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“They forced me to enlist- you know I hate warfare, but it was into the army or onto the chopping block.”
—Matthis in Shadow Dragon.

Matthis is a playable character from the Archanea Series of Fire Emblem. Matthis initially enlists in the Macedonian army against his will, later defecting to Marth's army on his sister's urging.

Profile[]

Background[]

After Lena bluntly rejected the marriage proposal of Prince Michalis of Macedon and departed from the country, Matthis, her older brother, was left to face the wrath of Michalis in the wake of his humiliation. Michalis, in a state of vindictive hatred, forces Matthis to enlist in the ranks of the Macedonian army against his will or risk being executed.

War of Shadows[]

Matthis makes his first formal appearance in Chapter 4 of Shadow Dragon, where he initially takes up arms against Marth's army. He quickly defects after his sister Lena chastises him for his poor choice, however, eager to escape the oppressiveness of Michalis' merciless command. He then aids Marth in bringing the War of Shadows to an end. Thereafter, Matthis leaves the army in order to lead a life of mundane, boring serenity.

War of Heroes[]

Matthis reappears in Chapter 3 of Book 2 of Mystery of the Emblem, shortly after Lena is abducted by Gharnef. Once again, he has enlisted in the ranks of the Macedonian army and taken up arms against Marth's army, but will defect when spoken to by Julian, with the intention of saving Lena with him. Matthis then helps Marth to end the War of Heroes, returning to his former life of idleness once Medeus is slain.

Personality[]

Like a majority of the cast appearing in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem, Matthis' personality is not very well developed, owing to the minor role that he plays in both games. Based on the few interactions that he engages in, however, one can still determine defining traits that form his character.

Matthis is portrayed as having an acute distaste for war and violence, preferring to lead a life of idle tranquility. His stints with the Macedonian army are entirely the result of his having been threatened with death should he not comply, and through this, one can determine that he is rather cowardly and timid, preferring to preserve his own personal safety and well-being over fighting for the honor of his country. His cowardice is further explicated in his conversation with Marth following his recruitment in Shadow Dragon, where he expresses a rather shameful display of fear of Marth, stuttering in his request for him to withdraw his rapier. Matthis' cowardice in this context is not without a good cause, however, as he reveals that Michalis has a sadistic tendency to deploy the most terrified-looking soldiers onto the front lines and kill those who defy him, leading him to believe that all members of royalty are just as, if not more, cruel.

Despite his flaws, Matthis is redeemed by his devotion to Lena as her older brother, where he constantly expresses concern over her welfare, to the point where he may come across as being rather obsessive at times. Through his base conversations with Kris in New Mystery of the Emblem, for one, he expresses an almost frenzied agitation in his worry for Lena's safety, fearing that her abductors are planning "something wicked" for her. Although he comes to resolve to strengthen himself through physical training for her sake, he gives up midway through, the result of his inclination to be lazy and half-hearted in the tasks that are either assigned or self-imposed.

Matthis is also supportive of romantic relationships between individuals of the same sex, as seen in his support with female Kris where he mentions he wouldn't mind if she married Lena and took care of her despite her gender.

In-Game[]

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light[]

Recruitment[]

Name Class Chapter Affiliation Recruit
Matthis Cavalier 4 Macedon Starts out as an enemy unit; talk with Lena.

Base Stats[]

Starting Class
FE1 Cavalier Map Sprite Cavalier
LevelHPStrSklSpdLckDefResWlvMov
21652607089
WeaponStarting Items
Sword
Lance
Lance

Growth Rates[]

HP Str Skl Spd Lck Wlv Def Res
50% 40% 30% 20% 20% 70% 20% 0%

Promotion[]

Item Required Promoted Class
Paladin's Honor FE1 Paladin Map Sprite Paladin

Overall[]

Secret Book (Artwork)
Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.

Matthis is a very mediocre unit statistically, with bases that range from barely average to very poor and growths that veer into outright bad, especially relative to the game's other cavaliers. That said, he is also a cavalier, one of the best classes in Shadow Dragon, and therefore boasts high mobility and access to swords and javelins. This, when combined with his somewhat high Weapon Level and reasonably early joining time, mean he can be dragged out of his doldrums with some investment, and even use silver weapons relatively early. In particular, his base 7 Weapon Level allows him to wield a Silver Lance, and a high growth gives the potential to wield a Silver Sword before long. Though he's outclassed by many other cavalry units, he can still find a place in the army due to the inherent versatility of his class, and after promotion, he becomes outright viable.

Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem[]

Recruitment[]

Name Class Chapter Affiliation Recruit
Matthis Cavalier 4 Macedon Starts out as an enemy unit; talk with Lena.

Name Class Chapter Affiliation Recruit
Matthis Cavalier 3 Macedon Starts out as an enemy unit; talk with Julian.

Base Stats[]

Growth Rates[]

HP Str Skl Spd Lck Wlv Def Res
50% 40% 30% 20% 20% 70% 20% 3%

Promotion Gains[]

Item Required Promoted Class
Knight Crest (FE3)Knight Crest FE3 Paladin Map Sprite Paladin
1 +2 +3 +3 +2 +6 Varies +1

Overall

Secret Book (Artwork)
Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.

Book 1 Matthis suffers noticeably from the game's nerfing of the cavalier class, with him being lancelocked on his horse and forced to dismount indoors. His gains in HP make him somewhat more sturdy, but he is overall still very mediocre.

Book 2 Matthis is a marked improvement, with many of his stats being noticeably buffed; in particular, his base Defense of 9 is quite high for a cavalier at that stage in the game, putting his base durability on par with Arran. His most relevant stat, however, is his high Weapon Level of 8, which, as ever, enables a wide selection of weapons. Combine this with the existence of Astral Shards to alleviate his poor growths, and he can become surprisingly competent; notably being able to tank the blows of dragons and return the favor with a Wyrmslayer even at base level. Unfortunately, Book 2 as a whole also does not favor cavalry as much in its second half, owing to the excess of terrain and indoor chapters that can force even a powerhouse like Sirius to struggle. While nearly anyone in Mystery can become good, Matthis tends to require noticeably more work to avoid falling off.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon[]

Recruitment[]

Name Class Chapter Affiliation Recruit
Matthis Cavalier 4 Macedon Enemy, talk with Lena.

Base Stats[]

Starting Class
FE11 Cavalier Map SpriteCavalier
LevelHPStrMagSklSpdLckDefResMov
22050260709
WeaponStarting Items
FE12 SwordSword - E
FE12 LanceLance - D
FE11ironlanceIron Lance

Growth Rates[]

HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res
90% 40% 0% 30% 20% 30% 30% 0%

Promotion Gains[]

Item Required Promoted Class
FE11mastersealMaster Seal FE11 Paladin Map SpritePaladin
1 +4 +2 +1 +3 +1 +1 +6 +1
Weapon Levels
FE12 LanceLance +30

Support Relationships[]

Supports
Character Initial points Total points for
C B A
Lena 0 5 9 14

Supported by

Character Initial points Total points for
C B A
Lena 0 5 9 14
  • To increase support levels, characters must participate in chapters together
  • One support point is gained for each chapter they both participate in
  • Support levels that require 35 chapters cannot be reached normally
  • Characters must be within a three tile radius of each other to receive support bonuses

Bonuses per level:

Overall

Secret Book (Artwork)
Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.

Matthis' performance in Shadow Dragon has significantly worsened since his early days. His growth rates have been bumped up somewhat, with him now possessing notably higher growths in HP and Defense. However, all his other stats remain terrible, and his prior utility as a cavalier has worsened due to the fact that other characters can reclass as one. While Matthis can reclass as well, he cannot do so effectively, as his personal base stats are nonexistent; he only has 2 HP, with everything else being generic class bases. His theoretically good durability is countered by his awful Speed growth, which means enemies may double even a raised Matthis. Due to his 0 base Luck, he faces a chance of being critted when fighting every single enemy on the roster, so he is liable to simply die if allowed to take a hit. On higher difficulties, there is simply almost nothing Matthis can do, as enemies will easily overpower him, sometimes killing him in a single round on his joining chapter. His sole good trait is his lance rank, which allows him to use javelins at base.

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem[]

Recruitment[]

Name Class Chapter Affiliation Recruit
Matthis Cavalier 3 Macedon Starts out as an enemy unit; talk with Julian.

Base Stats[]

Starting Class
FEDS Cavalier Map SpriteCavalier
LevelHPStrMagSklSpdLckDefResMov
42170371909
WeaponStarting Items
FE12 SwordSword - E
FE12 LanceLance - D
FE11ironlanceIron Lance
FE11javelinJavelin

Growth Rates[]

HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res
100% 50% 0% 40% 30% 30% 30% 5%

Promotion Gains[]

Item Required Promoted Class
FE11mastersealMaster Seal FEDS Paladin Map SpritePaladin
1 +4 +2 +1 +3 +1 +1 +6 +1
Weapon Levels
FE12 LanceLance +30

Support Relationships[]

Supports
Character Conversations Total points for
C B A
Lena None 0 - -
Supported by
Character Conversations Total points for
C B A
Kris 1, 2, 3 5 11 18
Julian None 5 11 18
Lena None 0 - -
  • To increase support levels, characters must participate in chapters together
  • One support point is gained for each chapter they both participate in
  • A hyphen (-) indicates the support level cannot be reached
  • Characters must be within a three tile radius of each other to receive support bonuses

Bonuses per level:

Support Conversations[]

Number Importance Name Chapters Needed Reward
118 * Matthis and Kris 1 3 -
119 * Matthis and Kris 2 6 -
120 * Matthis and Kris 3 10 StrengthBondStrength Bond
  • To obtain the conversations, characters must participate in chapters together
  • The requirements for unlocking support conversations are separate from the support bonus system

Overall[]

Secret Book (Artwork)
Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.

New Mystery sees Matthis' growths bumped up significantly since Mystery of the Emblem. While he remains a mediocre combatant at best, he can at least contribute on lower difficulties, and even potentially grow into a viable fighter, possessing somewhat above-average base Defense and enough base Speed to at least not be doubled. Unfortunately, his join time is a major blow against him, as at this point on higher difficulties, the enemies are much stronger than Matthis, to the point that he cannot perform well at base. Furthermore, the player can boast Luke, Roderick, and Cecil, who have had multiple chapters to grow and surpass him, including most of the prologue (when they were already on par with him at base), not to mention Arran and possibly even a reclassed Catria. Matthis has little to justify his presence, when the player has many better options for cavaliers, and his weapon ranks do not provide him with much opportunity for reclassing.

Fire Emblem Heroes[]

Brother to Lena
A noble knight of Macedon. Though he would prefer to avoid bloodshed, he had no choice but to take up arms. Appears in Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.

Base Stats[]

Rarity:
✯✯✯
Matthis Heroes spriteTitle
Brother to Lena
Group
Heroes Cavalry Cavalry
LevelHPAtkSpdDefRes
1
40
15/16/17
34/37/40
8/9/10
35/38/41
6/7/8
25/28/31
8/9/10
31/34/37
5/6/7
19/22/25
SkillsWeapon
FEH skill offense Steel LanceFEH Lance Lance
✯✯✯✯
Matthis Heroes spriteTitle
Brother to Lena
Group
Heroes Cavalry Cavalry
LevelHPAtkSpdDefRes
1
40
15/16/17
35/38/41
9/10/11
37/41/44
6/7/8
26/29/32
9/10/11
33/36/39
5/6/7
20/23/26
SkillsWeapon
FEH skill offense Vulture Lance
FEH skill special Rising Wind
FEH Lance Lance
✯✯✯✯✯
Matthis Heroes spriteTitle
Brother to Lena
Group
Heroes Cavalry Cavalry
LevelHPAtkSpdDefRes
1
40
16/17/18
38/41/44
9/10/11
39/43/46
7/8/9
29/32/35
9/10/11
35/38/41
5/6/7
22/25/29
SkillsWeapon
FEH skill offense Vulture Lance+
FEH skill special Rising Wind
FEH Lance Lance

Skills[]

TypeNamePrerequisiteDefaultUnlocked
FEH skill offenseIron Lance---
Steel Lance---
Vulture Lance-FEH Star Rarity 4FEH Star Rarity 3
Vulture Lance+-FEH Star Rarity 5FEH Star Rarity 5
FEH skill specialRising Wind-FEH Star Rarity 4FEH Star Rarity 3
Blazing Wind--FEH Star Rarity 4
BFEH Chill Atk 1 Chill Atk 1-FEH Star Rarity 3
FEH Chill Atk 2 Chill Atk 2FEH Chill Atk 1 Chill Atk 1FEH Star Rarity 4
FEH Chill Atk 3 Chill Atk 3FEH Chill Atk 2 Chill Atk 2FEH Star Rarity 5
CFEH Rouse Def Res 1 Rouse Def Res 1--
FEH Rouse Def Res 2 Rouse Def Res 2FEH Rouse Def Res 1 Rouse Def Res 1-
FEH Rouse Def Res 3 Rouse Def Res 3FEH Rouse Def Res 2 Rouse Def Res 2FEH Star Rarity 4

Overall[]

Secret Book (Artwork)
Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.
Base Set[]
Counters[]
Skill Inheritance[]

Meet Some of the Heroes[]

Brother to Lena Matthis
Matthis brother to lena pop01 Matthis is a knight from Macedon. He might seem quite timid and unassuming, but he's actually the older brother of Lena, Macedon's Angel herself!
Matthis brother to lena pop02 Quite the opposite of the resolute, determined Lena, Matthis prefers to go with the flow. When ordered around by someone aggressive, he'll quickly fall in line and follow directions.
Matthis brother to lena pop03 But that isn't to say he doesn't have a backbone—he suddenly gets serious whenever Lena's involved. If it's for his sister's sake, he'll confront even the mightiest of foes!
Matthis brother to lena pop04 Matthis and his sister are like night and day, and you might think he's unreliable. But I think that when the time calls for it, the two share a certain kind of strength!
Closely Associated Characters
Lena A cleric revered as Macedon's Angel. Cares for orphans in her convent after the conclusion of the War of Shadows. Matthis's younger sister.
Julian A reformed thief who takes the War of Shadows as a chance to atone for his crimes. Lives and works in a convent with Lena, Matthis's sister.

Quotes[]

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light[]

“Lena...where have you gone? Even if it could be just once more...I had hoped to see you again.”
—Matthis' pre-battle quote

Recruiting Matthis[]

  • Lena: Matthis, is that you? It's me! Your sister, Lena!
  • Matthis: Lena...what are you doing here on the field of battle?
  • Lena: I was captured by bandits, but the Alteans saved me. What about you? Why are you part of this army?
  • Matthis: I know you fled Macedon because you do not love Prince Michalis. But things are even worse there now. He must have it out for me because I was pressed into the army. Now I'm stuck here... I don't want to fight, but the punishment for desertion is even worse.
  • Lena: Don't be a coward! You must stand up and choose the path you believe in. Macedon has joined forces with Dolhr, and the people suffer for it. It's mortifying. Brother, it is not too late. Join the Altean army. They will welcome you with open arms. They are truly wonderful people.
  • Matthis: ...I understand. If I am to die, I should do it honorably, and with style. I suppose it won't be any less strict here though... After all, I have a sister who can say no to a prince! On that topic...have you found a man that you do like?
  • Lena: Er, no... No. There's no one.
  • Matthis: Hmm. Well, you're still young. You'll find love. Just avoid thieves and scoundrels!

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon[]

“Lena… Where are you? What I would give to hear your voice just once before I die…”
—Matthis' pre-battle quote

Recruiting Matthis[]

  • Lena: Matthis? Is that you?
  • Matthis: Lena?! What are you doing on a battlefield?
  • Lena: I was attacked by bandits in the Teeth while tending to the sick there, and these people saved me. The real question is, what are YOU doing on a battlefield- least of all this one!
  • Matthis: I’m not here by choice, sister of mine. Since you left, Macedon has only gotten worse and worse. They forced me to enlist- you know I hate warfare, but it was into the army or onto the chopping block.
  • Lena: Shame on you, Matthis. If you’re going to fight, then at least fight for something you believe in. Medon has done terrible things: marrying their might to Doluna, helping them torment people…Brother, it’s not too late. You could join Altea’s forces. They’re good people you know. Prince Marth would welcome you. They all would.
  • Matthis: …All right, then. If I’m gonna to die, I’d rather die as one of the dashing than one of the dastardly. You know, Lena, you always were the reliable one and now you’re all grown up…I thought for sure you’d have already settled down with your one true love.
  • Lena: T-true love? I’ve…I’ve met no such man, Matthis.
  • Matthis: Hmm, is that so? I’ll bet you haven’t… Well, you just be careful. There are plenty of thieves out there who would steal a girl’s heart.

Marth and Matthis Conversation[]

  • Marth: You must be Matthis, Sister Lena’s-
  • Matthis: ACK! Y-you’re Prince Marth! Aieee! S-s-stay your rapier, I beg you!
  • Marth: …What has gotten into you?
  • Matthis: You mean…you haven’t come to stick me like a pig for fighting under the Macedonian standard?
  • Marth: Er, no…
  • Matthis: “Really?
  • Marth: Really and truly.
  • Matthis: Oh! Uh, right then… Sorry about that little display. I guess Lena was right. Just goes to show not all princes are cut from the same cloth!
  • Marth:“What do you mean?
  • Matthis: Oh, well, our prince- Prince Michalis of Macedon, that is- he’s strong, and proud…and an utter tyrant. They say he put the soldiers who look the most scared in the front lines on purpose.
  • Marth: Hmm… Prince Michalis of Medon…
  • Matthis: Don’t worry, sire, I won’t mistake you for him again! Altean princes I can trust!

Defeated[]

“Lena… Forgive your…fool of a brother…”
—Matthis's death quote

Heroes[]

Matthis/Heroes Quotes

Endings[]

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light[]

Returns to his hometown to live a quiet life.

Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem[]

Book 1[]

Macedonian Noble

He retired from the army and, in Macedon, casually passed his days.

Book 2[]

Foolish Brother
He continued passing his days casually working in Macedon.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon[]

Dashing Noble
Matthis left the army in favor of a dull and predictable life in Macedon: to him, bliss.

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem[]

Wayward Brother
Matthis continued to while away his life in Macedon-his idyllic life.

Non-Canon Appearances[]

Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher)[]

Matthis is illustrated in the trading card game Fire Emblem Cipher with the following cards:

Choose Your Legends Placement History[]

Trivia[]

  • In the manga adaptation of the first game, Matthis is an expert tactician.
  • Matthis shares his portrait with Vyland in the first game.

Gallery[]

See main article: Matthis/Gallery.
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