Linus

The Mad Dog
Linus
Real Name	Linus Reed
Species	Human
Class	Hero
Affiliation	Black Fang
Hair color	Brown
Age	20's
Base	Bern
Relatives	Brendan Reed (father) Lloyd (brother) Sonia (stepmother) Nino (stepsister)
Debut	Fire Emblem

Linus is a major boss in Fire Emblem. He and his brother Lloyd were powerful assassins in the Black Fang, due to it being founded by their father Brendan Reed. Both of the Reed Brothers made up two of the Black Fang's elite Four Fangs. Linus was the more headstrong and impatient of the two.

Background

The Reed Brothers were among the first members of the Black Fang, when Brendan originally established it to kill nobles who abused their positions. About nine years later, things changed when Brendan married a second wife, Sonia, whom the Reed Brothers detested and distrusted from the beginning. However, they had no idea that Sonia was influencing them into serving her own ends and those of her evil master Nergal rather than the good of the people. Linus and Lloyd did befriend Sonia's adopted daughter, Nino, who thought of the Reeds as her brothers.

In Fire Emblem, the story of the Reed Brothers is different depending on the combined levels of the three lord characters by the "Four-Fanged Offense" chapter. Regardless of the path, the Reed Brothers are dispatched by Sonia to hunt and kill Eliwood and his companions in the opening of "Kinship's Bond" (Eliwood Chapter 21, Hector Chapter 22). Linus lost his temper in front of Sonia when she insulted Lloyd, but Lloyd convinced him to stand down.

The Reed Brothers later spotted Eliwood and Hector's group in "Four Fanged Offense" (Eliwood Chapter 23, Hector Chapter 24). This is where their actions differed. If the combined levels of the three lords were 50 or more, Lloyd returned to Black Fang headquarters to get reinforcements and ordered Linus to keep an eye on them but not to take action due to the threat posed by the group. But Linus was confident in his abilities and tried taking them on singlehandedly. He was defeated and afterwards tried taking Eliwood hostage. But he saw that Eliwood was willing to sacrifice his life, and might not have been truly evil. Linus retreated to sort things out, at which point he was ambushed by Limstella and killed.

In the second possible path (if the combined levels of the lord characters were less then 50), the roles of the brothers were reversed. Lloyd decided to take on Eliwood's group, thinking them too dangerous to let out of his sight, and he sent Linus away to get reinforcements. But Linus returned too late and found Lloyd dead. Thinking Eliwood was behind this, he swore revenge. After going missing for a while, Linus resurfaced in "Cog of Destiny" (Eliwood Chapter 28, Hector Chapter 30). He brought the remaining Black Fang forces in an attempt to ambush Eliwood's company outside the Shrine of Seals. Linus was resigned to his fate, and not even Nino could sway him. Linus was killed in the battle.

Either way, Linus's quintessence was collected by Limstella and used to create an enhanced morph copy of Linus, who served as a sub-boss in "Final Chapter: Light". The morph was destroyed and seemed to feel pleasure in death.

Trivia

• His nickname in the Black Fang was Mad Dog.
• Lloyd notes a similarity between Hector and Linus's attitudes. This sets up for an interesting parallel, as Lloyd and Linus could be thought of as misguided versions of Eliwood and Hector.
• He has an A Rank Support with Lloyd, even though they are never present in the same battle.