—Linus, shortly before attacking Eliwood in The Blazing Blade
Linus, full name Linus Reed, is a non-playable character in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. He is the younger son of Brendan Reed and the brother of Lloyd. Linus' title is the Mad Dog, and is one the Four Fangs.
He does not trust Sonia and her influence in the Black Fang, though he is very fond of her "daughter", his step-sister Nino. The official players' guide for The Blazing Blade says that Linus is the more level-headed between him and Lloyd, when he is actually the brasher one.
Profile
Not much is known of his childhood, though what is known is that, when his father, Brendan Reed, formed and became head of the Black Fang, an assassin guild situated in Bern, he and his brother, the White Wolf Lloyd, quickly flew through the ranks and became one of the legendary Four Fangs. Despite being skilled, he is also rash and impulsive, tending to misjudge his opponents before charging into battle. Because of this, he and Lloyd were nearly inseparable as the latter usually watched over the former. He and Lloyd were quickly joined by the Valkyrie, Ursula, who is cold and ruthless, and the Assassin, Jerme, who was obsessed with his craft. Later, when Nergal and Sonia began to take a hold of the Black Fang, Jerme was replaced with Jaffar. Shortly after Nergal is gravely wounded by Lord Elbert of Pherae, he orders Sonia to bring together the Four Fangs to hunt down the Lycian lords, Eliwood, Hector, and Lyndis. She complies, but, after she gives her orders, Linus, Lloyd, and Ursula remain suspicious of the Sage. Nevertheless, they carry out their orders.
If the total level of the lords is above 50, then Linus will confront them in a town in Bern. Accusing them of their crimes, he summons a contingent of Black Fang assassins and engages the lords inside the town. After a brief but intense skirmish, Linus is defeated by the lords, but finally hears them out and learns that they are good-natured and not what Sonia had depicted them as. Before he could relay this information to Lloyd, though, he is confronted by the morph Limstella and killed.
If the total level of the lords is below 50, then Lloyd will have confronted the lords in a foggy valley and be killed by Limstella after being spared by the lords. Linus, after encountering the body of his slain brother, goes into a bloodthirsty rage and swears vengeance on the lords and their companions. He is later seen guarding the Bern shrine, attempting to kill any of the lords or their companions, including his beloved step-sister Nino and former acquaintance Legault. He is killed after the struggle.
Regardless of whether he is killed in the town or in the shrine, he is resurrected as a morph by Nergal along with his father, his brother, Uhai, Kenneth, Jerme, Darin, and Ursula.
Personality
Linus is best described as rash, impulsive, and extremely loyal to his siblings and loved ones. He shows deep respect to his brother, Lloyd, abiding his orders, though he is wrought with grief after Lloyd's death and loses the ability to reason, evident as he attempts to kill his step-sister, Nino, despite having a close relationship with her. However, with his brother's reasoning, he is shown to be a caring and compassionate individual, changing his beliefs of the lords if he is defeated early in the game and offering to make amends with his brother and to tell him of the lords' sincerity. This would have converted both him and Lloyd to the lords' side had Limstella not killed him. Before the conflict with the lords, he and his brother got along well with several of the Black Fang members, including all of the Four Fangs and several other high-ranking members, such as Uhai. He also doted on his younger step-sister, Nino.
In-Game
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
Help Description: The Rabid Hound of the Four Fangs. Brendan's second son.
Help Description (Morph): A morph made in the form of the Rabid Hound, Linus.
Boss Stats
Chapter 23E/24H: Four-Fanged Offense
Chapter 27E/29H: Cog of Destiny
Final Chapter: Light
Overview
If the level of the lords combined is above 50, then Linus will be the boss of Four-Fanged Offense.
If the level of the lords combined is under 50, then Linus will be the boss of Cog of Destiny. It is recommended not to confront the Hero with Nino, as he, unlike his brother, will show no hesitation and slay his step-sister.
Linus also appears in Light with an A support with his resurrected brother. He should not be taken lightly as, due to his Brave Sword, he is able to double any party member and, if the party member has low speed, such as a General, then Linus has the potential to strike up to four times. However, he is considered the weakest of the Reed family and should be taken down first.
Awakening
SpotPass
| Starting Class | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Hero | |||||||||
| Level | HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov |
| 20 | 68 | 37 | 7 | 38 | 34 | 18 | 28 | 15 | 6 |
| Skills | Weapon | Starting Items | |||||||
 Armsthrift Prescience (Awakening) Sol Axebreaker Counter |  Sword - A Axe - B |  Brave Sword* | |||||||
*Enemy only, joins unequipped
Fire Emblem Heroes
- Mad Dog
- A member of the Black Fang known as Mad Dog, and an equal match for his brother Lloyd. He brings judgement down on those he deems evil. Appears in Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword.
Base Stats
Rarity:
 | Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mad Dog | |||||
| Group | |||||
 Infantry | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 17 39 | 20 48 | 9 31 | 7 29 | 3 17 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
 Silver Axe New Moon |  Axe | ||||
Skills
| Type | Name | Prerequisite | Default | Unlocked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Iron Axe | - | - | - |
| Steel Axe | - |  | - | |
| Silver Axe | Steel Axe |  | | |
| Basilikos | Silver Axe | - |  | |
| Fanged Basilikos | - | - | | |
 | New Moon | - | | |
| Luna | New Moon | - | | |
| A |  Brazen Atk/Spd 1 | - | | |
 Brazen Atk/Spd 2 | Brazen Atk/Spd 1 | | ||
 Brazen Atk/Spd 3 | Brazen Atk/Spd 2 | | ||
| C |  Spur Def 1 | - | - | |
 Drive Def 1 | Spur Def 1 | | ||
 Drive Def 2 | Drive Def 1 | |
Overall
|
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
Quotes
The Blazing Blade
Heroes
Non-Canon Appearances
Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher)
Linus 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 | 447 |  |
284 | ||
| CYL2 | 326 ↑81 |
|
635 ↑351 | ||
| CYL3 saw the transition to different counting mechanisms involving versions of characters and ties, so change measured between CYL2 and CYL3 shouldn't be taken at face value. | |||||
| CYL3 | 407 ↓81 |
|
322 ↓313 | ||
| CYL4 | 401 ↑6 |
|
224 ↓98 | ||
| CYL5 | 394 ↑7 |
|
116 ↓108 | ||
| CYL6 | 390 | |
133 |
Etymology
'Linus' means 'flax' in Greek. Flax is a greyish-yellow color. See also Lloyd, whose name also means 'grey.' Reed is a variant of the English name ‘Reid’ meaning ‘red’.
Trivia
- In the game, Linus is also mentioned as the Rabid Hound based on his help screen information, but he is never addressed as that name in the game (his true honorific being "Mad Dog").
- Despite the fact that he avoids attacking innocents in villages as it goes against his honorable nature (to the point he drew Eliwood's army to the center of town not to harm the villagers), the Black Fang units he leads seem to have no problem doing so.
- Linus, Raven, and Echidna are the only characters in any GBA Fire Emblem game to have unique battle sprites as the Hero Class. As opposed to the breastplate and spiked shoulder plates, Linus and Raven both wear knee-length jackets resembling their clothes in their respective official art.
- In the official art, he is shown wearing dark-brown trousers while in his battle sprites, he is shown wearing a white pair.
- Linus shares his English voice actor, Joe Brogie, with Sylvain.
- In Heroes, Linus's artwork depicts him wielding Basilikos, despite the fact that he never wielded it in game. The axe instead was used by his father, Brendan, who was given it after being revived as a morph following his death.
Gallery
- See main article: Linus/Gallery.
