Marth's last name, was it ever confirmed?

[SuperMechaDeathChrist]

It isn't really a matter of whatever one happens to consider canon, since FE11 most definitely is. And sure, FE1 is still canon since 11 didn't negate anything about it, only added to it.

Hmmm, that's a very good point.

[Julius Nepos]

Indeed, I don't think Shadow Dragon contradicts Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light (other than Merric being recruited in the northern village in FE1 and in the southern village in FE11), it just expanded the already existing story.

[Dragoncat]

Okay so...if Ike has no last name because he's not royalty, then why does Jill? She's not royalty either...as far as we know.

I used to be on an RP forum, a lot of people there gave all their charries last names...I jumped on the bandwagon. Then I figured out back in the day, only royalty/leaders had last names and my life was a lie.

But it would get confusing after awhile. Not everyone would have a unique name. If there was more than one commoner named Roger you would have to say "Roger who lives by the lake" "Roger with the red hair" "Roger the blacksmith"...

I think that's why the real world switched to everybody having last names. Less time consuming.

[That Person's Name]

I didn't know commoners didn't have last names in those times. That probably explains last names such as "Carpenter" or "Smith" or "Taylor", if you have a last name like that you probably have an ancestor who worked as one of those. Can't imagine it wouldn't still be confusing though.

[Blugga6]

I always assumed most fe characters, even those born in barns, *should* have some kind of surname/patronymic, but they're omitted because they aren't relevant to the plot/IS just didn't feel like giving them full names.

Alternatively, the characters aren't called by their full name because the different countries in different continents have different naming customs and explaining this could be confusing and it wouldn't really add to the story.

[Dragoncat]

I didn't know commoners didn't have last names in those times. That probably explains last names such as "Carpenter" or "Smith" or "Taylor", if you have a last name like that you probably have an ancestor who worked as one of those. Can't imagine it wouldn't still be confusing though.

They didn't originally. But you're right, and I'll use my Roger example again. Instead of saying "Roger the blacksmith" somebody would start saying "Roger Smith" which sounded better and didn't take as long to say. Eventually it caught on and people would have last names like that from birth, Roger's kids would all be Smiths too.

I always assumed most fe characters, even those born in barns, *should* have some kind of surname/patronymic, but they're omitted because they aren't relevant to the plot/IS just didn't feel like giving them full names.

Alternatively, the characters aren't called by their full name because the different countries in different continents have different naming customs and explaining this could be confusing and it wouldn't really add to the story.

Those both sound plausable.

[Magical Glace]

But I always thought his name was based on the god Mars.

Well anyway, Fire Emblem Wikia does list his last name Lowell, but mentions it's exclusive to the anime (here's a link: http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Marth#Etymology).

As for how canon the anime is in general. It's been a long time since I've watched it, so I can't really be sure.

But if I recall correctly, in a few cases the following question arises: "This isn't in the games, so should this be considered canon?"

With the release of Shadow Dragon (which added some new information to the canon, notably by the addition of the prologue) I believe the answer in a couple of cases became "no".

So either Intelligent Systems doesn't think everything in the anime is canon (otherwise it wouldn't later create canon that disagrees with it) or Intelligent Systems has forgotten about the anime or Intelligent Systems doesn't care that much about the discrepancies. Or I'm just misremembering.

In the anime, it's pronounced Marth with an s over th, resulting in a softer r.

Mars as in the god has much more emphasis on the r. Hence, the confusion had Mars stayed.

[Ishi]

Hmm I wasn't even aware Marth had a last name well I now have a little more respect for Marth. I'm sure if they had actually put damn support conversations in shadow dragon it may have been mentioned.

[Dragoncat]

Hmm I wasn't even aware Marth had a last name well I now have a little more respect for Marth. I'm sure if they had actually put damn support conversations in shadow dragon it may have been mentioned.

IKR? Supports...are one of the best things they added to the series. Without them, it's odd.

[Baron the Shining Blade]

Marth's last name was Lowell in the anime, and I know Kaga and Nintendo were consulted for it, but is it canon? I could have sworn I saw the last name used elsewhere as well, but I can't for the life of me remember.

The only other time I've seen his last name used was in a few Awkward Zombie comics.

(1st and 5th panels, respectively)

[Anacybele]

Those comics are funny as hell a lot of the time, but I never did like how the creator made Ike sound (and look) like a dork. xP

[Celice]

The translation isn't canon because it was translated by ADV. The names are now translated by NOA. That doesn't change the fact that Marth had a last name in the anime.

As far as I've known, excepting FE11 (which I don't know), FE9, 10, and 13 have all had localization outsourced.

[Knight]

I would've thought it was Altea. Royals seem to have their countries or territories as their last names. Elincia Ridell Crimea, anyone? The Lycia folks seem to be the same, always called Marquess Caelin or Marquess Laus or Marquess Pherae.

The name of a noble and his house are usually different, I doubt it'd be the same for a King and his country (Henry England doesn't sound right). I have no official sources, but I'd be willing to bet that Lowell was his original intended last name that they just forgot about because in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter.

[bookofholsety]

As far as I've known, excepting FE11 (which I don't know), FE9, 10, and 13 have all had localization outsourced.

11 also had its localisation outsourced to 8-4. this is actually the first i've heard of 9 and 10 getting outsourced; all i know is it wasn't 8-4 who did them (or at least 8-4 won't admit it :P). i actually assumed they were all in-house until 11 came along

imo while these localisations aren't the work of nintendo of america, for the purposes of comparison to the animu they still count: 8-4 et al are working on noa's behalf to localise the games, noa subsequently releasing them in this state is an implicit endorsement of the work therein, noa considers them the definitive english versions of the franchise*, and everything else is secondary, including references in ssb before the respective content got covered properly in an english game. in comparison, i think we can confidently say the animu dub had little to no contact with noa. it wouldn't surprise me if noa still isn't aware it was even dubbed! of course, this is all semantics and not a big deal

*bearing in mind that the number of changes made in the pal english releases are very small compared to what isn't changed; i can count the script changes between the two on one hand, and most of them are in fe13!

Edited September 9, 2014 by bookofholsety

[Topazd]

In the anime, it's pronounced Marth with an s over th, resulting in a softer r.

Mars as in the god has much more emphasis on the r. Hence, the confusion had Mars stayed.

That'd probably be the fault of the dubbers. It's likely they just didn't have any context whilst dubbing and ended up using that pronunciation.

[Magical Glace]

That'd probably be the fault of the dubbers. It's likely they just didn't have any context whilst dubbing and ended up using that pronunciation.

That's odd... Because that would mean they pronounce the planet that way too.

But fair enough.

[Irysa]

It isn't really a matter of whatever one happens to consider canon, since FE11 most definitely is. And sure, FE1 is still canon since 11 didn't negate anything about it, only added to it.

11 is fine, but I will never ever see 12 as canon. Ever. And that game is mostly just "adding to it" as well.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Irysa

[Cymbalina's Revenge]

I always assumed most fe characters, even those born in barns, *should* have some kind of surname/patronymic, but they're omitted because they aren't relevant to the plot/IS just didn't feel like giving them full names.

Alternatively, the characters aren't called by their full name because the different countries in different continents have different naming customs and explaining this could be confusing and it wouldn't really add to the story.

Well, it may be relevant to remember that Japanese commoners didn't start using last names until the late 19th century, after the shogun era ended. I realize the FE games mostly appear to be set in fantasy Europe, but if you consider that FE generally shows royals/nobles with last names (with the glaring exception of the Reeds in FE7) and everyone else without, it's reminiscent of pre-modern Japan.

[Topazd]

11 is fine, but I will never ever see 12 as canon. Ever. And that game is mostly just "adding to it" as well.

Kris gaining the honors of all of Marth's deeds is retarded (and fortunately, can be argued not to be canon), true, but I guess the canonicality of the Assassins subplot is just something we're all going to have to live with.

[Roivann]

Speaking on the subject of FE12, that game also canonizes nobody under Marth's command dying during the War of Shadows, seeing as every unit from FE11 is back for FE12.

I've actually never played FE3, though, so it may have already been like that. If a unit died in Book 1 of FE3, would they come back in Book 2?

[SuperMechaDeathChrist]

Kris gaining the honors of all of Marth's deeds is retarded (and fortunately, can be argued not to be canon), true, but I guess the canonicality of the Assassins subplot is just something we're all going to have to live with.

One of the reasons I hate the created character! Such a terrible idea.

[Topazd]

Speaking on the subject of FE12, that game also canonizes nobody under Marth's command dying during the War of Shadows, seeing as every unit from FE11 is back for FE12.

I've actually never played FE3, though, so it may have already been like that. If a unit died in Book 1 of FE3, would they come back in Book 2?

The books function as two separate games, so yes. I think every playable character surviving tends to be the default assumption, since every FE9 character (sans Largo, who was nonetheless still alive) was playable in Radiant Dawn, for example.