Least Favorite Characters?

[NekoKnight]

Yeah. I really wish people would just let the hell up about that scene, tbh. Because after a certain point, it begins reading as misogynist.

Caeldori needs to stop being so goddamn insipid. Shes really damn annoying. Its like, i get the Cordelia expy and shes supposed to be like younger Cordelia. But she actually has more Severa style moments and pushes people around. She upsets me a lot, and its terrible because shes one of my MU's kids. Ugh ugh ugh Miyuki regrets giving birth to you, Caeldori. :/

y u do dis IS? First Kinu and now Matoi.

Talk about irony. I liked Cordelia but Severa was my bratty daughter that I pushed away in favor of Morgan. It seems Cordelia's expy might be doomed to fill the same role as Severa. Tsubaki x Selena is canon now.

Edited February 25, 2016 by NekoKnight

[Pretty_Handsome]

Actually its Ryoma who is more deserving of that complaint. While not my least favorite by any stretch I do find it...well, I find it downright vile of Ryoma that he discounts the notion of the Norhrian siblings being Corrins family.

The Norhian siblings have raised Corrin for far longer then Ryoma ever did and unlike his siblings Ryoma KNOWS he and the Hoshidan's aren't Corrin's blood family either which leaves him with little leg to stand on. Even worse is that he has no problem introducing the equally kidnapped Azura as HIS sibling. It makes Ryoma seem like a gigantic hypocrite to me and that does affect my opinion of him negatively.

Oh! Asides from Asugi I would also nominate Peri as my least favorite because she just drags Corrin and Xander down in her awfulness. It rings rather hollow for those two to be horrified at Lago and Hans being psychopath's while willingly employing a mass murderer of their own.

As far as Ryoma knew they held them captive.

Xander immediately confesses that he knew Corrin was taken from Hoshido before the choice.

He couldn't tell before?

Ryoma never said blood from what I've seen, just that they're family which they are as Mikoto married their father.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Pretty_Handsome

[Azure Sen]

Gameplay-wise:

• Rinkah, because of her awful Strength growth. I'm all for a Fighter/Oni Savage who isn't fragile (Baaaaaarst!), but making her Strength growth so low really hampers her in the long run.
• Kaze, because of his awful Strength growth in my game. I suppose he's fine in Conquest since he doesn't really have competition, but Saizo and Kagero both outclass him in Birthright.
• Silas, because in both Birthright and Conquest his growths have been really inconstant for me.
• Azura, because her growths are both baffling and bad even by Dancer and Dancer-esque standards. She has awful Defense and HP growth, but for some reason also has weirdly high Strength? She hasn't gained a single point of HP in 20-some levels, game, I'm not using her on the front lines.

Characterization-wise:

• Jakob. There's a fine line between being snarky and being a jerk, and Jakob is firmly on the latter side for me.
• Peri. I don't care how much the game tries to make her sympathetic or play her behavior for laughs/cuteness, she's still an unrepentant murderer.
• Conquest Corrin and Azura, because Chapter 15/16 happened and otherwise they're inconsistently written and much dumber than they are in Birthright.
• Similarly Xander, again because he's inconsistently written in both paths as someone who's noble and righteous but frequently does things that contradict this portrayal completely.
• Yukimura. Not only is he bland and comes in too late to be useful or interesting in Birthright, but he's a waste of Paul Eiding.
• Hans. In a route with three major bland villains, Hans is the blandest of the bland. He feels more like some bandit leader I killed early on in a previous Fire Emblem but given plot armor because Conquest.

Edited February 26, 2016 by AzureSen

[Elycia]

I think the only person who is my least favorite is Izana lol. Aw man the personality just killed it for me.

[Tsuky]

The big ones

[spoiler=Kamui and Suzukaze]

This is based on their Conquest behavior. In this route, Kamui is a spineless coward who professes to wanting to do the right thing but doesn't have a plan for how to accomplish it. Somehow he reasons that assisting in an invasion is "helping to stop the war". Suzukaze is equally a moron for invading his homeland just because Kamui seems like a nice guy.

[spoiler=Marx]

The worst character in both Conquest and Birthright. He supports the invasion of Hoshido, flip-flopping between his chivalry and moral relativism/obedience to his evil father. Unlike Kamui, he probably has some political clout to subvert Garon but chooses not to. In Birthright, his stubbornness gets Elise and himself killed and in Conquest he doesn't take a moral stand until Garon is confirmed to literally be a monster. What a tool-bag.

[spoiler=Aqua and the Awakening Trio]

Colossal fuck ups that ruin a great deal of the story. They have all the answers to solving the greater conflict but take no actions in order to inform others of it. Aqua in particular is the biggest asshole for assisting in the invasion of the country that raised her and treated her kindly. Was that REALLY the best plan you could think of?

This is something that bothers me (among many things) about Marx. He's supposed to be this paragon of knightly virtues, advocating mercy and honorable conduct but then he goes along with whatever Garon says and even stands by the invasion with an almost nihilist attitude. It reminds me of historical religious types who promoted values of kindness with the asterisk attached "Provided they share your nationality, ethnicity, creed and values".

You summed it up so well. Although I don't exactly dislike Xander due to my own biases, his characterization is ridiculous. Everyone else on this list really annoy me with their actions (or lack thereof), especially Kaze, who is a complete moron in Conquest. There's zero excuse for what he did.

And Ryoma is getting faulted for treating Azura like a sister, which is something I thought I'd never see... You learn something new everyday, I guess.

As for the others, I'll try not to let my opinions on their design affect my judgment, since everyone has their own tastes. And this is mostly based on their original characterization:

Hinoka: note that I actually like her quite a bit, but I am calling her out specifically for her stupidity in Conquest. I'm pretty sure Corrin killed all of her brain cells with his glorious "light that shines in the dark."

[spoiler=] At the end of Chapter 24, she wanted to come with Corrin to convince Ryoma so they can "end the war." Sure, go ahead, if your definition of ending the war is allowing Garon to do whatever the hell he wants in Hoshido.

Jakob and Azama: um, do y'all just like being a**holes for no reason? they both have their nice moments, and I really liked those, but the rest of time, just... why? I really like both of your children, though.

Hayato: more annoying version of Ricken.

Rhajat: dear lord, Tharja is back with all of her creepiness.

Camilla: as Thane so elegantly put it

However, what I simply don't understand is how people can not only like her personality but also call her a mother figure; a mother figure to me is NOT someone mentally unstable who's obsessed with you and obviously wants to bang you.

Nina: fujoshi who ships people she personally knows together... no. At least I loved her name in the original, but that's gone now, unfortunately.

EDIT: oh yeah, forgot about Peri. She's basically there to make Xander look bad.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Tsuky

[Azure Sen]

You summed it up so well. Although I don't exactly dislike Xander due to my own biases, his characterization is ridiculous. Everyone else on this list really annoy me with their actions (or lack thereof), especially Kaze, who is a complete moron in Conquest. There's zero excuse for what he did.

Kaze I can understand because of [spoiler=Support Spoilers]his raging guilt complex over not being able to save Corrin from being kidnapped.

It's still stupid, but personally it wasn't enough for me to put him on the least favorite list, especially when compared to the stupidity of some other Conquest characters.

Speaking of, I did forget someone from my list: Asugi. Asugi so much. I wasn't really expecting to dislike him so much given how much I like Gaius and I like Saizo (and I like Kagero, who ended up being his mother), but as someone said earlier in the thread, he's just a bratty jerk. And the parts of his personality that come from Gaius don't even add anything to his characterization.

Edited February 26, 2016 by AzureSen

[Topaz Light]

I generally tend to think of myself as fairly forgiving as far as doling out animosity towards fictional characters is concerned. Sure, I have plenty of characters I'm indifferent to or don't really care about all that much, but it generally takes a lot for me to actively dislike a character.

That said, Jakob is honestly a bit too much of an asshole for me to really like him as a character. He does have some nice moments, but he has much more (from what I've read) that are squarely on the side of "deterring". It's a shame, since I think he's got a pretty cool design and- from what I've heard of it- voice, but...

On another note, my two cents on Peri are that I don't... quite mind her character premise as much as I mind how characters tend to react to her. One of the reasons I like InigoLaslow's supports with her so much is because it actually touches on the fact that her homicidal tendencies are terrible and Laslow seems to be trying to take a tactful approach to break her of those habits. This is leaps and bounds better than her support with MaMU where he literally just gives up and decides to hire durable servants so she can whale on them without killing them, the implication leaning far more towards "so we don't have to constantly replace them" rather than "so people don't get murdered for no good reason".

[spoiler=Spoilery stuff]I haven't even gotten to the point of the reveal yet in my own playthrough, but even just conceptually, Slime Garon has got to be one of the single worst plot twists Intelligent Systems has ever let slip into one of their games. They took a concept that could have made for a very compelling and tragic antagonist and contrived (which, by the way, is not a compliment, Kobayashi!) a twist about him that made him infinitely worse. Someone else already expressed similar thoughts to my own, so I'll just say that I echo the sentiment that Garon would have been so much more interesting if he had actual character virtues and genuinely loved his nation and all of his children, but simply saw no other way to get Nohr the resources it needs. But alas, why have that when you could have Slime Garon?! Every self-respecting RPG has slimes, after all.

I will say, though, that from what I've read of his backstory, I like the idea of Anankos as a character, as well as what I will be assuming is a nod to Archanea's mythology regarding Dragons, but from what I've heard I don't have a whole lot of faith that he was implemented appreciably better than Garon. Oh well.

EDIT: OOPS FIXED THE SPOILER TAG I'M SO SORRY TO ANYONE WHO WAS UNFORTUNATE ENOUGH TO READ THIS POST BEFOREHAND

Edited February 26, 2016 by Topaz Light

[Lady Sansa]

Effie is just ew.

Rinkah should have started with C clubs.

Scarlet. Most pointless character ever. I thought she'd have an actual story role in the one freaking route she's playable.

[NekoKnight]

[spoiler=Awakening Trio]

To add onto my earlier comments about them, unlike other Nohrians who support their nation either out of familiarity or because they have no choice, the Awakening trio don't NEED to be supporting Nohr. These "heroes" are just as complicit in the invasion of a peaceful country as Kamui is but they can choose to leave if they want.

[Thane]

[spoiler=Awakening Trio]

To add onto my earlier comments about them, unlike other Nohrians who support their nation either out of familiarity or because they have no choice, the Awakening trio don't NEED to be supporting Nohr. These "heroes" are just as complicit in the invasion of a peaceful country as Kamui is but they can choose to leave if they want.

They literally have teleportation orbs that let them return at any time they want, and they've been explicitly told what a "wrong choice" would entail. It's rather astounding that they made the returning characters so incredibly stupid.

[Tsuky]

Kaze I can understand because of [spoiler=Support Spoilers]his raging guilt complex over not being able to save Corrin from being kidnapped.

It's still stupid, but personally it wasn't enough for me to put him on the least favorite list, especially when compared to the stupidity of some other Conquest characters.

Speaking of, I did forget someone from my list: Asugi. Asugi so much. I wasn't really expecting to dislike him so much given how much I like Gaius and I like Saizo (and I like Kagero, who ended up being his mother), but as someone said earlier in the thread, he's just a bratty jerk. And the parts of his personality that come from Gaius don't even add anything to his characterization.

[spoiler=] I realize that was probably part of his thought process, but that in no way justifies joining in the effort of invading his country that has done him no wrong. It's his problem that he can't sort out his priorities.

I agree with you on Asugi. Gaius was such a chill bro and I love Saizo, but Asugi acts like a jerk, especially in his support with Shiro and his mom. I plan to marry Sakura to Saizo, but goodness, Asugi just goes off on her and Sakura stutters like crazy in their support; it's like she's afraid of him. Honestly, his love of sweets became nothing more than a trait to irritate his dad.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Tsuky

[Azure Sen]

[spoiler=] I realize that was probably part of his thought process, but that in no way justifies joining in the effort of invading his country that has done him no wrong. It's his problem that he can't sort out his priorities.

I agree with you on Asugi. Gaius was such a chill bro and I love Saizo, but Asugi acts like a jerk, especially in his support with Shiro and his mom. I plan to marry Sakura to Saizo, but goodness, Asugi just goes off on her and Sakura stutters like crazy in their support; it's like she's afraid of him. Honestly, his love of sweets became nothing more than a trait to irritate his dad.

Oh no, I totally get where you're coming. I don't think it excuses him in the slightest, but I can understand why he did it. I honestly think it's one of the least stupid decisions made by anyone in Conquest, which is why he wasn't on my list. What I don't understand is why he in particular was chosen to be the token Hoshido-aligned character that joins on all routes. Rinkah would have made more sense, given that she has less of a connection to Hoshido than Kaze does.

They literally have teleportation orbs that let them return at any time they want, and they've been explicitly told what a "wrong choice" would entail. It's rather astounding that they made the returning characters so incredibly stupid.

The easy solution would have been to have them available on all three paths once they find out Corrin is the one they're looking for. I dunno, maybe have a stage where Corrin turns into a dragon and that's how they identify him/her. But then again, much like Xander's characterization, the attempts to shoehorn in the Awakening characters and their actual implementation is clumsy, inconsistent and full of holes. Especially given that the whole scenario should seem very familiar to them, even if they're not technically the same as the kids from Awakening.

Edited February 26, 2016 by AzureSen

[Magikarpador]

Takumi

[HerrWolfsklaue]

Guten Tag,

simple answer: A Z A M A!

You already got more than enought healers in Brithright, on conqest he is a pain in the foot to deal with, and I cant stand face/atitude.

[Time the Crestfallen]

Guten Tag,

simple answer: A Z A M A!

You already got more than enought healers in Brithright, on conqest he is a pain in the foot to deal with, and I cant stand face/atitude.

Not to mention that he has a -3 modifier in Mag and a base Mag growth of 20%, which makes him the worst healer.

[Michelaar]

I hate both of Hinoka's retainers! Why did they make them so.... stupid?

[Time the Crestfallen]

I hate both of Hinoka's retainers! Why did they make them so.... stupid?

Azama isn't dumb, he's just an arsehole.

[Michelaar]

Setsuna os though

[Thane]

Quick question, have they given Kinu more of a personality? I keep hearing people complaining about one-note anime characters in Awakening (of which there are plenty, don't get me wrong), but I haven't heard anything about her, and she's essentially walking fetish fuel without any real traits other than "playing", which again fits into the category of that particular fetish. It might be a bit of a strong word, but she might be the least developed character in the entire series, at least in the Japanese version.

[Time the Crestfallen]

Quick question, have they given Kinu more of a personality? I keep hearing people complaining about one-note anime characters in Awakening (of which there are plenty, don't get me wrong), but I haven't heard anything about her, and she's essentially walking fetish fuel without any real traits other than "playing", which again fits into the category of that particular fetish. It might be a bit of a strong word, but she might be the least developed character in the entire series, at least in the Japanese version.

Less developed than this guy?

[spoiler=On second thoughts, this guy's supports were all really good and his personality was very well-rounded. 10/10, best character.]

Joking aside, she still seems very much the 'lol XD Random' type, but I don't know the specifics. I feel confident guessing that she's exactly the same though, baring a few minor dialogue changes.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Phillius

[Kakeyo]

Super disappointed in Keaton.

From his artwork he seemed... dapper. Sophisticated. Well-to-do. I thought that was an interesting take on a werewolf (most books/movie/games make them to be feral [or indian] or dog-like) so I thought this would go in a totally different and interesting direction.

Instead he's basically a dog. He wags his tail, he likes garbage and he's... not the brightest. Very bizarre given his vest and button-up shirt - and the fact you meet him in an opera house. Seriously, how did any of that scream dog? Just... bizarre.

[Thane]

Less developed than this guy?

[spoiler=On second thoughts, this guy's supports were all really good and his personality was very well-rounded. 10/10, best character.]

Joking aside, she still seems very much the 'lol XD Random' type, but I don't know the specifics. I feel confident guessing that she's exactly the same though, baring a few minor dialogue changes.

Who dat.

The thing is, I can't remember anything she has said other than playing, food and not being afraid of anything (which seems to be implied because she's too stupid to know better). That's...literally all of her supports, paralogue and face touching lines.

I mean, at least we know Stahl can make tonics and potions, at least the edge-lord Raven has some motivation for being so edgy but this? This is essentially Kellam's quirk on steroids.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Thane

[Time the Crestfallen]

Who dat.

The thing is, I can't remember anything she has said other than playing, food and not being afraid of anything (which seems to be implied because she's too stupid to know better). That's...literally all of her supports, paralogue and face touching lines.

I mean, at least we know Stahl can make tonics and potions, at least the edge-lord Raven has some motivation for being so edgy but this? This is essentially Kellam's quirk on steroids.

Nobody is on Kellam's level of bad imo. At least Selkie can have a different conversation based around how people react to her, Kellam's gimmick gets tired way quicker since there's only so many ways you can write 'person doesn't notice Kellam, person comments on how stealthy he is'. Plus there's the fact that it makes everyone else look like idiots, considering that Olivia literally thought she was having a conversation with a tree in her C-Support with him.

[Thane]

Nobody is on Kellam's level of bad imo. At least Selkie can have a different conversation based around how people react to her, Kellam's gimmick gets tired way quicker since there's only so many ways you can write 'person doesn't notice Kellam, person comments on how stealthy he is'. Plus there's the fact that it makes everyone else look like idiots, considering that Olivia literally thought she was having a conversation with a tree in her C-Support with him.

Oh I know, I'm not making excuses for Kellam, but at least the guy is capable of talking to other people when they're not stupid enough to think he's a tree. If you pair up anyone with Kinu, you know exactly how the entire support is going to pan out from the onset.

This sort of reminds me of Oliver and Ilyana, too.

[Wayward Alchemist]

Alright, I'm gonna briefly go off-topic to stick up for mah boy Stahl here. Stahl was easily the best-written character in Awakening- his "average" gimmick was really low-key and was only the focus of his support with Miriel. The only time it comes up is when people compliment him, and he does that because he is always striving to improve himself. While he acknowledges that he will never be the top dog, he just tries to be the best person that he can be, and encourages others to do the same (see his support with Donny). He's just a laid-back, helpful person, and is canonically one of the best people to exist due to the fact that he can weild the Falchion, which judges people's hearts or some shit.

Anyhow, to contribute to the infinite negativity surrounding this game,

Gameplay:

Rinkah, Rinkah, Rinkah. I wanted to like her so much, but she can't kill anything, even with a Kaze Spd boost, her Personal activated, and some SERIOUS babying.

Hana was so outclassed by Tsubaki in her joining chapter, and later Hinata, and later yet Ryoma. She had (effectively) less base Spd than Tsubaki, a weaker weapon, and was more frail.

Odin's lack of firepower, bulk, and speed was so saddening. They ruined my son!!!

Felicia's inability to kill anything is only rivaled by Rinkah's, but hers is fixable.

Personality/Localization:

Peri. I loved Henry. He had a bloody past, but he kept the violence to the battlefield and was loyal, a good friend, and later a good husband/father. Peri... There is nothing redeeming about her.

The changes made to Effie were a big disappointment.

HAROLD'S NAME CHANGE.

Soliel is pushy to the point of sexual harassment, and I don't find that endearing or cute. Also Ophelia is mine. MINE.

Nohr!Corrin. I usually skip through all of his dialouge and add in my own in my head because they're that annoying. Hosh!Corrin isn't bad.

Edited February 26, 2016 by JothTheConqueror