Othin

Hail hasn't gotten any better so far, but who knows what implications BW2 might have with Kyurem.

Hmm, that could be very interesting, if it's done well. The evidence that the Dragon's Gate connects Archanea and Elibe seems especially convincing. And we already know that FE1-5 all take place in the same world, so this just adds 6/7 to that list. The only question, then, is where 8-10 fit in. Those two symbols definitely look like they have to be at least associated with each other. No way it's a coincidence.

Or play TRS/BS. Breakable doors weren't too common in FE9/10 (and BS for that matter), so forgetting makes sense.

Ghirahim? Hmm. If it's a spirit/demon/whatever-thing that's taking on Marth's form for whatever reason instead of actually being Marth, it could explain the differences. One thing that stands out to me is the similarity between Masked Guy's hair and Marth's, especially the color. If they're relatives as two descendants of Marth, that could explain it, although the similarity isn't as apparent in other images, so I'm not sure if it matters. I don't know what time that Falchion design is from, but it doesn't look like FE12 art to me. The grip and blade are similar, but appear to be redesigned. I mentioned the pommel and cross-guard already, and the missing gem on the grip - the only difference there - fits with the changes there. And the key thing here is that the new Falchions are clearly not the same as the old Falchion, as I already explained. Something's up with them, and all we know is they they're called Falchions - and we only know that because the game has told us.

This is not a matter of "once upon a time". Of course Marth's design changed since the image you posted. It's been over 20 years, which is plenty of time for styles to change and designs to improve as technology improves. And yet in just two years, the FE13 character has changed even more, at least more fundamentally. The biggest difference is the hair. You say they have the same hair, but that's false Marth doesn't just have blue hair. He has bright blue hair. That's constant between the two Marth designs. This new character? His/her hair is bluish, but it's much darker. Clothes as a similarity is not only false as well, but inconclusive. If those really were Marth's clothes, anyone could put them on, especially a descendant. But they aren't his clothes. Another constant between the FE3 art and the FE12 art is that Marth has armor around his neck and shoulders, which is completely absent with Masked Guy. Masked Guy has something that might be some sort of upper-arm guard (as should be apparent, I am no armor expert), but it's entirely different from what Marth has. Speaking of upper arms, every Marth design ever has left his elbows uncovered, while Masked Guy covers his/her elbows. There's also the red brooch-thingy on Marth's cape, always exactly the same in the appearances of the real Marth, but it's replaced with something else now. It's a similar style, and it's likely that Masked Guy is copying Marth's style for some reason, but it's not the Marth design the past games have established. That you would bring up the Falchion is simply laughable. Not only is it unclear what role the Falchion plays in this game (especially why there appears to be two of it now), but the Falchion is used by Anri's bloodline. If Masked Guy is a descendant of Marth, then he/she is also a descendant of Anri, and therefore of course he/she would use the Falchion. FE12 is set a few years after FE11. If FE13 was set a few years after FE12, then your comparison would be accurate. However, when a dose of reality is added, your comparison falls apart. Krom is a descendant of Marth. That means that in FE13, Marth is either much older than in FE11/12, or more likely, long dead. So it's not a question of "is this Marth or a lookalike", because being the original Marth is impossible. So we have to consider, do we expect that some circumstances have created Marth to appear a few hundred years after his death, looking substantially different but regardless set back to the age of a teenager? Or might there just be another descendant who looks kinda similar, as fictional descendants often do? Something's up with the Falchion, there's no question about that. Apparently it's been merged with the Sword of Seals and also there's two of it. Looking at the original: That's pretty similar, except now there's a hole in it for some reason. And surely there's a reason for that, but don't ask me about the differences or what they mean. All we know for now is, that sword's name as displayed in the game contains "Falchion", therefore it is a Falchion. We have had no information whatsoever as to Masked Guy's name, making it a different matter entirely.

Let's look at them next to each other: Similar? Yes. "Too" similar? Hell no. Characters don't change that much just as a result of design changes in a sequel made two years later. And I believe you already pointed out the characteristics shared with Caeda.

A comparison worth making: Masked Guy definitely has some similarities to Marth, but looking at Marth's actual appearance, I can't possibly believe that the character actually is Marth himself, and I can no longer think it's likely that he/she is an incarnation of Marth, either. The similarities are certainly no coincidence, and as Krom is a descendant of Marth, Masked Guy almost certainly is, as well.

You're thinking of Endeavor. Endeavor can be effective with a strategy like that, but even its best user, Phanpy, isn't that good. Regardless, Magikarp can use no such strategy. But that's not even relevant to my point, which is that Feebas is just a better version of Magikarp; Magikarp cannot possibly be considered the better of the two. Shedinja has issues, but it also has uses. It takes care to be effective, usually much more care than is worth it, but it can at least do something in certain situations. Listing it next to the completely useless shit like Unown is just absurd. Sableye definitely doesn't belong in this thread by any stretch of the imagination. It has Prankster and some great moves to use with it; it can take on even enemies as tough as Terrakion and win. It's not one of the best Pokemon by any means, but it's damn good.

TRS has some area effect magic, as well as a ridiculously powerful defense-piercing sword. And an awesome bow lord. When you mentioned the breakable doors, were you just saying you want them to return from FE9/10?

The two most conclusive pieces of evidence are the depiction of the Shield of Seals and Krom's description as a descendant of the "Hero King" - Marth's title at the end of FE3.

Both Magikarp and Feebas learn Splash at base, Tachle at LV15, and Flail at LV30. In terms of moves the other lacks, Magikarp just gets Bounce from 3rd/4th gen move tutors or DW, while Feebas has access to a number of TMs and HMs. Seems like a clear advantage for Feebas to me.

Holyn really isn't anything. He's just a guy who happens to have a mercenary-style class.

FE8's chapters follow that same pattern; you can just add stuff in between. That doesn't make for any relevant change.

Any descendant of Marth is also a descendant of Caeda. So if Masked Marth is a descendant, all that would make sense whether the character is male or female. Regardless, even if it's a descendant, the only way it would even be a possibility for the character to be female, I'd still be highly confident that it's male. Krom is muscley and manly; Masked Marth is another important character but also related to Krom, so he's changed in the opposite direction for more contrast. That's likely the only reason for anything anyone is perceiving as feminine.

That... doesn't sound remotely plausible.

I'm not sure any of the things you brought up are actually relevant in any way to each other.

Hard to say. It's either an incarnation or a descendant; if it's an incarnation, then probably not, but if it's a descendant who happens to be a lookalike, then it's possible, although I would still say the odds are against it. As for the timeline concerns, that seems unlikely unless there's a basis for them in FE1/3, and I don't remember anything of the sort. The game wouldn't follow a story that contradicts the only relevant story we've seen, at least not without a damn good reason.

When it fits with the story, sure. The story should never be limited by the main character needing to have a delayable promotion.

YouTube can't do this on their own; there are laws basically requiring them to do it. It's those laws that need to be taken down.

The main character's class is kind of a big deal, which is why adding a promotion for Marth wasn't an option. IS has never prioritized gameplay balance over story, and in the case of the main character, they never should. Main characters don't need balance: even if they fall behind for a while, the fact that they're the main character and have free deployment always gives them importance throughout the game. Furthermore, if IS chose to eliminate the story-based promotion, there would be absolutely no reason for them to not add a non-story-based promotion, like Celice's. To do otherwise would neuter Krom's potential as a character by forcing him to stay in a boring class that doesn't appear to suit him in the slightest.

He's not going to lose his royalty status, but his appearance and fighting style clearly match up with those of a Mercenary/Hero, meaning he'll almost certainly get some Lord class along those lines, just probably with a new name. The suggestions of LV30 caps are absurd. The LV30 cap for a Lord was used only for Marth, just because he didn't have a promoted class originally, so they couldn't add a new one. It's a terrible substitute for a real promotion, and IS is not going to bring it back for no reason - especially not when Krom seems to have enough substance to him beyond "is royalty" to earn his own promotion.

Precisely.

Are you joking?

Jamka!Lester really is that bad. The Hero Bow is good, but two hits that can occasionally turn into four is pitiful in comparison to basically guaranteed four hits and sometimes more. Lester can take any other pairing that gives Pursuit and just grab the Hero Bow in Ch8 and still be awesome throughout the rest of the game.

I remember on my SSS run, I wanted to capture him and seize with one warp, which meant not capturing him until Turn 2 since Fin has to carry Leaf. I wanted to get all three uses of the staff, so I kept resetting until he didn't use it the first turn; it took a while for him to hold off on even that turn, and I don't remember doing anything interesting the time when he didn't use it, but it worked. So I'm almost certain there's a random element. It's also worth noting that even when I had Leaf and Fin sitting in his face, I don't think he ever did anything to them on that turn.