Jagen

Overview

Jagen is an old paladin that first appeared in the original Fire Emblem released for the Nintendo Famicom. He is a mentor and protector of Prince Marth, whom he helped escape when Altea was overtaken by enemy forces. He also appeared in the game's remakes and sequels Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, and Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo.

Origin of a Concept

Jagen is one of the first units under the player's control and the first player unit to begin as a higher-tier class, making him significantly more powerful than other early-game units. However, this power disparity lessens over the course of the game until ultimately his late-game abilities pale in comparison to other units. Strategically, he is a unit to depend on in the early going before giving way to other units that have leveled up.

Later games in the Fire Emblem franchise have provided the player with similar units. Most often, they are paladins and, like Jagen, begin the game with above-average statistics before fading into the rank-and-file, though the extent to which they lose comparative strength varies from character to character and game to game. Such characters are often called Jagens (or Jeigans, in reference to an old Japanese romanization) by fans in reference to the concept's origin. Another famous Jagen character is Marcus of both Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi and Fire Emblem. Seth (of The Sacred Stones) and Titania (of Path of Radiance) are arguably Jagens, but don't suffer from the same level of late-game power disparity as the original Jagen.