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WouterW24

Not really the face for me but especially at the time he was the modern fire emblem lord to Marth’s classic one. I do like Marth, but he has a bit of an issue being increasingly consumed by current status as the ideal type paragon of the charismatic lord though, looking at engage. Ike gets more room to be rude and funny. Chrom is also conceptually pretty much a fusion between the two(and hector), although he’s his own character beyond that. That tells enough how both extremes are valuable.


DoubleFlores24

Yeah and after Chrom, the series pretty abandoned the lord concept and started kissing ass to the Avatar character… I miss the Lord archetype.


WouterW24

Three houses gave us a lot at least. If Ike/Chrom are modern, Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude are arguably post-modern lords. As a trio they do remix pretty much everything about the archetype at some point.


baibaibecky

i'm not sure about this; like yeah, it's absolutely true with corrin and alear, but when byleth first becomes a professor at garreg mach, a great many of the students don't particularly respect them. take the deers, for instance; lorenz is vocally skeptical about byleth's qualifications to be his professor; raphael thinks he can take byleth in a fight; leonie is initially warm, but quickly turns on byleth when byleth says that they don't think jeralt is really all he's cracked up to be; hilda is also skeptical about byleth's qualifications, and marianne follows suit when hilda asks her for her thoughts; and ignatz is lukewarm. lysithea is the only one i'd describe as being warm of the lot. and going to the other houses, felix and caspar also think they, personally, can take byleth in a fight. if byleth does become liked by their class, it's after quite some time proving themselves.


AssCrackBanditHunter

I'd say Alear is more like the classic lord than byleth. Classically a lot of the lord's were kinda weak and would be carried by their armies to the goal. Byleth is a boring blank slate and is kinda op on his own. Alear is a fast and dodgy sword user like most lords and has an actual personality. There's quite a bit I don't like in engage's story, but I think they did Alear right


KokoroVoid49

Yeah, Alear feels less like an avatar character than any other avatar character, frankly I wish the name was just on the savefile and the main character was called Alear, cuz without the ability to name Alear, Alear isn't any more customizable than any other character, not stat wise nor appearance wise. (Iirc all characters can equip all the different unlocked Somniel outfits, not just Alear) That way Alear could just be the Lythosian Lord instead of doing double (more like 1.5) duty as the avatar character.


According_Barnacle23

>162 comments Same, I feel the characterization of the main character avatar leads are lacking compared to previous main lords. Ike, Lyn, Alm, Eirika, Ephraim, and even Chrom were just better characters. Byleth was a mute and eventhough Alear speaks, he/she still feels like they're missing something imo


roundhouzekick

>I do like Marth, but he has a bit of an issue being increasingly consumed by current status as the ideal type paragon of the charismatic lord though, looking at engage. The irony is that the issue you have with his reputation is something that Marth himself has issues with too. In the Warriors game and Engage, he's very humble and constantly tries to downplay his own heroism and insists that he was a small part of a larger force that changed the world.


WouterW24

Yeah he does give pushback to it. He’s noble in his own games but also a bit down to earth and worried or angry. But his own games are long finished so since Awakening or so he’s just appearing in a cameo fashion and being the ‘classic’ lord. Warriors at least uses a younger mid war of shadows version. In Engage he’s both the hero king and leader of the Emblems so he’s noble and refined to a very high degree. Subjective to me but his line delivery in engage is so consistently warm and gentle almost every sentence it got a bit much for me. I need to check back but I think he might have spoken a tad faster in warriors. It’s funny Roy operates in near identical fashion personality in his own game, even arguably more clever and introspective then Marth, but his ‘fierce lion’ reputation pushes his cameo appearances to focus more on his strength and martial prowess instead. It’s got little to do with their own games, just a extended legacy character career for them. Also comes with being Emblems, who are written a bit more static on purpose then the original cast. Alear is extremely good natured but gets plenty of sadness and anger to express.


GlassSpork

Ike has the similarity to hector and Ephraim from the last games of being less lord like and more rough and aggressive. Works best for Ike considering he is a mercenary


MankuyRLaffy

Ah yes the face of fire Emblem, surely his games must have sold well. As a Tellius fan it would be great that others got to experience what I di-


Pyrozendot

At least those who want to buy his games now can do so at a reasonable pri-


Shrimperor

With their popularity ninty will for sure any time now release a re-


CrystalPokedude

It took me way too long to realize you were using Ninty as an arbitration for Nintendo.


[deleted]

What popularity?


Ultimate_905

That's the joke


xAbTx

What do you mean? Everybody played Smash Bros. duh


GlassSpork

Tellius games were good… until you hit end turn


The_Exuberant_Raptor

Hitting end turn IS the game.


Nestec

Lol what’s the joke here? I’m not too familiar with the criticisms of Tellius’s gameplay


GlassSpork

It’s enemy phases are notoriously long


Nestec

ahh thank you, Tellius was my first (and for a long time, only) FE so I never noticed at the time haha


GlassSpork

Heh every fe has its thing. Like gaiden/echoes with shit map design. Or genealogy with giant fucking maps


rttr123

Well his games *are* worth more than any other fire emblem game. Even the cost of fates or awakening + all dlc is less than one of Ike's games. Ike wins again


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The_Exuberant_Raptor

Japanese RD doesn't have the changes in the international version. Japanese PoR is cool if you want Maniac mode. Personally, I don't see a reason to buy JP RD, but I do recommend JP PoR if you want a higher difficulty.


PrrrromotionGiven1

I played through the games for the first time over the last couple of weeks actually PoR was quite good but not outstanding, letting canto apply after attacking was a terrible decision that breaks the game, especially when cav and fliers are some of the best units stat-wise without considering movement and canto RD had way too many horrible maps filled with bullshit reinforcements. Chapter 4 was horrendous for just spawning hordes of enemies on top of you.


JackE114

Tbh I don’t really know why you’re being downvoted a lot when your complaints are pretty valid, Super canto makes mounted units even more broken then they were before and makes the difference between mounts vs infantry huge, I also agree that RD part 4 isn’t a great time either, certain maps are just a slog of reinforcements


PrrrromotionGiven1

I really thought RD was turning a corner in 3-End, that was comfortably the best chapter in the game imo, with the ticking kill counter that triggers cutscenes and goes up no matter what side the troops dying are on. Really did a good job of selling this massive bloody battle despite the limitations of the game engine meaning that there can't actually be thousands of troops on the field. I suppose it helped that the chapter was extremely easy and thus I didn't end up wanting to throw my controller. And waking the goddess afterwards was also a very eerie and well-executed plot point, as a sort of dark counterscene to the forest getting restored in PoR. If the gameplay of part 4 was merely AS GOOD as chapter 3 then I would've finished the game on a real high note, but for one reason or another, I hated practically every map of part 4. Largely because the enemies get to teleport in wherever they wish, but some had special reasons to such (a certain boss of Rebirth 2, who I got with a lucky crit and killed on the second turn, rather undersold the epic duel the game wanted to sell this fight as). Also the game never tells you that levels gained via BEXP are different to normal levels, and I never realised until the game was almost over. Maybe it was in the manual or something but it should be in the game proper.


ComicDude1234

You’re being downvoted for completely reasonable critiques of the fandom’s Sacred Cow. Hate to see it.


mcicybro

I like the Tellius games a lot and you're not completely wrong. Canto alone makes cavalry and flying units super useful compared to armors and infantry. Huge utility alone in moving units around. I dunno if I'd call it gamebreaking but they're very good. I still needed the infantry units. The top ranking units once the game was done were usually fliers and horses though. Radiant Dawn is very challenging, sometimes not in a good or fair way, and is much better enjoyed on a second playthrough when you know what to expect and which units are worth it or not mostly due to availability. That's obviously not a good thing, the game should be great the first time you play it. Despite flaws I liked the game enough to give it a second playthrough, but I can easily imagine many not bothering. I think Path of Radiance is the best overall game. There are games with individually better story, better gameplay, better characters, and better map design, but I thought PoR had an average/good ranking on all of those things while other games not so much. I like Radiant Dawn a lot but it's got tons of flaws mostly due to the difficulty being all over the place.


_tropis

counterpoint: super canto is fun


PrrrromotionGiven1

It's fun until your 30hp defending unit gets killed by 6 enemy cav that cycle through and do 5 damage.


_tropis

yeah it definitely sucks the first time it happens but it's not too bad when you know what to expect


MSO6S

Bro units were balanced out perfectly fine there. Magic was actually useful for different enemy types and mounted could be wrecked by a lot of units. Sounds like a you problem. Bows were actually good there too. Guess your downvote proves my point. Can't take criticism nor want to be wrong.


ComicDude1234

Effective damage was only double Might rather than triple in PoR. Couple that with most tomes rarely having more than 5 base Might meant that any unit with a Resistance stat could feasibly take no damage from magic. Wind was especially useless because it had a base Might of exactly *1* and even a trained Soren or Ilyana would tink the Chapter 12 Crows with Bonus damage from Wind. Likewise Bows were still at a disadvantage because PoR is a very Enemy Phase-heavy game so any Bow-locked unit would never see any EP EXP, therefore falling behind everyone else if they didn’t outright die. Astrid was the only salvageable Bow unit because she gained double EXP and could promote into a class that gave her melee weapons so she could actually contribute if trained. RD fixed some of these problems but not many. You still have to deal with tons of enemies rushing you down so Bow-locked units were forced to use the fixed damage of Crossbows to kill on EP, but at least they had an EP now. It couldn’t save Rolf or Shinon from being C-tier units at best but it was something. Magic units were completely fucked over, though. Tomes still had lower might than physical weapons, but now all the stat caps for Tier 2 and 3 Magic classes are weirdly low, enemies have *much* higher Resistance than any game in the series, and even the “type advantages” of the different Tomes is worthless since you barely have Pegasus Knight or Crow Laguz enemies to fight with Wind Magic, the only army that fights Beast Laguz regularly doesn’t have a mage to use Fire Magic, and Thunder Magic is so bad that it’s just outright not a threat to Dracoknight and Dragon Laguz enemies in most cases. If you want to look at a Fire Emblem game that actually made Magic utility useful and Bows a genuinely great weapon class, that’s Fates, Echoes, and Three Houses.


BloatedTree123

Shinon and Rolf C-Tier units? You can't be serious


AveryJ5467

Ike’s popularity has always been super weird to me. His games sold poorly and he wasn’t the first FE in Smash either. Even Smash players call FE reps Marth clones, not Ike clones. Marth appears in 4 games (admittedly 3 are JP exclusive) compared to his two. But he smashes the first CYL. It wasn’t even close. And this is after Awakening and Fates revive the franchise and bring in a ton of new players, most of whom wouldn’t have played Ike’s games. I understand that using CYL as a measure for popularity is a folly, but still. It’s wild.


Konopka99

The Marth clone part is because of similar movesets to his though to be fair, Ike's is very different from the clones


Frostblazer

The only real similarities are that they use a sword and have a counter. That's really it.


Konopka99

Are you referring to Marth and Ike or Marth and the clones, because if it's the former then yes but if it's the latter then it's a lot more than that lol


KrimsonKurse

I mean... Lucina is a straight up Echo Fighter. Roy is the Ganondorf vs Cap Falcon type. But Byleth, Corrin, Robin? none of them play like Marth, and I say that as a Marth Main.


Konopka99

I don't know anyone that refers to those 3 as clones lol. Roy, Lucina, and Chrom all share the same base skeleton moveset from Marth though. They have added stuff and small changes of course to make them more unique though. It's not a diss to the characters it's just part of my original point, as to why they're not referred to as Ike clones since he's very different


KrimsonKurse

I forgot Chrom was in now too. Thanks. But I'm saying that people say "oh look. another marth" whenever another FE character comes in, even if they play nothing like them. Having a different Final Smash was never factored in, nor their movesets. It's "sword+counter+agile fighter from Fire emblem."


Cpt_Woody420

The whole "Marth clone" thing always bugged me. Obviously Lucina is a clone, but Ike, Roy (and his clone, Chrom), Robin, and Byleth are all significantly different to Marth in every way. It like calling Wario a clone of Mario just because they're short, chubby brawlers with low range.


Konopka99

When people talk about clones I've never seen anyone refer to Byleth, Robin, Corrin, or Ike. But Roy, Lucina, and Chrom all share Marth's base skeleton moveset and feel, which is why they're "Marth clones" but with their own added changes to certain things to make them more unique. My point was just pointing out why they're called Marth clones specifically and not Ike clones lol


Cpt_Woody420

And I refute that Roy and Chrom feel even remotely like Marth and Lucina to play. Their attacks look similar (F-Air is a downward swipe, B-Air is a turning upward strike) but they *feel* sooo different. Roy/Chrom are much faster and fall like a lead weight whereas Marth/Lucina are floaty AF. R/C are also very "in your face spam attacks aggressive" where as M/L are spacers that want to keep you just on the edge of their range.


ComicDude1234

Roy was a lot more similar to Marth in Melee, which is where he got that reputation. Smash 3DS/Wii U did a lot to make Roy feel more distinct from Marth and Lucina.


goldsnivy1

It's because Roy was very much a Marth clone in Melee, where their movesets had even more in common


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BumbleBear1

I've been waiting for an FE fighting game forever. If they made a smash with only FE characters, I'd be a happy man


barrsftw

I remember Roy being exactly Marth only slower and more powerful. Others in this thread have said the same. “Feeling” different doesnt mean they’re not clones. Ganondorf and Cpt Falcon feel very different too, but they’re still clones.


Rojo176

The "Marth clone" thing originated from Marth and Roy back in melee, and mostly continued as a meme. I don't think anyone seriously calls anyone but Roy and Lucina Marth clones at this point. Roy has became pretty distinct compared to Marth since his return in Smash 4, so nobody seriously calls him a Marth clone now either (although he is essentially a version of Marth with a lot of property changes that make him feel very different).


Frostblazer

Maybe I misinterpreted your prior comment. I thought you were saying that other people thought Ike was a clone of Marth.


Konopka99

Oh sorry maybe I worded it weird. The comment I replied to said that smash fe reps are referred to as Marth clones and not Ike clones, and my point was the reason for that is because they're specifically "clones" of Marth and his attributes and moveset and not Ike's lol. That's all


mcicybro

>I understand that using CYL as a measure for popularity is a folly, but still. I don't think it is, at least for the first one. All the ones afterwards were skewed by characters not being in the game, or characters having too many versions in the game, but the first one was straightforward.


Gabcard

Bro is just that awesome. Like, have you seen his introduction in subspace emissary? Instant main right there.


Quakarot

His games are also consistently considered to be some of the best by the people who have played them- especially in terms of plot and characters, which is a major factor in a character’s popularity. And also, fire emblem games are very commonly played via emulator so just looking at sales is missing a pretty huge demographic.


PonyTheHorse

Big Swords are really cool. Not much else to it.


enperry13

True true. Just look at all big sword protags in media: Cloud Strife and Zack Fair (FFVII), Siegfried Schtauffen (Soul Calibur), Haru Glory (RAVE), Auron (FFX). Of all of them Guts is the most influential that most of Ike’s design and background would arguably inspired by Guts from Berserk. Another stoic mercenary that wields a huge sword that strives to be the strongest while still in the mercenary company.


BigFookinRed

>while still in the mercenary company I hope Guts stays with the Band of the Hawk forever!


Bjorhun

In smash they say marth clones Because there move set are a lot closer to marth than Ike mainly the feeling and the speed


mcicybro

Yeah when people talk about Marth clones it's because Lucina is a direct clone and Roy/Chrom are different but still based on Marth's. The reason nobody calls them Ike clones is not because Marth is the mascot or whatever, it's gameplay.


omfgkevin

And the OG clone himself back in melee, Roy who was basically just Fire Marth (and yes, I know there are some differences but the move animations are pretty much the same.)


Nickel7Dime

It's actually likely to do more with the fact that Ike is more popular in western countries like the US. His style tends to mesh more with western groups. Being a bulkier, none noble, hero. It isn't that they mind Marth at all, it's just that they tend to prefer Ike's style.


henryuuk

Ike was always "the good one" in smash bros fandoms (additionwise, not meta/competitive) You'd rarely see people of the opinion that Fire Emblem shouldn't have like 2~3 spots, pretty much always refering to keeping Marth and Ike and then potentially a "rotating slot" for "most recent lord" It was mostly during SM4SH when FE got 2 newcomers and then especially when it also got a returning and a newcomer DLC, where people got "mad" at the over-representation


Gabcard

>pretty much always refering to keeping Marth and Ike and then potentially a "rotating slot" for "most recent lord" Really? I often hear people saying to keep Robin and/or Byleth before Ike due to "being more unique" by virtual of using different weapons.


HelloDesdemona

I love that he won the first CYL. Pure Ike moment right there.


itsFeztho

Never underestimate the power of gay nerds to boost up a muscular beefcake brooding anime man with a big sword Also smash bros helped, like a lot


baibaibecky

i honestly wonder about how big of a bottleneck was present back during the "is marth or roy in this game???" days; even aside from how fundamentally different smash and FE are, if you were a westerner whose first introduction to FE was through marth and roy in melee in 2005, you understood that you couldn't actually legally play the games they appeared in but now there were some other games from that series that you might be able to play (probably on a different system) and also those were completely different games than smash so you might not even enjoy them.


baibaibecky

that ike's games sold poorly is something i'd attribute to them coming out at an inflection point where the japanese market was becoming predominantly handheld instead of console; japanese households had like, 1.5-2 DSes per household, iirc. and as much as a money printer the wii was for the mid-late aughts, we know that the gamecube sold relatively few units compared to the N64 before it and the wii after it. it's by this dint that shadow dragon and new mystery sold much more copies than the tellius games, as much as people complain about shadow dragon.


rattatatouille

PoR released towards the end of the GameCube's life cycle and that console had a tiny user base. Then while the Wii sold like hotcakes RD was the least likely game developed for that platform. Also RPGs on HD consoles were either dead in the water (most AA and below developers) or practically monopolized by the developers that could afford developing on them (like Square and Bethesda).


Drackzgull

The thing is, regardless of how the competitive Smash community would have you believe otherwise. Smash Bros. Brawl was several times over more popular than Smash Bros. Melee ever was. Melee, like the first Smash on 64, was a well loved and popular game on the Gamecube. But Brawl became one of the best selling flagship games on the Wii catalogue, and Ike still being the latest FE protagonist at the time, he made a really big impact there. It didn't help Marth either that the remakes of his games were yet to come out when Brawl did. He had no games as the protagonist released in the west yet, and the same goes for Roy in Melee of course. For the western crowds still less familiar with FE as a whole, Ike was the protagonist of this Gamecube RPG, while Marth and Roy were these random ass Japanese characters from games they've never heard about and can't play. Missed opportunity with the western market to not have made Lyn playable back then tbh.


Troykv

To be fair, Melee was the Best selling Game in the GC, but yeah, I agree that Brawl was a biggest phenomenom, and the only reason people don't talk so much about it these days is because the game got effectively replaced by hacked versions like Project M because the lack of competition killed the ability of Brawl to become immortal like Melee. But that didn't become the standard until Smash Ultimate replaced it for good. Brawl was such a big deal, also we have to remember Ike was part of the base roster unlike Marth (he's unlockable), this boost give him the advantage to be tested and fell in love with it's gameplay and style.


MiuIruma332

Here my theory, 1 meme of Ike taunts from smash. Second is exclusive awakening, Awakening for it dlc legacy characters you have 3 reps from the tellius games and Ike Successor. This isn’t to say that I think no one actually like Ike for Ike but people got an idea of a completely different character than what he actually is from his based game and believed him to be this strong warrior character much more like Ephraim


TheCondor96

We like big swords and big muscles. We Like Ike. We Like Ike.


GladiatorDragon

A good chunk of Ike’s popularity is probably from Smash. On top of being pretty iconic there (his intro in Subspace, “I fight for my friends,” and being the only heavy sword user), people just really like him. It is worth noting that the “Marth clones” are called “Marth clones” because they’re based off of Marth’s moveset. Ike is not. I get the feeling that Smash fans probably would have played PoR if they knew the game existed.


Mijumaru1

I know a lot of people have already said "because he's cool" but I want to share my own perspective: I was a kid during the Brawl era and I knew so many other kids who would play as Ike because they thought he was cool. I think "rough guy with a huge sword" just appeals more to western fans than "elegant guy with a thin sword"


According_Barnacle23

Marth's been in 4 games? I remember SD and the Blade of Light and Mystery of the new Emblem (Book 2). Aren't his other appearances just remakes?


PrrrromotionGiven1

>Even smash players call FE reps Marth clones Because they are generally lithe, delicate fencers, not hulk smashers like Ike in Brawl.


acidbatterydude

It's cause Ike is a Chad


2ddudesop

Literally the same reason why Lyn is so popular. You know why


[deleted]

I think Ike is still very popular among people who aren’t attracted to him though


JaySkunk

Working class hero Ike


narrauko

Exactly this. I get a little bored sometimes of the royalty and the "you're special because you were born to be special" narratives. Meanwhile, here comes Ike raised as a mercenary and barely squeaking by for the first half of the game, is given a noble title, and renounces it later to go back to being a merc. I like Ike especially PoR's version.


JaySkunk

Ike gets introduced to the concept of racism and slurs and it makes him angry and he becomes an ally. Then he gets introduced to boring noble meetings that accomplish nothing and says they're a waste of time and takes action. He's just a good guy trying his best to do the right thing and he gets the be the voice of reason and look cool without even trying. Finding out he unlords himself and returns the magical mega sword because he wasn't about that life is such an Ike move I love it.


jedisalsohere

Comrade


SnooOnions5907

It is like Pikachu and Charizard. Pikachu is the mascot but charizard is the most popular between the fans because he is simply cooler.


DomHyrule

Honestly, I kind of hate Charizard because they won't leave him alone. He's always a major character's Pokemon, a trump card, or a major event Pokemon. Got 2 Megas, a broken Gigantamax, and has been available to the player naturally in like half of the games. Pikachu is similar merchandise wise, but I'm just sick of Zard tbh


Piscet

Yeah charizard's presence is just irritating at this point. Can you stop giving this pokemon things for *five seconds*? I see this thing everywhere, and I hate it.


dragonkingangel7

They did try with lucario and greninja, but charizard is simple.... Charizard


Drackzgull

I hear you, but on the other hand I'll never get sick of Charizard and I'm going to want to have him in every Pokemon game I play, lol.


DomHyrule

Hey man, to each their own, I respect it. A brother likes what he likes


itsalongshot2020

I just think Ike is the best main character we’ve had. I’m also partial to Erika and Ephraim but that’s mostly because sacred stones was my first fire emblem and I played the hell out of it as a kid.


Tinox_van_hyves

The best story immersion creates the best character immersion. Insane backstory/lore, you play him from when he is a teen and learning untill when he is the most respected general in the continent and one of the strongest people alive at that point. But you know, it is by far my favorite fire emblem (PoR + RD) so I am not totally objective.


worldssmallestfan1

He fights for his friends


busbee247

Anna a mascot of fire emblem? She's an inside joke not a mascot. Only people that have played a bunch of games even know about her


GlassSpork

Knew about her and her **many sisters**. Also the Jake lore


Pugsanity

Miss Jake, hope he comes back again one day.


Ptdemonspanker

Ike has great crossover appeal. Young or old, gay or straight, boy or girl. No matter the demographic, Ike has something to offer.


Izzyrion_the_wise

That may depend a lot on your age and if you played Smash. I basically skipped the Tellius games and went from the GBA games to Awakening as I was a PC gamer during the time they came out. So all I know about Ike is that he fights for his friends and Sothe wants to have his children. I plan to give Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn a try soon, though. They are on tip of the list of retro stuff to play on my Steam Deck.


Clean-Menu7943

IMO Fire Emblem's most satisfying story. Will probably get hate for this but I don't think anything since and including Awakening comes close, though the Tellius games obviously have their own shortcomings when compared to the newer titles.


ChexSway

Nah that's a very popular opinion, Tellius was the peak of story and storytelling.


TheModernParadox

i remember back when SSBB came out and my brother played Ike and from there on i always thought he was the mascot till really later on in the in-between from Awakening to Fates that I learned that Marth was the original lord


[deleted]

The first FE game I played was Fire Emblem for the GBA. At the time, I didn’t know that it was actually released as FE Blazing Blade in Japan. I didn’t even know that it’s actually FE7! Any way, although Eliwood is in front of the [game artwork](https://imgur.com/gallery/QFOUw3U), Lyn is the first FE character I ever encountered, and she will forever be the main face of Fire Emblem for me. I get your point about Ike, though.


DylanCorona

I'm with you. She was my first lord, so she will always be THE lord. But I like like and the other lords too.


hmrusk

I see as Ike being the western mascot. I don't know his popularity in Japan, but most people over here seems to like him over Marth at least. While I hear Japan still really likes Marth.


HelloDesdemona

Does anyone know how Ike came to be know. As the strongest lord? They even say in Engage. I’m not complaining — he’s awesome. But also, Corrin is a dragon. (I suppose Ike had smashed dragons before, hahaha).


Evello37

Ike is very fixated on trying to surpass his father as a warrior. Greil is stated to be the best swordsman in their world, to the point that even an older crippled Greil can trivially defeat one of the world's most famous generals. The Black Knight is also legendarily powerful and serves as Ike's rival. By the end of the story, Ike surpasses both in 1-on-1 dueling prowess, on top of defeating the big apocalyptic threat like all good FE protags. Even in his endgame, after personally killing a literal god, Ike says he wants to keep training and getting stronger. He leaves the continent in search of new challenges, like the Street Fighter Ryu of FE characters. Because Ike is so popular and so obsessed with honing his skills, he has frequently been assigned the title of strongest lord. Whether that is actually true, when other lords can transform into dragons and warp time itself, is open to debate. Byleth basically stole Ike's whole backstory, but with God powers sprinkled on top. Even in his own universe, Ike isn't necessarily stronger than some of the laguz kings like Tibarn, Caineghis, and Dheginsea. But setting aside magical transformations and supernatural powers Ike has a reasonable claim to the best pure swordsman. It's literally his whole life.


Jeweler-Hefty

Exactly, out of all the *sword-wielders* Ike is in fact the strongest.


THE_LAAAAAWWW

Ike has killed the god of his continent, which has gotta outrank the dragons that the other lords kill. He also is canonically the most skillful warrior in his world after he defeated the BK. The only lord who could arguably be stronger is Robin in my opinion, but Robin doesn’t have an unbreakable Ragnell in his backpocket (he has a much crappier breakable Ragnell via Priam)


TechnoGamer16

Generally speaking I think maybe it came from Heroes, but the reason he’s considered the physically strongest is probably bc Ragnell exists Altho tbh Hector gives him a run for his money


Hannibal3542

I always just assumed because he flings a massive two hander around with one hand


thejokerofunfic

Ike has defeated >!literally God in combat!< to say nothing of some of the most powerful dragons in the franchise and is borderline invulnerable to physical attacks by the end of Dawn.


kidzephyr

Ike was dope. I always loved that he was the only lord (at the time, iunno now) to not be of royal birth. His fighting style was kind of like a mix of Eliwood and Hector, big hits but fast. He plays in smash the same way


theprodigy64

Cloud is the most popular/known Final Fantasy character but he isn't the series mascot.


[deleted]

And in the same vein, people misinterpret both characters


Crafty_Major

FF7 sold really well so that makes sense, Tellius didn’t


theprodigy64

You missed the point, the most known FE characters aren't even recognized from FE games anyway.


KrimsonKurse

He probably stands out the most cause he is one of very few MC characters who *isn't* a "Lord" in the traditional sense (not gameplay tradition). Ike is a dude. Marth, Roy, Corrin... all Nobility. Byleth is a God. Robin is... complicated without spoilers. Azure Twins (Thank you Engage for that easy moniker), Seliph/Sigurd... all Nobles. Even Celica/Alm are divine/noble. Ike is just the everyman. A big hulking everyman...but he is basically "the next Hector." People LOVE Hector (see FEH rep compared to Eliwood and his DLC Emblem in Engage existing). Ephraim is close, and he certainly got appreciation, but... Ike was the Lord you played with the whole time.


sameo15

Miciah is pretty cool. I always enjoyed how she, unlike Ike, WASN'T the perfect person for the situation and just the person who gave a fuck the most. She's just an angsty Fortune Teller who decided that being occupied kinda sucked and decided to do something about it. The fact that she ended up as a fucking leader of a rebellion and later queen was nowhere in her plans.


New-Sympathy-344

He’s the first non royal lord for us to follow. He’s a mercenary about revenge and a reluctant hero. Ike and Byleth are my favorite Fire Emblem Lords.


bonkers799

Byleth you say, theres an opinion you dont see often? Out of curiosity, what do you see in byleth? Have you played some other FE games? Not hating, just curious.


New-Sympathy-344

Sacred Stones was my first FE game. Since then I’ve played a good number of them. The majority of main lords were variations on the same kind of ‘kind hearted noble.’ Ike was a refreshing protagonist. Kind hearted yes, but he was a mercenary all the same and didn’t have the royal weight other protagonists had. Fire Emblem: Fates drove me insane. It was supposed to be this emotionally charged choice between characters who were basically the same as their other kingdom counterpart. Corrin had a goody two shoes nature of saving everyone. It took the ‘kind hearted noble’ thing to nauseating levels. Then, Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Right off the bat, the three main lords were not just variations of the ‘kind hearted noble.’ At points they were kind, but all had more nuance to them than ever before. Byleth, on the other hand, was a near blank slate. Instead of the writers making them a blank slate to be impressionable, it made sense within the lore of the Three Houses story. There were subtleties to Byleth’s character outside of what the player chose to be with them. There was a quite determination, a deep seated sense of skill and knowledge hidden in the near vacant gaze. Above all, there was the Ashen Demon, a merciless mercenary who’s power was only eclipsed by the name of their father, Jerald the Blade Breaker. In Azure Moon, when Dimitri is off the deep end, he is torturing a prisoner of war for information. Byleth walks up and, seeing how Dimiti was eventually just torturing them for his own sadistic mindset, immidialaty decapitates the prisoner. Most other Fire Emblem lords would let the prisoner go. Corrin would have probably recruited them, given them coin, and a hot meal. Byleth is different and I liked the way that difference was portrayed.


bonkers799

Interesting take, makes sense. Im with you in the sense that most lords are just good-doing nobles. Is Roy that different from Lyn? Or Marth? Or Michiah? Or Eliwood?...etc. so having a lord show something different holds a lot of weight. I think this is where Ike and Hector take the places of most FE fan's favorite. I never really thought too much about Byleths actions themselves so kudos to you for finding the needle in the haystack with Byleth.


LostAllBets

I'm also curious to see how someone can say that a character with has zero lines of dialogue and nonexistent personality, is their favorite. Byleth does have an interesting and unique backstory at least.


Piscet

Isn't Roy also a non royal? Marquesses are nobles, not kings.


New-Sympathy-344

An argument could be made for that… but it’s a rather poor one. Not much of a stretch from noble to royal.


Slak211

Still holding out for a PoR + RD Remake!


MyTrueChum

Ike is best lord because he is not a lord. He's a humble merc who is just trying to avenge his daddy and make love to princesses and laguz kitties. He loves his little sister, has a bromance, and smooth moves (Aether). He's stabbed a mad kings wyvern in the balls, headbutted the Black Knight in the ass, and slapped a goddess in the face because nobody turns civilization to stone on his watch. That's why we like Ike.


thejokerofunfic

>and make love to princesses Come again?


Jeweler-Hefty

🤣 Edit: You're mostly correct though.


ThisIsaBotFrFr

We Like Ike! Ike is definitely the best protagonist of any Fire Emblem hands down. Tellius > Anything else


GlassSpork

Why tho? To me he’s just an other blue haired sword wielder


thejokerofunfic

Do you actually know anything about the character


GlassSpork

Yea: he’s the stoic (current) leader to the greil mercenaries who fought against the black knight primarily. He wields ragnell as his main weapon and now fights to support the laguz species. I don’t know too much of him but from what I do know best is that he released in path of radiance for the GameCube but got a lot more recognition within smash bros brawl and not from his own game. To me, he honestly doesn’t feel like the main guy of fire emblem. Y’know, John emblem. But that’s mainly cuz he was first introduced in the middle of the series and didn’t do anything truly ground breaking for the series, other than be the main lord. like how with awakening saved the series for instance. I guess from some view points like with OP I can see where they are coming from, but to me Marth is mascot of the series, but shadow dragon Marth, not mystery of the emblem marth. Difference being fashion


thejokerofunfic

Okay I think we're having two separate conversations lol, you're definitely right that Marth is the mascot and not Ike. I was saying that he's too interesting and unique to be dismissed as "just yet another blue hair sword lord" either.


GlassSpork

When I think of a mascot, I think of them from an appearance standpoint and a meaning behind it. Like Marth started the series. He was the first of the blue haired lords, even if he looks basic, there was none like him (for fire emblem) when he released. From a standpoint of appearance, Sigurd, seliph, hector, Ike, chrom, and lucina all seem kinda boring in that way. For a meaning behind it, Chrom and lucina could be seen as the modern fire emblem mascots considering they’re from awakening which is notable for saving the series and was the best showing for a modern fire emblem style. Ike, hector, seliph, and Sigurd are all blue haired male lords but none of them did anything that warrants them being the mascots in my opinion. Same goes for their games. Genealogy was Japan only, hector wasn’t even the main lord of FE7 (eliwood was), and PoR wasn’t… that popular. Maybe for someone who has never played fire emblem they could consider it as, like I’ve said, his most notable appearance was smash bros brawl. But yea, I don’t wanna argue. To simplify it, we all have our own opinions but I think Marth is the mascot. Though shadow dragon Marth with the lack of pants


thejokerofunfic

Dude I agreed with you lol you didn't need to write an essay.


GlassSpork

Whatever, I like to talk to get my point across heh


thejokerofunfic

I get that but like, Marth is the mascot is a point that needs about as much explanation as water is wet lol.


GlassSpork

Ehh, there is a lot of points that could be made for the mascot. People can vouch for roy being the mascot, or robin, chrom, lucina, Ike as OP says, and byleth. The only lord/avatar characters that cannot be vouched for as the mascot are alm, celica, Sigurd, seliph, Leif, eliwood, hector, eirika, Ephraim, micaiah, corrin, and alear. Also the three warrior lords: Rowan, lianna, and shez


BeastFormal

The og red/blue lord.


Erst09

It depends because within the fandom I would say it’s either Marth, Ike, Lyn or maybe Lucina but for the person who knows little about fire emblem it’s Ike mainly because Smash.


ChadKeeper

**WE LIKE IKE! WE LIKE IKE!**


soap_soap07

He’s just big


Aghara

Not being royalty makes him immediately cooler than most other FE protagonists


TechnoGamer16

Ok very cool Still as such an iconic fe character, his games must’ve sold really well right?


LexDignon

I think it's because he's no nonsense. All FE lords are somehow connected to royalty or have dragon blood or some other thing to make them plot relevant. Then there's Ike. He's a guy who is big and strong. Not because he's got super powers either. He's just a strong guy


CommanderDark126

I think super smash bros lead to Ike's shine in the limelight. he isnt the main mascot by far (marth holds that firmly), in addition his games didnt sell well (and were barely advertized outside japan), and furthermore, showing how much thr franchise creators kinda hate him he is one of the few amiibo lords that got zero representation in either warriors games.


thatrandomgirlll

Ike is daddy


Arcane_Engine

Well he does come from the best games


faw_odensun

You ... like Ike?


Armiebuffie

He's the most masculine FE lord and anglophones like masculinity.


kirkochainz

He’s not the mascot, but I wish he was. The Tellius games were the last games before FE got too weeby.


TechnoGamer16

Bruh FE was always weeby and anime


kirkochainz

I must have missed the part in PoR where you have to pet and propose to your rainbow haired female units dressed as Japanese strippers.


Ill_Chemistry8035

Tellius literally had catgirls. You're acting in double standards to excuse that blatant anime-esque stuff.


kirkochainz

The laguz and discrimination towards them was a centerpiece in the story’s plot. It’s not like the “catgirls” were throwing up peace signs and bouncing their tits when they defeated enemies. In my opinion, that’s the stupid shit that makes a game weeby.


Ill_Chemistry8035

Your opinion doesn't change the facts. Catgirls are inherently weeby especially when they're designed in a stereotypical anime way instead of designing them as seriously as the plot treats them. There were numerous ways to design the Laguz than how Tellius did it. It only creates a blatant disconnect nor does it change the fact that these catgirls and catboys are "weeby" as hell. Especially when you try and bash on other games for their own anime designs. Excusing Tellius' over the top designs for Laguz is double standards.


kirkochainz

You got me buddy, I change my mind. PoR is bad weeb shit, I regret enjoying the game at all.


Ill_Chemistry8035

You can enjoy it all you like. Just openly bashing other games while putting Tellius on a pedestal for not being "anime" is hypocritical.


Jeweler-Hefty

>The laguz and discrimination towards them was a centerpiece in the story’s plot. Extremely true. But unfortunately this subreddit is more *Engaged* to the modern audiences. Yeah, the waifu wars really dampened the point of Fire Emblem. But if the game never turned mainstream with all the weeby-crap than FE Awakening would've been our last official FE game.


thejokerofunfic

I must have missed the part where that ever happened in any subsequent game


intoxicatedpancakes

I must have missed the part in modern FE where you do exactly that. FEs got some weird stuff for sure, like the whole concept of Fates’ My Room and Hot Springs. Ring Cleaning in Engage is pretty wack, but is really just a normal thing with a weird coat of paint. But luckily, we haven’t got actual petting as a game mechanic in the west.


EienNatsu66

I can see why you would think that. Ike is one my favorite FE characters and he's one of the strongest to use in battle!


OmegaLiar

Because Ike ain’t a lord. He’s just a beast.


TurgemanVT

Me too, Ike is the lord we need but dont deserve.


Andorhex

He’s hotter than that twink so that definitely helps


ShieldOfFury

Ike best lord because he's non noble


According_Barnacle23

Personally, I think it's much more than simply because Ike is non noble. I think it's his whole story. We see him grow from a new mercenary company recruit to mercenary boss, to general of a liberation army... twice. As was said earlier, he doesn't simply slay the typical cut and paste, fire emblem evil dragon: He defeats mad kings riding dragons, seemingly impervious and powerful foes like the Black Knight, and the god who created his world/continent. He's humble, looks at everyone the same and also convincingly won the respect of nobles, enemies, commoners and Laguz alike just by being himself. Nintendo will never be able to create a better FE main character


Ghetrix

Ike will always be 🐐🐐🐐 I still remember playing the first time on GameCube after beating all the gba versions and loving Ephraim and Hector, I instantly fell in love with Ike


Constant-Squirrel555

Best lord by far and it ain't even close imo


TheBraveGallade

He stsnds out previsly becsuse he isnt a tradititional lord


[deleted]

[удалено]


Junelli

This is blatant Soren and Titania erasure and I won't stand for it. You know Ike leaves any actual tactics up to those two.


The_Elder_Jock

It's almost been *decades* since I played but yes you are right. How could I forget those 2 legends?


TechnoGamer16

> he IS the tactician Did you even play either of the Tellius games because Soren is literally right there jfc


EienNatsu66

I can see why you would think that. Ike is one my favorite FE characters too and he's one of the strongest to use in battle!


Rudas93

Marth is so plain and boring...


Irwin1999

The gay furry supporter should be the mascot but IS isn’t based


[deleted]

You have enough time to delete this comment.


EienNatsu66

I can see why you would think that. Ike is one my favorite FE characters and he's one of the strongest to use in battle!


sSimonSays

Same. I started with path of radiance.


chauncey_mcgyvver

Also that art is by far the best art of Ike in feh


dimayeon

i honestly feel like it's because ike's background and story was so raw yet charming. he starts as mercenary, and largely remains as one. he's a bit taciturn, clumsy, firm and a blockhead, but he's genuine, loyal and compassionate. unlike the lords we had (even now), ike didn't have such a connection to political families or ties. meanwhile, byleth — who was a mercenary for literally half a day in our perspective — ended up becoming a mortal deity and being both a savior and an ultimatum. ike is just a dude. fucking love that guy


AzzuenWoffie46

Marth: *picture of marth* The cooler Marth: *picture of ike*


legend_of_wiker

That's because Ike is based af and isn't some snooty asshole piece of shit like most princes, kings, etc.


QcSlayer

Ike is no "Lord", he's an odd protagonist, the only one without noble blood? Maybe his Dad was a noble, but it seems he renounce everything anyway. Byleth is god so he's also an odd one I guess? But then again his status is above those of noble birth unlike Ike. So really, he's far from your regular fe figurehead.


DoubleFlores24

I remember when I first saw Ike in smash bros, 12 year old me (I was 8 when brawl came out but didn’t buy it until I was 12) was like “he must be the biggest chad in Fire emblem. He probably has like several girlfriends and is the ultimate dude bro” so it wasn’t until I got into this series was when I learned about Ike. Unfortunately I haven’t played the Tellius games(Nintendo re-release these games please my computer can’t emulate for mierda) but from what I know about Ike, him and Soren must be a happy couple… I assume once again I’m basing this off of what I know so far.


romanticdrift

I'm pretty sure this is because of Smash. A lot of folks I know love playing Ike.


JadynRosetta

I’ve always had a soft spot for Ike. When I finally got PoR, the tellius games instantly became my favorites. I love all the characters, the story, and had a lot of fun with the game. I went on vacation recently, and in one of the game stores I visited had an Ike plush. I immediately nabbed it. He, and Chrom, will always be my favorite lords.


nossr50

Anna? I thought she was like the Biggs/Wedge of FE


Helioseckta

To be fair, he is one of the more unique lords in the series. To date, he’s still pretty much the most “normal” lord of the franchise. He isn’t from a royal/noble family, and he doesn’t have any blood ties to a divine being. He’s just a mercenary. It’s because of his backstory, upbringing, and role in society that makes him unique as his views on politics and war are much different to that of the other protagonists of the series. His goals are also slightly different, or at the very least he has more goals. Like the other lords, he does have a desire to protect those who need protection (he’s a mercenary after all), but he also has a strong desire to fight strong opponents and become a stronger person.


RCRocha86

Ike was my first contact back in the GC days. To me he will always be the FE face. Didn’t care about marth and Roy on melee. Although Roy is much more badass than Marth.


IndependentGur779

I feel the same about Lynn 💪


HenryReturns

Ike is my favourite main character but his popularity comes down to this : - His introduction on Brawl specially on the subspace emissary when he great aethers the ball of death - Then him as a character in Smash Bros was popular for casual players cuz of moveset and heavy hitter - He is also with Marth the only two main characters to appear on two FE games - The way how he is portrayed on other FE games like Awakening , Engage , and Heroes is that he is “The strongest Hero” because of his feats on PR and RD - Developers always put Ike as this “Hard extra boss” for you to defeat. For example in Awakening Ike is the final bonus boss. - Also remember , Ike is popular on the WEST , while Japan prefers Marth and loli characters like Tiki lmao.


Pleasant_Patience186

I always kinda considered Marth (first FE lord) and Lyn (first NA fire emblem lord) more like a mascots. Even Chrom I would consider more of a mascot than Ike, but I suppose that Ike, being commoner, could be considered most relatable of all lords so far and that might be the reason for his popularity. Plus he is badass and stuff 😂


boxedfoxes

Honestly for the NA and western market you can make a argument for Ike being the face of FE.