father) did stripping his sense of reason to finish off Okhema only adding a fuel to fire to the legacy of Nikador.

Trivia

• Both him and Pompey from Zenless Zone Zero were named after Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, a general and statesman of the Roman Republic who was known in English as "Pompey".

External Links

• Gnaeus on Honkai Star Rail wiki.