Playing a video game rarely makes me feel like an old man, even though my tired eyes start aching after just a couple of hours. But one moment in Trails Beyond the Horizon stopped me cold—my jaw dropped as the “Zoomer” streamer villain I’d just encountered spouted a string of slang, some terms I’d never even heard before. The new character, Ulrika, feels like peering into the void of a malfunctioning algorithm; while my initial reaction was shock and a touch of disdain, over the next 100 hours, I came to find her act surprisingly heartfelt and, honestly, hilarious. What started as a gimmick turned into one of my absolute favorite parts of the game, adding to its already unique personality.
A quick background: Ulrika is a brand-new character in Trails Beyond the Horizon, the 13th installment in the long-running series—each entry weaving a continuous, interconnected narrative. Throughout the franchise, a shadowy villainous group called Ouroborous pulls nearly every string for an unknown end. Even after 13 games, their true motives remain a mystery.
Ouroborous has a role called Enforcer—extremely powerful individuals granted almost total freedom to act as they please, which often leads to… let’s say, eccentric personalities. Ulrika is one such Enforcer, and fittingly, you only interact with her via a computer screen—she’s literally always online.
Right away, she bombards you with Gen Z slang—calling protagonist Van Arkride “unc” and declaring she’s totally ready for battle, but not in a “sussy” way. Ulrika comes on extremely strong initially, making it easy to dismiss her as a one-note gag. But as the game progresses, her whole act feels increasingly heartfelt; her writing (especially the localization work, which I fully commend) shows real care.
Ulrika’s brash personality fits right in with Ouroborous’s roster of bizarre, larger-than-life figures—think of them as a group of Bond-style villains. But Ulrika has a unique spot in the organization: she’s fiercely critical of her own allies, mocking them just as much as she does the main cast.
But the more you watch her interact with her allies, the thematic layers start to emerge—she’s a young person who, despite her skill and knowledge, often feels overlooked by her peers simply due to generational gaps.
This level of care is what makes Ulrika stand out, but she also has a few other layers to her character.
Hilariously, her ability lets her brainwash others using specific “power words,” turning your allies against you and forcing them to follow her commands. That’s a clever touch for a villain themed entirely around being an “influencer.”
Equally, she satirizes the classic JRPG trope of the “grumpy old man” party member—Cid from Final Fantasy 7 is the most iconic example, but many Japanese RPGs include a character framed as crotchety despite not being elderly. In recent Trails games, 28-year-old protagonist Van takes on this role, often teased for his old-fashioned ways. As a 34-year-old, this sometimes makes me feel like I’m fading away.
Ulrika’s interactions with Van and the entire party subvert this trope nicely—suddenly everyone who teases Van for being “old” gets a taste of their own medicine (and more than one character points this out).
Ulrika’s character and role in the story have so many small, meaningful layers—making her one of the richest additions Trails Beyond the Horizon brings to the series.
It’s fair to say most media is slow to depict younger generations meaningfully—until those same generations start creating the media. I know I’m an aging millennial, but a core theme of the Trails series has always been youth’s hopefulness. Ulrika embodies that perfectly, but instead of being a one-joke character, her role and actions have depth. This is also a great example of why Trails remains a groundbreaking RPG franchise.