I'm tired of Marth.

[Faye]

I don't care what the main games do as long as no lord replaces Marth in Smash 4. D8 There will be blood if Marth isn't in Smash 4.

[Liz]

I don't care what the main games do as long as no lord replaces Marth in Smash 4. D8 There will be blood if Marth isn't in Smash 4.

I hope Marth is replaced by Oliver, Duke of Tanas.

[Sublime Manic]

I know Marth is sort of a mascot, but the way I see it, Ike should also be considered one. He has also starred in two games and has references in Awakening. He doesn't have remakes because his games are too recent. Marth is popular in Japan, Ike is pretty much the most popular outside of Japan. Ike is also the first 3D lord (as in, his games were the first 3D ones). Both got to be playable in Brawl. They're probably the most well-known lords overall.

I like Ike, but he's hardly a mascot. Not the way Marth is, at least. It's not Ike's fault, but he can't compete with the much longer history Marth has with the series to gain mascot status. I'd be surprised if he's even present in the next Smash Bros game. And I highly doubt he's the most popular lord outside of Japan. Ike's importance in comparison to Marth was made clear in Awakening when Marth got a costume-wearing imposter, advertisement, and descendants all in Awakening, while Ike got a still-unreleased descendant, DLC aside. That the first DLC for download for Awakening was of Marth, and given away for free for a time says plenty of their relative importance.

That said, I'm not really tired of Marth. He's part of the mythology of the series in a way no one else is and was presented really well in Awakening, I thought. If he's referenced as part of that mythology in the next title, I'd be fine with that. Wouldn't want to see him as the main character again, though; his story has already been told. As has Ike's.

[Anacybele]

I like Ike, but he's hardly a mascot. Not the way Marth is, at least. It's not Ike's fault, but he can't compete with the much longer history Marth has with the series to gain mascot status. I'd be surprised if he's even present in the next Smash Bros game. And I highly doubt he's the most popular lord outside of Japan. Ike's importance in comparison to Marth was made clear in Awakening when Marth got a costume-wearing imposter, advertisement, and descendants all in Awakening, while Ike got a still-unreleased descendant, DLC aside. That the first DLC for download for Awakening was of Marth, and given away for free for a time says plenty of their relative importance.

Are you serious? I'd be surprised if Ike WASN'T in the next Smash Bros. He still has more starring roles than any other lord EXCEPT Marth. And both he and Marth have descendants in Awakening while no other past character does. Ike's definitely more important to the series than other lords besides Marth.

[Lord Raven]

As much as I HATE how Ana obsesses over Ike, my point about the international audiences isn't quite true in the case of Smash brothers, because Smash brothers appeals to the west. Ike is more popular in terms of FE in the west because he appeared in 2 games (everyone else appeared in one unless you count the whole Marth thing). On top of that, he was the very last DLC in in the first DLC set of Awakening (which I think coincided with Path of Radiance being the very last Spotpass Heroes team) and his descendant shows up in Awakening too. Ike's clearly popular and is probably coming back...

[Anacybele]

Lord Raven is also right, although this isn't about my fangirlism over Ike.

[Sublime Manic]

Are you serious? I'd be surprised if Ike WASN'T in the next Smash Bros. He still has more starring roles than any other lord EXCEPT Marth. And both he and Marth have descendants in Awakening while no other past character does. Ike's definitely more important to the series than other lords besides Marth.

That doesn't really grant him mascot status on the same level as Marth. And I guess we'll have to wait for the next Smash Bros to see whether Ike makes it. Frankly, I'm expecting Chrom to take his place since thus far the non-Marth slot is given to whatever entry in the series they're promoting at the time. And of his two starring roles, he wasn't deemed important enough to be on the cover for Radiant Dawn, oddly. I agree he's bigger than most Lords and never said otherwise, but he's still diminutive in comparison to Marth's importance to the series. Hardly mascot territory.

[Lord Raven]

I think he wasn't on the cover of Radiant Dawn effectively so Ike could come out of nowhere at the end of Part 2, because he effectively became the protagonist once Part 3 started.

I think outside advertising and the Japanese release screwed that surprise up, but I wouldn't worry about it.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Lord Raven

[Sublime Manic]

But if Ike is a particularly popular Lord character, wouldn't it have been a wise marketing decision to feature him on the cover at least? I'd imagine improving sales would come before keeping Ike's existence a secret. Even though I can see why they might elect not to have him more prominently featured, it's still kind of an insult to Ike. Star character in two games: not on the cover of the second.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Sublime Manic

[Anacybele]

That doesn't really grant him mascot status on the same level as Marth. And I guess we'll have to wait for the next Smash Bros to see whether Ike makes it. Frankly, I'm expecting Chrom to take his place since thus far the non-Marth slot is given to whatever entry in the series they're promoting at the time. And of his two starring roles, he wasn't deemed important enough to be on the cover for Radiant Dawn, oddly. I agree he's bigger than most Lords and never said otherwise, but he's still diminutive in comparison to Marth's importance to the series. Hardly mascot territory.

I didn't say it granted him mascot status on the same level as Marth. I meant it kind of made him a mascot to players outside of Japan since he has two games and Brawl playability. Of course Ike's not a mascot on the same level as Marth. xP

Also, Ike wasn't added to Brawl to promote his games. His games were already released, one of which had been out for three years. If they wanted to promote RD, why didn't they use Ike's RD model instead of his PoR one? Ike was added because of his popularity and more uniqueness than Roy, if I had to guess. Not to advertise his games.

[Lord Raven]

But if Ike is a particularly popular Lord character, wouldn't it have been a wise marketing decision to feature him on the cover at least? I'd imagine improving sales would come before keeping Ike's existence a secret. Even though I can see why they might elect not to have him more prominently featured, it's still kind of an insult to Ike. Star character in two games: not on the cover of the second.

I think "sequel to Ike's game" gave it enough pull at the time, and they weren't expecting Ike to be that popular after Radiant Dawn.

[Sublime Manic]

Also, Ike wasn't added to Brawl to promote his games. His games were already released, one of which had been out for three years. If they wanted to promote RD, why didn't they use Ike's RD model instead of his PoR one? Ike was added because of his popularity and more uniqueness than Roy, if I had to guess. Not to advertise his games.

That basically summarizes what an discussion of why Ike was in Brawl would turn into since neither of us can speak for Nintendo.

The way I see it, far more people play Smash Bros than Fire Emblem, so any Fire Emblem character put in Smash Bros functions as advertising for the series. Even if Ike's games had already been released, his were still the most recently released and could still be promoted. I definitely don't doubt PoR and RD sold more after Brawl was released. When you look at the incredible sales of Awakening, I definitely wouldn't be surprised if they continue to try promoting it by having someone from it take Ike's place. If I had to guess. That said, I don't exactly expect it, but I would like to see Ike in the next Smash Bros.

But that's just my take on it, since neither of us can claim what we're saying with certainty.

But to try and stay on topic, I'm not tired of Marth permeating everything. Not tired of Ike, either. Not really tired of anything, honestly.

[BrightBow]

If I might add, it's not just the cover. Read the backside of the game's case:

"Fight for a better tomorrow!

"Command the members of the Dawn Brigade and use your strategy to free your homeland!"

A business that as well all know, is finished at the end of Part 1 with three more parts to go.

And they only added the opening scenes featuring Ike after reaching Part 3. I don't see much room to doubt that they wanted to keep Ike's role as the actual protagonist a secret, marketing be damned.

[Anacybele]

That basically summarizes what an discussion of why Ike was in Brawl would turn into since neither of us can speak for Nintendo.

The way I see it, far more people play Smash Bros than Fire Emblem, so any Fire Emblem character put in Smash Bros functions as advertising for the series. Even if Ike's games had already been released, his were still the most recently released and could still be promoted. I definitely don't doubt PoR and RD sold more after Brawl was released. When you look at the incredible sales of Awakening, I definitely wouldn't be surprised if they continue to try promoting it by having someone from it take Ike's place. If I had to guess. That said, I don't exactly expect it, but I would like to see Ike in the next Smash Bros.

But that's just my take on it, since neither of us can claim what we're saying with certainty.

But to try and stay on topic, I'm not tired of Marth permeating everything. Not tired of Ike, either. Not really tired of anything, honestly.

I guess you have a point, but when Melee came out, hardly anybody out west had played FE because it hadn't ever been released in the west then. Yet Marth and Roy were both kept in all versions of the game. xP

[-Cynthia-]

Personally I want new lords for future FEs- I have little to no desire to revisiting characters with completed story arcs that I didn't care that much for in the first place. Maybe Marth can stay as a legendary hero figure or something.