Theherons (Japanese:白鷺イーグレットegret) are alaguz clan ofTellius and one of the bird tribes, along with thehawks andravens. They once dwelled in the fallen Kingdom of Serenes, located in theSerenes Forest, but were driven to the point of extinction by the people ofBegnion.

History

Like both thebeorc and the other laguz clans, the heron tribe is descended from theZunanma.Lehran, a companion of the goddessAshera who played a pivotal role in the confinement of the "dark god" ina medallion, was a heron laguz and is the direct ancestor of the modern heron royal family.

The heron tribe historically called theSerenes Forest home, and as a result of their presence the forest took on something of a sacred significance to the people of Tellius.^[1] However, unlike most people of Tellius, the herons questioned the role ofBegnion's apostle as the true voice of the goddess. Inthe year 470, Begnion's war against the rest of Tellius led them to oppose the Begnion senate and declare their independence, forming the Kingdom of Serenes in the forest. However, their kingdom survived for only 155 years, as after the assassination of the apostleMisaha in 625, the senate spread a false rumor that the herons had been responsible for the crime. This sparked a violent mob of Begnion citizens to launch a mob attack on the forest. Within a matter of two days, the forest had been severely burned and the heron laguz had been driven to extinction.

Not counting Lehran, only five herons are known to have survived theSerenes Massacre, all of them members of the royal family. The king,Lorazieh, and his sonReyson were rescued by KingTibarn ofPhoenicis and lived with him for the following twenty-three years, although the genocide left Lorazieh completely bed-ridden. The eldest prince,Rafiel, had been abducted by slavers some time before the massacre and only found out about it later. The princessLeanne was left in hiding by her sisters and spent twenty years sleeping under the forest's protection, while another princess,Lillia, was abducted by KingAshnard ofDaein and eventually died in his custody. For a long time after the massacre, Reyson and Lorazieh were believed to be the last surviving herons, and Reyson had sworn vengeance on Begnion and the beorc for the extinction of his tribe, although he later reconsidered after the rediscovery of Leanne.

Characteristics

Physical appearance

In their humanoid forms, the herons have historically been regarded by both laguz and beorc as pinnacles of beauty and grace. The majority of known herons have long, flowing blond hair, white feathered wings, green eyes, and pointed ears; they also typically wear white robes. There also exist herons who have black hair and wing feathers, although the only known black heron isLehran.

Herons are very frail, and in the event that one attempts to physically attack another, odds are they will cause much more damage to themself than they do to their target, with a simple punch being likely to break their hand.^[2] Similarly, they are very prone to sickness and poison and will often die very quickly to these without proper treatment.^[3][4] If a heron is cut off from the natural world - for instance, if they are imprisoned in a windowless chamber - then this can worsen their condition.^[5] They also weigh very little.^[6] On the other hand, herons have the second-longest life spans of any living creature on Tellius, surpassed only by the dragons.^[7]

Powers

While herons completely lack the raw physical power found in other laguz tribes, they make up for it with their innate aptitude for many arcane powers. Herons inherently have a deep attunement to the energies of order and balance. This also ensures that all known herons are capable of handlingLehran's Medallion without being driven berserk by its power. However, their sense of order also makes them extremely vulnerable to its power when it reacts to a severe state of chaos, at which point they will be debilitated and will pass out. One of the powers herons have as a result of their sense of balance is the ability to read the thoughts of others. However, this ability is distorted and blocked by chaotic energies, meaning the ability can only be properly used in peaceful, calm times and environments.^[8] They are also the most widespread users ofgaldrar. Every heron has the ability to perform galdrar, but royal herons are the most powerful and can perform galdrar with the most potent results of all.^[9]

Herons have an extremely attunedability to sense the presence of others of their kind, likely the strongest of any laguz clan aside from thedragon tribe.^[10] This also means that heron laguz can make effective use ofsending stones to communicate across long distances.

Behavior

As a result of their high attunement to the spirit of order, the heron clan was a pacifistic one which, in addition to being physically incapable of violence, also morally refused to do so. They lived peaceful and pious lives in Serenes, making no attempt to hone their powers for use in combat,^[11] and they tended to be quiet, delicate, demure, and passive, avoiding anything resembling confrontation. This sometimes results in compulsive apologizing even where it isn't needed.^[12] Similarly, they also had something of a passive, accepting approach to life, allowing change to happen around them without resistance even if that change resulted in their demise.^[13]

After the Serenes Massacre, however, this changed significantly. Of the four known surviving herons, onlyRafiel continued to behave much like a traditional heron. Reyson adopted a harsher, more resilient persona after years of living with the hawks ofPhoenicis, while Leanne's twenty-year sleep left her with a more youthful and innocent persona.

Unlike most other laguz, herons adhere to a vegetarian diet, and strictly forbid hunting the animals of Serenes for food on moral grounds. The primary diet for herons is berries and nuts.^[14] Consuming meat makes herons violently, physically ill.^[15]

Because of their long life spans, the herons are one of the few societies which still primarily speak in theancient language, in addition to their use of it for galdrar.^[7]

Notable herons

Character	Description	Appears in
Lorazieh	The king of Serenes, and father of Rafiel, Reyson, and Leanne. He and Reyson were rescued by Tibarn after the Serenes Massacre, but he has been bed-ridden for over twenty years.	None
Reyson	A heron prince whose homeland of Serenes was destroyed by the beorc of Begnion. He is known as the White Prince. After the massacre of his people, he spent twenty years living in Phoenicis.	Path of Radiance,Radiant Dawn
Leanne	A heron princess whose homeland of Serenes was destroyed by the beorc of Begnion. She survived the massacre, but slept for long years hidden in the forest. She speaks the modern tongue poorly.	Path of Radiance,Radiant Dawn
Rafiel	A heron prince whose homeland of Serenes was destroyed by the beorc of Begnion. He was rescued while wandering in the Desert of Death by Queen Nailah. He possesses wings, but cannot fly.	Radiant Dawn
Lillia	A heron princess whose homeland of Serenes was destroyed by the beorc of Begnion. She and Lehran's Medallion were captured and imprisoned by Ashnard of Daein. She entrusted the medallion and the galdr of release to her caretaker, Elena. She passed away after Elena fled with Gawain.	None
Lehran	An ancient heron laguz who was a companion to the goddess. Ancestor of the Serenes royals.	Path of Radiance,Radiant Dawn

Class data

Herons are present as a class in bothFire Emblem: Path of Radiance andRadiant Dawn. They are a support class with no combat ability of their own, and instead they are the equivalent ofDancers from other parts of the series, using theirCanto/Galdrar skill to refresh allies who have already moved to let them move again.Radiant Dawn expands on this by giving Herons access to new chants with a variety of useful powers as they gainlevels. While unlike other laguz units, Herons are capable of performing their role in battle without needing toshift, their shifted state improves their utility by increasing theirmovement and, in the case ofReyson, increasing the number of allies his chants can affect at once.

Statistically, Herons are extremely frail. Although they share the highHP stat of all laguz classes and have respectableresistance, theirdefense stat is among the worst of any class in either game, to the point that not even shifting does much to improve the stat at all. Since they (excluding Rafiel) count as flying units, they are also vulnerable to bows and wind magic, further exacerbating their frail defensive stats. Additionally, their mediocrespeed leaves them very easilyfollow-up attacked. Leaving Herons within the range of enemies is extremely risky and dangerous, although at the very least their highest stat -luck - helps to give them decent, if unreliable,avoid. Due to their high resistance, they can serve as a decent tank to bait long-range tomes.

Herons have no natural means of attack available to them and are the only laguz class to not have astrike weapon of their own, nor can they (inRadiant Dawn) perform counterattacks if attacked at 1-range. However, inRadiant Dawn they are capable of using theSpectre Card,Reaper Card, andDaemon Card items to launch magical attacks.

InPath of Radiance, unshifted Herons are known by the class nameBird Tribe (Japanese:鳥翼族Bird-Wing Tribe). In the localized versions ofRadiant Dawn, they are called Herons in both shifted and unshifted states.

Base stats

Maximum stats

Miscellaneous data

Class growth rates

Class skills

Game	Skill	Learning conditions
Path of Radiance Radiant Dawn	Shove	Innate; hidden inPath of Radiance.
Path of Radiance Radiant Dawn	Galdrar	Innate. Known as "Canto" inPath of Radiance.
Path of Radiance	Blessing	Occult skill.
Radiant Dawn	Canto	Innate (Reyson and Leanne variants only).

Class change

Path of Radiance

Radiant Dawn

Playable Herons

Notable NPC Herons

Flavor text

Trivia

• Path of Radiancehas unused stat data for generic, non-royal Heron classes in both shifted and unshifted states.
• Since they cannot fight aside from using spell cards, the Heron is the only playable class inRadiant Dawn to not have amastery skill. This is because unlike inPath of Radiance, where Herons did haveone, all mastery skills inRadiant Dawn involve attacking.
• Contrary to the tribe's depiction in mainlineFire Emblem series titles and as they are described in-universe, Herons are allowed to attack inFire Emblem Heroes using conventional means; this is presumably due to the game being designed around giving every unit some method of attack.

Etymology and other languages

Transformed

Untransformed (Path of Radiance)

Untransformed, female (Radiant Dawn)

Gallery

• 
  Artwork of a transformed heron, fromTellius Recollection: vol. 1.
• 
  Reyson in his shifted heron state inPath of Radiance.
• 
  Leanne in her shifted heron state inRadiant Dawn.
• 
  Reyson: White Prince in his shifted heron state inHeroes.

References

This article is part ofProject Classes, a project focused in writing articles for every class present in theFire Emblem series.