Of the FE antagonists and how fearsome they are.

[Rapier]

I'd say the Black Knight is one of the most fearsome antagonists. First off, his stats are simply an absurd. He defeats one of the strongest characters storywise (and statwise) without taking any blow. I always wondered how I was going to turn my wimpy glass cannon lord Ike into an unit that is awesome enough to at least stand against him.

Same thing with FE10, but his battle is lame by Endgame, even if you play fair with Ragnell and don't abuse his Support. All you got to do is use an Elixir twice.

I believe Hardin also applies to the same case. It's very satisfying (and sad) to beat him in the end.

[IceBrand]

1. Ashnard to me was the most fearsome antagonist. He cared very little about life and would pretty much watch the whole world burn. What makes this even better, he's human. He's not an evil demon(he acts like one) or an monster, he's a regular person like you and me who just happens to be mentally insane.

2. Medueus in my opinion was the least fearsome. Sure he's an walking giant Earth Dragon that can destroy countries, but we never really see him do anything. For nearly the entire game of FE1 and 11 he's completely inactive until the final chapter.

3. In my opinion make the villain more active, show us the terror and mayhem they can bring. This can make the battle with them even more intense. Also give them human qualities so that they just aren't evil cardboards. It shows that they were regular people who went horrible wrong somewhere along there life.

[Djeets]

1. Hardin, he made half of the rest of the game more heartbeating and made you struggling against empire..

2. Lekain, an asshole, but totally lame in the final chapter..

3.Hmm,, had more than 200 hp, and at certain point of HP, change into a more fearsome weapon, when dying, gives insane skills that made it nigh impossible to beat (ex:vantage+ and Aether+ both at the same time like reinhart..)

[shadykid]

The chapter when Wallhart's name is first mentioned and Cherche is introduced.

They basically pull of the "They beat Basilio. How tough" gimmick on that chapter

offscreen stuff doesn't count, unless I say it does!

(then again, the lobster getting beat three times is hilarious)

Ashnard is probably the one with the most presence (shoutouts to Nergal for being a close second)

hmm both of these are human, I wonder

[LunaSaint]

1: As loads of people are saying, the Burger King was exceptionally well executed in FE9. I nearly soiled myself when he finished his cup of tea and entered the battle in Ch11.

Props to Hardin for doing this in FE3/12, too. Hardin is also quite good.

Also, Hard mode Ashnard gets a nod; he's one of the select few bosses to get bored and chase your group down on a wyvern. Imagine if he had Pass!

2: I love how Narcian (FE6) was deconstructed. Almost felt like a saturday morning cartoon villain, watching him get mocked as he repeatedly failed. You can really sense the desperation in his own chapter. His battle quote combined with In the Name of Bern! really make it work. So Narcian gets massive props for being made to be unimpressive, but still give the party great reason to wreck him.

Much the same with Lekain (FE10). He does all kinds of horrible things that build up the players' hate for him, but we all know he's just a puny senator. And it makes finally tearing him up all the more satisfying.

3: Presence really makes the antagonist. Super Robot Wars games do a good job of making antagonists show up early and scare the crap out of you.

Also, make it so they're not just one target you get to bumrush. I appreciate Grima for having endlessly respawning trash, including Sages with Physic.

Even FE3/FE12 Medeus was a nice change because you had to run in and free the maidens before wrecking his face.

If I ever get far enough, the final boss in my Romhack is going to take a leaf out of SRW Z's book. Its final boss split into three copies, all of whom needed to die on the same turn or they'd respawn.

Edited May 27, 2013 by LunaSaint

[shadykid]

why does Ashnard need Pass, he has 10 move and flies

[LunaSaint]

why does Ashnard need Pass, he has 10 move and flies

It'd work pretty awful on Ashnard, since he has 10 move/flies. But it really ruined the threat of his terrifying presence knowing you could just lure him in and surround him with people that could last a round.

Edited May 27, 2013 by LunaSaint

[shadykid]

It'd work pretty awful on Ashnard, since he has 10 move/flies. But it really ruined the threat of his terrifying presence knowing you could just lure him in and surround him with people that could last a round.

but there is literally 0 point in doing this

[The Void]

Also, make it so they're not just one target you get to bumrush. I appreciate Grima for having endlessly respawning trash, including Sages with Physic.

Grima was still a sitting duck though, since the boss doesn't move.

Would it be too much to hope for the final boss of the next FE to move if humanoid?

Edited June 6, 2013 by The Void

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

They also should be Rudolf Tier!

[Tamanoir]

Grima was still a sitting duck though, since the boss doesn't move.

Would it be too much to hope for the final boss of the next FE to move if humanoid?

Doma moved around, I think Idoun too.

Yes, Hardin is pretty fearsome.

Judah is really fearsome as well. He's basically unkillable with awesome stats, and can summon endless waves of powerfull ennemies.

He's also a manipulative chessmaster.

Veld is the only final boss you're not forced to kill. The fact that Galzus and Saias are possibly on your team also reduced his effectiveness (and you have a Galzus Clone in the Final chapter as well...)

[The Void]

Veld is the only final boss you're not forced to kill. The fact that Galzus and Saias are possibly on your team also reduced his effectiveness (and you have a Galzus Clone in the Final chapter as well...)

Or a Deadlord made from Galzus.

[PKL]

In terms of how difficult, I think FE12!Medeus takes the cake. In terms of story, I think FE12!Hardin or BlackKnight may be the most fear-inducing.

[RPG]

1. Ashnard is one of my favorite video game villains because he wasn't made needlessly complex. He's a social-Darwinist maniac with enough strength and drive to secure a position of power, and he tries to enforce his rules over those he conquers. He didn't need a tragic backstory to be interesting, the man had charisma, and he consistently proved himself to be a threat. Ashnard was a powerful force, and someone you knew you had to take down as soon as you booted up the game, making his defeat so much more satisfying. His take on the evil monarch outfit is great as well.

Honorable mention to Zephiel, Idoun, and Lyon for having interesting transformations into monsters via tragic backstories. IMO, they pulled it off exponentially better than Sephiran did, mainly because of the buildup and payoff.

2. I hate Validar as a villain. His design is so overtly evil that it's outright silly, yet he fails to be intimidating or seem like a threat because of how often he's defeated. It seems like he is supposed to be a schemer or a trickster, but he is consistently out-schemed and out-tricked. He also loses points because his motivations for ending the world are vague at best. Ashnard may have been overtly evil as well, but he proved himself as a competent threat that the player wants to take out because of the atrocities he has committed. Validar is a villain that needs to be stopped from reaching his not-yet-accomplished goal rather than halted in his path of continuing destruction like Ashnard, if that makes sense.

3. I'd like to see either more complex villains like Arvis or Travant, or more intimidating presences like Ashnard in the future. IS can pull off tragic villain backstories well via good buildup or character development/establishment, so maybe they could try to flesh out the villain more without making them seem too sympathetic.

I think a way to make final battles more epic would be too include more named villains in them. When it's a single entity and a bunch of mooks against an army of player units, it feels less like a grand all-or-nothing battle and more like a last stand on the part of the villain, which kinda diminishes the tension.

[Tamanoir]

1. Ashnard is one of my favorite video game villains because he wasn't made needlessly complex. He's a social-Darwinist maniac with enough strength and drive to secure a position of power, and he tries to enforce his rules over those he conquers. He didn't need a tragic backstory to be interesting, the man had charisma, and he consistently proved himself to be a threat. Ashnard was a powerful force, and someone you knew you had to take down as soon as you booted up the game, making his defeat so much more satisfying. His take on the evil monarch outfit is great as well.

Honorable mention to Zephiel, Idoun, and Lyon for having interesting transformations into monsters via tragic backstories. IMO, they pulled it off exponentially better than Sephiran did, mainly because of the buildup and payoff.

2. I hate Validar as a villain. His design is so overtly evil that it's outright silly, yet he fails to be intimidating or seem like a threat because of how often he's defeated. It seems like he is supposed to be a schemer or a trickster, but he is consistently out-schemed and out-tricked. He also loses points because his motivations for ending the world are vague at best. Ashnard may have been overtly evil as well, but he proved himself as a competent threat that the player wants to take out because of the atrocities he has committed. Validar is a villain that needs to be stopped from reaching his not-yet-accomplished goal rather than halted in his path of continuing destruction like Ashnard, if that makes sense.

3. I'd like to see either more complex villains like Arvis or Travant, or more intimidating presences like Ashnard in the future. IS can pull off tragic villain backstories well via good buildup or character development/establishment, so maybe they could try to flesh out the villain more without making them seem too sympathetic.

I think a way to make final battles more epic would be too include more named villains in them. When it's a single entity and a bunch of mooks against an army of player units, it feels less like a grand all-or-nothing battle and more like a last stand on the part of the villain, which kinda diminishes the tension.

That's kinda what FE2 did, but due to the poor characterization the characters had, it felt kinda flat..

FE4 is a little different, but it did quite well. The Deadlords (+FE7!Morphs), were a good substitute for named units (and you have FE5 case...)

FE2 made it pretty well. Despite his lack of characterization and motive, Judah was far more menacing than Validar ever will be. He had this protective barrier and was ewtremely powerfull (On par with Rudolf and Duma.), You start the final battle with a lot of Powerfull units, Judah and his daughters, and a movable Boss. Cellica's party is already badly damaged, and the ennemy moves around (Except maybe Judah...).

[Jotari]

In terms of the overall Army I think the Sacred Stones had the least threatening antagonists.They conquer one country with a surprise attack at the start and after that they get their asses kicked throughout the entire game. The only one who actually accomplishes anything is Caellach.

I don't know if I'd say he's the most fiercesome but Gharnef worked pretty well especially since he's a NES villian. He shows up quite a lot throughout the game, has personal connections to Marth and in terms of gameplay he's completely invincible without putting in the effort to get starlight. I think he worked so well as a villain that Medues just seemed like a bonus two chapters.

[Dragrath]

For best I will go with the Black knight the fear you felt during chapter 11 was intense he drove you to flee becuse you new he could compleatly wipe you out...

Worst for me Validar lack of charecterization gets beat up multiple times, never actually pulls anything off... a usless villan all around.

A scary villan would be a a human who has purpose charisma ambition and who has followers who have unyeilding loyalty and respect for the guy in his final battle he would be joined with powerful comrades who would have names backstory powefull skills and weapons. Even better if the citizens have full suport for him and unlike most FE enemies there would be few turn coats. This is the enemy that wants to conqur the land to spread their "superior" ideals. This would be the enemy that you admire becuse of their organization, effectivness ideals (don't expect them to go out of tthe way to murder childer ect.)however as you are their enemy you must fight them in order to survive.

[The Void]

I don't know if I'd say he's the most fiercesome but Gharnef worked pretty well especially since he's a NES villian. He shows up quite a lot throughout the game, has personal connections to Marth and in terms of gameplay he's completely invincible without putting in the effort to get starlight. I think he worked so well as a villain that Medues just seemed like a bonus two chapters.

He's also strong enough without his tome's defense.

[Anouleth]

I liked Gangrel. He can break my ranks as easily as breaking wind!

[General Horace]

Hardin, Julius and Trabant were the best villains storywise, imo.