Bantu

Bantu Artwork of Bantu from Mystery of the Emblem. Survivor of the Fire Dragon Clan. Fought as Marth's ally in the War of Shadows.

Gender Male Race Manakete (Fire Dragon) Starting class Manakete Voiced by Joe J. Thomas (English, Heroes) Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese, Heroes) Appearance(s) Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light Mystery of the Emblem Shadow Dragon New Mystery of the Emblem Heroes

“	...This will be a most perilous journey. Ever since the Medeus episode, man has started to view us Manaketes as dangerous. And therefore, no matter the reason, we must not wield our dragonstone. So, we have no choice but to stand between man and Manakete.	”	— Bantu, to Tiki

Bantu (Japanese: バヌトゥ Banutu) is an Archanean manakete and a survivor of the fire dragon clans. He acted as a guardian and surrogate parent to Tiki, the divine dragon princess, having freed her from her endless sleep in the Ice Dragon Temple after taking pity on her plight. The two traveled the world until they were twice separated, first by Gharnef abducting Tiki in the War of Shadows, and again afterward in the War of Heroes when Gotoh retook custody of Tiki from him; in his quests to find her again, he allied with the Hero-King Marth in his liberation army.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light

Role

Bantu had traveled to a small village in Lefcandith Valley in his search for Tiki, who had been separated from him and abducted by Gharnef some time earlier. When Marth visited the village, Bantu told him how crucial finding Tiki is and joined his army, although having lost his firestone during his travels in Pyrathi he was initially unable to fight.

Bantu was reunited with Tiki during Marth's raid on the Fane of Raman, where he freed her from Gharnef's hypnosis and took her back into his care in Marth's army.

Starting stats and growth rates

Manakete Level 1 Movement 6 Experience 0

Recruitment: Chapter 7, visit the village Stats Growth Rates Max HP 18 Speed 4 Strength 2 Luck 1 Skill 3 Defense 3 W. Level 2 Resistance 0 Max HP 10% Speed 0% Strength 0% Luck 10% Skill 10% Defense 0% W. Level 0% Resistance 0% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory -- Weapons Sword ✗ Lance ✗ Axe ✗ Bow ✗ Tome ✗ Staff ✗ Ballista ✗ Stone ✓

Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem

Book 1

Role

Bantu had traveled to a small village in Lefcandith Valley in his search for Tiki, who had been separated from him and abducted by Gharnef some time earlier. When Marth visited the village, Bantu told him how crucial finding Tiki is and joined his army, although having lost his firestone during his travels in Pyrathi he was initially unable to fight.

Bantu was reunited with Tiki during Marth's raid on the Fane of Raman, where he freed her from Gharnef's hypnosis and took her back into his care in Marth's army.

Starting stats and growth rates

Manakete Level 1 Movement 5 Experience 0

Recruitment: Chapter 6, visit the village Stats Growth Rates Max HP 18 Luck 1 Strength 2 W. Level 2 Skill 3 Defense 3 Speed 4 Resistance 1 Max HP 10% Luck 10% Strength 0% W. Level 0% Skill 0% Defense 0% Speed 0% Resistance 3% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Weapons Items -- -- Weapons Sword ✗ Lance ✗ Axe ✗ Bow ✗ Tome ✗ Staff ✗

Book 2

Role

During Marth's crossing of the Chiasmir bridge following his visit to the Fane of Raman, Bantu awaited him in a village, his firestone again stolen by a thief. When Marth visited the village, Bantu told him of how Tiki had been taken back into Gotoh's custody, then joined his army once more.

Starting stats and growth rates

Manakete Level 3 Movement 5 Experience 0

Recruitment: Chapter 8, visit the village Stats Growth Rates Max HP 18 Luck 1 Strength 2 W. Level 2 Skill 3 Defense 3 Speed 4 Resistance 1 Max HP 10% Luck 10% Strength 0% W. Level 0% Skill 0% Defense 0% Speed 0% Resistance 3% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Weapons Items -- -- Weapons Sword ✗ Lance ✗ Axe ✗ Bow ✗ Tome ✗ Staff ✗

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

Role

Bantu had traveled to a small village in Lefcandith Valley in his search for Tiki, who had been separated from him and abducted by Gharnef some time earlier. When Marth visited the village, Bantu told him how crucial finding Tiki is and joined his army, although having lost his firestone during his travels in Pyrathi he was initially unable to fight.

Bantu was reunited with Tiki during Marth's raid on the Fane of Raman, where he freed her from Gharnef's hypnosis and took her back into his care in Marth's army.

Starting stats and growth rates

Manakete Level 1 Movement 6

Recruitment: Chapter 7, visit the village Stats Growth Rates Max HP 20 Speed 4 Strength 2 Luck 1 Magic 0 Defense 3 Skill 3 Resistance 1 Max HP 40% Speed 10% Strength 20% Luck 10% Magic 10% Defense 10% Skill 20% Resistance 0% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory -- Weapon Levels -- -- -- -- -- --

Analysis

This character analysis section may not be accurate to every player's experience.

When he is equipped with a Firestone, Bantu gains +8 Strength, +4 Skill, +4 Speed, +9 Defense, and +4 Resistance. The Firestone itself also has 15 Mt, giving Bantu a total Atk of 25 at his base level.

Bantu deals heavy damage, has solid Defense, higher movement than the Armor Knights, letting him pass as a temporary tank on low difficulty levels. Unfortunately, he is very difficult to use long-term due to his horrendous growths and low HP and Speed. Once he starts getting double attacked, he becomes a liability in combat, even when fighting regular enemies. This problem grows more severe on harder difficulty levels, where enemies will double attack him even sooner and deal high damage despite his Defense. His low Luck also makes him vulnerable to low-percentage critical hits.

Despite being a lacking unit in his own right, Bantu is required to recruit Tiki, so he is worth recruiting and keeping alive for that reason alone.

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem

Role

During Marth's crossing of the Chiasmir bridge following his visit to the Fane of Raman, Bantu awaited him in a village, his firestone again stolen by a thief. When Marth visited the village, Bantu told him of how Tiki had been taken back into Gotoh's custody, then joined his army once more.

Starting stats and growth rates

Manakete Level 3 Movement 6

Recruitment: Chapter 8, visit the village Stats Growth Rates Max HP 18 Speed 4 Strength 2 Luck 1 Magic 0 Defense 3 Skill 3 Resistance 1 Max HP 40% Speed 10% Strength 20% Luck 10% Magic 10% Defense 10% Skill 20% Resistance 5% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory -- Weapon Levels -- -- -- -- -- --

Analysis

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This character analysis section may not be accurate to every player's experience.

Fire Emblem Awakening

Role

Bantu does not personally appear, but is still alive in the era of Ylisse: Nowi claims to have met him during Chrom's campaign, although she struggles to remember his name properly.

Fire Emblem Heroes

Role

Bantu is one of the characters added to the game in the Where It Began update, and became available for summoning by players on September 19, 2019. Only one variation of Bantu is currently available in Heroes, based on his Mystery of the Emblem incarnation.

Bantu is notably the first character in Heroes that was not part of its game at its initial launch to be added directly to the three- and four-star summoning pools upon his introduction without spending time as a five-star exclusive, although he's not the first such character to directly join those summoning pools upon becoming summonable (Kaze has that distinction, but he spent time as an exclusive Grand Conquests reward before being added to the summoning pools).

Bantu: Tiki's Guardian

Starting stats

★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★★

Rarity ★★★ Weapon type Movement type

Initial Stats Level 40 Stats Maximum HP 15/16/17 Attack 8/9/10 Speed 4/5/6 Defense 7/8/9 Resistance 5/6/7 Maximum HP 38/41/44 Attack 27/30/33 Speed 21/24/27 Defense 28/31/34 Resistance 20/23/26 {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}}

Skills Fire Breath+ -- --

Rarity ★★★★ Weapon type Movement type

Initial Stats Level 40 Stats Maximum HP 15/16/17 Attack 9/10/11 Speed 4/5/6 Defense 8/9/10 Resistance 5/6/7 Maximum HP 39/42/45 Attack 29/32/35 Speed 22/25/28 Defense 30/33/36 Resistance 21/24/27 {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}}

Skills Dark Breath -- Dragon Gaze

Rarity ★★★★★ Weapon type Movement type

Initial Stats Level 40 Stats Maximum HP 16/17/18 Attack 9/10/11 Speed 5/6/7 Defense 8/9/10 Resistance 6/7/8 Maximum HP 42/45/48 Attack 31/34/37 Speed 24/28/31 Defense 32/35/38 Resistance 23/26/30 {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}}

Skills Dark Breath+ -- Dragon Gaze

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Skill set

Skill set
Skill		Unlock	Auto-unlock	SP cost
	Fire Breath	★★★	★★★	50
	Fire Breath+	★★★	★★★	100
	Dark Breath	★★★	★★★★	200
	Dark Breath+	★★★★★	★★★★★	300
	Wizened Breath	★★★★★	—	400
	Dragon Gaze	★★★	★★★★	100
	Dragon Fang	★★★★	—	200
A	Fierce Stance 1	★★★	—	50
A	Fierce Stance 2	★★★	—	100
A	Fierce Stance 3	★★★★	—	200
C	Savage Blow 1	★★★	—	50
C	Savage Blow 2	★★★★	—	100
C	Savage Blow 3	★★★★★	—	200

Personality

Bantu possesses a kind, gentle and grandfatherly spirit, which motivated him to act as a surrogate parent to Tiki in light of her once-bleak life. In his gentleness he is also firm, never hesitating to reprimand or criticize Tiki should she do something wrong, but doing so in a way which guides her into learning what the correct course of action would have been and thus encouraging her to do the right thing. During the War of Heroes, Bantu came to believe that he has a responsibility to aid impoverished and suffering manaketes across Archanea, and so resolved to search for such manaketes and to convince them to cease using their dragonstones in a bid to keep the peace between humans and the dragonkin.

Bantu is skilled at a form of pickling vegetables, born of his determination to find a way to make Tiki like eating vegetables. His pickling method involves burying the vegetables underneath certain kinds of stones for roughly a century.

Supports

Mystery of the Emblem

Bantu Manakete Supports: None. [[{{{supportg1}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusg1}}} [[{{{supportg2}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusg2}}} [[{{{supportg3}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusg3}}} Supported by: Tiki Manakete Bonus: 10 [[{{{supporto2}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonuso2}}}

See Support § Super Famicom games for more details on supports.

Shadow Dragon

Bantu Manakete Mutual supports: None. [[{{{supportm1}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm1}}} B: {{{bm1}}} A: {{{am1}}} [[{{{supportm2}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm2}}} B: {{{bm2}}} A: {{{am2}}} [[{{{supportm3}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm3}}} B: {{{bm3}}} A: {{{am3}}} [[{{{supportm4}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm4}}} B: {{{bm4}}} A: {{{am4}}} [[{{{supportm5}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm5}}} B: {{{bm5}}} A: {{{am5}}} Supported by:* Tiki Manakete C: 5 B: 8 A: 10 Nagi Manakete C: 5 B: 35 A: 35 [[{{{supporto3}}}]] Bishop C: {{{co3}}} B: {{{bo3}}} A: {{{ao3}}} [[{{{supporto4}}}]] Bishop C: {{{co4}}} B: {{{bo4}}} A: {{{ao4}}} [[{{{supporto5}}}]] Bishop C: {{{co5}}} B: {{{bo5}}} A: {{{ao5}}}

See Support § Nintendo DS games for more details on supports.

New Mystery of the Emblem

Bantu Manakete Mutual supports: Tiki Manakete C: 5 B: 10 A: -- [[{{{supportm2}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm2}}} B: {{{bm2}}} A: {{{am2}}} [[{{{supportm3}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm3}}} B: {{{bm3}}} A: {{{am3}}} [[{{{supportm4}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm4}}} B: {{{bm4}}} A: {{{am4}}} [[{{{supportm5}}}]] Bishop C: {{{cm5}}} B: {{{bm5}}} A: {{{am5}}} Supported by:* Kris Mercenary C: 5 B: 10 A: 16 Nagi Manakete C: 2 B: -- A: -- [[{{{supporto3}}}]] Bishop C: {{{co3}}} B: {{{bo3}}} A: {{{ao3}}} [[{{{supporto4}}}]] Bishop C: {{{co4}}} B: {{{bo4}}} A: {{{ao4}}} [[{{{supporto5}}}]] Bishop C: {{{co5}}} B: {{{bo5}}} A: {{{ao5}}}

See Support § Nintendo DS games for more details on supports.

Base conversations

Main article: Bantu/Conversations

Endings

Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light

Bantu
Put away his firestone. Spends his time in the countryside of Dolhr.

Mystery of the Emblem

Book 1

Bantu, Fire dragon
After sealing his dragonstone he left for whereabouts unknown.

Book 2

Bantu, Tiki's guardian
After sealing his dragonstone he left for whereabouts unknown.

Shadow Dragon

Bantu - Fire Dragon
Bantu sealed the dragonstones' power and disappeared, but his wish was to live out his years in the Dolhrian countryside.

New Mystery of the Emblem

Bantu - Tiki's Guardian
Bantu left after discarding his dragonstone, his whereabouts unknown.

Quotes

Death quotes

“	Tiki...	”	— Bantu, in Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light.

“	Tiki... Forgive me...	”	— Bantu, in Book 1 of Mystery of the Emblem.

“	Tiki, forgive me...	”	— Bantu, in Book 2 of Mystery of the Emblem.

“	Forgive me, Tiki...	”	— Bantu, in Shadow Dragon.

“	Forgive me... Tiki...	”	— Bantu, in Classic Mode in New Mystery of the Emblem.

“	How terrible... It seems... I must retreat...	”	— Bantu, in Casual Mode in New Mystery of the Emblem.

Everyone's Conditions quotes

“	Hoho, how splendid. I feel like I'm young again... Well, maybe not that much.	”	— When receiving a temporary stat boost in New Mystery of the Emblem.

“	Training is a bit difficult for my age... Oooh, I think I need to lie down for a bit.	”	— When receiving experience in New Mystery of the Emblem.

“	Hmm? What is this...? I wonder if it could double as a pickling stone...	”	— When finding an item in New Mystery of the Emblem.

“	...Hmm? What was I going to do again?	”	— When failing to receive a bonus in New Mystery of the Emblem.

“	Ahh, I do wonder about that young one. Huh, what was their name...? Err... Kris... was it?	”	— When receiving support with Kris in New Mystery of the Emblem.

Heroes quotes

Main article: Bantu/Quotes (Heroes)

Other appearances

Fire Emblem Cipher

Bantu is featured on one card in Fire Emblem Cipher.

Fire Emblem Cipher data for Bantu
	Guardian of the Dragon Princess, Bantu
		"Hey, you. Did you see a young girl named Tiki?"
		Attack: 30	Support: 20	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 2
		Class: Manakete		Tier: Base	Class Change Cost: --
		Servant of the Divine Dragon: [Always] While you have an allied "Tiki", this unit gains 30 attack. Lost Dragonstone: [Trigger] [Once per turn] When this unit finishes a battle with an attacking unit, this unit loses 30 attack and the and affinities until the end of the turn.
	Card #P02-003PR • Artist: Mikihiro Taguchi/Crowd Gate Co., Ltd.
Some card information translation provided by Serenes Forest. For more detailed strategic information on these cards, see their TCG wiki article on Bantu .

Flavor text

Game	Text (English)	Text (Japanese)
New Mystery of the Emblem	Survivor of the Fire Dragon Clan. Fought as Marth's ally in the War of Shadows.*	火竜族の生き残り。 暗黒戦争では、マルスの仲間として戦った。
Heroes	A manakete of the Fire Dragon clan, and Tiki's guardian. He released Tiki from the Ice Dragon Temple, where she had been kept hidden away. Appears in Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.	火竜族のマムクート。チキの守役。 氷竜神殿に閉じ込められていたチキを外へ連れ出した。 （登場：『ファイアーエムブレム 紋章の謎』）

Meet some of the Heroes entries

Bantu: Tiki's Guardian
You know, I kind of wish I had an amiable old grandfather figure around. Someone like, say… Bantu, the kindly old man who looked after Tiki, princess of the Divine Dragons!	Bantu used to look after Tiki in the Ice Dragon Temple. Apparently, he'd even sneak her out sometimes to show her the outside world.	Now, Bantu might look like an ordinary old man at first glance, but when it's time for battle, that's when he reveals his secret power! Bantu is a manakete, and his true form is that of a fire dragon, complete with fiery breath to wipe out his foes!	I guess he can be a bit scary when he's in his dragon form, but he's normally very kind and friendly. I hope he'll be there to protect and look after Tiki forever!
Closely Associated Characters
Tiki {{{Related_name2}}} {{{Related_name3}}} {{{Related_name4}}} {{{Related_name5}}} A young Divine Dragon once put into a timeless sleep to keep her dragon impulses in check. Now longs for human company. Bantu is as good as family to her. {{{Related_blurb2}}} {{{Related_blurb3}}} {{{Related_blurb4}}} {{{Related_blurb5}}}

Choose Your Legends placement history

Round	Placement	Character	Votes

CYL 1 (2017)	462	Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light / Shadow Dragon	270
	672	Bantu Mystery of the Emblem / New Mystery of the Emblem	78

CYL 2 (2018)	411 (−51)	Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light / Shadow Dragon	423 (+153)
	597 (−75)	Bantu Mystery of the Emblem / New Mystery of the Emblem	135 (+57)

CYL 3 (2019)

360 (+26)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light / Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem / New Mystery of the Emblem

516 (−44)

CYL 4 (2020)

583 (+140)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light / Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem / New Mystery of the Emblem

120 (−396)

CYL 5 (2021)

707 (+124)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light / Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem / New Mystery of the Emblem

42 (−78)

CYL 6 (2022)

701 (−8)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light / Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem / New Mystery of the Emblem

44 (+2)

CYL 7 (2023)

631 (−70)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light / Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem / New Mystery of the Emblem

52 (+8)

CYL 8 (2024)

779 (+148)

Bantu Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light / Shadow Dragon Mystery of the Emblem / New Mystery of the Emblem

24 (−28)

Total results		This character has 10 entries across all Choose Your Legends polls.	1,704

Trivia

• Bantu is the only male playable character of the Manakete class in the entire Fire Emblem series. While Xane and Gotoh are both manaketes, they have discarded their dragon powers and taken other classes.
• Bantu is depicted with red eyes in Mystery of the Emblem, but has blue eyes in Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem.
• In Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, Bantu's portrait is an edited and recolored variation of Gharnef's portrait.

Etymology and other languages

Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language	Name	Definition, etymology, and notes
English	Bantu	Bantu can refer to the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages or the peoples speaking those languages.
English (unofficial)	Banutu	Popularly known by this name prior to the English release of Shadow Dragon.
Japanese	バヌトゥ	Officially romanized as Banutu.
Spanish	Bantu	As above.
French	Bantu	As above.
German	Bantu	As above.
Italian	Bantu	As above.
Portuguese (Brazil)	Bantu	As above
Traditional Chinese	巴努托	Banutu

Gallery

Official artwork

• 

  Artwork of Bantu from Mystery of the Emblem.

• 

  Artwork of Bantu and Tiki from Memorial Book Akaneia Chronicle.

Portraits

• 

  Portrait of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian in Heroes.

Heroes artwork

• 

  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.

• 

  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.

• 

  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.

• 

  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.

• 

  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.

• 

  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.

• 

  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.

• 

  Artwork of Bantu: Tiki's Guardian.

• 

  Bantu in artwork of Tiki: Dragon Scion.

• 

  Bantu in artwork of Tiki: Torpid Dragon.

• 

  Bantu in artwork of Tiki: Fated Divinity.

References

This article is part of Project Characters, a project focused on writing articles for every character present in the Fire Emblem series.