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!?" — Ira to Kinbois concerning Shanan's fate at Genoa Castle in Verdane

Ira (アイラ, Aira) is a young female swordfighter from Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu, a 1996 release for the Super Famicom. Most English-speaking players call her Ayra as originally translated in an early translation. Her name is translated Aira in the most recent version of the fan translation patch to the game, but she is still called Ayra by the English-speakers. She was the first popular female swordfighter in Fire Emblem history. She has been credited for introducing the Swordmaster class with its unpromoted form Myrmidon being introduced by Rutgar from Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi, both which would later be the trademark for the Nabarl archetype. She also possesses the special skill known as Ryuuseiken, or Meteor Sword. Due to the difficulty of recruiting her, Ira may be killed off as an enemy by players who are new to Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu (which would be a huge loss to Siglud's party and regretful to Celice's party), but she is very highly praised by more knowledgeable fans of the game and is one of the most popular characters in the game. She is the first recruitable enemy in the game. She is the first character to appear in the default demo sequence of the game, alongside Shanan. She is introduced at the beginning of Chapter 1 of Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu, shortly after Eltosian is through meeting with Siglud. When she is introduced, Kinbois talks with her.

Ira possesses the skills Pursuit, Awareness ("Nihil"), and Ryuuseiken (Meteor Sword) (which only Isaacian royalty can master). She is considered one of the more versatile characters of Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu, and vies in competition with Levin, the prince of Silesia, and Brigid, lord of Jungby, among others, for this title. She is a great suitor ability-wise for just about any playable male character in Siglud's tale other than Siglud and Cuan 1, being arguably the best suitor of Holyn, Lex, Dew, or Noish. However, since she does not let Levin pass the Holsety spell or Claude pass the Valkyrie staff on to Celice's generation, pairings with those two are rarely considered. Holyn and Lex tend to be most often dubbed her best suitors, both due to the skillsets they provide her children (Lakche and Skasaher) and because either of them can give her a Hero Sword, one of the better weapons in the game. However, it is possible to pair her with someone else after having one of them give her the sword.

Biography
Princess Ira, a descendant of Odo, one of the 12 Jugdral Crusaders, was born and raised in Isaac castle, the capital city located in southern Isaac. She has long, jet black hair with bangs. She was born to King Mananan (named after the mythical figure Manannan mac Lir) and an unknown deceased queen. According to unofficial manga, she was born in the Gran Calendar year 738; she stands 169 centimeters tall, weighs 53 kilograms, and her blood type is AB. She knew only Holyn before the onset of Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu. In the Gran Calendar year 757 (the onset of Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu), when Mariccle was King of Isaac, Prince Kult made the decision to have the Kingdom of Grandbell subdue the Kingdom Isaac. This came about due to the leader of Rivough, one of the major cities of Isaac, invading the city of Darna which was under Grandbellian protection. That conflict forced Ira and her nephew Shanan, son of her older brother Mariccle, to flee the country. Mariccle foresaw that he would not survive the war, and wanted his son to be safe so he could return to Isaac and take the throne in the future. They eventually came to the Kingdom of Verdane and ended up working for Prince Kinbois as a mercenary. Ira and has an iron will. She is coldhearted towards strangers and is nice and caring to those who are close to her. As an Isaacian warrior, she is willing to reciprocate trust in whomever she carries a conversation with.

Character history
In Gran 757, the Kingdom of Isaac was on the verge of destruction. In the meantime of the Prologue chapter of Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu, Prince Kult from Barhara Castle, Grandbell, makes the decision for the Grandbellian army to invade Ira's country, the Kingdom of Isaac, because of public outcry involving the Isaacian barbarians from Rivough attacking Darna. Darna was once a peaceful dukedom and was cooperating with Grandbell, but there were reports of massive slaughter being caused by the Rivough army. Ira's father Mananan was going to reveal to Prince Kult that Isaacian royality was not involved in the attack on Darna, but he was assassinated by Duke Reptor of Freege under Manfroy's influence. At the time, the defeated men and children of Isaacian royalty were to be executed, and although the case for women was instead slavery, this would usually end up with rape and torture to death. Mariccle did not want Ira or Shanan to go through this suffering. Therefore, he ordered Ira and Shanan to flee from Isaac, through Manster (which includes Lenster), through Miletos, through the south tip of Grandbell (near Jungby), and eventually to Verdane, in order to escape Isaac's conflict with Grandbell. At the time, Verdane was the only country that was not under Grandbellian protection, and that country is also hostile toward Grandbell. Even if Ira and Shanan were to stay, with peaceful relations to Grandbell, in any of the countries that are under Grandbellian protection, they could be presented as prisoners to Grandbell if their identity was revealed to Barhara royalty at the time.

Upon arrival to Verdane, Shanan found his new life in Verdane amusing, making a game out of it, but Ira was struggling to find her own way in life. She found out that she had no alternative but to work for Kinbois, son of King Batou and brother of Jamka, as a mercenary. Ira shows up with Kinbois in Chapter 1 of Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu, 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, recently taken by Siglud's army in their attempt to rescue Aideen of Jungby from Verdane's Prince Gandolf. Kinbois, having left only a pittance of his army at Genoa, had Shanan locked in the dungeon to prevent Ira from shirking her duty. Ira would also threaten to impale Kinbois on a stick in order to prevent him from breaking his promise.

When Siglud and his forces come too close to Genoa Castle, Ira declares that she will kill anyone coming near her, and she begins to fight. Siglud has to conquer Genoa Castle, rescuing Shanan in the process, without killing off Ira, and Shanan will explain the situation to Siglud. Thereafter, Siglud is able to recruit Ira. Upon learning that Genoa castle has been taken by Grandbell, Ira's thoughts turn towards Shanan, whom the Grandbellians will surely imprison if they find him, and heads for Genoa to rescue him before that happens. Siglud comes across her before she gets back and informs her of Shanan's safety, and she joins Siglud's army for the time being. Later in Chapter 1, after Siglud is through talking with her, Ira talks with Cuan about the political situation between Isaac and Grandbell. Cuan's father, King Lenster, has a high opinion of Ira's father Mananan. As the player learns later, Mananan was assassinated by the Duke of Freege, Reptor, as he journeyed to Barhara to explain the situation with Rivough to Prince Kult. Even after she joins Siglud's party, Ira still views Grandbell as her sworn enemy, but Siglud tells her that he does not want to ever have to fight against her, and he does not care too much about the war with Isaac, which ends in the meantime of Chapter 2, when her older brother Mariccle dies.

In Chapter 3, either Lex or Holyn may give her the Yuusha (or Hero/Brave) Sword, since things are going to become harder as the player advances through the game. In Chapter 5, after Siglud conquers Lubeck Castle, Ira's children flee with Shanan, Oifaye, and Celice to Isaac, eventually settling for the time being at Tilnanogue. After that Ira talks with Siglud, and informs him that she has finished her duties to raise Shanan and that she wants to stay with Siglud until the Battle of Barhara at the end of Chapter 5 where Siglud and his army fall into a fatal trap set by Alvis and his mage unit. The game Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu is unclear on her situation on the trap. According the manga adaptation by Oosawa Mitsuki, Ira survived the Battle of Barhara (also known as the Barhara Massacre) but died years afterwards, but this is not confirmed. She is presumed dead during the ending of the game. However, it is unconfirmed whether she died in or survived the Battle of Barhara or whether she died afterwards, or whether she remained alive at the time of the game ending. She was not mentioned in Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, and that game confirms that the other female members of Siglud's army who were present in the Battle of Barhara survived. That has made some sources to assume that Ira died in the Battle of Barhara.

Recruitment

 * "Then put down your sword. As a descendant of Baldo, the crusader of light, I will not betray you." — Siglud, recruiting Ira

Ira is initially hostile toward Siglud and his army, since she is from Isaac and most of his forces already in his army including himself are from Grandbell. Cuan, Fin, and Ethlin from Lenster in the Manster District (Lenster nobility having ties with both Grandbell and Isaac), and Dew the thief are the only exceptions at the time of Ira's recruitment. Getting Ira to join Siglud's forces is somewhat difficult, but she is worth the effort. First, Siglud and his forces have to lure her away from Genoa Castle, to allow Siglud room to take it over; if she is nearby when he does, she will attack him (and likely either kill him, or die herself). Siglud can recruit Ira after subduing Genoa.

Death Quotes

 * "Shanan ... I'm sorry." (if Ira dies as an enemy)
 * "Shanan, be strong." (if Ira dies as a playable character and she is single)
 * "Shanan, be strong. , I want to see you again ..." (if Ira dies as a playable character and she is married)

Starting Stats
|Sword Fighter |4 |32 |11 |N/A |16 |17 |3 |7 |1 |6 |Sword