This had being an incredible week for the Fire Emblem Fans; with the annoucement of Summer's Dawn Micaiah (her first alternative version) in Fire Emblem Heroes despite she only having half-year in the game; and the confirmation of Chrom as a playable character in Smash Bros after 4 years of memes.
This time we'll talk about the Smash-side of the things as you would expect for the title; we'll talk about Summer's Dawn Micaiah another day.
Fire Emblem got their 7th Character; which is also the 2nd Echo Fighter (being mostly a clone of Roy's moveset) from this franchise and the 4th Character based in Marth's basics; Chrom is probably the character the most talked about in relationship with Smash Bros that isn't already playable (with Lyn usually considered the close second one), and it's very obvious that Chrom's apperance in Smash was a direct product of popularity alone (like pretty much all the characters revealed so far; except Inkling that also was a product of the success of the brand).
 |
| Chrom is an anomaly. |
This however, is a very strange situation in the hindsight; Fire Emblem, like Pokémon (at a less extreme degree) gets their new character choices as product of relevancy and good timing; this applies with Roy, Ike, Robin, Lucina and Corrin; and the only exception so far has been done with the original Main Character Marth (and former most popular in the series)... Until now... Fire Emblem had always being in the obligation to represent what is new; but after Smash Ultimate change of focus; this isn't longer necessary; and the desire of the fans are having effect in the series more than ever...
Fire Emblem is a series that right now is probably the strangest moment of their whole existence in Smash Bros; the years between the release of Fire Emblem Fates and the things that would be relevant for Sakurai and his bunch (Late 2016?/Early 2017?) are pretty much the revival of the Fire Emblem's Past in the form of Cipher, Gaiden/SoV and Fire Emblem Heroes (and TMS#FE at a less extent).
The franchise lacked a obvious relevant choice in the moment of Smash Ultimate's development compared with previous years; this combine with the change of the character's selection focus; it had made possible one of most wanted desires of the whole fanbase; a Fire Emblem character that isn't a sword user.
Maybe isn't something we had thought that much before; but it would make sense in this new context; now, the problem would select one specific character that would fit the criteria.
To answer this question; I thought in a time where I was analizing the potential of the old-ish Fire Emblem Characters (it was done in Mid-2015; where I already knew the Fates characters would have the advantage in DLC obvious reasons, and many were already analizing their chances; so I didn't).
These were the comments I did to the non-sword users.
_________________
Tiki
What exactly can she offer?
A Manakete is a recurrent aspect in Fire Emblem don’t already used. She can use powers related with her Manakete form, like flames, flame orbs attacks (like the one that uses in Awakening) and other dragon-like attacks. The manakete form could be used as a summon or as an actual transformation during her attacks.
Pros
- She is the playable character with more apparences story-related in the series: Three (Five if you count the Remakes, Six if you count Genei Ibun Roku #FE), this make her one of the few Fire Emblem characters that actually has “likeable future” in the series.
- She is a fan favorite, one of the most popular characters in the overall series, even was capable to get a good place in the Awakening’s Popularity Contest.
- She isn’t a sword-user.
- She is a female character… this always is an advantage.
Cons
- Her Ballot Support was Small.
- Possible issues with transformations (it depends on how exactly this works).
- She could overlap with other dragon-like characters (Bowser/Charizard) in some moves.
- The Awakening version Tiki could have a design too “sexy” for the game, because she has a big noticeable cleavage and use garter straps (in the 3DS Trophy model isn’t really notable any of these aspects).
- The Akanea/Ylisse games already has 2 characters (3 if you count Lucina).
Hector
What exactly he can offer?
He is a Armor Knight-like Lord and an Axe User (one of the few lords that doesn’t have as his main weapon swords). As a curious fact, many games in the franchise has “bumeran-like” axes (Hand Axes).
Pros
- Hector is a popular character in the Fire Emblem Franchises for similar reasons that Lyn
- He could perfectly be a Heavyweight character.
- He isn’t a Sword-User
Cons
- He is overshadowed for Lyn’s popularity
- Ike already fills a similar niche in the game.
- Niche Smash Support, but probably better than other characters because his high popularity.
Ephraim
What exactly he can offer?
A complete Spear-User Character (and the horse if you want)
Pros
- Completely unique moveset guaranteed with the spear.
- Like Eirika, he comes from a different Continent without representation (Magvel).
- Ephraim is a popular Fire Emblem Lord (for reasons usually related with characters like Hector).
- He isn’t a Sword-user
Cons
- Niche Smash Support, but probably better than other characters because his high popularity.
- Overlap with Bandana Dee as a Spear-User, one of most wanted characters in the Japanese Smash Fanbase, and also popular in some western communities.
Micaiah
What exactly she can offer?
Micaiah is an full magician character (unlike Robin that also uses swords in his/her moveset), with access to light magic and staffs, this latter is one of the most common elements in the Fire Emblem Series unused in Smash.
Pros
- Micaiah is confirmed as the Fire Emblem character with the loudest (and likeably biggest) Smash Ballot Support in Japanese Media. In Western Communities she is more a niche choice, but still one of the most popular between Fire Emblem Characters.
- Staffs are interesting options to a moveset, and magic isn’t still used in it’s full potential in Smash Bros.
- She isn’t a Sword-user
- She is a female character
- She was formerly controversial character in the Western Communities, that includes Fire Emblem Discussions and Brawl’s Days Predictions (even if her game doesn’t sell a lot, this helps her popularity in some way), and also one of the few Fire Emblem Characters in the Pre-Smash 4 with some actual support (because Chrom took all of the attention in the actual Speculation).
Cons
- Her game is one of the worst sellers in the series (even if ironically it’s main characters are popular, especially Ike).
- Micaiah is one of these character that formerly had a mixed reception with the Fire Emblem’s fanbase (already mentioned her “controversial” side in the Pros); with many lovers and many haters (nowadays the hate against her is more like indifference in many cases).
________
How did you think these thoughts translate nowadays? I would happy to see your opinions.
(There would also exist the possibility of new Echo Fighters; but these are harder to predict outside of Chrom)
- Troykv (The Dawn's Historian and Micaiah4Smash Main Admin)
