Ephraim

"Trust me. I don't pick fights I can't win."

- Ephraim citing his motto to Kyle and Forde before charging Renvall.

Ephraim (エフラム Efuramu) is a playable character and a protagonist in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. He is the crown prince of Renais and Eirika's twin brother. He is a headstrong and determined man whose skill with a Lance is unsurpassed by any other in his country. He has a semi-friendly rivalry with Prince Innes of Frelia and is also good friends with Prince Lyon of Grado. He wears the Solar Brace which is one of a pair of bracelets that together grant access to Renais' Sacred Stone.

Ephraim appears as a Sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Profile
Ephraim is engaged in guerrilla war against Grado in an attempt to divert Grado troops from their invasion into Renais, concurrently with his father's death. Blaming himself for his inability to aid his father in his time of need, Ephraim journeys back towards his homeland in hopes of finding his sister, Eirika, who has now disappeared in the wake of the invasion. He also wants to find Prince Lyon to unravel the mystery of Grado's sudden invasion. Ephraim is passionate and headstrong, and well-liked for his candid, direct manner.

After Jehanna's Sacred Stone is destroyed, Eirika joins him to go to Renais castle to save their country and its Sacred Stone. Orson, the traitor, is in charge of Renais castle. After they take it back, it is revealed that Lyon had raised Orson's wife back from the dead, and he was happy, if consumed by madness. Ephraim then receives the Sacred Stone along with Siegmund, and Eirika receives Sieglinde. Ephraim, along with Eirika and company, ultimately defeats the Demon King, afterwards he became King of Renais and helps to fix up Magvel.

Growth Rates

 * 80%
 * 55%
 * 55%
 * 45%
 * 50%
 * 35%
 * 25%
 * }

Supports

 * Eirika
 * Kyle
 * Forde
 * Myrrh
 * L'Arachel
 * Duessel
 * Tana

Overall
Ephraim is one of the two lords in the game, and he will become the main lord of the storyline if his story is taken at the route split. Unlike his sister, who joins with very low base stats, Ephraim's primary stats are fantastic for his join time and level, and he has among the best growths in the game all around. He is also locked to a far better weapon type than Eirika, who has swords, as lances have higher damage, a reliable ranged attack option, and are less susceptible to weapon triangle disadvantage against the majority of enemies that use them as well.

His prf weapon, Reginleif, is also immensely powerful and light enough that he can use it without any speed penalties. It is effective against armored and mounted enemies, but is powerful enough to use it against standard enemies to great effect as well, and its many uses allow the player to use it with impunity. When he promotes, he gains a mount to allow him to keep up with faster units, and the Sacred Twin Siegmund, a powerful lance with which he can nearly one hit kill the majority of monsters in the game even with no stats increases of his own.

Ephraim's main weakness is his late promotion, his lance lock, and his lack of a mount until he promotes. He may fall behind any mounted units in the player's army up until that point and will require ferrying to remain on the front lines. He is also not preset at all in Eirika's route until he meets back up with her in chapter 15, leaving him with very few chapters of availability. When engaging axe using enemies, he is at weapon triangle disadvantage unless he equips a rare axereaver. He also has fairly low stat caps, though during the main campaign this does not come into play to any notable degree. These issues do not stop him from being one of the strongest lords in the Game Boy Advance titles, and perhaps even the series, especially once he promotes.

Base Stats

 * -|SpotPass=

*Enemy only; joins unequipped
 * -|DLC=


 * -|Enemy =

Description

 * Restoration Lord
 * Prince of Renais. Eirika's twin. Cares deeply for his sister. His confidence has sometimes put him in danger. Appears in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.

Paralogue 1-3 - Unbreakable Bond
Rarity:


 * Normal


 * Lunatic

As a playable unit
Rarity = ✯✯✯✯✯

Death Quote
"Forgive me, Eirika."

- Ephraim's death/game over quote in The Sacred Stones.

Heroes

 * Ephraim/Heroes Quotes

Possible Endings
Ephraim, Restoration King (碧空の勇王 Hekikū no Yū'ō lit. Brave King of the Clear Sky)
 * Busy days awaited him upon his return to Renais. He oversaw the rebuilding not only of his country but also of the entire continent of Magvel. His work was difficult, but his success made him a legend.


 * (A Support with Tana)
 * Once Renais was stable again, Ephraim and Tana were wed. Innes protested vocally, but when he saw how happy Tana was, he gave the marriage his blessings. Renais and Frelia are now bound by blood as well as friendship.


 * (A Support with Eirika)
 * Busy days awaited Eirika and Ephraim as they struggled to rebuild Renais. Their work gave new hope to those ravaged by the war, and with Eirika's constant help, Ephraim grew to be a trusted and honorable king.


 * (A Support with L'Arachel)
 * Ephraim and L'Arachel each returned home after the war, but L'Arachel visited Renais often. Over time, the two were wed. Their marriage threw Rausten into turmoil, but L'Arachel's self-centeredness carried the day.


 * (A Support with Myrrh)
 * After the war, Ephraim returned to Renais and Myrrh to Darkling Woods. They both turned their attention to their respective duties but never forgot one another. Though Myrrh never again left Darkling Woods, Ephraim often visited her.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

 * Sticker Info

Etymology
According to the Bible, Ephraim is the second son of Joseph (son of Jacob and Rachel). Joseph's eleven brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt out of jealousy, but he was released from prison when he won the Pharaoh's favor through his gift for prophecy, and the Pharaoh gave him as his wife Asenath, daughter of the priest Potiphera. Genesis 41:52 says of Ephraim's birth, "[Joseph] said, 'God has given me children in the land of my trouble,' so he named his second son Ephraim.'"

The name Ephram is the Hebrew word for 'give children,' or is sometimes translated as 'fruitful.'

He and his sister Eirika both have names similar to common English names with an added "i" (Erika and Ephram)

Trivia

 * Ephraim came in 7th place for males in the Fire Emblem Heroes Choose Your Legends popularity poll. He had 14,908 votes.
 * Anytime Ephraim is attacked from at least a space away, no matter what weapon he is holding, his sprite will show that of a ranged lance-type weapon (Javelin, Short Spear, or Spear.) A similar oversight happens with the Great Knight class.
 * Ephraim shows up in two DLC maps in Awakening as an enemy Soldier. The Playable DLC version of Ephraim is a Great Knight with the unique skill Conquest.
 * His Awakening artwork depicts him wielding Ephraim's Lance.
 * When he becomes a Great Lord, his max stats are almost identical to Eliwood's.
 * In the Paralogue "Unbreakable Bond" in Fire Emblem Heroes, Ephraim references a common fan theory that his relationship with Eirika is incestuous, citing the rumor as "disgusting."
 * This comment is not included in the Japanese release of the game. In the Japanese script, in the Paralogue 1-3 "Sacred Bond" (original Japanese title: "Siblings' Love Once Again") Ephraim talks a lot about "brother and sister love" and mentions that the depth of their bond resulted in some people "making strange rumors about them." Ephraim's dialogue indicated negative emotions about said rumors but honest confusion and obliviousness. This is when Eirika interrupts him, embarrassed.
 * Eirika has also interrupted him during Paralogue 1-1 "Family Bond" (original Japanese title: "Siblings of the Holiness and Evil"), after Ephraim said that Alfonse and Sharena are their "competition" since they are also a pair of siblings. He proclaims they won't lose as far as the depth of their "brother and sister love" goes. Eirika cuts him off by saying "Please stop saying things that would make people take it the wrong way!" before she clears her throat, introducing herself to Alfonse and Sharena.


 * In Heroes, Ephraim is the first character whose exclusive weapon is not preceded by a Silver weapon, as it is instead preceded by a Heavy Spear. The only other characters that share this trait are Eldigan and Tana.
 * He also shares his English voice actor, Greg Chun, with Eldigan, Ike, and Lukas in Heroes.