What is your ideal Lord?

[Truthblade]

All in the title. What are your general preferences for lords, and what do you expect from them. What kind of role would they play, how would they think, how they would fight, etc.

[Magical Glace]

I tend to favor more Marthlike lords, who don't like war very much and tend to just be pleasant people in general (ie. Roy, Seliph, Eliwood, Eirika, and of course Marth himself). 

However I also very much like Micaiah.  A lord who is able to be treated as being in the wrong, when they fight for what they personally hold dear, is something I actually quite like.  Micaiah should have been given more focus and be the sole protagonist of Part III, no blood pacts.

[Interdimensional Observer]

One of my defining traits is a certain indecisiveness. I have no single ideal lord/main character, I would equally enjoy different well-executed takes on MCs.

Of what we have, Ike, Ephraim, Eliwood, Hector are all characters I find to have some trait I would like in an ideal form in a lord/main character. Micaiah too kinda, and Sigurd and Leif interest me though I haven't played the Jugdral games.

What I despise is perfect pretty boys- Roy, Chris, Robin, Corrin, and insofar as I can tell from a distance, Seliph. A little insecurity/lack if self-esteem does nothing to affect my opinion of them. It's a single grain of sand on the very edge of a cathedral's glorious stained glass windows.

If you're going to be talented from the get go, I want a reason behind it. Either the lord has excellent advisors, or they already have some experience under their belt. Sigurd appears to me to be formally well-educated in the myriad arts of war and he doesn't look 16 either, so he's probably done enough practice battles or minor bandit fights to get some real combat experience in. I can see him ordering around battalions and regiments with as much ease as chopping some baddy with his Silver Sword. Ike on the other hand has Titania and Soren backing him up, and that works too.

If the main character is an avatar, make the plot revolt around others, it's easier to build a good linear narrative that way. With a prebuilt character, put the MC in the center of the limelight if they begin the game undeveloped. If they are already fairly developed from the beginning, one can shift some of the attention onto the world or other characters.

I'm open to any weapon type, any style, any class, any stat distribution. Sex and race too.

[saisymbolic]

Do you mean in FE only? Or in general? I'll do both.

Spoiler

My general preference for a lord is for them to have a fatal flaw. Cowardice, greed, gluttony, incompetence, pride—having these traits is something that I immediately look for in characters of royal stature in general. Of course, they would need another trait that rounds off that fatal flaw—perhaps the cowardly lord is incredibly kind; perhaps the incompetent lord is truly an accomplished warrior; perhaps the prideful lord is well-versed in passing fair legislative rulings. 

These kind of lords are those that will inevitably be killed off by a disgruntled adviser/relative/general seeking to take their place or replace them with someone else that may or may eventually develop a fatal flaw themselves, creating a vicious cycle for that particular kingdom.

Their thinking would depend on several varying circumstances, so I can't say what exactly their frame of mind would be. As for their battle talents, this would also vary but I always see them on a steed of some kind.

Spoiler

For FE preferences, I personally enjoy the thought of a selfish lord. This lord grew up coddled by one of their parents and servants, enjoying the advantages of being royalty but hating the burden placed on their shoulders. They have no love for the people of their kingdom—at first of course.

Circumstances would lead them to be placed as ruler sooner than expected—much too soon. At first, they are little more than a public face to assure the people that their kingdom is still going strong. People are momentarily placated but skeptical with varying opinions on their new ruler. Some opinions are good ("Our lord trained them well. I have utmost faith."); some are bad ("The brat has become king/queen. We may as well bow down to [enemy nation] sooner rather than later."); and some neutral ("Can't be any worse than before."). 

Soon, the lord is forced into action when either a rebellion ignites to overthrow them, or an enemy nation exploits the weakness in order to annex them. So, in order to keep their kingdom, the puppet lord has to lead their troops into battle for morale; oversee the safety of their people and see to their needs in order to garner loyalty and support.

Eventually, through nurturing these people and having experienced the different facets of these people, the lord begins to understand their role as ruler and appreciate the people under their charge.

In terms of ability, they would likely be a fledgling in both politics and martial affairs. Maybe they would favor one or the other. Either way, their inattentiveness in their youth would come back to bite them in some way.

Having a steed is still a staple. Preferably a wyvern. Or they can just be a bird lord. Or a dragon. I want a proper shape shifting lord. 

i miss laguz please bring them back IS

As for weapons, I wouldn't be adverse to another axe or lance lord. A primarily support lord with staves and buffs would be interesting. Anything other than another sword lord would be good, to be honest. 

Sadly, none of the available FE lords truly peak my interest given my criteria for my "ideal" lord, though I have my favorites.

Edited May 4, 2017 by saisymbolic

[BANRYU]

In terms of character, Eliwood and Ike are more or less the sort of character I like to see in the lead position, though I wouldn't object to the odd outliers like Micaiah and such. 

 

If we're talking gameplay though? Actually... Heh, I'll probably get some hate for saying this, but Corrin. Terrible writing/character aside, Corrin had the potential to be one of the COOLEST lords by virtue of not only having a signature weapon and a dragon form, but a really boss signature weapon and a really cool and unique dragon form. Aesthetically, Corrin might be one of my favorite lords period, for those reasons-- and the ability to pick one other class to change into (all classes like Robin had access to is too many, although Corrin effectively does anyway through allies) is a nice touch as well. Manakete-lord with the flexibility to use any other class... I think the only thing better than that would be the ability to choose the Lord's weapon specialty off the bat outright? But that's ignoring the dragon part lol. 

(And yeah I know manaketes weren't that good in Fates... that's something I'd fix admittedly but still)

[Anacybele]

Ike.

But in all seriousness, I prefer that they have good characterization and development, it doesn't really matter what type of personality they have, and they should have a quality or two that really makes them stand out from the others.

For Ike, he's not of noble or royal birth and instead doesn't give a damn about that stuff, and he's much less refined and sophisticated. He doesn't even dress neatly like other lords do. He instead wears tattered capes and headbands and in PoR, a tunic with half a sleeve missing. And his character arc in PoR was written so well. I feel he got more development than anybody I've seen in this series. Too bad this was absent for him in RD...

Then Ephraim, my second favorite lord, I find is cool because he just trains and likes to fight. He's not your typical prince at all. And he uses a lance rather than a sword. and he points this out himself in Heroes! lol He also has green hair, which isn't common among lord characters either (only Alm and Lyn share this one), and no other lord has the same shade of green (Ephraim's is a sea green while Lyn's is like a straight darker green and Alm has a lighter grassy green). His personality is cool enough too.

Ephraim would probably share the favorite lord spot with Ike, except he doesn't get as much development, I find, and there's also a little nostalgia and such with Ike as well since PoR was my first game (though I prefer his RD self design wise).

I tend to like characters who have some badassery too them too, and both Ike and Ephraim definitely have that!

Edited May 5, 2017 by Anacybele

[NinjaMonkey]

One that has a decent speed growth and doesn't promote to their final class five chapters from the end.

[ChibiToastExplosion]

My ideal lord has a sword and has blue hair. 'Tis tradition you know

I say that with Marth being one of my three favorites, while green alm and red roy are the other two

[vanguard333]

In terms of plot I want them to be well-developed and for each to have something unique about them. In other words, I want them to seem like people. So many of them are sword-wielding princes destined to stop the evil empire/slay the evil dragon, and that's fine, so long as each one has something important that makes them unique.

Ike is a blue-haired swordsman, but he is a peasant and he gets good character development in Path of Radiance and even in Radiant Dawn to a small extent (though for Radiant Dawn it's mainly because of

Spoiler

the final confrontation with Zelgius/The Black Knight, deciding to no longer harbour a grudge against the person who was pretty much Ike's mortal enemy; he even considered the Black Knight his final teacher (I look at that moment as almost a moment of forgiveness, but my interpretation might be incorrect).

Speaking of Radiant Dawn, Micaiah had a lot of potential; she had clear character strengths and flaws, she did undergo quite a bit of character development in part 1, and, also, she's a silver-haired female light mage (I had been hoping for a lord character who was a light-magic wielder). But then Micaiah got almost completely overshadowed by part 4.

Gameplay-wise, make sure it reflects the character, while still being useful. Ike was a champion who could cut down anything in front of him; both in the story and the gameplay. Micaiah was a fragile but powerful light mage (though they could have given her a better speed growth). Chrom in Awakening was nothing special; and I don't recall the story ever saying he was anything special as far as fighting was concerned (though I don't consider Chrom an example of a good FE lord, at least his skill in the game matched what the story presented).

[NekoKnight]

I appreciate a variety of personalities, especially if they can include several in a team dynamic (like Blazing Sword) but if you asked me about my favorite type, I would say I like a character who has competence but also flaws that keep their story interesting. Micaiah for example is a competent and charismatic leader but her dedication to her people and respect Pelleas' legitimacy makes her do some morally ambiguous things. Ike is another example in that he has a good heart but his blunt indignation nearly screwed him over when they're trying to get support from Begnion.  

I'd really like to see lord who starts off humble before their successes lead to pride and ambition. Eventually the plot would punish their hubris and result in character development.

[Thane]

I don't have one specific ideal lord because it all depends on the plot, the supporting cast and the themes of the game. 

I think there's plenty of new ground to cover since, at the end of the day, many of the Fire Emblem lords are just too similar and even deal with similar problems. There's so much more that can be done here, and Intelligent Systems can branch out a bit and take a few risks in terms of the main characters' personalities, of that I'm sure. Like NekoKnight said, hubris leading to a downfall that leads to character development would be a nice character arc; let the main characters fail sometimes.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Thane

[Gruntagen]

Eirika, but with a few moments of political savvy a la Roy, and without the sexist treatment from her own game.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Gruntagen

[Extrasolar]

I'll admit I'm a a bit overtired of the fact that most of the time, the main lord of the game is a much less interesting character than a lot of the supporting cast, as the lords need to be generally palatable to anyone and everyone playing the game, as well as the general "charismatic leader" who could believably recruit and command an army made up of a variety of personalities. As a result, the majority of them stick to the Marth archetype -- that is, polite, well-spoken, humble and friendly. Of course we have exceptions, but they're just that -- exceptions.

For a bit of a change of pace, I'd like an Ares-type lord, as his character is expanded on in the various FE4 manga. That is, blunt, deadpan and somewhat sarcastic, and a little antagonistic at times, but underneath a generally good guy who can be surprisingly affectionate to the people he likes. Having him be a bit more battle hungry and aggressive is a plus. And just like people were talking fatal flaws, having his assholery come back to bite him a few times, and through the game having his rough edges somewhat softened in that he has to learn that being a dick isn't exactly conducive to leading a large group of people toward a goal, and that control by fear is less effective than. But at the same time, they know that idealism and blind trust isn't the answer to everything. It's all about a balanced perspective.

[Sire]

I guess for the most part I like Ike, Hector, and Ephraim the most, as they are the resident bad***es that fight when they need to and are straight to the point.

As for a possible ideal lord, I want the same "blunt, fighter" Lord who has a strong sense of honor and pride. This will prove to be his downfall as he leads his army into an actual suicide mission where they get slaughtered by the enemy, but the Lord is taken captive (which is far more humiliating for him / her than death.) Then, some time later, he is freed as the lord was supposed to be "one of the best commanders around" (or perhaps the only "good" commander left) and has to find redemption and peace while trying to lead yet another army to ultimate victory. // In essence, one can say there are two major groups (or generations if one wants to go that far) of characters, where the majority of the first being killed off in the suicide mission. The survivors will have varying opinions on the Lord (some may feel sympathetic, others may think he is arrogant, while others just want to keep on fighting the good fight.)

[Zapp Branniglenn]

I like Lords that aren't immediately the best unit, but I want them to become good later through a story based promotion and event that really makes shapes them into a hero. I don't normally advocate for story-based promotions, but that's mostly because they haven't been done well in my opinion. They either remain as bad as they are or as great as they are. Eliwood's had the most potential (horse plus 2 range with javelins) but came too late like Roy. So a low bases kid that's in over his head gets a promotion with massive gains like 3-5, and then give them the rapier type weapon to further help them catch up.

So yeah, the gist is that I want a bad unit that becomes a competent hero only when the story calls for it. The details with personality I could take or leave. I want uniqueness, but not uniqueness for the sake of "this hasn't been done before". Every personality trait should serve a purpose at the end of the day.

[The Malign Knight]

23 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

One of my defining traits is a certain indecisiveness. I have no single ideal lord/main character, I would equally enjoy different well-executed takes on MCs.

Of what we have, Ike, Ephraim, Eliwood, Hector are all characters I find to have some trait I would like in an ideal form in a lord/main character. Micaiah too kinda, and Sigurd and Leif interest me though I haven't played the Jugdral games.

What I despise is perfect pretty boys- Roy, Chris, Robin, Corrin, and insofar as I can tell from a distance, Seliph. A little insecurity/lack if self-esteem does nothing to affect my opinion of them. It's a single grain of sand on the very edge of a cathedral's glorious stained glass windows

To be fair, Roy is only good at doing Tactics and a bit of politics and that's because he was trained for it. As a fighter, he is actually pretty bad, which is also shown by the gameplay as well.

Anyway, I don't mind the marth-Lords(which is funny considering that my favorite Lord is Ephraim): people tend to superficially mark them as "bland", when in reality they tend to be more interesting than they look. So, if they keep doing them, I would be happy anyway.

 

 

[Ertrick36]

My favorites are Ike and Hector.  I think that Corrin is sort of wasted potential, because they could've been a perfect case of a naive child who gradually matures out of the innocent trustworthiness and happy-go-lucky attitude of sheltered youth through their struggles, but obviously that change is never conveyed (in fact, the very idea is outright spat on).  I don't particularly mind Marth-likes as long as they show some character development or are interesting in some other way, but I'll admit that I want more than just typical shonen heroes as the protagonists of my games.

What I'd really like is for them to take some of the aspects of their best written and more unique characters and put them into a protagonist.  I want protagonists who are selfish, resentful, racist, cold, and maybe have dark pasts, but redeem those negative qualities through their actions.  Heck, maybe they're still shunned by the majority of the world in the end, only respected by those who witnessed his/her good actions (as in, the people who fought in his/her army).

Gameplay-wise, I prefer if their stats and weapon choice fit their personality.  I don't care if they're great or terrible, or if they use a dog's leg as a weapon, just as long as it reflects who they are.  I'm all for anything that blends storytelling and gameplay.

[Anacybele]

Speaking of Micaiah, theoretically, she fits my idea of an ideal lord. She just wasn't written the way she should've been, imo, much like pretty much all female lords. Otherwise, I do like things about her, like how she's a mage and such instead of another sword prince or something.

[ChibiToastExplosion]

3 hours ago, Anacybele said:

Speaking of Micaiah, theoretically, she fits my idea of an ideal lord. She just wasn't written the way she should've been, imo, much like pretty much all female lords. Otherwise, I do like things about her, like how she's a mage and such instead of another sword prince or something.

Yeah, because a certain dipstick lord had to come in and hog all the spotlight.

[Anacybele]

Just now, ChibiToastExplosion said:

Yeah, because a certain dipstick lord had to come in and hog all the spotlight.

First off, this post was entirely uncalled for. Second, no, he didn't, that was Yune. I'm sick as hell of people hating on Ike for something he never did and something as ridiculous as this.

[ChibiToastExplosion]

Just now, Anacybele said:

First off, this post was entirely uncalled for. Second, no, he didn't, that was Yune. I'm sick as hell of people hating on Ike for something he never did and something as ridiculous as this.

The game would have been much better and less broken had it just focused on Miciah and her plight instead of being fractured in to 4 parts and Ike worship.

[Anacybele]

3 minutes ago, ChibiToastExplosion said:

The game would have been much better and less broken had it just focused on Miciah and her plight instead of being fractured in to 4 parts and Ike worship.

I'm not denying that the game would've been better if both Ike and Micaiah had equal spotlight (excluding Ike entirely out of a Tellius game unless it takes place after his death makes zero sense). The Ike "worship" was perfectly reasonable after he'd become a big respected hero three years prior. And the "worship" is not nearly as bad as that of the Avatars, at least. Another thing, Micaiah is worshipped too.

And you still didn't need to bash him and call him a dipstick. Dislike Ike if you want, but this was unnecessary. I hate Micaiah, but I'm not calling her names.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Anacybele

[ChibiToastExplosion]

Just now, Anacybele said:

I'm not denying that the game would've been better if both Ike and Micaiah had equal spotlight (excluding Ike entirely out of a Tellius game makes zero sense). The Ike "worship" was perfectly reasonable after he'd become a big respected hero three years prior. And the "worship" is not nearly as bad as that of the Avatars, at least.

Ike doesn't have to be excluded, no, but making his team far away better and being forced to use him was poor.

The game would have been pretty interesting even without him; Elibe uses different lords just fine. As it is they forced him, and pulled to rug out from an up and coming cast and made them worthless.

RD could have been a good story but as it is the game is an utter mess. Poor Micaiah, I did want to love you. The game just told me I shouldn't.

[Anacybele]

4 minutes ago, ChibiToastExplosion said:

Ike doesn't have to be excluded, no, but making his team far away better and being forced to use him was poor.

The game would have been pretty interesting even without him; Elibe uses different lords just fine. As it is they forced him, and pulled to rug out from an up and coming cast and made them worthless.

RD could have been a good story but as it is the game is an utter mess. Poor Micaiah, I did want to love you. The game just told me I shouldn't.

Why WOULDN'T we be forced to use him? He was a major character before, so it was reasonable for him to be one again. However, I do agree that Micaiah's group should've been better as units.

The game would've made no sense without him. He became such a big thing, and then all of a sudden he's nowhere in sight?

RD's story is fine. It was merely rushed a little and maybe should've been split into two games. One about Micaiah's group and their quest in part 1 and one for parts 2, 3, and 4.

But yes, in the end we agree on one thing: poor Micaiah. Poor female lords. IS simply does not know how to write one well for some reason and seems bent on the mindset that they cannot be real main characters on their own without men (or a goddess in this case) taking over everything.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Anacybele

[ChibiToastExplosion]

6 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Why WOULDN'T we be forced to use him? He was a major character before, so it was reasonable for him to be one again. However, I do agree that Micaiah's group should've been better as units.

Because how cool would it have been if his position was flipped with the BK's for the duration of RD as a recurring antagonist? We know Ike isn't a bad guy, and if the intention of RD was to show that overall Dein weren't bad guys, then tell the story from their point of view? Maybe Ike joins up at the very end as an Athos type unit for the last few chapters, but he is harrassing the dawn brigade throughout.

People loved the world building of Tellius (and it is good, but I don't agree that it's the best the series has to offer), so imagine how much more world building and cool things they could have done if it wasn't spent circlejerking around one guy.

And yes, poor Miciah, and poor dawn brigade. I keep trying to play through RD again, and I am in love with how the game plays through part 1. And then part 2 happens. And that's when I completely stop caring.