Ulrich Kesler
From Gineipaedia, the Legend of Galactic Heroes wiki
 High Admiral Kesler (800 UC (2 NIC / 491 IC / 3600 CE)) | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Affiliation: | Galactic Empire |
| Rank: | High Admiral |
| Flagship(s): | Forseti (former) |
| Occupation: | Chief of the Imperial Military Police |
| Status: | Alive (801 UC (3 NIC / 492 IC / 3601 CE)) |
| Born: | 762 UC (453 IC / 3562 CE) |
| Played by: | Ikeda Shūichi |
Ulrich Kesler (Japanese: ウルリッヒ・ケスラー) was an admiral of the Galactic Empire who served as the chief of the Imperial Military Police. Among Reinhard von Lohengramm's original admirals, Kesler commanded a fleet the least amount of times. His accolades are better represented by his police work and reforms of the Imperial justice system.
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Early life
Kesler grew up on the planet Kleingelt, where he was an acquaintance of Vier and Aubend von Kleingelt, heirs of the local ruling family. (LOGH: 'When the Rain of Grief Comes...')
Military career
Kesler originally was a legal advocate in the Imperial Fleet, and was transferred over to the Military Police for training purposes when he was a commander, sometime by 793 UC (484 IC / 3593 CE). He was involved in a case where a woman who lost her sons in the War smashed the portraits of Kaisers Rudolf and Friedrich IV. She was reported on by a neighbor and arrested, but Kesler claimed that she was insane and prevented her from being tortured to death. Instead, he claimed that the neighbor needed to be punished as well for seeing her desecrating the portraits of the emperors yet doing nothing to stop her. This case would later come to the attention of Reinhard von Lohengramm and Siegfried Kircheis when they were temporarily serving in the Military Police, and Reinhard was impressed by Kesler's handling of the situation, making a note to remember his name. (DMSN: 'Chapter I')
Later in June 794 UC (485 IC / 3594 CE), Kesler was a captain and was appointed by the Viscount Richard von Grimmelshausen to keep order at the party celebrating the latter's promotion to admiral. That was when he first became acquainted with Reinhard von Lohengramm, preventing him from starting a fight with his rival, Hermann von Lüneburg. In December of the same year, he delivered Grimmelhausen's book on the secrets of the high nobility that the viscount compiled over the course of his life to Reinhard at Iserlohn Fortress, and reported to him on the murder of Count Erich von Hartenburg, a senior police official. Since Kesler was disliked by high military officials, he was later reassigned from Odin to a frontier post, and Reinhard promised to get him transferred back as soon as he gained more power. (HBSHBL: 'The Night of the Party', 'Truth Is the Daughter of Time', 'The Sixth Battle of Iserlohn')
Late Goldenbaum dynasty
Kesler had reached the rank of commodore by 796 UC (487 IC / 3596 CE), and served under Reinhard von Lohengramm during the attempted invasion of the Empire by the Free Planets Alliance. He oversaw the removal of food supplies from the border region in order to starve the Alliance invasion troops. Although his subordinates had doubts about this plan, Kesler assured them that Reinhard would never intentionally make the Imperial people starve and carried it out. He worked with Viscount Kleingelt, ruler of the planet of the same name, to remove all of the food supplies from there. (LOGH: 'When the Rain of Grief Comes...')
He would later be promoted to the admiralty and saw action during the Imperial Civil War of 797 UC (488 IC / 3597 CE). His fleet fought against the Lippstadt League forces, which he led from the Forseti. However, that was the last occasion that Kesler would command a fleet on the front lines. In early 798 UC (489 IC / 3598 CE), shortly after the civil war ended, the previous Military Police chief, Admiral Oppenheimer, was arrested for attempted bribery. Kesler replaced him as the new Military Police commander, as Reinhard (who became the Imperial Prime Minister) believed that the organization needed some "new blood." One of his first known actions in that position was the arrest of Admiral Anton Hilmer von Schaft, the science and technology inspector general, for corruption. (LOGH: 'Courage and Loyalty', 'Portraits', 'Determination and Ambition')
When a couple of former Lippstadt officers arrived on Odin over the summer of 798 UC (489 IC / 3598 CE), Kesler reported on their arrival to Reinhard. Unbeknownst to him, they were brought there by the Fezzani autonomous government, as part of a scheme to kidnap the child Kaiser Erwin Josef II. Reinhard discerned their plans, which were to smuggle the Kaiser to the Alliance and form a "legitimate" government-in-exile of Goldenbaum loyalists with the intent of restoring the old order. He permitted the kidnapping to go ahead for political reasons. However, Kesler was not informed. Since the supervisor of the Palace Guard Vice Admiral Molt was Kesler's subordinate, Reinhard had Kesler's salary reduced as punishment to sell the act, along with an official reprimand. Kesler oversaw the search for the child Kaiser and his kidnappers once he heard of the event. However, the two former Lippstadt officers were able to escape with him to the Alliance. (LOGH: 'Determination and Ambition', 'Thunder', 'The Abduction of the Young Emperor')
At the beginning of Operation Ragnarok, the Imperial invasion of the Alliance, Admiral Kesler was appointed Capital Defense Commander, tasked with protecting the Imperial Capital of Odin. (LOGH: 'Invitation to a Requiem')
New regime
Under the new Goldenlöwe Dynasty, formed in 799 UC (1 NIC / 490 IC / 3599 CE), he served as chief of the Military Police and was credited with reforming them from their previous corrupt status, with many former officers being relieved of duty for corruption. Kesler also oversaw the investigation into the activities of the Terraist Church following their attempt to assassinate Kaiser Reinhard. When the capital was transferred from Odin to Fezzan, Kesler remained behind on Odin initially, and along with Ernst Mecklinger, the rear support chief, was the only admiral who remained in the former Empire. (LOGH: 'The Kümmel Incident', 'To El Facil', 'Eve of the Festival')
In 800 UC (2 NIC / 491 IC / 3600 CE), on the request of Cornelius Lutz he investigated Heydrich Lang, the Internal Security Department chief, and was able to provide Hildegard von Mariendorf with evidence that Lang had conspired to murder the imprisoned Nikolas Boltik. However, this was too late to save the life of Lutz or to prevent the feud between Lang and Oskar von Reuenthal from leading to the latter's revolt against Reinhard. An upholder of law and order, Kesler prevented Wolfgang Mittermeyer from murdering Lang before the evidence could be placed before Reinhard. However, he was not averse to use forceful but legal methods to extract vital information from captive Terraists. (LOGH: 'Rebellion Is a Hero's Privilege')
When Terraists launched an attack on the Imperial Residence in 801 UC (3 NIC / 492 IC / 3601 CE), Kesler personally entered the building through a window while his men were pinned down at the main entrance, and armed only with a pistol, protected Hildegard and Annerose von Grünewald until they could be evacuated. Later that year, he oversaw the defense of the provisional Imperial residence during Reinhard's final hours, when the last remaining Terraists attacked it. He was presumably promoted to Fleet Admiral on recommendation of Reinhard, one of the Kaiser's final decrees before his death. (LOGH: 'The Burning of Holly House', 'Dream: To See It to the End')
Personal life
In 803 UC (5 NIC / 494 IC / 3603 CE) he would marry Marika von Feuerbach, a friend of Hildegard who had encouraged the relationship. He was also a friend of Vier von Kleingelt during his youth. (LOGH: 'When the Rain of Grief Comes...', 'The Burning of Holly House')
Appendices
Apocrypha
Kesler is a mistranslation/misspelling of Kessler, a common German surname.
Appearances
- LOGH:
- 'When the Rain of Grief Comes...' (first appearance)
- 'The Lippstadt Conspiracy'
- 'Farewell, Distant Memories'
- 'Determination and Ambition'
- 'Thunder'
- 'The Abduction of the Young Emperor'
- 'Invitation to a Requiem'
- 'The Kümmel Incident'
- 'Eve of the Festival'
- 'The Order to Transfer the Capital'
- 'Rebellion Is a Hero's Privilege'
- 'Endless Requiem'
- 'The Burning of Holly House'
- 'Dream: To See It to the End'
- DMSN:
- 'Chapter I' (flashback)
- HBSHBL:
Background information
- Ikeda Shūichi, Kesler's voice actor, is famous for a somewhat similar role in another sweeping, animated science-fiction epic: that of Char Aznable in Mobile Suit Gundam.
