Theearth dragons (Japanese:地竜earth dragon) are one of thedragon tribes ofArchanea. Once said to be the mightiest of the dragon tribes, rivaled only by thedivine dragons, their pride was their downfall in that it ultimately resulted in their virtual extinction, with all but one of the tribe sealed in theDragon Altar by theBinding Shield. The sole escapee,Medeus, went on to eventually become an infamous tyrant and the founder of theDolhr Empire, and theother member of the tribe went even beyond death to cause chaos and tyranny inanother land andtime.

History

Origins

Millennia before the foundation of theKingdom of Archanea, the dragons were the dominant race of the land, presiding over an enlightened and advanced civilization covering the entire continent; this changed one thousand years before Archanea's formation, as the dragons began to show signs of deterioration. When the divine dragon elders recommended that dragons seal their power intodragonstones andtake a human form to ensure their survival, the earth dragons refused out of sheer pride, with the sole exception of their prince, Medeus. Within three centuries, much as the elders had predicted, the earth dragons had indeed degenerated into mindless wild monsters and begun attacking the fledglinghuman race. In response, the divine dragons, led byNaga, engaged the earth dragons in theBattle of the Guardian Deity Naga, fighting to protect mankind. During the conflict, a bishop from a distant land,Gair, arrived in Archanea and approached one of the Earth Dragons, Loptous; the two formed a blood pact, and Loptous was confined to the form of theLoptous tome usable only by Gair andhis descendants, whom he would possess through the tome.

In the end, Naga's tribe defeated the Earth Dragons, though with their own tribe nearly wiped out. Naga created the Dragon Altar in what would later becomeMacedon, and sealed the defeated earth dragons within it using the Binding Shield forged from his own fang; according toGotoh, some several thousand earth dragons were sealed within the Table, having presumably died in the war and reawakened in the years since.^[1] He then tasked Medeus, the sole survivor and Manakete of the Earth Dragons, with guarding the altar and its seal.

Threats to humanity

Seven hundred years later, the seal on the Dragon Altar was weakened when the thiefAdrah broke the orbs off of the Binding Shield, although the effects of this would not become apparent for several more centuries.^[2] The broken Shield, renamed the Fire Emblem, became the crest of the kingdom Adrah soon formed, the Holy Kingdom of Archanea. Meanwhile, Medeus spent the centuries observing the rise of mankind and the increasingly derogatory treatment they inflicted upon the impoverished and weakened manaketes of the world. His observations ultimately led to his foundation of the Dolhr Empire in protest of this treatment, and his subsequent conquest of the human world which lasted for five years. His rule was brought to an end in what became known as theWar of Liberation, whenCaldas's uprising destabilized Dolhr's hold on the world and whenAnri, wielding Falchion, killed Medeus in single combat.

A century later, Medeus was subsequently revived twice by the sorcererGharnef and sought to resume Dolhr's dominion over the world, but in both instances he was slain by Anri's descendantMarth, again using Falchion. Perhaps more importantly, the weakened seal on the Dragon Altar had sustained six hundred years' worth of degradation by this point, to the point that the captive earth dragons were beginning to stir and emerge to serve Medeus around the time of theWar of Heroes and his second resurrection. Indeed, a single wild earth dragon was present in the Archanean palace, Millennium Court, under EmperorHardin's command during his showdown with Marth. Marth, meanwhile, had been tasked by Gotoh with gathering all five spheres and restoring the Binding Shield to its true state, in which he succeeded following his defeat of Hardin. Medeus himself had evolved into aShadow Dragon in his second resurrection, and when Marth came to challenge Medeus, earth dragons constantly emerged from the depths of the Table to serve Medeus, only to be killed by Marth's army or repelled and re-sealed by the Binding Shield. After Medeus's fall, the seal was restored and those Earth Dragons which survived the fight were returned to their imprisoned slumber.^[3]

A millennium later came the rise of the Fell DragonGrima and his conquest of the world, until again he was defeated through the use of Falchion and the Binding Shield. Grima is alleged to be "descended from" earth dragons, although his exact relation to them, and whether or not he is a true earth dragon himself, is unknown considering the extreme differences in biology and power he exhibits.^[4]

Characteristics

Physical appearance

Earth dragons have had consistently different appearances from each other—the original, dinosaur-likeShadow Dragon & the Blade of Light andMystery of the Emblem design shared by Medeus and the other earth dragons in the latter differs wildly from Loptous's serpentine form, which again differs from the quadrupedal redesign of Medeus and other Archanean earth dragons in theNintendo DS remakes. However, all three of these designs share the common trait of either completely lacking wings or only having small ones, reflecting their affinity with the earth. In all portrayals, earth dragons have mottled dust-brown hide and have a more muscular build than ice dragons or mage dragons.

Powers

Although earth dragons do have a natural affinity for the earth, and while inMystery of the Emblem they are seen to move around by burrowing through the earth and Medeus begins his battle in bothMystery Book 1 andShadow Dragon & the Blade of Light by emerging from the ground, their powers do not appear to be solely earth-based. They appear to command sinister powers associated with darkness, best evidenced through their breath weapon beingDark Breath. Similarly, although this has happened only once, earth dragons revived under certain circumstances will take a more clearly darkness-oriented form and become Shadow Dragons.^[5] The sinister power of earth dragons vastly exceeds the power of all other dragon clans save for the divine dragons, and typically the power of a divine dragon, whether an actual divine dragon or a weapon imbued with their power, is needed to successfully combat earth dragons.^[6]

Earth dragons innately possess exceptionally high life force, and as a result of it they are unable to be completely destroyed; the state of a deceased earth dragon is better described as being a state of sleep, and they will typically reawaken of their own accord after a period of centuries. The reawakening of an earth dragon can be hastened through the use of human sacrifice, particularly sacrifices of pure-hearted women.^[5] Similarly, they often exhibit protective abilities which at least partially shield them (or those wielding their power) from harm, making them even tougher to kill in the first place.

Behavior

Prior to their degeneration, most members of the earth dragonkin were a prideful sort, open in their contempt for humans on the basis of their sheer inferiority. Indeed, the ultimate reason for their degeneration was because of their pride, as they refused to submit to taking the form of humans even if it meant ensuring their survival. Their contempt for humans persisted even after their degeneration, with their contempt for humans becoming natural beast-like aggression toward them.

Class data

In its first appearance inFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, the Earth Dragon was merely Medeus's transformed state in his appearance as the boss of theEndgame, using anEarthstone as aManakete. Earth Dragons appeared as an autonomous class in the subsequent remakes and sequels:Mystery of the Emblem,Shadow Dragon andNew Mystery of the Emblem. Under the dragonstone mechanics ofMystery of the Emblem, Medeus starts as a Manakete and becomes an Earth Dragon through using the Earthstone on the field in the Book 1 Endgame, but inShadow Dragon, he instead permanently becomes an Earth Dragon in a cutscene at the beginning of the chapter.

InMystery of the Emblem Book 2 andNew Mystery of the Emblem, Earth Dragons appear exclusively as normal enemies in two chapters: a single Earth Dragon appears inChapter 20, while inthe Endgame multiple Earth Dragons continually spawn at the beginning of every enemy phase. In the latter chapter, however, the Binding Shield will automatically destroy any Earth Dragons on the field at the beginning of every player phase.

Earth Dragons possess formidable offensive and defensive power, inflicting physical damage with theirDark Breath. Their prowess is further augmented through certain traits they exhibit in certain games: the Earthstone inShadow Dragon & the Blade of Light grants its users invulnerability to ranged attacks, forcing the player to confront Medeus at close quarters; while inMystery of the Emblem, Dark Breath halves its enemy'sattack. However, Earth Dragons can be undermined through exploiting theirtype weakness: in all three games where it exists as an autonomous class, theDivinestone,Fog Breath, andFalchion inflict bonus damage on Earth Dragons, althoughWyrmslayers andDragonpikes do not.

InShadow Dragon andNew Mystery of the Emblem, the Earth Dragon is classified as aspecial class, and accordingly has a higherlevel cap of 30.

Base stats

The stats forShadow Dragon are used to calculate the stats of a Manakete using an Earthstone in combat.

Max stats

The stats forShadow Dragon are used to calculate the stats of a Manakete using an Earthstone in combat.

Miscellaneous data

Class growth rates

Class change

All appearances

Base class
Earth Dragon

Notable enemy Earth Dragons

Trivia

• The earth dragons' breath attacks' visual effect files in the DS games are referred to as "Gaiabreath".Gaia (Γαῖᾰ) is Ancient Greek for earth, and the name of theearth goddess; it is also the name of a cut earth dragon boss fromFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, which Medeus took as his dragon form in the final game.^[7]

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

• 
  Artwork of an Earth dragon from the opening ofMystery of the Emblem.
• 
  Artwork ofMedeus and his Earth Dragon form fromShadow Dragon.
• 
  Artwork of Medeus in his Earth Dragon form fromAPE'sMystery of the Emblem guide.
• 
  Artwork of an Earth Dragon from theTrading Card Game.
• 
  CG ofMarth and transformed Medeus fromShadow Dragon.
• 
  CG of Earth Dragon Medeus, laying defeated, fromShadow Dragon.
• 
  The generic dragon portrait used by all dragons inMystery of the Emblem.
• 
  The generic Earth Dragon portrait inNew Mystery of the Emblem.
• 
  Medeus as an Earth Dragon inShadow Dragon & the Blade of Light.
• 
  An Earth Dragon inMystery of the Emblem.
• 
  An Earth Dragon andNaga from the opening ofMystery of the Emblem.
• 
  Loptous, an earth dragon, inGenealogy of the Holy War.
• 
  An Earth Dragon inShadow Dragon andNew Mystery of the Emblem.

References

See also

• Black Dragon
• Shadow Dragon