Favorite Characters

[LycopolisKing]

...Wow. I never realized just how small my team for Shadow Dragon actually is, since I compulsively do all-female runs, with the exception of Marth, Julian, and occasionally Radd.

I was curious about this. This game, out of all the games that have been released worldwide, does the worst job of introducing characters, in my opinion. There are so many playable characters, and some of them join without a word of notable dialogue. Some have literally no storyline importance whatsoever, and there are no clues to recruit them.

And then there are characters like Elice, who has the most time of all in terms of emphathy, but has the worst usability of the bunch.

So, all in all, I'm curious about what characters have managed to stand out from this game, and why they did - because as a writer, I must know...for science.

For me, I have a few favorites.

Maria. - I'll admit it, Maria had me won over before she even appeared (though I totally expected her to be a Draco/Pegasus Knight), what with Minerva worrying about her being held captive. When I saw her, the deal was done simply because she was so darn cute. And then, she had to go and talk and have personality in the drab landscape that was Shadow Dragon, with catchphrases a-blazing, and even has an emotional conversation with Minerva and actually reminds me of the other games in which characters actually interact with other. Story important, and an interestingly constructed character.

And then I had to do research and find out her story is actually more tragic than it seems, but the game doesn't delve into her backstory at all. And then I was doomed to be Maria fan forevermore.

I actually like how terrible her bases are, because it's realisitc of one in her position - and I enjoy the challenge as building her up as a unit into being a Mega Maria.

Elice - Wanted to save her from the get-go, was terrified she was dead, and loved her fortitude. I was less impressed with her dreadful bases because of how late she joins, and training her is a real challenge - but I take it nonetheless, because she too talks and is so storyline important that it would be a crime not to use her in all her elegance and grace.

Caeda - Easily won me over with her personality and determination. Plus, she's a very useful unit, even if she hates Str/Def with a passion - and her manipulation of Roger and Navarre actually makes her a deeper and more interesting character.

Midia - While she's not very good either, I was compelled by her story as well - especially her desperation in trying to survive in her tiny cell as the archers go to town on the rest of her soldiers. One of the most compassionate stories in the game, I admire her integrity. That being said, in my experience she is not a very good unit, and I've only managed to successfully use her once.

Merric - I love Merric. Not only does he succeed in being extroadinarily useful, he is one of few units that have a backstory with Marth, and he converses with both Linde and Elice. Merric was my first Superunit, capping everything on my first run, and subsequently carried a few more runs. Excalibur, and his chipper personality are fantastic.

Others

Norne - Like her so much I have a hard time playing hard mode without her.

Athena - Recruited to increase my female-only options.

Radd - I don't know how, but Radd actually made me like him. I have a soft-spot for Lvl 1/ low level units that join with low stats, but are highly trainable - and his Lck of 1 and the arena right next to him wooed me. Because he never talks, I've constructed a persona of him that gets along swimmingly with other child/young characters like Norne, Maria, and Rickard.

Julian & Rickard - Love both of them. I usually try to use Rickard more than Julian, simply because Rickard comes in at Level 1 with low bases, and I've got such a soft spot for such characters. But Julian's personality is frankly a lot funnier, and his portrait is smooth. Very smooth.

Minerva & The Whitewings - I use them because they are spectacular units with the most broken attack in the game, and they converse like actual characters from an FE game. Minerva is used more or less because she supports with Maria and the Whitewings, and she makes a good sniper if used correctly.

Marth - Of course, I love Marth. I'm slighty biased from SSB, as this game doesn't do a good job at portraying his real personality - but he's a great unit and I love him nonetheless.

So, what are some of your favorites? Did this game succeed in making you like any characters?

Edited April 8, 2013 by Maria's Bro

[Jedi]

Wolf and the Wolf Guard, these guys started the whole Loyal to a fault knights, which would be more expanded on in FE3 Book 2 and FE12, considering their loyalty to Hardin. It's quite tragic espcially in Wolf's case, he was saved by Hardin as a boy, being a slave. So in return he had undying loyalty for Hardin. Which would later end quite horribly

Minerva, her power struggle with her own brother and her people. As much as she tries to do for their benefit, its quite tragic it ends up being Brother vs Sister, then People vs new Ruler just simply because of her inexperience, yet she never gives up. She continues to fight for her people and beliefs

Merric for his story you mentioned already.

Lena, her selflessness, and kindness even towards her traitor elder brother is amazing. Although Julian does the smack talk for her later anyways. She has no time of anger even in side story explanations.

Samson I'd mention but his story along with Sheema are in Book 2/FE12 so he doesn't get developed all that much in Book1/FE11

Will edit to add more.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Jedi

[secondworld]

Marth because main character

Jagen for being a badass old dude.(I actually brought all the way to Camus' chapter on my first playthrough)

Merric for reasons mentioned above.

Hardin because of importance and early B-rank lances and his awesome turban.

Caeda because, do I really need to explain?

Lena because, do I really need to explain?

Minerva for reasons mentioned above.

and others that I'm not going to bother talking about right now

[Thor Odinson]

Jagen for badassery

Ogma for badassery with big muscles

Navarre because he's super pretty

Abel because he MVP'd my H5 run also he's pretty and gets good stats

Voted Horace and Samson I don't actually like them that much but they're the prettiest out of the midgame/lategame votes and I like the others less

Oh also Wendell because pope

Athena for being pretty cool in general

Minerva for badassery

I wish I knew more about their personalities though, since SD did a shitty-ass job in general about characterisation and I haven't actually played FE12 in English yet

Edited April 8, 2013 by Thor Odinson

[Shin]

Biraku because yaranaika, plus he's the most reasonable of all the Wolfguard. He's not that unusable, he's just not amazing.

Darros for being a peanut-headed pirate stereotype and being our loveable chump.

Castor is the best con artist ever. I bet he doesn't even have a mother.

Maria, she's so bad it's funny.

[Knight]

For the for males, I like Marth cause he's the main lord, an awesome SSB character, and that in Shadow Dragon, he's probably the most balanced lord of the series.

Ogma and Nabarl are badasses in the manga adaptation, as well as Ogma has never turned me down gameplay wise.

Barst is only got a vote cause of gameplay.

Merric is my favourite character gameplay wise, and I also really like him in the few in game convos and the manga adaptation.

Julian is my favourite character in the manga, not so much in the game but he's always my thieving utility when I need it.

I wanted to put rickard in, but the only thing I like is his manga adaptation.

Bantu is a fucking dragon, even though he sucks in gameplay, the fact that he's a fucking dragon is awesome. I also like his manga adaptation.

And finally Xane, he's the only chameleon/freelancer in the series, and I wish he or his class would get another appearance.

For girls

Lena because she's cute, I like her manga adaptation, but most of all, hammerne

I really like Minerva's design, but mostly it's because she has started the Minerva archetype, my favourite.

And of course, who doesn't love Tiki?

Edit: What happened with the spacing?

Edited April 9, 2013 by Knight

[Sasori]

Lets see first of all there is Hardin. He's one of the few characters in shadow dragon that actually had something resembling a personality and he has that awesome white turban

Jeigan is pretty awesome as well. I have a soft spot for grumpy old advisors.

Richard was someone I did't expect to like, but his own chapter made me change my opinion quickly.

For females there is Palla and to a lesser extend Midia. I like the older and more gracefull females. Its a shame Palla trew away her dignity in her awakening artwork.

[Doga]

I like Doga.

[LycopolisKing]

For females there is Palla and to a lesser extend Midia. I like the older and more gracefull females. Its a shame Palla trew away her dignity in her awakening artwork.

Sadly, she's not the only one. -Micaiah/Celica/Elincia

I wouldn't hold her accountable for that. It was those darn card artist embellishing the details.

Anyway, I'd agree. Tis the reason I am smitten with Elice and Nyna.

[Sasori]

Sadly, she's not the only one. -Micaiah/Celica/Elincia

I wouldn't hold her accountable for that. It was those darn card artist embellishing the details.

Anyway, I'd agree. Tis the reason I am smitten with Elice and Nyna.

Hahaha I wonder what they would have done to Titania is she was up for a redesign.

Oh is it just me or does it look like Palla goes without underwear in her awakening look?

[riariadne]

I voted them all because I like them all equally, which is to say not at all.

[eclipse]

My Skittles started as a joke run, but I found out that Caesar's legit awesome, and Radd follows in his footsteps. Roger's amusing because of his recruitment, Roshea could use the attention, and Tomas amuses me greatly (he's hilarious in FE12). I also voted Sedgar 'cause he's cute. Julian's conversations are interesting, and I voted Etzel for lategame because he's the best-looking out of the bunch. For females, it's Palla FSR.

[BrightBow]

My favorite has to be Wendell. Insane speed, offensive magic, healing. He is just exactly what the doctor asked for. It's telling how awesome he is even after being nerved so much with each remake.

As for the females, I like Midia the most, because she is all knightly and stuff.

[Knight]

I like Doga.

I would never have guessed.

[RJWalker]

Ogma, Navarre, Camus, Hardin, the Wolfguard. All have cool backstories and interesting personalities. Wll, maybe not Navarre and personality but I still like him.

Edited April 9, 2013 by Ranger Jack Walker

[Murdok Dracul]

Marth because he's Marth, obviously.

Merric because he's just about the...second most awesome mage ever, and he makes a great Levin Swordmaster in the final few chapters of both FE11 and FE12.

Nabarl because SWORDMASTER.

Julian because he has a sense of humour, and a distinctly not-noble but still heroic personality. Also, he's actually a great combat unit, even though he doesn't promote.

Castor because he is named Castor, and I am a Gemini. I also like Horsemen.

Wolf, initially because of his wacky purple hairstyle, and then I realised he's one of the most awesome units in the game, in any class (except maybe Sorcerer).

Etzel because personality + tragic backstory + dark magician

Shiida is one of the few characters with a personality, and she's also really really fast, which I like.

Lena levels up quickly due to her class, and ends up quite awesome.

Athena because SWORDMASTER.

Linde because sexy.

Minerva because dragons.

Tiki because dragons.

Nagi because sexy + dragons.

Maria because it's satisfying to see an initially crap unit grow into an apocalyptic bastard.

And Norne because she's adorable.

[PKL]

For males:

Marth: possibly my favorite lord. Well, not precisely because of FE11. Ever since FE12, hes been my favorite lord. It doesnt help that hes my main in SSB so im biased.

Cain: Hes a bro nuff said.

Jeigan: the one and only.

Julian: hes a pretty cool guy.

Wolf: because he makes an awesome hero and dat hair.

Xane: because hes awesome.

As for females:

Caeda: because shes a cool girl. Marth's waifu. She's an amazing unit and her personality is lovely.

Athena: vun voman.

Minerva: shes cool.

Palla: MY WAIFU

[ZemZem]

Cain: This guy NEVER fails me in FE11 or FE12. Not to mention he's a cool character.

Julian: Such a bro. He has pretty awesome growths for a thief and gets under Lena's robes.

Tomas: Words cannot express how much I hype Tomas. I heard he's actually a cool character personality-wise in FE12, so I can't wait to see.

Samson: He's a cool guy. Serves Sheema and isn't afraid of anything.

Lena: I <3 her. I don't know why I like her so much, I just...do. Her massive blessage in my first FE11 file and her hotness is just icing on the cake.

Maria: I dunno, she seems funny. And she sucks terribly in both games, so I'm bound to use her to see what the big deal is.

Palla: I her more than PKL does.

Edited April 10, 2013 by ZMesu

[PKLucas531]

Palla: I her more than PKL does.

I her more than both of you then

Other than her, I really like Abel, Luke, and Etzel. I drop every stat booster on Abel to make him usable if I'm not on Maniac/Lunatic.

[LycopolisKing]

Maria because it's satisfying to see an initially crap unit grow into an apocalyptic bastard.

Amen to that. I really relish the challenge.

I'm slightly surprised Marth isn't getting more points simply because of SSB, but I'm glad to see that some characters managed to have personality enough to win fans in this game.

[Leinex]

I love all the Aurelians. Something about Vyland bothers me, though. I don't like him much. Maybe it's the Yaranaika thing. Roshea and Wolf are my favorites from Wolfguard; they're both cute. Horseman is an amazing class, by the way.

Merric for reasons mentioned above. Bonus points for being a mage and having Excalibur.

Minerva because she's a badass.

Abel is cool and reliable.

Palla is sweet and adorable. Bonus points for being a Pegasus knight.

I never recruited Etzel, but he's a nice guy.

Lena and Julian are cute together.

Marth is nice too. Bonus points for being more popular than Samus in Japan.

Elice is graceful and elegant. Bonus points for being a cleric.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Favorite Males

Early game: EVEN THOUGH I JEIGAN IS OLD AND SENILE, I WILL NOT LOSE TO SOMEONE LIKE YOU

Mid game: I love so many of these >_>. Hardin because he is another Jeigan, and Wendell for obvious reason

Late game:The exploding General

Female: Win Spear