Gangrel

Gangrel is a character from the Fire Emblem Awakening games.

The wild and ruthless king of the Theocracy of Plegia (hence his title Mad King). He takes sick pleasure in hurting and deceiving others. He was ultimately being used by Validar for the latter's nefarious goals, and is presumably killed in battle against Chrom's army.

In the AWA fics, Gangrel appears in the All Worlds Alliance Missions - Awakening.

Appearance
Gangrel is tall with a messy red hair and facial hair, red eyes and a grayish skin tone. He wears a yellow cape over a black baggy bodysuit with white collar and black fur around his neck area, he wears a gray belt with hip pads, circular pads around his waist and a dark-brown armored stilleto boots. He wears a crown on top of his head.

Personality
Initially, Gangrel appears to be a bloodthirsty king searching for violence, as he attempted to provoke Ylisse into war with Plegia because he sought to control the continent, even mocking Emmeryn as too naive and kind. Gangrel reveals he hates the world and even his own subjects due to his harsh past. After his defeat at the Border Wastes, and recruitment into the Shepherds, he seeks forgiveness for his actions. In the DLC Hot-Spring Scramble, he attempts to apologize to Emmeryn for the pain he caused her. Later on, he rants about how he wanted to shape the future, but how the thrill of war "stained" his hands and how he wanted to escape from it. When Emmeryn calls Gangrel a friend, he is shocked by the compliment.

In his supports with male Robin, Gangrel reveals that he initially intended to unite the continent to fight Valm, but became twisted by the thrill of war and resulted in many people being killed. He regrets starting the war and at the end of their supports, returns to his "energetic" personality due to Robin's words to him, and promised to help Plegian citizens who have lost their way. He also reveals that he does not worship Grima, instead paying lip service to the Grimleal compared to the majority of his people.

In his supports with female Robin, he appears to be more upbeat and lively, and constantly tries to recruit Robin to serve as his personal tactician, trying various methods such as compliments, gifts, and even asking her straight out to work for him. If Gangrel achieves an S Support with Robin, Gangrel confesses that what he really needs is someone to make sure that he does not do anything stupid when he returns to rule Plegia, and asks for her hand in marriage to ensure this.

He is the person in the army most afraid of heights.

Abilities
As a playable character, Gangrel can be a quite useful unit, as he is one of few units that does not need excessive level grinding to get his strength and magic at a passable level so he can be a solid Trickster. His only major competition as a well-rounded Trickster is from Robin, Anna, and Henry. However, Gangrel receives large bonuses for Hard and Lunatic Mode, putting him at the advantage against the other three, as they need a few Second Seals to catch up to his large bonuses.

However, Gangrel does have a bit of an issue: his HP, luck, and defenses are not very high, which can put him at a disadvantage against his enemies. He also cannot support anyone except for Robin (or Morgan if Gangrel is his father), which can be troublesome when trying to pair Gangrel up. Due to this, he does need to be treated with a little more care, as he is not going to be able to take multiple hits. However, Gangrel's high Speed and Lucky Seven skill helps accommodate for his relative fragility, allowing him to dodge a fair share of attacks.

Gangrel is best suited as a Trickster due to his workable magic stat. Thus, a character like Gaius who does not have that good of a Magic stat makes a more logical choice for an Assassin. However, Gangrel can go into the Assassin class to acquire the Pass skill, which can boost his utility further, as he will be able to walk through the opposition. All in all, Gangrel is as solid of a utility unit as there is, especially in Hard or Lunatic Mode due to the bonuses he gets.

Gangrel can go into the Barbarian and Dark Mage classes. Gangrel's biggest niche is being a solid Trickster without needing to be level-grinded, but some alternate classes can give him some really good skills to work with. Despoil is not that great of an ability on Gangrel due to his lesser Luck rating; however, he can still acquire Gamble, Wrath, and the Axefaire skills from the Barbarian line. This allows him to have higher chance of criticals or increase his utility even further. Gangrel is well-suited to use the Vengeance skill from the Sorcerer class due to his high Skill and lesser defenses, especially in combination with Wrath. As a Dark Knight, Gangrel will have less Magic and Defense than Tharja, but higher Skill, Speed and Luck. However, Gangrel can just simply acquire the Lifetaker skill to boost his durability. Gangrel is still best suited as a Trickster, but skill combinations can help boost his utility.

Trivia

 * His title in the English version, the Mad King, is shared by Ashnard from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
 * Some parts of Gangrel's backstory can only be found on the Japanese website for Awakening.
 * His older concept art design seems to have been the basis of the generic Trickster class portrait.
 * Gangrel's official artwork depicts him wielding a Levin Sword.
 * There is a minor inconsistency in Gangrel's design between different art assets. In his regular portrait, he has long sharp fingernails, in his confession and official art, he has shorter, less sharp fingernails.
 * During the preparation phase of Chapter 9, Gangrel is temporarily on-screen. Selecting his name on the lower screen lists his information as "The cruel and fatalistic former king of Plegia", his description from Paralogue 18. In Chapter 11, his information correctly displays as "The self-styled 'Mad King of Plegia'."
 * Gangrel shares his Japanese voice actor, Manabu Sakamaki, with Kellam, as well as Three Houses ' Alois.
 * Gangrel's map sprite as a Trickster depicts him holding his sword outwards, similar to female Tricksters like Anna, instead of against his chest like regular male Tricksters.
 * His ability "Reversal of Fortunes" as a boss in Tokyo Mirage Sessions appears to be a direct reference to a line in Awakening, said when he summons reinforcements against an Ylissean legion: "I believe this is what they call a reversal of fortunes." In Tokyo Mirage Sessions, this ability also summons reinforcements.