Gerik

"If your desire to win is stronger than your opponent's, you've already won. Your mind is your most important weapon."

- Gerik in a support conversation with Ross

Gerik (ジスト Jisuto, known as Xyst in the Japanese versions) is a playable character in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. He is the leader of a small group of mercenaries. Gerik is known to be kinder and more concerned about his men than most mercenary leaders, which is why Tethys and Marisa harbor feelings for him. He hails from Jehanna and is a very experienced and skilled swordsman. He is better known as the Desert Tiger. Gerik is good friends with Saleh and Joshua.

Personality
From his childhood and throughout his career as a mercenary, Gerik had always detested violence, although he had a strong conviction to protect those he loved dearly. His need to protect his friends started his career as a mercenary and spurred him on when his friend was killed, the need shifting to his new friends made from his career. It is revealed in his A support with Saleh that he is responsible for the death of Gerik's friend, Zabba, but Gerik forgives him.

Gerik is also observant and is guileful, shown when he sees through Joshua's cheating when he duels him and when he stays with Innes after tricking the sniper when he tried to dismiss Gerik, accidentally firing the mercenary and making it unable to order Gerik and Tethys to leave his service. Despite his resentment to fighting, he also shows the fighter Garcia admiration for his prowess in combat.

Gerik's scar, according to his and Tethys's supports, was acquired during a duel. When younger, Gerik had become haughty and arrogant in combat, and so he challenged a much more experienced knight. He lost soundly, but his opponent spared him, leaving the scar on his face. He learned from the experience, becoming a wise leader in the process. In Gerik's supports with Ross, he mentions that he had been on the opposite side of a battlefield of Ross' father Garcia who was then a knight. Between Tethys' and Ross' supports, it can be inferred that Garcia is the man who left the wound on Gerik's face.

Growth Rates

 * 90%
 * 45%
 * 40%
 * 30%
 * 30%
 * 35%
 * 25%
 * }

Promotion Gains
Promotion to Hero
 * HP: +4
 * Strength: +1
 * Skill: +2
 * Speed: +2
 * Defense: +2
 * Resistance: +2
 * Constitution: +2
 * Movement: +1
 * +40 Weapon EXP in Sword.gif Swords
 * D Rank in Axe.gif Axes

Promotion to Ranger
 * HP: +3
 * Strength: +2
 * Skill: +1
 * Speed: +1
 * Defense: +3
 * Resistance: +3
 * Movement: +2
 * D Rank in Bow.gif Bows

Supports

 * Ross
 * Joshua
 * Innes
 * Tethys
 * Marisa
 * Saleh

Overall
Gerik is a very useful unit, with two good potential promotions, the Ranger and the Hero. His growths and bases nearly lean towards a lighter General than your average hero, with him almost always maxing HP and Strength by 20/20, skill and defense not being far behind. His decent speed, especially combined with his Constitution, enables him to double most units throughout the game. His high Skill and decent Luck also complements his immense strength, allowing him to usually hit all but the most agile of enemies reliably. He comes with a Hero Crest, but it is usually better to wait until a higher level to use it on Gerik, since he is usable from the moment you get him - he easily routs most enemies he fights. Saving the crest allows him to better use the experience gains of a lower level unit for the longest time possible.

The hero class is most likely the best choice for Gerik, considering he has few problems wielding axes without speed loss with his boost to Constitution as a Hero. Gerik is a potent infantry unit. With axes to supplement his access to swords and his great skill stat, Gerik can reliably use axes with greater accuracy than most units to take advantage of their power. Moreover, with the use of axes, Gerik has access to Hand Axes, giving him full melee and ranged counterattacks unlike the Ranger, who needs to switch between swords and bows.

Gerik as a ranger is also a viable class. However, if a bow is equipped at the end of the turn, most enemy attacks won't be returned; however, using a sword will remedy this. The ranger class also has greater mobility than the hero class, turning Gerik into a mounted unit rather than an infantry unit. Unfortunately, doing so will make him weak to the Zanbato and Horseslayer weapons, which quite a few enemies equip.

He has a myriad of useful supports, as he will often be fighting in the front lines along with Joshua, Marisa, or Ross, all three having the same movement in the same tiers. Ross and Joshua are especially useful supports as both of their elemental affinities add bonus damage to their partners. Gerik's Thunder affinity does particularly well by giving critical chance to all three. Marisa is arguably the worst "Choice," out of the three, as her Ice affinity only provides defensive and hit bonuses, defense being something that Gerik doesn't need and the Hit bonus being overkill with his already good skill and decent luck.

Quotes
"If you live on the battlefield, you know this day will come..."

- Death Quote

Endings
Gerik continued as a mercenary. Over the year, his reputation grew so great that he had more job offers than he could handle. One day, without warning, he left, never to return.
 * Gerik, the Desert Tiger (砂漠の虎 Sabaku no tora)

Gerik and Tethys remained bound to no nation and beholden to no authority. They bought themselves a leisurely retirement. Gerik taught fencing to city youths, and Tethys found many stages on which to dance.
 * (A Support with Tethys)

After the war, Joshua challenged Gerik to a duel in hopes of pressing him to move to Jehanna. The match ended in a tie, but Gerik was impressed by Joshua's swagger. From that day forward, Gerik never left Joshua's side.
 * (A Support with Joshua)

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 Marisa)

Etymology
'Gerik' is probably a variation of the name "Garrick", which comes from the Germanic name elements 'gar' (spear) and 'ric' (kingdom).

His Japanese name, 'Xyst' may come from the Latin word 'xyst, xystum,' which refers to a tree-lined walk or road. 'Xysticus' is a genus of crab-spiders.