Fire Emblem canon

[Julius Nepos]

What is and what isn't canon to the lore of Fire Emblem?

Of course every game has a fixed backstory which can be regarded as canon.

But every playthrough plays out differently.

What about gaiden chapters?

What about gaiden characters?

What about route splits?

What about character deaths?

What about different supports?

What about different endings?

But also the fixed backstory of a game can't (or shouldn't) always be considered canon.

Where there are multiple games involving the same story, their backstories may differ from each other and even contradict each other at some points.

The Akaneia saga is a good example of this.

Think about plot changes made in FE3, FE11 and FE12 compared to their originals, even going so far as omitting characters from the story (in the case of FE3) or adding completely new characters to the story (like the gaiden characters in FE11 and the avatar in FE12).

And what about secondary material?

Should the Dark Dragon and Sword of Light manga be considered canon?

Should the OVA be considered canon?

Feel free to discuss these and other questions related to Fire Emblem canon in this thread.

[Magical Glace]

Gaidens - Always

Gaiden Characters - Almost always. Exception for Nagi because FE12 Marth doesn't recognize her

Route splits - Whatever the default is should both conditions be met ie Illia route being chosen if Sue and Shin EXP = Tate and Shanna EXP.

Deaths - Only if it's through a story event.

Supports - No idea for the most part. The games push some pairings a bit more than others... And the novelization of FE7 went with Eliwood/Ninian, Hector/Florina and Lyn/Rath for what it's worth.

Endings- No idea.

Backstory - Trust most recent

Side things - No idea

[MCProductions]

Thanks to outrealms, it can be assumed that everyone played through different versions of the same events.

For example, in FE7 for me, Lyn x Eliwood is canon, but for you Eliwood x Ninian could be canon.

Say I don't recuirt Tharja in Awakening, but you do. Different outrealms with similer, but still different overall events

[Sentacotus]

Thanks to outrealms, it can be assumed that everyone played through different versions of the same events.

For example, in FE7 for me, Lyn x Eliwood is canon, but for you Eliwood x Ninian could be canon.

Say I don't recuirt Tharja in Awakening, but you do. Different outrealms with similer, but still different overall events

So multiverse theory?

[Acacia Sgt]

Without taking the Outrealms into account, and since all the games barring Sacred Stones and most likely If have at least one other game in the same continuity, then I think a deciding factor would be what the chronologically latter game(s) state.

To give an example:

In Blazing Sword, Merlinus's solo ending has him opening up a shop in Ostia, which gets closed, but with Eliwood's help he can reopen. In his paired ending with Marcus, he goes to work for House Pherae instead. Binding Blade has Merlinus working for House Pherae. As such, Merlinus's paired ending is canon while his solo one is not.

When this is not the case, my opinion is that if there is nothing that contradicts the information, even if it was optional to witness, it doesn't count against it when debating it's canonicity.

To give an example:

In Awakening, the supports between Henry and Panne reveal he was the one who warned her of Emmeryn's assassination attempt, and as such her showing up there and then. Nothing elsewhere in the game contradict this, so Henry warning her can still be canon even if you don't have to witness the support that states this.

Let's see, what other case I can think of... well, if I have more, I'll write them then.

[VincentASM]

So multiverse theory?

Pretty much.

And thanks to StreetPass, you can connect to other people's Outrealms. Like I can borrow your Avatar who somehow stumbled into mine.

I think some other games did this too, like Suikoden Tierkreiss and Bravely Default.

[spoiler=Major Bravely Default spoilers]During the final boss battle, the boss destroys people's worlds, including your friends. It's funny because my world got destroyed in other people's games... Does that mean one day my game universe is just gonna randomly blow up?

[Sentacotus]

Without taking the Outrealms into account, and since all the games barring Sacred Stones and most likely If have at least one other game in the same continuity, then I think a deciding factor would be what the chronologically latter game(s) state.

To give an example:

In Blazing Sword, Merlinus's solo ending has him opening up a shop in Ostia, which gets closed, but with Eliwood's help he can reopen. In his paired ending with Marcus, he goes to work for House Pherae instead. Binding Blade has Merlinus working for House Pherae. As such, Merlinus's paired ending is canon while his solo one is not.

When this is not the case, my opinion is that if there is nothing that contradicts the information, even if it was optional to witness, it doesn't count against it when debating it's canonicity.

To give an example:

In Awakening, the supports between Henry and Panne reveal he was the one who warned her of Emmeryn's assassination attempt, and as such her showing up there and then. Nothing elsewhere in the game contradict this, so Henry warning her can still be canon even if you don't have to witness the support that states this.

Let's see, what other case I can think of... well, if I have more, I'll write them then.

Wouldn't some of the paired endings like Nino x Jaffar and Pent x Louise? Especially since their kids appear in Binding Blade? Also if i recall Pent and Louise already start out married from the get go.

I guess I would throw Marth x Caeda in there too since it doesn't really contradict anything and that's Marth's only paired ending and since Chrom (direct descendant) exists there would need to be a way for Marth to continue the line some way anyways.

[Irysa]

Wouldn't some of the paired endings like Nino x Jaffar and Pent x Louise? Especially since their kids appear in Binding Blade? Also if i recall Pent and Louise already start out married from the get go.

Pent and Louise are already married. Louise is actually pregnant with Klein in FE7.

Nino can marry Erk instead of Jaffar.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Irysa

[Acacia Sgt]

Wouldn't some of the paired endings like Nino x Jaffar and Pent x Louise? Especially since their kids appear in Binding Blade? Also if i recall Pent and Louise already start out married from the get go.

I guess I would throw Marth x Caeda in there too since it doesn't really contradict anything and that's Marth's only paired ending and since Chrom (direct descendant) exists there would need to be a way for Marth to continue the line some way anyways.

For Pent and Louise, it's since Elibe's case is that the chronologically latter story was made first, so the prequel was made where things that could change pre-established canon can't be done. Binding Blade mentions Pent by name in the Kleine-Dieck's supports, so when he and his wife appear in the prequel, and both are playable, they get an auto A support, and when one's HP reaches 0, there is no death and both leave the party.

Ah, now Nino brings up what I think is an interesting case in canon debate. Which is the combination of the pre-established canon priority and contradictory statements cases.

[spoiler=Long explanation incoming]

First, we have to establish what are the facts. Nino has four possible outcomes:

*She's struck down in the events of the game

*Solo ending

*Paired ending with Erk

*Paired ending with Jaffar

I know there is also the chance of her HP reaching 0 in Battle Before Dawn when she's still an NPC, or even living but not recruited. However, since the site has that Cog of Destiny has dialogue for her without specifying a condition, I'm going to interpret that as Nino staying with Eliwood's group regardless of her fate in Battle Before Dawn.

Now, when she's struck down, dialogue after the chapter has her wake up and having a brief talk with Lyn. So her surviving the events of the game is canon. Now, unlike other characters who live after their HP reached 0, Nino doesn't leave the group, so it's also canon she stays with Eliwood and company for the remainer of the game events.

Let's look at her endings now. Her solo ending has her leading a peaceful life in Pherae. Both her paired endings also state she settled down in Pherae, at least until she had to leave because of bounty hunters. Since all her possible endings agree on that point, then it's canon to state that Nino went to live to Pherae after the end of the game.

Now on her paired endings. Both agree on two points. That she gave birth to twins, and that bounty hunters forced her into leaving. So her having twins if married is constant and therefore would become canon if her getting married is canon. As for the bounty hunter subject, her solo ending does not mentioned them. With a case of two against one, does that means the bounty hunters coming has more claim to canonicity than they not coming? Could be, but we still haven't looked everything regarding the bounty hunters, since both paired endings deviate on the subject. In Erk's, they come for Nino. In Jaffar's, they come for him. So, we have one ending where the bounty hunters come for Nino, and since her solo ending doesn't mention bounty hunters coming after her either, then we have two endings where bounty hunters don't come after her.

So we basically end up in a stalemate of sorts. So what we do next? Well, we now consult the chonologically latter game.

Binding Blade has twin characters, Lugh and Raigh. They physically resemble Nino, which in real life it would be circumstancial evidence at best. But let's not forget we are talking about video games, and that the game they appeared in was made first, so it's more accurate to say that Nino resembles them, and that Nino comes from a game that was made as a prequel of the game the twins appeared in and contains methods to ensure the events that could contradict Binding Blade can't happen. Now, before we already established that it's canon that Nino lives through the events of Blazing Sword. Her paired endings both agree she gives birth to twins. So with those points and her resemblance to Lugh and Raigh, it can be concluded that she is the twins' mother. So we can establish that as canon.

So back to Nino's endings, with her being a mother, her solo ending already looses credence to canonicity to her paired endings. But again, we must also not miss the trees for the forest, as the metaphor goes. Let's break down the endings to their separate statements.

Solo ending:

* Went to live in Pherae

* It is not stated to have married or become a mother

* She planned a trip to Bern to visit a cemetery

* There is no mention of bounty hunters coming after her

Paired endings:

* Married Erk

* Went to live in Pherae

* Gave birth to twins

* Bounty hunters are after her

* She left for her family's safety and Erk left to find her

* Married Jaffar

* Went to live in Pherae

* Gave birth to twins

* Bounty hunters are after Jaffar

* He left for her family's safety and Nino left to find him

Now, "Went to live in Pherae" appears in all, so we can remove it from the discussion as it doesn't help in finding out which ending is canon. Nino gives birth to twins, which is stated in her paired endings, giving both validity as the solo doesn't mention that she did. So let's go back with Lugh and Raigh. Canon statements about them is that they grew up in an orphanage and both their parents' whereabouts are unknown. So, Nino's canon fate can be concluded to be: "Gives birth to twins, and both she and her spouse dissapear leaving the twins to grow up in an orphanage". Nino's solo ending as a whole further looses canonicity since her prescence can still be accounted for, while both her paired endings state she and her spouse left because of bounty hunters. Binding Blade doesn't state why the twin's parents are gone. Nino's paired endings both agree on being bounty hunters causing both parents to leave, so we can conclude it is the most likely cause as it's not contradicted elsewhere.

Now, the matter is. Erk, or Jaffar? Before we established that the bounty hunters had different motives depending on the ending. With Erk, they came for Nino. With Jaffar, they came for him. The deciding vote goes to her solo ending, which states bounty hunters didn't come for Nino. Erk's paired ending is the only one that disagrees as Jaffar's also has Nino not being targeted. So, it can be concluded that bounty hunters not coming after Nino has more canonicity than they doing so. She did gave birth to twins, which her solo ending is the only one that never states so, though not a full denial either. As such, with evidence against both her solo ending and her paired ending with Erk, it leaves her paired ending with Jaffar as the only one still holding valid evidence to canonicity.

So in conclusion, the veredict goes: There is still no definite canon in regards to Nino's endings, but her paired ending with Jaffar has the most evidence in its favor to be the canon one.

This in my opinion would be an example on reviewing pre-established facts and analysing statements for contradictions or lack of between themselves and the facts to establish canon. Of course, there can be disagreement to my anylysis as it isn't perfect.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Acacia Sgt