Don Whitehorse

Don Whitehorse (ドン・ホワイトホース, Don Howaitohousu), usually referred to as The Don, is both a fictional character and tritagonist from the Tales of Vesperia of the Tales of series created by Yoshiharu Gotanda. He originally served as the leader of both Altosk and, more importantly, the Guild Union in Dahngrest. Known for his strength and charisma, numerous guild members admire him, notably Karol Capel.

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 * —Don Whitehorse.

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: David Lodge (English), Osamu Katou (Japanese), Not Known (Albanian), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Basque), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Cantonese), Not Known (Catalan), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (Galician), Not Known (German), Not Known (Greek), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hong Kong), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Indonesian), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Mandarin), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Tagalog), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Valencian), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)

Appearance

 * Hair Color: White
 * Skin Color: Not Known
 * Eye Color: Green
 * Age: Not Known
 * Birthday: Not Known
 * Height: Not Known
 * Weight: Not Known

Family

 * Harry Whitehorse (grandson)

Fighting Style
In the PlayStation 3 version of the Tales of Vesperia game, the Don can be fought as a boss early in the story. In addition to Tiger Blade, he possesses various other artes in his arsenal such as Rush Heaven (衝天, Shouten), Phoenix's Banquet (鳳凰の宴, Houou no En), Tachikage, and lastly Rose Ring (薔薇輪, Soubirin).

Plot in the Series
Yuri Lowell and his companions first see the Don when they arrive at Dahngrest on their way to Keiv Moc. Despite not meeting him formally, the group catches a glimpse of his integrity when he refuses to allow the Imperial Knights to assist defending the city from a hoard of monsters that began attacking when the city's barrier blastia failed. After the counterattack against the monsters, the Don assists the guild members in locating the monsters' nest, seeking to eradicate the cause from its source. Deciding to return to the city later, the party departs and travels toward Keiv Moc.

Upon returning to Dahngrest from Keiv Moc, the group discovers Flynn Scifo consulting with the Don about a peace treaty between the Empire and guilds. However, the conversation turns bitter when the Don reads a false letter indicating that Ioder wishes to terminate the Don's power and influence over the guilds. While Flynn realizes the letter must be a ploy, the Don arrests him and declares war on the Empire. Later, the Don discovers Yuri imprisoned as opposed to Flynn, and is moved by his bravery. He then explains to Yuri the primary reason he began a guild was because he did not approve of the way the Empire conducted things and he wished to be free to protect those he loved and cherished without restraint. The Don reveals to Yuri that the members of the Five Master Guilds, notably Barbos, seek to remove him from power and that he was fully aware of the falsehood of the letter. He claims he has a reputation to maintain, so he locked Flynn away to please the guild members. Strongly seeing himself in Yuri, he frees him and grants him time until the battle begins to prove Flynn's innocence.

Death
Later, when Phaeroh appears in Dahngrest, the Don instructs Raven to deliver a letter to Belius, asking her to keep an eye on Phaeroh and report his actions. However, during this time, Yeager tricks Harry into taking the Hunting Blades into attacking Belius, which results in her death. Knowing what Yeager had done, the Don travels to the Manor of the Wicked to confront him. However, even with the help of Yuri and the others, Yeager manages to escape. Having little choice in the matter, the Don is forced to return to Dahngrest in order to stop the war between the Union and Nordopolica. To do this, he commits suicide. Yuri, aware he should not reveal the truth about Belius's death, assists the Don in his suicide, ignoring Belius's advice to forgive the people who were responsible for her death. Before doing so, the Don asks Raven to stop Yeager for him.

Legacy
The Don's death affected many characters, including Yeager, who visited Dahngrest to pay respect, and had a profound impact on the state of the Union and its guilds.

Notes & Trivia

 * When the Don commits suicide, he does so by seppuku, which was performed by Japanese samurai as part of the bushido honor code. This method of suicide consisted of using a small blade to cut open the abdomen, while another person, the kaishakunin, decapitates the one performing seppuku. In the Don's case, Yuri served as his kaishakunin.