Karel (Fire Emblem)

Karel is a playable character in Fire Emblem 6: The Binding Blade, Fire Emblem 7: The Blazing Blade, and Fire Emblem Heroes. He is a swordmaster who has had two titles over the course of his career: The battle-crazed Sword Demon, and the sage-like Sword Saint.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) Despite having a minor role in the games, Karel does get great character development and his arc is among one of the best in the Fire Emblem series.
 * 2) Karel has appeared in several Fire Emblem games, and is probably one of the most reoccurring non-lord characters in the series, since he's one of the few Fire Emblem characters that appeared in both Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade and Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.
 * 3) He also appeared as a collectible spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate among others.
 * 4) Despite his bloodlust and edgy role in The Blazing Blade, not to mention having long hair that was down to his knees and wearing a long coat that exposes his chest (traits that are often typical among some antagonists in other JRPGs or anime series), he's neither a villain nor an antagonist.
 * 5) Despite some morally questionable choices he's made, Karel clearly has a redeeming side to him and this has proven through his actions several times.
 * 6) He is a very helpful ally to Eliwood's army during the later chapters of The Blazing Blade despite his reason for aligning with them is the opportunity to find more worthy opponents to kill (he gets better later on), and is arguably the best swordmaster in the game.
 * 7) By the time he's the wise Sword Saint in FE6, he feels guilty of his past actions as the Sword Demon that he proved himself that he has learned from his mistakes.
 * 8) Karel is one of the few characters in the whole Fire Emblem franchise to not get explicitly into a romantic relationship with another character, and it is safe to say that Karel is neither the romantic nor sexual type. With the fact that in both games he's in, the only female character he has a support conversation with are his relatives (his sister Karla in FE7, his niece Fir in FE6) and his interactions with other characters are platonic at best and "going around seeking worthy opponents" at worst. This makes him a good contrast to most other characters in the Fire Emblem series (especially those from the later games) who have at least one optional love interest that they end up marrying or having kids with in the end. This is not the case for Karel. This also makes him a good fictional character for people who stay "single and loving it" or were sterilized in real-life to relate to, as long as they don't kill anyone.
 * 9) Karel is basically like Nintendo's equivalent of certain characters such as Himura Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin or Manji from Blade of the Immortal, since his story and characterization are very similar.
 * 10) Karel is one of the only two characters (next to Roy) that were originally conceived for the cancelled Fire Emblem 64 before it became FE6/Binding Blade for GBA.
 * 11) He is the only character in the Fire Emblem series who is guaranteed to obtain a Perfect Level Up, and this only occurs in The Binding Blade, where he is recruited at Level 19 in which he can only level up once.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) It was never shown on why he changed from the Sword Demon to the Sword Saint during the timeskip between FE7 and FE6.
 * 2) It was also never shown as to why he slain members of his family except his younger sister and why he became the Sword Demon during that massacre, and still no reason as to why he acted that bloodthirsty and violent during that time.
 * 3) His stats as the Sword Demon in FE7 and Fire Emblem Heroes come off as mediocre unless trained better or given better stats.