Kagero

"As Lord Ryoma’s retainer, it is my duty to follow his every order. He wishes to take you back to Hoshido, and so it must be done."

- Kagero facing the Avatar, Conquest Chapter 12: Bitter Intrigue

Kagero (カゲロウ Kagerou) is a playable character in Fire Emblem Fates on the Birthright and Revelation routes. One of Ryoma's personal retainers, Kagero is a Hoshian kunoichi who is loyal and serious to a fault. She is known to have been best friends with the Diviner Orochi since childhood.

Kagero is voiced by Rie Murakawa in the Japanese version and Sarah Blandy in the English version.

Profile
Kagero is a kunoichi from a noble family who has served the Hoshidan royalty for generations. Originally one of Queen Mikoto's personal retainers, Kagero later became Ryoma's retainer at her liege's behest. According to her supports with the Avatar, her position was originally meant to be assumed by her older brother. However, due to him suffering from a disease that prevented him from executing the duties expected of a ninja, she thus made the decision to step forward and serve the Hoshidan royal family in his stead.

In the support conversations that Kagero shares with her fellow retainer Saizo, it is revealed that the two of them were in a romantic relationship at some point prior to the events of Fates. Due to their inability to reconcile their differences, they eventually elected to end the relationship and focus instead on their duties.

Birthright
Kagero first appears at the end of Chapter 10, following the battle waged between the Avatar's army and the Mokushujin ninja. Escorted out of an underground prison by Kaze, Kagero immediately reveals that she had been taken prisoner while on a search for Ryoma in the forests of Mokushu, unaware that its inhabitants had forged an alliance with Nohr. She then deploys a messenger back to the capital to warn the Hoshidans not to travel through Mokushu before joining the Avatar's army to continue her search for her liege.

Kagero subsequently aids the Avatar's effort to put an end to the age-old conflict shared between Hoshido and Nohr.

Conquest
Kagero makes her first appearance in Chapter 12, where she and Saizo accompany Ryoma to Palace Macarath to lay an ambush for the Avatar's unsuspecting army. When faced by the Avatar in battle, Kagero will coldly announce her intention on fulfilling Ryoma's order to seize custody of them before striking. Despite the best efforts of the Hoshidan army, they are eventually defeated and forced to make their retreat.

Kagero is next mentioned in Chapter 17, where Saizo, upon clashing with the Avatar's army in the forest of Mokushu, reveals that she had been taken hostage by Kotaro as a bargaining chip to force Hoshido into surrendering. After the Nohrian army led by the Avatar kill Kotaro, the Avatar finds Kagero in an underground prison and frees her. She later leaves with Saizo to return to Ryoma.

Kagero appears one final time in Chapter 25, where she, Saizo and the remnants of the Hoshidan army reinforce Ryoma's effort to halt the advance of the Nohrians in the reception hall of Castle Shirasagi. Should she be defeated in this chapter, Kagero will perish alongside a good number of her other allies. If she is spared, her whereabouts following the end of the battle are unknown.

Revelation
Kagero first appears in Chapter 11, where she has, like in Birthright and Conquest, been taken hostage by Kotaro and the Mokushujin ninja. Following the end of the ensuing battle, Kagero will meet the Avatar for the first time after being freed from imprisonment. Initially expressing incredulity at the Avatar's presence in Hoshido, she is later convinced to aid the Avatar's cause by Takumi and Sakura.

Kagero subsequently aids the Avatar's effort to put an end to Anankos' machinations.

Personality
Kagero is predominantly defined by her fierce loyalty to Ryoma, where she will not hesitate to sacrifice herself in order to preserve his life. According to her supports with Kaze, this loyalty of hers sees her devoting the bulk of her time to training or fulfilling missions, leaving her with little time for leisure.

Compared to Saizo, however, the extent of her loyalty is comparatively less extreme; through her supports with him, she blandly chastises him for instilling unnecessary fear into the new recruits of the Hoshidan army by insisting that they be prepared to sacrifice their lives to protect their lieges.

Kagero often presents herself as a calm, confident individual, befitting of one who acts as a personal bodyguard of the Hoshidan crown prince. This sense of collectedness is consistently maintained even when she is faced with tense situations. One such example may be observed in Kagero's B support with Takumi, where, in response to him demanding her to explain what is lacking in his sense of patience, she remains calm enough to carefully craft a reply without offending him.

Despite the serious demeanour that Kagero commonly presents, she is still able to form meaningful relationships with others and take up hobbies for amusement. Her supports with other characters often portray her as being receptive to conversation; through her supports with Rinkah, for one, she initiates conversation in a bid to strike up a friendship with her.

Kagero is also known to harbour an interest in painting, a fact that sees her spending much of her free time engaging in the art. Though she lacks the aptitude for painting, it is through this medium of art that she has established a steadfast friendship with Orochi, one that has remained strong since her childhood. Through their supports, it is evident that Orochi is the only known person to appreciate Kagero's eccentric style of art, to the point where she regards a card featuring a brook-and-water drawing as a symbol of their friendship. Though this is also shared by Odin, who admired Kagero's art of a silkwyrm as a stroke of genius in their supports, and attempted to summon it, with Kagero eager to help out, showing a desire to have her art come to life.

Kagero is said to be the best diary-keeper in the army. Her birthday is July 26.

Conquest Chapter 12 - Bitter Intrigue

 * -|Normal=


 * -|Hard=


 * -|Lunatic=


 * Initially in Guard Stance with Saizo. Guard Stance: +1 Move

Conquest Chapter 25 - Ryoma

 * -|Normal=


 * -|Hard=


 * -|Lunatic=

Growth Rates
Class:


 * 35%
 * 70%
 * 0%
 * 40%
 * 70%
 * 30%
 * 30%
 * 55%
 * }


 * 35%
 * 70%
 * 0%
 * 40%
 * 70%
 * 30%
 * 30%
 * 60%
 * }


 * 40%
 * 75%
 * 0%
 * 35%
 * 60%
 * 35%
 * 30%
 * 55%
 * }

Max Stat Modifiers

 * +3
 * 0
 * -1
 * -1
 * 0
 * -1
 * +1
 * }

Standard Sets

 * }

Friendship Sets

 * -|Birthright/Revelation=


 * }
 * -|Revelation=


 * }

Partner Sets

 * -|All Routes=


 * }
 * -|Birthright/Revelation=


 * }
 * -|Revelation=


 * }

Special Classes

 * }

Supports
Romantic Supports
 * The Avatar (Male)
 * Jakob
 * Kaze
 * Silas

Hoshido

 * Ryoma
 * Takumi
 * Saizo
 * Azama
 * Hinata
 * Subaki
 * Hayato
 * Kaden

Nohr (Revelation)
Other Supports
 * Odin
 * Arthur
 * The Avatar (Female)
 * Setsuna
 * Rinkah
 * Orochi


 * Peri (Revelation only)
 * Kagero's Child

Base Class Set
Kagero is the third Ninja recruited in Birthright and Revelation. Lacking in HP, Magic, Skill and Defense, she is instead defined by high Strength and Speed and moderate Resistance. This translates into Kagero being the very definition of a glass cannon, capable of inflicting strong attacks but rather frail in terms of physical defence. Her personal skill, Shuriken Mastery, makes her particularly effective when facing against Shuriken-wielding foes, as she inflicts half the damage received from an enemy Shuriken attack and also gives them the same debuffs that she receives.

Kagero's two base promotions are the Master Ninja and the Mechanist classes. As a Master Ninja, she will stand to gain from a slight increase in her Resistance, alongside the added ability to arm Swords and Katana. Lethality is one of the skills that she can learn in this class, possessing the special ability of instantly killing an enemy. Given its low activation rate and Kagero's poor Skill, however, it is not a very reliable skill for Kagero to possess, especially when she is subjected to difficult situations. Shurikenfaire is the other skill that she can learn, and is one that will complement her natural proficiency in Shuriken by boosting her attack damage with them armed.,

As a Mechanist, Kagero sacrifices some Skill and Speed to boost her HP, Strength and Luck. Golembane is one of the skills learnt, but is practically useless to there being a lack of Stoneborn and puppet-based enemies in the game. Replicate, conversely, allows Kagero to create a clone of herself, thereby permitting her to fight in two different locations at once. Due to Kagero's poor Defense, using this skill requires some caution to prevent her from being killed.

Secondary Class Set
Kagero has secondary access to the Diviner class set, entailing the Onmyoji and Basara promotions. Unfortunatly, she has very little reason to be either a Diviner or an Onmyoji due to her nonexistent Magic, but she can stand to profit from the Basara class's skill repertoire. As a Diviner, Kagero can learn Future Sight, a skill that will make training her easier due to the boosts that it injects into her experience gains.

As a Basara, Kagero can learn Rend Heaven, a much better offensive skill as compared to Lethality. This is due to it having a much higher activation rate, alongside allowing Kagero to inflict huge amounts of damage with each activation. This skill is especially useful when facing Generals and Berserkers, and it also further helps to alleviate the poor Might of Shurikens. Quixotic, conversely, is a risky skill, boosting both Kagero and the foes' Hit and skill activation. As Kagero's Skill is not very good to begin with, Quixotic can thus be considered to offset any problems that she may have with skill activations, although much caution must be exercised when doing so.

Buddy Class Sets

 * Rinkah: Rinkah grants Kagero access to the Oni Savage class set, entailing the Oni Chieftain and Blacksmith promotions. This class set largely eliminates all of her Skill to greatly improve on her strength and defensive capabilities. As an Oni Chieftain, Kagero can learn Death Blow, a skill that becomes extremely deadly when used in tandem with Barb Shuriken. She can also learn Counter, which will allow Kagero to deflect attacks dealt to her at close range. As a Blacksmith, Kagero's HP and Defense growths are boosted without sacrificing much of her Skill. Lancebreaker is a useful skill she stands to learn in this class, allowing her to better deal with Lance and Naginata-wielding opponents.
 * Setsuna: Setsuna grants Kagero access to the Archer class set, entailing the Sniper and Kinshi Knight promotions. This class set gives her slightly less Skill and Speed as compared to the Ninja class set, but this is offset by the boosts it provides to her HP, Strength, Luck and Defense growths. As a Sniper, Kagero can learn Certain Blow, which can help boost her accuracy without the drawbacks of Quixotic. She can also learn Bowfaire, which really only has room for Kagero if she intends to remain in a Bow-wielding class. As a Kinshi Knight, Kagero can learn Air Superiority, which is more useful when Kagero is in a Bow-wielding class. She also stands to learn Amaterasu, a support skill that sees better use on units that are more focused on providing assistance to their allies from the backlines.
 * Peri: Peri provides Kagero with the Cavalier class set, entailing the Paladin and Great Knight promotions. As a Paladin, Kagero can learn Defender, which gives a +1 bonus to all stats when she leads a Guard Stance. She also stands to learn Aegis, a skill that protects her from attacks launched by Bows and magic. As a Great Knight, Kagero can learn Luna, a skill that fixes the low Might of Shuriken by ignoring the Defense of foes when activated. She also learns Armored Blow, letting Kagero attack enemies without the fear of sustaining too much physical damage.

Partner Class Sets

 * Ryoma/Kaze/Hinata/Saizo: All four of these men give Kagero access to the Samurai class set. Kagero's stats complement the class very well and is a viable option if looking to increase her offence on the battlefield. The Samurai class notably provides her with Vantage, allowing her to safely initiate combat during the enemy's turn when low on HP. Given her fragility offset by her high damage output, this almost guarantees her survivability. The Swordmaster class provides her with the Astra skill, a powerful offensive skill that allows her to pile damage, allowing her to deal more damage in a single round of combat.
 * Takumi: Takumi provides the Archer class.
 * Silas: Silas provides the Cavalier class.
 * Odin: Odin provides the Dark Mage class line. Kagero has a lot to gain skill wise from this class set, but due to her non-existent magic growth her ability to excel in these classes is severely limited.

Quotes
Refer to Kagero/Quotes.

Possible Endings
Kagero - Traditional Ninja (古風な忍 kofūna shinobi lit. Old-fashioned Ninja)
 * Kagero continued to serve Ryoma after he was crowned, but there are few records of her activities. Paintings thought to be by her were preserved as national treasures.


 * Kagero and Hayato
 * After the war, Hayato traveled the world before replacing Fuga as chief of the Wind Tribe. Kagero remained a ninja. It is said that the couple got along, but didn't have much time together.


 * Kagero and Odin
 * There are no official records of Odin from after the war, but much was written about (and by) him. Kagero vanished around the same time, but tales of Odin always included his darling wife as well.


 * Kagero and Ryoma
 * Ryoma was crowned King of Hoshido, and his rule lead to an era of unprecedented prosperity. Kagero remained a ninja. It is said that the couple got along, but didn't have much time together.


 * Kagero and Saizo
 * Saizo disappeared from official records after the war, but no doubt he served the royal family forever. Kagero remained a ninja. It is said that the couple got along, but didn't have much time together.


 * Kagero and Kaze
 * While no official records of Kaze survive, he appears in many rumors and tales of heroic exploits. Kagero remained a ninja. It is said the couple got along, but didn't have much time together.

Etymology
Kagerō can mean "Heat Haze"(陽炎) or "Mayfly" (蜉蝣). It is also the name of an Imperial Japanese Destroyer, as well as an entire class of destroyers.

Trivia

 * Kagero shares her English voice actress, Sarah Blandy, with Midori and Layla.
 * Kagero was voted the 27th most popular female on Nintendo's official Fates character poll.