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This is a thread idea which I thought would be pretty cool to add to FEF.

Introducing, WMG, or Wild Mass Guessing, FE Style! Post all your theories about Fire Emblem, from plot twists, to characters, to why all the "aggressor" nations have wyvern riders.

Then we can discuss the theories, back it up with quotes, and of course, post our own. Debate is welcome and encouraged, but keep it on topic and civil.

I actually have one I'd like to share with you guys.

Game: Path of Radiance
The Theory: "Shinon owed Greil some kind of life debt."

If I recall, we don't get to see a lot of the back story about Greil and the older members of his mercenary group. Shinon seemed to hold a great respect for Greil, but no loyalties to Ike. My guess is that Griel either saved his life directly (as in jumping in a fight to save him) or indirectly (by employing Shinon when he'd fallen on hard times.)

I suppose since I am the local Shinon, I wil give you my headcanon backstory and let you pick it apart from there. Some of you from the Blast may have seen me post this, but I have gone back and refined some sketchier details and I believe they make a complete image of how and why Shinon is the way he is.

Okay, so, I dont remember who he mentioned it to, but someone had questioned his archery skill and he said something along the lines of that his former teacher was a slavedriver and made him repeat all his exercise courses and drills until he was perfect.

Given the fact he does not talk about his past or family, I have bridged the assumption that this is probably because it was his own father that was so hard on him.

That being said, this also brings me to some observations I have made:

For a mercenary, he is quite knowledgable. However what intrigued me most was his contempt and spite for Gallia and the "beastly subhumans" there. He seemed to know quite a bit more than even some of the other, more seasoned (Aka Titania, Greil) members did. This leads me to my second claim:

He comes from a nomadic tribe that lived in the forrests and plains of Gallia.

Third connection is his contempt for horses, or any four legged creatures in general, but I forget where it is, but I vaguely remember him making a comment about how he hated Pegasi, but hated regular horses worse.

Given my claim/theory that he comes from a nomadic tribe, this statement would certainly back this claim up. Assuming his father was his teacher, I can only imagine all that training he had to go through on foot and then on a horse. If it were me, I'd certainly be scornful of that.

Along with that, my theory also includes his mother was either a shamaness or a cleric as he tends to scorn and look down upon magic usage. Of course he will begrudgingly admit healers are acceptable, he still seems to find it unnecessary.

Given these details and my assumptions, I believe he left his tribe and tried to make it on his own and somewhere along the line, he bit off more than he could chew and somewhere during that, he met with Greil, who took him under his wing and allowed him to travel abroad with him and allow him to learn about the world as well as teach him what his simple nomadic lifestyle did not.

As such, Shinon respects those (however begrudgingly) that have knowledge, power, and skill as we see with his supports with Janaff. Sure they banter and spit insults, but wheb Janaff tells him his age and Shinon realizes that he has a lot of knowledge he could pass on, slowly warms up to the laguz and asks him to share some of that experience with him. I believe he followed Greil both because he owed Greil for taking him in, and because he wanted to learn everything the man was willing to teach him.

I believe this fact also shows through in his supports with Rolf, he ingrains it into Rolf's head that "Survival and knowledge are key", and that he should take in as much as he can learn and says thats why he worked him so hard, but never like his teacher had done to him, so I can only assume how much contempt he must have had for his own training to completely rework his training exercises for Rolf's benefit. Then again, you are talking to the biggest Shinon/Rolf shipper ever.

His general attitude in and of itself comes from his childhood, his "ever apparent boredom" he talks about is from the fact he finds the simplistic things in life too mediocre for him, and that's why he wants fame and fortune: To rise out of the shadow of his past and prove he is better than he ever would have been in the tribe (I also conclude that he refuses to ride a horse is because of this and/or he just wasn't good at it as they expected him to be and he seeks to prove he's the best Sniper without a "goddamned mount" as he so charmingly puts it.) and the fortune because he had never been rich, and even though he made decent coin with Greil, it never slackened his thirst for more. His rare, shall we say "softer" sides show through on the occasion, mostly when he is speaking to Gatrie or Rolf, but at the end of Janaff and his A support, you really see part of it the way he does an almost one-eighty when he asks the laguz to tell him some of his stories, so it goes to show his "boredom" can be cured, it just takes something most people wouldn't expect or be able to deliver since the guy sets his standards so high.

...and there you have it, my Shinon headcanon. Hope you all like it. <3