Opinions on that Fire Emblem Awakening Character #1 - #51 (Chrom & Robin & Grima)

[epilepsyduck]

Chrom

Kind of the ultimate straight man character, I suppose, playing foil to the antics of basically everyone he talks to. I suppose he's the character least negatively impacted by Robin's hostile takeover of the plot near the end, if only because of how much screentime he's had beforehand, but I don't really care about him enough for that to be a point in his favor. He works as a fairly safe and bland protagonist type, and that's really all there is to say about him imo.

Robin

I'm actually not deadset against Avatars being a thing in the series, and if we're gonna follow the lead of any of the games that had them in how future ones should work out, I'd like them to resemble Robin the most, though even then there's room for improvement. There's an uncomfortable amount of characters just standing around talking about what a goddamn blessing Robin is, and while that's not quite as aggravating as Chris stealing lines and entire scenes from other characters or basically the whole world of Fates revolving entirely around what Corrin does, it comes across as a very cheap way to inflate Robin's importance to the Shepherds before they've really done anything to earn it. They're also (unlike the other two) pretty much objectively the best unit in the game, barring their own child Morgan, which contributes to the sense that they're just the most special person in all of Ylisse. Still, I didn't mind them back when Awakening came out, and even now my biggest issue is that they're a precursor to what we'd eventually see in Fates with Corrin.

Grima

Does Grima even count as a character? Do any of the evil dragon antagonists in this series count as characters except maybe Idoun? They're really less antagonists than they are an evil force that must be stopped, so it's really hard to have any sort of feelings towards them because there's basically nothing there.

[Magical Glace]

EDIT: I just realized that we didn't talk about Nowi!

Wow you're right

Nowi:

Odd as it may sound, I like her. She's cute, and has some good supports. She needs a better fashion sense, though... Nah is the only manakete in the game whose sense of fashion is actually good.

As a unit, I normally make her Morgan's mom. Manaketes are really good in FE13.

[Moblin Major General]

Nowi: Reverse jailbait, but also sensitive, playful, and very wise. Shame that most of her supports mention the age gap.

[Ertrick36]

EDIT: I just realized that we didn't talk about Nowi! So my opinion on Nowi...she's a bit too childish and her design/outfit is pretty awful, but otherwise she's okay. I like her more than her daughter. As a unit, she's okay. Not great, but not really terrible.

Oh wow, that's right. Maybe RoyLKing experienced the same horrible things I have, and wants to forget that she ever existed.

I'll post an opinion on Nowi right here:

I don't think she's a terrible character, but... ugh, I've had horrible experiences with her "fans". People bitch about how Undertale fans ruin Undertale for them, well... I guess I know what it is to feel that way about something.

Back to actual character analysis, she's... pretty goddamn gimmicky. She appeals very much to the "legal loli" concept. She has some good moments, though. But obviously not my favorite Awakening character. Like I said a while back, I like her daughter more.

Grima

Does Grima even count as a character? Do any of the evil dragon antagonists in this series count as characters except maybe Idoun? They're really less antagonists than they are an evil force that must be stopped, so it's really hard to have any sort of feelings towards them because there's basically nothing there.

That's why when it came time to talk about Grima, I just talked about the FE tradition of having dragons as the true Big Bad instead of an in-depth character analysis into Grima. Though he does get a bit more characterization in Future Past, though not much beyond "I'm still fighting an internal battle with my other half".

I mean, I guess the ultimate reason behind the dragons wanting to kill all of humanity is that they're racist due to humanity and Naga wiping out almost all of them and forcing them to seal their dragon forms in stones, or risk going absolutely insane. But that's the extent of the characterization we might ever get with the evil dragons. And hell, even Medeus - the dragon who was from the very game that went in-depth about the plight of the manaketes - played the "haha, I'm the Dark Black EVIL" card, so it's not like they pretend there's any moral ambiguity at all.

[Etrurian emperor]

Chrom

Chrom is pretty okay. He's very competent at his main job of being the straight man to the wackiest cast yet. The whole ordeal with Emyrin also ensures he gets some decent moments in the story. His design is pretty good, its a nice balance between the slender prettyboy look most lords go for and the more masculine look of Ike and Hector.

And speaking of Hector:

aside from when Hector murders a bystander in cold blood and gets a high five for it.

That's really just a matter of interpretation. The game never says the guard is dead, not even Serra, the one who shrieks about it claims that the guard is dead. Its far more likely Hector just punched him out cold. Oswin was also most definitely not giving him a high five for it.

Robin

Robin isn't a very good Avatar in the sense he's more like a real character. We get very little input in what he says and does and he avoids the pitfalls Corrin falls into.

The players praise Robin a lot but there's certainly things to praise him for. He really is depicted as a good tactician. He doesn't attract it while doing little to deserve it like Corrin does and the characters never assure Robin that its okay to make dumb mistakes.

I also don't think he steals the spotlight because Robin willingly stays in a subordinate role. Everything he does is in Chrom's name. Out of the three arc's only the last can really deemed to be Robin's. The Plegia arc is most certainly Chrom's moment because it prominently features his country and his family. Through the experience its Chrom, not Robin who grows as a person.

In Valm the game tries to set up something between the ideologies of Walhart and Chrom. Only once those two are done does Robin get his moment.

Grima

Grima had some potential. It could be interesting that he's more of an abomination then a dragon and that the final battle takes place on his back is kind of cool. Its just a shame Grima never really does or says anything interesting himself. His sole saving grace is that at some moments Grima showed to have a small amount of whit.

Maribelle

Along with Lucina Maribelle might be my favorite of the females. I already have a soft spot for the spoiled but sweet rich girl archtype and Maribelle plays the part well. She's consistently amusing while never letting her gimmick overtake her character to much, her pool of good supports would be proof of that.

Excellus

I don't think of excellus a lot. He's just forgettable. I do appreciate the idea behind him. Excellus is a sleazy strategist stuck in a kingdom where everyone just wants to go guns blazing. The Valm arc being so short ensures this can never really be explored a lot so nothing interesting is done with this.

Validar

Like with Excellus I like the idea behind Validar. He's the typical evil masterminding wizard who just isn't very good at this whole masterminding thing. Basilio even directly says that to his face. His first entrance as main villain is kinda pitiful, he dies and his master needs to bail him out. When finally setting his evil plot in motion he gets outsmarted and dies...and then his master must again bail him out again.

People said here that Validar is pretty successful but I can't agree. Everything Validar does fails. In the game's timeline its not Validar but Grima himself who resurrects Grima. I'm not sure how much credit he could get in the bad timeline either. Its been a while but I recall Grima implying that he and Robin fused through the somewhat willing cooperation of Robin. That would make bad future Robin and not Validar responsible for Grima's first rise.

Being incompetent gives Validar something to set him apart from the other generic dark sorcerers. Its just that being incompetent isn't really a GOOD thing for the driving villain to be.

Edited September 17, 2016 by Etrurian emperor

[Loki Laufeyson]

Maribelle: Oh shes the fucking best. I love this girl. We even share a birthday! You go, little social justice STOMPER! Shes got great hair too. As a unit, shes kinda bad. Yeah, shes got heal utility but Lissa is doing that job and better by that time. Still, i like to use her cuz shes a great person.

Excellus: Walmart brand villainous Lord Varys. No thanks. Get off my lawn, frog boy.

Validar: Darth Vader wannabe with literally zero motive for his actions. Gawds, hes probably the most offensive of the villains because of this. So you are the avatar's father? Ok then what? You want to make Grima a thing? Why exactly? WHY ARE YOU DOING ANYTHING!

Chrom: This guy has the brains and the personality of a plastic bag. Hes really the most boring lord in existence, and LISTEN TO ME CHROM. BEING LIKE YOUR SISTER IS SOMETHING YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE! DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT EMULATE EMMERYN. SHES AN AWFUL HUMAN BEING AND A COWARD WHO GAVE UP ON HER NATION. STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND THINK. As a unit, hes fine. Nothing special, but Falchion is kinda neat.

Robin: The Avatar. Mine is always a snarky asshole who prefers meddling in the love lives of the army, and telling the villains how much he hates Emmeryn. Lucina: "Our bonds are strong!" Loki: "lmao in my day it was called sex, sweetheart." Still salty about us not getting mute MU option cuz what Robin says in his dialogue is NOT what my character would say. As a unit, best one in the game really. Stomp stomp stomp repeat.

Grima: Really sucks and has like zero reason for wanting to end the world. He just exists. I like the whole Robin is Grima thing a lot but like, the game didnt do anything hella cool with it? Like at all? Its just really disappointing.

Nowi: I really like her and think she gets a hella bad rap. I get that her outfit makes people uncomfortable, but i usually dont think about her outfit (mostly cuz i never really keep her in Manakete and make her stomp ass as a mage.) and i love her character. Shes too adorable and actually says some insightful shit sometimes. Shes also really lonely and just wants friends, even though she knows she'll outlive them all. Its why Tiki's existence is kind of important for Nowi. As a unit, shes really pretty great too. I like to make her a mage cuz shes hella sturdy in that class tree.

[Emerson]

Oh yeah, we forgot Nowi!

I like Nowi a lot. She's adorable and friendly on the outside, but is actually really mature.

[Ebony]

Nowi

Her clothes make me a bit uncomfortable and I am very particular about who I pair her with. However I usually have her as a Manakete or Wyvern Lord so I don't see much of her outfit. Her support with Vaike was cute though. Like, really cute. I'll probably make a shota Avatar and marry her to see what it's like tbh.

[TheSilentChloey]

Nowi

She's cute, has some interesting dialogue and for the most part is a good unit. Not much to say other than she makes for a good friend for my F!Robin.

[epilepsyduck]

I am always late to everything

Nowi

Whatever sea sponge designed that outfit can fuck right off tbh. On an adultish person I probably wouldn't have minded it much, but there's pretty much no context where I'm down for character designs like Nowi's That's a shame, too, as it sort of hurts my opinion of an other-decent character. Nowi herself is endearingly cute in a lot of ways, and of course being a Manakete means she's insanely powerful right from the start. I usually do end up dropping her into Sage or Dark Knight pretty quick and let Nah and/or Tiki handle the Manakete thing, though; that dumb scaly bikini is stupid and bad.

[RoyLKing]

oh yeah I forgot nowi existed rip

can't believe I remembered Excellus and not Nowi, then again, I liked how Excellus was being shit on by Cervantes and Walhart in the end.

Edited September 19, 2016 by RoyLKing

[shadowofchaos]

Time to play catch up. Thank you phone crashes.

Miriel:

Calculus being used as a burn for Vaike is always a plus. Unitwise: Has better availability than Richt/Ricken, but is mostly the same. Useful as backliners, but since Reflet/Robin exists... they're kinda inferior unless you really need extra two rangers.

Gaia:

Candy Volke. He's comedic, especially since his support with Chrom in JP can be taken as taking him to a brothel to relieve his shelteredness. Unitwise, he fulfills thief utility pretty damn well.

Libera:

Kozaki's interpretation of a Lucius throwback. A+

Unitwise, I didn't expect him to be a damn tank with Vengeance reclassing. Man, dark past much, Mr. Battle Monk.

Anna:

FE mascot. Just dislike the S support line about you always being second to money.

Unitwise, if your Gaius isn't cutting it, she can make a good last minute replacement.

Velvet:

ROORINGU SANDAAAA

Is what I think of in the JP nico nico comments I got during one of the Execution Exhibitions.

The whole Taguel lore is such a waste of potential. Especially with the setting being the same continent as Marth's story. Urgh.

That being said, the whole concept of bunny manaketes I'd fine...

Unitwise, I'd say Taguel would be worth it for Enemy Phase 1 range lock if the Stat buffs were like Fates dragonstone level... but you pretty much immediately reclass her to Wyvern. Outclassing Serge/Cherche pretty much.

Serena:

English made her too... well jerkish.

The whole tsundere thing is played much better there. But definitely better than that in Fates.

Unitwise... I'll skip in depth analysis on the children since they have huge variability and usability. But usually, you can't go wrong with Sol on this swordie.

Paris:

Hi Ike throwback.

The very character that caused really stupid debates over Ike's sexuality. Again.

Moving on. He's a post game character, really. By the time you get him, you can likely beat Ginle/Grima no problem. You only really recruit him from completionism or you like him. Not for him being a unit.

Noire:

Eeeh... Just as much as Tharja is an overused trope in Japanese media, so is she. She counts... kinda. I mean the crazies with two faces.

Unitwise, she gets the Sorc's skills really easily. So reclass her immediately out of Archer, unless you're in Lunatic+. But since child character they can be godly or sucky(on join time and base stats not usability) when you unlock the level.

Soiree:

Can respect the tomboy.

But the same with Japanese tastes, her gimmick is not one for me.

Still, is funny how she reminds me of Lumi, here on this forum.

Soiree is the kind that would take on Lunatic+ and show no fear.

Unitwise, she never turns out bad. But has never turned out godly for me either. Like I know physically, she's a tank. But I've always focused on ranged combat and dodge tanking with... well, MU.

Sol:

Uhh... I liked Oscar in FE9?

I just kind of paired him with Soiree.

I wasn't that invested in his average character.

Unitwise... yep. Average. That gimmick.

Mark and Marc:

Hello, FE7 name throwback that got lost in translation to "Morgan".

Both varieties are adorable with supports and is arguably the best unit in the game regardless of parents, mods, and skill setups.

Simply from the inheritance mechanic MU doesn't have access to, can get Galeforce regardless of gender.

However, availability is their only, non-glaring issue.

I just wish the whole amnesia thing wasn't played up and localization didn't change the Male variety's lines just to cater to MU x Chrom fans because their feelings could be hurt like in the drama CD.

Lenha:

Another post game character you got for the character and not for the unit.

...and man, time travel shenanigans sometimes makes you facepalm.

Donny:

The only arguably useless unit in the entire game and ONLY on Lunatic mode no-grind.

Those pretty green stat caps don't mean anything with the amount of resources you could have used to solo lunatic with MU at that point.

Unit evaluation aside, his story as a village Japanese accent boy is pretty endearing.

That is, if you don't get him killed and disappoint his Ma.

Callum: Like, wat.

If your skill is this, just assassinate Walhart.

This gimmick is entertaining at first, but quickly wears off the charm fast.

Great physical tank for chokepoints. But those Lunatic Steel Lance soldiers will eat him up if you don't invest in him fast.

Sairi:

What even is the fake Chinese-Japanese mashup in the localization?

I mean, I like her design and concept. But localization version wise, she doesn't know what she wants to be.

Unitwise... she feels like Fir. If your Rutger Lon'qu isn't turning out the way you want, she can be a replacement.

Basilio:

Personality is nice and all, but the plot kind of overshadows him. ESPECIALLY his "pretending to be dead" thing.

Olivia:

Oooh boy. Cue shame from posts when Awakening came out in Japanese.

Dancer characters in FE are hit or miss for me. I either hate them or love them.

Feena, Sylvia, and Lalum are the "I'm so cute, love me!" which are a major turn off.

Ninian on the other hand, was reserved and quiet, but strong. Had insecurities about *spoiler* but tried her best to be a big sister to Nils.

Tethys was a big sis to Ewan, so while she was the provocative trope similar to Camilla, in her supports with Gerik, she was respectable.

Olivia was moe death in a nutshell. And I found that cute despite the occupation. Humility is valued in Japanese society. And despite her clashing outward appearance and personality, it works. At least for my tastes.

I'll just leave it at that on the personality evaluation and refrain from previous bias.

Unitwise, she is squishy. But also can be a dodge tank if you reclass her to Assassin. Really, refresher unit value is dependant on how good you are at clearing high risk, high move threats on chokepoints. Positioning can make or break you in this game with the Pair Up system. And a free move on the unit at the time is the best thing you can ask for.

Tiki:

Her chapter is HELL on earth on Lunatic+.

Past that, a wonderful throwback to FE1, FE3, FE11, and FE12.

She grew up.

Ikue Ohtani as her seiyuu helps sell that.

Could have ditched the "Onii-chan" Marth gimmick though.

Unitwise, her True Dragonstone makes her immediately usable right after the Fort Chapter. Her bases will be right where you are on hard mode when using Nono/Nowi or Nah on no grind. Unless you've been tanking hard with them.

But mostly, you use her for the nostalgia.

Tiki

Not even worth having because Nowi or Nah are usually better than she is. Tiki is picked up just because I can.

Olivia

Freaking useless as a unit and has the same problem as Sumia off the battle field (Self insulting) Olivia isn't someone I would have on the front lines but rather would keep around as fodder...

Your opinions on unit evaluation are pretty much formed from a lack of strategy to see that they have value and use your personal tastes as argument for gameplay.

Why do you even try talking bad of units as "useless" when you clearly don't know how to evaluate units? When you make extreme statements about things that aren't wholely opinion based, you're going to get flak.

Just stick to character and story role. You're better off that way and will dodge criticism.

Loran: Same opinion as Miriel, really. A little sad, no Galeforce access. He's there if you need a better mage than Richt/Ricken.

Lon'qu: Takehito Koyasu bias.

Jade Curtiss from Tales of the Abyss and Dio from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure anyone?

Dodge tank material. And oooh, man. If you save that Kill Sword(Killing Edge) with Vantage, things just die. Weakness is definitely Silver Lance Wyverns though.

Supports are nice even with the gimmick.

Emelina:

I like her, despite the bad writing. The design, voicing, and character.

Hate that she doesn't stay dead.

Sacrifice meaning much?

Gangel:

Shoulda stayed dead and not recruitable.

Though, the best villain in the game, frankly.

Unitwise... err... he's mostly the same as he was when you left him. Might require effort.

Nice dialogue with Chrom on recruitment though.

Wood:

Sword hand doesn't exist in Japanese. Boiling blood does. Just like his personal skill in Fates.

Chuunibyou reminds me of my stupidity, but also charming. Future of Despair clears it up that he needed that personality quirk to cope with all of that crap. Caring for his mother regarding the mark/brand.

Good character, entertaining.

Child unit that pretty much can be dodge tank Swordmaster OR magical user from mother mod inheritance.

Cynthia:

Gets undeserved hate from fandom just for being associated with Sumia and MU x Chrom flak. Poor girl.

Like hell, is arguably the best secondary Aether user from high mov and innate, fast Galeforce access. IIRC, one of the units someone used on an unpromoted Apotheosis Secret Route run. Damage output is higher than an Aggressor Mark/Morgan with Rightful King and Luna.

Moving on... her hero complex is more thoroughly explained... as the same as Wood/Owain's coping mechanism.

Richt:

What even? Is he shotacon bait? Is he an Ewan callback? I don't know.

But unitwise, he's an extra mage. He's definitely not remarkable. Bordering bad, actually.

Mariabelle:

This lady is a wonderful snob noble. Despite her trope, her supports are wonderful, showing her concern with high class society and those less privileged.

Unit wise, she has wonderful support utility with her mobility, healing, and sometimes tome support. Her high magic makes up for low weapon level in the poking regard.

Excelli:

What is this disgusting thing? They speak in Old Lady Japanese and makes them even more creepy.

Fauder:

Hello Darth Validar.

...forgettable.

Literally.

Where the hell was this main threat during the Valm arc?

Why did everyone forget about the doppelganger Robin and him from Chapter 13?

Chrom:

Cool, likable lord.

Stupid, but likable.

Sugita voice is top notch.

Loses points on being a catalyst for fangirls.

Unit-wise, he is nice earlygame. Becomes a liability with forced deploy on the latter game in higher difficulties.

Aether is nice and all, but he gets outclassed by Sumia in utility... despite the fact that she dishes out less raw damage.

He ends up being a pair up bot with his Stat bonuses on pair up and Dual Attack+ skill and being able to safely dish out Rapier effective damage from the back row.

Robin:

Boku voice 1.

At face value their story presence and self-insert quality is okay. Upon scrutiny though, it falls apart.

Like, take Awakening at face value.

Arguably the best unit in the game.

Loses out to Morgan in inheritance, but wins in availability. But, Mark/Marc/Morgan could potentially feed off the base stats from the availability.

Male loses out on Galeforce, but gets Aggressor.

Another thing Female variety "technically" lose out on is Galeforce requires a change proof/second seal. But that's not really much.

But that's pretty much their only flaws gameplay wise.

Go break your games.

Gimle:

The end all villain plot twist that was probably a result of it possibly being the last Fire Emblem game.

Meh, they're okay.

Leaves a lot of room for "dual dace" or corruption headcanons, so I'm okay with this.

Cynthia

[spoiler=Read at your own peril because it's going to hurt!]

While I don't mind Cynthia, there are a few things that need to be said about this little bitch.

First is that she looks HIDEOUS with Chrom's hair to me. No ifs buts or maybes it makes her look terrible. Second is that if she is Chrom's daughter she doesn't even know who her father is and ANYONE can call her "Pega Pony Princess" so that is no way to tell if he's her father or not, (personally I think that Sumia went and had an affair with someone else when Chrom left Ylisse to deal with Grima)! Now if Cynthia had have asked to see Chrom's Mark of Naga that would have made sense, and I could have accepted that but that she says for him to call her "Pega Pony Princess" just doesn't work out.

Your insecurity and possessiveness with your fictional husband is painful to look at.

More painful than the fact that you use the word "useless" during unit evaluation for Awakening. You've never seen a useless unit until you've seen FE6 Wendy.

And this is coming from the former FE13 waifu lord.

This kind of mentality is unhealthy for you. You're literally spending time being jealous and hating over a collection of pixels over getting another collection of pixels' Falchion.

Like, what is your goal here? Your opinion is something better suited to the Fandom on Tumblr than it is here. A forum catered to mostly reasonably backed opinions and tastes rather than blind ship hate.

Which makes Cynthia even WORSE to not remember her father!!

You are aware of the fact that one of the reasons the script was that way was to facilitate ambiguity so that the devs wouldn't step on your poor OTP toes, boo hoo?

The drama CDs and other media literally dodge bullets of any implication of Chrom's marriage, making a mess of any children's dialogue about memories of their parents. As in you're only focusing on Cynthia because it offends you that the possibility exists.

That you hate any other option than the one you like. To say "He's my husband and anyone who likes Sumia or that pairing is shit."

You literally think of Sumia as a terrible person who would cheat on Chrom. Trying to make Robin, who you see as yourself, as a perfect partner while painting someone else as the worse choice. Your values in a real relationship wouldn't last.

That's the definition of rabid fangirls and the source of your insecurities.

Indirectly, that shows your personality as manipulative, shallow, spoiled, and frankly, childish. It's an excusable mentality when a 5 year old is possessive of a crush since they don't know how things work yet. Not from a person like yourself that can post on a forum.

"It's just a thought".

Yeah, right. "I dislike Sumia. Not hate."

You need to work out some issues there.

Chrom wouldn't love a Robin like that. Let alone raise a child with special needs like Morgan in a situation like that. The personality you show as your Robin is more fitting for Grima, than the genius tactician who everyone loves and the one who saves the world.

Edited September 19, 2016 by shadowofchaos

[Light Strategist]

Time to play catch up. Thank you phone crashes.

Miriel:

Calculus being used as a burn for Vaike is always a plus. Unitwise: Has better availability than Richt/Ricken, but is mostly the same. Useful as backliners, but since Reflet/Robin exists... they're kinda inferior unless you really need extra two rangers.

Gaia:

Candy Volke. He's comedic, especially since his support with Chrom in JP can be taken as taking him to a brothel to relieve his shelteredness. Unitwise, he fulfills thief utility pretty damn well.

Libera:

Kozaki's interpretation of a Lucius throwback. A+

Unitwise, I didn't expect him to be a damn tank with Vengeance reclassing. Man, dark past much, Mr. Battle Monk.

Anna:

FE mascot. Just dislike the S support line about you always being second to money.

Unitwise, if your Gaius isn't cutting it, she can make a good last minute replacement.

Velvet:

ROORINGU SANDAAAA

Is what I think of in the JP nico nico comments I got during one of the Execution Exhibitions.

The whole Taguel lore is such a waste of potential. Especially with the setting being the same continent as Marth's story. Urgh.

That being said, the whole concept of bunny manaketes I'd fine...

Unitwise, I'd say Taguel would be worth it for Enemy Phase 1 range lock if the Stat buffs were like Fates dragonstone level... but you pretty much immediately reclass her to Wyvern. Outclassing Serge/Cherche pretty much.

Serena:

English made her too... well jerkish.

The whole tsundere thing is played much better there. But definitely better than that in Fates.

Unitwise... I'll skip in depth analysis on the children since they have huge variability and usability. But usually, you can't go wrong with Sol on this swordie.

Paris:

Hi Ike throwback.

The very character that caused really stupid debates over Ike's sexuality. Again.

Moving on. He's a post game character, really. By the time you get him, you can likely beat Ginle/Grima no problem. You only really recruit him from completionism or you like him. Not for him being a unit.

Noire:

Eeeh... Just as much as Tharja is an overused trope in Japanese media, so is she. She counts... kinda. I mean the crazies with two faces.

Unitwise, she gets the Sorc's skills really easily. So reclass her immediately out of Archer, unless you're in Lunatic+. But since child character they can be godly or sucky(on join time and base stats not usability) when you unlock the level.

Soiree:

Can respect the tomboy.

But the same with Japanese tastes, her gimmick is not one for me.

Still, is funny how she reminds me of Lumi, here on this forum.

Soiree is the kind that would take on Lunatic+ and show no fear.

Unitwise, she never turns out bad. But has never turned out godly for me either. Like I know physically, she's a tank. But I've always focused on ranged combat and dodge tanking with... well, MU.

Sol:

Uhh... I liked Oscar in FE9?

I just kind of paired him with Soiree.

I wasn't that invested in his average character.

Unitwise... yep. Average. That gimmick.

Mark and Marc:

Hello, FE7 name throwback that got lost in translation to "Morgan".

Both varieties are adorable with supports and is arguably the best unit in the game regardless of parents, mods, and skill setups.

Simply from the inheritance mechanic MU doesn't have access to, can get Galeforce regardless of gender.

However, availability is their only, non-glaring issue.

I just wish the whole amnesia thing wasn't played up and localization didn't change the Male variety's lines just to cater to MU x Chrom fans because their feelings could be hurt like in the drama CD.

Lenha:

Another post game character you got for the character and not for the unit.

...and man, time travel shenanigans sometimes makes you facepalm.

Donny:

The only arguably useless unit in the entire game and ONLY on Lunatic mode no-grind.

Those pretty green stat caps don't mean anything with the amount of resources you could have used to solo lunatic with MU at that point.

Unit evaluation aside, his story as a village Japanese accent boy is pretty endearing.

That is, if you don't get him killed and disappoint his Ma.

Callum: Like, wat.

If your skill is this, just assassinate Walhart.

This gimmick is entertaining at first, but quickly wears off the charm fast.

Great physical tank for chokepoints. But those Lunatic Steel Lance soldiers will eat him up if you don't invest in him fast.

Sairi:

What even is the fake Chinese-Japanese mashup in the localization?

I mean, I like her design and concept. But localization version wise, she doesn't know what she wants to be.

Unitwise... she feels like Fir. If your Rutger Lon'qu isn't turning out the way you want, she can be a replacement.

Basilio:

Personality is nice and all, but the plot kind of overshadows him. ESPECIALLY his "pretending to be dead" thing.

Olivia:

Oooh boy. Cue shame from posts when Awakening came out in Japanese.

Dancer characters in FE are hit or miss for me. I either hate them or love them.

Feena, Sylvia, and Lalum are the "I'm so cute, love me!" which are a major turn off.

Ninian on the other hand, was reserved and quiet, but strong. Had insecurities about *spoiler* but tried her best to be a big sister to Nils.

Tethys was a big sis to Ewan, so while she was the provocative trope similar to Camilla, in her supports with Gerik, she was respectable.

Olivia was moe death in a nutshell. And I found that cute despite the occupation. Humility is valued in Japanese society. And despite her clashing outward appearance and personality, it works. At least for my tastes.

I'll just leave it at that on the personality evaluation and refrain from previous bias.

Unitwise, she is squishy. But also can be a dodge tank if you reclass her to Assassin. Really, refresher unit value is dependant on how good you are at clearing high risk, high move threats on chokepoints. Positioning can make or break you in this game with the Pair Up system. And a free move on the unit at the time is the best thing you can ask for.

Tiki:

Her chapter is HELL on earth on Lunatic+.

Past that, a wonderful throwback to FE1, FE3, FE11, and FE12.

She grew up.

Ikue Ohtani as her seiyuu helps sell that.

Could have ditched the "Onii-chan" Marth gimmick though.

Unitwise, her True Dragonstone makes her immediately usable right after the Fort Chapter. Her bases will be right where you are on hard mode when using Nono/Nowi or Nah on no grind. Unless you've been tanking hard with them.

But mostly, you use her for the nostalgia.

Your opinions on unit evaluation are pretty much formed from a lack of strategy to see that they have value and use your personal tastes as argument for gameplay.

Why do you even try talking bad of units as "useless" when you clearly don't know how to evaluate units? When you make extreme statements about things that aren't wholely opinion based, you're going to get flak.

Just stick to character and story role. You're better off that way and will dodge criticism.

Loran: Same opinion as Miriel, really. A little sad, no Galeforce access. He's there if you need a better mage than Richt/Ricken.

Lon'qu: Takehito Koyasu bias.

Jade Curtiss from Tales of the Abyss and Dio from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure anyone?

Dodge tank material. And oooh, man. If you save that Kill Sword(Killing Edge) with Vantage, things just die. Weakness is definitely Silver Lance Wyverns though.

Supports are nice even with the gimmick.

Emelina:

I like her, despite the bad writing. The design, voicing, and character.

Hate that she doesn't stay dead.

Sacrifice meaning much?

Gangel:

Shoulda stayed dead and not recruitable.

Though, the best villain in the game, frankly.

Unitwise... err... he's mostly the same as he was when you left him. Might require effort.

Nice dialogue with Chrom on recruitment though.

Wood:

Sword hand doesn't exist in Japanese. Boiling blood does. Just like his personal skill in Fates.

Chuunibyou reminds me of my stupidity, but also charming. Future of Despair clears it up that he needed that personality quirk to cope with all of that crap. Caring for his mother regarding the mark/brand.

Good character, entertaining.

Child unit that pretty much can be dodge tank Swordmaster OR magical user from mother mod inheritance.

Cynthia:

Gets undeserved hate from fandom just for being associated with Sumia and MU x Chrom flak. Poor girl.

Like hell, is arguably the best secondary Aether user from high mov and innate, fast Galeforce access. IIRC, one of the units someone used on an unpromoted Apotheosis Secret Route run. Damage output is higher than an Aggressor Mark/Morgan with Rightful King and Luna.

Moving on... her hero complex is more thoroughly explained... as the same as Wood/Owain's coping mechanism.

Richt:

What even? Is he shotacon bait? Is he an Ewan callback? I don't know.

But unitwise, he's an extra mage. He's definitely not remarkable. Bordering bad, actually.

Mariabelle:

This lady is a wonderful snob noble. Despite her trope, her supports are wonderful, showing her concern with high class society and those less privileged.

Unit wise, she has wonderful support utility with her mobility, healing, and sometimes tome support. Her high magic makes up for low weapon level in the poking regard.

Excelli:

What is this disgusting thing? They speak in Old Lady Japanese and makes them even more creepy.

Fauder:

Hello Darth Validar.

...forgettable.

Literally.

Where the hell was this main threat during the Valm arc?

Why did everyone forget about the doppelganger Robin and him from Chapter 13?

Chrom:

Cool, likable lord.

Stupid, but likable.

Sugita voice is top notch.

Loses points on being a catalyst for fangirls.

Unit-wise, he is nice earlygame. Becomes a liability with forced deploy on the latter game in higher difficulties.

Aether is nice and all, but he gets outclassed by Sumia in utility... despite the fact that she dishes out less raw damage.

He ends up being a pair up bot with his Stat bonuses on pair up and Dual Attack+ skill and being able to safely dish out Rapier effective damage from the back row.

Robin:

Boku voice 1.

At face value their story presence and self-insert quality is okay. Upon scrutiny though, it falls apart.

Like, take Awakening at face value.

Arguably the best unit in the game.

Loses out to Morgan in inheritance, but wins in availability. But, Mark/Marc/Morgan could potentially feed off the base stats from the availability.

Male loses out on Galeforce, but gets Aggressor.

Another thing Female variety "technically" lose out on is Galeforce requires a change proof/second seal. But that's not really much.

But that's pretty much their only flaws gameplay wise.

Go break your games.

Gimle:

The end all villain plot twist that was probably a result of it possibly being the last Fire Emblem game.

Meh, they're okay.

Leaves a lot of room for "dual dace" or corruption headcanons, so I'm okay with this.

Your insecurity and possessiveness with your fictional husband is painful to look at.

More painful than the fact that you use the word "useless" during unit evaluation for Awakening. You've never seen a useless unit until you've seen FE6 Wendy.

And this is coming from the former FE13 waifu lord.

This kind of mentality is unhealthy for you. You're literally spending time being jealous and hating over a collection of pixels over getting another collection of pixels' Falchion.

Like, what is your goal here? Your opinion is something better suited to the Fandom on Tumblr than it is here. A forum catered to mostly reasonably backed opinions and tastes rather than blind ship hate.

You are aware of the fact that one of the reasons the script was that way was to facilitate ambiguity so that the devs wouldn't step on your poor OTP toes, boo hoo?

The drama CDs and other media literally dodge bullets of any implication of Chrom's marriage, making a mess of any children's dialogue about memories of their parents. As in you're only focusing on Cynthia because it offends you that the possibility exists.

That you hate any other option than the one you like. To say "He's my husband and anyone who likes Sumia or that pairing is shit."

You literally think of Sumia as a terrible person who would cheat on Chrom. Trying to make Robin, who you see as yourself, as a perfect partner while painting someone else as the worse choice. Your values in a real relationship wouldn't last.

That's the definition of rabid fangirls and the source of your insecurities.

Indirectly, that shows your personality as manipulative, shallow, spoiled, and frankly, childish. It's an excusable mentality when a 5 year old is possessive of a crush since they don't know how things work yet. Not from a person like yourself that can post on a forum.

"It's just a thought".

Yeah, right. "I dislike Sumia. Not hate."

You need to work out some issues there.

Chrom wouldn't love a Robin like that. Let alone raise a child with special needs like Morgan in a situation like that. The personality you show as your Robin is more fitting for Grima, than the genius tactician who everyone loves and the one who saves the world.

Well... that was a comment... or 8...

Seriously though, thanks for waking me up a bit. I was kinda dozing off untill I popped in here and saw your comment... or 8...

Well, if I'm gonna comment here again I may as well answer the topic's question, but I ain't doing a backlog because I'll be here for a few hours...

Chrom: I like the guy, pretty average all round and knows how and/or when to fight. His emotions can get the better of him at times which further proves his humanity to me and actually makes me feel like I have something in common with him. I honestly can't say I dislike his supports because they're very well written and all carefully considered. Unitwise, I can't say I've worked him to his full potential. I'd have liked a little more class variety (if only just on him) just to help fill out his options a little more.

Robin: With Awakening being my first ever foray into the wonderful world of Fire Emblem, I took everything I saw at face value and never even stopped to consider plotholes or potential oversights. Many people argue that Avatars having a preset personality doesn't let them project onto them, but I never actually felt that issue. It's odd, but I was so captivated with Awakening that my brain kinda felt like my Avatar really was me. Every decision the Avatar made, whether it was consciously me or not, felt as though it was actually me doing so. Unitwise I felt very powerful just at the beginning of the game with a class that nobody else had, of course when I found out overall class availability... I swapped classes for skills and eventually settled on a class I like. (Bonus points to the oblivious people that can't guess it.)

Grima: My problem with Grima came from when I first played through. Since I was taking everything at face value and also have a terrible memory, I managed to forget Validar and Grima both by Chapter 13 (up until Lucina's explanation). Because it took an entire cutscene to explain it, and then immediately going to Valm, Grima felt very... absent... throughout the events of the game. Why couldn't we have "Not Me" show up as a boss once or twice during the Valm arc to put an interesting twist on it all? I mean, Grima conquered an entire timeline, so couldn't the Time Traveller have made a larger effort to stop you? For all of Grima's power, he revived Validar but couldn't send in relatively powerful Risen bosses to try and stop us? Was he even trying? As far as Endgame bosses go, I didn't mind, but he's pretty easy if you've got some half-decent units. Though that's only speaking from Normal and Hard.

And now... I'm going to bed.

[TheSilentChloey]

*snip*

Are you looking for an arguement dear? Because that was just plain insulting *shakes head* and really makes you look horrible.

Especially since what I've mostly put here is first playthrough bias/first thoughts I get about the characters in general. And to be truthful I don't mind Sumia, I just don't like the fact that she constanly belittles herself in most of her supports (With Robin, Frederick and Henry if I remember correctly, not counting Gaius and Chrom because she doesn't do it in those two) and that is the same reason that I don't particularly like Olivia, although in Olivia's case it was in game and in supports and she only got better once I got to the supports where she wasn't insulting herself and reclassed her a bit before making her a dancer again but even so, I don't use her that much.

Mosly due to the fact that I was terrible at Fire Emblem to begin with and most of the characters I ended up using were the ones that had the jump on others (Cordelia, Henry, F!Robin, Lucina, Chrom and maybe Frederick), plus I kinda killed Tharja in my first run as well as Gaius. If you want my full and honest answers about where each character stands feel free to ask that, but I would actually need some time to get it all down properly because I am kind of a special needs person myself .

I know that I am treading on a lot of toes but I'm one to do that on occassion and can't really help it again because I'm a little special.

Although in this case it is because no one is calling Cynthia on the stupidity of working out if Chrom's her father or not. Other than that Cynthia is fine and without the self belittling of Sumia I can apreciate why people like her.

[shadowofchaos]

Here's the thing: You went on a full on ship war by calling characters bitches for theoretical things.

You called Cynthia a bitch for being Sumia's daughter. On something as insignificant as a story inconsistency. The same thing Morgan is guilty of as Lucina's sister. That's extreme. It is nothing short of childish.

Not to mention having the need to paint other potential partners of a person as a cheating, uncaring choice.

What I said weren't personal attacks. It's a description of what you were doing during those posts.

I will apologize for being harsh. However, you seem to have the idea that your hatemongering behavior is somehow encouraged in the fandom.

If you took the time to read stuff you put in spoilers, the things you say over *pairings* of all things, are more extreme than anything I said that insulted you.

You have a right to your opinions. But I also have the right to call out those opinions when its basis is something extremely petty. You're insulting a character for daring to exist. You're insulting a character as a bitch for daring to be a character's possible daughter. You were insulted at the thought of a character having Chrom's blue hair. You hated her for being called "Pega-Pony Princess".

Like, how big of an offense is that? Is that really so grave a sin?

Unfortunately, I can't make you see that. You'll just have to see it on your own.

Edited September 19, 2016 by shadowofchaos

[Augestein]

Chrom is kinda interesting in the sense that he's astoundingly normal in a cast of people that have a lot of social problems. He's a bit thickheaded, but he's not a bad guy by any stretch of the imaginations. It's unfortunate that most people end up only seeing Chrom x F!Robin or Sumia, when those are by far his worst supports. He also doesn't get enough attention for being the main character which is pretty miserable too. He's like the Lyndis of his own game. A decent character that gets overshadowed and ends up just being a "good friend."

Robin I find strange. Robin is kind of too developed to be a good avatar, and spends most of the time just being indiscriminately good at everything... In the plot. In supports, Robin is just a nice guy, that seems to really lack common sense but is overall a nice guy/girl. Female Robin I find a bit better than Male Robin in this regard, because sometimes she ISN'T a nice person and seems to be quite a bit less accepting of nonsense. Overall, I find Robin to be an okay character with Female Robin being *slightly* better.

Grima is just not terribly interesting in my opinion. I'll admit that I didn't play the DLC missions so I probably missed out on something interesting about it, but we don't really have much motivation for it. It's just like "I took over the world, and I'm going to make sure I do it again." We don't even really know why Grima does the things it does.

[UNLEASH IT]

I must say I don't see what makes Chrom worse than other lords in the series. I rather like the guy for at least being funny, while the other lords all blend into an inseparable, unimpressive mess, not including Ike. I cannot for the life of me remember a single line anyone in the trio says in Blazing Sword, aside from when Hector murders a bystander in cold blood and gets a high five for it.

I agree with you here, Chrom isn't any worse than the lords from earlier games.

[TheSilentChloey]

Here's the thing: You went on a full on ship war by calling characters bitches for theoretical things.

You called Cynthia a bitch for being Sumia's daughter. On something as insignificant as a story inconsistency. The same thing Morgan is guilty of as Lucina's sister. That's extreme. It is nothing short of childish.

Not to mention having the need to paint other potential partners of a person as a cheating, uncaring choice.

What I said weren't personal attacks. It's a description of what you were doing during those posts.

I will apologize for being harsh. However, you seem to have the idea that your hatemongering behavior is somehow encouraged in the fandom.

If you took the time to read stuff you put in spoilers, the things you say over *pairings* of all things, are more extreme than anything I said that insulted you.

You have a right to your opinions. But I also have the right to call out those opinions when its basis is something extremely petty. You're insulting a character for daring to exist. You're insulting a character as a bitch for daring to be a character's possible daughter. You were insulted at the thought of a character having Chrom's blue hair. You hated her for being called "Pega-Pony Princess".

Like, how big of an offense is that? Is that really so grave a sin?

Unfortunately, I can't make you see that. You'll just have to see it on your own.

And I hasten to point out you were the one insulting me sweetie. And I will repeat my point. I don't mind Cynthia or Sumia, I don't hate the whole "Pega Pony Princess" thing, what I don't like about it is that Cynthia uses it to prove who her father is specifically when it's Chrom, which if you swallowed your fucking pride you would have seen what I had to say about it in detail (mostly that there are other more reliable methods she could have used). Way to put words into my mouth much.

If you can't take someone giving their opinions and result to petty name calling then you only have yourself to blame dear when they decide to put you in your place. White knight Sumia and Cynthia all you like, I don't care because I am past the point of caring about what you say since the disagreement over my opinions on Fates. You have drawn this out with every oppertunity that you've had and now you're just looking to milk it for what it's worth. Sorry darling, but this is indeed the end of the argument. A shame that you couldn't be civil and leave me to my own opinion instead of being so childish because I "insulted" your waifus.

[Light Strategist]

Anyone got Popcorn or a drink? I left mine at a friend's...

[TheSilentChloey]

Anyone got Popcorn or a drink? I left mine at a friend's...

I have some if you want dear

[Magical Glace]

If you can't take someone giving their opinions and result to petty name calling then you only have yourself to blame dear when they decide to put you in your place. White knight Sumia and Cynthia all you like, I don't care because I am past the point of caring about what you say since the disagreement over my opinions on Fates. You have drawn this out with every oppertunity that you've had and now you're just looking to milk it for what it's worth. Sorry darling, but this is indeed the end of the argument. A shame that you couldn't be civil and leave me to my own opinion instead of being so childish because I "insulted" your waifus.

Rey never did any of that, though? Name one insulting name he gave you in that entire post. It seems like you're just putting words in his mouth.

All he did was tell you that you were being oddly possessive of Chrom by hating Sumia/Cynthia for very petty reasoning

[shadowofchaos]

Chrom wouldn't love a Robin like that.

Probably this.

If you can't take someone giving their opinions and result to petty name calling then you only have yourself to blame dear when they decide to put you in your place.

This is a forum. And an opinion thread.

When someone asks "why" you should be able to back up your opinion with logic.

If I am as disagreeable as you see me, other members would have put me in my place a loooooong time ago.

(Also, please quote my petty name calling)

First is that she looks HIDEOUS with Chrom's hair to me. No ifs buts or maybes it makes her look terrible.

This is shutting down disagreement is an absolute end all statement. "You are wrong". Now, who here has trouble accepting someone else's opinions?

I haven't resorted to curse words. Simply calmly commenting on your statements. If anything, you're the one that has dragged in personal attacks.

This is discourse. The art of argument and making a point and justifying one's opinion.

All you've said in that statement is "accept my opinion."

Sure. If you accept your reasoning is petty and shallow. Which is show you how your opinion is petty and shallow below:

Time to deconstruct your post.

*cracks knuckles*

Point 1:

And I hasten to point out you were the one insulting me sweetie.

What I said weren't personal attacks. It's a description of what you were doing during those posts.

Cynthia

While I don't mind Cynthia, there are a few things that need to be said about this little bitch.

First is that she looks HIDEOUS with Chrom's hair to me. No ifs buts or maybes it makes her look terrible. Second is that if she is Chrom's daughter she doesn't even know who her father is and ANYONE can call her "Pega Pony Princess" so that is no way to tell if he's her father or not, (personally I think that Sumia went and had an affair with someone else when Chrom left Ylisse to deal with Grima)! Now if Cynthia had have asked to see Chrom's Mark of Naga that would have made sense, and I could have accepted that but that she says for him to call her "Pega Pony Princess" just doesn't work out.

"I don't mind her, but I call her a bitch".

That's contradictory.

me sweetie. And I will repeat my point. I don't mind Cynthia or Sumia, I don't hate the whole "Pega Pony Princess" thing, what I don't like about it is that Cynthia uses it to prove who her father is specifically when it's Chrom, which if you swallowed your fucking pride you would have seen what I had to say about it in detail (mostly that there are other more reliable methods she could have used)

Looks and story inconsistency is justifiable reason to call a character a bitch? Even in strikethrough?

That is the definition of shallow and petty. Therefore my statement there was not a personal attack.

Point 2:

personally I think that Sumia went and had an affair with someone else when Chrom left Ylisse to deal with Grima)!

Oh, hey someone else even called you out on it.

There's nothing in Sumia's written character that would ever suggest this. This is something you created and shows your thought process on a possible Chrom spouse. That Robin is the best unquestioned choice. That others will only lead to unhappiness.

What the fuck? Are you really letting your otp bias get in the way and imply, without backup, that Sumia had an affair on Chrom?

What the fuck? That's pretty heavy handed with no backup, and you can say "oh headcanon" but that doesn't excuse the fact you're implying, again, Sumia cheated on Chrom for Cynthia making a mistake.

That's manipulative if that was in a real relationship. That's Tharja mindset.

Point 3:

I don't mind Cynthia or Sumia

Your actions say a lot more than what this statement does.

You can't talk about Cynthia without bringing up how Chrom as her father doesn't make sense.

Do you see me bringing up the localization change on Morgan and Lucina's support about him being afraid of a particular bug every time I talk about Male Morgan? Or the same with Kjelle?

Strong statements such as:

"Bitch"

"Useless"

"Looks hideous" in bold and in caps

"She's okay. If she doesn't move and doesn't do anything."

(Aka take your man)

And I can't prove it, but... "Dear" and "sweetie" with your tone implies elevating yourself above me. Doesn't really fit when other people have been calling out your maturity in many areas of the forum. Especially when you can't even admit that your behavior displays hate, not "dislike" or "okay".

I don't hate Sumia, I dislike her. Please do not put words into my mouth.

I don't often differentiate between it, especially when your language describing characters leans more on hating than "disliking."

leave me to my own opinion instead of being so childish because I "insulted" your waifus.

Again, make a blog if you don't want criticism for your opinions. This is a forum, a medium of discourse. If all you can say to "why" is "it's my opinion", then anyone else has the right to say "your opinion is bad".

And how presumptuous of you. Now that can be taken as a personal attack.

Man, if I wanted to be actually childish and attack you, I'd mock something else you did that's more worthy.

No, I did not get on your case for those specific characters are "waifus". The reason I got on your case has been the same: Unhealthily possessive of Chrom, putting him and your specific Robin, Morgan, and Lucina on a pedestal, and making unfair comparisons, essentially talking bad about not only other possibilities within Awakening, but other games in an unfair, illogical manner.

That's not an opinion... that's a toxic mindset.

All while maintaining, "Oh, I respect other opinions, you just don't respect mine."

You do realize that you've been insulting other people's opinions, not just mine, yes?

Look where quoted your very extreme language.

Edited September 20, 2016 by shadowofchaos

[Magical Glace]

Probably this.

Edit later

Assuming this is a response to my question, this isn't really "petty name calling." I can see how it can be seen as ship bashing, but you were not attacking her in that line at all.

[Naturesshadow]

Well, time for catch ups:

Gerome - "Gerone's in the house. Watch ya mouth!". While I like his sleek black design along with the mask overall he's alright. His distant "Don't wanna change anything" attitude comes off a bit flat for me since the time travel in this game is of the multiverse kind which along with Yarne's fear of extinction kinda makes it rather moot. He's just a bit dull in my eyes.

Cordelia - While I wouldn't say she deserved to be ranked as high as she did I don't think she's too bad. She's a decent character whose crush gimmick is not that bad. For the most part it's just present in the S ranks which I feel was the right choice as it helps with her letting go of Chrom, rather than still gushing over him during other supports (The Frederick supports did drop the ball a bit here). I've noticed the most common complaint with her seems to be how she takes compliments over her many skills and that her modesty is rather phony but...I don't think it was too problematic. She did well for me as a unit. A bit stronger than Sumia but I made the mistake of leaving her as a dark flier, I don't recall she utilized her magic very well but the skills given helped.

Gaius - The sweet tooth thief. I don't think his sugar obsession is too annoying(especially compared to the atrocity that is Fate's Asugi) and overall his supports are pretty solid. From showing Chrom things that he didn't do as a noble to his backstory involving Maribelle's father. He's a chill guy with a rough background (as to be expected from a thief). WIsh I could say he's a good unit, but that ain't the case, mainly due to his fragile DEF and RES. He can barely take a hit early on and it didn't improve later. He does get some nice attack and his good skill makes lethality procs decent but otherwise he just cant take any damage without getting shredded. I would take Anna over him.

Miriel - A robot disguised as a human. Her lack of understanding human emotions frustrates me. I have to wonder if she's got some kind of mental condition. She's the hardest to find a good partner for (Frederick was her best in the end along with Ricken) and her supports tend to be rather gimmicky with her scientific jargon. Her son Laurent had a better mixture of scientific lingo and actual emotions. Also she looks really familiar to a character from the Valkyria Chronicles series (http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/valkyria/images/1/1e/Valerie_Aynsley.png/revision/latest?cb=20110821010739). She's at least a solid unit as a mage, Hard hitting and useful early game. Lacks the defense that Henry get's though.

Libra - A revise on the Lucius character. I didn't think he was a woman the first time I saw him, mostly due to the voice clips giving it away but in terms of visually, I believe the face gives it away, Very male oriented design. With Lucius's existence, Libra's feminine identity gimmick does come across as rather stale but doesn't get bogged down by it unlike other gimmick heavy characters. Although I've noticed that many priests/clerics in Fire Emblem seem to deal with alot of shit either backstory wise or physically from Serra's tragic childhood to Rhys's frailness. I was quite surprised with Libra's performance as a promoted unit, he's quite good. Solid base stats and having a good balance of attack and magic makes him quite flexible. Along with some solid DEF and RES he's pretty reliable as a hard hitter and tank. But I did try him as a Dark Knight and late game he lost a bit of his edge, particularly with his speed.

Anna - I was quite happy to see Anna finally getting a chance to fight on the battlefield. It was a nice little surprise in my first playthrough of Awakening. Personality wise she's pretty much what I expected. A gold obsessed merchant that'll do anything to earn some dosh. As simple as she is, I give her a pass due to her being Fire Emblem's mascot character and she's just enjoyable. Her supports, while few are quite amusing. Seeing her trying to get money from Tiki's autographs was quite amusing and her support with Robin was pretty decent. As a trickster she's pretty good. Good RES make's her a good mage killer and her high magic make's her very useful with the Levin Sword. Much better than Gaius in performance.

Panne - Would be a better character if she wasn't so aggressive to others due to the whole laguz taguel racism issue. Since most of the character's have no issues with the Taguel and some don't even know about the clash between them and humans she comes across as too defensive and makes her look like an arse. Which is a shame because supports that don't make her look bitter are alright and her support with Robin is good (Go figure he's the only one she doesn't get bitter at). Her design is...odd. Like Yarne the Taguel design is an odd design of random fur patches and a tribal warrior armour getup. I'm not sure I like it. As a unit she's a good cavalier killer thanks to beastbane and her speed helps with her killing power, but her early game is a bit rough and her constant beast weakness can be a bit problematic if class swapping. Unfortunately in comparison to the manakete class, taguels can't match up.

Severa - There's always a tsundere around here somewhere. I should probably hate her more than I do but in terms of tsundere bitchiness, I've seen worse (Kaname from Full Metal Panic! is still the worst I've seen). With her inferiority complex and the shit that went down during her childhood, I can see why she would be like the way she is. With that said she can go a little too far with her bitchyness and it does make her hard to like. I suppose I'm in the middle on her. I like her design though.

Priam - A cheap appeal to Tellius fans (Or a possible kick in the balls for IkexSoren shippers). Not much interesting about this guy and since you get him after beating the game he doesn't have much use. At least he comes with good base stats.

Noire - A decent gal with an interesting split personality. To be honest I've not got too much to say about her, she's just decent. Her design's nice, the feather on the head is a nice touch and I like the green patterned clothes she's wearing.

Sully - One of my favourite female characters in Awakening. A tough cavalier and a good comrade. Like some of the characters above I don't think the thing that people complain about Sully is that bad (her comments about those judging her based on gender) as it's not too intrusive or irritating...unlike a certain child character who makes it quite insufferable. I can understand where she's coming from when she get's irritated by it (considering this is a medieval setting) and she only does it when she feels like she is being judged rather than just assuming that's the case. She is a likable character with some solid supports, her support with Chrom being one of my personal favourites of hers (Stahl's also gets an honourable mention). As a cavalier she's pretty good thanks to her solid growths. She's durable, dishes out good pain and along with Stahl makes for a good frontline assault squad.

Morgan - Whether Morgan's a dorky nice guy or a curious and tad sadistic gal I quite like Morgan. The former is a nice guy, his supports were nice and showed alot of his good side, His Nah support in particular was quite sweet. The later being different makes for an interesting contrast as she tends to harass some of her comrades, from pulling Yarne's ears to having a laugh at Inigo's failure to pick up ladies again. Having both of them be different from each other was a good idea as it made them both feel fresh in comparison to each other and gave me two flavors of Morgan to see. If I had to choose I would probably say the FMorgan is my favourite, especially since I've used her more than MMorgan (Haven't played much FRobin) but both are solid and I like how they take after their parents with their clothing designs. Also FMorgan has cute hair and looks lovely with blonde hair.

Yen'fay - Another forgettable villain. He really could have used some more buildup to his battle on the volcano like any of the previous games would have done. Just any cutscenes showing him behind the scenes dealing with the situation he's stuck in against his will. It would have made it much easier to sympathize with him, but alas without any development he's just another dull as dishwater villain that I couldn't care less for. His paralogue doesn't help either.

Donnel - Love this country warrior. A bumbling but likable guy and another not held back by gimmicks. I just have a soft spot for country folk characters in this series. As a unit of his kind, as expected he's quite crap early on but he can pay off well with some refinement and for my type of run was pretty damn good. A good balance of everything thanks to Aptitude and was one of my best hard hitters on the frontline, ended up using him as a warrior as I didn't have many Axe users on my run (Benched Vaike for that run). I know people say he's overrated as his caps aren't great compared to others but honestly in my runs, maxing caps is never a concern for me so he's fine just as he is.

Kellam - I never understood how people could miss this guy. The way the game plays it up I just have to ponder how a big guy in knight armour can go by unnoticed. I suppose a curse my be involved in this. I get the impression this is some kind of cheap anime inspired gag or something but either way it's overplayed too much with Kellam and it kinda overshadows his character which when looked at isn't terrible. Like Donnel he's a country fella taking up arms to help his country and he seems like a nice guy when people actually notice him (Hell he's delighted when he gets to talk to someone). His knight design is also rather silly thanks to those oversized shoulder pads that look like they should be boosters on a jetpack. Thank god that got fixed in fates. At least he does his job as a Knight well, which is what you'd expect from him. Rock solid Defense guarantees you your wall unit and hell he even made a good great knight (I guess he was a "great" knight"...heh) and Luna helped with his killing power.

Say'ri - As bland as her brother and her supports may as well be talking about Japan rather than Chon'sin. For someone who got involved in the story more that other characters who could have gotten it *cough* Virion *cough* she really doesn't add much to the story and her resolve with her brother lacked any punch due to the lack of buildup and relationship establishment with each other. Hell they should of had a flashback showing what they were like before they chose their sides so we could have some more emotional weight to the battle, but nope can't world building in Awakening so that ain't happening. She was pretty good as a unit though, squishy yes but a brutal swordmaster and made for a good assassin thanks to good growths and base stats.

Basilio - Amusing in dialogue but not much to say about him. His design is at least suitable for a Khan.

Olivia - A cute little dancer she is. A shy, kind soul who also has some experiences to tell of her time with Basilio. Has some amusing supports (Like her one with Ricken) and some nice ones that complement her and the other person (Virion's is one of my favourites). One of my favourite of the female characters in Awakening. Also her design is fanservice done right as her outfit is suitable for a dancer and does not feel forced on her (unlike a particular dark mage and manakete...), a mixture of cute and exotic, a matching combo for her character and profession. Her nervousness with her profession actually makes sense as you can be passionate about something you do while at the same time get nervous about doing it, I remember feeling that when I use to play the Euphonium in my school concert band. It was fun to play the songs given to us but at the same time I felt nerves hitting my gut when the performance came around the corner. As expected from a dancer she's squishy as all hell and starts off with rubbish stats but her utility to dance is as useful as any other dancer in previous games and can be useful when required. If I needed her to be an offensive unit she made for a good assassin with her high skill and speed. She can make for a replacement for Gaius.

Laurent - A much better version of Miriel. Actually understands human emotions and doesn't act oblivious to them. You could say that he's rather dull but I find him interesting as the more organised, serious one of the kids and It was interesting seeing him stuck in the game's current timeline for years ahead of the others, it definitely changed him up. He has some good supports, His support with Lucina in particular was really good as it showed how he looks out for everyone and means well for it (even if he goes a bit overboard with it in Noire's support) and how he felt rather worried that It could be more for his ego (also seen a bit in his S rank with Noire where he admits he may have ran his own mouth off and felt guilty for it). It's nice to have supports with a character having conflicts about their actions and with supports like these helps Laurent not fall into the gimmicky character zone. Also I found it amusing that in his S rank with Noire he basically admitted he's a masochist for verbal abuse.

Tiki - I assume that if you played the previous games in which Tiki was present in it that she'd be an interesting character having grown up between games but I have never played them so I only have this game to go on, which in terms of that she's just meh. Just your standard mythical being that people worship. Not the worst but not enough to be interesting. At least as a unit she's solid as all manaketes in this game are. Doesn't suffer the speed problems that Nowi has and comes with solid base stats to have her kicking arses straight out the gate. Use her with Nowi and your gonna have a fun, cheesy ride.

Lon'qu - I wasn't expecting to have a male equivalent of Florina's phobia. He's pretty good, A distant but diligent warrior with a good collection of supports. I like his backstory and how he wants to surpass Basilio in skill as seen in Olivia's support. As a unit he's pretty much your glass cannon swordmaster. Will dish out nice damage but can get in trouble on the defense.

Emmeryn - Not a big fan of her. In comparison to rulers of previous games she comes across as rather weak and unreliable, but I suppose considering the situation she was in she didn't have much choice at the time. She ain't no Elincia though. With her paralogue I reckon that they are all not counted as part of the story as there is absolutely no way she could have survived her fate. The fact that they did it really damages the impact of her sacrifice, which was well executed. Considering they're unlocked after the finale and through a bonus menu they're treated as non-canon in my eyes.

Gangrel - We already had a mad king, his name was Ashnard. Gangrel is certainly more loopy in comparison and doesn't have the philosophy of the strong ruling over the weak schtick but he really isn't the most complex of villains. He did get some laughs out of me though with his dialogue.

Owain - This guy could be a walking dictionary of Fire Emblem names/terms/locations/etc, You never know what he's gonna say next. He's an amusing character that on glance looks to be really into method acting. He may go a bit over the top with it all but it's hard to dislike him. He does wear out his welcome in Fates though, as he doesn't seem to have changed much there.

Cynthia - My favourite of the female kids. She's an adorable, energetic character who despite her clumsiness will do what she can to be a hero. Her design is nice, the hair in particular is cute, as is her voice acting and she has a nice list of supports (Favourite being Owains). I also have to admit I have a soft spot for characters like Cynthia so she was gonna rank high for me in the end. Would have been nice if she had been part of the trio that got into Fates, but oh well.

Ricken - An alright character. His "I'm an adult" gimmick can get a bit irksome but its not the worst of gimmicks in this game. His determination to bring back honor to his noble family is interesting though (It made Maribelle's support my favourite), weird that they brought his character back in Fates in the form of Hayato considering Ricken didn't rank that high in the poll. I'd say that Hayato is currently better in character than Ricken is from what I've seen so far. As a unit in my last run I believe Ricken was not as powerful as Miriel but had a much better defense growth to help him take hits.

Maribelle - For a snotty aristocrat she's actually a character I quite like. Underneath her bitter exterior she's a good person who does care for her comrades. I liked her backstory in Lissa's support where Lissa was her only friend growing up amongst the other nobles. It would explain why she is the way she is. Her design is nice and as a unit she was pretty good. With heal spamming she got to valkyrie really quick in my run and by the time I got to fight Gangrel she was tanking magic like a pro and managed to make Gangrel break his Levin Sword. She is squishy in DEF though so that's always something to watch out for, but her movement can get her out quickly.

Excellus - Bleugh! That fucking face. It reminds me of that creepy clown lady from the infamous anime "Apocalypse Zero" (I almost mistook him for a female), He looks like he's gonna bite someones face off. Could have been interesting considering he wanted to achieve glory whilst under Walhart's command but like the other villains he is quite forgettable. Kinda similar to Iago in Fate's in how he torments the heroes.

Validar - Again a not so interesting villain but at least has a motive in comparison to Fate's offerings. While not anything special, being a cult leader of a fanatic religion is at least something to go on, to the point where he get's citizens to sacrifice themselves for Grima. It's certainly more interesting than anything Garon (AKA Mr kill everyone so i can rule everything bwahaha) did.

Chrom - Not the worst Lord I've seen but I'd group him with some previous Lord's of the past in that he's okay. At least he has some character in his supports, being a noble wanting to know about the things his people do, being awkward with socializing and just being something thats not "standard good guy". But his gullibleness in the story is problematic and the fact that he can trust Robin, a complete stranger and possible danger as Frederick suggested and put him in a high position in his army is questionable. I suppose though that this was a foreshadowing of an even bigger gullible idiot to come...He is a great lord though in performance thanks to some great growth rates that made him get at least 4-5+ stat ups most of the time. Plus the falchion's bonuses helped with damage output. Only his Res is problematic and that's pretty much a staple on lots of lords with the exception of mage specific ones like Micaiah.

Robin - After the disaster that was Corrin I've looked back at Robin as a character and while he does suffer from blandness thanks to supports that are more beneficial to the other characters rather than himself, he's not terrible. I suppose since he has the amnesia schtick going for him he doesn't have much backstory to go on which makes sense but I still would of liked something to work with. He is nowhere near as worshiped as Corrin and being a tactician at least he actually does smart actions that he deserves credit for (like the fire ship idea), unlike Corrin who get's shit resolved for him via others or sheer convenience. He does overshadow Chrom a bit too much though and it does hurt Chrom's character overall, Robin should have been downplayed throughout the story. Really when it comes to avatar characters I'd have to say Mark is the best overall as he has little interaction with the army but enough to feel involved without getting in the way. I also have to say that Robin's design is much better than Corrin's and has the better voice acting and memorable quotes (seriously, Corrin feel's so bland in smash with his generic quotes). The black and gold robes in particular are pretty nice. As an avatar character as expected, Robin's pretty damn powerful. Whether specializing in magic or strength your gonna have a good Robin. The flexibility in classes is a real benefit and passing down the tactician class to any of the kids is a plus.

Edit: Also forgot to mention, Fuck the FeRobin Chrom support. Most anime shenanigan shit I've seen in a support to date. Worst pair for Chrom by far.

Grima - For the big bad guy of the game he's quite underwhelming. The fact that he straight up cheats the rules of the ceremony in the end just pisses me off. HOW was he able to perform the ritual when the Fire Emblem was NOT complete?! Also if he's already Grima, how can he be the host of another Grima?! It just makes no sense. Also if this plot wasn't working off a multiverse then him killing Robin would have caused a MASSIVE time paradox and wiped everything into oblivion. So yeah...not a fan.

Nowi - Probably the worst designed of the characters (in clothing). It really doesn't go well with her considering her childish attitude and it just looks stupid. Since she was rescued from slavery perhaps that what she was forced to wear during that time (which does make for a rather dark past for her considering what could have happened to her during that time) but I imagine that wasn't the case and it wouldn't make sense for her to continue wearing it. Her daughter's design is better. As a character while she has some supports that make her act too childish for my tastes (Lon'qu's support in particular was dumb) she's quite likable. Very playful, innocent and while she can be reckless she means well for her comrades. Hell in terms of good pairs for Robin she ended up being my favourite for him along with Panne and Cordelia, which I wasn't expecting, but her support with him did what they should be doing when S ranks are involved, they bonded. They had fun doing such simple things and they had a sense of chemistry that other supports simply lacked (E.G: Miriel, Tharja, Cherche). The manaketes in this game are pretty good and Nowi is one of the best. She starts off slow with her base stats and her speed is quite atrocious at the time, but give her some EXP and she'll get them good growths going (apart from magic, EVERYTHING is 50% or above). She pretty much could take on anything and the buffs that the dragonstone gave her along with the ranged attacks made her a BEAST. One of my favourite units to use.

Blimey that took a while to do.

Edited September 21, 2016 by Naturesshadow

[Light Strategist]

And I can't prove it, but... "Dear" and "sweetie" with your tone implies elevating yourself above me. Doesn't really fit when other people have been calling out your maturity in many areas of the forum. Especially when you can't even admit that your behavior displays hate, not "dislike" or "okay".

From personal experience the terms can either be meant sincerely, which is usually the case for friends, a significant other or from parents to their children. Alternatively it's used sarcastically which appears to be the context she's used when addressing you.