Fire Emblem 4 - Genealogy of the Holy War Part 4 - The Playable Characters

 
                         The Playable Characters: So the villains are impressive, but what about the heroes? For a game that came before the invention of support conversations this game does a good job of getting its characterization across with what few lines of dialogue there are. I’d be lying if I said that this game didn’t suffer from not having support conversations, but what fascinates me is that even without them these characters still come across as more memorable and better characterized than other games that do have supports. 

                              Take Fin for instance. Fin is an example of how to do a loyal knight character properly. Honorable loyal knight characters bore me because it feels like they’re all cut out of the same cloth. They never really get to have their loyalty tested so it feels easy for them to say that they’re “loyal, honorable and willing to sacrifice for their lord. Blah, blah, blah, blah.” Fin, however, gets put to the test. He has to raise Leif and Nanna while also being on the run from the Empire. It would have been so easy for Fin to simply hand over Leif and watch him get skewered by Thracia or Grandbell. It’s also been said (at least in Thracia 776) that Fin often went hungry just so Leif could have something to eat. Fin gets major props from me for being able to survive Jugdral. Freaking Jugdral. He got to live long enough to see Manster united with Thracia and to see Leif become the king. Without Fin, Leif wouldn’t have been able to survive. If you haven’t seen it yet I highly encourage you to watch Mangs’ character spotlight of Fin. It’s well done:

                            Then we have Leif. Leif is awesome. He grows up as a fugitive on the run from the Grandbell Empire. In Thracia 776 Leif has to lead a ragtag army of villagers, thieves along with a few nobles and knights in the hopes of defeating Thracia and the Grandbell Empire. Here are a few quotes about him:

                      

                             “Leif is probably one of the more memorable characters in the Fire Emblem franchise, for a few reasons. He's one of the few characters to play a significant, plot-important and leading or quasi-leading role in two separate FE games. He certainly has one of the more unique experiences of FE lords as the main character of FE5, and occupies the unique place of being a vitally important mainline unit who is not of Major Holy Blood in FE4.

                               Holy s***, it's motherf-ing Leif! Leif is the best character in the series, and that is an absolute fact. Dude was so perfect they said "damn, we better give this guy his own game!"...

                          He is, however, one of the best developed characters in the series. Because he does two things that most units don't do: he makes mistakes and he learns from them. His blunder towards the end is the biggest mistake any FE lord makes except maybe Eirika. But Leif redeems himself, and becomes a better leader afterwards. For that alone, he is a very well written unit.” (Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/3aljgq/character_discussion_fe45_leif/)

                                Also here’s another cool video I stumbled across about Leif that I think you’d all like:

                                 Another cool character is Ayra, aka the original swordmaster waifu. In addition to being hot Ayra’s got a cool character to boot. She was charged with taking care of Shannan while her older half-brother Marricle had to lead Issach on a suicidal mission against Grandbell. She had to fight alongside Kinbois in order to keep Shannan alive. She was so ferocious that even he was scared of her. It’s also interesting to note that Ayra’s so good that she can’t be held back by a bad mate. Even when I did my crack pairings run Larcei still turned out to be great.

                                Then there’s Levin. Levin, in my opinion, is the best example of the Jeorge archetype, aka the secret nobleman who acts like a carefree bard. Levin originally ran away in order to keep his uncles from going after the throne (weird logic I know, but they didn’t start making a move until after he returned to Silesse). When that didn’t work Levin and Sigurd cleaned house and Levin finally decided to become a responsible ruler. Then the Massacre at Barhara happened and Levin was killed by Manfroy somehow (as shown in the opening of Holy War). The Holsety tome, however, is so cool that it brought him back to life, albeit with a significantly different personality. From there Levin served as Seliph’s tactician throughout the second generation and helped Seliph overthrow the Grandbell Empire. 

                             

                Then there’s Shannan. Shannan starts out as a little kid who’s first words involve encouraging Ayra to beat the crap out of Kinbois. You know you’ve got a genuine badboy on your hands when those are his first words. He then is given the responsibility of watching over Diadora in Chapter 3. He fails and feels like utter crap doing so. The Fire Emblem 4 manga makes this even more tragic. In the manga he tries to defend Diadora from Manfroy only to have Manfroy mop the floor with him. Diadora has to save his life and it’s when she does that she lowers her guard down just long enough for Manfroy to brainwash her. Ouch. That must really suck. Shannan has to carry that guilt with him for the rest of his life.

                                  Eventually this little tyke ends up growing up into being one of the greatest swordmasters in Fire Emblem history. He leads the rebellion in the second generation (well he starts it anyway and then Seliph takes over because Seliph’s the main character) and helps Seliph and co. wreck the Grandbell Empire. Iirc Shannan eventually spills the beans to Seliph about his failure to save Diadora during the final chapter of Holy War. Eventually Shannan takes his place as King of Isaach. It’s so cool seeing a little kid grow up into being one heck of an overpowered bad boy. Shannan is awesome. 

 

                          Overall Summation:  I could continue, but you all get the point by now. The playable cast in Holy War is amazing, and they too help make this game the memorable epic that it is. If I forgot to talk about a character that you like in Holy War feel free to bring them up.

 P.S.

                   Oh and before I forget here’s an awesome quote: “House Baldo = House Stark”