Alm

"My station doesn’t matter, Celica. I’m here because I was called. I have a duty to perform, and I’ll perform it. No more, and no less."

- Alm to Celica in Shadows of Valentia

Alm is one of the two protagonists from Fire Emblem Gaiden and its remake, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. He is 17 years old in Shadows of Valentia.

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

Profile
Born in the year 384 in the Valentian calendar and year 590 in the Archanean calendar, Alm was raised in Ram Village by his grandfather, Mycen. Alm grew up alongside a group of other Ram Village children, Gray, Tobin, Kliff, and Faye, all of whom were trained in the art of combat by Mycen. Alm also grew up with Celica, a young girl who Mycen was taking care of, whom he was particularly close to. Alm and Celica even had a similar brand on their left and right hands respectively. Their time together was cut short when Slayde, an enforcer to Desaix, wanders into Ram Village and takes interest in Celica due to the special mark on her hand. Mycen enigmatically takes Celica away for her safety, leaving Alm heartbroken. Alm vowed to Celica as she left that they will one day meet again.

Zofia's Deliverance
Until the age of 17, Alm spent his years further honing his skills in combat and war under Mycen's tutelage. Feeling confident that he could now leave the village, he attempts to persuade Mycen, but his grandfather denies his request as he is too green to leave yet. Shortly afterward, Lukas arrives at Ram Village, seeking Mycen to aid with the Deliverance, a Zofian resistance force dedicated to overthrowing Desaix. With Mycen nowhere to be found in the village, Alm steps up and joins the Deliverance in his grandfather's stead with his childhood friends accompanying him on his journey. Alm quickly becomes a huge asset to the Deliverance, quickly gaining the trust and confidence of Lukas and Clair.

On the way to the Deliverance's base, Alm hears of a Novis cleric who was captured by thieves. Alm immediately heads to the Thieves' Shrine and rescues the captured cleric, Silque. As thanks for her rescue, she entrusts the Mila's Turnwheel she was sent to deliver to Alm. Alm's eventually reaches the Deliverance's base where he meets the leader, Clive who is impressed by Alm's conviction and potential, as well as for rescuing his sister. Knowing that Deliverance would need a person of humble origins to lead them rather than a noble like him, he names Alm as the new leader of the deliverance, causing a falling out between Clive and his lieutenant, Fernand. After routing Desaix's Forces, Alm reclaims Zofia Castle, reuniting with Mycen and greeting the citizens who salute him as a hero.

Shortly after, Alm is reunited with Celica in Zofia castle. As the two attempt to rekindle their relationship, Alm tells Celica that he plans on attacking Rigel to stop Emperor Rudolf's attempt at conquest. Celica asks Alm to consider a peaceful resolution to the conflict, expressing that she does not believe Emperor Rudolf to be as evil as others claim. Alm rebukes that this is irrelevant, since his army had already invaded Zofia, and remains resolute to begin an assault on Rigel in order to drive back the invasion. When he points out that the late king is responsible for provoking the empire, Celica accuses him of vying the throne. Alm is insulted by this, and says he only wishes to protect Zofia, and if the missing Zofian princess took his place, he would return to Ram at a moment's notice alongside her. Celica, who is frustrated that Alm does not wish to negotiate, claims there is no such thing as a lost princess and leaves in order to prepare to head for the Temple of Mila. The two go their separate ways and a sudden rockslide prevents the two from meeting again for the time being.

On the way to the border, Alm arrives at a Forest Village, where Luthier asks him to help save his sister Delthea who's been captured, learning of Rigel's blockage of the sluice in order to flood Zofia. When another villager informes them of Mathilda's impending execution by Desaix, though, they decide to attack his fortress in order to rescue her. Leading the Deliverance to the fortress, Alm brings down the despot and Mathilda is rescued. Inside the Fortress, Alm's group finds the Royal Sword, a powerful blade that is rumoured to be wielded only by those of royal lineage. Tobin attempts to pick it, but finds that it is too heavy to lift. Alm, who effortlessly picks it up, believes that Tobin was jesting, though he vehemently denies it. Lukas is shocked by this fact and question the implications of this, but Alm dismisses it as an exaggeration of the myth. Lukas agrees to the possibility, but determines that Alm is the rightful wielder of the blade regardless.

Arriving at the sluice, Alm and his army confront and slay Tatarrah, freeing Delthea from his mind control. The sluice is opened by him after the corresponding floodgate at the Temple of Mila is opened first, deducing Celica to be the one responsible, as well as her status as the missing princess.

Assault on Rigel
Now in Rigel, the Zofian assault begins, with Alm leading the charge. Upon entering, the Deliverance is immediately confronted by Berkut and Fernand. Despite only two and a third cavalry enemy unit against Alm's collective army, the battle goes almost evenly with Alm barely defeating Berkut. In his defeat, Berkut shatters a mirror he was given by Nuibaba, causing a curse to befall upon the Deliverance. However, an intervention by Celica dispels the curse and saves the army.

Before heading to Rigel Castle, Alm hears of a Witch situated on Fear Mountain who has been kidnapping Rigelian women to sacrifice for her god. Alm takes the Deliverance on a detour to end the machinations of Nuibaba who also sought out Alm with the intention of sacrificing him to her god Medusa for everlasting beauty and life. Alm's onslaught on her abode succeeds with him killing the witch. Inside, Alm frees Tatiana, a Rigelian saint who asks to join his army to reunite with her beloved Zeke. Alm leads the Deliverance towards Rigel Castle and eventually encounters Zeke working alongside Jerome. Upon seeing Tatiana among Alm's forces, Zeke immediately turns on Jerome and kills the corrupt knight. After the battle, Alm asks Zeke to join his army. Though thankful for rescuing his beloved, Zeke declines as he remains faithful to Emperor Rudolf for the kindness he gave to him after suffering amnesia. However, Zeke notices Alm's brand and immediately joins his army as Emperor Rudolf himself told him to follow a man who bore that brand on his hand, even if it means fighting against Rudolf himself. He explains that the mark would be a sign of the end of the influences of Duma and Mila on Valentia and that Alm would be one of the heroes who would lead this end.

Eventually, Alm reaches Rigel Castle and the Emperor confronts him. Though the two engage, Rudolf does not attack Alm and is brought down. On his death throes, Rudolf reveals that Alm is Albein Alm Rudolf, Rudolf's only son. Alm is shocked by the sudden revelation and begs Rudolf to explain more, but the king hushes him in order to explain his final request. With his final breaths, he pleads his son to embrace his destiny by claiming the Falchion being stored in the Duma Temple and use its power to end the age of gods. Alm is left in shock as he comes to terms with the fact that he just killed his father.

With the death of the king and named heir apparent, Alm is fully recognized as the prince of Rigel and is lead into the castle. Inside the castle, Mycen appears, and explains the truth behind his past. Duma had begun to fall into madness and Rudolf was among the first to recognize the Divine Dragon's degeneration. Coincidentally, his newborn son bore a Brand that was told in a prophecy to be a key individual who would end the madness of Valentia's gods. In order to forge Alm into the true Hero of legend and prevent his capture by the Duma faithful, Rudolf ordered Mycen, his closest friend, to take Alm away and raise him to become the hero foretold. To all but Rudolf and Mycen, Alm's identity was completely kept secret. In a Memory Prism, prior to sending Alm away with Mycen, he told Mycen that a newborn Zofian princess was also born with a Brand. Rudolf would then spend the next 17 years enacting his plan, becoming a conqueror in order to spur Alm's growth into becoming a hero. With Rudolf's plan ultimately successful and now fully understanding his role in the world, Alm embraces his role as the hero of Valentia and heads down in to the basement of Duma tower to reclaim Falchion and slay Duma.

End of the Age of Gods
In the temple, Alm discovers Celica being imprisoned by Jedah who intends of sacrificing her to Duma. Despite that Alm was instructed by Rudolf's dying words to slay Duma, Celica tries to talk him out of it, fearing that Rigel will be even more barren than it already is, and thinking that nothing can slay Duma due to the Falchion being sealed by Mila herself. After Celica confesses to Alm that her only desire in life is to not want Alm or anyone else to be hurt or killed, and tells him that she wishes that things could have turned out different and that she could have gone back with Alm and lived with him at Ram Village, she runs off to accept her demise at the hands of Duma. Despite all of this, Alm decides to still try to take down Duma and save Celica, not wanting to lose anyone else to Duma.

In Echoes, Alm travels further into the Temple and encounters Berkut, driven into madness by his consecutive defeats and the revelation of Alm as heir apparent. Alm fights his cousin and eventually defeats him. On his death throes, Berkut places his faith in Alm to end the age of gods, but also adding another regret of killing yet another family member he just recently discovered.

Upon reaching the deepest catacombs of the Temple, Alm is forced to brave the final chambers alone in order to claim the Falchion. In the final chamber, Alm is greeted by Celica, but is shocked to find out that her soul was already taken by Duma and has become a mindless Witch. As the two fight, Celica tells Alm to kill her before she can do the same thing to Alm, to which Alm is reluctant to do so. After Celica disarms Alm by knocking the Royal Sword out of his hand, Mila calls upon Alm to take the Falchion and use it to defeat Celica. After unbinding the blade, he is then told to trust in the blade, and proceeds to stabs Celica with the Falchion. As Alm mourns for Celica, Mila uses her remaining power in the Falchion to restore Celica back to life. After that, before fading away, Mila's soul instructs Alm to use the Falchion to stop Duma and free him from the depths of his pain. Celica then apologizes to Alm for the way she had treated him before. The two reconcile and use their respective Mila's Turnwheels to open the gate leading to Duma's domain. Both Alm and Celica's armies join forces and kill Jedah and his daughters Hestia and Marla, allowing them to finally face Duma. With their combined powers and the Falchion, Duma is slain and laid to rest alongside his sister Mila.

With the influence of the gods upon the land gone, Zofia and Rigel are united into the One Kingdom of Valentia, with Alm ascending the throne and becoming its first king. Together alongside Celica, now wed to each other, the two usher an era of peace for Valentia. Alm became famous throughout the history of Valentia as the man who established the grand empire and used his power to slay the oppressive gods who had ruled the land, later being known as the Saint-King Alm I.

Awakening
Alm's legacy would endure even past the schism of the unified kingdom a thousand years later, as one of Alm's successors would rename both the Kingdom and the continent as a whole Valm in his honor.

Personality
Alm is a kind-hearted yet naïve young man who has a strong sense of justice and subtly idealistic morals. He has a strong sense of obligation, wanting to leave Ram Village to help the people of Zofia when he heard about the outbreak of thieves, famine, and the aggression of the Rigelian Empire for the past few years. His sense of justice is rather black-and-white, as he is quick to blame individuals for a number of follies in situations he does not necessarily have the full context to. He has a vaguely puerile sense of humor, as he loves to make puns, and is a terrible dancer.

Alm is able to acknowledge his own naïveté and unfamiliarity with the world outside of his village, and is very attentive in general to compensate for said naïveté. He wears his heart on his sleeve and is very sensitive and emotionally expressive, often verbally communicating his insecurities and not holding back tears in melancholy situations.

Due in part to his humble background, Alm is better able to appeal to the mass of the Deliverance and later the forces of Zofia during their battle against Rigel, having relatable experiences to many who joined the cause. Alm is initially unsure of his role as leader, especially since his sole credential is being Mycen's grandson in the beginning. However over the course of the war, Alm grows more confident and assured of his abilities to lead and inspire others to his cause.

Possibly as a result of his relationship with Celica, Alm never turns down an opportunity to help others, no matter how extraneous the effort would be. While others such as Lukas or Clive often advise him not to take detours from their cause, Alm firmly believes that if he can help anyone in need, he will do all that he can to do so, leading to several people joining his cause from helping them including Luthier, Delthea, Tatiana, and Zeke.

Alm has a deep longing for a family, as he's said to have grown up lonely in said village, even getting deeply disturbed when an elder said that Mycen had no children. Thus, he ends up projecting his desire onto other party members, often idealizing them as his family by treating them as such in order to counterbalance his loneliness.

Growth Rates

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

Overall
As the main Lord character of Gaiden, Alm has very good stats for a Level 1 unit. Though his growths may seem low compared to future games, his growths in Gaiden are considered very strong as Gaiden 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. The Falchion can only be wielded by Alm in Gaiden and is a necessity to defeat the final boss as he is immune to all damage inflicted on him once he reaches 52 HP (aside from a Nosferatu tome). Alm should be given as much training as possible as not only is he key for the final boss, but his offensive strength for the army can prove to be very rewarding in the long run.

Alm is easily one of the strongest characters in Gaiden. He has strong base stats, some of the best growths in the game, can equip a huge variety of Swords (two of which can only be equipped by him) and Bows, and he is 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.

Base Stats

 * -|SpotPass=

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


 * -|DLC (Xenologue 5)=

*Enemy only **After recruitment

Base Stats

 * -|Prologue=


 * -|Act 1=

Class Sets
*DLC class; access with the Altar of the King.
 * }

Growth Rates

 * 60%
 * 50%
 * 55%
 * 45%
 * 35%
 * 50%
 * 3%
 * }

Max Stats

 * 52
 * 41
 * 41
 * 39
 * 39
 * 41
 * 40
 * }

Supports
Passive Supports
 * Mycen
 * Faye
 * Clair
 * Celica
 * Kliff
 * Tobin
 * Gray

Overall
Much like Gaiden, Alm is the strongest member of his team when he first joins, and also possesses some of the highest growth rates in the entire game that will allow his combat performance to remain exceptional even despite his very late promotion. In act 3 he acquires his unique Royal Sword, which has exceptional combat statistics and gives him access to several useful weapon arts, most notable among them being his Double Lions art, which allows him to strike consecutively while increasing the power and accuracy of his attacks. When he promotes in act 4, he also gains access to bows, which he can equip at will using the convoy whenever he requires the extra range. Upon gaining the Falchion in lategame, he gains an effective weapon against terrors and can damage the final boss when he drops below 52 health, which no other physical fighters can do.

Alm's scarce weaknesses do little to hold back his performance. His speed can fall short of double attacking the faster enemies in the game unless he uses his Double Lions skill. His resistance is also quite low, though this is a weakness many others in the game share. His five movement also starts off as above average when the player only has access to villagers and Lukas, but as the player acquires more units, he may find his mobility leaving him behind promoted cavaliers and pegasus knights, as well as dread fighters. Most of all, Alm can only promote during act 4, after Celica has visited the Sage's Hamlet in the lost woods, which means Alm has no stat bonuses to rely on except for his growths rates and whatever statues the player has given him up until then.

Fire Emblem Heroes

 * Hero of Prophecy
 * A brave but kind, young warrior, raised by the hero Mycen in Ram Village. His left hand is marked with the Brand. Appears in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Base Stats
Rarity: ✯✯✯✯✯

Weapon Refinements

 * Falchion

Base Set
Upon release, Alm was a semi-decent Falchion unit who was easily outclassed by Marth,Lucina, and Masked Marth who utilized the Falchion more effectively with their stat distributions. His balance stats hardly benefited him, preventing him from standing out. However, with the Falchion refinement, Alm quickly cemented himself as the best offensive Falchion infantry user and contends with Exalt Chrom for best Falchion user overall. The Valentian Falchion refinement granted him two bonuses. Even with a bane in Atk at 46, Alm can dish out powerful double attacks thanks to the refine effect. Although he has to be at 100% HP to utilize the skill and takes 5 damage when the effect is used, the Falchion refine also upgrades his regeneration to Renewal 3, healing every two turns, helping to maintain the effect by itself. In combination with Windsweep skill as a Skill B in his base kit to prevent counterattacks if his opponents are slower than he is, Alm is a punishing player turn character who can dispatch all Green units and Dragon units, including Nowi and Corrin. Alm comes with Draconic Aura whose fast cooldown and boost to his attacks by its bonus off of ATK, making him a powerful unit from the get go. He also comes with Attack +3 in his base kit, which is serviceable at best, but ultimately better replaced.

Counters
Alm for the most part can deal with most units, but he is heavily countered by any sort of Blue Bulky unit or Mage. Effie in particularly checks him hard thanks to Wary Fighter which removes his ability to Follow Up and her bulk soaks up any damage he can attempt to deal to her, even if his brave effect is still on. Other units like Tana and Ephraim can also deal with him effectively. Strong Blue mages like Reinhardt and Delthea also dispose of him easily. He can also be dispatched by fast and strong red units like Ayra and Mia, though he can mitigate this with Swordbreaker if willing to run that.

Skill Inheritance Options
To capitalize on Alm's Falchion refinement, Death Blow is the best Skill A as it has strong synergy with it and Threaten Defense his Skill C to further shred enemy defense and give him the means to eliminate more units. Reposition works well with a standard infantry unit like him, however Ardent Sacrifice can be used to let him be a Falchion Healer like he once was, but doing so also takes away his Brave Effect until he recovers. If not concerned with Windsweep taking away an opponent's ability to counterattack, Renewal can be inherited as it will stack on Falchion's effect, healing him 20 HP every other turn for a more Healer focus build an maintaining a strong dueling status. As mentioned above, running Swordbreaker helps to mitigate the threat of common sword units.

Gaiden
"Damn!! Just a bit more..."

- Alm's death quote

Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

 * Alm/Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Quotes

Heroes

 * Alm/Heroes Quotes

Gaiden

 * "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!"

Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

 * "As first king of the One Kingdom of Valentia, Alm spent his life restoring the land to glory. He would be remembered fondly by later generations as Saint-King Alm I, who cast off the gods' oppressive yoke and founded a dynasty that would last a thousand years."

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

Etymology
Alm takes its reference from the alpine pasture of the same name. This is further supported in his full name in the Japanese version, Alpine Alm Rudolf. Alm is ostensibly derived from the Old Norse word "álmr", meaning "elm tree". In modern swedish, Alm still means "elm tree". Alm could also be a reference to giving alms, or an act of charity.

Alm's first name in the English versions, Albein, is possibly derived from the name Albin.

Trivia

 * As with many characters in Gaiden, Alm's hair color differs in various art assets. It is green in the manual and cover art, but 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. In Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, his hair is consistently green in both official art and in the game itself.
 * He is one of the few main characters to have a specified last name, the others being Sigurd, Seliph, Leif, Elincia, Jill, Sanaki, and Marth in the anime.
 * Alm's artwork for both the original Gaiden and Shadows of Valentia depicts him wielding the Royal Sword. His Awakening artwork depicts him wielding Alm's Blade, which is visually based on the Royal Sword, while his Heroes artwork depicts him with the Valentian Falchion.
 * His artwork in Gaiden, Shadows of Valentia and Heroes depicts him in the Fighter Class, while his DLC artwork in Awakening depicts him in the Dread Fighter Class.
 * Alm was originally right-handed in Gaiden and all subsequent materials. However, Echoes depicts Alm as left-handed, both in his promotional art and in-game appearances. This is further shown in Fire Emblem Heroes where he has different animations compared to most sword users.
 * This makes him the first known character and Lord character who is left-handed.
 * The reasons for the change, according to the developers, were that the motion team said that many new poses and patterns can be made if the character was simply left handed, as well as to make Alm better resemble a hero with the strength to overcome any enemy, such as Alexander the Great, who was also said to be left handed, while also serving as a contrast to Celica’s brand.
 * In Shadows of Valentia, Alm is the only playable character without a spell list, as he does not learn magic naturally and cannot use a Pitchfork.
 * In Shadows of Valentia, Alm has a special animation whenever player phase starts; however, as a Hero, this animation depicts him holding his sword in his right hand.
 * In the raw Japanese script of Gaiden, aside from his use of "boku" as a personal pronoun, Alm tends to use rather feminine speech mannerisms.
 * Implied from the flavour text in Shadows of Valentia, Alm has a taste for landscape paintings and, like Celica, is quite fond of cats.