Spiritia Rosenberg

Spiritia Rosenberg (RKS001 Eins), also known as Tia for short, is the main protagonist of the doujin soft franchise Rosenkreuzstilette. She is a training instructor for RKS and the Holy Empire and is the main playable character in the first game and a supporting character in Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel. She is voiced by Michika Kataoka.

Appearance
Spiritia appears as a girl dressed in gothic lolita. She wears a white long-sleeve shirt with a black dress having white frills and black shoes. She wears a red necktie and has green hair and long blonde hair held in a ponytail with an ahoge on the front and wears a silver cross hairpin in her hair. She is one of the few characters who is not given a redesign in Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel.

Personality
Spiritia is a straightforward and honest young woman who is treated with utmost respect, even by the imperial soldiers. She is also naive, and one can tell that she is a terrible swimmer due to her tendency to sink like a brick in water. Spiritia is kind, idealistic, and never gives up, knowing that giving it your all can help to change the world.

Lilli
Lilli is Spiritia's fairy friend who travels with her and supports her everywhere she goes. The two get along really well, so well that Lilli feels rather lonely without Tia there for her. Whenever Tia finds the Black Forest's Treasure, Lilli decides to borrow some of the treasure's power to help Tia.

Freudia Neuwahl
Freudia Neuwahl is Tia's childhood friend, both of who have known each other since they were children. While Freu seems rather cold to other members of RKS, she develops soft, strong feelings towards Tia, and is willing to risk her life to protect her. Tia loves Freu very much, just as much as she loves the others at RKS.

Luste Teuber
Luste Teuber sees Tia as a playmate and looks up to her so much that she likes to play games and have fun with her every time she sees her. While the two play together, Luste will often make Tia into the "bad guy."

Grolla Seyfarth
Grolla Seyfarth seems to serve as a sort of friendly rival to Spiritia. When the two cross paths in Grolla's side-game, Rosenkreuzstilette Grollschwert, Grolla mentions that she has always desired a serious match with Tia when she hears Tia declaring that she would try to protect Iris from her, and tells her to come at her with all she has. After the match is over, Grolla exchanges some words of advice that Tia can heed or cast aside however she likes: "Beware of Iris. If you don't, you'll pay a high price."

Graf Michael Sepperin
Not much is known about the relationship between Tia and Graf Michael Sepperin, other than that Tia and the others at RKS love Sepperin very much and look up to him like a father. What else is known is that both Tia and Sepperin wish to protect Iris, unaware that she was using them both for her own amusement.

Iris Sepperin
At first, Spiritia and Iris start out as friends, with Tia believing that Iris is a kind, innocent girl who is mature for her age, too. Later, when Iris shows her true colors as the mastermind behind the events of the first game, the two become enemies from that point on. Interestingly, Iris later points out that Tia, just like Iris, also reincarnated from the legendary Magus Rosenkreuz; Iris was born with his absolute power and unparallelled brains, while Tia was born with his strongest ability, the ability to tap into the strengths of others.

Abilities
Tia has many different abilities that she can use, but her main ability is the miracle power of "Seelegewehr (Soul Cannon)," the Shotgun of Souls. Using it, she can condense her mana into blasts of light magic in the form of bullets that travels above ground towards targets. The more mana she charges, the stronger her blasts will become. Tia is capable of firing these shots indefinitely without having to tap into her mana supply.

Not only is Tia able to use the abilities of her friends whenever she defeats them, but she can also summon two kinds of Silberflügel platforms; "Eins," which lets her conjure platforms that propel her higher above ground, and "Zwei," which allows her to conjure a boarding platform that propels her across long areas of hazards that can cause her to explode instantly upon contact. After getting the Black Forest's Treasure, she can also summon her fairy companion Lilli and use her to track down and attack her opponents.

Rosenkreuzstilette
Spiritia had left to train in the Black Forest for six months prior to the events of the first game, meeting and befriending a fairy named Lilli in the process. Upon returning home and arriving at the Imperial Training Hall, she was greeted by Iris only for Iris to be abducted by a grayish purple dragon that she and Lilli had seen on their way back. After the dragon left, the training hall and the Black Forest were set ablaze and Tia managed to find and rescue Lilli, who was unable to save the forest even though everyone managed to make it out alive. Afterwards, she found Freudia, who informed her that RKS was behind the attack and was plotting to sever its connection with the Holy Empire and build a new world just for Magi - all out of belief that they were the target of persecution from the Empire again. Freu implored for Tia to return to her place at RKS's side, but Tia refused, not willing to tolerate the sacrifice of innocents and knowing of the consequences that could befall her friends if she joined the rebellion anyway. After Freu left following her initial defeat at Tia's hands, Tia resolved to not only not allow her friends to get away with the attack, but also to get to the bottom of their sudden madness.

Tia eventually met up with Freu again, asking her why she was involved in the rebellion. Freu reminded Tia that she hadn't forgotten what happened to their home, reminding her that they had both known each other since they were children. She felt that RKS had to respond in kind regardless of whether or not they felt it was just and right or not, and voiced her happiness that she had met her, for she wouldn't have been before her that day had she not met her at all. Freu also voiced that a world where everyone she cared for could live in peace was all that she wished for. Tia agreed that Magi definitely had the power to hurt others, but they could use their powers to help them too because power was neither good nor evil, and they had to turn the other cheek even if others tried to push them around. Freu asked Tia whether she honestly thought she could defeat RKS on her own, and Tia said that she would definitely try. After the battle between the two friends was over, Freu implored for Tia to finish her off because it was her loss, but Tia refused. A surprised Freu wondered if Tia's ideals were that important to her and Tia replied that the situation had nothing to do with ideals, for she just wanted to protect the people from RKS as much as she wanted to protect the people of RKS. Freu regarded it as sophistry, voicing that, to protect something, one must make a sacrifice, which has always been the law of the world, which Tia refused to accept. Freu said that RKS would lose its place in its world should they let their resolve waver, even for an instant. While she said it was something they couldn't change, Tia said in response that RKS could always make another place should it lose its own place, and that everybody could always start over regardless of whether it was in RKS or in the Empire even though people, due to being unable to be replaced, weren't like that, and that no matter where anyone went, they would always find a place to fit in. Freu believed that Tia's naiveness may be her fatal flaw but Tia replied that, even so, she wouldn't regret it, for the reason that she fought and the fact that she loved her and everyone else were her irreplacable feelings alone. Freu then left to rethink her actions.

After having defeated the rest of her friends, Spiritia and Lilli then stormed Graf Sepperin's castle together only to find a familiar scythe on the castle bridge. Tia recognized it as the Devil Scythe Grassense, which, along with the Demon Sword Grollschwert, was mastered by Grolla's grandfather and mentor, the great Raimund Seyfarth, having heard that the scythe disappeared when he passed away. A ghostly voice called out to Tia and she recognized it as Raimund's voice, realizing that Graf Sepperin had begun using the forbidden arts to resurrect the dead. Tia attempted to convince Raimund that what the count was doing was wrong, to which Raimund responded by voicing that he didn't care for the matters of mortals nor the motives of his summoner, and instead craved battle alone. After a battle against him, Tia pleaded for him to rest in peace once more and then decided to confront the Graf to finish off the incident.

Tia confronted Graf Michael Sepperin in his throne room, desperate to know why he started the rebellion against the Holy Empire. Sepperin explained that the reason why was because the Orthodox Church, whom the Empire's reins of power lay within, sought to eradicate his biological daughter Iris and that he wanted to protect her from them. Sepperin told a story about the legendary Rosenkreuz and how he used his heroic sacrifice to have the Empire accept the Magi as part of their military. He reveals that, over the years, the Empire began to fear Iris because she was born a reincarnation of Rosenkreuz, blessed with power and intelligence. Sepperin was able to conceal her talents thanks to said intelligence, but didn't know that a spy might be in RKS's midst. Sepperin, of course, had paid the utmost caution and shared her secret with only the select few he felt he could trust, not having been able to imagine that Karl was the spy. It seemed to him that the Church had learned of Iris and her gifts through Karl, and yet he was able to pre-empt their plans, and he launched a coup against the Empire in order to protect Iris, which he felt was the only option available with their current strength, and with a mere moment of preparation, he had organized their attack.

His reason for starting the rebellion was to prevent an uproar from everyone, and he felt it was the first he had told anyone of his motives. He also revealed that he lied to Liebea that the Empire had taken Karl captive out of fear that she would become their adversary should she have learned the truth. Although unable to persuade her to take part in the rebellion, he managed to avoid her becoming an obstacle by imprisoning her in the Research Tower, though remorseful for it for such a talented young Magus would've made a fine addition to their forces. In any event, Sepperin told no lies; to him, building a world for Magi and protecting Iris were one and the same. His only miscalculation was that Tia would be at the training hall, and to be honest, he would've preferred to have her, with her unrivaled sense of justice, to lead the others in battle. He asked Spiritia to return to their side, knowing well enough that there was no sense in fighting for the Empire. Tia, of course, still refused, knowing how hard it was for Lilli and the other creatures of the forest to have their homes burned to the ground. Tia was willing to protect Iris without letting anyone be sacrificed, calling Sepperin a coward for having gotten scared, run away, and lashed out like a cornered beast, and voiced that she wouldn't run away from her power nor her fate, and that she would stop him and protect Iris herself. Interested, Sepperin challenged her to show how serious her opinions were by showing him the true extent of her power, and from that point, a battle ensued.

After the battle was over, Tia pleaded for the Graf to return to the path of righteousness for both Iris and Zorne or else she wouldn't be able to help him even though she wanted to. She then asked him for the wherabouts of Karl and his proof that Karl was a spy, and the Graf told her that Karl as in the castle prison and that he had made an attempt on Iris' life, which she had told him herself. Lilli asked that why Iris was at the training hall when it all started if everything he told them was all true, and Tia decided that something wasn't right. A confused Sepperin believed that Iris was always in the castle with him when Lilli alerted Tia to an incoming attack that she got away from just in time, which obliterated the Graf's body into a burst of flames.

To Tia's surprise, the owner of the attack was none other than Iris, who then attacked and fatally injured her as well. Tia desperately wanted to know from Iris what was going on. Iris happily complied with Tia's request by telling another long story, starting with the statement that everything the Graf said was true, the only exceptions being the parts about Karl that she had made up. Karl actually saw through her just like the Empire did, which led to her imprisoning him. Iris then revealed that she was the one who manipulated her father into starting the coup just so she could make the world less boring to her. Lilli thought Iris was crazy and Tia asked her why she killed the Graf. Iris stated that she killed him because he was no longer useful to her plans, but at least he in her words was certainly entertaining. Tia, shocked by what Iris said, voiced her disbelief that Iris was the kind of kid who would do something like that, to which Iris replied that Tia was manipulated by the facade that Iris used to fool everyone, with Tia being the easiest to manipulate. Iris then revealed that she was at the training hall to pull off an act where Tia had picked up her pendant after she was "abducted" like a good heroine. It was thanks to that that she was able to observe her every move and amuse herself with watching her give it her all. She also revealed that she used her pendant to turn her friends against her by having them brand her as a traitor to the organization after her refusal to take part in the rebellion. And last, but not least, she revealed that she made Zorne suffer by killing her adoptive father that she had always been yearning for to accept her as his real daughter. After finishing what she had to say, Iris felt that she no longer had a need for her and attempted to finish off and murder Tia with one last attack.

Just then, the room suddenly froze over, freezing Iris' attack with it to her surprise. Freu revealed herself to be the one who froze the room to save Tia, and had come just in time to have done so. Freu voiced her confirmations of her suspicions of Iris and the fact that she had realized that Iris was much more than she appeared to be. Iris decided to leave, allowing everyone to prepare themselves for a final showdown. Freu revealed to Tia that the attack she used to save her used up a lot of her mana but she was fine, telling Tia to go after Iris because she knew she was the only one to have a chance of defeating her. She was also willing to sort out and resolve the problems left behind by Iris, among them Karl's imprisonment. She gave Tia her own Cross Tank she made as a "pick-me-up" recipe for her. At first, Tia was reluctant to leave Freu while she was injured, but Freu reassured her that she would be fine. Tia picked up the Cross Tank, thanking Freu, and Lilli assured her that it was time to get a move on. Tia resolved to settle things once and for all and followed Iris to her palace while Freu pleaded for Tia to come back to everyone in one piece.

Spiritia stormed Iris' palace and finally found her within the palace ballroom. Tia refused to forgive Iris for what she had done. Iris arrogantly questioned Tia whether she thought a "run-of-the-mill" Magus like her could stand a chance against her, claiming that she had transcended humanity and become a God. Tia responded that, even though she didn't know how great of a man Rosenkreuz was, she knew that Iris was not actually a God. She warned her that her powers would control her instead if she didn't have a pure enough heart to control them. Iris scoffed at her statement believing that it was her right to treat people as toys. Tia condemned Iris' beliefs voicing that everyone had their own fair share of hardships and their own hopes and dreams and tried to make the most of their lives, which Iris had no right to toy around with. Iris, not one to take any more of Tia's talk, was willing to beat some sense into her to the point of making her draw her very last breath for her "misunderstanding of true power" as she interpreted it to be, and introduced her Iris Machine. Nevertheless, Tia managed to destroy the machine to Iris' shock and disbelief along with her wonderment of where she got all that energy. Iris fled to the pinnacle of her palace, and Tia pursued, freeing the dragon that "abducted" her, Talos, who turned out to have been controlled by her all along and gladly flew her to her, in the process.

As Tia confronted Iris one last time, Iris began to laugh maniacally realizing that Tia was Rosenkreuz's other incarnation, the "Blade of Rosenkreuz." This was as surprising to Tia and Lilli as it was to an also-impressed Iris, who stated that Tia was born with Rosenkreuz's spirit as well as his ability to tap into the strength of others'. Lilli replied that Tia would always be herself, and Tia thanked her, voicing her knowledge that none of it mattered when it came to magic even though she didn't really know if everything Iris said about her being Rosenkreuz's other incarnation was true. It was because of her friends that she had the will to fight, and that they were the source of her power, all that much that she knew for sure. Iris had enough of Tia's talk, and the final battle started, ultimately culminating in Tia's victory.

Iris couldn't believe that she lost to a single mage. While Iris thought Tia was fighting by herself, Tia corrected her by saying that she won because everyone was cheering her on and that Iris lost because she couldn't believe in others nor love her fellow man. Tia told Iris to give up, but Iris, thinking Tia had let her guard down, activated the self-destruct mechanism of her palace in an attempt to take Tia down with it and escaped. Luckily, Talos saved her and Lilli, and flew them to a floating island where the two happily reunited with the others at RKS.

Rosenkreuzstilette Grollschwert
Tia's role in Grollschwert is the same as her role in the main game, though the conversation she exchanges with Grolla is different. In Grollschwert, Tia ran into Grolla, having heard that Grolla, too, was fighting to stop the rebellion launched by RKS. Grolla thought that Tia had come to dispose of her like the others at RKS who had marked her as a traitor, but Lilli reminded her that Tia wanted to stop the fighting too. Tia revealed that RKS had marked her as a traitor as well and that she had to stop the Graf from taking it any further. Grolla suspected that the Graf may be involved and decided that the two had to stop Iris before things got out of hand. This came as a shock to Tia, and Grolla, to her disbelief, stated that, though she didn't know whether or not the Graf was working with her, Iris was definitely the cause of the war. Grolla knew that whether the naive Tia believed her or not wasn't important as long as she didn't stand in her way. Tia resolved to stop Grolla from killing Iris out of belief that Iris was a kind, innocent girl. Grolla, having known it would come to that moment, stated that she had always desired a serious fight against her, knowing that that moment would be the perfect opportunity, and called out to Tia to come at her with all she had. After Grolla defeated Tia, she gave her a piece of advice that she could heed or cast aside however she wanted to, which warned her to beware of Iris or else she would pay a high price. Realizing that Grolla wasn't making anything up about Iris, she decided to see her for herself and wished Grolla luck, telling her to be careful before leaving.

Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel
Spiritia returns as a supporting character as well as one of two final bosses of Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel alongside Iris' seraphic form. In the beginning, she is kidnapped by the Schwarzkreuz, who send her away to an unknown location, after which Tia is not seen again until the final stage. There, she is revealed to have been brainwashed by Iris into attacking her friend Freu. Freu fights and defeats Tia, forcing Iris to come out of hiding, and then defeats her afterwards. After Freu seals Iris away within an ice crystal, Tia, having been free from Iris' spell after the fight, regains consciousness, and she and Freu return home where they happily reunite with their friends at RKS.

Trivia

 * She is based on Mega Man in terms of playability and in terms of personality. Both characters have strong senses of justice and are willing to protect others, and are seen as naive, which their enemies believe to be their fatal flaws. They also possess similar abilities, such as the abilities to copy those of other characters. Her RKS number, RKS001 Eins, is also similar to Mega Man's DLN number being DLN001.
 * Her name is derived from the word "spirit," which combines said word with the name of "Tia," which is her short nickname. Her surname, Rosenberg, comes from Uwe Rosenberg, a German board game designer.
 * In her debut, Spiritia was able to do all three of the same things that Mega Man and his successor, X, did in three different games; In the original Mega Man series, Mega Man first gained the ability to slide in Mega Man 3, followed by the ability to charge his Mega Buster in Mega Man 4. In Mega Man X, X is able to charge special weapons with a Buster enhancement.
 * Tia shares a similar line with Zero, as they both say "It's not over yet!" when their health runs low. Freu would later adapt said phrase in Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel.
 * While Tia is a terrible swimmer, she is surprisingly able to traverse through Trauare Wrede's stage in the original game. This is due to her lung capacity to breathe underwater.
 * She is also one of three pre-fortress bosses to have her own boss theme, "Fighting Spirits," the other two being Freu and Grolla.
 * Tia has similar qualities to her best friend Freu; they both wear the same type of clothing and have the same hairstyles, along with having their own boss themes and being the main protagonists of their respective games. The differences are that Tia wears gothic lolita fashion, she wears a cross hairpin and her ponytail is bigger than Freu's and is held by an unseen ribbon.
 * Her role as the boss of Grolla's stage in Rosenkreuzstilette Grollschwert is a nod to Mega Man: Powered Up!, where playing as a different Robot Master in his own respective stage changes the boss of his stage to a clone of Mega Man.
 * Tia also shares similar eye colors and hairstyles to Saber from Fate/stay night and Red Saber from Fate/Extra; all three have long blonde hair and green eyes as well as an ahoge in their hair. Noel Vermillion from BlazBlue also shares these similar eye colors and hairstyles to Tia, save for the lack of an ahoge in her hair. All four characters have their hair held in different fashions; Tia has her hair held in a big ponytail, both Saber and Red Saber have theirs held in short braids behind her head, and Noel shortens hers with a small hairpin until her appearance in Chrono Phantasma.