—Erk in a support conversation with Nino
Erk is a playable character in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. He is a solemn, intellectual young man who is deeply devoted to his studies. He despises distractions, especially when they come from his former employer, the cleric, Serra.
Profile[]
Before The Blazing Blade[]
Erk was adopted and raised by the Mage General Pent and his wife, Lady Louise of Reglay, in Etruria ever since he was twelve, when he was found lost in the snow. Erk followed Pent's footsteps to become a talented mage in his own right. He had become so obsessed with his studies that he barely left his bedroom in the castle, resulting in him falling ill, prompting Louise to nurse him back to health.
Lyn's Story[]
Eventually, when Erk grew older, he ventured out on his own. Embarking on a training journey as a mercenary, he was employed by House Ostia to escort the Lycian priestess Serra back to the castle. It is in Chapter 5 that he and Serra encounter Lyn's party for the first time. Much to his chagrin, Serra pulls him into aiding Lyn's party, whereupon he begrudgingly helps Lyn to thwart Lundgren and liberate Caelin. When Lyn retakes the throne of Caelin, both Erk and Serra leave her service and head to Ostia, thereby fulfilling his original mission.
Eliwood and Hector's Story[]
In the following year, as per Pent's instructions, Erk escorts the noblewoman Priscilla of House Caerleon in her pursuit for the truth behind House Cornwell's downfall and for any surviving family members. However, they become trapped in Laus by Marquess Darin, who, upon discovering Priscilla's lineage, imprisons her in one of Laus' villages and forces her to marry him.
Traveling to another village up north to petition for aid, Erk is unable to obtain help from the local peasantry. In Chapter 14, Erk departs from the village only to run into Serra, who is under Hector's employment at this stage. Though he is naturally hesitant to rejoin his former contractor whom he finds exasperating, he decides to take advantage of the fact that they are fighting against Laus and aids them. Later, Priscilla also joins the group, allowing him to continue his mission to protect Priscilla.
Epilogue[]
Once Nergal and his morphs are defeated, Erk returns home to Etruria, where he is asked to become the new Mage General as Pent had retired. He politely refuses and instead devotes the rest of his life to the study of magic. However, he would later take up the title at some point in the future and serves as Mage General until his retirement, where he is succeeded by his pupil Cecilia.
Depending on his supports in Blazing Blade, Erk's fate may be altered. He can potentially fall in love with Serra, or even wed Priscilla or Nino. Should he wed Nino, he will become the father of the twin mages Lugh and Raigh. He is, however, unable to raise his children as he will eventually vanish searching for Nino, who disappeared, after she was forced to leave her family to protect them from bounty hunters looking for her.
Personality[]
Erk has a stern, no-nonsense personality. He is overly serious and pedantic, as he is a particularly introverted and withdrawn individual. Ever since he was accepted under Pent's tutelage at the age of twelve, he has been highly studious and, more importantly, he values dogged perseverance even at the expense of his health to the extent that he collapsed once as a result of forsaking food and sleep to continue his studies.
Despite his devotion to his studies, Erk appears to have low self-esteem, lacking full confidence in his own worth, tending to belittle himself and compare his capabilities to those of his master. While Erk can be uptight and snide at times, his support conversations with Louise reveal this is because he has had a hard time letting others get close to him or try to help him. According to him, this is because he feels overwhelmed by people displaying a great degree of affection or concern over him. His taciturn nature makes it difficult for him to express his appreciation to the people he cares most about, such as his foster family, Pent and Louise; alternately, to either of his clients Serra and Priscilla, though notably Serra in particular, or to the fellow mage Nino.
He didn't want to rely on the kindness of Pent and Louise too much, and as soon as he could, he started to work as a bodyguard. Though, due to his overly serious personality, he didn't enjoy the job too much, evidenced when he needed to deal with clients who possessed more 'colorful' personalities, such as Serra.
In-Game[]
The Blazing Blade[]
Description: A young mage from Etruria. Charming, but uptight.
Recruitment[]
- Chapter 5: Joins with Serra, or complete the chapter.
- Chapter 14: NPC unit, talk with Serra or Priscilla
Base Stats[]
| Starting Class | Affinity | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mage |  Thunder | ||||||||
| Level | HP | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Con | Mov |
| 1 | 17 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Weapon | Starting Items | ||||||||
 Anima - D |  Fire* Thunder** Goddess Icon** | ||||||||
* - Lyn's story.
** - Eliwood/Hector's Story.
Note: His stats will always carry over from Lyn's Mode, should he have been leveled up previously. Otherwise, if he was defeated at any point in Lyn's Mode, or if the mode was skipped, then these are his default stats.
Growth Rates[]
| HP | S/M | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65% | 40% | 40% | 50% | 30% | 20% | 40% |
Promotion Gains[]
| Item Required | Promoted Class | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Guiding Ring or  Earth Seal
|
 Sage
| |||||||
| 1 | +4 | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 |
| Weapon Levels | ||||||||
 +40  E
| ||||||||
Supports[]
- See also: Erk/Supports
Overall[]
|
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.
|
If the player chooses to play through Lyn Mode (which is forced on the first playthrough), Erk is the earliest available offensive magic user, and as such will be useful in killing bosses, particularly against Bool, as he is a Knight and as such has literally no Resistance; in addition, Bool's low speed will allow Erk to double him and deal a significant amount of damage.
Erk may have troubles doubling Brigands and Mercenaries early on, which will hamper his kill rate and hence his Experience gain, but if the player is patient enough to sink enough Experience for a few levels into him, his high Speed growth will quickly pull up his mediocre bases and allow him to start doubling and (eventually) killing reliably.
As a Mage, Erk's growths are somewhat shaky; he does not possess any stat which truly shines, barring Speed, and his mediocre Magic, HP, and defensive growths combined with his low bases mean that both his offense and durability will be average at best. Moreover, his middling-to-low growths give him a high degree of unpredictability, and when the RNG is unkind he may suffer in several stats, including the aforementioned HP, Magic, or defensive stats.
That being said, Erk's utility as an early magic user in Lyn Mode is tremendous, and the player is more or less forced to use him until Lucius is acquired, and even then, Erk's physical durability surpasses that of Lucius, which may cause some to find the former preferable to the latter.
Though Erk's durability may possess some issues, he has an excellent Affinity in thunder to counterbalance this, which provides bonuses to both Evasion and Defense; in addition, the Critical boost he receives will go a long way to bringing his lackluster offense up to par.
Late-game, Erk's combat parameters will generally be fairly powerful and enough to OHKO most generic Unpromoted enemies, and if the player has been diligent, he should have a fairly decent slew of supports as well. However, the enormous amount of good units the player has near the end of the game may render Erk somewhat redundant when faced with the likes of Lucius, Canas, and Pent; in addition, Erk may not have much use in final chapter unless a powerful tome, such as Giga Excalibur, is given to him.
Overall, Erk is a decent and fairly useful unit once trained for a few levels, and while he may not excel in any particular stat barring Speed, his combat and staff utility once he promotes definitely push his usability. In the end, Erk is one of those units which the player may choose to use or not to use, with either option being more or less equally viable; nevertheless, if the player does choose to train and use Erk, the results will not often be disappointing.
Fire Emblem Heroes[]
- Studious Mage
- Ward and student of Pent, Mage General of Etruria. Feels a great debt of gratitude to his foster family for raising him. Appears in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade.
Base Stats[]
Rarity: ✯✯✯✯✯
 | Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studious Mage | |||||
| Group | |||||
 Infantry | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 18/19/20 42/45/48 | 6/7/8 32/35/38 | 8/9/10 36/39/43 | 5/6/7 15/19/22 | 7/8/9 24/27/31 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
 Rauðrfox New Moon |  Tome | ||||
Skills[]
| Type | Name | Prerequisite | Default | Unlocked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Fire | - | - | - |
| Elfire | - |  | - | |
| Rauðrfox | Ruin |  | | |
| Rauðrfox+ | Rauðrfox |  | | |
 | New Moon | - | | |
| Moonbow | New Moon | - | | |
| A |  Spd/Res Solo 1 | - | - | |
 Spd/Res Solo 2 | Spd/Res Solo 1 | - | ||
 Spd/Res Solo 3 | Spd/Res Solo 2 | | ||
| C |  Spd Opening 1 | - | - | |
 Spd Opening 2 | Spd Opening 1 | - | ||
 Spd Opening 3 | Spd Opening 2 | |
Overall[]
|
|
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.
|
Base Set[]
Counters[]
Skill Inheritance[]
Meet Some of the Heroes[]
| Studious Mage Erk | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Here's Erk, an Etrurian mage! He's a very dour, no-nonsense Hero. | ||
|
Orphaned at a young age, Erk was brought into the care of House Reglay, one of Etruria's leading noble families. From then on, Pent took charge of his education, training him in the ways of magic! | ||
|
Under Pent's tutelage, Erk grew into a fine mage in his own right. But he didn't want to rely on the kindness of House Reglay forever, and so he started work as a bodyguard. | ||
|
Perhaps it was because of his overly serious personality, but Erk didn't seem to have a great time working as bodyguard... Hopefully, working with the Order of Heroes will help him to finally relax and let go of some of that stress! | ||
| Closely Associated Characters | |||
| Pent | Mage General, Count Reglay of Etruria. Erk studied magic under his tutelage. | ||
| Louise | Wife of Pent, Count Reglay of Etruria. She loves Erk dearly, treating him as she would her own son. | ||
| Serra | Cleric who thinks less of others, more of herself. Serves Hector, brother of the marquess of Ostia. Frequently makes Erk's life difficult. | ||
Quotes[]
Death Quote[]
—Erk's death quote
Defeat Quote in Lyn's Story[]
- Erk: Argg...
- Lyn: Erk!
- Erk: Please forgive me... I must rest.
(End of chapter, if Serra has not been KO'd as well)
- Lyn: Erk! Are you OK?
- Erk: I don't believe I can go on...
- Lyn: Oh...
- Erk: Please return this money to Serra.
- Lyn: Hm? What's this?
- Erk: It's my fee. It's what she paid me to be her escort. I wasn't able to see her safely to Ostia after all...
- Lyn: I understand.
- Erk: Well, then, this is good-bye.
- Lyn: Take care.
- Erk: I will.
(End of chapter, if Serra was also KO'd)
- Lyn: Serra! Erk! Are you well?
- Serra: It's not good. Erk cannot be moved. My apologies, but we must part here.
- Lyn: I see... I'm sorry.
- Serra: I hope you find your grandfather in good health. I will pray for you.
- Lyn: Thank you.
- Serra: See you again!
- Lyn: Yes, again... Take care, Erk.
- Erk: See that you and your companions do the same. Good-bye.
Final Chapter[]
—Erk's final chapter quote
Recruit Conversation in Lyn's Story[]
- Lyn: Um, excuse me... Hello?
- Serra: Hm?
- Lyn: Why are you fighting these bandits?
- Erk: ... It just happened.
- Serra: That's not true! Those ruffians thought that we were with you!!! You got us into a terrible situation! Now, how are you going to get us out?
- Erk: Serra, if you'd not been so meddlesome, this all could have been avoided. My apologies. Please trouble yourself with us no more.
- Lyn: But...If you're going to have to fight anyway, shouldn't we team up? It will end things faster, right?
- Serra: That's true. Yes! a good idea. Erk! Go and help these ladies.
- Erk: But I... Fine!
- Lyn: Very good. My name's Lyn. So tell me, will you join arms with us?
- Serra: Yes, we'd be glad to. My name is Serra. This is my escort, Erk. Be a good boy, and go fight now, Erk.
- Erk: ...Sigh...
Recruit Conversation in Eliwood/Hector's Story[]
With Serra[]
- Serra: Omigosh! Erk! It's been SO long! What are you doing here?
- Erk: Oh... Serra. You were the last person I wanted to see...
- Serra: Oh, that's sweet! You wanted to see me again!
- Erk: ...
- Serra: Hey, I know! This is perfect. Come with us and lend a hand, Erk.
- Erk: I beg your pardon?
- Serra: Come on! I'll even introduce you to Lords Hector and Eliwood! I know you. You're probably just wandering around without work.
- Erk: No Serra, I'm afraid I am gainfully employed. However... If you're fighting Laus this could work out after all.
- Serra: What are you babbling about? Make up your mind, will you?
- Erk: My employer is hiding in a village down south of here. If you'll help me protect her... I'll join up with you.
With Priscilla[]
(if Priscilla talks to Erk if he's NPC)
- Erk: Lady Priscilla! I'm glad to see you well.
- Priscilla: Erk! Have you joined Lord Eliwood's company as well?
- Erk: Yes. Traveling with them seems to be the safest way for us to continue your search for your family.
- Priscilla: Erk!
- Erk: Oh, my apologies. This isn't the place to discuss such things.
- Priscilla: I'm sorry, but...
- Erk: Lady Priscilla, my teacher entrusted you to my care. Until you have reached your goal, I will not leave your side.
- Priscilla: Thank you, Erk.
Special Conversation[]
(Erk visits the south village in Chapter 15)
- Erk: Lady Priscilla! Are you well?
- Priscilla: I should be asking you that, Erk. Have you been wounded?
- Erk: I'm fine. Listen, my lady. I've found some friends who will help us.
- Priscilla: Truly?
- Erk: We'll be joining up with Marquess Pherae's son. Traveling with them seems to be the safest way for us to continue your search for your family.
- Priscilla: Erk!
- Erk: Oh, my apologies. This isn't the place to discuss such things.
- Priscilla: I'm sorry, but...
- Erk: Lady Priscilla, my teacher entrusted you to my care. Until you have reached your goal, I will not leave your side.
- Priscilla: Thank you, Erk.
(Priscilla joins)
Heroes[]
Possible Endings[]
Lyn's Story[]
- Erk - The Wandering Mage
- His contract with Serra complete, Erk sets off for Etruria. His time as a mercenary is just part of his training, and he is glad to see it end. He has since returned to his mentor.
Eliwood's/Hector's Story[]
- Erk - Studious Mage
- Erk returned to Etruria and was asked to succeed the retiring Lord Pent. He refused and devoted his life to the study of magic.
- Erk and Serra
- After the battle, Erk returned to his studies. His newfound feelings for Serra were an unwelcome distraction. In Ostia, Serra declared she would "live for love" with Erk, and Marquess Ostia gladly saw her off.
- Erk and Priscilla
- They fell in love amidst conflict. Though he was not nobly born, Erk's talent and link to Lord Pent earned him the peerage he needed to wed Priscilla. As a trusted magic teacher, he lived his life in happiness.
- Erk and Nino
- They were married after the conflict and were gifted with twin boys. Their time in Pherae was happy until bounty hunters came for Nino. To protect her family, she disappeared. Erk vanished looking for her.
Non-Canon Appearances[]
Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher)[]
Erk 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 | 143 |  The Blazing Blade |
1,951 |
| CYL2 | 135 ↑8 |
The Blazing Blade |
1,912 ↓39 |
| CYL3 | 127 ↑8 |
The Blazing Blade |
2,040 ↑128 |
| CYL4 | 111 ↑16 |
The Blazing Blade |
1,445 ↓595 |
| CYL5 | 92 ↑19 |
The Blazing Blade |
1,085 ↓360 |
| CYL6 | 315 ↓123 |
The Blazing Blade |
228 ↓857 |
| CYL7 | 309 ↑6 |
The Blazing Blade |
125 ↓103 |
| CYL8 | 315 ↓6 |
The Blazing Blade |
128 ↑3 |
Etymology[]
This name is probably a derivation of the names 'Eric,' 'Aric' or 'Arik.' 'Eric' comes from the Old Norse 'ei' (ever) and 'rikr' (ruler). 'Aric' is short for 'Alaric,' which comes from the Germanic 'adal' (noble) and 'ric' (kingdom). 'Arik' is a Jewish nickname for Ariel, which means 'lion of God.' Alternatively, 'Erk' could refer to the word 'irksome,' meaning 'annoying.'
Gallery[]
- See main article: Erk/Gallery.