Fire Emblem

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Eliwood, Hector and Lyn from Fire Emblem (Game Boy Advance), the first Fire Emblem to be released internationally.

Fire Emblem (Japanese: ファイアーエムブレム Faiā Emuburemu) is a popular strategy/role-playing video game franchise developed by Intelligent Systems, the creators of Nintendo Wars/Famicom Wars/Advance Wars, and published by Nintendo. The Fire Emblem games are strategic role-playing games with a very strong emphasis on western forms of medieval folklore. Since its debut in Japan on April 20, 1990, the Fire Emblem franchise has graced the Famicom, Super Famicom, Game Boy Advance, the Nintendo GameCube, and recently announced for the Wii. It was confined to Japan until the seventh installment, which was released on the Game Boy Advance in North America in 2003 and in Europe in 2004 under the title Fire Emblem. The musical scores for Fire Emblem have been composed by Yuka Tsujiyoko for most of the series' history (Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones was scored by Saki Haruyama, Yoshihiko Kitamura, and Yoshito Hirano, under Tsujiyoko's supervision). The primary designer of the Fire Emblem series from its inception was Shouzou Kaga, who resigned from Intelligent Systems after completing Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 for the Super Famicom. He went on to start his own development studio, Tirnanog, and created the video game Tear Ring Saga.

Contents

1 Gameplay
2 Naming of the series
3 Games
4 Recurring themes
5 Other notes and references
6 See also
7 External links

Gameplay

Gameplay map screen from Fire Emblem: Thracia 776.

Like Advance Wars, Fire Emblem is a series of turn-based strategy games that involve moving units through a map grid in order to defeat the opposition and eventually seize a base or defeat a boss. The combat system bases itself on a rock-paper-scissors method of fighting, as each weapon type has both an advantage and a disadvantage against specific other types. Beginning with Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu, the triangle system for weapons has been lance beats sword, sword beats axe, and axe beats lance. Bows are unaffected by the triangle. A similar triangle for magic (that varies from game to game) has also existed. The basic triangles of magic are fire beats wind, wind beats thunder and thunder beats fire. In other games, light beats dark, dark beats anima, and anima beats light.

Unlike Advance Wars, the creation of various player-generated units is absent. Instead, Fire Emblem utilizes a distinct cast of characters, each with their own character class. Unlike most strategy games, each unit has a personality and past of their own. Money is used to buy better weapons and various items, and using units in battle will allow them to gain experience points; a character's level will increase upon gaining 100 exp. Depending on the mechanics of the particular game, characters may change classes upon reaching a certain level, or through the use of a special item that will force a unit's promotion. Typically, the size of the player's character roster is very small at the beginning of each game, but as progress is made, other units may join the user's party through story events or through actions taken by the player. The latter games in the series typically contain playable rosters between thirty and fifty characters deep.

Romance and friendship are prevalent features throughout the Fire Emblem series, often through Support conversations in games starting from Fuuin no Tsurugi—occasional exchanges between certain characters who spend a lot of time adjacent to one another, allowing them to perform better as a result of their affinity. If two characters with a mutual romantic attraction, strong friendship, or other form of mutual connection engage in three Supports throughout the game, the result will often affect the game's ending. Depending on the characters involved, such results could include marriage, a deepening of friendship, or a continued pursuit of their ongoing relationship. Some possible outcomes may also hint at homosexual or incestual relationships (such as Ephraim mentioning that he often strokes his sister Eirika's face), but such conclusions are not explicitly stated within the games and are typically generated through fan speculation. One such example of such speculation as focused on occurs in the seventh Fire Emblem title; the troubadour Priscilla has an affectionate fixation on her brother Raven, but nothing within the game explicitly suggests her love for him to be anything more than sisterly admiration.

Death is permanent in a Fire Emblem game if the progress has been saved afterwards; if the player wants to keep a character who has been killed, he or she will be forced to restart the chapter. Only under special circumstances, such as being significantly related to the story, will characters who have fallen in battle not actually die, and only on extremely rare occasions, such as in Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, can they actually be used again at a later point in the game. Almost uniquely in the strategy and RPG genre, there is normally no method for restoring a fallen character's life, such as a particular spell or scroll. When there is one, it rarely occurs and would break with only one use.

A "Game Over" occurs whenever one of the main characters (known as lords) falls, or in other situations depending on a mission's requirements. If the player kills a recruitable enemy or completes a chapter before an enemy or neutral character can be recruited, he or she may be influenced to retry the chapter or restart the game from scratch in order to recruit the character.

Although the concept of permanent character death is a hallmark of the Fire Emblem series, the mechanic is not without its critics. Some gamers claim that permanent character death makes the games too hard and frustrating, as it is possible to play a single mission for more than an hour, only to lose a character or two just before the end of the mission. It can also be a personal annoyance, as many players become emotionally attached to the array of characters. However, most fans of the series see character death as a legitimate challenge to overcome.

Another challenge in the Fire Emblem series is leveling up your teammates. Many newly recruited units arrive with inferior levels and statistics. The tendency is to keep using higher level allies to fight the enemy. However, since experience point gain is determined by the level discrepancy between fighting units, the rate of growth is slowed when using higher level units. This both steals experience from wanting units and squanders it because of its inefficiency.

Naming of the series

The "Fire Emblem" to which the games' title refer is a plot device or item that has taken multiple forms throughout the series, changing with the setting. The original Fire Emblem was a shield which allowed the wielder, Marth, to use the Falchion sword. During the second part of Monshō no Nazo, the Fire Emblem can be upgraded with five orbs to turn it into the Shield of Seals. In Rekka no Ken and Fūin no Tsurugi, the Fire Emblem is a seal required for a ceremony to recognize the heir to the throne of Bern. It is also used to unlock the Sword of Seals. In The Sacred Stones, the Fire Emblem is the Sacred Stone of Grado, which holds the Demon King's spirit, but is split in two (the other half forms the Dark Stone), and then the Fire Emblem is crushed. In Path of Radiance, it was another name for Lehran's Medallion, an artifact containing the imprisoned spirit of an evil god. In Seisen no Keifu, it is mentioned by the character succeeding the Velthomer house.

Games

The following is a list of games released in the series.

Please note: Games predating Rekka no Ken were released only in Japan, due to this, there is no official title for these games, but this may be changed if Nintendo plans on re-releasing these games worldwide (through enhanced remakes or Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console). Whether Nintendo will re-release these titles is unknown at the moment.

Official Western title	Japanese title	Japanese Title Translation	Platform	Year	Notes
	ファイアーエムブレム　暗黒竜と光の剣 ()	The Dark Dragon and Sword of Light	Famicom	1990
	ファイアーエムブレム外伝 (Fire Emblem Gaiden)	Sidestory	Famicom	1991	Sidestory of the first title.
	ファイアーエムブレム　紋章の謎 ()	Mystery of the Emblem	Super Famicom	1993	Enhanced remake of the Dark Dragon and Sword of Light along with sequel.
	ファイアーエムブレム　聖戦の系譜 ()	Genealogy of the Holy War	Super Famicom	1996	The first Fire Emblem title set in a separate universe. Deviates from standard Fire Emblem gameplay mechanisms.
	ファイアーエムブレムトラキア776 ()	Fire Emblem: Thracia 776	Super Famicom	Nintendo Power:1999 Commercial release: 2000	The last commercial release of the Super Famicom.
	ファイアーエムブレム　封印の剣 ()	Sword of Seals	Game Boy Advance	2002	The first Fire Emblem title to appear on a Nintendo handheld.
Fire Emblem	ファイアーエムブレム烈火の剣 (Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken)	Blazing Sword	Game Boy Advance	2003	The first Fire Emblem title to be released in the West and the prequel to Sword of Seals.
	ファイアーエムブレム聖魔の光石 (Fire Emblem: Seima no Kōseki)	The Gems of Light and Dark	Game Boy Advance	Japan:2004 US:2005	First title to incorporate several play mechanics not seen since Fire Emblem Gaiden.
	ファイアーエムブレム蒼炎の軌跡 (Fire Emblem: Sōen no Kiseki)	Path of the Blue Flame	Nintendo Gamecube	2005	The first title in the series to be rendered in three-dimensions and to incorporate full motion video.
Fire Emblem Next (Has yet to be officially titled worldwide)			Wii	To Be Announced	A teaser of a Fire Emblem game for Wii was shown at E3 2006, showing that a sequel is well underway.

Recurring themes

The Fire Emblem series is known for utilizing a number of recurring character archetypes. These archetypes are commonly named for the first characters to hold these specific qualities. Jeigan, Oguma, and Nabarl are the most prominent Fire Emblem character archetypes.

There are some recurring themes among Fire Emblem games.

Each Fire Emblem title in the series (with the exception of Fire Emblem: Gaiden and Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones), have one sequel take place within the same fictional universe (or continents), thus dividing most Fire Emblem titles in someway or another into duologies. Each of these duologies are as follows:

*Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi and Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo take place within the continent of Akaneia and both star Marth as the protagonist.

*Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu and Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 take place within the continent of Jugdral. (Note: The storyline of Seisen no Keifu is divided into half in which the first half stars Sigurd and Cuan, the parents of Celice and Leif, with Celice starring as protagonist of the second half of the game and Leif starring as protagonist in Thracia 776.)

*Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi and Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken take place within the continent of Elibe. (Note: Both titles have a 20 year gap in between with the first title starring Eliwood with the latter starring his son, Roy.)

*Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and the upcoming Wii title take place within the continent of Tellius. (Note: There is an unknown time gap between the former title (starring Ike), and the latter title, in which the main character is believed to be Sothe, a minor character in Path of Radiance.)

Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi, Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu, Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken and Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones are about a dark bishop resurrecting an ancient evil being. In Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi, Garnef strives to resurrect the dark dragon Medeus. In Seisen no Keifu, Manfroy strives to resurrect the Dark Lord Loputousu. In The Sacred Stones, Lyon and Riev work to resurrect the Demon King Fomortiis. Rekka no Ken features Nergal summoning three ancient dragons.

The Julian, Rena, and Nabarl characters of the games often have ties with each other.
*In Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi, Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu, and Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, when the Rena character of the game first appears as a playable character, she is initially under possible attack by the Nabarl character of the game. In Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi and Monshō no Nazo, when Rena is introduced in Chapter 3 of the game, she is under attack by Nabarl and the Samshan bandits. She is the only Rena character who is under attack from the first turn of the chapter. In Seisen no Keifu, the case is similar to that in Marth's games except the Rena character (Aideen) and the Julian character (Dew) are far away from the Nabarl character (Ayra), who is on the opposite side of the map. Aideen and Dew get under attack by Ayra only after one of the axefighters guarding Genoa Castle start moving. In The Sacred Stones, when Natasha is introduced, she is under attack by Joshua, but not immediately as in Marth's games. Unlike the others, Natasha is introduced in the chapter after the Julian character.
*In Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword, the Nabarl character (Guy) is recruited by the Julian character (Matthew). The Julian character (Matthew) and the Rena character (Serra) know each other because they work for the same lord, Hector.
*Also, in Marth's games and Seisen no Keifu, the Julian and Rena characters have a tie with each other. In Seisen no Keifu Dew is predestined for Aideen, as a homage to Marth's games, but his best suitor is arguably Ayra, whom he is not predestined for. In both Thracia 776 and The Sacred Stones, the Nabarl character is recruited by the Rena character, and have a good relationship with each other.

In Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword and Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, a recruitable enemy (Ayra, Raven, and Cormag respectively) is initially hostile toward a Lord character (Sigurd, Hector, and Eirika respectively) since that Lord character is from the country that the recruitable enemy's country initially opposes, and it is related to a death in that enemy's family.
*In Seisen no Keifu, Sigurd's country, the kingdom of Grandbell, is at war with Ayra's kingdom, the kingdom of Isaac, and Ayra's father King Mananan of Isaac was assassinated by Lord Reptor of Freege. Ayra's brother Mariccle promptly succeeded King Mananan to the throne of Isaac. The death of King Mananan resulted in rage, and King Marricle launched a full-scale attack against Grandbell. Also, Reptor had Langobalt to assassinate Prince Kult, and then blames Sigurd's father Byron for the assassination.
*In Rekka no Ken Raven views Ostia as his sworn enemy. He plans to kill Hector as a retribution for the loss of his title and his family.
*In Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, on Eirika's story, the General Valter kills Glen, Cormag's brother, and tells Cormag that Eirika killed Glen in order to get Cormag to hunt down and kill Eirika.

In the last three Fire Emblem games for the GBA, the starting Pegasus Knight you gain will have weak strength gains, yet strong gains in speed, skill and luck. The second Pegasus Knight you gain will have the same stats in terms of speed and skill, although she will have significant strength gains, although the exception is Fiora, from Blazing sword, who has significant skill gains instead.

Other notes and references

In 1995, an anime OVA (co-produced with KSS) was produced and released; it was closely based on the first three acts of the very first game in the series or more specifically, the remake contained in Monshō no Nazo. See also Fire Emblem (anime).

Two Fire Emblem characters, Marth and Roy, are secret characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Marth, the original protagonist in the series, starred in Fire Emblem: Ankoku no Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi, and Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo. Roy starred in the sixth game, Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi. According to Nintendo's official Japanese website, Marth was put in Super Smash Bros. Melee upon the request of Japanese gamers. Because Fire Emblem was virtually unheard of in America at the time of SSBM's development, it was expected that he would be dummied out of the North American version of the game. However, Marth's design and playability earned him extra attention in North America, and it was by the decision of Nintendo of America that he was included in the North American version. Meanwhile, Roy was developed for Super Smash Bros. Melee for the purpose of advertising Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi, and was included in the North American version of the game as well. It was due in part to Marth and Roy's popularity from their appearance in SSBM that Nintendo eventually decided to localize Fire Emblem games to North America and Europe.

In addition to the above, a title listed as "AKANEIA" in the debug mode of SSBM suggests that an arena based upon Fire Emblem was under development, but no real map data exists. However, if one has Marth unlocked and holds both L and R while selecting Hyrule Temple, a remixed version of Fire Emblem's main theme and the recruiting theme will play instead of its original music. The song may also play randomly, but only if Marth is unlocked.

Although the first six games in the series were released only in Japan, the last Japan-only installment, Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi still has a chance for localization to North America and Europe. Fan translations of the first six Fire Emblem games are underway, and the games have received growing levels of interest from North American and European gamers. If any of the first six games are remade for a current or future Nintendo platform, it's possible that the new versions will see release in North America, Europe and Australia. The Fire Emblem games predating Fūin no Tsurugi may be downloadable on Nintendo's Wii.

In another Intelligent Systems game, ', there is a minor character in Petalburg that raves about his favorite video games when spoken to. The first game he talks about is '.

is the only Fire Emblem game to appear in Famitsu's 2006 Top 100 games list. Famitsu readers voted it the no. 68 game of all time.

External links

[U.S. official Fire Emblem website]
[Intelligent Systems - Fire Emblem] - Intelligent Systems' newest and updated site of Fire Emblem. Currently up-to-date with information on Path of Radiance (Japanese).
[Official Site of Fire Emblem: Trading Card Game (Japanese)]
[English Fire Emblem Documentary] - Collection of data for most Fire Emblem games. Includes a forum.
[Fire Emblem World] - A Fire Emblem dedicated site with a large amount of FE information and resources.
[FE Planet (Also includes Sprite Archive)]
[Fire Emblem Empires] - Massively multiplayer online text-based Fire Emblem strategy game.
[Pegasus Knight] - The definitive Japanese Fire Emblem site.
[Fewiki.net] - A Fire Emblem wiki in early stages of development.

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Fire Emblem
Characters
Ike \| \|Marth \| Roy \| Sigurd
Fire Emblem (GBA) characters \| \| \|
History and geography
Akaneia > Jugdral \| Elibe \| Magvel \| Tellius \| Serenes Massacre
Media
Fire Emblem (anime) > Fire Emblem The Best Volume 1
Other
Magic in the Fire Emblem series > List of Fire Emblem references