Worst Fire Emblem Lord?

[link16hit]

Gameplay wise? Marth

He can't promote, can use only sword, no personality (FE11), one slot taken for the fire emblem... to open chest. at least FE3 have the 4/4 inventory. (and a shield in the animation but none in the remake). but have access to the falchion and rapier.

If I don't count the old FE then Corrin as second (personality)...at least he/she is powerful.

[NekoKnight]

Writing: Corrin by a large margin. Others have explained the reasons, but he is the most despicable player-character I've ever been expected to sympathize with.

Dishonorable mention to Celica, who drives her plot by being overemotional and generally making bad choices.

Gameplay: Lyn, unfortunately. While Hector is always amazing and Eliwood can be decent, I've never had a good Lyn for endgame.

[eclipse]

Aesthetics: Female Corrin's lack of pants.  Geez, girl. ;/
Writing: Going with Micaiah here.  Didn't like her in RD, and still don't.  Whatever hope she had for redemption was stolen away by Part 4.
Gameplay: Roy manages to get everything wrong.  Kicking butt in the last two chapters doesn't make up for everything I had to do to get there.

[Alastor15243]

3 minutes ago, eclipse said:

Aesthetics: Female Corrin's lack of pants.  Geez, girl. ;/
Writing: Going with Micaiah here.  Didn't like her in RD, and still don't.  Whatever hope she had for redemption was stolen away by Part 4.
Gameplay: Roy manages to get everything wrong.  Kicking butt in the last two chapters doesn't make up for everything I had to do to get there.

Hm... Would you care to share your perspective as to why you find Corrin better than Micaiah writingwise? In my opinion everything one could argue was done poorly with Micaiah was done worse with Corrin.

[eclipse]

Just now, Alastor15243 said:

Hm... Would you care to share your perspective as to why you find Corrin better than Micaiah writingwise? In my opinion everything one could argue was done poorly with Micaiah was done worse with Corrin.

Both had a bunch of people following them because WTF.  Corrin turns into a dragon, but requires some assistance to unfuck that situation the first time around.  He/she also gets Yato, and two families fighting over them.

Micaiah can heal via touch, hear the voice of the goddess, and see the future.

My dislike of Micaiah stems from her lopsided powers.  This is something that's inherent to her.  Corrin's dislike comes from being a general idiot in the story.  This is something that he/she does.  The dragon powers are apparently hereditary, Yato exists as a plot device every now and then, and Corrin's lineage isn't brought up in 2/3 of the story arcs.  If someone's going to be insufferable in a story, I'd rather it be through action, rather than inborn ability.

[Fabulously Olivier]

Corrin. Marth is a close runner up for being essentially human tofu, but Corrin is in his/her own league of boring, obnoxious, and foolish. Marth is a victim of no writing, while Corrin is a victim of bad writing.

[Alastor15243]

Just now, eclipse said:

Both had a bunch of people following them because WTF.  Corrin turns into a dragon, but requires some assistance to unfuck that situation the first time around.  He/she also gets Yato, and two families fighting over them.

Micaiah can heal via touch, hear the voice of the goddess, and see the future.

My dislike of Micaiah stems from her lopsided powers.  This is something that's inherent to her.  Corrin's dislike comes from being a general idiot in the story.  This is something that he/she does.  The dragon powers are apparently hereditary, Yato exists as a plot device every now and then, and Corrin's lineage isn't brought up in 2/3 of the story arcs.  If someone's going to be insufferable in a story, I'd rather it be through action, rather than inborn ability.

Ah. I can't say I agree with your value judgment there, honestly. None of those things with their powers even showed up on my radar when debating who the worst lord is storywise. And I find annoying actions to be way worse than annoying abilities.

But anyway, I thought you were going to bring up the Blood Pact, hence my curiosity because honestly the Blood Pact isn't so bad as it's made out to be in my opinion, and even if it were, the business with the Hoshidan Throne is as close as makes no different to objectively worse in every way.

[Interdimensional Observer]

22 minutes ago, eclipse said:

My dislike of Micaiah stems from her lopsided powers.  This is something that's inherent to her.

Just to point this out, but her powers do fail her when she spares Jarod from the BK, and that does show she isn't perfect. Then we have Part 3, which until the end of 3-F, is free of special powers. For all of P3 barring that end moment, she is struggling to keep things together without her powers.

Part 4 does unfortunately overuse her powers, which include hosting a goddess who does about 70-80% of Micaiah's total P4 talking. This negatively affects her agency, and development in the last leg of the game. 

Sacrifice only matters for two seconds by the way.

 

15 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

But anyway, I thought you were going to bring up the Blood Pact, hence my curiosity because honestly the Blood Pact isn't so bad as it's made out to be in my opinion, and even if it were, the business with the Hoshidan Throne is as close as makes no different to objectively worse in every way.

Don't forget the Valla Curse! That is bad too.

I do think the Blood Pact could work a bit better with a different and more explained logic than 1 dies 1 day, 2 days on the second, 3 on the third.... and so forth. I'm not expecting the BP, a magical thing, to be totally logical. But turning it into a "virus" which infects the Pact tatooed, but which can't kill them, only those they come into contact with and thus are "infected" and who then can infect others could work. Beyond a distance of so many miles/kilometers of the tatooed, the virus dies. A monarch cannot live in complete isolation of the subjects they are supposed to govern, so it's impossible for the BP to not impact their country.

I think one's dislike for the BP is partly dependent on how much one likes Ashnard and Naesala. For it cheapens Ashnard's rise to the top (and the old man who made the Pact for Ashy is never explained, a simple "Sephiran did it" could work though). For Naesala, if you liked him being against the grain of morality without altruism at heart, then the BP hurts. If you disliked his PoR avarice with no visible good reason, then the BP's effects on him are good or benign, probably.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Interdimensional Observer

[Alastor15243]

2 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Don't forget the Valla Curse! That is bad too.

Funny thing, while I agree it's hilariously stupid and bullshit, my ideal version of Fates I have in my head actually keeps that plot device intact, with one huge difference. I won't spoil it because i plan to do a huge writeup of it though.

[eclipse]

19 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Ah. I can't say I agree with your value judgment there, honestly. None of those things with their powers even showed up on my radar when debating who the worst lord is storywise. And I find annoying actions to be way worse than annoying abilities.

But anyway, I thought you were going to bring up the Blood Pact, hence my curiosity because honestly the Blood Pact isn't so bad as it's made out to be in my opinion, and even if it were, the business with the Hoshidan Throne is as close as makes no different to objectively worse in every way.

The Blood Pact is a mark against Tellius, not Micaiah herself.

4 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Just to point this out, but her powers do fail her when she spares Jarod from the BK, and that does show she isn't perfect. Then we have Part 3, which until the end of 3-F, is free of special powers. For all of P3 barring that end moment, she is struggling to keep things together without her powers.

Part 4 does unfortunately overuse her powers, which include hosting a goddess who does about 70-80% of Micaiah's total P4 talking. This negatively affects her agency, and development in the last leg of the game. 

Sacrifice only matters for two seconds by the way.

Alas, Micaiah's relevance is first overshadowed by the Greil Mercenaries, then Yune.  Once separated from her powers, she gets pretty brutal, which is refreshing.

While Sacrifice isn't really shown in-story, it's something that's attributed to her.

Quote

Begnion Soldier 1:
“They’re said to have a witch among them, a girl called the Silver-Haired Maiden. They say she can heal wounds instantly by laying her hands on any injury. Townspeople treat her like a savior.”

That's a snippet from the Prologue.  She's known by both sides for her powers.  In comparison, Corrin's most defining in-story traits are a sword and their family (the dragon thing has no story relevance).

[Alastor15243]

32 minutes ago, eclipse said:

The Blood Pact is a mark against Tellius, not Micaiah herself.

I've actually heard people argue that Micaiah handled the blood pact terribly and that there were better and obvious ways to get out of it, though honestly I don't understand what on earth they're talking about.

[Interdimensional Observer]

3 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

I've actually heard people argue that Micaiah handled the blood pact terribly and that there were better and obvious ways to get out of it, though honestly I don't understand what on earth they're talking about.

Well I guess that'd be informing the Laguz Alliance secretly of the Pact, or doing the absolute minimum to remain loyal. However, the Senate either way would find out and take necessary action.

There is also the fact that at a rate of 1...2...3....4... and so on, even if the Pact was activated, the number of deaths it'd cause would take a while, months, to exceed the deaths done in fighting the LA.

[eclipse]

24 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

I've actually heard people argue that Micaiah handled the blood pact terribly and that there were better and obvious ways to get out of it, though honestly I don't understand what on earth they're talking about.

The issue is that the Blood Pact is so restrictive that Micaiah's forced into a choice.  I can't blame her for that bit of the story, since it would be very out of character for her to endanger her countrymen like that.  Thus, it's the Blood Pact's fault for being the Blood Pact, rather than Micaiah's fault for handling it badly.

[NekoKnight]

47 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

I've actually heard people argue that Micaiah handled the blood pact terribly and that there were better and obvious ways to get out of it, though honestly I don't understand what on earth they're talking about.

Micaiah handles it far better than Corrin does the Valla curse. Where Corrin throws his hands up and makes the worst possible decision, Micaiah starts trying to find a way to undo the contract immediately.

Edited October 26, 2017 by NekoKnight

[Alastor15243]

7 minutes ago, NekoKnight said:

Micaiah handles it far better than Corrin does the Valla curse. Where Corrin throws his hands up and makes the worst possible decision, Micaiah starts trying to find a way to undo the contract immediately.

Precisely my argument.

[Harvey]

I know a lot are going to bash at me for even saying this but I'll do it anyways because why not?

Character design wise: Its Roy. I am just not a big fan of his design because he looks too young for my taste and has this weird thing on his band that I can't figure out whether it is a crown or a part of his hair that is brighter than the rest of his hair... It also doesn't help that when comparing him to young Eliwood, his face is trimmed in comparison making Eliwood look better.

Written wise: Again its Roy. 

As a character, he appears flawless and its because of that no one can ever complain about him even his own damn teacher praises him to the point that she weds him for some reason. He doesn't complain much, he doesn't express much of sadness, happiness or whatever, he is overall even worse than Marth because he practically appears emotionless either because Roy unlike Marth hasn't lost anyone beloved or that Roy read a book about maturity so he just somehow accepts Hector's death like that with no sorrow and whatnot.

Leif is better than Roy in terms of this. August is able to point out Leif and lecture him out on things and while that is a cliche thing to do, it works for someone so young.

Roy? Poor Merlinus can't put a finger on him for whatever decisions he does. He'll try to warn Roy at something and then suddenly, Roy's intellect just pauses him and he leaves quietly.

I can understand that he can't complain to his daddy that he gave him two shitty axe units but getting used to Clarine's attitude? Not being worried about his overall usefulness at some point of time in the plot?

Convinced to drag Fae to the battlefield for some magical reason? All of this is practically saying that whatever he does, he did the right choices instead of doing choices under trial and error of what worked and what didn't. 

The only thing that I can agree with that he did in the plot is to choose a direction during the western isles arc which made sense both story and gameplay wise.

Also I don't get where you guys state that it makes sense for his intelligence the way it is because sadly, it doesn't. While being a bookworm makes sense for a position like an advisor or a counselor, that's not the case for a LORD. This could have been a golden opportunity for the game to show scenes between Marcus and Roy where he can kinda warn Roy saying stuff like "Master Roy, if I may, I feel that you are learning battles in the sense of theory more than actuality" or something like that just for Roy to start developing thoughts on his own. But no, none of that happens and even if it does, its only a glimpse of it which does nothing overall. 

Tell me one lord who never bothered to learn combat and still end up being titled as a lord? None at all. Even Lyn learnt things the hard way which Roy never does. I'm not aware of Michiah's backstory because I haven't played Radiant Dawn but I'm pretty sure that knowing magic, she has some strength that is above that of Roy.

Now does this make the overall plot bad? No infact the plot is fine for what it does. Its just that Roy takes the majority of the spotlight of the plot that makes the plot confusing to accept the script is all.

And finally Gameplay: Surprise Surprise, Its Roy all over again!

His growths and bases aren't to hard to get used to as they are fine for what they do. However, his late promotion is the main problem as already stated like a million times. He may have some use with his rapier early on but by the time it breaks, he'll probably end up maxing his levels which in that case, leaves no room for him to grow. Even his training process is hard to deal with because there are too many lance units early on that will give him issues.

And I'll ask again. If Eliwood was able to ride on a horse EVEN in the trial maps, why the hell does it make sense for Roy to not get a mount upon promotion? Sure its not needed considering his awful promotion time but it can atleast make chapter 24 less of a pain to deal with instead of spamming rescue commands.

Am I bashing at FE6 overall? No. If the idea of him promoting late is a thing in the script, atleast balance the majority of the cast to make his promotion tolerable to the point that its not a thing but even that didn't happen and its because of this that I have mixed feelings with FE6.

So yeah, that's my take so have at you!

 

 

[NekoKnight]

24 minutes ago, Harvey said:

I know a lot are going to bash at me for even saying this but I'll do it anyways because why not?

I'm fairly certain approximately half this thread is you posting things everyone (primarily Armagon) disagrees with. No need to be shy about it now.

Edit: Wrong thread. Still, you have enough experience with this discussion.

Edited October 26, 2017 by NekoKnight

[ping]

I just find it funny that you used to hate Roy because he was an unworthy leader, and now you hate him because he is absolutely flawless. :D

1 hour ago, Harvey said:

Now does this make the overall plot bad? No infact the plot is fine for what it does. Its just that Roy takes the majority of the spotlight of the plot that makes the plot confusing to accept the script is all.

I think you're wrong here - in my opinion, Roy is the least intrusive lord in the entire series. His story (save Lycia/Pherae from Bernian incursion) is basically done before chapter 9, and after that, he's less involved in the plot than any other lord in the franchise. If you exchanged Roy with a random young officer of the Etrurian army, you'd only have to change some details (like establish a connection to General Cecilia and Guinivere), but the general plot - liberate the Isles, drive the Bern collaborateurs out of Etruria, launch counterattack against Bern, find out about Idoun and defeat her and Jahn - could unfold nearly unchanged.

Ach weel, it's not like you'll change your opinion anyway.

--

@topic: I'll go with the mainstream and say Corrin, or more specifically CQ!Corrin, for reasons already stated. Gameplaywise, I kinda dislike RD!Ike - I prefer lords that grow into great units, and Ike just wrecks house from the moment he arrives - but it's really not more than a mild dislike.

[Harvey]

13 minutes ago, ping said:

I think you're wrong here - in my opinion, Roy is the least intrusive lord in the entire series. His story (save Lycia/Pherae from Bernian incursion) is basically done before chapter 9, and after that, he's less involved in the plot than any other lord in the franchise. If you exchanged Roy with a random young officer of the Etrurian army, you'd only have to change some details (like establish a connection to General Cecilia and Guinivere), but the general plot - liberate the Isles, drive the Bern collaborateurs out of Etruria, launch counterattack against Bern, find out about Idoun and defeat her and Jahn - could unfold nearly unchanged.

Ach weel, it's not like you'll change your opinion anyway.

I will agree with this and again, there's nothing wrong with the plot. I guess what I'm trying to get here is that the way the game is presented is pretty much telling the gamer that Roy is the main spotlight in the overall plot. 

Anyways, this thread asked for who's the worst lord in your opinion and not like what is your unpopular opinion and in all the FE games that I have played, I just could not find Roy that tolerable that's it. If you find my opinion that obscure, I can delete the post if you want.

 

[Magical Glace]

3 hours ago, Harvey said:

He doesn't complain much, he doesn't express much of sadness, happiness or whatever,

Have you read his supports or Cecilia/Lilina?  Roy has some negative self-esteem regarding his competence and the main reason it doesn't show in the main story is that he recognizes he can't really show that publically for the sake of morale:

Quote

Roy: No, I’m not making fun of you. You see, I have to always show people that I’m happy and confident because I’m the leader. But I often get depressed or become worried.

This is in the C support with Shanna.

3 hours ago, Harvey said:

I can understand that he can't complain to his daddy that he gave him two shitty axe units but getting used to Clarine's attitude?

Roy rarely is seen interacting with Clarine.  Like, once she's recruited, we never see them talk again.  We have no idea what their relationship is beyond allies of convenience.

3 hours ago, Harvey said:

Not being worried about his overall usefulness at some point of time in the plot?

See above.  Roy's self-esteem isn't the best among lords.  It just doesn't show in the plot because he knows he can't show it in the plot due to the morale of the army being influenced by his mood.

3 hours ago, Harvey said:

Convinced to drag Fae to the battlefield for some magical reason?

She would be going back to the desert on her own and would risk getting captured again if she didn't go with.  This is explicitly spelled out.

3 hours ago, Harvey said:

While being a bookworm makes sense for a position like an advisor or a counselor, that's not the case for a LORD.

Why not?  What's stopping a noble from being bookish?  You say this like lords have to be dumb and not-brains types.  Which is kinda insulting to the lord role in general, really.

3 hours ago, Harvey said:

his could have been a golden opportunity for the game to show scenes between Marcus and Roy where he can kinda warn Roy saying stuff like "Master Roy, if I may, I feel that you are learning battles in the sense of theory more than actuality" or something like that just for Roy to start developing thoughts on his own.

What does this statement mean?  I don't quite get what you want Marcus to say here.

3 hours ago, Harvey said:

Tell me one lord who never bothered to learn combat and still end up being titled as a lord? None at all. Even Lyn learnt things the hard way which Roy never does. I'm not aware of Michiah's backstory because I haven't played Radiant Dawn but I'm pretty sure that knowing magic, she has some strength that is above that of Roy.

Roy can fight, what are you talking about?  Sure he's not the best at it, but that's different from not knowing how to fight at all.  Roy's not a dancer or healer.

[Harvey]

48 minutes ago, Glaceon Mage said:

Have you read his supports or Cecilia/Lilina?  Roy has some negative self-esteem regarding his competence and the main reason it doesn't show in the main story is that he recognizes he can't really show that publically for the sake of morale:

You shouldn't have to depend on supports to see the development of the main character. In FE7, you can see main characters show emotions without supports even being there. That's how main characters work.

Optional things like what Hector thinks of Oswin should only be in supports but shouldn't force players to rely on supports for main character's development throughout the course of the game.

Just imagine that to see Alm's tragedy, you need to support with Mycen for a lot of Alm's backstory to be revealed after you kill Rudolf. That just locks the sections of the plot of the main character.

Also, knowing that supports are slow as molasses,  why the hell would you watch supports to get the idea of the main character in the first place if you already don't like the character to begin with?

48 minutes ago, Glaceon Mage said:

Roy rarely is seen interacting with Clarine.  Like, once she's recruited, we never see them talk again.  We have no idea what their relationship is beyond allies of convenience.

And even that part is pretty dumb considering that she's a spoilt brat who doesn't know her place until the supports change that.

48 minutes ago, Glaceon Mage said:

She would be going back to the desert on her own and would risk getting captured again if she didn't go with.  This is explicitly spelled out.

Or Ignerene can take her to safety. Even then, that's exactly my point. He completely does everything practically flawless and you defending this even proves it.

48 minutes ago, Glaceon Mage said:

What does this statement mean?  I don't quite get what you want Marcus to say here.

4 hours ago, Harvey said:

It means that instead of Roy deciding what to do next, how about a small scene to show his emotions instead of relying on supports? It can just make the story experience better.

48 minutes ago, Glaceon Mage said:

Why not?  What's stopping a noble from being bookish?  You say this like lords have to be dumb and not-brains types.  Which is kinda insulting to the lord role in general, really.

4 hours ago, Harvey said:

Where the hell did I say that lords have to be dumb but strong to stay relevant? Lords need a mix between both to stay relevant. Having a lot of knowledge means nothing if you are weak and being strong means nothing if you're not wise enough. Its like programming. You'll never end up being good at it unless you make use of the knowledge from it and grow further from it. And in Roy's case, it doesn't sound like he has learnt a lot from those books besides basic tactics.

I don't know if FE as of now has had a lord that does both perfectly but I do know that as of now, some of the lords I've seen are kinda dumb and strong admittedly.

But the only lords who act dumb are Marth, Hector and Alm and I suppose Lyn as well(from what I have played so far)Corrin while he has issues atleast has a mix between strength and somewhat of intelligence.

48 minutes ago, Glaceon Mage said:

Roy can fight, what are you talking about?  Sure he's not the best at it, but that's different from not knowing how to fight at all.  Roy's not a dancer or healer.

Man you just love to defend this boy don't ya?

Did he learn any combat? Did we see him do any training in combat? Marcus slightly teaches him during the demo but that's it. If he was trained in combat, then he would have known by now to learn to get strong so that he wouldn't get self esteem issues as you happily reported.

When I criticized as mentioned above, I meant it in terms of presentation wise and not the actual plot btw.

 

Edited October 26, 2017 by Harvey

[Fabulously Olivier]

I will say that if we're counting spinoffs, Rowan is easily the worst lord. Every single thing about him is obnoxious and unlikeable. 

[Skyla]

1) CORRIN for obvious reason if you played Fates.

He's nothing but a naive, sheltered marysue who EVERYONE adores for simply existing.....? All he does is make stupid decisions, play the victim card and everyone will instantly forgive him.

Plus, he's the reason for Takumi's death, the only Fates character I actually adored.

2) Marth

Personally, I have nothing against Marth but he was such an irrelevant Lord, like playing through both Fe 11 and 12. Marth did not change/develop during the game at all. He didn't even make any impactful decisions besides a few. He's just so boring and bland and is there just for the sake of being there.

3) Lucina and Chrom same reason as Marth, they are just as bland and boring as him.

[Armagon]

2 hours ago, Harvey said:

You shouldn't have to depend on supports to see the development of the main character.

>You shouldn't have to depend on the thing that gives insight to all characters to see the development of the main character

Just, no.

2 hours ago, Harvey said:

In FE7, you can see main characters show emotions without supports even being there. That's how main characters work.

FE7 was also a more personal story. Also, you still wouldn't know 95% of the FE7 Lord trio if you didn't dive into their Supports.

2 hours ago, Harvey said:

Also, knowing that supports are slow as molasses,  why the hell would you watch supports to get the idea of the main character in the first place if you already don't like the character to begin with?

>Why the hell would i do the thing that would make me learn more a character i don't like because i don't know much about them and maybe doing the thing that would make me learn more about them may or may not change my opinion?

Like, Supports being slow as fuck in FE6 is a thing but FE6 was also the first game in the series to do it. Support speed improved with each installment. I guarantee you if FE6 gets remade, Support speed will be made faster which means Roy x Lilina will max out in like 3 turns.

2 hours ago, Harvey said:

And even that part is pretty dumb considering that she's a spoilt brat who doesn't know her place until the supports change that.

Why should Roy have to Support with Clarine though? I wouldn't want Roy to pull a Corrin and be able to Support everybody.

2 hours ago, Harvey said:

Or Ignerene can take her to safety.

Except Igrene can't because she already agreed to (and was ordered to, i think) to join Roy's army. And also, even if Igrene did Fae back to Arcadia, that's two people against the army of Bern. 

2 hours ago, Harvey said:

It means that instead of Roy deciding what to do next, how about a small scene to show his emotions instead of relying on supports? It can just make the story experience better.

Cool. Put it on the list of ideas for an FE6 Echoes.

2 hours ago, Harvey said:

And in Roy's case, it doesn't sound like he has learnt a lot from those books besides basic tactics.

Given that he was taught by the Mage General of Eturia, i'm pretty sure Roy learned more than just basic tactics. Probably one of the smarter Lords out there.

2 hours ago, Harvey said:

But the only lords who act dumb are Marth, Hector and Alm

Ahahahahaha no. Marth and Alm aren't dumb. Hector isn't dumb either but he is reckless, so i suppose that counts.

2 hours ago, Harvey said:

Man you just love to defend this boy don't ya?

Man, you just love to bash this boy, don't ya?

Edited October 26, 2017 by Armagon

[ping]

2 hours ago, Harvey said:

But the only lords who act dumb are Marth, Hector and Alm and I suppose Lyn as well(from what I have played so far)Corrin while he has issues atleast has a mix between strength and somewhat of intelligence.

Eh, the wonder twins have their moments of idiocy as well - Eirika's biggest one is (as far as I can tell) a reason for many players to dislike her, and Ephraim likes to remind everyone that he's barely literate. (Safety notice: I like to exaggerate once in a while) He might be a tactical genius, but not everyone in Magvel is convinced he got everything a king would need.

Anyway...

3 hours ago, Harvey said:

I will agree with this and again, there's nothing wrong with the plot. I guess what I'm trying to get here is that the way the game is presented is pretty much telling the gamer that Roy is the main spotlight in the overall plot. 

...the bolded part is where I disagree with you. Of course Roy doesn't completely step to the sidelines - he is the protagonist. He interacts with the world in the player's place, the same way every other lord (or later, avatar) does, but he is still apart from the plot starting in chapter 9. Sure, he gets involved, but compare him to other lords: Marth is trying to liberate his home country for most of both his games, Eliwood is connected to Nergal via his father and later his love interest, Ephraim and Eirika's relationship to Lyon is central to the plot until the very end, all of PoR's main plot is about Ike liberating Crimea (you could argue that the plot itself revolves more around Elincia than Ike, but there's still the BK sideplot)... Not to mention Corrin, who is clearly more important to everyone than the whole conflict between Japan and Rome.

I don't mind that you dislike Roy, I really don't. But please don't get all defensive just because I disagree with you - I just want to present my thoughts about the matter, the same way you do. It's not my intention to attack you personally, just to give my $.50 about the topic.