Backed into a corner with nowhere to go.
Welcome to Wounded! A Linus Reed tribute. Linus is one of my favorite antagonists in Fire Emblem Rekka no Ken (or The Blazing Sword if you so prefer). He shows loyalty in bundles and believes in doing what he believes is right. If you can beat him, he may just listen to what you have to say! He's a hero, a little brother, and an emotional train wreck, but somewhere under that brash reaction of emotion is a man who would do anything for those he loved. This site is not spoiler free. It is also text heavy and bias-ridden.
Linus Reed
The Rabid Hound
Linus Reed is Brendan Reed's second son and Lloyd's little brother. Linus tends to be very loyal to his siblings and loved ones. He greatly respects his father and brother and will follow their orders to perfection. He can be fairly level headed when Lloyd is there to guide him. He respects Lloyd so much that he is driven mad when his brother dies. He values Nino despite loathing her mother. He considers himself as Nino's older brother yet loathes Sonia (as he doesn't trust her). Along with Lloyd he notes that their father changed after meeting Sonia.
A little bit brash, he has a strong sense of justice and believes in doing the right thing. Often reminded to stay out of trouble by his brother. He has a hard time making rational decisions as he gets wrapped up in emotion, as we see when Lloyd is killed before him. He charges in, it's the most likely reason Lloyd looks after him and is apprehensive when they have to part.
He follows orders without question until beaten, then he might listen to what someone else has to say. In this way, he was going to convince his brother of Eliwood's/Hector's sincerity, but can be killed before he gets the chance. He often follows Lloyd's advice even if he doesn't agree with it. When Lloyd dies his mind snaps and he plans to kill everyone involved in Lloyd's death, even Nino. States that he follows orders to do his missions regardless of whether or not he believes in them. He believes his father and brother so fully that there is no reason to question orders, even though Eliwood asks him about it.
Encountered
Did you see that?
Linus and the Four Fangs are tasked with killing the Lycian Lords by his step-mother. Lloyd wants to know if they're truly as evil as they're told. Lloyd cautions Linus, he takes the advice to heart but still thinks he should fight Eliwood and his group. He listens to the lord (Eliwood or Hector) after he has been beaten. When they refuse to take his life, he reasons that they are just people. For this reason he wants to speak to his brother. He needs to tell him that the Lycian lords are not as bad as they've been told and that they're being used.
You can fight Linus in Four-Fanged Offense ( Chapter 23/24), Cog of Destiny ( Chapter 27/29; if you fought Lloyd in Four Fanged Offense), and Light (Final). He is Hero class and specializes in axes and swords. He often has a throwable axe and a sword, but tends to use the hand axe (or tomahawk) more frequently. When you encounter him in Four-Fanged Offense he tells his men not to hurt the civilians. You can fight him Chapter 23 for Eliwood or 24 for Hector if the combined lords levels are higher than 50. Otherwise they fight Lloyd. In which case you won't see Linus until Cog of Destiny. Fighting Linus in Four-Fanged Offense is the only way to get the recruitable character, Geitz who appears as an enemy unit until the leading lord speaks to him.
After being beaten in Four-Fanged Offense, he will listen to reason and thinks maybe he was mislead. He wants to tell Lloyd about it, but is killed by Limstella. If you fight Lloyd first, then Linus finds his dead body and goes into a rage, deciding to avenge his older brother even at the cost of his sweet little sister, Nino.
On Hector's path, he and Hector will talk about their older brothers, stating that they are similar. In Cog of Destiny, you can talk to Linus with Nino when he's avenging Lloyd, but he refuses to listen to her. Same with Legault. The two were friends at least but Legault realizes that Linus is too stubborn to talk too, though he does try and state that they did not kill Lloyd. He drops the iron rune in cog of destiny, which prevents critical hits. He is resurrected with Lloyd, Uhai, and his father in the Final Chapter. He fights alongside his brother with A-Rank supports. He makes very good use of his tomahawk and murders everyone who gets close.
The Black Fang
Face the Justice of the Fang
The Black Fang headed by Nergal serves as the main antagonist of Rekka no Ken. Under Nergal's control the once honorable organization became corrupt. Nergal uses the Black Fang through his subrodinate, Sonia. She marries into the Reed family which founded the Blank Fang and takes it over from the inside. She uses them to kidnap, murder, and meet her Lord Nergal's needs. His ultimate goal is to bring dragons back into the world through a blaze of disaster. Nergal has Eliwood's father and kidnapped the dragon siblings, his hand in the Black Fang puts the Lycian Lords at odds with the otherwise honorable Reed Family.
The Black Fang is an assassin's guild located in Bern. Linus along with his brother, Lloyd, are two of the topped ranked members of the organization and are in charge of the elite group called the Four Fangs. I think they're pretty cool. From what I understand, the Reed family is noble (or at least very well known). Brendan seemingly grew tired of the corruption of the nobles of Bern and started an assassin's guild that served the purpose of dealing with corruption. The Black Fang is a widely respected and feared group within Bern, noted as being the protectors of the people even after Sonia takes over. In fact, several high ranking Fang members comment that everything was fine until "that woman" came along.
Relationships
The people that made him
In some of Nino's supports you find out that Linus and Lloyd treated her very well despite not being related. They treat her just like a little sister. In her supports with Legault she mentions she wants to go back and visit their graves since they left on a bad note. Despite being Sonia's dauther, Linus treats her as though she is his own sister rather than a step-sister.
Legault mentions Linus in a good light as well, stating that both Linus and Lloyd were good men. He offers to visit their graves as well. He tries to use the past and sentimentality of previous bonds to stop Linus from fighting in Cog of Destiny after Lloyd's death. He asks him to remember the past with Jan, Uhai, and the others, but Linus will hear none of it.
Uhai, not much is known about Uhai and Linus's relationship outside of the fact that they were friends. Which we only know from Legault's prompting when he tries to calm him. We do know, however, that Uhai believes that the Reeds are honorable men and that was the reason he chose to follow them to the end.
Lloyd is probably the person Linus respects and cherishes the most. I come to this conclusion based on the way that Lloyd scolds him and Linus actually listens. They're always together, probably due to Linus's rash behavior. Lloyd most likely feels like he has to look after his younger brother so that he doesn't get into trouble. His death brings great grief to Linus and causes him to try and murder anyone who had a hand in it. Alternately, if the Lycian Lords fought Linus first, Lloyd is over come with grief for not having been able to look after his little brother and vows to get vengeance.
Brendan leads the Fang. I imagine him as being strict and to the point. Not much is said or really known about his relationship with his sons. One thing we do know is that Linus follows his orders without question, despite the fact that he loathes his step-mother. His father's word is law, though, and thus he does whatever he is tasked with. I also think that if it came down to it, Linus and Brendan would be the most likely to have screaming matches when they disagreed.
Sonia is Linus's step-mother. He has a certain loathing for her recognizing her as evil the moment he meets her. I do not know if he has a sixth sense or just realizes that she will be the death of the Fang. The truth is that she does take over the Fang and ultimately leads to their demise. Linus shows particular distaste for Sonia always referring to her as "that woman."
Snow's View
Totally bias opinions, lacking any amount of shame
I am particularly fond of Linus because he is strong and confident, self-assured in everything he does. I bet he's pretty confident that despite what he's doing, he's doing what is right. He does what he believes is right (as proven when he fights in Bern but tells his men not to hurt the townspeople. Just kill the lycian lords). He also doesn't take crap from anyone. If he disapproves, he lets you know. Point in case, when he believes Nino and Legault had a hand in killing Lloyd, he doesn't care what they say. True, he's overcome by grief at that point - but he acknowledges them stating that even though they're close he won't abide by it.
He listens to reason when his older brother is involved, but strikes me as a might makes right kind of guy, meaning when he believes in something he will fight tooth and nail for it. He refuses to listen to Eliwood or Hector until they have beaten him. Afterwards his opinion of them changes and he decides he needs to inform his brother. He believes and listens to anything his brother says. This is shown when Lloyd tells Linus to be cautious and Linus is forced to think about his brash actions. As an older sibling I expect my sister to trust in me and have faith that I know what I'm talking about. I like that Linus follows his brother with the same devotion my little sister has for me. The short version of this paragraph is that Lloyd and Linus's relationship is much like mine and my sister's.
His emotional outburst over Lloyd's death is shattering and wrenching while at the same time very relatable to me (I know my little sister would do the same thing for me). I feel for Linus because I know I would be shattered if anything happened to my sister. Linus will listen to Lloyd but when faced with no other option he stops caring. Without Lloyd's guidance he becomes lost - backed into a corner so to say.He does what he feels is right despite reason. For instance, trying to kill everyone that might have caused Lloyd's death regardless of who actually did it.
I've read in several places that Linus is considered the weakest Reed. I laugh, because I have never had that problem. It is always LINUS who decides to slay half of my party in the final chapter. He makes very good use of his Brave Sword and Tomahawk to the point of annoyance. He always stands within three spaces of his brother, gaining the stats from their A-Rank support and chucks that damnable axe through the wall into my unsuspecting magic user or Heath. Heath survives. I've found bolting is a good way to take care of one of the Reed brothers, doesn't matter which but I always take out Lloyd first because he has a higher percentage of landing critical hits (and thus obliterating my army).
Why Wounded? Well, when a dog is wounded and backed into a corner it will lash out at anyone and anything in attempts to get out. Linus exhibits this behavior after the death of his brother. We see this when he tells Legault to shut up and has no problem attacking Nino. Where else can he go? Frustrated and hurt, he has nowhere to turn. He sees only two options - kill the Lycian Lords or die trying.
Links In
http://madness.rayjah.net/linus/
Links Out
Fairly cool people that Linus would never approve of.
