As it was my first try at doing something like this, I remained pretty simple with the concepts, early on I gave them a "starter set" of characters to get the idea rolling. I'll also post whether or not they actually successfully recruited them.

Basic Tank (Heavy Armor / Shield) - Recruited
Basic Archer - Recruited
Villager/Cabin Boy - Recruited, later lost
Magic Warrior/Battle Priest - Recruited, later lost
Soldier/Duelist - Recruited, probably the group's favorite
Teen White Mage/Priestest - Recruited
Teen Black Mage/Sorceress - Recruited
Soldier/Secretly Noble Sensor - Recruited, later retired
Giantkin Mercenary - Failed to Recruit
Streetrat Thief - Failed to Recruit
Cavelier - Failed to Recruit
Weird Elemental Military Captain - Failed to Recruit, but was allied otherwise
Court Summoner - Recruited, then was promptly killed
Barbarian Shaman - Failed to Recruit/Killed on Sight
Dragonkin Sorceress - Failed to Recruit/Killed on Sight

You can kind of see how this went, they murdered most of them that weren't handed to them. And that's fine.

I'm not going to keep this alive artificially forever, but I thought there might be some people on here who had played a Fire Emblem game and went "Hey, there should be a dude that's like X except Y or does Z", or other tried and true NPC ally concept.

Note, the players were in charge of playing these NPC's in combat and about bringing them along keeping them with them. The Cabin Boy was essentially sold into slavery.

>>46868384
Galba, Skull-Knight from Skull Island
Race: Human. Ostensibly. Maybe some giant in there.

Unarmored tank and bruiser. Far too large to wear normal armor, he fights in a loin cloth and with an ornately etched iron club. He has tremendous staying power and is essentially a human wall of meat. He wears a dinosaur's skull as a full face helmet, and prefers not to remove it. Ever.

1. Galba is a native of the distant and hideous Skull Island, a tropical hellparadise where dinosaurs roam. Traditional courtship among the primitive natives of Skull Island revolves around bouts of ritual single combat between a woman and her suitor. At 7' even, Galba is among the smallest and scrawniest of the manlets of Skull Island, and really never had a chance. Consumed with self loathing, he lashed together a bundle of logs, paddled out to sea, and eventually washed up on the mainland. He's been wandering ever since.

2. Like all natives of Skull Island, Galba is a violent idiot. Unlike the rest, he has a poet's soul. His personal failings led him to appreciate the beauty around him. The emerald leaves of the jungle scintillating in the wind, the shrill cries of a mother pterodactyl and her young circling overhead. The mainland is a strange new world; a softer, brighter, more beautiful one. Galba desperately wants to find friends to explore this new, less shitty world. He wants to experience all of the great things about it, and will go out of his way for a chance to experience new things.

3. Galba has a pretty limited vocabulary and often supplements it with monosyllabic grunts and vocalized pauses. He's understandable, but obviously foreign and not capable of quick or complicated banter.

Galba is looking to for food and friends and will gladly smash things in return for items. He is far too large to wear any suit of armor that isn't either made for giantkin or custom made for him. Armoring him should be a significant challenge with significant payoffs.

>>46870340
Optional: Occasional episodes of staring off blankly into space. Appears completely dull, but is actually overcome with the beauty of some nearby object.

Optional 2: If Galba ever reaches fluency in Common or your language of choice and also becomes literate, he becomes a world class playwright and poet who ushers in a new literary era.

>>46868384
It sounds like you are just basically asking for character concepts. Ah well.

>Soldier/Thief
A character who picked up a bit of lockpicking and mechanical tricks before entering into the military (or mercenaries) as a soldier. He's kept his skills sharp with opening locks, fixing (or sabotaging) wagons, and that sort of thing, but primarily sticks with armor and a sword-arm. Certainly not afraid to take advantage of a good backstab, though.

>>46870433

Character concepts that are good for allies, but not necessarily PC's, as in no destined-to-be-the-greatest stuff, nothing about them that absolutely can't be touched (best archer in the country!), nothing that would require half the campaign to play out (saving all the members of his family), or anything else that truly hogs the spotlight. Despite what I just said, it really is a thin line, just think of cool henchmen your own characters would like and would actually worth with.

>>46870340

I actually really like this, to make him fit I'll probably have him actually be Giant-kin, but the whole "manlet amongst giants" thing and wearing a skull all the time seems cool.

The next question is where he'd be when the party finds him, in a village, a tavern, working for bandits, off exploring on his own?

>>46870514
I can think of at least 4 Fire Emblem characters that qualify as "best archer in the country", and only one of them was anywhere near the start of their respective game.

>>46870646

Very true! But this adapted for a tabletop game where I'm not sure how they'll build or evolve the character.

By the way, what 4 characters?

>>46870696
Jeorge, Louise, Innes, and Shinon. Takumi might also count, but only because he inherited a bullshit powerful bow.

>>46868384
Don Pacuvius Antistius Labeo, Courtier and Flashy Duelist
Everybody calls him "Paco"
Race: Changeling. If changelings aren't what I think they are, doppleganger.

Appears as a slight man of average height in fine formal clothes. Well manicured facial hair, well cultivated mannerisms, a fine rapier at his side, and a fine rapier wit. Amazing fencing flourishes, guaranteed to win any kind of duel to first blood or fencing match. Not actually proportionately dangerous in a real fight.

1. Very charming and an excellent speaker, Don P ingratiates himself quickly and easily cultivates the appearance of a mediator of conflicts. He will attempt to talk people out of violence if it benefits him, but once the people around him start to trust him and side with him, he will begin to quietly avoid involving himself in the peaceful resolution of a conflict that would benefit him if solved with violence. If he feels like he can twist it to his advantage, he will provoke conflicts.

2. Don P is always well dressed and cultured. It's non-negotiable. If the party stops to make camp, he will spend an inordinate amount of time primping and making himself look good. If someone shows and interest in a subject that he considers within his wide and ecumenical purview of cultured topics, he will happily (if patronizingly) discuss it with them. In all instances, he should know far more about the subject than the person he is speaking to, except when discussing recent developments in the field. When discussing any artistic or cultural development within the last 50 years, he knows almost nothing.

(cont)

>>46870946
(cont)
3. Don P. is an ancient doppleganger recently awakened from hibernation. He is a societal parasite, and his modus operandi is to make himself a useful courtier, and then a trusted vizier. Once he finds himself in a position of personal trust with a monarch or powerful ruler who he has carefully observed the appearance and mannerisms of, he will kill them and steal their appearance and identity. He has already done this successfully many times throughout history, reaching back even into antiquity.

He will attempt to closely befriend the players and will most likely come across as flawed in his vanity and arrogance, but trustworthy and ultimately harmless. If he thinks the players are going nowhere, he'll jump ship in the next major city with a ruling court. If the players are rising stars, he'll stick around. Some day, far down the road, he'll make his move. He is very patient.

>>46870946

I could always use a betrayer.

>>46870594
Honestly, I think any of those could work.

In a village, eating bread and looking amazed. In a village, staring at chickens. In a village, surrounded by confused onlookers, trying to play whatever local ball game with kids and either losing really badly or demonstrating superhuman athletic ability.

In a tavern, locked in a drinking contest with the local retired badass warrior, winning. In a tavern, about to start a bar fight by asking for the stout and muscular bar wench's hand by challenging her to ritual single combat. In a tavern, having just sat down 5 minutes ago, about to try drinking alcohol for the first time.

In the wilderness in a picturesque clearing eating blueberries and petting an adorable tiny weasel. Little birds perched on his shoulders. In the wilderness, fighting a bear. In the wilderness, walking around eating an armful of mushrooms that one of the party members recognizes as being poisonous.

I could probably think up some bandit situations if you want, but it sounds like your party doesn't do super well with deescalating situations. I guess Galba would be a pretty good way to spike the difficulty of a fight with bandits, though, if you wanted that.