An Analysis on Fire Emblem Legendaries: Version Archanea

I have a feeling that someone might have done this a very long time ago. It's certainly not the most original thread, but I always wanted to do something like this.

But since there are a LOT of legendary or powerful weapons that rivals legendaries throughout the continent, I will instead make multiple threads posted separately as time goes on, depicting of each continent and how it works.

So this thread will talk about the Archanean Legendary Weapons. Not Ylisse, since that is the future that is long off and new weapons are around by then.

Now, Archanean legendaries are the most well known in Fire Emblem, since it's appeared more throughout the entire series.

We'll start things off from other weapons before we get to the main event:

Three Regalia

The Three Regalia are powerful and mystical weapons that were never confirmed on their origins. However, they were in the possession of the thief Adrah, who stole the Shield of Seals from the Fane of Raman, sold the Five Gemstones, and used it to fund his campaign to conquer a large part of the land. Thus becoming Archanea's first king. Three of these weapons used for this conquest were called the Three Regalia, and were passed down by the royal family. It is said that only those blessed by the gods can wield them.

It is highly speculated that these three weapons are also weapons that were inside the Fane of Raman that Adrah stole, meaning that these weapons may in fact be draconic in origin.

• Gradivus, the lance that pierces stone:

Arguably the most popular of the three here, due to how it was wielded by none other than Camus the Sable, knight of Grust, and later Hardin. In fact, Gradivus can actually be acquired in a treasure chest in Fire Emblem Gaiden/Echoes. It is unknown if they are the same, or if Gradivus in Valentia is non-canon.

In the game, Gradivus is able to attack from 1-2 tiles away, letting it be very useful for close to long range combat, allowing you to also counterattack mages and archers. Furthermore, it also has the ability to heal the user.

One of the greatest feats that Gradivus is known for is that in the hands of Camus, he was able to take down an entire battalion singlehandedly, along with slaying the Fire Dragon Manakete, Bulzark.

This actually got Camus praise from Medeus himself, for being able to rival the likes of Anri himself.

• Parthia, the flame bow:

Possibly one of the least hyped Regalia, but still very well known. Parthia is the bow held by Jeorge, Gordin's master, and also a noble Archanea.

Parthia was actually given to Marth alongside the Fire Emblem, though since he cannot wield the weapon, he obviously gave it to someone else, and then gave it back to Nyna following the war.

The unique thing about Parthia is how it can be used as an item to boost your resistance stat by a set number and then it lowers with each turn. Taking that into story way and how it is called the flame bow, I like to imagine that it projects a magical flame shields or something that protects the user from magical attacks. And maybe when fired, it ignites the arrows, so you are shooting fire arrows. Now that would be cool.

• Mercurius, the spectral sword:

In my opinion, Mercurius actually got the strangest treatment, as Mercurius, despite being a Regalia, gets is power and ability altered more than anyone.

Which is strange, as Mercurius was supposedly Marth's signature weapon before he attains his true legendary weapon.

See, out of the other two weapons, which tended to have a form of consistency in their abilities, Mercurius never really did. In the original, leveling up might raise your stats more, then it was double experience, and then it just didn't have any abilities, just that it was a strong sword.

In Awakening, despite having high might, it had no abilities there. And even in terms of might, Gradivus and Parthia actually had more might than Mercurius did. Which is actually very strange.

In the original, only Marth could wield the weapon because it was known as the Mercury Rapier, and according to Kaga, only royalty could wield rapiers. But it has now been changed that anyone can wield it.

Why is it called the spectral sword anyways? No idea. I just hope that if there's ever another chance to bring this weapon in, they make it a bit better so that it can be worthy to the other two regalias. Give it something to make it more unique.

Hauteclere

Minerva's personal and signature axe. This weapon is so powerful that it is said to rival the three Regalia in fact. However, this weapon did only debut in Shadow Dragon, the remake, so it was not originally canon to the story. But it is now.

However, given the length of time that it can withstand, and the powers it possesses, it can be rather safe to assume that dragons also created this axe, since they tend to make the best of any kind of weapons with their advance magical knowledge.

The weapon boasts the highest might for an axe in nearly all games. And has the ability to heal the user like Gradivus does.

Iote's Shield

Iote was the founder and first king of Macedon. He was once a slave to Dolhr after they conquered the continent. However, eventually he fled to wyvern-filled forests with other slaves. And together, they learned to tame the degenerated dragons and rode them, eventually instigating a rebellion against Dolhr.

One of the things he wielded was his shield. This shield has withstood the test of time and has become powerful enough to protect others from many weapons. Originally, it used to be able to protect any special unit from weapons that deals effective damage. But later it was changed to only nullify effective damage against flier units.

Sadly, unlike the other weapons, this one has been the least liked on, as it has been reduced from an item to now just an ability. It makes it feel much less special now if you ask me. But you know, I still think that Iote's Shield is impressive that it actually lasted for so long as it did.

Heroes actually took inspiration from this and made two other Shield Skills to be like it for Armored and Cavalry units, called Svalinn and Grani's Shield.

Imhullu

Ah, here we have the legendary tome that is pure evil, and never in the hands of the good guys.

Imhullu is a tome that in Shadow Dragon, was in Gotoh's ownership, and was stolen by Gharnef, while in Mystery/New Mystery, it was created by Gharnef using the Darksphere that he stole from Gotoh. Feels interesting in how the story kind of contradict one another.

But the latter I feel does make some more sense. Maybe Gotoh associated the Darksphere and Imhullu as the same and failing to protect the former resulted in the latter.

Anyways, Imhullu is arguably the ONLY weapon in the game that perfectly translates the lore into the game, being that it makes the user perfectly immune to any form of harm, making only a single weapon in the entire game that could harm it.

Gharnef was incredibly dangerous with this weapon, and with a certain other weapon in hand, Gharnef believed that he had all the things he needed to actually overthrow Medeus once Medeus was done conquering Archanea, so that Gharnef could take over.

Imhullu was also used by Gharnef's spirit that somehow managed to still carry the tome oddly enough in FE3/12.

This is an uncategorized tome, meaning it wasn't Light, Anima, nor Dark, though it's widely seen as dark magic.

Excalibur

Merric's personal tome in Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem, and the original counterparts. With it, Merric can summon the strongest wind blades to strike the enemy, or create a tornado according to the 3DS version.

Excalibur was a powerful and legendary tome that was passed down through Khadein, and Merric was granted this tome by his master Wendell, due to Merric possessing a compassionate heart.

According to an interview with Kaga, there was a spell that Gotoh placed that makes a contract and allows only a certain wielder to possess the tome. So using this, the contract is made so that only the ones that the master of the weapon choosing to pass it down, that person would be the owner.

The weapon can also be used to deal bonus damage to fliers, like arrows do. They also have a very high critical rate too.

In Gaiden/Echoes, users of black magic can use Excalibur on their own, making it questionable on how Excalibur in Archanea be so legendary. However, this is because Excalibur tome is the fully empowered tome, while human mages on their own can only use a fraction of the power that Excalibur possesses, but the tome itself contains so much more power. If Gotoh placed the spell on it, odds are, he created the tome, meaning that this is the power of a dragon in it.

In the remakes, Excalibur is genderlocked to males only, though Merric can use it at any rank, while other makes need to be proficient.

Aura

Aura is a powerful light magic spell, known most for the wielder Linde, and how it was the reason Gharnef fell to darkness.

Gotoh was the one that had Aura in his possession, and he had to choose between Gharnef and Miloah for it, two gifted mages. However, because Gharnef lacked a caring heart, Gotoh picked Miloah for it.

Miloah held Aura and used it to protect Archanea in time of need, and became famous for it. However, later on, Gharnef faced his former brother in magic after Gharnef fell to madness, and died, his Aura unable to break through the darkness that is Imhullu.

The unique thing about Aura is that in New Mystery of the Emblem, only Linde and women can wield Aura, though other females need to be Rank B. In Warriors, Linde explains that to use Aura, you need to harness and be filled by the power of light and then unleash its power. Since Linde has such an affinity towards light, she can use it regardless of tome rank.

The reason why only women can wield it despite how Miloah was a man, is possible because of the same contract that Excalibur has, in that it might have been made so that Miloah can hold it, but then had it that females can wield it. So that makes this, alongside Excalibur, to be the only legendary weapons from my memory to be genderlocked. Though Aura was the only tome that actually had the genderlock mentioned, different from Excalibur.

Similar to Excalibur too, Aura can be used in Gaiden/Echoes as black magic. However, like Excalibur, the tome is far more powerful, due to its ties to dragons.

It is believed that like Imhullu was forged using the Darksphere, Aura was forged using the Lightsphere, though it did not contain the power to pierce through Imhullu's advanced dark protection. However, I feel this is debatable, since the Lightsphere is supposed to counter the Darksphere, so naturally the Lightsphere properties should. But who knows.

Starlight

The only weapon that can pierce through Imhullu's barrier. It has no set wielder, likely because Gotoh never established a contract on it so that anyone can wield it provided they were skilled enough.

The unique thing about this tome is that it was created by using two of the Gemstones, the Starsphere and the Lightsphere. The forging of this tome was so great that it actually shattered the Starsphere into twelve pieces.

Even without the Imhullu nullifying effect, it still is a very powerful tome, more powerful than even Aura, which makes sense, since it was made by Gotoh using two Gemstones that the Divine Dragons owned.

Alongside Imhullu, Starlight is also an uncategorized tome, not being Anima, Light, nor Dark.

Aum

Not many might know, but this is the great legendary staff Aum that can actually revive the dead. Since it only has one use, it is generally never used by others, due to the troupe of it being too awesome to use. But you know, that sort of makes it a huge waste in the game.

Before the remakes and such, Aum was the personal staff of Elice, Marth's sister. The staff is said to only work for royalty, but this seems to have been changed.

Since it can revive the fallen, it's possible that it's power is similar to that of the Valkyrie Staff in Genealogy, meaning that quintessence is part of this weapon's usage.

Shield of Seals and the Five Gemstones

Ah, the original Fire Emblem of the series.

Before we get into anything, let's talk about the Five Gemstones.

According to Xane, the five gemstones were under the ownership of the Divine Dragons, and was passed down through their tribe. These Gemstones were the Geosphere, Lifesphere, Starsphere, Lightsphere, and Darksphere. Each holding immeasurable power. I wrote another thread back about how each Gemstone on its own can already make someone incredibly powerful.

It is unknown how these Gemstones came to be, but in Awakening, Tiki claims that each Gemstones contains Naga's power in it, and together, they can perform the Awakening. The game really never translates all the Gemstones effects into the game, save for the Darksphere in New Mystery of the Emblem.

The Darksphere is very dangerous in fact. Anyone that has it tends to actually grow insane and even takes your very soul. When Gharnef stole it, he likely had wanted to use it to create a spell that surpasses Aura's, so that he could prove to Gotoh that he should have been chosen. But the Darksphere ended up corrupting Gharnef's soul to the point that he was driven by malice, jealousy, and hatred. Hardin had it and his grief and sadness over the realization that Nyna never loved him drove him to becoming a tyrant. Even Validar could be said to be a victim of the Gemstone, since the Sable Gemstone is the Darksphere.

One interesting thing to point out is that the Starsphere was actually broken apart when creating the Starlight tome. This actually means that the Gemstones are unable to be truly destroyed.

Now then, onwards to the other item, the Shield of Seals. This is a sacred item that was forged with Naga's fang and sealed in the Fane of Raman, to keep the Earth Dragons in slumber. But many years later, Adrah stole it, and sold the Gemstones for money. He later made the Shield of Seals into the symbol of Archanea, the Fire Emblem.

The Shield seems to have the power to unlock treasure chests without a key, a very weird ability.

Along with that, before the Shield of Seals when completed boosts all stats by 2, like the completed Starsphere. And has the ability to banish Earth Dragons on Normal Difficulty. But I personally wish it was a gamebreaking item.

Either way, the Shield of Seals is an incredibly powerful item that combined with the Gemstones can make the user into a demi-god essentially.

Falchion

FINALLY! The iconic weapon that everyone should know.

Falchion is a legendary weapon, forged from the fang of Naga herself. However, the most unique thing about this weapon is that by Echoes, there are TWO weapons.

In Gaiden, it was presumably created by Duma to seal Mila, and with Mila sealed in the blade, it was used to defeat Duma. However, now it's that Naga made this blade first, and then the new blade after.

Falchion is best known to be wielded by Marth, used to slay Medeus, and even before that, it was used by Anri, to slay Medeus. Yeesh, Falchion is used a lot just to take out Medeus, mostly since he's the only dragon that is fought with the Archanean Falchion. Before Grima, I mean.

The weapon is exceedingly powerful, possessing the might of Naga herself.

When Duke Cartas and his army had managed to actually push back the Dolhr forces, which composed of dragons, Medeus actually joined the fray and instantly crushed the entire army himself. Hope was lost, but then Anri entered the fray, and fought Medeus with Falchion in hand. Medeus was an incredibly powerful Earth Dragon, but Anri was so strong, empowered by the dragonstone within Falchion, that he was able to slay Medeus with it.

Even when Medeus revived for the third time as a mighty Dark Dragon, Falchion was used to defeat him once more, though it was also when Marth was empowered by the Shield of Seals as well, though its questionable, but it was the Shield of Seals that he mentioned. Who knows.

In the game, Falchion boasts a good amount of might, and is effective against dragons, and doesn't break. However, the weapon is only attained in Archanea series after defeating Gharnef. It makes it somewhat questionable on whether Falchion could in fact pierce through Imhullu lore-wise. I know game-wise, its coded so that it can't, but you never know if this could have been the case lore wise.

Also, Falchion had a contract placed on it like Aura and Excalibur. Before, I used to think that it was that Falchion's case is that only those of Anri's blood can wield it. This means that Anri's brother is capable, thus it was possible for Marth, Anri's great grandnephew to wield Falchion.

However, after discussing it with someone earlier, and reading the original line that Malledus used in FE3 (not FE11 that tends to omit some lines or alter it), and the interview with Kaga, it might actually be possible that Falchion was never originally bloodlocked, but like Excalibur and Aura, only had the contract placed so that certain individuals could utilize it. In which case, we know that Marth was worthy for it.

Falchion is said to also be picky with wielders as well according to Awakening, but it doesn't seem like its incorrect. If the weapon accepts the wielder, the weapon can cut through virtually anything. If not, the weapon cannot even cut through wood. This makes it questionable on whether Gharnef could actually have used Falchion against Medeus when he plotted to use it. He might have in fact just caused it to go tink on Medeus and go, "Oh sh*t!"

That's my headcanon. XD

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And that is it. This was damn long to make. Hope you all enjoyed it.

Write about your thoughts about what I wrote, or don't. But please do. Always interesting to talk to you all.