Line #24 Creator/Excelblem


1	[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/excelblem_6.png]]
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3	''[[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMFlIQA0HBpk1czdHa9i15g Excelblem]]'' is a Website/YouTube content creator whose videos primarily center around the popular Franchise/FireEmblem series of video games. He has produced both heavily-edited comedy videos as well as livestreams that are edited down into short-form LetsPlay videos that are a few minutes long at most, both of which have become popular in the fandom.
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5	Excelblem's [[LetsPlay Let's Plays]] are primarily [[ChallengeRun challenge runs]] of different games using the Ironman ruleset (no restarting for any reason, essentially [[Franchise/FireEmblem Fire Emblem's]] equivalent to the [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Nuzlocke]]). However, he's noted for taking these runs to their logical extreme, going out of his way to kill as many of his allied units as he possibly can, simply because he can. He uses what few units he lets live to break the game in half, exploiting everything short of a glitch that he can to achieve victory in the most complicated ways possible.
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7	[[foldercontrol]]
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9	[[folder:Games Excelblem has Played]]
10	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon''
11	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem''
12	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade''[[note]]Unlike the other runs, this playthrough focuses on getting as low of a tactician rank as possible.[[/note]]
13	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones''[[note]]Because of its extremely low difficulty, all characters join at 0 Str/Mag and have 0% Str/Mag growths[[/note]]
14	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''
15	* ''[[VideoGame/AdvanceWars Advance Wars: Days of Ruin]]''
16	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates''[[note]]The Birthright and Revelations playthroughs, thanks to those route's notoriously low difficulty compared to Conquest, had an extra "Kill My Units" challenge where viewers could pay money or vote in polls to kill off specific characters.[[/note]]
17	* ''VideoGame/VestariaSaga''[[note]]A normal, livestreamed playthrough of the game, as opposed to one of his typical runs.[[/note]]
18	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn''[[note]]Excelblem eventually gave up on attempting to Ironman the game partway through due to the high difficulty.[[/note]]
19	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses''
20	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage''
21	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776''
22	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar''
23	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance''
24	[[/folder]]
25	----
26	!! ''Excelblem'' provides examples of the following tropes:
27	* AdaptationalVillainy: Marth, reflective of Excelblem’s typical playstyle, is portrayed as a brutal warlord, willing to sacrifice his loyal allies for minimal gain. He also has a glock.
28	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Names many of his videos for individual chapters using this theme.
29	--> '''Revelation Step 5:''' Shovel snow to salvage statboosters by slaying surreptitiously submerged soldiers \
30	'''Revelation Step 8:''' Fight five false-flagging phantoms for a futile faith in familial friendship
31	* AuthorAppeal: [[https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DO77qiV1TTM He suggests]] this might be the reason the first five Fire Emblem games, made when Shouzou Kaga was lead designer, feature so many young women getting mind-controlled.
32	* BookEnds: Both the first and last chapters of his ''Shadow Dragon'' ironman feature Gordin repeatedly shooting the boss from outside their range.
33	* ButThouMust: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshades]] and [[DiscussedTrope discusses]] in his Three Houses KMU the game's tendency to give you choices that actually don't matter.
34	--> '''Excelblem''': "It's baffling how often this game repeatedly pretends to give you a choice and it walks it back the moment you even try. I personally rather just not just have any options instead, if it means the game isn't constantly lying to me."
35	* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: He does want to actually win the games he plays, so he'll hold off on killing specific characters if he has a plan for them or if they're needed to recruit other characters. ''[[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Then]]'' [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he kills them.]]
36	* ChallengeRun: His bread and butter.
37	* CoolMask: An electronic one that covers his whole face and reacts to the sound of his voice.
38	* TheFaceless: Is only ever seen with a mask and hooded jacket.
39	* FormulaBreakingEpisode: His [[VideoGame/AdvanceWars Days of Ruin]] run was initially an attempt to kill as few soldiers as he possibly could, in an inverse of his usual style. He gives up when he realizes just how difficult it is to keep people alive in this game and just resorts to playing normally (with cheese strats of course) for the remaining two thirds.
40	* HeroicComedicSociopath: Marth becomes one under Excelblem, deliberately killing off all of his friends for minimal tactical benefit. Other protagonists could qualify as he plays their games the same way, but Excelblem treats Marth in particular as this.
41	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: As many as expected from anyone who primarily plays a strategy game series. One example he {{Lampshaded}} in his ''Revelation'' KMU involves selling all of his axes because he is out of axe users and no story map past the halfway point allows you to capture enemy units for yourself, completely forgetting that he has access to Kana's paralogue with two capturable Berserkers.
42	* HypocriticalHumor: On the final map of ''Engage'', he criticizes [[spoiler:Sombron]]'s outspoken YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness attitude towards his subordinates, then immediately says that all of ''his'' allies have outlived ''their'' usefulness and that he plans to kill them off.
43	* OhCrap: Has one in his ''The Sacred Stones'' 0 Strength ironman, when Fomortiis summons a second wave of monsters.
44	-->'''Excelblem''': "That wasn't in the wiki!"
45	** Also, everytime he loses a good unit against his will or an enemy procs an unwanted critical hit.
46	* PrecisionFStrike: Is quite prone to swear whenever things start going downhill for him or especially if he made a fatal mistake that he knows he could have avoided. Often escalates into a ClusterFBomb.
47	* RunningGag:
48	** In his ''Conquest'' playthrough, he repeatedly mocks how the characters lament that everything would've turned out fine if Corrin had simply paid twenty dollars for the ''Revelation'' route, eventually accompanied by a huge "$20" appearing on screen each time. This is briefly reversed in his ''Revelation'' playthrough, where Excel notes that he could've saved Izana if only he '''didn't''' pay twenty dollars.
49	** His ''The Sacred Stones'' 0 Strength run introduces every character as "<name>, who has zero Strength" or when appropriate "<name>, who has zero Magic".
50	* StylisticSuck: Chapter 27 of his ''Revelation'' KMU replaces his usual narration with text-to-speech that mispronounces "Anankos", "HP", and "Dragonskin" poorly mixed with his live commentary. Since it took only about 45 seconds to beat the chapter, he decided to spend that much time editing the video.
51	* TooAwesomeToUse: {{Discussed\|Trope}} with regards to Myrrh in ''The Sacred Stones'', who some players avoid using for this reason, since she can't fight after using up her singular Dragonstone. Excelblem compares this to conserving ammunition during a home invasion.
52	--> '''Excelblem''': "Three masked thugs break into your house, and you try to fight them off with a desk lamp? Who are you trying to save those bullets for? God?"

Context Creator / Excelblem