—Merlinus in a support conversation with Vaida in The Blazing Blade.
Merlinus is a playable character that appears frequently in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade and Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. He resides in either a tent, carriage, or wagon, with only the latter two being able to move. He must be protected, as he has no means of fighting. As a merchant, Merlinus holds the player's armory optionally during each battle.
He is one of the few non-main characters that cannot die along with others such as: Marcus, Nils, Ninian, Oswin, Karel, Karla, Rath, Pent, Louise, Bartre, Nino and Athos, however, unlike the others who do not die, Merlinus will return to help in the next level if he dies. In both games, he manages the player's Supply Convoy.
Profile
He first appears in Chapter 13 of Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade in a village that the player must visit in order to unlock Chapter 13 Gaiden, in which he must be protected to have him join the party in the next chapter. If this Gaiden chapter is not unlocked and cleared, he will join automatically a few chapters later.
An older Merlinus also appears in The Binding Blade, tasked by Eliwood to the personal advisor of his son Roy.
Personality
As a person, Merlinus is rather shy, cowardly and quirky, but also very kind and ultimately loyal, as revealed by his dialogue. It is also revealed that Merlinus is quite a good chef during his support conversations with Marcus and Vaida, as both characters say his food is some of the best they have had.
In The Binding Blade, he isn't as timid and fearful as he used to be; instead, he's very outspoken and sometimes pragmatic in his opinions, is distrustful of people with shady professions or suspicious circumstances like Princess Guinivere or Cath and behaves with a stern if sometimes harsh manner to those who act out of turn with his young master, out of worry of Roy's safety due to his inexperience in the ways of the world.
In Game
Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
Base Stats
| Starting Class | Affinity | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Transporter |  Dark | ||||||||
| Level | HP | Str | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Con | Mov |
| 1 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 25 | 5 |
| Weapon | Starting Items | ||||||||
| -- | -- | ||||||||
Growth Rates
| HP | S/M | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | 0% | 50% | 50% | 100% | 20% | 5% |
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
Description: A traveling merchant. Timid and easily frightened.
Base Stats
| Starting Class | Affinity | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Transporter | Dark | ||||||||
| Level | HP | Str | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Con | Mov |
| 5 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 25 | 5* |
| Weapon | Starting Items | ||||||||
| -- | -- | ||||||||
* Wagon only. Tent has no movement.
Growth Rates
| HP | S/M | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120% | 0% | 90% | 90% | 100% | 30% | 15% |
Supports
- See also: Merlinus/Supports
Use In Battle
The Blazing Blade
As he levels up each chapter he is kept alive, he can eventually upgrade to a moving unit. He cannot fight, consequently, so his tent or vehicle must be protected.
In battle, the player's forces can Merch when they are standing next to Merlinus, so they can withdraw and deposit their belongings. When a unit's inventory is full (maximum of 5 items), the player can send an item to Merlinus in the case that he/she should obtain an item from someone or something. The maximum amount of items allowed in storage is 100.
If Merlinus is not deployed in battle, or if he is defeated during the chapter, units with extra items will have to drop one instead of being able to send one to Merlinus, and units cannot Merch from him. However, if his HP reaches zero in one chapter Merching and transferring items will be available in the next chapter, making him a unique unit in that he can be used again even after his HP decreases to 0. The maximum number of level ups he can get is 25, so he cannot get to level 20 as a wagon.
The Binding Blade
Merlinus appears as a carriage, his promoted form from The Blazing Blade, in this game. Unlike the next installment, Merlinus is a unit that takes up a unit space and he is not needed in order to transfer items to storage. In order to level up, Merlinus needs to survive 100 hits from an enemy unit. He is still very useful for not only baiting out dangerous attacks, due to the fact that unlike other characters he doesn't die permanently but also allowing access to the convoy and mass selling in bulk during Chapter 21 for the potential boots shopping.
Quote
Retreat/Death Quotes
—Merlinus' retreat quote in The Binding Blade.
—Merlinus' retreat quote in The Blazing Blade.
—Merlinus' death/game over quote on Chapter 13x.
Possible Endings
The Blazing Blade
Merlinus - Cheery Merchant
Merlinus opened a shop in Ostia, but it was forced to close. He plans on re-opening with some aid from Lord Eliwood himself.
Marcus and Merlinus
The merchant Merlinus began working for Eliwood. He and Marcus were fast friends, and when Marcus became the head of military training, Merlinus used his business acumen to deal with all matters financial.
Other Appearances
Fire Emblem Ø (Cipher)
Merlinus is illustrated in the trading card game Fire Emblem Cipher with the following cards:
Uses
Merlinus is most likely the most worthless card in the game. He is a Cost 2 Unit with 10 Attack and 10 Support, has no Weapon Affinities and no Range meaning he cannot attack, and his only Skills are that he cannot Critical Evade and you can add him back to your hand if you are playing him for some reason and he gets killed. However, he is only available as a Tournament Promo card, so in theory you can maybe get something for him from collectors.
Etymology
Merlinus is another name for Myrddin Wyllt, a prophet from Welsh legend who is considered the most important prototype for the modern composite image of Merlin. He shares this etymology with Elffin's true name.
Trivia
- According to a Japanese gaming news website, Merlinus landed 50th place out of 80 in the character popularity poll for Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.
- His official art for The Blazing Blade shows him with a sword at his belt despite being a non-combatant in the game.
- Merlinus can visit villages. However, Merlinus cannot use the trade or supply functions on the battlefield, so once he has an item from a village, it is stuck to his inventory until the next chapter.
Gallery
