Bantu (Japanese:バヌトゥBanutu) is anArchaneanmanakete and a survivor of thefire dragon clan. He acted as a guardian and surrogate parent toTiki, thedivine dragon princess, having freed her from her endless sleep in theIce Dragon Temple after taking pity on her plight. The two traveled the world until they were twice separated, first byGharnef abducting Tiki in theWar of Shadows, and again afterward in theWar of Heroes whenGotoh retook custody of Tiki from him; in his quests to find her again, he allied with the Hero-KingMarth in his liberation army.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light

Role

Bantu had traveled to a small village in Lefcandith Valley in his search for Tiki, who had been separated from him and abducted byGharnef some time earlier. WhenMarth visited the village, Bantu told him how crucial finding Tiki is and joined his army, although having lost hisfirestone during his travels inPyrathi he was initially unable to fight.

Bantu was reunited with Tiki during Marth's raid on theFane of Raman, where he freed her from Gharnef's hypnosis and took her back into his care in Marth's army.

Starting stats and growth rates

Manakete Level 1 Movement 6 Experience 0

Recruitment:Chapter 7, visit thevillage StatsGrowth Rates Max HP 18 Speed 4 Strength 2 Luck 1 Skill 3 Defense 3 W. Level 2 Resistance 0 Max HP 10% Speed 0% Strength 0% Luck 10% Skill 10% Defense 0% W. Level 0% Resistance 0% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory -- Weapons Sword ✗ Lance ✗ Axe ✗ Bow ✗ Tome ✗ Staff ✗ Ballista ✗ Stone ✓

Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem

Book 1

Role

Bantu had traveled to a small village in Lefcandith Valley in his search for Tiki, who had been separated from him and abducted byGharnef some time earlier. WhenMarth visited the village, Bantu told him how crucial finding Tiki is and joined his army, although having lost hisfirestone during his travels inPyrathi he was initially unable to fight.

Bantu was reunited with Tiki during Marth's raid on theFane of Raman, where he freed her from Gharnef's hypnosis and took her back into his care in Marth's army.

Starting stats and growth rates

Manakete Level 1 Movement 5 Experience 0

Recruitment:Chapter 6, visit thevillage StatsGrowth Rates Max HP 18 Luck 1 Strength 2 W. Level 2 Skill 3 Defense 3 Speed 4 Resistance 1 Max HP 10% Luck 10% Strength 0% W. Level 0% Skill 0% Defense 0% Speed 0% Resistance 3% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Weapons Items -- -- Weapons Sword ✗ Lance ✗ Axe ✗ Bow ✗ Tome ✗ Staff ✗

Book 2

Role

During Marth's crossing of theChiasmir bridge following his visit to theFane of Raman, Bantu awaited him in a village, hisfirestone again stolen by athief. When Marth visited the village, Bantu told him of how Tiki had been taken back intoGotoh's custody, then joined his army once more.

Starting stats and growth rates

Manakete Level 3 Movement 5 Experience 0

Recruitment:Chapter 8, visit thevillage StatsGrowth Rates Max HP 18 Luck 1 Strength 2 W. Level 2 Skill 3 Defense 3 Speed 4 Resistance 1 Max HP 10% Luck 10% Strength 0% W. Level 0% Skill 0% Defense 0% Speed 0% Resistance 3% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Weapons Items -- -- Weapons Sword ✗ Lance ✗ Axe ✗ Bow ✗ Tome ✗ Staff ✗

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

Role

Bantu had traveled to a small village in Lefcandith Valley in his search for Tiki, who had been separated from him and abducted byGharnef some time earlier. WhenMarth visited the village, Bantu told him how crucial finding Tiki is and joined his army, although having lost hisfirestone during his travels inPyrathi he was initially unable to fight.

Bantu was reunited with Tiki during Marth's raid on theFane of Raman, where he freed her from Gharnef's hypnosis and took her back into his care in Marth's army.

Starting stats and growth rates

Manakete Level 1 Movement 6

Recruitment:Chapter 7, visit thevillage StatsGrowth Rates Max HP 20 Speed 4 Strength 2 Luck 1 Magic 0 Defense 3 Skill 3 Resistance 1 Max HP 40% Speed 10% Strength 20% Luck 10% Magic 10% Defense 10% Skill 20% Resistance 0% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory -- Weapon Levels -- -- -- -- -- --

Analysis

When he is equipped with a Firestone, Bantu gains +8 Strength, +4 Skill, +4 Speed, +9 Defense, and +4 Resistance. The Firestone itself also has 15 Mt, giving Bantu a total Atk of 25 at his base level.

Bantu deals heavy damage, has solid Defense, higher movement than the Armor Knights, letting him pass as a temporary tank on low difficulty levels. Unfortunately, he is very difficult to use long-term due to his horrendous growths and low HP and Speed. Once he starts getting double attacked, he becomes a liability in combat, even when fighting regular enemies. This problem grows more severe on harder difficulty levels, where enemies will double attack him even sooner and deal high damage despite his Defense. His low Luck also makes him vulnerable to low-percentage critical hits.

Despite being a lacking unit in his own right, Bantu is required to recruit Tiki, so he is worth recruiting and keeping alive for that reason alone.

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem

Role

During Marth's crossing of theChiasmir bridge following his visit to theFane of Raman, Bantu awaited him in a village, hisfirestone again stolen by athief. When Marth visited the village, Bantu told him of how Tiki had been taken back intoGotoh's custody, then joined his army once more.

Starting stats and growth rates

Manakete Level 3 Movement 6

Recruitment:Chapter 8, visit thevillage StatsGrowth Rates Max HP 18 Speed 4 Strength 2 Luck 1 Magic 0 Defense 3 Skill 3 Resistance 1 Max HP 40% Speed 10% Strength 20% Luck 10% Magic 10% Defense 10% Skill 20% Resistance 5% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory -- Weapon Levels -- -- -- -- -- --

Analysis

Bantu is the first Manakete who joins, making him the only unit who can use the mightyFirestone, which lets him deal good damage, albeit with mediocre hit. Unfortunately, just about everything else about Bantu is terrible. His base stats are atrocious, even with the help of a Firestone; while his defense is good his HP is very bad, so even on Hard mode he struggles to take more than 2 hits from an enemy, and on Lunatic enemies hit hard enough where he will be one-shot by every enemy in his join chapter, making him functionally useless on Lunatic' against any enemy who can attack at 1-range. His growths are similarly horrid, with only his HP surpassing 20%, causing him to quickly fall behind the enemies he was already struggling against. Due to being in a special class, Bantu cannot reclass and is trapped in a 6 movement, 1 range infantry class for the entirety of the game.

Fire Emblem Awakening

Role

Bantu does not personally appear, but is still alive in the era ofYlisse:Nowi claims to have met him duringChrom's campaign, although she struggles to remember his name properly.^[1]

Fire Emblem Heroes

Role

Bantu is one of the characters added to the game in theWhere It Began update, and became available for summoning by players on September 19, 2019. Only one variation of Bantu is currently available inHeroes, based on hisMystery of the Emblem incarnation.

Bantu is notably the first character inHeroes that was not part of its game at its initial launch to be added directly to the three- and four-star summoning pools upon his introduction without spending time as a five-star exclusive, although he's not the first such character to directly join those summoning pools upon becoming summonable (Kaze has that distinction, but he spent time as an exclusiveGrand Conquests reward before being added to the summoning pools).

Bantu: Tiki's Guardian

Starting stats

★★★★★★★★★★★★

Rarity ★★★ Weapon type Movement type

Initial StatsLevel 40 Stats Maximum HP 15/16/17 Attack 8/9/10 Speed 4/5/6 Defense 7/8/9 Resistance 5/6/7 Maximum HP 38/41/44 Attack 27/30/33 Speed 21/24/27 Defense 28/31/34 Resistance 20/23/26 {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}}

Skills Fire Breath+ -- --

Rarity ★★★★ Weapon type Movement type

Initial StatsLevel 40 Stats Maximum HP 15/16/17 Attack 9/10/11 Speed 4/5/6 Defense 8/9/10 Resistance 5/6/7 Maximum HP 39/42/45 Attack 29/32/35 Speed 22/25/28 Defense 30/33/36 Resistance 21/24/27 {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}}

Skills Dark Breath -- Dragon Gaze

Rarity ★★★★★ Weapon type Movement type

Initial StatsLevel 40 Stats Maximum HP 16/17/18 Attack 9/10/11 Speed 5/6/7 Defense 8/9/10 Resistance 6/7/8 Maximum HP 42/45/48 Attack 31/34/37 Speed 24/28/31 Defense 32/35/38 Resistance 23/26/30 {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}}

Skills Dark Breath+ -- Dragon Gaze

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Skill set

Skill set
Skill		Unlock	Auto-unlock	SP cost
	Fire Breath	★★★	★★★	50
	Fire Breath+	★★★	★★★	100
	Dark Breath	★★★	★★★★	200
	Dark Breath+	★★★★★	★★★★★	300
	Wizened Breath	★★★★★	—	400
	Dragon Gaze	★★★	★★★★	100
	Dragon Fang	★★★★	—	200
A	Fierce Stance 1	★★★	—	50
A	Fierce Stance 2	★★★	—	100
A	Fierce Stance 3	★★★★	—	200
C	Savage Blow 1	★★★	—	50
C	Savage Blow 2	★★★★	—	100
C	Savage Blow 3	★★★★★	—	200

Personality

Bantu possesses a kind, gentle and grandfatherly spirit, which motivated him to act as a surrogate parent to Tiki in light of her once-bleak life. In his gentleness he is also firm, never hesitating to reprimand or criticize Tiki should she do something wrong, but doing so in a way which guides her into learning what the correct course of action would have been and thus encouraging her to do the right thing.^[2] During theWar of Heroes, Bantu came to believe that he has a responsibility to aid impoverished and suffering manaketes across Archanea, and so resolved to search for such manaketes and to convince them to cease using their dragonstones in a bid to keep the peace between humans and the dragonkin.^[3]

Bantu is skilled at a form ofpickling vegetables, born of his determination to find a way to make Tiki like eating vegetables.^[4] His pickling method involves burying the vegetables underneath certain kinds of stones for roughly a century.^[5]

Supports

Mystery of the Emblem

Bantu Manakete Supports: None. [[{{{supportg1}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusg1}}} [[{{{supportg2}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusg2}}} [[{{{supportg3}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusg3}}} Supported by: Tiki Manakete Bonus: 10 [[{{{supporto2}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonuso2}}}

Shadow Dragon

Bantu Manakete Mutual supports: None. [[{{{supportm1}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm1}}} B: {{{bm1}}} A: {{{am1}}} [[{{{supportm2}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm2}}} B: {{{bm2}}} A: {{{am2}}} [[{{{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:* Tiki Manakete C:5 B: 8 A: 10 Nagi Manakete C:5 B: 35 A: 35 [[{{{supporto3}}}]] Bishop C: {{{co3}}} B: {{{bo3}}} A: {{{ao3}}} [[{{{supporto4}}}]] Bishop C: {{{co4}}} B: {{{bo4}}} A: {{{ao4}}} [[{{{supporto5}}}]] Bishop C: {{{co5}}} B: {{{bo5}}} A: {{{ao5}}}

New Mystery of the Emblem

Bantu Manakete Mutual supports: Tiki Manakete C: 5 B: 10 A:-- [[{{{supportm2}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm2}}} B: {{{bm2}}} A: {{{am2}}} [[{{{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 Mercenary C: 5 B: 10 A: 16 Nagi Manakete C: 2 B: -- A: -- [[{{{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:Bantu/Conversations

Endings

Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light

Bantu
Put away his firestone. Spends his time in the countryside of Dolhr.

Mystery of the Emblem

Book 1

Bantu, Fire Dragon
Bantu sealed his dragonstone and disappeared. But his wish was to live out his years quietly in the Dolhrian countryside.

Book 2

Bantu, Tiki's Guardian
He cast away his dragonstone, leaving for parts unknown. Even as centuries pass, rumors abound that he yet lives...

Shadow Dragon

Bantu - Fire Dragon
Bantu sealed the dragonstones' power and disappeared, but his wish was to live out his years in the Dolhrian countryside.

New Mystery of the Emblem

Bantu - Tiki's Guardian
Bantu left after discarding his dragonstone, his whereabouts unknown.

Quotes

Death quotes

Everyone's Conditions quotes

Heroes quotes

Main article:Bantu/Quotes (Heroes)

Other appearances

Fire Emblem Cipher

Bantu is featured on one card inFire Emblem Cipher.

Fire Emblem Cipher data for Bantu
	Guardian of the Dragon Princess, Bantu
		"Hey, you. Did you see a young girl named Tiki?"
		Attack: 30	Support: 20	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 2
		Class: Manakete		Tier:Base	Class Change Cost: --
		Servant of the Divine Dragon:[Always] While you have an allied "Tiki", this unit gains 30 attack. Lost Dragonstone:[Trigger][Once per turn] When this unit finishes a battle with an attacking unit, this unit loses 30 attack and the and affinities until the end of the turn.
	Card #P02-003PR • Artist:Mikihiro Taguchi/Crowd Gate Co., Ltd.
Some card information translation provided by Serenes Forest. For more detailed strategic information on these cards, seetheir TCG wiki article on Bantu .

Flavor text

Meet some of the Heroes entries

Bantu: Tiki's Guardian
You know, I kind of wish I had an amiable old grandfather figure around. Someone like, say… Bantu, the kindly old man who looked after Tiki, princess of the Divine Dragons!	Bantu used to look after Tiki in the Ice Dragon Temple. Apparently, he'd even sneak her out sometimes to show her the outside world.	Now, Bantu might look like an ordinary old man at first glance, but when it's time for battle, that's when he reveals his secret power! Bantu is a manakete, and his true form is that of a fire dragon, complete with fiery breath to wipe out his foes!	I guess he can be a bit scary when he's in his dragon form, but he's normally very kind and friendly. I hope he'll be there to protect and look after Tiki forever!
Closely Associated Characters
Tiki {{{Related_name2}}} {{{Related_name3}}} {{{Related_name4}}} {{{Related_name5}}} A young Divine Dragon once put into a timeless sleep to keep her dragon impulses in check. Now longs for human company. Bantu is as good as family to her. {{{Related_blurb2}}} {{{Related_blurb3}}} {{{Related_blurb4}}} {{{Related_blurb5}}}

Choose Your Legends placement history

Round	Placement	Character	Votes

CYL 1 (2017)	462	Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light /Shadow Dragon	270
	672	Bantu Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem	78

CYL 2 (2018)	411 (−51)	Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light /Shadow Dragon	423
	597 (−75)	Bantu Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem	135

CYL 3 (2019)

360 (+26)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light /Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

516 (−44)

CYL 4 (2020)

583 (+140)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light /Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

120 (−396)

CYL 5 (2021)

707 (+124)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light /Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

42 (−78)

CYL 6 (2022)

701 (−8)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light /Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

44 (+2)

CYL 7 (2023)

631 (−70)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light /Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

52 (+8)

CYL 8 (2024)

779 (+148)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light /Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

24 (−28)

CYL 9 (2025)

721 (−58)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light /Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

30 (+6)

CYL 10 (2026)

850 (+129)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light /Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem /New Mystery of the Emblem

8 (−22)

Total results		This character has 12 entries across all Choose Your Legends polls.	1,742

Trivia

• Bantu is the only male playable character of theManakete class in the entireFire Emblem series. WhileXane andGotoh are both manaketes, they have discarded their dragon powers and taken other classes.
• Bantu is depicted with red eyes inMystery of the Emblem, but has blue eyes inShadow Dragon andNew Mystery of the Emblem.
• InShadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, Bantu's portrait is an edited and recolored variation ofGharnef's portrait.
• In theMystery of the Emblem Hideo Takayashiki novels, "Bantu" is actually Bantu's surname and what he goes by; "Meola" (Japaneseメオラ) is his given name.

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

Sprite Gallery
Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light Manakete Untransformed Firestone
Mystery of the Emblem Manakete Untransformed Fire Breath from aFirestone
Shadow Dragon Manakete Untransformed Firestone
New Mystery of the Emblem Manakete Untransformed Firestone Magestone Icestone Wyvernstone

Official artwork

• 
  Artwork of Bantu,Tiki, andXane fromAll of Fire Emblem.
• 
  Artwork of Bantu fromMystery of the Emblem.
• 
  Artwork of Bantu and Tiki fromMemorial Book Akaneia Chronicle.

CG images

• 
  CG image featuring Bantu fromNew Mystery of the Emblem.

Portraits

• 
  Portrait of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian inHeroes.

Heroes artwork

Character artwork

• 
  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.
• 
  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.
• 
  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.
• 
  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.

Meet some of the Heroes artwork

• 
  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.
• 
  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.
• 
  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.
• 
  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.
• 
  Bantu in artwork ofTiki: Dragon Scion.
• 
  Bantu in artwork ofTiki: Torpid Dragon.
• 
  Bantu in artwork ofTiki: Fated Divinity.

Cipher artwork

• 
  Artwork of Bantu.
• 
  Bantu in artwork ofTiki.

References

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