Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance/Characters

This page is a list of all the characters in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. There are 46 playable characters, but it is only possible to recruit up to 43 characters in a single playthrough. In addition to the standard characters, certain NPCs may become available for use in trial maps if you play the game through more than once. And, as in any Fire Emblem game, do not let a character die! Once a character dies, he or she will be gone for good. The only exceptions are characters that are essential to the game's plot. They will retreat, not die. However, you will still be unable to play as them for the rest of the game.

Ike
He is commander Greil's son and the older brother of Mist.
 * Class: Ranger->Lord
 * Promotion: Story-driven. Promotes after Chapter 17.
 * Weapon Types: Swords
 * How to Recruit: Joins automatically in Prologue.
 * Potential Supports: Titania, Soren, Elincia, Oscar, Lethe, Reyson, Ranulf.
 * Attribute: Earth
 * Notes: In every chapter, you are forced to use Ike.  He is the only character able to wield Ragnell and the Regal Sword.

Titania

 * Class: Paladin
 * Weapon Types: Axes, Lances
 * How to Recruit: Joins automatically at the beginning of Chapter 1.
 * Potential Supports: Ike, Rhys, Boyd, Mist
 * Attribute: Light
 * Notes: Because Titania is already promoted when you get her, her stats are higher than the other units in your team. Using her is highly recommended because of her performance early on in the game.

Boyd

 * Class: Fighter->Warrior
 * Weapon Types: Axes, plus bows after promotion.
 * How to Recruit: Joins automatically at the beginning of Chapter 1.
 * Potential Supports: Mist, Ulki, Brom, Titania
 * Attribute: Fire
 * Note: After promoting, can perform the triangle attack with his brothers, Oscar and Rolf (assuming Oscar chose to use bows when he promoted). To do this, however, you need to have read the two base conversations about the triangle attack.

Oscar

 * Class: Lance Knight->Paladin
 * Weapon Types: Lances, plus another after promotion (pick bows so he can do the triangle attack)
 * How to Recruit: Joins automatically at the start of Chapter 1.
 * Potential Supports: Ike, Tanith, Janaff, Kieran
 * Attribute: Earth
 * Note: After promoting, can perform the triangle attack with his brothers, Boyd and Rolf (assuming Oscar chose to use bows when he promoted). To do this, however, you need to have read the two base conversations about the triangle attack.

Rhys

 * Class: Priest->Bishop
 * Weapon Types: Staves, plus Light Magic after promoting
 * How to Recruit: Joins automatically at the start of Chapter 2
 * Potential Supports: Titania, Ulki, Kieran, Rolf, Mia
 * Attribute: Fire
 * Note: Only Light Magic user in the game

Shinon

 * Class: Sniper
 * Weapon Types: Bows
 * How to Recruit: Initially joins in Chapter 3, but leaves after Chapter 7. To recruit him when he appears again in Chapter 19, speak to him with Rolf and then kill him with Ike. He will appear to die, but he is actually just wounded. He will rejoin at the end of the chapter.
 * Potential Supports: Rolf, Janaff, Gatrie
 * Attribute: Thunder
 * Note: As he vanishes and doesn't reappear until halfway through the game, it is not recommended that you let Shinon get a lot of experience through the first few chapters.

Gatrie

 * Class: Knight->General
 * Weapon Types: Lances
 * How to Recruit: Initially joins in Chapter 3, but leaves after Chapter 7. Talk to him with Astrid to recruit him when he reappears in Chapter 13.
 * Potential Supports: Shinon, Astrid, Ilyana, Marcia
 * Attribute: Light
 * Note: Don't let Gatrie get too much experience during the first few chapters because he will leave after chapter 7 and be gone for a while.

Soren
The best friend of Ike.
 * Class: Mage->Sage
 * Weapon Types: Wind magic, Fire magic, Thunder magic, plus staves or knives upon promotion. Pick Staves.
 * How to Recruit: Joins automatically before Chapter 4.
 * Potential Supports: Ike, Stefan,
 * Attribute: Light
 * Note: It is recommended that you pick staves over knives when Soren promotes. His nonexistent Strength makes it pretty much impossible to damage anything with a knife.

Mia

 * Class: Myrmidon->Swordmaster
 * Weapon Types: Swords
 * How to Recruit: Appears at the left side of the screen in Chapter 7. Talk to her with Ike, or let her come and talk to Ike herself.
 * Potential Supports: Rhys, Ilyana, Largo
 * Attribute: Fire

Ilyana

 * Class: Mage->Sage
 * Weapon Types: Thunder magic, Wind magic, Fire magic, plus staves or knives after promotion.
 * How to Recruit: In Chapter 8, talk to her with Ike. She starts off as an enemy to the northwest.
 * Potential Supports: Gatrie, Mordecai, Mia, Zihark, Lucia
 * Attribute: Light

Rolf

 * Class: Archer->Sniper
 * Weapon Types: Bows
 * How to Recruit: Joins automatically at the start of Chapter 9.
 * Potential Supports: Shinon, Mist, Tauroneo, Marcia, Rhys
 * Attribute: Wind
 * Note: The only character able to wield Rolf's Bow.

Mist

 * Class: Cleric->Valkyrie
 * Weapon Types: Staves, plus swords after promotion.
 * How to Recruit: Joins automatically at the start of Chapter 9.
 * Potential Supports: Titania, Jill, Rolf, Mordecai, Boyd
 * Attribute: Water
 * Note: Even though she is not the best healer, she needs to be used early on if you are planning on using her during Chapter 27. She and Ike are the only ones in the room during the fight with the Black Knight; if you have not been using her, she will have to escape or be killed instantly.

Marcia

 * Class: Pegasus Knight->Falcon Knight
 * Weapon Types: Lances, plus swords after promotion
 * How to recruit: Talk to her with Ike in Chapter 3 and she will escape. She will return in Chapter 9 and will come and talk to Ike.  She will then join the team.
 * Potential Supports: Gatrie, Tanith, Kieran, Rolf
 * Attribute: Fire

Lethe

 * Class: Beast Tribe (Cat)
 * Weapon Types: Claw
 * How to Recruit: Appears as a partner unit in Chapter 9. Joins in Chapter 10 as long as she survived Chapter 9.
 * Potential Supports: Ike, Jill, Muarim, Ranulf
 * Attribute: Heaven

Mordecai

 * Class: Beast Tribe (Tiger)
 * Weapon Types: Claw
 * How to Recruit: Appears as a partner unit in Chapter 9. Joins in Chapter 10 if he survived Chapter 9.
 * Potential Supports: Mist, Ranulf, Ulki, Stefan, Ilyana
 * Attribute: Water

Volke

 * Class: Thief->Assassin
 * Promotion: Story-driven; re-hire him after Chapter 19.
 * Weapon Types: Knives
 * How to Recruit: Hire him at the beginning of Chapter 10.
 * Potential Support: Bastian
 * Attribute: Wind

Kieran

 * Class: Axe Knight->Paladin
 * Weapon Types: Axes, plus one after promotion
 * How to Recruit: open the cell he is held captive in, he'll join your group at the end of the chapter.
 * Potential Supports: Oscar, Marcia, Rhys
 * Attribute: Wind

Nephenee

 * Class: Soldier->Halberdier
 * Weapon Types: Lances
 * How to Recruit: Open the cell she is held captive in and she'll join your group in the next chapter.
 * Potential Supports: Calill, Devdan, Brom
 * Attribute: Wind

Brom

 * Class: Knight->General
 * Weapon Types: Lances, plus swords after promotion
 * How to Recruit: Open the cell he is held captive in, he'll join your group at the end of the chapter.
 * Potential Supports: Boyd, Nephenee, Zihark
 * Attribute: Water

Zihark

 * Class: Myrmidon->Swordmaster
 * Weapon Types: Swords
 * How to Recruit: In Chapter 11, have Lethe or Mordecai talk to him. Or, let him come talk to one of them. He will join on his own.
 * Potential Supports: Ilyana, Brom, Muarim
 * Attribute: Earth

Sothe

 * Class: Thief
 * Promotion: Can't promote. Therefore, is no good later in the game when his stats are extremely low.
 * Weapon Types: Knives
 * How to Recruit: Read the base conversation before Chapter 12.
 * Potential Supports: Astrid, Tormod
 * Attribute: Wind
 * Note: Sothe is the only unpromoted unit in the game that cannot promote. Therefore, he is usually considered the worst character in the game.

Jill

 * Class: Wyvern Rider->Wyvern Lord
 * Weapon Types: Lances, plus axes after promotion.
 * How to Recruit: Speak to her with Ike during Chapter 12.
 * Potential Supports: Lethe, Haar, Mist
 * Attribute: Thunder

Astrid

 * Class: Bow Knight->Paladin
 * Weapon Types: Bows, plus another after promotion
 * How to Recruit: Talk to her with Ike during Chapter 13
 * Potential Supports: Gatrie, Makalov, Sothe
 * Attribute: Wind
 * Note: Her inherent Paragon skill doubles her experience points in battle. This makes it much easier to level Astrid up than it would otherwise.

Makalov

 * Class: Sword Knight->Paladin
 * Weapon Types: Swords, plus another after promotion
 * How to Recruit: Talk to him with Marcia during Chapter 14.
 * Potential Supports: Haar, Astrid, Bastian
 * Attribute: Thunder

Stefan

 * Class: Swordmaster
 * Weapon Types: Swords
 * How to Recruit: Hardest character in the game to recruit.  In Chapter 15, take one of your laguz and have him/her stand on the space 3 spaces from the top right corner and 2 spaces down.  Stefan will appear and join you.
 * Potential Supports: Soren, Mordecai
 * Attribute: Heaven

Tormod

 * Class: Mage->Sage
 * Weapon Types: Wind, Fire, Thunder, plus staves or knives upon promotion
 * How to Recruit: He joins automatically at the start of Chapter 16.
 * Potential Supports: Sothe, Devdan, Calill, Reyson
 * Attribute: Fire

Muarim

 * Class: Beast Tribe (Tiger)
 * Weapon Types: Claws
 * How to Recruit: He is a boss in Chapter 15, but you can't recruit him.  He joins automatically at the start of Chapter 16.
 * Potential Supports: Largo, Zihark, Lethe
 * Attribute: Thunder

Devdan

 * Class: Halberdier
 * Weapon Types: Lances
 * How to recruit: Talk to him with Soren, Rolf, Mist, Sothe or Tormod.
 * Potential Supports: Nephenee, Tormod, Largo
 * Attribute: Fire

Reyson

 * Class: Bird Tribe (Heron)
 * Weapon Types: None.
 * How to recruit: Accept his offer to join the Mercenaries.
 * Potential Supports: Ike, Tormod, Tanith
 * Attribute: Fire.
 * Notes: Instead of fighting, Reyson uses Galldr, which allows adjacent units to move and attack again after it's use.

Ulki

 * Class: Bird Tribe (Hawk)
 * Weapon Types: Beak
 * How to recruit: Recruit Reyson.
 * Potential Supports: Boyd, Rhys, Mordecai
 * Attribute: Water

Janaff

 * Class: Bird Tribe (Hawk)
 * Weapon Types: Beak
 * How to recruit:
 * Potential Supports: Oscar, Shinon, Lucia
 * Attribute: Thunder