Arvis

"I don't care if I have the Loptyrian Clan's blood in me. I have Saint Maira's blood and he fought for the good of the people. The Fire God Fala is also one of my ancestors. I will use my power to create a world which is free of prejudice. One where all people can live without fear of repression! Of course, Sigurd knows way too much. Consider him a sacrifice to the greater good."

- Arvis to Manfroy in Genealogy of the Holy War.

Arvis (アルヴィス Aruvisu, Alvis in the Japanese version) is an antagonist of Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. After the death of King Azmur, he is appointed as the emperor of Grannvale. He is the son of Duke Victor of Velthomer and Cigyun, and the descendant of Fala on his father's side and Saint Maira on his mother's side. Arvis is said to possess the "gift of Kings", a talent and toughness that he had even as a child, allowing him to lead Velthomer at an early age after his father's suicide. He is largely manipulated by Manfroy because he has minor Loptyr blood, making him the key to Manfroy's dark ambitions. He is the father of Julius, Julia, and Saias.

Early life
Arvis was born the first son of the duke of Velthomer, Victor. Victor was reputed as a womanizer, caring close to nothing about his family. At the age of 7, Arvis witnessed his father hanging and killing himself after Victor's wife, Cigyun, had an affair with Prince Kurth, leaving him with Cigyun's favorite maid and his half-brother Azelle. Arvis was then appointed the position of the next preceding duke of Velthomer, and worked to rise in position and power. Despite Azelle being born as a result of Victor's affair with a maid, Arvis apparently cared very much for him, claiming that he is one of the most important individuals in his life.

Sigurd's Tale
When Prince Kurth waged war with the nation of Isaach, Arvis was positioned in Belhalla to attend to Emperor Azmur of Grannvale. When the Verdane forces assaulted Jungby, Arvis was sent to quell the oppression at a later time. He met up Sigurd and gave him a Silver Sword on the behalf of Prince Kurth. Arvis also learnt that Azelle had joined Sigurd's army, where he entrusted Sigurd with the task of keeping him safe. He then left Sigurd to the task of subduing Verdane's forces.

As corruption and oppression ran rampant in and around Grannvale, Arvis had the ambition to build a world of eternal peace, with the people not having to suffer any longer. This led to him making contact with a dark bishop who helped him in exchange for the safety of the Lopto Sect. Arvis acted on this ambition when news of Prince Kurth's assassination arrived, with the blame placed on the House of Chalphy by Duke Lombard of Dozel and Duke Reptor of Freege. This was done though his scheme to supplant the other lords by having them fight one another, claiming the lands in Jugdral along the way. Arvis then proceeded to kill these lords the when they were grievously weakened. He stayed by King Azmur's side, standing in as his loyal attendant.

Arvis later found a lady lying unconscious outside Belhalla. He brought her into the the castle, where he eventually fell in love with her at first sight because she greatly resembled his mother. He wed her in an unspecified point of time in the game, without any knowledge that he had fallen into Manfroy's trap. He heard rumors that Sigurd's wife went missing and suspected that Deirdre was the one that went missing which led to him carefully watching Sigurd.

Arvis was eventually chosen to be the heir of Azmur, where he would be given the position of Emperor until his son grew old enough to succeed him. When news of Sigurd's army approaching Belhalla reached him, Arvis devised a plan to trick the army into its demise. He first sent Lombard to wage a battle with the army, where he was slain. As Sigurd's army approached the outskirts of Belhalla, he sent Reptor into the battlefield. As Reptor proceeded to carry out Arvis' orders, Arvis suddenly turned on him and cooperated with Sigurd to end his life, having his troop of mages bombard Reptor with spells from afar. Arvis proceeded to instruct Aida to direct Sigurd's army to Belhalla.

Arvis and the Roten Ritter then held an elaborate ceremony to greet Sigurd's army on their victorious return to Belhalla in an attempt to meet with King Azmur to dispel the slander placed on the Chalphy name. However, this ceremony was a disguise to his true motives, in which he sentenced them to their deaths and abruptly attacked them in what was known as the Battle of Belhalla. After taunting Sigurd by allowing him to see Deirdre for the last time to check to see whether she was in fact his wife. Upon confirming that Sigurd's missing wife was in fact Deirdre, Arvis used his personal tome Valflame to kill Sigurd while his mage unit cast a mass-Meteor shower to seemingly obliterate the rest of Sigurd's army. Following this, he investigated Deirdre's past and discovered that she was in fact his sister, but his feelings for her hadn't changed, and simply tried his best to not let her find out the truth. The sorrow that Deirdre would feel of knowing their relation to each other was the most unbearable thing for him. 

Seliph's Tale
With the death of Sigurd, Arvis remained the sole power of Grannvale, and was eventually crowned as Emperor. He successfully created a peaceful regime in Grannvale that lasted for approximately ten years, and was also blessed with twin children, Julius and Julia with Deirdre. After this, the situation began to go downhill.

Seven years before the start of the events of the second generation, Manfroy offered Julius the Dark Tome of Loptyr. Upon reading the tome, Julius was possessed by Loptyr and his personality and character were drastically warped. Arvis was unable to stop this from occurring, as Julius was designated to be the next Emperor of Grannvale as decreed by Azmur in the first generation. Arvis could only watch on helplessly as the Empire which he painstakingly built was destroyed, with Julius adopting oppressive measures in his ruling. These measures included children being hunted in order to be sacrificed to the Dark Lord, alongside the extermination of any form of resistance. Deirdre was also slain by Julius, but not before she managed to teleport Julia to safety.

Arvis eventually realized that he had all along been manipulated by Manfroy, and attempted to atone for this sin by preventing as many casualties in the child hunting as he could. He eventually faced off against the Liberation Army led by Seliph, leading the defenses of Chalphy Castle. Before doing so, however, he sent out a bishop with Tyrfing and several children, intending for Seliph to receive the sword and rescue the children. Arvis was eventually slain by the Liberation Army, which avenged Sigurd's death 17 years ago. However, after the end of the Holy War, Seliph realized that Arvis was unable to escape the cruel tidings of fate which led him to carry out atrocious acts throughout the course of his life.

Stats

 * [[File:Minor Loptous Blood Indicator.gif]] - Minor Loptyr Blood
 * [[File:Major Holy Blood Indicator.gif]] - Major Holy Blood
 * -|Prologue=


 * -|Chapter 10=

Strategy
Arvis appears twice on the battle field, once as an NPC Sage in the Prologue, and another as an enemy Emperor in Chapter 10. In the Prologue, he wields the Valflame and a Recover Ring, making him wholly impossible to kill by the enemies, both due to their low power and Arvis' ability to instantly recover any taken damage on his turn. Any units attacking him are killed in a single hit by his Valflame. Arvis will leave the battlefield the moment Sigurd speaks to him.

At the end of Chapter 10, Arvis is extremely difficult to defeat, possibly even harder than the final boss himself. Because of his Valflame tome, Arvis has 40 Defense and Resistance, rendering any attacks not using a Holy Weapon ineffective and impractical. Furthermore, Arvis has 70 magical attack power, allowing him to kill any weak units with ease. The Forseti wielder will prove to be somewhat ineffective as well, due to Arvis' Anima Trinity advantage.

The best way to defeat him is for both Seliph and Ares to attack him constantly with their respective Holy Weapons, as they both receive resistance bonuses from them. Delmud and Nanna (due to both possessing the Charm skill), as well as Seliph and Ares' lovers should also be positioned nearby to grant additional accuracy and dodging abilities. Heal when necessary, and Arvis will eventually succumb to his injuries. Be sure to allow Seliph to deliver the finishing blow, as this will allow him to obtain the Life Ring from a special event after Arvis' death.

SpotPass
*Enemy only, joins unequipped

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

Etymology
As with many other characters in Genealogy of the Holy War, Arvis's name takes its origins from Norse mythology. Alviss was a Dwarven sage whose name means "All Wise".

Arvis is derived from the old German Arvin, and means "people's friend". This could refer to Arvis's popularity as the Emperor of Grannvale.

Trivia

 * Between the first and second generations, Arvis somehow loses the ability to use Light magic. This is because the Sage class possesses a B rank in Light by default, whereas the Emperor class does not. Arvis also loses the Continue skill, which is a class feature of the Sage class.
 * Despite his prominence in the plot, there is only one artwork of the second generation's version of Arvis. In this art piece, Emperor Arvis appears much less aged than his in-game appearance.
 * The Sages in Arvis' SpotPass team in Fire Emblem Awakening represent the Roten Ritter, Velthomer's knight brigade.
 * Arvis' name could be a corruption of the name "Albus".