All kinds of members of royalty have come to Askr, but Gangrel is among the more unusual ones that we’ve had. To be less diplomatic about it, he’s a cruel man who loves to deceive people.

Gangrel came from one of the poorest parts of Plegia. He lived with his mother, formerly a member of nobility, but she later died of an illness, leaving him alone.

Perhaps this is why Gangrel became obsessed with power and influence, and why he then embarked on a career of opportunistic villainy that eventually landed him on the Plegian throne.

During the war he started with Ylisse, Gangrel did everything he could to seize the Fire Emblem, including taking Emmeryn hostage. I suppose I’ll have to give him a stern talking-to and make sure he gets along with everyone here!

Gangrel is introduced as the bloodthirsty and mad king of Plegia, the kingdom directly bordering Ylisse. Plegia had been ravaged by Ylisse's former king, and it is implied that he had attempted to kill all Plegians to stop the Grimleal, who worship Grima, the fell dragon. He failed, but left Plegia in shambles, as even years after the war Plegia struggled to rebuild infrastructure, with constant raids from brigands and a massive power vacuum that ironically left an opening for the Grimleal to take control of the kingdom. Gangrel takes his place as king with backing from the Grimleal, at the cost of making Plegia unofficially controlled by them, and forcing all Plegia's citizens to worship Grima. Gangrel is exempt from mandatory worship, and only supports the Grimleal because they were able to keep him in power, but was aware they were only using him as a pawn. As ruler, Gangrel is willing to sacrifice his own people to get what he wants, and treats his own subjects cruelly. The thing he desires most is revenge against Ylisse.

After successfully assassinating the Exalt of Ylisse, Emmeryn, and starting a war between the two kingdoms, he is eventually defeated by the Sheppards and presumed dead. Years after his defeat, the Sheppards encounter him again, this time as a servant to a band of pirates found terrorizing a port town near Ylisse. Gangrel is treated cruelly, and appears depressed and actively suicidal. He goes into battle unwilling to fight on the pirates' behalf, but willing to die. If Chrom speaks with him, he states he is already dead, but his body refuses to die. Chrom convinces him that if he's so set on dying, to at least make use of his death and to die fighting against Grima. Gangrel is pessimistic but agrees, saying that it doesn't matter anyway.

Gangrel has no support conversations with anyone except for Robin, and Morgan if he has S supported f!Robin. He does have unique dialogue for Emmeryn (who survived her assassination, but with severe amnesia and cognitive degeneration) in the barracks, on event tiles, and in the Hot-Springs Scramble DLC, where he expresses concern for her wellbeing and regret at having hurt her. He's still a little "mean" in some conversations with her, although most of it is either self-depreciating or an attempt to drive her away, as he doesn't see himself as being worthy of any kindness, especially from Emmeryn. He is also a very kind father to Morgan, and very playful in the conversations he has with his son. If Gangrel is recruited, but does not marry Robin, his ending implies he commits suicide or is murdered.