Merric

"Whilst studying magic in Khadein, I caught wind of a war brewing and decided to seek you out."

- Merric to Marth

Merric (マリク, translated Marich in the Japanese versions) is a mage and an Altean noble. He held a crush towards Marth's sister Elice, and in order to protect her, he studied magic in Khadein under Wendell. He is given the wind magic Excalibur by Wendell and returns just in time to help Marth save Elice. He later returns to Khadein.

In the second book, Merric was caught in a fight against his rival Ellerean and was almost killed, until he was saved. He later wakes Elice up from Medeus' mind control. Later, he moves to Pales with Elice and teaches magic there.

His appearance clearly resembles, and possibly inspired, the overall design for Mages in the Fire Emblem series.

Death Quotes
"Sire... I was glad... to know you..."

- Death Quote in Shadow Dragon

Base Stats
|Mage |1 |20 |0 |3 |3 |6 |3 |4 |3 |6 |Tome - D |Excalibur

Growth Rates
|60% |0% |30% |50% |45% |45% |5% |30%

Support Relationships
Supports Supported by
 * Wendell
 * Elice
 * Linde
 * Marth
 * Wendell
 * Elice

Base Stats
|Mage |10 |24 |0 |7 |6 |10 |6 |7 |5 |6 |Tome - D |Excalibur Pure Water

Growth Rates
Mage |70% |0% |40% |65% |65% |70% |15% |15%

Sage |70% |0% |30% |65% |70% |70% |15% |25%

Support Relationships
Supports Supported by
 * Marth
 * Linde
 * Wendell
 * Elice
 * My Unit
 * Marth
 * Wendell
 * Elice

Overall
Merric is a very powerful Mage and has fairly balanced stats outside slightly better HP and Skill. His main problem is that he has very poor defense, and because of this he really can't be trusted to go into a pack of enemies and expect to survive. He often makes up for this when serving with Archers and Snipers as backup behind the main forces or behind a strong defender like a Knight.

Archetype
Merric started the Merric archetype. A male mage, who appears early in the game. Usually, but not necessarily, a student of a more powerful magician. Merrics include:
 * Boey (FE2)
 * Azel (FE4)
 * Arthur (FE4)
 * Amid (FE4)
 * Asvel (FE5)
 * Lugh (FE6)
 * Erk (FE7)
 * Ewan (FE8)
 * Soren (FE9/10)

Etymology
Merric's name in katakana (マリク) can also be translated as 'Malik', an Arabic word which means 'king'. This is befitting as he wields the Excalibur tome.