Stories You'd love to see for Main Lords in Future FE

[DoomRPG]

The idea I had to even start this post was one where this new fancy new FE game has the first Arc be with the main lord being something of a psuedo jagen in gameplay. (Closer to Radiant Dawn Nolan rather than 3H lords start and staying stronger.) and lore wise... Being the camus. You start the game working for the BBEG. Going from blind loyalty to justification to reluctance to. At the sort of climax. The main lord has an "I won't stand for this!" Type of epiphany that also serves as their "Death equals redemption" moment.

The twist? Well. They actually die. Defy your evil macguffin hunting king and he kills you, the Main lord. Just another minion to be disposed of.

And the second twist is that the main lord literally revives themselves as a zombie through pure will to redeem themselves. Somewhat like a D&D revenant (just instead of needing to kill somebody. They need to make up for their transgressions.)
The story going forward goes from a more philosophical bent of how one can redeem themselves. Is it purely an internal belief? Does it require validation from others? Does everyone or do only those close to you count. Or is it like an eternal quest to rebuilt bridges you burnt down?
With smaller beats about how appearances can be deceiving, especially early on.

I also think even if its not particularly focused on. Being a literal undead who looks the part could give this Main lord a striking dissonance with every other lord. Being a living corpse driven by its need to correct their past transgressions. Yet also in the end highlight how they'd be the same goodie two shoes deep down. Even if it took literally dying for those ideals before they found the strength to act on them.

I just think that's a cool story to have for a main character leading a war effort.

Plus if you ask me FE lords really need to have 1 rule of cool moment like Dimitri's using a hand to break a skull. And I think a CG of your 100% super dead main character reviving themselves through pure will sounds wicked.

(Although admittedly since the aforementioned Dimitri was also a redemption story. Maybe wait a game or two before this plotline.)

-

Another idea I had was the next FE game doing another attempt at the main lord being a manakete. Though in this case instead of a half like Corrin. I was thinking of them being a dragon from an as of yet unknown tribe/group. Like the specific idea I had was a nature dragon type of deal. I don't think we've had green dragons yet but maybe they showed up in like one supplementary material.

Not 100% sure of what the story would be like from there. But I think themes or a character arc around concepts like how being old and wise doesn't make you infallible. Yet at the same time those radical young'uns might really be over their heads and being needlessly dangerous. How things that might seem unnatural or natural can in fact be contrary to exactly that. (Something like how humans are naturally tool users. How we naturally shape environments to better fit us might seem unnatural. But its hardly unusual for us as a species. Spiders do the latter and they're biggest "crime" is being spooky.)

And, I think especially fitting given that dragons are often gods in FE. I think having a full dragon main lord can allow for interesting room in discussion about how while Might Makes Right is a literal truth of just how the universe works. (If no one can challenge you, your technically always in the right.) It is a figurative falsehood that inspires others to rally together until their Right Becomes Might. (Or in simplified FE terms. While technically the main character could go Dragon and "solve" the problem. They'd just be contributing to the villain's point when they can instead prove that by creating one last alliance they can stop Mordor and plunge the One Ring into the Fires of Mt.Doom. Er I mean. Friendship and S supports boo-yah.

What are the type of Main Lord plots or character arcs/themes/whatever you'd love to see?

 

[Shrimpica]

I want a Witch hunt setting. Our MC will be a Witch, a survivor from a hunt, and fighting back. Could even tie it in with a revenge plot

[DoomRPG]

3 minutes ago, Shrimpresident said:

I want a Witch hunt setting. Our MC will be a Witch, a survivor from a hunt, and fighting back. Could even tie it in with a revenge plot

Sounds interesting by all accounts. Might be a bit hard to fully justify leading a whole group. But yeah Fire emblem lords can and should be more magically inclined!
The closest you can get to a main full-game lord is like. Robin.

I'd also like an FE try to have a bit more nuance with a revenge plot. Not to have a "Oh revenge just leaves you empty and hollow" type aesop. But to try and draw a distinction between personal "revenge" and a genuine desire for retribution.

Like example just thought up using this setting.

The witch main lord gets personal revenge early on. And does indeed feel like he/she didn't really accomplish anything other than kill one person. But the bigger payoff in story/character comes from defeating the BBEG behind the witch hunt. Achieving full fledged retribution by being karmic justice to somebody who thought they could cause a mass panic, and get rewarded for it. (Since obviously if they didn't cause it. They wouldn't get an angry witch and his/her fanclub after them.)

 

[Shrimpica]

7 minutes ago, DoomRPG said:

But the bigger payoff in story/character comes from defeating the BBEG behind the witch hunt.

Also, to add, hopefully BBEG isn't a your typical evul Dragon or some kinda curse or something. A person with actual ambitions please. Could even be a Dragon aslong as Dragon feels more like a character and not the typical FE degradation. Really hate that

[DoomRPG]

1 minute ago, Shrimpresident said:

Also, to add, hopefully BBEG isn't a your typical evul Dragon or some kinda curse or something. A person with actual ambitions please. Could even be a Dragon aslong as Dragon feels more like a character and not the typical FE degradation. Really hate that

Something semi-off topic but I'd love to ramble about it (and then create an idea around it.)

I personally feel like degredation would consistently been liked more if it was more defined and had more variety.

Like I know it doesn't really gel with canon at all. But I've always headcanoned that

Divine dragons become utterly mindless rampaging animals. Literally no capacity for thought.

Earth dragons (So Medeus and Loptyr. As well as probably Myrrth.) Develop megalomania and psychopathy.

But canonically every dragon just becomes as evil or as crazed as the plot demands them to be. (Depends on whether they are meant to be puppy-eating evil or sympathetic.)

Which I think is lame and also if every dragon type degenerates differently. You can potentially have pretty strong scenes. Like an idea I had for an FE7 remake is having it be that Ice dragons degenerate into memoryless living statues. Alive yet unreacting since they forget every stimulus basically instantly.

Gives a pretty good reason for her to die that isn't stupid and contrived. She chooses to die remembering her loved ones. Likely through suicide via husband.

Hmm speaking of that nature dragon idea and tying into that dragon degeneration thing that currently sucks but could be interesting.

Maybe nature dragons go through a physical transformation cycle of going from a living plant dragon to like. A decayed fungal dragon? Cycling through them like a butterfly that, instead of dying, simply becomes a caterpillar again. (Sorta like the Immortal jellyfish that 'resets' its life.)  Yet when they degenerate. They become locked at one part of the stage and hyper obsessive in spreading either life or death.

Hmm. Another idea for an FE main character plot.
You play as the reawakened "great evil" except your a dragon that did their homework and knows how not to degenerate. And must deal with the consequences of the hyper loyal evil cult that exists to serve you. (Heck could be a great chance to explore the horror inherit in Camilla/Tharja-esque characters. Have one of those and portray the relationship as the extremely one sided unhealthy obsession it is. Instead of a quirky character trait to fall in love with...)


 

[Imuabicus der Fertige]

Just some guy, with a workable background, who happened to witness something they weren´t supposed to witness, leading to many opportunities, some of which may even be evil, good endings not included.

None of that special destiny ********. 

 

[vanguard333]

An FE lord who is the younger child, and thus was never expected to have to lead, but now they have to take on the responsibility that was originally supposed to go to their older brother. Said older brother looks and acts like a typical Marth lord, making it even more of a twist that it's the younger brother that ends up becoming the main lord character.

Edited January 10, 2022 by vanguard333

[X-Naut]

5 hours ago, Shrimpresident said:

I want a Witch hunt setting. Our MC will be a Witch, a survivor from a hunt, and fighting back. Could even tie it in with a revenge plot

That actually sounds fairly unique if you capitalize on the persecuted group angle for turning the usual hero popularity on its head. Instead of being widely respected, he/she has a limited appreciation and has to earn it. Some may join out of sympathy, but it might be muddied by doubts, conscious or subconscious. Others may simply join out of pragmatism due to not liking the other side, and a few might even join as moles with the intention of turning at the right moment! Playing poorly could result in defections, and moles might require exceptional play to keep around until the end. You might have to be careful with that though, forced unit loss is always a touchy subject in this series.

[Jotari]

Remember the western isles? It was this random little side diversion that even in universe existed purely to just be filler for Roy? That, I'd like to see that as a plot point. In other words, colonialism. I find colonialism to be a monstrously interesting subject. There are so many elements can consider when looking at it. Its also mainly associated with the post medieval era when that's just not the case at all. It's existed since basically the start of humanity. And Binding Blade already shows how you can do it verybeasily in a medieval setting. If the plot from Binding Blade was lifted wholesale (to recap, a young colonists is sent to the colonies to "put down a rebellion", is fed misinformation about the rebels into he actually meets them and then understands that the colonists are just trying to suck the material resources from the region and are being impressive to do so, promptly swaps sides to fight with the rebels) and just made bigger with more focus than I think you'd have a pretty decent game. That's a pretty uncomplicated story, but it would do. Yo could also throw in some "What have the Romans ever done for us" elements and some legitimately immoral faction of rebels who want to liberate the country to take it in a bad direction. You could even go neo colonial and have the colony liberated only for the common people to be even more disenfranchised while a native elite proceed to do the exact same stuff as the colonists.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Jotari

[Metal Flash]

I concur with the Manakete Lord idea, would be cool to see. Same for the weaker second child idea.

One idea would be to have the Lord be the daughter of a tyrant. Like, he was a warmonger who brought suffering to his own people. Now, it`s up to his daughter to make amends for his crimes and bring the royal family back into the good graces of everyone. I think it would be interesting to see a protagonist that has do deal with having to deal with the reputation of being the child of a tyrant and how that affects their journey and relationships. For example, a close friend of hers could break off their friendship after learning of who the lord`s father is. Maybe some allies even join the army because of said father. 

Another idea would be that the lord is the bastard son of the King, but he has no desire for the throne. However, as the heir proves to be a incompetent ruler, a strong desire to see the illegitemate son on the throne, as he is clearly more capable.

Lastly, I think a duo of a royal couple would be interesting to see. 

[AnonymousSpeed]

Done.

[Jotari]

24 minutes ago, Metal Flash said:

I concur with the Manakete Lord idea, would be cool to see. Same for the weaker second child idea.

One idea would be to have the Lord be the daughter of a tyrant. Like, he was a warmonger who brought suffering to his own people. Now, it`s up to his daughter to make amends for his crimes and bring the royal family back into the good graces of everyone. I think it would be interesting to see a protagonist that has do deal with having to deal with the reputation of being the child of a tyrant and how that affects their journey and relationships. For example, a close friend of hers could break off their friendship after learning of who the lord`s father is. Maybe some allies even join the army because of said father. 

Sounds like Emmeryn.

Quote

Another idea would be that the lord is the bastard son of the King, but he has no desire for the throne. However, as the heir proves to be a incompetent ruler, a strong desire to see the illegitemate son on the throne, as he is clearly more capable.

Sounds like Seliph.

Quote

Lastly, I think a duo of a royal couple would be interesting to see. 

Sounds like Ephraim and Eirika...are those jokes still kosher? Regardless I think this is absolutely what Mystery of the Emblem should have been. 

Edited January 10, 2022 by Jotari

[Yexin]

it probably just comes down to personal preferences, but i think it'd be cool if we had something, criginal considering FE's standards, a character who isn't necessarily written to be the obvious main character with a natural charm

like, why can't we have a lord who's extremely immature and actually only interested in power, glory and money and wants to defeat the "big bad guy" just to achieve their extremely egoistical goals, and see them have a change of heart only when they truly start thinking about how dangerous their attitude has been for themselves and their allies (and potentially many innocent people)

or a brilliant scholar who learned all about combat techniques and war strategies, and thinks they're too superior and important to go and fight first-hand, only to eventually reveal they have never wielded a weapon their whole life, yet always dreamed of being a beloved warrior just like, i don't know, their father/older brother/whatever

Edited January 10, 2022 by Yexin

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

I'd like to see a main Lord who starts out very full of himself. Arrogant, elitist, and careless about his own subjects. Of course, this brashness lands him right into a trap, where his Jeigan (the one person he really trusted) dies and he gets captured by enemy forces. This capture humbles him, serving as a reality check. The Lord even starts to sympathize with his captors, as he learns they have legitimate grievances against the crown.

3 hours ago, Jotari said:

Yo could also throw in some "What have the Romans ever done for us" elements

"How much do you hate the Romans?"

"A lot."

"...Alright, you're in."

[lenticular]

A lot of the stories for main Lords that I'd like to see are pretty much indistinguishable from overall stories or settings that I'd like to see. However, one that I would like to see which could work fairly independently of the overall storyline is a subversion of Eirika and Celica's idiot ball moments. That is, I want to see a moment where the main lord (or one of two main lords) trusts someone who nobody else trusts and it actually turns out to be the right decision. There's various ways I can think of to make that work, but it would depend on the overall main storyline.

[joevar]

16 hours ago, DoomRPG said:

. You start the game working for the BBEG. Going from blind loyalty to justification to reluctance to.

Another idea I had was the next FE game doing another attempt at the main lord being a manakete.

BBEG? whats that?  Brown Balls Edgy Guy?   Big Bad Evil God? seriously asking here.

yes to dragon protag. been saying this exact idea in another thread. instead of the villain, make pure dragon actual good guy instead. not half-assed dragon or even "i dont know im a dragon until close to dying but i will stick to my human persona side in the end cuz drama"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

personally i want more accidental hero. but not someone that start naive-turn-stoic like certain favorite FE lord, and turns out have good legacy within his/her family line. But someone that already have motivations, and wants to solve problem of the continent, despite him/her doesn't have the means at the start of the series. they could be commoner, nobility, or even royalty. but preferably (fallen) nobility for various reason.

 

but an original idea for FE series: a dying protag. either because they have a limited lifespan due to circumstances, or by sacrificing themselves in the end or something else. Even further, the variant of ending we get is affected by when the character die. (so a dying lord at many point in story other than the end goal will actually gives you actual bad ending rather than a slap of "GAME OVER" over your face)

[joevar]

8 hours ago, Jotari said:

And Binding Blade already shows how you can do it verybeasily in a medieval setting. If the plot from Binding Blade was lifted wholesale (to recap, a young colonists is sent to the colonies to "put down a rebellion", is fed misinformation about the rebels into he actually meets them and then understands that the colonists are just trying to suck the material resources from the region and are being impressive to do so, promptly swaps sides to fight with the rebels) and just made bigger with more focus than I think you'd have a pretty decent game. That's a pretty uncomplicated story, but it would do. Yo could also throw in some "What have the Romans ever done for us" elements and some legitimately immoral faction of rebels who want to liberate the country to take it in a bad direction. You could even go neo colonial and have the colony liberated only for the common people to be even more disenfranchised while a native elite proceed to do the exact same stuff as the colonists.

thats it, do away with black & white mentality in terms of ruling system. the fighting force will later try to find the delicate balance between communist and imperialist. then, democracy it is! i picture the ending would be something along those lines, lol

6 hours ago, Yexin said:

why can't we have a lord who's extremely immature and actually only interested in power, glory and money and wants to defeat the "big bad guy" just to achieve their extremely egoistical goals,

i guess because those type of character is almost always become the type of big jerk in conventional story that will get curb-stomped quite early. put it simply, doing more harm than good to everyone. redemption story is interesting but logically how many non-mercenary common character can stand under them before they turn out good in strategic battle? (in small scale party of traditional JRPG its more easily acceptable imo. with only 1-2 char thats loyal stick with them until they become dependable/trusty)

[FlyingKitsune]

I'd like for a main character to be a mere soldier, just your average dude. They don't have any connections to the in game equialent of a lord like Kris, nor are they particularly well known. Maybe they can start off on the bad guys' army before defecting to the other side with their squad, who knows. For the final fight, while the king is fighting the main BBEG, the soldier can be fighting elite troops to defend the people elsewhere. That'd be interesting.

[Metal Flash]

9 hours ago, Jotari said:

Sounds like Emmeryn.

KInd of, but I was thinking more along the lines of a child of Chagall from FE4. Besides, IIRC, people opposed Emmeryn cause she was a pacifist, not because of her father. I want to see them take the idea of the Lord`s father being a tyrant and see how they learn to rise past that reputation while still possessing traits of that tyrant of a father. I think it could make for a good character arc.

9 hours ago, Jotari said:

Sounds like Seliph.

He wasn`t illegitimate though, just a child from a prior marriage. 

9 hours ago, Jotari said:

Sounds like Ephraim and Eirika...are those jokes still kosher? Regardless I think this is absolutely what Mystery of the Emblem should have been. 

I wish they weren`t, but jokes never truly die on the internet.

[DoomRPG]

4 hours ago, joevar said:

BBEG? whats that?  Brown Balls Edgy Guy?   Big Bad Evil God? seriously asking here.

 

Its an anagram that originated from D&D. It stands for "Big Bad Evil Guy/Girl" So you got the first three right and could very well be right on the fourth. Some DMs do make gods the resident BBEG. (Or BBEGG in their case)

 

[AnonymousSpeed]

4 hours ago, DoomRPG said:

BBEGG

BEG FOR THE EGG

As much as the idea of the protagonist being just a normal dude sounds nice, I'd be cautious of how that works in practice. In something like Fire Emblem, with a large cast of characters and events that affect large groups of people, you kind of expect there to be something special about the main character. Not all the tropes of Russian literature can be practically applied.

[Jotari]

7 hours ago, Metal Flash said:

KInd of, but I was thinking more along the lines of a child of Chagall from FE4. Besides, IIRC, people opposed Emmeryn cause she was a pacifist, not because of her father. I want to see them take the idea of the Lord`s father being a tyrant and see how they learn to rise past that reputation while still possessing traits of that tyrant of a father. I think it could make for a good character arc.

Gangrel certainly opposed her based on her father. We don't get a true close enough look into Awakening's politics to see what anyone other than Chrom's gang thinks of her.

Quote

He wasn`t illegitimate though, just a child from a prior marriage. 

Yeah but that marriage was unrecognized by the ruling institution. I know it was legitimate and you k ow it was legitimate, but society didn't and the perceptions if society are what trukynmatters as such things like marriage are imaginary things conceived by and for society. Still I had a gag going with each of your characters versus an existing one. The true difference between your suggestion and Seliph is that Seliph was always interested in toppling the empire because he was raised that way. Even if Alvis kept doing a good job Oifey and Finn etc probably would have still raised them to rebel.

Quote

 

1 hour ago, AnonymousSpeed said:

BEG FOR THE EGG

As much as the idea of the protagonist being just a normal dude sounds nice, I'd be cautious of how that works in practice. In something like Fire Emblem, with a large cast of characters and events that affect large groups of people, you kind of expect there to be something special about the main character. Not all the tropes of Russian literature can be practically applied.

Kris is the closest we're likely to get to "just an ordinary random guy".

Edited January 11, 2022 by Jotari

[AnonymousSpeed]

3 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Even if Alvis kept doing a good job Oifey and Finn etc probably would have still raised them to rebel.

Evil Alvis: "I will lower taxes and respect the individual liberties of the common people."
Evil Seliph: "How about no."

4 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Yeah but that marriage was unrecognized by the ruling institution. I know it was legitimate and you k ow it was legitimate, but society didn't and the perceptions if society are what trukynmatters as such things like marriage are imaginary things conceived by and for society.

Any and all disagreements with the specifics aside...you're kind of right.

[Metal Flash]

1 hour ago, AnonymousSpeed said:

As much as the idea of the protagonist being just a normal dude sounds nice, I'd be cautious of how that works in practice. In something like Fire Emblem, with a large cast of characters and events that affect large groups of people, you kind of expect there to be something special about the main character. Not all the tropes of Russian literature can be practically applied.

Now that you bring this up, I find myself agreeing. It`s kinda hard for an average joe to stand out in an army of nobles and kings.

1 minute ago, Jotari said:

Gangrel certainly opposed her based on her father. We don't get a true close enough look into Awakening's politics to see what anyone other than Chrom's gang thinks of her.

Fair enough, I forgot about that. 

2 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Yeah but that marriage was unrecognized by the ruling institution. I know it was legitimate and you k ow it was legitimate, but society didn't and the perceptions if society are what trukynmatters as such things like marriage are imaginary things conceived by and for society. Still I had a gag going with each of your characters versus an existing one. The true difference between your suggestion and Seliph is that Seliph was always interested in toppling the empire because he was raised that way. Even if Alvis kept doing a good job Oifey and Finn etc probably would have still raised them to rebel.

Also a fair point. I wasn`t sure if it was just a gag or a real comparison, but yeah, that is the biggest difference.  

[Etrurian emperor]

I would like to see a lord due that's a pair of siblings with inverted gender roles. 

The younger sister is a buff, foul mouthed, wacky and alcoholic axe user with a hidden heart of gold, while the older brother is a dainty, sensitive priest boy. Kinda like if Dagr and Forrest were co stars of a story. 

22 hours ago, vanguard333 said:

An FE lord who is the younger child, and thus was never expected to have to lead, but now they have to take on the responsibility that was originally supposed to go to their older brother. Said older brother looks and acts like a typical Marth lord, making it even more of a twist that it's the younger brother that ends up becoming the main lord character.

I think that was kind of the big idea behind Hector even if his succession to Ostia is more of a side plot compared to the Black Fang and Nergal .

Edited January 11, 2022 by Etrurian emperor