Harvey Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 So some of you are aware that there is one particular reason that the games are called Fire Emblem and that is that there IS such an item called Fire Emblem. But for the few games that I played (Awakening, Fates and Holy War) this Fire Emblem really doesn't do much of anything nor does it actually have any plot device. And yes, I know that Revelations reveals the Fire Emblem though honestly....that's not saying much seeing that Fire Emblem is suppose to be an EMBLEM and not a sword! I don't think it even played much of a role in Awakening either. And its nowhere mentioned in Holy war. So really, what is the point of calling the series Fire Emblem if there's no Fire Emblem to being with? That's like calling Legend of Zelda with no Zelda in them (well there are some games that DON'T have Zelda but that's...too complicated to explain seeing how the series timeline is so complex). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Awakening though, chrom's shield is the fire emblem, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soledai Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 (edited) Yes, it is. It's the same shield that is the Fire Emblem, in FE1/3/11/12 So there's its plot value And as an item, it's an unbreakable chest key for Marth that 'repels' earth dragons... So, I have no idea what TC is trying to even say. Edited August 23, 2016 by Soledai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moblin Major General Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Archanea/Ylisse: The Fire Emblem in it's full form is very powerful, as it is able to call upon Naga's Power as the Binding Shield. It also is able to pry open chests. Elibe: An item that unseals the Divine Weapons. No purpose otherwise. Magvel: Grado's Sacred Stone. Destroyed by Lyon. Tellius: Lehran's Medallion. Almost destroyed everything. Twice. Fates: The Omega Yato. Probably the most powerful one other than the Binding Shield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCProductions Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 He hasn't played FE1, 3, 11, or 12, so I can understand his confusion. The emblem plays a much bigger role in FE9, 10, 1, 3, and 6 compared to the others, but it only has a gameplay use in 1 and 3. Hell, it's not even always the same object Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acacia Sgt Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 (edited) I think the only time that a setting's Fire Emblem serves little to no purpose is in Jugdral. It's only stated to be the Crest of Velthomer, and that's it. The others, however, do have varying degrees of prominence, as already stated. Edited August 23, 2016 by Acacia Sgt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soledai Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 I thought about making a list like that, but... I was thinking from just an item perspective Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Posted August 23, 2016 Author Share Posted August 23, 2016 Yes, it is. It's the same shield that is the Fire Emblem, in FE1/3/11/12 So there's its plot value And as an item, it's an unbreakable chest key for Marth that 'repels' earth dragons... So, I have no idea what TC is trying to even say. well sorry for not knowing much. I just didn't understand the point of it if its role only did so little. Like I said, I can't say about Fates as the Emblem is not really revealed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magical Glace Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 It's kinda shoehorned into some games. It only receives a passing mention at the end of FE4 for Jugdral, since that universe already had an established Emblem and iirc it wasn't mentioned in 2/5 at all. The Elibe Emblem is significantly more important in 6 than in 7, though it still didn't do a lot. Guinevere is still the Princess, she'd be looked for after she ran off regardless of whether she stole the thing. In FE7 it was a minor plot device in the Bern arc since apparently it was needed for Zephiel's Coming-of-Age Ceremony. The FE8 one is barely mentioned because it was destroyed at the start of the game, though you don't know this at first. Lehran's Medallion is an important plot device. Overall, the Binding Shield/Shield of Seals (do people just use the former because of how FE6's name was localized despite the fact they have nothing to do with each other? I've never seen Binding Shield used ingame at all) just can't be important to everything, making "Fire Emblem" a bit of an artifact title in some cases but just fine for FE1's title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soledai Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 well sorry for not knowing much. I just didn't understand the point of it if its role only did so little. Like I said, I can't say about Fates as the Emblem is not really revealed. Null perspiration, but I kind of suspected that. However, I encourage playing more FEs to learn more about the Fire Emblem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirmola Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 THe reason that the fire emblem is not in FE4 expicitly (besides for one obscure line), is that FE1/3's fire emblem is actualy really important to the backstory (lopitr needs to posses someone because he is an earth dragon whose physical form is sealed in the fire emblem/shield of seals.) However, this is only implied, and you would need to play FE 3 or 12 to get the implication. FIre Emblem is called that because the fire emblem is such an important item in the first game. Other games in the series kept the title for consistency, and shoehorned the phrase as an important object of some sort in the sequals so that the title had some relevance. THis apperently happens a lot. Here is an article on tvtropes (which is itself an example because tv is no longer the primary focus) about it: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ArtifactTitle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrightBow Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 (edited) The Fire Emblem is only the symbol of House Akaneia. But it's real nature is the Shield of Seals. The Shield of Seals maintained the seal that keeps the Earth Dragons banished below the surface. However a thief stole it and removed the orbs from the shield and sold them. The thief would later create House Akaneia and make the shield the symbol of his house. But since the orbs were removed the seal slowly weakened over the following centuries until Marth gathered the orbs, restored the Shield of Seals and prevented the Earth Dragons from running rampant in Mystery of the Emblem. To make a long story short, the Fire Emblem is merely the symbol of a scrupulous fraud who robbed the Shield of Seals of it's true identity for the sake of money and glory. It's probably worth noting that shoehorning a "Fire Emblem" into every setting only really started with Binding Blade, which took a lot of tropes that existed in FE1 and turned them into series stables like the level 1 Paladin or the Lord having a personal Armor/Cavalier slayer weapon. But then again, the series only had two settings up to that point and an emblem by that name existed in both of them. Although in the case of Jugdral my guess is that it was only mentioned in order to strengthen the implication that the house of Velthomer isn't inherently evil. Edited August 23, 2016 by BrightBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowofchaos Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Fun fact: In the JP version of FE13, no one knew it by the series' namesake until Tiki name drops it. It was only known as "The Pedestal of Flames" and was only referred to as "Fire Emblem" that one time. Shows how important it is, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topaz Light Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 Overall, the Binding Shield/Shield of Seals (do people just use the former because of how FE6's name was localized despite the fact they have nothing to do with each other? I've never seen Binding Shield used ingame at all) just can't be important to everything, making "Fire Emblem" a bit of an artifact title in some cases but just fine for FE1's title. I think people use "Binding Shield" because it sounds a lot more natural than "Shield of Seals" while retaining the intended meaning. The "[item] of Seals" translations for the Binding Blade and the Fire Emblem always seemed really clumsy to me; even "[item] of Sealing" would've been better; "[item] of Seals" is so literal a translation that it frankly borders on being a little silly and nonsensical. The meaning can still be discerned, but that's just not how you'd say that in English. Anyway, everyone else has pretty much already beat me to explaining the Fire Emblem itself. It has varying roles in each universe, and sometimes games' plots are such that it doesn't really play a very important role in the story. It was probably at its most prominent in Marth's story—Fire Emblems 1 and 3—and aside from that, its importance kinda runs the gamut from "pretty important" to "not even in the game at all", depending upon the game in question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jotari Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 (edited) A lot of people here say it's important in FE1 but I was surprised by how completely unimportant it was in Shadow Dragon. Yes, the item itself gets retroactive significance when Myster of the Emblem was released but in the original game it was just some pretty trinket Marth was given that said "Hey, your important! Also this can open chests." It didn't have any kind of sealed god. It didn't unlock any ancient weapon nor was it really a weapon unto itself. It wasn't needed to use the Falchion or defeat Medeus. Math just got a skeleton key for being such a cool guy and that was it. You could replace it with a tissue from Nyna and virtually nothing would change in the plot. The, also titular, Dark Dragon and Sword of Light were way more important poltwise. Though I'm glad they went with Fire Emblem because I do think it's a pretty cool name. (this is all assuming it plays the exact same role in FE1 as Shadow Dragon which I assume is the case.) Edited August 28, 2016 by Jotari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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