Alm (Fire Emblem)

Albein Alm Rudolf, also known as Alm is one of the two main characters of Fire Emblem Gaiden and Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Born in the year of 384 in the Valentian calendar and the year of 590 in the Archanean calendar, he was raised in Ram Village by his grandfather Mycen. He grew up alongside a group of other Ram Village children consisting of Gray, Tobin, Kliff, and Faye where they are all trained by Mycen. He also grew up with Celica who was taken care in the hands of Mycen, not to mention both of whom share a similar brand on their hands. As Celica was taken away for safety due to Slayde taking interest on her, Alm felt heartbroken and vowed that they will one day meet again.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) Alm is a kind young man who has a strong sense of justice and subtly idealistic morals. This alone here make him want to leave the village to help the people of Zofia after hearing about the outbreak of thieves, famine, and the aggression of the Rigelian Empire. He even spent like years honing his skills until the age of 17 years of age.
 * 2) His reason as to why he joined the Deliverance is inspiring as he does not want to join for fame or wealth, but to protect innocent lives. It's a good thing Clive made him the leader of the Deliverance.
 * 3) Because of Celica which is a possible reason as to why he also has this trait, Alm would never turn down an opportunity to help others, no matter how extraneous the effort would be. Sure, some like Lukas and Clive advice him not to take detours, Alm stands up what he believes in as he can help any one in need thus leading to several people joining his cause from helping them including Luthier, Delthea, Tatiana, and Zeke. If you see someone in need what would you do?
 * 4) He's got a deep longing for a family as he's said to have grown up lonely in Ram Village. Even he freaked out over learning about how Mycen had no children. However, Alm treats his members as his family in order to counterbalance his loneliness. It goes further later in the story.
 * 5) With his humble background, he's is able to appeal to the mass of the Deliverance and later the forces of Zofia during their battle against Rigel, having relatable experiences to many who joined the cause.
 * 6) Character development: Alm at first is pretty unsure about his role as a leader, but over the course of the war Alm grows more confident and assured of his abilities to lead and inspire others to his cause.
 * 7) He understands his own naïveté and unfamiliarity with the world outside of his village, and is very attentive in general to compensate for said naïveté. So he's quick to accept his own flaws as if he was taking criticism.
 * 8) He wears is heart on his sleeve (as in he openly shows feelings rather than hiding them). This can be relatable as some may not want to show honest expressions, but there are certain moments that will make us do so.
 * 9) His relationship with Celica is quite believable and realistic. You see Alm tried to rekindle their relationship, but there was a schism between them as Alm wants to stop Rudolf yet Celica asks Alm for a peaceful resolution. But later on, both reconcile.
 * 10) *For further explanation, he found out that Celica was imprisoned by Jedah in order to be sacrificed to Duma. Yes, Celica does fun off to accept her demise, but Alm still wanted to take down Duma. Another thing is that in the final chamber, he again sees Celica albeit turned into a mindless witch due to Duma which leads to the two fight. But it get's touching as Mila calls to Alm to take the Falchion and drive it to Celica in order to expel Duma's influence with the cost of killing Celica, but thankfully Mila used her remaining power to get Celica back to life. Celica does apologize to Alm and both armies join forces to kill Jedah, Hestia, and Marla in order to face Duma. They also wed at the end and usher and era of peace.
 * 11) He is able to wield the Royal Sword as it's exclusive to him. He can restore HP every player turn. He's also able to wield the legendary Falchion as well which is also exclusive to him.
 * 12) For a boy, Alm still has a wholesome appearance as he has a fair share of quirky moments out of battle so some could find him cute (especially since he's 17 and the way he is drawn).
 * 13) In the end, he spent his life restoring the land to glory.
 * 14) Even if Alm became Saint-King Alm, he still wants to remain true to myself such as proving to be a great king.
 * 15) In Echoes, his personality is just as the same in Gaiden only it adds more to him. He's still the all-loving hero yet Echoes also adds stern side to him yet still likeable.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Can be naïve. Though this could be understandable as Alm is young at 17 after all.
 * 2) Has a vaguely puerile sense of humor.
 * 3) He's a terrible dancer (for real).

Trivia

 * 1) Alm's name has many possible origins. Alm takes its reference from the alpine pasture of the same name; this is further supported in his full name in the Japanese version, Alpine Alm Rudolf. Alm is ostensibly derived from the Old Norse word "álmr", meaning "elm tree". In modern Swedish, Alm still means "elm tree". Alm could also be a reference to giving alms, or an act of charity.
 * 2) *Alm's first name in the English versions, Albein, is possibly derived from the name Albin.
 * 3) *The pronunciation of Alm's Japanese name Arumu also vaguely sounds like aurum, the Latin word for "gold."
 * 4) As with many characters in Gaiden, Alm's hair color differs in various art assets. It is green in the manual and cover art, but blue in game. In the manga adaptation of Fire Emblem Gaiden, Alm has green hair as well. In Fire Emblem Awakening, Alm has green hair but the very tips are blue, effectively combining both hair colors. In Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, his hair is consistently green in both official art and in the game itself.
 * 5) He is one of the few main characters to have a specified last name, the others being Sigurd, Seliph, Leif, Elincia, Jill, and Sanaki, as well as the vast majority of the playable cast in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
 * 6) Alm was originally right-handed in Gaiden and all subsequent materials. However, Shadows of Valentia depicts Alm as left-handed, both in his promotional art and in-game appearances. This is further shown in Fire Emblem Heroes where he has different animations compared to most sword users.'
 * 7) *The reasons for the change, according to the developers, were that the motion team said that many new poses and patterns can be made if the character was simply left handed, as well as to make Alm better resemble a hero with the strength to overcome any enemy, such as Alexander the Great, who was also said to be left handed, while also serving as a contrast to Celica’s brand.
 * 8) In the raw Japanese script of Gaiden, aside from his use of "boku" as a personal pronoun, Alm tends to use rather feminine speech mannerisms.
 * 9) As implied from the flavor text in Shadows of Valentia, Alm has a taste for landscape paintings and, like Celica, is quite fond of cats.
 * 10) In Shadows of Valentia, Alm is the only playable character without a spell list, as he does not learn magic naturally and cannot use a Pitchfork.