—Greil to the Black Knight, shortly before his defeat
Greil is the father of Ike and Mist and the founder of the Greil Mercenaries. He was originally known as Gawain, one of Daein's Four Riders and once called the "Divine Knight". For a time, he and Elena lived peacefully in Gallia. During this time, they had two children, Ike and Mist. Greil also met Titania, who had been sent by Crimea to study in an officer exchange program.
Quick Answers
What led Greil to found the Greil Mercenaries?
How did Greil's past as Gawain influence his life?
What role did Titania play in the Greil Mercenaries?
Why was Greil known as the 'Divine Knight'?
How did Greil's time in Gallia shape his family?
Profile
Born in Daein, Gawain was a knight of legend, known as a powerful swordsman throughout all of Tellius. He eventually became one of Daein's Four Riders and was considered their strongest general, being known as Gawain "invincible".
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One of the soldiers under his command was Zelgius and was his mentor in combat. Zelgius grew to admire Gawain and touted him as the strongest warrior in all of Tellius. He desired to surpass him, but the opportunity never came as Greil had abandoned his post and Zelgius eventually left his service of Daein shortly after.
In the year 626, he fled from Daein alongside his fiancé, the priestess Elena after she was entrusted with Lehran's Medallion by the heron Lillia. They eventually settled in a small beorc settlement in Gallia where Gawain discarded his name and took on the name Greil. Shortly after, he would father two children: Ike and Mist. During this time, he worked as a lone mercenary in Gallia and formed a strong friendship with King Caineghis, and met a Crimean royal knight named Titania also became a lifelong friend.
Greil killing Elena under the influence of Lehran's Medallion.
Greil lead a happy life until one day he made the mistake of touching Lehran's Medallion. Unlike his wife who could safely hold it, the chaotic energies of the medallion caused him to go on a berserk rampage. Going on a mindless slaughtering spree, the Medallion was eventually wrest from his grasp by Elena at the cost of her life. With his sanity restored, Greil discovered his wife impaled by his sword. Devastated by his loss, he forbade Ike from touching the Medallion and entrusted it Mist as she, like her mother, could safely touch it without losing her mind. To ensure that he could never cause such destruction again, Greil slashed the tendons in his dominant sword hand and vowed never to touch a sword again. He also hired an assassin Volke to immediately kill him should he ever lose his mind again.
Greil took his children and chose left Gallia. Caineghis tried to pry Greil for information on the secret he and his late wife were hiding before he left, but to no avail. With Titania choosing to follow him, they settled in Crimea and founded the Greil Mercenaries and earned a living by performing tasks for various villages in Crimea. Though he no longer wielded a sword, he still proved to be a daunting warrior with his signature axe Urvan. Sensing the danger that Daein posed upon news of the invasion, he quickly had Ike take on more responsibility within the company, and eventually fled with the mercenaries to Gallia in order to protect Princess Elincia from Daein during The Mad King's War.
Path of Radiance
In Chapter 7, Greil is summoned in the middle of the night to a duel against the Black Knight, a mysterious warrior. The Black Knight gives him the sword Ragnell so he can best him in combat. Greil immediately recognizes his voice and obliges to continue dueling against him. However, he tosses the blade back at the Black Knight while continuing to duel with Urvan. Despite the fierce duel he displays, Greil is defeated and sustains heavy mortal wounds. Ike rushes to his father's side as the Black Knight begins to interrogate Greil for information. Unsatisfied with Greil's response, the Black Knight threatens to kill his son and torture his daughter. Ike snaps and attacks the Black Knight, only to be repelled. Suddenly a beastly roar is heard nearby, making the Black Knight aware of the presence of the king of beasts and he considers retreating. Ike tells the Black Knight that he's not going anywhere, but Greil urges his son not to challenge the knight, as he would be no match for him. The Black Knight, choosing to finish them both off, is interrupted once more by the same roar, being even louder. Recognizing the source of the roar was very close, the Black Knight decided to retreat, and used his Warp Powder to teleport away.
Ike helping his dying father, Greil.
In his weakened state, Greil reflects upon the kind of person under the black armor had become, and expressed guilt for being responsible. He briefly loses consciousness as Ike helps him up, putting his arm over his shoulder to help him walk back to the castle. As the night sky began to rain, Greil wakes up one more time, saying there's something he needed to tell his son. Ike insists that it wait until later, but Greil recognizes his imminent death and ignores his son's insistence. Greil weakly tells Ike to forget about revenge against the Black Knight and instead to live in peace with the king of Gallia. He lastly tells Ike he's leaving everything in his hands, especially the company and Mist. Despite his son's pleading to stay with him, Greil dies on the path back to the castle.
He is later buried with Urvan serving as his grave marker.
Legacy
In both life and death, Greil had a profound impact on the hearts all who knew and respected him.
Ike and Mist mourning over Greil's grave after his death.
Both Tauroneo and Bryce could easily recognize his specific fighting style just from a single glance when watching Ike fight. He is even remembered fondly by the Daein citizenry in a patriotic lyric that names each of the original Four Riders. Several of the people recruited into his mercenary group remained with it after his passing due to their respect to Greil, especially Titania. Other such as Gatrie and Shinon left when he passed away, upset that Ike was named his successor. Even King Ashnard held him in high esteem as a warrior. Despite his treason and abandonment of Daein, he would still remember his name unlike many other notable warriors. He craved a battle against Ike as a result and even decided to personally kill Mist once he learned that they were Greil's children, despite his initial impression of her was a weak, young girl.
Greil's passing and legacy affected Ike most, who quickly grew into his role as the new leader of the Greil Mercenaries and would continue to uphold his father's values and teachings. Mist took it upon herself to enter the battlefield herself and retained his ironclad resolve. The Black Knight was left unsatisfied with their duel and Ike confirms to him later that Greil had crippled himself, thus attributing to his weakened prowess. As a result, since Ike was personally taught Greil's fighting style, he set Ike as the proxy for the Black Knight's desired duel against his former mentor.
In Radiant Dawn, the feud between Ike and the Black Knight comes to a head during the ascension of the Tower of Guidance.
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The Black Knight is revealed to be general Zelgius of Begnion and he faces off against Ike on the third floor of the Tower. The two engage in a final one-on-one due where Ike finally legitimately bests Zelgius. Despite the loss, Zelgius is left satisfied, finally having the duel he had so craved against the inheritor of his mentor's skills.
In Game
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Boss Appearance
- Prologue
Base Stats
Growth Rates (Unused)
| HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70% | 50% | 20% | 80% | 40% | 35% | 40% | 25% |
Fire Emblem Engage
Bond Ring
- Hero from beyond Elyos who founded the Greil Mercenaries. A well-trusted and top-notch mercenary with superb skill in battle. He is Ike and Mist's father, and he sees all of the mercenaries as family.
| ||
 C Rank
|
Str +1 | |
|---|---|---|
 B Rank
|
Str +1 Def +1 | |
| World |  A Rank
|
Str +1 Def +1 Bld +1 |
 Radiant Hero
|
 S Rank
|
Str +2 Def +1 Bld +1 |
Fire Emblem Heroes
- Heroic Exemplar
- The first leader of the Greil Mercenaries. Father of Ike and Mist. Will meet his family again at the Day of Devotion festival. Appears in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
Base Stats
Rarity: ✯✯✯✯✯
 | Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heroic Exemplar | |||||
| Group | |||||
 Armored | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 22/23/24 44/47/50 | 10/11/12 38/41/45 | 4/5/6 14/18/21 | 9/10/11 35/38/41 | 5/6/7 27/30/33 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
 Faithful Axe+ New Moon |  Axe | ||||
Skills
| Type | Name | Prerequisite | Default | Unlocked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Iron Axe | - | - | - |
| Steel Axe | - | - | - | |
| Faithful Axe | - | - | - | |
| Faithful Axe+ | - |  | - | |
 | New Moon | - | | - |
| Luna | New Moon | - | | |
| Aether | Luna | - | | |
| A |  Fury 1 | - | - | |
 Fury 2 | Fury 1 | - | ||
 Fury 3 | Fury 2 | | ||
 Fury 4 | Fury 3 | | ||
| B |  Wary Fighter 1 | - | - | |
 Wary Fighter 2 | Wary Fighter 1 | - | ||
 Wary Fighter 3 | Wary Fighter 2 | | ||
| C |  Armor March 1 | - | - | |
 Armor March 2 | Armor March 1 | - | ||
 Armor March 3 | Armor March 2 | |
Overall
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Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.
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Base Set
Counters
Skill Inheritance Options
Meet Some of the Heroes
| Heroic Exemplar Greil | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Greil is the founder of the Greil Mercenaries and the father of Ike and Mist. | ||
|
Sadly, he perished in a duel with the Black Knight, but his legacy didn't end there, as he passed on his leadership and style of swordsmanship to Ike. | ||
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And now, Greil has been summoned to the Day of Devotion festivities, where he'll be reunited with many familiar faces! | ||
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I can't begin to imagine how proud he'll be to see how his children and old allies have grown... This really is a Day of Devotion miracle! | ||
| Closely Associated Characters | |||
| Ike | Greil's son. Greil trained Ike mercilessly in his style of swordsmanship, raising him to be an outstanding warrior. | ||
| Mist | Greil's daughter. The medallion she carries is a memento of her mother. | ||
Quotes
—Greil, to Ike when he was defeated by the Black Knight
Heroes
Non-Canon Appearances
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Greil appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a Sticker.
- Sticker Info
| Name | Image | Artwork from | Effect in The Subspace Emissary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greil |  |
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance | [Throwing] - Attack +14 Usable by: Marth, Ike |
Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher)
Greil is illustrated in the trading card game Fire Emblem Cipher with the following cards:
Choose Your Legends Placement History
| Round | Placement | Character Version | Votes |
|---|
| CYL1 | 281 |  Path of Radiance |
762 |
| CYL2 | 161 ↑80 |
Path of Radiance |
1,550 ↑788 |
| CYL3 | 119 ↑42 |
Path of Radiance |
2,258 ↑1,008 |
| CYL4 | 221 ↓102 |
Path of Radiance |
674 ↓1,584 |
| CYL5 | 222 ↓1 |
Path of Radiance |
401 ↓273 |
| CYL6 | 228 ↓6 |
Path of Radiance |
401 |
| CYL7 | 259 ↓31 |
Path of Radiance |
183 ↓218 |
| CYL8 | 250 ↑9 |
Path of Radiance |
213 ↑30 |
| CYL9 | 247 ↑3 |
Path of Radiance |
162 ↓51 |
Etymology
'Greil' may refer to the 'Holy Grail' of Arthurian legend which Sir Perceval seeks.
'Gawain' is the name of King Arthur's nephew and most trusted knight. In earlier Arthurian stories he is portrayed as the quintessential knight, but in later versions his portrayals become more negative, especially in regard to his treatment of women. All sources agree that he is killed in Arthur's second-to-last battle against Mordred. Later writers say that his death there was due to a wound he had received from Lancelot (see Alondite). Gawain had challenged Lancelot because Lancelot accidentally killed Gawain's younger brother, Gareth. Interestingly, in legend, Sir Gawain fights the Green Knight in a duel, whereas Greil fights the Black Knight.
Trivia
- Ike's second coloration in the Super Smash Bros. series is based on Greil's outfit.
- Ike's Brave Heroes appearance is based strongly on Greil.
- If hacked on to a playable unit, Greil is able to use Aether. This makes him one of only two characters able to use Aether in Path of Radiance, along with Ike.
- Greil's use of an axe to fight the Black Knight, who was using a sword, put him at a disadvantage in accordance with the Weapons Triangle.
- Greil's shares his English voice actor, Frank Todaro, with Reyson in Heroes.
- Greil is also the first of the Four Riders to become playable in Heroes.
- The swordsmanship style created by Greil and used by Ike that was mentioned throughout Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn is called "Secret Art of Aether" in the Tellius Recollections volume 1 and 2.[1]
Gallery
- See main article: Greil/Gallery.