HAVEN

[heronpecked]

Character Name: Tibarn
Canon: Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Canon Point: Post endgame of Radiant Dawn
Background/History: Here you go
Personality: Sorry this got long.
First, some backstory for clarification of what Tibarn is: Radiant Dawn takes place on the continent of Tellius, which is inhabited by two races: the beorc (humans) and the laguz (animal-people). The two races… don't get along. Especially in the countries of Begnion and Daein, beorc consider laguz to be "sub-human" even going so far as to kill, capture, sell, experiment on, or make them into slaves based on their race. Needless to say, the laguz resent the beorc because of it. Tibarn is especially riled by this treatment of his fellow laguz.

A bit of Tibarn's personal backstory: From before the beginning of the first of the two games he's in (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance), Tibarn is the already established king of the hawk tribe of Phoenicis (a laguz country). While there aren't really specifics about time or circumstance, it's stated that Tibarn is over 100 years old (as laguz age more slowly than beorc), and that he was chosen as king based on his strength in battle. He's a strong, passionate fighter, as demonstrated throughout the two games (His stats are ridiculous compared to other units. In the first game, he's nearly unkillable, even by bosses, and the creators only let you use him for one fight because of it).

Luckily for his nation, Tibarn is a good king, who besides his ridiculous strength is also honest and noble. To his fellow laguz especially, Tibarn acts as an older, protective brother. He'll beat up the neighbor kids so to speak, but they deserve it for pushing his family around.

And boy do they deserve it, in Tibarn's eyes. Twenty years prior to the start of the first game, the Begnion empress Misaha was assassinated after outlawing laguz slavery in Begnion. (A fair and just beorc, and they killed her for it. Nice.) In a blind rage, the beorc people of Begnion blamed the heron laguz (who lived in the neighboring Serenes Forest) for the death of their empress, burned the herons's forest, and killed nearly all of their tribe. Only two members of the royal family - King Loreziah and Prince Reyson - were thought to have survived the fire.

Tibarn was pissed. Beorc had always been on Tibarn's shitlist, but outright attacking a fellow bird tribe (who happened to be pacifists, no less) only reinforced Tibarn's hatred for them. After that, like a good older brother, Tibarn invited the remaining heron royals to live in Phoenicis under his protection, closed Phoenicis to beorc visitors, and began raiding any Begnion ships that passed through their waters. Tibarn wouldn't go out of his way to attack beorc or start any wars, but he was making sure that the beorc, especially Begnion, knew where he stood.

And FINALLY we get to the point where Path of Radiance, the first game, begins. (Sorry again. This is long.) Daein, one of the anti-laguz countries, attacked and decimated Crimea, a relatively harmless country. Some of the laguz countries wanted to aid Crimea, since Crimea had always been relatively kind to laguz. Some were against it, wanting nothing to do with Beorc. Tibarn (and thus his country of Phoenicis) wanted to join the war. First: he likes any excuse for honest violence. Second: it was as good an excuse as any to kill some beorc. And finally, if they won the war (which, of course, they'd expect to), they would have one beorc country decimated, and one in their debt.

Tibarn likes to fight; it's in his nature as a hawk laguz. Unfortunately for him in this case, he was outvoted by the other laguz kings, and they decided to keep out of the war for the moment. …Most of them.

Naesala, king of Kilvas (country of the raven tribe), continued participating in the war as a method of making money for his impoverished country. He aided the Daeins (laguz haters), selling his troops's services. While Tibarn didn't particularly like Naesala's decision, it didn't really affect the laguz (who weren't involved in the war), so Tibarn didn't chose to take any action against it other than making his opinion known. THEN Naesala went and sold Reyson, one of the last two known living herons under Tibarn's care, into slavery.

Tibarn was pissed. Again. He, Janaff, and Ulki (his besties - loyal retainers he's known since childhood, his self-declared "eyes" and "ears") rushed in to rescue Reyson, only to find that a group of beorc - the Greil Mercenaries, led by Ike - had attempted to save Reyson, but Reyson had then escaped into the charred remains of the Serenes Forest. Beorc HELPING laguz. Tibarn judges people on their actions, and that put Ike into his good graces from the start, and would later affect Tibarn's decision to aid him.

But at time, Reyson's well-being was Tibarn's first priority. By the time Tibarn, Janaff, and Ulki have finally tracked him down, Reyson was set to sing a galdr of destruction and kill the humans who were tracking him. Tibarn was able to talk him out of it, though: not because he cared about the beorc, but because doing so would warp Reyson's personality, as herons are sensitive to negative energy. Tibarn swore to get revenge against the beorc on Reyson's behalf - which basically sums up their relationship. The majority of everything Tibarn does is either to protect his fellow laguz (especially the herons) or get revenge for past injustices done to them.

Tibarn, along with Reyson, Janaff, and Ulki, went after Duke Tanas, the man who'd purchased Reyson ... only to discover that the Greil Mercenaries were already fighting Tanas and his troops. Not only that, but Ike, their leader, was carrying a heron girl over his shoulder. Shocked at both of these discoveries but not hesitating to join the fray, Tibarn and co helped to finish off the duke and his men. After the fight, it was revealed that the heron was one of Reyson's sisters, Leanne, whom the forest had protected, letting her sleep there safely for twenty years. Tibarn couldn't help but be grateful to Ike and his company, even though they were beorc, for their help in rescuing both Reyson and Leanne. Reyson was especially grateful, and though Tibarn tried to talk Reyson into returning to Phoenicis with the hawks and his sister, Reyson insisted on joining Ike in his fight to defeat Daein and restore the Crimean princess to her throne. Tibarn was reluctant, but finally allowed it, because when Reyson makes up his mind, there's really no arguing it, in Tibarn's experience. Stubborn herons. Anyway, Tibarn assigned Janaff and Ulki as Reyson's escorts, and told Reyson that he'd have the full support of Phoenicis if he asked for it.

Tibarn and Leanne headed back to Phoenicis, and things were uneventful for a few months. Then, Tibarn got a letter from Reyson requesting Phoenician troops for what would be the last few battles of the war. However, while Tibarn was distracted with preparations, Leanne was kidnapped by a Daein soldier (the infamous Black Knight), and the hawk guarding her was killed.

Tibarn was pissed. (Do we see this pattern.) He met up with Reyson and Ike's company, relayed the information about Leanne, and officially joined the war against Daein: to aid Reyson and Ike, to rescue Leanne, and to overthrow Daein, which is really what Tibarn had wanted since the war began. If they'd only listened to him back at the beginning of the game…….

With a little time, Tibarn was able to find out where Leanne was being held. Though he could've just rushed in to save her, he instead forced-- I mean asked-- Naesala to do the rescuing in his place while he joined the main army in a direct attack. Naesala was a childhood friend of both Reyson and Leanne, after all, and a fellow bird laguz. Tibarn wanted Naesala to HELP his fellow laguz to make up for his previous betrayal. Naesala agreed to it and successfully saved Leanne. This reassured Tibarn that, even though Naesala was a greedy lying betrayer, he still had a heart under his slimy feathers and deserved Tibarn's forgiveness. Again, it's that brotherly thing.

In the very final battle of the war, both Phoenicis and Kilvas lent their troops to Ike and Crimea in order to defeat Daein. They fought in the air to keep Daein wyvern-riders from escaping, and the player can choose either Tibarn, Naesala, or the lion Giffca to participate in the main fight. If Tibarn's chosen, he does so enthusiastically. Very enthusiastically. If you have him fight the final boss, he says, "I want to rake my talons across your face so much, I can hardly control myself." ...Which is the sort of thing he says to most bosses he fights over the two games. (Also to Naesala on occasion, but as previously mentioned, he always ends up forgiving Naesala for one reason or another. Tibarn makes his laguz bias pretty obvious.)

By the end of the first game, Tibarn comes to respect Ike, who is a genuinely good person and a strong fighter, despite being a beorc. He even goes so far as to invite Ike to visit Phoenicis any time he'd like. So while the prejudice against beorc still stands, by the game's epilogue, Tibarn is far more open-minded than he was at the start. Finally, the heron siblings, along with their father, decided to visit Gallia (which is forested and more like Serenes than the mountain land of Phoenicis). Tibarn made arrangements with King Caineghis and saw that the heron royals had an escort prepared. Then he, along with Janaff and Ulki, returned to Phoenicis. End of the first game.

THEN THE SECOND GAME, Radiant Dawn, happens. Sorry this is long.

Three years later, Tibarn is still King of Phoenicis, beorc and laguz still don't get along, and things are getting worse. It came to light that Begnion's corrupt senators were behind the death of their own apostle and the subsequent deaths of the Serenes herons back before the first game. Tibarn, and all the laguz, were pissed, and formed an alliance to take Begnion down. Another war, fighting alongside his fellow laguz against the beorc to defend the honor of the herons. Tibarn was in his element - bloodthirsty and battle hungry.

Unfortunately, ravens are assholes. King of the ravens, Naesala, betrayed the other laguz by giving away their movements to Begnion, and what was supposed to be a raid on Begnion turned into an ambush. Tibarn and the hawks stayed and fought all the same, unaware at the time that their own country of Phoenicis was under attack, their raid turned into a diversion. Most of the population of Phoenicis (the women and children at home, mostly), was decimated.

Pissed is an under statement this time. When Naesala finally shows his face again later into the war, the first thing Tibarn says to him is, " After I break every bone in your body, I'm going to rip your wings off and feed them to you before you get to die."

Luckily for Naesala at that point, the herons are all unconscious, and a so-called "dark god" is being awakened. Yes, Radiant Dawn gets a little weird. After all the back and firths, the fighting, and the laguz on the losing side of the war, it's revealed that all the fighting was actually being orchestrated by the prime minister of Begnion, Sephiran, in an attempt to wake the god of order Ashera, intent on destroying the world. Most of the population is turned to stone by the goddess, except the strongest of the population. Once this shit goes down and there are goddesses to worry about, the remaining beorc and laguz all put aside their differences and join one party to defeat her. Priorities.

As per usual, Tibarn is excited to be fighting, regardless of the circumstances. One boss conversation, the enemy asks why Tibarn's laughing. Her replies, "Some of us here are just overflowing with the chaos you're causing with this fight. That might be part of it... But, to be honest, there's a part of me that can hardly believe how much fun tearing your head off will be."

Needless to say, the good guys win, the goddess is defeated, and everyone turned to stone is brought back to life. It's revealed along the way that Naesala was blackmailed by Begnion, and had only betrayed the hawks in oder to protect his country of Kilvas which, in Tibarn's mind, is an understandable evil. Protecting his fellow bird laguz is, after all, what Tibarn's about. So, he reluctantly forgives Naesala (Again, until the next inevitable betrayal.).

As a show of good faith, the young empress of Begnion returns ownership of the restored Serenes Forest back to the herons, and invites them to return. It's not explicitly mentioned whose decision it is, but the laguz of Phoenicis, Kilvas, and Serenes all choose to move with the herons to the Serenes Forest, and Tibarn is chosen to be king of these "unified bird clans," and the epilogue states that the other nations respected them thanks to Tibarn's rule.



Abilities/Powers:
Most obviously, Tibarn has the ability to transform into a giant hawk. It's an ability he was born with, something every member of his tribe can do. There are also tribes that can transform into ravens, herons, cats, tigers, lions, and dragons, and collectively these people are called "laguz." Everyone who can't turn into an animal of some kind is called a "beorc," although the derogatory words "sub-human" and "human" are often substituted, respectively.

Though Tibarn doesn't use magic and isn't a brilliant tactician, as a fighter, he's incredibly strong. So strong, in fact, that he was crowned Hawk King. He, along with the other laguz kings, are the most powerful characters in the game - they're all incredibly fast, have a large range of movement, have very strong defense, and good resistance even to magics they're weak against. In other words, he's good at killing and very hard to kill.

In addition to strong stats, Tibarn has a variety of skills that make him an invaluable ally. He has the ability "formshift" that allows him to remain transformed as a hawk for any amount of time he likes - something that requires a lot of strength (most laguz can only stay transformed for a short amount of time before they're forced to shift back). He also has "canto" (as most flying and mounted units do) which allows him to attack and then retreat before the other enemy is allowed a turn. The ability "savior" means he can rescue another unit without sacrificing any stats (which, when paired with canto, is invaluable for assisting weak or injured allies). "Pavise" completely blocks enemy damage when it activates (it activates more often the higher Tibarn's skill stat is), and "Tear," when it activates, allows Tibarn to do triple his normal damage.

Not to mention, Tibarn has bond supports with his two retainers and the heron royal family, which makes him literally stronger and more deadly when any of them is nearby.


Items/Weapons: Tibarn's weapons are his talons, when transformed. They're so strong that he can pierce Goddess-blessed armor with them. That's something only Goddess-blessed weapons (and, apparently, Laguz kings) can do. Un-transformed, he carries a knife on his belt he's never shown using in game - probably for skinning animals and the like, as he never fights in this form. He doesn't really need anything else, other than the clothes on his back.


Sample Entry:

[Tibarn woke up in a small bed, huddled against a wall. That was his first clue. You need a big bed when you've got a fourteen foot wingspan. And you don't sleep next to walls. Tibarn curses in a growl under his breath as he rolls out of the bed, sore and dazed, wondering how the hell he went to sleep comfortable and content in a bed made for a king, and woke up in beggar's shack obviously made by and for beorc.]

[ It doesn't take much talking to the people around him to figure it out. They're all of them taken to this place from places he's never even heard of. And they've never heard of laguz, nevermind Tellius.]

[What the hell is going on? The other rooms aren't much bigger than the first. The stairwell's even worse, and the windows too all small to bother alighting from. So he walks, and asks around, looking for answers. Seems like Yune's doing to him, but nobody seems to know who the goddess is, and that doesn't make Tibarn feel any better about this place.]

[Tibarn's mind races as he breathes in the stiff, dusty air. If not Yune, then what goddess or magic did this? (Not a chance the beorc are smart enough.) And this definitely isn't Tellius, so where the hell is he?]

[He gets outside, and the racing thoughts stop at the look of it. The empty sky, the stone ground. Gray. Gray, and empty, and quiet. Tibarn's blood runs cold, his fists clenching at his side like talons. It's worse than he thought.]


Sample Entry Two:

As far as Tibarn could tell, this Haven place was a cage, plain and simple. No grass, no trees. All stone and glass, all made by beorc. Nothing natural. And all of it abandoned, left to nature.

That was the problem with it, though. Nature didn't want it. A burned down forest grows up from the ashes, stronger than before. But this place? This place was cursed. Like when the goddess Ashera had turned everyone to stone. Quiet. Orderly. Wrong.

They weren't all laguz here, though. Or beorc-- some of the people he saw were definitely something else. Then why? What did they all have in common, if not their race? There was something going on. They were put in this cage for a reason; Tibarn was sure of it. But whatever the reason, it was no excuse.

Someone was going to pay. His captors were smart to hide. Because when Tibarn found out who was keeping them in this box of stone and glass, there were going to find out exactly why you don't cage a hawk.