- See also: Holy Blood
—Hanneman explaining Crests to Byleth.

Crests (紋章) are a game mechanic introduced in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Similar to the Holy Blood from Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, many of the nobility, who are descended from Fódlan's Ten Elites, Four Saints or the Four Apostles who fought during the War of Heroes, hail from families that bear Crests.
Overview
Believed to be blessings bestowed by the Goddess, Crests grant special powers to those who hold them such as high aptitude for magic, enhanced strength, and other boons that give them an edge over others. Crests are inherited by blood and thus recipients of Crests come from an ancestor who likewise had the same Crest. Being a Crest holder is not physically obvious and leaves no mark on its bearers. However, those who possess them may have certain qualities such as unnatural strength that indicate their status as Crest holders. Hanneman, an avid scholar of Crests, developed a device that can show an individual their Crest. Catherine has an innate knack for identifying a person's Crest just by looking at them, but it is not clearly stated to be a special ability or just pure instinct on her part.
Crests are not completely hereditary and not even guaranteed to come from the first child, as shown through House Gautier in which the eldest son, Miklan, was born crestless while the younger son, Sylvain, was born with one. However it is possible for siblings to inherit Crests, such as Mercedes and Jeritza both having a Crest of Lamine through their mother. A vast majority of Crest wielders are born to nobles, though there are a few who are commoners. As a general rule, it is considered impossible for an individual to possess more than a single Crest at once, but there have been some exceptions. Lysithea is one such individual, and she holds a Major Crest of Gloucester and a Minor Crest of Charon.
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These are not natural occurrences, but rather the results of inhumane experimentation to endow individuals with more Crests. The procedure, called blood reconstruction surgery, has a high failure rate as most attempts in the past wound up killing the test subject or driving them to madness. In the rare instances where the surgery is successful, the immense physiological strain of bearing two Crests still causes harmful side-effects, including turning the individual's hair white. While not explicitly stated as a guaranteed side effect, the procedure also dramatically shortens the individual's lifespan as stated by Lysithea.
Throughout the history of Fódlan, Crests played an integral part in the societal hierarchy as many individuals consider them a sign of prestige and otherwise as a direct blessing of the Goddess upon specific individuals. As a result, Crests are highly sought after with many noble houses desperately siring children in hopes of producing even one child with a Crest. Though birth order are considered in the heads of the noble households of Fódlan, a child with a Crest ultimately will trump any older Crestless sibling. This has lead to the embittered feelings of Crestless children who often feel robbed of their birthright. Other times, Crestless nobles and/or nobles with no Crest children will often adopt Crest children or arrange marriages with Crest individuals.
There are numerous individuals in the story of Three Houses and Three Hopes who view Crests negatively for various reasons. Individuals like Ingrid and Sylvain view their Crests with disdain due to the responsibility forced upon them by society that impede with their dreams or caused sibling strife respectively. Because Crest individuals are valued for political maneuvering by their parents, this has led to traumatic upbringings like Bernadetta who was abused into becoming an "ideal wife" while Mercedes was nearly kidnapped by her estranged step-father to birth more potential crest children for his ambitions. Marianne in particular considers her Crest as a curse due to her Crest's dubious reputation. Even the three House leaders at the Officers Academy in the Imperial Year 1180 all have at least some negative reception to them as both Dimitri and Claude seek reforms of the Crest caste system while Edelgard outright seeks to abolish the system as a whole.
Crests are classified as either Major Crests that contain immense power, or Minor Crests that contain weaker, but somewhat potent power. Generally, it is believed that the stronger that a hero's blood runs within an heir, the higher the chance of that heir possessing a Major Crest. Individuals with Crests can trace their heritage to one of the Ten Elites, Four Saints, or Four Apostles. Only the Crest of Seiros is not inherited through Seiros as she instead granted the Crest to Wilhelm I through an unknown means. The Crest of Flames was integrated into Nemesis but was lost to history with no individuals having said Crest since him.
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Wilhelm I likely received his Crest through a blood transfusion of some sort. Jeralt, who was born without a Crest, received a Crest of Seiros when he received a blood transfusion from Rhea, Seiros' true identity.
The Crest of Flames is directly tied to the heart of Sothis that was plundered from her corpse when Nemesis killed her. Those Who Slither in the Dark performed the operation that gave the Crest to Nemesis and when Seiros killed him, she took the heart back and proceeded to spend over a millennium creating vessels to integrate Sothis's heart in order to revive her. One of her creations, Sitri, was a failure, but her nearly stillborn child, Byleth, had Sothis's heart transplanted into them, giving them life at the cost of their mother, but also proved to be the first individual compatible.
Using a Crest during battle appears to be somewhat voluntary as individuals can call upon its power under certain conditions, but not always guaranteed when drawn upon. Those who do carry these powers also must use them sparingly as there are negative draw backs for over usage. Most who do simply suffer exhaustion. However, overtaxing this ability runs the risk of transforming an individual into a Demonic Beast. Crests are also tied to a Heroes' Relic, which draws its power from an associated Crest. Without the associated Crest, a Heroes' Relic can cause an individual into a Demonic Beast simply by being wielded.
Several Crests appear prominently in the coat of arms and insignia throughout Fódlan: the Crest of Seiros for the Adrestian Empire and the Church of Seiros, the Crest of Blaiddyd for the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the Crests of Riegan, Goneril, Daphnel, and Gloucester for the Leicester Alliance. The Crests of Seiros, Blaiddyd, and Riegan are also used on the map of Fódlan to mark the domains of each country's ruling family.
Each Crest is associated with a specific type of dragon, which is only seen via the Dragon Signs obtained on New Game Plus.
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In truth, Crests are derived from the blood of the Nabateans. With the help of Those Who Slither in the Dark, Nemesis plundered the Holy Tomb, slaying Sothis in her sleep and using her bones and heart to create the Sword of the Creator and using her blood to grant himself her crest, the Crest of Flames. Nemesis subsequently used his power to slaughter the Nabateans in Zanado.
Ignorant of what transpired, Nemesis' Elites were each given what would later be dubbed a Hero's Relic, weapons and equipment of exceptional power crafted from the remains of the slain Nabateans. The Nabateans' blood was used to grant the Elites their Crests that would allow them full control and power over their Relics. Some time later, Wilhelm I joined forces with Seiros and was given her Crest after she shared her blood with him. The Crests of the Four Saints are implied to have passed down the same way.
After Seiros killed Nemesis and the Ten Elites were executed by her forces, the history of Fódlan was rewritten to claim that Nemesis and the Elites were gifted their Crests and Relics by the goddess before they become corrupted by their power, thus propagating the history commonly known in Fódlan by Imperial Year 1180.
The Crests seem to have some synchronization with the original bloodbearer of the Crest. When Rhea goes berserk at the end of the Silver Snow route, many high-ranking members of the Church of Seiros also go berserk, some even transforming into White Beasts, likely because they each received a shard of a Crest Stone.
Crests can also empower non-living entities, as the Altered Golems at the end of the Crimson Flower route each possess a Minor Crest of Seiros. Though there is no in-universe description on how this occurred, their Crests likely manifested from Rhea offering her blood during their creation by the Church of Seiros.
In-Game
Crests serve as combat enhancements that empower the wielder of one special property in battle, the specifics of which vary between Three Houses and Three Hopes. Crests are fixed to specific characters and cannot be removed, and act as special passive Skills that activate randomly, with Major Crests having a more likelihood of activating compared to Minor Crests. In Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, Crests can be upgraded in their potency, either increasing the rate of activation or the potency of their effects when Crests proc, though Minor Crests will never reach the same proc rate of Major Crests.
Having an innate Crest, Major or Minor, allows for the bearer to use the "full power" of the associated Hero's Relic. While any playable character who bears a crest is able to use any Relic without taking damage, having the specific Crest associated with that specific Relic allows for the unit to use its unique Combat Art; for example, Dimitri has a Minor Crest of Blaiddyd, allowing him to use the Combat Art "Atrocity", linked to the lance Areadbhar, though in Three Hopes, Heroes' Relics that are Tomes provide spells instead. The Heroes' Relics that are off-hand accessories instead grant the effects of Pavise and Aegis, in addition to their normal effects, if the user possesses the correct Crest.
In New Game+, players can spend Renown to buy items called Dragon Signs, items that bestow specific Crests onto various characters when put into a character's inventory. Dragon Signs allow even Crestless characters to obtain a Crest and receive the full benefits, though it will have no narrative effect on the story.
Crests of the Ten Elites
Crest | Crest Bearer(s) | Ability (Three Houses) |
Ability (Three Hopes) |
Associated Items | Major Arcana basis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Crest of Blaiddyd ブレーダッドの紋章 |
![]() ![]() Lambert Loog Klaus I |
The Faerghus royal family's Crest, inherited from Blaiddyd of the 10 Elites. Occasionally doubles Atk and weapon uses for combat arts.* | 40% / 20% chance to increase the damage dealt by combat arts in exchange for greatly increasing the weapon durability cost. 40% / 20% chance to greatly increase the damage dealt by combat arts in exchange for increasing the weapon durability cost. 40% / 20% chance to significantly increase the damage dealt by combat arts in exchange for slightly increasing the weapon durability cost. |
Dragon Sign: Grim Dragon Sign Hero's Relic: Areadbhar |
Strength |
![]() Crest of Charon カロンの紋章 |
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House Charon's Crest, inherited from Charon of the 10 Elites. Occasionally raises Mt when using combat arts.* | Dragon Sign: Lightning Dragon Sign Heroe's Relics: Thunderbrand & Suttungr's Mystery |
The Tower | |
![]() Crest of Daphnel ダフネルの紋章 |
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House Daphnel and House Galatea's Crest, inherited from Daphnel of the 10 Elites. Sometimes raises Mt when using combat arts.* | Dragon Sign: Flame Dragon Sign Hero's Relic: Lúin |
The Chariot | |
![]() Crest of Dominic ドミニクの紋章 |
![]() ![]() Simon |
House Dominic's Crest, inherited from Dominic of the 10 Elites. Occasionally conserves uses of attack magic.* | Dragon Sign: Crusher Dragon Sign Hero's Relic: Crusher |
The Empress | |
![]() Crest of Fraldarius フラルダリウスの紋章 |
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House Fraldarius's Crest, inherited from Fraldarius of the 10 Elites. Sometimes raises Mt when using a weapon.* | Dragon Sign: Shield Dragon Sign Hero's Relic: Aegis Shield Sacred Weapon: Sword of Moralta |
The Emperor | |
![]() Crest of Gautier ゴーティエの紋章 |
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House Gautier's Crest, inherited from Gautier of the 10 Elites. Occasionally raises Mt when using combat arts.* | Dragon Sign: Fissure Dragon Sign Hero's Relic: Lance of Ruin |
Death | |
![]() Crest of Gloucester グロスタールの紋章 |
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House Gloucester's Crest, inherited from Gloucester of the 10 Elites. Occasionally raises Mt during magic attacks.* | Dragon Sign: Craft Dragon Sign Hero's Relic: Thyrsus Sacred Weapon: Axe of Ukonvasara |
The Hermit | |
![]() Crest of Goneril ゴネリルの紋章 |
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House Goneril's Crest, inherited from Goneril of the 10 Elites. Sometimes allows combat arts to prevent enemy counterattacks.* | Dragon Sign: Kalpa Dragon Sign Hero's Relic: Freikugel |
Wheel of Fortune | |
![]() Crest of Lamine ラミーヌの紋章 |
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A Crest inherited from Lamine of the 10 Elites. Occasionally conserves uses of recovery magic.* | Dragon Sign: Aegis Dragon Sign Heroes' Relics: Rafail Gem & Ichor Scroll Sacred Weapon: Tathlum Bow |
Judgement | |
![]() Crest of Riegan リーガンの紋章 |
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A Crest inherited from Riegan of the 10 Elites. Sometimes restores HP equal to 30% of damage dealt when using combat arts.* | Dragon Sign: Star Dragon Sign Hero's Relic: Failnaught Sacred Weapon: Sword of Begalta |
The Moon | |
![]() Crest of the Beast 獣の紋章 |
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The Crest of a Hero whose identity was lost to history. Promises contempt for those who bear it. Sometimes raises Mt when using a weapon.* | Dragon Sign: Storm Dragon Sign Hero's Relic: Blutgang |
The Devil |
Crests of the Four Saints
Crest | Crest Bearer(s) | Ability (Three Houses) |
Ability (Three Hopes) |
Associated Items | Major Arcana basis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Crest of Cethleann セスリーンの紋章 |
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Legend has it that Saint Cethleann bore this Crest. A symbol of kindness and mastery of light. Sometimes raises Mt when using recovery magic.* | Dragon Sign: Light Dragon Sign Sacred Weapons: Caduceus Staff & Amalthea |
The Lovers | |
![]() Crest of Cichol キッホルの紋章 |
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Legend has it that Saint Cichol bore this Crest. A symbol of strength and the land. Sometimes lets combat arts prevent enemy counterattacks.* | Dragon Sign: Earth Dragon Sign Sacred Weapons: Spear of Assal, Ochain Shield, Járngreipr |
Justice | |
![]() Crest of Indech インデッハの紋章 |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Legend has it that Saint Indech bore this Crest. A symbol of wisdom and water. Occasionally allows weapon attacks to strike twice.* | Dragon Sign: Water Dragon Sign Sacred Weapon: The Inexhaustible |
Temperance | |
![]() Crest of Macuil マクイルの紋章 |
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Legend has it that Saint Macuil bore this Crest. A symbol of magic and mastery of the wind. Occasionally raises Mt during magic attacks.* | Dragon Sign: Wind Dragon Sign Sacred Weapon: Wind Caller's Genesis |
The Magician |
Crests of the Four Apostles
Crest | Crest Bearer(s) | Ability (Three Houses) |
Ability (Three Hopes) |
Associated Items | Major Arcana basis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Crest of Aubin オーバンの紋章 |
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A Crest long lost to history. Occasionally prevents enemy counterattacks when using a weapon.* | Dragon Sign: Ice Dragon Sign Hero's Relic: Fetters of Dromi |
The Hanged Man | |
![]() Crest of Chevalier シュヴァリエの紋章 |
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A Crest long lost to history. Sometimes restores HP equal to 30% of damage dealt when using Combat Arts.* | Dragon Sign: Snow Dragon Sign Hero's Relic: Vajra-Mushti |
The Sun | |
![]() Crest of Noa ノアの紋章 |
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A Crest long lost to history. Occasionally does not consume a use during magic attacks.* | Dragon Sign: Bloom Dragon Sign Sacred Weapon: Scroll of Talos |
The Hierophant | |
![]() Crest of Timotheos ティモテの紋章 |
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A Crest long lost to history. Occasionally does not consume a use for recovery magic.* | Dragon Sign: Dark Dragon Sign Hero's Relic: Hrotti |
The Star |
Crests of the Divine
Crest | Crest Bearer(s) | Ability (Three Houses) |
Ability (Three Hopes) |
Associated Weapons | Major Arcana basis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Crest of Flames 炎の紋章 |
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The Crest of the goddess who governs the world. Occasionally restores HP equal to 30% of damage dealt. Rarely raises Mt and stops counterattacks.* | Hero's Relic: Sword of the Creator | The World | |
![]() Crest of Seiros セイロスの紋章 |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Wilhelm I Lycaon I |
Legend has it that Saint Seiros bore this Crest and passed it down through House Hresvelg. Occasionally raises Mt when using combat arts.* | Dragon Sign: Sky Dragon Sign Hero's Relic: Aymr Sacred Weapons: Sword of Seiros, Seiros Shield, Labraunda |
The High Priestess |
Crests Lost to History
Crest | Crest Bearer(s) | Ability (Three Houses) |
Ability (Three Hopes) |
Associated Items | Major Arcana basis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Crest of Ernest エルネストの紋章 |
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A Crest long lost to history. Occasionally stops enemy counterattacks when using a weapon.* | Dragon Sign: Thorn Dragon Sign | The Fool |
Trivia
- The Crests bear similarity with the Major Arcana, whether it's in their appearance, their description, or the characteristics of one of their crest bearers, starting with Ernest as The Fool, followed by Macuil as The Magician, and continues until the Crest of Flames as The World. This can be seen in the order of placements the Dragon Signs are in when purchasing them, as well as the order that the Crests show up during the loading screen in Three Hopes.
- Gautier's Crest is marked "DEATH XIII" on the snout of Wild Demonic Beasts and the Black Beast.
- Seiros' Crest is likewise marked "THE HIGH PRIESTESS II" on the forehead of the Immaculate One.
- Many Crests appear subtly in many locations; some even appear where they don't completely associate with their location.
- Gautier and Goneril's Crests appear on the warp panels in The Underground Chamber.
- Maurice's Crest is seen on Aymr, even though Aymr is associated with Seiros's Crest.
- Chevalier's Crest is seen on the Sword of Moralta, even though it's associated with the Crest of Fraldarius. It also appears on the Sword of Begalta, despite it belonging to Macuil and is kin with Riegan's Crest.
- Timotheos' Crest is seen on the floor of the terrace on the third floor of Garreg Mach.
- The Crest of Flames can be seen on a rock in the middle of the Sealed Forest map, just behind Kronya.
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- The Dark Creator Sword, wielded by Nemesis, contains the Crest Stones of Noa and Timotheos. In the Cindered Shadows DLC, Hapi and Constance are the only two of the Ashen Wolves to not have Heroes' Relics. A theory can be proposed that Those Who Slither in the Dark found their Heroes' Relics and repurposed them into the Dark Creator Sword.
- While Three Hopes has introduced a Hero's Relic for Timotheos, the same cannot be said for Noa, which has a Sacred Weapon instead.
- With the release of Three Hopes, the only Crest left that hasn't had a legend about its original bearer is the Crest of Ernest.
- Also, with the new tomes from Three Hopes, the Crest of Ernest is the only one that doesn't have neither a Hero's Relic or a Sacred Weapon assigned to it, as well as being the only Crest not assigned to a base game playable unit in both Fódlan Series games.
- In Three Houses, the Crest of Macuil is the only Crest to not be possessed by a playable character. Though Edelgard and Constance's supports suggest that the Crest of Macuil existed in the Empire at some point, no human in-game is shown to have it.
- In Three Hopes, Monica is playable and possess a Minor Crest of Macuil, though the Crest of Macuil also hands off this dubious honor to the Crest of Ernest, as there is no base game playable unit with the Crest of Ernest in Three Hopes.
- In spite of their descriptions, the Crests of Dominic and Noa can conserve uses for Ward, Warp, Rescue and Silence alongside actual attacks in Three Houses.