—Karla in a support conversation with Karel
Karla is a playable character in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. She is the emotionally distant, naïve and cool-natured sister of Karel, known as the Princess of Swords.
Profile[]
Hailing from a Sacaean clan isolated from the other numerous tribes, Karla grew up in a family of six. In particular, she was close to her older brother Karel, whom she used to train with in swordsmanship despite the fact that women in Sacae did not traditionally practice the sword. As per her clan's traditions, Karel eventually took the family blade and killed their parents. Karel would go on a quest to find his remaining siblings, killing two of them, leaving Karla as the only other surviving member of their family.
Knowing that her brother would eventually seek her out, Karla devoted herself to training herself to the sword to draw his attention. She became an arena fighter, having built a reputation as a warrior herself, earning her the nickname the "Princess of Swords."
The Blazing Blade[]
Karla can only be encountered in Hector's story. She is encountered in a small village in Chapter 21 where she gifts Hector's army an Elysian Whip. In Chapter 31, should a Level 5 Warrior Bartre be deployed, he can speak to Karla and the two battle. Should both survive the battle, Karla takes an interest in him.
Depending on player action, the two develop a rivalry of sorts with Bartre trying to best her in combat. Though he initially saw Karla merely as a rival, the two develop affection for each other. By the end of the war, the two continued seeing each other.
The Binding Blade[]
After the events of The Blazing Blade, Karla marries Bartre and eventually gives birth to a girl, Fir. During Fir's youth, Karla taught her how to use a sword. Several years prior to the events of The Binding Blade, Karla dies to a unknown illness.
Personality[]
Although she has mastered the art of swordplay, Karla generally dislikes fighting and often finds peaceful methods of resolving conflict, fighting in arenas mainly in hopes of finding her brother. Still, due to not being influenced by the various other tribes, leading to an ignorant outlook of the world, and even after she finds out the truth about Karel, she strives to redeem him, or die trying.
In-Game[]
The Blazing Blade[]
Description: A dedicated swordfighter. Cool and detached.
Recruitment[]
In order to recruit her, three conditions have to be met: playing in Hector mode (whether Normal or Hard), having Bartre promoted to a level 5 Warrior before Chapter 31(x) starts, and including Bartre among the units taken into the stage itself. If all of this is fulfilled Karla appears as a neutral unit standing on top of the arena, and having Bartre talk to her will trigger a battle. Both Bartre and Karla must survive the fight in order for her to join your team.
Base Stats[]
| Starting Class | Affinity | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Swordmaster |  Dark | ||||||||
| Level | HP | Str | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Con | Mov |
| 5 | 29 | 14 | 21 | 18 | 16 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 6 |
| Weapon | Starting Items | ||||||||
 Sword - A |  Wo Dao | ||||||||
Growth Rates[]
| HP | S/M | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60% | 25% | 45% | 55% | 40% | 10% | 20% |
Supports[]
- See also: Karla (The Blazing Blade)/Supports
Overall[]
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Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.
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Karla features one of the most irritatingly complex recruitment requirements in the game: to raise her husband Bartre up to level 5 of Warrior, then take him to Battle Preparations, effectively the fourth-to-last chapter, and have them fight a round of combat. Thankfully, as long as Bartre has a bow and an Iron Rune, she will pose no chance of killing him accidentally, even a Bartre who has not grown since base level barring promotion bonuses, but the fact that she struggles to kill a base-level Bartre sets a poor tone for Karla's viability.
Karla is a Swordmaster, generally seen as Blazing Blade's worst melee combat class, due to its weak weapon type, lack of range, low concrete durability, and low doubling thresholds making their utility dubious. Stat-wise, Karla's accuracy is quite high, and she should be able to double slow or unpromoted enemies. However this is let down by her extremely low damage hinted above, to the point that she is unlikely to two-shot or even three-shot enemies unless she crits successfully. Worse, her durability is extremely poor for a late-game combat unit, on par with a base-level Marcus and significantly behind Renault, to the point that anything that can hit her will likely two-shot her. She also does not tend to perform well in the Hard Mode versions of any of her maps: Victory or Death features an absurd number of lance enemies, The Value of Life has Generals with strong 1-2 range weapons and Berserkers with Swordslayers, and Light has bosses that she simply stands no chance against, with most of them doubling or one-shotting her outright. Even within Karla's albeit narrow niche as a swordlocked foot unit, she is badly outclassed by characters like Karel, Jaffar, and Harken at base, and other swordfighters have had the entire game to catch up to her.
Overall, Karla is generally considered among the worst units in the game and can even be seen as a "novelty" character. While no character is useless, she is one of the most difficult to find a niche for, due to her extremely bad availability, poor focus, weak statline, and general lack of redeeming qualities. Even if the player does wish to train and use Karla, there is very little time to do so. It is not for no reason that many players simply give up on trying to recruit her, as she offers little to benefit the player beyond 100% recruitment.
Fire Emblem Heroes[]
- Sword Vassal
- A traveling swordswoman in search of her brother. Her impressive skills and good looks have enlivened many arenas. Appears in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade.
Base Stats[]
Rarity: | Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sword Vassal | |||||
| Group | |||||
 Infantry | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 17/18/19 39/42/45 | 6/7/8 32/35/38 | 9/10/11 37/40/44 | 5/6/7 20/23/26 | 6/7/8 19/22/25 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
 Vassal's Blade Dragon Gaze |  Sword | ||||
Skills[]
| Type | Name | Prerequisite | Default | Unlocked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Iron Sword | - | - | - |
| Steel Sword | - | - | - | |
| Wo Dao | - | - | - | |
| Vassal's Blade | - |  | - | |
 | Dragon Gaze | - | | - |
| Draconic Aura | Dragon Gaze | - | | |
| B |  Wrath 1 | - | - | |
 Wrath 2 | Wrath 1 | - | ||
 Wrath 3 | Wrath 2 | | ||
| C |  Even Spd Wave 1 | - | - | |
 Even Spd Wave 2 | Even Spd Wave 1 | - | ||
 Even Spd Wave 3 | Even Spd Wave 2 | |
Overall[]
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Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.
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Base Set[]
Karla is a powerful asset in the already loaded sword pool and is considered to be one of the best sword units in the game. While her stats are comparative to Ayra who helped establish the sword infantry archetype she is a part of, Karla has far exceeded most of her competitors due in part to her versatile statline that carries no real weakness in either offense or bulk since her high Spd and good HP covers her semi-low bulk while she has among the highest base Atk in the game.
The Vassal's Blade packs incredibly powerful effects. Not only does it carry a special cooldown acceleration effect, but if her Spd is greater than her opponent's, she increases her damage output by 70% based on the different, reaching a maximum +7 damage. With the right set ups, Karla is a damage machine capable of destroying most units who stand in her way.
Draconic Aura takes boosts her Atk by 30% when it activates, leading to roughly a 15 Atk boost when it procs. Wrath is arguably what makes her and other Sword Infantry units so potent as it accelerates special cooldowns when she is under 75% health and when her special activates, she deals an additional 10 damage regardless. Finally Even Speed Wave grants a speed boost of 6 to herself and adjacent allies at the start of even numbered turns, granting her the self Spd buffs she needs to maximize her Vassal's Blade as much as possible.
Counters[]
Karla's range of counters is down to a very specific set of units, namely very specific sets of blue units. Units who can bypass her Spd using skills such as Reinhardt or Fallen Hardin are able to dispatch her. Bulky blues like Lukas or Ephraim can also withstand a few hits from her, even when she unleashes her special, and take full advantage of their color advantage. She is vulnerable to Panics and Ploy skills which can turn her boosts into severe disadvantages that hamper her performance.
Skill Inheritance[]
Karla's skill set is already solid enough that she needs minor inheritances that are easy to acquire, though she has a few premium options. Reposition is a standard support skill to move allies out of danger or place herself between an ally and the enemy. Moonbow is a better overall special just to ignore part of the enemy Def rather than trying to brute force through with Draconic Aura. Skill A can be Fury as the flat stat boosts simply makes her all around stronger and the recoil can put her into Wrath range faster. Some also consider Distant Counter as her bulk is enough to take hits from most mages and retaliate in tow.
Meet Some of the Heroes[]
| Sword Vassal Karla | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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Karla is an unrivalled swordswoman. She's never been beaten at the arena, where she bewitched the crowds with her beauty while dazzling her foes with unmatched swordplay! | ||
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Karla dedicated herself to the sword so she could find her brother, Karel, the fearsome Sword Demon. She thought that by proving herself as a swordmaster, she might one day find a lead on her missing brother's whereabouts. | ||
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And so Karla has spent years focused solely on honing her technique, and I suppose she's a little naive to the ways of the world because of it. But it worked out for her, because she managed to find love on the battlefield in Bartre, a man who was once her challenger in the arena! | ||
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Karla and Bartre were married, and their daughter, Fir, soon followed. Karla taught her techniques to the young Fir, who then followed in her mother's footsteps on a journey of her own! | ||
| Closely Associated Characters | |||
| Karel | A vicious swordsman from a family devoted to mastering the blade. Known as the Sword Demon. Karla's older brother. | ||
| Fir | A woman who travels in search of the best swordplay opponents anywhere. Karla's daughter. | ||
| Bartre | An outpost warrior who went on a journey to find his beloved daughter, Fir. Karla's husband. | ||
- Sun-Piercing Steel
- A swordswoman known as the Sword Vassal. Looking to test her limits at Hatari's festival, where many a proud fighter has gathered. Appears in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade.
Base Stats[]
Rarity: ✯✯✯✯✯
 | Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun-Piercing Steel | |||||
| Group | |||||
| Infantry | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 18/19/20 37/41/44 | 9/10/11 37/40/44 | 11/12/13 39/42/46 | 6/7/8 28/31/34 | 5/6/7 24/28/31 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
| Dryblade Lance Dragon Gaze |  Lance | ||||
Skills[]
Overall[]
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Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.
|
Base Set[]
Counters[]
Skill Inheritance[]
Meet Some of the Heroes[]
| Sun-Piercing Steel Karla | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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Karla's making a special appearance in traditional Hatari garb! She's a renowned swordswoman, so she has naturally also been invited to the Hatari festival. | ||
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Here she is, wearing a blue, one-shouldered robe made from light fabric that's been decorated with golden accessories—a stylish look that suits her perfectly! And her flower-shaped hair ornament really helps to bring out her natural beauty. | ||
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The lance she's carrying has also been made specially to fit the Hatari theme, with eye-catching embellishments like a blue cloth wrapped around the shaft. Oh, and it looks like that shade of blue matches the outfit she normally wears! | ||
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Karla's usually quite cool and reserved, but she seems a lot more gung-ho than usual today—and my bet is that it's her new outfit. Either way, I hope she enjoys the experience of competing at a festival in another world! | ||
| Closely Associated Characters | |||
| Bartre | An outpost warrior who went on a journey to find his beloved daughter, Fir. Karla's husband. | ||
| Karel | A vicious swordsman from a family devoted to mastering the blade. Known as the Sword Demon. Karla's brother. | ||
| Fir | A woman who travels in search of the best swordplay opponents anywhere. Daughter of Karla and Bartre. | ||
- Spring Reveries
- Karla the swordmaster joined by Freyja, Lady of Nightmare. What could bring these two together at the spring festival? They appear in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade / Heroes.
Base Stats[]
Rarity: ✯✯✯✯✯
 | Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Reveries | |||||
| Group | |||||
 Cavalry | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 17/18/19 36/40/43 | 14/15/16 42/45/49 | 7/8/9 44/47/51 | 4/5/6 21/24/27 | 4/5/6 19/22/25 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
| Sisterly War Axe Dragon Gaze |  Axe | ||||
Skills[]
| Type | Name | Prerequisite | Default | Unlocked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Axe | - | - | - |
| Steel Axe | - | - | - | |
| Silver Axe | - | - | - | |
| Sisterly War Axe | - | | - | |
| Dragon Gaze | - | - | - |
| Draconic Aura | - | | - | |
| A |  Atk Spd Clash 1 | - | - | |
 Atk Spd Clash 2 | Atk Spd Clash 1 | - | ||
 Atk Spd Clash 3 | Atk Spd Clash 2 | - | ||
 Atk Spd Clash 4 | Atk Spd Clash 3 | | ||
| B |  Flow N Trace 1 | - | - | |
 Flow N Trace 2 | Flow N Trace 1 | - | ||
 Flow N Trace 3 | Flow N Trace 2 | - | ||
| C |  Spd Smoke 1 | - | - | |
 Spd Smoke 2 | Spd Smoke 1 | - | ||
 Spd Smoke 3 | Spd Smoke 2 | - | ||
 Spd Smoke 4 | Spd Smoke 3 | |
Overall[]
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Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.
|
Base Set[]
Counters[]
Skill Inheritance[]
Meet Some of the Heroes[]
| Spring Reveries Karla | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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Here's Karla, the renowned Sword Princess of Elibe, and Freyja, queen of Dökkálfheimr, the realm of nightmares! They're joining us at Askr's spring festival! | ||
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In keeping with the festive air, they're wearing rabbit-themed costumes! Mark my words—these bunnies are sure to capture the hearts of all who see them! | ||
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Karla and Frejya's costumes feature bunny ears and fluffy tails, and the color of the fur matches their hair color! | ||
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They usually seem pretty tough and stern, but this cute appearance suits them surprisingly well! Er… I mean, just as expected! | ||
| Closely Associated Characters | |||
| Karel | A vicious swordsman from a family devoted to mastering the blade. Known as the Sword Demon. Karla's older brother. | ||
| Freyr | Dream-King of Ljósálfheimr, the dream realm. He is the god of dreams and wishes for all to lead tranquil, blissful lives. Older brother of Freyja. | ||
Quotes[]
—Final Chapter: Light Quote
Defeat quote[]
- Karla: Too inexperienced… I'll never reach my brother now…
(End of chapter)
- Hector: Oswin! What happened to that female swordfighter? Karla, wasn't it?
- Oswin: It seems she was hurt in that last skirmish. She left without telling a soul.
- Hector: Is that so? Well, that's that then.
Heroes[]
Possible Endings[]
- Karla - The Sword Vassal
- After the conflict, Karla became involved with a warrior that she met. She died of an illness several years later.
- Karla and Bartre
- Karla and Bartre were reunited in Ostia, During the battle, they became friends. That friendship deepened into love, and they were wed. Later, Karla died of illness. Bartre took their daughter to her uncle and joined Karla.
Non-Canon Appearances[]
Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher)[]
Karla is illustrated in the trading card game Fire Emblem Cipher with the following cards:
Choose Your Legends Placement History[]
| Round | Placement | Character Version | Votes |
|---|
| CYL1 | 307 |  The Blazing Blade |
653 |
| CYL2 | 262 ↑45 |
The Blazing Blade |
884 ↑231 |
| CYL3 | 313 ↓51 |
The Blazing Blade |
644 ↓240 |
| CYL4 | 369 ↓56 |
The Blazing Blade |
279 ↓365 |
| CYL5 | 304 ↑65 |
The Blazing Blade |
227 ↓52 |
| CYL6 | 280 ↑24 |
The Blazing Blade |
300 ↑73 |
| CYL7 | 293 ↓13 |
The Blazing Blade |
142 ↓168 |
| CYL8 | 281 ↑12 |
The Blazing Blade |
169 ↑27 |
Etymology[]
Karla is a female variant of the name Karl, which has German origins and means "free man."
Trivia[]
- Karla shares her Japanese voice actress Ayaka Suwa with Elise (Fates, Heroes), and her English voice actress Allegra Clark with Ethlyn (Heroes), Dorothea and Shamir (both in Three Houses).
- Karla's A-Support ending with Bartre can be misleading, as Bartre does not die at all during, or after, the events of The Binding Blade. His ending confirms that he opens and runs a small bar in his village.
Gallery[]
- See main article: Karla (The Blazing Blade)/Gallery.