# 11 - Finn (Thracia 776)

                  Before I begin talking about Finn's combat ability I'd like to give a shout-out to this guy. He survived both generations of Holy War and he kept Leif and Nanna alive from the greatest military juggernaut in the Fire Emblem series. Surviving the turbulent political maelstrom known as Jugdral actually means something since that continent holds the record for highest body count (percentage-wise) of named characters important to the plot. Not even the good guys always make it out alive in Jugdral so massive props to Finn for living long enough to see his homeland retaken and the mighty Grandbell Empire overthrown.

                   FE 5 Finn > FE 4 Finn. In Fire Emblem 4 Finn is one of your best units in the first generation but he starts out taking axes to the face and he eventually leaves your army. In the second generation he's less useful due to being completely outclassed by virtually all the kids (assuming that the player actually made good pairs for them) and the enemies being more powerful in general. In Thracia 776 Finn got a massive upgrade resulting in him being this high up the list.

               For starters Finn has great availability in this game. He's part of your beginning army in Chapter 1. He'll leave your army in chapter 4 but will rejoin in chapter 7. There's a gaiden chapter in there so he's actually gone for 4 levels but once he rejoins you he never leaves so his availability is definitely a plus for him.

              Another major plus for Finn is his prf ranked Brave Lance. Apparently that conversation that he had with Cuan is canon. If a FE 4 remake ever happens I.S. needs to make sure that if Cuan gives Finn a Brave Lance that the Brave Lance becomes prf ranked. Anyway, in Thracia 776 said Brave Lance has a + 10 luck boost which also significantly increases Finn's chances of activating Miracle (in addition to increasing his dodge as well). Finn's Brave Lance also turns him into a capturing machine which is a huge boon in Finn's favor because in Thracia 776 capturing enemies is your primary way of getting stuff. (See here if you don't know what the capturing mechanic is: http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Capture)

                Finn also comes with a leadership star in addition to a Leif and Nanna support. It's quite rare to see a cavalier with support utility like this so that's another little perk Finn has going for him. Nanna comes with innate Charisma in addition to supporting Finn so he's getting a major evasion boost which is always welcome. Finn also starts at 3 levels away from promotion and has some pretty good base stats too. He'll start as one of your Top 3 best units. One of the units who outclasses him leaves your army because (spoilers) while the other unit has to deal with the fact that Finn has a pony (and rejoins a chapter later).

              Finn however hates indoor maps where he's forced to be unmounted (and gets only 5 movement) and can only use swords, which he only starts out using a D rank in. Granted, he's 20 swings away from a killing edge or a rapier so it's not hopeless, it's just a big disadvantage since he won't have access to powerful weapons. Once the Manster chapters end Finn's viability will decrease a little as his competition will have increased but he's still one of the best units in Thracia 776 and definitely an awesome unit worthy of this # 11 spot.