#dragon knights gil

[royaltea000]

Teutemp having their medieval wedding dance to Dancing and the Dreaming hit post

[unluckyxse7enart]

Bet you thought the next dorakishi character I'd finish would be Rune or Cesia, huh.

Not quite! They're sketched out but I was leaning more angular, so I decided to do Gil next. The real fan favorite of the series lmaooo

His hair. Is ridiculous. I think I found a good balance but man...

[dragonknightsbabble]

Just how many people are natural dragon clan members? (Spoilers)

Like, we know all the knights are not originally from the dragon clan, Tetheus was a demon and Kaistern was a human. Even Gil and Bierrez were not originally from the dragon clan but become the knight of fire and red dragon officer respectively.

The only people we don't know about are Raeseleane, Alfeegi, Ruwalk, Cernozura, and arguably the dragon fighters.

[alice-on-elm-street]

Random Dragon Knights thought, but I wonder if one of the reasons Fedelta hated Gil so much was because, as a fire elemental himself, he felt something off about Gil, who was meant to be the Dragon Knight of Fire. I always found it very ironic that Gil, one of whose primary tormenters was Fedelta, was meant to be the knight of fire.

[leletha-jann]

Oh, wait, I thought of something clever about this part of today's page.

Gil? Agatha doesn't need a white knight -

she literally has a dragon.

Ohhhhhhh, Professors, you are good.

[doodle-pops]

Yo, elves reaction toward a knight s/o? Like their s/o was a wandering human knight who then accepted work from them because they needed money. They did not expect much from a human knight, but turns out this knight is like hella effective on the battlefield. Like can slice down a group of orcs with a claymore, toss a warg over a cliff, and can/will punch a dragon hard enough in the snout that it will make the dragon dizzy. They don't even question anything but think a lot of solutions that are practical. Then when the elves develops stuff for this knight, they realize they never seen their knight's face because they're constantly wearing a helmet. And when they ask the knight show their face, their s/o's face is actually hella attractive for a human. Reactions?

Utterly impressed but suspicious like was that really YOU…

— Fëanor, Curufin, Maedhros, Caranthir, Thingol, Maeglin, Turgon

Amused and intrigued and riddles them with questions…

— Fingon, Celegorm*, Argon, Celebrimbor, Glorfindel, Egalmoth, Ecthelion, Rog, Galdor

Respects them but is confused about how a human can do this…

— Fingolfin, Finarfin, Angrod, Aegnor, Gil-Galad, Elrond, Erestor, Gwindor

Gets weirdly attached and lowkey obsessed…

— Maglor, Celegorm*, Amrod, Amras, Finrod, Beleg, Elrohir, Elladan

[tgrailwar-zero]

Can we cast polarity_haze (light effect, no healing) into the dragon bot's "eyes" to (hopefully) mess up it's sensors so it can't aim at anything? :D

BLOODY_DRAGOON: "-♬-♬♬---!"

You threw out a brief flash of light, the massive automaton becoming briefly disoriented.

RICHARD: "Now- let's end this!"

You pulled out the rusty sword, remembering what ZABIKO told you. Push your magical energy through. You focused, hard, as the blade shimmered, and RICHARD shone with a similar glow.

Success.

And with that boost set--

He hit the ground running, armored boots thudding against the ground as he swiftly increased in speed.

While LANCELOT's attacks were heavy, yet visible, all you could make from RICHARD's continuous assault was a blur of glistening armor. Faster and faster, the more he pressed the assault. Like a shooting star, he attacked again and again, his sword carving more and more openings as he searched for the right one.

RICHARD: "Again, again, again! Can you keep up, giantess?!"

The massive automaton's arms flailed wildly, weapons firing off in desperation, the thrusters on the wings sputtering and flaring, attempting to take off. A death roll of sorts, as the chains around it strained under the pressure.

The young king clenched his fists, sweat beading down his face. He grit his teeth, his brow tightening as he focused.

Certainly- he wasn't about to let these chains- the manifestation of his greatest bond, be outdone by a machine! Even with this weakened body, he was still the hero Gilgamesh!

GIL: "Just… a little… longer! Saber- look out!"

The automaton threw out a massive fist, hands plummeting towards the knights like an incoming meteor.

A hit from that would be devastating, certainly, and even with RICHARD's speed, dodging with enough care to completely avoid damage would be difficult. It was aiming at the central point of his motion, the most common area he had bounced off from- it had done the calculations, and was prepared for the Lionheart's speed.

So, forget dodging, then!

The black-clad knight roared, leaping towards it with reckless abandon, before the sharpened claws of his gauntlets dug into the metal of two of the fingers. The knight bellowed, yanking his weight downwards, the moment his feet touched the ground, he rolled back.

LANCELOT: "HUUU---AAAAHHH!!"

In a feat of strength that could only be defined as 'heroic', the automaton- several times the size of LANCELOT and currently in the midst of setting off several weapons, was thrown into the opposite wall, slamming into it. The chains, tightening, pinned it to the ground thoroughly, leaving it exposed.

GIL: "There, Saber! Right there!"

The boy yelled, pointing to an exposed section in the hull that pulsed with a faint white glow.

RICHARD: "Aha! You have my thanks, Sir Lancelot! King Gilgamesh!"

The king jumped back, spinning, his sabotons leaving a trail of sparks from the sheer speed and weight of his movement. The crimson of his eyes flared as he readied his sword, shining and brilliant. His face glinted with a handsome, maniacal excitement as he grinned, locking onto his target like a lion would focus in on their prey.

The machine attempted to push itself back up to a standing position, struggling and straining against both the chains and the heavy damage that had been inflicted upon it.

RICHARD darted forward, a blur again as he leapt up into the air, and you saw him holding his sword with triumphant might- both hands clasped the hilt, prepared to slam them downwards.

His voice, deep and proud like the roar of a lion, echoed within your ears as he shouted.

RICHARD: "Behold! Today I become a dragon-slayer!"

He slammed his sword into the hull of the massive automaton, as it let out an ear-splitting cry- deafening noise radiating out of it. RICHARD shoved his blade deeper still, the brief bit of sword that you could see visible glowing with a golden light as he yelled-

RICHARD: "Now, BEGONE--!!"

And there was a massive eruption of light as magical energy surged from you, to him, to his sword- the light spearing through the massive automaton as it slammed back down onto the ground from the force of the strike, the eyes flickering and dulling.

RICHARD backflipped off the mechanical monster and landing gracefully, LANCELOT leaping off and hitting the ground with a heavy, sturdy thud, effortlessly rolling back up to his feet.

The monster was felled... unfortunately, there wasn't time to celebrate.

Yet.

Something heavy creaked, as you heard more rumbling around the lab. Warning sirens began to blare as well.

GIL: "So-- Should we get going?"

RICHARD: "Yes! Let us make haste! Hold on tight, Masters!"

Before you could either protest or consent, you were swept up into the arms of the king in a princess-carry as he began sprinting to the exit.

He pushed ahead of the others, reaching the ladder that led you up- and instead of climbing, squatted down before making a massive vertical leap and, when mid-air and faced with a door, swung one armored leg to kick it cleanly open.

You made it outside, the cold night air cooling the pounding in your head.

GIL: "…And this is why you explore every part of a dungeon before fighting the boss."

You heard the sound of collapse, distant and echoing, from the underground laboratory.

Now you could celebrate. And check your spoils.

[ You gained 1000 PPT! You gained 'Silver Sárkány Scale'! You gained 'Memoria Fragment I'! You gained 'Authorization Token - E'! ]

GIL: "I guess you'll have to find another lab to use that on. But I'd call that a successful mission! Good work!"

He laughed- the sound bright and childlike- before wobbled on his feet a bit, leaning against a tree to remain standing.

...And, with the adrenaline fading, the injuries from the brawl set in.

[ GIL had taken 2 damage! LANCELOT had taken 2 damage! RICHARD had taken 3 damage! ]

RICHARD: "Is everything alright, King of Heroes?"

GIL: "I'm fine... sorry, this body of mine isn't super suited for combat. Let's get back to the camp, okay? We've all earned some rest... and you're heading out soon, right?"

RICHARD: "Very well. Lead the way."

[thelealinhypehouse]

Mains from FFXIV Intorduction (open for rp!)

Name: Nava Reed (fake name)

Gender/Pronouns: Cis Male He/Him

Orientation: Homosexual

Age: 27

Race: Half Elezen (Ishgard) with awaken dragon blood

Occupation: Member of Rogue's Gulid, Adventurer

Home/Origin: Born at Flaceon Nest but raised at Limsa Lominsa

Goal/Motivation: Revenge on Ishgardian Inquisitors and Parents

Strength: Cooking, Torturing, Acrobatic

Weakness: Reading and writing (he can but its slow), hot headed

Likes: Food, fights, pretty clothing (he is alwyas amazend about lace work, how patient you need to be for it and how stunning it looks)

Dislikes: Betreyal, bugs, snow

Class: Red Mage/Dark Knight/Rogue/Machinist

Family/Childhood: Born at Flacon Nest to Ul'dah merchant and Elezen from High House of Ishgard, She gone against the will fo her family to marry the merchant. The war with dragons was raging on and one his village was attacked. During this his mother when was pregnant with him got injuried and few drops of dragon blood fallen on her. She didn't turn. All was absorbed by the baby. When Nava was born his eyes was white, at first they thought he was born blind but it was not. When he was 5 the horns started to slowly show up. At first they tried to hide them under bandanas, hats ect, but they still growing. Cutting them ended up causing alot of pain, because they had veins. Somebody from the village contacted the Ishgardian Inqusition to investigate probally the dragon spawn. They wanted to to Nava away and kill him or something. Parents was acused of heresy but they get the option to repent the sins. Nava before was taking away he just escape the village and thanks to merchant wo was on the way to Limsa he hide himself in one of thier boxes. At Limsa he become street thief. Probally meet Thranced once or twice before he was took by Archon Louisoix. Nava other hand was took by Thief Gulid. This is where meet Jacke Swallow, the future Capitan Jacke of Rogue's Gulid. With him created this gulid and Nava become one of the more fierce member. Taking out more scummy people than normaly. Not before tet more info if there is bigger fish to take out... Years go by, he tried to help people as he could during Calamity. It was hard, there are so many things that happend that time... With Gulid they helped with rebuilding Limsa and areas that was affected. This is when Nava started to think about traveling, to try new things, be at new places, meet new people. He decided to be adventurer, but still hoding Code to his heart and helping when needed.

Quirks:

Great as coinkeeper for gulid.

Always having pair of daggers if magic not gonna work

He is cruel, if somebody hurt people dear to Nava, he will not be gentle.

Master culinarian, took grwreat time at culinarian gulid.

Quote: May gods have mercy for my enemies because I won't.

Introduction: Sitting at on one of the Ul'dah tavern you spot the hyur sitting not farr form you. On second look you spoted the pointy ears. On third look you spotted the horns. You thoght they are maybe some kind fancy decoration? Than you see they finishied thier dring with few big glups, and stand from seat, levaing the gil. He was observing someone that was leaving tavern too. Before he gone he just "fixed" position of his dagger on the belt.

Random info: - He and Jacke where FwB - Can eat alot and loves to try new food

Name: Alden Lush

Gender/Pronouns: Cis Male He/Him

Orientation: Homosexual

Age: 25

Race: Hyur

Associated God: Thalik

Occupation: Studium Absolvent, Thaliak chosen

Home/Origin: Old Sharlayan

Goal/Motivation: Unravel mystery of parents “death” and what they investigate. The Truth

Strength: Memory, Alchemy, Perceptive, lots of aether (all carby are the chonky ones), fast reader.

Weakness: Cooking, No Street Smart, Lots of times lost in thoughts and not looking around, shy with talking. Zero social skills.

Likes: Food, books, sunny days,

Dislikes: Surprises, Mimics

Class: Summoner/Scholar

Family/Childhood: Born at Old Sharlayan to a pair of scholars. They go on expeditions lots of the time, but one in the while Alden joins them as a kid. Once at Costa del Sol met a blonde Miqo'te and became friends. Sadly Alden needed to go back home but promised to go back one day. That never happened, but why? Sadly on the next expedition they went without him, and they didn't come back. The rescue mission was created, but they come back mostly empty handed. They found the destroyed ship, bodies of the crew and a few personal items of his parents including the father book he used as a summoner. They were called dead and now what to do with Alden? There were no other relatives there. Finally was adopted by one of the Forum members, and the era of traveling has come to an end. His guardian told him he can leave Sharlayan only when he graduates Studium. So Alden studied hard to enter there. He chose Aeather Archeology as specialization. Finally when finished his studies and became a full titled scholar, he began to prepare for the journey. To unravel the mystery of his parents and what they found.

Quirks:

When lost in thoughts he walks, and doesn't look where. That show he learned how to swim

Don’t need a book to cast, he only needs some ink and surface to write, but books are handy

Even with perfect memory he always has the book with notes and checks lots of times.

Have favorite seal plushie from childhood

Blessing: Thaliak Blessing - Absolute Memory

Quote: Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.

Introduction: As you live peacefully in Limsa minding your own business you see young hyur on streets that seem lost. Always checking his book in hands and muttering to himself. You see him going one direction, and not even a minute pass you see him going back the same road. Only a miracle that he didn't end up at Limsa water…yet.

Radom info: - Just can't cook, boiling water are his max skills - Few times he broke his glasses, so he have a spare at his coat.

[deepdreamnights]

The image(s) above in this post were made using an autogenerated prompt and/or have not been modified/iterated extensively. As such, they do not meet the minimum expression threshold, and are in the public domain. Prompt under the fold.

Prompt: cola ad featuring cindy crawlford as two-face, wearing 80s punk clothing, short hair, asymmetrical face, glowing ghoul, asymmetrical brightly colored clothing, post-apocalyptic, digital painting by gil elvgrin, Harry Ekman, Alberto Vargas, earl norem, norman rockwell, Olivia De Berardinis, artstation, WLOP, Artgerm, hearthstone card art, magic the gathering painting:: a green girl made of green slime, green translucent skin, dripping slime, light shining through, bubbles, lime jello:: vaporwave-rococo transformer arcee, intricate glowing circuitry details, eldrich energy within, set in a technomagical sci-fi fantasy setting, in the style of Dangiuz, Hajime Sorayama, dungeons and dragons:: a dinosaur anthro wearing work clothes standing on the corner of a dinosaur city. Solarpunk sci-if scene. charles r knight and syd mead:: a dilophosaurus-person wearing a sweater and with a long tail, eating take out food from the styrofoam package, photograph, city street background:: stop-motion dana scully in the nig htmare before christmas, stop motion animation in the style of Nightmare Before Christmas, screen capture, 5k:: A beautiful purple-skinned alien woman with tentacles instead of hair, wearing green leather and blue eyes in the style of Marvel's The Scarlet Witch, in a dynamic pose, with a full body portrait at full length, in a hyper-realistic, high resolution, high detail, cinematic style, in an underwater city filled with colorful octopus.

--

This is a 'prompt smash' experiment, combining random (mostly) machine-generated prompts into a single prompt with multiple sub-prompts. Midjourney blends concepts in these situations, making vivid but essentially random results.

[dujour13]

Secret Santa gift for my friend @offsidekineticist. Happy Holidays! 💕☃️💕

I hope you know I had to enlist the aid of both Ophenia and Woljif to piece this story together. Oh, that reminds me—(Siavash digs in his vest pocket and produces one silver bracelet, twelve gold pieces and a Chelish noble house signet ring)—with Woljif’s apologies. No questions asked about the ring.

I hope I got the main story beats right enough for art.

The half-orc druid I eventually tracked down in the Aspodell mountains told me Qweck was involved, but even my utmost attempts at diplomacy couldn’t prevent Qweck from slamming the door in my face, so I’m not sure where she fits into the story. There was also apparently a dinosaur? Or a golem made of dinosaurs? Anyway, here it is, as promised.

(He takes a sip of mulled Andoren wine and gives you a wink as he begins.)

🎶 The Ballad of Bellflower Hellfire 🎶

The Devil went down to Cheliax, she was lookin’ for a soul to steal She was biding her time at the scene of the crime In a gem that was magically sealed When Gil came across that necklace, offering vengeance and serving it hot And the devil grabbed hold of his heart in her claws And said boy lemme tell you what I guess you’ll do ‘bout anything to give them slavers their due And if you vow to serve me now I’ll lend a hand to you Now you’d make a damn fine Bellflower, boy All I ask is a soul or two I’ll bet the slaves you’ll free are worth that fee And it was true for all he knew And so the halfling set about with the fury of Hell in his hands Without a regret started paying his debts Freed his folk from their iron bands (Chorus) Gilly sharpen up your wits and fight that devil hard Cause Hell’s broke loose in Cheliax and the devil deals the cards And if you win you get the peace and freedom that you’re owed But if you lose the devil gets your soul Twas a rainy night in Brastlewark and Thay sat with his book And he heard the sound of rustlin’ around and went to have a look There stood Gil ‘bout to catch a chill And Thay in his distress, said come on down, you look half drowned And bundled Gil up good And thus began the heart-bond ‘tween the halfling and the gnome In the shadow of Thrune their sweet love bloomed, over cocoa snug at home (There’s a break with romantic picking, then a shift to an ominous chord) Til one dark day the news reached Gil that made his heart stop cold The iron glove of Hell came down and crushed all Gilly’s hope The Hellknights came, they were taking names, Mister Theo was their prey Gil shed tears of grief and rage - the Rack had taken Thay And Gil like Hell’s own vengeance on the wings of dragon black Rained down on Rivad fury and fire and laid to waste the Rack The only reclamation that was glorious that day Was Gil who stormed the citadel and rescued poor dear Thay (Chorus) Gilly sharpen up your wits and fight that devil hard Cause Hell’s broke loose in Cheliax and the devil deals the cards And if you win you get the peace and freedom that you’re owed But if you lose the devil gets your soul Thay in gloom of dungeon hoped for nought but Ph’rasma’s grace He held his ground, made not a sound as tears fell down his face The Rack had wrought their cruel work and yet his lips were sealed All he cared to pray for was an end to his ordeal When a signifier’s shattered mask was tossed between the bars And Theo raised his eyes and hope rekindled in his heart A little short for a Hellknight, Theo said through tears of joy Though they were trapped within the citadel the righteous would destroy In a desperate race for freedom the heroes stumbled toward the gates Paladins and Hellknights laid the citadel to waste As knights closed round Gil stood his ground o’er Theo’s tortured form As in his breast the fires of Hell let loose in violent storm (from this crescendo the tempo slows, becomes soulful) When Theo felt the heat of Hell and raised his heavy head And saw that Gil had rescued him but damned himself instead With failing limbs he lifted up and braved the flames of Dis To wrestle Gil from the Devil’s grasp and free him… with True Love’s Kiss (Chorus) Gilly sharpen up your wits and fight that devil hard Cause Hell’s broke loose in Cheliax and the devil deals the cards And if you win you get the peace and freedom that you’re owed But if you lose the devil gets your soul

---

Note: Modeled after “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by the Charlie Daniels Band

[ofdragonsdeep]

7: Morsel

A tasty delicacy, a tidbit

Ar'telan makes a surprising discovery in the Sea of Clouds

Ar'telan was always happy to seize upon an opportunity to get lost.

Ishgard had not afforded him many such opportunities, so far. Other than the wait for the Ironworks to sort out the Manacutters, he felt like he had always been on his feet, one way or another. But now Thordan was defeated - 'dead' didn't feel wuite right, given the primal he had become - and though the shade of Nidhogg lingered threateningly on the horizon, for the moment there was no use for Ar'telan.

He liked it that way.

He had taken himself out to the Sea of Clouds, the incliment weather in Coerthas too hostile for a gathering trip. The knights at Camp Cloudtop were mostly perplexed when he had quizzed them about local flora, but the Vanu Vanu had been more accomodating, directing him to places where he might find things to harvest without disturbing the delicate local ecosystem they cultivated.

Ar'telan did not much like the Sea of Clouds. It was almost entirely open sky, the rocks bouyed in the air by gods only knew what mechanism, and it did not feel much different to be the one on the rock that plummeted to earth than to be the one who felt it fall. But he had his carbuncle at his feet, Lily at his shoulder, and a carefully sharpened knife in his hands, and that would have to do.

He hadn't gathered much, so far. Some very strange bananas, a few hardy lemons, anything he thought he might be able to get some use out of squirreled away into the bag tied to his hip. He wasn't sure the cooks at Fortemps Manor would even let him try to make something with his findings, but it was worth the attempt.

He was picking his way across one of the islands when he came across something different.

He caught the scent before he saw it, turning immediately towards the source. It was familiar, something he had been sorely lacking in Eorzea thus far. He crept past a wamoura, stepping softly to avoid alerting the beast, and knelt by the plant.

Sesame.

It had been years since he had last seen sesame. On Meracydia, he had used it often - it complimented all kinds of food. But it was a Meracydian plant. What was it doing here?

He thought about Allag, distributing conquered peoples across the Empire to reduce the chances of uprising, and the wind chill felt colder.

Still, he knew very well how to work with sesame. A few deft strikes of the knife garnered him a bounty of seedpods, stuffed in his bag quickly as if they were like to disappear in his hands. He held his fingers up to his nose, closing his eyes and breathing the scent. He could almost imagine he was home.

Almost.

---

He teleported back to Ishgard, the cold of the wind being replaced by the radiating bite of snowed-in stone, and trudged through the slush to the Jeweled Crozier. He was not the kind of man who carried much gil, and most of the shopkeepers knew it by now, but he had some. A shame he couldn't convince them to barter for some of the other things he'd found.

Still, he acquired a small amount of flour. The man on the shop looked at him askance, clearly knowing him as "the man who rode into Ishgard on the back of a dragon" or possibly "the man who had helped slay Nidhogg", though Ar'telan would have vastly preferred the former. He supposed that in Ishgard, knights did not have much call to be baking, so it would be strange for a fighter to be pursuing such a thing. Another strange Ishgardian custom he didn't entirely understand.

He put the flour in his bag, and fought the urge to run back to Fortemps Manor. It felt silly to be so excited about something so small, but it had been so long since he had had anything to be excited about at all. He would let himself feel this, even if it wasn't much.

---

He was ready to have to get on his knees for the Fortemps kitchen staff to let him actually cook in the kitchen, rather than simply making a request, but they acquiesed remarkably quickly. Perhaps his enthusiasm showed on his face, a nice change from the lines of stress that so usually accompanied him these days. Perhaps it was because he promised to only take up a little space, and they knew he was very good at that. Ar'telan didn't spend too much thought on wondering.

There were so many things he could make with sesame, but he was missing the ingredients for many of them. Presumably Ishgard had some recipes that used it, but there was one he could make with what he had: cookies.

They were a simple thing, all things considered. He had made them for the kits, back home on Meracydia, though half of them had always been pilfered by the adults when he did. There was not often time for such little treats, dangerous as their watch of the waking wood often was, and so it felt like a welcome reprieve from the worry. From the danger. The ghost of a dragon lingering in the twisted background, the biting fear in his stomach, those were oddly familiar friends to the baking. He wasn't sure he liked it.

The smell of the sesame seeds attracted the attention of the other cooks, and he talked as much as he could, needing his hands for the work, on how Meracydia used the seed. The cooks told him a great deal in return - they used the seeds to season Kaiser rolls, a fancy bread favoured by the upper class in Ishgard, and also in salads. It was fascinating to Ar'telan, how something that to him seemed so Meracydian had blended so deeply with Ishgardian culture. The cooks, too, seemed surprised at his skill with baking, just as the shopkeepers had been. He wondered if anyone knew that he had been little more than a firekeep before Eorzea had thrust him at adventure.

He learned quickly. He had little choice about it.

---

The smell when he pulled the cookies from the oven was almost heavenly. Much as he had to back home, he fended off the cooks eager to pluck one straight from the cooling rack, and set them to lose a little of the heat.

He wondered if he should bother the others with it. If they would want to be bothered with it. All of the Fortemps seemed busy these days - if they were not standing vigil at Haurchefant's bedside, they were doing anything they could to not think too deeply on how still he always seemed. A warm cookie would be nicer than the chill of the grave, but Haurchefant was not awake to eat them.

But he would be. One day. He would.

Ar'telan plated the cookies, stealing just one for himself. the first bite was almost enough to remember simpler times on Meracydia. Almost. Either way, it was a welcome reminder.

He took the plate up to the main house, in the end. Artoirel was absent, but Emmanellain showed his usual enthusiasm for Ar'telan's efforts. Ar'telan was reasonably sure that it was real. A great deal of Emmanellain was an act, sometimes, but this did seem legitimate.

Count Edmont seemed surprised, more than anything. It was clear it had been a long time since he had been offered a simple treat, and the etiquette of being presented one by your ward was lost on him, but he took it regardless.

It was nice to see a smile on his face, however small.

The rest, Ar'telan left on a plate in the main room, with a little note that said, in his shaky handwriting, that they were free for any to take - including the serving staff, who seemed so often to be left out of things like that. Ar'telan found that it felt nice to be able to do something so small, but kind. To make a difference in a way that did not need him to call upon more destructive arts. To not have stakes.

And when Haurchefant woke, he would know where to find the seeds a second time.

[pepsi-al]

So, I've been playing the original NES/Famicom version of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. I downloaded it on Switch sometime ago, and I've put it off for a while, and caused it to collect digital dust until fairly recently. I've had a pretty fun time playing it, and will put much of my impressions about the units here. I will be using "NES" as a synonym for "Famicom" for simplicity's sake. And so far, my impressions are as follows. Spoiler warning for those who haven't played. Though this is a 35 year old NES game. And I apologize for any repeated information throughout this blog post.

The trading and convoy systems both suck. Big time. One literally isn't trading. It's just one unit giving items to another, one. At a time. And if that's not bad enough, you're charged 10 Gil for every single transaction you make at the convoy, be it withdrawing an item or depositing one. Also, you have a Convoy capacity of 50. So chances are that, even if you're pretty conservative with your resources, you're gonna need a spare unit to act as a makeshift item storage. (Maybe that's why some units have such poor growths?) Thank God that these two mechanics got reworked and streamlined.

Res caps at 7. On top of that, Pure Waters, Parthia as an item, and the Barrier staff, all temporarily raise Resistance, with the amount raised dropping by 1 every turn, just as they always have done. But the difference here is that they don't raise Resistance past the cap, unlike in future titles. I even tried testing this out when I had given Linde a Talisman to boost her durability when fighting against Gharnef with and later having Wendell use Barrier on her, only for the Barrier staff to have no effect.

There's no battle forecast. Meaning that you have to make battle calculations yourself if you want to be sure that your units will come out okay. You also won't know if an enemy will drop an item or not unless you have previous knowledge like from personal experience from a previous playthrough or a guide like on Serenes Forest or the Spanish Fire Emblem resource called "Fire Emblem: Wars of Dragons", which does have an English Language option for most of its pages. (That's literally what it's called. Abbreviated as FireEmblemWod.)

Marth is undeniably a great unit in this. However, he's not invincible. 7 base physical defense, and 18 base HP can only get you so far. Luckily, that 18 base HP has a 90% growth. So, he's almost guaranteed to get more health. But still. You never want to give him more than he can chew. That same 7 Def has a growth rate of 20%. Which is not great, but also pretty par for the course in terms of Def growths and bases for most units in this version of the game. He's the only unit who can use Rapiers, which are surprisingly common in this game. Making him a great unit to eliminate Cavaliers, Paladins, and Armor Knights with. At the end of Chapter 6, he'll get the eponymous shield, the Fire Emblem, which lets him function as a Thief without the ability to use Master Keys. In Chapter 18, after speaking with Est, he'll get Mercurius, which boosts his stat gains, albeit by a random increase on level up. Which is a 25% chance to grow 2 points in one stat in all of the stats he gains on a level up. It's pretty solid, but not very consistent. (Why Mercurius is locked to him in this, I'll never know. But, at the same time, it's probably good that it is in this game, considering its effect.) However, this highlights a flaw of Marth's that prevents him from getting notably stronger than most of your units, that being that he can't promote. Most other units in this game have access to about another 10-20 levels, depending on when they promote. Marth has only 19 levels throughout the whole game to level up through, and his growths aren't high enough to help make up for his lack of promotion. (I can see why he was given 10 extra levels on DS.) He's also the only unit who will have the easiest time against Medeus. (More on him later.) But you need to defeat Gharnef in order to ensure that. As Gharnef will drop the Falchion. Speaking of, yes it can't break. But contrary to what you might think, it only prevents Marth from being countered by anything that isn't a Manakete in this game, on top of being effective against Medeus, specifically. It doesn't negate all non-manakete attacks, and in fact WON'T prevent Marth from being attacked at all. (It's also not effective against enemy Manaketes other than Medeus, unlike in later titles.) And it can be used like a Elixir, which is always a plus, and way better than the 10 HP recovery in the DS version. It also has 10 Mt, though, which isn't spectacular. While a nice weapon, it's not on the level of, say, Ike having Ragnell towards the end of Path of Radiance, or Sigurd having Tyrfing towards the end of Genealogy of the Holy War's first part, Dimitri having Areadbhar, or Edelgard having Aymr. I genuinely feel like Falchion had better outings on Super Nintendo, the 3DS, and in Engage. (And Gaiden and its remake, if you want to count them.) Definitely feed him stat boosters to help ensure ease against Medeus. But still a very solid unit without them. Undeniably one of the best units in this game, even if a tad overrated. Joins automatically in the first chapter, and is your main character. He dies, and you have to restart the entire chapter.

Caeda is easily your best Lance user, bar none. Her only downsides are that she's on the frail side to an extent, and her physical Strength is practically non-existent, being a 3 base and a 20% growth. Her ability to cap Speed easily makes her the best user of Silver Lances in particular. In fact, she'll likely cap Spd before she ever reaches Lvl 10. But without a Power Ring or two, she will struggle to kill foes at some point. Thankfully, her combat and her durability get a boost once she promotes. Still, a solid unit. Though she has better outings on the Super Nintendo, the Nintendo DS, and in Heroes. Her high Mov also means that she's the first to visit shops. Joins automatically in the first chapter.

Cain and Jagen are effectively two copies of the same unit. The most notable differences being that Jagen has more movement, durability, and can use more weapons, and Cain does get faster without stat boosters. That is at first. Jagen's growths generally don't let him grow any higher than his bases. (Unless you're lucky.) If you're not using stat boosters on him, what you see is what you get with him. But growths alone do not make a unit. And this fact is why I refer to him and Cain as copies of each other. Without stat boosters, however, Cain will undoubtedly surpass Jagen. But at the same time, unless you give him too much more than he can chew, Jagen's rarely going to die from things in this version of Shadow Dragon. If you give him a Speed Ring, he'll be doubling most enemies (14 Spd is no joke in this game), and giving him a Power Ring will drive his Atk with a Silver weapon to 25. Stat boosters really go a long way in this game, it's Super NES remake, and its Super NES sequel. Both join automatically in the first chapter.

On the note of Jagen's growths not letting him get any higher than his bases without stat boosters, I should mention that his poor growths are pretty much a way to discourage using him too much. Especially since EXP growths are all the same for everyone across the board, regardless of level: whatever the enemy gives you. For you, the EXP stat shows you how much EXP a unit has. Their level, as expected, goes up by 1, whenever you get 100 EXP. However, you'll notice that enemies have an EXP stat as well. What that generally means is that is how much EXP you'll get upon defeating one. No exceptions. It doesn't matter what level your units have, or if they're promoted. What you see is how much you'll get.

Speaking of promotion, your units' levels all truly reset after promoting. So there's typically no real incentive for using growth units over prepromoted ones beyond potential stat boost that vary from level to level and aren't even guaranteed to raise upon a level up. Adding salt to the wound, promotion gains on your unit are pretty wonky. They work like this: If your unit, at the time of promotion, has stats that match or surpass the base stats of the class they're promoting to, they basically get zilch except for movement, and access to another weapon type in the case of Mages and Clerics. If at least one of their stats are below the of the class they're promoting to, their stats will be adjusted accordingly to match that of the class they're promoting to. In Caeda's case, for example, on top of a level reset, a promotion for her behaves like, at most, 2 Dracoshields and a Power Ring. So that's worth considering. What units you promote is at your own discretion.

Abel is the only Cavalier you get who has a Strength growth above 40% until Arran joins. He's otherwise as useful as Cain and Jagen. And his growths, like with Cain, will let him surpass Jagen provided Jagen doesn't get stat boosters. Especially in Str, which he edges out over Cain. Both aren't lacking in the Spd department, which gives Abel a slight edge. Joins automatically in the first chapter.

Draug is there to help you form choke points and nothing else. Joins automatically in the first chapter.

Gordin is there to help you deal with earlygame fliers and nothing else. If you can get him up to Level 10 before you get that first Orion's Bolt, more power to you. Joins automatically in the first chapter.

Wrys is only valuable as your healer until Lena joins. Bench him afterwards. Recruit him in the first chapter by having Marth visit the westernmost village. Neat that he teaches you about the possibility of recruiting characters in villages.

Ogma is basically a Cavalier without a horse and without the ability to use Lances. Solid outing for his first time. But if you're playing through this game quickly, he will struggle to level up. Joins automatically in Chapter 2.

Barst is the best one among the three axe fighters that accompany Ogma. Unfortunately, like Marth, he will never promote, and axes have almost no variety in this game. They don't even have a legendary weapon. It says a lot when the strongest axe in the game is the Devil Axe, which has a base 21% chance of hurting its user. On that note, Axes can be pretty hard to come by at certain points. Like Ogma, he will struggle to level up without a mount. He also has the semi-unique niche of having a 50% Def growth, interestingly enough. The only other unit that shares that niche is Bord, who sucks. Joins automatically in Chapter 2.

Bord, as mentioned before, sucks. Cord also sucks. Don't bother with them. Both join automatically in Chapter 2.

Darros manages to be somehow worse than Bord and Cord. Bench him if you recruit him. Even though he has the unique niche of being the only ground unit who can swim effectively, he's not worth it. Recruit him with Marth in Chapter 2, will likely recruit himself to your team. I like that he teaches you about recruitable enemies, though.

Castor for a while is marginally better than Gordin, with the emphasis on "for a while". Recruit him in Chapter 2 with Caeda.

Julian oddly has solid growths despite being a Thief. However, he cannot promote, like Marth, and he's not important to bring into the final battle in this game except to open doors. And since he has no Weapon Level growth, he's not wielding Silver Swords without Manuals. On that note, Rickard is just Julian but joins later, has worse bases, has worse accuracy, and is less important. I've so far only ever used them to open doors and chests in this game, anyways. Julian joins automatically in Chapter 3, and Rickard joins after speaking to him with Marth or Julian in Chapter 6.

Lena is going to be your main healer throughout the game apart from Wendell and eventually Boah, Merric, and Linde. However, Priests and Clerics in this game have this odd mechanic that only ever lets them gain EXP if they manage to take a hit from an enemy and survive. Ugh... So glad that this was fixed in the Super NES remake and sequel. But yeah. In this game, don't bother leveling her up. Just use her as your healer and that's it. Thankfully, she eventually gets Hammerne, which is her Prf. And it can be used to fix some of your weapons and staves. So there's that. The only downside is that Hammerne cannot be used to repair Mercurius, Gradivus, Parthia, Excalibur and Aura. The most valuable of things to repair are Warp, Barrier, Physic, and Fortify staves. Keep that in consideration as you're using it. There's also a lone manual that you can get in the game. Since she can't level up without tanking hits, she's a solid candidate for it, opening possibilities of her using staves like the aforementioned Fortify and Barrier. There's not much competition for it, either, since Jeorge could possibly use it so he can use Parthia, he can take a few levels to reach that kind of capability anyways. So Lena edges out in competition in this regard. Joins automatically in Chapter 3.

Navarre in this is basically Ogma with slightly worse bases, but better growths. Either one is good, though they lack mounts and ranged options,. Just don't expect either one to be dominating. Recruit him in Chapter 3 by talking to him with Caeda.

Merric is your best offensive magic user, period. (At least until Linde joins.) However, with the way offensive magic works in this game, Str is wasted on him, Wendell, Linde, and Boah. Every tome's Mt is the magic user's attack power, no exceptions. But Skl has some value in determining crits, even though accuracy is similarly calculated by the tome's Acc and. Furthermore, he does come with Excalibur, which is strong enough to work as a boss killer as well as a deleter of problematic enemies such as Wyvern Knights, Armor Knights, Generals, Ballisticians, and Fire Dragon Manaketes. (Mage Dragon Manaketes are immune to magic, unfortunately.) It's worth noting that Excalibur in this game has no effectiveness against fliers and otherwise has almost identical stats to Thoron. So it is effectively replaceable at some point. And, of course, he's a prime candidate for Starlight and thus fighting Gharnef. Also, he gets staff utility after promotion. Meaning utility for things like Warp, Physic, Barrier, and Fortify, which is amazing by itself. Solid unit. Worth using him. Recruit him in Chapter 4 by visiting the northwestern village, by the squad of Cavaliers.

Matthis sucks. Bench him if you recruit him. He can be recruited by having him speak to Lena in Chapter 4.

Hardin is an amazing Cavalier to use right off the bat. Silver access at base. Solid bases. And good growths. He definitely deserves the moniker "Coyote". I've heard that some people call him "Jagen with growths", and I can definitely see why. Joins automatically in Chapter 5.

The same, however, cannot be said for his squad. The best one among them is Wolf. But that's not really saying much, seeing as he requires investment to use anyways, and you're not gonna get much long term use from his growths. His Skl growths prevent him from being any more accurate with Bows beyond what his Luck and his weapons themselves allow, and his Spd growth limits his doubling abilities. Sedgar sucks. Vyland sucks. And Roshea sucks. Don't use them any more than you have to. Especially in regards to enemy fliers in Wolf and Sedgar's case. They all join automatically in Chapter 5.

For Wendell, remember Pent? From Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade? This guy pretty much laid the foundation for Pent later on, though he joins earlier in this game and their remakes than Pent joins in his game. His bases are solid, especially his SPD, which is amazing, and his Weapon Level lets him use every single time and staff that isn't a Prf. His offensive utility depends on what tomes he has, so you won't be able to see him one round most enemies until he gets stronger tomes. Because of this, you're definitely gonna want him to weaken enemies. Alternatively, he can use Warp, Physic, Barrier, and Fortify staves no issues. With regular use, he should be able to do pretty well against Gharnef. Though he'll have lower HP than a promoted Merric or Linde, the key word here is "promoted", and he's still solid even after Merric and/or Linde promotes. Easily one of if not his best outing, here. Recruit him in Chapter 5 with Marth or Merric.

Bantu is easily your best tank throughout your entire playthrough until Minerva joins. Bantu outright benefits from the +12 defense the Firestone gives, due to himself having a 3 base Def and no Def growth. It also gives him 18 Atk, and no way to boost it without boosters. Making him pretty much a pure damage sponge for any enemy that doesn't use magic. (Enemies that can use magic are pretty much ripping through him, unfortunately.) Shame he got nerfed after this game. It's worth noting, however, that getting his Str to max gets him to 36 Atk; 4 points higher than the highest attack one can reach in this game with a Silver weapon. And that he's one of 2 units you can play with that can break the 20 Def cap, reaching up to 32 Def when maxed out. Which I would say is awesome, but impractical. Especially since he gets nothing from EXP. And you generally don't want anything with Def past 20 in this game, anyways. Recruit him in Chapter 7 in a closed off village near where you first see Minerva.

Caesar and Radd are essentially Ogma and Navarre with even worse bases, and lower availability. Casar also seems to have the worst growths of the mercenaries in this game. Don't bother with Caesar, use Radd only as a replacement. They join automatically in Chapter 8.

Roger sucks. Bench him if you recruit him. Recruit him with Caeda in Chapter 8.

Jeorge is your best bow user in the game. Sure, his growths are nothing special. You really want him, however, for his bases. He can use Silver Bows with no investment, and is a points in his own Weapon Level away from being able to use Parthia, which one-shots Wyvern Knights, and can be used as a Pure Water to prepare for Mage deletion. Definitely use him to delete enemy fliers and weaken or perhaps delete enemy Bishops. You can recruit him by visiting the northeastern village in Chapter 9, but you have to be quick about it, as there's a Thief looking to destroy it.

Maria is basically a replacement healer, and nothing more. One interesting point about her is that she can use every staff except for Hammerne (which is exclusive to Lena) and Aum (exclusive to Elice) right off the bat. But when you have guys like Wendell and eventually Boah do the same thing and with the ability to defend themselves using Tomes. She'll be locked up when you first see her. Open her cell in Chapter 10, and then have Marth talk to her to recruit her.

Going back to Minerva, she's easily your best mobile tank, boasting 14 Def on top of 10 Mov. She's essentially an Armor Knight on Wyvernback. And that 9 base Strength gives her solid attack. However, that 6 base Speed with a 40% growth isn't particularly great. Meaning that she's behind your other units, offensively, for quite a while. But she's still a decent unit. Even if only to serve as a meat shield. Or Arena Abusing. Just keep her away from enemy Bishops, Archers, Snipers, Hunters, and Horsemen. To recruit her in Chapter 10, recruit Maria first, then she'll track Marth down to recruit herself to your army.

Linde in terms of gameplay pretty much laid the groundwork for later-joining female mages that tend to have their own benefits compared to their male contemporaries. Like Tailtiu, Tine, Lilina, Ilyana (PoR), Miriel, Nyx, Ophelia, Lysithea, etc. And it's nice to see where this idea has its roots. In her case, she's essentially a nuke, not unlike Micaiah in Radiant Dawn. Aura is that freaking strong in this game. 20 Atk and nothing that enemies can defend against it with? Yes please. Don't ever feel bad about using Aura. Definitely comes in handy in that chapter with all the Ballisticians. And useful against Wyvern Knights, Armor Knights, Generals, and Fire Dragon Manaketes, as well. Once she's trained up, she's essentially a second Merric. With liberal use, she'll even end up faster and more accurate than Merric, but more frail as a tradeoff. In fact, she'll likely cap Skl, Spd, and maybe even Luck, before you even see your first Bishop's Ring. Promote her or not, she's a solid candidate for Starlight. And if you promote her, she'll even be able to do everything that Wendell and Boah can, meaning utility for staves including but not limited to Warp, Physic, Barrier, and Fortify. Very solid. Recruited in the village in eastern town in Chapter 11.

Jake is literally a weaker version of Jeorge in this game. Stuck to 2 range and 4 Mov. Situationally useful against Wyvern Knights thanks to his Arrowspate. But that's about it. To recruit him in Chapter 11, talk to Anna in a house to the east near where you recruit Linde first, and then have Caeda to talk to him to recruit him.

Boah is pretty much a replacement for Wendell, should Wendell perish. Or to act as a second Wendell should the actual Wendell be carrying too much stuff to use the Tomes and Staves you want him to use. Also, he can double most enemies at base. Dude has quite a lot of utility in this game. Thanks to his bases, mainly, his growths are horrible otherwise, but still. Joins automatically in Chapter 12.

Midia is pretty interesting in this version of the game. The influence she has on Isadora from The Blazing Blade shines pretty greatly here, even gameplay-wise. Mostly identical bases to Jagen. Might not stack up to Cain, Abel, or Hardin, assuming you've been regularly using them. But still very solid. Especially since Paladins are so good in this game. Could use a Seraph Robe to bolster her durability. Joins automatically in Chapter 12.

Dolph and Macellan are a couple of jokers. Don't bother. Especially not with Macellan. Both join automatically in Chapter 12.

Tomas is a filler unit. Joins at Level 8. But his growths are horrid. Thankfully, there's not much competition for Orion's Bolts, since Gordin is the only character that could actually use one. Speaking of Orion's Bolts, I wish you could sell them in this version of the game.

Beck is the second of your Ballisticians, and just as situationally useful as Jake. He comes toting the Thunderbolt, the only weapon with effective damage against Ballisticians. But since Ballisticians have 4 Mov and 2 range in this game, it's better to use a Mage or Bishop to take care of enemy Ballisticians. He's recruited in a village along the middle of the three paths.

Astram is basically a replacement unit. Solid, but nothing more. If you have been using Ogma or Navarre by this point, he's pretty much a benchwarmer. If you haven't, he serves a nice use on your team. You definitely want his Wyrmslayer to deal with Manaketes, especially Mage Dragons, later on. Recruit him with Midia.

Palla will be nearing promotion when you first see her. Her bases are quite solid, just about a point away from being able to double most enemies. 7 Str is pretty par for the course for units that join you when you get her, and she has a 50% growth in that. So she's not exactly lacking in offense, even with her terrible Spd growth of 20%. However, she's competing with Caeda for that first Skydrake Whip. But it is understandable if Caeda's 20% Str growth turns you off from giving it to her, making Palla a solid alternative. Doesn't help that enemies in this game grow alongside your own units. And even if you don't promote her, Palla is still a solid and flexible unit. Like Astram, she too has the valuable Wyrmslayer, making her excellent against enemy Manaketes, especially Mage Dragons. She recruits herself to your team by speaking with Marth.

Catria, on the other hand, joins underleveled, literally Level 3, in the middle of the game. Her bases are also pretty low for that point in the game. Even though she does hover around her older sister's bases at Level 8, the issue is getting there. Not exactly hard to set up, but not exactly a breeze, either. Especially since you're getting about 35 or so EXP from each kill. Meaning there's not much EXP to go around for her if you're playing quickly. Decent filler, but not much else. Like Palla, she recruits herself to your team by speaking to Marth.

Arran is pretty much in the same boat as Midia. That said, his growths are pretty impressive, sans Def. But he'll be nothing more than filler or a replacement. You can recruit him by visiting the western village in the northwest quadrant of the map in Chapter 16. But recruiting him locks you out of recruiting Samson. It's up to you if you value better growths and movement (Arran) or better bases (Samson) in a replacement/filler unit.

Samson is likewise in a similar boat to Astram. But in his case, it's his bases that carry him. Unfortunately, he has worse growths than not just Astram, but Arran as well. Still. He's solid if you want a replacement unit or a filler unit. You can recruit him by visiting the eastern village in the northwest quadrant of the map in Chapter 16. Everything that I said about recruiting Arran and what you prefer from either one applies here as well.

Xane is, full stop, essentially a copy of your strongest unit. No investment required. Free to use right off the bat. Just place him next to your strongest unit, and have him transform into it. You don't even have to heal him in this version of the game after he starts mimicking your units, unless if the unit he's mimicking is already hurt. The only drawbacks are that he requires his own equipment, and that his transformation can only last 5 turns. Neither of which are a significant issue. Especially the 5 turn transformation, since keeping him next to your team is pretty easy. He cannot gain EXP when mimicking an ally, though, not that it matters. He won't ever need it. And a little bit of a funny thing about him in this game. He can mimic allied Manaketes, but has no real way to use Dragonstones without being given one. Perhaps that's foreshadowing about his true identity that early on in the series? You recruit him by speaking to him with Marth, in Chapter 16, in the jail on the east side of the map.

Est manages to join with slightly better bases and offensive growths than Catria. But she suffers from much of the same problems as her, but worse due to her later join time. Don't expect her to nab that first Skydrake Whip even if you spoon-feed her kills. At least she gives you access to Mercurius as soon as she recruits herself to your team just like her sisters 4 chapters ago.

Tiki is an actually useful example of "Magikarp Power". However, due to how high her Def is anyways, WITH her Divinestone BTW (20 Def, literally the cap every non-manakete unit can reach), you're not gonna want to give her Dracoshields at least. Maybe just one Seraph Robe, because some enemies won't even attack her if her Def is too high. (Especially since the Divinestone boosts combined with stat boosters helps her outright break the Def cap.) This isn't to say that she's useless. Far from it. Just, like with anyone else, be careful with how you use her, and she should be alright after some time being spoon-fed kills. She shouldn't have much trouble with enemy Manaketes, not even Mage Dragons, thankfully. Except maybe Medeus's bodyguard, but how quickly he goes down depends on how high Tiki's Str is. In fact, she can one-round the majority of Manaketes in the penultimate chapter with base stats alone, even Xemcel, the chapter boss. Oddly, in this version of the game, she can't do anything against Medeus, himself, even with stat boosters. As that she has no bonus damage against him whatsoever, and her Divinestone without bonus damage is just as strong as a Silver weapon. This means that she can only ever reach 32 Atk against him. She's not even denting him. She also cannot promote, just like Marth and the Thieves. Unlike Marth and the Thieves, her growths are generally high enough to cover for this downside. The only growth that she has that doesn't is in Str, and a Power Ring or two can fix that. She's definitely worth your investment should you use her. Especially since she's deleting enemy Manaketes without much effort. Recruit her by having Bantu speak to her.

Lorenz is a filler unit meant to fill the same niche as Draug. Solid bases, but not much else. His movement is his biggest weakness. Also worth pointing out is that, in this game, Generals are locked to Swords, and are considered a separate class from Armor Knights as well. Recruit him by speaking to him with Marth or Caeda.

Elice is mainly there to give you a means to revive a unit that died that you want to badly bring back. Could come in clutch, but it requires specific circumstances. Also, Aum in this version of Shadow Dragon requires Elice to be in a specific building. Which is actually where the Aum staff is located in the remakes. Other than that, she's a filler staff user.

Gotoh is pretty much mainly there to help you beat the game. Pretty solid durability, as well as capped Skl, Spd, Weapon Level, and even Res. Just have him use staves and delete high Def units and that's it. I also find it kinda funny how he tells you that he can't do anything to Medeus. This extends to every Bishop you have, as well. More on that later.

There's going to be secret shops towards the end of the game, one in Chapter 21, I.E. the one with all the Wyvern Knights and that one boss that, in the DS remake, looks like Ocelot, and another in Chapter 24, I.E. the penultimate story map in the game, that sell stat boosters for your units. On one hand, you're given a crap load of money to spend on them, on the other, you're still limited. I would recommend just giving stat boosters to your most important units such as those you're going to use to fight Medeus with. This means that you should focus mainly on Marth, any Wyvern Knight or Paladin you have that can use Gradivus, Linde or Merric, and, assuming you've been using him until now, Barst. Anyone else, you decide at your own discretion.

Medeus. Hoo boy. He's a doozy. First off, 35 Def? Yeah most of your guys aren't gonna scratch him. Even going back to the Awesome But Impractical 36 Atk Bantu, given that Medeus is on a throne, he's healing any scratches that particular Bantu would do on him. Secondly, his Earthstone has the ability to negate magic and ranged attacks. Not only does this render your Bishops, including Merric and Linde, useless against him (Gotoh wasn't kidding when he said that he can't do anything to scratch Medeus), it also eliminates the possibility of using Bows against him. Maxed out versions of Wolf, Sedgar, Castor, and your Sniper of choice wouldn't do anything to him with Parthia, anyways due to him being on a throne and having high Def. With Parthia and maxed Str, you're looking at 2 damage per strike. If you actually manage to miss the Starlight tome, and thus were unable to defeat Gharnef, then your best bet against Medeus is using either Barst with the Devil Axe (technically, any axe user could work here, but Barst is the only one whose growths give him long term viability), or a Paladin or a Wyvern Knight with capped Str toting Gradivus. But if you did indeed defeat Gharnef, then Medeus is pretty much a cakewalk, as you just need to park Marth next to him, equipped with Falchion, and wait a few turns. How long this takes depends on how high Marth's Str is, but it should be high enough regardless. On average with no stat boosters, you're looking at 10 damage per phase, same as with stat boosters force fed to either of Barst with the Devil Axe or the Paladin or Wyvern Knight with Gradivus. With stat boosters, 30, which no other method can match. Alternatively, and this will take the longest to do, you can use Barst with the Devil Axe, or a capped Str Paladin or Wyvern Knight wielding Gradivus, and hope for the best, given that he or she is doing 5 damage per attack, which translates to about 10 damage per phase. (Also, it's pretty funny how a Str capped axe user with the Devil Axe, or a Str capped Paladin or Wyvern Knight with Gradivus, both do as much damage to Medeus with a crit as a Str capped Marth can do with Falchion but no crit.) It's clear that the Falchion is the intended method, given the ease of use in trying to defeat him with it, assuming Marth has capped Str. At any rate, if you don't have the Devil Axe, if Gradivus broke, AND you haven't gotten Starlight and defeated Gharnef, then you're pretty much SOL and have to restart the entire playthrough. So make sure you defeat Gharnef and get Falchion, get the Devil Axe, and keep Gradivus intact, and give the units that can use them stat boosters until they max out, if you have the money for it.

And now, my breakdown of each class; how I feel about each unit in those classes is independent from this.

Pegasus Knights and Wyvern Knights

+ Access to Swords and Lances

+ High movement, 8 MOV for Pegasus Knights, 10 MOV for Wyvern Knights.

+ Unhindered by most terrain

+ Playable Pegasus Knights can potentially obtain a significant Def boost if their Def stat isn't high enough before promotion.

+ They can also get a Str boost upon promotion, but Caeda's the most likely one who will see that.

- Weak to Bows and Arrowspates.

- Wyvern Knights are also weak to Wyrmslayers.

- Cannot take advantage of terrain bonuses besides the healing effect of Forts, Gates, and Thrones.

- Lances are generally heavier than Swords, and thus are situationally useful as a result.

From a class standpoint, this is the best one in the game, no contest. The drawbacks listed here are generally nothing to worry about in most situations. They will generally have solid offense. And once they promote, they will be able to serve as effective baiting and chokehold units on having solid offense. But they're not invincible. Be smart with them, and they'll reward you.

Cavaliers and Paladins

+ Access to Swords and Lances.

+ High movement, 9 MOV for Cavaliers, 10 MOV for Paladins.

- Weak to Ridersbanes and Rapiers.

- Lances are generally heavier than Swords, and thus are situationally useful as a result.

Another great class to have. Second only to Pegasus Knights and Wyvern Knights. Their only downside in comparison is the lack of freedom over terrain, but they can in turn reap more terrain bonuses. They, however, won't be as durable as Wyvern Knights, Armor Knights, Generals, or Manaketes, however. Meaning that they're mainly used for offense, generally cleanup. Their high movement also helps ensure that they'll get a lot of EXP. They'll likely be ready for promotion by the time you see your first Paladin's Honor.

Freelancers

+ Free copy of your strongest unit.

- Requires his own equipment.

- Transformation lasts for 5 turns.

- Cannot use Falchion

Basically the best of the unique classes because it can be an extra of any unit you need. Just make sure he stays with the group, and he's solid.

Mercenaries and Heroes

+All around solid stats, leaning more towards SPD and Skl.

- Swordlocked, making Levin Swords your only option for ranged attacks.

• 7 MOV.

Best of the grounded classes, besides Manaketes and Freelancers. The key word here is "grounded", however. Since they can't boost their own MOV without Boots.

Lords

+ Can use Rapiers, Mercurius, and the Falchion.

+ Draws enemies towards him, due to the enemy A.I.

+ Essentially becomes a stronger Thief without the ability to use Master Keys once you obtain the game's eponymous object.

- Cannot promote.

- Marth falling in battle triggers a Game Over and thus a map restart.

• Everything about Mercenaries and Heroes applies here.

Great as a unique class, especially when considering that it's Marth's class. Just be careful when using him.

Thieves

+ Can open chests without keys.

+ Can use Master Keys to open doors and drawbridges.

- Swordlocked, making Levin Swords your only option for ranged attacks.

- Generally have low Str at base.

- Cannot promote.

- Cannot use Swords besides Iron Swords without Manuals.

- Low durability.

• 7 MOV.

Good class on paper. But in practice, you're just going to use them to open doors and bridges, and loot chests. Not much else use for them.

Manaketes

+ Weapons have infinite uses.

+ Weapons grant them high Def boosts, which makes them effective tanks, and can potentially make them break the Def cap past 20.

+ Tiki in particular has effective damage against enemy Manaketes (sans Medeus for some reason).

- Weak against Wyrmslayers.

• 6 MOV.

A solid semi-unique class. Like I said, they can break the Def cap, but you don't want to have them do that. Easily the best chokehold class alongside Wyvern Knights. Just be careful with enemies using magic or Wyrmslayers.

Clerics

+ Can use Staves

+ Staves can heal (even from long distances), enhance, or warp units.

- Are generally frail units.

- Requires taking hits to gain EXP.

- 5 MOV.

- Effectively requires manuals to increase Weapon Level.

A must-have for your team. Just don't let them in enemy range, despite the EXP gain. They're nowhere near durable enough.

Mages

+ Can attack enemies from close range or 2 spaces away.

+ Can deal effectively fixed damage.

+ Great against enemies with high Def such as Armor Knights, Generals, Ballisticians, and Fire Dragon Manaketes. Especially in a game where Res can only be boosted by Talismans, Pure Waters, Parthia, and the Barrier staff.

- Are generally frail units.

- Fixed damage means that the mage's offensive power cannot be increased, and that Spd is the only other main factor that determines overall total damage.

- Tomes have fixed accuracy, and thus cannot be influenced by the Mage's Skl or Luck.

• 6 MOV.

Amazing units from a combat perspective. But their uses are generally situational, mainly used to weaken enemies, or in the most extreme situations, delete enemy units. Thoron will be the best tome any Mage can use, overshadowed by only Merric's Excalibur and Linde's Aura. You'll likely be using them liberally to the point where they'll reach Level 20 before you see your first Bishop's Ring. Just try to keep them from being seriously injured.

Bishops

+ Combines the best of both Clerics and Mages.

- Has the disadvantages Mages have.

You'll generally be using these guys to be staffbots and extra chip damage. You can't go wrong with having them on your team, be it a promoted Merric or Linde, or a prepromote like Wendell or Boah.

• 6 MOV.

Fighters

+ Can use Axes.

-Are axe locked.

- Axes are the heaviest Weapon type in the game, being heavier than Lances.

- Axes are also the rarest Weapon type in the game, being carried by few shops.

- No Silver weapons.

- Cannot promote.

- Only Barst has the most impressive growths among the three playable Fighters.

• 6 MOV.

Another class that's good on paper. But they're meant to be used as combat units, making them trickier to use as a class. Doesn't help that only one of them can actually become a truly competent unit.

Pirates

+ Can use Axes.

+ Can cross water

- Are Axe locked.

- Axes are the heaviest Weapon type in the game, being heavier than Lances.

- Axes are also the rarest Weapon type in the game, being carried by few shops.

- No Silver weapons.

- Cannot promote.

- Only 1 playable Pirate in the whole game.

- The only playable Pirate, Darros, stinks as a unit.

• 6 MOV.

Again. Good on paper. But in this case even less useful in practice than Fighters due to Darros's poor growths.

Armor Knights

+ High Def.

+ Access to Swords and Lances.

- Cannot promote.

- Lances are generally heavier than Swords, and thus are situationally useful as a result.

- 5 MOV.

- Playable characters have generally poor growths.

You're gonna be using this class for chokeholds and, whenever possible, bait, and that's it. They're not exactly good to use in the long run due to poor movement and growths, and you end up getting other units that are better at doing what these guys are supposed to do.

Generals

+ High Def.

- Swordlocked, making Levin Swords your only option for ranged attacks.

- Cannot promote.

- 5 MOV.

- Only 1 playable General in the whole game.

These guys, or rather this guy, is basically there to serve as chokehold and baiting filler. Nothing more. Great bases sans Spd, and obviously MOV. But nothing else. Pretty much a worse version of the Hero class.

Archers

+ Can attack enemies 2 spaces away.

+ Every weapon is effective against Pegasus Knights and Wyvern Knights.

+ Very little competition for promotion items.

- No close-range option for offense, limiting their abilities as units and thus their opportunities for gaining EXP.

- 5 MOV.

- All playable Archers have poor growths.

Easily the second worst class in the game. Doesn't help that the units in it don't have much long-term usability. Luckily, they don't have to stick to their MOV, gaining +2 MOV upon promotion. But I heavily doubt that Gordin will be used long enough to be able to use an Orion's Bolt. Luckily, him and Tomas aren't the only Bow users that you can get. And between the two, Tomas is the one who's going to promote to be able to serve as filler, but nothing else.

Hunters

+ Can attack enemies 2 spaces away.

+ Every weapon is effective against Pegasus Knights and Wyvern Knights.

- Cannot promote.

- No close-range option for offense, limiting their abilities as units and thus their opportunities for gaining EXP.

- Only 1 playable Hunter in the whole game.

• 6 MOV.

Basically a marginally better version of the Archer. But not much else. Castor's growths are wasted in this class.

Horsemen

+ Can attack enemies 2 spaces away.

+ Every weapon is effective against Pegasus Knights and Wyvern Knights.

+ 9 MOV.

- Cannot promote.

- No close-range option for offense, limiting their abilities as units and thus their opportunities for gaining EXP.

- All playable Horsemen have poor growths.

Another class that's good on paper. They thankfully can keep up with the rest of your units. But that's not gonna matter when both of the Horsemen you can get have poor growths. Wolf has the best growths between the two. But they're still not high enough to make up for his lack of promotion, or for his bases being comparable to Cain and Abel. Speaking of, this class was made the promotion for the Hunter class in the remakes and sequel for this game. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Snipers

+ Can attack enemies 2 spaces away.

+ Every weapon is effective against Pegasus Knights and Wyvern Knights.

+ Is promoted.

+ Archers promoting to Snipers gain a substantial SPD growth upon promotion, allowing them to double many enemies, as well as a slight Def boost that would be the soonest seen by Tomas.

- No close-range option for offense, limiting their abilities as units and thus their opportunities for gaining EXP.

• 7 MOV

As stated, this is what Snipers promote to. Among them, Jeorge is easily the best, being 3 points of Weapon Level away from being able to use Parthia, which he's the best user of. And the abundance of Silver Bows immensely helps with any deficiencies in growths Jeorge may have.

Ballisticians

+ Can attack enemies 2 spaces away.

+ High Def.

- Cannot promote.

- No close-range option for offense, limiting their abilities as units and thus their opportunities for gaining EXP.

- 4 MOV.

- Only 1 Ballista is good against Pegasus Knights and Wyvern Knights.

Easily the worst class in the whole game. Good for nothing but filler. Only one of their weapons is good against enemy fliers. The only weapon they have that's effective against enemy Ballisticians is practically useless, given that Mages can do the same thing, and without fear of counterattack. And their MOV, being a measly 4, is pathetic. They have good durability, but that's the only thing that's actually notable about them. Thank goodness that they were reworked in future titles, getting buffs in the DS remake, and being merged with the Archer/Sniper class in the GBA and Tellius games.

On a side note, curse this platform for not allowing more than 10 images in a blog post.

[paintedscales]

WoLstinien Week 2024 :: Day 8 :: Estinien Day

An experimental piece that touches upon early life to the end of Heavensward for Estinien.

Word Count: 734

Life was once a picturesque moment in time. Surrounded by verdant trees, peaceful sheep, and the quiet watch of mountaintops.

A simple time, with simple chores, and simple activities.

Life once had a cozy cabin, built from spruce and pine. Life once had cozy beds made with goose feathers, blankets made with fleece, pillows full of cotton to cradle the head to sleep.

A simple comfort, warm and welcome.

Life once had a mother, a father, and a little brother. Mother, who would make warm meals made of mutton, popoto, onion, and garlic. Father, who would guide and teach, showing how to herd and shear the sheep. Brother, who would tail behind, who filled idle bells with fun, who would sometimes find trouble for two.

A simple family, unburdened by politics and city life.

At the flip of a gil, life was burned to the ground, scorched and charred.

Everything lost.

Simplicity lost.

What was once verdant and peaceful now burned. In the skies, a dragon dark as night. A dragon, vengeful and filled with unbridled rage. The dragon, the source, the reason for that spark.

From the spark, an ember took root, hot and burning. In time, the ember was nurtured: blazing within.

“For everything you took, I shall inflict upon you a thousand fold! Nidhogg!!”

Life became driven with a lust for revenge. The lance became the weapon of choice. Sharpened tip for piercing, for the steel was made to drive through. Into the skull. Into the heart. Straight through any fleshy or hardened parts.

Life became watched over by former Azure Dragoon now as acting father. Too young with far too large a heart. Mentor, father, guardian.

From simple sheep herder, to Temple Knight, to Knight Dragoon. Then finally: Azure Dragoon.

Wyrmblood. A name entrenched in crimson. A name that many come to know, but no longer Varlineau.

From the heart of Ishgard, the Eye of the nemesis stolen and spirted away. An act of treason, and so the hunt began. Of course, spry and elusive, those of Ishgard could never keep up. How could they? They were not as driven, that much was observed. They could never match the same resolve.

A fateful day for a fateful encounter. An Adventurer, but not an ordinary one. Nay, for the Eye of Nidhogg did respond to their presence, foul and noisome. Preposterous.

“Our paths will cross again. You can be sure of it.”

But for all the paths that crossed, never did the thought cross that their paths would be intrinsically linked from that point forward. From biting cold, to zephyrous cliff, to the belly of fire, to desolate lands that float adrift. With the truth of the matter learned, and the beast slain, perhaps a new path forward could be carved.

Despite the bickering and the loss, it was supposed that peace must needs come at a cost.

Finally, within the Adventurer, an equal seen. In each others’ eyes, the same storm of a painful past, stripped of a simple life, a place of warmth and comfort. Were things drastically different, perhaps friendship could have been forged instead of the barbarous thorns that still lingered?

A thought entertained, though snuffed quickly as it came. For the torturous might came surging forth with both Eyes now held. A victim to rage, a vessel for hatred. Notion of peace, torn asunder, giving back in to the stormy depths of vengeance and eternal suffering.

Mutated. Mutilated. Morphed.

An end to man was the goal. An end to self of man for one. An end to all humanity for the other. A goal that both would see to, no matter the cost.

Upon those final steps, one with faith, the other with resolve, did man and dragon stare down.

To them, from the dragon filled with roiling rancor: a promise of damnation.

To them, from man desperate for release: kill me, please.

A battle fought, a battle won. From comrade to man, a curse undone.

Scars left behind, a tale told upon the burns left behind on skin. Each a different experience, a different side.

Ministrations from chirurgeons and fretting abound, an annoyance did tick that a disappearance occurred without a sound. Independence was now within grasp, for that day on the bridge as Azure Dragoon was his last. Mantle hung and inspiration taking hold, a new adventure on the horizon past the mountainous cold.

[themalhambird]

ROP Generic Fantasy all/mostly human AU (sorry Tolkien) where Queen Miriel is presiding over a Celebratory TourneyTM and a Mysterious Stranger shows up and wins.

Anyway the Stranger turns out to be a human woman named Galadriel and she is literally just here for the prize money. Look, she's got a squire/sort-of-baby-brother (Elrond) and a nervous shape shifting dragon (Celebrimbor) to get back to Lindon and they're out of funds. So, tourney. Prize money. Great.

BUT Miriel is Intrigued by the Lady Knight (read: has an instant crush) and invites her to stay for a little while and internally Galadriel is like: okay. We COULD all do with some rest, this mission has been a Whole Thing I guess crashing for a month or two while I get in touch with Gil-galad and let him know EXACTLY how fucked the situation is isn't a bad thing. Also Queen Miriel is very attractive, so. Found family down time because Found Family Wine Aunt wants to flirt it is.

(Wider context:

Lindon and Mordor are both heavy sorcery/magic inclined kingdoms that have been on and off at war for CENTURIES and technically they haven't been since King Morgoth was defeated about twenty years ago BUT Morgoth's son Mairon came of age six years ago and now there are...rumblings.

The Fëanorians are/were dragons. Mostly they were content to ignore humans, but Morgoth stole jewels Fëonor had made and- well. Your typical Fëonor reaction to theft except this time he's a bloody great dragon with typical dragon reactions to hoard-theft on TOP of typical Fëonor reactions to Simiril-theft.

Also there was an. Incident. Misunderstanding type thing involving some of Gil-galad's kinsfolk (LOOK in Maedhros and Maglor's defence, they FOUND the human city Like That, THEY didn't know aid was already coming- what were they supposed to do, LEAVE the little human hatchlings in the ruined castle? A.k.a Elrond and Elros get raised by dragons who think it's a perfectly fair adoption because when a DRAGON is orphaned before being old enough to fend for themselves, they'll always be taken in by the first Adult who finds them. From the point of view of Gil-galad and the rest of Lindon, his cousin's city was sacked by forces unknown but it sure did involve a lot of fire, and then his cousin's children were taken by dragons.)

Somewhere in the middle of this the dwarves at Khazad-dûm had their door knocked on by a dragon who was very sorry to bother them, but were they using that bit of their territory where the rivers met and if not would they mind if he built a city there and by the way if it wasn't too much trouble would he be able to look at their forges, he's always admired dwarvish metal work....

Which is how Eregion becomes the one and only city built by a dragon and Celebrimbor is very proud of it. It functions on the same basis as Eregion in canon- anyone can come and go, it's a hub of art and learning and no, Celebrimbor isn't *hoarding* the gwaith-i-mirdain and the city in general its just the most precious thing in existence and the focal point of his world and, um, ooops.

(The dwarves in Khazad-dûm get the majority of Celebrimbor's scales whenever he sheds, partly because Celebrimbor is always mindful that Eregion is built within their borders and partly because Narvi is an absolute babe about helping Cebrimbor out with the whole moulting thing. Get you a friend who'll climbs a ladder and scratch your back with a pick axe no questions asked)

Mairon wants to be Emperor of Everything. Decides a pet Dragon would help with that, especially one as talented as Celebrimbor. Does Celebrimbor pay any attention to human politics? No. Is the human princeling friendly, shiny, and smell of nice magic, while also being Just As Nerdy about smithing as Celebrimbor? Yes!

Elros, appearing in Lindon out of nowhere and scaring the crap out of EVERYONE, except Elrond, but specifically the many border patrols he snuck past: 'sup, anyone heard anything from Cousin Tylepë? Maglor and Maedhros can't reach him and they don't know whether they need to expect a really shiny present soon or to if they need to go kill stuff.

Gil-galad: if by "heard from" you mean "was one of my delegations to Khazad-Dûm massacred by a Fëonorian wrought curse in Eregion's borders-

(Mairon: Tylepe. You're my friend right? Wanna help me take over the world?

Celebrimbor: ??? no??

Mairon: okay but consider I've already used magic to seal your city in my armies are on your doorstep and if you don't cooperate I'll kill everyone who lives here.

Celebrimbor: *tries to change form so he can charbroil Mairon then bite his head off*

Mairon: ...yeah that bracelet I made you? Traps you in your human form and also, you can't take it off.

Celebrimbor: well, fuck.)

Anyway King Gil-galad ends up dispatching Sir Lady Galadriel on a secret mission to find out what the hell is going on. Elrond is going with her because a mage and especially one familiar with Feonorian magic is going with him and NO, it's not going to be Elros, last time Elros and Galadriel kept extended company they fucking BIT each other. Arondir is also going because 1) back up healer and 2) the party needs a responsible adult and Galadriel and Elrond just encourage each other.

So a Knight who's a princess walks into a city to save a dragon from the sorcerer's lair...

Elrond totally uses babyiest Hatchling of the family privileges to make Celebrimbor agree to flee Eregion. Galadriel and Arondir use explosives ( freeing Mairon's hostages goes a long way toward convincing Celebrimbor he can flee as far as Lindon, rather than going to Khazad-Dûm, getting Narvi's help and immediately returning to, again, CHARBROIL MAIRON)

Where is Numenor in all this, you ask?

Numenor, south of Lindon but North of Eregion and cut off from the mainland by sea, is staying out of it. Let the corrupt mages squabble amongst themselves , Numenor outlawed magic years ago and it better, richer, and more prosperous for it.

Ha ha yep, no magic in Numenor definitely not, agrees Captain Elendil as he definitely doesn't sew protective runes into the lining of his childrens' clothes and slip away to join all the others who still remember how enough voices together can persuade even the most violent of storms not to dash the ships upon the sea.

Anyway, Arondir leads the citizens of Eregion to the safety of Khazad-dûm, Galadriel, Elrond, and Celebrimbor flee in the opposite direction.

Mairon's. Army. Will not. Stop. Chasing them.

Eventually Celebrimbor 's urge to keep Elrond and Galadriel safe amidst lack of any other options manages to brute force past the goddamn bracelet on his wrist, snatch up the mortals in his claws and just aim in the same direction as the wind.

They crash on the shores of Numenor and the bracelet reasserts itself leaving Celebrimbor exhausted and shaky but on the plus side, human shaped before they all get discovered by a concerned patrol in the morning.

Galadriel: we can go to the local rulers and ask aid back to Lindon, Gil-galad's diplomatic routes are everywhere except- oh, this is Numenor? Fuck.

okay, *buy* passage back to the mainland ithiut mentioning Lindon: I have...three coins and a molotov cocktail?

Elrond: I can sing to birds to bring us shiny things. Maglor taught me. It's not theft if dragons don't ask the birds exactly WHERE they found d the shiny things.

Celebrimbor: I am. Going to be sick *vomits*

Isildur, leading the Numenorian patrol running up. "Hey! Are you alright? The storm was HELL last night did yorlur ship get caught up in it, did you come from the mainland for the tournament, a LOT of people have come from the mainland for the tournament, I mean, the main prize is an entire chest of gold-

Galadriel, eyes narrowing: I can get an entire chest of gold for recreationally hitting people, you say....?

[poke-muns]

Dragon Type Names

Pre-existing: Aragon (dragon), Aris/Aristide (possibly Aristides, an Athenian general), Clair (lair, what dragons are said to have and store their treasures in), Débora (dragón or víbora, Spanish for dragon and viper), Dracaena (the dragon tree’s genus), Dragan (Irish word for dragon), Drake (another term for dragon), Drayden (drake/dragon & den), Dreyton (see Drayden), Genji (genjū, Japanese for mythical beast as a generic term), Gweonsu (gweon/권 Korean for power, su/수 meaning beast), Ibuki (means breath in Japanese, possibly referencing either dragons breathing fire, Dragon Breath, or dragons’ breath opal glass), Kakitsubata/カキツバタ (contains anagram of タツ, meaning dragon), Kibana (Kiba/牙, Japanese for fang), Lance (weapon used by knights who killed dragons and Lancelot, a knight of the round table from Arthurian legend), Lóngkuí/Lùhngkwàih/龍葵 (lóng/lùhng/龍 is Chinese for dragon), Lysander (Spartan general or part of fleur-de-lys, a medieval coat of arms), Peter (petard or petronel, medieval weapons again used by knights), Roy (king in Middle French or from roi, French meaning king), Ryūki (ryū/竜, Japanese for dragon), Sandra (dragon, drake, etc.), Siegfried (a knight who killed a dragon in Germanic legend), Tristana (Tristan, a knight in Celtic legend who had to kill a dragon), Wataru (possibly Watatsumi, a Japanese dragon and water deity), Yong-Gyu (Yong/용 is Korean for dragon) Basil = basilisk (possibly what they were going for with Raihan, who’s name comes from the Arabic word for basil, rayḥān/ريحان) Craig(g) = Draigg, Welsh for dragon Erwan = homophone with aeroant, meaning dragon in Breton. George/Georgina/etc. = St. George, said to have slain a dragon Gil = Gilgamesh, who loses a plant granting immortality to a serpent (could allude to a dragon-water ace given gill or dragon-grass given the aforementioned immortality plant) Hera/Heracles/Hercules/etc. = the mythological figure who killed the hydra Heidi/Hydi/etc. = hydra Linda/Lindon/etc. = Lindworm, type of dragon or serpentine creature Merlin/Meryl/etc. = Merlin, a figure from Arthurian stories Patrick /Patricia/etc. = St. Patrick, if taking the snakes he drove away at face value Puck = a dragon from German, Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian legend (possibly alludes to a dragon-fairy ace given the famous fae from Celtic legend, made more known in A Midsummer Night’s Dream) Tracy / Patrice = Cockatrice, a 2 legged dragon with a fowl’s head

[spacehostilityy]

Okie well I can't shut up ever so I'm going to compile my thoughts here on Tumblr as I rewatch nnt fom the beginning !! Also pls feel free to scream and/or rewatch with me👉👈👀

Kinda long so more thots below the cut

Season 1, episodes 1-6

I forgot how good the writing and animation are in the first season, like they truly thrived under aniplex😔 the brief white blood period in I think season 3 shows us just how good we had it

I love seeing Hawk and Meliodas's relationship, and his star Boar earring😭 plus having the Boar hat as the main location is just so comforting !!

Also I JUST realized his name is hawk because of a ham hok😭😭 this is like when I realized toe mater's name was tomato at the ripe age of 18

I miss the holy knights being powerful. Like I get that the Sins are always more powerful than them, had a long way to go in terms of power ups, and meliodas straight up had most of his power sealed but like DAMN. They were so cool in season 1 !! Gil was such a badass😭 I guess I just wish that the holy knights powered up along with the Sins

Seeing the very first episode got me thinking about the original pilot Manga (chapter 0) and how cool it might have been !! Like I love the story we got, but I do think those versions of Mel and Elizabeth maybe would have been better than the ones we got😳 like I just really like Meli's original design, I feel like he looks a bit older, and chapter 0 Elizabeth is simply superior ngl. She's funny, brave, and assertive - a lot more like Liz and goddess Elizabeth, except funnier

The first half of season 1 has one of my fave intro and outros like damn I forgot how fucking cool they were. Some of my fave songs to !! (my all time fave is def howling from season 3 part 2 (i think lol) tho)

Like look how cool this is !!! It reminds me of this pic from the manga

Speaking of intros, I miss the title cards !! Like look how cute this is !!

Everytime the fiddle (?) Music plays I get SO FUCKING HYPED BRO like damn Ik it's through all the seasonal and I'm so glad it is because it's rlly the perfect hype song - here it is on Spotify

Also Gil is such a badass in early episodes, I love his strength !! This moment is the fucking coolest and you can't convince me otherwise

Overall, I think the attention to detail is just better, the sounds the armor makes, the animation and drawings (esp background characters), Meliodas just sounds a bit older too (and I have theories on his voice here if u want them 👀)

The whole perv thing is really exhausting really quickly. Almost surprised 14 year old me made it through this as the 2nd anime I ever watched and the 1st I watched alone

I feel like Diane got shorter through the seasons. Like she doesn't compare to Hawk Mama like she did in season 1, and I think that's a damn shame. Let my giant girl be giant !!

She's also a decent bit more violent and I enjoy that thoroughly. She's just a silly goofy kween😌

Also her original costume is superior, her boots are just👌

Just realized that Meliodas was like an older brother/mentor to Gil and now they're brothers in law 😭😭

Also young Elizabeth and Gil are so cute😭 I always forget that they grew up together too

I love Hawk, but I feel like kicking him would just be so satisfying 😔

HOLY SHIT I forgot how badass Ban is when weren't first introduced to him !!

The humming while impaled and bleeding out he really is that girl tm

He's such a masochist. A damn if it isn't kinda hot.

Wow they really introduced Diane's body issues and then almost never bring them up again

Also my plus size Diane headcanon is so real like damn. Body issues girlies are being represented by her fr😔

Ban's slutty waist. That's it. That's the thot.

Also his pre series hair. First season reminding me why I love Ban sm

Lowkey miss the dragon handle sword. The broken blade was so cool:( Lostvayne still cool tho

I think it's so funny how they always wore their armor as holy knights, and yet anytime they wear armor in the present time line, it just immediately cracks off😭

Really anything except pants is going to be blasted off🤪

Okay SO in episode 5, when Ban is about to get his scar from the dragon handle sword, he tells Meliodas "you and me have been hanging together for a lot of years now." This scene takes place 12 years before present (bp). Does this mean Ban and Meliodas were friends before the formation of the Sins? Or was Ban the first after him and Merlin? Ban has been immortal 20 years BP, leaving 8 years in between present and the flashback. 8 years before this scene, Meliodas was still in Danafal/Danfor and would be for another 4 years. What does any of this mean? Idk, just thot it was intriguing lol.

Also how did I not notice this is the first time we see demon!Meliodas !! Baby's first sighting as an unnatural creature with otherworldly rage🥰🥰

Also the fact we never see the scar Gil gave him again lol. Plus him presumably needing to do demon mode so hellfire can heal him is actually rlly cool

Just thought about how Elizabeth laying her hand on his chest to check the scar was the first time in years his love touches him with gentleness or concern🥲🥲

The fact that it took me 6 years to realize that when Meliodas says he'll keep the promise he made to Elizabeth, even if she should die is referencing the promise he made to her originally to break their curses🥲😬😤😭😭😭😭

6'11 Ban thinking that he even had a chance in fitting in Jericho's armor is just so... him

Diane calling Elizabeth kiddo is so fucking cute🥺

Also they definitely get away with a lot more innuendos and swears. The words badass and foreplay in the same episode? Impressive