Merric

"Whilst studying magic in Khadein, I caught wind of a war brewing and decided to seek you out."

- Merric to Marth in Shadow Dragon

Merric (マリク, translated Marich in the Japanese versions) is a playable character in Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi, Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo, and their remakes. He is a mage and noble of Altea. He held a crush towards Marth's sister Elice, and in order to protect her, he studied magic in Khadein under Wendell. He is given the wind magic Excalibur by Wendell and returns just in time to help Marth save Elice. He later returns to Khadein.

In the second book, Merric was caught in a fight against his rival Ellerean and was almost killed, until he was saved. He later wakes Elice up from Medeus' mind control. Later, he moves to Pales with Elice and teaches magic there.

His appearance clearly resembles, and possibly inspired, the overall design for Mages in the Fire Emblem series.

Base Stats

 * Mage
 * 1
 * 20
 * 0
 * 3
 * 3
 * 6
 * 3
 * 4
 * 3
 * 6
 * Tome - D
 * [[File:FE11excalibur.png]]Excalibur

Growth Rates

 * 60%
 * 0%
 * 30%
 * 50%
 * 45%
 * 45%
 * 5%
 * 30%
 * }

Support Relationships
Supports
 * Wendell
 * Elice
 * Linde

Supported by
 * Marth
 * Wendell
 * Elice

Base Stats

 * [[File:Male Mage FE12 Map Icon.png]]Mage
 * 10
 * 24
 * 0
 * 7
 * 6
 * 10
 * 6
 * 7
 * 5
 * 6
 * [[File:FE12 Tome.png]]Tome - D
 * [[File:FE11excalibur.png]]Excalibur [[File:FE11purewater.png]]Pure Water
 * }

Growth Rates
Mage


 * 70%
 * 0%
 * 40%
 * 65%
 * 65%
 * 70%
 * 15%
 * 15%
 * }

Sage


 * 70%
 * 0%
 * 30%
 * 65%
 * 70%
 * 70%
 * 15%
 * 25%
 * }

Support Relationships
Supports
 * Marth
 * Linde
 * Wendell
 * Elice

Supported by
 * The Avatar
 * Marth
 * Wendell
 * Elice

SpotPass
* Enemy only, joins unequipped.
 * Mage
 * 19
 * 34
 * 5
 * 18
 * 14
 * 19
 * 15
 * 12
 * 8
 * 5
 * Magic +2.png +2 Concentration.pngntration Ridefasticon.png Fast
 * TomeIconFE13.png - A
 * Excalibur*
 * }

Overall
Merric is a very powerful Mage and has fairly balanced stats outside slightly better HP and Skill. His main problem is that he has very poor defense, and because of this he really cannot be trusted to go into a pack of enemies and expect to survive. He often makes up for this when serving with Archers and Snipers as backup behind the main forces or behind a strong defender like a Knight. However, in Shin Monshō no Nazo, his potential takes a heavy hit, where he starts with below average skill, magic, resistance and average speed with level as high as 10, compared to 1 in Shadow Dragon.

In Shadow Dragon, some players decide to Reclass Merric into a Swordmaster or Paladin after raising him as a Mage. This increases his Movement, Speed and Defence, and his Resistance and Magic will stay quite high due to his level-ups as a magic-based unit. Giving him a Levin Sword will allow him to take advantage of his Magic stat, making him an effective multi-purpose unit. However, in terms of sheer power, he is stronger as a Sage.

Death Quotes
"Sire... I was glad... to know you..."

- Death Quote in Shadow Dragon

Archetype
Merric started the Merric archetype. A mage, who appears early in the game, usually wielding some form of Wind magic. Usually, but not necessarily, a student of a more powerful magician. Merrics include:


 * Boey (FE2, Cellica's route)
 * Yubello (FE3/12)
 * Azel (FE4 First Generation)
 * Arthur/Amid (FE4 Second Generation)
 * Asvel (FE5)
 * Maruju (TRS)
 * Lugh (FE6)
 * Erk (FE7)
 * Ewan (FE8)
 * Soren (FE9/10)
 * Licht (FE13)

Etymology
Merric's name in katakana (マリク) can also be translated as 'Malik', an Arabic word which means 'king'. This is befitting as he wields the Excalibur tome.

Trivia
Concept art for the Mage in Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu resembles Merric.