History DeconstructedCharacterArchetype / FireEmblem

** Arden, an Armor Knight in service to Sigurd, deconstructs the MightyGlacier. A lot of his characterization stems from the fact that he's a heavy infantry unit in a game whose design strongly favors cavalry, and his slowness means he can't get to the front lines in time to do anything important and is thus always stuck on castle defense duty. It's [[DeconReconSwitch reconstructed]] in ''Heroes'' where the battles take place in much closer quarters that play to his strengths a lot better, and he notes in a piece of dialogue that he does a lot better in the Order of Heroes than he normally does.

** Rhea takes several cues from the Nyna archetype, being the BigGood in Part 1, as well as motherly TheHighQueen figures like [[Characters/FireEmblemFatesHoshidoRoyalFamily Mikoto]], being the Archbishop of the Church of Seiros who acts gentle and kind towards Byleth. Unlike a Nyna who finds themselves undermined or even betrayed by those who see them as weak, however, Rhea is willing to resort to violence or ruthless actions towards her foes and keeps numerous secrets, showing how those types would [[ToughLeaderFacade need to act to maintain their authority and keep the peace]]. Her willingness to engage in such ruthless actions can unnerve those around her, [[spoilers:and after Edelgard reveals herself as the Flame Emperor, Byleth and numerous students can turn against Rhea when she calls for Edelgard's execution. This will lead to Rhea going further off the deep end, culminating in her burning an allied city to the ground in hopes of deterring/damaging Edelgard's army during their final clash]]. [[spoiler:Even outside of Crimson Flower, Rhea's ruthless streak still finds itself criticized, and if she survives the game, Rhea will [[AbdicateTheThrone always step down from her role as archbishop]] in place of Byleth, admitting that she felt herself unfit to lead, and forcing herself to do so caused more problems than not]].

** Rhea is an example of TheHighQueen archetype, as seen in [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Emmeryn]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Mikoto]], gone horribly wrong. She checks off all the boxes at first blush, being a beautiful woman and beloved leader of Fodlan's dominant religion. As the story progresses in Part I, however, it becomes increasingly apparent that she is also very dogmatic: she is kind and gentle to her followers, but harsh and merciless to any who oppose her. [[spoiler:Come Edelgard's coup, she starts to become downright bloodthirsty. And if the player chooses to side with Edelgard, she becomes a full-on GeneralRipper singlemindedly dedicated to killing Edelgard and Byleth, and damn anyone or anything who stands in her way. There's also the fact that she is Saint Seiros herself: a daughter of Sothis, the selfsame deity of the church she founded and leads, so she is far from impartial. Her dedication to trying to resurrect Sothis also leads to questionable experiments, such as implanting the Crest of Flames into Byleth shortly after their birth.]]

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'': Elincia deconstructs the idea of a [[HiddenBackupPrince Hidden Backup Princess]]. In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', she became a rallying point for the people of Crimea when all seems lost for the ruling family, and in the end, she became queen when the war ended. In ''Radiant Dawn'' though, the fact she was basically raised in isolation means she isn't quite ready to lead her country, and many people see her as a poor ruler on account of her not initially knowing what to do. Worse, her legitimacy is called into question because she was hidden away and suddenly appeared, with the only people vouching for her seeming shady (despite being good people) and it seeming like she is a mere puppet for them. While those who fought with her in the war believe and support her unquestionably, the common person and many of the influence people in the nation have no faith in her. The result is a minor noble leads a nearly successful revolt against her by merely calling her legitimacy into question, and showing enough leadership skills to seem more qualified to the position. It isn't until Elincia actually proves herself in fighting back the revolt that people come to think she isn't as weak as she seemed, and she only truly settles the issue when her uncle, the rightful heir, recovers from being BrainwashedAndCrazy to abdicate and confirm her position.

** Sylvain is this for TheCasanova. While he acts like one, and is shown to be fairly popular for it, he only does so because he feels [[StalkerWithATestTube most girls are more interested in his Crest than the man himself]], which is something he has had to deal with at times due to his position in life. This makes him bitter towards the girls he is wooing and he is unable to form proper romances with women, leading him to often sabotage his relationships because to him, if they are only interested in him because of his Crest, he might as well only be interested in them for shallow reasons. Some of his supports have him open up about how he understands it can be hurtful to the women who truly do want to form a connection with him, but to Sylvain, he doesn't want to take the chance, and finds it easier to break their hearts to avoid feeling used. What romantic supports he does have almost always involve him breaking out of TheCasanova and showing his HiddenDepths, and realizing he can form real connections if he lets people. Notably, [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration most of his supports with women stop at B rank]], and the only three he can actually have a RelationshipUpgrade with are his ChildhoodFriend Ingrid, Dorothea, whose struggles are mentioned above, and Mercedes, who has similar grievances with the crest system.

* ''Videogame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'': Sigurd of Chalphy, the protagonist of the first half of the game, deconstructs the typical ActionHero archetype of the series' Lords. He's the typical noble hero holding fast to his beliefs, but his optimism and noble nature become a double-edged sword in the grand scheme of things, as his BlackAndWhiteMorality leads him to solve his problems by just defeating his enemies. [[spoiler: This gives the corrupt Grannvale nobles the chance to take advantage of him to conquer the entire continent, and his trust in Arvis blinds him to the point he doesn't see the latter's betrayal coming until it's too late, ultimately paying the price with his life.]]

** Lysithea deconstructs the ChildProdigy trope by portraying it in a more tragic light. As the youngest of the Golden Deer, and one of the youngest character of the roster, she works hard and seems WiseBeyondHerYears. In truth though, [[spoiler: [[YourDaysAreNumbered her days are numbered]]: she was subjected to the same dangerous experimentations as Edelgard was at the hands of "those who slither in the dark", and those experiments, as they had done for Edelgard, have seriously shortened her lifespan. Her desire for independence is because she doesn't want her parents to agonize over her premature death, a fate she has accepted. For Lysithea to live a happy life, she has to have her Crests removed, or else she dies young, forcing her to chose between living a short but fulfillying life, or live a life as a normal person. ]]

** [[spoiler: Alear, again]] deconstructs LukeIAmYourFather. This plot twist has been used many times in ''Fire Emblem'' beforehand, but ''Engage'' goes out of its way to show ''exactly'' how much it would '''suck''' to have the BigBad as your dad. This person grew up under a horrible AbusiveParent, watching countless siblings [[YouHaveFailedMe being murdered for their failures]]. They're ConditionedToAcceptHorror and act like an EmptyShell, as they've been conditioned to associate emotion with weakness and weakness with death. They really, ''really'' [[BeingEvilSucks don't enjoy this life]], but have nowhere else to go. Even after a chance encounter with Lumera, the one person to show them genuine kindness, prompts a HeelFaceTurn, they're still clearly [[TheMentallyDisturbed mentally broken]] as they strike down their father, and only [[spoiler: 1000 years of sleep and amnesia]] starts them on the road to healing. [[spoiler: Their remaining sibling, Veyle, has it just as bad]].

** Lysithea deconstructs the ChildProdigy trope by portraying it in a more tragic light. As the youngest of the Golden Deer, and one of the youngest character of the roster, she works hard and seems WiseBeyondHerYears. In truth though, [[spoiler: [[YourDaysAreNumbered her days are numbered]]: she was subjected to the same dangerous experimentations as Edelgard was at the hands of "those who slither in the dark", and those experiments, as they had done for Edelgard, have seriously shortened her lifespan. Her desire for independence is because she doesn't want her parents to agonize over her premature death, a fate she has accepted. For Lysithea to live a happy life, she has to have her Crests removed, or else she dies young, forcing her to chose between living a short but fulfillying life, or live a life as a normal person. ]]