Draug

"I received word from Sir Malledus to ready a vessel, that we might slip away discreetly by sea."

- Draug to Marth in Shadow Dragon

Draug (ドーガ Dōga, lit. Dohga in the Japanese version) is a playable character from the Akaneia Series of Fire Emblem. Draug is an armoured knight in the service of Altea, participating in both campaigns that Marth engages in. It is implied that he is good friends with the archer Gordin and his brother Raian, and he is also shown to be on friendly terms with the recruit Norne.

According to Takayashiki Hideo's Mystery of the Emblem novel adaptation, Draug is 25 years old. 

In the Japanese version of Genei Ibun Roku ♯FE he is voiced by Ryota Takeuchi.

War of Darkness
Chronologically, Draug makes his first appearance at the end of Prologue IV in Shadow Dragon, where he and Norne meets up with Marth and his retainers after they manage to reach the escape point near the borders of Altea. After briefly introducing Norne to Marth, he then leads the small battalion to a vessel that he had prepared prior to their arrival, granting them the opportunity to successfully evade the Gra forces and seek refuge in Talys.

When Marth later sets out on his quest to end the War of Darkness starting from Chapter 1 several years later, Draug will aid him on his mission, assisting him in bringing it to an end. Following the conclusion of the war, Draug is positioned as the leader of a small guard stationed in an outland garrison, where he is renowned for being both kind and stalwart.

War of Heroes
Draug next reappears as an instructor to the 7th Platoon in Prologue VI of Shin Monshō no Nazo, should the necessary conditions be fulfilled. The 7th Platoon will succeed in besting him, and he thereafter offers to aid them until they are given full recognition as full-fledged knights at the end of Prologue VIII.

During the events of Book 2 of Mystery of the Emblem and its remake, Draug will aid Marth in the War of Heroes right from the first chapter. When the war is brought to a conclusion, Draug, under Marth's behest, assumes the command of Grust's garrison.

Personality
Draug's personality is, like a majority of the cast appearing in Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi and Mystery of the Emblem, not very well-developed, owing to the lack of dialogues involving him and the minor role he plays in the games. Nevertheless, it is still possible to form certain impressions of his character based on the few interactions that he engages in. In a similar vein to many other knight characters appearing in the games, Draug is strongly patriotic, willing to lay his life on the line for the sake of protecting both his country and liege, a fact that is proven by his having dutifully fought alongside Marth for the duration of the two wars.

More aspects to Draug's character are unveiled through his base conversations with the Avatar in Shin Monshō no Nazo, where it is revealed that he is a humble individual; in spite of the valour that he has displayed on the battlefield, he chooses to be taciturn instead of vocal about his achievements. He is also portrayed as an honour-bound person, refusing to claim credit for achievements that he has not attained. This is clearly evidenced through his repeatedly persisting in disproving the rumours that paint him as a figure of exceptional strength and talent, in spite of the Avatar relentlessly describing him as such.

Recruitment

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Base Stats

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Overall
In Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi, Draug is a very weak unit overall, but he does begin the game with some advantages. He is able to face groups of physical units in the game with very little chance of defeat due to his high base Defense. This allows him to effectively weaken several enemy units for other allies to finish off without them risking counterattacks. However, he will gradually become less useful as the game proceeds, becoming more of a burden than a boon.

To begin with, Draug's base stats are all average or below average, apart from his Defense. Unfortunately, with a mere 10% Defense growth, his ability to act as a tank or choke-point holder diminishes as the game proceeds. On top of that, he has very unimpressive growths in general; while his Speed and Skill growths are quite decent for an Armor, the main problem is that he starts with low bases in both stats. Coupled with the fact that Armors can never Promote in this game, he will thus wind up mediocre. On average, Draug will end up with about 8-12 points in most stats, which simply will not make him viable for use mid to late- game. He is also held back by his low Movement, which will require quite a number of turns to be wasted for his effectiveness to be harnessed. Further exacerbating the problem are his Weapon Level growth and inability to Promote, effectively meaning that he will be locked out of the better weapons in the game, unless he is given an Arms Scroll.

Taking all of these things into consideration, Draug winds up being one of the weakest units in the game. While he has some early-game usefulness, he will slowly fall behind the player's other characters and eventually be brick-walled by his inability to promote.

In Shadow Dragon, a majority of Draug's problems present in the earlier games have been rectified, allowing him to be a rather useful knight if effort is expended on him. While he has slightly less defense than other Knights, he makes up for it by having more Strength and HP (including a high +10 bonus when he is promoted into a General). Furthermore, his stat spectrum is extremely balanced in spite of his being a knight, with high Speed and Skill growths (more than his Defense as a knight). However, as he possesses low Defense, it is thus recommended to keep him as a Knight in order to retain his decent Defense growth. Given these facts, placing Draug on the front-lines is a sound idea, as he can withstand onslaughts from powerful foes, as long as they are not magic users.

In Shin Monshō no Nazo, Draug's viability as a combat unit is further enhanced, with his Defense growth being given a significant boost, and, unlike his appearance in Shadow Dragon, it surpasses his growths in Skill and Speed. Coupled with the fact that his Strength growth has been generously increased and his Skill and Speed growths remain high, Draug will wind up transforming into one of the player's best units if the appropriate resources are spent on him.

In the remakes, Draug has a very good base and growth in Speed. Re-classing him into a more offensive class such as a Pirate, a Hunter, or a Mercenary will allow him to better exploit this fact. However, his durability will suffer because his HP and Defense bases are comparatively low, and the abrupt change in his default weapon necessitates time to be spent honing the corresponding ranks.

If the class sets are merged, Draug can make one of the best cavaliers, especially given his high weapon rank in lances.

Book 1
Altea Knight

"He remained in the army to defend the frontiers. His constitution has increased by 10kg."

Book 2
Altea Knight

"Following Marth’s orders, he became the leader of the Grustian occupation army."

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Gentle Giant

"Draug was put in charge of an outland garrison. The people there soon came to love their kind but stalwart protector."

Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo ~Hikari to Kage no Eiyū~
Gentle Giant

"Following Marth's orders, Draug became the commander of Grust's garrison."

Anime
In the anime, Draug is depicted as an intellectual individual who acts as a big brother figure to Gordin. He is seen helping Gordin with his archery training, and shielding the eager young Bowman from enemy attacks in several scenes. This friendship with Gordin is also implied in official Mystery of the Emblem artwork which shows Draug with his arm on Gordin's shoulder, a well as a mutual support in the DS Games.

Genei Ibun Roku ♯FE
Draug appears as a "Knight" Mirage, and Mamori Minamoto's partner. Similar to Chrom, he comes from a different world and has lost his memories. He’s a heavy-armored soldier that prides himself in his absolute defense and ability to support his allies. He transforms into an axe in battle and lends his strength to Mamori.

Before becoming Mamori's partner, a corrupted Draug takes control of Barry Goodman. After Barry is freed from Draug's control by Mamori's singing, and Draug is defeated in battle by Itsuki and the others, he is purified by Mamori's newly awakened Performa and becomes her partner.

Etymology
Draug is "Guard" spelled backwards. This is also true of his Japanese name, and the equivalent is true of his name in every other European translation, of the equivalent word in each language.

Gallery
Aidraug