Post by RavenKingSage on Feb 23, 2014 6:49:55 GMT -8
In the beginning, there were Intelligent Systems, Nintendo Famicom, and...
A simple strategy RPG that, although not noticed at first, would gradually gain a name for itself. Starting as an IP that Japan kept to itself, Fire Emblem would eventually reach Western shores as it relished in slowly but surely increasing fame. It would spawn ten successors, two remakes, a slavishly devoted following and the highlight of the franchise - unique armies bursting at the seams with memorable characters.
A lot of memorable characters.
Let it be known that in case the avatar and name didn't telegraph the message, I adore Fire Emblem. In a time where RPG characters were largely nameless and faceless, it introduced a roster of units with names, faces, personalities, and stories. As one of the franchise's primary selling points, it was fated that someone compile a remarkably large list of their favorites.
And by the looks of things, the honor is placed squarely on my shoulders.
...
Well, yeah, Chris did it first, but there's no law saying I can't do the same.
50 particular souls among the legends of FE stand out to me for their designs, personalities, battle usefulness, stories, and more. This will be done in increments of four, except for the top 10. They each get a post to themselves. Note that I have yet to play any of the Japan-only FE titles, but I've done extensive research on FE4, 5, 6, and 12 to compensate. Even so, I likely won't elaborate on battle usefulness in entries dedicated to characters from those games. I'll mention it, but it won't affect their rankings too much.
The only rule here is that this list contains playable characters only. That does include antagonists who were playable via SpotPass in Awakening. For example, Ashnard wasn't playable in Path of Radiance (unless you count in trial maps after you did a ridiculous amount of playthroughs which I don't), but he was part of SpotPass in Awakening. So he can be here. (Disclaimer: He's not)
I think we've covered all the rules now, so... here goes. Prepare to advance, for we are entering my biggest countdown yet!
#50
You remember Minerva, right?
...no, not Cherche's wyvern. The wyvern knight from the first game.
She was one of the more emphasized characters in Shadow Dragon, being the focus of the struggle in Macedon, which involved her being forced to fight Archanea against her will. She's not a bad character all around, but I can think of a few successors in her archetype that outdid her.
Namely, this one.
Ladies and mentlegen, meet, uh... wait, how do I pronounce that? My lady? Mill lady? Me lady? Mill lead-y? My lead-y, Mill-leed-y, Miley, Millie, Mildew-oh screw it. Curse you confusing Fire Emblem character names! (You'll be seeing more of those by the way).
The best way I can sum up Miledy is "Minerva +." They share similarities of being affiliated with your enemies but possessing morals befitting your team. They defect to your side when the opportunity presents itself, turning their back on former allies and making for some... problematic encounters later, to say the least. Miledy takes what Minerva did and builds upon it to make for a considerably more interesting character. Calling her Minerva + and little else is kinda selling her short - it merely makes her sound like an upgrade, but she's far more than that.
Miledy is a Bern Dragon Knight who turned her back on her country because she values her loyalty to Princess Guinevere more than her loyalty to the nation itself. Already this is a subtle yet nice change of pace from what you normally see out of knights in fiction (or any kind of soldier for that matter) - instead of following a faceless ruler, they care about the person they serve. I kinda like that, even though Miledy sometimes comes off as a simple bodyguard complex for Guinevere.
While she might seem to be little more than the princess's attack dog/yes woman, don't let that fool you. Miledy is more than capable of thinking on her own and having insecurities (the latter of which counters the supposedly perfect knightly image she exudes, which keeps her clear of Sue status). We see through her supports with Yodel (Jodel, whatever) that she finds it difficult to fight her former allies because she's still somewhat attached to them. See, she's not a blind satellite to Guinevere! If she was, she wouldn't have those feelings. Even so, she perseveres nonetheless.
On top of this, she's especially insecure during her time in Roy's army. No, it's not because she's fighting under one of the crappiest main characters in Fire Emblem lore, but because she's from Bern. And her allies... well, they're kinda at war with Bern. She worries about whether or not her new comrades will look past her previous ties. And in one of her supports, Lugh fails to do just that at one point.
I also feel it's worth a mention that whereas previous female wyvern riders were particularly aggressive, Miledy breaks this convention by presenting to us a positively sweet lady with a calm disposition. Granted, her personality is rather standard compared to other entries you'll be seeing later, but I like it nonetheless.
Oh, and remember earlier when I said that she has a hard time fighting her former allies? That comes to a head when Roy's boys are forced to fight Gale, her former lover. You get a special conversation between them if you have her talk to him, and it's... rather heartbreaking. I've never played FE6, but I don't think I could ever bring myself to have them fight each other. She's not exactly the most remarkable personality in FE lore, but she's a likable character all-around who is more sympathetic and layered than her dragon riding predecessors.
The icing on the cake has to be her battle usefulness. Arriving with some solid bases and great growths in all the key areas, she's sure to be one of your more reliable units. Oh, and she flies. Flying units are always a plus!
Miledy has all the makings of a solid Fire Emblem character all around. Great battle performance, good character that contains more than meets the eye... really, what else can be said? Even if it's the bottom spot, she earned her place in my top 50.
Did I mention she's pretty? Because she's pretty. Gale, how could you squander your luck and break her heart, you cruel son of a -
#49
Prior to diving into oceans of scripts and wiki info for the purpose of this list, I had no experience with the Jugdral games. And it seems I've been missing out - the first generation of Genealogy of the Holy War contains one of the best rosters in Fire Emblem. In fact, FE4 gen 2 and FE5 don't have any representatives to speak of on this list. I like them, but they pale in comparison to FE4 gen 1 IMO.
...No, I am not to be confused with a Pokémon genwunner. Wrong fanbase, pal. Put your torch away.
*Ahem* With that said, Ayra.
This Isaachan sword lady is certainly one of the more... memorable individuals of Sigurd's army, shall we say. You might think right off the bat that I'm being negative or fighting mixed feelings, but that's not the case. Why else would she be here, you silly thing? Ayra is quite memorable and I mean that in a great way.
To begin with, she's a trailblazer of sorts within the franchise. The useful earlygame sword users that came before her were on the quiet side, and they were... well, male. Ayra flips this trend on its head by being a loud, dangerous, no-nonsense female sword user.
...I, too, will pretend that didn't happen. I didn't use that line or make that reference. YOU SAW NOTHING.
Where was I...? Oh yeah, Ayra's the first of her kind, so to speak. And being the fan favorite that she is (to my knowledge), I suppose it worked out pretty well.
Just in case the name didn't give it away (Ire-a), this woman is angry. Very, very angry. One of her first in-game quotes is a threat to decapitate the guy holding Isaach's prince (Shanan, her nephew) hostage and place his head on a stick. Geez, is she the TF2 Soldier's distant ancestor (without the jingoism)?! Does she have a fascination with brutally severed heads being placed on sticks or fences or what have you?! Oh geez, I can just imagine her spinning yarns to the deceased Kinbois about how they called it a zoo when any group of animals got together. *shudders* While she has a short temper, she makes sure to look out for her allies and friends, and she's sweet when she tries.
And boy, does she try hard to help the people she cares for. She was ordered by her half-brother Prince Mariccle to flee Isaach (escaping execution, because Grannvale was in conflict with them and they're douchebags. Grannvale, not Isaach), leading her and Prince Shanan to Verdane. Here, she struggled to support both of them and ended up working as a mercenary for Kinbois. Who ends up threatening Ayra with Shanan's death should she shirk her orders. (I dare you to say that three times fast.)
She reciprocates trust to those who give it to her, as is the way of the Isaachan, and she's keen to make good on her promises. So make sure you don't get on her bad side, unless you're prepared to take an Astra to the face. She's pretty amusing to watch when she's being aggressive, but of course she wouldn't get very far in terms of likability unless she had a heart of gold underneath. Yeah, you seem to find these personalities more frequently than you find Zubat in caves (or is it just me?), but I like it all the same.
Then there's her battle performance. Recruiting Ayra isn't exactly easy, but your effort is rewarded in spades with one of the game's most versatile units. Her skills are some of the most desirable for any unit in the game to have, and she performs well in all the right areas statistically (by her class's standards anyway). Most fans seem to like pairing her with Holyn or Lex for the sake of passing down certain skills or stat spreads to her equally lethal children, Larcei and Ulster.
The princess of Isaach is a solid specimen all around. Great as a unit and great as a character, she definitely earned her spot here. Just don't cross her, lest ye wish to incite the ire of Ayra.
#48
I am partial to shrinking violet types. Per use of my top ten gym leaders and Jasmine's placement there, you might know that already. The closest thing to this type of character in the Soul universe is #3 on that character list, and Noel Vermillion is prepped to become one of my favorite BlazBlue ladies provided I actually play the games. Heck, my girlfriend is on the shy side herself.
So it stands to reason that I have one of these showing up in my top 50. And who better than Olivia?
Most. Adorable. Thing. EVER!!
Ahem... sorry about that, but seriously, Olivia is, in terms of both personality and appearance, one of the cutest characters in media.
She travels the world as a dancer with a large fan following, and she's been in the care of Basilio ever since he saved her from a perverted noble who tried to kidnap her and force her into marriage. She dreams of building a theatre, and, uh... that's about it as far as background is concerned. Many of the Awakening cast members have rather weak backstories (in comparison to other recent FE characters) but strong personalities that flesh out through their supports. Olivia isn't much different.
But sweet Naga, do I adore her personality. I find shy and sweet girls like Olivia extremely endearing to watch. I can't help but smile every time she gets easily embarrassed or stumbles over herself or does whatever cute things she does. Do not step within fifty feet of this lady if you are allergic to adorableness. (In which case I pity you, because Awakening is full of adorable moments in its supports.) She also gets personal points for being an ironic character - when you think of someone with severe confidence issues, you'd think dancing is the last career they'd pursue. This is played up quite a bit in some of her supports and quotes -
I put together a new, edgier dance routine, but I'm too embarrassed to show anyone!
Beneath her withdrawn disposition lies incredible talent. She has a large fan following for more reasons than her appearance - her dancing is some of the best on both the Ylissean and Valmese continents. Oh, and she's an incredible singer, which is also played up in some of her supports.
The Dancer has been a staple class in FE for quite some time, with its primary purpose being to give an ally of your choice a second move. Dancers are great utility units that are almost always either incapable of combat or really bad at it. Olivia, however, can actually be used for both! Awakening's class system gives every character an infinite amount of levels, meaning that everyone has a realistic chance of capping their stats. While her caps aren't as high as those of pretty much all your team members, she can class change to get some valuable skills. Give her enough attention, and you won't have to worry as much about her being vulnerable. Granted it requires grinding (which in turn costs a bit of cash for DLC), but it's worth it. This has a lot to do with why she's the only dancer on this list.
She excels in utility and combat, and she's a beautiful shrinking violet who is endearing to watch. What's not to love? ...well, there is her lack of story, but in the face of everything else that's great about her, who cares?
#47
I like ninjas better than pirates, but that's not to say I have anything against the latter. Mind you, Pirates/Berserkers tend to be my favorite axe users because of their sweeping capabilities. Combine this with their boisterous personalities and you have a generally fun class of men, with my favorite of the bunch being Captain Fargus's mate, Dart!
Just one look at this man lets you know right away that he's going to be fun.
Dart is a loud and rough sea dog belonging to the Davros, a feared crew in their parts. He has the makings of your everyday pirate - wild, fun-loving, and foul. Yet he also has quite the soft heart underneath his demeanor. This is briefly hinted at when Ninian drifts to the Davros' boat in a dinghy and he says that he doesn't know where to grab her. Hector briefly teases him for it, and Dart's immediate response is "stow it!" You can't hide what's inside, pal. He's not exactly a pirate in the criminal sense (unlike most pirates in FE settings). In his support with Farina, he's only searching for a legendary treasure so he can bury it again, make a map leading to it, pass out a few copies, and become a legend himself. This takes Farina by surprise, as it did for most people reading that (myself included). He doesn't care about pillaging to make himself rich ("Being rich is boring!"), he just wants to have fun! He loves adventure!
In fact, adventuring is kinda how he wound up where he is now. Although never stated outright, it's strongly hinted in his supports with Rebecca and Wil that he is in fact Dan, Rebecca's older brother. He and Wil ran away from home to go have an adventure, but they got separated in Badon and he washed up on shore grievously wounded. Because Fire Emblem games love turning your luck against you, he was unlucky enough to get washed up in a place where, on that particular day, it was taboo to touch blood. Near death, Fargus picked him up and due to his amnesia, he took the name of Dart. He has a more interesting set of supports than most characters in his game because they flesh out both his personality and backstory.
He also competes with Hector for being the best axe user on the battlefield. He has incredible Strength, Speed and HP growths but comes up short in Skill. Just because his name is Dart doesn't mean he's always hitting the target. However, this is easily offset by feeding your Secret Books to him (because frankly, I dunno who else you'd give them to). Do this, and he will be sure to devastate enemy armies. He certainly holds up better than Bartre and Dorcas.
He hits all the right points than a Fire Emblem character should - backstory, personality, and battle usefulness. This earns him the #47 spot and the title of my favorite Fire Emblem pirate. Nicely done, matey!