TheAwakening (Japanese:覚醒の儀Awakening Ceremony) is a sacred rite used to confer the power ofNaga onto an individual, for use in combating evil. Three people are known to have performed the Awakening, all royal family ofYlisse:the nation's founder,Chrom andLucina.

Overview

Requirements and nature

The basic requirement to perform the Awakening is the possession of the completeFire Emblem with all five of its gemstones installed on the shield; in its complete form. Each gemstone bears a component of Naga's power, and so the shield needs to be at full strength with all five gemstones in order to possess enough power to invoke Naga.^[1] While not explicitly stated, it is likely that successful performance of the Awakening is restricted to those possessing Naga'sHoly Blood, a criteria met by all three known individuals to complete the Awakening.

The Awakening must be performed in a place where Naga's power radiates at its strongest; the exact meaning of this is undefined, but can be assumed to involve her presence in some form radiating an aura of power. Under normal circumstances, this site is Mount Prism, a peak in Ylisse's east deeply imbued with her energies; however, in an alternate timeline, after Mount Prism was defiled by theRisen, the site lost its power and Naga's power instead came to be focused at its strongest in her daughter,Tiki.^[2]

Once one possesses the complete Emblem and has arrived at a suitable location, the Awakening rite is initiated with the recital of a specific oath to invoke Naga, as follows:

"Hear me, Naga! I bear proof of our sacred covenant! In the name of the exalted blood, I ask for the divine dragon's power! Baptize me in fire, that I may become your true son/daughter!"

Upon reciting the oath, the individual attempting the Awakening is exposed to Naga's holy fire as a test of body and soul: those who withstand her fire are deemed worthy of receiving her power, referred to by Naga as being "cleansed in [her] fire", whereas those who fail are burned to death.^[3] One who successfully completes the Awakening receives the title of "Awakener" from Naga, who refers to them exclusively as such.^[4] Once the Awakener has passed her test, they receive Naga's power in the form of theFalchion being restored to its full power, as theExalted Falchion.

Although nominally speaking the Awakening cannot be performed if the Fire Emblem is not complete, a partial Awakening can still be performed with at least one gemstone absent; this Awakening still confers power upon Falchion, but significantly less and not enough to suitably combat Grima.^[5]

Known performances

• Founder of Ylisse: 1,000 years prior to the events ofAwakening, an unnamed man performed the Awakening in order to defeat Grima for the first time.
• Chrom: On the advice ofTiki, Chrom sought to complete the Fire Emblem in order to combat Grima, whose return was considered imminent by Tiki. Following Grima's successful resurrection byValidar, Chrom travelled to Mount Prism with the complete Emblem and performed the Awakening.
• Lucina: Before travelling back in time to avert Grima's future, Lucina attempted to assemble the Fire Emblem and perform an Awakening to finish it herself, but failed in finding one of the gemstones. Even so, she was able to perform a partial Awakening which conferred a smaller amount of power to Falchion, transforming it into theParallel Falchion.^[5]
• An alternate-timeline Lucina: In the Future PastDLC series, in an alternate timeline in which Grima killed Chrom and successfully dominated the entire world, Lucina sought to restore the Fire Emblem and perform the Awakening. Upon receiving the Emblem and all the gemstones, Lucina learned that Grima had long since killed Naga and Mount Prism had been rendered powerless by the Risen. She was still able to perform the Awakening, withTiki's spirit now serving as the new Naga and Tiki's corpse in Ylisstol the new focus of Naga's power, and slew Grima.

Grima's Awakening ritual

According toValidar, the Awakening is not solely restricted to use for Naga; the same rites and the same Fire Emblem can be used to perform an Awakening for the Fell DragonGrima.^[6]

Requirements and nature

The Awakening ritual can only be performed by someone with the full mark of Grima, though Validar claimed to be capable of it, possibly to lure out Robin.^[7]

Known performances

• Robin: In an alternate timeline, Robin performed this ritual after killing Chrom.
• Alternate timeline Grima: The Grima of Lucina's timeline followed her back in time in the form of the Hierophant and performed the ritual after Robin refused to do so.

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

References