Bond

A bond is a kind of relationship between characters which the player usually has no control over. They usually are between characters who are very close, like siblings or childhood friends. Unlike support relationships, they usually only have any effect if the two units are adjacent. Also, the bonus is usually solely additional critical hit chance. Bonds are usually a fairly invisible mechanic, with the game not providing any list of bond relationships.

In Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, a list of bonds for each character is provided on their stat page. Also, bonds have a unique quality in Radiant Dawn in that the player actually has some control over them. If Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance save data is imported to Radiant Dawn, any support relationships that reached A level in Path of Radiance reappear as bonds in Radiant Dawn. Any such bonds grant +5 critical hit chance. Some bonds in Radiant Dawn grant +10 critical hit chance, examples being that between Micaiah and Sothe and that between Rafiel and Nailah.