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 playable 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

 * 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, it is generally recommended that you don't use her often until about halfway through the game. A good place to start using her is Chapter 17.

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

 * 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.