Alm

"Everyone, don't let your guard down. A large brigade from Rigel is heading our way. Knights to the front; mages fall back. Fortify our defenses. Disperse the enemies and pick them off one by one!"

- Alm

Alm (アルム Arumu, also translated Arum in the Japanese versions) is one of the two main characters from Fire Emblem Gaiden.

He appears as DLC in Fire Emblem Awakening, where his map introduces the Dread Fighter class.

Profile
Alm is a childhood friend of Celica and was raised by Mycen in the village of Ram in Zofia. He joins and eventually leads the resistance against the rebelling forces of Dozah. After routing Dozah to his fortress, Alm reclaims Zofia Castle and reunites with Mycen and eventually Celica. The two go on their separate journeys and Alm's forces visit the Forest Village, where the mage Luthier asks him to save his sister Dyute. Alm slays Dozah and captures his fortress, freeing the Zofian knight Matilda. At the floodgate Alm and his army confront and slay Tatara, freeing Dyute from his mind control. The floodgate opens after the corresponding floodgate at the Temple of Mila is opened first.

Alm then leads the counterattack on Rigel. After capturing a fortress belonging to the sorcerer Nuibaba, he finds the saint Teeta who explains that Nuibaba took her prisoner in order to make her lover, Sieg, fight. Upon seeing that Teeta is safe, Sieg cooperates with Alm's army to defeat the corrupt Jerome. At first Sieg refuses to join Alm's army due to his loyalty to King Rudolf, but changes his mind upon seeing a cross shaped mark on his right arm. He explains that Rudolf told him that the mark would belong to Valentia's savior and that he must follow that person. Eventually, Alm confronts Rudolf in battle, although Rudolf refuses to attack him. Rudolf is defeated, but before he dies he reveals that Alm is his son, and that his real name is Alpine Alm Rudolf, and also requests that he claims the Falchion and slays the dark god Duma.

At Rigel Castle, Mycen explains that Rudolf was the one who entrusted Alm to his care and that he had to make himself the "destroyer" in order to instigate the appearance of the true heroes who would save mankind from the destruction that would come of the negative consequences of Duma and Mila's deep involvement in mankind. Alm then goes to confront Duma and joins with Celica's army, who were set up to be sacrificed to Duma by Judah. Eventually he defeats Duma with the Falchion and is entrusted to govern the land justly by Duma before he returns to slumber in the shadows. After the war he marries Celica and becomes the Exalted King Alm the First of the united Kingdom of Valentia.

It is revealed in Fire Emblem Awakening that his successor would rename the continent "Valm" and the Kingdom of Valentia the "Valmese Empire" in his honor.

Growth Rates

 * 50%
 * 35%
 * 40%
 * 30%
 * 20%
 * 30%
 * 0%
 * }

Overall
Alm, being the main character, has very good stats for a Level 1 unit. His growths may seem low, but they are actually extremely good in Gaiden, which has brutally low growth rates. He will likely end up with very high HP, Strength and Skill and relatively high Speed and Defense by endgame, so he can be used as a shield or offense type unit as you wish. His lowest growth is Luck, which is merely average.

When he promotes, he gets even more potential as he can use Bows, which are deadly in this game as they have a natural range of 3 that can be increased to a range of 5 with a Bow weapon equipped. He is the only unit that can equip the Falchion blade to defeat Duma (who can only be finished off with either the Falchion or the Nosferatu spell), so it's almost a necessity to train him.

All in all, Alm is easily one of the strongest characters in Gaiden. He has strong base stats, some of the best growths in the game (losing only to Est, Cliff, and Zeke), can equip a huge variety of awesome Swords and Bows, and he's with you from the start of the game. His only real weakness is that he can only Promote once, and his Promotion requires you to find an optional hidden village in the Lost Woods that can be easy to miss without a guide.

Base Stats

 * -|DLC=


 * -|SpotPass=

*Enemy only, joins unequipped.
 * -|Enemy (Xenologue 2)=


 * -|Enemy (Xenologue 5)=

Ending
In ages to come, this is what was passed down:

'He who sundered the evil chains of the gods

And established this thousand-year reign

Must never be forgotten: Our Exalted King, Alm the First!

Death Quote
"Damn!! Just a bit more..."

- Alm's Death Quote in Gaiden

Etymology
Alm takes its reference from the alpine pasture of the same name. This is further supported in his full name, Alpine Alm Rudolf.

Trivia

 * As with many characters in Gaiden, Alm's hair color differs in various art assets. It is green on the manual and cover art, yet blue in game. In the manga adaptation of Fire Emblem Gaiden, Alm has green hair as well. In Fire Emblem Awakening, Alm has green hair but the very tips are blue, effectively combining both hair colors. The hair is, however, still largely green. Also in Awakening, his portait with green hair is reused for his Spotpass portrait. This indicates that green hair takes canon priority over his blue hair, possibly due to the massive amount of blue haired lords in the franchise.
 * He is one of the few main characters to have a specified last name, the others being Sigurd and his son Seliph.
 * His Awakening artwork depicts him wielding Alm's Blade.