Tessius

Tessius (テシウス, Teshiusu) was a Holy Knight of Valis who married a woman from the Valis herbalist clan and was the father of Parn. After his death, he was disgraced from the Holy Knights of Valis, and his dishonor becomes a source of conflict for Parn and the villagers of Zaxon, who look down upon him due to his father's dishonor. Until he is named a Holy Knight after returning from Wort's tower, Parn wears Tessius' armor, which had the red cross of Valis scraped off it and has turned a bronze color from its usual white due to dirt, tarnishing, and disuse.

In The Grey Witch novel (and the 1994 manga), Tessius is disgraced from the Holy Knights after dying while guarding a village from thirty bandits on his own. He disobeyed orders to retreat, so his death was deemed dishonorable. However, when Parn meets the Holy Knights, they tell him the truth about Tessius' death. He was serving at a lookout, but was asked to help fend off bandits from a nearby village. Though the other Holy Knights approved his actions and still saw him as a hero for what he had done to save the village, he was disgraced for dereliction of duty due to the rigidity of the knights' code of chivalry. The stress around his death drove Parn and his mother out of the capital before there was a chance for a proper burial.

In the OVA, Tessius is disgraced for breaking a treaty between Valis and Flaim. There were tensions between Valis and the nomads in the Wind and Fire Desert, which at the time was a part of Valis. The dragon Shooting Star had been attacking the nomads, and they came to King Fahn for assistance. They said the only way to appease the dragon was with a sacrifice, and the sacrifice they demanded was Fahn’s infant daughter, Fianna.

Reluctantly, Fahn agreed, and the nomads took Fianna into the desert. However, Tessius couldn’t bear to see the king make such a great sacrifice. In secret, Tessius presented Fahn with a plan that would save his daughter and free Fahn of all wrongdoing; Tessius would steal back Fianna from the nomads and appear to act of his own free will, and Fahn could deny knowing anything. Tessius succeeded, and though Fahn admitted to knowing nothing of his decision to act, the nomads began a civil war. As punishment, Tessius was stripped of his rank and sent to fight on the front lines, where he later died.

His sword and armor were returned to his wife, who had to suffer the shame of her husband’s dishonor. She fled to Alania with Parn, where they settled in the village of Zaxon.

Tessius is voiced by Shinji Ogawa (Japanese) and Mike Timoney (English).

Notes

• The name Tessius is likely a reference to Theseus (Japanese: テーセウス Tēseusu), the Greek hero who slayed the Minotaur. Notably, the first RPG Replay on which the Record of Lodoss War novels were based features Parn and co. traveling into a labyrinth to slay a minotaur.
• In the SNES videogame Record of Lodoss War, which takes places shortly after the defeat of the Demon King, Tessius and Fahn are assigned by the Valis chancellor Deupa to investigate some monster attacks and disappearances outside Roid. Everytime they return succesfully, the chancellor assigns them to another mission outside Roid, leading Tessius to suspect the chancellor is trying to keep Fahn away from the dying King of Valis. Ultimately Deupa is revealed to be a döppelganger and remnant acolyte of the Demon King. Fahn, Tessius and their party defeat the demon prompting Fahn to become the next king of Valis afterwards.