Caineghis

Fearless Lion King
Caineghis
Species	Laguz (Lion)
Class	Lion King
Affiliation	Gallia Laguz Alliance
Hair color	Red
Eye color	Yellow
Base	Gallia
Relatives	Skrimir (Nephew)
Debut	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Caineghis is a supporting character in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance who returns as a final chapter playable character in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.

Background

Caineghis was the benevolent lion king of Gallia. He was a peaceful man, though it was suggested that in his youth he was more war-hungry like his nephew Skrimir. Ever since his youth, he was accompanied by Giffca, who became known as his loyal shadow and was his main retainer as king. King Caineghis sought to establish bonds of peace between beorc and laguz nations. This led him to form an alliance with King Ramon of Crimea, although the alliance was mostly between the monarchy, and there was still tension between the citizens of the two countries. Caineghis himself did not trust the beorc except for those who proved exceptional, such as Ramon and the mercenary Greil (as well as Renning and Titania).

During Greil's time as a mercenary in Gallia, Caineghis formed a strong friendship with the beorc warrior. However, he sensed that Greil suffered from some dark burden, but Greil never told Caineghis about it. After the massacre in which Greil's wife and various villagers were killed, Greil left Gallia with his two young children, Ike and Mist. At this point, Caineghis confronted Greil and asked him if he needed any help, but Greil refused in order to protect Caineghis from his burden.

Path of Radiance

After Crimea was suddenly invaded by Daein and Ramon assassinated, his daughter Elincia sought sanctuary in Gallia, escorted by the Greil Mercenaries. Caineghis soon sent Ranulf, Lethe and Mordecai to escort them. He and Ranulf did attempt to intervene during Greil's battle with the Black Knight, but they arrived too late and were only able to convince the Black Knight into retreating before he could kill Ike as well by roaring from the distance. He saw that Greil's wounds were fatal and so remained hidden in the trees. Soon afterwards, the remaining mercenaries arrived in Gallia Castle, where Caineghis had a private conference with Ike, talking mostly about his father in "Chapter 9: Gallia".

To Caineghis's disappointment, Gallia's ruling council, with their old-fashioned ways of thinking, ruled against lending succor to Princess Elincia. However, he was able to provide them with laguz to escort them towards transport to Begnion, where they were more likely to receive help. Caineghis also hired Ike and the mercenaries to continue accompanying Elincia to Gallia. The dragon laguz Nasir was also planted on the group as a spy for Gallia, as his judgment of them could sway the council's decision in Elincia's favor.

At the same time, Daein began advancing on Gallia. Caineghis was content to simply hold off their advances, no willing to go into all-out battle against them unless war were declared. In "Chapter 14: Training", Caineghis attended the meeting of the laguz kings held by Dheginsea, where he was the main speaker. He was also shocked by Naesala and chastised him for working with Daein and withholding information from them. After Crimea's claiming of the Daein capital, the elders finally decided to support Elincia, and Caineghis sent reinforcements to the Crimean Liberation Army in "Chapter 23: The Great Bridge", to aid them in their final battles against Ashnard and their reclaiming of Crimea. After hearing the full story about Ashnard and Lehran's Medallion, Caineghis saw how much deeper this plot was and agreed on defeating Ashnard as soon as possible before the dark god could be awakened.

Caineghis returned home after supplying the forces, as he could not spend too much time abroad and away from Gallia since he was a king and his people were not as mobile as the bird tribes. After the war was won, Caineghis agreed to allow the herons Reyson and Leanne to stay in Gallia.

Radiant Dawn

Three years later, an all-out war broke out after Begnion senators ignored the laguz messengers sent to investigate reports that the Begnion senate was behind the Serenes Massacre and even killed one of the messengers. Caineghis teamed up with Tibarn and Naesala to form the Laguz Alliance Army. Caineghis and Giffca had to remain in Gallia to look over the people, so Caineghis's nephew and heir, Skrimir, was sent so that he could prove himself. he instructed Skrimir to observe Ike in battle and learn from him.

Caineghis appeared within "Chapter 10: The Heart of Crimea" of "Part 3: Intersecting Vows" after the remainder of the Laguz Alliance having been driven back to Gallia. He then coordinated the army's strategy in repelling Begnion's attempt at invasion and also defended Elincia when the others thought she might be betraying them. He also sent out Skrimir with Tibarn after Skrimir requested a chance to redeem himself. Then in "Chapter 11: Just Cause", Sanaki called together Caineghis, Tibarn and Elincia to ask their help in overthrowing the Begnion senate. Caineghis agreed to this only under the terms that Sanaki emancipated any slaves remaining in Begnion and formed a full alliance with Gallia after the war with a clean slate between the beorc and the laguz. Sanaki agreed, so the monarchs pledged to return Sanaki to Begnion's throne.

He then remained in Gallia, and he and Giffca were the only ones remaining in Gallia who were not turned into stone by Ashera in "Endgame: From Pain, Awakening". They later received a call from the goddess Yune which drew them to make their way towards the Tower of Guidance in Begnion's capital, Sienne. As they left, another vision compelled Caineghis to retrieve the axe Urvan from Greil's grave. They finally arrived at the Tower of Guidance in "Final Chapter: Rebirth", where they met with Ike and the rest of the army assembled by Yune as they prepared to storm the tower to battle Ashera. Caineghis offered them his services and gave Urvan to Ike in a support conversation before the battle. Caineghis did feel guilty about starting war and defying Ashera, but he was not willing to let all those people remain petrified in stone.

After Ashera's defeat, Caineghis engaged Ike in a friendly discussion about each other's skills and thought of holding controlled matches so that people could test their strengths against each other and vent their urges for battle, especially the laguz, without resorting to warfare. After returning to Gallia, Caineghis immediately abdicated the throne to Skrimir. If Skrimir had been killed in battle, Caineghis then continued his busy affairs as king until a new heir could be chosen.

Trivia

• In Radiant Dawn, Caineghis has inbuilt Bond Supports with Skrimir and Giffca.