Kaden

Kaden (ニシキ Nishiki in the Japanese version) is a playable character in Fire Emblem Fates and an ally on the Birthright and Revelation Routes. He is voiced by Yuuta Takahashi in the Japanese version and by Max Mittelman in the English version.

Profile
Kaden is a Kitsune youth from a remote region of Hoshido. Following his father’s footsteps, he held the position of leader of the Kitsune Hamlet and kept his people in order. If he achieves an S-Support, he will have a daughter named Selkie. He has the best posture in the army. His birthday is July 12.

Birthright
Kaden first appears during Chapter 12, where he introduces himself to the Avatar. Azura recognizes him as a kitsune and asks him why he is very far from home, because they are not known for leaving the village for a long period of time. Kaden tells her that he must repay people that do good deeds for him, and when he left the village, met some humans that were very kind to him. It resulted in a snowball effect as Kaden was introduced to more nice people and they piled so much that he ended up in Cyrkensia. Before he can leave, he needed to repay a debt to someone and introduces them to Layla, who explains her problem to the Hoshidans.

He later joins the Avatar's army in the same chapter to repay his new debt for allowing Layla to see her grandmother.

Conquest
Kaden appears in the Mountain of Fox Spirits, where he is first spotted by Azura before emerging to warmly greet the Avatar and their army. However, it is revealed to be a ruse to allow his tribesmen to surround the Avatar and prevent them from escaping. Despite recognizing that the Avatar is telling the truth when they proclaim nothing but a desire to pass through the hamlet peacefully, Kaden refuses to let them through regardless; this is owing to a longstanding adage passed down by the kitsune elders that humans will kill them for their fur after gaining their trust. He and his tribesmen fight the Avatar's forces but are eventually killed in battle.

Revelation
Kaden appears alongside Keaton in the Lost Paradise. They are both injured and warn the Avatar and their army that the city is dangerous. Camilla hastily instructs Sakura to heal them and they are then questioned on how they their injuries were sustained. They reply that the town was destroyed by an unseen force and their injuries were a result of an attempt to stop it. Kaden and Keaton join the fight and decide to join the Avatar's army afterwards.

Personality
Succeeding his father as the leader of the Kitsune clan, Kaden is responsible for ruling his people, ensuring their well-being and security. He has proven to have performed a splendid job in this regard; in Chapter 19 of the Conquest route, he makes the momentous decision to fight against the Avatar's army in order to protect his clan and avoid running the risk of invoking the threat of their being slain for their fur.

While he can be very serious in dire situations, Kaden is actually rather playful and mischievous. This may be observed in his various supports, where he teases and amuses the people he interacts with. Kaden is also known to go out of his way to repay those whom he feels indebted to, even if they have only performed a small favor for him.

Kaden is also a little bit of narcissist, spending much of his free time carefully grooming his fur. Proud of his coat, Kaden shows it off to everyone he meets, even letting them touch it to gauge how fluffy it is for themselves. His supports with Keaton reveal that he is afraid of spiders.

Conquest Chapter 19 - Mountain of Fox Spirits

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Xenologue 20 - Memories of Foam 6: Unfinished Dawn

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Growth Rates
◾ Note: Growth Rates are based on the character in their starting class
 * 55%
 * 50%
 * 10%
 * 40%
 * 65%
 * 60%
 * 30%
 * 60%
 * }

◾ Note: Growth Rates as a Nine-Tails
 * 55%
 * 50%
 * 10%
 * 40%
 * 65%
 * 60%
 * 30%
 * 60%
 * }

Max Stat Modifiers

 * +1
 * 0
 * -3
 * +2
 * +1
 * -2
 * +2
 * }

Standard Sets

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Friendship Sets

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Partner Sets

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Special Classes

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Supports
Romantic Supports Other Supports
 * The Avatar (Female)
 * Orochi
 * Kagero
 * Oboro
 * Rinkah
 * Hana
 * Setsuna
 * Felicia
 * Azura
 * Hinoka
 * Sakura
 * Mozu
 * Charlotte (Revelation)
 * Peri (Revelation)
 * The Avatar (Male)
 * Hayato
 * Hinata
 * Azama
 * Selkie
 * Kana - If Kaden is his father
 * Shigure - If Kaden is his father
 * Keaton (Revelation)

Overall
Kaden is one of the two Kitsune that will join the player's army (in both Birthright and Revelations). He shares similar aspects to Keaton, although their builds are slightly inversed; Keaton is more of a physical tank (having good strength, health and defense growths), while Kaden is more of a dodge tank (high speed and resistance growths). Players should account for this when training Kaden.

His Kitsune build allows him to deal fairly decent damage and because of his high speed and resistance growths, make him a very good dodge tank and/or magic killer. However, he should avoid stronger enemy units (especially if they have high level forged weaponry or skills to increase accuracy) and units using anti-beast weapons as they will most likely kill him in one hit due to his frail defense. Players should use Beastrunes or Beaststones which boosts up several stats at the cost of a few others.

From his base class set, Kitsune, Kaden can learn Evenhanded to deal 4 extra points of damage in even turns, and Beastbane to help him against mounted units (excluding the Wyvern Rider set). Its promotion, the Nine-Tails, allows him to learn Even Better to recover any lost health on even turns and Grisly Wound to wound enemies by 20% of their maximum health if both still survive after the battle.

Secondary Class
Kaden's secondary class is the Diviner class, which seems fairly odd due to his lack of a good magic growth. Kaden won't be able to benefit from most of the class set skills as it primarily focuses on magic, which will barely do any damage as a result. Perhaps the most useful class from it is the Basara, as Rend Heaven will be Kaden's only offensive skill if he does not have any supports formed yet.

Buddy Class
Kaden can form an A+ Support with the following characters: Hinata, Hayato and Azama. Hayato gives Kaden the Diviner class set, which Kaden already has as his secondary so it is not included in the list below.


 * Hinata: Hinata gives Kaden the Samurai class set. From this class, Kaden can learn Duelist's Blow to further increase his impressive avoid stats when he starts the battle. Vantage allows him to strike first and potentially kill the attacker if he can retaliate back when he falls below half health. Its promotions are the Swordmaster and Master of Arms classes. From the Swordmaster class, Astra is the only useful skill Kaden should learn unless the player decides to keep him in a sword-using class. From the Master of Arms class, Kaden can learn Seal Strength to weaken high strength units and Life and Death to increase his damage although he should only have it only to attack enemies who cannot retaliate.
 * Azama: Azama gives Kaden the Monk class set. Miracle is good to save him from lethal attacks which should go well with his decent luck growths. Kaden can take advantage of the Great Master class; mainly to learn Renewal to recover up to 70% of his health during even-numbered turns. He can also learn Countermagic, although this should only be reserved for high damaging Sorcerers or Onmyojis since he already has a good resistance growth.

Marriage Options

 * Female Avatar: The Female Avatar can give Kaden access to whatever their secondary class. Since Kaden already has Grisly Wound to deal 20% damage after a battle, this can be further stacked by having the Avatar's secondary class as Ninja or Wyvern Rider; if the player spends their time on skills, the player can buy Kaden Poison Strike to stack damage up to 40% and Savage Blow to 60% on the primary target and 20% on enemies two spaces from him. This will require the player to find another Kaden with either skill or make a secondary file as it is impossible to obtain both skills in one playthrough with the player's own units.

Quotes
Refer to Kaden/Quotes.

Possible Endings

 * Kaden - Kitsune Braggart
 * Kaden returned home, living out the remainder of his days as if he had never gone to war. Scholars disagree as to whether this is because he was adaptable or just simpleminded.


 * Kaden and the Avatar (Birthright)
 * Despite marriage, Kaden continued to travel, returning favors. Later he served as chief of his village. Avatar was hailed as a hero, working alongside her spouse to spread peace worldwide.


 * Kaden and Hinoka
 * Despite marriage, Kaden continued to travel, returning favors. Later he served as chief of his village. His wife, Hinoka, became general of the Hoshidan army, and the two remained together always.


 * Kaden and Mozu
 * Despite marriage, Kaden continued to travel, returning favors. Later he served as chief of his village. His wife, Mozu, meanwhile, was a constant source of support and a humanitarian in her own right.


 * Kaden and Sakura
 * Despite marriage, Kaden continued to travel, returning favors. Later he served as chief of his village. His wife, Sakura, dedicated herself to helping the underprivileged, and the two worked happily together.


 * Kaden and Setsuna
 * Despite marriage, Kaden continued to travel, returning favors. Later he served as chief of his village. Records show that his wife, Setsuna, stayed by his side and was a great source of support and joy.

Etymology
Kaden (花伝) is a feminine name meaning flower legend. Alternatively the family name Kaden (河伝) means river legend. Kaden may also be a play on the word on Cotton or Brocade. It may also derives from an arabic word meaning "Companion"

His Japanese name "Nishiki" translates to "Brocade" or "War Banner".

Trivia

 * Kaden shares his English voice actor, Max Mittelman, with Leo and Forrest.
 * He also shares his Japanese voice actor, Yuuta Takahashi, with Forrest.
 * Kaden was voted as the 24th most popular male character in Nintendo's official Fates character poll.
 * Concept art of Kaden appeared in the publication "The Making of Fire Emblem". It depicted his Kitsune designs with a white underbelly that is absent from the battle model present in game.