Gunter

"It is I, milord/milady, in the flesh. And I won't tolerate being called a ghost."

- Gunter in Conquest Chapter 15: The Black Pillar

Gunter (ギュンター Gyuntā) is a playable character in Fire Emblem Fates and an ally in the prologue and the Conquest and Revelation routes. He is voiced by the late Rokurō Naya in the Japanese version, and by D.C. Douglas in the English version.

Profile
A Great Knight of middling class birth, Gunter became a well known and respected knight in the Nohrian army due to his work ethic and charm. Though he settled down with a family, he eventually returned to the Nohrian army. He was ordered by King Garon to supervise and train his child, the Avatar, who was currently residing in the Northern Fortress. Gunter became one of their retainers as well as their main combat instructor. His birthday is June 13.

Prologue
After several years, thanks to Gunter's training, the Avatar eventually won their right to leave the Northern Fortress after many years of being forced to live there. Gunter and one of the Avatar's servants follow them as they are summoned to Castle Krakenburg. There, Garon gives the Avatar one final test; kill a group of Hoshido soldiers that were recently captured. Assisting the Avatar in battle, they eventually defeat all of the Hoshidan soldiers.

After the Avatar fails to execute the Hoshidan prisoners, Garon tasks the Avatar to survey a fortress situated at the Bottomless Canyon. Gunter provides back-up alongside Hans, who was assigned by Garon to accompany them. At the Canyon, the Avatar sees that the fortress is occupied by Hoshidan soldiers and decides to head back, a choice Gunter approves. Unfortunately, Hans goes rogue and kills one of the Hoshidan soldier, forcing Gunter and the Avatar to fight. After the Nohrian royal siblings rescue the Avatar and sends them back, Hans ambushes Gunter on a bridge. The rickey old bridge, damaged by Hans' attack, collapses under Gunter's feet, flinging him and his horse into the canyon. He is presumed dead due to the nature of the canyon.

Birthright
Gunter does not appear in Birthright, though he is among the lives the Avatar regrets having lost during their journey to defend Hoshido by overthrowing Nohr. Though his exact fate is unknown, it is assumed that, like the other two routes, he survived his fall into Valla, but is unable to leave.

Conquest
In Chapter 15, Azura decides to visit a mysterious world and unknowingly brings the Avatar with her. Upon arrival, the two are ambushed by invisible soldiers, but a timely rescue by Gunter allows the trio to escape and eventually return to Nohr.

After the three escape from the ambush, Gunter reveals that he thought that he would have been dead, but landed on actual ground. Uncertain of what to do and where he was, he tried fighting the soldiers that came a few times, but almost died. During one of Azura's visits to Valla, she found and nursed him back to health, telling him where to hide. He accompanies the Avatar back to the surface world when more invisible soldiers attack them.

Revelation
After Azura brings the Avatar to the Kingdom of Valla, in Chapter 7, Gunter is revealed to have survived the fall into the Canyon and the Avatar, their servant, and Azura eventually teams up with him to escape the Vallite forces.

In Chapter 25, suspicions of a traitor amongst the army begin to rise. When looking for the stairs to the throne room, the Avatar is hit by an unseen force. Gunter manages to find them and helps them to their feet. As the ascend the stairs, Gunter warns them that they should be careful and mentions so they can avoid an ambushed death like Scarlet.

In Chapter 26, upon entering the throne room, they find it empty. However, the army, except for the Avatar and Azura are ambushed by a large fire spell. With the two unharmed, tension builds that they are the traitors. Gunter begins to point fingers at them, however the Avatar recalls back when they jumped into the canyon with Scarlet. They were the only one who saw Scarlet pinning a flower to her armor before leaping and when the others discovered her corpse, the flower had been destroyed during the attack. Gunter, by offhandedly mentioning the flower, is revealed to be the assailant who killed Scarlet. Gunter laughs maniacally as he confirms the Avatar's suspicions. Gunter thinks that with this sudden betrayal of one of their most trusted allies must break their trust in others, but the Avatar tells him that they still trust a part of him.

After defeating him, Gunter still refuses to give up, but Azura begins to sing Lost in Thoughts All Alone as the Avatar reminds him of their time together back in the Northern Fortress. Gunter raises his sword as if he was about to attack the Avatar, but instead plunges his sword into himself, dispelling Anankos' control over him. As he is healed, Gunter tells the Avatar about the gift he refused to receive from Garon. When he did so, it greatly upset Garon and as a result, Gunter's wife and child were killed as well as the people who lived in his town. Having lost everything, Gunter swore revenge on Nohr and King Garon. He befriended the Avatar in hopes of using them as a means to exact revenge on King Garon. The Avatar gladly forgives him, as he was their first friend and helped them, no matter what his motivations were. Surprised that the Avatar still trusts him after killing Scarlet, the Avatar continues to forgive him, knowing that his actions were only because of Anankos' control over him. The Avatar tells them to live on for Scarlet's sake as well as the family and friends he had lost.

In Chapter 27 it is revealed the true goal of Garon in Chapter 3 was to put Gunter in Valla, where Anankos would make him his chosen vessel. After Anankos is defeated, Gunter watches the Avatar's coronation from afar, and leaves happily. It is also implied in all three routes that Gunter was the non-Royal Knight who visited the Rainbow Sage in the past.

Personality
While a strict man, Gunter is not fully heartless. As mentioned in his supports with the Avatar, Garon had treated them poorly with starvation for the male Avatar, and whipping for the female Avatar. As a result, Gunter often snuck meals and turned the whip into a ball. In his supports with Jakob, Gunter provides a bit of tough love, saying he couldn't die until Jakob was a proper adult lest he carry the shame to his grave.

Revelation reveals a bit of his backstory; Gunter was married once and had a child. When given the opportunity to accept dragon blood from Garon, which would require pledging his entire life and everything he had to him, he refused, stating that he wanted to be with his family. In response, Garon ordered his soldiers to go to destroy his village and his family. He reveals that he only befriended the Avatar so that he would be able to avenge his wife and child. As a result, he developed a hostile view towards royalty, believing that common folk like him were like pawns for their schemes or weeds to be cut down on a whim. This also made him incredibly strict towards the Avatar, but still cares about them deeply.

When freed of Anankos' control, Gunter was more than willing to atone for his actions with his life, and was confused as to why the Avatar would forgive him for betrayal.

Base Stats

 * -|Chapter 2=


 * -|Conquest Chapter 15=


 * -|Revelation Chapter 7=

Revelation Chapter 26 - The Vallite King

 * -|Normal=


 * -|Hard=


 * -|Lunatic=

Growth Rates
◾ Note: Growth Rates are based on the character in their starting class
 * 35%
 * 25%
 * 0%
 * 15%
 * 5%
 * 20%
 * 25%
 * 5%
 * }

Max Stat Modifiers

 * +2
 * 0
 * +1
 * -2
 * 0
 * +2
 * -2
 * }

Supports
Romantic Supports Other Supports Note: Gunter cannot have support conversations/gain support bonuses in Revelation
 * The Avatar (Female)
 * The Avatar (Male)
 * Jakob
 * Kana (If Gunter is his father)

Standard Sets

 * }

Friendship Sets

 * -|Conquest=


 * }

Partner Sets

 * -|Conquest=


 * }

Special Classes

 * }

Overall
Gunter is the stereotypical Jagen unit of the game being a powerful beginning unit because he is pre-promoted, but ultimately losing effectiveness in the later game. In reality, he is only a true Jagen in the Revelation route as that route is the one you get him at the start of the route. In Conquest, you get him mid game and in Birthright, you do not get him at all. Unfortunately, he has some of the poorest stat growths out of all units in the game, making him a hard sell for a serious long running unit, especially when the player has four other units in the two routes he is playable that can promote into his base class, the Great Knight. Regardless, Gunter starts off with his Cavalier skills built in, which is good considering that he is a formidable tank for the early game and can safely rescue wayward units thanks to Shelter. In Revelation, if willing to train him two levels, he can learn Luna for more early offensive prowess. However, as a Jagen, he is an exp sponge, requiring a lot of EXP to level up in the early game, something the player is better off spending on their beginning units. Gunter is, however, a good beginning supporting partner for the Avatar as his personal skill Forceful Partner increases the Avatar's Hit Rate by 15 and damage dealt by 3 if he is the supporting unit to an Avatar lead battle. Overall, he is good for the early game, but there are better units to put time into training than Gunter in the long run. Keep in mind that Gunter can only form Supports with the Avatar and Jakob. And for those two, he can only have supports in the Conquest route and cannot form them in the Revelation route.

If the player is willing to train him, he can slide into the Paladin class for more even stats, though there is nothing really to write home about aside from Defender so he can be even more sturdy as an early game tank and Aegis to shave off damage, especially magic damage.

It should be noted that Gunter has an abnormally high level cap (--/30 instead of --/20) and gains experience at an abnormally fast rate, but will still have to contend with his terrible growth rates.

Quotes
Refer to Gunter/Quotes.

Possible Endings
Gunter - Inveterate Knight (老騎士 Rōkishi lit. Elderly Knight)
 * Gunter disappeared soon after the war ended, never to be seen again. Scholars continue to debate if he died soon afterward, or if he found a quiet place to spend the rest of his days in contemplation.


 * Gunter and Avatar (Conquest)
 * Gunter retired and spent his days days in the Nohrian countryside. There are no further records of him. Avatar was hailed as a hero, working alongside her spouse to spread peace worldwide.

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

Etymology
Gunter is derived from the elements gund "war" and hari "army, warrior." This was the name of a semi-legendary 5th-century Burgundian king.

Trivia

 * Gunter was voted as the 12th most popular male character on Nintendo's official Fates character poll.
 * Gunter shares his Japanese voice actor, Rokurō Naya, with Anankos.
 * During certain cut-scenes when Gunter is holding his Lance while not riding on his mount as a Great Knight, he will use the animations of a Lancer.