Opinions. The future of Fire Emblem Characters in Smash Bros?

Good Morning/Evening/Afternoon

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.


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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).

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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)

Opinions. Micaiah "Rate the Character" Post.

Disclaimer: This article was created with the intention to post my opinions about Micaiah's posibilities in Smash in the "Rate the Character" Thread in Smash Boards

Link: https://smashboards.com/threads/rate-their-chances-switch-edition-day-53-micaiah.453357/page-132#post-22037729

Let's begin

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The Chances.

Micaiah is a character in a hard position for a playable spot because she doesn't have the same recency that a character like (nowadays) Celica has, but Micaiah has some stuff on her side I would like to post some of them.

Micaiah is filled with niches and gimmicks that hadn't be replicate together, and she of course, is one of the Fire Emblem Main Characters.

1.- Micaiah is a user of Magic (Light Magic)

In the Fire Emblem Series exists different Light Magic Tomes, and like the anima tomes there exists tomes with different functions like being highly powerful but make you vulnerable (Aura), Long-Range Magic (Purge) and of course there are the ol'reliable ones that doesn't have particular disadvantages or advantages...

"But Robin alredy does the magic stuff"

Robin is more like a Mystical Knight, or whatever you think is the main focus in the moveset, the magic is a part of important of their gimmick, but they are essencially sword-user in most of their animations; Micaiah is a complete magic user that doesn't use swords, and she doesn't need them anyway; in fact, the lack of a sword make Micaiah more flexible in the way she can use the animations of her attacks to create some unusual hitboxes not possible with a weapon that is attached to the user.

But Magic isn't limited just to flashy movements, Micaiah also has in her side other way of using her power.

2.- Micaiah is a user of the Utility-Based Magical Staves.

The staves are one of the most useful tools you can find in a Fire Emblem because of their special uses. There are some very straighforward like the ones that heals HP or Status Ailments. But there are also some that offer many possibilities; Warping and Rescuing Units can be used to move units at positions that would otherwise being impossible, making them key to create powerful strategies to beat even the hardest maps.

Micaiah is the only lord that is actually associated (but not as much as the Light Magic) with Staves, and they're one of the key elements in the franchise (the Staves and their strategies are as old as FE1) that would be represented in some way.

3.- Micaiah's signature abilities.

Alongside the more well known use of Magic and Staves that appear across the series; Micaiah has her own abilities beyond these. Micaiah has Corona (also know as: Dawn Light), that is the name of the Micaiah's Proc Skill that does additional damage (more specifically, ignores the enemy's Magic Resistence) and can blind the enemies affected; in her game she isn't the only character that uses this skill, but unless you're very unlucky (getting Corona'd by Lekain or Sephiran), it's unlikely you ended up seeing someone using the ability that isn't her. 

When casting Corona, Micaiah creates a light sphere above her.

Micaiah also has another abilitiy, and this one is completely unique to her: Sacrifice (also known as: Healing Hands), this is a tricky skill, it's effect (as their names would indicate), is a healing skill that gives HP to other units; quite interesting

Also, Micaiah has her own personal magic tome: Thani, which would be an important element of how Micaiah would work in Smash Bros.

I did for Source Gaming a moveset exploring many of these ideas: http://sourcegaming.info/2016/12/22/ds-micaiah/

After explaining the gameplay stuff, the things that would interest Sakurai for a new character, it's time to explore other points; the things that helps or damages her chances.

Let's start with the negatives.

Micaiah hasn't have a new appearance in a Main Game since Awakening, and that was essencially a cameo; Micaiah most notable appearance in the last years was in the Fire Emblem Heroes some months ago (January 2018) and her moment as a Main Character being in Radiant Dawn 11 years ago (February 2007)

She is evidently behind some other people for a spot in the next Smash Bros; whoever is the New Fire Emblem Character from that Switch Game, and there would be another choices to consider too.

These are quite heavy problems, but Micaiah still has some things in her side.

Now the positives.

Something important for a character selection, it's stand out in the roster; Micaiah has a similar anime aesthetic to the rest of the Fire Emblem Character, so, isn't hard to see a which franchises she belongs, but the rest of her design makes her feel completely different from the usual Fire Emblem protags.

Also, related with her design, being a original female character kind of helps I guess.

Micaiah surprisingly got some support during the ballot time, as it was show for the Source Gaming Posts about it... Nothing super special, but the support actually exists.

And the last thing to consider... it's the Smash Bros Switch Weird timing; that ended ups hurting heavily the Fire Emblem Switch Protag, we don't even know if the game will still be released in 2018 (as DLC is practically is likely if the character is unique enough)

And so, I decided to give her a 15% Chance rate... she is definitely unlikely, but she just can't be ignored, the potential is here, waiting to be found.

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The Want

Micaiah is very important to me, she is the light that guided me to don't be a lazy person all the time; after knowing her, I start feeling a special attachment to her, even before I played her game, and I was already thinking how she would work as a Smash Character, and then... when I finally played her game; against my own fears of ended up don't like her; essencially signed for life my love for Micaiah. Now I dedicate to write and share stuff to show how Micaiah would work in Smash Bros, to help other people understand her character, and in general share Micaiah Love.

Maybe in the past I would have give 100% to other characters, but nowadays the only character I want with a burning passion is her. I love Micaiah in every way possible, I love her simple but extremely stylish and beautiful design, I love her character, I found her quite a charming person with many interesting aspects to see when you read the story, and of course, I love the fact she is a spellcaster unlike most of the Main Characters, I love my magic-based stuff in every single game I played.

- Troykv (The Dawn's Historian and Micaiah4Smash Main Admin)

Micaiah for Smash. Why she is unique? Explanations and opinions.

Hello Smash and Fire Emblem Fans! There is a new article to talk about Micaiah's possible content for Smash.

This time I'm going to talk about something that is (in my opinion) an incredibly important thing when in comes to thinking about a new character in the next Smash Games. What exactly this character can offer?.  Which gimmicks would they have?

Micaiah is an interesting case between the Fire Emblem Main Characters, and while she may be overshadowed for the already represented Ike, Micaiah is likely the Fire Emblem character not already present in Smash that can offer more diversity with her introduction as a playable character.

A Light Magic User

Micaiah is a Magician, and her main weapon are Light Magic Tomes, She is able to perform a lot of interesting tricks when use them. Some Light Magic Tomes are known for their high power (like many versions of Aura Tome), their incredible high accuracy (like the Light Tome) or be magic weapons with high Critical hit ratio (like the FE7 and FE8 Versions Divine and Aura Tomes). There also exists a Light Magic Tome able to do Long-Range Attacks (Purge).

At this point someone probably will say: "But we already have Robin for all this magic thing stuff". And that's partially true, Robin can also use magic like Micaiah, but unlike Micaiah, she/he still depends of his/her main weapon: The Bronce (or Levin if you still have it) Sword. Micaiah can expand the use of the magic to her whole moveset.

Micaiah even has a book completely associated with her: Thani, the book mostly known for be the Rapier-like Magic.

A unique element that only she can represent: Staves.

In her original game, Radiant Dawn, Micaiah has as relatively early access to her second weapon of her class: the Staves. 

Staves are one of the earliest elements in the Fire Emblem Series (they're as old as the first game itself) able to give a lot of utilities to the user... In fact, many of the Staff-Users are considered Key Characters to many incredible strategies... Talking about them; instead of wondering what can staves exactly do, the really question is... what can't they do?

This include healing (Heal, Mend, Physic, etc.), rescue an ally (Rescue), teleport a ally (Warp), teleport the user (Rewarp), inflict status-effects (Silence, Sleep, Berseker), apply buffs (Ward), apply debuffs (Hexing Rod) and other miscellaneous utilities (Restore, Unlock, Torch), there a lot of things to work and they help to increase even more the differences between Micaiah and the other magic-based characters.

What about her other skills?

Micaiah has two skills associated with her. One of them only she can use it (Sacrifice) and the other one only the Light-Magic Class can learn in their last promotion (Corona).

Sacrifice is a interesting case for a skill that can work if some creative liberties are taken. The original Sacrifice works like it's expected: Micaiah use her own Hit Points to heal another character (this can also be used to cure Status-Effects without drawbacks). How could work the skill? Perhaps as a buff ability with a back-firing efffect?

Corona on the other hand is a skill that denies the enemies's resistence. Like Ike's Aether this is Micaiah's Ultimate Skill. And would work perfectly as a Final Smash.

Here is a example of how would work the Micaiah Final Smash using Corona's and RexAura's Animation:

Micaiah summons a small light ball that knocks enemies upwards if they touch it, then a brief moment, a bigger light magic sphere appears above Micaiah and it start to fall in a diagonal trayectory, if oponents are hit by the sphere, they will be pulled inside until it hits the ground, then explodes and sends them flying.

Other Miscellaneous aspects

Micaiah's unique atributes extend to other areas beyond the superficial.

An unique female character: Micaiah is very appealing for being a female character, and unlike the other Fire Emblem Female Characters (F!Robin, F!Corrin and Lucina) she isn't a Clone or a Glorified Skinswap; Micaiah'd be her own character.

Micaiah's clothing: She has a very interesting set of clothes that differ from the other FE characters already in the game, having three different class (the outfits in the picture above) to chose from her own game.

Stats

Micaiah in her game is considered a "Glass Cannon". This being carried over Smash would make for an interesting character with high magical power but low weight and decent speed.

Also her Magic Traits can make her a very floaty character like Zelda or Ness

- Troykv (The Dawn's Historian and Micaiah4Smash Main Admin)

Micaiah & the Character Selection in Brawl (from the original Twitter's Version)

Hi Dawn Brigade! After I know about the Sakurai's Criteria about how he selected characters in Super Smash Bros Brawl (the selection was finished in late-2005). I started thinking about how this theorically affect Micaiah's Chances.

Reference link: http://www.sourcegaming.info/2015/07/11/gdc-2008-translation/

The criteria for choosing a character is as follows:

The character must have a personality in their game.

She is passionate and visionary, is also a good-hearted girl, will do anything to help their people and achieve what she proposes.

It's important to have something a character can do.

This is simple. Micaiah have access to various spells (their animations for both movements and the magic itself from her game and other Fire Emblems) and Staffs.

Development issues.

Micaiah doesn't need transformations or other overly complex mechanics (like the Ice Climbers's Gimmick) to be true to her character in Smash Bros.

Franchises distribution taken into consideration

Of the four points this is the most problematic. Fire Emblem has two Veteran Character (Marth, Ike), a Normal Newcomer (Robin), a Veteran DLC (Roy), and Newcomer DLC (Corrin) and a filler (Lucina). 

This makes a total of five characters (and a filler would not consider his own character by the negligible development time used in Lucina).

Fire Emblem is the third most represented franchise in Smash Bros Character-wise.

However, I don't know the latter point continue to implement since Smash Bros. Wii U / 3DS introduced two new characters Mario considerably extending the limits for original characters... Or at least no completely if the character is original enough (Sakurai himself would be opposed to put Corrin in Smash 4 if she/he doesn't have unique traits like happen before with Chrom) 

Moreover, while Fire Emblem sales haven't Mario or Pokemon level is a franchise full of characters with very different styles and personalities of each other, and incredible world with a lot of possibles ideas, and I think that even with all the representation problems Micaiah is a good choice... in fact, the best choice between everything Fire Emblem has to offer.

Thank for your attention.

- Troykv (The Dawn's Historian and Micaiah4Smash Main Admin)