History FireEmblemThreeHouses / TropesSToZ

** The entire continent of Fodlan is controlled by just three nations: the [[VestigialEmpire Adrestian Empire]], the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the [[TheFederation Leicester Alliance]]. The story ends with [[spoiler:that number being reduced to one, with the entirety of Fodlan being unified under the banner of the [[ResurgentEmpire Adrestian Empire]] (on the Crimson Flower route), the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus (on the Azure Moon route) or the United Kingdom of Fódlan (on the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes)]]. If a Female Byleth marries Claude on the Verdant Wind route it is strongly implied that [[spoiler:Fódlan and Almyra end up uniting together into a single nation]].

** The entire continent of Fodlan is controlled by just three nations: the [[VestigialEmpire Adrestian Empire]], the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the [[TheFederation Leicester Alliance]]. The story ends with [[spoiler:that number being reduced to one, with the entirety of Fodlan being unified under the banner of the [[ResurgentEmpire Adrestian Empire]] (on the Crimson Flower route), the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus (on the Azure Moon route) or the United Kingdom of Fódlan (on the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes)]]. If a Female Byleth marries Claude on the Verdant Wind route it is strongly implied that [[spoiler:Fódlan and Almyra end up uniting together into a single nation].

** The entire continent of Fodlan is controlled by just three nations: the [[VestigialEmpire Adrestian Empire]], the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the [[TheFederation Leicester Alliance]]. The story ends with [[spoiler:that number being reduced to one, with the entirety of Fodlan being unified under the banner of the [[ResurgentEmpire Adrestian Empire]] (on the Crimson Flower route), the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus (on the Azure Moon route) or the United Kingdom of Fódlan (on the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes)]]

** The entire continent of Fodlan is controlled by just three nations: the Adrestian Empire, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the Leicester Alliance. The story ends with [[spoiler:that number being reduced to one, with the entirety of Fodlan being unified under the banner of the [[ResurgentEmpire Adrestian Empire]] (on the Crimson Flower route), the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus (on the Azure Moon route) or the United Kingdom of Fódlan (on the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes)]]

* TakeOverTheWorld: No matter what route you choose, [[spoiler:one of the factions will end up taking over Fódlan from the others thanks to Byleth's help. If you pick the Silver Snow route, Byleth themself ends up ruling over a unified Fódlan since all the other leaders are dead or missing; likewise for the Verdant Wind route, except this is because Claude leaves to rule Almyra]].

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: At the end of each route the fates of all characters that are a part of Byleth's house are described in ending cards.

** The entire continent of Fodlan is controlled by just three nations: the Adrestian Empire, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the Leicester Alliance. The story ends with [[spoiler:that number being reduced to one, with the entirety of Fodlan being unified under the banner of the [[ResurgentEmpire Adrestian Empire]] (on the Crimson Flower route), the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus (on the Azure Moon route) or the United Kingdom of Foldan (on the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes)]]

** The entire continent of Fodlan is controlled by just three nations: the Adrestian Empire, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the Leicester Alliance. All story routes end with [[spoiler:that number gets reduced to one with the entirety of Fodlan being unified under the banner of the [[ResurgentEmpire Adrestian Empire]] (on the Crimson Flower route), the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus (on the Azure Moon route) or the United Kingdom of Foldan (on the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes)]]

* SpaceFillingEmpire: The entire continent of Fodlan is controlled by just three nations: the Adrestian Empire, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the Leicester Alliance. All story routes end with [[spoiler:that number gets reduced to one with the entirety of Fodlan being unified under the banner of the [[ResurgentEmpire Adrestian Empire]] (on the Crimson Flower route), the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus (on the Azure Moon route) or the United Kingdom of Foldan (on the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes)]]

* SpaceFillingEmpire: The entire continent of Fodlan is controlled by just three nations: the Adrestian Empire, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, the Leicester Alliance. All story routes end with [[spoiler:that number gets reduced to one with the entirety of Fodlan being unified under the banner of the [[ResurgentEmpire Adrestian Empire]] (on the Crimson Flower route), the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus (on the Azure Moon route) or the United Kingdom of Foldan (on the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes)]]

* TheQueenWillBeWatching: Edelgard and Dorothea’s paired ending states that the former goes to the opera whenever she can to watch Dorothea’s performances.

** Byleth uses swords primarily, [[HeroesPreferSwords as to be expected of the game's main character]]. [[spoiler:The fact that the Flame Emperor ''also'' uses an axe to fight is a small clue to their real identity.]]
** Edelgard, a strong-willed LadyOfWar with an agenda and a will to see it through no matter the cost, uses axes.

** For each factions respective Axe Wielder/Brawler[[note]] Dedue, Raphael, Caspar, Alois and Balthus[[/note]], chances are that whatever direction you decide to take them in their class progression, [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome you're probably gonna end up turning them into a War Master]] due to how it easy it is for them achieve it, a decision that will pay off extremely well. The War Master boasts amazing growths in strength and speed, it's possession of Axefaire and Fistfaire will increase the Units' already high damage, Crit +20 increases their already amazing damage potential when combined with a Killer Axe or Gauntlets, and it's mastery skill, Quick Riposte, will guarantee that they'll make a second attack if their HP is over half, which highly defensive characters like [[MightyGlacier Dedue]] will definitely benefit from.
** Related to the above, Dedue might be the only character one would seriously consider putting through the rarely used Armored Knight Classline, for no other reason than helping him reach his true potential as a tank. Along with his high Defense growth of 50%, which the Armored Knight and Fortress Knight will increase to 60% and 65% respectively, his Personal Skill always provides a flat +4 to his Defense when he waits, making him useful for baiting enemy units with little risk to himself, as his Defense will be likely be so high that his foes likely do ''nothing'' to him, assuming they aren't a mage or have a hammer. His high defensive potential will even carry over to War Master, since the buff to his 60% Growth combined with the War Master's 40% buff to HP Growths means that every level will guarantee that his HP goes up and eventually hit it's max of 108, with the greater movement range allowing him to go protect other Units much quicker.
** For any physical attacker, it isn't uncommon to see players working to raise their Axe skill early on, regardless of the weapon types they are proficient in or will ultimately utilize, in order to class them as Brigand and get the ever-useful Deathblow ability once mastered. It is simply a passive ability that adds +6 to Strength when the character initiates attack and benefits every non-magical attacker in the game for the extra punch it provides. It isn't very difficult to get to the required "C" level in Axe to take the class (even a D+ gives a better than 50% chance of passing the exam) and the result is an awesome ability your character will use for the rest of the game.

** Dmitri, introduced as an honourable and knightly figure, favours spears and lances.

* WeaponBasedCharacterization: Byleth uses swords primarily, [[HeroesPreferSwords as to be expected of the game's main character]]. Edelgard, a strong-willed LadyOfWar with an agenda and a will to see it through no matter the cost, uses axes. Dmitri, introduced as an honourable and knightly figure, favours spears and lances. And Claude, a trickster figure who uses on underhanded tactics and [[CombatPragmatist combat pragmatism]], uses a bow. [[spoiler:The fact that the Flame Emperor ''also'' uses an axe to fight is a small clue to their real identity.]]

** The Leicester Alliance and Holy Kingdom of Faerghus both represent more traditionally "heroic" [[TheAlliance fantasy]] [[TheGoodKingdom nations]] compared with [[TheEmpire the Adrestian Empire]], [[spoiler: and in classic ''Fire Emblem'' fashion, they both get invaded by the latter]]. This doesn't necessarily make them allies, however, even during the war. The Alliance broke off of the Kingdom, not the Empire, and quite a few of their lords see the latter as a preferable ally once the war breaks out. [[spoiler: Claude actually exploits this in some routes by deliberately setting up conflict in the Alliance between various lords to prevent them from forming cohesive political factions and allow him to remain neutral for a time]]. In addition, there's only so much they can do for each other regardless since they both have to contend with defending their own borders.

** Unlike the series's [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates previous installment]], the reveal of [[spoiler:a greater evil [[TheManBehindTheMan that's been pulling the strings behind the various other villains throughout the game]]]] does NOT act as a ConflictKiller for the war, [[spoiler: nor does it lead to a GoldenEnding that resolves the conflict peacefully]]. Not only did [[spoiler: Edelgard]] have [[spoiler:her]] own motivations for starting the war in the first place that are independent of that of [[spoiler: the Agarthans]], but it's been raging for several years by the time they're discovered. In addition, no one has any way of knowing how much they're behind or why, and in some cases don't find out until AFTER they're done fighting the war.

** The Leicester Alliance and Holy Kingdom of Faerghus both represent more traditionally "heroic" [[TheAlliance fantasy]] [[TheGoodKingdom nations]] compared with [[TheEmpire the Adrestian Empire]], [[spoiler: and in classic Fire Emblem fashion, they both get invaded by the latter]]. This doesn't necessarily make them allies, however, even during the war. The Alliance broke off of the Kingdom, not the Empire, and quite a few of their lords see the latter as a preferable ally once the war breaks out. [[spoiler: Claude actually exploits this in some routes by deliberately setting up conflict in the Alliance between various lords to prevent them from forming cohesive political factions and allow him to remain neutral for a time]]. In addition, there's only so much they can do for each other regardless since they both have to contend with defending their own borders.

** In previous entries, the losers of the GreatOffscreenWar would often receive a HistoricalVillainUpgrade by the winning side and end up being either GoodAllAlong or at least more morally complex than the official narrative suggests. Nemesis was [[spoiler:''[[HistoricalVillainDowngrade even worse]]'' than the official narrative claims he was. The Church claimed he was originally TheChosenOne whom the Goddess chose to assemble a grand army to free the Fodlan from foreign invaders. In reality, he was a ruthless bandit king who learned the secret to gaining his power himself (via his secret backers, [[AncientConspiracy Those Who Slither In Dark]], then managed to convince the people he was TheChosenOne]]. Despite the influence she wielded in Fódlan and the hatred she had for her enemies, Seiros and her allies could not [[spoiler:simply rewrite history however they wished. As explained in this [[https://drive.google.com/file/d/14euDrU97pz2WWOaHx2eJebRyLJUuu34L/view interview]], [[AHeroToHisHometown Nemesis and the 10 Elites were already regarded by many people as heroes]] (after all, only a few knew what Nemesis had done to the Children of the Goddess to gain the power he wielded), and even [[WrittenByTheWinners as the victor in the war with them]], Seiros had to accommodate that impression if her version of history was to gain acceptance]].
*** Given that all of these events happened in the distant past, [[TheUnreveal many questions are left unanswered]] about the exact nature of the War of Heroes. [[spoiler:The only survivors of that time deliberately obfuscated many of the details, and Rhea herself is, in most endings, either dead or otherwise in no state to elaborate on the time period for the time being, and she's hardly an unbiassed source. The only other source, the Agarthans, are perhaps even ''less'' trustworthy]]. Few records other than those of the Church itself and [[spoiler:the version passed down the Imperial family through the generations that Edelgard backs]] have survived and neither tell the complete story. [[spoiler:While you ''do'' encounter Nemesis and the Ten Elites in the Golden Deer route, they've deteriorated mentally into semi-intelligent zombies with little remaining personality and are too busy trying to kill you to be questioned]]. As such, there are numerous conflicting accounts of what Nemesis was actually like, how he was able to win over the people to his cause, or [[spoiler:[[AmbiguouslyEvil how much the Ten Elites actually knew about the nature of the Heroes' Relics they wielded or their leader's true nature]]]].

*** On a related note, [[spoiler:Edelgard openly states on the Crimson Flower route that her alliance with the Agarthans is [[EnemyMine one of convenience]], and once she no longer needs their help, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness she'll enact a plan to get rid of them too]]. Most of the Agarthan Leadership, including Thales, their leader, has been disguised as Imperial nobility for quite some time, manipulating Imperial politics for ages]]. Once the time has finally come to do something about them, [[spoiler:she deals with them the same way she did most of the non-Agarthan members of the Empire's DeadlyDecadentCourt, by detaining them and/or having them assassinated]].

** On the Verdant Wind route [[spoiler:(and to some extent the Silver Snow route)]], [[spoiler:you discover that this is exactly correct when it comes to the real histories of the Crests, the Ten Elites, and Nemesis. Seiros defeated Nemesis in the War of Heroes and rewrote the stories of him, the Elites, and the Crests to serve her own purposes in restoring order to Fódlan and protecting the surviving Nabateans from being killed for more "divine" power. That said, there was only so much she could do since Nemesis was already well-regarded among the populace as a hero by the time he died.]]

** Despite the influence she wielded in Fódlan and the hatred she had for her enemies, Seiros and her allies could not [[spoiler:simply rewrite history however they wished. As explained in this [[https://drive.google.com/file/d/14euDrU97pz2WWOaHx2eJebRyLJUuu34L/view interview]], [[AHeroToHisHometown Nemesis and the 10 Elites were already regarded by many people as heroes]] (after all, only a few knew what Nemesis had done to the Children of the Goddess to gain the power he wielded), and even [[WrittenByTheWinners as the victor in the war with them]], Seiros had to accommodate that impression if her version of history was to gain acceptance.]]
** The war in the Crimson Flower route is noticeably shorter compared to the other paths, ending only after the 18th chapter rather than ~22. The reason for this is because [[spoiler:in the other routes, you play as either the Kingdom, Alliance or Imperial rebels, and have to contend with the other factions while desperately trying to turn the odds in your favor. TheEmpire in particular is the largest threat, as they are Fódlan's main military power. SIDING with TheEmpire means that [[CurbStompBattle the other factions are far more easily overcome without you to turn the tide.]] Notably, the Empire does not need to reclaim Garreg Mach or obtain reinforcements in Ailell, and dealing with the Alliance prevents the second battle of Gronder Field, thus resulting in the route being three chapters shorter than the others.]]
** Unlike the series's [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates previous installment]], the reveal of [[spoiler: a greater evil [[TheManBehindTheMan that's been pulling the strings behind the various other villains throughout the game]]]] does NOT act as a ConflictKiller for the war, [[spoiler: nor does it lead to a GoldenEnding that resolves the conflict peacefully]]. Not only did [[spoiler: Edelgard]] have [[spoiler: her]] own motivations for starting the war in the first place that are independent of that of [[spoiler: the Agarthans]], but it's been raging for several years by the time they're discovered. In addition, no one has any way of knowing how much they're behind or why, and in some cases don't find out until AFTER they're done fighting the war.
*** On a related note, [[spoiler: Edelgard openly states on the Crimson Flower route that her alliance with the Agarthans is [[EnemyMine one of convenience]], and once she no longer needs their help, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness she'll enact a plan to get rid of them too]]. Most of the Agarthan Leadership, including Thales, their leader, has been disguised as Imperial nobility for quite some time, manipulating Imperial politics for ages]]. Once the time has finally come to do something about them, [[spoiler: she deals with them the same way she did most of the non-Agarthan members of the Empire's DeadlyDecadentCourt, by detaining them and/or having them assassinated]].

* SoundtrackDissonance: "Those Who Sow Darkness" and "Shambala", two soundtracks related to [[spoiler:those who slither in the dark]], have a dubstep feel, making them very out of place in the medieval fantasy setting. This makes a disturbing amount of sense considering [[spoiler:they're remnants of AbusivePrecursors with [[TechnologicallyAdvancedFoe terrifyingly advanced technologies]], including ballistic missiles and mechs.]]

** On the Crimson Flower route, [[spoiler:the remaining members of those who slither in the dark]] are never fought during the main story. [[spoiler:Instead, the ending states that the Empire later fought against them after the war was over.]]

* YesMan: Zig-zagged with Hubert and Dedue, who are unwaveringly loyal to their respective house lords but aren't above going behind their leaders' backs and taking matters into their own hands if they deem it necessary. Played completely straight with Catherine and Cyril who stick with Rhea come hell or high water, with Cyril in particular being completely unfazed by [[spoilers: Rhea setting Fhirdiad ablaze in Crimson Flower, the capital of the Kingdom [[UngratefulBastard that had granted the Church sanctuary in the war]]]].

* YesMan: All leaders but Claude of Golden Deer have enablers: Hubert (Black Eagles) and Dedue (Blue Lions) are unwaveringly loyal to their respective house lords, and the Church staff outside of a few named individuals are blindly obedient to Rhea. Their tendency to only support their leaders allow the latter to follow their ambitions and ignore criticism. Without Byleth reining in Edelgard and Dimitri, both go off the deep end and become enemies in the routes that aren't their own. That said, while all of Hubert and Dedue's actions are in their leaders' best interests, they aren't above going behind the leaders' backs and taking matters into their own hands if they deem it necessary.