Not to be confused withArran, a playable character fromShadow Dragon & the Blade of Light andMystery of the Emblem.

Aran (Japanese:ブラッドBrad) is a citizen ofDaein and a childhood friend ofLaura. He appears inFire Emblem: Radiant Dawn as a recruitable enemy unit.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

Role

Aran is a soldier guarding aBegnion-controlled prison inDaein. WhenLaura is imprisoned there along withMicaiah,Aimee,Kurth, andIlyana, Aran lets theDawn Brigade in through the back, allowing them to rescue their friends. While fighting their way out, Aran is called in as a reinforcement to stop the intruders. However, Laura convinces him to switch sides and join the Dawn Brigade. He then serves as a simple soldier in the Dawn Brigade, then theDaein Liberation Army, and finally the restored Daein military.

Starting stats and growth rates

Soldier Level 7 Affinity Constitution 11

Recruitment:Part I, Chapter 3, talk to withLaura StatsGrowth Rates Max HP 24 Speed 10 Strength 10 Luck 6 Magic 0 Defense 11 Skill 12 Resistance 2 Movement 6 Weight 15 Max HP 50% Speed 35% Strength 75% Luck 35% Magic 10% Defense 70% Skill 75% Resistance 25% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory Skills Javelin Iron Lance Vulnerary Shove Weapon Levels -- D -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Biorhythm Best Good Normal Bad Worst

Promotion stat gains

Class	HP	Str	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Con	Mov	Skills	Weapon level
Halberdier	+2	+1	+2	+1	+1	+0	+1	+2	+1	+1	Critical +5	(x to D)
Sentinel	+4	+2	+4	+2	+2	+0	+2	+4	+0	+0	Critical +10* Impale	(x to A)

Availability

Analysis

Aran is the first playable soldier inRadiant Dawn. He has mediocre bases all around, his only higher base stats being skill and defense. His base health is too low for him to be a solid physical tank early on despite his defense, and he is frequently doubled by enemy units on harder difficulties. His initial base bulk can be significantly improved with aSeraph Robe, as it complements his defense base and growth. As a lance user, he has 1-2 range combat, though his hitrates in earlygame will be unreliable due to low level, luck, and higher enemy stats. Furthermore, he struggles to deal meaningful damage; if he uses stronger lances, he will frequently be weighed down, so he relies on forges early on. He has low luck compared to other units, and is prone to getting crit'd by enemy units.

Aran has extremely high growths in strength, skill, and defense, but due to his weak bases it will take several levels for these growths to kick in. Despite his high defense growth, his health growth is relatively low, limiting his abilities to tank in late Part I and onward. His speed, luck, and resistance growths are very low, so he is weak to magic and has doubling issues, while his speed is so poor that even trained enemies can double him and pierce his defenses in Part III on Hard difficulty. Additionally, he will not cap stats quickly enough in his tier 1 class to use BEXP to fix his speed issues; on average with no boosters he'll cap skill at level 18, cap defense at level 20, and usually cap strength at level 20, so it usually won't be until nearly midway into his tier 2 class that he can start utilizing BEXP to get speed levelups, leaving him with no room to exploit BEXP levels to get out of his speed hole in Part I and 3. Being given theSpeedwing from 1-E will be far from enough to push him into doubling range, with it at most just likely saving him from being doubled in Part III. In the long run, in tier 2 and 3, Aran is extremely reliant on capping strength, skill, and defense quickly so he can fix his speed issues with BEXP.

For Part IV, Aran functions best on Ike's or Tibarn's team. Micaiah's team has a desert chapter that will make Aran unusable, though her first chapter has many horse units which Aran can abuse the Horseslayer on. In general, his high long-term bulk and 1-2 range allow him to have a productive enemy phase, though he may still have doubling issues even with investment, significantly limiting his damage output. For endgame he is a mediocre choice, as he will struggle to one-round the abundant Generals in 4-E-1, his low resistance makes the abundant powerful magical enemies dangerous to him, and his 33 speed cap puts him just shy of the 34 speed needed to be able to double everything from 4-E-3 onward.

Aran has no skills upon joining. As his speed is poor for the majority of the game, he does not make good use of skills like Adept, Cancel, and Vantage. Wrath and Resolve help improve his offense and avoid being doubled, and he has the physical bulk to survive on lower health. Aran is more vulnerable to enemy crits due to his low luck base and growth, so Fortune can fix this.

Aran has a thunder affinity which gives a light boost to defense and avoid, which he appreciates to tank better. Jill has a thunder affinity which allows them to build a +3 defense +15 avoid boost; however, Jill is a wyvern and is usually best not held back by Aran's lack of mobility. Nolan, Zihark, and Volug are grounded units with earth affinities that help Aran with more avoid, though all three of them would prefer to support other earth affinity units. Leonardo's water affinity complements Aran's thunder affinity, and plays the role of attacking behind tanks.

Personality

Aran is a relatively simple individual, attempting to do good as far as possible. He appears to be sensitive and kind, especially in regard to Laura. This can be seen in the events ofPart I, Chapter 3, where he is confronted by Laura about his choice to serve in Begnion's army. Aran ultimately heeds Laura's advice, and opts to defect to the Dawn Brigade.

Supports

Bond supports

Aran Soldier Default bonds: None. [[{{{supportd1}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusd1}}} [[{{{supportd2}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusd2}}} [[{{{supportd3}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusd3}}} [[{{{supportd4}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusd4}}} Extra bonds:* None. [[{{{supporte1}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonuse1}}} [[{{{supporte2}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonuse2}}} [[{{{supporte3}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonuse3}}} [[{{{supporte4}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonuse4}}} [[{{{supporte5}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonuse5}}}

Endings

Aran, Loyal Halberdier
Aran served for many years as lookout in his hometown. Everyone relied on him for his honest, if clumsy, work.

Quotes

Battle quotes

Death quotes

Other appearances

Fire Emblem Cipher

Aran is featured on four cards inFire Emblem Cipher.

Fire Emblem Cipher data for Aran
	Champion of Faith, Aran
		"As the priest's teachings say, follow the path you believe is right."
		Attack: 60	Support: 10	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 3
		Class: Halberdier		Tier:Advanced	Class Change Cost: 2
		Lance of Faith:[Always] While this unit is attacking an enemy besides the Main Character, until the end of the battle, this unit gains +20 attack. Spear:[Activate][Once per turn] [] Until the end of this turn, this unit gains +10 attack and this unit's range becomes 1-2 ( This skill becomes active while this unit's stack is at least 3).
	Card #B05-064HN • Artist:BISAI
	Warm-hearted Spearman, Aran
		"Go! I might miss one of you if you do."
		Attack: 40	Support: 10	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 1
		Class: Soldier		Tier:Base	Class Change Cost: --
		Empire's Spear:[Always] While this unit is attacking an enemy besides the Main Character, until the end of the battle, this unit gains +20 attack. Attack Emblem:[Support] Until the end of this battle, your attacking unit gains +20 attack.
	Card #B05-065N • Artist:BISAI
	Holy Spear of Faith, Aran
		"That's right, I remember how you are. You let others do your dirty work while you run for safety. Looks like you're running out of places to run."
		Attack: 70	Support: 10	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 5
		Class: Sentinel		Tier:Advanced	Class Change Cost: 3
		Valiant Spearman:[Activate][Once per turn] [Flip 1 bond card face-down] Until the end of the turn, this unit gains +30 attack. Piercing Faith:[Trigger] When this unit Growths, until the end of the turn, the number of Orbs that this unit's attacks will destroy becomes 2. Proximity to Impale:[Trigger] When this unit uses Valiant Spearman, you may choose 1 enemy in the Back Line, and move them. ( becomes usable if a total of 4 or more cards are stacked with this unit.)
	Card #B20-064HN • Artist:Kyo Uda
	Open-minded Spear Soldier, Aran
		"Come on. Let's get you - and everyone else - out of here!"
		Attack: 40	Support: 10	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 1
		Class: Soldier		Tier:Base	Class Change Cost: --
		Childhood Friend Cleric:[Always] If this unit is being supported by "Laura", this unit gains +20 attack. Attack Emblem:[Support] Until the end of this combat, your attacking unit gains +20 attack.
	Card #B20-065N • Artist:Kyo Uda
Some card information translation provided by Serenes Forest. For more detailed strategic information on these cards, seetheir TCG wiki article on Aran .

Flavor text

Choose Your Legends placement history

Round	Placement	Character	Votes

CYL 1 (2017)

311

Aran Radiant Dawn

648

CYL 2 (2018)

371

Aran Radiant Dawn

499 (−149)

CYL 3 (2019)

391 (+34)

Aran Radiant Dawn

427 (−72)

CYL 4 (2020)

397 (−18)

Aran Radiant Dawn

315 (−112)

CYL 5 (2021)

312 (−85)

Aran Radiant Dawn

285 (−30)

CYL 6 (2022)

299 (−15)

Aran Radiant Dawn

320 (+35)

CYL 7 (2023)

253 (−46)

Aran Radiant Dawn

247 (−73)

CYL 8 (2024)

280 (+27)

Aran Radiant Dawn

222 (−25)

CYL 9 (2025)

213 (−67)

Aran Radiant Dawn

260 (+38)

CYL 10 (2026)

170 (−43)

Aran Radiant Dawn

217 (−43)

Total results		This character has 10 entries across all Choose Your Legends polls.	3,440

Trivia

• Aran is the only playable character to lack a unique character model; his models as a Soldier and Halberdier are the same as those used by the generic units in the game while his model as a Sentinel is identical toLevail's.
• According toTellius Recollection, Aran was designed with an apparent age of 22.^[1]

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

Official artwork

• 
  Artwork of Aran fromRadiant Dawn.

Portraits

• 
  Portrait of Aran inRadiant Dawn.

Screenshots

• 
  Aran as aSoldier inRadiant Dawn.
• 
  Aran as aHalberdier inRadiant Dawn.
• 
  Aran as aSentinel inRadiant Dawn.

Cipher artwork

• 
  Artwork of Aran.
• 
  Artwork of Aran withLaura.
• 
  Artwork of Aran.
• 
  Artwork of Aran.

References

This article is part ofProject Characters, a project focused on writing articles for every character present in theFire Emblem series.