The Fire Emblem series is full to the brim with countless memorable characters that can be recruited into one's army. While the series has produced huge quantities of beloved characters, with understandable motivations, every so often, characters with questionable personalities and motivations slip through the cracks. Whether these people are looking for an excuse to murder or are just plain unpleasant, these characters have left some players scratching their heads when it comes to a protagonist's judgement of who they allow into their army.
As many of the worst things done by Fire Emblem characters are intrinsically tied to the plot of numerous entries in the series, expect major spoilers ahead!
10 Shinon - Path of Radiance
One of the most noteworthy elements in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is the game's inclusion of of beorc, or humans and Laguz, beings capable of transforming into other forms. The setup of Path of Radiance features race-oriented themes with numerous antagonists in the game showing a great deal of prejudice towards the Laguz.
While this prejudice may primarily be found within villains, the recruitable Sniper, Shinon is shown to have distain towards the Laguz as well. Luckily, this element of his character is toned down in the game's sequel, Radiant Dawn.
9 Renault - Blazing Blade
The Bishop, Renault is one of the most mysterious and enigmatic characters in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. Recruited in one of the final chapters of the game, all information known about Renault is gleaned from his support conversations.
While through his supports, Renault can be found to be an interesting and multifaceted character, his past is far from clean. After the death of a close friend, Renault became rather bloodthirsty, murdering countless innocents, including the father of the Monk, Lucious. As if this weren't enough, Renault is also found to be directly responsible with helping the game's antagonist, Nergal with multiple inhuman experiments regarding the artificial morphs.
8 Peri - Fates: Conquest
Appearing in Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest Peri is a retainer of the Nohrian price Xander, and is by in large the most morally bankrupt playable unit in Fates. Many characters from Fates are often criticized for being one-note and possessing one primary personality trait.
Whether or not that's true, it cannot be denied that one of Peri's defining character traits is the fact that she derives great pleasure from bloodshed. Throughout a great deal of Peri's dialogue, she is defined be the excessive joy she derives from taking lives without any hesitation.
7 Tharja - Awakening
Though a widely popular character, Fire Emblem: Awakening's Tharja has committed numerous acts of quite questionable morality. Known to stalk the game's avatar character, Robin to an unhealthy extent, the worst of what Tharja has done is in relation to her daughter, Noire.
Tharja notably utilized her own daughter as a test subject and guinea pig, inflicting her with countless curses and hexes.
6 The Death Knight - Three Houses
Only playable in the Crimson Flower route of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Jeritza is a major antagonistic force in every other route in the game under as his alter ego, the Death Knight. Even in the route which he is playable, the Death Knight still hunts and attacks innocents during the school phase of the game.
Jeritza notably suffers from a split personality. While his is often quite and reserved, when he slips into his alternate personality, the Death Knight, all he cares about is murder and taking life. As Jeritza and the Death Knight are two separate personalities, whith Jeritza himself feeling remorse for his actions as the Death Knight, this entry is dedicated the the personality of the Death Knight rather than Jeritza.
5 Perne - Thracia 776
Perne is without a doubt the most ethically lacking character in Fire Emblem Thracia 776. Upon learning of the young girl, Tina's special capabilities to wield staves such as thief and unlock, Perne decides that the only reasonable course of action is to kidnap the girl, and force her to help his gang of thieves.
While a great deal of ethically questionable things take place across the series, Perne's utilization of kidnapping and forced under-aged labor are truly egregious.
4 Orson - The Sacred Stones
While the Paladin Orson is not a permanent fixture of a player's army in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, his playable status in chapter 5x is enough to land him on this list.
A traitor of Renais, treachery is far from the worst that Orson does in The Sacred Stones. Heartbroken by the death of his wife, Orson secured a deal with Grado in which he'd betray Ephraim in exchange for his wife's resurrection. While she was reanimated as a husk only capable of uttering the word "darling," Orson is so far gone and delusional, that he disregards all but the reanimated corpse.
3 Karel - The Blazing Blade
While in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, the Swordmaster Karel is shown to be a mellow and wise individual known as the "Sword Saint," in the game's prequel, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, Karel is known as the Sword Demon.
As the Sword Demon, Karel is a blatant murderer, killing his own parents to ensure his ownership of the family sword. Throughout The Blazing Blade, Karel is shown to have absolutely no remorse for his actions, and actively seeks to cut down any who thinks could pose a challenge to him. His only real saving grace was sparing his sister, Karla, but when bearing in mind that he's responsible for their parents' murders, that's not saying much.
2 Oliver - Radiant Dawn
As we'd previously mentioned, Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn are games that feature a great deal of racial theming due to the presence of the Laguz. While the previously mentioned Shinon exhibited blatant racial prejudice in Path of Radiance, the Begnion senator, Oliver is far worse.
We're not going to beat around the bush. Oliver is a former slave owner who had purchased the Heron prince Reyson in Path of Radiance so that he would be able to admire the heron's beauty. Despite this, Oliver can be recruited in Radiant Dawn if he is spoken to by another Heron prince, Rafiel.
1 Aelfric - Three Houses
Like Orson, Aelfric is not a permanent party member in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, his playable status in Chapter Five of Cindered Shadows allow him to be on this list. While he may be breifly playable, the bad done by Aelfric greatly outweighs the good.
The primary antagonist of Cindered Shadows, Aelfric is a completely delusional individual who manipulates the members of the Ashen Wolves house and seeks to sacrifice and kill numerous individuals, all the the name of reviving his unrequited love.