Tibarn

Lord of the Air
Tibarn
Species	Laguz (Hawk)
Class	Hawk
Affiliation	Phoenicis
Hair color	Black
Base	Phoenicis
Debut	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Tibarn is a supporting character and ally unit in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, and he can be chosen as a playable unit for the game's final battle. He is also playable in the sequel, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.

Background

Tibarn was the king of Phoenicis and full of laguz pride. He was often accompanied by his two retainers, Janaff and Ulki, who were known as the king's eyes and ears due to their enhanced senses. After the tragedy in which an angry mob of beorcs in Begnion burned down Serenes Forest and drove the heron tribe living there to the brink of extinction, Tibarn became the guardian of the only known survivors at the time, King Lorazieh and his son Reyson. Tibarn's deep hatred for the beorcs was either fueled or enhanced by this tragedy they had caused. Afterwards, Tibarn refused to deal with beorcs and often raided vessels from Begnion. He became quite friendly with Reyson, whose thirst for revenge against beorcs may have exceeded Tibarn's. However, Tibarn was also often at odds with a fellow bird tribe king, Naesala of the Kilvas ravens. This was because of Naesala's mercenary actions, as he worked both for and against beorcs and laguz for money, and Tibarn accused him of sacrificing his laguz pride while Naesala thought Tibarn's customs were outdated.

Path of Radiance

Tibarn was first seen in "Chapter 13: A Guiding Wind". Tibarn and his retainers witnessed a battle between a Begnion ship and another ship. Even though he could see that Begnion's ruling apostle was on board, he decided not to intervene because he did not want to look like a scavenger looking for scraps and hoped to fight with honor. Tibarn later attended the meeting of the laguz kings in "Chapter 14: Training". He got into an argument with Naesala about their clashing ethics, and he supported the idea of forming a laguz alliance to defeat Daein because Tibarn hoped that it would be the first step towards establishing laguz dominance over Tellius. However, Deghinsea vetoed this idea because the last thing he wanted was for the entire country to become embroiled in the war, especially since heavy warfare could revive the dark god sleeping within Lehran's Medallion.

Tibarn later set off into action with Janaff and Ulki in "Chapter 17: Day Breaks", when Nealuchi informed him that Reyson had been taken captive by Oliver and disappeared into Serenes Forest after escaping him with Oliver's men in pursuit. Tibarn was also able to learn it was Naesala who sold Reyson to Oliver, which deeply angered Tibarn. Even though Naesala claimed he would have rescued Reyson soon afterwards, Tibarn was disgusted with Naesala for betraying Reyson's trust. Tibarn, Janaff and Ulki soon arrived in Serenes and set off in search of Reyson. They eventually found him en route to the sacred altar, where he hoped to unleash forbidden seid magic to kill the beorcs in the forest. But Tibarn pleaded with Reyson not to, saying that the herons were the epitome of balance and causing this genocide would warp Reyson's very existence. Ultimately Tibarn convinced Reyson to accompany him back to Pheonicis so they could plan a counterattack.

However, on their way out of the forest, they witnessed Ike and his men in battle with Oliver. They were particularly surprised to see Ike was defending another heron. At this point Tibarn, Janaff and Ulki entered the battle as allied units and helped to finish the fight with Oliver even though it was against his nature to help beorcs. Afterwards, they found the heron was Reyson's sister Leanne, whom had been believed dead Serenes Massacre, and she recognized Tibarn from more than twenty years ago. Afterwards, Tibarn started to return to Phoenicis with his retainers and the heron siblings. However, Reyson convinced Tibarn to follow Ike because he wanted to repay Ike for saving Leanne by joining with the Crimean Liberation Army in "Chapter 18: Crimea Marches". Tibarn reluctantly allowed Reyson to do so and sent Janaff and Ulki to accompany him. He also offered Reyson his aid whenever Reyson needed it due to the great bond they had created between the hawk and heron tribes. Reyson eventually cashed in on that offer in "Chapter 25: Strange Lands". However, just before Tibarn left, the Black Knight arrived and captured Leanne while killing one of Tibarn's servants. Tibarn caught up with the Crimean Liberation Army in order to defeat the last soldier in their latest battle. He soon revealed to Reyson that Leanne had been kidnapped and apologized to him.

Tibarn continued to aid the Crimean war effort in the succeeding battles, usually distracting a group of enemies while Ike led his soldiers against the main group. Tibarn once more joined Ike's men in battle as an ally unit in "Chapter 28: Twisted Tower", when they set out to save Leanne from Gritnea Tower. However, their main purpose was to distract the enemies outside the tower while Naesala rescued Leanne, as Tibarn had forced him to perform that deed as atonement for selling Reyson earlier. In "Endgame: Repatriation", Tibarn and his men were sent to patrol the skies of Crimea's capital during the final battle and to prevent airborne foes from escaping, and Ike apologized for keeping him away from the main fight. But Tibarn was not necessarily kept out of the final battle, as during the battle, Ike had the choice of calling in either him, Naesala or Giffca as a playable ally.

After the war ended, Tibarn made arrangements with Caineghis, king of Gallia, because Reyson and Leanne wanted to live in the forests there. He acknowledged forming a bond with Ike and invited him to visit Phoenicis, promising that the entire country would celebrate his arrival.

Radiant Dawn

Three years later, after news arose that the corrupt Begnion senators were behind the Serenes massacre, Tibarn teamed up with Caineghis and Naesala to form the Laguz Alliance, which eventually went to war with Begnion in "Part 3: Intersecting Vows". In "Chapter 2: Stormclouds", Tibarn and Naesala led their bird soldiers in a mission to plunder the supplies of the Begnion Central Army to stall them so that the Gallian army would not have to fight them. Tibarn was confident that Naesala would betray them this time because he would be betraying the herons as well, and Tibarn even looked forward to cooperating with Naesala as brothers like the hawk and raven tribes did in olden times.

However, Naesala did betray Tibarn to Begnion, as when they arrived at the supply convoy they were ambushed by the Begnion Central Army. Tibarn was caught in a battle with Zelgius. Zelgius eventually abruptly ended the battle and warned him that he should return to Phoenicis if he cared for the lives of his people. Tibarn and the hawks returned home as quickly as could, but they were too late; nearly all of Phoenicis save for the women, the children and the elderly, had been wiped out.

Tibarn and the hawks then came to the Gallian army's camp, where Tibarn ate and rested and then told the others the story of Naesala's treachery. In "Chapter 3: River Crossing", Tibarn then aided the Gallian army in crossing the Ribahn River while the Greil Mercenaries destroyed the army's supplies. Afterwards, Tibarn rescued Ranulf from being killed by Zelgius and then gave Zelgius a warning about the supply unit similar to the one Zelgius had given him about the massacre in Phoenicis. However, soon afterwards the Gallian forces were forced into a retreat with the brutal defeat of Skrimir at Zelgius's hands in "Chapter 4: The General's Hands", and the hawks accompanied them in this retreat and then in their march on Daein after regrouping under Sanaki in "Chapter 11: Just Cause". He then joined battle to aide them in the battle of Riven Bridge, reluctantly bringing Leanne with him.

In "Chapter 12: The Price", Tibarn arrived at the battlefield just in time to save Sanaki and her troops from being massacred by Micaiah. He convinced Micaiah to cease fire by holding Sothe hostage. Micaiah agreed to let them go but would not give up the fight, so Tibarn left her with a warning. He also aided in the battle of "Endgame: From Pain, Awakening", determined to prevent Rafiel's defection to the Daein ranks, but they were all ultimately called away from battle when the seal on Lehran's Medallion was breaking. At that point he was reunited with Naesala, who was working under Sanaki. Tibarn eagerly wanted to tear Naesala apart for his latest betrayal, but he was convinced to hold off until the goddess crisis was resolved.

In "Part 4: Of Gods and Men", all the soldiers were divided into three armies by Yune who would take separate paths to the Begnion capital of Sienne to battle Ashera. Tibarn became the head of the Hawk Army. During their army's journey, he started to feel like the energy of order emitted by Ashera was suppressing their personalities, and it was only in the chaos of battle with the minions sent by Ashera that they began to feel more like their old selves. Thus Tibarn came to look forward to battle even more, and somewhat convinced his fellows to understand this concept.

After the war, all the bird tribes moved to Serenes Forest to form a unified bird nation. Tibarn was content with this arrangement, except he and Reyson argued about Reyson prohibiting the hunting of animals and eating of meat within the forest. Tibarn was chosen to be the first king of the unified bird tribes and brought much respect from the other nations.

Trivia

• In Path of Radiance, Tibarn has in-built Support bonuses with Reyson (increasing his chances of delivering a critical hit when Reyson is nearby, and vice-versa) and Tibarn and Ulki (protecting them from enemy critical hits if he is nearby).
• In Radiant Dawn, Tibarn has automatic Bond Supports with Reyson, Leanne and Rafiel.