Fire Emblem Tellius/Characters/Major Radiant Dawn Antagonists

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


WARNING! There are unmarked Spoilers ahead. Beware.

Jarod (Jeld)

A Begnion Knight abusing his power over the Daein Garrison, Jarod is tasked with hunting down the Dawn Brigade by his superiors. Arrogant, brutish and unconcerned with civilian casualties, Jarod nevertheless cares about his men, and is fully aware of the kind of people he is working for.

Class: Halberdier (Radiant Dawn)

  • Badass: The man attacked the Black Knight head on, knowing his reputation, and honestly thought he might win. That counts for something. So does the Rousing Speech and the way he chooses to face his death.
  • Blade on a Stick: A Steel Greatlance for his attempt to assassinate Micaiah; switches to a Short Spear for his last stand.
  • Blood Knight
  • Climax Boss: Final boss of Part 1.
  • Defiant to the End: Abandoned by Numida and the Senate, with the countryside in open revolt, Jarod barricades himself in Daein Keep, commences launching a barrage of stones into the streets on civilians, and waits for Micaiah to arrive, hoping that if he kills her, he can still salvage something from all this. And then there's his Famous Last Words (see I Regret Nothing below) which are pretty much the verbal equivalent of spitting in the Dawn Brigade's collective faces.
  • Disc One Final Boss: He's the man you've been fighting for the entirety of Part 1, but his death means little to the overall plot.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His best friend took a hit from the Black Knight for him. It definitely leaves an impact on him.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: He realizes better than anyone what utter dicks he's working for, especially after Duke Numida frames him for the entire spectacle in Daein.
  • Evil Redhead: Red haired, and is one of the leaders of a brutal Occupation Army.
  • Face Death with Dignity: His Last Stand is one final attempt at doing so.
  • Four-Star Badass: General of the Begnion Occupation Army, and undeniably badass. It should be noted that the Black Knight can't actually kill him in one hit unless he activates Eclipse, unlike literally every other character in Part 1 (not that it will save him, since the Black Knight doubles him).
  • The Heavy: Of Part 1.
  • I Regret Nothing: His Famous Last Words.

"Gh-ghuahh... I am... sorry for nothing. I regret... nothing. Because I did it my way... You win, Priestess. You must be delighted. Enjoy it while you can... Because... sooner or later... you..."

  • It Has Been an Honour: Expresses this attitude towards his troops.
  • Jerkass: He kills underlings he deems incompetent, and is generally an unpleasant man.
  • Just Following Orders: Not that he or Micaiah really believe that it's much of an excuse.
  • Last Villain Stand: Jarod knows he's a dead man as Micaiah closes in on his position. Rather than surrender, he rallies his men and prepares to go out in one last blaze of glory.
  • Rousing Speech: Gives a pretty damn good one to his troops before their final battle with Micaiah's forces.

"Listen up, all of you. This is our last chance to die as we've lived. As proud soldiers of the empire. If we survive this fight, imprisonment and a hushed-up execution await us. If we run from this fight, dishonor and pursuit will dog our miserable days. So I say, let's give those Daein curs a fight to remember, and let the glory of our deaths light our way! We've lived as proud soldiers of the empire! Let us die as proud soldiers of the empire! Now GO!"

  • The Scapegoat: Jarod is a total bastard, and committed numerous atrocities while in command of Daien's Begnion garrison, including skewering civilians (and disobedient soldiers) in broad daylight. However, he was following imperial policy as set by Vice-Minister Lekain and relayed to him through Duke Numida. Unsurprisingly, all the blame for the revolt gets heaped in his lap after Numida washes his hands of the affair.
  • Suicidal Overconfidence: Every time he faces the Black Knight, to entertaining effect. Justified: seeing as by that point of the story, he is a dead man walking and knows it.
  • Villainous Valour: Stares down the Black Knight and pulls a Last Villain Stand with his weakened, badly outnumbered forces.

Ludveck

A Crimean Duke who attempts to usurp power from Queen Elincia while Bastian is in Daein.

Class: Axe General (Radiant Dawn)

  • Abhorrent Admirer: To Lucia.
  • Action Initiative: Possesses the skill Vantage.
  • Ambition Is Evil: It's fairly obvious that all he wants is to rule Crimea.
  • Climax Boss: Final boss of Part 2. However...
  • Filler Villain: What his role essentially boils down to.
  • Hannibal Lecture
  • I Have You Now, My Pretty: Again... Poor, poor Lucia.
  • I Have Your Wife: In this case, I Have Your Milk-Sibling.
  • Jerkass: Started a revolt in order to gain the throne of Crimea, and is perfectly happy to let supporters die if it gets him closer to his goal.
  • Manipulative Bastard: He likes to think so, but he's often Out-Gambitted. Bastian suspected that if he left Crimea for a while, Ludveck and his conspirators would make their move. He arranged contingency plans for just such an occasion, and hired the Greil Mercenaries to lay low and keep tabs on the situation, with instructions to step in and aid Elincia only if it got out of hand. Ultimately, Ludveck was never in control.
  • Optional Boss: The final chapter of Part 2 is a "Defend" chapter, so you can just hold back your units and never face him if you choose. You'll miss out on a bunch of items if you take a defensive stance though.
  • Secret Test of Character: May have pulled the entire Insurrectionist stunt just to see if Elincia would have the integrity to order the death of her own countrymen if the situation required it.
  • Smug Snake
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Subverted. While he talks big, it's heavily implied that all he wants is to rule Crimea.

Izuka

Pelleas' aide, a Mad Scientist (emphasis on mad) and so obviously evil, it barely counts as a spoiler.

Class: Summoner (Radiant Dawn)

  • Ax Crazy: Mutters to himself constantly and whilst running his schemes through his head, even in the middle of conversation. Yeah, he's a bit unscrewed in the head.

Tauroneo: Goddess help me, that man could try the patience of a stone.

  • Black Magic: The only Summoner in the game, and packing the strongest Dark tome.
  • Dark Is Evil: Wields Dark Magic, wears dark clothing and is an utterly reprehensible man.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: He was one of the scientists of the Feral One's testing lab in the next-to-last chapter of Path of Radiance, making a hasty retreat once Ike and co, strolled into the area, and not being seen again until the next game.
  • Evil Chancellor: To Pelleas.
  • Evil Genius: First to Ashnard, then to Lekain.
  • Evil Laugh: In his Early-Bird Cameo in Path of Radiance.
  • Evil Sorceror: The magic he wields is as black as his heart.
  • Expy: Izuka acts a little different but he visually resembles Grima Wormtongue, the English version doesn't overlook this.
  • Gonk: He's not the most attractive man.
  • High-Class Glass: Though mainly seen in the concept art.
  • Mad Scientist: Created the drug that turns Laguz into Feral Ones, and gave it to humans too, to see how it would affect them.
  • Necromancer: Summons waves of undead Feral Ones in his iconic battle in Part 4. It takes an exasperating 25 turns for the onslaught to end (though you can kill him faster).
  • Obviously Evil
  • Slave Mooks: Produces Feral Laguz for Ashnard and Lekain's forces, using Psycho Serum to keep them loyal. He's not above doing it to people as well, as evidenced by Bertram.
  • The Sociopath: To the same degree as his former employer Ashnard.
  • The Strategist: Served as one in Part 1, though he sucked at it, and his methods lean toward cynical and mass genocide.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Though he never joins you on the battlefield, he nevertheless plays this role during the time he serves as your (highly incompetent) strategist.
  • Villain Teleportation: Uses Rewarp to run away to another corner of the map if you give him the chance. And because the battle takes place in a swamp, it'll take a long time for you trudge your non-flying units over to where he is.

Numida

The Begnion Senator responsible for presiding over the Daein Garrison's abuse of power.

Class: Bishop (Radiant Dawn)

  • Death by Irony: Is left for dead by Lekain in the desert against Micaiah's approaching army, much like how he left Jarod to take the fall for everything the Occupation Army did.
  • Dirty Coward: Once the Daein Liberation Army gained serious momentum against Numida's troops, he set up Jarod as a scapegoat for all of the crimes committed in Daein and made his escape.
    • Late in the game when you have a chance to return the favor, he fights you with a tome that hits up to 10 spaces away. While it only has 5 uses, he's also shielded by tons of Mooks, and most characters struggle to move through the desert sand.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: He has a mustache that may remind you of a certain German dictator.
  • Gonk
  • Light Is Not Good: Uses Light Magic, and is responsible for ordering a great deal of the atrocities the occupation army did to Daein.
  • Name's the Same: In-universe example: Both his name and the name of the Begnion territory he presides over are Numida.
  • Sinister Minister: An evil bishop.

Valtome (Balutelome)

Uwee hee hee!

Another Begnion Senator and Zelgius' superior during the Laguz/Beorc War. Described by the game as "a terrible narcissist, and is arrogant beyond comprehension", which sums it up nicely.

Class: Bishop (Radiant Dawn)

Hetzel

Yet another Begnion Senator, though this one actually isn't so bad. He took Rafiel in and nursed him back to health before the Serenes Massacre.

Class: Saint (Radiant Dawn)

  • Anti-Villain: Motivated by fear of repercussions rather than malice.
  • Dirty Coward: Although he expresses regret, Hetzel still refused to speak out against the crimes that the Senate had committed in order to maintain his status and his life. Even in the end, he is unwilling to go against Lekain and helps him betray Sanaki. While he's sympathetic, he's every bit as responsible for the Senate's atrocities as the likes of Valtome and Numida.
  • Evil Old Folks: Although he's not actually evil.
  • Extreme Doormat: Wherever Lekain is concerned. Hetzel may have wealth, influence and power, but he is totally spineless.
  • Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: At the end of the day, Hetzel is little more than a terrified old man.
  • Just Following Orders: Tries to use this as an excuse. The way he sees it, Lekain is the one who has betrayed the Apostle; he's just doing what Lekain tells him to.
  • Light'Em Up
  • Light Is Not Good: Has the class of Saint, the rank of Bishop, and wields Staves (he can use Light magic, but proves too cowardly to do so). He's also the closest thing Lekain has to a Dragon.
  • Sinister Minister: For a certain value of "sinister". He's not as crazy as Oliver or that lunatic Valtome, and he's nowhere near the bastard that Lekain is, but the fact remains that Hetzel profited from the Senate's corruption and did nothing to warn Sanaki about Lekain's schemes. He arguably plays the trope the straightest, as unlike Lekain, Valtome and Oliver, he honestly believes he is following the will of the Goddess.

Lekain (Lukan)

Leader of the Begnion Senate and effectively the game's Big Bad. Or so he thinks. Still, you'll be hard pressed to find a single heinous act that wasn't caused, approved of or performed by him.

Class: Bishop (Path of Radiance), Saint (Radiant Dawn)

  • Beard of Evil: Lekain has the beard and mutton chops to match his cred as arguably the vilest being on Tellius.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: He seems like the Big Bad of Radiant Dawn, but he's upstaged by Sephiran who was manipulating him the entire time.
  • Blond Guys Are Evil
  • The Chosen One: He believes he was chosen by Ashera.
  • Corrupt Politician: One of the Senators of Begnion, and the ringleader of every evil act they commit.
  • Dark Messiah: Seems to view himself as some sort of Jesus figure, and is convinced that he's The Dragon to Ashera, following her resurrection. This is rather different from his behaviour beforehand.
  • Dirty Coward: Lekain's a coward at heart. He hastily retreats if defeated during Part 3 and only sticks around to fight in Part 4 when he's drunk off of (delusions) of power.
  • Disc One Final Boss: He's set up to be the Big Bad, and defeating him certainly feels like a victory, but by the time you do so enough has happened for you to know he's not the real mastermind.
  • Evil Chancellor: To Sanaki, whom he's secretly plotting to overthrow.
  • Eviler Than Thou: Eviler than Naesala, Jarod and Ashnard, hands down.
  • Evil Laugh: Tah ha ha.
  • Hypocrite: One of Ashera's Bishops, he nevertheless participates in the assassination of her previous Apostle, the placement of a false Apostle on the imperial throne, the massacre of the Serenes Herons, the slave trade, consorting with practitioners of dark magic, and attempted genocide, before launching a coup d'etat against Sanaki. He seems to find his faith again following Ashera's resurrection, and promptly goes off the deep end.
  • Instant Runes: They appear whenever he invokes his Light magic.
  • Light'Em Up: Wields the Rexaura, the most powerful Light book in the game. He's also inexplicably capable of blasting your whole party with the Silence condition.
  • Light Is Not Good: Is a member of the Begnion Senate and a Man in White, and his class is listed as Saint; none of this stops him from being one of the most irredeemable bastards in the game.
  • The Man Behind the Man: To Jarod, Izuka, Naesala and (he thinks) Zelgius.
  • Man in White: Clad in the white robes of one of Ashera's Saints.
  • Sinister Minister: One of the highest ranking members of Begnion church, and a leading figure in the Senate, as well as a total psychopath. Interestingly, he starts out as a Hypocrite who more or less flouts all of Ashera's laws; following her resurrection, he suffers a breakdown and begins to see himself as some kind of messiah figure.
  • Smug Snake: Of the "failed Magnificent Bastard" stripe. He's a very good manipulator, and it gets to the point where if something bad happened to a character, he was probably the one behind it. Yet he's not the true mastermind, and with the exception of the Serenes Massacre, nothing he did was his own idea. Ike gets him to almost admit as such if you pit the two against each other.
  • Teleporters and Transporters: His Rewarp staff, whose capabilites (teleport to anywhere with no negative side effects) he's quite proud of.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Of Sephiran. Out of all his atrocities only the Serenes Massacre was his own idea.
  • Villainous Breakdown: By the time you encounter him in Part 4, Lekain is fully convinced that he is the new voice of God. It's almost sad, as it means that you never face the Lekain you've really learned to loathe in battle.
  • Villain Teleportation: Carries an unstealable Rewarp staff, and uses it frequently in cutscenes to get around Tellius.

Dheginsea (Deginhanza)

The stern Black Dragon King of Goldoa, and one of only two living survivors from the time of the Great Flood. An extreme isolationist, he won't involve himself or Goldoa in the affairs of any other country, except mostly to scold the Laguz nations on inciting wars, and forbids his people to leave the country without his explicit permission. His loyalty to the goddess is unshakeable, and so when he discovers that Ashera was awoken in Part 4, he doesn't take it well...

Class: Black Dragon (Radiant Dawn)
Voiced by: Takashi Nagasako (Japanese, Radiant Dawn), James A. Parker (English, Radiant Dawn)

Sephiran/Lehran (Seferan/Eluran)

Sanaki's Prime Minister, and seemingly a gentle man who shares Sanaki's peaceful ambitions. He is actually the Man Behind the Man, who lost his faith in humanity after the horror of the Serenes Massacre. He orchestrates all the events of both games to deliberately wake the goddess, hoping to bring about the end of the world.

Class: Bishop (Path of Radiance, dummy cutscene class), Chancellor (Radiant Dawn)
Voiced by: Kazutaka Ishii (Japanese, Radiant Dawn), Ed Bednarzik (English, Radiant Dawn)

  • Affably Evil: He's nothing if not this.
  • Anti-Villain: Type II, possibly Type III.
  • The Archmage: He belongs to the single strongest magical class in the game short of Ashera herself.
  • Badass Long Robe: Wears a white robe.
  • Big Bad: The Man Behind the Man to Ashnard and Lekain, making him Big Bad of both games.
  • Bishounen: The most attractive senator is also the true Big Bad? How appropriate.
  • Casting a Shadow: Can also use Dark tomes.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: In retrospect, it is a little suspicious how, in Path of Radiance, you first meet Sephiran in a prison cell as an NPC who just so happens to have a unique skill that makes him invincible. The fact that he proves capable of telling the Black Knight what to do in the very next chapter is even more suspect, but by the end of the first game, most players (who aren't aware of the events of Radiant Dawn) might not know what to make of Sephiran, with his engimatic behavior and few onscreen appearances.
  • The Chessmaster: Manipulated many things behind the scenes.
  • Co-Dragons: With Dheginsea, who most emphatically does not take orders from him.
  • Dark Is Evil: Uses both Dark and Light magic.
  • Dark Messiah
  • Death Seeker: After losing his powers he attempts suicide. He again tries to kill himself, and the entire world along with him, after the previous Apostle is killed. He gets his wish in the end, unless the player is on a second playthrough and jumps through about 20 hoops to save him. During fights, he actively tries to force every player to take him out; when he's killed, his last words are "I'm dying. At last...".
  • Defeat Means Playable: Second playthrough, after defeating him, you can recruit him as Lehran.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Crossed it thanks to the Serenes Massacare.
  • The Dragon: To Ashera. In fact, he once served as Lehran, the fourth member of the Goddess' Three Heroes. He was arguably the most loyal, given that he's been plotting for her return for the better portion of 780 years. Finally, the epilogue (should he survive the events of Radiant Dawn) shows him patiently waiting for the return of his Goddess, now reunited with Yune as Ashunera, 1200 years later.
  • Evil Chancellor
  • Fallen Hero
  • Heel Face Turn: If certain conditions are met, he can be convinced to join you at the absolute last part of the game.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: With Zelgius.
  • Interface Spoiler: In Path of Radiance, when you meet him in the prison, you can see that he has god-like stats, along with an unique skill which makes him invincible to weapons who aren't inbued with Yune's magic, as you discover in Radiant Dawn. One of the many clues that hints that he's more than what he seems to be.
  • Light'Em Up: His element of choice.
  • Light Is Not Good: Can use light magic, and he is the mastermind of the plot to annihilate all life on Tellius.
  • The Man Behind the Man: To Ashnard, Zelgius and Lekain, making him responsible for every in-series atrocity that wasn't the Serenes Massacre.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Manipulated the entirety of Tellius in order to create enough war to awaken Ashera.
  • Necessary Evil: From his point of view.
  • Parental Substitute: To Sanaki.
  • Pet the Dog: Is the one who imprisoned Yune in the Fire Emblem/Lehran's Medallion, not seeing it fit to comply with Ashera's belief that Yune needed to be silenced outright. His interactions with other members of the cast (notably Sanaki and Ike) also help him from fully crossing into Knight Templardom.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: He was already at least 1000 years old by the time Yune and Ashera had their feud. This means Lehran is at least 3000' by Radiant Dawns full epilogue.
  • Redemption Demotion: Yes and no. Statistically, he's still incredible, but because he shows up after the final battle has already begun, he doesn't have a weapon blessed by Yune, so he's relegated to healing and fighting off the reinforcements (or forces one of your other spellcasters into this role).
  • Redemption Equals Death: In a first playthrough, and in later ones if you don't meet all the conditions required to recruit him, he dies with a scene between Sanaki and Yune.
  • Restored My Faith in Humanity: Ike can do this if the right conditions are met.
    • Before this, he wistfully expresses to himself that he may have acted differently if he'd learnt of Micaiah's survival, but that he believed himself to be at a point of no return.
  • Stepford Smiler: You have no idea.
  • Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: He wants to die, but before he can let himself, everybody has to be turned to stone.
  • That Man Is Dead: His former life as Lehran.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: His faith in humanity was shattered by the Serenes Massacre, and he now seeks to put an end to all life.
  • Yin-Yang Bomb

Ashera (Astarte)

The Goddess of Order, Yune's other half, and the final boss. Turned most of the NPCs into stone upon waking up.

Class: Order Incarnate (Radiant Dawn)
Voiced by: Kumi Sakuma (Japanese, Radiant Dawn), Janet Day (English, Radiant Dawn)

  • Above Good and Evil: Ashera doesn't really acknowledge either...
  • A Better God Am I: She sees herself as being truly perfect due to lacking emotions, as revealed in her dialogue with Kurthnaga. However...
  • Bigger Bad
  • But Thou Must!: A variation: Ike has to be the one to slay her. Should anyone else fell the Goddess, Ashera will simply resurrect herself and the battle will continue.
  • Dark Action Girl: Combines this with The Archmage and Lady of War.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Yeah, Ike did. Justified Trope in that he was drawing upon Yune's power.
  • Emotionless Girl: Ashera is what was left after the Goddess of Dawn cast away her emotions.
  • Evil Redhead
  • Final Boss: Of Radiant Dawn.
  • The Ghost: Only in Path of Radiance though; she finally appears in Radiant Dawn.
  • God Is Flawed: Chalk this one up to her backstory. At one point in time, the Goddess of Dawn Ashunera became so overcome by emotion in response to the warring of the world that she summoned up a a calamitous deluge, wiping out most of humanity (the mountainous continent of Tellius is the only remainder of the old world). Ashunera was so guilt-ridden by her actions that she discarded her emotions (what she believed to be the cause of her distress), splitting into Ashera (the mature Goddess of Order and Restriction) and Yune (the childlike Goddess of Chaos and Transformation). It takes a timeframe of about 2000 years before the two halves become whole and the benevolent Ashunera finally returns to her world to watch over it as its creator.
  • Go Mad From the Isolation
  • Hot God: Ashunera played it straight, Ashera is the Evil Is Sexy variant, while Yune is more of a "Cute Goddess" than anything.
  • Hot Witch: If only by the technicality of using magic.
  • Lady of Black Magic: Actually, more like "Lady of White Magic". Oddly enough, Judge is a Strike weapon, but uses the Magic stat.
  • Lady of War
  • Light Is Not Good
  • Moral Event Horizon: Her raising all the Mooks the heroes have killed from the dead without their souls is regarded as such In-Universe, so much that even Yune runs away in tears upon witnessing it.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Her turning all the Muggles of Tellius to stone actually ends up working in the heroes' favor, as it buys them enough time to destroy Daein's Blood Pact without anybody dying.
  • Pride: ...It's very obvious that she has this in spades.
  • Rapunzel Hair
  • Taken for Granite: She turns all the NPC characters into stone.
  • Time Limit Boss: Ashera is not strictly one of these, but if you don't kill her by turn 10, she cripples your whole party with the Stun condition, at which point her magic spirit Mooks can freely pick people off at their leisure.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: She genuinely thinks she is helping the world by effectively wiping it all away. After all, if mortals are destructive and cause war, the best way to remove that is to get rid of all the "evil" people who do so. The problem is that she operates on a really skewed spectrum of who are worthy and those who are not, and has no sympathy to mankind anymore.
  • Woman in Black: As the result of an unitentional Evil Costume Switch: Ashunera was originally a Woman in White-ish Blue.
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