Hugh

Hugh (Japanese: ヒュウ Hugh) is a character in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade. He first appears in Chapter 16. Hugh is a streetwise young mage from Ilia, who sought out as a mercenary to earn some money. He is the son of Canas and the grandson of Niime.

Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade

Role

Hailing from Ilia, Hugh was hired as a mercenary to fight for the Etrurian forces. However, Hugh becomes deeply concerned when many defectors of the army, such as Roartz and Arcardo, left the army for Bern, since he feels that he will not get his pay. As a result, in the battle against Narcian, he goes to Roy to have him recruit him. However, in order to do so, the player must pay him 10,000 gold, since he claims that he needs medicine for his sick grandmother.^[2] If you decline that offer, then he will offer to join Roy's forces again, but this time with 5,000 gold. However, if the player refuses again, Hugh will not join the army.

After the war, many nations attempt to hire Hugh, but he ends up turning down all of their offers, and continued onward with his own life. It turns out that he was really a pain when it came to earning money, but he eventually becomes a great and very powerful mage.

Starting stats and growth rates

Mage Level 15 Affinity

Recruitment: Chapter 16, talk to with Roy and pay gold Stats Growth Rates Max HP 26~23 Luck 10~7 Magic 13~10 Defense 9~6 Skill 11~8 Resistance 9~6 Speed 12~9 Constitution 7 Movement 5 Aid 6 Max HP 75% Luck 25% Magic 30% Defense 20% Skill 30% Resistance 15% Speed 45% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory Elfire Member Card Elixir Weapon Levels -- -- -- -- C -- -- --

Each time Hugh's offer is declined, the price of his subsequent offer lowers and all of his base stats decrease by 1 (down to 3). Declining the last offer prevents him from being recruited. Hugh will offer to be hired for the following amounts of gold:

1. 10,000
2. 8,000
3. 6,000
4. 5,000

Promotion stat gains

Class	HP	Mag	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Con	Mov	Weapon level
Sage	+4	+4	+2	+1	+0	+2	+2	+1	+1	+50, E

Analysis

Hugh joins in chapter 16 as a level 15 mage with average bases. He can be promoted immediately to gain access to huge promotion gains and become a useful asset to your team.

Unfortunately, Hugh suffers from some significant flaws: while the monetary cost is not so much of a problem (The Binding Blade being pretty generous with it) you may wish to purchase Angelic Robes and promotion items at the secret shop at the end of his recruitment chapter. Recruiting him can also prove tricky; he comes from the right side of the map, followed closely by Douglas himself, who you must not kill if you want access to the gaiden chapter. Moreover, an annoying bolting mage may threaten Roy's life if you wish to recruit Hugh.

Another problem he faces is stiff competition with other mages and Valkyries such as Lugh, Cecilia or Clarine, who may be already better than a prepromoted Hugh, and you only have so many Guiding Rings and deployment slots.

However, none of his flaws render him totally unusable. As said already, his bases are average, and his growths are all solid. A 15/1 promoted Hugh has noticeable advantages in HP, Magic, and Defense over 15/1 Lugh on average. His C anima rank allows him immediate access to Aircalibur after promotion or with a little work, and his high magic after promotion makes him a good staff bot.

Hugh doesn't fall off in the late-game, as his Speed growth rate is pretty reliable, and his high Magic, HP and Defense make him quite the dependable unit.

Comparison with Lugh

Compared to Lugh, Hugh performs similarly. However, the situation may vary as Hugh's performance depends on how much money is paid to recruit him into the army. Assuming Lugh is well trained, Hugh could face a promoted and higher level Lugh at the time of joining the army. However, Hugh can compensate for this because he is at a level where it is also possible to promote him in his joining chapter. Because of this, both mages are valuable assets to the player's army.

In terms of stat growths, and assuming that both are at the same level, most of Lugh's stats are higher, but Hugh has the advantage of having significantly more defense. In addition, Hugh has a very high constitution of 7, compared to Lugh's 4, but this is only relevant when wielding Forblaze and Bolting. Both of them, when promoted, both are easy to train them in staves, which makes them very good staffbots. The two mages have a bit of competition for a Guiding Ring to promote to Sage, although Lugh is likely to be promoted first than Hugh.

Fire Emblem Heroes

Role

Hugh is one of the characters added to the game in the Princess Alone update, and became available for summoning by players on February 18, 2022. Only one variation of Hugh is currently available in Heroes, based on his The Binding Blade incarnation.

Hugh: Worldly Mage

Starting stats

Hugh: Worldly Mage is only available at 5★ rarity.

Rarity ★★★★★ Weapon type Movement type

Initial Stats Level 40 Stats Maximum HP 17/18/19 Attack 7/8/9 Speed 8/9/10 Defense 7/8/9 Resistance 6/7/8 Maximum HP 36/40/43 Attack 35/38/42 Speed 38/42/45 Defense 24/27/31 Resistance 21/24/27 {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}}

Skills Sell-Spell Tome -- New Moon

Skill set

Skill set
Skill		Unlock	Auto-unlock	SP cost
	Fire	★★★★★	★★★★★	50
	Elfire	★★★★★	★★★★★	100
	Bolganone	★★★★★	★★★★★	200
	Sell-Spell Tome	★★★★★	★★★★★	400
	New Moon	★★★★★	★★★★★	100
	Moonbow	★★★★★	—	200
A	Spd/Def Ideal 1	★★★★★	—	60
A	Spd/Def Ideal 2	★★★★★	—	120
A	Spd/Def Ideal 3	★★★★★	—	240
A	Spd/Def Ideal 4	★★★★★	—	300
C	Rouse Atk/Spd 1	★★★★★	—	60
C	Rouse Atk/Spd 2	★★★★★	—	120
C	Rouse Atk/Spd 3	★★★★★	—	240
C	Rouse Atk/Spd 4	★★★★★	—	300

Personality

Hugh, as stated by his ending, is quite a pain when it comes down to money and getting paid for what he does. When Roy hires Hugh, he must pay at most 10,000 gold or at least 5,000 gold in order to recruit him, otherwise he will not join the army. He also can tend to be quite avaricious with his pay, since when Chad, an orphan, asks him for a loan of 3,000 gold, Hugh at first refuses, saying that he is only willing to lend money to adults and to good-looking women and girls, as shown in his C support with him. Hugh is also shown to be somewhat gullible and juvenile; when he meets Raigh, a shaman, he lends him his grandmother's Nosferatu tome, but he does not give it back.^[3] When they finally meet again, Hugh tries to get it back from him, but he continues to be fooled by his excuses^[4], such as when Raigh claims that he would give it back after he uses it 20 times, which is the exact limit of uses of the tome before it is done.^[5] His susceptible personality is also shown when he is fooled by the thief Cath and has some of his money taken from him, although he ironically wanted to give it to her in the first place, as she was planning on giving it to the poor.^[6] Hugh also shows a few hints of some arrogance and narcissism, since he theorizes that Niime has not attacked him with her dark magic yet, due to his handsome appearance^[7], or when he gets angry at Chad for calling him an 'old man,' as this, to him, does not do with his looks, much to Chad's amusement.^[8]

When Hugh was still a child, and his father and mother both died protecting Ilia from a snowstorm, he was left in the care of Niime. However, during that time, she treated him severely, such as how she would never heal him if he was ever hurt, as revealed in his support conversation with Lugh, where he even goes as far as to calling her a "kook."^[9] On top of that, she had tried to get him to practice dark magic, but due to lack of progress, Hugh decided to move on to wielding anima magic^[10], much to his grandmother's chagrin.^[11] However, this harsh treatment causes Hugh to hold a grudge against her, and he leaves as a mercenary to make some money.

However, despite his somewhat avaricious and naive personality, Hugh is shown to truly be a very kind person at heart, as described by Niime.^[12] This is shown when Hugh tries to give Cath the money he earned from joining Roy's army, knowing that she would give it to the poor, or when he gives his Nosferatu tome to Raigh out of sympathy when he found out he was an orphan, although it turns out Raigh steals it later on. He becomes very good friends with Lugh, even though Hugh thought he was his twin brother, Raigh, who he grew to not like very much.^[13] Hugh states that Lugh is one of his best friends after he had treated a wound that he received on his elbow, even though it was apparently not that serious. He reveals to Lugh that he is the first person to ever truly care for his well being, and they become great friends.^[14] He also turns out to be friends with Chad as well, and comes to respect him, too, since he sees him as a more mature person than he is himself.^[15]

Supports

Main article: Hugh/Supports

Hugh Mage Lugh Mage Initial: 5 Per turn:+1 Cath Thief 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:+ Raigh Shaman Initial: 5 Per turn:+1 Niime Druid Initial: 40 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:+

Endings

Hugh, Traveling Mage
Short: Continued his studies in magic.

Long: Numerous nations sought Hugh's service, but he declined them all and stayed independent. He always struggled financially, but his magic skills ensured his legacy.

Quotes

Death quote

Battle quotes

Heroes quotes

Main article: Hugh/Quotes (Heroes)

Other appearances

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Hugh'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

Hugh is featured on one card in Fire Emblem Cipher.

Fire Emblem Cipher data for Hugh
	World-Famous Mage, Hugh
		"Today is your lucky day! Here's a mage for hire. How about it?"
		Attack: 40	Support: 20	Range: 1-2	Deploy Cost: 2
		Class: Mage		Tier: Base	Class Change Cost: --
		Able Mage: [Always] During your turn, if the card supporting this unit is , this unit gains +20 attack. "I know what I'm doing!": [Trigger] [] When this unit's attack destroys an enemy with a Deployment Cost of 1, you may pay the cost and if you do: Draw 1 card.
	Card #B16-033N • Artist: Tobi
Some card information translation provided by Serenes Forest. For more detailed strategic information on these cards, see their TCG wiki article on Hugh .

Flavor text

Meet some of the Heroes entries

Hugh: Worldly Mage
Hugh comes from a family of mages who wield elder magic—also known as dark magic. Both his father and his grandmother are famous dark mages! However, Hugh himself is very modest, and has a wry wit.	Having lost his parents at a young age, Hugh was raised by his grandmother, Niime. Once he was old enough, he parted ways with her to go out into the world and master elder magic, following in his family's footsteps.	During his journey, however, he lost hope in his talents for that school of magic, and chose to pursue anima magic instead! He later offered his services to Roy as a mercenary and joined the army of the Lycian League.	It seems his knack for anima magic comes from his mother, rather than his father's side of the family. And so, with anima magic at his command, Hugh does his part to clear the way forward!
Closely Associated Characters
Niime Raigh Canas {{{Related_name4}}} {{{Related_name5}}} Scholar of dark magic. Everyone in Elibe who knows anything about magic has learned her name as well. Hugh's grandmother. Wielder of dark magic. A scornful loner with a troubled past as an orphan. He and Hugh traveled together for a short time. Fourth son of Niime, the Mountain Hermit. Devoted entirely to research and reading. Hugh's father. {{{Related_blurb4}}} {{{Related_blurb5}}}

Choose Your Legends placement history

Round	Placement	Character	Votes

CYL 1 (2017)

340

Hugh The Binding Blade

538

CYL 2 (2018)

438 (+98)

Hugh The Binding Blade

337 (−201)

CYL 3 (2019)

398 (−17)

Hugh The Binding Blade

396 (+59)

CYL 4 (2020)

312 (−93)

Hugh The Binding Blade

470 (+74)

CYL 5 (2021)

279 (−33)

Hugh The Binding Blade

348 (−122)

CYL 6 (2022)

248 (−32)

Hugh The Binding Blade

394 (+46)

CYL 7 (2023)

518 (+270)

Hugh The Binding Blade

89 (−305)

CYL 8 (2024)

579 (+61)

Hugh The Binding Blade

72 (−17)

CYL 9 (2025)

517 (−62)

Hugh The Binding Blade

74 (+2)

Total results		This character has 9 entries across all Choose Your Legends polls.	2,718

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

Sprite Gallery
Mage Sage Anima Anima Staff

Official artwork

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  Artwork of Hugh from The Binding Blade.

Battle animations

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  Hugh attacking with anima magic as a Mage in The Binding Blade.

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  Hugh performing a critical hit with anima magic as a Sage in The Binding Blade.

Heroes artwork

Character artwork

• 

  Artwork of Hugh: Worldly Mage.

• 

  Artwork of Hugh: Worldly Mage.

• 

  Artwork of Hugh: Worldly Mage.

• 

  Artwork of Hugh: Worldly Mage.

Meet some of the Heroes artwork

• 

  Artwork of Hugh: Worldly Mage.

• 

  Artwork of Hugh: Worldly Mage.

• 

  Artwork of Hugh: Worldly Mage.

• 

  Artwork of Hugh: Worldly Mage.

Cipher artwork

• 

  Artwork of Hugh.

• 

  Artwork of Hugh and Fae.

References

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