Rolf

Faithful Student
Rolf
Species	Beorc
Class	FE9 Archer FE10 Sniper
Promotion	FE9 Sniper FE10 Marksman
Affiliation	Crimean Liberation Army
Hair color	Light Green
Eye color	Green
Weaponry	Rolf's Bow
Base	Crimea
Relatives	Oscar, Boyd (half brothers)
Debut	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Rolf is a playable unit in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and its sequel, Radiant Dawn. He is the younger brother of Boyd and Oscar.

Background

The youngest of three brothers (actually having a different mother than his older brothers), Rolf was just a baby when their father died and his mother left them. Boyd and Oscar struggled to take care of Rolf, but they eventually met with Greil. Greil allowed the Oscar and Boyd to join his Greil Mercenaries, and Rolf was allowed to live in the mercenary fort as well. This allowed Rolf to receive a better upbringing. After entering childhood, he befriended Greil's daughter Mist, who was around the same age as him. The two were often left behind whenever the rest of the mercenaries were busy on missions, and they often worried about the others while wanting to help. At one point, Rolf received tutelage from Shinon in wielding a bow in battle, and Shinon even made his own practice bow for Rolf, although Shinon told him to keep the lessons a secret.

In Path of Radiance, Rolf was first seen in "Chapter 2: Rescue", when he and Mist had been captured by bandits. Ike led a group to rescue them and were successful, but Shinon arrived in time to take out the last bandit when he took Rolf hostage. After the Greil Mercenaries wound up on the move, Rolf and Mist eventually entered battle alongside the other mercenaries in "Chapter 9: Gallia". He pretended to have trained himself in bow usage and declared himself a prodigy, but Oscar was able to guess his teacher from their similar bow-wielding styles. Rolf quickly matured from the life of a soldier. Rolf was also useful in convincing Ike to spare Shinon in "Chapter 18: Crimea Marches", which later led to Shinon rejoining the mercenaries. After the war ended, Rolf thanked Ike for having faith in his abilities and promised to continue practicing.

Three years later in Radiant Dawn, the mercenaries resurfaced from hiding to save Lucia from being hanged by Crimean rebels at the end of "Part 2: Of Countries and Kings". Rolf and Shinon were featured in the accompanying cutscene, with Shinon instructing Rolf while he tried to aim his bow so that his arrow would pierce the noose to free Lucia. However, Rolf was afraid of missing and accidentally hitting Lucia instead, so Shinon launched his arrow instead.

In "Part 3: Intersecting Vows", Rolf worked with the other mercenaries as part of the Laguz Alliance Army. In the "Balance" conversation of "Chapter 1: Laguz and Beorc", he argued with Boyd about what were the most important element on the battlefield, with Rolf saying skill and precision were most important while Boyd insisted on power but Mist said both were important. In the same chapter Rolf's mother could be found in a Begnion house, which would prompt her to visit the camp in the next chapter if one of the brothers visited the house. She hoped to meet with Rolf and make up for lost time, but Boyd and Oscar were too disgusted by her leaving them before. Oscar eventually went to ask Rolf if he wanted to see her, but he did not because she was just part of the past and the Greil Mercenaries were his new family.

Shinon later helped Rolf to make a new bow in the "Master and Pupil" conversation of "Endgame: From Pain, Awakening". He said that it was because he couldn't stop Rolf from battling and endangering himself, but he could make sure that he's at least using a decent bow. Rolf then wanted to repay Shinon for all his help in some way, but Shinon then became angry because he never expected anything in return. He told Rolf to, if anything, try to exceed his expectations and become a better archer than him to recompensate him.

After the war ended, Rolf remained among the mercenaries and was always in demand as a tutor of unrivaled marksmanship.

Support Conversation Summaries

Rolf is capable of having Support conversations with five other characters.

• Marcia- In the first conversation, Marcia finds Rolf while he is practicing and treats him like a child, but Rolf is angered by this and insists that he is a dangerous mercenary. In the second conversation, Marcia is impressed by the results of Rolf's training exercise, but Rolf considers himself imperfect for only hitting twenty-six of thirty targets. Rolf tells Marcia he is not a child because his childhood ended with his first kill. Marcia admits she still worries about him due to his being a child, but Rolf tells her not to because he's grown strong and can take care of himself. In the third conversation, Rolf manages to get all of his targets but still thinks of ways to improve, and Marcia is shocked to see how blistered his hands were so she treats him with a vulnerary. Marcia compliments him for his determination, which will help against the enemy. The two each say they will protect each other, and Marcia laments that Rolf had to grow up so fast.
• Mist- Mist and Rolf speak for the first time since their first battle together, but Mist becomes disturbed when she sees Rolf anticipating the next battle and swearing to take out many targets. In the next conversation, Mist suggests that they stop fighting and that children don't belong on the battlefield. Rolf insists on fighting the enemy, but Mist reminds him that the enemies are human too, which causes Rolf to ignore her comments and leave. In the final conversation, Rolf says that he understood from the first day that targets were humans just like them, but he also said that they were trying to hurt the people he loved and thus were his enemies. Mist is relieved by this, having thought that war changed him into a heartless killing machine, but now seeing that he was just desperate to protect everyone else. They both agreed that the war would be over one day, and they wanted everyone around to see it.
• Rhys- In the first conversation, Rolf is glad to see Rhys. Rolf notes that Rhys has been in battle all the time and remembers back when Rhys was often sick in the fort for days, and often alone with Rolf and Mist while the others were on missions. Rolf is glad they can fight together now, but he gets nervous when Rhys says they should be thinking positively and he runs off. In the next conversation, Rolf finds that Rhys is sick and trying to hide his sickness in the battle. Rhys talks about his wishes to be strong, and then they both mention several impossible or improbable yet optimistic wishes. Rolf decides to have Ike position Rhys near Rolf so Rolf could at least protect him. In the final conversation, Rhys considers leaving the mercenaries because of the burden he always is, but Rolf asks him to stay. Rolf admits that he was terribly afraid of combat and almost wet himself, but he could forget his fear when he was defending Rhys, which would also help Rolf to become stronger. Rhys tells Rolf he has matured and agrees to stay with the mercenaries, not keep his illnesses secret and count on Rolf to protect him. Rolf then asks Rhys not to tell anyone he almost wet himself.
• Shinon- Rolf comes up to Shinon and thanks him for his lessons by giving him his own bow that he made. Shinon criticizes the bow-like chunk of wood harshly, but when Rolf starts crying, Shinon stops his crying by giving him another lesson. In the next conversation, Rolf returns with the slightly improved bow. Shinon refuses to wield it in battle, but after Rolf decides to use the bow for himself, Shinon decides to take it and pretends to have had a weird urge. Rolf follows him to see him use it. However, he finds Shinon threw it away. Shinon says he did Rolf a favor since he would have died if he entered battle with that bow. Rolf tells Shinon how he admired him for teaching him how to fight when none of his brothers would and preventing him from sitting around and doing nothing. Shinon then tells Rolf that adults would rather not send children into a battlefield because of the fear of being responsible for a death. He tells Rolf that he hates adults for their ego and pride but Rolf is growing up fast and the sooner he learns to defend himself, the better. Rolf asks if that is the real reason Shinon taught him to wield a bow rather than just on a whim, but Shinon refuses to give a clear answer.
• Tauroneo- Tauroneo initially confuses with his son Josh. They begin to talk about their families, and Rolf mentions his parents' absence, while Tauroneo mentions he is divorced. In the next conversation, Tauroneo tells Rolf the story of he got divorced. In the final conversation, Tauroneo misses his family, and Rolf tells him he should try to find them, saying that he wished he had another chance to see his father.

Rolf also has Support bonuses with Oscar, Boyd and Shinon which boost his chances of delivering a critical hit when one of them is nearby, and vice-versa. In Radiant Dawn, he has automatic bond supports with those same characters.