50 Fun Facts About Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Which princess, raised in secret, do the Greil Mercenaries rescue and escort in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Elincia was hidden from birth because her uncle had already been named heir to Crimea's throne. She meets Ike after narrowly escaping the Daein attack that killed her family.

Which enigmatic warrior kills Ike's father Greil in single combat in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

The Black Knight strikes Greil down, then is driven off by laguz warriors from the neighbouring beast kingdom. Ike later beats him in a duel of his own.

On which continent, shared by humans and shapeshifting laguz, does Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance take place?

Tellius is divided into seven nations when the story opens. Legend says a great flood swallowed every other land, leaving it as the only continent.

What name do the humans of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance go by, as distinct from the shapeshifting laguz?

Beorc are said to have been made in the goddess's own image, with the laguz created to bridge the gap between her and the beasts. The two peoples have struggled to coexist ever since.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance returned the series from handhelds to which Nintendo home console?

GameCube development costs had kept the team on handhelds until the series took off overseas. The game arrived late in the console's life, which its makers said held back sales.

Which direct sequel to Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance opens in occupied Daein with a new heroine, Micaiah?

Radiant Dawn picks up three years after the war, with Daein under a harsh occupation. Work on it began in May 2005, weeks after the first game reached Japanese shops.

Ike of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance first became a playable fighter in which crossover fighting game?

Super Smash Bros. Brawl added Ike to its roster, and he has returned in every entry since. One of his special moves there is named after a skill only he can learn in his own game.

Which sword, left behind after Greil's fatal duel, becomes Ike's signature weapon in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Ragnell stays sheathed for most of the story: Ike only draws it for his rematch with his father's killer in Chapter 27. It is said to be blessed by a goddess.

Which former knight of Crimea is second in command of the Greil Mercenaries in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Titania has been with the company since its founding and acts as a motherly figure to Ike and his sister. She first met Greil while on an officer exchange abroad.

Which king of Daein launches a surprise invasion of neighbouring Crimea to open Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Ashnard murdered his own father to take the throne and believes the strong should rule while the weak submit. His war is a scheme to set an imprisoned dark god loose.

Which younger sister of Ike begins Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance as the only playable Cleric?

Mist dislikes fighting and spent her childhood doing chores around the mercenary fort. On promotion she becomes a mounted Valkyrie and learns to use swords.

Which mage is the Greil Mercenaries' strategist and a close friend of Ike in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Soren was studying in Crimea's royal library when Daein struck, and raced back to warn the company. He stays at Ike's side as adviser for the rest of the war.

Which studio began Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance after the series' first overseas release proved a hit?

Intelligent Systems built it alongside Nintendo SPD. One of its lead developers later admitted he felt the game was only about 70% complete when it shipped.

In the weapon triangle of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, axes hold the advantage over which weapon type?

Lances in turn beat swords, and swords beat axes, closing the loop. Arrows sit outside it but are especially effective against airborne enemies.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance was the first game in the series to add voice acting, video cutscenes and what else?

3D graphics were one of the biggest challenges of development, above all the cut from the overhead map to close-up duels. Motion capture was used, then exaggerated to keep a fantasy feel.

Into which neighbouring kingdom of beast laguz do the Greil Mercenaries flee early in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Gallia is ruled by a lion king who wants peace between the races but cannot openly join the war. He sends the party on to ask a powerful empire for help instead.

Put in command of Crimea's army by its princess, Ike is promoted to which class in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Lord is a title Ike accepts only because the princess wishes it, to inspire her troops. Unlike most leads in the series, he was raised as a mercenary and not as royalty.

Which mastery skill, unique to Ike in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, heals him and then halves a foe's defence?

Aether is built from older skills of the series, Sol and Luna among them. Ike can learn it from an Occult Scroll right after his promotion at the end of Chapter 17.

Which item lets a unit in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance promote at level 10 instead of waiting for level 21?

A Master Seal is optional in this game, because any unit promotes automatically on reaching level 21. Promotion resets the unit to level 1 with a new cap of 20.

What reward for a chapter's secondary goals can be given to any unit at the Base in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Bonus experience can be handed out between battles, so a player can level a weak unit without risking it in a fight.

Which veteran archer quits the Greil Mercenaries when Ike takes command in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Shinon walks out rather than take orders from a rookie, and later reappears as a hired bow for Daein. A plea from the young archer he once taught helps win him back.

Which empress of Begnion, made Apostle at the age of five, enlists Ike's help in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Sanaki sets Ike to work exposing senators who secretly keep laguz slaves. She first meets him at sea, where he speaks to her roughly without knowing who she is.

Which recurring series character hosts the optional tutorial missions of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Anna stands partly outside the story, so the English translators let her make pop-culture jokes they kept out of everyone else's lines.

In the magic triangle of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, which element beats fire but loses to wind?

Thunder also does extra damage to dragons and to units mounted on wyverns. Light magic sits outside the triangle altogether and belongs only to bishops.

Which informant in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance demands 50,000 gold before handing Ike a report meant for Greil?

Volke later admits the report was a test of Ike's resourcefulness. His real secret was a contract from Greil, to step in if Greil ever lost control of himself again.

Which young thief is found as a stowaway on the ship taking Ike's company to Begnion in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Sothe says he slipped aboard to look for a lost companion, and offers to do anything to stay. He joins as a knife-wielding thief who can never promote.

Which pegasus knight deserts Begnion's Holy Guard to chase her debt-ridden brother in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Marcia is first seen at a port, facing down pirates over her brother's debts. She joins Ike's company out of gratitude after he comes to her aid.

Which cat laguz, slow to trust humans, is sent with Mordecai to accompany Ike in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Lethe has studied the history of laguz enslavement and bristles at the company at first. Seeing Ike put himself in harm's way to calm a quarrel begins to change her mind.

Which class does Ike hold as a rookie, before his story promotion, in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Ranger is a class made for Ike alone, and its skills are exclusive to him too. He keeps it until a story event promotes him at the end of Chapter 17.

Which bronze artefact, said to imprison a dark god, is the Fire Emblem of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Lehran's Medallion is dangerous to touch, and a continent-wide war would free the god held inside it. That is exactly why Daein's king starts one.

Which dragon laguz captains the ship that ferries Ike's company to Begnion in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Nasir works as a spy moving between the warring kingdoms, and wins the trust of Ike's sister only to steal her mother's keepsake for Daein. He is a White Dragon who left his homeland.

Which Daein soldier, daughter of the wyvern general Shiharam, defects to Ike's side in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Jill first joins hoping for the glory of hunting laguz, but stays on with Crimea's army. She can even end up facing her own father on the battlefield.

Which hidden swordsman joins only if a laguz stops on one exact desert tile in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Stefan appears in Chapter 15 when one of the two beast laguz in Ike's party ends a move on a precise spot of sand. He then offers to teach Ike the sword.

Which ever-hungry mage, travelling with a merchant caravan, defects from Daein's army in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Ilyana stays ravenous no matter how much she eats and is prone to collapsing from hunger. Merchants once nursed her back to health, so she guards their caravan with her magic.

Which raven king sells a heron prince to a Begnion senator in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Naesala also takes Daein's coin to raid a ship, then turns on his employers to loot it himself. The other laguz kings openly question his motives.

Which lion king shelters Crimea's princess but cannot openly join her war in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Caineghis sends two of his warriors along with Ike instead, and regrets arriving too late to save Greil. He hopes for a day when humans and laguz live together in peace.

Which beauty-obsessed Begnion senator buys a heron prince to keep as living art in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Oliver sees the herons as the height of beauty and gladly pays an exorbitant fee to own one. He is defeated when Ike's company comes for him, and is presumed dead.

Which swordswoman joins Ike to repay Greil for freeing her from Daein captors in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Mia was about to be sent to a prison camp when Greil released her. She meets the company on its retreat and signs on at once when she hears whose son leads it.

Which heron prince, sheltered by the hawk king since a massacre, joins Ike in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Reyson is one of the few herons to survive the killings of twenty years earlier. With his sister he later sings a galdr that brings their ruined homeland back to life.

Which youngest Greil Mercenary is secretly taught archery by a senior comrade in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Rolf promised never to reveal who trained him, and kept his word. His eldest brother worked out the truth and stayed silent too, out of respect for the oath.

Which sleepy wyvern-mounted veteran joins Ike to avenge his commander Shiharam in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Haar is lazy by nature and can usually be found napping near camp, yet he rose to second-in-command of a crack platoon. He blames Daein for his commander's death.

Which young mage, raised by the laguz Muarim, leads the Laguz Emancipation Army in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Tormod was orphaned as an infant and brought up by a former laguz slave, which shaped his cause. Begnion labels his band as bandits, so Ike is first sent to wipe them out.

Which swordsman poses as an anti-laguz vigilante in Port Toha to protect laguz in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Zihark joined the mob as a double agent, hoping to help any laguz escape before the others reached them. He changes sides openly once he sees two laguz in Ike's party.

Which guard of Duke Tanas changes sides on learning the duke keeps laguz slaves in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Devdan was forced into the job and deserts the moment a member of Ike's company tells him about the slaves. He is next seen admiring the plants in a garden.

Under what name was Ike's father Greil once famed as Daein's strongest general in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Gawain was a swordsman of legend who later crippled his own sword arm and took up the axe under a new name. The man who kills him was once his pupil.

Which sister blade to Ike's own sword is carried by his father's killer in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Alondite and its twin were once wielded together by a legendary heroine named Altina. The pair are counted among the finest blades on the continent.

Which mechanic introduced in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance raises and lowers each unit's hit and avoid as turns pass?

Biorhythm rises and falls turn by turn: at its peak a unit gains accuracy and evasion, and in a trough it loses them. It applies to enemies as well as allies.

Which fallen kingdom of the heron laguz was burned during a massacre in the backstory of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance?

Serenes was a forest realm, torched in a three-day massacre carried out in revenge for the murder of Begnion's empress. Only members of the herons' royal family survived.

Mordecai, the gentle laguz warrior who joins Ike early in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, transforms into which animal?

Tiger though he is, Mordecai is so gentle that he fears his appearance will frighten Ike's sister. He often scolds his fiercer commander for her hostility towards humans.

Which top difficulty setting of the Japanese Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance was removed from the Western release?

Maniac mode was cut after Western testers and Japanese players alike complained about the game's difficulty. The West got a toned-down Hard and a brand-new Easy instead.