Ross (The Sacred Stones)

"Yeah! Don't be fooled by my appearance. I'm actually pretty good."

- Ross, in a support conversation with Gerik

Ross (ロス, Rosu) is a playable character in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. He is a young villager from Ide, and son of the former warrior Garcia, who left the army in order to raise him.

Personality
Ross is a wild and impetuous youth, who seeks to emulate his father by becoming a warrior. In his support conversations, he is shown to be serious about his oaths.

Ross lost his mother, Risa, when he was very young; in a support conversation with Lute, it is revealed that Risa knew some degree of magic, and Ross believes that he had a chance at learning magic, for Lute states that you have to be born with magic in order to use it. Garcia retired from the army to raise little Ross; as a result, father and son are extremely close, and Ross adores his dad and seeks to become as strong as he is.

Growth Rates
*25% in the Japanese version
 * 70%
 * 50%
 * 35%
 * 30%*
 * 40%
 * 25%
 * 20%
 * }

1st Tier
Choice 1=
 * -|Choice 2=

2nd Tier
Choice 1=
 * From Pirate


 * -|Choice 2=

Choice 1=
 * From Fighter


 * -|Choice 2=

Supports

 * Garcia
 * Lute
 * Amelia
 * Ewan
 * Gerik

Overall
Ross is one of the three Trainees that joins the player's party, and he is the earliest of them to do so. Like all other trainees, Ross joins as a unique class one tier lower than standard classes, and must level up to level 10

in order to promote into them. As a result, in the long term, he will gain roughly ten extra levels than every other character, theoretically growing into one of the strongest characters on the team with careful use. However, as a result of his incredbly low bases and mediocre growths, he takes a very long time to level up, and will not become any stronger than most characters when leveled naturally. This makes him a very impractial choice to use in the main campaign, as the amount of effort needed to raise him is not equal to the payoff he provides.

Nonetheless, Ross is the most beneficial of the trainees to use, as he joins very early on and has nearly the entire length of the game to contribute. If Ross is leveled, he will gain an admirable amount of Strength and Luck due to his good growths in those stats, but all of his other stats will drag behind quite heavily, especially so for his speed and Skill. Ross will have an immense amount of difficulty reliably doubling enemies, and his hit chances while wielding axes will be mediocre as a result of his lackluster Skill. He also has difficulty with his durability, and his defenses are all around lackluster, with his passable HP doing little to pad this.

Ross may choose to class change into either Fighter or Pirate when he reaches level ten, and from there he may promote using either a Hero Crest if he chooses Fighter, or an Ocean Seal if he chooses Pirate. In both of these classes, he may choose to promote into Warrior, but as a Fighter he may also choose to promote into Hero, while as a Pirate he may choose to promote into Berserker. As a Pirate or Berserker, Ross may walk over certain types of tiles that no other foot units can, such as water, which provides him with a unique ability.

Of Ross' three available classes, Hero and Berserker are the ones most beneficial to him. From either of the promotion paths Ross takes for them, he will gain a bonus of two to his Speed, which while minor, goes a long way towards salvaging his ability to double attack. As a Hero, Ross gains the ability to use swords, which may aid him with his low hit rates while using axes. As a Berserker, Ross gains a critical hit bonus chance of fifteen percent. Comparatively, Ross gains very little from promoting into Warrior, as he gains little from bows and does not gain the vital Speed boost that he does from his other classes. Ross may also promote into a super trainee on repeat playthroughs, but it offers absolutely nothing over his ordinary classes.

Players wishing to use Ross in the postgame may make use of the infinite statboosters provided in order to cap all of Ross' stats, including his speed and Skill. The class of his that works the best in this scenario is his Berserker promotion, as its class parameters and caps are the highest of the three available, making him one of the strongest characters the player has access to. In the main game however, stats caps have little to no effect, and he works competently as either Hero or Berserker.

Recruit Conversation
Ross: Hey, listen! My village is being attacked by bandits. My name's Ross. Come on! You have to help me wipe those thugs out! Eirika: All right, just... Just take a deep breath and calm down, Ross. Leave the villages to us. We'll drive off the bandits. Seth, take the boy somewhere safe. Ross: No! Wait! I'm going to fight, too! Eirika: But... Ross: My father is out there all alone, fighting those bandits. I've got to get back to him as quickly as possible! I'm the son of the great Garcia! As long as I have my axe, no bandit will ever defeat me! Eirika: All right, I can see you're not going to be swayed... But you must promise you will stay close to us.

Death Quote
"I... am a warrior to the very end."

- Ross's death quote in The Sacred Stones.

Endings
He returned to Ide, village of his youth, and helped rebuild it after the bandit attack that brought it to ruin. Years later, he set out on his own to perfect his fighting skill and hone both body and spirit.
 * Ross, His Father's Son (受け継がれし豪腕 Uketsuga reshi Gō ude)

Ross and Garcia returned to their village, where they toiled together to rebuild their village. Ross grew to become a greater warrior than even his father. When he himself had a son, that child continued his family's legacy.
 * (A Support with Garcia)

Amelia traveled to Ross's hometown, where she decided to remain. Over time, the two fell in love and were wed. Years later they had a son who grew into a warrior. As he grew in skill and strength, he surpassed even his father.
 * (A Support with Amelia)

Trivia

 * Ross is the only character in the game who can use one of two items to promote; if the player chooses to make him a Fighter, he requires a Hero Crest; but if the player decides to make him a Pirate, he requires an Ocean Seal.