Hardin

"I'm going to take my men east to join our might with Marth's. Together we will retake the castle. Stay here, my lady, and wait for the good news.."

- Hardin in FE1

Prince Hardin (ハーディン, Hardin), known as Coyote (Wolf of the Plains in the Japanese versions), is the younger brother of the King of Aurelis. He is one of the most important characters in the Akaneia series and a descendant of Marlon.

Before The War of Darkness
Hardin's significantly older brother, the King of Aurelis, falls ill so Hardin takes over and reforms the nations laws. The Aurelian nobles who had been keeping the plains people such as Wolf, Roshea, and others in slavery are banished by Hardin, their slaves freed, and the highest ranked among the plains people were made Aurelian lords to replace the disgraced nobles.

The ex-nobles attempts a coup with support by Akaneia but they are put down by Hardin and the people of the plains.

Fire Emblem: Akaneia Saga
Hardin acts as the main character in second mission in of the satellaview games along with Minerva. They befriend and team up against Medon deserters but he does not give out his name. After defeating Ruben Hardin leaves and says Minerva really was a heroic commander.

While not playable he plays a major role in the fourth map in which Camus wants to bring Nyna to safety in Aurelis. He fights off the remaining Doluna forces and reaches Nyna at the outskirts of Aurelis. Hardin explains he understands her trouble and will now guard her with his life. Nyna then collapses from exhaustion, falling into Hardin's arms, Hardin then yells for his men to give her water and medical treatment.

Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi
Hardin is the leader of the rebellion army protecting Aurelis from Doluna and was assigned to guard Princess Nyna of Akaneia. A just and honorable man, he also helps out Marth in his quest. The Altean Prince felt he had made a trusted friend with similar values on the day he met him.

In his ending Nyna proposes to him and they are married.

Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo
Hardin was in fact in love with Nyna. As Akaneia was in need of a new Emperor, Hardin was eventually assigned to the position and Nyna proposed to him, Hardin was more happy if it meant he got to be with his beloved Nyna. Unfortunately, she had been pretending to love him due to pressure from Boah. When he found out, he was struck with grief and avoided contact with anyone. Gharnef posed as a merchant and offered him the Darksphere, which consumed Hardin's soul and transforms him into a twisted man. He changes the Empire from a just one into an iron-fisted one, spreading terror throughout the land. Marth eventually defeats him, but was unable to save his life in process. In his dying breath, Hardin thanks Marth for freeing his soul, asks him to watch over Nyna, and tells him to tell her that he loved her till the end. Hardin then says he hopes that Nyna could somehow forgive him for not being strong enough to resist the Darksphere's corruption.

The lineage of Aurelis's founder, Marlon, ends with his death as his brother cannot have kids. Because of this Marth ends up becoming the ruler of Aurelis.

Character Data
In all three games, Hardin is thought of to be one of the best paladins in the game with Cain and Abel. He is skilled in most classes available to him in Shadow Dragon's reclass system. He has a very high skill in Lance and Sword use and can use Jagen's Silver Lance right off the bat making him very useful on the harder modes.

Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi
|Cavalier |6 |20 |9 |7 |8 |3 |9 |6 |0 |9 |Sword Lance |Steel Sword

Playable (Book 1)
|Cavalier |6 |25 |9 |7 |8 |3 |9 |8 |0 |9 |Lance Sword |Iron Lance Steel Sword

Boss (Book 2)
|Emperor |1 |50 |20 |20 |20 |N/A |N/A |20 |20 |5 |Lance |Gradivus Darksphere

Base Stats
|Cavalier |6 |24 |9/0 |N/A |7 |8 |3 |6 |1 |9 |Lance - B Sword - D


 * Equipment: Steel Sword

Growths
Note: These growths are for when Hardin is in his default class, Cavalier.

Trivia

 * Hardin seems to share many similarities with Zephiel from Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken and Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi. Both (chronologically) start out as benevolent princes who merely wish for peace, both personal and worldwide, but are later in life twisted; partly by personal grief (in Hardin's case it was caused due to unrequited love, while Zephiel was never acknowledged by his own father as a son) and becoming a huge threat to their respective continents. However, there are differences, like Hardin who comes back out of his brainwashed state when near death, while Zephiel never seems to show regret of his own planned actions.
 * He is one of the recurring characters in the Akaneia Series appearing even more then Marth and Shiida, with three major roles and appearances in several remakes. The only characters who have had more appearances then him are Camus and the Whitewings.
 * According to the novel adaption by Takayashiki Hideo, he is 31 in book 1 and 34 in book 2.
 * Despite both having loved Nyna, Hardin appears to be unaware of Camus' relation to her. He seemingly did not know who Nyna loves in Monshō no Nazo only that it was not him, he makes no mention of Camus in his corrupted state, and even when Camus takes Nyna to Hardin for safety in Fire Emblem BS, Camus leaves to stall Doluna right before Nyna reaches Hardin, which causes Hardin to wonder how Nyna got all the way to Aurelis.