Arlen (Japanese:エルレーンEllerean) is amage under the tutelage ofWendell that first appears in Book 2Mystery of the Emblem and appears again in itsDSremake.

Arlen was Wendell's first disciple; Wendell eventually had another disciple:Merric. Arlen and Merric soon became somewhat friendly rivals, but it all changed after Wendell chose to give theExcalibur tome to Merric due to Arlen's lack of compassion. Arlen despised Merric for this, and it got to a point where the two would fight to the death during the raid of Marth's army on the School of Khadein, in the midst of theWar of Heroes. Wendell shows Arlen the error of his ways and joins Marth for the remainder of the war.

Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem

Book 2

Role

Along withMerric, Arlen was entrusted with the safekeeping ofKhadein byWendell after the latter had to leave to fulfill a request given to him byGotoh—to find theStarsphere Shards. After Wendell's departure, Arlen chose to ally himself and his followers with the Kingdom ofArchanea. WhenMarth's army was breaking into the School of Khadein, Arlen's disdain for Merric exploded. Arlen wanted Merric dead, and Merric wasn't going to go down without a fight. Wendell eventually reaches Arlen and talks to him, revealing that the reason Merric inheritedExcalibur was Arlen's lack of compassion. Arlen is then told by Wendell that his actions were the same asGharnef's. Arlen soon realizes this for himself and apologizes, with forgiveness granted from Wendell. He remains a part of Marth's army for the remainder of theWar of Heroes, alongside hisrival.

Starting stats and growth rates

Mage Level 10 Movement 6 Experience 62*

Recruitment:Chapter 10, talk to withWendell. StatsGrowth Rates Max HP 22 Luck 6 Strength 5 W. Level 12 Skill 6 Defense 7 Speed 10 Resistance 3 Max HP 90% Luck 10+40% Strength 10% W. Level 70% Skill 30% Defense 30% Speed 40% Resistance 3% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Weapons Items Thoron Aries Shard Weapons Sword ✗ Lance ✗ Axe ✗ Bow ✗ Tome ✓ Staff ✗

Promotion stat gains

InMystery of the Emblem, promotion gains for HP and weapon level consist of giving the character as many points as necessary—thex value shown in the table—to reach the promoted class's base value. If the character's value for one of those two stats is higher than their promoted class's base value, they will not receive any bonus in that stat.

Analysis

Arlen comes at level 10, allowing him to immediately promote toBishop to get a +2 bonus to hisstrength in addition tostaves, where he gets a access to a slew of utility options (Physic,Barrier andSilence, to name a few) courtesy of his high baseweapon level of 12, which also positions him as one of the better candidates to wield theAnew staff. Even without an immediate promotion, he performs well enough during theAnri maps, being capable of one-round-KOing the physically bulkybarbarians and theIce Dragons withThoron andElfire, respectively. His only concern is the fact that, barring defensive capabilities, he's mostly completely interchangeable withMerric,Wendell, and evenLinde from his join time and on; they all have high weapon level which means that his potential utility is not unique and his offense doesn't exactly match Merric (who can ORKOFlying Dragons that Arlen can't at base) and Linde when their personal tomes are taken into consideration. He also has to compete for a Bishop's Ring to promote, an item that is in short supply.

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem

Role

Along withMerric, Arlen was entrusted with the safekeeping ofKhadein byWendell after the latter had to leave to fulfill a request given to him byGotoh—to find theStarsphere Shards. After Wendell's departure, Arlen chose to ally himself and his followers with the Kingdom ofArchanea. WhenMarth's army was breaking into the School of Khadein, Arlen's disdain for Merric exploded. Arlen wanted Merric dead, and Merric wasn't going to go down without a fight. Wendell eventually reaches Arlen and talks to him, revealing that the reason Merric inheritedExcalibur was Arlen's lack of compassion. Arlen is then told by Wendell that his actions were the same asGharnef's. Arlen soon realizes this for himself and apologizes, with forgiveness granted from Wendell. He remains a part of Marth's army for the remainder of theWar of Heroes, alongside hisrival.

Starting stats and growth rates

Mage Level 10 Movement 6

Recruitment: Main Story:Chapter 10, talk to withWendell. Extra chapters:Downloadable episode 1, automatically from the start. StatsGrowth Rates Max HP 26 Speed 11 Strength 1 Luck 2+1 Magic 8 Defense 8 Skill 5+1 Resistance 3 Max HP 80% Speed 45% Strength 0% Luck 30% Magic 40% Defense 25% Skill 50% Resistance 10% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory Thoron* Aries Shard* Weapon Levels -- -- -- -- C --

Growth rates when reclassed

Original set

Second set

These classes are only available after beating Hard Mode.

Promotion stat gains

Original set

MageCavalierArcherCurateMyrmidon

Class	HP	Str	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Weapon level
Sage	+6	+3	+2	+1	+1	+0	+1	+2	+0	+30 WEXP E

Class	HP	Str	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Weapon level
Paladin	+4	+2	+1	+3	+1	+0	+1	+6	+1	+30 WEXP

Class	HP	Str	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Weapon level
Sniper	+8	+2	+1	+5	+5	+0	+1	+3	+2	+75 WEXP

Class	HP	Str	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Weapon level
Bishop	+6	+1	+2	+1	+0	+0	+0	+4	+1	E +30 WEXP

Class	HP	Str	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Weapon level
Swordmaster	+6	+2	+1	+2	+2	+0	+2	+3	+1	+75 WEXP

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Second set

These classes are only available after beating Hard Mode.

Dark MageFighterHunterKnightMercenaryPirate

Class	HP	Str	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Weapon level
Sorcerer	+2	+2	+2	+1	+1	+0	+0	+3	+0	+30 WEXP E

Class	HP	Str	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Weapon level
Warrior	+6	+2	+0	+1	+1	+0	+2	+1	+1	+30 WEXP E

Class	HP	Str	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Weapon level
Horseman	+2	+0	+1	+2	+2	+0	+3	+3	+3	E +30 WEXP

Class	HP	Str	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Weapon level
General	+10	+2	+1	+1	+4	+0	+4	+3	+1	+30 WEXP E

Class	HP	Str	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Weapon level
Hero	+8	+2	+1	+2	+2	+0	+2	+3	+1	+30 WEXP E

Class	HP	Str	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Weapon level
Berserker	+6	+2	+0	+1	+1	+0	+2	+0	+1	+30 WEXP

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Analysis

Arlen'sNew Mystery self resembles his original incarnation in a lot of ways, but a few things have changed drastically. The most notorious changes are the fact that he's now capable of wieldingExcalibur after investing either combat training or anArms Scroll, but he also lost the ability to instantly wield the useful staves that require a good staff rank (such asPhysic) just by virtue of promoting. His base stats have received minor changes for the most part (only a +1 bonus indefense andspeed, for example). Curiously, his luck got reduced by 4 points, which makes him very susceptible tocritical hits compared to most other units.

In terms of utility, he's less practical thanEtzel for the role of ExcaliburSage given the latter's higherstaff rank and pre-promoted status. As a combat-oriented magic unit, his average speed growth can let him down compared to other alternatives such asMerric andLinde; on Hard Mode, they will have an easier timedoubling as Sages given some training due to their superior growth rates in speed. The same thing applies on Lunatic Mode if he's being fielded to fill the "Levin Master" (Levin Sword-wieldingSwordmaster) role since it will be harder for him to double some of the faster enemies that other party members (such as the player'sDracoknights) can't double, likeSnipers,Berserkers and even enemy Swordmasters, undermining the build's selling point. He does pretty well against earlier enemies, however, such as thebarbarians inChapter 12 or13, since he actually meets the thresholds to double them easily (only the promotion and reclassing to Swordmaster are required for the former, while the latter only require an additional speedlevel-up). He also meets the required magic to ORKOWyverns inChapter 11 with Excalibur if he's allowed to get B rank tomes.

Fire Emblem Heroes

Role

One version of Arlen is currently present inFire Emblem Heroes. The normal variation of Arlen was added on March 15, 2024.

Arlen: Mage of Khadein

Starting stats

Arlen: Mage of Khadein is only available at 5★ rarity.

Rarity ★★★★★ Weapon type Movement type

Initial StatsLevel 40 Stats Maximum HP 18/19/20 Attack 8/9/10 Speed 11/12/13 Defense 7/8/9 Resistance 3/4/5 Maximum HP 37/41/44 Attack 38/42/45 Speed 41/45/48 Defense 35/38/42 Resistance 13/17/20 {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}}

Skills Lightburst Tome -- Glowing Ember

Skill set

Skill set
Skill		Unlock	Auto-unlock	SP cost
	Stone	★★★★★	★★★★★	50
	Elstone	★★★★★	★★★★★	100
	Atlas	★★★★★	★★★★★	200
	Lightburst Tome	★★★★★	★★★★★	400
	Glowing Ember	★★★★★	★★★★★	100
	Ignis	★★★★★	—	200
A	Close Counter	★★★★★	—	300
A	C Bonus Doubler	★★★★★	—	300
B	Atk/Res Tempo 1	★★★★★	—	60
B	Atk/Res Tempo 2	★★★★★	—	120
B	Atk/Res Tempo 3	★★★★★	—	240
B	Atk/Res Tempo 4	★★★★★	—	300

Personality

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Supports

Mystery of the Emblem

Arlen Mage Supports: None. [[{{{supportg1}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusg1}}} [[{{{supportg2}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusg2}}} [[{{{supportg3}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusg3}}} Supported by: None. [[{{{supporto1}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonuso1}}} [[{{{supporto2}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonuso2}}}

New Mystery of the Emblem

Arlen Mage Mutual supports: Wendell Sage C: 4 B: 9 A: 15 Etzel Sorcerer C: 5 B: 10 A:- [[{{{supportm3}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm3}}} B: {{{bm3}}} A: {{{am3}}} [[{{{supportm4}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm4}}} B: {{{bm4}}} A: {{{am4}}} [[{{{supportm5}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm5}}} B: {{{bm5}}} A: {{{am5}}} Supported by:* Kris Myrmidon C: 4 B: 9 A:- [[{{{supporto2}}}]] Bishop C: {{{co2}}} B: {{{bo2}}} A: {{{ao2}}} [[{{{supporto3}}}]] Bishop C: {{{co3}}} B: {{{bo3}}} A: {{{ao3}}} [[{{{supporto4}}}]] Bishop C: {{{co4}}} B: {{{bo4}}} A: {{{ao4}}} [[{{{supporto5}}}]] Bishop C: {{{co5}}} B: {{{bo5}}} A: {{{ao5}}}

Base conversations

Main article:Arlen/Conversations

Endings

Mystery of the Emblem

Book 2

Arlen, Diligent Mage
For his efforts in the war—and willingness to atone—he was appointed a Pontifex of Khadein, working to rebuild the city.

New Mystery of the Emblem

Arlen, Mage of Khadein
As a pontifex of Khadein, Arlen strived to restore the City of Magic. His strict personality earned him the respect of his students.

Quotes

Battle quotes

Death quotes

Everyone's Conditions quotes

Heroes quotes

Main article:Arlen/Quotes (Heroes)

Other appearances

Fire Emblem Cipher

Arlen is featured on one card inFire Emblem Cipher.

Fire Emblem Cipher data for Arlen
	Eminent Disciple, Arlen
		"I will not submit to Merric and his mediocre like. Do you call yourself his friend? Then you, too, are my enemy - all of you."
		Attack: 40	Support: 20	Range: 1-2	Deploy Cost: 2
		Class: Mage		Tier:Base	Class Change Cost: --
		Envious Lightning Magic:[Always] If this unit is attacking a, this unit gains +20 attack.
	Card #B15-031N • Artist:Nekohayashi
Some card information translation provided by Serenes Forest. For more detailed strategic information on these cards, seetheir TCG wiki article on Elrean .

Flavor text

Meet some of the Heroes entries

Arlen: Mage of Khadein
Arlen belongs to the mage army of Khadein, a city in the continent of Archanea. A master of the lightning tome Thoron, nothing escapes his aim!	Originally an aspiring student at Khadein's school of magic, Arlen was apprentice to the pontifex Wendell. A serious and hardworking student, he quickly distinguished himself under Wendell's tutelage.	Arlen thought that he alone would have the right to inherit Excalibur, a tome granted only to the worthy. However, the tome instead was given to Merric—a junior apprentice who came after Arlen.	Ever since then, Arlen viewed Merric with the bitterest envy. It wounded Wendell to see his students turn on each other—but was there any way to stop them?
Closely Associated Characters
Merric {{{Related_name2}}} {{{Related_name3}}} {{{Related_name4}}} {{{Related_name5}}} Wind mage who studied in Khadein, known for its magical school. Marth's childhood friend. Junior apprentice after Arlen. {{{Related_blurb2}}} {{{Related_blurb3}}} {{{Related_blurb4}}} {{{Related_blurb5}}}

Choose Your Legends placement history

Round	Placement	Character	Votes

CYL 1 (2017)

469

Arlen Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

261

CYL 2 (2018)

561

Arlen Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

168 (−93)

CYL 3 (2019)

477 (−34)

Arlen Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

246 (+78)

CYL 4 (2020)

476 (−25)

Arlen Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

216 (−30)

CYL 5 (2021)

446 (−30)

Arlen Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

166 (−50)

CYL 6 (2022)

437 (−11)

Arlen Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

181 (+15)

CYL 7 (2023)

188 (−249)

Arlen Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

342 (+161)

CYL 8 (2024)

334 (+146)

Arlen Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

177 (−165)

CYL 9 (2025)

737 (+403)

Arlen Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

28 (−149)

CYL 10 (2026)

761 (+24)

Arlen Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

17 (−11)

Total results		This character has 10 entries across all Choose Your Legends polls.	1,802

Trivia

• In theMystery of the Emblem Hideo Takayashiki novels, the surname "Carlos" (Japaneseカルロス) is given to Arlen.

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

Sprite Gallery
Mystery of the Emblem Mage Bishop Tome Tome,Staff
New Mystery of the Emblem CavalierArcherMyrmidonMageCurateKnightMercenaryFighterHunterPirateDark MageDracoknight Cavalier Paladin Sword Lance Sword Lance Archer Sniper Bow Bow Myrmidon Swordmaster Sword Sword Mage Sage Tome Tome,Staff Curate Bishop Staff Tome,Staff Knight General Lance Lance Bow Mercenary Hero Sword Sword Axe Fighter Warrior Axe Axe Bow Hunter Horseman Bow Bow Sword Pirate Berserker Axe Axe Dark Mage Sorcerer Tome Tome Dracoknight Lance Axe {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}}

Official artwork

• 
  Artwork of Arlen, [[Merric], andWendell fromAll of Fire Emblem.
• 
  Artwork of Arlen from theTrading Card Game.
• 
  Artwork of Arlen from theTrading Card Game.

CG images

• 
  CG image ofMerric and Arlen inNew Mystery of the Emblem.

Heroes artwork

Character artwork

• 
  Artwork of Arlen: Mage of Khadein.
• 
  Artwork of Arlen: Mage of Khadein.
• 
  Artwork of Arlen: Mage of Khadein.
• 
  Artwork of Arlen: Mage of Khadein.

Meet some of the Heroes artwork

• 
  Artwork of Arlen: Mage of Khadein.
• 
  Artwork of Arlen: Mage of Khadein.
• 
  Artwork of Arlen: Mage of Khadein.
• 
  Artwork of Arlen: Mage of Khadein.

Cipher artwork

• 
  Artwork of Arlen.
• 
  Arlen in artwork ofMerric.

References

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