Aether

Aether (天空 Tenkuu, Sky in the Japanese version, Éther in the French version) is a mastery skill learned by Ike in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, and by Great Lords in Fire Emblem: Awakening.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

 * [[File:FE9 Aether.gif]]Aether
 * (Skill)%
 * 20
 * 2 consecutive hits; Comprises Sol and Luna skills.
 * Occult Skill of the Lord and Hero classes; Can be assigned with the MasteryBook.gifOccult Scroll.
 * }

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

 * [[File:Aether.png]]Aether
 * (Skill/2)%
 * 30
 * 2 consecutive hits; Comprises Sol and Luna skills.
 * Mastery Skill of the Vanguard class.
 * }

Fire Emblem: Awakening

 * [[File:FE13 Aether.png]]Aether
 * (Skill/2)%
 * 2 consecutive hits; Comprises Sol and Luna skills.
 * Class Skill of Level 5 Great Lords. Daughters of Chrom or Lucina will inherit the skill even if Chrom or Lucina does not have this skill in their 5th slot.
 * }
 * }

Path of Radiance
The Aether skill first appeared in Path of Radiance. This skill can be taught to Ike immediately after his promotion at the end of Chapter 17, where he has to use an Occult Scroll. This skill will take up 20 skill points.

The skill is described as having two attacks in this game, comprising of the Sol and Luna mastery skills. This means that the first strike following the skill's activation will restore HP equal to the damage done to the enemy, followed by the enemy's Defense being halved. This is considered to be one of the best Mastery Skills in the game, owing to its unique functions and relatively high activation rate.

A rather helpful glitch can occur if the first hit of Aether finishes the enemy. The second hit will still show but it will restore HP by the same amount healed by the first hit, while dealing no additional damage. This doesn't seem to occur when animations for Ike are turned off.

Aether's activation rate is equal to Ike's actual skill stat. As Ike is capable of maxing his Skill stat of 27 with relative ease, he will thus have increased chances of activating Aether during battle.

Radiant Dawn
Aether reappears in Radiant Dawn, and is once more Ike's Mastery Skill. However, in this case, Ike will automatically obtain the Aether skill upon promotion to the Vanguard class. This is similar to the other characters in the game, where they automatically receive their Mastery skills upon reaching their respective third-tier classes.

Much like its predecessor, Aether combines the effects of the Sol and Luna skills, but its activation rate is halved in this game. This is not necessarily dismal, as Ike will have a 20% chance of activating it with maxed skill. As all Mastery Skills have received significant upgrades in Radiant Dawn, Aether will deal increased damage upon striking the enemy. If the first hit of Aether finishes the enemy, Ike will not continue the animation with a second hit, thus preventing the double-healing glitch in Path of Radience from occuring.

Aether's usability in this game is limited, however, as the final few bosses, including the Black Knight, Deghinsea, Sephiran, and Ashera, possess the Nihil skill, effectively negating Ike's chances of activating it in battle.

Awakening
Chrom and Lucina will learn this skill as a level 5 Great Lord. Lucina and her sisters will always inherit this skill from Chrom, even if he has not learned the skill or has the skill equipped when they are recruited. Female Morgan will always inherit this skill from Lucina if she is her mother. If a Chrom fathered Kjelle or Cynthia is Morgan's mother, they must have the skill equipped in the last slot of their equipped skills before the start of Paralogue 12 in order for her to inherit it. Aether retains its combination of the Sol and Luna skills in their Awakening version and the activation rate is determined by (Skill/2)%. SpotPass and DLC Ike also starts off with this skill.

Super Smash Bros Brawl
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Aether is used by Ike as his Up Special, effectively his stage recovery move. It resembles the Sol hit of the actual Aether attack. Ike throws Ragnell into the air followed by a somersault slash then finishing by driving his blade into the platform below. It is a somewhat effective recovery move due to the high length he moves vertically during this move. However, it has very little horizontal range in movement midair. Also, the ending downward slam can prove problematic if he is not close enough to a ledge or the stage, which can lead to a suicide K.O.

Ike's final smash, Great Aether, is a more powerful version of his in-game Aether move. Ike must connect with an enemy within one to about two character lengths away from him with the initial blow of this move. Ike can connect with multiple enemies with the initial hit. If the move connects, Ike will launch all enemies he hit into the air and perform a series of kicks and slashes before performing the standard Aether flip-slashes. After, Ike will then drive the enemies into the ground, resulting in a large explosion. Any enemy caught in the explosion will be launched vertically in a slightly diagonal trajectory. This move deals roughly 64%-74% damage to any enemies caught by this move, but only 12% from anyone hit only by the ending explosion.

Both versions of Aether in Brawl do not retain the healing effect of the initial strike.

Etymology
In Greek mythology, 'Aether' refers to the pure, pristine air which the gods breathe, at a higher level than earthly air ('aer'). Aether is personified as one of the earliest primordial Greek gods.

Trivia

 * In the GBA games, whenever a Mercenary/Hero performs a critical hit, they will throw their weapons skyward, catch it, and perform a downward slice, similar to the Sol part of Aether; however, the second strike is omitted.
 * In Path of Radiance via hacking, Greil's variation of Aether is different - it will do full animation for just one blow, before doing it again with Luna activation flash for the second blow. It's animation is also different compared to Ike's, especially if Greil is armed with an axe. Finally, Greil can activate Aether at range, whereas Ike is unable to.