Caeda

Caeda (シーダ Sheeda) is a major protagonist in Nintendo's Fire Emblem franchise. She is the deuteragonist of the Archaena Saga.
She was formerly the princess of Talys, who is also a childhood friend of Marth. She would join Marth on his quest, and eventually the two would become a married couple, leading to Caeda becoming queen of Archanea. Due to her marriage to Marth, she is the ancestor of Chrom and his family.
In Japanese, Caeda is voiced by Saori Hayami is voiced by in games and Sakura Tange in the Fire Emblem OVA. In English, she is voiced by Cherami Leigh (who also voices Mae, Gwendolyn, Cecilia, and Rhea) in games and by Kim Sevier in the OVA.
==Appearance==
Caeda is a young woman with long blue hair and matching blue eyes. In Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, she wears a red tunic with gold shoulder pads, a pink scarf, and matching pink sandals. From Mystery of the Emblem onward, Caeda's shoulder pads and breastplate became silver, and she gained red leggings and brown boots.
As a Mirage, Caeda wears a dark pink tunic and silver breastplate over a purple leotard, and. She also wears lavender shoulder pads with gold accents, and matching armor over red leggings. In place of a hand, Mirage Caeda has a silver lance with gold base attached to her right arm.
==Personality==
Caeda is a very cheerful and childish princess. However, beneath her jovial exterior lies a shrewd understanding of politics and diplomacy. She is intensely devoted to Marth, simultaneously protective of him yet afraid of distracting him, which causes her to avoid him at times. Caeda's love of Marth is so great that she puts his well being before her own, and uses her cunning to support his campaigns during the War of Shadows and War of Heroes. Caeda also has a manipulative streak, which is used Marth's benefit by swaying enemies to his side.
==Biography==
===Past===
From a young age, Princess Caeda of Talys showed great intelligence and compassion, demonstrating her potential as a just ruler. Her father King Mostyn was close friends with King Cornelius of Talys, and Caeda spent much of her youth in the company of his son, Prince Marth. The two became very close friends, and as they grew their relationship developed into romantic infatuation. When Caeda was ten years old, she accompanied Mostyn to the market town of Norda. While exploring she chanced upon the town's arena, where the gladiator Ogma was being flogged for his role in a mass escape attempt. Unable to witness such cruelty, Caeda threw herself upon his back, saving Ogma from further whipping. She then bought his freedom and recruited him into the Talys army, and he became one of Mostyn's finest soldiers. 
===War of Shadows===
When the Dolhr Empire began a brutal conquest of Archanea, King Cornelius took to the battlefield with the bulk of the Altean Army. Marth remained at Altea Castle with his mother Queen Liza and older sister Princess Elice, the three protected by a garrison from the allied kingdom of Gra. However, Gra betrayed Altea, the garrison promptly securing its castle for Dolhr. Thanks to Elice, Marth was able to escape with his tactician Malledus and a squad of devoted Altean knights. Together the group fled to Talys, where Mostyn granted them a home in the island's Eastern fortress. Two years later, pirates who previously conquered Galder Harbor besieged Talys. Caeda, having grown into a formidable Pegasus Knight, alerted Marth and his retinue to the raid, and assisted them in battle against the pirates. After Marth successfully routed the enemy Mostyn advised him to finally take arms against Dolhr; Caeda promptly joined her lover in his quest. 
In addition to assisting Marth in battle with her capable swordsmanship and lance skills, her diplomacy and charisma encouraged many enemies to switch sides. When Marth's army counterattacked Galder and freed it from Gomer's tyranny, Caeda recognized the Talys citizen Castor among their ranks. Learning that he joined the pirates to earn money for his sickly mother, Caeda promised him the required gold and urged him to return to his mother's side. Guilty over betraying his homeland, Castor instead defected to Marth's army. Journeying through the Soothsire Mountains, Marth's group encountered the thief Julian and cleric Lena. Julian was originally a member of the Mountains' namesake bandits, but fell in love with a captive Lena and betrayed his comrades to free her. However, the two were persued by the Soothsires and the formidable mercenary they hired, Navarre. Caeda requested the latter join a more respectable squad than the thieves, or else strike her down. Unable to turn his blade on a woman, Navarre joined Marth instead.
Marth and Caeda arrived at the country of Aurelis, which was occupied by Dolhr ally Macedon. During Aurelis' liberation, Marth befriended its prince, Hardin, and received the Fire Emblem from Princess Nyna of the Holy Kingdom of Archanea, symbolizing him as the world's champion against Dolhr. Together, the three founded the Archanean League, which combined all three lord's forces and installed Marth as commander. After many battles, the League chose to recuperate in Port Warren, but the town was promptly attacked by Dolhr ally Grust. Among their number was a soldier named Roger, who Caeda approached and seduced into defected. Continuing into the Archanea, the League entered Knorda Market, which was occupied by Dolhr and Grust soldiers; the latter included the ballistician Jake. 
While gathering intel at the market, the League found Jake's finance Anna, who requested that they tell him she was worried for him but warned that he only listened to beautiful women. Caeda greeted Jake, told him of Anna's worry, and convinced him to join the League. Caeda's final recruitment occurred during the storming of Grust. Among the commanders of the country's defense was General Lorenz, who was determined to stop the League for the sake of King Ludwik. However, Caeda pointed out that a king's best interests can conflict with those of his country, convincing Lorenz to ally with Marth instead for the good of Grust. After Marth ended the War of Shadows by killing Dolhr's Emperor, the Earth Dragon Medeus, he returned to Altea after asking Caeda to be his fiancé. 
Happily accepting Marth's proposal, Ceada returned to Talys to visit her father, the archer Norne by her side as a bodyguard. However, while most of Talys rejoiced at Caeda's engagement to Marth, local clans seized the opportunity to revolt, and both she and Norne were caught in the fighting as they arrived. Ogma and his subordinates Bord and Cord immediately mobilized to rescue them, but midway through the battle were ambushed by Navarre, who allied with the clans to settle a score with Ogma. The two prepared to duel, but Caeda and Norne fought their way through the fray, and the former once again persuaded him to fight with her instead. When all hostile fighters were routed, Caeda tearfully expressed her goodbyes to Ogma, and after concluding her business with Mostyn, flew to Altea Castle to be with Marth.
===War of Heroes===
One year following the War of Shadows, Caeda helped train the next generation of Altean knights. Early on in this regimen, she was assigned to test the strength of the 7th Platoon, which consisted of Kris, Katarina, Luke, Roderick, and Ryan. The platoon emerged victorious in the mock battle, and an impressed Caeda offered her services for the rest of their trials. In the coming months, the hundreds of recruits dwindled down to 20, including the 7th Platoon. Ultimately, they overcame their last challenge and received their final score, which varied depending their performance in each mock battle. Nevertheless, the platoon did well enough to graduate to full knighthood. However, on the day of the 7th Platoon's graduation ceremony, an unknown number of assailants besieged Altea castle. It was then that Katarina revealed her true identity as Reese, an assassin sent to kill Marth. As Caeda played an important role in the 7th Platoon's success, she was present at the graduation ceremony and help fend off Reese, saving her fiancé's life. 
Sometime after the attempted assassination on Marth's life, he began making plans to marry Caeda. However, he was interrupted by a message from Hardin, who had since married Nyna and become ruler of the reconstructed Holy Empire of Archanea. Hardin requested that Marth help quell an uprising in Grust. As Archanea held power over Altea, Marth could not disobey this command, so he assembled many of his best knights to settle the crisis, leaving Altea in the hands of Caeda and the veteran knight Cain. Unbeknownst to Marth, Hardin was corrupted in the ensuing years, both from personal anguish following his marriage, and the Darksphere secretly gifted by Dolhr's Dark Pontifex Gharnef. With Hardin's buried resentments toward Marth now inflamed, he plotted Altea's destruction and used the Grust insurrection to deprive the country of its strongest knights. All Hardin needed after was a pretext to declare war, which he got after Marth defied Grust's cruel occupying leader, General Lang. When the Archanean army besieged Altea castle, Caeda was one of the few occupants who managed to escape, once again thanks to Elice. With her Pegasus, Caeda quickly reunited with Marth as the latter successfully rescued Ogma and Grust's true heirs, Jubello and Yuliya, from bandits. 
After relaying the grim news to Marth, Caeda fought alongside Marth and convinced others to join his army once more. When Marth prepared to oust Lang once and for all, the General anticipated his attack and retreated to Ostern Keep. Among his defenses was a mercenary he believed to be Navarre, who Lang ordered to ambush Marth's army when they opened a specific door. Caeda potentially tried to sway "Navarre" for a third time, but quickly realized that he was a lookalike named Samuel, who used his resemblance to accept mercenary work. However, he admitted that he detested Lang and defected to Marth instead. After defeating Lang, Marth found his old ally Bishop Wendell imprisoned in the Keep's dungeons. The bishop warned that the world was in danger of falling into ruin thanks to the shattering of the Starsphere, and advised Marth to collect its shards in Chasmir's Fane of Raman; unfortunately, the temple was ransacked by bandits. After routing the thieves, Marth's army attempted to return to Archanea via the Chasmir Bridge, but were were confronted by Hardin's army, determined to crush all dissidents. Among their number was Roger, who joined the Archanean army because it was the strongest, and so in joining he would live longer. When he encountered Caeda he stated that he was no longer the lovestruck soldier during the War of Shadows, but when she promised to request that Marth not fight him, his old love rekindled and he defected on the spot. As Hardin was invincible, Marth, Caeda, Gordin, and the rest of the vanguard had to flee across the ocean while the rearguard distracted Hardin's men. The vanguard took a boat to the desert city of Khadein in the hopes that they could find a spell to penetrate Hardin's shield; upon reaching the city the vanguard reunited with the rearguard. 
At Khadein's school of magic, the White Sage Gotoh magically contacted Marth, explaining the cause of Hardin's invincibility and moral decay. Gotoh held the Lightsphere, which would cancel the Darksphere's magic, but Marth would need to reach him at the Ice Dragon Temple. Caeda traveled with Marth as the army began their journey to the temple via Anri's Way, which started in Mamorthod Desert. Immediately Marth's army encountered dangerous brigands and wild wyverns; as they fought their way through the desert Caeda was surprised to find Jake. Jake explained that he was looking for Anna, who set up a secret shop in the vicinity. Caeda asked him to aid Marth's cause once again, and he complied. As Marth's army traveled along the rest of Anri's Way, Caeda and Jake helped gather Starsphere shards en route to the temple. When Marth's group reached its destination, Gotoh bequeathed the Lightsphere to Marth, re-forged the Starsphere, and teleported everyone back to Altea. 
After liberating Altea, Marth learned from Gotoh that Gharnef, had returned and planned on using four clerics to resurrect Medeus. Caeda accompanied Marth to Archanea to prevent Princess Nyna's abduction, only to learn that Hardin personally delivered her to the Dark Pontifex. After a brutal campaign, the Lightsphere's magic pierced the Darksphere's shield, mortally wounded Hardin but briefly restoring his senses. With his last breath, Hardin regretted his actions and begged Marth to save Nyna. Caeda accompanied him to The Dragon's Table, where a resurrected Medeus held the four brainwashed clerics, intending to sacrifice them should he be slain again. However, each maiden was released from their trance by their loved ones, allowing Marth to kill Medeus once again, ending the War of Heroes. In it's aftermath, many of Archanea's countries were heavily decimated, and most of their rulers relinquished their sovereignty to Marth. Marth declared himself First King of the Archenean Alliance, with Ceada as his queen. Under his reign, Archanea's wounds began to heal, and entered a golden age of peace and prosperity. 
===Legacy===
Over millennia, Marth's reign passed into legend, and as he was venerated as the legendary Hero-King, so too was Caeda revered for her kindness, strength, and charisma. The royals of the Halidom of Ylisse are their direct descendants, and the First Exalt who founded the Halidom married a Pegasus knight who wielded a spear much like Caeda. Two-thousand years post unification, their bloodline endured through the Exalts Emmeryn, Chrom, and Lissa, and the country's Pegasus Knights continued to idolize Caeda as the platonic ideal of a Pegasus Knight. 
Chrom's army, the Shephards, encountered multiple Einherjar of Caeda. One Einherjar was made available through SpotPass, while a second Einherjar belonged to Old Hubba. This Caeda was one of many Einherjar summoned in the first and third Champions of Yore Xenologues by an Aversa who conned Old Hubba out of his Einherjar cards; all were returned their cards by the Shepherds and reclaimed by Old Hubba. A Caeda allied with Archanean and Valentian Einherjar opposes the Shepherds in the second and third Lost Bloodlines Xenologues. In the former, both country's Einherjar, including Caeda, believed enemy Jugdral Einherjar summoned the Shepherds to fight against them, while in the latter the Shepherds grew tired of the three faction's battling and fought all warriors to seal them back into the cards they spawned from. Another Caeda allied with heroic Einherjar battled the Shepherds in the second and third Rogues and Redeemers Xenologue. In the former, the good Einherjar believed the villainous Einherjar they were fighting summoned the Shepherds as their allies, while in the latter the Shepherds again tired of the Einherjar's warfare and battled all warriors to reseal them.
==Other Media==
===Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE===
Like all Mirages, Mirage Caeda hailed from a version of Archanea. She lost her memories when transported to Tokyo, but became the partner of Fortuna member Tsubasa Oribe. Caeda quickly bonded with her Mirage Master, acting as a big sister of sorts. After the defeat of Mirage Medeus, Caeda regained her memories and eventually returned to her Archanea.
===Fire Emblem Heroes===
Five different variations of Caeda are available to summon. Caeda's normal variant, based on her design from New Mystery of the Emblem and titled "Talys' Heart", existed from the game's official launch. A wedding variant of Caeda titled "Talys' Bride" was released on May 30, 2017. True to her title, Caeda is dressed in a white wedding dress with gold accents and a red waist ribbon. On January 20, 2020, Tsubasa Oribe was made available to summon, with Mirage Caeda manifesting in her neutral portrait and when she executes Special attacks. To celebrate the Fire Emblem franchise's 30th anniversary, a child version of Caeda titled "Princess of Talys" was made available to summon on April 20, 2020. The design of Young Caeda's tunic and scarf are based on her original design in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. A summer variant, released on July 7, 2021, pairs Caeda with Plumeria as the "Sea-Blossom Pair". A Legendary variant of Caeda, titled "Beloved Queen", was first made available to summon on February 28, 2022. On October 25, 2020, a Resplendent skin for Caeda's normal variant was made available to players subscribed to the Feh Pass. This skin depicts Caeda clad in Nifl garb, wearing a teal and white dress, white tights with gold accents, and a long pink scarf.
===Fire Emblem Warriors===
During the siege on Gristonne's Fortified Citadel, Prince Rowan and Princess Lianna of Aytolis were attacked by monsters, but rescued in the nick of time by Marth, Caeda, Tiki, and Navarre. After helping the royal twins retreat from the area, the four joined Aytolis' army and accompanied the twins to the World Tree, which contained peak the swords Enliron and Facinna. However, the army also encountered Gharnef at the tree; The Dark Pontifex allied himself with Gristonne and was eager to kill Marth. However, Marth was not intimidated, and defeated him with Caeda and the rest of the army's help.
After recovering the swords, they returned to the Fortified Citadel and successfully reclaimed it, which caused Marth's Gleamstone to appear. The final Gleamstone secured itself to the Shield of Flames, creating Aytolis' Binding Shield. However, the completed shield was quickly stolen by Darios. Eventually, Caeda helped defeat the Chaos Dragon Velezark, which caused the portals to other worlds to begin closing. To avoid being trapped in Aytolis, Marth, Caeda, and their friends quickly entered a portal and returned to Archanea.
In addition to Caeda's normal outfit, based off of her design in Shadow Dragon, she can wear a Bride outfit via Downloadable content. True to its name, this costume consists of a white wedding dress with a red ribbon.
===Super Smash Bros.===
====Super Smash Bros. Brawl====
Caeda first appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a sticker using artwork from Mystery of the Emblem. When equipped to Marth or Ike, Caeda increased the strength of their close-range attacks or physical specials.
====Super Smash Bros. Ultimate====
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Caeda appears as a Legendary Shield-type spirit using artwork from New Mystery of the Emblem. When equipped to a fighter, Caeda grants three extra spirit support slots and an increase in jump height. To obtain Caeda, she must be defeated in a spirit battle against Marth and Lucina on the Battlefield form of Temple with Heavy Winds. This Marth and Lucina have increased speed and lighter weights, enabling them to jump higher.
===Fire Emblem OVA===
Caeda is a major protagonist in the two episodes of the Fire Emblem OVA, which adapts the first three chapters and some backstory of Mystery of the Emblem. As the English dub of the OVA predated the Western release of any Fire Emblem media, Caeda's name was translated as Sheda. In contrast to her game counterpart, Caeda has a feisty personality and is prone to fits of jealousy when Marth expresses interest in other girls. Much of the first episode focused on Caeda and Marth's relationship during the latter's exile, and how she tried to help him relax. Two years after the fall of Altea (translated as Aritia in the English dub), Galder pirates attacked Talys. As Marth's retinue did battle with the pirates, their leader Gazzak attacked King Mostyn. Caeda valiantly defended her father, but was captured by Gazzak in the process. Worried for Caeda, Marth was forced to surrender, but the two were saved by Ogma's timely arrival. With the help of Talys' mercenaries, Marth, Caeda, and the Altean knights successfully routed the brigands. 
Caeda reluctantly bade goodbye to Marth as he left to liberate Altea from Dolhr's tyranny, but Mostyn recognized her feelings for him and encouraged her to join him. On the Archanean continent, Caeda strongly objected to Marth's plan to travel through the Samsooth Mountains, but he assured her he was well aware of the risks posed by the Soothsire bandits. While traveling, they encountered a wounded Julian, who begged them to rescue Lena from the Soothsires. While fighting the brigands in their lair, Ogma encountered rival mercenary Navarre. The two came to blows, but were interrupted by Caeda, who argued with Navarre about the honor of fighting. Her debate intrigued Navarre enough to convince him to join Marth's army.
==Quotes==
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