Xane

"Hey there, princey. Thanks for settin' me free! The name's Xane. I hail from a land few have heard of and even fewer have seen. I won't trouble you with the details. Me and my folk have the power to transform into other people. We can shape-shift, you see. When Doluna caught on, they started threatenin' me. Told me to join their army or "face my doom." Hah! Well, I wasn't about to waste my considerable talent on those evil coots! You, on the other hand...You've got character. Say, why don't we team up? I do owe you for savin' my hide. And I think you'll find my considerable talents are...quite considerable."

- Xane in Shadow Dragon.

Xane (チェイニー, Cheine in the Japanese version and referred to as Chainey in the fan translations) is a playable character in Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi, Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, and their remakes. He is one of the few Divine Dragon survivors of the war against the Earth Dragons, he lost his ability to morph into Dragon form but instead gained the ability to take form of another person.

He works under Gotoh, despite their differing views of humanity, and in Mystery of the Emblem, he acts as a guide for Marth in his quest to reach Gotoh and follow his ancestor Anri. In the end, though, he once again vanishes.

Personality
Xane is a carefree and somewhat effeminate person who likes to play jokes (at one point he annoys Tiki by immitating her and repeating everything she says). He has some sympathy to the Fire, Mage, and Earth Dragon Tribes that ended up forming the Doluna Empire, to the extent that he has stated some dislike towards humans due to seeing them mistreat the powerless manakete tribes in the past. At one point, even claiming to Marth, that he was just an onlooker in the battle between Anri and Medeus.

Nevertheless, he does possess firm senses of honor and duty, as shown to his loyalty to Marth and Gotoh, and refused to join up with Doluna when they tried to press him into joining. He has a strange fondness for Marth, constantly referring to him affectionately as "Princey". He can be supportive to others, as shown in some of his talks with Tiki.

Recruitment
Shadow Dragon:

Shin Monshō no Nazo:

Overall
Xane is one of the better units in the very first Fire Emblem game. Unlike later versions, Xane copies all stats the character he transforms into in this game, including Max HP and current HP. This makes him much more versatile and usable from the moment you get him, and makes his non-transformed stats of much less consequence. You can give Xane a mix of Sword and Spear weapons as most classes in the game are able to use one or both, and he will instantly be as good as the best member of your team. You can even have him carry a Stave incase you need another healer, or turn him into a flying unit.

Xane does come with some downsides to him, as his transformation will eat up a turn, and his transformation wearing off at bad times can put him at risk. However, that may not be a huge issue if you transform near the beginning of a map, as it should last for enough turns for you to take on the bulk of enemy units on any given map. Xane will also be wasting Experience Points when he kills units since any EXP he gains while transformed is lost (though at the point in the game where you recruit him, your characters are very likely close to max level). Leveling Xane's non-transformation form is a pain as he's a very weak, so it's probably best not to bother as leveling him will barely increase his survivability and he should be spending pretty much all of his turns transformed.

Xane's ability to copy your most potent units and switch between them as the situation calls for negates most of his downsides, If you can deal with his unique style, he will make a great addition to your team.

Recruitment
Chapter 16, enemy, talk to him with Marth.

Recruitment
Chapter 14: Automatically from the start.

Support Relationships
Supports
 * None

Supported by
 * The Avatar
 * Marth
 * Tiki

Overall
The only stats that matter for Xane are defense, HP, speed, luck, and resistance due to the fact that Xane cannot attack while untransformed (with the exception of the Super Famicom version of Monshou no Nazo, which allows him to use swords). When Xane transforms, he mimics the stats of the selected character, meaning that the only stats that matter for Xane are the stats that will help keep him alive or reduce the damage he takes while he is untransformed (in the Super Famicom version of Monshou no Nazo, Xane does not copy the Max HP of a character, unlike other versions of the game). It should be noted that Xane should be healed after transforming, as his HP does not instantly regenerate after transforming. Also, Xane can use weapons which are restricted to certain characters, such as the Rapier, Hammerne Staff, Aum Staff, and Wing Spear, except for the Falchion. He also cannot copy Manaketes. Xane also does not gain EXP when transformed in the Super Famicom version, and will have to level up while untransformed.

Quote
"So long, Princey... It's been.. fun..."

- Death Quote, Shadow Dragon

"Hey! Wait, I'm not an enemy. Don't fight me!"

- As an Enemy in Mystery of the Emblem

Shin Monshō no Nazo ~Hikari to Kage no Eiyū~
Divine Youth

"Xane vanished once more after the war. All that remained afterwards was the odd anecdote of an eccentric shapeshifter."

Etymology
Chainey is possibly derived from Lon Chaney Sr., a famous silent actor known as the "The Man of a Thousand Faces".

Trivia
"A certain shape-shifting youth will have an important role, in the guise of a mysterious bard and sage. Since this game occurs in the same time period as the first game, Dark Dragon and Sword of Light, more characters may return if the need arises."
 * Xane may have originally been intended to reappear in Emblem Saga. The character Narcus from TearRing Saga is extremely similar to Xane, including the ability to transform into other units.

- Shouzou Kaga answering a question about returning characters in an interview conducted by Famitsu