Historical Lore 9 / 10
So if you take a look at the timeline that I just linked you’ll know that Jugdral’s lore is extensive. There is so much that goes on before the events of the game even happen. We get two different kingdoms that rise and fall and a detailed “Holy War” that happens between the 12 Crusaders and the Loptyr Empire. The Crusaders win and go on to form the world. What’s even better is that Jugdral’s lore is woven into the events of the game. The Crusader lineage makes its way via the Holy Blood system, which helps to establish why someone can use a particular weapon while others cannot. Crusader lineage is also something that’s evident in the way that the characters speak and think.
Jugdral also shares an interesting connection with Archanea. Loptyr the dragon originated in Archanea. Bishop Galle makes a pact with them and then traveled back to Jugdral to set up an empire. Naga also exists in this world like she (he? What is Naga’s gender again?) did in Archanea. That’s how Maira eventually defeated Emperor Galle, Maira makes a pact with Naga who then goes on to defeat Emperor Galle the 17th. Also the dragons who provide the Jugdral Regalia (like Forseti and Salamand) are also Archanean divine dragons. So some of the major events in Jugdral’s lore originated with Archanea.
We get some dark events in Jugdral’s lore like ‘The Great Purge’ and ‘The Massacre of Edda’ which help to establish the dark tones present in the Jugdral games. It also takes a while before the Loptyr Empire gets destroyed. First Maira tries to convince his brother of the error of his ways, but that didn’t work. We get rebellions around the world, but they don’t necessarily work either. It takes a miracle before the good guys succeed.
This makes up the Jugdral lore and it’s head and shoulders above what most other continents produce. If you’re wondering why Jugdral’s only getting a 9 / 10 instead of a perfect score or a 9.5 it’s because there are two other timelines that are even better developed with either longer periods of history or in one case a creation myth. All that being said Jugdral’s lore is still pretty great.
Politics 10 / 10
It was a close call between Jugdral and Tellius to see who had the best politics but I think Jugdral gets the edge here. The first generation of Holy War is the textbook standard for how to do this properly. We get complex political situations, lots of upheavals and some huge betrayals. Lots of people in Jugdral get stabbed in the back and it is incredible! While all of this is solid gold, it’s only just one half of the game. The politics in the second generation for the most part are pretty standard “good guy underdogs steamroll the Evil Empire”. To be fair there are a few gems in the Second Generation like the balance of power between the Liberation Army, the Grandbell Empire and Thracia in addition to the power struggles of the Thracian royal family but they seem to be the exception rather than the rule.
Then we have Thracia 776 who seems to be somewhere in between the two generations in terms of the quality of its politics. It’s not quite at the level of the first generation in terms of complex political stuff but at the same time it feels like its a lot more nuanced than the events of the second generation that come after it. Since a lot of people haven’t played Thracia so I won’t go into any more details. That being said if you haven’t played Thracia 776 already you should do yourself a favor and play it. It’s awesome.
No other continent’s politics at their best match the dark and dirty heights of the first generation of Holy War which gives it an advantage. Thracia 776 has enough political stuff going on to keep Jugdral consistent enough to where I feel justified giving Jugdral first place in the political category.
Family Tree / Relationships 10 / 10
Jugdral wins so hard in this category it’s not even funny. This continent easily has the most fleshed out family tree ever, which you can see if you click on the link. Almost every Holy Blood has a family that consists of 3 generations of characters. To do this once or twice is impressive enough but this is considered the norm in Jugdral. Heck the Naga bloodline has 4 generations! As if that weren’t enough the family tree starts to get a bit complicated. There are a lot of cousins and half-siblings which can be difficult to keep track of if you’re not paying attention. Incest is a thing over here too. However, unlike other games it’s actually a crucial plot point so it’s not something one can easily try to censor out or ignore. It’s also the norm for most parents to have 2 kids. Sometimes they have more, but 2 is the standard. Depending on what choices the player makes in terms of pairing up certain units together they can basically make the family tree even weirder and more complex. Also, there’s a minor character who was conceived via rape. I can’t think of any other Fire Emblem game that does that.
One major pattern that I noticed a long time ago is that almost all of the major bad guys in Holy War are biologically related to at least 1 or 2 members of the cast. If they’re not biologically related there’s at least a pretty darn strong connection between them and the good guys. Family drama is the name of the game (see what I did there?) in Jugdral, especially in the second generation.
Nation Development 5.5 points
I’m actually disappointed in Jugdral’s nation development. While Thracia and the Manster District get a lot of development concerning their political tensions between each other and their geographies they seem to be the exception rather than the rule. Granted, Thracia and the Manster District get better development than several continents ever get but it still reeks of inconsistency on Jugdral’s part. Grannvale doesn’t get much development, neither does Verdane nor Augustria. Almost every nation has the exact same explanation for their foundation which hurts Jugdral in this category.
Also, why does Miletos exist? It has zero relevance to the plot and the plot barely bothers to give any details or explanation of it. It’s the only nation that wasn’t founded by a crusader and in the opening narration of Chapter 10 tells us that is was an “independent region which had built up a sizable fortune through trade”. By the time that we visit this country it’s already a ghost town since most of its children have been sacrificed to Loptyr. It would have been nice to get some more details and explanation for what Jugdral was like before this but we’re never told.
Jugdral exchanges notable geographic locations for several sets of castles which don’t have many distinguishing features. I guess this is what happens when you go for the set up that Holy War went for. Thracia 776 does a better job giving the Manster District and Thracia notable landmarks, but it only affects two nations as opposed to the rest of the continent.
Geography 6.5 / 10
Holy War is infamous for its gigantic maps. What most people don’t realize is that these giant maps can be fit together to provide a sense of size and scale. Geography is central to the conflict with the Manster District and Jugdral. The Manster District has fertile while Thracia can’t seem to grow anything. It’s not everyday where you see land being the central core of a conflict between countries in Fire Emblem. Most other countries have some kind of distinctive terrain to them:
- Verdane: Has a huge forest and a large lake. I imagine that it might have beaches too since its borders touch the sea.
- Agustria: Southern Agustria has a mountainous area off to the southeast by Nordion with some villages being in the middle of a forest. Northern Agustria has a bridge connecting two land masses and a coast.
- Silesse: Only country in Jugdral to have snow. Mountains also exist.
- The Yied Desert: I wonder what a desert has to do with geography. Hm….
Grannvale. Miletos and Issach are underdeveloped in terms of distinct geography. Not to say that they don’t have any but it tends to be mostly plains. I guess you could say that Grannvale’s got a river in its southwestern corner and a bridge, but that’s nothing too special. Still, I think Jugdral does slightly okay-ish in this category. Not as bad as I originally thought but nowhere near as good as some other continents.
Magic Critters 1 / 10
Jugdral is easily the worst in this category. The only magic critters that are shown in the games (meaning that the dragons who give the Crusaders their regalia don’t count) are the Deadlords and we briefly see Loptyr as a dragon after Julius is defeated. Yeah, that’s pretty close to nonexistent.
BONUS CATEGORIES
- Connections to Other Worlds + 2 points
As I mentioned in my historical lore section significant parts of Jugdral’s lore are dependant upon the existence of Archanea. That means that Jugdral and Archanea exist in the same planet as each other. It also means that Valentia and Jugdral exist in the same planet as well.
- Women Rulers + 2.5 points
The main reason why I emphasize that female rulers here have to do something plot relevant is because if I don’t then Jugdral would crush everyone else since virtually every female character here has one royal title or another. So the female rulers who do something here are:
- Eyvale: Leads the Fiana Militia in the first few chapters of the game.
- Altenna: Leads troops in both Holy War and in Thracia 776.
- Ishtar: Leads the Weissen Ritter at the end of Holy War.
- Rahna (Levin’s mom): Sole ruler of Silesse.
- Mahnya, Misha, Deet’var & Pamela (I’m not using Mahnya’s really stupid translated name): Mahnya is the captain of Rahna’s Pegasus Knight army. Pamela is shown leading troops in battle. Misha is said to be a general in Silesse’s army. Deet’var commands Pegasus Knight troops of Maios.
- Hilda: Ruler of Miletos, whatever that’s worth. Is shown leading troops in the final chapter of Holy War.
Jugdral is pretty decent in this category. It has female leaders here and there. Not the best, but also not the worst.
- Giant Maps = Large Scale Battles + 3 points
As I stated in my Holy War review the giant maps give a feeling that one is in a full scale war. The map sizes help the player to feel like you’re fighting actual armies in actual battles. This is something that initially drew me to Holy War when I first played it and it still has that effect on me now.
- Non Monarchies or Empires + 1 point
The Manster District’s structure has always fascinated me. It’s comprised of multiple kingdoms that ally with each other in order to fight off Thracia. It’s not referred to as “The Manster Kingdom”. It’s simply referred to as “The Manster District”. Fire Emblem wiki calls it a “coalition” of kingdoms so it’s like a kingdom but not a kingdom. The closest thing I can think of is The Holy Roman Empire (and even that’s totally different). So yeah, I think Manster’s unique structure is enough to warrant Jugdral 1 point in its favor.
OVERALL SCORE: 50.5 / 60. So Jugdral clearly has some amazing things going for it. The politics and family tree are amazing and its lore is one of the best. The biggest problem though is that it also doesn’t do so well on other categories. The geography isn’t as developed as it should be, the nation development is lackluster and it’s literally in last place for it’s lack of magical creatures. Jugdral gets more right than wrong and its strengths are incredible but I personally find Archanea and Tellius to be more consistent in their worldbuilding. The competition in the Top 3 between each other is INTENSE.
Verdane also wasn't crusader founded, though I agree both it and Miletos are underdeveloped.
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