Fire Emblem (series)

Fire Emblem (Japanese: ファイアーエムブレム Fire Emblem) is a series of turn-based strategy role-playing games developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo.^[1] The series was the first of its kind, with its origins dating back to the days of the Family Computer;^[2] however, the first six games were released exclusively in Japan. Each game in the series includes numerous playable characters, each with their own backstories and personalities. The series features permanent death, meaning that any character, save the Lord character(s), will be gone for good if they fall in battle.^[3]

History

Family Computer and Super Famicom

Intelligent Systems had been founded as a company invested in producing video game development tools; the company began to work on simulation games, starting with the first game of the Wars series, Famicom Wars, which has gameplay slightly similar to the Fire Emblem series. The Fire Emblem series first began with the release of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light for the Family Computer on April 20, 1990 and was developed by Intelligent Systems. Although it did not have a great amount of sales in the first two weeks, sales did eventually improve.

The second game in the series, Fire Emblem Gaiden, was released on March 14, 1992, also for the Family Computer. As its name suggests, it is a side story to the original, being set in the same universe but on a different continent. Some characters from Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light appear but the majority of the cast is new. It introduced several new gameplay changes, including a "Trainee" type class, use of a world map, and monster enemies. Most of these elements vanished with the release of Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, though many elements have made their way back in recent titles like Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Fire Emblem Awakening, and Fire Emblem Fates.

A direct sequel to the first game, Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, was released on the Super Famicom on January 21, 1994. The game is divided into two parts; colloquially known as books. Book 1 is an abridged retelling and remake of Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light. Book 2 is the meat of the game and a sequel to the original, featuring characters returning from the original as well as new cast additions. It returns to the original formula, but adds new features, like dismounting and new weapons. It also received major graphical updates, owing to releasing on the Super Famicom. Mystery of the Emblem is the best-selling Fire Emblem game in Japan.^[4]

The next game in the series, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, released on the Super Famicom on May 14, 1996. It featured mostly similar gameplay to its predecessors, but it mixes things up by featuring things like massive maps, inventory changes, and an entire second generation of characters descended from the first generation of characters. Child characters would, however, become absent until the feature's resurgence almost a decade later in Awakening. As of 2002, Genealogy of the Holy War was the second-best-selling Fire Emblem game, having sold an estimated 498,216 copies in its original Super Famicom print run.^[4] The official US English website for Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade alleges that Genealogy was the most successful Fire Emblem game in Japan,^[5] but it is uncertain how true this claim is in light of all other evidence pointing to Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem historically holding that title.

After Genealogy of the Holy War, Fire Emblem: Archanea Saga aired on the Satellaview peripheral on the Super Famicom, and featured four single-map scenarios taking place before the events of Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light. Overall it is a minor title of the series, and is often overlooked.

Closing the Super Famicom era is Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, which was one of the last games released on the Super Famicom, releasing on the Nintendo Power flash cartridge service on September 1st, 1999, and getting a proper physical release on January 21st, 2000. Thracia 776 takes place during the second generation of Genealogy of the Holy War, and focuses on events occurring in Thracia. The gameplay returns mostly to the style of Mystery of the Emblem, but adds new mechanics like capture, fog of war, and a comparative wealth of new chapter objectives. Thracia 776 is often considered by fans to be one of the more difficult, if not the most difficult, titles in the series. Thracia 776, unfortunately, holds the title of the worst-selling Fire Emblem title, presumably due to its late release and unusual distribution method; initially it could only be obtained by downloading it to a special Super Famicom cartridge through Nintendo Power.

Nintendo 64

While no Fire Emblem games ever released on the Nintendo 64, there was one title known to be in development. Unfortunately, very little of this game was released to the public, aside from the fact that it existed at all. Tentatively titled Fire Emblem 64, it did have some information about it released in The Making of Fire Emblem, a book released in late 2015, which revealed that this title was heavily retooled and would eventually become Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, which is mentioned below.

Game Boy Advance games

Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade was the first portable game and first game released after the departure of Shouzou Kaga. Releasing on the Game Boy Advance on March 29, 2002 it is what Fire Emblem 64 eventuated as. The Binding Blade features typical Fire Emblem gameplay, playing similarly to the Super Famicom titles, though mechanics like dismount and capture are not featured. The Binding Blade takes place in a different universe than previous titles, featuring the continent of Elibe. Of note, the game's main character, Roy appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee alongside Marth, and brought the series to somewhat widespread western attention. Despite this, The Binding Blade never released internationally, despite English Nintendo sources expressing interest in such a release.^[6]

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade was the first Fire Emblem game released worldwide.^[7] It is a prequel to The Binding Blade. The game's development had an international release in mind from the start, with the first ten chapters being an extended tutorial. This was specifically meant to introduce international players to the gameplay of the series. ^[8] While the original release lacked a subtitle, due to being the only internationally released Fire Emblem title at the time, modern English Nintendo sources refer to it as The Blazing Blade to avoid confusion with other titles and the series in general.

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones was released on October 7, 2004 in Japan and released internationally in 2005. It is the second title to be released internationally. The Sacred Stones is somewhat of a throwback to Gaiden in terms of gameplay; it reintroduces a traversable world map and features a wealth of monster enemies. It is a standalone title in terms of story and universe, the only Fire Emblem 'universe' to only have one game in its continuity. The Sacred Stones was developed in tandem with Path of Radiance.

A few years after the official release, three pre-release builds, two of The Blazing Blade and one of The Sacred Stones, were leaked on the internet. The two The Blazing Blade's builds, called fe7_0206 and fe7_0219, are largely complete and in a playable state, though there are some bugs. The leaked build of The Sacred Stones is largely incomplete, and is only truly playable to Chapter 8, though the backbone for the rest of the game—maps that would clearly become the ones appearing in the final game and basic setup like deployment positions for player units—is implemented, it is largely in a very unpolished state. Both prototypes feature a wealth of debug menus and features, allowing the player to, for example, warp to any chapter from a menu at leisure and max a unit's stats with a few button presses. These builds also feature some early character designs differing from the final game.

GameCube and Wii games

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance released on the Nintendo GameCube in Japan on April 20, 2005, with international releases following in the same year. It, once again, features a new universe and takes place on the continent of Tellius. In terms of characters it introduced a new major race of beast-people, the laguz.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn released on the Nintendo Wii in Japan on February 22, 2007, with international releases following in the year and 2008. It is a direct sequel to Path of Radiance.

There was a second Fire Emblem series game planned for the Nintendo Wii, however it did not make it very far into development. It was only known by the placeholder title Fire Emblem Wii, and appears that it would have been a fairly radical departure from Fire Emblem series gameplay had it released; featuring real-time gameplay and allowing the player to control many units at once.

Nintendo DS remakes

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon was released on August 7, 2008 in Japan and internationally later that year and in 2009. After the development team restructuring from the lackluster sales of Radiant Dawn, the new team decided to start with a remake of the original NES game, with elements from the Super Famicom remake also utilized, on Nintendo DS. It is a fairly straightforward remake, though it does feature some new chapters and cast additions compared to the original.

Closing the Nintendo DS-era is Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem released on July 15, 2010 only in Japan. It was made to celebrate the series twentieth anniversary, a remake of the second half of the third game of the series was released, though only in Japan. This was the first game since the series had hit worldwide shelves to be released exclusively in Japan. This game was the first game to introduce the Avatar system and Casual Mode to the series, though this is often overlooked due to the game's Japan-only release.

Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and smart device games

Fire Emblem Awakening was Fire Emblem's first foray into the Nintendo 3DS console, released on April 19, 2012 in Japan and 2013 internationally. It is the first non-remake title in the five years following Radiant Dawn. It takes place within the same universe as Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light and associated games, but a substantial time later. Unlike Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem, this game was released internationally. Much of the gameplay was simplified or made easier in order to appeal to a wider audience. Awakening reintroduces child characters and introduced the Avatar system and Casual Mode to a wider audience.

Marth, Ike, Robin, Lucina, Corrin, and Roy appear as playable fighters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Marth, Ike, Robin, and Lucina, appear in Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. as bonus characters unlocked by amiibo.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE is the first major spinoff title relating to the Fire Emblem series, and released 26 December, 2015 in Japan and internationally in the following year. The game was originally announced in 2013 as a crossover between the Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei game franchises, but vanished from the public eye after a single, very basic, teaser trailer. The crossover features primarily an original cast with some Fire Emblem characters appearing as Mirages as allies to the main cast and for boss and major antagonistic roles. The game has a music idol and acting theme, all the main characters are, aside from the protagonist Itsuki, major players in a music, television, or other related profession. The theming of the game and the fact that both Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem take a backseat to the game's universe led to mixed reception from both the Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem fanbases. The game's opening sales in Japan were fairly poor, selling 23,806 copies in its first week.^[9]

Fire Emblem Fates is the second game on the Nintendo 3DS, released on June 25, 2015 in Japan, and internationally in 2016. After the first five chapters, it splits into three separate storylines: Birthright, which is similar to Awakening in gameplay; Conquest, which is somewhat more like the previous Fire Emblem games; and Revelation, which also is similar to Awakening in terms of gameplay. Birthright and Conquest are sold separately, but the other game can be bought at a discount as DLC. Revelation is exclusively obtained through this method. Fates is also the first series title to be localized for the South Korean market, marking an expansion of influence for the series.

Fire Emblem Heroes, following the success of Awakening and Fates, released worldwide on smart devices on February 2nd, 2017. It features bite-sized gameplay and has characters from across the series. Initially its character selection focused on Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light/Mystery of the Emblem, Awakening, Fates, The Binding Blade, and The Blazing Blade, though its coverage has now extended to at least one character from every mainline game.

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia released on the Nintendo 3DS on April 20, 2017 in Japan and May 19, 2017. It is a remake of Gaiden, and the third remake overall. Similarly to Fates being the first South Korean-localized title, Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is the first Fire Emblem title to be localized for Dutch and Chinese markets. It is likely that Echoes: Shadows of Valentia will be the last main-line Fire Emblem series title released for the Nintendo 3DS.

Fire Emblem Warriors released on the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch on September 28, 2017 in Japan and worldwide October 20, 2017. Both versions of Warriors are nearly identical in terms of content. It is a spinoff title and crossover with Dynasty Warriors. The game's roster focuses on Awakening and Fates with an additional small selection of characters from Shadow Dragon.

Nintendo Switch games

Fire Emblem Warriors is the first Fire Emblem-related title to be released on the Nintendo Switch; the game is a crossover between the Fire Emblem and the Dynasty Warriors series, with the game featuring characters from Awakening, Fates and Shadow Dragon in the gameplay of the Dynasty Warriors series.

Marth, Ike, Lucina, Robin, Corrin, and Roy reprise their roles as playable fighters alongside a new fighter, Chrom, in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Byleth would later be added as a downloadable fighter.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses released worldwide on July 26, 2019 for the Nintendo Switch. Set on the new continent of Fódlan, Three Houses features an academy, where the player instructs their students between battles. The player chooses between one of the academy's three houses to lead, determining which roster of characters they will start with and how the story will proceed. An expansion pass was released for purchase alongside the game, granting access to four waves of DLC culminating in the final and largest wave, released on February 13, 2020, featuring the Cindered Shadows side story.

As celebration for the series's 30th anniversary, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light received an unprecedented limited-time English localization released on the Nintendo Switch on December 4, 2020. Also released was a limited physical edition with several bonuses such as an art book and a display-only replica NES cartridge. The game's availability window was December 4, 2020 to April 1, 2021 and is no longer available for purchase.

Fire Emblem Engage was released on the Nintendo Switch on January 20, 2023.

Games

Main series

Image	English language title	Original titles	Platform	Release date(s)	Notes
	Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light	暗黒竜と光の剣 Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Ken	Family Computer	JPApril 20, 1990[10] USDecember 4, 2020 EUDecember 4, 2020 AUS December 4, 2020	The tale of Marth, prince of Altea, and his struggles against the Dolhr empire and Medeus on the continent of Archanea.
	Gaiden	外伝 Gaiden	Family Computer	JP March 14, 1992[10]	A tale of the beginning of a new era on the continent of Valentia. Alm and Celica navigate the conflict between Rigel and Zofia as well as death of their gods Duma and Mila.
	Mystery of the Emblem	紋章の謎 Monshō no Nazo	Super Famicom	JPJanuary 21, 1994[10]	A game separated into two books. The first is an abbreviated retelling of the events in Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, and the second being a direct sequel covering Marth's struggle with a new era of unrest, clashing with his former friend Hardin and a newly-revived Medeus.
	Genealogy of the Holy War	聖戦の系譜 Seisen no Keifu	Super Famicom	JPMay 14, 1996[10]	A game that takes place long before Marth's time on the distant continent of Jugdral. The game features two protagonists over a much larger timescale than previously. Sigurd, and his son Seliph, become entwined in the machinations of the Loptr Church as the cult's influence spreads over the continent.
	Thracia 776	トラキア７７６ Torakia 776	Super Famicom	JPSeptember 1, 1999[10] (Nintendo Power)[11] JPJanuary 21, 2000 (ROM cartridge)[11]	A game focusing on a smaller section of Jugdral. The game takes place at the same time as Genealogy of the Holy War and takes a more detailed look on Leif's struggles in Thracia.
	The Binding Blade	封印の剣 Fūin no Tsurugi	Game Boy Advance	JPMarch 29, 2002[10]	The first Fire Emblem game released on a handheld console. The continent of Elibe has fallen into chaos after the Empire of Bern embarks on a war of conquest. Roy takes up arms to stop Bern and prevent the return of the banished dragons.
	The Blazing Blade	烈火の剣 Rekka no Ken	Game Boy Advance	JPApril 25, 2003[10] NANovember 3, 2003 AUSFebruary 20, 2004 EUJuly 16, 2004	The first game to leave Japan and be officially localized for the international market. A prequel to Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, featuring a trio of lords, Lyn, Eliwood and Hector in a previous conflict. Eliwood leaves home in search of his missing father who is suspected of rebellion. However, Eliwood and friends become involved in a much more dire conspiracy than he could have imagined.
	The Sacred Stones	聖魔の光石 Seima no Kōseki	Game Boy Advance	JPOctober 7, 2004[10] NAMay 23, 2005 EUNovember 4, 2005	A throwback to Gaiden, featuring branched promotions, monsters, and an explorable world map. Taking place in another standalone universe on the continent of Magvel, the twins Eirika and Ephraim are locked in bitter conflict with the formerly friendly empire of Grado. Discovering the true instigator of the conflict leads to the revelation of a much more disastrous foe behind it all.
	Path of Radiance	蒼炎の軌跡 Sōen no Kiseki	Nintendo GameCube	JPApril 20, 2005[10] NAOctober 10, 2005 EUNovember 11, 2005 AUSDecember 1, 2005	Chronicles Ike's rise from trainee mercenary to liberator of Crimea from the grips of Daein. Along the way Ike witnesses the strife between the polarized Beorc and Laguz races on Tellius.
	Radiant Dawn	暁の女神 Akatsuki no Megami	Wii	JPFebruary 22, 2007[10] USNovember 5, 2007 EUMarch 14, 2008 AUSApril 10, 2008	A sequel to Path of Radiance that features Micaiah and the return of Ike. Tellius hangs in even greater peril than before as the two protagonists are initially in conflict, influenced by the machinations of another party until it is almost too late.
	Shadow Dragon	新・暗黒竜と光の剣 Shin Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Ken	Nintendo DS	JPAugust 7, 2008[10] EUDecember 5, 2008 NAFebruary 16, 2009 AUSFebruary 26, 2009	A remake of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light.[12] A straightforward updated telling of Marth's story, featuring a prologue and a few new characters.
	New Mystery of the Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow	新・紋章の謎 〜光と影の英雄〜 Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū	Nintendo DS	JPJuly 15, 2010	A remake of Book 2 of Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem and the last title of the Fire Emblem series to not be localized outside of Japan. Compared to Shadow Dragon, this game modifies the plot of the original more heavily, introducing the knight Kris who serves Archanea and a faction of assassins aiming to end Marth's tale prematurely.
	Awakening	覚醒 Kakusei	Nintendo 3DS	JPApril 19, 2012 USFebruary 4, 2013[13] EUApril 19, 2013[14] AUSApril 20, 2013	A revisit of Archanea in the distant future. It features Chrom, a descendant of Marth, as he fights to protect his homeland from the neighboring country of Plegia. The conflict develops as the neighboring Valm attempts an invasion, and culminates with the resurrection of the Fell Dragon Grima.
	Fates	if	Nintendo 3DS	JPJune 25, 2015 USFebruary 19, 2016 EUMay 20, 2016 AUSMay 21, 2016 KORSeptember 8, 2016	A title with a heavy focus on multiple story routes, featuring Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation paths. The first game where the Avatar, Corrin, is the explicit main character. Corrin may choose between the peaceful kingdom of Hoshido, the warmongering kingdom of Nohr, or not take a side and uncover a hidden threat.
	Echoes: Shadows of Valentia	Echoes もうひとりの英雄王 Ekōzu Mō Hitori no Eiyū-ō	Nintendo 3DS	JPApril 20, 2017 USMay 19, 2017 EUMay 19, 2017 AUSMay 19, 2017	A remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, this game retells Alm's and Celica's adventure. Expands massively on story dialogue and characterization compared to the original sparsely written game.
	Three Houses	風花雪月 Fūkasetsugetsu	Nintendo Switch	WWJuly 26, 2019	Features a splitting story similar to Fates. The player avatar Byleth leads one of three classes in the Officer's Academy of Fódlan, and must pick a side in the upcoming conflict.
	Engage	エンゲージ Engēji	Nintendo Switch	WWJanuary 20, 2023	Returns to the single storyline format that was last seen in Awakening. The main character, Alear, is an amnesiac Divine Dragon seemingly tasked with protecting the continent of Elyos by summoning heroes from other worlds with artifacts known as Emblem Rings.

Spin-offs

Image	English language title	Original titles	Platform	Release date(s)	Notes
	Fire Emblem: Archanea Saga	ＢＳ ファイアーエムブレム アカネイア戦記編 BS Faiā Emuburemu Akaneia Senki-hen	Super Famicom	JPSeptember 28, 1997	A small set of backstory scenarios for Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light and Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, featuring characters like Nyna and Camus. It is occasionally included as a main-line series title by Intelligent Systems though this is inconsistent. It was remade as a bonus set of maps appearing in Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem.
	Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE	幻影異聞録♯ＦＥ Gen'ei Ibunroku Shāpu Efu Ī	Wii U, Nintendo Switch	JPDecember 26, 2015 USJune 24, 2016 EUJune 24, 2016 AUSJune 25, 2016	A role-playing game made by Atlus for the Wii U featuring Itsuki's suddenly supernatural experiences in the idol industry in modern-day Japan. It was originally presented as a crossover between the Shin Megami Tensei series and Fire Emblem, though it ended up featuring more original elements with Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei references and influences instead. It was later re-released for the Nintendo Switch in all regions on January 17, 2020.
	Fire Emblem Heroes	ファイアーエムブレム ヒーローズ Faiā Emuburemu Hīrōzu	iOS Android	WWFebruary 2, 2017	A mobile app game featuring characters from across the series. Focuses on Summoning, a mechanic that allows the player to pull characters from across the series and alternate universes to add to their party. The primary conflict is between the kingdoms of Askr and Embla, though numerous other antagonists have appeared over time.
	Fire Emblem Warriors	ファイアーエムブレム 無双 Faiā Emuburemu Musō	Nintendo Switch, New Nintendo 3DS	JPSeptember 28, 2017 USOctober 20, 2017 EUOctober 20, 2017 AUSOctober 20, 2017	An action game derived from Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors series developed by Intelligent Systems, Omega Force, and Team Ninja. The game's roster focuses on Awakening and Fates with an additional small selection of characters from Shadow Dragon. Features the kingdom of Aytolis and its heirs Rowan and Lianna who work with heroes from other worlds to combat the Chaos Dragon Velezark.
	Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes	ファイアーエムブレム 無双 風花雪月 Faiā Emuburemu Musō: Fūkasetsugetsu	Nintendo Switch	WWJune 24, 2022	A sequel to Warriors featuring a story set in Fódlan and characters from Three Houses. It details a slightly alternate series of events where Byleth never came to work at the monastery, instead following the mercenary Shez.

Unreleased/other Games

Fire Emblem 64

Main article: Fire Emblem 64

As mentioned in the series history, a game in development for the Nintendo 64 existed for a time, but it never eventuated into a full release on the Nintendo 64. For many years fans speculated what this game may have eventually become, with Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, the game released immediately after Fire Emblem 64's cancellation, and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, the first 3D game, being popular theories. Developer notes eventually revealed that the game was heavily rewritten into The Binding Blade, though little of Fire Emblem 64's content is said to have made it through the rewrite.

Fire Emblem Wii

Main article: Fire Emblem Wii

A second title for the Wii was in development after Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, but never eventuated into a full release. It was an experimental title made with expanding Fire Emblem's popularity in mind. It did not get very far out of the concept stages and known screenshots feature heavy reuse of Radiant Dawn's graphical assets.

Pre-release builds

Main articles: Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade pre-release build 0206, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade pre-release build 0219, and Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones pre-release build

Three pre-release builds leaked and were released on the internet some time in 2008. The exact details of their acquisition and release have somewhat been lost to time. All three builds contain interesting insight into the development of the games during the Game Boy Advance era.

Gameplay

Battle

The Fire Emblem games are in the tactical role-playing game genre and they were one of the first of its time to involve such gameplay. A battle in most Fire Emblem games takes place in a grid-based map, with the player taking a set amount of units to battle against enemy units. Some games feature other alignments to units, such as ally or partner units. Each unit has several different stats that determine their prowess in battle. For example, the HP stat determines how much damage that they can take before falling in battle, while the strength stat determines how much damage the unit can deal. Each unit has a specific class which dictates their role and abilities in combat. For instance, a Fighter has high strength but low speed, while a Cleric typically cannot attack but can contribute in battle by healing others.

On the map, the player can select their own units to perform actions, as well as moving across the map by a set amount determined by their move stat. Units can perform various different actions as dictated by their class. To give an example, classes that can fight can choose the Attack command on an enemy unit to enter a proper round of combat. A unit can also gain experience for performing said actions; Gaining enough experience yields a level up, earning the unit a permanent increase in their stats. All units can use any item that they have in their inventory, providing self-healing or boosts to the unit's stats. A unit can typically only perform 1 action per turn; Once all the units from an alignment have exhausted their actions in that turn, the units from another alignment will perform their actions in a repeating cycle.

During a round of combat, 2 or more units fight in an automated fashion. The combat forecast that displays before a round shows all information about the round should the player choose to initiate it, such as the weapons, health, attack power and defense of the combatants. Once the combatants have performed all the actions as governed by the forecast, the round of combat ends regardless of the outcome, with all changes such as deaths and damage dealt retaining after the round.

Units can be gained through a process named recruitment. The scenarios for recruiting units can vary wildly; Some join automatically such as Ogma in Shadow Dragon, while some require complex criteria to be met such as Xavier in Thracia 776. The list of playable characters in each game can vary wildly, but is usually in the several dozens to accommodate for the permanent death mechanic.

Weapons and equipment

Units are able to use a variety of different weapons and other items both during and out of combat. Weapons are able to be split into 2 different classifcations: Physical weapons and magical weapons. Physical weapons typically target an opponent's defense, while magical weapons typically target an opponent's resistance. These 2 weapon categories themselves have further weapon types that can have different properties.

4 types of physical weapons have historically appeared in every single game in the series: swords, axes, lances and bows. Most swords, axes and lances can only attack when adjacent to an opponent, while bows can instead attack at range but have the downside of not being able to attack adjacent enemies. More weapon types have appeared in certain games, such as gauntlets, daggers and strike weapons.

A mechanic that debuted in Genealogy of the Holy War is the weapon triangle, a "rock-paper-scissors"-type hierarchy that makes certain weapon types more effective against one and less effective against another. The weapon triangle has historically been that swords beat axes but are weak to lances, axes beat lances but are weak to swords, and lances beat swords but are weak to axes. Since Genealogy of the Holy War, the weapon triangle has appeared in every single game, with the exception of Echoes: Shadows of Valentia and Three Houses.

The nature of magic weapons have varied from game to game, with there being 2 major versions of the system. The most common version is that magic is used via tomes that are accessible just like any other physical weapon. In some games that use this system, such as Awakening, magic is a single weapon type. In some other titles like Radiant Dawn, there are several sub-types of magic weapons, which all relate to each other via a variation of weapon triangle known as the trinity of magic. In the other version of the magic system, which appears in Gaiden, Echoes: Shadows of Valentia and Three Houses, magic is a skill that is manually learned by units, with the unit learning more powerful magic as they become more experienced in using magic.

Supports and marriage

A series staple that has appeared in every game (save for one) since its introduction in Mystery of the Emblem, the support mechanic serves to both add an additional layer of depth to gameplay and to flesh out the characters of the playable units: when a unit is positioned on the map near another unit that they are affiliated with (such as being family or friends), the unit will receive bonuses to their stats when in combat, thus encouraging positioning these units close to each other. The original incarnation of the support system introduced in Mystery of the Emblem has pre-determined lists of supports for each character, and supports can be one-sided.

In the second incarnation of the system, introduced in The Binding Blade, supports are two-sided, and most characters start off with no supports; the units must manually unlock them by fighting alongside the character(s) they are compatible with. Supports are ranked, and the unlocking of a support rank is also accompanied by a conversation between the two supporting units, further fleshing out the characters in question.

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, the only game released after Mystery of the Emblem to not have any version of the support mechanic, instead features the love system, which functions similarly to the second incarnation of the support system; when a unit fights with another unit of the opposite gender, the relationship between the two will deepen, potentially unlocking extra events and cutscenes involving them and eventually culminating in the marriage between the two characters. The marriages between Genealogy of the Holy War's playable characters are crucial due to the game's two-generation structure; the parents are playable in the first half of the game, while their offspring will become playable in the game's latter half. To date, the concept of the offspring of paired characters being playable units has returned in two games: Awakening and Fates, which integrate it into the support system.

Out of battle

Though the first game, Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, had a relatively linear structure of directly transitioning from one chapter to another until the end of the game with the only thing between each chapter being the battle preparations, the concept of mechanics only tangentially related to Fire Emblem's core tactical gameplay was already present in Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light's successor Gaiden with its traversable world map and explorable dungeons. Since then, many Fire Emblem instalments have introduced their own unique mechanics either as a core part of their gameplay or simply to serve as a breather from the ordinary Fire Emblem gameplay.

Traversable world maps return in The Sacred Stones and Awakening, though with less explorable locations than in Gaiden. Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn have the base; essentially a menu to manage the player's unit inventories, skills and bonus experience, as well as view base conversations and, in Radiant Dawn, records of the player's progress and a glossary of concepts featured in the game.

Fire Emblem Fates prominently features My Castle, an out-of-battle management system. Unlike the base of the Tellius games, My Castle is fully explorable and much more expansive, allowing the player to freely interact with their recruited units and customize their base by constructing various facilities, with some having major gameplay utility like the armory while some are strictly for recreational purposes such as the Hot Spring. Three Houses and Engage similarly have home bases to interact with units and partake in activities with Garreg Mach Monastery and the Somniel, respectively.

Related merchandise

Trading card games

Main articles: Fire Emblem Trading Card Game and Fire Emblem Cipher

During the early 2000s a trading card game featuring characters from Mystery of the Emblem, Genealogy of the Holy War, and Thracia 776 was in print. Its production ran from 2001 to 2004. Its cards featured a large variety of topics, having character cards, weapon cards, item cards and terrain cards. Aside from providing a fair amount of artwork for many characters and items it is a somewhat overlooked facet of the Fire Emblem series. The exact rules and play of the original trading card game never really made their way into the English side of Fire Emblem knowledge.

The first set of an unrelated trading card game, titled Fire Emblem Cipher, released in 2015 in order to coincide with the release of Fates and released its twenty-second and last set in 2020. Unlike the previous series, Cipher features characters from a wide range in the series, with all cards being character cards, with item and terrain cards not existing.

Books and Manga

Main articles: Category:Books and Category:Manga

Throughout the series' lifespan numerous books, such as novels, art books and manga, have been released. The first six games in the series have received at least one manga adaptation each, while the first eight games have received a novel adaptation; none of these have been officially released in English, though some have been translated by fans.

Many art books have been released over the years; recent books have begun including fairly extensive amounts of concept art compared to older books that generally only contained finished character pieces. Just about every playable character in the series has at least one piece of official artwork. The vast majority of series art books have been released only in Japanese, though The Art of Fire Emblem Awakening has an English print.

Anime

Main article: Fire Emblem (anime)

Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem received a short-lived anime adaptation of the same name that released in 1996. It was dubbed and released in English (renamed as simply Fire Emblem), making it the first Fire Emblem-related media to ever be localized in English and some other languages. However, its translation choices have never been used in any games released officially in English. Only two episodes were ever released, and it begins in Book 1 of Mystery of the Emblem, featuring Marth's escape to Talys, meaning it is technically an adaptation of Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light.

Aside from this, the Fire Emblem series has no other anime adaptations.

Logos throughout the series

Pre-Awakening logos used a very "heavy" looking font, and often making the letters appear to be made of physical materials like metal or rock. The logos also often featured a strong border. The general logos went under a somewhat slight redesign with Path of Radiance, becoming flatter.

Japanese logos prominently feature "ファイアーエムブレム" as the primary aspect of the logo, though it is often accompanied by "FIRE EMBLEM" written in a small size near the Katakana. The logos of Thracia 776, Path of Radiance, and games from Echoes: Shadows of Valentia onward are exceptions to this, as they feature "FIRE EMBLEM" in English as the primary logo.

Often, each game's logo is featured over important artifacts of the game in question, for instance, The Binding Blade's logo features the titular Binding Blade behind it, though sometimes the logos are used in marketing materials without these items, presumably to reduce clutter. Interestingly, Awakening's Japanese logo features an entire paragraph written under it, summarizing the story of the game, though this text is often too small to read and omitted.

Over the years, the primary colors of the logos have changed, initially, blue seemed to have been the feature color; with Genealogy of the Holy War and afterwards, the logo colors were generally warm colors like red, yellow, or orange.

In Mystery of the Emblem, the typeface was changed to one with serifs, although the typeface is similar.

With Awakening, the general style of the series logo underwent a redesign, now resembling a more simple and flat font. According to interviews, the logo was changed to fit the name of Awakening and to "be more stylish".^[15] Additionally, logos of games from Awakening onward come in several colors in promotional materials so they can display on many backgrounds.

Starting with Heroes in Japan, the Japanese logo was slowly being phased out instead for the current English one with small Japanese text added, with Warriors being the last game in the franchise overall to use it. However, Cipher still used the full Japanese logo until it was discontinued in 2020.

General English logos

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  The series logo in The Blazing Blade and The Sacred Stones.

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  The series logo in Path of Radiance. Radiant Dawn uses a variation of this logo.

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  The series logo in Shadow Dragon.

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  The series logo as of Awakening. In Japan, this logo has been used since Heroes, albeit with small Japanese text added.

General Japanese logos

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  The series logo used in the first two installments.

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  The common series logo used from Mystery of the Emblem to New Mystery of the Emblem, excluding Radiant Dawn.

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  The series logo from Awakening to Warriors.

Logo Gallery

Japanese

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  Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light's logo.

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  Gaiden's logo.

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  Mystery of the Emblem's logo.

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  Genealogy of the Holy War's logo.

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  Thracia 776's logo.

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  The Binding Blade's logo.

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  The Blazing Blade's logo.

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  The Sacred Stones's logo.

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  Path of Radiance's logo.

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  Radiant Dawn's logo.

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  Shadow Dragon's logo.

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  New Mystery of the Emblem's logo.

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  Awakening's logo.

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  Fates's general logo.

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  Echoes: Shadows of Valentia's logo.

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  Three Houses's logo.

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  Engage's logo.

English

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  The Blazing Blade's logo.

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  The Sacred Stones's logo.

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  Path of Radiance's logo.

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  Radiant Dawn's logo.

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  Shadow Dragon's logo.

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  Awakening's logo, as used in North America.

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  Awakening's logo, as used in the PAL region.

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  Fates's general logo.

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  Fates: Birthright's logo.

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  Fates: Conquest's logo.

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  Fates: Revelation's logo.

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  Echoes: Shadows of Valentia's logo.

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  Three Houses's logo.

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  Engage's logo.

Trivia

• Fans of the Fire Emblem series are referred to as "Emblemiers".^[16]

References

Fire Emblem series

Main series Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light • Gaiden • Mystery of the Emblem • Genealogy of the Holy War • Thracia 776 • The Binding Blade • The Blazing Blade • The Sacred Stones • Path of Radiance • Radiant Dawn • Shadow Dragon • New Mystery of the Emblem • Awakening • Fates • Echoes: Shadows of Valentia • Three Houses • Engage Spin-offs Archanea Saga • Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE • Heroes • Warriors • Warriors: Three Hopes Crossover games Super Smash Bros. (Melee • Brawl • for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U • Ultimate) • Club Nintendo Picross+ • Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. • Project X Zone 2 • WarioWare • Dragalia Lost Unreleased games and prototypes Fire Emblem 64 • The Blazing Blade pre-release build 0206 • The Blazing Blade pre-release build 0219 • The Sacred Stones prototype • Fire Emblem Wii TearRing Saga series Yutona Heroes War Chronicles • Berwick Saga Vestaria Saga series War of the Scions • The Sacred Sword of Silvanister • Lucca Gaiden • Chronicles of the Norden Civil War Related titles Mario Kart: Double Dash!! bonus disc • LINE • Nintendo Badge Arcade Versions and releases List of version differences • Localization of the Fire Emblem series • Virtual Console Other References in other media • References to other media