Eliwood

"I know that I've caused much pain for my friends. But that is why... I will not lose here today!!"

- Eliwood vs Nergal

Eliwood (エリウッド Eriuddo, lit. Elioud; romanized as Eliwod in the Fire Emblem: Binding Blade and Rekka no Ken artbook) is one of the three main characters in Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken and the father of Roy, the main character of Fire Emblem: Binding Blade.

Eliwood appears as a Sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Profile
Eliwood was born of the noble house of Pherae; his father was Lord Elbert and his mother was Lady Eleanora. His childhood best friend was Hector, the younger brother of Uther, the Marquess Ostia. These two attended school together and, as they grew older, their friendship grew as well. He is expected to be around the age of 16 when Lyn first meets him in chapter 7 and a year older in chapter 11 (Eliwood's story) or chapter 12 (Hector's story) due to his support conversation with Hector, which states they have been sparring since the age of 12 once every two months, with a total of 30 or so battles. If so, then he would be 17 in his story.

Lyn's Story
By chance, one day, when Eliwood was scheduled to meet with Hector, he stumbled upon a group of bandits who had captured a young girl named Ninian. After he set about rescuing the girl, he met Lyn and decided to see if he could help her in her quest to free Caelin from Lord Lundgren. Eliwood convinced Caelin's neighbors to remain neutral in Lyn's dispute.

Eliwood's Story
Eliwood is a noble on a quest to find his father, who had been kidnapped by the Dark Druid, Nergal. His objectives soon change, however, and Eliwood fights a group of assassins called the Black Fang. As the story progresses, Eliwood comes to battle with Nergal's morphs (zombie-like creatures, some of who are sentient), Nergal himself, and a renegade Fire Dragon to save the world. To defeat Nergal, he journeys deep within the earth to retrieve Durandal, a legendary sword and the eponymous Rekka no Ken or "Blazing Sword," which was used by Roland, the founder of Lycia.

Depending on his supports, he can wed Ninian, Lyndis, or Fiora, and becomes the father of Roy.

Fire Emblem: Binding Blade
At the start of the game, he is beset by illness, so he decides to stay at Castle Pherae to not burden Roy. He then sends his son to Ostia and hires Dieck's mercenaries to help him. However, he and Hector can be used as playable characters in the link arena and the battle maps after the game is beaten. He comes as a Paladin.

He plays a minor role in the Hasha no Tsurugi manga during the Kruzard arc, which occurs between chapters 9 - 13. During this arc, he is attempting to help reform the Lycia Alliance amidst a rebellion lead by Kruzard. He then later works with Cecilia in sending Al's group to the Western Isles to investigate the Etruian governments' corruption on the Isles.

Recruitment

 * Trial Maps: Clear the game five times.

Growth Rates

 * 60%
 * 20%
 * 30%
 * 35%
 * 25%
 * 15%
 * 5%
 * }

Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken
Description: ''Marquess Pherae's young son. Just and honorable.''

Recruitment
Eliwood’s Mode
 * Chapter 11: Automatically from the start.

Hector’s Mode
 * Chapter 12: Automatically from the start.

Growth Rates

 * 80%
 * 45%
 * 50%
 * 40%
 * 45%
 * 30%
 * 35%
 * }

Supports

 * Hector
 * Lyn
 * Ninian
 * Marcus
 * Lowen
 * Harken
 * Fiora

Overall
While Lyn possesses high Speed, Skill, and Luck, and Hector possesses high HP, Strength, and Defense, Eliwood has no stat in which he truly excels, although it should be noted that he possesses an unusually high Resistance growth for any physical unit short of a Falcoknight, outstripping both of his peers in Resistance. In addition, his high HP growth and average Defense together means that Eliwood is not a unit that will die easily.

Although slow in comparison with Lyn, Eliwood's decent Speed and Luck growths, combined with his base of 7 for both, grant him good avoid and doubling capacities, though he may have trouble doubling enemies early on. His Skill will rarely be a problem, but his Strength starts off rather low, and this, combined with his lack of early ability to double, may result in the player having to feed him kills occasionally. Fortunately, however, his Rapier goes a long way towards fixing this offensive problem while, allowing him to kill enemies and even bosses without too much difficulty.

Once Eliwood gets past his initial difficulty with scoring kills, he will quickly mature into a strong and efficient fighter, dealing moderate to high damage and doubling reliably, and his good Avoid means that he will rarely be hit. In addition, he possesses the Anima Affinity, widely considered to be one of the best Affinities, and his supports with Hector and Lowen (and to a lesser extent, Lyn) will boost his fighting capabilities considerably. He does possess other supports as well; however, they are generally considered less effective than the ones already mentioned.

Despite Eliwood's high combat potential, in his story, his extremely late promotion will render his good growths near meaningless, although if he's had good Level Ups, he can still perform fairly well against some of the late-game bosses. In Hector's story, on the other hand, he can promote as early as Chapter 24, which will give him a good chance to get to Level 15 or so promoted, at which point his Strength and Speed will both be enough to ORKO almost all generic enemies aside from Generals and Wyvern Lords, the former of which he can use his Rapier against; in addition, his promotion will give him very high Aid and Movement, making him a good candidate for rescuing Hector in order to get to the Gate/Throne more quickly.

All things considered, Eliwood is a solid unit with good utility both early-game and late-game, thanks to his Rapier and horse respectively, and he has plenty of opportunities to gain Experience thanks to being a Lord. In other words, Eliwood is by no means a liability and should prove to be quite helpful over the course of the game.

SpotPass
*Enemy only, joins unequipped

Battle Conversations
Boies: You've done well to come this far, laddie! Eliwood: Where is Marquess Santaruz? Boies: ''I imagine he's on his way to a better place. Gehah! Geh heh hehhh!'' Eliwood: Wretched cur!
 * Vs. Boies in Chapter 13

Eliwood: ''Erik! Stop this nonsense. I've no wish to strike down a fellow classmate.'' Erik: ''You sentimental fool! You think we're still in school? Well, let me give you an education! First, you will fall, and then Hector. Pherae and Ostia will be crushed beneath my boot! Soon, all of Lycia will be under our control!!!''
 * Vs. Erik in Chapter 14

Eliwood: ''I'm searching for my father. If you are determined to block our progress... Then you shall be moved!!'' Uhai: Do your worst!
 * Vs. Uhai in Chapter 18

Eliwood: ''Darin! Your treachery ends here!!'' Darin: ''Ha ha ha ha. I will never fall to the likes of you!!''
 * Vs. Darin in Chapter 19

Eliwood: ...Black Fang? Oleg: ''I bring an invitation from my master, Nergal. "Return the children to me." Seems foolish to deliver the message... After all, I can take them both myself and go now!'' Eliwood: You'll never take them!!
 * Vs. Oleg in Chapter 20

Linus: ''Hey! You're Eliwood, right?'' Eliwood: ...Are you the leader of this group? Linus: I am. Eliwood: ''I've a question for you... I heard that the Black Fang possessed strong convictions. If so, then why do you follow a man like Nergal?'' Linus: ''...Nergal? Oh, that eerie man Sonia introduced my father to. This has nothing to do with him. I merely complete the missions given me!'' Eliwood: And you never question the justness of your missions? Linus: ''Question? What's to question? Neither my father nor my brother makes mistakes!'' Eliwood: Yet, the... Linus: ''Will you stop yammering! I don't need my brother to finish you off. I will crush you myself, in the name of the Fang!'' Eliwood: Ah!!
 * Vs. Linus in Chapter 23

Eliwood: ...Are you the leader of this group? Lloyd: Yes. Eliwood: ''I heard that the Black Fang possessed strong convictions. If so, then why do you follow a man like Nergal?'' Lloyd: ''This has nothing to do with Nergal or Sonia. We simply complete the missions given us.'' Eliwood: And you never question the justness of your missions? Lloyd: ''Who are we to pass judgment on the commands given us? We are the jaw that bites. We act without question.'' Eliwood: But... Lloyd: ''Granted, you don't seem like a bad sort. However, the Fang's judgment cannot be undone. It is time for you to die.'' Eliwood: Ah!!
 * Vs. Lloyd in Chapter 23

Lloyd: We meet at last, Eliwood. Eliwood: ''Ah! Hold on! Let's talk! We...'' Lloyd: ''I'm Lloyd Reed, son of Brendan Reed. My brother, Linus, whom you killed, longs for you to join him.......Prepare to die.'' Eliwood: Wait!!!
 * Vs. Lloyd in Chapter 27

Linus: ''You're Eliwood, right?! I've been looking for you!'' Eliwood: ''Hey!! Hold on! We need to talk about things...'' Linus: ''I am Linus Reed, son of Brendan Reed. I am the vengeance of Lloyd, whose life you stole! Prepare yourself! I'm coming for you!!!'' Eliwood: Wait!!!
 * Vs. Linus in Chapter 27

Eliwood: Nergal! Nergal: ''So you're here, Eliwood. I thought losing Ninian might distract you. Have you forgotten her so quickly? How heartless.'' Eliwood: ''I haven't forgotten. I'll never forget. It was my mistake that killed Ninian. Because of that... I will fight. I will not run away and hide in sorrow... I'm going to put an end to all of this!''
 * Vs. Nergal in Final Chapter (Eliwood's Story)

Nergal: ''Did you know, Eliwood? What happened to your friend Hector? What he was thinking as he fought by your side?'' Eliwood: ...... Nergal: ''Heh heh... It's a pity. If only he had been free to return to Ostia.'' Eliwood: ''I know that I've caused much pain for my friends. But that is why... I will not lose here today!!''
 * Vs. Nergal in Final Chapter (Hector's Story)

Tactician Conversation
"Mark. The captured Caelin soldiers are most likely exhausted. I'd like to protect them and keep them from having to fight. I realize that makes it difficult for you to plan a strategy, but... I will do my best to take up their share of the fighting. Now, please tell us what we should do, Mark."

- Eliwood's pre-battle conversation with the Tactician in Chapter 16

Final Chapter Quote
"Everyone... Let's go! We've got to stop Nergal!"

- Eliwood's Final Chapter Quote (Eliwood's Story)

Death Quotes
"Mother... Father... Please...forgive me..."

- Eliwood's Death Quote

Eliwood: ''I can't...continue... Mother... I'm truly sorry...'' Hector: ''No! Not here! Not now... Forgive me, Eliwood. Tell my brother...''
 * Eliwood's Alternate Death Quote (Unused)

Possible Endings

 * Eliwood - Knight of Lycia
 * Eliwood succeeded his father as the marquess of Pherae. His sincerity and his clear guidance made him his father's equal in all eyes.


 * Eliwood and Ninian
 * Eliwood and Ninian were wed after the conflict. Ninian gave up her old life and her people to enjoy a brief life with Eliwood. They have a son named Roy, who will one day take up arms to defend his nation.


 * Eliwood and Lyn
 * The marquess of Pherae and the princess of Caelin were wed after the conflict. All of Lycia was in an uproar, but none could sunder their bond of love. They have a son named Roy, who will become a great hero.


 * Eliwood and Fiora
 * Eliwood and Fiora were wed after the conflict. A group of Lycian nobles protested that she was a mercenary, but none could sunder their bond of love. They have a son named Roy who will become a great hero.

Etymology
Eliwood's name possibly comes from the Germanic name elements "elf" and 'wood,' meaning 'wood of elves,' which might be a reference to Avalon, the legendary island where King Arthur supposedly went to be healed after his last battle. Alternatively, the name 'Elwood' means 'elder tree forest' in Old English.

Trivia

 * On the official Japanese website for Nintendo, Eliwood won 26th place out of 80 in the character popularity poll for Fire Emblem: Binding Blade. The male-female vote ratio is 2:1. The voter comments seem to mostly focus on his appearance in the game's prequel and his role as the main protagonist Roy's father.
 * When Eliwood is a Lord, he holds his sword in his right hand. However, When he promotes into a Knight Lord, he holds swords and lances in his left hand.
 * According to a support conversation between Marcus and Lilina in Binding Blade, Eliwood once disappeared for three days from Pherae and returned with a flower from the "snowy highlands." He presented this flower to his unnamed wife when he returned.
 * If you fight Eliwood as a SpotPass character for Rekka no Ken, the other units that join him could represent some of his early allies:
 * 2 Paladins (Lowen and Marcus)
 * 2 Warriors (Bartre and Dorcas)
 * 2 General (Hector and Oswin)
 * 1 War Cleric (Serra)
 * 1 Trickster (Matthew)
 * And 1 Swordmaster (Lyn or Guy)
 * In Awakening, the rapier Eliwood wields in his Rekka no Ken official artwork is made into a usable weapon called Eliwood's Blade.