Ayra

"You better not double-cross me Kinbois, because I'll hunt you down and put your head to a stick! Even if it takes me to the ends of hell! Got it!?"

- Ayra to Kinbois, regarding Shanan's fate at Genoa Castle in Verdane in Genealogy of the Holy War

Ayra (アイラ Aira, also known as Ira in the Japanese version and Aira in the fan translations) is a playable character from Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War.

Ayra was the first female "Sword Fighter" to appear in the Fire Emblem franchise. She has been credited with introducing the current form of the Myrmidon class, refining the Nabarl "archetype" into a distinct sword-wielding class from the Mercenary or "standard", Ogma-pattern sword fighter.

She is the first recruitable enemy in Genealogy of the Holy War. Owing to the difficulty of recruiting her (stemming from both the somewhat convoluted nature of her recruitment and her general aggressiveness and lethality), Ayra may be accidentally killed off as an enemy unit by players who are new to the game. This will prove to be detrimental to the player in both the short and long run, as both her children and herself are important assets to the armies of both generations. Ayra's lethality, and thus that of her children, make her a very valuable asset worth considering.

Ayra is also the first character to appear in the default demo sequence of the game, alongside Shanan. She is officially introduced at the beginning of Chapter 1 of Genealogy of the Holy War, shortly after Eldigan holds a discussion with Sigurd in Evans castle. When she is introduced, she is seen to be speaking to Kinbois, with her threatening him with death, should he eat his words.

Ayra has also made a cameo appearance in Fire Emblem: Awakening, via the SpotPass function.

Profile
Princess Ayra, a descendant of Odo, one of the 12 Jugdral Crusaders, was born and raised in Isaach castle, the capital city located in southern Isaach. She is the daughter of King Mananan and an anonymous deceased mother, and half-sister of Prince Mariccle, who is 12 years her senior. If paired, she will be the mother of Larcei and Ulster.

According to unofficial sources, Ayra was born in the Gran Calendar year 738~740 and stands at 169 centimeters in height. She weighs 53 kilograms, and her blood type is AB. In Genealogy of the Holy War, it is revealed that she had known Holyn prior to the events of the game. On hindsight, Ayra is presented to be rather cold and unfeeling towards strangers, with her true caring nature only revealed to those whom she considers to be close to her. As an Isaachian warrior, she is willing to reciprocate trust in whomever she carries a truce with.

In Gran 757, the Kingdom of Isaach was on the verge of destruction. During the events of the Prologue chapter of Genealogy of the Holy War, Prince Kurth of Belhalla Castle, Grannvale, made the decision for the Grannvaleian army to invade Ayra's country, the Kingdom of Isaach, because of public outcry involving the Isaachian barbarians from Rivough attacking Darna. Darna was once a peaceful dukedom and was originally cooperating with Grannvale, but there were several disturbing reports of massive slaughter being carried out by the Rivough army.

Ayra's father Mananan intended to reveal to Prince Kurth that only the Rivough army had attacked Darna, but was fatefully assassinated by Duke Reptor of Freege under the influence of Manfroy. Manfroy and Reptor wanted the Isaachian-Grannvaleian war to continue, in a conspiracy that also involved the likes of Duke Langobalt, in a bid to obtain more power for themselves.

At the time of the Isaachian-Grannvaleian war, the defeated men and children of Isaachian royalty were to be executed, with the women being forced into supposed slavery, which usually ended up with them being raped and tortured to death. Mariccle foresaw his own death and the fall of Isaach, and hence did not wish for either Ayra or Shanan to go through this suffering. With the fact that Grannvale's military might was far beyond that of Isaach in mind, he thus made the painful decision to order Ayra and Shanan to flee from Isaach to Verdane and escape Isaach's conflict with Grannvale.

At the time, Verdane was the only country that was not under Grannvaleian rule, as it did not foster friendly ties with Grannvale.

Upon arriving in Verdane, Shanan found his new life in Verdane amusing, even going so far as to make a game out of it. However, Ayra was known to struggle to make ends meet both for herself and Shanan, and thus forced herself to work as a mercenary for Kinbois.

She shows up with Kinbois in Chapter 1 of Genealogy of the Holy War, taking place in the Gran Calendar year 757. She is employed to guard his castle, Genoa, while he advances northward to retake the castle of Evans. Kinbois, having left only a pittance of his army at Genoa, has Shanan locked in the dungeon to prevent Ayra from shirking from her duties. This results in Ayra threatening to impale Kinbois on a stick in order to prevent him from breaking his promise.

When Sigurd and his forces approach Genoa Castle, Ayra declares that she will kill anyone who dares to come near her, and thus begins to fight. Sigurd then manages to conquer Genoa Castle, rescuing Shanan in the process. Shanan will then explain Ayra's situation to Sigurd, resulting in her life being spared. Thereafter, Ayra, as a means to expressing her gratitude towards Sigurd for rescuing Shanan, decides to enlist in his army.

Later in Chapter 1, after Sigurd manages to convince her to join his army, she will discuss the political situation between Isaach and Grannvale with Quan. Through this conversation, it is revealed that Quan's father, King Calf of Leonster, holds Ayra's father Mananan in high regard. Ayra then informs Quan that in response to her father's death, her brother Mariccle launched a full-scale war against Grannvale. However, Grannvale's military might is far beyond that of Isaach, resulting in Mariccle perishing as a result.

As the player later learns, Mananan is assassinated by the Duke of Freege, Reptor, as he journeyed to Belhalla to explain the situation with Rivough to Prince Kurth. As a result, despite having joined the ranks of Sigurd's army, Ayra still views Grannvale as her sworn enemy.

In Chapter 3, either Lex or Holyn may present Ayra the Brave Sword, with them admitting that the going will become much tougher with more battles being waged.

In Chapter 5, after Sigurd conquers Lubeck Castle, Ayra's children, Larcei and Ulster (provided she is paired up by this time), will flee alongside Shanan, Oifey, and Seliph to the safe confines of Isaach, where they eventually settle down in the town of Tirnanog. After watching them disappear from sight, Ayra will speak to Sigurd, informing him that she has decided to wrap up the favor she owes him after the Battle of Belhalla, expressing the desire to raise Shanan.

By a cruel twist of fate, however, Ayra's whereabouts after this particular battle are left unknown. Neither the game itself nor other official sources reveal her fate after the Battle of Belhalla, resulting in the arising of heated debate concerning her whereabouts. According the manga adaptation by Oosawa Mitsuki, Ayra survived the Battle of Belhalla but died years afterwards, a plausible perspective that is not confirmed.

Ayra herself is not directly mentioned in Fire Emblem: Thracia 776. However, the game confirms that the other female members of Sigurd's army who were present in the Battle of Belhalla managed to survive, leading to certain sources claiming that Ayra had perished in the Battle of Belhalla.

Recruitment
"Then put down your sword. As a descendant of Baldur, the crusader of light, I will not betray you."

- Sigurd recruiting Ayra

Getting Ayra to join Sigurd's forces is somewhat difficult, but she is well worth the effort. First off, Sigurd and his forces have to lure her away from Genoa Castle, with characters such as Alec and Arden being sent down as bait to attract her attention, owing to the fact that they are resistant to her meteor attack. This will give Sigurd the chance to approach Genoa Castle and retake it without Ayra engaging in battle. She will be recruited upon speaking to her with Sigurd after Genoa Castle is captured.

Another way to recruit her is to lure her away from the castle by a mounted unit she cannot reach. With this, Sigurd can capture the castle. Upon capturing the castle, Ayra will go towards it to see Shanan, upon which Sigurd can intercept her and talk to her.

Base Stats

 * [[File:Minor_Holy_Blood_Indicator.gif]] - Minor Holy Blood
 * [[File:Major_Holy_Blood_Indicator.gif]] - Major Holy Blood

Growth Rates
(With Holy Blood Bonuses)


 * 70%
 * 30%
 * 5%
 * 60%
 * 30%
 * 20%
 * 20%
 * 5%
 * }

Promotion Gains

 * Promotes to [[File:FE4 Swordmaster Sprite (F).gif]]Swordmaster
 * Strength: +5
 * Magic: +0
 * Skill: +5
 * Speed: +5
 * Defense: +2
 * Resistance: +3
 * Movement: +0

Love Growths

 * Sigurd: N/A
 * Quan: N/A
 * Finn: 0+2
 * Noish: 0+2
 * Alec: 0+2
 * Arden: 0+2
 * Lex: 0+2
 * Azel: 0+2
 * Midayle: 0+2
 * Dew: 0+2
 * Jamke: 0+2
 * Holyn: 0+2
 * Lewyn: 50+2
 * Beowolf: 50+2
 * Claud: 200+2

Overview
Ayra exudes traits that are reminiscent of the Nabarl archetype: deadly offense, high Evasion, and low durability. However, unlike other Nabarl-type characters in the series, instead of her deadliness coming from having a Killing Edge when she is recruited, she instead comes with the Shooting Star sword skill that enables her to attack 5 times instead of only once. Ayra is the unit with the single most physical damage potential of all of the first generation units, where Jamka is the most dangerous physical ranged unit, and Lewyn is the most dangerous Magic unit. While all three are capable of dealing massive damage, Ayra has the highest overall potential assuming she activates Shooting Star on each possible swing while equipping her Hero Sword.

Ayra can easily be trained to her promotional level without the aid of tactics involving Boss Abuse or Elite Ring as she can not only kill enemy units easily, but she also has a very easy time clearing the Arena as her offensive potential can make short work of almost any arena enemy. Without even feeding her many enemies on the map, she should promote around the beginning of Chapter 4 due to clearing the Arena every map.

Ayra does come with two notable downsides despite her amazing potential for damage dealing: her low Movement and low overall durability. In Genealogy of the Holy War, maps are very large and it is quite easy for your mounted units to clear up the majority of enemy units before your units on foot can even reach the battle. You can have your mounted units restrict their movement so that your ground units can keep up, but this often comes at the price of losing potent items to burnt down villages or recruitable characters dying. To alleviate this, you could have Ayra obtain the Leg Ring during Chapter 3, though many players opt to give this item to either Sigurd, Ferry, or their favorite mounted unit.

Either way, Ayra is an offensive powerhouse, and you won't be disappointed with her combat results.

Mother Overview
Ayra is a great mother, making it so that practically any playable male character in Sigurd's tale can be the father of her children without ruining them. Though any male is suitable, some prime candidates for Ayra's husband are Holyn, Lex, Dew, or Noish. The males that don't really do anything for Ayra's children are Azel, Alec, Arden, and Claud as they give no skills (or in Alec's case, one skill of dubious use for her children) and most other pairings offer better stats or weaponry. There are more instances where Ayra is the ideal choice as a mother than any other female unit in Sigurd's army.

Though Holyn and Lex can give Ayra a Brave Sword, she is not required to take either of them as a husband to obtain the weapon, and therefore should accept the event whether or not she's meant to marry the character granting it. When pairing Ayra with a male unit that can use B-level swords but not A-level swords (Noish or Alec), it's advisable to have her give her Brave Sword to him and then win the Silver Blade from Chagall, as that way both her children will inherit an excellent weapon.

Noish offers solid stats and will make Ayra's children more offensively impressive with Continue and Critical (a skill they are both perfectly suited for) and offers inheritance of B rank swords to Ulster. Lex gives excellent stats with his Neir blood and Paragon being inherited by two of the starting characters in the second generation will maximise its usefulness; however he does not grant any weapon inheritance and therefore Ulster must make do with his starting weapon until a better one can be bought or won. Dew offers perhaps the best stat growths for the children, as well as the useful Sun Sword & Bargain skills. Holyn is the most straightforward: he will make both slightly slightly better versions of their parents as well as granting full inheritance to Ulster. As previously stated, any of them will still result in her children being excellent. Note that Astral Sword, Lunar Sword, and Sun Sword cannot simultaneously activate, therefore it is somewhat redundant to accumulate more than one such skill on her children.

SpotPass
*Enemy only, joins unequipped

Recruit Conversation
Sigurd: Ayra, wait! We've got Prince Shanan. You don't need to fight anymore! Ayra: What!? YOU rescued Shanan? Prove it to me! Sigurd: Prince Shanan told me that you're the younger sister to the King of Isaach. He also said that you'd be hostile towards us since we're from Grannvale. But consider the facts. You have a young prince to protect. Is this war really worth risking your life over!? Ayra: My brother, the king, was prepared for death when he entrusted Shanan with me. We've come this far ... But you're right. I can't risk my life for Verdane! I must see Shanan through until he's old enough to become a respectable king. Sigurd: Then put down your sword. As descendant of Baldur, the Crusader of Light, I will not betray you. Ayra: ... Consider yourself reciprocated then. That's the way of the Isaachian warrior. For now I consecrate my sword to thee. But I still view Grannvale as my sworn enemy. Just so prepare for the day when that enemy may include you. Sigurd: War sure can be cruel. Ayra, warrior of Isaach ... I pray that day never comes.

Death Quotes
"Shanan ... I'm sorry."

- If Ayra dies as an enemy in Genealogy of the Holy War

"Shanan, be strong."

- If Ayra dies as a playable character and does not have a lover in Genealogy of the Holy War

"Shanan, be strong. , I want to see you again ..."

- If Ayra dies as a playable character and has a lover in Genealogy of the Holy War

Conversations
In Chapter 1, after Genoa Castle is captured, Sigurd may speak to Ayra to recruit her.

In Chapter 1, after Ayra is recruited, Quan may speak to her, but nothing will result of it.

In Chapter 3, if neither Ayra, Lex, nor Holyn has a lover, either one of the two male characters may speak to her, resulting in her receiving a Brave Sword and 100 love points with the conversation initiator.

In Chapter 5, after Lubeck Castle is captured, Sigurd may speak to Ayra, but nothing will result of it.

In Chapter 5, if Ayra's lover is either Lex, Holyn, or Arden, she may speak to him, but nothing will result of it.

Etymology
Ayra's Japanese name, "Ira", is Latin for Wrath. Ira is also a diminutive form of Irina, a given feminine Slavic name and Irene, meaning peace. Ira is also a given unisex Hebrew name meaning "watchful".

Trivia

 * Ayra is the rare figurine in the Fire Emblem: Exceed a Generation Trading Figure collection.
 * The Fire Emblem Treasure family tree reveals that Mariccle and Ayra may have different mothers.
 * Ayra is paired with Lex in the Oosawa Mitsuki manga adaptation of the game. In said adaptation, they are shown to engage each other in battle when the they first meet.
 * In the Nattsu Fujimori manga adaptation, Ayra is first courted by Alec, but is shown to reject his affections. Later, she is paired with Holyn, whose child self appears to her in her dreams, although it took her quite a while to recognize him.