Marisa

"My father placed blunt swords at my sides when I slept to keep me from moving."

- Marisa talking to Tethys in a support conversation

Marisa (マリカ Marika, Marica in the Japanese version) is a playable character in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.

Profile
Marisa is a member of Gerik's Mercenaries. She is an aloof and detached beauty, and a master of the blade, earning fame as the "Crimson Flash" because of her great speed. She seeks to surpass her father, who was also a great swordmaster. She is unusually clumsy at everything outside of fighting, as revealed in one of her support conversations with Gerik. It is also shown that she secretly has a crush on Gerik, as her supports with her friendly rival Tethys reveal.

Regardless of the route, she is accidentally deployed under the hire of Grado, while Gerik and the other Mercenaries were hired by Innes. In Eirika's route, she switches sides after speaking to Gerik, not worried about what this would do to her reputation. In Ephraim's route, she switches sides after learning about the mix up from Ewan.

In her ending, she became the leader of a mercenary force of her own, defeating all who would challenge her to a duel. If she reaches an A support with Gerik, she stays with him and becomes the group's fencing instructor, while if she reaches A support with Joshua, she swears loyalty to him and becomes Jehanna's top swordfighter.

Base Stats
*Eirika's route **Ephraim's route

Growth Rates

 * 75%
 * 30%*
 * 55%*
 * 60%*
 * 50%
 * 15%
 * 25%*
 * }

* 5% less in the Japanese version

Promotion Gains
Choice 1=


 * -|Choice 2=

Supports

 * Colm
 * Joshua
 * Tana
 * Gerik
 * Tethys

Overall
Despite joining several chapters later and at the same level, nearly all of Marisa's stats start off worse than the player's alternative myrmidon, Joshua, including her sword rank. Like him, her stats are focused almost entirely into her Speed and Skill, though she has superior Luck and Resistance. Eventually her Speed will also become slightly higher once she has leveled up sufficiently, though his does start off higher. Comparatively, her HP, Strength, Skill, and Defense are all lower than Joshua's. Her constitution is also 3 points lower, and she has difficulties wielding heavier swords that he can handle without severe penalties. Because of her low bases, great care will have to be taken in ensuring she survives combat well enough to grow out of her poor start.

Like Joshua, once she has been trained, her main advantage is her very high Speed and Skill that allows her to double and hit nearly every enemy in the game with ease, and once she promotes, she will gain either a fifteen percent bonus to her critical chance or the Silencer skill and the ability to use lockpicks. She has the same weaknesses as Joshua however, lacking a reliable ranged option until late game magic swords, has very low attack that will not allow her to heavily damage defensive enemies, and has difficulty facing the lance-wielding majority of enemies thanks to her weapon triangle disadvantage. Because of her lesser stats, she has even more difficulty with these issues than Joshua does. She is best used against speedier enemies that other characters may have trouble handling.

For her two promotions, the same rules apply for her as they do to Joshua. The higher statistical bonuses and critical chance of Swordmaster will make her a better fighter than her alternative choice, Assassin. The ability to use lockpicks does give her some utility however, though the keys buyable on the world map lessen that somewhat. It should be noted, that unlike Joshua, Assassin's stats caps do fit her growths better than they did for him, though Swordmaster's are still higher overall.

SpotPass
*Enemy only; joins unequipped

Recruitment Conversation
Eirika's route Gerik: Is that you, Marisa? Marisa: Chief. Gerik: What a mess... Looks like the guild bungled. They're usually diligent about making sure this sort of thing doesn't happen. But here we are, two people of the same troop, working for opposite sides. Marisa: What should we do? Gerik: Aye, well, that's a good question. As a mercenary, your loyalty should always lie with the person paying your wages. You decide. We can cross blades if you want, but I'd rather you retreat. 'Course, if you betray your employer, you'll soil your sterling name. Marisa: C'mon, chief. What would YOU like me to do? Gerik: Well, that's easy. I'd like you to come over and join my side. Marisa: Right. Done. Gerik: Ho-hold on... Is that it? Just like that? You know what this will do to your reputation, right? Marisa: Uh-huh.

Ephraim's route Ewan: There you are, Marisa. Marisa: Ewan? What are you doing here? Ewan: Marisa, the mercenary guild sent you here, didn't they? They assigned you to fight under Commander Gerik, right? Marisa: That's right. But the chief's not here. Ewan: I know, It was all a mistake. Your commander's over there, working on another job. He wants you to join him. Marisa: Really? He said that? Ewan: Yep. Marisa: I'm on my way. Ewan: Hey, wait! Wait! Take me with you. The group's headed east, too. Let's stick with them for now. Marisa: Very well.

Death Quote
"I lost..."

- Death Quote in The Sacred Stones

Conversation in the village on Chapter 10 Ephraim's route
(if any of the Player Units visited the lower village) Marisa: ...No good. [Player Unit]: What? Marisa: ...... This. [Player Unit]: Huh? Marisa: I found it. I can't use it yet. Good-bye. (Marisa leaves) [Player Unit]: Uh... (Got a Hero Crest)

Endings
After the war, Marisa became battalion leader for an elite mercenary force. Many men sought to challenge her to a duel, and none of them stood up to her blade.
 * Marisa, the Crimson Flash (緋閃 Hi sen)

Gerik remained a mercenary, and Marisa became his company's fencing instructor. Gerik returned the affection she gave him, although he was troubled to learn she was clumsy at everything but fighting.
 * (A Support with Gerik)

Joshua returned to Jehanna with Marisa, where she pledged service to the crown and became the top swordfighter in the land. Joshua still loved games of chance, but when it came to Marisa, she was ever the winner.
 * (A Support with Joshua)

Trivia

 * In a support conversation with Tethys, Marisa tells her that she can use either hand when holding a sword, but she prefers using her left hand, because she says that it is stronger.
 * Even though Ewan can be used to recruit her, Marisa is unable to have support conversations with Ewan.
 * The Hero in Marisa's SpotPass team in Fire Emblem Awakening represents Gerik.