Barkly Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Hello! I've been looking at Marth's outfit and for the life of me I don't know what to call the little things he wears on his boots. (see picture if you don't know what I'm talking about) They seem to be made of metal, and therefore some kind of armor, but I can't seem to find any real-world references to such a thing. My best assumption is that they are meant to protect one's feet in a fight. Y'know... like if someone tried to stomp on your foot or something. But I'm not actually sure if that makes sense? Anyone have a guess? Also, are all those straps on his boots just for holding those little metal things on? They seem to get strappier with every redesign, and I have no idea why. Are the straps useful? For this, or for something else? Just decorative? (so many questions raised by only his choice in footwear...) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Footwear is important! But since you're looking for something that isn't specific to FE, I'll move this to General. Alas, I don't know what that is, and it looks like a giant belt buckle to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BANRYU Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 I think that's just a boot buckle if I'm not mistaken. The main term I know for leg armor is 'greaves', which typically refers to leg armor worn over the boots: Shown here, Titania's leg armor up to the knees would be her greaves, and we can see that she's wearing boots underneath them as well. They're just armor that goes on top of boots and may or may not cover the entire circumference of the leg (some only cover the shins/knees/tops of the feet). In the case of Marth, it seems like his only real armor is his chestplate and pauldrons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkly Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Interesting. Yeah, I've heard of greaves but I can't say those little things ever made me think of them. I thought that was a term solely for armor that covers the shins. If it is indeed a buckle... Then I'm going to assume it is purely decorative, especially since it has no visible clasp. I find it hard to believe that someone like Marth would have boots that need so many straps and big buckle just to keep them adjusted to his leg. Wouldn't he have boots tailored to him? Mostly I just have a hard time imagining him dealing with such a contraption before a battle, but I guess he has people for that. XD Actually, now that I'm looking at some other pictures, that metal piece isn't always depicted attached to the straps. So it might be permanently attached to the vamp, and purely decorative. (and somewhat silly...) One last thought... Some of his newer designs have a sort of double spike shape on the top. (you can kinda see it in this picture) Could it be used offensively rather than defensively? I dunno... for kicking people... which seems like a very un-Marth thing to do. I'm probably wrong. ha ha ha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rezzy Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 They are clearly tiaras to match the one on his head! Honestly, I'm not sure I can't think of a practical purpose, since it doesn't extend to the tip of the toes. Maybe it's purely decorative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkly Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 That's it. I think you've got it, Rezzy. After all his feet are royal too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight Falchion Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 (edited) Fire Emblem armor is... confusing, to say the least, when trying to find homologous pieces in real-world armor, especially since these things can differ quite a bit across centuries and regions (not that I'm an expert, it's more of a lightly-researched interest of mine). Then again, this is fantasy armor, so the answer given by Rezzy- that it's purely decorative- should really be applied to most questions of this nature, haha. But if you're interested at all in knowing some general terms, I have a decent image I can share that details some of the parts. Spoiler Note this is specifically for armor in the Gothic style, but there is a fair bit of crossover between the different styles. Also, solarets can also be called sabatons. Edited January 31, 2017 by Knight Falchion I figured I might as well share a pic I had on my computer, just for reference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rezzy Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 4 hours ago, Knight Falchion said: Fire Emblem armor is... confusing, to say the least, when trying to find homologous pieces in real-world armor, especially since these things can differ quite a bit across centuries and regions (not that I'm an expert, it's more of a lightly-researched interest of mine). Then again, this is fantasy armor, so the answer given by Rezzy- that it's purely decorative- should really be applied to most questions of this nature, haha. But if you're interested at all in knowing some general terms, I have a decent image I can share that details some of the parts. Hide contents Note this is specifically for armor in the Gothic style, but there is a fair bit of crossover between the different styles. Also, solarets can also be called sabatons. It seems Marth's shoes suffer from the same problem as female armor in fantasy settings in being poorly designed. Having only a metal strap across the dorsum of the foot actually does more harm than having nothing at all, since any blade would catch on the side and go into the foot, rather than glancing off, like proper foot armor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight Falchion Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 (edited) 18 minutes ago, Rezzy said: It seems Marth's shoes suffer from the same problem as female armor in fantasy settings in being poorly designed. Having only a metal strap across the dorsum of the foot actually does more harm than having nothing at all, since any blade would catch on the side and go into the foot, rather than glancing off, like proper foot armor. Yeah, that's a good point, not to mention it adds unnecessary weight on a weird area of the foot. It may be very light, but it'll still be off, especially compared to a sabaton which would be pretty evenly distributed across the foot. Still, at least it's not as bad as a lot of the worse female armor designs that seem that they'll slice into the breasts as soon as any force is applied or the egregiously oversized pauldrons of, say, the Black Knight. Edited February 1, 2017 by Knight Falchion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rezzy Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 6 minutes ago, Knight Falchion said: Yeah, that's a good point, not to mention it adds unnecessary weight on a weird area of the foot. It may be very light, but it'll still be off, especially compared to a sabaton which be pretty evenly distributed across the foot. Still, at least it's not as bad as a lot of the worse female armor designs that seem that they'll slice into the breasts as soon as any force is applied or the egregiously oversized pauldrons of, say, the Black Knight. I can't find it now, but there was a funny article a few years ago about how shoulder gear in WoW was increasing in size at an untenable rate. It's funny when the pauldrons are higher than the head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight Falchion Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 1 minute ago, Rezzy said: I can't find it now, but there was a funny article a few years ago about how shoulder gear in WoW was increasing in size at an untenable rate. It's funny when the pauldrons are higher than the head. I can imagine! Blizzard designs are some of the first I think of when I think "poor armor design in fantasy," (though I should note for any fans of these designs that I'm referring to functionality and not aesthetics), so I think I'm gonna try looking that article up myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rezzy Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 22 minutes ago, Knight Falchion said: I can imagine! Blizzard designs are some of the first I think of when I think "poor armor design in fantasy," (though I should note for any fans of these designs that I'm referring to functionality and not aesthetics), so I think I'm gonna try looking that article up myself. Let me know if you find it, I tried searching for it, but sadly it only brings up items from in-game on WoWhead or unrelated stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magical CC Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 (edited) Technically, that piece of leg armor will hinder his movement since it's attached directly to his boots instead of being wore over and having a big piece of metal on only a part of your feet is weird. If you want to go light armor route, it makes no sense to protect that place while there are more vital places needed to be protected. His new design makes more sense since it's now smaller but still not practical at all. It cant protect his feet from being stepped on by a random horse so...? I have never seen armor like that in real life. Realistically speaking, it's there to cover the part between the feet armor and greave for heavily armored knights where people will stab at every uncovered part they can find since the armored parts are near invincible. But Marth didnt have neither feet armor or greave so...it's pointless. Not to mention many knights simply ignore it since it will hinder their movement and others would just use extend greave armor because it's more simple and doesnt fall apart when worn. Edited February 4, 2017 by Magical CC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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