Felicia's cuteness is a little excessive

[Meiyu]

The voice really makes the character for me, for example if Felicia were to be voiced by someone like Hanazawa Kana I'd marry her in a heartbeat.

To me Felicia is one of the best looking female's in the game, so i'm kinda dissapointed she got such an annoying voice.

[Raumata]

I actually like Oboro's and Felicia's appearances, despite their underwhelming voices. This same opinion extends towards all the other first gen women (Hoshido/Nohr) as well, with some exceptions.

Edited July 27, 2015 by Raumata

[Dolphin]

I'm okay with Felicia, but I dislike her quirk and voice because it all feels forced. I do like Oboro's voice, on the other hand, because it's funny how she sounds a lot like an old grumpy woman.

Felicia seems to be more popular in the Japanese fanbase than Flora, while it's reversed here. I haven't seen much fanart of Flora in Pixiv compared to her sister, but it's all just an assumption

Edited July 27, 2015 by Dolphin

[eharper256]

The dejikko moe-moe-kyun maid type has never been something I've found good; and Felicia is pretty much a personification of that trope. Especially since her supports make her out to be a combat maid of doom (despite her mediocre growths). I intend to only have her as a healbot most of the time.

[The DanMan]

I read the title and immediately muttered out loud "No. Freaking. Duh."

There's a reason that SoC had "*depressed moe sound*" in his subs of the My Castle video.

Felicia is the most blatant, unironic example of Moe in the series.

[Thane]

I read the title and immediately muttered out loud "No. Freaking. Duh."

There's a reason that SoC had "*depressed moe sound*" in his subs of the My Castle video.

Felicia is the most blatant, unironic example of Moe in the series.

But dude, she's a maid!

A MAID!

...Yeah I don't know why that's so special, but Famitsu seemed to love it.

[eharper256]

But dude, she's a maid!

A MAID!

...Yeah I don't know why that's so special, but Famitsu seemed to love it.

Otaku love it, rather. Famitsu know who they're pandering to. So this and Staff~ Staff~ were targeted assaults.

[Thane]

Otaku love it, rather. Famitsu know who they're pandering to. So this and Staff~ Staff~ were targeted assaults.

It's not just otaku; I've been to a maid café for crying out loud. I just don't see the appeal - I mean, I like pretty people as much as the next person, but what's with the whole serving and pampering fetish? It just makes me super uncomfortable.

Also, fun fact, you can see maids' panties in Fire Emblem: Fates during their melee attacks. It was sort of the straw that broke the fan service camel's back for me.

[B.Leu]

Ah it wasn't just me who was seeing things then ? That good to know... Panties... wtf game... >_<

Eh, and to think I reclassed Elise into Maid for the Gratitude skill.

Joker have such a better voice, it's as much fanservice, manly voice and all but at least, I don't cringe while listening to him.

Still feel awkward though.

[BrightBow]

Also, fun fact, you can see maids' panties in Fire Emblem: Fates during their melee attacks. It was sort of the straw that broke the fan service camel's back for me.

Wow, they actually did that to the maids too, despite them attacking with something as plain as knifes? I've got to say, I am downright impressed by IS's dedication.

Edited July 27, 2015 by BrightBow

[RadiantDragon]

Could it be a cultural thing? The cute clumsy girl is a popular thing in Japan/Asia? while the west detests this kind of archtype more than Satan. If I remember correctly, Sumia received a similar kind of backlash as Felicia now. I believe generally speaking, the west likes the "badass, independent sexy/handsome character" and hate characters who are timid, clumsy, dorky or overall weird while Japan/Asia is the opposite. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I personally don't mind her(I even like her a little) though I do agree that having a really squeaky voice is a bit annoying.

Edited July 27, 2015 by RadiantDragon

[Thane]

It is a cultural thing. The cute clumsy girl is a popular thing in japan/asia? while the west detests this kind of archtype more than Satan. If I remember correctly, Sumia received a similar kind of backlash as Felicia now. I believe generally speaking, the west likes the "badass, independent sexy/handsome character" and hate characters who are timid, clumsy, dorky or overall weird while Japan/asia is the opposite. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I personally don't mind her(I even like her a little) though I do agree that having a really squeaky voice is a bit annoying.

I think you're exaggerating quite a bit. Clumsiness is an incredibly common trope to make characters more relatable and appear more down-to-earth in western fiction as well.

What makes it annoying with Felicia is not only did we have Sumia last game (although I think it was done far better), but I believe Felicia literally has TWO supports that DON'T deal with her being clumsy and a poor maid in some way, and she can support every single first generation male, Pieri and Flora, yet it's still mentioned in them. It becomes her entire character in addition to being blatant fan service-y, being the main character's own maid that follows them wherever they go.

[mewyeon]

Maybe I just have a super low tolerance for the clumsiness? I couldn't stand it with Sumia from the previous game, and with Felicia it's even more pronounced. Perhaps I'm just a hard person, but to me, clumsiness is not cute, at all. It's annoying. Especially when that clumsiness directly influences your work. Felicia is a clumsy maid even though it's her job...how about a clumsy dentist or surgeon? Or construction worker, or electrician?

Also, moe makes me want to vomit. Felicia is a very kind person I'm sure, but she'll make a good bench warmer.

[Ebony]

As a clumsy person irl, I find Felicia annoying. I wouldn't trust myself with anything maid related, and she's worse then I am at it, so I damn well wouldn't trust her with that. And i would rather stab needles through my ears then listen to JP Felicia say anything.

[L9999]

I watched the MyCastle explain video in mute for a reason. And how does Felicia still has her job if she is worse than Sumia?

Edited July 28, 2015 by L9999

[Ebony]

I watched the MyCastle explain video in mute for a reason. And how does Felicia still has her job if she is worse than Sumia?

Obviously she must have a great ass.

[Sunwoo]

I think you're exaggerating quite a bit. Clumsiness is an incredibly common trope to make characters more relatable and appear more down-to-earth in western fiction as well.

Ah, yes, who could forget Twilight and the "graceful" Bella Swan … falling on her face with every step as she takes. This is certainly not limited to Japan or even East Asia in general. Although I'd have to disagree with you, Thane, in that it supposedly makes the characters more "relatable" or "down to earth". I think it's done simply to make the characters look "cute" and "helpless" and "in need of protecting".

I don't dislike Felicia, but I'm not interested in her. My only problem with her voice, I find, is that she shrieks all the time. Oboro is done by the same voice actress and I actually got used to her voice, I only have an issue with Felicia's shrieking. I guess Felicia just … lacks depth? I don't hate her, I'm not a fan of her archetype (clumsy maid) at all, but I don't hate her for it. But she's not at all interesting either.

[Thane]

Ah, yes, who could forget Twilight and the "graceful" Bella Swan … falling on her face with every step as she takes. This is certainly not limited to Japan or even East Asia in general. Although I'd have to disagree with you, Thane, in that it supposedly makes the characters more "relatable" or "down to earth". I think it's done simply to make the characters look "cute" and "helpless" and "in need of protecting".

I don't dislike Felicia, but I'm not interested in her. My only problem with her voice, I find, is that she shrieks all the time. Oboro is done by the same voice actress and I actually got used to her voice, I only have an issue with Felicia's shrieking. I guess Felicia just … lacks depth? I don't hate her, I'm not a fan of her archetype (clumsy maid) at all, but I don't hate her for it. But she's not at all interesting either.

I see where you're coming from, and that could definitely be one way to look at it was well. Relatable may be a poor choice of word, now that I think about it, but I do believe the clumsiness doesn't necessarily mean that a character is in need of protection. Anyway, it's definitely a trait to humanize characters and make readers/players/whatever sympathize with them. And just like you said, it's a trope that knows no borders.

Felicia is thoroughly unexplored as a character; I don't hate her either, but for a character that's with (male) Kamui from the very beginning regardless of route, you'd think she'd be a bit more developed. For instance, she was kidnapped along with Flora in order to pacify the Ice Tribe, but this is just briefly mentioned and doesn't really appear in any support as far as I know - why isn't this MASSIVE case of Stockholm Syndrome addressed? They're the chieftain's daughters and they apparently think that their life has no meaning if they're not serving Kamui.

[Sunwoo]

I see where you're coming from, and that could definitely be one way to look at it was well. Relatable may be a poor choice of word, now that I think about it, but I do believe the clumsiness doesn't necessarily mean that a character is in need of protection. Anyway, it's definitely a trait to humanize characters and make readers/players/whatever sympathize with them. And just like you said, it's a trope that knows no borders.

You're probably right on that part, since a significant proportion of the "target audience" likely feel that they are also clumsy and whatnot in a similar vein. It's just that in all the examples I've seen of clumsiness being employed (admittedly, not many), it seemed to be done more so to make the character more vulnerable to her love interest, and is almost always female.

Felicia is thoroughly unexplored as a character; I don't hate her either, but for a character that's with (male) Kamui from the very beginning regardless of route, you'd think she'd be a bit more developed. For instance, she was kidnapped along with Flora in order to pacify the Ice Tribe, but this is just briefly mentioned and doesn't really appear in any support as far as I know - why isn't this MASSIVE case of Stockholm Syndrome addressed? They're the chieftain's daughters and they apparently think that their life has no meaning if they're not serving Kamui.

Wait, that is really a thing? Ugh … it's like whoever wrote the supports purposely chose to focus on the least interesting things while making the important stuff only a side note. WHY. I guess in that respect, minor characters like Oboro who actually GET development in their supports are the lucky ones. But yeah, Felicia really wasn't deep. She's (apparently) cute, she's a maid, she's clumsy, she tries her best, and … that's it, really!

[Thane]

You're probably right on that part, since a significant proportion of the "target audience" likely feel that they are also clumsy and whatnot in a similar vein. It's just that in all the examples I've seen of clumsiness being employed (admittedly, not many), it seemed to be done more so to make the character more vulnerable to her love interest, and is almost always female.

Oh, it's definitely something that usually applies to female characters, just like so many tropes that exist to make a character appear more vulnerable.

Wait, that is really a thing? Ugh … it's like whoever wrote the supports purposely chose to focus on the least interesting things while making the important stuff only a side note. WHY. I guess in that respect, minor characters like Oboro who actually GET development in their supports are the lucky ones. But yeah, Felicia really wasn't deep. She's (apparently) cute, she's a maid, she's clumsy, she tries her best, and … that's it, really!

I think it's only mentioned if Joker attacks Flora when she fights you in either Birthright or Conquest, so the most important part of their characterization pretty much just gets a brief mention. Luckily, Flora actually gets a lot of characterization outside even that optional conversation, and she's really got more depth than the four sisters combined. However, like we've established, Felicia is not as lucky.

Some of the characters in this game seemingly only exist for fan service, far more so than in Awakening. Like I've said in other threads, it's like they had a list of different fetishes and tropes they know are popular: catgirls, maids (whose melee attack animations show their panties), incest etc etc.

[Sunwoo]

I think it's only mentioned if Joker attacks Flora when she fights you in either Birthright or Conquest, so the most important part of their characterization pretty much just gets a brief mention. Luckily, Flora actually gets a lot of characterization outside even that optional conversation, and she's really got more depth than the four sisters combined. However, like we've established, Felicia is not as lucky.

Whyyyyyyyy. Seriously, why? That sounds like it's something important AND interesting! I mean, maybe it's not wholly out of the realm of plausibility that Felicia was traumatized by it so she repressed the memory and forgot about it, but then you'd think that it would come up in her supports with Flora at least?

Maybe whoever wrote the script just had no idea how to write women.

[Thane]

Whyyyyyyyy. Seriously, why? That sounds like it's something important AND interesting! I mean, maybe it's not wholly out of the realm of plausibility that Felicia was traumatized by it so she repressed the memory and forgot about it, but then you'd think that it would come up in her supports with Flora at least?

Maybe whoever wrote the script just had no idea how to write women.

This seems to be a common problem in a lot of Japanese entertainment media. I'm no writer, but why do you have to write women so differently? If that's a challenge, just...write a male character and then change the gender; it's not like women are a different species.

[Sunwoo]

To be fair, it's not just men who can't write women. There are many women who can't write women either, and there are some women who can't write men. I think the problem is that a lot of writers don't understand how actual people work. They can't see through the eyes of another person who does not think like them and is coming from a different position. Therefore, if they try to write from that person's POV, it becomes a mess. Someone who understands people and how they tick decently enough will usually not have big problems writing characters, male or female.

Most of the characters in Fates don't feel like people. They are 1-dimensional. Thankfully, there are a handful who actually do feel like real people, but Felicia isn't one of them!

[Thane]

To be fair, it's not just men who can't write women. There are many women who can't write women either, and there are some women who can't write men. I think the problem is that a lot of writers don't understand how actual people work. They can't see through the eyes of another person who does not think like them and is coming from a different position. Therefore, if they try to write from that person's POV, it becomes a mess. Someone who understands people and how they tick decently enough will usually not have big problems writing characters, male or female.

Most of the characters in Fates don't feel like people. They are 1-dimensional. Thankfully, there are a handful who actually do feel like real people, but Felicia isn't one of them!

Yeah, of course people will have a hard time writing from someone else's point of view; one of the hardest parts of writing has to be coming up with believable characters who don't share the author's beliefs. However, gender of all things shouldn't play a role in that.

Aye, I know...it makes me genuinely sad, seeing as I had such high hopes for this game, and they said they had learned from Awakening's mistakes. I mean, I love that game to bits, but there are definitely improvements to be made. Still, they hyped up the story so much and it fails to deliver on every level, so I think this is the last time I trust game developers, at least to that extent.

On a more positive note, like you said, some characters feel like people, at least as far as Fire Emblem characters go. Aside from Leo and Takumi, who most seem to be in agreement are the best written in the game, we've also got Flora, and after reading through some supports, Shinonome is incredibly likeable and far more interesting than his father. Too bad he's a non-canon child unit, but at this point I'll take what I can get.

[Sunwoo]

Yeah, of course people will have a hard time writing from someone else's point of view; one of the hardest parts of writing has to be coming up with believable characters who don't share the author's beliefs. However, gender of all things shouldn't play a role in that.

It shouldn't, but some people really can't put themselves in another person's shoes. Not even someone who is exactly like them except in gender.

Aye, I know...it makes me genuinely sad, seeing as I had such high hopes for this game, and they said they had learned from Awakening's mistakes. I mean, I love that game to bits, but there are definitely improvements to be made. Still, they hyped up the story so much and it fails to deliver on every level, so I think this is the last time I trust game developers, at least to that extent.

On a more positive note, like you said, some characters feel like people, at least as far as Fire Emblem characters go. Aside from Leo and Takumi, who most seem to be in agreement are the best written in the game, we've also got Flora, and after reading through some supports, Shinonome is incredibly likeable and far more interesting than his father. Too bad he's a non-canon child unit, but at this point I'll take what I can get.

Even if Fates wasn't quite what I was expecting, I will say that the memorable characters certainly stood out more than Awakening characters. As you said, Leon and Takumi are really well written (I personally also really like Oboro from her support conversations, especially with Belka) and they at least are far more memorable than anyone from Awakening for me. Sure, there are some not-as-good characters in Fates, as in with Awakening, but the good ones REALLY stand out a lot more in Fates.

Kamui, on the other hand, is an even more boring self-insert than Robin