Soren

Silent Master of Winds
Soren
Species	Branded
Class	FE9 Mage FE10 Thunder Sage
Promotion	FE9 Sage FE10 Arch Sage
Affiliation	Greil Mercenaries Crimean Liberation Army
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Red
Base	Crimea
Relatives	Dheginsea (grandfather) Ashnard (father) Almedha (mother) Rajaion, Kurthnaga (uncles)
Debut	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Soren is a playable character in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and its sequel, Radiant Dawn.

Background

Soren was born one of The Branded, the offspring of a beorc and a laguz. The proof was the mark on his head, although others confused it with the mark of a Spirit Charmer, and Soren himself thought it was just a birthmark. He was the son of Ashnard and the dragon laguz Almedha. Ashnard was at first fascinated by Soren until he saw that Soren had no special powers. Afterwards Ashnard used him as bait to lure in Almedha's brother Rajaion. Sometime afterwards, Soren wound up in the care of an adopted mother who despised him and shouted at him, taking care of him only through some sense of duty she didn't really possess. When Soren was four years old, an elderly sage came to them. Seeing the mark on Soren's forehead, he thought Soren was a Spirit Charmer and convinced Soren's adopted mother to let him take Soren (an easy task, as she was eager to be rid of him).

The sage took Soren to his hovel in Gallia. Since his time was short, the sage spent all of his time training Soren in the magic arts, leaving Soren with no time to think about himself and who he was. After submitting Soren to two years of rigorous training, the sage finally died. Soren finished all the food in the sage's hovel and went out to find civilization, only to find he had never learned to speak, although he could read or write better than most people. He stumbled upon a beorc settlement, but he could not speak and thus could not find food. Plus the beorc recognized him as one of The Branded and attacked him with rocks and sticks. However, he encountered a young Ike on the outskirts of a beorc village, who brought him food. Soren returned to the village the next day in hopes of meeting Ike again only to find the village strewn with corpses (the result of Greil's Medallion-induced rampage). Soren checked the corpses but could not find Ike's and thus concluded he was alive.

Taking money and food from the devastated village, Soren set out for Crimea. Along the way he encountered various laguz, whom unlike the beorc, ignored him completely, which made Soren feel even more alienated. This bred a deep hatred of the laguz in Soren, as they had denied his very existence, which he could not understand in the way he understood the beorc's direct hostility towards him. He reached Crimea and spent some time living in a church there, where they also confused his mark with the sign of a Spirit Charmer. Soren learned to speak, although he was often discourteous, rude and blunt in dispensing the truth. But this could be seen as a plus to Soren, as he always remained honest and said exactly what was on his mind- no matter how hurtful it might have been.

After learning how to speak and behave like a human, Soren set out and explored Crimea in hopes of finding Ike, as he remembered Ike as the only person who held out a warm hand for him when he had nothing. He eventually found Ike in Altea among the Greil Mercenaries. Ike did not remember their first encounter, but Soren did not care and joined the mercenaries to be near Ike. He served as the tactician. Soren's duties included filing reports after each battle and providing his own advice to the commander on a course of action. However, his decisions were usually made to ensure the wellbeing of the mercenaries and sometimes seemed immoral when viewed on a larger scale. Soren's opinions often clashed with those of the deputy commander, Titania, who thought more emotionally.

Path of Radiance

Soren later left to train with another mercenary group. He witnessed Daein's brutal attack on Crimea's capital, Melior while he was performing research in the archives of Melior's royal library. Soren then was able to escape Daein notice in order to travel to Altea and alert the Greil Mercenaries of this development in "Chapter 4: Roadside Battle". His advice was to remain neutral during the war, even though Titania wanted to help Crimea. He was then sent on a scouting group led by Ike and joined the mercenaries in all their following missions. After the battle, they discovered Elincia. Soren's initial opinion was to leave her behind, and after they brought her back to the fortress and discovered she was the long-lost Crimean princess, he voted for turning her over to Daein in order to keep Daein in their debt, as he saw Daein as winning the war. Despite this, Elincia later praised Soren for his blunt manner, because at least he was honest.

After Greil was killed by the Black Knight in "Chapter 7: Shades of Evil", Soren resumed his prior role under Ike's new command. However, he caused trouble when he insulted the laguz Mordecai and Lethe, provoking them into attack until Ike broke it up. After they arrived in Begnion, Soren performed research at Mainal Cathedral. He then discovered that the mark on his forehead actually indicated that he was one of The Branded, a blasphemy to the teachings of the goddess Ashera. This served to further depress him and increase his insecurities. He was also aware that one of their teammates, Nasir, was a laguz from Gallia but did not alert Ike of this because Nasir posed no harm. But Soren came to suspect Nasir of working for Daein and voiced these concerns to him in "Chapter 18: Crimea Marches". Nasir denied this and hinted at knowing Soren's secret, that he was one of the Branded. At the war council in "Chapter 25: Strange Lands", he also successfully guessed Ashnard's plan to revive the dark god and helped the Crimean Liberation Army to plan its final attacks on the Daein forces.

Soren was also concerned for Ike when Ike went off to battle the Black Knight alone in "Chapter 27: Moment of Fate" and wanted to stop him, but Titania held him back. After the war ended, Soren looked forward to continuing his service under Commander Ike.

Radiant Dawn

The mercenaries kept a low profile for the next three years until the returned at the end of "Endgame: Elincia's Gambit" in "Part 2: Of Countries and Kings" to rescue Lucia from Crimean rebels. Afterwards the mercenaries went to war again, allying with the Laguz Alliance Army in "Part 3: Intersecting Vows". Over the years, Soren had changed to become less cold and no longer picked fights with others. His strategies became vital to the the success of the Laguz Alliance. The army's general, Skrimir, was impressed by the tiny man who knew so much and looked forward to whatever Soren had to say next. In Ranulf's words, Soren had charmed himself into the most powerful position in the army.

Soren then traveled with the Greil Army after everyone split up in "Part 4: Intersecting Vows". He also reminisced with Ike during "Endgame: Rebirth", after Ike came to remember his life in Gallia and his first meeting with Soren. The conversation brought Soren to tears.

Afterwards, little was said about Soren's future except that he never used his abilities to serve anyone other than Ike (who left Tellius on a journey), despite his great tactical genius. If he had an A Support with Ike, Soren left with Ike, the only person he had ever trusted, on his journey after peace settled across the land.

Support Conversation Summaries

In Path of Radiance, Soren is capable of having Support conversations with two other characters.

• Ike- Soren reads a report to Ike and notices how tired he is, so he tells him to take a break and nap. In the second conversation, Ike asks Soren why he's been so quiet and moody lately. Soren replies by telling him the story of his foster parents and their cruel treatment of him. Soren is prepared to tell Ike about his birth parents as well, but changes his mind and walks out on Ike. In the final conversation, Ike asks Soren why he's insecure about himself after all he's been through and tells Soren if he doesn't tell Ike, he won't be able to tell anyone and will continue to suffer. Soren admits that he is one of The Branded, only to find that Ike doesn't think of him any differently. Soren then mentions that it was Ike's family who helped him after he was stranded in Gallia, which is why Soren considers Ike to be his only friend.
• Stefan- Stefan confronts Soren several times, recognizing him as one of the Branded, and invites him to join with a colony of Branded living in the Grann Desert, but Soren refuses to leave the mercenaries. Stefan tries telling him that his laguz heritage will become evident soon enough, and they age differently from beorc. Soren insists that he will not leave Ike's side, but Stefan tells him that he will eventually be rejected from society, at which point Stefan will be waiting for him in the Grann Desert.

Additionally, Soren has an in-built Support bonus with Ike which protects Soren from enemy critical hits when Ike is nearby.

In Radiant Dawn, Soren has an automatic Bond Support with Ike.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Soren appears as a Support Spirit, represented by his artwork from Path of Radiance. His Spirit has the effect of boosting magical attacks and possesses Robin during Spirit battles.

Stats

Path of Radiance

Base Stats

• Class: Mage
• Lvl: 1
• HP: 18
• Str: 0
• Mag: 6
• Skl: 8
• Spd: 8
• Lck: 5
• Def: 2
• Res: 7
• Wlv: Wind D, Fire E, Thunder E
• Affin: Dark

Growth Rates

• HP: 45
• Str: 5
• Mag: 60
• Skl: 55
• Spd: 40
• Lck: 30
• Def: 15
• Res: 55

Radiant Dawn

Base Stats

• Class: Wind Sage
• Lvl: 5
• HP: 28
• Str: 9
• Mag: 23
• Skl: 21
• Spd: 18
• Lck: 11
• Def: 9
• Res: 21
• Wlv: Wind A, Fire B, Thunder B
• Affin: Dark

Growth Rates

• HP: 40
• Str: 25
• Mag: 80
• Skl: 60
• Spd: 35
• Lck: 35
• Def: 25
• Res: 70