Deirdre

"I was afraid I'd fall for you, Sigurd. I tried putting you out of my mind, but I... I just don't want to lose you. Oh, what am I to do..."

- Deirdre talking to Sigurd in Genealogy of the Holy War

Deirdre (ディアドラ, Diadora; romanized as Diadora in the Fire Emblem Museum) is a playable character from Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. She is the wife of Sigurd, the mother of Seliph and a descendant of Heim through her father Prince Kurth and Maira through her mother Cigyun. She is also the half-sister of Arvis.

Profile
Deirdre initially lives in a small village in the Spirit Forest of Verdane. Despite being forbidden to come into contact with men, she falls in love with Sigurd when they meet in Marpha, and later marries him after the end of Chapter 1. She gives birth to Seliph between Chapters 2 and 3, with Seliph inheriting minor Naga blood from her.

After Sigurd captures Madino Castle in Chapter 3, Deirdre attempts to join him and the others in battle, but as soon as she leaves the castle, Manfroy warps in front of her path and erases her memories. He then warps her into a convenient location for Arvis to find, intending for him to fall for her. This is done to have the duo bear a child, who will as serve a vessel of Loptyr. Some time after Arvis finds her, he falls in love with her at first sight due to her resemblance to their mother and the two are married.

After Sigurd's death, Deirdre bears Arvis's two children, the twins Julius and Julia. Several years later, Deirdre is slain by Julius after he receives the tome of Loptyr from Manfroy, which essentially causes him to lose his mind as Loptyr possesses his body. With the last of her strength, Deirdre is able to prevent Julius from killing Julia by warping Julia away to safety.

After Seliph defeats Arvis in the penultimate chapter, Deirdre's spirit appears alongside Sigurd's, and she reminds Seliph to always treasure the people around him. She is also shown to not bear hatred to Arvis for what he did to her, as evidenced by the fact that she does not express joy for the Emperor's death despite Seliph proclaiming to her that he avenged Sigurd's death.

If Verdane is not inherited by Jamke's children, Deirdre is reputed to have become a legendary and saint-like figure in said location, and is referred to as the "Holy Maiden". Upon learning that Seliph is her child, the populace requests for the kingdom to be annexed into Grannvale, which Seliph gladly accepts.

Personality
Deirdre is humble, kind-hearted, shy and naïve. This unassuming personality of Deirdre's is due to the isolation she has been put through for the most part of her life, a safety precaution put into place to prevent her from being influenced by the outside world. She is aware of her cursed blood and as such is forbidden from being with a man to prevent Loptyr's return. The Oosawa manga adaptation adds on to her personality by depicting her as being very confident in her magical abilities: When Sigurd informs her about Sandima's terrifying Fenrir spell, she is shown to perk up in interest, and immediately offers to provide assistance by Silencing him.

In the same manga adaptation, while Deirdre recalls her life in the forest as being a rather peaceful one, her childhood memories reveal that she had always harbored a curiosity about the outside world and wondered what life is like beyond the boundaries of the Spirit Forest. While Deirdre is blissfully unaware of her mother's tragic life and her Lopto heritage, she is conscious of how the people around her used to view her with disdain, as if she is about to bring about a disaster of some sort.

Certain authors' notes state that Deirdre, despite never fully recovering her memories, eventually discovers that Sigurd was her first husband years after his death. She keeps her thoughts and self-guilt about this fact a secret, and never could bring herself to hate Arvis for "executing" him. When Julius attacks her under Loptyr's influence, Deirdre does not put up any resistance, as she probably wishes to meet her beloved Sigurd once again.

Base Stats

 * [[File:Minor_Loptous_Blood_Indicator.gif]] - Minor Loptyr Blood
 * [[File:Major_Holy_Blood_Indicator.gif]] - Major Holy Blood

Growth Rates
(With Holy Blood Bonuses)


 * 70%
 * 10%
 * 70%
 * 20%
 * 10%
 * 10%
 * 10%
 * 70%
 * }

Overall
Despite her spectacular Magic and Resistance growths, Deirdre's other statistics are rather low.

Deirdre has very limited usability, as she is recruited near the end of Chapter 1 and kidnapped early on in Chapter 3, a chapter where she is undeployable and restricted to the domains of the home castle. This gives little more than a full chapter to use and level her, which has the side effect of giving Seliph only a limited boost to his base stats if the player takes the time to gain EXP through the arena, boss-abuse and so on. She is also unable to promote into a second-tier class.

It is highly recommended to sell all her possessions to the pawn shop for use by other characters and transfer all her gold to Sigurd at the start of Chapter 3 before she is abducted.

If Deirdre is defeated in battle, she will not die, but merely be captured (presumably because the antagonists need her alive as part of their plan). At the end of the chapter, she will be found in the conquered castle and re-join the party. This, paired with her Circlet and selling her tome, makes her useful as a decoy to lure enemies away from some of the other more vulnerable units.

Conversations
In Chapter 2, Deirdre may speak to Ethlyn, resulting in Ethlyn receiving a Light Sword, which will later be passed down to Leif.

Love
Deirdre is bound to Sigurd, thus she does not possess any love growths with any other male character in the game.

Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher)
Deirdre is illustrated in the trading card game Fire Emblem Cipher with the following cards:

Etymology
Deirdre is an an Irish mythological heroine who was destined to bring war and disaster. She is known by the epithet "Deirdre of the Sorrows". To avoid this, she was imprisoned. Deirdre fell in love with Naoise, a knight, but the king later executes him. Deirdre either commits suicide or dies in grief.

Trivia

 * Deirdre possesses many similarities with Emmeryn from Awakening. They both have kind, gentle personalities, are skilled healers, and they both possess the Mark of Naga on their foreheads, indicating the Naga Holy Blood within them.