Ashnard

"You? Cut me down? Heee... Good. If you possess the strength to do so, then so be it." - Ashnard, before engaging Ike in battle.

During the rule of the 12th king of Daein, a tragedy swept through the royal family and the commoners of the kingdom. It was said that a plague had claimed the countless lives that had been lost in this age. It was said that the king himself was taken by its avaricious hold. And it seemed that young Ashnard, who had once been so far from inheriting the throne, had merely ascended by mere fortune.

But a plague had not been the cause of these many deaths.

Ashnard, 13th king of Daein, had his father sign an accursed blood pact with a "wise man". This blood pact was activated, deceiving the king and slaughtering his people and relatives. When none stood in Ashnard's way any longer, the prince murdered his father with the wicked Gurgurant sword, and from the dead king's head he took the crown. Ashnard then tore the blood pact to shreds and the effect of the blood pact dissipated.

The 13th king of the nation of Daein, Ashnard wages war on Crimea in an effort to ignite a continent-wide conflict. His goal is to obtain Lehran's Medallion, the Fire Emblem, which holds the spirit of an evil god that thrives on chaotic energies. Although he obtains the medallion and makes numerous efforts to sow the seeds of war across Tellius, he is ultimately defeated at the end of the game despite being able to use the medallion to gain god-like power. Ashnard's wyvern mount is in fact not a wyvern at all, but the warped form of Rajaion, a dragon laguz and Ena's fiance. Before becoming king, he was a great warrior who was able to almost single-handedly grant victory to Daein in a minor conflict between Daein and Begnion. His rise to power was considered highly unlikely because a long list of other relatives stood ahead of him in line for the throne. Although it is publicly believed that a major illness led to the deaths of the other potential rulers, in reality, Ashnard killed them all. In the game's sequel, Radiant Dawn, it is revealed through Ashnard's wife, Almedha, that Ashnard had tricked his father the king into signing a blood pact. When the king unknowingly broke it, many citizens of Daein perished. Ashnard ended the blood pact by killing his father and destroying the document.

It is revealed that Ashnard believes that the current society, based on Begnion's hierarchy, is wrong. Ashnard believes that one's lot in life should be solely based on their power; he tells Ike that class and species won't matter in his world, that the strong will ultimately rule the weak. This likely explains Daein's system, where those who display great levels of might, particularly in combat, have the ability to gain much power within Daein society regardless of class or social standing. He wields the weapon Gurgurant. In Arthurian Mythology, Gurgurant was a cannibal king and father of a son that had been murdered by a giant.