The only Fire Emblem game to be released for the Nintendo Wii, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn served as a sequel to the previous entry in the series, Path of Radiance. Radiant Dawn is quite unique due to its structure of numerous intersecting stories and perspectives. Due to this structure, the game has a notably large cast of characters for players to utilize.
As one would expect with a large roster of characters, some characters greatly outshine other less useful units. So today we're going to examine the worst of the worst that Radiant Dawn's roster has to offer!
10 Pelleas
A unit who is only recruitable in one's second playthrough of Radiant Dawn, Pelleas's primary appeal comes via his status as the only playable Dark Sage in the game. Unfortunately, saying his usefulness is limited would be an understatement. This is due to the fact the Pelleas doesn't join a player's army until Part Four when the game is nearing its end. Additionally, even if a player does wish to use him, he is significantly underleveled and still within the second of the game's three promotion tiers.
9 Astrid
While mounted units in Fire Emblem are traditionally quite useful, in a game with nearly ten characters that fight on horseback, it's not a surprise that some of these units are lackluster. A mounted archer, Astrid is one such unit.
Toting mediocre base stats and growth rates alike, Astrid's weapon of choice truly holds her back, preventing her from contributing meaningfully in combat during the enemy phase, and counterattacking adjacent foes. Though Astrid comes with the useful Paragon skill, players will get much more mileage from it by removing it and giving it to a more worthwhile unit.
8 Vika
A raven Laguz, While Vika may initially appear to be a solid unit when she is first encountered, Radiant Dawn's structure works against her. Appearing at the tail end of Part One, Vika can use her great mobility and combative abilities to quickly adapt and maneuver around the map. Unfortunately, after the end of Part One, Vika is not seen again until the tail end of Part Four! By this time, countless units have grown tremendously, whilst Vika hasn't gained any experience since the game's first act.
7 Tormod
Tormod suffers from the exact same issues as Vika, but to an even greater degree. Possessing the exact same availability as Vika, Tormod is absent for a major portion of the game, preventing him from gaining experience.
However, while Vika is a notable flier during part one, Tormod's impact is far less notable, serving as an average practitioner of fire magic.
6 Leonardo
Bow users tend to have a poor reputation across the Fire Emblem series, and Leonardo is a solid example of why. Possessing neither strong base stats nor notable growths, Leonardo is incapable of holding his own, relegating his usefulness towards dishing out chip damage from afar.Leonardo is incapable of making any kind of major impact, and struggles at gaining experience without the use of bonus experience that can be distributed at a player's base.
Leonardo's only saving grace comes in the form of Lughnasadh, a powerful bow that he is the only potential wielder. While the bow is potent, it is not enough to salvage Leonardo.
5 Rolf
Another bow-user like Leonardo, Rolf is immediately recruited at the beginning of Part Three of Radiant Dawn. Unfortunately, Rolf is immediately invalidated as soon as he becomes available due to his fellow bow user, Shinon. While both units becoming available at the same time, Shinon has excellent base stats and can both take a hit and dish out damage, Rolf possesses abysmally poor base stats.
While one may expect this to be offset by high growth rates, Rolf's growths are equivalent to those of Shinon, and even when invested in, Rolf will often end up inferior to his contemporary sniper.
4 Fiona
Fiona has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the worst calvary units in Fire Emblem history. This is due to two factors that when paired, have horrible results: terrible availability and terrible base stats.
Fiona is a unit who could hypothetically be trained into a solid and serviceable unit. However, Fiona is present for very few chapters, arriving in the latter half of Part One with low base stats. By this point, a player is starting to accumulate numerous useful units, leaving little incentive to train Fiona for the few chapters in which she can be used.
3 Gareth
One can't have a conversation about terrible availability without bringing up Gareth. A red dragon Laguz, Gareth is recruited with only two chapters left in the entire game. While there are numerous Fire Emblem units who appear at the end of given games and can make notable impacts for final chapters, Gareth has no such luck.
This is notably due to the final two chapters being full to the brim with magic-based threats. Gareth is a unit based heavily upon physical combat, possessing high defense but pitiful resistance, making him a horrible choice in the only chapters in which he's available.
2 Lyre
Lyre is a unit with little to no redeeming factors. A cat Laguz recruited roughly halfway through the game, Lyre has perhaps some of the most horrendous base stats in the game, especially in relation to her join time. Despite being level seventeen when she becomes playable, her stats are similar to those found within the earliest recruited units in the game. Also toting mediocre growth rates that fail to validate her use, it's recommended that Lyre be benched as quickly as possible.
1 Meg
Possessing high luck and resistance, Meg's stats would be quite fitting for a pegasus knight. Unfortunately, Meg is an immobile armored knight instead. Possessing low movement, Meg is only capable of wielding swords, further limiting her usefulness as she cannot fight foes who may attack her from afar.
Additionally, while Meg's strong suits may appear to be luck as she possessing a massive 75% growth rate in that area, she comes equipped with the "Fortune" skill which prevents her from sustaining critical hits, making her high luck entirely redundant.