Greil

Greil
Real Name	Gawain
Species	Beorc
Class	Hero
Origin	Daein
Affiliation	(formerly) Daein Greil Mercenaries
Hair color	Brown
Weaponry	Urvan
Relatives	Elena (wife) Ike (son) Mist (daughter)
Voiced by	Stephen Weyte
Debut	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Greil is a supporting character in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. He is the father of the game’s main character, Ike, as well as Mist.

Background

Greil was originally known as Gawain. He was one of the most powerful of Daein’s generals and became one of the Four Riders of Daein. He was known for his unique and powerful sword-fighting style, which made him one of the strongest fighters around. During this time he trained the man who would later become the Black Knight, and he also befriended a fellow Daein general, Tauroneo. He was also married to a woman named Elena.

However, problems arose when Elena took Lehran’s Medallion from the Palmeni Temple, in order to protect it from the mad Ashnard, who later became king of Daein. This caused Gawain and Elena to flee from Daein. Gawain abandoned both his name and rank, becoming known as Greil. They eventually settled in Gallia, as Greil was not prejudiced against the laguz unlike many other beorcs, where Greil worked as a mercenary. Greil and Elena’s children, Ike and Mist, were born here. Greil also became good friends with Gallia’s king, Caineghis, but he did not reveal to Caineghis anything about the medallion or his past so as to not get him involved.

Their time in Gallia came to tragic end one day when Greil accidentally touched Lehran’s Medallion. The medallion contained a dark god which drove people into berserk rages when it was touched, unless the person had balance in them such as Elena and Mist. Greil himself was driven into a berserk rage by this and slaughtered many of his neighbors and friends in this possessed state. Eventually he even killed Elena too, but in her dying motions she removed the medallion from Greil’s grasp, which broke him from the trance. Greil then bid farewell to King Caineghis and left Gallia with the children. He also brought along with him Titania and Soren, whom he had met in Gallia, and they started the Greil Mercenaries mercenary company in Altea.

Consumed with guilt, Greil then hired the assassin Volke to kill him if he ever went into another berserk rage. Volke initially refused because he recognized him as Gawain and did not think he’d be able to stop someone so powerful. This led Greil to cut all the tendons in his sword arm, essentially crippling him from properly wielding a sword, just so that he was closer to Volke’s skill level, at which point Volke accepted the job. Greil also told Volke to tell his son everything about his past and the medallion when he thought he was ready, in the event of Greil’s death.

As his children grew older, Greil eventually trained Ike to become a mercenary as well, but he was reluctant to let him into the mercenaries. In "Prologue: Mercenaries", Greil finally admitted Ike into the Greil Mercenaries after Ike bested him in a sparring match, although Greil was holding back during the battle. In "Chapter 4: Roadside Battle", news arrived that Daein had started war with Crimea. At this point Greil began giving Ike more and more responsibilities in the mercenary group without telling him why. This is likely because he suspected Ashnard wanted the medallion back, and thus Greil’s life was in danger so he had to prepare his son to take his place. The Greil Mercenaries wound up on the run from Daein forces in "Chapter 5: Flight!", after they met the Crimean Princess Elincia and agreed to escort her to Gallia.

Greil and several senior mercenaries, Shinon and Gatrie, split apart from the other mercenaries to distract the main brunt of the Daein forces in "Chapter 6: A Brief Diversion" while Ike led the other mercenaries to Gallia with the princess. They were reunited in "Chapter 7: Shades of Evil" when Ike had safely escorted the princess to Gallia and came back to look for Greil. Greil then distracted the Daein General Petrine until Gallian forces came to drive the Daein troops away. In the meantime, Greil caught a glimpse of the Black Knight. That night, Greil snuck off from the mercenaries’ camp and found the Black Knight, and they battled each other. The Black Knight offered him the holy sword Ragnell to contest the Black Knight’s Alondite, but Greil refused to wield it since he could no longer properly wield swords.

Without Ragnell, Greil stood no chance against the Black Knight’s Alondite and received a fatal blow. The Black Knight fiercely interrogated him for the medallion’s location, but Greil bluffed that he had thrown it away. Ike arrived to witness this scene, and the Black Knight started to abuse Ike to get Greil to talk, but at that point he was driven away by the roars of Caineghis and Ranulf. Ike then brought his dying father back to the other mercenaries, and Greil asked Ike to forget about revenge, stay in Gallia, live peacefully and take care of his sister and the company.

Trivia

• The instruction manual for Path of Radiance shows Greil as a blue unit, suggesting that he was intended to be a playable character at one point, but he is not playable unless cheating devices are used.
• He is the only character in the Hero class in Path of Radiance (as the game contains neither Mercenaries nor Heroes). Ike winds up being the only character in the Hero class in Radiant Dawn.
• The name "Gawain" is derived from the legends of King Arthur, in which Gawain was one of the Knights of the Round Table; Ragnell is the name of Gawain's wife in these legends.
• Greil appears as a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.