Karla

The Sword Vassal
Karla
Species	Human
Class	Swordmaster
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Black
Age	20's
Relatives	Karel (brother) Bartre (husband) Fir (daughter)
Debut	Fire Emblem

Karla is a playable unit in Fire Emblem and a deadly female swordfighter. She is one of the two characters who can only be unlocked in Hector's Tale. Karla was originally mentioned in Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi, but not by name.

Background

Karla was born to a Sacaean family that lived for the sword and based their lives around it. Due to being a woman, she was not allowed to touch or wield a sword, and she was expected to act as a servant. She was close to her brother Karel when they were young. But as they grew older, Karel became distant and heartless, and he set out to slaughter people with the sword because he was consumed by bloodlust, and he eventually killed their parents and their other brother. He spared Karla because he did not see her as a threat. Karla was desperate to find Karel and bring back the brother she remembered. To do this, she trained to wield a sword himself. She then traveled around and competed in the various coliseums in hopes of running into him. Karla usually had flawless victories with just one hit and became known as the Sword Princess, but she did not find Karel. One of her victims was Bartre, whom she knocked out with one blow on the Western Isles.

Bartre later caught up to Karla by the coliseum in Ostia in "Battle Preparations" (Hector Chapter 31x). She vaguely remembered Bartre, and he challenged her to a rematch. This time Bartre was able to hold his own for own round, so Karla was impressed and acknowledged his improved strength. She talked with Bartre and learned that he was traveling with a company of soldiers and mercenaries led by Eliwood and Hector, and that they often wound up in dangerous situations. Karla then joined with the group, in hopes that they might run into Karel with all the danger they encounter. This led Bartre to declare Karla his arch rival. Depending on the player's choices in the game, Karel may already have been a part of Eliwood's company. In their Support Conversations, Karel saw Karla had improved and wanted to kill her. But Karla was able to reach out to him and steady his hand, and although he only spared Karla, these conversations may have planted the seeds of Karel's later epiphany.

Karla and Bartre had evolved from rivals to lovers by the end of Eliwood's adventure. Sometime afterwards, they married and gave birth to a daughter named Fir. However, they were too busy training most of the time to pay much attention to their daughter. Sometime afterwards, Karla fell ill and began dying. Karel briefly visited and left without saying a word. During her last days, Karla spoke to Bartre wistfully about her happy childhood with Karel. Eventually she succumbed to the illness.

Support Conversation Summaries

Karla is capable of having Support conversations with four other characters.

• Bartre- In the first conversation, Bartre challenges Karla to battle, but she says it's not the right time and Eliwood has forbidden them from fighting amongst themselves. Bartre has her agree to fight him after the current battle's end. In the next conversation, Bartre has lost his latest battle but wants to fight again. He accuses Karla of fighting back and wants to battle her untamed. Karla says he would die, but Bartre says that he is willing to die to hone his skill. Karla is interested by this and promises to bring out all of her skills next time. In the final conversation, Karla sees that Bartre has improved, and Bartre says they both should work towards becoming stronger. Karla says she could help him improve, but Bartre refuses and tells her to stop bragging because they were the same, but Karla reminds him that they're not exactly the same because Karla's a woman. Bartre admits that when they first met in battle he saw her as a beautiful girl, but then after his defeat he saw her as a powerful fighter and forgot she was a woman. Karla is actually amused by this and tells Bartre he is a good man, and she decides to train harder to live up to his expectations. Bartre wonders why he is saying stupid things and comes to the horrible realization that he has fallen in love with her.
• Farina- In the first conversation, Farina asks Karla what her pay is, and when Karla says she has no pay and does not care for it, Farina is shocked and tells her that women need an income. Karla admits to being unfamiliar with the ways of the world. In the second conversation, Karla discloses her past and how she was unworthy of wielding a sword due to her gender, and hos she found similar customs in other lands, but Farina tells her that only rich men are actually worth anything and tells her how in Ilia the women work and put the bread on the table because only they could ride pegasii and become pegasus knights. She says men are mostly like luggage there, and Karla wonders if there are any sane lands out there. In the final conversation, Farina asks Karla about her plans after their journey with Hector ends, but Karla is unsure and says that she embarked on a journey in search of a man. Farina then invites Karla to join her as a mercenary and promises to help Karla to become independent and not spend her life chasing a guy. Karla agrees to try out that idea.
• Karel- Karla is finally reunited with Karel and tells him how she had searched for him. Karel then tells her how he had killed their family, and because Karla's swordsmanship had improved, he becomes urged to kill her as well. He tells Karla that in the end only her or she would remain to wield the sword, to Karla's dismay. In the second conversation, Karel approaches Karla in order to engage her in a duel. But instead of fighting, Karla tries to remind him of the closeness they shared as children. Karel claims he does not remember. Karla says she hated the sword, but only learned how to use it because it was the only way she could get closer to Karel. Karel remains silent, and Karla says that he seems distracted so they will meet at another time for their duel. In the final conversation, Karel again confronts Karel to initiate a duel. Karla will not fight him and tells him to do what he wishes, saying she will die without regrets. But Karel then remembers the past and realizes it was he, not Karel, who changed. Karel tells Karla to go where she will, and he will not fight her, although he still seems intent on killing others. Karla says that she won't stop you, but he won't resist the destiny of their blood for long, so she will wait on the scarlet plain for her brother to come home.
• Vaida- In the first conversation, Vaida mentions having heard of Karla, but she becomes furious when she finds Karla does not know who she is. In the second conversation, Vaida angrily yells at Karla for not knowing of her and then ignoring her. Karla mentions she remembered little about other fighters since she started fighting in coliseums only to find her brother, Karel. Vaida becomes determined to show her strength to Karla. In the final conversation, Karla continues to infuriate Vaida by not paying much attention to her display of strength, and saying that they should not fight each other because fate had made them allies in Eliwood's army. Karla finally agreed to battle Vaida after the journey was over, but she then angered Vaida again by suggesting that they could be good friends.

Trivia

• Karla only appears in the Hector version of "Battle Preparations" under certain conditions; by that chapter, Bartre must have promoted to a Warrior and be at least at Level 5. Bartre and Karla also must both survive their match.