Heroes' Relics

“	The Crestless cannot unleash the goddess's power, even if they possess a Relic. Nonetheless, they are still capable of simply wielding those weapons.	”	— Rhea

The Heroes' Relics (Japanese: 英雄の遺産 Heroes' legacy) are a set of thirteen weapons and accessories originating from Fódlan. They are immensely powerful, and were historically used in the War of Heroes. Each of the relics is empowered by a Crest Stone, and responds to a specific Crest. These weapons will work with any level of Crest, including Major Crests, Minor Crests, and the New Game +-exclusive Crest Items.

Overview

In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, a Hero's Relic can be wielded by any character; however, their power and the consequence for using one varies depending on if the character has a Crest, as well as which Crest they have. If the character has no Crest, they will take 10 damage after every round of combat they engage while using a Relic. If the character has any Crest besides the associated one, they will not take any damage from it, but they do not gain any Crest-specific effects.

If the character has the same Crest associated with the Relic, then not only will the character not take any damage from it, but they will also gain access to the Relic's special powers. Weapon Relics gain a unique combat art and accessory Relics grant Pavise and Aegis. The potency of the character's Crest will also affect the durability cost of using the combat art; Major Crests result in a cost of 3 durability, Minor Crests result in a cost of 4, and Crest items result in a cost of 5. In addition, if the Relic is being wielded by someone with the correct Crest, the Relic will glow red.

The Sword of the Creator is an exception to this pattern, in that it grants its full power exclusively to Byleth. While any other character can equip it (including Edelgard, who possesses the Crest of Flames associated with the weapon), the Sword of the Creator becomes much weaker in their hands, becoming much heavier and losing its ranged capabilities. In-story, this is a result of the Crest Stone that empowers the weapon being inside Byleth themselves.

Sword of the Creator A sword originally wielded by the warrior Nemesis before coming into the ownership of the mercenary Byleth.	Areadbhar A lance originally wielded by the hero Blaiddyd. Currently wielded by Dimitri, King of Faerghus.	Failnaught A bow originally wielded by the hero Riegan. Currently wielded by Claude von Riegan, leader of the Leicester Alliance.	Aegis Shield A shield originally wielded by the hero Fraldarius.	Rafail Gem A magical gem originally wielded by the hero Lamine.	Crusher An axe originally wielded by the hero Dominic.	Lance of Ruin A lance originally wielded by the hero Gautier.
Lúin A lance originally wielded by the hero Daphnel.	Thyrsus A staff originally wielded by the hero Gloucester.	Freikugel An axe originally wielded by the hero Goneril.	Thunderbrand A sword originally wielded by the hero Charon. Currently wielded by Catherine, a soldier of the Knights of Seiros.	Blutgang A sword originally wielded by the hero Maurice.	Vajra-Mushti Gauntlets created after the War of Heroes in the style of the Relics, associated with the Crest of Chevalier.	Fetters of Dromi A ring originally wielded by the apostle Aubin.

History

The Sword of the Creator, the first Heroes' Relic, was forged from the bones of Sothis after Nemesis raided the Holy Tomb and killed her. Nemesis then consumed her blood and inserted her Crest Stone into the sword, allowing only him to safely wield the sword. He then killed almost all of the Nabateans in Zanado, and crafted more weapons from their corpses which he would then be wielded by his army's commanders, the Ten Elites. Certain texts found in the Shadow Library in the Abyss suggest the Ten Elites were not aware of the weapons' true nature, but they did consume the blood of the killed Nabateans to gain their crests.

Eventually, one of the Ten Elites, Maurice, used the sword he was entrusted with, Blutgang, so much that he would be transformed into a Wandering Beast despite bearing a crest, and keeping his sword with him until he was eventually slain by Byleth, Marianne, and their allies.

After Seiros killed Nemesis in the War of Heroes, she reclaimed the Sword of the Creator and ensured the Ten Elites would be hunted down, reclaiming their weapons in the process. She removed the Crest Stone from the Sword of the creator and then kept it in a coffin in the Holy Mausoleum, while she used the Crest Stone for her experiments to resurrect Sothis. The other Heroes' Relics were eventually given to the families of the Ten Elites.

To hide the true nature of the crests and Heroes' Relics, Rhea created a new story where the crests and Heroes' Relics were a gift from the goddess to aid Nemesis and the Ten Elites in their fight against evil gods. According to this story, they would then become greedy and had to be struck down by Seiros. As a result, Crests and the associated ability to wield Heroes' Relics would go on to be highly valued by the nobility, particularly in the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus.

Some time after the War of Heroes, new weapons were crafted, modelled after the original Heroes' Relics. These weapons would use the same material as the original Heroes' Relics and be tied to the crests of the Four Apostles instead. Additionally, the axe Aymr is very similar to the Heroes' relics, having the same properties as them but being made of Agarthium instead of Umbral Steel. It is implied that the axe was made by those who slither in the dark specifically for Edelgard, though the exact details of these weapons' creation are never explained.

In the final battle of the Verdant Wind route of Three Houses, the resurrected Ten Elites and Nemesis wield replica Heroes' Relics that are said to have been modelled after the original weapons. However, most of the weapons are unable to trigger the special combat arts the regular Heroes' Relics grant the corresponding crest bearer, though replica accessories still grant Aegis and Pavise to their wielder if they bear the matching crest. The Dark Creator Sword, wielded by the resurrected Nemesis, is unique as it is powered by two crest stones - namely those for the Crest of Noa and the Crest of Timotheos, and grants him a unique Combat Art in Heaven's Fall.

Etymology and other languages

Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language	Name	Definition, etymology, and notes
English	Heroes' Relics	Singular form is Hero's Relic.
Japanese	英雄の遺産	Heroes' legacy
Spanish	Reliquias de los héroes	Relics of the heroes
French	Reliques de Héros	Hero's Relics
German	Heroenrelikte	Heroes Relics
Italian	Reliquie degli eroi	Relics of the heroes
Portuguese	Relíquias dos heróis	Heroes' relics; used in Heroes.
Korean	영웅의 유산	Heroes' legacy
Simplified Chinese	英雄的遗产	Heroes' legacy
Traditional Chinese	英雄的遺產	Heroes' legacy

Gallery

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  The Lance of Ruin, a Hero's Relic, wielded by Ashe in Three Houses. Ashe's lack of a Crest causes the lance to not glow.

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  The Lance of Ruin, a Hero's Relic, wielded by Byleth in Three Houses. Byleth's possession of an incorrect Crest causes the lance to glow softly.

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  The Lance of Ruin, a Hero's Relic, wielded by Sylvain in Three Houses. Sylvain's possession of the correct Crest of Gautier causes the lance, as well as its Crest Stone, to glow an intense red.

See also

• Aymr
• Regalia
• Crusader Weapons