Favorite Characters?

[warchiefwilliams]

To be honest, I feel like this is the first Fire Emblem where there are no characters I actually despise, so good on you writers.

As for characters I like, I have a soft spot for cripples and the broken, people hurting who I would love to see develop and heal. Even more so if they actually do heal during the story. Naturally, I really enjoyed going through the arcs of characters like Bernadetta and Marianne. I also admire Raphael’s ability to keep his chin up despite all that has happened to him. Edelgard, contentious as she may be, also stands out, coming pretty close to becoming one of my favorite lords,  thanks to her grey-gray nature.

Gameplay wise, coincidently, those 4 were my MVPs on my first playthrough. I don’t think I’ve had an objectively bad character on my roster so far.

[Humanoid]

Dammit Jim, I'm a professor, not a counsellor! I much prefer the more "normal", well-adjusted characters. It's actually fairly refreshing to not have to deal with defective people every step of the way. With that in mind, based on being a quarter of the way through my Claude campaign:

Best:
- Catherine, simultaneously intimidating but approachable. Probably the best person to have a beer cider with.
- Ingrid, the one sane student in this madhouse. Hugely pleasant surprise because she wasn't on my radar at all based on pre-release information.
- Petra, again a thoroughly normal person. Besides, teaching English is probably within my remit.
- Seteth. Not a jerk for the sake of it, but rather just a reasonable, sensible person.

Better than expected:
- Hilda, whose gimmick turns out to be somewhat of an act and not as overbearing as I'd imagined it to be.
- Linhardt, really like his pragmatism. Also like that the game doesn't really play up his feminine appearance at all.
- Hanneman, waaaaay more sprightly than I'd imagined.

[warchiefwilliams]

5 hours ago, Humanoid said:

Dammit Jim, I'm a professor, not a counselor!

Though we certainly assist the actual monastery counselor a lot...

[georgetruman]

I gotta say Raphael. I recruited him thinking he was going to be absolutely garbage as a unit but boy was I surprised. Fist weapons really make low speed units much stronger in this game. And the warmaster class is just really good.

Honorable mention to Dimitri, whom I thought was just going to be an edgmaster but turned out to be a real

 

schizo.

Edited August 5, 2019 by georgetruman

[Landmaster]

I have just finished the Blue Lions playthough, so I'll give my thoughts on my House. Spoiler warning in advance~

Dimitri - I fully believe Dimitri is one of the best written Lords we have. He is such a deep and complex character that I was not expecting at all during the storyline. I knew he had a dark past but I just didn't expect how much it drove his character and how much it weighed on him. It wasn't just slapped on the back as a basis for why he does what he does, he brings it up continuously. His quest for revenge goes further than your average everyday FE "Someone killed my loved one, I will kill their killer for revenge", rather, he NEEDs to get revenge for the deceased who cannot because he believes this is what will appease the voices that are tormenting him for 9 years. His development is amazing, going to the darkest point one can go to and finding his way back to the light in order to reclaim his throne and stop the war. I could literally go on and on about Dimitri but I'll save that for a more relevant topic~

Dedue - Fire Emblem has a bad habit of making me fall in love with characters I thought I wouldn't give a damn about because they ended up being great units, and this beautiful man is one of them. I adore Dedue, he is precious. He's not the typical "big softie" like someone like Gregor or Benny. He's lost everything but holds no grudges to the people who are discriminatory towards him and protects his classmates on the battlefield because he has pledged his entire life to Dimitri's service. He's a gentle soul and doesn't say a lot, but what he does say makes me want to protecc him at all costs. He just wants to garden and cook ;~;

Spoiler

I was devastated when Dimitri said he died after the Time Skip in his place. I was literally in disbelief, I started to think that was another Kaze situation where maybe I could have saved him if I had a higher Support with him or if Dimitri did. Needless to say, I was almost in tears when he eventually rejoined us. I was so happy, I really can't ;~;

Ashe - Ashe looked like he'd be one of my favorites and he did not disappoint. I like characters like him who are generally just positive but also pretty smart and want to show how capable they are~ So he was a cutie~

Ingrid - Probably my favorite female character in my house. I think she does right what Effie did wrong. She's a capable warrior and a true knight without being some meathead persona. Even male characters look up to her skill in battle and they're not scared of her, which is generally how they treat characters like her. Her backstory with her fiance also made me sad but I like how relevant it was in many of her Supports and not just one or two. It drives her character development well.

Petra - The first of two recruitees from other houses. She reminded me of Athena so I wanted to grab her and she ended up being one of my single best units, and a really nice character. I expected her to have a much weirder way of speaking, similar to Athena but I like the way they decided to have her speak. It reminds me of actual foreigners I know and not just being a heavy accent. 

Lysithea - The only other student I grabbed from another house. Lysithea's backstory was so sad. I generally don't care much for her character trope of being a young genius who works super hard but when I found out why, I felt so sad for her (and even sadder when I got to her ending ;~;). I also like her snark, her quotes in battle are just what I like in characters like her,so I really enjoyed her and am gonna be happy to see her in my Golden Deer playthrough now. Looking forward to learning more about her.

Jeralt - I love Daddy Jeralt, IDK what else to say. His relationship with Byleth seems a bit distant or less like a father and daughter and more like a Mercenary and her boss, which made their dynamics really interesting but it was something I actually liked. 

Spoiler

His death made me so ssaaaaaaddddd. ;~; When Byleth cried over him as the first person she ever cried for and how happy he was over it, ugggghhhhhh my heart....

Gilbert - I don't know how important he is in other routes but he's a really tragic character as well, struggling with his relationship to Annette and role as a knight. He's actually really precious in his supports with Annette, even if I wish he was just a little more aggressive in trying to regain his relationship with Annette and be less self depreciating~ 

Sothis - She gets Dragon Loli bias, obviously, but I still love her. She's snarky and doesn't have all the answers, not even knowing that she's a goddess. It's a bit sad we don't get to spend much time with her. She really has good dynamics with Byelth.

Byleth - Odd choice, I know, but I really like how Byleth is presented. I like that they're stoic and seem emotionless as for the reason for primarily being silent, rather than just being a silent protagonist for the sake of it. It's also nice when other characters start to notice them showing emotion more and reacting positively to it. It seems like Byleth does actually start to express herself more often as they story progresses. I know Corrin had a lot of mixed feelings from the fandom but to me, Byelth, even as a silent protagonist, is a very well written one. I'm also curious about their backstory, as we don't get much of it in the Blue Lions Route.