Hilmes

"Arslan...The humiliation and hardship that I have suffered to this day...I will make sure that you suffer the same as I have!"

- Hilmes

Hilmes (also Romanized Hermes) is a major character in the novel and later anime series Arslan Senki (Heroic Legend of Arslan). Hilmes was the prince of the fictional kingdom of Pars (highly based on pre-Islamic Persia), the son of king Osroes. Sixteen years prior to the events of the story, Osroes died mysteriously, and is believed by many, including Hilmes, to have been assassinated by his brother, Andragoras III, a rival for both the throne and his queen Tahamine. After his father's death, Hilmes disappeared and was presumed dead.

Andragoras took the throne and ruled for the next sixteen years, until first the neighboring kingdom, Maryam, then Pars itself was invaded by the army of Lusitania, led by a mysterious general in a silver mask. Andragoras dispatched a massive army to the Plains of Atropatane. The Silver Masked General, later revealed to be Hilmes, inflicts a crushing defeat on the Parsians, using fog summoned Bodin, a sorceror and priest of the Lusitanian Faith of Yaldaboath. Using the fog, Hilmes lures the Parsians into a trench filled with oil, which is then set alight with flaming arrows, killing thousands. Then, one of the Parsian generals, Kharlan, reveals himself to have turned traitor, and spreads false rumors that Andragoras has fled the battle, causing chaos in the ranks. Thousands more Parsians are cut down by the Lusitanians and Kharlan's traitors in the chaos, and Andragoras himself is captured by Hilmes. The Lusitanians take no prisoners- they believe it is their duty to kill anyone who does not believe in their god- civilians, including men, women, and even children in areas they conquered are slaughtered if they do not immediately convert. During the battle, however, the Parsian General Daryun escapes with the Prince of Pars, Arslan.

Hilmes next goes on to lay siege to the Parsian capital, Ecbatana, which falls after the Lusitanians incite a slave revolt. After the fall of Ecbatana, the Lusitanians, in spite of claiming that their Faith of Yaldaboath forbids slavery, do not make good on their promises to free the slaves, and also massacre the ruling classes of Ecbatana, as well as (presumably) anyone who refuses to convert to their religion.

Meanwhile Prince Arslan and Daryun, having met up with Narsus, an exiled nobleman, who was exiled to a remote mountain area after he angered Andragoras by suggesting he free the slaves before something like the fall of Ecbatana happened. They are joined by a page of Narsus', a travelling mercenary, a warrior priestess of the god Mithra. The group is soon hunted by the traitor general Kharlan and his army. However, Narsus proves himself as brilliant strategist, and manages to ambush Kharlan, allowing the five of them to lure his men into a canyon at night and fire arrows down at them (Arslan and the others all prove to be skilled archers), and create the illusion that they are a much larger force- the five of them literally force the army of hundreds to flee. Kharlan himself engages in a duel first with Arslan, and then Daryun, who intended to capture him, but, after he falls from his horse, Kharlan is literally impaled on his own spear and dies soon after telling Arslan one thing he knows: Andragoras is alive and imprisoned by Hilmes.

In an attempt to investigate these rumors, Narsus and Daryun infiltrate he capital, but are found by Hilmes. Hilmes manages to fight off both of them and force them to flee to city as the guards arrive.

Hilmes eventually regains Arslan's trail, with Arslan eventually fleeing towards Peshawar fortress. On the way, Hilmes' forces are attacked by the Zott Tribe, who he slaughters retaliation. At the Peshawar fortress, Hilmes finds Arslan unguarded and the two of them fight a duel. Hilmes claims he will not kill Arslan, but rather cut off first his right hand, then his left, before finally killing him.

Hilmes, however, is driven off when Arslan grabs a torch- the silver mask is to hide a burn wound from the fire that killed his father- since them Hilmes has been afraid of fire. Narsus and Daryun intervene, and the two of them fight Hilmes for a second time, and for a second time, Hilmes proves himself a match for both of them at once. However, he is eventually forced to retreat. After Hilmes' escape, the anime ends on a cliffhanger.