Boyd

"Aw, that's a bunch of hooey! Survival on a battlefield depends on experience and luck. Nothing more! If you dive into battle with a conceited attitude, you'll end up dead no matter what blood is in your veins!"

- Boyd to Mist in a support conversation

Boyd (ボーレ Bōre, Bole in the Japanese version) is a playable character from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. He is the middle child of his family, and joined the Greil Mercenaries in order to support his younger brother Rolf and fight alongside his older brother Oscar. He is friendly rivals with Ike, and is supervised occasionally by his Deputy Commander, Titania.

Path of Radiance
Boyd is first introduced into this game in the Prologue, where he is tasked to check on Mist, who has apparently taken quite a while to get Greil to return to the mercenaries' fort. Upon catching up with Greil, he is then ordered to stand in as Ike's sparring partner. When Boyd is eventually defeated, he claims that he "wasn't really giving it [his] all", to which Mist asserts is a lie.

Alongside Oscar and Titania, Boyd is assigned to assist Ike in his first job as a mercenary in Chapter 1, where they are tasked to take out a group of bandits in a nearby village. At the end of the battle, Boyd dismissively passes off Ike's successes as "not being as flashy as [his] first time", whereupon Oscar reveals that he had gotten "so keyed up [he] broke his axe".

When Rhys later receives news of Rolf and Mist being captured by bandits in Rescue, Ike rashly dashes out of the fort in search of them, with Boyd, Oscar and Rhys hot on his heels.

At the start of the next chapter, Greil will then make the decision to punish Ike alone, to which Boyd, Oscar and Rhys jump in to assume responsibility, with Boyd exclaiming that it is not fair of Ike to "[play] the martyr". Greil then decides to punish Ike by separating him from Boyd, Oscar, and Rhys, sending him on a mission with Titania, Shinon and Gatrie instead.

Boyd returns in Chapter 5, where the mercenaries are faced with the dilemma of whether or not they should protect Princess Elincia from the invading Daein forces. When cued for his opinion, Boyd immediately responds by agreeing, asserting that this is "what heroes are supposed to do". After the end of the preceding battle, Boyd will assist the mercenaries in packing up to leave the fort for the safer confines of Gallia.

After Greil's death at the hands of the Black Knight in Chapter 7, Boyd and Oscar attempt to stop Gatrie and Shinon from leaving the mercenaries to no avail. He then readily accepts Ike as the new leader of the Greil Mercenaries, agreeing to support him all the way. In a Base Conversation Boyd shares with Ike later in the chapter, he reveals that he is indebted to Greil for having taken himself and his brothers in during their time of greatest need, or as he puts it, for "[giving] [them] [their] lives back". He then asserts that he is staying with Ike not out of obligation, but purely out of the need for him to "protect [his] family" from harm.

At the start of Chapter 9's battle, Mist and Rolf take to the battlefield, determined to assist the battle in any way they can. Boyd, concerned for their safety, attempts to urge them to get off the battlefield by rudely insulting their lack of battle skills. As his show of concern escalates to a bicker, Ike cuts Boyd off by allowing Mist and Rolf to join the mercenaries in battle, much to Boyd's immense exasperation.

Later in Chapter 13, Boyd will engage in a discussion with his brothers, where he expresses a desire to be able to perform an "unstoppable attack" with his brothers. This wish of his is granted in Chapter 19, where Oscar reveals the results of his research, whereupon Boyd impatiently tells him to summarize his findings. As Ike accidentally walks in on them later, they break off their discussion, not without Boyd proudly informing him that they have planned a "surprise".

Boyd will then remain with Ike's forces until the Mad King Ashnard is finally defeated, thereafter continuing his life as a member of the Greil Mercenaries.

Radiant Dawn
Boyd returns in this game at the end of Chapter 2-F, where he participates in the plan to rescue Lucia from Ludveck's rebel forces.

In Chapter 3-1, Boyd will be able to meet Rolf's biological mother when he visits a particular house in this chapter. Upon recognizing him, she will comment on how he resembles his father, to which he responds by feigning ignorance before leaving in a hurry.

Rolf's mother will then trespass into the encampment of the Laguz Alliance in the preceding chapter, and is saved from being captured by Oscar and Boyd. Boyd promptly gets into a heated confrontation with her, revealing the fact that she had abandoned her entire family in order to elope with an external lover. Being the compassionate individual that he is, Oscar will then attempt to get Rolf to meet her. Rolf will refuse to do so almost immediately, asserting that the only true family that he has is that of the Greil Mercenaries. As Oscar proceeds to get her to leave the encampment, Boyd, touched by Rolf's loyalty, goes on to assert that he is not a "thing" "to [be given] away to some crazy woman".

If Boyd shares an A-rank support with Mist, he will re-appear after 80 kills in Chapter 3-F have been achieved, where he alerts Ike to the fact that Mist has fainted. He then clears a path for Ike to carry her to safe confines, reminding her to "hang in there" for his sake.

Boyd is later spared when Ashera casts her judgment upon the continent of Tellius. He may subsequently be brought into the Tower of Guidance to reverse her judgment.

If Boyd shares an A-rank support with Mist, he will eventually marry her, and is described to be chagrined when she cries during their wedding vows.

Personality
While Oscar is calm, polite, and intelligent, Boyd is the direct opposite, and tends to be more reckless, brash, and a little dense. This has often led him to be the butt of jokes cracked by his brothers and Mist. Boyd is also portrayed as in individual who cares little about the tactics or gambles in a battle, and often fights without worrying about the details. He does question his role as a mercenary at times, as can be observed in his Support conversations with Brom.

In the events of Radiant Dawn, Boyd appears to have matured, and is no longer the simple-minded fool he was in Path of Radiance. This large change in his personality may be observed in the mannerisms he exhibits throughout the course of the game, where he is portrayed to display tact before speaking his mind. Boyd's transformation is not entirely complete, as he persists on constantly bickering with his brothers.

Recruitment

 * Chapter 1: Automatically from the start.

Growth Rates

 * 75%
 * 60%
 * 5%
 * 50%
 * 45%
 * 35%
 * 25%
 * 25%
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Support Conversations

 * Titania
 * Mist
 * Brom
 * Ulki

Bond Support

 * Oscar: 10%
 * Rolf: 10%

Promotional Gains
Promotion to Warrior * Only if Axe mastery level is at D or lower.
 * HP: +6
 * Strength: +2
 * Magic: +1
 * Skill: +2
 * Speed: +1
 * Defense: +2
 * Resistance: +2
 * Con: +1
 * Move: +1
 * Cap: +5
 * C FE9 Axe.png Rank*
 * E FE9 Bow.png Rank

Death Quote
"Blast! I'm not... I'm not supposed to... Oscar... Rolf... Forgive...me."

- Boyd's Death Quote

Overall
Due to his low level, good growths and immediate availability, Boyd can prove to be a very useful axeman. On most occasions, he will be able to max out his Strength and HP, and it is also possible to max out his Skill and Speed (with the aid of bands). Boyd's default skill, Tempest, grants him extra Hit and Avoid, but may prove to be a hindrance if his biorhythm is low. He also boasts solid supports, especially that of the Bond Supports he shares with his brothers. Furthermore, Boyd will be able to perform a Triangle Attack, with his brothers, provided that bows are picked as Oscar's second weapon upon promotion. As this attack allows its initiator to always land critical blows to enemy units, it is thus best for Boyd to initiate it, as he has the highest Strength out of the three brothers.

Availability

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◎=Forced　○=Available　□=Available for selected

Growth Rates

 * 80%
 * 65%
 * 5%
 * 45%
 * 45%
 * 40%
 * 50%
 * 10%
 * }

Bond Support

 * Oscar: 10%
 * Rolf: 10%
 * Mist: 5%

Promotional Gains
Promotion to Reaver
 * HP: +4
 * Strength: +2
 * Magic: +4
 * Skill: +2
 * Speed: +2
 * Defense: +2
 * Resistance: +4
 * Con: +0
 * Move: +0
 * Colossus.pngsus skill

Overall
With some proper training, Boyd can once again prove to be a useful asset on the battlefield. His HP and Strength are excellent as expected of the Warrior norm, and his Defense is surprisingly good too. Boyd's main downside is his slightly lackluster speed. While it might not be too much of a problem on both Easy and Normal, in Hard Mode he will have more trouble doubling enemies when compared to Nolan. However, a Speedwing and some Bonus Experience can easily fix his speed problem, and even then, his speed growth is decent enough to at least prevent him from being doubled. If you wish to use Boyd's physical prowess to it's fullest extent, then use an axe with high might such as one of the Poleaxes or Urvan to dish out some critical damage. Another thing worth noting is his ability to do the Triangle Attack with his brothers, Oscar and Rolf. It is also recommended for Boyd to initiate the attack, for he has the highest strength of the three.

Path of Radiance
'Great job, Ike! Of course, if I hadn't been by your side the whole time, victory might have slipped away...'

Radiant Dawn
Boyd trained day in and day out, so as not to lose his spot to "some stupid rookie". He never did, either. Boyd trained daily, so as not to lose his spot to "some stupid rookie". Mist humored her husband's insecurities.
 * Mighty Soldier (猛き豪腕 Take ki gō wan)
 * (A support with Mist)

Trivia

 * In Path of Radiance, Boyd is one of the two characters to have 3 support partners with the same affinity (Water), the other being Makalov (with Wind).
 * If Boyd is deployed in Part 3 Endgame of Radiant Dawn, a special conversation between Boyd, Mist, and Ike will be triggered once 80 units have been killed. This conversation involves Boyd covering the both of them as they head over to the location of Lehran's Medallion. If he shares an A support with Mist, she will ask him to wait for her.
 * Through Support Conversations in Path of Radiance, it is revealed that Boyd has a crush on Titania.
 * Even though Boyd claims Strength is more important than Skill, while Rolf claims the opposite, Rolf's Skill growth is ironically lower than Boyd's.

Etymology
Boyd is a Scottish surname which may have been derived from the name of the island of Bute.

Gallery
Boyd