Kaden

"I'm not an "it", human! I have a name. A better name than yours, no doubt. Call me Kaden. I'm the chief of this village."

- Kaden in Chapter 19 of Conquest

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.

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. While he believes the Avatar's intentions, he refuses to let them pass due to an old Kitsune belief that the humans would kill the kitsune for their fur once they obtain their trust. He and his tribesmen fight the Nohrians but fail and are killed in self-defense.

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 leading his tribe, 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 - Kitsune Lair

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Xenologue 20 - Heirs of Fate 6: Lost in the Waves

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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

 * -|All Routes=


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Special Classes

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Supports
Romantic Supports
 * The Avatar (Female)
 * Azura
 * Felicia
 * Mozu

Hoshido

 * Hinoka
 * Sakura
 * Kagero
 * Setsuna
 * Oboro
 * Hana
 * Rinkah
 * Orochi

Nohr (Revelation)
Other Supports
 * Peri
 * Charlotte
 * The Avatar (Male)
 * Azama
 * Hinata
 * Hayato
 * Keaton (Revelation)
 * Selkie
 * Kana (if Kaden is his father)
 * Shigure (if Kaden is his father)

Overall
Kaden is the Hoshidan beast shapeshifter and one of two Kitsune units guaranteed to exist in Fates. Unlike Keaton, who focuses more of brute strength and durability, Kaden is much more lithe, making him much harder to hit and able to double on enemies much more easily than Keaton. While his defense growths are quite low and his HP growths are middling as well, unless facing high skill and speed units, Kaden dodges most attacks rather than trying to tank them. He also needs to be wary of units with Beast Killers as one hit from them usually spells instant death from him. During PvP and My Castle battles, enemy Kitsune and Wolfskin units may carry Beastbane, which is also a threat to him. His strength is also middling, leaving some concern when needing the damage necessary to kill units. Kaden's decent resistance growths does make him a good candidate for taking down mages or defending against them, though he cannot counterattack them from range. Should Kaden and the healer in the battle ever be injured in battle, he can use his personal skill Reciprocity which allows the healer to regain health whenever they heal him. Kaden's starting skills are Evenhanded which boosts his damage by 4 during even numbered turns and Beastbane which makes him effective against horse mounted units. While Evenhanded can be used outside of the Kitsune class, Beastbane cannot.

Kaden's only promotion is the Nine-Tails which presents very little changes to his stats aside from higher caps. He learns Even Better which gives him a 40% HP regen during even numbered turns and Grisly Wound which deals a bonus 20% Max HP reduction to enemies he has attack that turn. Overall, Kaden thrives during Even numbered turns with his base class and promotion's skills and should capitalize on those turns to attack while using the odd number turns to either reposition or retreat for safety.

Secondary Class
Kaden's secondary class is the Diviner class. For the most part, Kaden's incredibly weak magic growths leave a lot to be desired from the class in terms of an alternative in the Onmyoji, but he still benefits mainly from the Basara promotion. Diviner provides Future Sight which is good for training as it boosts his EXP gains from time to time. The Basara class not only let him do decent damage with Lances but it provides Rend Heaven which can allow him to take down high strength enemies by using their stats to boost his own. Quixotic helps to boost Rend Heaven's activation rates and ensures that he can hit his enemies when needed.

Buddy Class
Kaden can form an A+ Support with the following characters: Hinata, Azama, and Keaton.
 * 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

 * Avatar: The Avatar can provide a plethora of possible classes which solely depends on what class is chosen as her secondary class. Amongst some of the best classes that can only be given to the Avatar is the Wyvern Rider class, or more specifically, the Malig Knight class. The class skill Savage Blow stacks on Grisly Wound, dealing a minimum 40% additional damage after the battle to the enemy unit he attacked as well as 20% HP reduction to enemies within two tiles of himself as well, allowing him to be a great battle initiator for large crowds of enemies..
 * Kagero: Kagero provides the Ninja class that falls in line very nicely with his base stat growths. If looking for a solid alternative class, Kaden does not disappoint as a Ninja and its promotions. From the base, he has mainly Poison Strike, adding 20% HP reduction to his attacks, which stacks on Grisly wound, dealing minimum 40% to enemies he attacks. Master Ninja's only usable skill in his base class is Lethality. While it will down just about any enemy once it activates, it is extremely unreliable due to its low activation rate, making it come down to luck when it is used, rather than a more consistently activated attack skill like Rend Heaven. His other class, the Mechanist, provides Golembane, a skill best used in My Castle battles and certain Birthright chapters. Replicate allows Kaden to have double map presence, though both the clone and himself needs to be handled with care to prevent unwanted death.
 * Rinkah: Rinkah provides the Oni Savage. He learns Shove for unit repositioning abilities and Seal Resistance. The latter is particularly useful as he can engage on mages thanks to his good resistance stats and then he can cripple their magical potency for other units to finish off. The Oni Chieftain class provides Death Blow, increasing his Critical hit rate when initiating combat. He also learns Counter which returns damage from direct combat from enemy units. The Blacksmith class has Salvage Blow to create Hoshido iron weapons and Lancebreaker to reduce the threat of Beast Killer lance attacks on him as well as make it easier for him to attack Cavalier units who tend to use Lances and have a weakness to his Beastbane skill.

Quotes
Refer to Kaden/Quotes.

Possible Endings
Kaden - Kitsune Braggart (妖狐の長 yōko no chō lit. Kitsune Chief)
 * 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 Azura
 * Despite marriage, Kaden continued to travel, returning favors. Later, he served as chief of his village. There are few records of Azura beyond her marriage. She remains a historical mystery.


 * Kaden and Felicia
 * Despite marriage, Kaden continued to travel, returning favors. Later, he served as chief of his village. Felicia gave up her career in the service industry for the military, ultimately becoming a commander.


 * 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 Peri
 * Despite marriage, Kaden continued to travel, returning favors. Later he served as chief of his village. Peri eventually learned the difference between right and wrong. It took a while.


 * 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, as well as Gray in the remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.
 * 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.