Inheritance

Inheritance is a game mechanic that appears in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, Fire Emblem Awakening, and Fire Emblem Fates. These games feature two generations of playable characters; if the characters in the parents' generation are paired up with each other, they can have children, who will inherit various attributes from their parents when they join the player's party as playable units. Usually, the children characters will only appear if their mothers are married, and, in Genealogy of the Holy War, survive to the end of Chapter 5, though there are exceptions.

Genealogy of the Holy War

The first generation of Genealogy of the Holy War features nine playable female characters. With the exception of Deirdre, who is automatically bound to Sigurd upon her recruitment, and Ethlyn, who is married to Quan prior to the game's events, the female characters must fall in love and survive to the end of Chapter 5 in order for their children to appear in the second generation. If they are not married or are killed, their children will be replaced by substitute characters.

Substitute characters are similar to their second-generation counterparts; they have similar appearances, the same roles, and the same or similar classes. Unlike characters in the first generation, most substitutes lack innate holy blood—Amid and Linda, the substitutes for Tailtiu's children, share her minor Thrud holy blood. Substitute characters inherit nothing from the first generation; without the first generation's items, skills, or holy blood, substitute characters are generally weaker than their second-generation counterparts. However, all fourteen substitutes can participate in at least one special event granting them extra stats or unique items (though Hermina's and Jeanne's events are mutually exclusive), and many start with rarer items or skills. The following table shows the mothers, their children, and their respective substitute characters:

Mother	Children Classes	Substitutes Classes
Deirdre	Seliph Junior Lord	N/A
Ethlyn	Altena and Leif Wyvern Rider and Prince	N/A
Edain	Lester and Lana Arch Knight and Priest	Deimne and Muirne Arch Knight and Priest
Ayra	Scáthach and Larcei Sword Fighter and Sword Fighter	Dalvin and Creidne Sword Fighter and Sword Fighter
Lachesis	Diarmuid and Nanna Free Knight and Troubadour	Tristan and Jeanne Free Knight and Troubadour
Silvia	Lene and Coirpre Dancer and Priest	Laylea and Charlot Dancer and Priest
Erinys	Ced and Fee Sage and Pegasus Knight	Hawk and Hermina Sage and Pegasus Knight
Tailtiu	Arthur and Tine Mage and Mage	Amid and Linda Wind Mage and Thunder Mage
Brigid	Febail and Patty Bow Fighter and Thief	Asaello and Daisy Bow Fighter and Thief

The following attributes are affected by inheritance:

• Base stats: Children will inherit a small portion of their parents' stats as of the end of Chapter 5. The stats of the same-gendered parent affect the child's base stats twice as much as those of the other parent.
• Growth rates: Children will inherit their same-gendered parent's base growth rates, plus half of the other parent's base growth rates, in addition to their own Holy Blood bonuses.
• Holy Blood: Children will inherit all types of Holy Blood held by their parents. Where one parent has major Holy Blood, the child with the same gender as the major-blooded parent will inherit the major blood, and the other will inherit minor blood. The exceptions are Febail and Altena, who inherit the major blood of their mother and father, respectively. If both parents have the same minor Holy Blood (e.g. if Ayra married Chulainn, both bearers of Minor Od Holy Blood), both children will inherit major Holy Blood.
• Skills: Children will inherit all personal skills held by both parents. Sol, Luna, and Astra will only be inherited if the children can use swords, and are not mounted units.
• Gold: Children will inherit one-tenth of their parents' combined gold total at the end of Chapter 5, plus 2,000 gold.
• Inventory: Children will inherit all items held by their same-gender parent that they can use in their starting class. They will also inherit any usable items that parent has in storage. There are some exceptions:
  • Seliph will never inherit the Tyrfing directly from Sigurd; he does not receive it until an event in Chapter 10.
  • Febail and Leif will inherit their mothers' items, and their sisters, Patty and Altena respectively, will inherit their fathers' items.
  • Forseti and Valkyrie will be passed down to the child that inherits major Holy Blood, even if they cannot use it. For example: Lester—an Arch Knight—can inherit Valkyrie, but he will never be able to use it.

Note that, except for holy weapons, the Follow-Up Ring, the Knight Ring, and Safeguard, if an item is not inherited, the same exact item will be obtainable elsewhere in the second generation, such as in the shop or dropped by enemy units; some items like Silver Axe and Thoron cannot be inherited at all due to a lack of child units with the requisite weapon level and thus must be reacquired this way. Weapons will retain their kill bonuses.

Despite being the child of a playable character, Julia is not affected by the inheritance system; her base stats, growth rates, skills, and inventory are fixed.

Calculations

Below are the calculations used in the inheritance of each stat. "Main parent" below means the parent of the same sex as the child, and "secondary parent" means the opposite-sex parent.

Stat	Formula	Notes
All growth rates	Main parent's growth + (secondary parent's growth / 2) + child's Holy Blood bonuses	Bonuses to a parent's growths from Holy Blood are not included when calculating their child's growths.
HP base	[([(Main parent's HP − 20) × 2] + secondary parent's HP − 20) / 10] + (child's level × child's HP growth) + 20	—
Luck base	([(Main parent's luck × 2) + secondary parent's luck + (random number 1~99)] / 10) + [(child's level − 1) × child's luck growth] + 1	—
Other bases	[([(Main parent's stat − main parent's class base) × 2] + [secondary parent's stat − secondary parent's class base]) / 10] + ([(child's level − 1) × child's stat growth] mod 15) + child's class base	The Project Naga fan translation replaces the mod 15 operation with an operation that maximizes the prior calculation at 15.
Gold	[(Main parent's gold + secondary parent's gold) / 10] + 2,000	—

Awakening

Like in Genealogy of the Holy War, the children are completely optional, with one exception; however, no replacement characters exist. The children are mostly attached to their mothers, with the exceptions of Lucina and female Morgan, who are attached to their fathers. Children become recruitable after Lucina joins the Shepherds, but there is no specific chapter before which the parents must marry. The exception is Chrom, who automatically marries whoever he has the highest support level with at the end of Chapter 11, if he has not already done so; if he has not gained enough support points with any of his potential brides, or they are already married, he will instead marry an un-named village maiden. Each parent only has one child; siblings will only exist if Chrom marries someone other than the Maiden, or Robin marries someone from the below table. The following table shows the parents and their respective children:

Parent	Child
Chrom	Lucina
Robin (M)	Morgan (F)
Robin (F)	Morgan (M)
Lissa	Owain
Sully	Kjelle
Miriel	Laurent
Sumia	Cynthia
Maribelle	Brady
Panne	Yarne
Cordelia	Severa
Nowi	Nah
Tharja	Noire
Olivia	Inigo
Cherche	Gerome

The following attributes are affected by inheritance:

• Base stats: The child's base stats at recruitment are determined by how much the child's parents have grown from their base stats.
• Maximum stat modifiers: Children will inherit the sum of their parents' modifiers, +1. If Morgan is the child of a child character, they do not receive the extra +1.
• Growth rates: The child's growth rates will be equal to one-third of the sum of their parents' growth rates and their own absolute growth rates.
• Skills: Children will inherit the most recently activated skills known by each parent, regardless of whether or not the child can access the class that learns the inherited skill (e.g. it is possible for male children to inherit skills like Demoiselle and Galeforce). These exceptions apply:
  • Chrom will always pass down Aether to Lucina, even if he hasn't learnt it when she joins the party. Likewise, if Chrom's wife has a son, he will always inherit Rightful King from Chrom, or if she bears Chrom another daughter, she will always inherit Aether.
  • If Robin marries Lucina or her sister (if Chrom married Sumia or Sully), Morgan will always inherit Aether from her.
  • If Robin marries Chrom or his son (if Chrom married Maribelle or Olivia), Morgan will always inherit Rightful King from him.
  • If Robin marries Aversa or Walhart, Morgan will always inherit their personal skills, Shadowgift and Conquest, respectively.
  • Olivia's child(ren) can never inherit Special Dance, as the Dancer class cannot be inherited.
  • Skills obtained from DLC can never be inherited.
• Reclassing options: Children will inherit all of their parents' reclassing options, gender permitting. Robin's child(ren) can access almost all classes, gender permitting. Conqueror and Dancer can never be inherited. Only Lucina can inherit Lord from Chrom. In situations where a parent passes down a class that their child's gender prevents them from accessing, the following changes apply:

Female parents	Male parents
	Usual classes for female children	Altered classes for male children		Usual classes for male children	Altered classes for female children
Lissa	Pegasus Knight, Troubadour	Myrmidon, Barbarian	Vaike	Fighter, Barbarian	Knight, Mercenary
Miriel	Troubadour	Barbarian	Gaius	Fighter	Pegasus Knight
Maribelle	Pegasus Knight, Troubadour	Cavalier, Priest	Donnel	Fighter, Villager	Pegasus Knight, Troubadour
Panne	Wyvern Rider	Barbarian	Gregor	Barbarian	Troubadour
Cherche	Troubadour, Cleric	Fighter, Priest	Henry	Barbarian	Troubadour
Olivia	Pegasus Knight, Dancer*	Mercenary, Barbarian

• Morgan's base class: When Morgan is recruited in Paralogue 12, they will be in the original base class of his father/her mother. If Robin married Chrom, Lucina, Olivia, or Walhart, Morgan will instead begin in the Tactician class.
• Hair color: With the exception of Lucina (whose appearance is fixed) and female Morgan (who inherits the hair color of her mother), children inherit the hair color of their father; e.g.: a Cordelia–Donnel couple will produce a dark-haired Severa.

Inherited attributes are determined when the player begins the paralogue in which the child is recruited. For Lucina, this occurs at the end of Chapter 13. The inheritance system similarly affects the NPC children's stats and skills in the Future Past DLC chapters.

Calculations

Below are the calculations for a child's base stats and growth rates.

Stat	Formula	Notes
Growth rates	(Father's base growth rates + Mother's base growth rates + Child's base growth rates) / 3	--
Base stats	(Father's personal stats + Mother's personal stats + Child's personal stats) / 3	--
Maximum stat modifiers	(Father's maximum stat modifiers + Mother's maximum stat modifiers) + Child bonus	Child bonus is 0 for a Morgan that is the child of another child unit, 1 otherwise.

Fates

Children once again appear in Fates, being similar to Awakening and are completely optional. This time, however, the children are attached to their fathers, except for Shigure and male Kana, who are attached to their mothers. Each parent has one child, but siblings can exist if Azura or Corrin marries someone in the below table. Unlike Awakening, exiting a paralogue and reentering it later does change inheritance. The following table shows the parents and their respective children:

Parent	Child
Corrin (M)	Kana (F)
Corrin (F)	Kana (M)
Azura	Shigure
Jakob	Dwyer
Kaze	Midori
Silas	Sophie
Ryoma	Shiro
Takumi	Kiragi
Saizo	Asugi
Kaden	Selkie
Hinata	Hisame
Azama	Mitama
Subaki	Caeldori
Hayato	Rhajat
Xander	Siegbert
Leo	Forrest
Benny	Ignatius
Keaton	Velouria
Arthur	Percy
Odin	Ophelia
Laslow	Soleil
Niles	Nina

The following attributes are affected by inheritance:

• Base stats: The child's base stats at recruitment are determined by how much the child's parents have grown from their base stats.
• Maximum stat modifiers: Children will inherit the sum of their parents' modifiers, +1. If Kana is the child of a child character, they do not receive the extra +1.
• Growth rates: The child's growth rates will be equal to one-half of the sum of their variable parent's growth rates and their own absolute growth rates.
• Skills: Children will inherit the last equipped skills known by each parent, regardless of whether or not the child can access the class that learns the inherited skill. These exceptions apply:
  • Azura's children can never inherit Inspiring Song, as the Songstress class cannot be inherited.
  • Skills obtained from DLC can never be inherited.
• Dragon Vein: If one or both of the parents is able to use Dragon Veins, either as a royal or having used the First Blood item, that ability will be passed down to the child.
• Reclassing options: Children will inherit one class from each of their parents. It follows these set of rules:
  • First, if the child's class does not match their father's default class, they inherit his default class; otherwise they inherit the father's alternate class. This is true even for Shigure and male Kana, despite being tied to their respective mothers.
  • Next, if the child does not have the mother's default class, they inherit it; otherwise they inherit her alternate class. Azura passes only the Sky Knight class as Songstress can never be inherited.
  • Should the child have both the mother's default and alternate class in their class set, they instead inherit the following parallel class set based on the mother's default from the chart below:

Original class set	Parallel class set
Songstress	Troubadour
Cavalier	Ninja
Ninja	Cavalier
Knight	Spear Fighter
Spear Fighter	Knight
Fighter	Oni Savage
Oni Savage	Fighter
Mercenary	Samurai
Samurai	Mercenary
Outlaw	Archer
Archer	Outlaw
Dark Mage	Diviner
Diviner	Dark Mage
Wyvern Rider	Sky Knight
Sky Knight	Wyvern Rider
Villager†	Apothecary†
Apothecary	None
Troubadour	None
Monk/Shrine Maiden	None

†While Villager can be passed down to child characters, it cannot be shared via Partner or Friendship Seal under any circumstance. However, it is assigned Apothecary as its parallel class in the case that a unit with access to Villager does not have any higher-priority classes to pass down via those items.

• Hair color: With the exception of a male Kana (who inherits the hair color of his father), children inherit the hair color of their mother; e.g.: a Jakob–Mozu couple will produce a dark-haired Dwyer.

Inherited attributes are determined when the player begins the paralogue in which the child is recruited and how far into the story the player is.

Calculations

Below are the calculations for a child's base stats and growth rates. "Variable parent" usually refers to the mother; however, in the case of Shigure or male Kana, it instead refers to the father.

Stat	Formula	Notes
Growth rates	(Variable parent's growth rates + child's base growth rates) / 2	--
Base stats	C + [(father's personal stats − C) + (mother's personal stats − C)] / 4	C = (child's base stats + [child's complete growth rates * (level − 10)]) If any value is negative, it is taken as 0. Final base stat cannot be higher than (C / 10) + 2, rounded down.
Maximum stat modifiers	(Father's maximum stat modifiers + Mother's maximum stat modifiers) + Child bonus	Child bonus is 0 for a Kana that is the child of another child unit, 1 otherwise.

Trivia

• While some second-generation characters from Genealogy of the Holy War appear in Thracia 776, no substitute characters do; however, unused portraits for Asaello, Daisy, Jeanne, and Hermina exist in Thracia 776, suggesting there were plans at some point in development for them to appear.