Hector (Eliwood 11/Hector 10)
Class: Lord
Weaponry: Axes (Swords upon promotion)
Best stats: Strength, Defence
Worst stats: Resistance, Luck
Hector is a godly tank. If you are having trouble hitting enemies to level him, try sending him towards other axe users, or lancemen for better accuracy, he cannot hit sword users to save his life before promotion. He has really nice growths in melee stats, above average growths in Speed and Skill, and is faster and stronger than other axemen. He is one of the Lords, so is very crucial in a lot of Eliwood mode chapters and all Hector mode chapters. Once promoted, he should cap Skill and Speed if you raise him to level 20, promote, and raise him to level 20 again, which is very, very crucial for an axeman, the fact that he almost always caps Strength and his cap is 30 is also deadly combined with axes, the highest damaging weapon type. He has a nice selection of supports and supports VERY FAST with Eliwood, gains swords upon promotion, and has the second strongest legendary weapon, Armads, which he can handle and double-attack like usual due to his godly Constitution stat unlike Eliwood. He also supports with Oswin, another very great character. He also has the Lightning affinity, the second-best element in the game, reccomended as your tactician element if you plan on getting him to 20/20.
Eliwood (Eliwood 10/Hector 11)
Weaponry: Swords (Lances upon promotion)
Class: Lord
* He has very even stats, with only Resistance really lagging, he is sometimes susceptible to being RNG screwed (Bad stat growths) like Raven, and Roy of FE6.
Eliwood isn't anything special at first, his stats are meh, he can die pretty easily against lancemen, and cannot handle infantry + cavalry bosses without his Rapier unless you level him early. He promotes VERY late in Eliwood mode which is a problem to his potential, but in Hector mode can be promoted as early as Unfuffiled Heart (Chapter 25 Hector) He has the strongest sword in the game, the Durandal as his exclusive legendary weapon, but his Constitution is too low to double attack most units in the final chapter. Training him early is an issue, get him to level 20 before the fixed promotion, and use him on groups of axemen. Save the Rapier for horseback and armored bosses, a better weapon is the Killing Edge, which doesn't hinder his Constitution stat too much, enough to still double attack a lot of units, has 1 more point of might than the Steel Sword, and a really nice critical bonus. Unpromoted, Eliwood with good supports nearby and a Killing Edge can get +50 to his critical rate and triple damage pretty much everything. If you want to fight Lancemen with him, the Lancecreaver is a somewhat rare but common weapon, use that, but don't use it against axemen EVER. Once Eliwood promotes, he is a cavalry unit, meaning Paladin movement and unit bonuses such as moving after rescueing / using an item. He caps Strength, Skill, and Speed often for me, combining this with a Killing Edge, Silver Blade, or the Durandal makes him very deadly. If you want a faster Eliwood on the last chapters, use the Body Ring on him.
Canas (Chapter 16x Eliwood / 17x Hector)
Weaponry: Dark Magic (Staves upon promotion)
Class: Shaman (Promotes to Druid)
Canas is one of the only two characters in the game capable of using Dark Magic, besides Athos who is level 20 and ONLY in the last chapter. I reccomend using him, he has below-average stats but dark magic is GODLY. Luna is lightweight and ignores Resistance, it can kill the Dragon in one turn EASILY. Nosferatu drains health, even though it is not a very good weapon, the health drain redeems it. Eclipse can halve the health of ANY unit if it hits, including the Final Boss (Although it can never kill a unit, and it has a very bad hit rate) Dark Magic is pretty cheap too, like axes are for melee units, and he can use staves upon promotion. You get him at a reasonable time, the Guiding Ring is the EASIEST promotion item to get, Canas levels very easily, and he has a godly Resistance stat, so he is a tank-mage. Since his stats are even, he can get good growths in Defense, Speed, and Luck, making him a tank even against physical units. His supports suck, but with a Dark Magic user, who needs them?
Oswin (Eliwood 11 / Hector 11)
Weaponry: Lances (axes upon promotion)
Class: Knight (promotes to general)
Oswin, the mighty meatshield of Ostia, ready for anything...besides fast units and magic at first. He is a very great lanceman, his stat growths and starting stats are very good, he starts at level 10 meaning not much you have to do for promotion, Knight Crests are almost as easy to get as Guiding Rings, and is among one of the only good lancemen in the game. He can use Axes, the strongest weapons in the game upon promotion. If you raise him, he is likely to cap or near-cap Strength and Defence, and with axes and lances is something scary. He can be a great brick wall and charging unit, although the movement of infantry units honestly suck, they have the stats to make up for it. Unlike Wallace, this guy is good. If you thought Wallace was good... raise this guy to level 20 and promote him, and watch his stats walk all over Wallace's (If you get the chapter with Wallace after Lyn Mode) Oswin also starts off with a Lance level of B, very easy to get it to A, and he has nice supports, especially Hector, another one of my reccomended characters. Oswin has the better two weapons of the triangle, very great melee stats, and great supports, plus you get him RIGHT AFTER Lyn mode, I use him in almost every one of my playthroughs.
So yeah, these are the top 4 characters I have in mind, they all are obtained reletively early, have the most potential, and start out above average compared to others. I am in school, I will be occasionally posting more characters but don't count on it. See you all soon, take my advice well, good luck not dying, and use www.gamefaqs.com for more help.