Across the Fire Emblem series, players have been able to recruit countless unique and memorable characters into their respective armies. Whether a character joins a player's cause from the beginning of the game, or whether they must be swayed in some capacity, character recruitment is a core mechanic in Fire Emblem that harkens back to the first installment in the series. However, there are numerous likable and sympathetic characters, many of which are within the series' "Camus" archetype, that for one reason or another cannot be recruited into one's army.
As numerous characters are not recruitable for plot-related reasons, expect many spoilers ahead!
11 Largo - Radiant Dawn
Largo's exclusion from playable unit status in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn is quite tragic. The only playable character in Path of Radiance was not recruitable in the game's sequel, Largo was a berserker in his first appearance. Unfortunately, the berserker class was excluded from Radiant Dawn. Rather than altering Largo's class, it is stated that he sustained major injuries and is now incapable of fighting.
10 Hetzel - Radiant Dawn
One of the major antagonistic factions in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn is the Begnion Senate. While the vast majority of these senators are corrupt and despicable, one member, Hetzel is shown to be incredibly sympathetic.
Despite this, one senator in the game is recruitable, and it's not even Hetzel; it's an antagonist from the previous entry in the series, Oliver, Duke Tanas.
9 Hayden - The Sacred Stones
The father of Tana and Innes in Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones, Hayden is the king of the allied nation of Frelia. As an ally of Ephraim and Eirika, Hayden is shown to be a strong and wise king who assists the player on numerous occasions.
Hayden is notably playable in the non-canon post-game, the creature campaign, and is a powerful ranger. However, he was never recruitable in the game's core story despite being a living able fighter who is allied with the protagonists.
8 Galle - The Binding Blade
Like Largo, Galle's lack of playable status is notably unfortunate, as there are indicators that he was planned to be playable at some point in development. Shown to be honorable and sympathetic over the course of The Binding Blade, he has previously established relationships with the playable units Melady and Zeiss. Intriguingly, if he is spoken to by both Melady and Zeiss, he will stop attacking the player's units, but will remain an enemy unit.
7 Judith and Nader - Three Houses
In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the route and story players experience are determined by which house they choose to teach at the beginning of the game. In theory, each house has access to unique route exclusive characters. While each route gives players access to a unique lord, the Crimson Flower route provides access to Hubert and Jeritza, and the Azure Moon route provides access to Dedue and Gilbert. The Verdant Wind route on the other hand features no unique units outside of Claude.
This route prominently features the two characters Judith and Nader, close allies of Claude who could've provided more unique incentive for players who chose the Golden Deer.
6 Rodrigue - Three Houses
Similarly to the Verdant Wind route of Three Houses, the Church route, or Silver Snow, has access to zero unique or route exclusive units. While Felix's father, Rodrigue is more associated with Faerghus and the Blue Lions house, he could've easily served as an additional unit in Silver Snow after Dimitri falls in battle, as in the current state of Three Houses, Silver Snow is the route bearing the least unique content.
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4 Murdock - The Blazing Blade
A general of Bern and the bodyguard of Prince Zephiel in both The Binding Blade and The Blazing Blade, Murdock is primarily characterized by his unswerving loyalty to Zephiel.
While Murdock is an antagonist in The Binding Blade, he is more of an ally in The Blazing Blade. Upon the player saving Zephiel's life in the chapter, Battle Before Dawn, he can offer the player a warp staff out of gratitude. If Murdock had instead joined the player as a playable unit in this instance, it could've given the character much more dimension through his supports and made his death in The Binding Blade all the more tragic, all whilst believably staying in line with his established character.
3 Lloyd and Linus Reed- The Blazing Blade
Fan-favorite members of the "Black Fang," Lloyd and Linus are honorable assassins who share numerous traits with Eliwood and Hector. Much to the dismay of players, both are killed in The Blazing Blade due to the machinations of Nergal and his morphs. After the player spares one of these two brothers, Limstella finishes them off, pinning the blame on the player.
Many Fire Emblem games features pairs of characters that players may only recruit one of the two in a given playthrough. Perhaps the Reed brothers could've functioned in such a manner, allowing the player to convince and recruit whichever brother Limstella hadn't killed.
2 Leila - The Blazing Blade
Those who have played Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade may remember Leila as Hector's spy and Matthew's lover who is executed by Jaffar. While this death raises the stakes of the story and provides motivation for the characters, if Leila had been previously playable at some point in the game, it would allow her death to make a much more significant impact on the player as well.
1 Jeralt - Three Houses
Anyone well versed in Fire Emblem knows how integral early pre-promote characters or "Jagens" are to the hardest difficulties of various Fire Emblem games. One of the few games in the series without a Jagen, Three Houses's Maddening Mode difficulty is begging for the inclusion of a Jagen, as nearly every unit under a player's control can be killed within a single round of combat within the game's early chapters.
Byleth's father, Jeralt would've been the perfect "Jagen" for Three Houses. While many of these types of characters lose their usefulness in the latter half of a game, Jeralt dies just before the game's time skip, which would force players to say goodbye as they reach the halfway point of the game. This wouldn't be the first time this approach had been taken either, as numerous characters become unavailable in later chapters of Fire Emblem Fates: Revelations.
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