History Characters / FireEmblemAntagonistArchetypes

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Although not very strong compared to other villains, their quirky appearances may make the players think that they could be JokeCharacter. However, they appear mid-game so they often come with better classes than Gazzaks, and if there's a nearby village, they ''will'' waste no time to loot the village and razing it to the ground, showing that no matter how you look at it, the commonfolks fear them for a reason.

The Bandit Twins are recurring minor antagonists. The bandits have always had the same hairstyle; one has purple hair and one has dark hair. They usually appear in desert levels.\\\

->'''Characters that only have elements of this:''' Nuibaba (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]'')[[note]]Appears in the original ''Gaiden'', but does not fit there. The remake gives the character a GenderFlip and [[AdaptationalAttractiveness more attractive looks]], making her very nasty, complete with no deathbed redemption, but AllThereInTheManual reveals she was a victim of domestic abuse and a murder attempt by an evil man, forcing her to make a DealWithTheDevil that robbed her of a soul, making her agency questionable.[[/note]] Zephia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')[[note]]Does evil of her free will, but gets a powerful FreudianExcuse.[[/note]]

->'''Character that only has elements of this archetype''': Bucks[[note]]He is the first Bandit boss in the game, being the first promoted enemy in the game, as well as the only Bandit boss before Gomes, but he's actually serving under Lifis[[/note]] and Gomes (''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'')[[note]]Shows up too late to be considered a StarterVillain, and is more [[AntiVillain sympathetic]] and [[WakeUpCallBoss difficult]] than is standard for this trope.[[/note]], Teronda[[note]]While visually and role-wise similar to Gazzak, he is not the StarterVillain; Alear and his team has fought several Corrupted soldiers and even those under the Four Hounds before him.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Most of the time, Gharnef characters are irredeemable bastards, and their deformed {{Gonk}} appearances are proof to that[[note]]with Nergal being an exception; once you get to his backstory, he's a surprisingly TragicVillain[[/note]]. Lyon is a pretty boy and he gets the sympathetic TragicVillain treatment and [[AlasPoorVillain sad sendoff]] (because he is also a Hardin archetype). Sephiran also looks normal, and he gets a chance for redemption. Hyacinth looks like a normal old man, and is revealed to have been BrainwashedAndCrazy.

* TheDreaded: Chances are if they enter the battle... you know the shit is going to hit the fan if you ever try to confront them without preparation.

The Gharnef is the first of the three main villain archetypes. He's a mage (usually a Dark Magic user) that spends the entire game manipulating others for some goal, being the driving force behind the main conflict. The Gharnef tends to be defeated before the real FinalBoss rears its head... usually it's because they are trying to revive a great destructive being who would serve as ''the'' FinalBoss (usually the Medeus). Their goals often will cause a lot of destruction to the world, so they're very antagonistic and have to be put down.

* UndignifiedDeath: They never end well. [[FaceDeathWithDespair Despair tends to be the last emotions painted in their face as death approaches.]]

->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Hardin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'')[[note]]While he is the BigBad, thus not fitting being the 'powerful enigmatic grunt' (him being possessed has been an open knowledge to the game, even if his RedEyesTakeWarning may also be a 'precursor' to the Black Knight's tendency of "Cover your head and identity with a garment, like helmet"), it's worth noting that the original Black Knight's tendency to be TheDreaded is based on Hardin's first appearance as an enemy, where [[AdvancingBossOfDoom he's practically invincible thanks to the Darksphere and the goal of the map he's in is to take the throne while avoiding him.]][[/note]]; Ishtar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]'')[[note]]She's similar to Hardin beforehand as she's chiefly known as the sympathetic villain without any enigma and also lacks a head-covering garment. However, she also has Hardin's AdvancingBossOfDoom trait in her debut at Chapter 8: Coming immediately equipped by the Mjolnnir tome and more likely to attack and kill one of your allies (rather than staying holed up in a castle) unless they can somehow dodge and survive her spell. She is actually killable, but it requires luck and very specific character at the time (either Shannan or Ares, who also has Holy Weapons), or the player can just stall for time and run away until Julius drags her off from the battlefield.[[/note]]; Galzus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'')[[note]]He ''seems'' like this at first, as he serves as TheChampion to Raydrik, acts as an AdvancingBossOfDoom over the course of several chapters, and is TheDreaded even to the game's (other) Gotoh archetype, Ced. [[SubvertedTrope However]], he's actually a HitmanWithAHeart, and pulls a HeelFaceTurn the moment he speaks with his long-lost daughter, Mareeta. Additionally, he doesn't have a mask or headwear to conceal his face[[/note]]; Bertram (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'')[[note]]In spite of being an enigmatic brute and BlackKnight who is a very strong foe, you only face him ''once'' in ''Path of Radiance''. You ''do'' encounter him at the beginning of ''Radiant Dawn'' as a preview of his appearance during the endgame to challenge Geoffrey, but you ''don't'' face him during a boss battle (the fight happens off-screen) and he pulls a HeelFaceTurn right after his return. That said, he's TheDreaded, his identity is a secret for most of the Tellius games and is ''arguably'' a recurring antagonist during part 4 of ''Radiant Dawn''.[[/note]]; Byleth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')[[note]]While Byleth acts as TheDreaded and seemingly invincible foe of TheHero, they're a ''mercenary'', not a ''knight''. Also, they don't have a mask or headwear concealing their face, and like Galzus, can pull a HeelFaceTurn.[[/note]]

->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Hardin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]'')[[note]]While he is the BigBad, thus not fitting being the 'powerful enigmatic grunt' (him being possessed has been an open knowledge to the game, even if his RedEyesTakeWarning may also be a 'precursor' to the Black Knight's tendency of "Cover your head and identity with a garment, like helmet"), it's worth noting that the original Black Knight's tendency to be TheDreaded is based on Hardin's first appearance as an enemy, where [[AdvancingBossOfDoom he's practically invincible thanks to the Darksphere and the goal of the map he's in is to take the throne while avoiding him.]][[/note]]; Ishtar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]'')[[note]]She's similar to Hardin beforehand as she's chiefly known as the sympathetic villain without any enigma and also lacks a head-covering garment. However, she also has Hardin's AdvancingBossOfDoom trait in her debut at Chapter 8: Coming immediately equipped by the Mjolnnir tome and more likely to attack and kill one of your allies (rather than staying holed up in a castle) unless they can somehow dodge and survive her spell. She is actually killable, but it requires luck and very specific character at the time (either Shannan or Ares, who also has Holy Weapons), or the player can just stall for time and run away until Julius drags her off from the battlefield.[[/note]]; Galzus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'')[[note]]He ''seems'' like this at first, as he serves as TheChampion to Raydrik, acts as an AdvancingBossOfDoom over the course of several chapters, and is TheDreaded even to the game's (other) Gotoh archetype, Ced. [[SubvertedTrope However]], he's actually a HitmanWithAHeart, and pulls a HeelFaceTurn the moment he speaks with his long-lost daughter, Mareeta. Additionally, he doesn't have a mask or headwear to conceal his face[[/note]]; Bertram (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'')[[note]]In spite of being an enigmatic brute and BlackKnight who is a very strong foe, you only face him ''once'' in ''Path of Radiance''. You ''do'' encounter him at the beginning of ''Radiant Dawn'' as a preview of his appearance during the endgame to challenge Geoffrey, but you ''don't'' face him during a boss battle (the fight happens off-screen) and he pulls a HeelFaceTurn right after his return. That said, he's TheDreaded, his identity is a secret for most of the Tellius games and is ''arguably'' a recurring antagonist during part 4 of ''Radiant Dawn''.[[/note]]; Byleth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')[[note]]While Byleth acts as TheDreaded and seemingly invincible foe of TheHero, they're a ''mercenary'', not a ''knight''. Also, they don't have a mask or headwear concealing their face, and like Galzus, can pull a HeelFaceTurn.[[/note]]

->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Galzus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'')[[note]]He ''seems'' like this at first, as he serves as TheChampion to Raydrik, acts as an AdvancingBossOfDoom over the course of several chapters, and is TheDreaded even to the game's (other) Gotoh archetype, Ced. [[SubvertedTrope However]], he's actually a HitmanWithAHeart, and pulls a HeelFaceTurn the moment he speaks with his long-lost daughter, Mareeta. Additionally, he doesn't have a mask or headwear to conceal his face[[/note]]; Bertram (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'')[[note]]In spite of being an enigmatic brute and BlackKnight who is a very strong foe, you only face him ''once'' in ''Path of Radiance''. You ''do'' encounter him at the beginning of ''Radiant Dawn'' as a preview of his appearance during the endgame to challenge Geoffrey, but you ''don't'' face him during a boss battle (the fight happens off-screen) and he pulls a HeelFaceTurn right after his return. That said, he's TheDreaded, his identity is a secret for most of the Tellius games and is ''arguably'' a recurring antagonist during part 4 of ''Radiant Dawn''.[[/note]]; Byleth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')[[note]]While Byleth acts as TheDreaded and seemingly invincible foe of TheHero, they're a ''mercenary'', not a ''knight''. Also, they don't have a mask or headwear concealing their face, and like Galzus, can pull a HeelFaceTurn.[[/note]]

->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Andrey and Scipio (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'')[[note]]Andrey can be said to be a predecessor to Kempf, appearing earlier, and their role is being the smug, brutish, ruthless attack dog of the Granvalle Empire (and him having a lesser Holy Blood signify his lower rank, where the higher ranked antagonists have major Holy Bloods). But even so, like Brian about Murdocks, Andrey has a very limited screentime, thus not enough time to show how psychotic and crazy he is and how he is antagonizing everyone even within his own rank with his own unpleasantness (the best he could get was a single disgusted remark by Lombard about how he's eager enough to commit {{Patricide}}). His son Scipio has an even less screentime and characterization except being a GenerationXerox to Andrey. And while ruthless, he also isn't overly vain and having too much high opinions of himself, he's just doing a job that he takes wholeheartedly with his own ruthlessness. It's why Kempf is the one who names the archetype.[[/note]]

* SinisterMinister: They often have some level of political power, aligned with either the Rudolf or even the Gharnef, instead of the Medeus figure. Again, [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Gharnef still does it better]].

* HateSink: If they get a lot of screen time, it will be dedicated to irritating the player with their smugness, machinations, evil actions, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and being a poor man's Gharnef]]. Hyacinth is a subverted example in this trope: While he has all the makings of this archetype[[note]]He only lasts half of the game, but his on-screen time was spent with being so utterly smug and successful in inciting the anger of Diamant and Alcryst by completing his corruption of Morion, only to be revealed that he's upstaged by both Zephia and Evil Veyle in manipulation and Sombron has the UndignifiedDeath planned for him, [[FaceDeathWithDespair with him dying in complete despair]][[/note]], he's still looked up highly by both Ivy and Hortensia, and it's shown that before the arrival of the Four Hounds, he used to be kind and gentle, proven with [[DyingAsYourself his encouraging final words as he dies the second time as a Corrupted.]]

->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Veld[[note]]His goals mostly align with Manfroy, who is his boss; overall, he's just another Dark Mage that just happens to be the FinalBoss for the game, but not the one fully in charge of the resurrection of Loptous, the cult's overall goal[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Iago[[note]]Like Veld, he's only following King Garon's orders and while he is one of the last opponents you face in Birthright and Conquest, he is defeated midway through Revelations[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Solon[[note]]Like Veld and Iago, he's only following Thales' orders, but he's defeated midway through the game, instead of being one of the last opponents you face[[/note]], Hubert[[note]]Hubert is playable for the Crimson Flower route, is a manipulator and at least just has a FaceOfAThug, and could be a sympathetic take of Gharnef. However, he is ruled out because he is not interested in resurrecting anything; he's just a loyal servant of Edelgard.[[/note]], Rhea[[note]]Rhea is an Archbishop and manipulates the history of Fódlan. As a very pretty woman, she is also in line with mid-era Gharnefs like Lyon or Sephiran. However, even if she is an Archbishop, it translates to the game as being a MagicKnight since she's also attuned to swordsmanship and brawling. She is only an enemy, and the FinalBoss at that (as Seiros) during the last half of the Crimson Flower route, though like most members of this archetype, she's fought in her human form in the penultimate chapter before being fought as the final boss; on the other routes, she works more as a genuine ally (she's kind of complex). And lastly, the being she's trying to resurrect (Sothis) is actually benevolent and more likely not going to ruin the world.[[/note]], and Aelfric[[note]]Cindered Shadows only, with similar reasons to Rhea, though unlike her, he ''used'' to be good before discovering Sitri's body. Also, he does succeed in resurrection... though it [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes horribly awry]].[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Hyacinth [[note]]While he is trying to resurrect Sombron and can use staves, he can't use any other type of magic, is defeated in the first half of the story, and is only present in the story for chapters 9, 10, and 17.[[/note]] and Alternate Ivy [[note]]Although she expresses a desire to resurrect Alternate Sombron, she isn't present until halfway through the Fell Xenologue and isn't the main enemy at any point of it.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Veld (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Ephidel and Sonia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Lekain and Izuka (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Eremiya (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Excellus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Iago (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Letizia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')

* HateSink: If they get a lot of screen time, it will be dedicated to irritating the player with their smugness, machinations, evil actions, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and being a poor man's Gharnef]].

* UndignifiedDeath: They never end well.

->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Andrey and Scipio (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'')[[note]]Andrey can be said to be a predecessor to Kempf, appearing earlier, and their role is being the smug, brutish, ruthless attack dog of the Granvalle Empire (and him having a lesser Holy Blood signify his lower rank, where the higher ranked antagonists have major Holy Bloods). But even so, like Brian about Murdocks, Andrey has a very limited screentime, thus not enough time to show how psychotic and crazy he is and how he is antagonizing everyone even within his own rank with his own unpleasantness (the best he could get was a single disgusted remark by Lombard about how he's eager enough to commit {{Patricide}}). His son Scipio has an even less screentime and characterization except being a GenerationXerox to Andrey. It's why Kempf is the one who names the archetype.[[/note]]

->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Sternlin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon Shadow Dragon]]''); Magnus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Lorenz and Yodel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Clement, Ishtore and Liza, Ridell ''([[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]])''; Eagler and Uhai (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Blazing Blade]]''); Shiharam and Hafedd (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Veyona (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Mustafa and Pheros (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Lonato (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')

->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Brian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Murdock (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Binding Blade]]''); Brendan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Blazing Blade]]''); Dheginsea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn)]]''; Orridyon[[note]]He was a one-note character originally, but in the remake, he displays a great deal of UndyingLoyalty to Michalis[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]''); Cervantes (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Hubert[[labelnote:*]]Only in routes where he isn't recruited, in which he stays loyal to Edelgard until the very end, regardless of how bad things get for the Empire.[[/labelnote]], Dedue and Gilbert[[labelnote:*]]Crimson Flower exclusive, where they stick with the Church of Seiros despite Rhea's increasing insanity without going too overboard[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Abyme (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

* DevilButNoGod: In certain realms, a Medeus figure may rise alone without any Naga figure to counter them, thus it's just up to the humans alone to face of the demonic dragon.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: While he's only partial due to his latter appearance, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Teronda]] deconstructs the whole archetype, showing what happens if they do not become the first stage boss like a traditional Gazzak: The stage he's fought at is a ruined village which has been thoroughly pillaged by Teronda (and many characters lament on how this village has been razed to the ground without hope of salvation) chiefly featuring darkness/fog of war and he claims that he has done the same to many other villages before this one. While most stages featuring a Gazzak feature at least functional villages for the respective Lords to save, Alear's army is given no such opportunity because they're all tied up with the Corrupted in the meantime, giving Teronda's group a short moment of free reign to pillage to his heart's content.

* BreakingTheOldTrends: Most Deadlords usually cannot even speak, all hopes for their characterization lie from their past histories. As of the moment they're revived, they're basically glorified EliteMooks. The Alternate Royals in ''Engage'', however, can talk and exhibit personalities different from their original counterparts, almost as if they're {{Evil Counterpart}}s of the main timeline royalties.

* CompositeCharacter: This archetype combines traits of Kempf with traits of Murdock or Camus (and a head-covering garment), resulting in an enigmatic [[TheBrute Brute]] who has a thrill for battle but does not kill indiscriminately, more or less acting like a powerful enigma in search of a WorthyOpponent who doesn't care for self-advancement. This is shown somewhat in Legion, but more blatantly in the Death Knight.

* CompositeCharacter: In ''Three Houses'', Kronya is both a Kempf (from her overall craziness and bloodthirst) as well as a Witch due to being a member of "those who slither in the dark", which means [[spoiler:her past incarnation, Monica, used to be more normal, although it is made clear that they are different people, particularly in ''Three Hopes'' where Monica is SparedByTheAdaptation]].

Michalis is something of a foil to Camus. Whereas Camus is a noble AntiVillain, Michalis is quite the straight-up villain. These characters are driven by ambition and will do ''[[TheUnfettered anything]]'' to achieve their ends, including dishonorable tactics or being as indecent as possible. Mostly part of the nobility, they can be very haughty on their own and don't come off as decent outside of battle, unlike a Camus. However, they do share one thing with Camus: besides ambition, they also at the very least have their national pride. [[AHeroToHisHometown Most of their actions are also driven by the desire to make]] ''[[AHeroToHisHometown their]]'' [[AHeroToHisHometown people prosper]] (they couldn't care less about people outside their nation); usually, their people have gone through some sort of suffering and they would gladly do anything to alleviate that, [[TheScapegoat including being hated by the very people they're trying to save]]. In other words, they are the NobleDemon of the ''Fire Emblem'' series. How much it saves them from being unsympathetic varies, but it certainly adds VillainousValor points that makes them likable as villains, and if lucky, they may even [[DeathEqualsRedemption find redemption just as karma catches up to them]] or become an EleventhHourRanger.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: These are the antagonists that [[{{Bishonen}} are most likely to look good]]. And they're also the ones who get noble or redeeming qualities, even if they stay antagonistic. This occasionally opens up a chance to join your team too.

* TheUnfettered: A standout trait and key in what makes them so despicable: Their ultimate goals and motivations can be admirable or not, but they are all willing to perform some utterly heinous actions to reach them.

Not every notable enemy holds a high ranking in the army. Some of them may be mercenaries, hired swords, or even generals on the level of a Camus or lower. They also possess either great battle lust or overly high ambition to match most other villains, even Michalis characters, and they resort to despicable actions just to show them off, without any care for how many will suffer because of it. They may technically be JustFollowingOrders, but it doesn't make them any less despicable and any former subordinates (who survive) may comment on how hellish it was to work under them. Many Kempf-types are unsympathetic {{Ax Craz|y}}ies that make the player wonder just ''how evil'' an empire has to be to allow psychopaths like them into their ranks.