Here we have another example of an underrated villain on this list. Michalis might be the most underrated villain on here, but Ashnard isn't too far behind him. A lot of people dismiss Ashnard as a one-dimensional villain who's nothing more than just a power hungry lunatic. To that I say that there's more to his character than meets the eye. The easiest way to analyze Ashnard's character is through his quote with Reyson:
"The world may be destroyed by the coming of the dark god. Then again, it may not. I question the way in which our society is designed. No matter what strength a person has, it is the station he is born into that controls his destiny. And you cannot control where you will be born. Do you believe that a person of low birth should simply endure the curse of his station? I think not. If you are stronger than those around you, you should benefit from your strength. This is why I will use my strength to remake this world. Class and rank will not matter. Human and sub-human will not matter. The strong will possess everything. The weak will submit to their will. Is this not the meaning of peace?"
Wait a second! This sounds familiar. A Fire Emblem villain sees a world where a person's status is determined by birth and seeks to change it to a merit based system. Where have I heard this before? This sounds very similar to another villain who may or may not make it on this list.
Now to be fair, Ashnard's vision for an ideal world is different because he's more interested in a Social Darwinist mindset than the other villain. From the perspective of the average commoner in Tellius his worldview would seem like a better system. Shinon was a big fan of this mindset, which is why he defected to Daein. He even tells Boyd and Oscar this in Chapter 18 when you have to fight him.
Interestingly enough, Ashnard's mindset is shared by both the laguz, and by Ike. Lethe tells Muarim in their C support that gender doesn't matter, and that "you just have to be the best" in order to command armies in Gallia. Ulki and Ike have a base conversation in Chapter 19 that reinforces this mentality:
Ulki: That's...natural. In laguz society, the strongest become king. Unlike the beorc, kingship is not tied to blood, so we have no weak kings. I'm sorry... Perhaps that was improper.
Ike: No, I agree with you. Choosing a ruler by strength instead of birth makes much more sense.
Ulki: When we face Begnion troops, we target the units with weak leadership and eliminate them first. Beorc weapons can be very powerful, but not everyone wields them well. Since beorc also choose generals by bloodlines, their competency is uneven...and that is a weakness of beorc armies. As for you, General Ike, the time to prove yourself is approaching.
Ike: It's true. No matter how strong the individuals are, that strength is worthless if they're weak as a unit. An army's power comes from leadership and management... That's good to remember. Thanks.
Ashnard may have been power hungry, but plenty of the good guys including the main character himself share a similar mindset with him. Ashnard's goals and mindset fits perfectly with the themes of Path of Radiance. Tellius is a world plagued by bigotry. The racial hatred between beorc and laguz is one major form of oppression. Classism is also prevalent. All of the beorc nations choose their rulers via bloodline. Even Daein operates based off this mentality. Ashnard is the exception rather than the rule. In the previously mentioned conversation between Muarim and Lethe, he's surprised to see that Gallia lets women lead armies which would imply that this isn't common in Begnion. (Although this line strikes me as weird since Begnion is led by a woman, and both Tanith and Sigrun have very high ranking positions in their society) When you take all these factors into account, you realize that Ashnard's point had more validity than would appear on the surface.
It also makes sense why Ike would be the main character of the story. Ike doesn't have a noble lineage, and yet is able to rise to greatness. Ashnard's ultimate foe is a commoner who rose to greatness through the many accomplishments that he achieved throughout the story. Ike both validates and invalidates Ashnard's overall point. On the one hand, Tellius was way better off because Ike managed to accomplish what he did despite his birth. On the other hand, Ike didn't have to conquer the world in order to achieve greatness either.
In addition to everything that's been said, Ashnard also manages to set himself apart from most Fire Emblem villains in a few ways:
1) Most final bosses in the franchise are either giant dragons, deities, or both. Ashnard is one of the few exceptions to this rule.
2) He doesn't have a tragic backstory, nor is he sympathetic. Tragic villains are popular in a lot of modern stories. Many of the most popular villains in this franchise tend to follow this pattern. Ashnard doesn't, which makes for a nice contrast. He has a point, but you're not supposed to sympathize with him either.
3) His entire ideology doesn't automatically get disproven even if he dies. If Ashnard's entire point of view is "only the strong survive," then being defeated in battle wouldn't disprove his notion. From his point of view, he died because he was weak. His ideology even works on a meta level, because that's how RPGs work. The party with better stats typically wins.
For all the reasons stated above, I find Ashnard to be a pretty unique villain within the series and worthy of a spot on this list.
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