Athos

"The world is full of mysteries. Solve one, and along comes another… Before I knew it, I'd grown distant from my fellow man. Hunger… It knows no bounds."

- Athos

Athos (アトス) is a character in Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken. He is one of the Eight Legends from The Scouring and is often referred to as a Living Legend. He is incredibly old and is a master of all forms of magic within the game. Athos is first seen in the Chapter Living Legend talking with Louise, Pent's wife. He is nicknamed 'Greybeard' by Hector.

History
As one of the Eight Legends, he helped to drive the dragons out of Elibe during the Scouring. After this war had past and Elibe was divided into its different territories, Athos secluded to the Nabata desert. About 500 years before the story of Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken took place, Athos met Nergal wandering the Nabata Desert. Their shared desire to seek truth and knowledge in the world brought them together, and they become fast friends, as well as equals in knowledge and magic.

One day, as Athos charted the desert, he discovered a sanctuary where surviving dragons of the Scouring, most of whom were Divine Dragon refugees, and men lived in peace with each other. Athos and Nergal used their magic to create a paradise for the inhabitants to the sanctuary and the two men settled there. The sanctuary then came to be known as Arcadia. Over the many years that Athos and Nergal stayed in Arcadia, researching in the dragons' libraries, their paths to knowledge began to differ.

Athos wished to use the knowledge he'd acquired to expand his dragon-human paradise across Elibe, while Nergal learned how to steal another being's life force, or quintessence, and turn it into power. Starting with small animals, Nergal eventually began killing humans to gain more quintessence. Athos and the village elders tried to persuade him to stop, but by now the power he'd gained from the essence had bewitched him. To prevent Nergal from stealing the quintessence of dragons, Athos and the elders faced off against him, then tried to drive him into the desert, where he would meet his end. During this confrontation, Athos inflicted a heavy wound to Nergal's face, deforming his right eye and leaving scar across his forehead. However, Nergal had escaped with his life and fled to Bern, gaining power slowly to avoid detection.

Some time afterwards, Athos met Hawkeye, becoming his vassal, Pent, becoming his student, and Pent's wife Louise, who kept him entertained during her visits.

When Eliwood and friends arrive at his temple, he tells them about the Shrine of Seals, gives them Afa's Drops, and sends them back to Pherae where Eliwood meets his mother. He later meets them again at the Shrine of Seals and convinces Bramimond to release the seal on the divine weapons. Nergal appears and Athos wounds him, but does not kill him.

In Louise and Pent's Support Conversation it is mentioned that Athos would not eat unless Louise convinced him to. Left alone, he might not have eaten anything. Pent explained that due to his incredible age, Athos surpassed the needs of human flesh long ago and needs neither food nor rest.

He automatically joins the player's party in the Final Chapter with the Sol Katti, Durandal, and Armads, which are for Lyn, Eliwood, and Hector, respectively. He also comes with his personal Anima tome Forblaze and Saint Elimine's legendary Light tome Aureola.

After the final boss fight, Athos foresaw the events of Fire Emblem: Binding Blade, then died from exhausting his powers.

Overall
Athos has low HP and average speed. However, his magic of 30 can make him devastating with a Luna tome, as long as he is not going to be doubled because of its high weight. Also, his S rank in all types of magic and staves can make him very useful. Fortify (obtainable alongside Renault in the previous chapter) allows him to actually recover all the party members (most of the time) to full health, working as an excellent healer, but as an offensive unit he can have troubles with his moderate constitution and the high weight of Forblaze, Aureola and Luna, the most powerful tomes avaliable for him to use against the bosses of Light.

Possible Endings
Archsage Athos

Athos died in a foreign land. Those who saw his face said that he seemed as though he had at last found true peace.

Etymology
Mount Athos, in Greece, is regarded as a holy site for Orthodox Christians. The monastery there is known for its art. Athos is also the name of one of The Three Musketeers from the book by French author, Alexandre Dumas.

Trivia

 * Athos's name is reused in the European version of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon for one of the Replacement characters.
 * Although Athos died at the Dragon's Gate in Rekka no Ken, taking Forblaze along with him, it still appears in Binding Blade supposedly sealed by Athos himself at Arcadia.
 * Athos is the only one of the Eight Legends to join the party.