http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/FireEmblemPathOfRadianceAntagonists

Listed here are the major recurring antagonists from the Tellius series, who appear or who are important in both Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. Head here for the Path of Radiance character page or here for the Radiant Dawn page. If you are looking for any Greater-Scope Villains, you should head here for the major Radiant Dawn villains page.

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Daein

Ashnard

Mad King Ashnard

Mad King

The Big Bad of Path of Radiance, an insane Social Darwinist who starts the war in order to invoke the power of the Dark God within Lehran's Medallion and destroy the entire continent. His true intentions, however, are much more draconian, and he's willing to sacrifice his own men as well as those of countless others to achieve it. Did we mention he's insane?

Class: King Daein (Path of Radiance)

Voiced by: Satoshi Hino (Japanese, Fire Emblem Heroes), Brook Chalmers (English, Fire Emblem Heroes)

Above Good and Evil: He distinctly states that none of the current laws, moralities or ideals mean anything to him. So long as someone is powerful, they should be allowed to gain even more power through whatever means necessary.
All There in the Manual: The reasoning behind Ashnard's motives is danced around a lot. In fact, the only time Ashnard will come out and explain himself is if he gets into a fight with Reyson, which most players will never see since it will almost certainly end in a reset.
Amazon Chaser: Disturbing example. While Almedha was attracted to Ashnard, he only coveted her power as a Dragon laguz; there was no romantic affection from him whatsoever.
Ambiguous Situation: The story makes it ambiguous whether he has any personal hatred towards the Laguz like others on the continent. In his Motive Rant to Reyson should the two meet, he describes his desires as stemming with dissatisfaction with the current state of the world, where far too much emphasis rests on how one is born rather than their strength, saying that it shouldn't matter whether one is "human or sub-human". It's later revealed that he took a black dragon Laguz princess as a concubine, if only for her strength and just to see if their child would develop any special powers. On the other hand, outside of Begnion, he runs the country most infamous for prejudice against Laguz, whose citizens stage regular "sub-human hunts", and where Jill describes the racism as being taught from a very young age. It's possible that he only used his subjects' racism towards Laguz as a uniting factor to mobilize his country without personally believing it.
Archnemesis Dad: To Soren, though neither of them know it.
Armor of Invincibility: His armor is the same type as the Black Knight's, and thus the only ways to punch through it are Ragnell and certain extremely strong Laguz.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Fervently believes this.
Awakening the Sleeping Giant: He wished to engulf Tellius in war, including the neutral Goldoa. It's why he ensnared Rajaion and his dragon guards and turned them into Feral Ones. He expected Dheginsea to not look the other way if his eldest son and heir was captured. It would have worked had the war not ended sooner.
Ax-Crazy: His ultimate plan is to burn down civilization to create a world of endless anarchy. Notably, he maintains his self-control after touching Lehran's Medallion because he was already completely out of his mind.
Bad Boss: Which is why his troops don't bother protesting Daein's more self destructive tactics.
Beard of Evil: He's rocking a sweet chin strap, making him look the part of the game's Big Bad.
Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: In Heroes, he exemplifies this in his Forging Bonds event. Alfonse and the rest of the heroes are forced to retreat from the current battle with Thórr's forces and adding to their problems is an allied detachment needing reinforcements. Ashnard offers to aid them and rebukes Alfonse's thanks by stating he wants more suitable prey. The event also has him recruiting the likes of Fomortiis, a nearly feral Corrin, a brainwashed Julia, and an Ike driven mad by the Medallion's power to aid him in battle. Ashnard even tells Fomortiis that he needs people with conviction to do what is necessary in battle and Corrin to aim his draconic rampages at enemies instead of allies. At the end of the event, Ashnard and his allies do succeed in rescuing their allies, but Alfonse and the rest of the heroes are horrified at the massacre that took place as a result.
The Bad Guy Wins: Posthumously. On top of the destruction already caused by his war, his death sets in motion another escalating chain of catastrophes that end up awakening the "Dark God" anyway, as depicted in Radiant Dawn. Ironically, some good comes of it.
The Battle Didn't Count: You have to kill him to trigger his Superpowered Evil Side on Hard/Maniac, and not only does he come back with full health and more of it, it's still your turn if you did it on the player phase, so you'll have to survive his counterattack.
BFS: His personal sword, Gurgurant.
Big Bad: Of Path of Radiance.
Blood Knight: He lives for the thrill of battle more than anything, and in the final battle he expresses joy at anyone he sees as a Worthy Opponent and disappointment at "nobodies" who don't stand a chance against him. This actually drives his motivation, as he wants to create a barely-habitable wasteland where everyone has no choice but to fight to survive, giving him endless opportunity for battle.
But for Me, It Was Tuesday: General Shiraham, you say? Ashnard doesn't remember him. This pushes Jill's Berserk Button.
The Caligula: A dangerous and insane king who thrives on the chaos of the war. He was willing to abandon his capital to prolong the war and continue watching the chaos.
Crazy Sane: Despite how utterly insane he is, the fact he is able to touch Lehran's Medallion, and maintain his sanity causes Ike to react with horror at the idea that Ashnard is sane enough to use its power.
Dark Is Evil: Black armor, black sword, black dragon.
Deadly Upgrade: Touching the Medallion. Hard/Maniac mode only, though.
Developer's Foresight: There are more units with pre-battle banter with him than there are units that can deal any damage to him whatsoever. Essentially, you have no reason to let Jill attack him but if you do they'll still have dialogue. If you're unfortunate or unskilled enough to let him attack Reyson in particular, you get to sit through a full-blown Motive Rant from Ashnard before Reyson meets his likely doom. It's practically an easter egg!
Dragon Rider: And, unlike every other example in this game, it isn't a wyvern.
Dragon Tamer: In a particularly twisted application of this trope, after forcing the captured Prince Rajaion of the Dragon Laguz tribe to drink Izuka's feral drug, driving him insane and leaving him trapped in his dragon form, King Ashnard of Daein trained him into being his personal mount.
Equal-Opportunity Evil: Say what you want about Ashnard, he did revolutionize Daein's social structure by making it so that anyone with sufficient strength and talent could do well for themselves. Well, any beorc. (Or Branded.)
Evil Power Vacuum: His death leaves Daein under the merciless occupation of Begnion in Radiant Dawn. Restoring Daein to sovereignty is the plot of Part 1, though they're secretly still under Begnion's rule by a blood pact.
The Evil Prince: In his backstory, where he murdered his father and all the rest of his family to seize total control of Daein.
The Extremist Was Right:
- In his Motive Rant towards Reyson, he angrily laments how much the continent's society places value on the station they are born in, seeing it as breeding weakness and undeserved authority. While Path of Radiance itself lightly touches on it, Radiant Dawn later has the corrupt Begnion Senate serving as one of the main antagonistic forces, which consists of wealthy nobles who flaunt and abuse their inherited titles and look down on the "lowborn".
- Well, not about the "Dark God" being a Dark God, but there are eerie parallels to what happens in Part 4 of Radiant Dawn and what Ashnard was seeking to achieve.
Final Boss: Of Path of Radiance.
For the Evulz: It seemed as though he wanted to throw Tellius into war for this reason. At first.
Freudian Excuse: Just a bit, and you'll have to piece it together from various conversations. The gist of it seems that Ashnard was frustrated by his position as a very distant heir to the throne because of his birth despite his accomplishments on the battlefield, and wanted to create a meritocratic world where one was rewarded for their efforts and talent, not their birth. This motivated him to take power and extend his beliefs to the rest of the world.
God Is Evil: He's aware that there's a chaotic god sealed within the Medallion. Unlike everybody else, however, he actively embraces the idea as it would mean a complete upheaval of the current order - exactly what he's been trying to accomplish since Day One. He doesn't even care if he gets killed in the process, just so long as the world is revolutionized. He ironically ends up being wrong.
Graceful Loser: Preemptively. True to his beliefs, he tells Ike just before they fight that, should Ike have the strength to defeat him, "so be it".
It's All About Me: He proudly exclaims "I AM Daein" and states that, without him, Daein can fall into ruin for all he cares. Fridge Brilliance kicks in when you realize that, if he falls, it would mean the failure of Daein. Thus, he wouldn't be strong enough to live in his ideal world - causing this to double-up as a strange kind of Taking You with Me.
Interspecies Romance: With Almedha, a black dragon.
The Juggernaut: Gameplay wise, Ashnard is tanky and just fast enough that most units except for the most extreme Fragile Speedster your army may have will only be able to do one attack (and good luck with them actually hurting him since they need specific weapons to do so). His defense is high, he can't be hit by crits, and only a few units can hurt him due to his armor being blessed by the Goddess. He also heals a bit of his HP each turn, meaning he is very difficult to kill unless the player is very careful.
Klingon Promotion: He killed his father and brothers to become king of Daein.
Lack of Empathy: He shows no compassion towards his own wife and son, and he's willing to let his kingdom burn to achieve his dreams.
Laser-Guided Karma: Fairly subtle, but he loses the war to the Crimean army due to a highly competent tactician and general. The tactician? The son he abandoned. The general who ends up directly killing him? The boy who found his abandoned son years ago. It gets better once you realize that, had Ashnard not abandoned his son, the likelihood they would even meet, let alone be in the same company, would decrease significantly.
Leitmotif: "Burning Ambition."
Love Ruins the Realm: Well, not exactly "love," but whatever attraction he had to Almedha some 20 years ago got Goldoa involved in external affairs and nearly risked the awakening of the Dark God. And, of course, Almedha bore him a son, who would grow up to invade Daein and destroy Ashnard's army, ruining the realm more directly.
Moral Event Horizon: Discussed in-universe. Most of the protagonists and characters with ties to Daein have their own belief as to which of his actions marked his crossing of it. As it turns out, he doesn't recognize that what he is doing is wrong in the conventional sense due to his extreme social darwinism.
Nigh-Invulnerability: Has blessed armor much like the Black Knight's.
Not Afraid to Die: For all his cruelty and hatred of the weak, he places his goal to upend the continent's social order above his own life, believing that it doesn't matter if he dies as long as he is proven right.
Not Me This Time: Upon investigating Palmeni Temple, Ike and his group speculated about Ashnard's motives. They came to believe that Ashnard orchestrated the assassination of Apostle Misha which started the Serenes Massacre. Radiant Dawn proves that they jumped to conclusions as Ashnard has nothing to do with the assassination, only taking advantage of the Massacre by kidnapping Lillia and stealing Lehran's Medallion on the night it happened.
Obviously Evil: Just look at him.
One-Handed Zweihänder: He carries Gurgurant in one hand.
One-Man Army: Tanith notes in the Chapter 18 base conversation that Ashnard had long been known as a formidable warrior that matched an entire troop of pegasus knights by himself, and Daein won a minor skirmish with Begnion over territory mainly because of him.
One-Winged Angel: On Hard mode, after beating him up once, he uses Lehran's Medallion to become even stronger, and you have to thrash him again.
Orcus on His Throne: Once he takes over the Crimean capital, he's not seen outside of it for the whole game, and seldom gets screen time until the last 1/3rd of the story, almost all of it devoted to scheming and issuing orders. Nobody in your party (besides Elincia, possibly) comes face to face with him until the Endgame. All justified; he was waiting for the war to play itself out until it came straight to his doorstep, so that there was nothing standing between him and the strongest troops left (and to agitate the Medallion).
The Pawns Go First: This is his grand plan for his war against the continent, sacrificing the weak soldiers first and saving his elites for last. He doesn't want to Take Over the World, he wants to purge it of all the weaklings by awakening Yune, the Goddess of Chaos, in Lehran's Medallion whom he believes will create a cataclysm upon awakening. This can only be achieved by creating a certain amount of chaos on Tellius, so he wants to plunge it into war and prolong it as long as possible to maximize his chances of freeing her.
Posthumous Character: He's long dead by Radiant Dawn, but his death and the resulting power vacuum, his involvement in the Serenes Massacre, the circumstances of his ascension to the Daein throne, and certain troubles regarding how he treated his concubine Almedha and her family tremendously impact the plot of Radiant Dawn.
Pure Is Not Good: Able to use Lehran's Medallion without losing his mind, not by being Pure Good, but by being Pure Batshit Insane already.
Reconstruction: Does this for the Evil Overlord. As Path of Radiance progresses, the characters increasingly acknowledge that his cruel, warlike tendencies are of no benefit to his kingdom of Daein, and towards the later stages of the game, even parts of the Daein army start questioning what he's doing. As it turns out, Ashnard has no attachment to his kingdom whatsoever nor any desire to Take Over the World. He just wants to raze the continent so that everyone, including himself, can fight to survive and eliminate the weak regardless of circumstances of birth.
Secret Character: Beat the game fifteen times from start to finish, and you get him as a playable character for the Trial Maps. Given that he retains his wyvern, infinite-use 1-2 range sword, and Nigh-Invulnerability... have fun.
Self-Made Orphan: He murders his own father in order to break the Blood Pact once all of his competition for the crown is dead.
Slasher Smile: Just look at that grin. That is not the face of a stable man.
The Social Darwinist: His philosophy is basically that strength is the only thing that matters and that anyone who has the strength to survive the release of the Dark God will have enough power to create a better world... by his standards, of course.
The Sociopath: Zero empathy, a pathological need for stimulation, and poor impulse control - he fits the package.
Spikes of Villainy: He's got a bunch of sinister-looking spikes on his shoulder pauldrons.
Superpowered Evil Side: Like Greil, Ashnard was a powerful warrior before touching Lehran's Medallion and even more powerful after. Fortunately, he only becomes super-powered on Hard or Maniac modes.
Suspicious Video-Game Generosity: In Hard mode, the final chapter has less enemies than Normal. Let's just say Ashnard picks up the slack. Big time. Averted on Maniac which has the usual enemy density expected of Maniac, aka a lot.
True Final Boss: Play on Hard Mode or higher, and after defeating Ashnard once, he goes berserk from touching Lehran's Medallion and you have to kill him this time.
Übermensch: His ideal world is one where everybody fits the bill. He himself is one, as he's rejected the morality and structure of the current aristocratic society and he'll stop at nothing to replace it with his ideal world, morals and lives be damned.
Unexpected Successor: Tanith notes he was a very distant heir to the throne before a plague suddenly appeared in Daein and killed off a thousand people plus most of the Daein royal family, including the king, queen, and some twenty princes and princesses. Of course, he was the one who killed them all. He tricked his father the king into signing a blood pact, used its magic to kill off the royal family with the civilians as collateral damage, then personally slew his father and destroyed the physical contract to end the blood pact and take the throne.
Unwitting Pawn: Sephiran noticed Ashnard's zeal to change the world, and sent Zelgius to serve him as the Black Knight and let him know of Lehran's Medallion and the supposed dark god dwelling inside it in hopes of Ashnard awakening Yune, and therefore Ashera who would destroy the world if awakened by the chaos of Beorc and Laguz breaking the sacred covenant they made with the goddesses not to war with each other. It was only because of the war ending as fast as it did that the plan failed, as Titania mentions in Radiant Dawn that it was a close call.
Villain with Good Publicity: In the sequel, Muston's traveling group comments how times in Daein were better under Ashnard's rule than Begnion's, probably because of his simple respect of anyone with strength to fight for him, regardless of class.
Visionary Villain: His "ideal world" is remarkably meritocratic. Too bad he only sees combat prowess and strength as the go-to characteristics to judge a person.
Ashnard: I question the way in which our society is designed. No matter what strength a person has, it is the station he is born into that controls his destiny. And you cannot control where you will be born. Do you believe that a person of low birth should simply endure the curse of his station? I think not. If you are stronger than those around you, you should benefit from your strength. This is why I will use my strength to remake this world.
You Can't Thwart Stage One: You can't stop him from conquering Crimea, and the endgame involves retaking it from him.

The Four Riders of Daein

The Black Knight

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fepr_blackknight.png

^{Click to see the Black Knight in Fire Emblem Heroes}

Sinister General

One of the driving forces of both games, Ike's nemesis who is eventually revealed to be one of the few in the loop about the series Myth Arc.

Class: General (Path of Radiance), Black Knight (Radiant Dawn)

Voiced by: Junji Majima (Japanese, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn and Fire Emblem Heroes), Mark Dias (English, Path of Radiance), Dave White (English, Radiant Dawn), Robert Clotworthy (English, Fire Emblem Heroes)

11th-Hour Ranger: For Part 1 of Radiant Dawn. Between him and Nailah, absolutely nothing stands a chance against you.
24-Hour Armor: In-universe, Lehran's memories reveal that he never takes off his armor for fear of people seeing his Brand, or even how slowly he's been aging due to being a Branded.
Affably Evil: He's quite polite when facing him both for the first time and as Zelgius.
Alas, Poor Villain: Despite some of the things he has done, it is rather tragic to see him die in the end rather than be given a second chance at life. All he wanted was a place to fit into the world, and wanting to find a worthy opponent. While Ike still kills him to avenge his father's death, he also acknowledges Zelgius as his greatest opponent and final teacher in swordsmanship, performing a short prayer over his body before moving on.
Anti-Villain: Like his master Sephiran, Zelgius has went through hell being a Branded and all, being persecuted by his family, friends, and everyone he knew and loved. His only real friend besides Sephiran was his mentor General Gawain. He has no qualms killing, but he does so out of a desire to find some place to belong.
Arch-Enemy: He becomes this to Ike for killing Greil in a duel. Even though Ike does gain respect for Zelgius's sword skills, the death of Greil remains a sore spot for him, and Ike threatens to kill Sephiran when he mistakenly believed that he ordered Zelgius to kill Greil, when in reality Zelgius challenged Greil for his own personal motives.
Armor of Invincibility: Only one obtainable weapon in the whole of Path of Radiance can penetrate it. (Due to the game mechanics, Alondite actually can't.) His Nigh-Invulnerability seems to have worn off in Radiant Dawn, and it becomes possible to kill him with technically any weapon, as long as you're bringing enough power. Or using a Hammer.
Armor-Piercing Attack: He has Luna in Path of Radiance. In Radiant Dawn, he has an exclusive skill called Eclipse which negates defense and multiplies his attack's might by a factor of five. The minimum amount of damage he can deal with it is 191, in a game where the Final Boss has 120 HP. Anyone who takes this is going bye-bye.
Atrocious Alias: In Fire Emblem: Awakening, Gangrel certainly thinks so — he can't stop laughing it up when Zelgius tells him his title.
Badass Boast: Pulls off one of these in Heroes as Zelgius when you unlock a new skill. Especially fitting if it's Black Luna.
Zelgius: If this power means you desire more from me in battle, you shall be satisfied, and soon.
Badass Cape: Wears a long red one, as seen in the picture. He gets a new one by Radiant Dawn that's black on the outside.
Because You Were Nice to Me: His Undying Loyalty to Sephiran is because no one else ever accepted him while knowing that he is Branded.
Berserk Button: Late in Radiant Dawn part 3, Zelgius holds Valtome by the throat for badmouthing his master, threatening to break his neck. The wording leads us to believe he's referring to Sanaki, but he's actually pissed that Sephiran was insulted.
BFS: Seriously, Alondite is huge.
Birthmark of Destiny: His brand is on his back.
Black Knight: The clue is in the name.
Blood Knight: Always spoiling for a fight against a Worthy Opponent.
Breakout Villain: The Black Knight was easily the most popular villain in the entire series for a long time, with his only competition being Lyon. Not only did he get to return in the sequel and become playable, he made it into Fire Emblem Heroes and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate before many other iconic antagonists, and is usually considered the Ur-Example for the series on how to judge a villain's overall quality. For reference, he was voted the most popular villain in the Choose Your Legend voting for the first year before being beaten out by Heroes biggest Breakout Villain Reinhardt, and even then, he's consistently been voted among not just the top fifty characters each year after the voting system was adjusted to tally all his alts together, but he's often ranked in the top twenty for the Male category, even sometimes the top ten.
Brought Down to Normal:
- His duel with Ike caused the blessing on his armor to fade away by the time of the sequel, allowing him to be hurt by other weapons now. That doesn't mean he is weaker, in fact, he is stronger gameplay wise.
- For all practical purposes, you must invoke this in Radiant Dawn to stand a chance against him. If Ike doesn't have Nihil equipped, there is nothing stopping BK (short of having Miracle and getting lucky) from triggering Eclipse for an instant kill. He is also doing the same to you, unfortunately stopping you from using Aether.
The Comically Serious: His Christmas alt in Heroes is this in spades, as the faceless Night's Blade wanders Askr during the winter festival with sword and gift bag.
Commonality Connection: He displays some genuine affection for Micaiah, which she reciprocates, knowing that both of them are Branded.
Cool Mask: Comes complete with an echo effect.
Cool Sword: Wields Alondite, the sister sword of Ragnell said to have been wielded by Altina. How cool is it? It passively increases his defense!
Crutch Character: In Radiant Dawn. Absolutely nothing the game has at that point can touch him, but leaning too heavily on him can cripple the already EXP-starved Dawn Brigade. Note that unlike most examples of this trope in Fire Emblem, you cannot un-equip him and just have him absorb enemy attacks, as Alondite is not tradable and giving him a weaker weapon will still result in carnage, but at least he can absorb ranged attacks that way.
Disc-One Nuke: In Radiant Dawn. The entirety of chapter 1-9 is dedicated to using the Black Knight to rip through waves of Mooks while defending Micaiah. Fun stuff!
The Dragon:
- In Path of Radiance, he's really this to Ashnard even though he's technically Co-Dragons with the other three Riders. Ashnard shows him an obvious preference for him above all others while disliking Bryce, Petrine is incompetent and shows deference to the Black Knight, and Bertram is too insane to serve as anything but a killing machine.
- In Radiant Dawn, it's revealed he was this all along to Sephiran. He was sent to serve Ashnard as the Black Knight to keep an eye on the Mad King and make sure the plan to awaken Yune and Ashera was kept on track.
Dragon with an Agenda: Since he's really The Dragon to Sephiran, everything he does while helping Ashnard is to further Sephiran's goal. That said, he still applies as this even with Sephiran, as while very much loyal to his friend, his personal goal is to fight a worthy opponent and surpass his master Gawain/Greil.
Dramatic Unmask: He finally removes his helmet at the end of Radiant Dawn to reveal Zelgius, although he was already outed in dialogue with Ranulf a few chapters prior.
Duel Boss: Twice.
- When the time comes near the end of Path of Radiance, Ike challenges him solo (Mist comes running to his aid, but all she can do is heal).
- In Radiant Dawn, Zelgius erects an impassible barrier between Ike and his party that you can't heal through, making it a true Duel Boss, albeit one weighted really, really heavily in your favor. You can still support through the wall, however.
Everyone Has Standards: Expresses disgust when Valtome sics his troops on a defenceless Elincia, and deserts him in response.
Enigmatic Minion: He's a mysterious enemy general whose identity and motives are shrouded in mystery.
Final Boss Preview: Especially in Path of Radiance. Hope you were watching the cutscene at the beginning of chapter 11 carefully. Because he's going to pop out of the house he was in and murder the hell out of whatever poor soul happens to be in range.
Four-Star Badass: He's one of the highest ranking generals in the Daein army, and one of its strongest warriors.
"Get Back Here!" Boss: Inverted in Path of Radiance. You can try to chip at the Black Knight using Ragnell's ranged attack, which has the benefit of preventing you from being randomly owned by his mastery skill, but exactly the same applies to him, so you have to attack directly if you want to win.
Goal in Life: He wanted to surpass his master Gawain as a swordsman, who was the World's Best Warrior. Although he's quite dedicated to serving Sephiran, he'll go off course if he ever gets a chance to pursue that goal, something Sephiran noted as he did not order Zelgius to kill Greil while taking the Medallion from him. Once he learns that Greil was crippled by the time they fought, he turns to grooming Ike as a potential replacement, as least in the English translation.
Guest-Star Party Member: Upon resurfacing in Radiant Dawn, he assist Micaiah in the last two chapters of Part 1, one chapter in Part 3, and appears in one chapter as an NPC.
Half-Human Hybrid: Outed as a Branded in the sequel. His Laguz ancestor is unknown, but his Brand is, like Micaiah's, vaguely bird-shaped, indicating either Hawk or Raven heritage.
The Heavy: The most prominent villain in Path of Radiance, the one who does most of the dirty work, and the one with whom Ike has a score to settle.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: Spends the entirety of Path of Radiance as a heel, then in Radiant Dawn he's reintroduced as a face in Part 1. Things get funky in Part 3 due to the player's switching perspectives; he's a heel to Ike, an offscreen technical ally to Micaiah as Zelgius, and an outright ally to Micaiah as the Black Knight. In Part 4 he spends a bit of time as an ally to Micaiah before the big reveal and final showdown with Ike as a heel.
Hero Killer: Oh, hello Greil. Or should one say, General Gawain? As for when the player fights him... When the Black Knight shows up on the battlefield, stay the hell out of his range. Not until the end of the game, anyway, and even then it's all up to luck whether you beat him or not.
Heroic Rematch: In Path of Radiance he is unstoppable until late in the game where Ike has better honed his skills and obtained a sword that can harm him.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Sephiran.
Hopeless Boss Fight: He appears twice in the mid-chapter in Path of Radiance prior to his duel with Ike. You are not supposed to fight him, you are supposed to run.
I Let You Win: The reason that Ike won in Path of Radiance, according to the English version of Radiant Dawn. In the Japanese script, the Black Knight's warp powder malfunctioned, only sending his spirit to fight Ike. In English, however, the Black Knight decided to spare Ike in the final battle after learning that Greil had cut the tendons in his sword arm and was no longer at the level he was as Gawain of Daein, thus allowing Ike to grow and hone his skills so that he could be a suitable opponent later down the road.
Implacable Man: Almost constantly.
Infinity +1 Sword: He always wields the SS-ranked sword Alondite, which has a whopping 18 Might, 2 square range, and a +5 defense boost.
Interface Spoiler: Averted. Similar to the situation with Bertram, hacking Path of Radiance revealed that the Black Knight and Zelgius have identical stats and growth rates. Come Radiant Dawn, guess who he turned out to be.
It's Personal with the Dragon: Ike doesn't meet Ashnard until the very end of the game, nor does he know much about him. The Black Knight, on the other hand, is the man who kills Ike's father, motivating his entire quest.
The Juggernaut: He's a slow-moving incarnation of death. If you see him take the field before the end of the game, your only hope is to run for your life.
Late-Arrival Spoiler: Nintendo and Intelligent Systems clearly considers the reveal of his true identity to be common knowledge.
- In Fire Emblem: Awakening, if you aren't privy to his identity yet, don't summon his Spotpass version or fight him in the DLC... due to legacy characters using generic character models, it's made immediately obvious from his hairstyle and color.
- It's even worse in Heroes; while the first version of him is under his Black Knight identity and does a good job of keeping his true identity secret, the second version has him unmasked and fighting under his real name.
- In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Zelgius spirit evolves into the Black Knight after acquiring enough experience. Even worse, the Zelgius spirit battle is represented by a Mii Swordfighter wearing the Black Knight costume so even just fighting him reveals his identity.
Leitmotif: His personal theme for appearances in cutscenes and on the map, "The Black Knight." It gets a Boss Remix as "Against the Black Knight". Radiant Dawn remixes them further as "The Black Knight Lives" and "Unstoppable Destiny" respectively.
Lightning Bruiser: Animations aside, his speed is said to be much greater than a guy in heavy armor should be capable of. In game he is one of the few enemies in Path of Radiance that a capped Ike cannot double and he's only slow in Radiant Dawn to high level third tiers.
Luck-Based Mission: When you finally get a chance to damage him in the first game, the game only lets you do it with Ike, and gives you a certain number of turns before you lose your opportunity. Even at level 20, with Ike's Aether skill and even a few stat-boosting items, it all comes down to whether you can luck into activating Aether at least once before you run out of time.
Master of All: He lacks a single bad stat, being unusually fast and magic resistant for a General variant.
Master Swordsman: One of the greatest swordsmen in the world, thanks to his former mentor Greil, though his goal is to be the greatest swordsman. Ashnard is unsure if the Black Knight is stronger than himself, and growing strong enough to challenge the Black Knight is a major personal goal for Ike.
Mighty Glacier: Capable of making use of this status in frightening ways. A slow walk, Nigh-Invulnerability, BFS, awesome and ominous Leitmotif, large and imposing black armor... Hell, even in his first map appearance, in plain daylight, you (the player) probably had an instant Oh, Crap! moment as soon as he stepped out of that door. In battle, he walks up to his foes pretty slowly. But he WILL (most likely) kill whoever is in his way.
Nigh-Invulnerability: His special blessed armor gives him total immunity to any weapon not named Ragnell. After Ike beats the tar out of him in Nados Castle, he loses this trait.
No-One Could Have Survived That: Having a castle collapse on top of him didn't, ironically, seem to leave more of a scratch on him than the the beating he took from Ike.
Noble Demon: After securing Castle Delbray in Chapter 24, as Ike is conversing right next to him, the Black Knight could've easily killed Ike the same way he did his father. He not only spares Ike, but also reveals the secret as to why Ike couldn't damage him. If that isn't knightly conduct then there's no telling what is.
Black Knight: I claim victory today. When next we meet, bring Ragnell. Without the proper weapon, I grow bored.
Oh, Crap!: No one will blame you if this is your reaction when he steps out of that house in the middle of the map he first appears in Path of Radiance. Just as long as you run like hell.
Older Than They Look: As a branded, he's likely in his forties at the very least.
One-Handed Zweihänder: A style he picked up from Greil. It's this fighting style that clues Ranulf into his identity (and to observant players).
Playing Both Sides: As a general of both nations, he helps manipulate the warring Begnion and Daein against each other in both games to further Sephiran's goals.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: In Heroes.
- As the Black Knight:
  "Know your place."
  "Will you survive?"
  "Fool."
  "Give your all."
- He also has this in his true identity, Zelgius.
  "Say your prayers."
  "Let's see how you handle this."
  "No draw. No escape."
  "One will live. One will die."
Promoted to Playable: He's an enemy boss in Path of Radiance and is playable as a Guest-Star Party Member for three chapters in Radiant Dawn.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: Completely wipes the floor against Skrimir.
Scarred Equipment: His armor in Radiant Dawn has damage on it. Most noticeable are a large gash across the chestpiece and another on the helmet, implying Ike used Aether to beat him.
Secret Art: He has two. In Radiant Dawn, he has Eclipse, a move that ignores defense and multiplies his might by a factor of five. In Heroes, he has Black Luna, a souped-up Luna that ignores 80% of the enemy's defense instead of the standard 50%.
Secret Identity: His true identity is revealed (a bit anticlimactically) in Part 4 of Radiant Dawn. He's actually Zelgius, general of Begnion and double agent only loyal to Sephiran.
Sixth Ranger: To Micaiah, when you fight Daein in Part 3 of the second game.
Shoulders of Doom: His armor in both of his identities has giant shoulder pauldrons, lending to his intimidating appearance.
The Slow Walk: He is still a souped-up General so his only limitation is his movement and he walks very slowly in battle. But it's all for good reasons.
Sword Beam: Courtesy of Alondite.
Teleporters and Transporters: He teleports from place to place with warp powder. However, he doesn't like to use it for any purpose except for quick travel, as according to him (and Lekain in Radiant Dawn), using it drains his strength.
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: His Eclipse skill in Radiant Dawn is absolutely ridiculous. While many mastery skills in Radiant Dawn are ridiculous, Eclipse takes it up a notch. Like Luna, it ignores any defense but instead of multiplying his strength by 3, it is multiplied by 5. With his 38 strength, he is dealing at least 190 damage to a single target when Eclipse activates, which is more than one and a half times the Final Boss's 120 HP. Add in Alondite and its 18 Might, and he'll do 208 damage.
Trailers Always Spoil: His real identity was revealed in promotional material before the game's English release.
Unholy Holy Sword: That scary black armor and silver sword? Blessed by a Goddess.
Villainous Rescue: On multiple occasions in Radiant Dawn, he teleports in to aid the Dawn Brigade during a difficult battle, though whether or not he's a hero or a villain on a given map depends on which faction you're fighting with/for in Dawn. His biggest damn heroes/villains moment is when he teleports in to save Micaiah from an ambush by Jarod and his men in the second to last mission of part 1.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: He's Branded, and suffered much persecution for this before coming into Sephiran's service.
Worthy Opponent: Saw his teacher Greil as such and set out to surpass him. When he felled Greil, this was then placed on Ike with the hopes that he too would mature into a formidable swordsman. Ike likewise sees Zelgius as one, considering him his final teacher.

Bryce

The oldest member of the Four Riders, he originally served with Greil and Tauroneo, and is the only current member who is not intimidated by the Black Knight. Utterly loyal to Daien as a nation, he remains devoted to his country to the end, despite his distaste for Ashnard. He is encountered in the final chapter where he dies protecting Ashnard.

Class: General (Path of Radiance)

Anti-Villain: He's an honorable knight who is loyal to his country. Too bad he's serving a complete madman.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Bryce is a badass, no doubt about it, and that's why he still has his position, despite his advancing age and Ashnard's dislike of him.
Cool Old Guy: Being severely old doesn't stop from being one of the greatest knights of Daein.
Co-Dragons: With the Black Knight. Unlike the other two Riders, Bryce is not intimidated by the Black Knight and continues to answer to Ashnard alone, though Ashnard shows an obvious preference for the Knight. He actually manages to outlast the Knight in this position.
Evil Counterpart: To Tauroneo. They're both Mighty Glaciers who fight with a lance, belong to the same generation of Riders, want what's best for Daein, and disapprove of the current king. Unlike Tauroneo, however, Bryce is unable to change and remains loyal to Daeinto the end.
Evil Redhead: Downplayed, as Bryce is AntiVillainous, nevertheless he still fights for Ashnard out of duty despite knowing his crimes.
Honour Before Reason: He even introduces himself before fights.
Mighty Glacier: As a General, he's got very high HP, Strength, and Defense, but questionable Speed.
My Country, Right or Wrong: Even AFTER finding out that Ashnard killed his own father to become king. Ashnard finds it amusing that he still fights for him to the end, even when he has doubts.
Noble Top Enforcer: Unlike the other Four Riders or Ashnard himself, he's a completely honorable man who is nevertheless fighting a war of aggression.
Secret Character: Beat the game ten times from start to finish, and you get him as a playable character for the Trial Maps. Notably, this is the only way to get the Wishblade in Path of Radiance in legitimate gameplay.
Skippable Boss: You don't actually have to fight Bryce, and it's possible to slip past him and take down Ashnard.
Undying Loyalty: To the Daein royal family, even being told by Ashnard himself that he killed his own family isn't enough to dissuade him from serving Daein's king.
Worthy Opponent: He and Ike view each other as such if you make them duel.
You Shall Not Pass!: Stands astride the easiest path to Ashnard, anchoring Daein's lines.

Petrine

Petrine (Prague)

^{Click here to see Petrine in Fire Emblem Heroes}

Icy Flame-Lancer

A member of the Four Riders Of Daein. She's the first major antagonist met, and also the first to be defeated. She's also a Branded, which you learn if you attack her with Soren.

Class: Paladin (Path of Radiance)
Voiced by: Yayoi Sugaya (Japanese, Fire Emblem Heroes), Elizabeth Maxwell (English, Fire Emblem Heroes)

Alas, Poor Villain: Despite the numerous atrocities she committed, it's possible to feel some pity for her when she dies begging for her life.
Adaptational Badass: While a decent challenge in her home game, she is still only a boss about 3/4's through the game and leagues behind Ashnard and the Black Knight. Heroes Power Creep means she is at least on their level with a unique and powerful kit to boot and could easily defeat them, possibly even without the weapon triangle advantage.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Like all of Daein's Riders, she holds her position due to her ability to roast the rumpus of anyone who thinks she's unqualified.
Bad Boss: Just like her boss. At one point, Naesala refuses to let one of his ravens deliver the news of a defeat to her, on account of her temper, and fondness for frying subordinates who fail.
Birth Mark Of Destiny: Her brand is on her right breast.
Breast Plate: Hers not only shows off her rack, but a fair amount of cleavage as well. It also shows off her brand.
The Bully: Petrine lives to look down on others. If things go the wrong way her bravado quickly evaporates.
Catchphrase: "Dog's breath!"
Co-Dragons: Subverted. While she's theoretically the same rank as the Black Knight and Bryce she's obviously subservient to them both.
Combat Stilettos: Has them built into her armor.
Dark Action Girl: The only girl among the Daien high command.
Evil Counterpart: To Titania. Both are Elegant, badass, Paladin Chicks, who seem to have a thing for Greil.
Evil Wears Black: Like most of Daein's troops she's clad in jet black armor.
Fantastic Racism: Towards Laguz. It most likely stems from the fact she's a Branded, who are shunned by the Laguz.
Faux Action Girl: Something of a case of Gameplay and Story Segregation. Petrine has a foreboding reputation and lives up to it somewhat in the cutscenes, being the first enemy to actually give Greil a fight and threatening everyone else in Ike's party. Unfortunately, while she has the stats to back her reputation up, her mediocre Magic stat and her use of the Flame Lance (which is Magic dependent) means she's nowhere near as hard a boss as she should be and mages, particularly Wind tome users like Soren, have little to fear from her.
Freudian Excuse: Given the kind of lives that the Branded tend to live this may well serve as hers. Also goes to explain her fierce devotion to Daein and, more to the point, Ashnard. Ashnard doesn't give a damn what a person's origins are. He values strength above all else. So Petrine no doubt felt that for the first time in a long time, she was treated like a person.
Frontline General: Petrine leads from the front, like all of Daein's riders.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: The aforementioned Flame Lance is apparently a fearsome weapon in-universe. To the player? A moderately strong throwing lance that deals magic damage. Petrine's Magic stat is mediocre at best. Gang up on Petrine with mages and she drops like a stone.
Half-Human Hybrid: She's the first acknowledged Branded that we meet. The race of her laguz ancestor is not addressed in game, but is revealed in the art book to have been a tiger.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: As Soren points out, Petrine covers her intense fear of death with a facade of bravado and cruelty.
Irony: Unbeknownst to Petrine, the one person she treats with kindness and compassion is actually one of the Laguz she hates so much.
Lack of Empathy: Doesn't bat an eye at the deaths of her subordinates, not even the exceedingly loyal Homasa.
Lady of War: A thoroughly villainous example.
Magic Knight: She is a Paladin who specializes in the Flame Lance, a magic lance that inflicts Fire.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: "Petrin" is French for "trouble". Petrius, is a psuedohistorical Roman general and an enemy of King Arthur.
"Not So Different" Remark: She attempts this on Soren, based on the fact that they are both Branded. Soren has none of it.
Older Than They Look: Branded age very slowly, which could easily put Petrine in her fifties or older.
Panthera Awesome: Petrine's laguz ancestor was a tiger.
Pet the Dog: There's only one soft spot on Petrine, and that's Ena. She's surprisingly affable and shows a good deal of care towards Ena, praising her when she does well, when everyone else was held by contempt by Petrine. Likewise, she was visibly shocked when Ashnard ordered her to kill Ena when he deemed her useless or even use her trust to get an opening to backstab her. Petrine ended up not going through with that order.
Playing with Fire: Her Flame Lance.
Politically Incorrect Villain: A raging racist who condemns all Laguz as sub-human "half-breeds". This likely stems from her own history of mistreatment as a Branded.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: In Heroes.
"Hope you like your meat char-broiled!"
"I'll cook you alive!"
"You anger me, you know that?"
"Curse whatever gods you hold!"
Properly Paranoid: With regards to Haar's and Naesala's continued loyalty.
Pyromaniac: If her threats to charbroil and eat laguz are any indicator.
Secret Character: Beat the game seven times from start to finish, and you get her as a playable character for the Trial Maps.
The Social Darwinist: She shares Ashnard's belief in rule by the strong.
Undying Loyalty: To Ashnard, absolutely flipping out if he's insulted. One of her henchmen, Homasa, displays a similar attitude towards her.
Villain Forgot to Level Grind: The biggest example in Path of Radiance really. Early on she is considered one of the biggest enemies that the Greil Mercenaries face and only Greil himself can take her on. As the team faces bigger and bigger threats by the time they meet again on the battlefield she is considered just another enemy.
You Are What You Hate: A Branded that hates laguz. Granted, most laguz treat her kind like they don't exist, so it's justified.
You Have Failed Me: Has a reputation for this, and reminds her subordinates of it:
Shiharam: If the goal is merely to stop the Crimean army, this is not necessary. The strength of my troops will suffice to—
Petrine: The last idiot who told me that ended up on a corpse pile!

Bertram

Bertram (Beuforres)

^{Click here to see Bertram in Fire Emblem Heroes}

Dread Cavalier

The newest member of the Four Riders of Daein, he gets the least amount of time devoted to him in story until the second game, where he is revealed to be Renning, Prince of Crimea.

Class: Paladin (Path of Radiance), Gold Knight (Radiant Dawn)
Voiced by: Masashi Nogawa (Japanese, Fire Emblem Heroes), Luis Bermudez (English, Fire Emblem Heroes)

Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Soren acknowledges that someone he has zero intelligence on prior to his rise to the Four Riders must be deadly to rise that fast. He turns out to be a formidible boss.
Ax-Crazy: Izuka's Psycho Serum has left him a complete wreck who can barely form sentences.
Black Knight: Fits the trope as well or better than the actual Black Knight, with his black armor, black horse, creepy magic sword, bizarre persona, clear madness, and Mysterious Past. He's even got a connection to one of the main characters.
Brainwashed and Crazy: He's Renning, the would-be heir to the Crimean throne and Elincia's uncle.
The Brute: Too insane to actually give orders to his troops, Bertram leads by strength and example, nothing more.
Co-Dragons: As in Petrine's case it's thoroughly subverted. On the surface he's of a rank with Bryce and the Black Knight, but his status as a mind controlled slave leaves him as little more than The Brute.
Cool Sword: Owns a sword that can drain life by using Light.
Death Seeker: "Kill...me... ...KILL...M-ME..."
Evil Uncle: To Elincia, although this was not his own idea. Blame Izuka. We certainly do, especially since he retains just enough sense to tell Elincia to get away from him as he doesn't want to fight her.
Fighting from the Inside: His special dialogue with Elincia heavily implies that Renning recognizes her and is desperately trying to tell her to go before he kills her.
Four-Star Badass: Although his leadership skills are limited by his madness.
Heel–Face Turn: In Radiant Dawn after much deprogramming from Bastian.
Interface Spoiler: Averted. A Dummied Out portrait of Renning was found in Path of Radiance's files which corresponded to Bertram's portrait exactly, giving away a big reveal for the next game.
Knight In Shining Armour: As Geoffrey's mentor Duke Renning was a classic example. Bertram is essentially designed as a dark mockery of the trope, and the man himself.
Life Drain: He has a Runesword, a magic sword that can drain HP from the damage inflicted.
Magic Knight: But only with his Runesword.
Mysterious Past: In Path of Radiance where he's the newest member of the Riders and we know nothing about him. Most of this is cleared up in Radiant Dawn (albeit very late).
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: In Heroes.
"This battle is your last."
"Rrr-raaah!"
"Kill... me..."
"Perish! Perish!"
Sssssnake Talk: He does hiss a lot.
Your Soul Is Mine!: Invoked by his boss dialogue. "I will...take...your sssoul."

Daein Army

Ena

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fire_emblem_10_ena_portrait.png

Wish-Spinner

A shy, nervy girl who serves as Petrine's strategic advisor, Ena is more than a little out of place in the Daein army. For much of the game she appears to have a crush on Ashnard; it's eventually revealed that she's a Goldoan Red Dragon and that the one she's in love with is Ashnard's dragon mount, Rajaion. She opposes Ike and the Crimean Liberation Force when they storm Daein keep; she is eventually captured by them following Ike's confrontation with the Black Knight.

Class: Red Dragon (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn)

Voiced by: Asami Seto (Japanese Fire Emblem Heroes), Jackie Lastra (English, Fire Emblem Heroes)

11th-Hour Ranger: In Path of Radiance, if Ike fails to defeat the Black Knight in chapter 27.
Anti-Villain: Only allied with Ashnard to try and save her boyfriend, Rajaion, who was forced into serving as the latter's mount and slave.
Can't Catch Up: In Radiant Dawn, you'll have to dump all your remaining Bonus EXP onto her and cross your fingers, or be content using her as a wall and Status Buff-bot.
Crutch Character: In Path of Radiance while she's worse than Nasir she can qualify as this if Ike's stats turned unfavorable. She's one of the few who can actually damage Ashnard so she may end up being necessary in order to even finish the game.
Evil Counterpart: She's Petrine's equivalent of Soren, offering advice and building strategies but never taking direct command of the army (until Ashnard decides to get rid of her). Also, whereas Soren's is a cold-blooded Anti-Hero who doesn't really fit in with Ike's crew, Ena is a fairly pleasant, timid girl who doesn't fit in at all with Petrine and her soldiers. They are also connected to Goldoa's royal family, Soren by blood and Ena by betrothal.
Heel–Face Turn: It happens no matter what, but she only joins your party if you fail to save Nasir.
It's Personal: Towards Ashnard for turning Rajaion into a rampaging beast.
Longest Pregnancy Ever: She was already carrying Rajaion's child as her ending in Radiant Dawn revealed that she gave birth afterwards. Considering that Rajaoin left at least around 19 years ago since Almedha was already with Ashnard at the time and Radiant Dawn was 3 years after the events of Path of Radiance, she's been pregnant for 22 years. Of course, Dragon laguz are known to live for a long time so their gestation period can be very different.
Love Hurts: Her love for Rajaion forced her to ally with Ashnard, work for Petrine, compromise her morals, participate in numerous atrocities, and ultimately watch him die after Ashnard's defeat.
Love Makes You Evil: She joined Ashnard to be close to her husband, doing his dirty work in order to do so. She comes to regret this and does a Heel–Face Turn after the final encounter with the Black Knight, she even becomes an 11th-Hour Ranger if he wasn't defeated.
Magikarp Power: In both games, she joins near the very end and quite underleveled. For Path of Radiance, her growths are still decent and if you've been saving up some powerful skills, she can be trained in time to fight Ashnard and even take on Berserk Ashnard with the right loadout.
Mutually Exclusive Party Members: Sorta. She still side with you no matter what, but she will only be playable if Nasir sacrificed himself to stop the Black Knight. Otherwise, Nasir would be playable if Ike defeated the Black Knight.
Our Dragons Are Different: A small, bright pink Dragon once she transforms. This is likely due to being of mixed White and Red Dragon heritage; however, in Radiant Dawn, her shifted state is suddenly taller than everyone except Gareth and Dheginsea.
Pink Means Feminine: Despite being a red dragon she's, well, pink. Technically, she's part-red, part-white. (One of her grandparents is white.)
Pregnant Badass: She sure doesn't look it, but she's already carrying Rajaion's child by the end of Path of Radiance.
Someone to Remember Him By: She's already pregnant with Rajaion's child prior to his disappearance and death. She gave birth sometimes after the ending of the game and, in the Japanese version, named the child after their father.
Status Buff: Her Blood Tide grants +5 Strength and Skill to adjacent units. Since she's joined alongside Gareth, they can stack to give +10 Strength and Skill.
Stone Wall: She has very high HP and Defense, plus a lot of good defensive Skills, which is especially notable when you fight her in Path of Radiance. This all comes at the expense of poor attack power, and it gets even weaker in Radiant Dawn. (She has a very good magic stat, which she can't even use apart from the Imbue skill in Radiant Dawn.)
The Strategist: Serves as Petrine's strategic advisor.
- She later serves as Ike's second tactician alongside Soren after the encounter at Nados Castle, and would reprise this role late into Radiant Dawn.
Walking Spoiler: She's very important to the story of Path of Radiance, as can be seen by all the spoilers here.
Weaksauce Weakness: For whatever reason, dragons can't do ranged attacks in Path of Radiance. She's weak to thunder magic. She's... not much of a boss, unless you choose to fight like gentlemen.

Maijin

A Daein soldier that clashed with Ike's search party when investigating the countryside near the capital.

Class: Knight

Starter Villain: He is the first boss from the Daein army.
A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: He started the fight because he ordered his troops to attack Ike's band just for not dropping their weapons immediately when he called them. Suffice to say, he got himself killed for his impatience.

Dakova

A Daein soldier in charge of capturing Princess Elincia, who has taken refuge in the Greil's Mercenaries Fort.

Class: Knight

Skippable Boss: Killing him is optional, as the objective is to defend the entrance of the Fort until the end of Turn 6. However, he has a droppable Ashera's Icon (a stat booster that raises luck).
Undying Loyalty: His soldiers. If he were to be killed, his soldiers would continue to fight on. This is notable as some defense chapters throughout the series would end if the boss were killed, but the chapter continues even when he is killed until the time is up.
You Have Failed Me: Receives the end of it by Petrine and gets executed for his failure, should he survive. If he is killed, one of his soldiers receives the punishment instead.

Emil

A Daein soldier defending the Gallian border, preventing Ike and his band from entering the country without a fight.

Class: Halberdier

Javelin Thrower: He is equipped with a Short Spear that he drops upon defeat.
You Shall Not Pass!: He is positioned to prevent the Greil Mercenaries from crossing the border between Crimea and Gallia.
Emil: "Try me! I'll not let even a single soldier get past!"

Balmer

A subordinate of Petrine. He is ordered to kill the Mercenaries in an abandoned Gallian fortress.

Class: Sage

Playing with Fire: He uses an Elfire tome.

Karuma

A Daein soldier in pursuit of the Greil Mercenaries. He and his troops surrounded Gebal Castle, where Ike and his company took shelter, in Gallia.

Class: Knight

Skippable Boss: He is not required to kill as the objective is to defend the fortress until the time is up. He drops the Soldier's Band but only in New Game Plus.
Worf Effect: He gets brutalized by Lethe when the laguz comes to Ike's aid. If he is killed, a random mook gets killed instead.

Kotaff

A Daein soldier who captured Fort Tatana, deep in Gallia's territory, blocking Ike, the Greil Mercenaries, and their Gallian escort from entering the capital.

Class: Halberdier

Anti-Cavalry: He has the Knight Killer so be wary with Titania or Oscar.
Counter-Attack: He has the Counter skill.
Fantastic Racism: As any Daein soldiers, he is racist against the laguz, referring to them as "sub-humans." This sets off Lethe's and Mordecai's Berserk Button.
Underestimating Badassery: He doesn't believe that Ike would have beaten the Daein army without a fair fight. Ironic, as Ike point out that it is because he is underestimating him that the Daein are losing to him, which will include himself.

Danomill

A Daein warden overseeing Crimean prisoners in Canteus Castle.

Class: General

Bald of Evil: A corrupt prison warden with a shaven head.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: Apparently attacking him doesn't get you caught in a stealth mission. You would think that attacking the warden of the prison would fail the bonus objective, but it doesn't.
Sadist: He enjoys torturing his prisoners.
Skippable Boss: As the objective is to Escape the map, he is not required to kill.
Wardens Are Evil: He oversees Crimean prisoners and really enjoys watching them get tortured.
Would Hit a Girl: Considering one of his prisoners is Nephenee...

Mackoya

A Daein general investigating the breakout in Canteus Castle. He and his forces prevents Ike and Nasir from departing Port Toha.

Class: Paladin

Blood Knight: As a Daein soldier, he wants a good fight for his soldiers but the many towns offer little resistance. The Black Knight sympathizes him as a warrior.
Skippable Boss: He is not required to kill as the objective is to Arrive on the blue space, which is just blocked by a Mook.
What Happened to the Mouse?: If he is still alive, he would be ordered by the Black Knight under Sephiran's command to withdraw and is never seen again.

Norris

A Daein soldier in charge of pursuing Elincia in her escape to Begnion.

Class: Sniper

Action Initiative: He has Adept, allowing him to attack again based on his 18 skill.
Skippable Boss: He is not required to kill since the objective is to protect the Apostle's chamber from the enemy until the time is up. He does however have a droppable Longbow.
Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: He sends two citizens of Toha to hard labor for revealing Elincia's location. It is also implied that he did the same with the town, starting with the two. While they didn't know about the identity of the princess, the fact that they betrayed their own country, acting apathetic towards their king and country while Daein is invading their country, and being violently racist to laguz, they had it coming.

Kayachey

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/keyacheyfull.png

A Daein sage defending the border fortress Tor Garen from the newly founded Crimean Army.

Class: Sage

Blow You Away: He wields the high-rank Tornado spell, which he drops.
Fantastic Racism: Like many Daein, he despises the laguz, especially beast laguz as he claims that the day that they are wiped out comes near with the ongoing war between Gallia and Daein.
Power Nullifier: He has the Nihil skill.

Homasa

A Daein swordsman who defends the Daein border from the Begnion army.

Class: Swordmaster

Action Initiative: He has Adept skill, which allows him to strike twice.
Blow You Away: He is equipped with the Sonic Sword, a sword that can cast wind magic in range, so flyers beware.
Sword Fight: He certainly show pride for one, considering that he has boss conversation with Ike, Zihark, and Stefan.

Shiharam

Shiharam Fizzart

Jill's father, Haar's superior, and commander of Daien's Dracoknights, Shiharam left Begnion due to corruption in the Senate and now serves as one of Petrine's subordinates. He was ordered by Petrine to flood the pathway to Nevassa with the floodgate in Talrega.

Class: Wyvern Lord (Path of Radiance)

A Father to His Men: Implied. This guy oozes respect to his men so much that they were crushed at his death and wondered in tears if eighteen years of serving him would be for naught, until Haar convinces them to take the It Has Been an Honor stance.
Anti-Villain: Only fights the party because Petrine is forcing him to, and a sense of loyalty to his men and his nation.
Archnemesis Dad: Averted. He and Jill may be on opposite sides but he still cares about her deeply, which makes forcing her to fight him a real Tear Jerker.
Defector from Decadence: He couldn't stomach the corruption in Begnion, or the casual attitude that the Senators displayed towards his men's lives. Unfortunately, he ended up on the receiving end of it again in Daein.
Dragon Rider: He's a Wyvern Lord, of course.
Evil Redhead: Averted. He's a very nice person who just happen to be fighting under Daein. He also left Begnion because of his disgust for the corruption of the senate.
Fallen Hero: A battle conversation with Tanith reveals that he used to serve the Begnonian Senate, but the death of the Apostle and his disgust with their corrupt scheming led him to defect along with several Wyvern riders, which bred a new generation of honorable knights. At least, that's how the story goes; Shiharam doesn't deny it, but professes that the truth is rather more complicated.
The Friend Nobody Likes: The corrupt Wyvern riders that serve the Begnion Senate (which once included him) in Radiant Dawn mock him as weak and righteous. It's also implied that, due to being an honorable guy (or maybe just because he originally came from Begnion), he's something of an outcast in Daein.
Honour Before Reason: Fights to the death for Daein out of a misplaced sense of loyalty and the need to prove himself to Petrine and Ashnard.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Was at least once this, according to Haar, but Shiharam wasn't left with much choice once Petrine put the screws to him.
Secret Character: Beat the game five times from start to finish, and you get him as a playable character for the Trial Maps.
Stone Wall: He comes with good defenses and is prepared to try and stall you until you run out of turns, sitting with a strong throwing axe between two map obstructions (making him not as easy to approach) and packing a Full Guard to neutralize his Wind and Bow weaknesses.
Token Good Teammate: Among the Daein generals. His battle conversations reveal that he truly respects strength and honor, and isn't even a racist like most Daeins. In a meta sense, he counts as one of the few honorable wyvern riders (among Jill and Haar) in both games.
Video Game Cruelty Potential: You can send Jill to fight her father if you feel so inclined. This bites you in the ass, as she'll outright defect if you try.
Worthy Opponent: Feels this way toward Ike if they fight, and the feeling is mutual.

Kasatai

A General left in charge of Daein Keep alongside Ena.

Class: General

Ascended Extra: Apparently, he was considered important enough to be added to the Choose Your Legends poll in Round 5, despite being a very minor boss. Considering that the other candidates added from Path of Radiance are Bryce and Shiharam, characters with some importance, and Gromell, who is a meme, this makes his inclusion very odd.
Martyr Without a Cause: Daein is practically doomed- Kasatai dies entrusting Ena to finish the job.
Skippable Boss: You don't have to fight him. If you want you can just head straight for Ena and seize the throne.
You Are a Credit to Your Race: Like many people from Daein, Kasatai hates laguz. However, he is loyal to Ena and finding out she is a laguz doesn't change that.
You're Insane!: Ena's insistence that Ashnard wouldn't be miffed by the loss of Daein utterly confuses him and drives him up the wall.

Schaeffer

A mercenary working under Daein. He and his men took the Palmani Temple's priests hostage when he heard that Ike was heading to Palmani Temple under Nasir's advice.

Class: Warrior

Death by Irony: His paranoia is his own undoing. He feared that Ike was going to kill him, except that Ike would have probably left him alive if he didn't act. However, holding the entire temple hostage guaranteed that Ike will show no mercy.
Dirty Coward: Willing to use priests from his own nation as Human Shields and even thinks of using babies as hostages.
Hate Sink: Treats the Palmani Temple's priests as disposable, and uses them as human shields against the Greil Mercenaries. Suffice to say, he's not all too difficult to loathe.
Human Shield: He uses the entire priesthood in the Palmani Temple as hostages and shields. And he wished that he has babies with him.
Throat-Slitting Gesture: He threatened Tomenari if he spills the bean to Ike. Twice, in fact.
"KKKKCCCCHHHHH!!!"

Rikard

A Daein officer who besieged Delbray Castle to scour the surviving Crimean Knights.

Class: Paladin

Even Evil Has Standards: When Rikard engages Reyson in battle, he states there is no honor in attacking those who can't fight back but sadly duty comes before honor.
"Killing one who cannot fight will gain me no glory... But you must die nonetheless!"
Fantastic Racism: Rikard is openly hateful to beast laguz and claims to have hunted them in the past when he engages one in combat.
Glory Seeker: Rikard makes it clear he desires to be famous in battle.
"I am Rikard! Your corpse will be the sustenance that feeds my hunger for fame!"
Suicidal Overconfidence: He's fully confident that he can take out the same force of Crimean soldiers who took out General Petrine, one of the Four Riders of Daein.
You Are a Credit to Your Race: Downplayed, but he's more polite to the bird laguz and apologetic to Reyson. By comparison, he's flat-out hateful to beast laguz.

Gromell

Gromell (Guromeru)

A wyvern lord defending the Marhaut Range from the Crimean army. He plans to roll down boulders to destroy them.

Class: Wyvern Lord

Ascended Meme: He is a very infamous boss within the Japanese fanbase. He has a weapon that can be nullified by units with high resistance and has no other weapon to counter them, a skill that doesn't really help him at all, subordinates that would roll down boulders only to harm his own troops and miss the enemy, and even kill himself with said boulders. He is so recognized by fans that he became a running joke in other media. The Cipher TCG made him into a card, with his Bolt Axe and rolling boulders featured in the art, which marks him as one of the few non-major antagonist to made into a card, and was added as a candidate for the Chose Your Legends: Round 5 poll.
Dragon Rider: He rides a wyvern into battle.
Hoist by His Own Petard: His own boulders sent down by his troops could harm his own troops (and even himself). His Cipher artwork◊ shows him in front of a rolling boulder coming towards him.
Magic Knight: Bizarrely, for a Wyvern Lord, he has a decent magic stat and uses a Bolt Axe.
Shock and Awe: He wields and drops the Bolt Axe, a magic axe focused on Thunder magic.
Turn Red: He has Resolve, which raises his strength, skill, and speed when under 50% HP. What's funny is that his strength gain is useless since Bolt Axe only deals magic damage, even when fighting in melee.

Hafedd

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/haffed.gif

A Daein soldier guarding Nados Castle. He is the one obstacle standing between Ike and the Black Knight.

Class: Halberdier

Blood Knight: He is certainly very enthusiastic of fighting you and consider it a gift from the king.
Last Chance Hit Point: He has a 19% chance of surviving a fatal attack with Miracle.
Politically Correct Villain: A surprising case for a Daein soldier. He commends the power and skill of laguz and wants to fight them out of pride than prejudice.

Izuka

For more information about him, see Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - Major Antagonists.

Heddwyn

A Daein soldier in charge of the security of the Gritnea Tower.

Class: Sage

Friend or Foe?: When fighting against a laguz, he mistakes them for a Feral One. He tried to kill them, just in case. Averted with Ena or Nasir, as the former was to be executed while he doesn't recognize the latter, in which he tries to kill them without hesitation.
Shock and Awe: He uses Thunder magic like Bolting and the S-rank Rexbolt.

Kilvas

Naesala

^{Click here to see Naesala in Fire Emblem Heroes}

Sky's Shadow

The treacherous leader of Kilvas, Naesala is a mercenary, hiring out his men to anyone who will pay for them. Always seeking the advantage, Naesala desires to make his tiny nation into a power to be feared, and to that end, offers his services to Daein during Path of Radiance. Aloof, manipulative, and calculating, he maintains a soft spot for the Heron siblings, whom he has known since childhood.

Class: Raven King (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn)

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (Japanese, Fire Emblem Heroes), Lucien Dodge (English, Fire Emblem Heroes)

11th-Hour Ranger: Following his defection from Daein, he can be recruited during the last level of Path of Radiance. In Radiant Dawn, he can be recruited after most of Kilvas is turned to stone.
Adaptational Attractiveness: Not that he was ever bad-looking at all, mind you, but Heroes has given him a more pretty look than he had in Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, probably as he's no longer an antagonist.
Ambition Is Evil: He sells out to Daein under Ashnard's rule because he wants to expand Kilvas's borders, and to do that he'll need lots of money first.
Anti-Villain: Let's see... He was forced into a blood pact with Begnion's senators, meaning he couldn't help his allies and was alienated by everyone because of it (Tibarn and Skrimir even threatened to kill him). And he thought he was helping his nation by doing so, and to make matters worse, even the herons, his childhood friends, don't trust him much.
The Atoner: In the epilogue of Radiant Dawn, he abdicates his position as king and works as a diplomat to make up for his prior actions.
Beneath the Mask: He looks like a slimy bastard who'll sell you out for a pretty penny if it suits him. But deep down, he loves his nation and he feels a massive sense of guilt for the many atrocities he was forced to commit at the Begnion Senate's orders.
Blow You Away: The only laguz in either game to use magic, ironically, the same magic his tribe has a weakness to.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Betrays the laguz, Daein commander Norris, Reyson, and Petrine, and that's just in the first game.
Childhood Friend Romance: He marries Leanne if they have an A rank support by the end of the game.
Cowardly Lion: More like he prefers not to get his hands personally dirty, but he's one of the most capable characters of Path of Radiance and up there in Radiant Dawn once he does. He makes no secret that he's extremely unnerved by Ashnard's transformed form but fights if called upon just the same.
Dressing as the Enemy: He disguises himself as a Daein soldier in Path of Radiance to break Leanne out of Gritnea Tower.
Embarrassing Nickname: Nealuchi calls him "Nestling", as he raised Naesala since he was born, even though the Bird Tribes don't actually hatch from eggs like real birds do. Naesala is highly irritated by this.
Fastest Thing Alive: The fastest unit in both raw stats and caps for both games. Only Tibarn comes close.
Forced into Evil: In Radiant Dawn, he is forced to betray the Laguz Alliance or face the complete annihilation of his country via a Blood Pact.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: Betrays people a lot. Even if it is all for the good of his country.
Ranulf: Naesala and the ravens of Kilvas betrayed us? Again?
A Hero to His Hometown: Despite most laguz regarding him as a turncloak who will betray you at the drop of a hat, among his own people he is considered a strong leader and a capable hero. Later, Empress Sanaki gives him a You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech when she learns of how much Naesala has done to protect Kilvas.
Hidden Heart of Gold: He comes off smug, cold and uncaring of others, mainly to emotionally distance himself from others and make it easier to betray them should the need arise, but he does show that he regrets a lot of his actions, particularly towards his fellow laguz. While he's fine with dirtying his hands, much of the time he literally had no other choice and he is genuinely a good person at his core. Just don't expect him to show it too much.
Hired Guns: Hires out his soldiers, and his own services, to the highest bidder.
I Did What I Had to Do: A treacherous raven, yes, but he ultimately does whatever he has to to ensure the prosperity of his kingdom, even if it means betraying his most trusted allies.
- This is his attitude in Path of Radiance. Selling Reyson to Oliver? Naesala was probably going to rescue him later on, as Tibarn surmises. Teams up with Norris from Daein? Gives him false information that leads to Norris attacking a Begnion ship instead of Elincia's while he sends his own men to plunder the latter. And then offers his royal assistance to Norris for triple his usual fee. Norris doesn't take.
- In Radiant Dawn, his reason was justified since his people were forced to pull out of the Laguz Alliance via Blood Pact. He chose the safety of his people over defeating Begnion.
Interspecies Romance: Marries Leanne, a heron laguz, after Radiant Dawn if they have an A-level support. This indicates that while beorc/laguz relationships are taboo, relations between members of different laguz clans are not.^note
Karma Houdini: He sells Reyson into slavery and sides with Daein in Path of Radiance, yet can end up with Leanne in Radiant Dawn and lives happily ever after without any sort of punishment.
Leitmotif:
- On Black Wings is his conversation theme.
- In Radiant Dawn, when he fights non-boss enemies, there is Wheeling Corby.
Lightning Bruiser: Not quite to the same degree of the other royals, but he DEFINITELY qualifies nonetheless. He'll run circles around literally every single enemy unit you come across, he dishes out a great deal of damage to most enemies, and he can take plenty of hits... assuming he doesn't just effortlessly dodge them, thanks to his crazy Evasion. Bow and Crossbow users are pretty much the only units who can pose a legitimate threat to him.
Loophole Abuse: Twice over in Radiant Dawn, Lekain has Naesala on a leash because of Begnion's Blood Pact with Kilvas, forcing into an antagonistic role unless he wants his nation to spontaneously die overnight. But this changes when Ashera turns everyone to stone; not only does the Blood Pact not work in this case, but Naesala is now working under someone with higher authority than Lekain (Sanaki). Naesala uses the chance to destroy the Blood Pact (and Lekain himself, should he be deployed in that fight).
Mage Killer: Ravens have an unusually high Resistance stats for laguz, and doubly so for the Raven King. Even most wind tomes unless they're very high ranked won't do much damage against him despite their efffective bonuses against flyers.
Manipulative Bastard: So many times.
- He tricks Norris into thinking the ship he's attacking is carrying Princess Elincia, and it's really a very well-guarded ship carrying Apostle Sanaki. He then attempts to extort Norris into paying three times the usual fee for his own assistance, or die at Begnion's hands.
- He sells Reyson into slavery by taking him to the ruined Serenes Forest, making a speech how he hates the beorc as much as Reyson does, then leaving him to dry at Oliver's mansion at night after he's let his guard down. Sure, he was planning on rescuing him later after he received his payment, but it was still a major dick move that relied on abusing Reyson's trust.
- In Radiant Dawn, he acts all chummy with Tibarn and gives a Sarcastic Confession about how he might betray the Laguz Alliance. Tibarn waves it off, leading to Begnion attacking Phoenicis while he's occupied. This one at least wasn't his idea, but rather orders handed down from the Begnion Senate.
Moral Event Horizon: In-Universe, his putting the entire adult male population of Phoenicis Island to death is seen as this, though it's noted he made a point of sparing all females, children, and elderly, proving he's not complete scum. Eventually subverted; he was under a Blood Pact, meaning he literally had to do it or else his entire country would've dropped dead one by two by three...
Morality Pet: Leanne and Nealuchi.
Only in It for the Money: His attitude in Path of Radiance regarding his alliance with Daein. As he puts it, he's not working with a bunch of anti-laguz racists for the pleasant conversations.
Opportunistic Bastard: Appears as this on the surface.
Pet the Dog: He assists in helping Ike and his party storm Crimea Castle in Path of Radiance after Nealuchi reminds him that he needs to protect Reyson and Leanne.
- In Heroes, he tells the player he'd like to get some presents for Leanne and Nealuchi from their world.
- He'll also tell them to remember to rest every once in a while.
Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: Was more than willing to let Skrimir tear him to shreds for betraying the Laguz Alliance after the light of judgement fell. He only backed out because he realized that Nealuchi and Leanne were willing to give their lives to defend him. He also says that Skrimir killing him would mean Tibarn wouldn't be able to get his revenge.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: In Heroes.
"Don't judge me too harshly."
"I suppose I'll just have to kill you."
"You're just unlucky."
"I've no more use for you."
Purposely Overpowered: He's a Laguz Royal, so it comes with the territory. He won't obliterate quite as many enemies as the others, though he's still WAY above most of the other units you recruit in terms of pure stats, and can rip apart groups of enemies by himself if given the oppurtunity.
Puzzle Boss: In Path of Radiance he's all but unbeatable when he shows up in Chpater 19, unless you talk to him with the three birds you have or you use a certain trick. You have to train Oscar, Boyd, and Rolf in bows upon promotion so they can use the Triangle Attack, which is always accurate, always deals a critical hit, and uses a weapon type that is effective against him. Once you manage to lure him into your formation, he'll go down easy without a fight. Good luck finding out the latter though, as the only hint you can do that is from base conversations.
Respected by the Respected: Most of the world sees Naesala as an Opportunistic Bastard, and he does match the description in Path of Radiance. However, those who get past his mask and see his true character have nothing but the highest respect for him. This very short list includes Sanaki, Leanne, and Dhegnisea.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: He serves as a frontline soldier and mercenary as well as a leader.
Sequence Breaking: Either that or he bribed the developers, because in Radiant Dawn he has his mastery skill three levels before the game would allow him to learn it.
Skippable Boss: In one level of Path of Radiance. Since the level ends when you take out Petrine's subordinate, Homasa, engaging Naesala is not recommended. He will, however, hand over the very useful Knight Ring if you speak to him with Reyson, Janaff or Ulki.
Sudden Sequel Heel Syndrome: While Chronic Backstabbing Disorder is a part of Naesala's character, in Path of Radiance he was just looking out for his kingdom of Kilvas. Come Radiant Dawn however, his actions get a lot more dickish. There's a reason for this, which isn't explained until the endgame. When Micaiah and Sothe are fishing through Lekain's corpse for Daein's Blood Pact... they find an extra sheet of paper on him — it's a second Blood Pact, this one linked to Kilvas. Suddenly Naesala's actions make a lot more sense.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: What else can you expect from King of the Ravens?
Villainous Crush: How his interest in Leanne looks to Reyson.

Seeker

A Kilvan pirate that attacked Nasir's boat near the coast of Goldoa.

Class: Raven

Breakable Weapons: He has Corrode to lower your weapon's durability when attacking.
Last Chance Hit Point: He has a 11% chance of surviving a fatal attack with Miracle.
Sky Pirate: As a Kilvan, he and his raiders were flying above Ike's ship until it got caught in a reef, where they decide to strike.

Begnion

Oliver

^{Click to see Oliver in Fire Emblem Heroes}

Collector Of Beauty

Duke Tanas, a corrupt Begnion Senator and the main antagonist of the Begnion chapters in the first game, involved in the laguz slave trade.

Class: Bishop (Path of Radiance), Saint (Radiant Dawn)

Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese, Fire Emblem Heroes), Richard Epcar (English, Fire Emblem Heroes)

Arc Villain: The Begnion subarc, which lasts for about four chapters, is about stopping the illegal slave trade and rescuing the herons from him. As a Begnion senator, he has no connections to Daein, the antagonist country for the rest of the game. Then in Radiant Dawn, when Begnion senators are the major antagonists, he has a Heel–Face Turn.
Beauty Equals Goodness:
- Played with. Oliver himself is a Gonk and rather unpleasant when not going out of his way to suck up to someone else, but is genuinely convinced that all things beautiful in the world are only exponents of the greatest good (like himself). As it turns out, having Rafiel talk to him convinces him that you are "Protectors of Beauty", and therefore, must be on the side of ultimate good. Ergo, he must join you in your crusade against those who would tarnish everything beautiful! ...Hilarity Ensues.
- While still an overweight Gonk, Oliver is drawn to be considerably more cheerful and less villainous-looking in Radiant Dawn. Since this is the one where you can recruit him, that's not exactly shocking.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: His "moral compass" boils down to "beauty equals good, ugly equals evil". This is what ultimately makes him more redeemable than the other Begnion Senators.
Breakout Villain: Oliver's great beauty won over the hearts of fans everywhere, even though he was unjustly depicted as a minor boss rather than the heroic protector of all things beautiful. He was so beloved that he was chosen to grace Fire Emblem: Awakening and Fire Emblem Heroes with his wondrous presence.
Cowardly Lion: Don't threaten anything beautiful in front of him. He'll go from Dirty Coward to Lethal Joke Character in about ten seconds flat.
Crucified Hero Shot: Amusingly, his damaged art in◊ Heroes has him strike this pose.
Delusions of Beauty: Oliver is a connoisseur of beauty who considers himself to be the most beautiful of all, even though he's actually a fat Gonk.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: His treatment of Reyson in Path of Radiance comes across like a molester.
Even Evil Has Standards: Sure, he'll buy and sell Herons on the black market like nothing, but he wouldn't dream of actually harming one, let alone destroying their entire civilization.
Evil Laugh: Ho, ho, ho...
Fat Bastard: A truly depraved happy fat guy.
The Fighting Narcissist: You gotta admire Oliver's self-confidence if nothing else. He honestly believes he's the most beautiful character in the game.
The Friend Nobody Likes: If he joins you in Radiant Dawn. His support conversations with the vast majority of your army involve them being extremely hesitant at having anything to do with him.
Ike: Look... Would you mind rejoining the enemy?
Gonk: As if his personality wasn't revolting enough. Though Oliver is delusional to think he's the most beautiful man in the world.
Heel–Face Turn: In the second game... sort of, if he sees Rafiel and can move next to him, he'll run over to his side. Even Ike lampshades this if you have him talk to Oliver after he turns on against the fellow Order disciples and joins your side.
Hilarity Ensues: Recruit Oliver in the second game and pit him against any of the human bosses that remain. Kick back and have a laugh. This video explains it better.
Irony: He's not happy to find out Lekain was the one responsible for the Serenes Massacre. This coming from the guy who hired Naesala to steal from Lekain.
Joke Character: In Radiant Dawn. His stats are questionable for a third-tier unit (and he shares his similar Light magic and Staff weapon types with Micaiah out of all playable units (by this point, a fully-trained Micaiah would have better stats in most if not all categories), and his primary value is in the sheer entertainment factor of his interactions with his new allies and the remaining bosses.
Laughably Evil: He's hilarious in a Creepy Awesome way.
Leitmotif: "Power-Hungry Fool". It first appears when he's a villain in the first game, and it's re-used as a remix in the second for his recruitment conversation under the name "Oliver's Fall". Also, "Beauty is a Mad Mistress" is used for all of his battles unless an enemy's Leitmotif overrides it.
Life Drain: In both Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, Oliver is equipped with the Nosferatu tome.
Light 'em Up: Uses Nosferatu in the Tellius games and Tome of Favors in Heroes.
Light Is Not Good: How the hell was this guy ever accepted into the priesthood?!? However, this is somewhat slightly downplayed if he pulls a Heel–Face Turn and joins the protagonists in Radiant Dawn.
Locked Out of the Loop: Radiant Dawn implies that he alone of the Begnion senators was left out of Lekain's plan to assassinate Apostle Misaha and then frame the herons for it.
Morality Pet: Turns out, despite playing a large part in getting them sold into involuntary servitude, he really does like the Herons a lot. If you bring him to the final battle, he'll take it particularly unwell to discover that the guy who signed his checks was responsible for wiping out their society all along.
Narcissist: Oh, holy hell. His entire character shtick is his grandiose self-worship to the point of delusion, all Played for Laughs.
Not Quite Dead: In Radiant Dawn. Coupled with the loss of his Dirty Coward status, as he's not afraid to die anymore.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: In Heroes.
"Stunning, aren't I?"
"How frightening."
"Admire my poise!"
"This is true beauty!"
Redemption Earns Life: Recruiting him in Radiant Dawn and keeping him alive results in the guy arguably redeeming himself in the epilogue, living the peaceful life he always wanted as a "protector of beauty". Surprisingly enough, it seems he easily befriends Rafiel at some point.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: In Radiant Dawn, he ends up joining the heroic efforts to save Tellius from Ashera because they have the herons as allies, ergo they must be "protectors of beauty".
Secret Character: Beat Path of Radiance three times from start to finish, and you get him as a playable character for the Trial Maps.
Sinister Minister: Surprisingly something of a subversion; he seems like the typical evil minister what with him kidnapping Reyson and being brought down unceremoniously in Path of Radiance, but it turns out his intentions are so out there that he actually proves to be a redeemable fellow in Radiant Dawn.
Token Evil Teammate: If you recruit him in the second game, sort of, given that he's a slave trader and a supposedly corrupt Begnion duke.
Wake-Up Call Boss: In Radiant Dawn, the first one you run into with a mastery skill. Yikes!
You're Insane!:
- He gets this from Ike if they fight in chapter 4-4 in Radiant Dawn.
  Ike: You! You’re still alive?!
  Oliver: The world simply could not bear to be without me. Your crude weapons have no force against true magnificence! Blessed with such beauty, I have no foes... only inferiors!
  Ike: Glad to see you’re still barely clinging to that last shred of sanity. Just give it up, already.
- He's also told this by Lekain if they fight in the Radiant Dawn endgame.
  Lekain: Duke of Tanas... What's gotten into you? Why are you fighting with these mercenary scum?
  Oliver: I am Oliver, champion of beauty! You would harm my precious feathered angels! That makes you my enemy! Unsightly man... Prepare yourself!
  Lekain: Have you finally gone stark mad? Who, exactly, do you think you're blathering at?

Gashilama

A slave peddler trying to cargo his captive laguz to the nobility until he was ambushed by Ike and company.

Class: Berserker

Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: He tries to invoke this when attacked by a Beorc unit.
Gashilama: You... You're just like us! You eat meat, you ride horses... I mean, come on! We're not hunting any humans here! What's wrong with buying and selling a few half-breeds?
Difficulty by Region: Be careful when fighting him in the non-Japanese version. He receives a massive critical hit boost from the class itself alongside the Killer Axe. Good thing he lacks a ranged weapon.
Even Evil Has Standards: Downplayed. Whilst a slaver, Gashilama views the Serenes massacre as an atrocity. Then again, one reason for that being if the heron race had survived, slavers like him could still use them as a renewable resource to make money off of.
Fantastic Racism: He has low opinion of the laguz, what's with being an illegal slave trader and all.

Kimaarsi

A soldier guarding Oliver's mansion, he was deployed to kill Ike's company for finding out about Reyson's existence.

Class: General

Fantastic Racism: He despises the laguz that try to trespass on Oliver's property.
Punch-Clock Villain: Besides attacking you, he doesn't seem like a terrible person as he fights to protect Oliver's property. His death quote implies that he died for serving Oliver's corruption.
Kimaarsi: What... What fate is this? Is it just punishment... for my complicity... in this evil...

Bandits

Zawana

A bandit pillaging the village of Caldea in Crimea.

Class: Bandit

Head Swap: Downplayed. The speaking portraits of generic bandits within the game use Zawana's body as a base, usually with a different outfit.
Rape, Pillage, and Burn: He leads a bunch of bandits in robbing Caldea. One of his goons burn down a house as a tutorial to bandits destroying houses, robbing a valuable item.
Warm-Up Boss: He is the first boss (san Greil in the prologue) in the game. As he uses an Iron Axe, he'll go down easy from Ike.

Ikanau

An accomplice of Zawana who wanted revenge against the Greil's Mercenaries. He kidnapped Mist and Rolf as lures for Titania.

Class: Bandit

Avenging the Villain: He wants to avenge Zawana, the first boss.
Moral Event Horizon: In-Universe, Titania thinks he crossed the line from understandable revenge to plain evil by putting Mist and Rolf in danger.
Revenge by Proxy: Kidnaps Mist and Rolf to get revenge on Titania killing his friend, Zawana. Titania herself says, whilst his desire for revenge was understandable, he crossed the line by kidnapping children.
Would Hurt a Child: He threatened Mist and Rolf's life as hostages so that he could lure and ambush Titania for revenge. One of his goons tried to kill Rolf when the group (though Titania had a plan) dropped their weapons.

Havetti

A pirate captain who threatens the port town Talma in Crimea.

Class: Bandit

Affably Evil: He's rather polite to the protagonists and its noted he hasn't hurt the villagers, only extorted them for supplies.
Ascended Extra: Strangely, he was featured in the Fire Emblem: Awakening Background segment in the Fire Emblem World website. He is one of the co-host alongside Anna in the Capture Segment, which provide tips on the game.
Big Eater: His first line is him being hungry and wanting some grub. In the Fire Emblem Awakening Background segment, he is being chased by Anna with meat in his mouth and hand.
Fat Bastard: Downplayed, he is a large, fat pirate that is attacking Talma but is Affably Evil.
Gonk: Even by Fire Emblem bandit standards, he's particuarly unattractive.
Talk Like a Pirate: Uses the nautical slang, you'd expect a pirate to do.
"Yar har ho! Me belly's emptier 'n me first mate's head! Fetch me some grub!"

Nedata

An honorable pirate battled on the Gallian coasts.

Class: Bandit

Affably Evil: A genuinely cheerful buccaneer who greets his employees and enemies heartily.
Face Death with Dignity: Continues singing his hearty pirate shanty, even when killed.
"Scallywags of the sea... are... An end like this is quite... worthy!"
Honor Before Reason: Despite seeing two armies and assuming the Kingdom's have come to claim his bounty, Nedata refuses to run.
"Bite yer tongue, ye kelp-brained idjit! We’re pirates! We don’t turn tail from government scum! I’m goin’ ashore! Watch me, and you’ll see a true sea-dog in action."
Pirate: Despite being a boss, he's a rogue type as he's shown to be a honorable Laughably Evil antagonist.
Pirate Song: Sings a cheerful song about being a pirate when he appears.
"Yar har ho! / Yo ho har! / Scallywags of the sea are we!, We fight like beasts, an’ men do flee!, We earn our gold with axes bold..."
Politically Correct Villain: Unlike many Beorc, this pirate doesn't have any prejudice against laguz, probably due to living in Gallia.
Skippable Boss: Its very possible to beat the map before Nedata even shows up.
Worthy Opponent: Acknowledges the unit that defeats him as a worthy opponent.
Talk Like a Pirate: Nedata not only talks like a pirate, but sings like one.
"Oh ho ho! What’s this, then? Humans battling humans here in Gallia? What in the briny beard of Shanty Pete is going on?"

Characters / Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - Antagonists

Daein

Mad King Ashnard

The Four Riders of Daein

The Black Knight

Bryce

Petrine (Prague)

Bertram (Beuforres)

Daein Army

Ena

Maijin

Dakova

Danomill

Mackoya

Norris

Shiharam Fizzart

Schaeffer

Gromell (Guromeru)

Kilvas

Naesala

Seeker

Begnion

Oliver

Bandits

Havetti

Alternative Title(s): Fire Emblem Tellius Antagonists

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Characters / Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - Antagonists

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Daein

Mad King Ashnard

The Four Riders of Daein

The Black Knight

Bryce

Petrine (Prague)

Bertram (Beuforres)

Daein Army

Ena

Maijin

Dakova

Danomill

Mackoya

Norris

Shiharam Fizzart

Schaeffer

Gromell (Guromeru)

Kilvas

Naesala

Seeker

Begnion

Oliver

Bandits

Havetti

Alternative Title(s): Fire Emblem Tellius Antagonists

Previous

Index

Next