Elen

Elen (Japanese: エレン Elen) is a priest in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade and the first playable healer in the game. She first appears and becomes playable in Chapter 2, where she is escaping from a castle to get help. She is a vassal of Guinivere.

Elen Artwork of Elen from The Binding Blade. A young cleric serving Guinivere. Serene and gracious.

Gender Female Race Human Age Teens Nationality Bernite Starting class Priest Appearance(s) The Binding Blade

“	But why? I see no hatred in your eyes. Only sorrow.	”	— Elen to Chad in a support conversation.

Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade

Role

Elen and the princess Guinivere are on their way to Lycia to meet with the heads of the league and find a peaceful way to resolve the invasions. When they arrive at the border of Bern and Lycia, they are taken hostage by the leader of the fort, Ruud, who plans to sell Guinivere to Bern's enemies. Elen manages to escape from the fort, but she is attacked. At this time, Roy and his small group had arranged to meet a group of mercenaries at this location, and Elen happens to run into them before the castle guards catch up to her. She helps Roy defeat Ruud and free Guinivere. She then accompanies Roy throughout the rest of the story.

Once Bern is defeated and the war is over, she returned to her homeland to work on its restoration. Due to her hard work, she is given the title of "The Saint of Bern".

Starting stats and growth rates

Priest Level 2 Affinity

Recruitment: Chapter 2, automatically on Turn 1 Stats Growth Rates Max HP 16 Luck 8 Magic 1 Defense 0 Skill 6 Resistance 6 Speed 8 Constitution 4 Movement 5 Aid 3 Max HP 45% Luck 70% Magic 50% Defense 5% Skill 30% Resistance 60% Speed 20% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory Heal Vulnerary Weapon Levels -- -- -- -- -- -- -- D

Promotion stat gains

Class	HP	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Con	Mov	Weapon level
Bishop	+3	+3	+3	+2	+0	+2	+3	+1	+1	+50, D (+51)

Analysis

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

Elen is the first healer you get in The Binding Blade, and as such, she is very useful in the first few chapters because the only other way to heal your units is through the use of vulneraries. Elen joins with low bases, but high growths in magic, luck and resistance, with the latter being the best in the game. Elen's main flaw is her very low magic base of 1, which will plague her despite her very high magic growth and as such, she will need to use Mend to compensate later in the game. Another problem for her is how staff rank is built in The Binding Blade. It is fairly slow and requires a lot of time for her to even get to C rank staves and will lock her out of higher ranks staves for quite some time. Another problem for Elen is how after promotion she will not be a particularly good combat unit, as her speed is too low to double the majority of enemies in spite of the low weight of light tomes, and she will likely get doubled as well by fast enemies.

All of these flaws would not be so bad if Elen did not get outclassed very quickly. In Chapter 4 you get Clarine, a unit who is very similar statwise to Elen and has the same staff rank but has a mount to compensate, and in chapter 6 Saul joins, who has a worse magic growth but better bases aside from luck, better speed, a higher base level, and most importantly a higher staff rank. Elen has to compete with both of them not only for a deployment slot but also for experience and a Guiding Ring, the latter of which is also coveted by other units like Lugh. Elen does have the benefit of great availability and not taking up a deployment slot in the first few chapters, but after Chapter 6, there are not too many reasons to deploy her alongside your other two healers, as she has a hard time competing against them, let alone the powerful staffbots in the later parts of the game. This is not to say that Elen is a bad unit overall, as staves are very useful in The Binding Blade, but she is simply outclassed.

Comparison with Saul

Compared to Saul, Elen has the advantage of joining earlier, but at a lower level than him. However, her staff rank is D, while Saul's is a C. This is a massive difference, as staff ranks are hard to level up. He will automatically get B rank upon promotion, while Elen will only get to where Saul started. This also means that he requires half the weapon experience to get to A rank and use Warp. Assuming they are on the same level, Elen will have worse stats except in resistance and luck, and while her magic growth is high, her lower base means that it takes 30 levels for her to overtake him. While neither unit is particularly strong in combat, Saul has a clear advantage against Elen in this regard as well. As both units join without being promoted, both compete quite a bit for the Guiding Ring to be promoted into a Bishop and therefore also for the candidacy to use Aureola, one of the Legendary Weapons.

Comparison with Yoder

Assuming that Elen was promoted to Bishop, her experience level determines whether she can compete with Yoder or not due to her stats. However, due to the aforementioned Elen's flaws, in most cases, Yoder outclasses Elen by virtue of already joining at level 20 in the late game, as well as having a high level of use of light magic and staffs, since Elen needs a long-term training in light magic. Yoder is likely the only realistic choice for an Aureola user if not enough effort and training was put into Elen or Saul, though training Yoder's weapon level, again, is very risky when, as a bishop, he works best as a staffbot.

Personality

Elen is a very pious and good-willed lady. She is slightly shy, and is scared of men. Still, she is very friendly, often trying to help others as well as she can, and concerned about the safety of both those in the army and non-fighters in need. When talking to Lugh, she expresses her concern over seeing a child fighting in a war. She truly believes in the good in people, seeing Saul not as a womanizer but as a priest trying to show the freedom of the Elimine Church. As a priestess of Bern's Elimine Church, she is very religious and is eager to talk with Saul about the subject. Elen is also a skilled healer, even having knowledge with medicinal herbs.

Elen comes from Bern, having lived in the same hometown as Zeiss, and is very loyal to her mistress Guinivere, the princess of Bern. She also seems to know Melady, as both are from Bern and serve under Princess Guinivere. She knows that Bern started the war and understands when Chad is angry at her for being from the country.

Supports

Main article: Elen/Supports

Elen Priest Melady Wyvern Rider Initial: 20 Per turn:+2 Saul Priest Initial: 1 Per turn:+1 Chad Thief Initial: 1 Per turn:+1 [[{{{support7}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin7}}}affin.png|link={{{affin7}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints7}}} Per turn:+ [[{{{support9}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin9}}}affin.png|link={{{affin9}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints9}}} Per turn:+ Zeiss Wyvern Rider Initial: 10 Per turn:+2 Lugh Mage Initial: 30 Per turn:+1 [[{{{support6}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin6}}}affin.png|link={{{affin6}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints6}}} Per turn:+ [[{{{support8}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin8}}}affin.png|link={{{affin8}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints8}}} Per turn:+ [[{{{support10}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin10}}}affin.png|link={{{affin10}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints10}}} Per turn:+

See Support § GBA games for more details on supports.

Endings

Elen, Saint of Bern
Short: Worked to help rebuild Bern.

Long: Elen returned to Bern with Guinivere to rebuild a land ravaged by war, and to reunite a people devastated by defeat. Her hard work and kind-hearted nature earned her the title, "The Saint of Bern."

Quotes

Battle quotes

“	Elen: Aren't you...a priest? The things you've done... Orlo: What of them? Anything can go unpunished...if done in the name of the gods! Elen: There is no salvation for you...	”	— Against Orlo.

“	Saint Elimine... Give us strength!	”	— In the final chapter.

Death quote

“	Princess Guinivere... Please... Don't give up...	”	— Elen

Other appearances

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Elen's official artwork from The Binding Blade can be viewed in Path of Radiance's extras menu if a copy of The Binding Blade is connected to a Japanese copy of Path of Radiance. This illustration, along with all other The Binding Blade-related artwork, is inaccessible in the international versions of the game, owing to the fact that The Binding Blade was not released in those regions.

Fire Emblem Cipher

Elen is featured on two cards in Fire Emblem Cipher.

Fire Emblem Cipher data for Elen
	Saint of Bern, Elen
		"God, Saint Elimine, lend us your strength ..."
		Attack: 50	Support: 20	Range: 1-2	Deploy Cost: 3
		Class: Bishop		Tier: Advanced	Class Change Cost: 2
		Fortify: [Activate] [] [] Choose 2 cards with different unit names in your Retreat Area, except "Elen" cards, and add them to your hand.
	Card #B05-015HN • Artist: Tamago no Kimi
	Cleric Serving the Princess, Elen
		"I cannot fight, but I can save the injured."
		Attack: 20	Support: 20	Range: -	Deploy Cost: 1
		Class: Cleric		Tier: Base	Class Change Cost: --
		Heal: [Activate] [] [] Choose a card in your Retreat Area except "Elen" and add that card to your hand. "Blessings of the Saint": [Always] While this unit being attacked by a enemy, this unit gains +20 attack. Miracle Emblem: [Support] Until the end of this battle, your opponent’s attacking unit cannot perform a Critical Hit.
	Card #B05-016N, B05-016ST • Artist: Tamago no Kimi
Some card information translation provided by Serenes Forest. For more detailed strategic information on these cards, see their TCG wiki article on Elen .

Flavor text

Game	Text (English)	Text (Japanese)
The Binding Blade	A young cleric serving Guinivere. Serene and gracious.*	ベルン王女ギネヴィアの 側近くにつかえる僧侶

Choose Your Legends placement history

Round	Placement	Character	Votes

CYL 1 (2017)

550

Elen The Binding Blade

162

CYL 2 (2018)

633 (+83)

Elen The Binding Blade

104 (−58)

CYL 3 (2019)

574 (+2)

Elen The Binding Blade

117 (+13)

CYL 4 (2020)

622 (+5)

Elen The Binding Blade

96 (−21)

CYL 5 (2021)

545 (−77)

Elen The Binding Blade

108 (+12)

CYL 6 (2022)

599 (+52)

Elen The Binding Blade

87 (−21)

CYL 7 (2023)

576 (−23)

Elen The Binding Blade

71 (−16)

CYL 8 (2024)

575 (−1)

Elen The Binding Blade

73 (+2)

Total results		This character has 8 entries across all Choose Your Legends polls.	818

Etymology and other languages

Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language	Name	Definition, etymology, and notes
English	Elen	As of Fire Emblem Heroes.
English (unofficial)	Ellen	Unofficial romanization. Used in older versions of the fan translation patch; more recent versions use the official NoJ romanization.[which?]
Japanese	エレン	Romanized as Elen in the The Binding Blade website. Elen is a Welsh name meaning "nymph". The name is a variation of Helen. Elen Luyddog (Helen of the Hosts), also known as Saint Helen of Caernarfon, was a Welsh saint who is said to have introduced into Wales the Celtic form of monasticism. She received the title of Helen of the Hosts after having ordered to build roads across her country in order to improve their defenses. Another Welsh woman with that name is Elen verch Llywelyn, daughter of the Welsh ruler Llywelyn the Great, and granddaughter of King John of England.
Spanish	Elen	Used in the Choose Your Legends polls for Fire Emblem Heroes.
French	Elen	Used in the Choose Your Legends polls for Heroes.
German	Elen	Used in the Choose Your Legends polls for Heroes.
Italian	Elen	Used in the Choose Your Legends polls for Heroes.
Portuguese	Elen	Used in the Choose Your Legends polls for Heroes.
Traditional Chinese	愛蓮	Elen; used in the Choose Your Legends polls for Heroes.

Gallery

Sprite Gallery
Priest Bishop Staff Light, staff

Official artwork

• 

  Artwork of Elen from The Binding Blade.

Battle animations

• 

  Elen attacking with light magic as a Bishop in The Binding Blade.

• 

  Elen performing a critical hit with light magic as a Bishop in The Binding Blade.

References

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