Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / Fire Emblem Gaiden

Go To

This character sheet is for characters introduced in Fire Emblem Gaiden, as well as the remake Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. All spoilers on this page and its subpages are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

To see the central character index for the entire Fire Emblem series, go here.


  • Alm and Celica
  • Alm's Party note 
  • Celica's Party note 

    open/close all folders 

Zofia (Sofia)

    Mila 

Mila (Mira, Meela)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mila_300x272.png
Click here to see Mila in Fire Emblem Heroes 
Goddess of Love

"Mankind faces enough trials without us burdening them yet more. I wish to be their salvation - the hands that dispel their grief and pain. It is our duty as gods to save them."

Duma's sister, the Earth Mother who watches over Zofia. Her blessings make the crops grow, at the cost of having the people know no sense of toil from having grown them themselves. Her disappearance sets off Celica on her quest. Her remains later become the Mila Tree seen in Awakening.

Voiced by: Yoshiko Sakakibara (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)

  • A God Am I: Despite being Divine Dragons, both Duma and Mila refer to themselves as Gods, unlike Naga — but much like bad dragons like Loptous. Though specifically Mila does tell Alm and Celica that humans refer to her race as gods, rather than outright claiming to be one.
  • Ambiguous Species: Not to the same extent as her brother, but she also has power over the earth, sacred springs, earth based magic, and the Divine Accord unleashes Terrors upon Zofia just as it does Rigel. Her sealed dragon form also has some resemblance to her brother's.
  • The Corruption: Like Duma, she was degenerating and her influence was having a negative impact on the Zofians. In her case it made Zofians slothful in general, and caused others to embrace their own depraved desires.
  • Cute Monster Girl: The only one in this particular Fire Emblem game, her humanoid form is that of a beautiful, buxom woman with a horn, dragon tail, pointed ears and prehensile hair.
  • Doting Parent: Mila is extremely doting on the Zofians, as she wants to provide them comfort, believing that giving them everything they want with little work is the key to happiness. Unfortunately, this combined with her growing madness over the centuries resulted in the Zofians becoming slothful and cruel.
  • Dragons Are Divine: In the remake, she and Duma are revealed to be from the Divine Dragon Tribe.
  • Draconic Humanoid: While Mila's dragon form isn't seen onscreen save for a mural depicting her battle with Duma over Valentia's fate, and its skull with the Falchion embedded in it, the remake shows that while appearing humanoid, she has a tail, downplaying this. However, her special art in Heroes makes her form more draconic by transforming her legs into dragon ones, inching more into this trope.
  • Dreaming of Things to Come: She has the power of "sight" which means she can send visions to people who possess her Turnwheel item. These visions can depict events from the past, or events from various possible futures. Its implied that she sent Celica the dream of Alm fighting Rudolf, though to what end is not revealed.
  • Dying as Yourself: It is only when she is sealed and near death that she is able to return to being the benevolent "mother" of Zofia that she was in the past.
  • Gentle Touch vs. Firm Hand: The gentle touch to Duma's firm hand.
  • The Ghost: Despite her importance to the plot, Mila is never seen in the original Gaiden. All that is shown of her are statues made in her image, which all resemble a beautiful woman. The remake averts this, including her in several scenes.
  • Go Out with a Smile: She is genuinely happy to be able to spend the last of her life energy to try to make up for her mistakes (using said energy to revive Celica and unseal Falchion), and in the credits bids her beloved people a fond farewell with song, pledging to watch over them even after death.
  • Horned Humanoid: Has a single horn sticking out of her forehead.
  • Lazy Bum: Over the ages she began to practice various pleasurable vices to an extreme extent as her own insanity grew, to the point that she became so slothful that Desaix was confident she would take no action even if members of her own bloodline (King Lima and his children) were murdered.
  • Light Is Good: In the remake, she is a Divine Dragon. Downplayed in that her madness led to corruption.
  • Physical God: Like Duma she has a physical body, and is treated by many humans as a god.
  • Prehensile Hair: Her wings are actually her hair that she can shift to resemble wings.
  • Promoted to Playable: She makes her playable debut in Heroes.
  • Sealed Good in a Can: A benevolent deity that Rudolf sealed in the Falchion as part of his plan to unite the continent. It goes both ways, as it's revealed that she chose to seal the Falchion's god-slaying powers as well so that no harm could befall her brother.
  • Sibling Team: She and Duma were once a pair of Naga's highest, with the names "Kingsgrail" and "Kingshield" respectively. They worked in tandem to protect Naga and their lands; Duma with military strength, Mila with blessings of plenty.
  • Slasher Smile: She shows off one during her confrontation with Rudolf in Echoes, right before he seals her away in the Falchion as a part of his plans. It's a sign that she was also suffering from madness, even before the story properly began.
  • Taken for Granite: She in her dragon form and the Falchion sealed together turn into a statue.
  • Thicker Than Water:
    • Once she realized Rudolf's aim, she turned herself and Falchion to stone to protect her brother, despite the fact that this left Zofia at the mercy of an insane dragon with no means to stop him. She regrets it greatly, calling herself foolish for in the heat of the moment not seeing the big picture that both she and her brother were at that point doomed to degenerate, and that they had to save their beloved people of Valentia over themselves.
    • She's also in Valentia in the first place because of this; when her brother and Naga battled, she sided with her brother, and was exiled alongside him.
  • Together in Death: The sibling dragons were buried on the highest peak of Valentia. When the trees grew there, the two conjoined together and became a massive tree which would later be known as the "Mila's Tree."
  • Would Hurt a Child: A Priestess in her temple during Act 3 notes that Liprica vowed to never let Celica stand before Mila. It's implied that Mila would have killed Celica outright or attempted the same thing Jedah tries later on (that is, taking her soul in order to restore herself) if she knew Celica had the Brand.

    Fernand 

Fernand

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fernand_full_1.png
Click here to see Fernand in Fire Emblem Heroes 
Traitorous Knight

A grouchy member of the Deliverance with a low opinion of commoners due to a tragic incident in his past. He defects to Rigel after disagreeing with Clive about passing leadership to the lowborn and unproven Alm. Introduced in Echoes.

Class: Cavalier ā†’ Paladin
Voiced by: Kenji Nojima (Japanese), Ray Chase (English)

  • Aristocrats Are Evil: His classist attitude becomes his motivation for defecting from the Deliverance.
  • Big Brother Instinct: He had two kindergarten-age stepsiblings from his father's second marriage, and genuinely adored them even with his reservations on said remarriage. Tragically, their deaths only further fueled Fernand's unforgiving attitude in the present day.
  • Birds of a Feather: He quickly befriends Berkut due to their shared classist rhetoric.
  • Canon Foreigner: Fernand is an addition to the Echoes remake.
  • Childhood Friends: He once was this with Clive, apparently since before his sister Clair was born, and he seemed to like Clair herself as well. This doesn't last, but they are very saddened when he dies, with Clair even tearing up for him. In the last DLC map, Fernand believes death is inevitable yet says he, Clive, and Matilda will go and bargain with Slayde for Clair's life... despite being thoroughly disillusioned at this point, he was ready to die an honor-less death to try and protect his friend's sister.
  • Chubby Chaser: Clair tells Fernand in the English version of their Memory Prism that Clive told her he likes his women "like [he] prefers [his] oranges - full and ripe".
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Some time ago, the famine that has been plaguing Zofia for the past few years led to an insurrection in Fernand's territory. His estate was attacked by starving peasants who blamed the nobility, and his entire family was killed. Fernand became extremely hostile to commoners as a result.
  • Death Equals Redemption: He acknowledges his mistakes and apologizes for his actions as he dies.
  • Died in Your Arms Tonight: After being fatally wounded by Rinea, he perishes in Clive's arms acknowledging his inability to forgive ultimately was his undoing.
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!: After Clive considers leaving him on the sidelines for the siege of Zofia Castle because of Fernand's grief over his family, Fernand lashes out at him, resulting in Clair angrily calling him out.
  • The Dragon: He becomes Berkut's right-hand man after his Faceā€“Heel Turn.
  • Everyone Has Standards:
    • An In-Universe example. Due to his hatred of the lower-class, he sets his standards for the Deliverance very high, and is unwilling to compromise unless they are used as essentially Cannon Fodder, but when Clive suggests making Alm the leader, he defects from the organization, as he feels a limit has been reached.
    • In a straightforward example, he expresses pure disgust for the evil magic of the Duma Faithful, seeing it as a truly horrible weapon.
    • He's also clearly horrified when he sees that Berkut turned Rinea into a Witch.
  • Faceā€“Heel Turn: Leaves the Deliverance due to a disagreement with Clive about Alm leading the organization, and sides with Rigel and Desaix.
  • Fallen Hero: In his Memory Prism with Clive and most of the Rise of the Deliverance DLC, Fernand is shown to be a kind friend and a man with noble ideals to serve his country. After his family was murdered in a riot by dissatisfied commoners, Fernand grew bitter and his views began to conflict with Clive's. Eventually, he lost faith in his country and his people and joined Desaix and later Rigel.
  • Fatal Flaw: His inability to forgive, especially toward commoners, causes him to defect to Rigel when he can't agree with Clive's decision to make Alm the new leader of the Deliverance, and ultimately is what leads to his fatal wounds. He himself realizes he brought it onto himself.
  • Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: While the original members of the Deliverance understand why he loathes the common folk, they make it clear his classist views are stupid for the organization, and that his views are going to be the reason they cannot win. Clive and Lukas both nearly come to blows with him before his defection after he belittles Alm and the Ram Villagers, as both feel that, regardless of his past, it doesn't justify his hostility.
  • Guest-Star Party Member: Of a sort; he's not available during the main game, but can be played during the DLC Rise of the Deliverance missions.
  • Heelā€“Face Door-Slam: He realizes that Clive was right the entire time, but is badly burned by Witch Rinea before he can reconcile with him and dies from his wounds.
  • Heel Realization: He realizes he was in the wrong shortly before his death.
  • Irony: Defects from the Deliverance and joins with Berkut because he refuses to let a commoner lead the group, but ironically, Alm is revealed to the Prince of Rigel, meaning Fernand left the service of someone of higher status than himself for someone who is also of a lower class than Alm.
  • Likes Older Women: In the Japanese version of his Memory Prism with Clair, she states that she heard from Clive that he likes older women.
  • Mistaken for Gay: In a Memory Prism, Clair pretty much states that she thinks he's into Clive.
  • Never My Fault: Post-defection, he repeatedly insists he's done nothing wrong, and that he genuinely believes that a Valentia united under Berkut would be a better outcome then having Zofia owe its independence to commoners. Even in Heroes, one of his dialogue prompts has him insist that the whole thing was Clive's fault for never listening to his concerns. Ironically, his level 40 speech has him muse that for all their disagreements, a part of him does still value his former friendship with Clive and Mathilda and questions if he truly made the right choice.
  • Noble Bigot: He used to be this before his Faceā€“Heel Turn. Memory Prisms show that Fernand made a few bigoted comments even when he was one of the good guys, but he was also a good friend with strong principles.
  • Oh, Crap!: His smug attitude cracks when he witnesses Berkut's Deal with the Devil, and then the newly revived Witch Rinea leaps towards him...
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: Beyond his rampant classism, he expresses a very Stay in the Kitchen attitude at the idea of Clair being a knight in the third Memory Prism, going so far as to say she should "realize it best to leave the kingdom to us men."
  • Practically Different Generations: Fernand's father remarried about 12 years after the death of his wife/Fernand's mother, and as a result of the union, the adult Fernand has two half- or step-siblings that are four or five years old.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
    • As an enemy:
      "Foolish rabble!"
      "Get out of my sight!"
      "You need a lesson!"
      "You had your chance!"
    • As a DLC character:
      "This fight is mine!"
      "Submit!"
      "Are you finished?"
      "Just try to keep up!"
  • Promoted to Playable: He's an enemy boss in the main story, but he's playable for two DLC chapters, before then becoming fully playable in Heroes.
  • Recurring Boss: Fernand ends up fighting Alm and the Deliverance several times over the course of the story.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: After his family was murdered, he became a massive Jerkass who looks down on commoners.
  • Upper-Class Twit: He acts like he is owed something for being a noble. As seen above, it's not that easy.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Before tragedy struck him, Fernand was old-fashioned but far more affable and kind-hearted. Then his family was murdered, his Fatal Flaw came to the surface, and he never was the same again.
  • We Used to Be Friends: He was once good friends with Clive, but the death of his family drove him down a darker path and eventually led to the two parting ways.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: He is furious with Lukas for taking the Rigelian civilians in Zofia hostage, partly on principle and partly because he was furious about Clive leaving him out of the loop.
  • When She Smiles: A male example. It's actually quite heartwarming when he gives a genuine smile in his flashbacks with Clive and in his death throes, in contrast to the cold sneer he puts out as a member of the Deliverance and a subordinate of Berkut.

    Desaix 

Desaix (Dozer, Tozeh)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ftmte0r.png

The Chancellor of Zofia, who killed the king and tried to seize control of the nation for himself. Building up to this, he proceeded to kill each heir to the Zofian throne as they were born, but was discovered by Mycen. He was able to pin his crimes on Mycen, forcing him to flee, but not before saving princess Anthiese. In the present day, his army is defeated by the resistance led by Alm, forcing him to flee to his fortress. Despite holding the knight Mathilda hostage and the reinforcement of Rigel's army, Desaix is killed by Alm's forces.

Class: Baron
Voiced by: Go Shinomiya (Japanese), Dan Woren (English)

  • Actually a Doombot: With enough grinding, it's entirely possible to kill him when he appears in Chapter 1, even though the player isn't supposed to. If this happens, Slayde reveals that "Desaix" was actually a body double and the real one has already retreated.
  • Dirty Coward: In his first battle, should Slayde be defeated first, he slips away and escapes to his fortress, leaving his men behind without a commander. Alternatively, if Desaix goes down first, it's revealed that he forced some poor shmuck to take his place as a body double.
  • Evil Chancellor: Par excellence. Desaix is a chancellor who's been sabotaging the king's rule. Not just for his own benefit, but also due to Lima being incompetent at ruling to start with.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Manages to figure out Alm's true parentage before anyone else, but thinks it's all just Mycen and Rudolf's plot to give themselves more power.
  • Hate Sink: Desaix is a simple power-hungry schemer, traitor, tyrant, and child murderer whose only desire is to gain even more power. By contrast, Rudolf is a Well-Intentioned Extremist, Fernand has a Dark and Troubled Past plus his pride, Berkut is a Tragic Villain, Duma has some good intentions and is a Graceful Loser, and Jedah is genuinely loyal to Duma. Though he gets someone similar to him this time around: Slayde.
  • I Have Your Wife: Desaix keeps the Deliverance at bay by holding Mathilda, Clive's lover, captive. Clive does his best to lead despite the risk to Mathilda, but his boldness slows to a crawl before Alm joins.
  • Jerkass: He's a massive asshole.
  • Laughably Evil: He actually has some highly amusing expressions and lines, one of the most memorable being when he declares that the throne's really comfy.
  • Mighty Glacier: Desaix has absurdly high Strength and Defense, especially with his Dragonshield, but his Speed is only 4.
  • Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Desaix killed the King because he certainly thought he could be a better King for Zofia and guide the nation to a better state, considering Lima IV to be a hedonistic and poor ruler spoiled with the blessings of Mila, and considering Mila herself to no longer be worthy of being worshiped as she had grown slothful and uncaring (he even refers to her as a "monster"). However, he comes off as just being a power-hungry and murderous man driven by personal ambition rather than the good of Zofia despite the situation, not exactly doing a better job at 'being King' than Lima IV was.
  • Palette Swap: Overlapping with Headswap, many of the bosses in the NES original use recolored or altered variants of his portrait.
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: Desaix betrayed and killed the King, Lima IV, out of powerlust. While this is obviously an evil move, Lima IV was a tyrant who was deliberately starving the neighboring Kingdom and frequently forced himself onto women. Even In-Universe, few miss Lima IV and the Zofian rebellion opposes Desaix because it's clear the chancellor is going to be just as bad as Lima IV was rather than out of loyalty to their king.
  • Poor Communication Kills: Inverted. His failure to reveal Alm's true identity to the Duma Faithful most likely saved Alm's life, and many others.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
    "Ha! Laughable!"
    "We'll all die!"
    "Wretched scum!"
    "Out of my way!"
  • Smarter Than You Look: You'd think that he's little more than a cowardly, power-hungry, craven bastard, and you'd be mostly right, but he's also the first person not already in the know to figure out that Rudolf is Alm's true father. In fact, he figures it out within minutes of Fernand informing him that the new leader of the Deliverance was Mycen's grandson.
  • Starter Villain: He's the major villain of the first portion of Alm's story.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Desaix killed some of the children of the royal family while framing Mycen for the crime.

    Slayde 

Slayde (Slayder)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/slayde_echoes_portrait_7.png

A Zofian general serving under Desaix, he was the man from the prologue who found Ram village and ended up setting off the events of the story. During Alm's retaking of the capital, Slayde fights the heroes but is injured and forced to retreat. Despite this, he continues to appear and hound Alm for most of the game.

Class: Paladin ā†’ Gold Knight
Voiced by: Yoshimasa Kawata (Japanese), Christopher Corey Smith (English)

  • Ascended Extra: Slayde is a more major character in the remake than he is in the original game.
  • Beard of Evil: He has a very pointy goatee beard in Echoes.
  • Dirty Coward: In the Battle of Zofia Harbor DLC, he "thanks" Clive and Fernand for saving his sorry bacon by turning tail and running away, leaving them to clean up his mess.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: To Desaix in the remake, initially serving him in order to be guaranteed a good position when Desaix becomes ruler. Knowing that he has Outlived His Usefulness when Desaix retreats to his fortress, he sells out Zofian secrets to Rigel and gets promoted to captain over their last defense before Rudolf himself.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Zig-zagged. In the Memory Prism that details how Desaix orders him to hunt and kill Lima's remaining children, Slayde initially shows reluctance and hesitation as he realizes Desaix killed their king's other progeny. Once the promise of power and wealth is offered, as well as the fact that Mila was too slothful to try to find those responsible and unleash retribution for harming the royal family, he quickly embraces his new role, showing off his signature Slasher Smile.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: Slayde seems to have been this while he was serving as a Zofian knight. In the Echoes DLC, Fernand openly insults him, Clair is said to hate him, and even Clive ends up calling him out on being a coward.
  • Foil: To Clive. Both are high-ranking noble knights of Zofia, but Slayde is explicitly only in it for his own gain and survival, while Clive has his country's best interests in mind. Slayde expresses disgust at Clive's lofty ideals; meanwhile, Clive states people like Slayde will never prosper if they have no principles to guide them.
  • Hate Sink: All of his acts are meant to show how much of an evil, ambitious bastard he is and that Alm needs to take him down fast.
  • The Hedonist: In the remake, he doesn't really care about who he serves or what lines he must cross, as long as he can keep living the comfortable life. When the work with his former patron Desaix didn't get him what he wanted, he sells out Zofian secrets to Rigel, which was enough to win him their favor.
  • It's All About Me: Slayde serves no one's interests except for his own. He has no loyalty to any country, and if things turn sour, he has no problem turning tail if it means survival.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
    "Haha! Wonderful!"
    "Bad move!"
    "You had your fun!"
    "Nighty-night!"
  • Recurring Boss: In Echoes. He is first faced in the Prologue battle, and is later fought in Zofia castle (where he was originally battled in the original) at the end of Act 1. He is faced for the final time in Act 4, guarding the final stronghold just before Emperor Rudolf himself.
  • Redemption Demotion: For a very, very loose value of "redemption". When he is fought as the boss of the prologue, he is a level 1 Paladin. When he is an NPC "ally" in the "Battle of Zofia Harbor" DLC, which takes place four years later according to the Valentian Accordion, he is a level 3 Cavalier.
  • Shoulders of Doom: His armor sports large pauldrons in Echoes, and he's a villain.
  • Slasher Smile: He's a violent villain, and his portrait in Echoes has his otherwise handsome face frozen in a very deranged grin.
  • Starter Villain: His primary role is being the actual boss in Act 1, as he's the intended target to beat out of him and Desaix (the latter being virtually untouchable due to the Dracoshield unless the player has been grinding). Echoes, however, upgrades him into a more major role, being a Recurring Boss in that he is also faced much earlier than the intended climax battle with him, being the first villain you meet and come into conflict with at the very beginning of the game. And he makes an appearance in Act 4 as a captain leading the defense of The Last Bastion before the fight with Rudolf himself, having sold out the secrets of his country to get in their favor.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: He sure doesn't seem to appreciate Clive and Fernand's help in the DLC.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: If the player manages to kill Desaix first, Slayde will retreat and swear revenge. In the original game, he is never seen again. Averted in the remake, where he reappears throughout the story until he is finally confronted again in Act 4.
  • Would Hurt a Child: In the prologue he was going to kill Alm and friends as kids when he grew bored by their stalling. And that's before even finding out about Celica's whereabouts. Slayde also ends up going along with Desaix's plan to kill Lima IV's children.

    Lima IV 

Lima IV

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fe15_lima_iv.jpg

The late King of Zofia, killed by Desaix before the beginning of the story. In life, he was a hedonistic and lustful man who misused his power.


  • Absurdly Youthful Mother: Depending on exactly how old he was when he took the throne, Lima IV would've fathered Conrad and Celica when he was an early teen at most.
  • Asshole Victim: No one truly mourned his death due to his selfish behavior, not even his surviving children. Even the Deliverance fights Desaix more because he's a tyrant who had Lima's innocent heirs murdered than because he happened to be a good king.
  • The Caligula: Lima abused his power to force Lady Liprica and Conrad's Rigelian mother into being his mistresses, pursued his hedonism first and foremost, and refused to aid Rigel in a time of crisis.
  • Evil Redhead: He appears briefly in Echoes as the unhealthy looking Zofian redheaded man on the throne with dancers before him. Fortunately, his surviving children Conrad and Celica inherited his red hair but not his cruelty and selfishness, or his super creepy looks.
  • Freudian Excuse: In the Valentian Accordian, it is revealed that he inherited the throne at a young age and never had any Morality Pets to guide him, quickly turning him into The Caligula.
  • Hate Sink: His selfish behavior made it rather difficult to sympathize with him when he was poisoned to death, not even his surviving children could sympathize with him. While there are many reasons to oppose Desaix, the fact that he poisoned Lima to death was not one of them.
  • The Hedonist: Lima showcases the worst effect of Mila's influence, by living his life in pursuit of pleasure over work or kindness.
  • Lean and Mean: In the few images shown of him, Lima IV looks almost scarily thin, and he wasn't exactly the best king.
  • No Name Given: He wasn't given a name in the original Gaiden's gameplay, his name only coming from supplementary sources.
  • An Offer You Can't Refuse: In exchange for Conrad's mother, he offered to give Rigel food during their famine. As noted by an NPC, he didn't keep his end of the bargain, with them even believing it's why Rigel invaded.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: In addition to his obvious prejudice against Rigel, Lima IV's behavior indicates that he viewed women more as lust objects than people.
  • Posthumous Character: He was killed by Desaix before the story started, though his past actions still impact the narrative.
  • Royal Harem: Kept a bunch of mistresses as part of his harem, and forced Liprica and Conrad's mother to join it.
  • Spoiled Brat: Embodies the worst aspects of this; Mila's constant coddling of Lima resulted in a cruel man who felt entitled to everything in the world and knew nothing of charity.
  • Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: He wasn't quite a gonk, but as the picture above shows, he looked very creepy. His mistress Liprica was very pretty (looking nearly identical to Celica), and he probably wouldn't have forced Conrad's mom to be his mistress if she wasn't cute-looking enough.
  • The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: His two known surviving children are much more attractive than he is. Its possible Lima IV's appearance was a result of him taking poor care of his body in his hedonistic hobbies, which would justify his children's looking better then him.
  • Younger Than They Look: He looks to be in his mid-40s, but according to the Valentian Accordian, he was a young child when he became king in 382 V.C. This would put him in his early 30s at most.

    Liprica 

Lady Liprica

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

The late mother of princess Anthiese and former queen of Zofia. Originally a priestess of the Temple of Mila before she was forced into becoming the lover of King Lima IV.


    Irma 

Irma

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ne5xvnx.png

A cleric under the service of Mila, imprisoned by Grieth. She turns out to hold very important information about Celica's past...

Voiced by: Yuki Kodaira (Japanese), Carrie Keranen (English)

  • Damsel in Distress: Celica first finds her in one of Grieth's dungeons, and Irma had apparently been there for years.
  • Exposition Fairy: Irma was a friend of Liprica and a fellow Mila priestess, so she got to witness what happened to her and then relayed all the info she had to her daughter Celica.
  • Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A very kindhearted woman with blond hair to match.
  • No Name Given: She wasn't named in the original.
  • Tell Me About My Father: Inverted, she's the one who takes the initiative in regards to explaining Liprica's past to her surviving daughter.

Rigel

    Rudolf 

Emperor Rudolf of Rigel

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

The Emperor of the Rigelian Empire, the man who sealed away Mila, allowed the cruel practices of Jedah and his men, and allied his nation with the traitorous Desaix.

Class: Gold Knight
Voiced by: Takayuki Sugo (Japanese), Jamieson Price (English)

  • Adaptation Dye-Job: His hair is brown in the original, but white in the remake. It's likely he had it from birth or prematurely greyed, since his Memory Prism with Mycen shortly after Alm's birth has him look identical to his appearance in the main game.
  • Anti-Villain: Rudolf is very honorable and just, at least as far as someone in charge of a war of aggression can be. He tries to prevent war crimes and atrocities under his reign, does his best to minimize casualties, and has Zeke watch over his corrupt subordinates to make sure they don't try anything.
  • Archnemesis Dad: To Alm, not that Alm is aware of this. Rudolf certainly is, and will not raise his lance against his own son during the battle with him.
  • Authority Grants Asskicking: The Emperor of Rigel is most certainly the toughest boss in the game!
  • Badass Normal: He's the single most powerful enemy in the game to be an ordinary human. Of the enemies who are more dangerous than him, Duma and the Creation are both dragons, while Nuibaba and Jedah both made a Deal with the Devil. Berkut can't even match his raw stats with his pact with Duma!
  • Big Bad: The main antagonist of the remake and the one Berkut is answering to. His goal to Take Over the World so he could give a Secret Test of Character to Alm and Celica and a Mercy Kill to Mila and Duma drives the plot even after he bites it. He has also more screentime than Duma in the remake.
  • Blood from the Mouth: As he bleeds out after Alm defeats him, the artwork has him bleeding from the mouth as he explains to Alm about his true origins.
  • Cool Old Guy: An Anti-Villain example. Rudolf is the fifth-oldest human character in the gamenote , yet he's more than capable of keeping up with an army of heroes about half his age. On Hard mode, he has 3 Attack, 9 Skill, 8 Speed, 13 Luck, 6 Defense, and 8 Resistance more than his nephew Berkut despite Berkut being 33 years younger and being directly empowered by Duma, a freaking corrupted Divine Dragon.
  • Decapitated Army: Invoked. He orders his men to lay down their weapons if he goes down in battle.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Defeats Mila with the aid of Falchion before sealing her powers away and kidnapping her.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Rudolf kept Berkut locked out of his plans, presumably because if Berkut knew, it would make him a target by the Duma Faithful, or risk the plan falling apart because he needed war between the two kingdoms to occur. However, because he never informed Berkut of his plans nor Alm's heritage and never formed any contingency plans to deal with the inevitable fallout, when Berkut does learn both, he takes that as a sign Rudolf had never loved him, and descends into full blown villainy.
  • Disc-One Final Boss: He's set up as the main instigator of the conflicts plaguing Valentia and most of Alm's storyline sets him up to be the final opponent Alm must face, but after he bites it it turns out he was only trying to set Alm up so he could take out Duma.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Rudolf may be bringing the heroes' destiny into fruition with his acts, but he still tries to prevent war crimes and unnecessary casualties.
  • Evil Overlord: A ruthless emperor who invaded Zofia with the intent of conquest, sealed away the Earth Mother Mila, which caused a famine across Zofia, allied with Desaix, who allowed thieves and pirates to roam unopposed across the country, and plunged the entire continent into war, and is feared by some of his own countrymen. There are very good reasons for this act.
  • A Father to His Men: In his last speech to his army, he implores his soldiers not to throw away their lives for nothing and to surrender if he is defeated. It's also stated Rudolf was like a father to Zeke.
  • The Heavy: The central villain of Gaiden who tries to Take Over the World and acts as the Disc-One Final Boss of Alm's route.
  • Jousting Lance: He specifically uses an actual lance (as opposed to the common spear) as a weapon. You can acquire said lance as the Emperor Lance.
  • Last-Name Basis: Based on the fact that Alm's full name is Albein Alm Rudolf, Rudolf seems to go solely by his last name. Also, it's mentioned sometimes that Alm is Albein Alm Rudolf II, wich implies that Rudolf's full name is Albein Alm Rudolf I.
  • Leitmotif: "Lord of a Dead Empire".
  • Lightning Bruiser: He has 52 HP, 30 Attack, 24 Speed, and 25 Defense on Hard Mode. He can dish hits like a dump truck, take hits like a tank, and double even your (close to base-level) Dread Fighters, his Angel Ring gives him a fearsome crit rate as well, and he has 9 movement to zip around the battlefield. His only weaknesses are his "mere" 16 Resistance and his refusal to actually attack Alm.
  • Like a Son to Me:
    • Talking to Massena in Act 5 reveals that Rudolf cared for his nephew Berkut as if he were his own, as his plan meant he couldn't be the father he wanted to be for his true son. Unfortunately, as he couldn't risk the true extent of his plot being known to the Duma Faithful, he had to keep him in the dark about the fact that Alm was the true heir, and this factors majorly into Berkut's eventual breakdown when the truth is revealed.
    • It's mentioned that Rudolf treated Zeke like one of his sons as well, despite his uncertain origins. This is why Zeke is so loyal to him.
  • Large Ham: Is a lot more dramatic in Heroes. Justified, Rudolf is Back from the Dead in this game and enjoying Valentine's day with is family.
  • Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Carries a shield around as standard for a Gold Knight, which he uses if he were ever to take Scratch Damage to just show how little damage your attacks are doing.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: He's Alm's dad.
  • Manly Facial Hair: Rudolf is a powerful emperor of a militaristic country and had a very impressive handlebar mustache in the original. In the remake, the mustache becomes a pair of sideburns, likely to avoid confusion with Mycen.
  • Offing the Offspring: Defied. Although he will initiate combat with Alm during his boss fight, he will never actually attack him, allowing you to cheese an otherwise statistically-imposing boss.
  • One-Steve Limit: Averted. It's implied that both him and Alm are named Albein Alm. Since they're father and son, it's not a big surprise.
  • Parents as People: While he meant well and loved Berkut as his own, he never tried to teach him anything but the Rigelian way, furthering Berkut's obsession with strength as taught by his parents. Plus his gambit for the sake of Valentia also included hiding his trueborn son away, with disastrous results once Berkut realizes that he was never going to inherit what he thought was his.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
    "The time has come!"
    "Fool!"
    "No mercy!"
    "Now perish!"
    "It's all for you!" (Heroes, Valentine's Day)
    "The Day of Devotion!" (Heroes, Valentine's Day)
    "Think nothing of it!" (Heroes, Valentine's Day)
    "It's a holiday! Relax!" (Heroes, Valentine's Day)
  • Promoted to Playable: He makes his playable debut in Heroes.
  • Recurring Element: Rudolf is the Trope Maker for the series' "imposing militaristic emperor invading nice kingdoms" character throughout the series, but lacks the other defining traits such as having a unique class and weapon, which later characters starting from Hardin perfected.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: He's a powerful warrior in his own right who directly leads his troops on battle. He even orders his remaining men to surrender once he dies.
  • Snow Means Death: In Echoes, the battle against him takes place in a snowy environment. As he lays dying, it's still snowing.
  • Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Heroes reveals that, beneath his arrogant Evil Overlord persona, Rudolf regrets driving Alm and Berkut away from him for the sake of his Zero-Approval Gambit and sees himself as a weak old man. He also genuinely wants to make peace with Berkut.
  • Thanatos Gambit: Knew that taking on the mantle of an Evil Overlord would possibly bring his death. Being slain forces Alm to make the journey to defeat Duma and ultimately free Valentia from the gods, which was Rudolf's true intention.
  • Tin Tyrant: Rudolf is covered head to toe in armor. However, the tyrant part is subverted, as he was a Well-Intentioned Extremist trying to make everyone unite against him.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: His entire goal in leading a conquering empire was to provoke a band of heroes into stopping him, thus uniting the continent.
  • Zero-Approval Gambit: Made himself look like an Evil Overlord so Alm will someday defeat him.

    Berkut 

Berkut

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/berkut_artwork.png
Click here to see Berkut in Fire Emblem Heroes 
Prideful Prince

"One is born either noble or common. This destiny cannot be changed. Has a sheep any hope of leading wolves? No!"

Emperor Rudolf's nephew, a proud noble who stresses the importance of his social class. He instigated Desaix's coup d'etat by convincing him to turn traitor. He seeks to become the next Emperor and leads the Zofian invasion in order to prove himself. Introduced in Echoes.

Class: Paladin ā†’ Gold Knight
Voiced by: Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Japanese), Ian Sinclair (English)

  • All for Nothing: The realization that he both will never get the throne, and that he has basically been used by Rudolf for his plans makes him realize that everything he did was pointless, and it sends him down the slopes quickly.
  • Ambition Is Evil: His desire to be emperor leads him down a dark path when he realizes that it's actually Alm's birthright, but decides it will be his even if it means sacrificing the one he loves.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: His pride and his belief in the superiority of Blue Blood are his driving forces.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Rinea treating him with kindness is the reason for his Pet the Dog moments. Although this is deconstructed since this doesn't stop him from sacrificing Rinea for Duma's power. Reconstructed however in that it is her love and kindness that makes him finally snap out of his villainous haze, and die peacefully.
  • Black Knight: He has black hair and armor, plus immense strength and a tragic backstory.
  • Breakout Villain: Quickly became one of the series most popular villains despite his at the time relatively recent release. According to Fire Emblem Heroes "Choose Your Legends" 2 event, he ranked as not only the fifth most popular character from Echoes, but also the fifth most popular villain in the whole series (not counting characters introduced in Heroes, he would be the seventh) and managed to get nearly into the top fifty. While he went down several ranks in the years that followed, he ranks still among the top one-hundred characters in the series, and remains among the most popular villains. Notably, he received two different alts in 2019, both of which were very well received units.
  • Break the Haughty: Berkut is introduced as a prideful and ambitious commander aspiring to rule all of Valentia. However, he ends up suffering repeated losses to a seemingly nameless commoner, and any second chances he is given only end up squandered. He shamefully resorts to desperate and unholy measures that still fail, and in the end learns that his entire life is a lie and any chance of ever ruling Valentia has always been impossible. By the end, he's a paranoid, disgraced shell of his former self.
  • Broken Ace: Berkut is a skilled fighter, tactician, and politician who is incredibly popular in Rigel, and is well known even by those in Zofia. Despite that, he's a man who believes he is nothing without power and will never be anything if he isn't at the top of society, in addition to being extremely insecure about his status.
  • Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Berkut is immensely proud and arrogant, but he also turns out to be horribly insecure underneath it all. He only allows the sweet and gentle Rinea to see this sadder side of him, plus he trusts her more than anyone else.
  • Cain and Abel: A cousin variation, with Alm being the Abel to Berkut's Cain. Initially clashing due being on different sides of the battlefield, Berkut's hatred for Alm intensifies after finding out that Alm is the true heir to the throne of Rigel. As such, Berkut is willing to sacrifice all his moral grounds and honor to gain power from Duma in order to kill Alm once and for all.
  • Canon Foreigner: Made exclusively for Echoes, didn't appear in the original game.
  • Chick Magnet: According to a female NPC, Berkut is adored by Rigelian girls. Probably for his Troubled, but Cute appeal.
    "Oooh? You've met Lord Berkut? You're so lucky! He's amaaaaaazing! Every woman in Rigel wishes they could be his. *sigh* Alas that's an impossible dream, now that he's to wed Rinea..."
  • Clashing Cousins: The revelation that they are cousins and that Alm is the rightful heir to the throne makes Berkut hate Alm even more.
  • Co-Dragons: of Emperor Rudolf alongside Massena, Zeke, and Mycen.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Berkut was born as the nephew to Rudolf, who was not known at the time to have actually had a son, making Berkut the next in line for the throne. When his father died at a young age, his mother quickly worked to get him into shape to be seen as "worthy" in her eyes, leading to her raising him under a strict household and instilling in him a fear of being seen as weak and powerless by those around him. When she died, he had been essentially groomed to be the next emperor without knowing he was never going to achieve that position. Due to this, he developed an intense fear of being powerless and weak, something that motivates him through his life.
  • Dark Is Evil: Enters this territory after sacrificing Rinea to Duma, gaining an aura of dark flames in addition to his already black armor.
  • Deal with the Devil: Berkut makes a pact with Duma in order to obtain the ultimate power. The cost, however, is that he has to sacrifice his girlfriend Rinea.
  • Death Equals Redemption: Shortly before he dies, he gives Alm a ring that belonged to Berkut's mother, and urges him to stop Duma.
  • Deconstruction: Berkut is basically a long hard look at an oft-glossed over side effect of the "rightful heir to the throne is raised in secrecy, then returns to claim their birthright" plotline embodied by Alm. Since nobody knows that Rudolf has a trueborn son, Berkut spends his entire life believing he is destined to rule Rigel and his entire sense of self-worth comes to revolve around this fact. When Alm comes out of nowhere and takes what Berkut had every reason to believe was rightfully his, a combination of his own insecurities and Rudolf's lack of a coherent plan to help him cope leads him to complete insanity and causes him to form a Deal with the Devil to kill Alm and take what he believes he's owed.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Crosses it when he learns that Alm was the heir to Rigel all along and that he never had a chance at succeeding his uncle, Rudolf.
  • Dramatically Missing the Point: When Rinea tells Berkut she never wanted to be empress, to assure him that she'll always love him, Berkut interprets it as Rinea betraying him, leading Berkut to sacrifice her to Duma.
  • Easily Forgiven: All in all, Rinea's spirit holds very little animosity towards him for selling her soul to a mad god.
  • Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: He's a young man with dark hair, pale skin, and a darkened heart.
  • Et Tu, Brute?: His reaction when he learns that Rudolf knew all along Alm was the true heir to the Rigelian throne and never told him, allowing him to drive himself mad in his desperation to prove himself worthy.
    Berkut: I finally realized something. Power wonā€™t betray me. Power won't deceive me. Blood ties? Years of life lived together? All meaningless. The only thing in the world a man can rely on is his own strength!
  • Even Evil Can Be Loved: Even after he has fallen to Duma's corruption, Rinea never stopped loving him and happily embraces him as they depart from the realm of the living. Alm, who only found out of their relation not too long ago, admits that he too wanted to connect with Berkut and is devastated over the death of his last living blood relative.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite his strong pride, Berkut genuinely loves and cares for Rinea and feels that she deserves to have the status of the empress with him as the emperor. He is even willing to sacrifice her to Duma for both power and love.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Berkut isn't much of a saint, doing the horrible act of sacrificing his girlfriend to Duma for power. However, he also hates the Sinister Minister Jedah and expresses disgust towards the magic used by the Duma Faithful. It's telling, then, when he resorts to it, showing how desperate he's become.
  • Evil Laugh: Belts out a truly terrifying one after his pact with Duma.
  • Foil: He serves as this to Alm, as both are young leaders of an army with strong ambitions and goals. However, their values, background, and beliefs are different. Alm was raised in a humble village in Zofia whereas Berkut was raised in a wealthy noble background in Rigel. Alm is a Humble Hero who joins the Deliverance just to protect innocent lives and has a strong sense of justice. Berkut, by contrast, only cares for power and his love for Rinea, and has a strong darwinistic attitude. Their reactions to disagreements with others are also different. Berkut is prone to anger and violence and sees anyone who disagrees with him as a betrayer (even with Rinea when she stated that she doesn't mind not becoming an empress), whereas Alm is more willing to let Celica go on her path for peace. Finally, Alm and Berkut have different approaches when it comes to their own hatred. When Alm finds out about his true lineage, he manages to let go of his own prejudices towards Rigel and decides to unite both the Zofian and Rigelian armies against Duma. By contrast, Berkut refuses to let go of his hatred towards Alm, and this causes him to suffer Sanity Slippage that leads to him sacrificing Rinea for power.
  • Freudian Excuse: His beliefs and values had been drilled into him by his deceased parents, which eventually escalates his attitude further when his uncle doesn't dissuade him from such thinking.
  • Go Mad from the Revelation: Realizing that Alm, the farmboy he dismissed and mocked, was the crown prince all along, and true heir of the Rigelian throne, is too much to bear for him.
  • The Heavy: The mastermind behind Desaix's takeover of Zofia, making him the one responsible for everything that happened to Celica/Anthiese and the overarching villain of her route. He's also the one leading the attempts of The Empire to invade Zofia, the most prominent antagonist on Alm's route and the latter's Arch-Enemy. However, he's subservient to Rudolf and Duma.
  • Hypocrite: "Strength isn't lent, it's taken! Pried from the grip of your dead foes!" [unleashes strength that Duma lent him].
  • I Die Free: Discussed while ranting to Rinea in the Duma Temple at the beginning of Act 5. He states that he'd prefer an honorable execution over a life under Alm's mercy.
  • Inferiority Superiority Complex: Overly proud as he is, he is deeply insecure over his own strength, and his position as the heir to Rigel. His repeated defeats at the hands of Alm shatter his sense of self worth, and from there, it doesn't take much for him to believe that the entire world, friends and family included, is secretly plotting against him.
  • Insecure Love Interest: While he loves and trusts Rinea deeply, Berkut feels that she genuinely deserves the power and status of an empress, which does not mix well with his issues.
  • Ironic Name: In Nibelungenlied, Kriemhild is the name of the wife of Siegfried who plotted vengeance against the murderer of her husband. Berkut gets Kriemhild by sacrificing his fiancĆ© to Duma.
  • Irony: Bordering on Hypocrite levels of irony, but Berkut loves to belittle the Deliverance for being a bunch of commoners and lesser nobles, showing a Social Darwinist attitude, but his fiance is from a noble house that has more or less fallen from its power and status, yet he intends to ascend the throne and make her his empress.
  • Jerkass: Berkut is aloof, prideful, arrogant, and looks down upon anyone he sees as weak. Rinea is the only person he consistently shows kindness to.
  • Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: He's never exactly pleasant, but he does have some positive aspects to his personality, namely bravery and his relationships wtih Rinea and Fernand. Then he throws it all away at a chance for power.
  • Kick the Morality Pet: After he snaps, he sacrifices Rinea's soul to Duma to obtain enough power to defeat Alm.
  • Last-Second Chance: He is offered one by Alm, who asks him to rebuild Valentia together with him after ascending the throne of Rigel. He refuses, and is ultimately killed in the ensuing battle.
  • Leitmotif: He has four of them. "Prince of Darkness" is his standard conversation theme, "Pride and Arrogance" is his standard battle theme, "Praise This Despair!" is the map theme for the final battle with him, and "The Scion's Dance In Purgatory" is his actual final fight theme.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Rudolf kept his Thanatos Gambit a secret from nearly everyone, even his nephew, all the while allowing Berkut to falsely believe he would become emperor one day. When Berkut learns the truth, he does not take it well.
  • Long-Lost Relative: Berkut is Alm's first cousin. He does not take well to finding out that Alm is Rudolf's son and, therefore, the true heir to the Rigelian throne.
  • Love Makes You Evil: Its ultimately his love and dedication to Rinea, and his love and desire to be accepted by his uncle that serves as a driving force for his ambition to be the next emperor of Rigel. When he learns Alm is his cousin, this makes him think he was setup for failure and leads to his fall.
  • Love Redeems: As he lays wounded from his final fight, Rinea's soul helps Berkut let go of his anger and hatred when he is about to die. He then begs Alm to kill Duma and free Valentia from the gods' control before dying.
  • Official Couple: He and Rinea are a couple, and he does love her as much as someone as twisted and broken as him can.
  • Overlord Jr.: Berkut is Rudolf's nephew and believes he is Rudolf's heir. He does NOT take it well when his cousin Alm turns out to be the real heir to the throne.
  • The Paranoiac: He shows several signs of this even before his Villainous Breakdown, and it's his belief that Rinea is gleefully conspiring against him as well that pushes him over the edge completely.
  • Pet the Dog: He does seem to soften up when around his girlfriend Rinea. The fact that he accepts sacrificing her to Duma signals how far-gone and desperate he has become. He also forms a friendship with Fernand after he defects from the Deliverance.
  • Power Echoes: His voice gains a noticeable distortion effect after his pact with Duma.
  • Power Glows: After taking on Duma's power, he glows with a sinister red aura, complete with Red Eyes, Take Warning.
  • The Power of Hate: When Berkut finds out that Alm is the true successor to Rigel, Berkut becomes so hateful and angry towards Alm that he decides to sacrifice Rinea to Duma in exchange for power as means of securing the throne of Rigel.
  • The Power of Love: Despite everything that happens to and because of him, he still gets a mutual bond support with Rinea during his final battle. They are the only two enemy units with this distinction.
  • Prayer Is a Last Resort: He despises the Duma Faithful, but when he loses everything, all he can do is pick a god and pray.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
    "Die, worm!"
    "Meet your end!"
    "Know your damn place!"
    "Begone from my sight!"
    "I'll kill you!" (Heroes, fallen)
    "By Duma's power!" (Heroes, fallen)
    "Look at me!" (Heroes, fallen)
    "Die, die, DIE!" (Heroes, fallen)
    "Off tempo!" (Heroes, dancer)
    "Hmph. Clodhopper!" (Heroes, dancer)
    "I'll make you dance!" (Heroes, dancer)
    "Are you captivated?" (Heroes, dancer)
  • Promoted to Playable: He makes his playable debut in Heroes; first as his normal self, then as he appears after his Deal with the Devil, then as a dancer.
  • Red and Black and Evil All Over: He typically wears black armor, and gains a blood-red aura when empowered by Duma.
  • Redemption Rejection: He rejects Alm's request to help him stop Duma and attacks him.
  • Sanity Slippage: Starts to go through this during Act Three, when he is beaten back by Alm for a second time. It gets worse when Alm defeats Rudolf and Berkut learns that Alm is his cousin and that Rudolf had created the war to get Alm to rule Rigel. By the time Rinea finds him at Duma's Tower in Act Five, he's been reduced to a paranoid wreck who's not sure what to believe anymore and accuses her of being in on the "conspiracy" against him.
  • Shut Up, Kirk!: During their final confrontation, Alm tries to convince Berkut that they should work together to bring down Duma and that Rudolf really did love him. Both times, Berkut's response is a big fat "Silence!"
  • Social Darwinist: Believes that the strongest and those with high social status are worthy of power, and Might Makes Right, hence his willingness to help Emperor Rudolf conquer the continent and low view of non-nobility.
  • Teens Are Monsters: Around 17 years old (though possibly slightly older than that), is seen leading a whole army to conquer a nation and sacrifices his fiancĆ©e for more power, he definitely fits this trope.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Over the course of the game's events, Berkut devolves from aloof, prideful, arrogant, and looking down upon anyone he sees as weak to a full on screaming, homicidal, raging, spiteful maniac who would gleefully sacrifice his own fiancĆ©e after she said something he interpreted as spitting on his crumbling pride.
  • Tragic Villain: A massive example, since he has a sympathetic backstory and some Pet the Dog moments, but his own actions lead him to his ultimate downfall and a huge Alas, Poor Villain death. Before he dies, you can't help but feel sorry for him; he was basically lied to his whole life by the one adult he had in his life who was a parental figure, and had all his hard work ripped away from him.
  • Villainous Breakdown: More or less all his screentime after his second loss to Alm is one very long one, which only gets worse once he learns the truth about his cousin.
  • Was It All a Lie?: The revelation that Alm was always intended to be Rudolf's heir absolutely shatters him and makes him start questioning the motives of everyone close to him, viewing not telling him the truth as a betrayal. When Rinea reveals she never wanted to be empress, he comes to believe she was in on it.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Berkut feels a pathological need to demonstrate his own power and worth, especially to his uncle Rudolf. His parents enforced this attitude in his youth.
  • Younger Than They Look: He is around the same age as Alm, probably just a little older, but could easily pass as much older thanks to his more mature appearance and deep voice. Fittingly, he looks quite younger in Heroes.

    Rinea 

Rinea (Linea)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rinea_1_5.png

A young Rigelian noblewoman and Berkut's fiancƩe. Introduced in Echoes.

Class: Witch
Voiced by: Hibiku Yamamura (Japanese), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English)

  • Blue Blood: Hails from the Rigelian nobility, though her family has fallen through hard times.
  • Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Rinea is a very gentle young woman and she loves Berkut with all of her heart, trying to soothe him and calm him down when he's angry or depressed.
  • Came Back Wrong: After being sacrificed by Berkut in the ritual for the ultimate power, Rinea returns as a flaming witch. The first thing she does is mortally wound Fernand.
  • Canon Foreigner: Made exclusively for Echoes, didn't appear in the original game.
  • Dance of Romance: Dancing seems to be a theme between her and Berkut. Their Cipher card and their shared introductory cutscene features them happily waltzing together, and a Memory Prism shows that they met for the first time during a ball: Rinea was looking for a quieter spot, Berkut noticed and talked to her kindly (even telling her to value her own worth), they hit it off, and decide to dance together in the gardens. They both also appear in a dancing themed event in Heroes (Berkut in the banner, Rinea as the Tempest Trial prize).
  • Evil Is Burning Hot: As a witch, Rinea is Wreathed in Flames and mortally wounds Fernand. While she is not evil, her form is a result of her sacrifice to Duma.
  • Fan Disservice: Rinea's Witch portrait has her apparently nude and shows that she has quite nice curves... but her body is Wreathed in Flames and she has just been revived from a sacrifice that involved her original body dissolving. Also, there's little actual detail on her body due to it being on fire, instead almost resembling lava.
  • Foil: She's this to Celica on multiple levels.
    • Both are the Love Interest of their respective counterparts (in Rinea's case, it's Berkut) and they are respected in their kingdoms for their kind and reserved personality. However, the relationship dynamic is completely different. Whereas Celica's relationship is more stable with Alm (despite Celica's initial disapproval of Alm's path of joining the Deliverance), Rinea's relationship with Berkut is incredibly unstable due to Berkut's driven ambitions to become the next emperor of Rigel.
    • In addition, both Celica and Rinea have different approaches when it comes to expressing their disagreement with others. Celica is a Plucky Girl who is quick to express her disagreement with others (especially in regards to Alm joining the Deliverance and deciding to take the fight to Rigel) and accepts her birthright as the eventual queen of Zofia. Rinea, by contrast, keeps her opinions to herself due to her shyness and personally does not wish to become an empress. Since she's less willing to express her feelings, she instead serves as a Morality Pet to Berkut and calms him in times of anger and sadness.
    • Another example can be seen in how both Celica and Rinea hate violence and prefer peace. Celica always argues for peace but is willing to fight to achieve it without hesitation, while Rinea hates violence and always leaves when present at a battle.
    • Even their color palette seems to foil each other. Celica is Red Is Heroic while Rinea is True Blue Femininity.
  • Innocently Insensitive: By way of Insane Troll Logic on Berkut's part. After Emperor Rudolf falls and Berkut is wallowing in shame at Duma's altar over the fact that he'll never be emperor, Rinea tries to comfort him by saying she never wanted to be an empress in the first place and loves him for who he is no matter what he makes of himself. Berkut, unfortunately, in his mad state, misinterprets this as an admission that she never expected him to succeed in the first place, never believed in him, and only stuck by him to watch him fail.
  • Insecure Love Interest: Since Rinea is from an Impoverished Patrician background, she frets about whether she's a suitable girlfriend to Berkut or not.
  • Irony: Became a creature of darkness, but ends up wielding light magic that harms such creatures.
  • Light 'em Up: Uses Seraphim in combat.
  • Morality Pet: She serves as this to Berkut, which unfortunately does not end up well for her.
  • Nice Girl: Rinea is well-respected among the Rigelians for her kind, gentle, and polite personality. In fact, it was her kind nature that brought Berkut's more positive aspects of his character. She's also humble enough that she's more willing to not seek the ascension of the throne when she finds out that Alm is the true successor to the Rigelian throne, much to Berkut's rage.
  • Promoted to Playable: She makes her playable debut in Heroes.
  • Satellite Character: Her entire presence in the story revolves around her relationship with Berkut.
  • Say My Name: When she's defeated as a Witch, she calls out Berkut's name.
  • Shy Blue-Haired Girl: Rinea is very withdrawn and uncomfortable in front of other people, but does her best to be polite to them.
  • Summon Magic: Uses Conjure to bring forth Witches.
  • Together in Death: After both she and Berkut are defeated in battle, as Berkut lies dying, Rinea's soul appears to him and tells him to come with her to the other side.
  • Too Good for This Sinful Earth: She's one of the nicer Rigelians, and yet Berkut turns on her and sacrifices her to Duma when he thinks she's mocking him.
  • True Blue Femininity: A very girly girl with blue hair and blue and white clothes.
  • Wet Blanket Wife: She abhors violence and war, which makes you wonder why she married a Proud Warrior Race Guy Rigelian General like Berkut in the first place.
  • World's Most Beautiful Woman: Rinea's beauty has made her famous in Rigel.
  • Wreathed in Flames: As a Witch, she appears as a spirit made of fire.

    Halcyon 

Halcyon (Hark)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rhoymk2.png

A wise and benevolent Great Sage of Duma who was exiled by Jedah as the exorcist came to power. Halcyon and his followers hid in the Sage Hamlet and aid Celica's party when they come through. He unlocks Alm's ability to Class Change into Hero on Celica's request.

Class: Sage
Voiced by: Tooru Sakurai (Japanese), Sean Chiplock (English)

  • Dark Is Not Evil: He is a priest of Duma, but happily aids Celica.
  • The Exile: Jedah exiled him after seizing control of Duma's religion.
  • The Mentor: Tutored and raised Prince Conrad after he was brought to Rigel.
  • Nice Guy: He's polite and willing to help Celica, and he seems to have done a good job raising Conrad.
  • Palette Swap: Nomah with a black beard and purple outfit. The manga and remake, however, give him a unique appearance. The Japan only Art Book states his class is sage just like Nomah.
  • Parental Substitute: Halcyon was this to Conrad.
  • Seers: Valentia Accordion reveals he received the prophecy that would foretell of Alm and Celica's destiny, informing Rudolf of it.
  • Wizard Beard: As a palette swap of Nomah, his beard is really long. In the manga, Halcyon was given a unique appearance with a long fu manchu mustache instead. His Echoes portrait is unique; he still has a beard, though it's much shorter now.

Rigelian Army

    Jerome 

Jerome

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

A cruel general of Rigel. Known for how he terrorizes the people, Rudolf assigned fellow Rigelian general Zeke to prevent Jerome from abusing his power, but Jerome blackmailed Zeke to fight alongside him by having Nuibaba kidnap his partner Tatiana.

Class: Gold Knight
Voiced by: Sean Chiplock (English)

  • General Ripper: A Rigelian General who abuses his power to terrorize his own citizens, even the King doesn't trust him.
  • Palette Swap: Of Desaix in the original.
  • Rape, Pillage, and Burn: Was doing this to his own citizens against Rudolf's orders.
  • Smug Snake: Resorts to traps and blackmail to keep a Reasonable Authority Figure like Zeke under his thumb, and doesn't take it well when Alm's group out-gambits him by rescuing and recruting the hostage he used as leverage against him.
  • This Cannot Be!: When defeated, his last words amount to this.
    "H-how is this... I am a blue blood...a general! I'll not lose to...such..."

    Lawson 

Lawson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lawson_6.png

A Rigelian general stationed in Zofia Forest 2 in Act 3 of Alm's route.

Class: Paladin
Voiced by: Ben Lepley (English)

  • Beard of Evil: A downplayed version, as he has a goatee instead of a full beard and is on the villains' side.
  • Flat Character: Lawson gets no dialogue in the original.
  • Palette Swap: Uses a reversed version of Slayde's portrait in the original.

    Gazelle 

Gazelle

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gazelle_9.png

A Rigelian general stationed in the Forest Northside in Act 3 of Alm's route.

Class: Bow Knight

  • Flat Character: Another character without dialogue in the original.
  • Head Swap: His portrait is just Slayde's with the sides of his head shaved. He keeps his shaved head in his design in Echoes.
  • Horse Archer: He's a mounted unit using bows.

    Zakson 

Zakson (Zack)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zakson_5.png

A Rigelian soldier stationed at Northern Zofia in Act 3 of Alm's route.

Class: Knight

    Blake 

Blake (Bly)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blake_4.png

A Rigelian soldier stationed in the Valley Approach to Mila's Temple in Act 3 of Celica's route.

Class: Myrmidon
Voiced by: Sean Chiplock (English)

  • Flat Character: Blake has no dialogue in the original.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has about six scars crossing his face and happens to be a very cruel individual.
  • His Name Is...: Dies before he can tell Celica what happened to Mila.
  • Kick the Dog: Mocks the fate of his victims before battling Celica's party.
  • Mythology Gag: While Deen received a redesign in Echoes, Blake kept his classic appearance.
  • Palette Swap: Blake uses a reversed version of Deen's portrait.

    Seazas 

Seazas

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

A Rigelian general guarding the border between the two countries in Act 4 of Alm's route.

Class: Gold Knight

    Xaizor 

Xaizor (Saizor)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xaizor_0.png

A Rigelian soldier stationed within the Rigel Forest in Act 4 of Alm's route.

Class: Dread Fighter
Voiced by: Ben Lepley (English)

    Magnus 

Magnus (Magnam)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magnus_27.png

A Rigelian general defending the Rigel Falls in Act 4 of Alm's route.

Class: Baron

  • Adaptational Attractiveness: Magnus's unique edit of Desaix's portrait in the original was an elderly man. His remake portrait is a much younger man.
  • Face Death with Dignity: He calmly notes Alm fought well as he dies.
  • Graceful Loser: He's impressed by his opponent's skill after they defeat him.
  • Head Swap: Uses a unique alteration of Desaix with a mustache, blue armor, and silver hair in the original.
  • Mighty Glacier: As expected for a Baron, he's slow but durable, and can dish out a lot of damage.

    Mueller 

Mueller

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mueller_1.png

A Rigelian general defending The Last Bastion, the final battlefield before reaching the Rigelian Emperor in Act 4 of Alm's route.

Class: Bow Knight
Voiced by: Ben Lepley (English)

    Massena 

Massena

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/63khkaf.png

The captain of Rudolf's personal guards, Massena was entrusted by the King to safeguard the remaining troops and give command to Alm if Rudolf did not return.

Class: Gold Knight
Voiced By: Taliesin Jaffe (English)

  • Co-Dragons: of Emperor Rudolf alongside Berkut, Zeke and Mycen.
  • Head Swap: Like many bosses/characters, Massena used a re-used portrait in the NES original. The altered portrait is from Desaix, like many armored boss characters.
  • Praetorian Guard: He leads Rudolf's imperial guard.
  • The Unfought: Despite his prominent position in the army, Massena is never battled due to the position Rudolf entrusted him with. Instead, he actively helps Alm. His class is known only because of the Art Book revealing it.
  • You Are in Command Now: Gives Alm full command of Rigel's army.

Duma Faithful

    Duma 

Duma (Doma)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dumabattle.png
Click here to see Duma's non-Dragon form 
Click here to see Duma in Fire Emblem Heroes 
God of Strength

"A world without misery is not the same as a happy one. Misery shapes men throughout their lives. Hardship makes them strong. Smother them with blessings and they will never learn what happiness is."

Mila's brother, the God of Power who watches over Rigel. Under Duma's guidance, the people of Rigel became militant and ruthless. It was Duma who supplied the Falchion which sealed Mila, and Duma serves as the final adversary in Alm and Celica's journey. His remains become half of the Mila Tree seen in Awakening.

Class: Fell God
Voiced by: Banjo Ginga (Japanese), Darin De Paul (English, credited as Grebory Zardon, Echoes), Josh Petersdorf (English, Heroes)

  • Adaptational Backstory Change: In the original Gaiden, Duma is an evil god who desires human suffering yet shows Alm respect when he is defeated. In the remake, he's a harsh but fair Divine Dragon who does genuinely care about the people of Rigel in his own way. However, as a divine dragon, he inevitably succumbed to insanity by the events of the game.
  • A God Am I: Despite being Divine Dragons, both Duma and Mila refer to themselves as Gods, unlike Naga — but much like Grima.
  • Ambiguous Species: In the remake, Duma is consistently referred to as a Divine Dragon, yet he uses both Fell and Earth magic. The only thing connecting him to the Divine Dragons is his similar, but distinct, design as a dragon to his sister.
  • Body Horror: His body is in horrific shape, with skin/scales torn, an emaciated body, two of his eyes gone, torn wings, and a slime-like substance moving across his body in battle. In Gaiden, his battle sprite was so distorted that for a long time, many players couldn't even tell he was supposed to be a dragon. It's clear the madness is disfiguring him.
  • Big Bad: The ultimate villain of the game, being the cause behind both Rigel's transformation into what it is by the story's events, as well as Mila being sealed away, and is ultimately the final opponent the heroes face.
  • Breath Weapon: Averted. Duma is the only dragon capable of assuming draconic form in the series who doesn't fight with one.
  • Butt-Monkey: In his home games? Not much. In the webcomics of Heroes? Every time he appears he's made a fool out of.
  • Casting a Shadow: His Ocular Beam and Oculus abilities are called Fell Dragon magic in the localization, and his Conjure ability summons monstrous beings from the darkness.
  • Combat Tentacles: One of Duma's attacks has him sprout tentacles from his body.
  • Contractual Boss Immunity: His ability Nullify Ailments prevents him from being poisoned or stunned.
  • The Corruption: Dragonic degeneration had horrific effects on Duma's mind and body.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Zig-Zagged; while Duma is a Divine Dragon, and thusly should be associated with light, he uses Fell magic, and he's capable of summoning evil beings from the darkness. Still not evil, though.
  • Dishing Out Dirt: His spell Upheaval is referred to as Earth Magic.
  • Dracolich: Despite being a god (or rather a divine dragon called a god by humans), Duma has a lot of dragon traits and his body is very decayed. Along with the Draco-Zombie enemy, he's the first undead Dragon-like creature in the series. Valentia Accordion reveals this is the result of dragon degeneration.
  • Dragons Are Demonic: Duma is ostensibly a Divine Dragon, but his class is Fell God (Evil God in Japan), he uses Fell Dragon magic (evil magic in Japan), he summons evil beings from the darkness, he has a single glowing red eye, and his body is darkly colored with tattered wings. It's implied that some of it is the result of his degeneration.
  • Dragons Are Divine: Duma is a Divine Dragon in the remake, though his appearance and abilities may imply otherwise. Humorously, his tentacle ability involves divine hands, despite them being possibly the least divine thing about him.
  • Dub Name Change: In Awakening, a volcano near where Zofia Castle once stood is called "Duma's Remains" in Japan, but simply "the Demon's Ingle" in English.
  • Dying as Yourself: Like his sister, Duma regains his sanity once his death has been assured, revealing his true harsh-but-fair nature as he gives the humans some final wisdom and hopes for them to not repeat his and his sister's mistakes.
  • The Exile: Because of his attitude and hostility with the other Divine Dragons, Naga sentenced Duma to exile from their lands, but not before bestowing upon him the Kingsfang, which would later become the Falchion of Valentia, so that Duma could be slain upon turning mad. His sister Mila wasn't exiled herself, but followed him out of familial devotion.
  • Eye Beams: Duma opens his single eye to shoot a laser as one of his attacks.
  • Final Boss: Duma is Alm and Celica's very last opponent.
  • Gentle Touch vs. Firm Hand: The firm hand to Mila's gentle touch.
  • Graceful Loser: After he loses, he advises Alm and Celica to lead the continent wisely without succumbing to the extremes he and Mila did.
  • Herd-Hitting Attack: Every few turns, he'll use Upheaval to hit all of the player's units with an Always Accurate Attack. Fortunately, he can't kill anyone with it, and he can't initiate an attack on the same turn he uses it.
  • Knight Templar: Befitting his nature as a stern deity, Duma believed in solving threats and problems through force. When the people of Thabes became powerful enough to threaten the dragon tribes, Duma sought to eliminate it. His teachings are likewise the product of his mentality, making people rely on themselves even when they have a god to call upon.
  • Light Is Good: In the remake, Duma is a Divine Dragon who left the continent before the end of the Dragons' golden age. Downplayed in that Duma did corrupt the people of Rigel, but he nevertheless has good intentions and desired to right his wrongs.
  • Mad God: Thanks to dragon degeneration, he's become quite unstable by the time of the game's events.
  • Malicious Misnaming: Duma's worshipers refer to him as the god of power, but Mila's worshipers and those on Archanea refer to him as the Fell God (é‚Ŗē„ž for evil god in Japan) out of their disdain for him.
  • Misery Builds Character: His teachings to the people of Rigel essentially amounts to this: Nothing comes for free unless you're willing to do the work and sacrifice what's needed to get what you want. It made the people of Rigel hardy and powerful, but at the cost of compassion and empathy. Notably, for a long time Duma's teachings did have room for compassion and love, his nation and Mila's even regarded each other as friends, but by the time of the main story his focus on power had consumed him so that nothing else mattered and in turn this change altered his servants horribly. Mila suggests he is not above his beliefs, as his current state leaves him in unbearable pain, but he feels he must be a beacon of absolute power for humans to seek.
  • Power of the God Hand: His tentacles are described as Divine Hands, at least in the English version.
  • Promoted to Playable: He makes his playable debut in Heroes.
  • Properly Paranoid: He waged a short war against Thabes, destroying it and scattering the people there across the continent, because he feared that the humans there had grown too powerful. While it's hard to say if his paranoia is justified towards the people of Thabes as a whole, Forneus's creation would haunt the world in the distant future, and would draw dark and sinister forces to the city over time.
  • Retcon: The Demon's Ingle in Awakening was implied in Japan to have been where he was laid to rest, but Echoes has him buried alongside Mila, and the Mila Tree is instead two trees intertwined, germinated from their corpses.
  • Sanity Slippage: By the time of Echoes, the long years have caused the madness of dragons to drive Duma insane, but there is still a part of him still holding on even in this state.
  • Sibling Team: He and Mila were once a pair of Naga's highest, with the names "Kingshield" and "Kingsgrail" respectively. They worked in tandem to protect Naga and their lands; Duma with military strength, Mila with blessings of plenty.
  • Summon Magic: His Conjure ability summons evil beings from the darkness.
  • Thicker Than Water: Despite his and Mila's differing beliefs, he never once turned Falchion against her, even when they warred for many seasons.
  • Together in Death: The sibling dragons were buried on the highest peak of Valentia. When the trees grew there, the two conjoined together and became a massive tree which would later be known as the "Mila's Tree."
  • Turns Red: Once his health gets low enough, he'll start using Oculus instead of Ocular Beam. Not only is Oculus much more accurate, it also prevents everyone that doesn't have a weapon with Deicide or Nosferatu from being able to attack him.

    Jedah 

Jedah (Judah, Juda)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/judah_300x245.png

The cruel head priest of the Church of Duma, who gained the position by ousting the benevolent sage Halcyon. His position gives him tremendous influence in Rigel, and he ultimately answers to no authority aside from Duma himself. He lures Celica into being set up to be sacrificed to Duma by targeting her concern for Alm; however, he is thwarted when Alm's army arrives at the Duma Altar, and is killed in the resulting battle. He is the father of Sonya, Marla, and Hestia, and he gave the latter two as sacrifices to Duma in return for gaining enormous power for himself, resulting in them being reborn as witches.

Class: Cantor
Voiced by: Shuhei Takubo (Japanese), Richard Epcar (English)

  • Archnemesis Dad: He is this to Sonya. If the two battle in Act 4, they'll have a special battle conversation, in which Sonya vows to kill him and avenge her sisters.
  • Adaptational Attractiveness: Jedah is a normal-looking aged man in the manga adaptation.
  • Amazing Technicolor Population: His skin is a sickly blue; this is implied to be due to a ritual he performed for Duma.
  • Blue-and-Orange Morality: Unlike many other Sinister Ministers in the series, Jedah genuinely believes that he's doing good by the world and that his God will usher a prosperous, ideal Valentia to live in... by Duma's standards, not normal human standards. Having humankind build an ideal future without Duma or adhering to his teachings is likewise alien to him.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: Plans to inflict this on Celica in the original, as tribute to the mad Duma, who seems to value suffering.
  • The Dragon: The High Priest of Duma, who is an actual dragon.
  • Four Is Death: On every fourth turn (in Gaiden) or every fourth time he is attacked (in Echoes), he is vulnerable. He is otherwise invincible.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: In Echoes, his eyes are glowing red lights in black pits.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: His envy of Halcyon and his ability to gather many devout followers for the Faithful led Jedah to exile him.
  • Misery Builds Character: Embodies the worst aspects of this, not helped by his lack of love and compassion for the plight of others.
  • No-Sell: One of his Skills, Duma's Gift, can negate the first three attacks initiated on him.
  • Obviously Evil: Just about everything about Jedah is sinister and inhuman, starting with his appearance.
  • Offing the Offspring: Plans to use his own children as human sacrifices. In Echoes, he's already done so with his two eldest daughters.
  • Pointy Ears: He has long, sharp ears in Echoes.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
    "Ignorant fool!"
    "Begone!"
    "You will suffer!"
    "Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh..."
  • Psycho Supporter: Jedah is a ruthless and cruel man who does everything to please Duma. While Duma later turned out to have good intentions, it's unknown if Jedah was aware. In the remake, it's implied that he is aware that Duma's harsh teachings have good intentions behind them, but believes that only Duma's teachings are of any value to the people of Valentia and, consequently, that only Duma himself can guide Valentia to any prosperous future it might have, which he can't do if he's succumbing to madness. He also doesn't understand that a sane Duma would not be the same as the insane one that the Faithful has been following, and that his idea of a land of chaos and suffering will not happen.
  • Puzzle Boss: Jedah's unique skill, Duma's Gift, grants him complete and total invulnerability to any form of attack... for three attacks. The fourth attack (and every multiple of four) will hit him just fine. In the original Gaiden, he was vulnerable every four turns instead.
  • Really 700 Years Old: According to files within the game's code, Jedah is 147 years old.
  • Redemption Rejection: Despite what he did to her, Celica offers Jedah a chance to redeem himself by telling him that must see the truth about Duma. Instead of taking this chance, he tells her she knows nothing of what she speaks.
  • Sinister Minister: He is a cruel priest of Duma.
  • Tyrant Takes the Helm: He replaced the much kinder Halcyon as leader of Duma's faith.
  • Villain Has a Point: His point that a sane Duma is preferable to an insane Duma is valid at the points he says it, as Mila sealing away Falchion left the rest of Valentia with a near unstoppable Dragon to bring doom to them all in the current situation. His belief that Valentia cannot survive without at least one of the divine dragons and that humans don't have the right to question their authority also at least has a semblance of logic to it.
  • Villainous Widow's Peak: His Echoes design has a very pronounced widow's peak.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Not quite as well-intentioned as Rudolf, but still more so than Desaix. He genuinely believes that Duma's teachings (and Duma's teachings only) would benefit the whole of Valentia. He also believes that Duma and only Duma alone is fit to guide Valentia to the future it deserves, and so attempts to scheme a way to restore Duma's sanity and establish his god as the only god fit for Valentia. He likewise reasons that without at least one of the divine dragons Valentia will not be able to sustain any life at all, and isn't willing to take the chance that Alm and Celica could be wrong in their belief that Valentia can be made fruitful again without the dragons to guide and support it.

    Nuibaba 

Nuibaba

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i3m641f_3.png

A Rigelian necromancer stationed on Fear Mountain, who is said to have sold her soul for the dark magic of Medusa. In order to stop Zeke from interfering with their abuses of power, she and Jerome kidnapped Tatiana.

Class: Sorcerer (Gaiden), Witch (Echoes)
Voiced by: Junko Kitanishi (Japanese), Cindy Robinson (English)

  • Adaptational Attractiveness: To an extreme degree. Goes from a Gonk who looks more like a goblin than a human and isn't even identifiable as female to a seductive busty sorceress, though still with monstrous features.
  • All There in the Manual: Her entire backstory, which explains, among other things, why she covers half of her face with a mask and came to form a pact with Medusa, is only available in a Japan-only art book and never touched upon in the game.
  • Amazing Technicolor Population: Green skin in the original, though she gets brown skin in the remake.
  • Ascended Extra: Was just another Palette Swap boss in Gaiden, but Echoes gives her an expanded role.
  • Cain and Abel: Her own sister tried to kill her after she was disfigured in a bandit attack, leading to her Start of Darkness.
  • Cherry Tapping: Her strategy is to use Medusa to reduce her target's HP to One, then have the Cantor next to her summon Gargoyles to finish them off, since attacks always deal one point of damage if they hit.
  • Crystal Ball: She uses hers to spy on Alm's group.
  • Deal with the Devil: Sold her soul to Medusa in exchange for being able to use her power. She also tried this on Berkut; however, he denies her offer... until he is desperate enough to gain more power to seek out Duma's aid. And even then, he is rather shaken by the result.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: While she fights on the side of Rigel and the Duma Faithful, she's really only out for herself. In fact, she actively goes against Jedah's plans so she can have a Brand-bearer for herself, as they apparently hold the secret to eternal life.
  • Females Are More Innocent: Whilst she appears to be just evil in the 3DS remake, the art book gives her a backstory about how she was a Tragic Villain who was Forced into Evil by a man she loved; in particular her fiancĆ© who betrayed, abused and tried to murder her, forcing her to make a pact with Medusa to survive. With this backstory, all of the female bosses in the 3DS games are sympathetic in some way. Notable in that similar villains like Dolth and Grieth got no such tragic backstory.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: According to the SoV Memorial Book, Nuibaba was once a normal, beautiful woman, but after she suffered a ugly facial wound from a bandit, her husband rejected her, wishing to leave her for her sister and the two tried to kill Nuibaba. On death's door, she made a pact with Medusa to extend her lifespan and grant her dark magic in exchange for the lives of beautiful maidens. Using her new powers, Nuibaba killed her former husband and sister and became obsessed with beauty and power.
  • Gender Flip: Possibly. Her gender was never specified in Gaiden, and her name suggests female, but she shared an androgynous portrait with the male Gharn and was an Arcanist. Her redesign in Echoes is definitively female, and is reclassed to Witch.
  • Horned Humanoid: In Echoes, she has a pair of horns (that are probably just ornaments, not real).
  • HP to One: Her Medusa spell reduces the target to one point of health. If they're already there, it kills them. However, the Dread Fighter's Apotrope will cause it to cut their HP in half instead.
  • Human Sacrifice: According to a Rigelian cleric rescued from her Abode, she has sacrificed countless young women to monsters to keep her youth. It's speculated that if Zeke is fought and killed before she's confronted, Tatiana is sacrificed as well (and probably the Cleric and another village girl seen around).
  • I Have Your Wife: Kidnaps Tatiana to control her boyfriend Zeke. In Echoes, she uses an illusion to trick Alm into thinking she's captured Celica as well.
  • Immortality Seeker: She goes against Jedah's plans and tries to capture a Brand-Bearer so that she can become immortal.
  • Lady of Black Magic: An evil, seductive sorceress who sold her soul for black magic.
  • Meaningful Name: Baba in Nuibaba comes from Hag; Nuibaba is an evil sorceress.
  • No Historical Figures Were Harmed: In Echoes, Nuibaba's Vain Sorceress redesign and the fact that she sacrifices Rigelian girls to keep herself young makes her the Fire Emblem version of Elizabeth "the Blood Countess" Bathory.
  • Older Than They Look: Believe it or not, the wiki lists her age as 124 years old. This is due to her sacrificing the souls of others to extend her own lifespan. Succeeding in sacrificing a bearer of the brand like Alm or Celica could potentially give her eternal life due to how much power such a soul holds.
  • Power-Upgrading Deformation: It's implied her pact with Medusa disfigured her in the original game, not the case in Shadows of Valentia due to Adaptational Attractiveness.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
    "Now sleep!"
    "I think not!"
    "Excited yet?"
    "Heeheeheehee!"
  • Reused Character Design: She and Gharn shared a portrait in the original.
  • Tragic Villain: She was originally just an ordinary woman with a lover and a sister she loved very much. Then she was disfigured in a bandit attack, leading the lover to spurn her for her sister. The two eventually pushed her off of a cliff, leading her to make a Deal with the Devil and turning her into the woman she is today.
  • Woman Scorned: Her backstory in the art book says her villainy was caused by a man she sincerely loved, betraying and trying to murder her.
  • Wicked Witch: In Echoes, she's explicitly a Witch; Gaiden-era Nuibaba was an Arcanist.

    Tatarrah 

Tatarrah (Tatara)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mkzcl6u.png

An arcanist who guards the Sluice Gate between Zofian and Rigel in Act 3 of Alm's route. He brainwashed Delthea into serving him.

Class: Arcanist

    Marla 

Marla (Mara)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wfpptks.png
Click here to see Marla in Fire Emblem Heroes 

One of Jedah's daughters, set to be sacrificed to Duma. She attacks Alm's army, but is defeated. She later joins her father alongside Duma, but is killed in battle.

Class: Witch
Voiced by: Junko Kitanishi (Japanese), Cindy Robinson (English)

  • Always Identical Twins: They're not actually twins as Marla is the older sister, but she and Hestia nonetheless shared the same portrait in Gaiden and even in Echoes look nigh identical, the only actual differences being their hairstyles and slight changes in the color palettes. Even in Heroes, she's nearly identical in function to her sister, being a typical Squishy Wizard with high Atk and Res and even sharing the same tome as her (the -deer tome), just as a red tome rather than a blue tome.
  • Amazing Technicolor Population: Like most of the other Duma Faithful she has blue skin, no doubt as a result of giving her soul to Duma.
  • Cool Big Sis: Sonya describes her as having been a stern but very kind older sister when they were growing up together in the priory.
  • Human Sacrifice: In Gaiden, Sonya's ending states that Jedah sacrificed her and Hestia to Duma, turning them into witches. In Echoes, Jedah claims that they gave themselves to Duma willingly, though how much truth this statement holds is up for debate.
  • Light 'em Up: Uses Aura in battle.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner: In Heroes.
    "Naughty child..."
    "You're being punished."
    "Lord Duma wills it."
    "Go to sleep."
  • Promoted to Playable: She makes her playable debut in Heroes.
  • Summon Magic: She possesses the Conjure command, allowing her to summon other witches.
  • Undying Loyalty: Her battle dialogue seems to indicate that she has this for her father.
  • "Well Done, Daughter!" Gal: Her battle dialogue implies that Marla may have willingly given herself as a sacrifice to Duma, perhaps in order to earn the approval of the father who abandoned her and her sisters. Even upon being slain, she seems to stand by her decision.

    Hestia 

Hestia (Heste)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/z9l745c.png
Click here to see Hestia in Fire Emblem Heroes 

Jedah's second daughter, also sacrificed to Duma. Like her sister, she attacks Alm, and later dies defending her father and Duma.

Class: Witch
Voiced by: Junko Kitanishi (Japanese), Cindy Robinson (English)

  • Always Identical Twins: Hestia is a direct portrait use of Marla in the original and even in the remake looks nigh identical, even though they're not actually twins. In Heroes, she has a nearly identical statline (high Atk and Res and nothing else) and the exact same weapon (the -deer tome) as her sister, albeit as a blue tome rather than a red tome.
  • Amazing Technicolor Population: Just like her father and sister, Hestia has an inhuman skin tone due to Duma's corruption.
  • Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Sonya mentions that she tended to march to the beat of her own drum.
  • Dying as Yourself: Implied by her death quote.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Her dialogue during the final battle implies that she envies Sonya for living freely instead of becoming a witch like her and Marla.
  • Human Sacrifice: In Gaiden, Sonya's ending states that Jedah sacrificed her and Marla to Duma, turning them into witches. Though unlike Marla, Hestia's dialogue in Echoes implies that she didn't want to become a witch.
  • Irony: Sonya describes her as having been a free spirit, but her dialogue in the final map heavily implies that she didn't want to become a witch and regrets not living life the way she wanted to.
  • Light 'em Up: Uses Aura in combat.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner: In Heroes.
    "Life is unfair."
    "How dare you..."
    "Incomprehensible."
    "But why?"
  • Promoted to Playable: She makes her playable debut in Heroes.
  • Satellite Character: Unlike Marla, Hestia gets no lines in the original, and mainly exists as an extra boss. She gets dialogue in Echoes.
  • Summon Magic: She possesses the Conjure command, allowing her to summon other witches.

    Dolth 

Dolth (Dolk)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elq6ywl.png

A Rigelian priest who commands Necrodragons in the Dolth Keep in Act 4 of Celica's route.

Class: Cantor

  • Amazing Technicolor Population: Has dark grayish-purple skin.
  • Draco Lich: Can endlessly summon Necrodragons!
  • Mad Scientist: His experiments on the more swampland tainted them. A sewer pipe can even be seen spewing forth the toxic swampwater when fighting in front of his fortress.
  • Palette Swap: His portrait is a purple version of Jedah.
  • Summon Magic: Uses Conjure to summon the Necrodragons!

    Gharn 

Gharn (Ganeph)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/w2gsp4y.png

An arcanist defending Duma in Act 5.

Class: Arcanist

    Mikhail 

Mikhail (Michael)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ims4sg9.png

A priest of the Duma Faithful who guards the Temple of Mila in Act 3 of Celica's route.

Class: Cantor

    Garcia 

Garcia

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

A priest of the Duma Faithful stationed in the Dead Man's Mire in Act 4 of Celica's route.

Class: Cantor

    Jamil 

Jamil

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mjwer1l.png

A priest of the Duma Faithful stationed in Duma Gate in Act 4 of Celica's route.

Class: Arcanist

  • Amazing Technicolor Population: His skin is purple.
  • Dishing Out Dirt: Once every few turns, he will cast the Upheaval spell that will cause an earthquake to damage all of your units.
  • Evil Sorcerer: As an arcanist in service to Duma, yes.
  • Madness Mantra: His dying words are "Duma's blessing be upon us...", said in a distinctly zombie-like manner. In the original, all Duma faithful bosses, barring Jedah himself, had this death quote.

    Hades 

Hades (Bahdess)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lozvql0.png

A member of the Duma Faithful defending Duma in Act 5.

Class: Gold Knight

    Cerberus 

Cerberus (Kelves)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4eotu6j.png

A member of the Duma Faithful defending Duma in Act 5.

Class: Dread Fighter

    Naberius 

Naberius (Belrez)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px_portrait_naberius_fe15.png

A member of the Duma Faithful defending Duma in Act 5.

Class: Dread Fighter

    Aurum 

Aurum (Gold)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fn4pbwn.png

A member of the Duma Faithful defending Duma in Act 5.

Class: Bow Knight

    Argentum 

Argentum (Silver)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px_portrait_argentum_fe15.png

A member of the Duma Faithful defending Duma in Act 5.

Class: Bow Knight

Grieth's Army

    Brigand Boss 

Brigand Boss (Thief Head)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lx2w11s.png
Click here to see the Brigand Boss in Fire Emblem Heroes 

A brigand leader residing in the Thief's Shrine in Act 1. He and his gang kidnapped Silque on Grieth's command.

Class: Brigand
Voiced by: Tom Fahn (English), Kosuke Takaguchi (Japanese)

  • Adaptational Badass: He was basically just a fodder enemy in Echoes on account of being essentially one of the first enemies you fight in the game. In Heroes, he's a Jack of All Stats who is capable of fighting at the level of some of the series' strongest warriors at the time of his release.
  • Breakout Villain: An odd example. He's not as popular as many actually named villains (like Berkut), but the sheer fact that he appeared as an option in the Choose Your Legend event for Heroes made him weirdly popular in the fandom on account of how odd it was for such a one-note antagonist with no name to be an option when so many more relevant characters didn't appear, and it propelled him into being one of the most consistently voted characters since his debut in the second CYL, to the point of always appearing in the top 250 most voted characters. Unlike many other generic enemies in the series, he eventually got into the game as a Grand Hero Battle unit.
  • No Name Given: He's only known as the "Brigand Boss." His appearance in Heroes lampshades during the fight against him, as he states it doesn't matter.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner: In Heroes:
    "You're dead, rat!"
    "Kill 'em, boys!"
    "Hu-hu-ho-ho-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
    "This'll be fun..."''
  • Promoted to Playable: He makes his playable debut in Heroes.
  • Rape, Pillage, and Burn: His goons terrorize small settlements like Ram Village, and had Alm's party not shown up, he was intending on having his way with a kidnapped and unconscious Silque.
  • Redemption Rejection: In his 5* level 40 quote in Heroes, he openly scoffs at the idea of going straight.

    Barth 

Barth (Dahha)

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

A pirate serving under Grieth making his headquarters in the Pirate Throne in Act 2. He killed Valbar's family, causing the knight to swear revenge.

Class: Brigand

  • One-Steve Limit: Played with. He has basically the same name as an Elibian armor knight from The Binding Blade, but that character's official English name is Barthe with an e.
  • Pirate: He's a evil pirate who killed Valbar's family.
  • Recurring Element: In Echoes, he and Garth fill the duo of villainous brigands/pirates who look alike.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: The Pirate King is just one of the many underlings of Grieth.

    Garth 

Garth (Gahha)

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

A pirate working under Grieth fought in the Zofian Coast in Act 3 of Celica's route.

Class: Brigand

  • Palette Swap: Uses simply a flipped version of Barth's portrait. He's the only boss to remain one in Echoes, where he wears red instead of Barth's purple, and has red hair instead of Barth's brown.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: He gives a rather prejudiced comment about Palla for being a foreigner when she and Catria catch up to his group.
    Garth: Well, give the little girl a prize! Yer pretty smart for a foreign lass.
  • Recurring Element: In Echoes, he and Barth fill the duo of villainous brigands/pirates who look alike.

    Wolff 

Wolff (Wolf)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/z6tt4bf.png

A bandit under Grieth stationed in the Desert Stronghold in Act 3 of Celica's route.

Class: Sniper
Voiced by: Sean Chiplock (English)

  • Desert Bandits: Wolff attacks in a desert fortress, giving him an advantage due to he and his troops having long range. While Wolff has no characterization in the original, his boss is a criminal.
  • Flat Character: Wolff gets no dialogue in the original.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a scar across his right eye.
  • One-Steve Limit: Played With, Wolff has the same name as Hardin's right hand in Archanea, who is also an archer. However, the spelling of their name is different in both Japanese and English.
  • Reused Character Design: Wolf directly re-uses the altered Desaix's portrait in the original.

    Grieth 

Grieth (Geyse)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/g7igc3s.png

The Bandit King who commands all pirates and bandits terrorizing Zofia from his desert fortress. He and his men kidnapped Est, causing Palla and Catria to chase them to Valentia, as well as a priestess of Mila. Deen and Sonya serve under him, but both of them hate him.

Class: Dread Fighter

  • Acrofatic: Perfectly capable of doing backflips despite being portly in build.
  • Arc Villain: He's the main antagonist of Celica's route in Act 3.
  • As Long as There Is Evil: As he dies, Grieth states that there'll always be people like him.
  • Bad Boss: Has blackmailed several people, such as Deen and Sonya, into his service.
  • Defiant to the End: When engaged in battle, he states that even if he falls, he'll take everyone with him. Even while dying, he states that there'll always be someone like him.
  • The Don: Has united all bandits, thieves, and witches into one army.
  • Eyepatch of Power: Fittingly for a pirate, Grieth wears a eyepatch.
  • It's Personal: Catria and Palla have it out for him for kidnapping Est. Atlas also holds a grudge for Grieth kidnapping his brothers.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: As vile as Grieth may be, he does have a point regarding how the Zofian nobility's neglect of the country is what allowed him to rise in the first place.
  • Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Grieth looks exactly like a stereotypical pirate, and obviously leads a pirate gang, but his class is the ninja-based Dread Fighter.
  • Pirate: He's called the Pirate King for a reason.
  • The Social Darwinist: He sees Zofia as a place where the strong survive and the weak are exploited because of their sloth, and claims to Celica that it's not too different from Rigel.
  • Stout Strength: His bulk makes him strong.

    Jarth 

Jarth

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

A mercenary hired to aid a trader's revolt. Appears in the "Battle of Zofia Harbor" DLC.

Class: Mercenary

Echoes Postgame Characters

    Forneus 

Forneus

An alchemist who lived in Thabes, who was praised for his genius, though in time was feared by all. He spent his life in the pursuit of two things: How to wake the dead to use as his army, and the creation of a singular, perfect being. He succeeded with both, with the result of the first being the Risen, and the result of the second, the Fell Dragon Grima.


  • Ambiguously Related: Forneus uses his own blood to create Grima. As Grima can only possess a human with his blood, it implies that Robin, Validar, and Morgan are descendants of Forneus, though there's no direct indication that he had any children.
  • Blood Magic: The creation of Grima involved the blood of a Divine Dragon and Forneus' own blood.
  • Creating Life Is Bad: He decided to play god and create life, and said creations all turn out to be evil abominations.
  • The Dreaded: Records in Thabes say that he went from being praised for his genius, to be being feared by all. The spell cast to seal his workshop away was meant to last until the city itself crumbled into sand.
  • Evil Is Not a Toy: Really should've known better than to create beings he could not control.
  • Fatal Flaw: His Control Freak tendencies after his wife's death. He viewed the Thanatophages as cute pets because he could control them, and he came to desire his creation's death because it was not something he could control. This is suggested to be what lead to his death.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: If the stone tablets in the Thabes Labyrinth are anything to go by, Grima eventually turned on him, albeit only after Forneus tried to (or at least intended to) kill it first.
  • Mad Scientist: An alchemist who wanted to create the Ultimate Life Form by using magic/science, turning out abominations of nature.
  • Meaningful Name: He was known as the Demon Alchemist. Appropriately, Forneus is the name of a demon found in the Ars Goetia.
  • Necromancer: One of the things he sought to create was an army of the dead. He succeeded in reanimating the dead through insects he called Thanatophages.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: He considered his proto-Risen to be "adorable pets".
  • Posthumous Character: He's long dead when Shadows of Valentia begins, with his characterization made through pedestals found within Thabes.
  • Psychic Link: After giving Grima his blood, Forneus could hear Grima's dark and violent thoughts in his own head, implying that he might have been the first in the line of potential Grima hosts who would culminate in Awakening's Avatar.
  • Red Baron: Records in Thabes refer to him as The Demon Alchemist Forneus.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: It's unclear if he was alive at the time, but the Senate of Thabes sealed his workshop with magic after messengers and soldiers that entered his workshop failed to return, and dubbed him the Demon Alchemist.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Forneus has been dead for years by the time you learn about him and he has no impact on the main plot of Shadows of Valentia, but his experiments have a lasting impact. The Creation (Grima) goes on to terrorize the world some time later, which eventually leads to the events of Fire Emblem: Awakening.
  • Start of Darkness: It is revealed in the Valentia Accordion that it was his wife's death that lead him to experiment with and create life. He even forged the death masks of the Risen based on the face of her corpse.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His attempt to create the Ultimate Life Form would result in a being determined to bring about The End of the World as We Know It and who would be fated to succeed in at least two timelines. The only reason he ultimately fails is because Naga laid contingency plans to Screw Destiny.
  • Villainous Legacy: Everything that will go wrong in Awakening is his fault, but he's long dead even by the time of Alm's era.

    The Creation 

The Creation (Construct)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/grima_echoes.png
A force of despair created by an ancient alchemist.

The result of Forenus' research into creating a perfect being, the Creation is a twisted creature born of divine dragon blood. Sealed at the very bottom of the Thabes Labyrinth, it is encountered and defeated by Alm and Celica when they explore those ruins, but its return is a Foregone Conclusion, as it is a much younger version of Grima, the Big Bad of Fire Emblem: Awakening.

For tropes concerning his other appearance, see his entry on this section of Awakening's character pages.

Class: Fell Dragon

  • Alchemy Is Magic: Grima was created through alchemy, and becomes a god-like magical being.
  • Ambiguously Evil: Originally the newborn Creation would smile affectionately towards his creator when responding to Forneus. As all dragons have innate destructive and violent urges, it's left unclear if the dark thoughts were just those urges or actual malicious intent before his creator tried to murder him.
  • Area of Effect: The Dark Spikes skill lets it inflict 10-30 damage on every enemy in its attack range in one move. Grima would use this in the pre-battle cutscenes in Awakening to inflict HP to One before a Deus ex Machina healed the group; Alm and Celica's army here get no such help, but fortunately the attack cannot kill and still leaves party members with 1 HP if it would.
  • Artificial Human: An artificial human-Divine Dragon hybrid that was created through the experimentations of a mad alchemist instead of natural means. It's noted in Valentia Accordion that he was even shaped like a human fetus and grew into a human shape before taking his more draconic appearance.
  • Battle Theme Music: He gains "Monstrosity", previously used for the battle against Validar and Aversa in Awakening, for Shadows of Valentia.
  • Body Horror: The structure of its wing-arms look a little too much like human arms. As he is an unnatural hybrid made similar to a homunculus by an alchemist, his body at different points of life take different forms between man and dragon. His face in Echoes looking much like his mask from Awakening, only to gain a human like face once he grows as large as a mountain that he hides beneath said mask.
  • Born of Magic: Grima was not born, he was created through alchemy as an experiment to create perfect life.
  • Breath Weapon: His signature "Expiration" attack is present here.
  • Contractual Boss Immunity: Nullify Ailments prevents him from being poisoned or paralyzed.
  • Deity of Human Origin: Grima, who becomes the being the Grimeal worship in Awakening, was originally a homunculus created by Forneus using a combination of human and Divine Dragon blood.
  • Dragons Are Divine: His creation was through the use of the blood of a Divine Dragon combined with a human's fluid, and his God ability says he has divine power. Subverted, as the creation itself is more of a Draconic Abomination using divine power for sinister purposes.
  • The End... Or Is It?: As a result of Foregone Conclusion, the malevolent presence in the labyrinth is still present even after the Creation is defeated. This is because the creature's spirit still exists and it will return a thousand years later as the Fell Dragon, Grima.
  • Et Tu, Brute?: While how evil the Creation was when he was first born can be argued, the fact that Grima's Level 40 conversations (for both Male and Female form) in Heroes go on very long Humans Are Bastards rants that sound a bit too personal indicates that Forneus trying to murder him did not do his opinion on humanity any favors.
  • Evil Is Not a Toy: From the moment it was created, it was an eldritch monster that possessed a dragon's natural urge to destroy... and Forneus in his infinite wisdom decided to give his fluids to the young Fell Dragon to make it grow. This ended up linking their minds in a process that would later become the blood pact that gives Grima a human host. What happens next depends on the source material: in the game Forneus is presumably assimilated during his last diary entry, while in Valentia Accordion he isn't interrupted and instead tries to destroy Grima out of fear of its power (and evidently fails).
  • Fixed Damage Attack: Expiration ignores enemy defense, so characters who are hit by it take 34 damage on Normal Mode and 36 damage on Hard.
  • Giant Flyer: Although he's not as gigantic as he was in Awakening, he still dwarfs the humans in your party and is on par with Duma in terms of scale.
  • Gigantic Adults, Tiny Babies: Shadows of Valentia reveals that Grima grew into the monstrosity that it is in Awakening, from the size of a thumbnail when it was just created.
  • Legacy Boss Battle: The fight against the Creation functions almost identically to its matured form in Awakening: huge attack range, massive defenses, and powerful enemies spawning all around you. The only major differences are that the arena is smaller and that its formerly cutscene-only Dark Spikes attack returns as a Combat Art.
  • Nigh-Invulnerability: He retains the Dragonskin skill, which reduces all damage by half.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: He also wasn't born, but was created through alchemy according to Echoes.
  • Our Homunculi Are Different: As a entity created through alchemy, Grima technically qualifies as the draconic version of a homunculus. His appearance as a fetus and initial form were likewise human-like before his regular intake of Forneus fluids, which made him more dragon-like with time.
  • Saved by Canon: Due to the timeline, his defeat by Alm and Celica is only temporary (they have no means to seal him, nor do they know that his human host even exists) before he grows into the threat Chrom, Lucina, and Robin must face in Awakening. Overlaps with Doomed by Canon too, as he only meets his end by said trio's hands.
  • Signature Move: Grima brings Expiration with him, which has the same massive 1-5 range it did in Awakening. Unlike his first appearance however, this time his Breath Weapon ignores defenses like breath attacks in the series normally do (though he hits less hard).
  • Stationary Boss: Zig-Zagged. Grima will not move until you enter the range of his attack. Once you do, he'll begin moving, but with a move range of two he won't get very far.
  • Super-Toughness: He still has Dragonskin, which halves all damage taken. With an already absurd HP count of 185, this means he functionally has a whopping 370 on Normal.
  • Superboss: In Shadows of Valentia, where he's the boss of Chapter 6, which takes place after the storyline has concluded. He waits at the very end of the Thabes Labyrinth and is the toughest boss in the game.
  • Ultimate Life Form: Created to be a singular, perfect life form by the alchemist Forneus. He can only be permanently killed by his own power and all other manners of death are temporary. It's subverted, however, as he needs a human vessel to inhabit and said human vessel can kill him.
  • The Voiceless: Despite his fondness for running his mouth in Awakening, he doesn't utter a word in Shadows of Valentia, only making hellish screams and roars.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: Grima's attacks have 1-5 range, but Snipers and Bow Knights can outrange him with a Long Bow or the Trance Shot combat art from Parthia. Since Grima does not move from its starting position until something ends a turn in its attack range, it's entirely feasible to plink away at it from afar while the rest of the army fends off Death Masks instead.
  • You Will Not Evade Me: He retains Anathema to reduce the evasion rates of anything within 3 tiles of him.

Echoes DLC Characters

    In General 
  • Canon Immigrant: All four were originally created for the Fire Emblem Cipher card game, and this is their first appearance in an official Fire Emblem title.
  • Downloadable Content: They are all paid DLC.
  • Foil: As a whole the Cipher character's more quirky personalities, which would fit in just fine in Awakening or Fates, directly contrast the more grounded Echoes characters.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: In the transition from the card game to Echoes, three of the four characters had to be altered in order to work with the game:
    • Randal: In the card game, Randal is known for using swords, but as Paladins only wield lances in this game, he uses Lances exclusively here.
    • Shade: In Cipher, Shade is a Dark Mage, whose signature ability is access to Nosferatu and has access to many offensive spells. In Echoes, Nosferatu is a spell exclusive to the Cleric line, hence the reason she is reclassed into the typically light magic-using Saint.
    • Yuzu: In the card game, she's a Samurai. However, the only female class that can use swords is Priestess. To make up for this, her signature weapon, the Warrior's Sword, has a higher crit chance than the typical Steel Sword.
  • Walking the Earth: The Cipher characters have been traveling from continent to continent on their adventures.

    Emma 

Emma

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

A cheerful pegasus knight trainee from Hoshido who originated in Fire Emblem Cipher.

Class: Falcon Knight
Voiced by: Eri Suzuki (Japanese), Marieve Herington (English)

  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg: At the beginning of her DLC chapter, she will request the player's aid. If the player refuses, she will begin begging, even trying to bargain, and will eventually become upset and insult the player the more they refuse.
  • Badass Adorable: The youngest Cipher character and also one of the strongest Pegasus Knights in-game.
  • The Beastmaster: Her ending mentions that she managed to tame all manner of beasts, from pegasi to wyverns.
  • But Thou Must!: At the beginning of her and Randal's DLC chapter, she will beg the player to help her. If the player refuses, she will begin begging, with her attempts getting progressively more convoluted until the player finally agrees.
  • Gosh Darn It to Heck!: Zigzagged in that Emma can uphold the game's Teen rating just like the others, but when Randal makes her angry she calls him a "poop."
  • Intergenerational Friendship: With Randal. Despite him being a grown man and Emma only 13, the two seem to get along well and are good friends.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
    "Am I doing this? I'm doing this!"
    "Bye-bye, bad guy!
    "Here I come!"
    "Take this!"
  • Secret Art: Solo Triangle Attack, in which she strikes an enemy about three times rather than the usual three Pegasus Knights striking in tandem. Randal questions how she can even pull it off without three people.
  • Token Mini-Moe: The youngest of the Cipher characters at 13.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: She can give Shade and Randal a tough time and call them out on their less admirable qualities, but she still cares for them, with the feeling being mutual.

    Randal 

Randal (Lando)

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

A laid-back knight from Elibe who originated in Fire Emblem Cipher.

Class: Paladin
Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese), Joe J. Thomas (English)

  • Born Unlucky: Has a rather low luck growth and stat of 15% and 3 respectively, and gets caught up in a rather unfortunate situation.
  • Distress Ball: Having been wounded to protect Emma, he's soon cornered by enemies and she must find help as soon as possible, leading her to find the cast.
  • The Gambling Addict: Really enjoys gambling, though this gets him and Emma into trouble with the local villagers. In a case of Gameplay and Story Integration his signature attack, Heaven or Hell, is two hits that either deal critical hits or miss completely.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: Despite their differences in age and personalities, he seems to enjoy Emma's company and the two are good friends.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a cheating gambler who lazes about and snarks to Emma, but when danger comes he's willing to sacrifice his own life to save hers.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
    "This'll probably hurt."
    "Oh, look. It's nap time."
    "Let's do this upright."
    "Ready for my angry face!?"
  • The Promise: He promises to kick his gambling habit at Emma's request so she won't worry anymore about him.
  • Taking the Bullet: In his introductory chapter, he starts out unable to move because he took an arrow meant for Emma.
  • The One Guy: He's the only male in the band of four.

    Shade 

Shade

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

A refined mage from Nohr who originated in Fire Emblem Cipher.

Class: Saint
Voiced by: Hibiku Yamamura (Japanese), Kate Higgins (credited as Kate Davis) (English)

  • AcCENT upon the Wrong SylLABle: When brainwashed by the Duma Faithful.
    Shade: Hee hee hee... Die die dIIIEEE... I wiLL kill ALL of yOU!
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: In her introductory chapter, she is possessed by a necromancer and made to attack Yuzu. She must have her health brought down without being killed to be recruited; if she dies, it's an instant Game Over.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: She wears dark clothes but isn't a bad person. The only time she opposes the cast is when she's Brainwashed and Crazy.
  • Feminine Women Can Cook: Shade has some knowledge of cooking, even knowing how to prepare jam. Compare Yuzu, whose "Ration Balls" are nutritious yet appalling in taste, and her attempts to improve the flavor make it worse.
  • Hot Teacher: She fancies herself an educator in magic, and she has vibes of an alluring mentor.
  • Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Shade manages to blend both types in one single character, with very Dark Feminine looks and very Light Feminine behavior.
  • Ms. Fanservice: More ostensibly in Cipher, though her variation of the Saint uniform in Echoes is quite sexy too.
  • Nervous Wreck: While she is usually calm and confident, if she is in an uneasy situation she can quickly lose her cool and begin worrying constantly.
    Shade [if she gets RNG-screwed in a Level Up]: "What? No! Do over, do over!"
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
    "Teacher is very angry."
    "Rest in pieces."
    "So long."
    "Have some of this!"
  • Team Mom: She turns out to have shades of this, surprisingly:
    • She worries quite a bit for her friends when talking with Yuzu, fretting over Emma's absence like a mother freaking out over her lost child.
    • Her last words are a plea for Emma's safety, and their Bonus Talk when they reunite has her treating Emma as if she actually was her kid or ward.
    • Her Echoes ending mentions that she ultimately disappeared, but the leads she left point at her becoming a famous magic teacher.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Shade is the dainty girly-girl to Yuzu's fight-loving tomboy. Their supports revolve around Shade trying to teach Yuzu about skin care and how to cook, only for each attempt to backfire because Yuzu is too interested in how her advice can be used for combat purposes.
  • Vanity Is Feminine: Shade has a lot of interest in beauty and personal upkeep, and even offers tips to Yuzu.

    Yuzu 

Yuzu

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

A socially-awkward warrior from Hoshido who originated in Fire Emblem Cipher.

Class: Priestess
Voiced by: Juri Kimura (Japanese), Lauren Landa (English)

  • Blood Knight: Yuzu dedicates all of her time towards refining herself as a warrior and lives for the challenge of fighting strong foes.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: She has a strange thought process. She can get so swept up in her training that she is completely oblivious to her surroundings, seems a bit slow on the uptake when receiving criticism, and tries to find combat purposes for skin care peels.
  • Contralto of Strength: Her voice is the deepest out of the female Cipher characters, reflecting her hardworking nature.
  • Flowery Elizabethan English: She talks like this.
  • Funny Foreigner: It's implied her more archaic speech patterns, taste in food, and hazy grasp of idioms is due to coming from a different country from the others.
  • Glass Cannon: Her attack and speed bases and growths are very high, and she has access to the hard-hitting Sagittae spell. However, her HP is very low as a Priestess, making Sagittae risky to use with its high HP consumption.
  • Lethal Chef: Her ration balls are perfectly nutritious but taste awful. When Shade suggests that Yuzu adjust the recipe to improve the flavor, she keeps them the exact same but puts a clashing sauce made from oranges on top.
  • Lethal Joke Weapon: She uses her infamous ration balls to bring Shade back from her senses after being possessed by the Duma Faithful. It works.
  • Magically Inept Fighter: Compared to other priestesses, Yuzu's spell list is rather small, only learning Fire, Sagittae and Recover. Justified in that she was a Samurai in her Cipher debut, a class which couldn't use magic at all in Fates.
  • Master Swordsman: Yuzu is keenly skilled with the sword and trains constantly.
  • No Social Skills: Her banter with Shade has her clearly oblivious to the latter's distress concerning their friends' safety, and musing ill-conceived sayings, only to fail to remember how they go.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
    "Face my full might!"
    "Taste my wrath!"
    "Your final moment approaches!"
    "Now I strike!"
  • Spock Speak: Her speech is noticeably stilted, setting her apart from her allies.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Yuzu is the fight-loving tomboy to Shade's dainty girly-girl. When Shade suggests Yuzu use orange peels to exfoliate her skin, Yuzu instead finds they help her focus and wants to wear them into battle.
  • Training from Hell: She apparently puts herself through hellish training regularly, performing 5,000 sword swings without break just to pass time.
  • You Bastard!: If the player refuses to aid her in saving Shade, she will angrily insult you and call you a coward. Refuse her more, and she'll bluntly tell you to burn in hell.

Monsters

    The Terrors, Specters, and the Brethren 

Monsters that plague the world of Valentia are referred to as Terrors. There are many different kinds of monsters that roam around the world. Specters are spirits bound in service to another, appearing alongside Terrors. The Brethren are dragons that still remain alive in the world.


  • Adaptation Induced Plothole: In the remake, all Witches are said to be soulless shells sacrificed by men. This raises the question on why witches exist outside of the Duma Faithful such as among Grieth's pirates.
  • Ambiguous Situation: Exactly how soulless Witches are is unclear. Celica still acted as herself but with no control of her body, Marla and Hestia are still themselves to the point Hestia admits she didn't want to become one, average Witches having death quotes that imply they don't wish to die, and Rinea calls Berkut's name as she dies. Muddling it further is that killing them is the only way to be released, suggesting they're still connected to each other; Celica is the only one who survives and that's just because of Mila's intervention. Thabes Labyrinth even has Specter Witches that can be encountered.
  • Deal with the Devil: The Witch enemies are stated to have sold their souls to Duma, and have thus gained massive magical powers at the cost of their minds and humanity. Though as seen in the cases of Rinea and Sonya's sister Hestia, not all of them went through this entirely willingly.
  • Dem Bones: Bone Walkers are...well, walking skeletons.
  • Dracolich: Necrodragons are zombie dragons.
  • Dragons Are Demonic: The Brethren are antagonistic dragons that are implied to suffer from dragon degeneration, making them little more than beasts.
  • Elite Mooks: Draculs, Wights, Arch Mogalls, Liches, Fafnirs, Guardians, Deathgoyles, Deimos, and the Vestals are higher-level versions of their weaker incarnations.
  • Empty Shell: Witches are the emotionless, hollow kind of soulless being.
  • Fan Disservice: The standard portraits and battle models of the Witches in Echoes feature young women who would normally be visually appealing. For example, Rinea's/the Vestal's own model/portraits have her/them naked. Unfortunately, these beautiful women are little more than empty shells with Glowing Eyes of Doom, and the Vestals are literally on fire...
  • Females Are More Innocent: In the original, only Sonya's sisters were mentioned as sacrifices and all the Duma faithful were implied to be hypnotized empty shells, repeating all the same Madness Mantra in a zombie-like tone. In the remake, Arcanists and Cantors being empty shells is downplayed. Instead its emphasized all witches are innocent girls that were sacrificed against their will by men, causing an Adaptation Induced Plothole about the existence of independent bandit witches.
  • Meaningful Name: The Vestal are probably named after the Vestal Virgins of Ancient Rome, priestesses of the Goddess Vesta whose mission was to take care of the sacred fire that was not allowed to go out.
  • Mighty Glacier: The fiend and guardian enemy knights.
  • Mummy: The Entombed are mummified corpses wearing gold armor, gold eyes in their sockets, and have bodies that aren't mutilated and impaled like their Revenant/Dracul counterparts. They are also much more powerful at the cost of less HP than the Revenants.
  • Non-Malicious Monster: The first Fire Dragon is strongly implied to be guarding the seal keeping the evil within Thabes' innermost depths sealed away, and is joined by Specters in battle. Naturally, he has to be slain and the seal broken to continue.
  • Oculothorax: Mogalls and Balors are floating eyeballs attached to tentacles.
  • Optional Boss: The rare encountered enemies are this, with some like Dagon and Fire Dragon being a Degraded Boss.
  • Our Dragons Are Different:
    • The undead Necrodragon and still living Fafnir resemble Wyverns. The reanimated White Dragon and Duma's Apostle are also Wyvern-like dragons but of a different variety, with the White Dragon's body almost being indistinguishable from a living dragon were it not for the empty eye sockets.
    • Dagons are aquatic, wingless water dragons and are fished by humans for their meat if they have strong enough material to handle them. Dagon Fillet is edible in-game. Fire Dragons are wild maned versions of Dagons but red and with wings.
  • Our Gargoyles Rock: Living Gargoyle statues are among the more common types of Terrors.
  • Our Giants Are Bigger: Titans are the reanimated skeletons of a race of extinct giants. Bonewalkers use their heads as shields.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different:
    • Specters are the spirits of class-based units pledged in service of another beyond their death.
    • Guardians are also ghosts, whose loyalty has transformed them into Great Terrors and lead a pack of Specters in battle.
    • Duma's Apostle is the spirit of a dragon who serves Duma by challenging the worthy in Fear Mountain. They lead Specters in battle just like the Guardian.
  • Our Zombies Are Different: The Revenant monsters are reanimated corpses, while Draco Zombies are undead dragon corpses.
  • Palette Swap: Some Terrors have special variations that are extra powerful, which have different colors. In some cases, they're also larger and have a Battle Aura.
  • PiƱata Enemy: Entombed, mummified royalty wearing bling, are Terrors that give massive experience provided that their killer is at most around the same level as them.
  • The Usual Adversaries: Terrors are among the most common Mooks that the heroes will have to defeat.
  • Weakened by the Light: Holy magic attacks, such as the Seraphim spell, do massive damage against Terror enemies.
  • Wreathed in Flames: The Vestals are Witches on fire. Poor Rinea becomes one of them...
  • Zombie Apocalypse: Due to Rigel's invasion of Zofia breaking the gods' covenant of peace, all throughout the continent, the dead and creatures of the dark are cursed to rise and attack the living.

Alternative Title(s): Fire Emblem Echoes Shadows Of Valentia

Top