Pelleas

"But I'll keep fighting. I won't stop until Daein is free once more."

- Pelleas

Pelleas (ペレアス, Pereasu?) is believed to be the son of Ashnard and the Prince of Daein. However, it is later revealed that he is not the true Prince: he is merely a spirit charmer who was tricked by Izuka into believing that he is royalty. He is one of the two characters that can be unlocked during the second playthrough of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn and onwards, and one the two playable characters in the game able to wield dark magic, Lehran being the other.

History
Pelleas grew up in an orphanage in Daein, having no idea of his "royal blood". When he was thirteen years old he made a pact with the spirits to protect him and grant him magical power, thus he obtained the mark of the Spirit Charmer. It was because of this mark, and Pelleas's blue, curly hair, similar to Ashnard's that lead Izuka, who was at this time already working for the senate, to claim that Pelleas was Ashnard's only son. He showed Pelleas's mark to Almedha (who was half-mad with grief from losing her birth-right, her son, and her brother Rajaion) and she immediately believed Izuka's story, as too did Pelleas. Izuka continued to spread the rumor of Ashnard's heir, and this lead to the formation of the Daein Liberation Army. The rumors eventually caught the attention the Dawn Brigade, who join forces with the liberation army, with Micaiah as it's commander.

It is on Pelleas' behalf that the Daein Liberation Army overthrows the Begnion Occupational Army. Just before their assault on Daein Keep Pelleas, despite his lack of talent in speech-making, delivers a speech of encouragement that reflects the one Queen Elincia made near the end of Path of Radiance.

On the day of his coronation, Izuka fools him into signing a blood pact with Begnion that forces him to follow the orders of Begnion's Senate: should he not, the Senate would invoke the pact's curse, leading to the slow deaths of all of Daein's citizens. This pact is what forces Pelleas to send the Daein Army against the Laguz Alliance. Upon conferring with Micaiah, he frantically begins to research a means of dispelling the pact: he learns that its curse can only be prevented if the signer of the pact is killed by a third party. He then asks that Micaiah kill him to save Daein.

At this point, the player is given the option of having either Micaiah or Tauroneo kill him. Either option will result in the player finding out that killing Pelleas was futile, as dispelling the blood pact also requires the destruction of the document itself. In this case, the mark of the blood pact will transfer to Micaiah, and remains on her wrist until the second requirement is met. However, in all subsequent playthroughs, the player can have Micaiah refuse the request altogether. In this case, Pelleas realizes that killing Lekain would also dispel the blood pact, and he thus begins to regain his confidence. He also finds out that his mother is a dragon laguz, and this is what first leads him to question his heritage.

He will later fight with Tibarn's army in Part IV. During that time, Almedha would forsake him, which prompted Pelleas to keep his distance for a while. Eventually, perhaps because he feels he doesn't deserve a mother's love for his actions (and the fact that he doubts his heritage by now), he rejects his mother and takes to the field, feeling the need to be useful. When Tibarn's group confront Izuka, Pelleas learns from him that he is not the true heir: he was merely intended to be Izuka's puppet. Izuka had apparently been promised dominion over Daein if he did fulfilled the senate's wishes.

If you take Pelleas with you up the Tower of Guidance, he exact his revenge on Lekain for using him, stating that his newfound friends give him the strength to face him. After the battle, the pact is destroyed and the mark vanishes from Pelleas's wrist. Later, when Pelleas faces Sephiran, he confirms to Pelleas what Izuka told him, stating that the true heir is a dragon-laguz Branded. Sephiran also admits that he alone was responsible for binding Daein in the blood pact, since he needed Daein involved in the war to awake the goddess Ashera. Upon this note, Pelleas shows no mercy towards Sephiran.

It is never revealed who Pelleas' biological family is or was.

Personality
Although he is shown to be a weak leader who follows Almedha's and Izuka's advice without question, his love for his country is extraordinarily strong. He comes off as quite shy as well, for he never gives gifts to his soldiers directly, but prefers to give them to people he trusts, like Micaiah or Sothe, and tells them to do what they see fit with such gifts. He realizes his own inexperience, which is why he trusts Izuka, who he claims has given him a life and a purpose, to advise him on everything about being a ruler, despite his twisted nature. This trust in Izuka lead to his undoing, however, for it's because of Izuka's treachery that forces Pelleas into Lekain's blood pact. Pelleas is also someone who feels he shouldn't burden others with his problems, which is why he's so hesitant to confess his signing of the blood pact. He is also very hard going on himself, for he believes that the only way to redeem his mistakes as king is to take his own life, which we find out later is unnecessary.

During the time Pelleas and Micaiah get to each other, Pellaes develops a strong respect for Micaiah, both in her abilities and her strength of character. It is even implied that he somewhat envies her popularity. It's because of this that Pelleas realizes that, like Micaiah says, he must make his own decisions if he wants to be a good king. This is what motivates him both to defend Muarim when Izuka tries to turn into a feral one (an act which Izuka detests), and to make his speech to his army at the end of Part 1.

Despite supposedly being the son of Ashnard, other characters keep stating how gentle and frail he looks. Tibarn states that Pelleas is so fragile compared to his "mother", Almedha, who he describes as a formidable woman, thanks to her dragon heritage. Even she states that he was always "such a sickly little boy". However, it is shown that Pelleas is very passive-aggressive: He is usually very modest and timid in cutscenes before a battle. But when on the battlefield, especially when ridiculed by a chapter boss, like Valtome or Sephiran, he losses control of his emotions is very violently. This is likely a result of his inexperience as a soldier, as he has never killed, or even been on a battle field before he does so in Endgame III. This much is confirmed if he meets Ike on the battle field.

Something else of note may be Pelleas’s power. Despite his clear lack of experience, Pelleas clearly wields a sizable amount of power, and before ever setting foot on a battlefield he is already a sage. Even Lehran, perhaps the most powerful magical unit in the game tells him that he is a powerful magic user. This may be attributed to his status as a spirit charmer.

Quotes
Vs. Ike

''Pelleas: I've never killed anyone before... I've never even stood on a battlefield before today.''

''Ike: Then why did you come here? Do you want to die?''

''Pelleas: I do, but it won't change anything... I promised Micaiah that I wouldn't run from my destiny. General Ike, you may be able to take me down easily, but I will not run!''

''Ike: Just what Daein needs...another mad king. Let's see if you're as tough as your father.''

Vs. Sephiran

''Sephiran: Be assured that you were essential to Daein's reconstruction, which was a vital step toward waking the goddess. Fortunately, Izuka was able to use you to execute my plan.''

''Pelleas: You are going to pay! You are going to...BLAAARRRGH!''

Death Quote

''Pelleas: To die in this lonely place... It's my fate... But... For Micaiah... I must... I...must live...''

Starting Stats
|Dark Sage |Water |12 |33 |13 |24 |20 |21 |14 |14 |19 |9 |9 |6 |Thunder - A Dark - S |Shove Miracle |Carreau Verrine Fenrir

Growth rates
HP: 35% Strength: 25% Magic: 55% Skill: 45% Speed: 60% Luck: 40% Defense: 30% Resistance: 45%

The only thing that sets him apart from other magic users is his ability to use Dark Magic. His max stats as an Archsage are lower than that of others, especially his skill.

In the 2nd playthrough, if you keep him alive, he first fights as an enemy in the Part III Final Chapter, using the spells Carreau, Verrine and Fenrir. He later joins Tibarn's group as an ally in the 2nd turn of Part 4-Chapter 2: Silent World.

Supports
Support Bonus (Water): Attack +0.5, Defence +0.5

Like most supports in Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn, Pelleas's support are short, generic and impersonal. However, the basic trend of his supports with most characters is as follows:

C- Pelleas is very passive in greeting the character, saying he was merely wondering how they were faring in battle and not wanting to be nuicense to that character.

B- Pelleas offers to help the charcter, if he/she wants help that is, or he expresses a strong desire to fight alongside him/her.

A- Pelleas admits that the character has had a great impact on him, especially if he's supporting a Laguz Royal, and that his life would mean nothing if he/she died.

Overall
Pelleas arguably fits the Est Archetype, the famous archetype of a unit that joins late but has insanely high growths, especially his speed growth. With a bit of training he will soon be able to double most enemies. Pelleas unfortunately starts off as a 2nd tier character (Dark Sage) when most other units are in their 3rd tier form (Marshall, Trueblade etc.). But, when trained correctly, Pelleas can turn out to be one of your strongest units.

Some may argue that, compared to Est characters before him, he's not as impressive, considering rival Archsages such as Soren, and his low skill hinders his ability to use Balberith, but he is still a strong character in the game. Even as a level 4 Archsage, he has impressive stats, especially in speed, and it would be wise to put him in the Part IV Endgame if he became an Archsage on the road to Sienne. You can train him with ease if you keep attacking a bishop with a staff, but do not kill the bishop.

Ending
During the Epilogue of the 2nd play-through onwards, Pelleas will reveal to his "mother" Almedha the truth about his mark and his lack of royal blood. However he does admit that, for the short time that he'd known Almedha, he was happy that he was able to feel a mother's love for the first time in his life. If certain conditions are met throughout the 2nd playthrough or onwards, Pelleas will subtly reveal to Almedha that the missing heir of Daein is in fact Soren, being a dragon-tribe Branded.

Afterwards, it's said that Pelleas gave up the throne to Micaiah, and instead chose to serve at the official Daein court, learning to speak easily to all.

Etymology
It is unclear what the name Pelleas means, but there is a Knight of the Round Table whose name is Pelleas.

The name Pelleas could also come from a poem by the Belgian master Maurice Maeterlinck, which influenced French composer Claude Debussy to compose an opera based on this poem. In Pelleas and Melisande, a prince named Golaud finds a woman named Melisande in the forest, who he marries and brings to his grandfather's castle. However, Melisande starts being attracted to Pelleas, Golaud's younger half-brother. Golaud is jealous, and tries to find out the truth, even sending his own child, Yniold, to spy on them. Pelleas chooses to leave the castle, and before he leaves, he and Melisande confess their love for each other. The eavesdropping Golaud immediately kills Pelleas in a rage. Melisande also dies soon after giving birth to a girl, with Golaud still begging her to tell him the truth. In Radiant Dawn, Melisande could be Micaiah and Sothe could be Golaud, as Micaiah cares for Pelleas but Sothe doesn't think much of him and may even be jealous for the attention Pelleas receives from Micaiah, although he never goes as far as to kill Pelleas or Micaiah, nor is there ever a real love triangle.