Holy Blood

Seliph's Holy Blood chart, marking his major Baldr and minor Naga blood.

“	On your hand...that is the Brand, yes? The mark is proof that you descend from dragons, our gods of yore. I, too, carry the Brand. The blood in my veins entitled me to wield the divine blade that led me to victory. But it also cursed me to a lifetime of tragedy... Namely, my father's death and a terrible war with my half-brother. So much blood spilt over blood...	”	— Seliph asking Robin about their mark in Awakening

The Holy Blood (Japanese: 神々の系図 Genealogy of the Gods) system is a gameplay mechanic of Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War and a story element in Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776, Awakening, and Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. It deals with the genealogy of the descendants of the Twelve Crusaders and the ability to inherit their "holy blood", the connection with the dragon gods bestowed upon the Crusaders at the Miracle of Dahna. Possession of holy blood increases the combat abilities of an individual and allows them to wield the holy weapon of their ancestors.

In Fire Emblem Fates, the ability to use Dragon Veins is based on a similar principle. Three Houses also features a similar concept, known as Crests.

Overview

In Jugdral, there are thirteen lines of holy blood: the twelve lines of the Crusaders themselves, and that of their enemy Loptous, passed on through the emperors of the Loptrian Empire and linked into the modern day by Saint Maera. The lineages of the Crusaders were preserved through their assembly of various kingdoms and noble houses across Jugdral, while the descendants of Maera secluded themselves into Verdane's Spirit Forest to prevent the Loptous bloodline from influencing the world. Most of the lines are simply named for their Crusader originator, for example "Baldr blood" for the lineage of Baldr; the exceptions are Heim and Ced's lineages, which are instead named for the dragons with whom they made a blood pact, Naga and Forseti. Outside of Jugdral, there exists two further holy blood lineages not associated with Loptous or the Twelve Crusaders: that of the royal family of Ylisse, whose ancestor also made a blood pact with Naga, and that of the Fell Dragon Grima's vessels.

Major and minor blood

Holy blood manifests in two distinct forms: minor blood and major blood. While both carry power, minor blood carries signficantly less. Possession of major blood grants an individual the ability to wield the holy weapon wielded by their Crusader ancestor, whereas minor blood does not. Generally, even in direct lineage, major blood is significantly rarer and, in groups of children of a given bearer of major blood, will often only manifest in just one of the children, with no criteria as to on which child it will manifest. Major holy blood in children will manifest either if one parent possessed major blood themselves, or if both parents possessed the same type of minor blood; Manfroy of the Loptr Church used the latter to his advantage in the sect's scheme to revive the Loptous lineage, by having two bearers of minor Loptous blood reproduce to produce a child bearing major Loptous blood, able to wield the tome and become a vessel for the dark god.

Holy weapons

In the Miracle of Dahna, each Crusader received a holy weapon alongside their blood pact from their respective dragon, each incredibly powerful and boosting the natural abilities of their wielder even further. These twelve weapons all contain a dragonstone from their creator dragon, and are sealed in such a way that only possessors of major holy blood in the matching bloodline are capable of wielding them. Additionally, the connection to the holy bloodlines can enable the weapons to restore lost memories of their wielder; for example, wielding Yewfelle helped restore the memories of Brigid after being raised by the pirates of Orgahil.

By the era of Awakening, however, the sealing of the weapons to the holy bloodlines appears to have faded, as five of the weapons were wielded by the Deadlords and can be subsequently used by any member of Chrom's army of suitable skill.

Brands

"Brand" redirects here. For the Tellius race of mixed beorc and laguz heritage, see Branded.

Alm and Celica inspect their brands.

Possession of holy blood manifests physically by the appearance of Brands on the bodies of their possessors, appearing at a varying point in their life and acting as proof of their holy lineage; however, in rare cases the Brand will not appear on a descendant, but will still show up on the descendant's own children. The placement varies based on the individual. It is unclear whether only major holy blood causes Brands to appear or whether they are present on minor holy blood possessors too. The following are all known brand wearers, along with their locations:

Brand	Person	Location
Od	Galzus	Back
Od	Mareeta	Back
Naga	Deirdre	Forehead
Naga	Emmeryn	Forehead
Naga	Chrom	Right upper arm
Naga	Lucina	Left eye
Naga	Owain	Upper arm
Naga	Ophelia	Arm
Naga	Inigo	Right eye
Grima	Robin	Back of the right hand
Duma	Alm	Back of the left hand
Mila	Celica	Palm of the right hand
Loptous	Julius	Forehead (Oosawa manga only)
Forseti	Lewyn	Chest (Suzuki novelization only)
Ullr	Brigid	Back of the right hand (Suzuki novelization only)

As obvious distinguishing traits of holy blood lineage, the people of some countries, like Agustria, have historically taken advantage of this in witch hunts to find and burn bearers of Loptous blood, though generally unsuccessfully and never capturing actual possessors of Loptous blood. Arvis, a possessor of minor Loptous blood, was paranoid about his Loptous heritage being revealed despite also possessing major Fjalar blood, and so made an effort to keep his Brands hidden.

Mechanics in Genealogy of the Holy War

Inheritance

For the second generation, a child unit will—unlike the lore might suggest—inherit up to two of the holy blood types held by their parents. A child will always inherit at least minor holy blood of these types; two circumstances will allow them to inherit major holy blood:

• If a parent of the same sex as the child has major holy blood, the child will also have it. There are two exceptions:
  • Brigid passes her major Ullr blood to her son Febail, and her husband will pass his major holy blood (if he has any) to their daughter Patty.
  • Quan passes his major Njörun blood to his daughter Altena.
• If both parents possess the same type of minor holy blood, both their children will have major holy blood.

Children cannot inherit more than two types of holy blood. Seliph, the only child for whom this is relevant, inherits major Baldr blood from Sigurd and minor Naga blood from Deirdre; he does not inherit minor Loptous blood from Deirdre.

While all holy blood types except Dáinn are available in playable units, there are five types (Thrud, Fjalar, Nál, Dáinn, and Loptous) that no playable unit can attain major blood for, as there is neither a unit with major blood of these types nor two parents of different genders with minor holy blood of these types.

Substitute units do not inherit anything, as they are static characters who are not the product of playable parent units being paired up. Linda and Amid are the only substitute units to possess any holy blood at all (both have minor Thrud), for story reasons to adequately fulfill their role as substitutes for Tine and Arthur.

Growth rates

Each type of holy blood provides a set of growth rate bonuses, totaling up to 50%. Major holy blood provides double the bonuses of minor blood, and a unit with multiple types of holy blood receives all the bonuses from each type of blood. For example:

Ayra's daughter Larcei normally inherits minor Od holy blood from her mother, receiving +20% HP and +30% skill

If Chulainn (minor Od) is Lercei's father, she will inherit major Od holy blood, receiving +40% HP and +60% skill.

If Lex is Larcei's father, she will inherit minor Nál and minor Od blood, receiving +40% HP, +30% skill, and +30% defense.

Weapon levels

Holy blood provides a bonus to a unit's weapon level corresponding to the blood's holy weapon; the bonus is only provided if the unit is capable of using that weapon type in their class. If a unit obtains new weapon levels upon promoting, the bonus provided by holy blood updates accordingly. Minor blood increases a unit's weapon level by one stage (C to B or B to A), but cannot increase it beyond A; major holy blood grants ★ level in the weapon type, which allows the unit to use all weapons of level C–A and the corresponding holy weapon. For example:

Mage's weapon levels are normally C fire, C wind, and C thunder; Mage Knight's normally are B swords, B fire, B wind, and B thunder.

Arthur (a Mage who promotes into Mage Knight) possesses minor Thrud blood. If he inherits no holy blood from his father, his weapon levels in Mage will be C fire, C wind, and B thunder; and in Mage Knight will be B swords, B fire, B wind, and A thunder.

If Chulainn is Arthur's father, he inherits minor Thrud and minor Od blood. His weapon levels in Mage will be C fire, C wind, and B thunder; and in Mage Knight will be A swords, B fire, B wind, and A thunder.

If Lewyn is Arthur's father, he inherits minor Thrud and major Forseti blood. His weapon levels in Mage will be C fire, ★ wind, and B thunder; and in Mage Knight will be B swords, B fire, ★ wind, and A thunder.

Data

Jugdral

Bloodline	Weapon	Default bearers	Growth rate bonuses
Baldr	Tyrfing	Byron, Sigurd, Ethlyn, Oifey, Seliph, Altena, Leif	MHP +20% Spd --% Str +10% Lck +10% Mag --% Def --% Skl +10% Res --%
Od	Balmung	Mananan, Mariccle, Ayra, Chulainn, Shannan, Galzus, Larcei, Scáthach, Mareeta	MHP +20% Spd --% Str --% Lck --% Mag --% Def --% Skl +30% Res --%
Dáinn	Gungnir	Travant, Arion	MHP +20% Spd +30% Str --% Lck --% Mag --% Def --% Skl --% Res --%
Ullr	Yewfelle	Ring, Brigid, Edain, Andrey, Febail, Patty, Lester, Lana	MHP +20% Spd --% Str --% Lck +30% Mag --% Def --% Skl --% Res --%
Bragi	Valkyrie	Claud, Silvia, Lene, Coirpre	MHP +10% Spd --% Str --% Lck +10% Mag +10% Def --% Skl --% Res +20%
Thrud	Mjölnir	Reptor, Bloom, Tailtiu, Ethnia, Arthur, Tine, Amid, Linda, Ishtore, Ishtar, Kempf, a vessel of Anguilla	MHP +20% Spd --% Str --% Lck --% Mag --% Def --% Skl +30% Res --%
Fjalar	Valflame	Victor, Arvis, Azelle, Hilda, Julius, Julia, Saias, a vessel of Equus	MHP +20% Spd --% Str --% Lck --% Mag +30% Def --% Skl --% Res --%
Hoðr	Mystletainn	Eldigan, Lachesis, Ares, Nanna, Diarmuid	MHP +20% Spd --% Str +30% Lck --% Mag --% Def --% Skl --% Res --%
Njörun	Gáe Bolg	Calf, Quan, Altena, Leif	MHP +20% Spd +10% Str +10% Lck --% Mag --% Def +10% Skl --% Res --%
Nál	Helswath	Lombard, Danann, Lex, Brian, Iuchar, Iucharba	MHP +20% Spd --% Str --% Lck --% Mag --% Def +30% Skl --% Res --%
Naga	Naga	Azmur, Kurth, Deirdre, Seliph, Julia, Linoan	MHP +10% Spd --% Str --% Lck --% Mag +20% Def --% Skl --% Res +20%
Forseti	Forseti	Lewyn, Ced*, Fee*, Musar, Mabel, Meng, Bleg, a vessel of Ovis	MHP +20% Spd +30% Str --% Lck --% Mag --% Def --% Skl --% Res --%
Loptous	Loptous	Maera, Cigyun, Deirdre, Arvis, Julius, Saias	MHP +10% Spd --% Str --% Lck --% Mag +20% Def --% Skl --% Res +20%
Note: A bold name means that character possesses major blood, while an italics name marks a nonplayable character, or a character unseen in the gameplay of Genealogy of the Holy War who has been confirmed to possess that holy blood by other material like Thracia 776 or official artbooks explaining backstory.

Ylisse

Bloodline	Weapon	Default bearers
Naga	Falchion	Emmeryn, Chrom, Lissa, Lucina, Owain, Ophelia
Grima	N/A	Validar, Robin, Morgan

Note: No clarification has currently been made in any source material as to whether these characters possess major or minor blood; it is implied that most of these characters possess major blood, however nothing has been confirmed.

Valentia

Bloodline	Weapon	Default bearers
Duma	Falchion*	Rigel, Rudolf, Alm
Mila		Zofia, Celica

Note: No clarification has currently been made in any source material as to whether these characters possess major or minor blood; it is implied that most of these characters possess major blood, however nothing has been confirmed.

Trivia

• There are several weapons that are mentioned to be derived from the power of a dragon and are personal weapons of characters who possess said dragon's blood, but are not formally stated to be holy weapons:
  • Grima's Truth channels its power from Grima and has Grima's mark on its cover. Both of its users, Validar and Morgan, possess Grima's blood.
  • Mila's Testament derives its power from Mila. It is a personal weapon of Celica, who possesses Mila's blood.

Etymology and other languages

Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language	Name	Definition, etymology, and notes
English	Holy Blood	--
Japanese	神々の系図	Genealogy of the Gods

Gallery

• 

  Artwork of the Holy Blood chart from Genealogy of the Holy War.

• 

  Lewyn's brand of Forseti in Genealogy of the Holy War - Sigurd's Story - End.

• 

  Deirdre's brand of Naga in Fujimori Nuttsu's Genealogy of the Holy War manga adaptation.

• 

  Chrom's brand of Naga in Awakening.

• 

  Lucina's brand of Naga in Awakening.

• 

  Concept artwork of the brands of Naga and Grima from Awakening.

• 

  Alm and Celica's brands of Duma and Mila in Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.