FE8 had the best characterization

[Logience]

Pretty sure I've hinted at this being my opinion, but I don't think I've made a topic about it.

I'd prefer a wall of text, but it'd be wasted on the fact that the next 5 posts will probably mocking laughter and someone filing a mod report.

Bottom line: Everyone in FE8 was human, its bosses had the best presentation of the entire game, every support convo was unique, and for a game made to coincide with the failed risks that was Tellius as a purist utopia, it's everything one would hope for. I'm perfectly willing to overlook how casual the game is to compensate for that. Hell, they should have just made a remake of this game for FE13. It's just as casual, and its characters are all characters instead of the assortment of fetish fuel we got.

[RJWalker]

Yes. I loved how much screentime the Grado Generals got too.

[Jedi]

Fe8 does have amazing characterization. I personally just like Fe9's more

[AMCC4728]

Eh, I'm of a mind to leen towards judgral.

I know. I'm terrible :P

Edited June 10, 2014 by Red Fox of Fire

[Logience]

Eh, I'm of a mind to Leen towards judgral.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Jedi]

That pun was amazing. I do also like Judgral and Elibes characterization. Heck I love all the games characterizations lol

[Roivann]

I think Jugdral had some of the best characterisation, but a lot of that came from art books, developer notes, and the like. As far as in-game characterisation, FE9 and FE10 had spots of very good characterisation. I, like most people, point to Jill, Elincia, and even Ike in certain aspects. But as far as overall, across the board, characterisation for the whole cast, I think that FE8 did it best. Both lords undergo some sort of major character change (Eirika loses most of her naiveté, Ephraim becomes less of a war-monger), and the less story-centric units and even many major and minor antagonists are shown to be very real and convincing characters.

Edited June 10, 2014 by Rollertoaster

[Logience]

Why do you find it necessary to delete my posts, RFOF?

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Hard to decide:

Judgral, Magvel and Tellius have pretty good characterisation.

[ViewtifulBo]

I'm biased with FE9 so you know where my vote is going. I like Sacred Stones but... eh.. sorry for all you Erika fans out there, I really dislike her character. L'archel and Co. made that game for me. I wish they would've showed off more of Rausten. Bits of backstory on the Grado Generals were cool. I loved to hate Valter. I can't not kill him with Seth. :P

[Logience]

I think Jugdral had some of the best characterisation, but a lot of that came from art books, developer notes, and the like. As far as in-game characterisation, FE9 and FE10 had spots of very good characterisation. I, like most people, point to Jill, Elincia, and even Ike in certain aspects. But as far as overall, across the board, characterisation for the whole cast, I think that FE8 did it best. Both lords undergo some sort of major character change (Eirika loses most of her naiveté, Ephraim becomes less of a war-monger), and the less story-centric units and even many major and minor antagonists are shown to be very real and convincing characters.

I'm personally thinking of characters outside the main cast. Sure, Jill's character development is simply amazing, and her B support with Lethe is pretty insightful, but the rest of the characters kinda feel static. Don't make me discuss how half the hawks' convos are jokes about slow aging.

[Enraged Dolphin]

Caellach and Valter have to be my favorite FE villains. They're the epitome of douchebaggery

[Passionfruit Cappuccino]

Yea, i found that the villains in fe8 seemed more human, and less mindless sheep. Plus, Valter is the biggest badass in all of the GBA games

[Passionfruit Cappuccino]

Yea, i found that the villains in fe8 seemed more human, and less mindless sheep. Plus, Valter is the biggest badass in all of the GBA games

[Ewan101]

FE8's characters were a lot more well-conceived. Whereas I loved nearly all the characters in awakening, nearly all the characters were hardy characters at all; they were archetypes. Vaike the dumb strong one, Virion the stuck up noble, Miriel the stalwart researcher, Gaius the sugar-driven sarcastic, Kellam the invisible, Inigo the sexist womanizer, Owain the eccentric adventurer, Stahl the famished laggard...While they're support conversations gave a little more insight into their personalities, they still seemed mostly one-dimmensional, having one or two main traits that they continually exemplify. The only real "characters" in the game are really Chrom, the Avatar, Lucina, and maybe Emmeryn. Say'Ri had a bit more personality than the others, though. FE8's characters, however, were developed, believable, and interesting. It's really a shame that they don't really do much outside of the chapter they appear in and their supports. The mains like the twins, Seth, Joshua, Lyon, Innes, L'Arachel, and Saleh steal most of the dialogue, which I don't particularly blame them for; it's not like Ross could just jump out of the blue while they're talking about the demon king and go "Wow, Dad that sure sounds scary!" but there are plenty of opportunities. Artur and Lute could have come out more to talk about the monsters, Garcia, a veteran of Renais' military, could offer strategic advice before a battle...That's why I enjoyed Awakening's support/barracks system so much, because there was no limit to it and you could see all of the interesting things the characters do when they're not on the battlefield. Okay, end rant. Sorry.

[Klokinator]

Wait, FE8 has the best characterization? That's laughable.

Remember those interesting cavaliers? Franz, the... blonde one. Kyle... the mean looking one? That other guy whose name I always forget? And let's not forget the memorable pegasus sisters, like Vanessa with her... uh... green hair! And Tana, who was... a princess! She even talked a couple times and had story presence! And Syrene... was a prepromote!

Okay, so those characters were shit. But let's look at the sword users! Eirika was the protagonist, and she was... a woman! She talked! She was uh... friends with the bad guy! And her brother, what a memorable character too. Ephraim had some of the best dialogue in the game, particularly that one line, what was it again... it was uh... oh right, nothing memorable.

I could go on, but really virtually none of the characters in this game are interesting characters. They occasionally develop the plot (Read: Filler plot advancers are not real characters) and maybe a small few have anything reminiscent of an actual personality.

Two good characters are Lute and Ross. They have a great support conversation and they're pretty memorable. Even then, they're just a rehash and slightly different version of FE7's Bartre and Canas, who were by the way much more interesting characters. However, support conversations are character development tools that the player may literally never see. I don't count those, as I believe the main story is where your characters should be fully developed and fleshed out. If your characters hint at being more interesting in the story, it gives you a reason to pursue their supports. If they're bland, you have no reason to assume the supports will be any good.

[Nicolas]

blablababla

You miss some great character like Duessel or Cormag, or Innes. But that's ok, not everybody like them.

But saying that Dozla and Reinnac and L'ARACHEL aren't memorable is kinda ridiculous. They are most colorful characters in this series.

However I'm just pretty sure that you are trying to troll. Like always.

[Book of Ereshkigal]

This reminds me. Saleh murdered Gerik's BFF, but Saleh's background as a mercenary isn't elaborated on anywhere else >:c It annoys me.

(I guess Saleh dropping Ewan off with Gerik's mercs was probably a hint? Now that I think about it... Well, Tethys is there too. Hm.)

Edited July 7, 2014 by L95

[Klokinator]

I guess Larachel can be considered interesting... if you mean annoying and unlikable. Rennac is amusing, mainly because of his interactions with Larachel. Dozla is cool, in an "I'm-totally-not-Bartre-from-FE7" sort of way. Innes is... a prince! Woo! Duessel is.. a traitor! Woo!

These aren't even characters, they're just empty stereotypes. What about Nergal in FE7? That guy was insane, badass, and legit scary. He uttered many memorable lines too, like "Tremble in fear!" which served to make his character seems both batshit insane and also like a mad evil genius. (Compare to Lyon, who is a ... boring moody guy until he becomes evil like 80% of the way in.) E8 doesn't even have a distinct villain until well past the mid-act.

Eliwood, his father died, he dealt with turmoiling emotions, he had his thing for Ninian (Who is a bland and unlikable character but gives Eliwood some depth so she's aight) and kinda-sorta Lyn, he was an interesting protagonist. Hector was great too, he had his rage, the way he dealt with Uther's death (He died right? Been playing Chaos Mode so I'm jumbled on that), his amusing romance with Florina and the sorta-romances with Lyn and Farina (He's got a thing for pegasus sisters hue hue), along with the doubt he expresses in his own abilities every so often and his desire for self improvement.

Joshua is probably the most interesting character in FE8 who has good supports, a good backstory, and good "story presence", as in you recruit him and he stays a part of the story for the rest of the game. FE7 had lots of characters with this quality (Except Canas... he really had none of that) while FE8 had a severe drought on this front. Most characters are just a personality with one overlapping character trait and most are unmemorable or uninteresting. I will stick with this assessment forever.

Edited July 7, 2014 by Klok

[CyberNinja]

Sacred Stones had characters...? I thought it was a story about Seth's glorious one man assault against the evil demon emperor and his armies....

That said, I did enjoy the characterization of the units you could acquire... though it was a pain to get all the support conversations. Wasted so much time dragging out battles just so that they could talk. Also limited number of conversations per character + loads and loads (and loads and loads) of characters means suffering trying to acquire all the support convos.