—Cecilia in a support conversation with Douglas in The Binding Blade.
Cecilia (alternately translated as Secilia in Path of Radiance's image gallery) is a playable character from Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade. She is the Mage General of Etruria as well as the former teacher of Roy and Lilina. Cecilia, Douglas and Perceval make up the three Etrurian Generals, one of the highest positions of authority in the Etrurian military.
Profile
Cecilia was born to a wealthy, aristocratic family and later was recognized as talented enough in magic to become a knight of Etruria. She studied under Erk, the then Mage General of Etruria and was his top student. Eventually, she went to Ostia where Roy and Lilina were studying and taught them the basics in battle arts, specifically showing Roy how to wield the sword and Lilina how to cast spells. Cecilia's opinions and way of thinking have great influence on Roy and consequently on the army, she becomes his mentor and one of Roy's close companions, potentially blossoming into love.
The Binding Blade
In the time period that Cecilia was teaching Roy and Lilina, she plays the role of instructor for the tutorial level, where she assists Roy in a training exercise against Bors and other members of the Ostian forces.
Cecilia was called away from her teaching occupation when she was recognized as a successor to the Mage General's title after the sudden retirement of her own predecessor, Erk. She faced great opposition and prejudice for taking on the role in her earlier days due to being the only female general, though she persevered nonetheless, and eventually gained the respect of all.
During the invasion of Ostia by Bern, Cecilia is first seen at the end of Chapter 8 with her troops, after responding to Roy's letter requesting help from Etruria when he is threatened by Narcian to surrender Ostia. Subsequently, she goes to the Western Isles to apologize to Roy for him being forced to accept leaving the mainland to follow Etruria's orders, and soon departs after taking Guinivere under her protection and promising Roy she would defend Lycia in his absence. Following Roy's success in dealing with the corruption in Western Isles, events take a turn for the worse in Etruria when a coup d'état breaks out and Cecilia flees from Aquleia with Guinivere, forming her own anti-coup d'état militia called the Loyalists to battle the Revolutionaries.
Unfortunately, the Revolutionaries, allied with Bern as well as two of the Etrurian Generals, are too powerful and drive the Loyalists back easily, forcing them to retreat to an old castle on Misul Peninsula. Cecilia guards the castle entrance, but by the time the Lycian Alliance Army, led by Roy, can go to her aid, she ends up facing Zephiel in single combat and is defeated. Despite her grievous injuries, she survives the battle and is captured by Narcian and thrown into a jail cell with Sophia, who treats her wounds. Once Roy seizes the castle, she reunites with him and joins him in his efforts against Bern thereafter. During the war, she may strengthen her relationship with either of her students or her fellow generals; become acquainted with Saul, whose flirtations she rebuffs; or discover the survival of Prince Myrddin, who she had believed to be dead.
At the end of the war, Cecilia continues her career as the Mage General of Etruria, playing a major part in her country's reconstruction, and is posthumously awarded the title as the "Maiden of Etruria" for her service. If she has an A-level support with Roy, after she moves with him and they both rebuild the land, she will marry him and become the duchess of Pherae.
Personality
Cecilia is an acknowledged prodigy who was a top student before she became a general. She is calm, patient, insightful and also a strong-minded individual with firm convictions. As an Etrurian general, she has leadership qualities and a keen mind for strategies. She is willing to follow her beliefs over her obligations unlike her colleagues Perceval and Douglas; as a result, she is the only general who rebels against the coup d'état in order to free her country from Bern's control rather than prioritizing the king's personal safety alone.
She is stubborn and shows an intimidating side when she is angered by others, as Elffin notes, though she is usually pleasant and diplomatic with most people. Cecilia is also too focused on reaching objectives by winning the small battles in the war, but often forgets the great scheme of the things, like the aspects of the warfare outside the tactics in the battlefield.
She greatly admires Douglas and aspires to be like him one day, and she shares a camaraderie with Perceval. She mentors Roy and Lilina by providing advice for them to be prepared for the day they inherit their respective territories. Cecilia has great influence over Roy decisions as he looks up to her, and she acts as a counselor to him, but as he gains confidence and matures in his leadership position, their relationship grow into both seeing each other as equals.
In-Game
The Binding Blade
Description: The Mage General of Etruria. Roy's instructor in tactics.
Recruitment
- Chapter 14: Automatically from the start.
Base Stats
| Starting Class | Affinity | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Valkyrie |  Anima | ||||||||
| Level | HP | Str | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Con | Mov |
| 1 | 30 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 8 |
| Weapon | Starting Items | ||||||||
 Anima - A Staff - C |  Aircalibur Mend | ||||||||
Growth Rates
| HP | S/M | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60% | 35% | 45% | 25% | 25% | 20% | 25% |
Supports
- See also: Cecilia/Supports
Overall
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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.
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Cecilia makes a very poor first impression, joining with below-average bases and growths in a desert chapter that nullifies most of her advantages and renders her a constant target of status staves. However, when outside of that chapter, she tends to shine due to the advantages of her class. She is a mounted healer and a C-rank staff user, letting her wield Restore and Recover at base. Offensively, she possesses the highest base Anima rank in the game, which is most notable as it lets her wield Aircalibur at base, doing hefty damage to the powerful enemy wyverns even with her somewhat average base Magic. Cecilia can also rescue units, and as a promoted cavalry unit, is very mobile. On top of all of the above, she does not require the player to expend one of their rare Guiding Rings. Unfortunately, her mediocre Speed means she will rarely one-round enemies, and she lacks the evasiveness of most other staff-users. This means Cecilia is generally best used as a utility character, using her mobility and range to stay out of the line of fire while healing, ferrying, and chipping at enemies with tomes.
Fire Emblem Awakening
SpotPass
| Starting Class | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Valkyrie | |||||||||
| Level | HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov |
| 13 | 46 | 5 | 31+7 | 23 | 26 | 25 | 14 | 23 | 8 |
| Skills | Weapon | Starting Items | |||||||
 Magic +2 Demoiselle Rally Magic Tomefaire |  Tome - B Staff - C |  Rexcalibur* | |||||||
*Enemy only, joins unequipped
Fire Emblem Engage
Bond Ring
- Hero from beyond Elyos who was an Etrurian general. One of the three generals of her nation, she commanded their mages. A wise, astute woman and mentor who taught Roy how to fight.
| ||
 C Rank
|
Dex +1 | |
|---|---|---|
 B Rank
|
Dex+1 Res +1 | |
| World |  A Rank
|
Mag +1 Dex +1 Res +1 |
 Young Lion
|
 S Rank
|
Mag +1 Dex+2 Res +1 |
Fire Emblem Heroes
- Etrurian General
- Mage General of Etruria. Taught Roy and Lilina when they were young. Appears in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.
Base Stats
Rarity: | Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etrurian General | |||||
| Group | |||||
 Cavalry | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 15/16/17 30/33/36 | 6/7/8 25/28/31 | 4/5/6 19/22/25 | 3/4/5 16/19/22 | 5/6/7 22/25/28 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
 Elwind |  Tome | ||||
| Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etrurian General | |||||
| Group | |||||
| Cavalry | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 15/16/17 31/34/37 | 7/8/9 27/30/33 | 4/5/6 20/23/26 | 3/4/5 17/20/23 | 6/7/8 24/27/30 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
Gronnraven Rally Resistance | Tome | ||||
| Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etrurian General | |||||
| Group | |||||
| Cavalry | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 16/17/18 33/36/40 | 7/8/9 29/32/35 | 5/6/7 22/25/29 | 4/5/6 19/22/25 | 6/7/8 25/29/32 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
| Gronnraven+ Rally Resistance | Tome | ||||
Skills
| Type | Name | Prerequisite | Default | Unlocked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Wind | - |  | - |
| Elwind | Wind |  |  | |
| Gronnraven | Elwind |  | | |
| Gronnraven+ | Gronnraven |  | | |
| Tome of Order | - | - | | |
 | Rally Resistance | - | | |
| A |  Attack +1 | - | | |
 Attack +2 | Attack +1 | | ||
 Attack +3 | Attack +2 | | ||
| B |  Escape Route 1 | - | | |
 Escape Route 2 | Escape Route 1 | | ||
 Escape Route 3 | Escape Route 2 | |
Overall
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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
Cecilia is the first Green Tome Cavalry in the game without a huge sweeping impact as part of the launch roster aside from her then unique combination. She has a modest statline of 32 Atk and a 66 magical bulk score to attack decently hard and can take a hit from magic foes, but her lackluster Spd of 25 and 22 Def restrains her actual damage output and leaves her vulnerable to close-quarters combat. Her advantages lie in her superior range which requires a lot of modern upgrades to bring her up to the modernized meta, though her Resplendent form gives her a bit of a kickstart.
Her launch weapon is a Gronnraven tome, granting her a color advantage over colorless units. Unfortunately, this mainly mitigated some of the early Bow, Dagger, and Staff users at the time, but could not stand up to many powerful units since then, even though she has advantage against two colors. The Tome of Order is her personal tome, which is a stronger Gronnraven tome but also grants effective damage against Flying Units for more enemies that she can deal with, especially the common Lance Flying units. When refined, it grants Triangle Adept to further push her color advantages at the cost of severely hampering her damage against Red foes to near non-existent damage.
Rally Resistance allows Cecilia to grant Res+4 to an ally. Attack +3 gives Cecilia a flat +3 to her Atk stat to shore up her modest Atk a little. Escape Route allows Cecilia to move to any space adjacent to an ally if her HP is under 50%.
Counters
Cecilia cannot handle physical attackers very well as her Def is her weakest stat. To make matters worse, her mediocre Spd allows numerous units to perform Follow-Up attacks against her, sometimes completely overriding her color advantages against Blue and Colorless foes. Since her weapon refine grants her further decreased damage against Red units, units of that color easily wall her and can obliterate her if they attack her. Her Cavalry status also leaves her vulnerable to foes who carry effective damage against her such as Micaiah.
Skill Inheritance
Cecilia's kit requires a complete overhaul aside from her Tome of Order to be somewhat viable. Reposition is a far superior Support Skill for positioning utility. Cecilia can use Iceberg to deal decent damage from her modest 36 Res, Glimmer allows her to take buffs she receives and translate it into more power, or Moonbow allows her to ignore her foe's Res on a fast cooldown. Skill A can be replaced with Fury for the flat increases to her four core stats in exchange for the 6 recoil damage or Life and Death to bring her Atk/Spd up to a respectable 51 Atk with her tome and 30 Spd at the cost of dropping her Def/Res by 5 each. Triangle Adept can also be taken to give herself a massive 60% increase to her damage when dealing with blue or colorless foes and completely foregoing any attempts at having her face Red units. Lancebreaker and Bowbreaker allows Cecilia to fully commit to trying to take down specific weapon types that she has advantage against, though Escape Route is her only non-weapon skill in her kit worth keeping. Skill C can be filled with Hone Cavalry or other good supportive skills, let her mesh into other teams depending on the player's needs.
A more luxury build can be filled with strong skills like Attack Defense Catch to give her needed boosts to her Atk and Def in combat to better dispatch foes she is suited to attack and can possibly survive a hit if they can retaliate. Lull Attack Resistance debuff's her foes Atk and Res stats so she takes a little less damage while also dealing a bit more. Attack Resistance Near Trace gives similar debuffs to the foes while also giving her Canto. Skill C has various options like Fatal Smoke or Joint Drive Attack.
Meet Some of the Heroes
| Etrurian General Cecilia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Etruria is a powerful nation in western Elibe, with three mighty generals who lead its armies. Among them is Cecilia—the Mage General! | ||
|
For someone of her rank, Cecilia has a gentle, considerate disposition. When she was serving as a military attaché in Ostia, she tutored Lilina, daughter of the marquess, and Roy, who was studying away from home. | ||
|
When Etruria was later attacked by Bern, Cecilia bravely took to the battlefield. However, she was no match for Zephiel's overwhelming power, and soon found herself imprisoned... | ||
|
It was her former students who saved her—Roy and Lilina! Joining Roy, now a fine young adult, Cecilia continued to battle for her homeland! | ||
| Closely Associated Characters | |||
| Roy | The son of Eliwood, Marquess of Pherae and talented leader of its army. Cecilia was his tutor. | ||
| Lilina | A noble of Ostia and daughter of Hector with a natural gift for magic. Roy's friend since childhood. She was also taught by Cecilia. | ||
- Festive Instructor
- Mage General of Etruria. She is currently using her teaching skills to instruct visitors at the winter festival. Appears in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.
Base Stats
Rarity: | Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Festive Instructor | |||||
| Group | |||||
 Armored | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 18 38 | 11 33 | 5 21 | 5 27 | 10 34 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
Goodie Boot Chilling Wind |  Dagger | ||||
Skills
| Type | Name | Prerequisite | Default | Unlocked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Dagger | - | - | - |
| Steel Dagger | - | - | - | |
| Goodie Boot | - | | - | |
| Goodie Boot+ | Goodie Boot | | | |
 | Chilling Wind | - | | - |
| Glacies | Chilling Wind | - | | |
| A |  Atk/Res Bond 1 | - | - | |
 Atk/Res Bond 2 | Atk/Res Bond 1 | - | ||
 Atk/Res Bond 3 | Atk/Res Bond 2 | | ||
| C |  Def Ploy 1 | - | - | |
 Def Ploy 2 | Def Ploy 1 | - | ||
 Def Ploy 3 | Def Ploy 2 | |
Overall
|
|
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.
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Base Set
Counters
Skill Inheritance
Meet Some of the Heroes
| Festive Instructor Cecilia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cecilia is the Mage General of Etruria, and she's joining the celebrations at the winter festival. Actually, I hear she's been taking the role of instructor! | ||
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Here's Cecilia's special outfit for the festival. As strong as her armored look is, I think this outfit brings out her charms in a whole new way! | ||
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And she's holding one of the bright-red boots from the bag at her waist. Apparently, it's stuffed full of presents! | ||
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I guess she must be instructing everyone on how to best enjoy the winter festival. Raise your hand if you have any questions for the teacher! | ||
| Closely Associated Characters | |||
| Roy | The son of Eliwood, marquess of Pherae. Talented leader of Pherae's army. Cecilia's student. | ||
| Lilina | A noble of Ostia with a natural gift for magic. Roy's friend since childhood. Cecilia's student. | ||
| Perceval | Knight General of Etruria who works alongside Cecilia. A model knight, he has undivided loyalty to his kingdom. | ||
- Etrurian Bride
- The Mage General, the pride of Etruria, taking a hiatus from her usual armor for the day and hoping to catch a bouquet. Appears in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.
Base Stats
Rarity: | Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etrurian Bride | |||||
| Group | |||||
| Cavalry | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 16/17/18 34/37/40 | 10/11/12 36/39/43 | 4/5/6 20/23/26 | 1/2/3 13/16/19 | 7/8/9 33/36/40 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
| Bridal Orchid Rally Resistance |  Tome | ||||
Skills
Overall
|
|
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
| Etrurian Bride Cecilia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Etruria's Mage General Cecilia is rushing to the battlefield of the bridal festival! And in true festival style, she's wearing an eye-catching bridal outfit! | ||
|
An expert both in magic and in warfare, Cecilia's intellectual nature is accentuated by the addition of a purple sash to her outfit. | ||
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She's also carrying a bouquet, which is made up of cattleya flowers—a refined choice that really suits her elegant look! | ||
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As the Mage General of Etruria, Cecilia bears a heavy duty and works tirelessly for her country. But I'm sure she can make just a little time for herself to have fun at the bridal festival! | ||
| Closely Associated Characters | |||
| Roy | The son of Eliwood, Marquess of Pherae. Talented leader of Pherae's army. Cecilia's student. | ||
| Lilina | A noble of Ostia with a natural gift for magic. Roy's friend since childhood. Cecilia's student. | ||
| Perceval | Knight General of Etruria who works alongside Cecilia. A model knight, he has undivided loyalty to his kingdom. | ||
Quotes
The Binding Blade
Battle Quotes
Vs. Zephiel
- Zephiel: So... You are Cecilia, the Mage General.
- Cecilia: !! ...King Zephiel...
- Zephiel: For your prowess in battle, you have the honor to fight me one on one.
- Cecilia: ...!!
(After the battle ends and Cecilia is defeated)
- Cecilia: Too...powerful...
Vs. Narcian
- Narcian: You're... So, being defeated once wasn't enough?
- Cecilia: Zephiel was the one who defeated me. Not you.
- Narcian: Then I shall show you my strength now!
Final Chapter Quote
—Cecilia's final chapter quote in The Binding Blade.
Death Quote
—Cecilia's death quote in The Binding Blade.
Heroes
Possible Endings
- Cecilia - Daughter of Etruria (王国の『娘』, Ōkoku no "Musume", Daughter of the Kingdom)
- Cecilia returned home and helped rebuild Etruria. Her calm judgment and leadership played a major role in directing Etruria to prosperity once again. Her hard work earned her the title of the "Maiden of Etruria" after her death.
- Cecilia and Roy
- Cecilia accompanied Roy to Pherae, where she helped rebuild the battered land. She eventually married Roy, continuing to offer him close support and aid as the duchess of Pherae.
Non-Canon Appearances
Manga
Hasha no Tsurugi
She appears in chapter 13 of the Hasha no Tsurugi manga where she is seen speaking with Eliwood about how she would like to send a group of troops to examine what is happening in the Western Isles after hearing that Roy's army may have engaged the Eturian army. Al and his group then volunteer for the position.
Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher)
Cecilia is illustrated in the trading card game Fire Emblem Cipher with the following card:
Choose Your Legends Placement History
| Round | Placement | Character Version | Votes |
|---|
| CYL1 | 235 |  The Binding Blade |
1,029 |
| CYL2 | 274 ↓39 |
The Binding Blade |
825 ↓204 |
| CYL3 | 332 ↓58 |
The Binding Blade |
560 ↓265 |
| CYL4 | 359 ↓27 |
The Binding Blade |
295 ↓265 |
| CYL5 | 306 ↑53 |
The Binding Blade |
224 ↓71 |
| CYL6 | 291 ↑15 |
The Binding Blade |
270 ↑46 |
| CYL7 | 283 ↑8 |
The Binding Blade |
153 ↓117 |
| CYL8 | 299 ↓16 |
The Binding Blade |
147 ↓6 |
Etymology
The name Cecilia is the Latinate feminine form of the Roman family name Caecilius, derived from Latin caecus (blind). Saint Cecilia was a noble lady of Rome who was, under Emperor Severus_Alexander, sentenced to die, because she refused to worship the Roman gods. She is the patron saint of musicians.
Trivia
- On the official Japanese website for Nintendo, Cecilia won 24th place out of 80 in the character popularity poll for Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade. The male-female vote ratio is 2:1. The voter comments seem to focus on her calm and knowledgeable personality as Roy's mentor.
- Despite the fact that Sophia helps Cecilia stay alive in when she is trapped in a dungeon during chapter 13, they do not share any supports.
- Cecilia's low stats for her status and level are brought up in her support with Douglas, and Douglas apparently called her out for them. Despite this, Douglas still called her stronger than her classmates, possibly referencing her class.
- Cecilia shares her English voice actress, Cherami Leigh, with Caeda, Mae, Gwendolyn and Rhea in Fire Emblem Heroes. She also voices the last in Three Houses.
- Depending to the player's choices, it's implied that if Cecilia marries Roy, she retires from her life as a Mage General of Etruria to become the Marchioness of Pherae.
Gallery
- See main article: Cecilia/Gallery.