The Fire Emblem series is known, in part, for the bonds its heroes share. One of the major ties a hero can have in any series entry is with their parents (birth or surrogate), whose deaths can become a major motivating factors for the hero in taking up arms against their enemy.

However, some heroes have parents who fight alongside them in their army of choice. This becomes especially common in Fire Emblem: Awakening and Fates, which introduce child units as a standard in-game mechanic. Regardless, the series includes doting parents throughout its history. Here are some of the best relationships in Fire Emblem between parent and child.

7 Maribelle And Brady

Fire Emblem Awakening

Maribelle is a noblewoman with a snobbish demeanor and posh manner of speaking. Her upbringing gave her a warped view of commoners and often caused her to underestimate them. In an ironic twist, her future son, Brady, speaks in a way described as "boorish" despite his sensitive nature. This makes him perhaps one of the child units who is the least like his mother. His severe appearance also adds to the impression of him being an unsavory character. It is said that the future version Maribelle attempted to have Brady tutored in many "noble pursuits", and failed frequently. She learned to love her son all the same. Her present self also enjoys teasing and playing harmless pranks on him (such as tricking him into making tea for his father by playing up his dad's love for it.)

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This leads to entertaining exchanges in their support conversations, such as the main timeline's Maribelle trying to correct her son by stating "it should be "WHOM did you piss off," Brady." Although Brady eventually learns "proper English", he feels completely suffocated when using it. Maribelle is pleased he makes the effort, but she decides to stop trying to force her ideals onto him. Brady's noble training was largely a bust, but it did leave him with one talent he genuinely enjoyed; playing the violin. After the events of Awakening, Brady becomes an acclaimed concert violinist.

6 Odin And Ophelia

Fire Emblem Fates

The dark mage Ophelia is the latest known descendant of the Hero-King, Marth, the first ever lord in Fire Emblem. Her father is Odin, originally known as Owain, a dark mage/myrmidon who first appeared as the son of Lissa in Awakening. He is also Chrom's nephew and Lucina's cousin. Whether he uses swords or magic, Odin is known to have a flair for the dramatic.

Although not particularly despised, Odin's eccentric manner often serves to confuse and irritate his allies. With his daughter Ophelia, he finally has someone else willing to let their freak flag fly. In their support conversations, Odin witnesses Ophelia trying out her own dramatic monologue and admires it enough to try it out himself. The final support conversation they share manages to thread the needle of being both heartfelt and suitably dramatic.

Ophelia mentions discovering a brand on her body when she joined Corrin's army. This brand is the mark of the Exalt, detailed in Awakening as a marker of the Exalt's heritage. Odin tells Ophelia a bit about her heritage, alluding to her ancestors and promising to one day give her the full story.

5 Garcia And Ross

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

This axe-wielding father-son duo first appear in Chapter 2 of The Sacred Stones. Together, the pair are rescued by Erika and her allies from a bandit attack on their village, Ide. After the chapter's conclusion, they officially join up with Erika.

Garcia was once a general of some renown in the Kingdom of Renais. After the death of his wife, Risa, he decided to retire and focus on raising Ross. The support conversations between the pair focus on both Garcia's devotion to his family, and his admiration of his son's improvement as a fighter. In their A-support, Garcia and Ross re-affirm their familial love for one another after Garcia expresses concerns about Ross's recklessness.

In their paired ending, the two rebuild their village, and Ross becomes an even greater warrior than his father. He also fathers a son of his own, who continues the tradition.

4 Bartre And Fir

Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade

Bartre's first appearance in the timeline comes in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, a prequel to TheBinding Blade that was also the first Fire Emblem game released in the West. The prequel game establishes Bartre fighting alongside Eliwood and his friends prior to their (potentially) joining up with Roy in Binding Blade. He also shares a rivalry with the swordmaster, Karla, who he can fight in a rematch in the game's Hector mode.

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Regardless of how the player goes about events, the canon establishes that Bartre fell in love with Karla, married her, and fathered a daughter by the name of Fir. Karla died of an illness sometime after Fir's birth. Fir went on to train her sword skills, like many in Karla's family did before her. If the proper path is picked, Bartre can join Roy's unit, mostly out of concern for his daughter.

Bartre dotes on his daughter in their supports, probing her about a "secret relationship" with an unnamed man in the army (presumably Noah, the cavalier) and regretting not being more affectionate towards her when she was younger. Despite seeing him as somewhat overbearing, Fir maintains that she has always loved her father and, discusses how he supported her as a young child.

3 Muarim And Tormod

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance And Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

Muarim laguz, a race of creatures who can shift between humanoid and animal forms. He was previously enslaved by the beorc (a race analogous to, if not exactly like, humans) and still carries traumas from his past mistreatment at their hands. The tiger laguz also serves as a surrogate father to Tormod, an orphaned beorc mage who grew interested in laguz emancipation.

Ike and his allies are ordered to attack Tormod's Laguz Emancipation Army in the desert, which is later revealed to be part of an effort by the Apostle Sanaki to expose the crimes of the Begnion Senate led by Lekain. Tormod and Muarim add themselves to the ranks of Ike's army after their fight. Although the pair lack shared support conversations (though they do share a 10% bond support), their mutual affection still shines through.

That said, certain support conversations in Path of Radiance give an indication of how they are impacted by their father-son relationship. Tormod's A-support with Sothe, he mentions that the main reason he wished to befriend him was due to Muarim's concern over his lack of beorc friends. This causes Sothe to open up a bit about a close friend of his who also acts like a parent to him (presumably Micaiah, who later appeared in Radiant Dawn.)

Although Muarim is less direct in mentioning Tormod, his various supports show a dedication to attempting to judge beorc by their character. In Muarim's conversations with Lethe, a cat laguz, he espouses a view that beorc as "just like laguz", despite showing signs of trauma from his time as a slave. In his A-support with Largo, a beorc berserker, he calls him a "good beorc" due to him treating beorc and laguz the same. While the pain he suffered at the hands of the beorc reasonably makes him cautious towards them, it is likely his relationship with Tormod allowed him to be more even-handed in his view.

2 Nowi And Nah

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Nowi is a manakete, essentially a dragon who can transform into a humanoid. Manaketes are a franchise staple, with established traits of long lifespans and extremely slow aging. Manaketes are among the eldest in any army, but appear and often act significantly younger than they look. Nowi is no exception in either department.

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In Awakening, only female manaketes are playable, so any prospective partner of Nowi's would be a human man. This results in her daughter from the future, Nah, being half-human, half-manakete. This is not the only way in which Nah is a relative outlier. She is also quite mature for a manakete, with many who are centuries older than her behaving similarly. Nah has a complicated relationship with her heritage, as it resulted in her abuse at the hands of a foster family, and ensures she will live far longer than most of her human loved ones.

Nah and Nowi's supports showcase their contrasting personalities. Nah is much more focused on studying the effects of her dragonstone, and optimizing herself to be a valuable member of the shepherds. Nowi, on the other hand, hides her dragonstone, and tries repeatedly to get Nah to play with her instead of using it. Nowi reveals the stone is too powerful for one Nah's age to use excessively, in a rare moment of seriousness from the older manakete. In their A-support, Nah learns playing is her mother's own way of getting stronger. This gives Nah motivation to trust her mother more often and "start playing a lot more seriously."

1 Chrom And Lucina

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Chrom and Lucina are the prime father-daughter duo. They are a pairing so strong, that even Chrom, lacking an S-support in the army, can't stop it from forming. Indeed, Chrom will even marry a generic villager woman if it comes to that, just to conceive Lucina. The pair appear together in multiple crossovers, such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Project X Zone 2.

Chrom's becoming the Exalt after the presumed death of his sister, Emmeryn, is a story of a man attempting to live up to a role he doesn't quite feel suited for. In a way, his relationship with the future Lucina also serves as an extension of this narrative. This largely manifests in the form of hero worship that he feels is unearned, from a daughter he only fathered very recently. This also serves as a contrast to how Chrom puts Emmeryn on a pedestal, fervently admiring her skillful diplomacy.

Lucina's endless reverence for her father leaves him feeling awkward, in part because he views her as possibly even more admirable than himself. In their A-support, Chrom expresses how grateful he is for Lucina, and affirms that she will always have a place at his side. Although Chrom is not quite as vocal about the extent to which he admires Lucina, it is clear he loves her very much.

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