Zephiel

Zephiel
Species	Human
Class	King
Affiliation	Bern
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Blue
Weaponry	Exaccus
Base	Bern
Relatives	Hartmut Desmond (father) Hellene (mother) Guinivere (half-sister)
Debut	Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsuguri

Zephiel is the main villain of Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsuguri who also makes an appearance as an NPC child in Fire Emblem.

Background

Childhood

Zephiel was born to King Desmond and Queen Hellene of Bern. However, Desmond had been in love with a different woman and was enraged that he had a son with Hellene while his attempts to have a child with his mistress only resulted in a daughter, Guinivere. As a child, Zephiel was a prodigy, being skilled as a swordfighter and an intellect as well as being loved by the populace, completely unlike Desmond had been as a child. This combination of jealousy and spite lead Desmond to hate and distrust Zephiel, and accuse him and Hellene of plotting against him, although Hellene eventually came to be almost as spiteful and paranoid towards Desmond.

Young Zephiel with Guinivere

In Fire Emblem, Zephiel and his mother had been forced to stay their manse instead of the castle as one of Desmond's outrageous demands. Zephiel humbly replied, and despite the constant fighting between their parents, he prayed that they would one day be able to put their differences aside and become a family again. He was also attached to his half-sister, Guinivere, despite the feud with her father. Zephiel's only other companion, one that lasted for most of his life, was his loyal bodyguard Murdock. He was first seen in "Unfullfilled Heart" (Eliwood Chapter 24, Hector Chapter 26), when he visited the castle due to hearing Guinivere was sick and giving her a baby fox, although this led to him being chastised by Desmond.

Eventually, Zephiel's coming-of-age ceremony approached in which he would be named heir to the throne of Bern. However, Desmond secretly hired the Black Fang to steal the Fire Emblem, which was needed for the ceremony, ten days beforehand. It was returned through the efforts of Eliwood and Hector's company in time. However, in "Battle Before Dawn" (Eliwood Chapter 26, Hector Chapter 28), assassins from the Black Fang attempted to kill Zephiel in his manse. Eliwood and Hector's group were ultimately able to protect Zephiel until reinforcements arrived and the Black Fang fled. Unbenkownst to Zephiel, this had been Desmond's first attempt on his life.

However, Hellene had undergone an epiphany after being told off by Eliwood and came to Zephiel determined to make amends with Desmond. This is the last that is seen of them in the game, and the events of Fuuin no Tsurugi show that if a peace was attained with Desmond, it was a temporary one.

Ascension

King Desmond eventually announced that Guinivere's husband would be his heir instead. Zephiel humbly accepted this and remained patient, although it became clear that the public would not accept anyone but Zephiel as their future king. This led Desmond to directly attempt to assassinate Zephiel by giving him a poisoned drink at a banquet, described as "the first and last cup that Zephiel ever took from his father". He became gravely sick and was bedridden on the verge of death for ten days and nights, but the efforts of Murdock saved Zephiel's life.

Zephiel then heard that King Desmond had plans to have Murdock and Hellene announced as traitors and executed. At this point Zephiel could take no more and let Desmond believe he was dead, and then hid in his coffin with a sword. When Desmond checked on the coffin, Zephiel lunged out from it and killed him. It was said that Zephiel never smiled again after that day. Zephiel was disgusted by humanity and how it was driven by emotions such as jealously, hate and greed which led to madness such as what Zephiel's father had done to him.

Looking back at the days of the Scouring after reading ancient scrolls that were kept in the court's library, he began to feel that the emotionless dragons were more fit to rule the world and should have won the war. This led him to awaken the Dark Dragon, Idoun, as she had the ability to reproduce, and with a dragon army he planned to conquer Elibe and establish dragon dominance while "cleansing" the world of humanity. Soon afterwards he was visited by Jahn of the Dragon Temple (as seen in the epilogue of Fire Emblem 7 and alluded to in Fuuin no Tsurugi), who asked Zephiel about his intentions in awakening the dragons.

War on Humanity

Zephiel started his war with sudden invasions of Ilia and Sacae, conquering both and sentencing all who opposed to death. His forces were bolstered by the dragons produced by Idoun. He then targeted Lycia and its Lycian Alliance Army. Most of the Alliance Army fell after Bern's forces and their Three Wyvern Lords decimated them at Castle Araphen, with the aid of the traitor within the Lyican forces. They additionally captured Lord Hector, leader of the Lycian forces, whom Zephiel then confronted and had sent to the dungeons. Zephiel and Idoun then pulled back to Bern and left Narshen in charge of the Lycian invasion. Things did not go perfectly as Guinivere fled Bern with the Fire Emblem, and the Lycian Alliance Army continued to endure under the new leadership of Roy.

Afterwards, Bern remained silent due to apparent truce negotiations with Etruria. However, Zephiel actually conspired with Etrurian rebels to aid them in the war and promising to divide the world with them but actually planning to betray them later. Zephiel then lent his own aid to the rebel forces in Etruria and personally battled the Etrurian General Cecilia, defeating her with minimal effort. They then captured Guinivere, who expressed her disapproval of Zephiel for his actions. But Zephiel stood by his ideals and forgave Guinivere because she was his sister, but warned her that he would not forgive her a second time. Zephiel then sent Bern's forces to Arcadia due to learning about the dragons living there. However, both efforts were undone by Roy, which lead to the Etrurian army combining with the Lycian Alliance Army.

The Etrurian Army (the banner name for Roy's army) eventually made their way to Bern, and most of Zephiel's generals, including Narshen and Murdock, fell in battle. As they approached Bern's castle, Zephiel made protecting Idoun his priority so that if he died, she could continue their war, and sent her away with Brenya while he remained behind to defend the castle. When they met in person, Roy attempted to disprove Zephiel's philosophy that humans should be destroyed, but Zephiel ultimately dismissed Roy as naive and battled him. Zephiel was defeated and killed, but in his last words said that his will would never die, and that madness would persist as long as humans held control.

Other Appearances

• He appeared in the Hasha no Tsurugi manga, which was based on Fuuin no Tsurugi. He was slowly built up over the series and was first shown fighting off Cecilia and the manga's protagonist Al to capture Guinivere from Nabata Castle. His backstory was also shown, including a flashback based on a scene from Fire Emblem 7. In a variation on the game continuity, he obtained both the Fire Emblem and the Sword of Seals, and during his final battle with Roy and Al, he dual wielded Exxachus and the Sword of Seals, using the latter to begin sealing Al in ice. However, Roy finished off Zephiel with the Sword of Seals after Al briefly transformed into a dragon to make Zephiel drop the sword. He was defeated in the second-to-last volume, with the last volume wrapping up the story of the manga-exclusive characters while ignoring Idoun and other leftover plot points.

Trivia

• He can also be unlocked as a playable character in the Trial Maps mode of Fuuin no Tsurugi by beating the game seven times.