# 10: Berkut (Echoes: Shadows of Valentia)

 

The next villain whose spot on this list was determined by popular demand is Berkut, one of the newest additions to Echoes. Berkut made it to the Top 3 for both main and Guyden so he's clearly a popular character. Why is he popular? The first reason is that he serves as an effective dark mirror to Alm.

At the beginning of Echoes Alm starts with nothing while Berkut starts with the world his oyster. Alm begins in Ram Village as a nobody who's only known to the tiny number of people living in the village. Berkut, by contrast, is the heir to the Rigelian Empire. As the story progresses these two characters gradually switch places. Alm continues to gain victory after victory while Berkut suffers numerous consecutive defeats. Near the end of the game it's revealed that Alm is actually Rudolf's son, which means that he's the one who will rightfully ascend the throne.

This revelation is the final nail in Berkut's coffin. By this point in the game he's been relegated to the bench by his uncle, and he's also witnessed his nation suffer defeat. And to add insult to injury, the guy who beat him is going to rule a throne he previously believed was his. Throughout the game Berkut witnesses his entire life crashing down on him. That's brutal!

 

As you'd expect of a future emperor to the Rigelian Empire, Berkut was raised on the belief that only nobles could rule. Strength and social standing are all that matter. This is what he tells to Rinea later in the game:

"From childhood, all that’s ever been asked of me is strength. It is my duty as one born to stand above others. To rule. I’ve been taught that all my life. By my father, my mother... How am I to remain calm in the face of defeat at the hands of peasants?!" — Berkut to Rinea

 

 

This quote, and the dialogue in the picture, highlight another fascinating element of Berkut's character. When you read some of his dialogue he sounds incredibly whiny. And yet, nobody ever thinks of him as such. Why is that? The simple answer is that Berkut's voice actor, Ian Sinclair, gave a fantastic performance. When you hear Ian say these lines, you don't hear whining. You hear desperation. Ian delivers on Berkut's bravado and on his anguish. Thanks to Ian's performance, when you hear the word "lies" repeated, it sounds like a desperate man being pushed to the brink. The end result is that you feel bad for him. Even though Berkut goes on to sacrifice the soul of the one person who stayed by his side through everything, you still can't help but feel at least a little sorry for him.

This is why Berkut is a popular villain for so many Fire Emblem fans. He's a tragic character whose life comes apart at the seems, and his anguish is masterfully portrayed by a talented voice actor. When you combine these ingredients together, you get a memorable villain.

Top 10 Villains List - Honorable Mention: Michalis / Rudolf

So I'm gonna start my "Top 10 Villains" list with a compromise between main and Guyden. When I conducted the polls between the two groups, I got some interesting results. Two of the Top Three characters in both polls have made it higher up on this list. The third member? Completely different. But different isn't bad, so I decided to pick a member of the Top 3 from main, and a member of the Top 3 from Guyden. Michalis was in the Top 3 from main, while Rudolf was in the Top 3 in Guyden. So let's start with Michalis from the Archanea games. 

Michalis is the character that spawned an archetype of bad guys who are usually ambitious rulers that will do bad things in order to preserve either themselves or their people. Travant is the most famous example of this archetype, but he's far from the only one. TV tropes summarized this archetype quite well:

"Michalis is something of a foil to Camus. Whereas Camus is a noble Anti-Villain, Michalis is quite the straight-up villain. These characters are driven by ambition and will do anything to achieve their ends, including dishonorable tactics or being as indecent as possible.

 Most of their actions are also driven by the desire to make their 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, including being hated by the very people they're trying to save. In other words, they are the Noble Demon of the Fire Emblem series. How much it saves them from being unsympathetic varies, but it certainly adds Villainous Valor points that makes them likable as villains, and if lucky, they may even find redemption just as karma catches up to them or become an 11th-Hour Ranger." 

(Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/FireEmblemAntagonistArchetypes)

Prior to the events of the games, Michalis killed his father, who we're told was a weak ruler. From there, Michalis's goal is to accrue enough power to destroy Dolhr from the inside. Eventually, he lost sight of his goal the longer he worked with his enemy. This dude sends his own sister, Maria, as a hostage in order to blackmail Minerva into cooperating with him. Eventually Marth rescued Maria, and canonically Minerva defeats him in battle. Michalis goes through a redemption arc in the sequel. He feels remorse for what he did to Maria, and eventually gives Marth Starlight. Whether he lives or dies depends on which game you're playing.

When researching Michalis (because my memory of the Archanea games is fuzzy) I came across a reddit post that compared him to Shadow the Hedgehog.  Out of curiosity to any Archanea fan reading this: Do you find this comparison accurate? I'd like to hear your thoughts. Moving on, the next villain on this spot is the one and only Rudolf....

While Rudolf isn't a member of the Michalis archetype, it is interesting to note that he too is an example of a villain who works with the bad guys and this time actually got to overthrow them. Prior to the events of the game, Rudolf sends Alm away to Ram Village with Mycen. Rudolf's entire plan was to overthrow the gods Mila and Duma with the intent on having mankind be able to stand on their own two feet without the help of the gods. 

It's not hard to see why these two villains are as popular as they are between their respective groups. Neither of them are evil. Sure they do bad things, but they're doing bad things for a just cause. Michalis wanted to overthrow Dolhr and help his country prosper, while Rudolf wanted to overthrow 2 gods that were going insane. Rudolf's plan actually succeeds, and you can make an argument that Valentia is better off without Duma and Mila. This is a theme running throughout most of the villains on this list. Most of the villains (notice that I said most, not all) on this list aren't evil. They may be willing to commit evil acts, but they're usually doing so in order to further a noble goal. It seems like the villains this fandom gravitates towards are the ones who are willing to get their hands dirty for the greater good.

Holy War Randomized Playthrough Part 2

Had Deirdre kill Waltz, the boss who drops the Paragon Band. Worth it. She became a swordmaster in mage form. Astra + Adept + Accost = Ridiculously fun.

MASTER KNIGHT ARDEN HYPE! LET'S GO!

Finn's usefulness skyrocketed once Quan gave him a Brave Lance. Brave Weapons have amazing hit rates in this version.

Claude is now a sage with super high base magic. Holy crap! 

Unfortunately, he still doesn't have Pursuit. Still, his skill combination isn't bad. 

Neither of his Holy Bloods are relevant to his class though.

Aideen is now promoted. And she's awesome!

Bridget got Quan's old class. She has Wrath and Renewal in addition to Pursuit. It'll be interesting to see where she goes. Also, Yewfelle got a buff:

 

My Holy War Randomized Playthrough

 So I decided to finally play a Holy War Randomizer. The randomizer is incredible! Here's my randomized team:

For starters, Sigurd is now a Bow Lord with Major Hezul Blood and minor Fjallar / Vala. The running theme for this randomizer run is that most of my army has Holy Blood that does not correspond to what weapon ranks their class has. Sigurd in general is one of my tankier units, and him having Sol helps him survive. 

Arden became much better. He's a Cavalier now with Paragon and Pursuit. He's got major Forseti blood and minor Od blood. So he essentially has 2 Holy Bloods that can boost his speed. Unfortunately, his base speed is pretty low so I gave him the Speed ring. 

I find it hilarious that both Finn and Quan got turned into Wyvern Riders, given that that's the class of their Thracian enemies.

Quan also got Sol, just like Sigurd. He still kept Adept, and then got Pursuit. Finn has Nihil as a Wyvern so he does not care about bows.

This version of Ayra is now a Pegasus Knight with Charm and Vantage. She has major Naga blood, and minor Dain. Weirdly enough, recruiting her was easier than on a normal run since I didn't have to worry about her randomly activating Astra.

Aideen got a MASSIVE buff. She has Luna and Paragon while being a Pegasus Knight! Yeah, she's super useful already. I find it funny that she has Minor Loptyr blood. In fact, several of my unit have Loptyr blood. I guess Manfroy should give them the Loptyr tome so they can get possessed by Loptyr. 

Ethlyn's a Wind Mage who managed to get Major Forseti blood and Minor Blaggi blood. Her base stats were pretty great. Plus, giving her Renewal was great so she can heal herself. 

The only downside to this randomized run is that the hit rates of many of the weapons are trash.

Having weapons this inaccurate can make fights feel like RNG fests. It's like Binding Blade on steroids. Even with this negative taken into account, I'm still loving this FE 4 Randomizer Run. It shakes things up and requires me to play the game differently than I normally would. I definitely recommend it if you haven't tried it yet.

Top 10 Most Annoying Enemies Part 2

 # 5 - Bosses With High Avoid on Thrones

One of the many ways that Binding Blade distinguishes itself from other Fire Emblem games is that thrones give bosses + 30 Avoid. That's a significant boost that can make the game feel even more random than it needs to be. The worst offender in my opinion is Gel on Hard Mode. Gel is a boss that appears in the Sacae route of Binding Blade. His Avoid is sky high and he's fast enough to double a significant portion of your crew. Since he's a swordmaster, he gets the + 30 Crit Bonus that swordmasters get (assuming that you attack him from 1 space away). The worst part about Gel is that even your most accurate units, like Rutger for example, will have difficulty being able to hit him. 

Keep in mind that Gel is far from the only boss who can be annoying to deal with. Henning, the boss in Chapter 8x, is generally another annoying boss that can be difficult for some people to deal with in Binding Blade. While Binding Blade is the biggest offender, Conquest also has a couple bosses with high avoid who sit on thrones. 

Kotaro from Chapter 17 of Conquest can be a real pain in the butt. Fuga is also pretty dodgy too. Hinoka in Chapter 24 is also similarly difficult to hit sometimes. Moral of the story: If you want your boss to piss players off, you give them high avoid and make them difficult to hit. 

# 4 -  The Kitsune in Conquest Chapter 19

Ah yes. The kitsune of the infamous Chapter 19 of Conquest. Where to begin. Just like the previous entry, these annoying critters high avoid which means that trying to hit them can be a real test of patience. Their map has a really dumb gimmick where they cannot be attacked on various turns. This drags the pacing of the map as the player has no control over these illusions. Some of them have the skill Pass, which lets them ignore your units position. So if you have a weaker unit in the back, they're not safe. The kitsune are also in a weird position where their stats are just high enough to where they can curb-stomp your weaker units, but not strong enough to pose a threat to stronger units. As a result, the usual strategy to beating them is to give the Beast Killer Lance to either a Wyvern Lord or an Armor Knight and have them basically solo the map.

# 3 - Enemies with Annoying Skills

This category is comprised of multiple different enemies in the newer games who've been granted a variety of skills that make the player's life miserable. This entry includes annoying enemies from the following games:

Awakening

Enemies in Awakening's Lunatic + Mode can now have access to skills like Luna +, Hawkeye, and you start seeing them get the skill Counter more often. Luna + sucks because your defense gets cut in half. Hawkeye gives enemies an automatic 100 % accuracy for every hit. The most annoying skill that Awakening enemies have is Counter. 

Counter is a skill that will inflict damage to the enemy based on the non-lethal damage they inflict to that enemy. The main issue with this version of Counter is that if an enemy attacks one of the player's characters, and that character counterattacks, the skill will still trigger. This skill basically punishes the player for counterattacking. The main way to get around this skill is to either kill them first from a distance or use bows which can't counterattack from melee range. 

Fates: The Lunge Skill

The Lunge skill in Fates lets enemies switch places with whoever they're attacking after the battle's over. Theoretically speaking, it's possible for enemies to force the player's character to move halfway across the map. The only real way to deal with Lunge is to either not be in that enemies range or 1 Round KO that enemy, or have your character's stats be high enough to deal with all the enemies present. Either way, it's extremely annoying to deal with. 

Three Houses: Assassins and Archers

There are two types of enemies in Three Houses that can be irritating. The first are Assassins with the Pass skill on Maddening mode. For reasons unknown to me, Maddening mode decided to have same turn reinforcements make a comeback. So if Assassins with Pass show up, they can ignore the player's positioning and wreck your weaker characters in the back. To be fair, I would argue that Assassins and Pegasus Knights can be a massive problem even on Hard Mode due to the fact that they will most likely double attack most of your army. Archers can also be a pain in Maddening Mode. Not only do they have inflated stats, they also have long range and Poison Strike. 

# 2 - Ninjas (Fates)

When I asked everyone who they thought the most annoying enemies to deal with were, the most popular entry was easily the ninjas from Fates. Let's go down the list of reasons why they're so annoying:

- They have high avoid

- They have consistent 1 - 2 range in a game where 1 - 2 range options frequently have drawbacks.

- They can debuff your unit's stats

- They have Poison Strike, which means that if you don't kill them fast enough, they can deal even more damage to you. 

- In Chapter 25 of Lunatic Mode on Conquest, they get Inevitable End. This skill lets their debuffs stack meaning that your tank's stats can get nerfed into the ground.

It's not difficult to see why ninjas are hated so much by players everywhere.

# 1 - Same Turn Reinforcements

Here's the thing about all the lower entries on this list: These enemies might be annoying, but they're at least manageable if you can see them coming, and if you have a solution prepared. This line of thinking does not apply to same turn reinforcements. At least, it doesn't apply if you're playing blindly.

Same turn reinforcements are cheap, and provide an element of trial and error. Even when the game tries to warn you that they're coming, you generally don't know when or where. They're frustrating to deal with and they're the cause of many a restart. Any enemy reinforcement that ambushes the player like this can become annoying to deal with. That's why I consider Ambush Spawns to be the # 1 pick for the most annoying enemies to deal with in Fire Emblem.

Top 10 Most Annoying Enemies in Fire Emblem Part 1

 Fire Emblem loves to throw annoying enemies at the player doesn't it? It almost feels like each new game throws some type of enemy that the player that's designed to be as irritating as possible. I asked you guys which enemies you found most annoying, and thanks to your responses, I was able to create the following list:

# 10 - Gorgons (Sacred Stones)

One of the more popular responses when I asked about annoying enemies were Gorgons. Why do people find Gorgons annoying? 

For starters, they have access to an ability called Stone, which causes the "Petrify" status. As FE Wiki puts it: 

"While petrified, enemy units have a 100% hit rate along with increased critical hit rates, making even the weakest monster incredibly dangerous if they attack a petrified unit."(Source: https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Gorgon)

They also have Shadowshot, a spell that hits hard (it has 13 might which is higher might than the other 3 - 10 spells in Sacred Stones), is accurate and has 3- 10 range. In the Japanese version, they're even worse:

"In the Japanese version, Gorgons had flier movement and thus ignored terrain." 

# 9 - Jedah (Echoes)

Jedah was the boss that was frequently mentioned by name when people brought up annoying enemies. So let's take a look at why he can be annoying to fight:

The biggest problem with Jedah is that he can only take damage from every fourth unit. That means that if he isn't one round KO'ed, by your fourth unit, he can take a while to fight. This can be particularly annoying on blind playthroughs where the player may not be privy to that information. He also summons Mogalls, which are also annoying enemies to deal with too. In short, Jedah is annoying due to how tedious fighting him can become.

# 8 - Warp Witches (Echoes)

Int Sys Designer: "Hey I have an idea. Let's make an enemy that can warp to anywhere on the map and attack any random character they want. Players will love these enemies."

Yeah. It's not hard to see why an enemy that can attack the player from anywhere on a map would be particularly aggravating. Witch AI tend to prioritize characters who are by themselves, and avoid larger groups. Unfortunately, this information is not conveyed through the game itself, which often leads to frustrating trial and error. Many characters that are by themselves tend to have low Resistance, like Barons which makes the problem even worse. Thankfully, they get better once you learn about their AI, but if you don't they can be really random and annoying.

 

# 7 - Fire Emblem 12 Lunatic Dragons / FE 6 Nomads

What are FE 12 Dragons on this list? They have really high movement, consistent 1 - 2 range and they can hit hard. As the picture above shows, "high movement" means 12 move in addition to flight. Generally these enemies will fly to a spot on the map that's out of reach from any non-flier unit in the player's army and then on the next turn they'll attack. Since these dragons are FE 12 Lunatic enemies, they're gonna be accurate and they can generally kill any of your units in 2 - 3 hits. The good news about these enemies being FE 12 enemies is that they're also made of glass and can be killed very easily. There are a lot of weapons that deal effective damage against them, and the game gives you access to them so once these enemies get in range of the player they can be typically dealt with fast.

Likewise, FE 6 Nomads can be particularly annoying for similar reasons. They have high movement and consistent 2 range thanks to bows. What separates Nomads from FE 12 Dragons though is that these enemies typically have high avoid in a game where hit rates are bad enough. Plus they also tend to have high speed which means that only a handful of player characters can double attack them. Weapons that deal effective damage against cavalry units also don't apply to Nomads. Because....reasons? Nomads are a big reason why people prefer the Ilia route to the Sacae route when playing Binding Blade. Nomads are even worse if they're sitting on thrones for reasons we'll come back to in a later post.

So there you have it: Two enemy types with high movement that can kill off your weaker units easily. Don't underestimate these enemies.

# 6 - Status Staves & Ballista

Another popular mention for annoying enemies were status staves and ballista. It's not difficult to see why either. Status staves can screw players over if they're not adequately prepared. When it comes to status staves, the biggest shout-out go to:

- Berserk Staff Wielders

- Thracia 776 Status Staves

- The Hexing Rod

Berserk Staves are awful because they literally turn your units against each other. If one of your strongest units get hit by this, the player will be in a world of hurt. Status staves are extremely powerful in Thracia 776 where their effects are permanent. If you don't have a Restore staff handy, your character will get permanently screwed over. 

Most Fire Emblem games that have status staves are generally kind enough to make restores staves available to the player. So if you do get hit by a status staff you at least have a viable solution to the problem. Then Fates came along and decided that this was too reasonable, so the game decided to throw a particularly brutal status staff and then give the player no Restore staff. Enter the Hexing Rod.

In Fates, the Hexing Rod cuts your HP in half. This is really scary, because the HP growths in Fates are already low. Cutting them in half is basically a death sentence for any character unfortunate enough to have this happen to them. This status effect remains for the duration of the map, and there's no way to restore it once it hits you. No matter how you look at it, that's unfair. And it's also the reason why I consider the Hexing Rod to be the most dangerous status staff in the series.

Next, we have ballista. Ballista are basically long range arrows that can deal extra damage to player characters without having to worry about a counter attack. Any area where ballista are present make approaching a map significantly more challenging. They usually deal a decent amount of damage and at least some of them will have reliable accuracy. Ballista will always provide an extra way to challenge the player no matter where they are, or what game they're in.