Franz (Japanese:フランツFranz) is a young knight ofRenais who appears inFire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. He is in loyal service toEirika andEphraim and first appears in thePrologue, though he is not playable untilChapter 1. He is generally quite respectful and modest, and he is the younger brother ofForde, another cavalier.

Biography

Franz was born as the younger brother ofForde and the son of a famed knight ofRenais. Due to his father's occupation, he was often absent in Franz's life, causing the young boy to cry until his brother started painting for him.^[2] The two boys grew up with their mother until she passed away from illness when Franz was too young to properly remember her, leaving him primarily in Forde's care, who left the portrait he painted of their mother hanging for Franz to remember her by.^[3] Ten years prior to theWar of the Stones, their father was tasked with hunting down an infamous assassin—though he succeeded in his mission, he was mortally wounded, leaving the brothers orphaned.^[4] Having lost both of his parents at a young age, he swore to them that he would live a long life and be happy.^[5]

Franz eventually joined the Knights of Renais, following in the footsteps of his older brother, who he looked up to.^[6] He finished his training only briefly beforeGrado invaded Renais,^[7] being tasked by GeneralSeth to deliver news of the invasion to the allied kingdom ofFrelia. He met up with the knightGilliam, who in turn explained that PrincessTana was in danger at the border, and the two rode forBorder Mulan to rescue her as well.^[8] The knights met back up with PrincessEirika and Seth, and the four of them repelled the invading Grado forces at Mulan; afterwards, Franz continued fighting for Renais during the campaign against Grado and, eventually, the Demon King. During the war, he formed a rivalry withAmelia, a Grado soldier of similar age who fought alongside him.^[9]

After the war concluded, Franz returned home to Renais and continued to serve his country as a knight; either by himself^[10] or alongside Amelia, who would eventually become his wife, retire, and raise a daughter with him who would later become a great knight as well.^[11]

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

Role

Franz is a playable character. He first appears in thePrologue, whereSeth orders him to travel ahead and search for help. He automatically joins at the beginning of turn 2 duringChapter 1, and has unique talk conversations withEirika and Seth. On Easy Mode, he is used as the tutorial for gaining additional units andtrading. DuringChapter 8, he also has a unique talk conversation with his brother,Forde. He is able to recruitAmelia by talking with her during Chapter 9 of either route (Eirika/Ephraim), as well as duringChapter 13 of Eirika's route if she was initially missed.

Starting stats and growth rates

Cavalier Level 1 Affinity

Recruitment:Chapter 1, automatically on turn 2 StatsGrowth Rates Max HP 20 Luck 2 Strength 7 Defense 6 Skill 5 Resistance 1 Speed 7 Constitution 9 Movement 7 Aid 16 Max HP 80% Luck 40% Strength 40% Defense 25% Skill 40% Resistance 20% Speed 50% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory Iron Sword Iron Lance Vulnerary Vulnerary Weapon Levels E D -- -- -- -- -- --

Promotion stat gains

Class	HP	Str	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Con	Mov	Weapon level
Great Knight	+3	+2	+1	+2	+0	+2	+1	+4	−1	D

Analysis

Franz is aCavalier that joins inChapter 1. His class gives him access to 7 move and two weapon types, letting him avoid a weapon triangle disadvantage. He comes with decent bases for his early join time, but he will have issues doubling mid-speed tier enemies for a while, and his awful luck means he has to worry about facing low crit rates from many enemies. His low base level means that he will need a decent amount of training to promote by the time the firstKnight Crest is obtained at the end ofChapter 7, and experience is contested due to all of the other unpromoted units with offensive issues and the fast pace of the early-game. While not as good as a flying class,Paladin gives Franz a lot of utility thanks to its 8 movement. While his combat will not be as good asSeth's, he'll have good backup combat. His other promotion option is Great Knight, but it loses 2 movement over Paladin, so unless the player wants Franz to useGarm it's far worse.

Fire Emblem Heroes

Main article:Franz/Heroes

There is one variation of Franz available inHeroes.

Personality

Franz is a quite modest knight, and is very respectful to others. Most of the time, he is polite and often willing to give advice. He gives Gilliam advice in muscle relaxation andNatasha information about his satchel. This means he is very helpful to others. Also, he likes to fish instead of hunt. Sometimes he can also be slightly nervous to others. As a knight, he is very serious about fighting for Renais. Additionally, he can be quite perceptive; for example, he is able to realize that Forde is only laid back to cheer up the other soldiers and paints to better understand landscapes for battle purposes.

Franz is a knight of Renais like his older brotherForde and others. The two grew up through most of their lives without parents. In Franz's conversations withSeth, it is revealed that the brothers's father was a legendary knight for the Renais soldiers. Even Seth admired him, but this knight was fatally wounded after hunting down an assassin ten years before theWar of the Stones. Franz does not remember much about his father besides crying about his absence and he and his brother vying for his attention. He remembers his father's scar on his shoulder quite clearly. His mother died before his father did, and Franz does not seem to remember anything about her. Still, he keeps her comb with him as a protective charm.

Supports

Main article:Franz/Supports

Franz Cavalier Seth Paladin Initial: 15 Per turn:+2 Forde Cavalier Initial: 25 Per turn:+3 Natasha Cleric Initial: 10 Per turn:+2 [[{{{support7}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin7}}}affin.png|link={{{affin7}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints7}}} Per turn:+ [[{{{support9}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin9}}}affin.png|link={{{affin9}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints9}}} Per turn:+ Gilliam Knight Initial: 10 Per turn:+2 Amelia Recruit Initial: 5 Per turn:+3 [[{{{support6}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin6}}}affin.png|link={{{affin6}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints6}}} Per turn:+ [[{{{support8}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin8}}}affin.png|link={{{affin8}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints8}}} Per turn:+ [[{{{support10}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin10}}}affin.png|link={{{affin10}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints10}}} Per turn:+

Endings

Franz the Faithful
He continued to serve Renais with the same devotion that he had during the War of the Stones. His generous nature and easy smile made him a favorite among the people.

Franz and Amelia
Franz brought Amelia home with him to Renais. Amelia spent a short time in Renais's army, but once she and Franz were married, she retired her commission. The two had a daughter who grew to be a great knight herself.

Quotes

Final Chapter quote

Death quote

Heroes quotes

Main article:Franz/Quotes (Heroes)

Other appearances

Fire Emblem Cipher

Franz is featured on two cards inFire Emblem Cipher.

Fire Emblem Cipher data for Franz
	Faithful Paladin, Franz
		"Someday, I will become a knight even greater than my brother or my father!"
		Attack: 60	Support: 10	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 3
		Class: Paladin		Tier:Advanced	Class Change Cost: 2
		"I'll fight to the end to protect you!":[Always] If this unit is in the same area as your Main Character, this unit gains +10 attack. A Lesson From the Silver Knight:[Activate][Once per turn] Choose 1 ally, and move them. This skill is only usable if you have 1 or more other allies.
	Card #B18-078HN • Artist:Nico Komori
	Young Knight of Renais, Franz
		"We must retake the castle. Then, we ride forth to Princess Eirika's aid."
		Attack: 40	Support: 10	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 1
		Class: Cavalier		Tier:Base	Class Change Cost: --
		Lone Cavalier's Call for Help:[Activate][Once per turn] [] Choose 1 ally from the Back Line, and move them. Attack Emblem:[Support] Until the end of this combat, your attacking unit gains +20 attack.
	Card #B18-079N • Artist:Nico Komori
Some card information translation provided by Serenes Forest. For more detailed strategic information on these cards, seetheir TCG wiki article on Franz .

Flavor text

Trivia

• Thesupport conversation viewer inThe Sacred Stones prototype suggests that Franz at one point may have been planned to have support conversations withEirika.

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

Sprite Gallery
Cavalier Paladin Great Knight Sword Lance Sword Lance Sword Lance Basic axe Ranged axe

Official artwork

• 
  Artwork of Franz fromThe Sacred Stones.

Battle animations

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  Franz attacking with asword as aCavalier inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Franz performing acritical hit with a sword as a Cavalier inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Franz attacking with alance as a Cavalier inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Franz performing a critical hit with a lance as a Cavalier inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Franz attacking with a sword as aPaladin inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Franz performing a critical hit with a sword as a Paladin inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Franz attacking with a lance as a Paladin inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Franz performing a critical hit with a lance as a Paladin inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Franz attacking with a sword as aGreat Knight inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Franz performing a critical hit with a sword as a Great Knight inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Franz attacking with a lance as a Great Knight inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Franz performing a critical hit with a lance as a Great Knight inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Franz attacking with anaxe as a Great Knight inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Franz performing a critical hit with an axe as a Great Knight inThe Sacred Stones.

CG images

• 
  CG image ofSeth,Forde,Kyle, and Franz inThe Sacred Stones.

Portraits

• 
  Portrait of Franz fromThe Sacred Stones prototype.

Heroes artwork

Character artwork

• 
  Artwork of Franz: The Faithful.
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  Artwork of Franz: The Faithful.
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  Artwork of Franz: The Faithful.
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  Artwork of Franz: The Faithful.

Meet some of the Heroes artwork

• 
  Artwork of Franz: The Faithful.
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  Artwork of Franz: The Faithful.
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  Artwork of Franz: The Faithful.
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  Artwork of Franz: The Faithful.
• 
  Franz in artwork ofSeth: Silver Knight.

Cipher artwork

• 
  Artwork of Franz.
• 
  Artwork of Franz.

References

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