TurnBasedStrategy series developed in-house by Nintendo's Intelligent Systems. The series innovated strategic role-playing games, later popularized in the west by games such as ''FinalFantasyTactics''. The series has spanned eleven games so far on six systems.

The series was originally released only in Japan until two characters from the series, Marth and Roy, appeared as unlockable fighters in ''SuperSmashBros. Melee'', introducing the series as a whole to western gamers. They proved to be very popular fighters, and subsequent games in the series have been released worldwide. (Incidentally, they were originally only supposed to be in the Japanese version, included to promote the upcoming release of ''The Sword of Seals'', but the localization team at Nintendo of America liked them and decided to leave them in; this is why the original Japanese voice actors are used.)

The series' appeal comes from its unique flavoring of the typical grid-based strategy game with ''FinalFantasy''-esque RPGElements. The games emphasize CharacterDevelopment and story in addition to strategy and unit building -- even relatively minor characters, included mostly just to flesh out the player's army, receive lots of {{Backstory}} and interaction with the other characters. Fans of the series spend just as much time admiring the depth of the characters and setting as they do debating the CharacterTiers.

The series is [[NonLinearSequel semi-linear]], as each [[TheVerse verse]] will feature one to three interrelated games before moving on to a new universe.

* ''Fire Emblem: The Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light'' is the first game in the series, released for the Family Computer in 1990. Prince Marth of Altea (who would appear in ''SuperSmashBros Melee'' and ''SuperSmashBros Brawl'' [[MarthDebutedInSmashBros before the remake of the first game was released internationally]]) flees invasion from the neighboring kingdom [[strike:Dolua]] [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Dolhr]]. With the help of his various allies, he searches for the legendary sword Falchion that will allow him to strike down the evil dragon Medeus.
* ''Fire Emblem Gaiden'' was released for the Family Computer in 1992. It takes place in the same world as the first game, but on a different continent, and its plot has no bearing on the first game. It's the odd duck of the series, featuring a lot of unique gameplay elements that haven't been seen since. FanTranslation as of November 2009.
* ''Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem'' was the first game in the series released for the Super Famicom, in 1993. It is both, a retelling of the original game and a sequel, giving players the option to skip to the sequel if they're already familiar with the original game. It was the subject of a two-part {{OVA}} series in Japan. FanTranslation as of March 2008.
* ''BS Fire Emblem: Akaneia War Chronicles'' is a set of four maps that was released for the Satellaview and uses the previous game's engine. It was released in 1994 and was the last game set in Marth's universe. Fan numbering of the games (no games are officially numbered) may not necessarily count this one.

At this point, the series moved to a new world... (Recently noticed WordOfGod places it in the same world, chronologically first)
* ''Fire Emblem: Genealogy of Holy War'', released for the Super Famicom in 1996, is a game that spans decades -- after several chapters with one party, the game continues with the children of the original characters. The game contains a lot of unusual elements for the series, but it has many fans and is argued by many as the best game in the series as a result of its engrossing plot and deep character development system.
* ''Fire Emblem: Thracia 776'' has its fans as well. The last game released for the Super Famicom in 1999, it takes place in between the two halves of ''Genealogy of the Holy War''. It uses the same gameplay system as the previous game, with the addition of FogOfWar -- now a series staple -- and a fatigue meter. This game is also notoriously {{NintendoHard}}.

With the Super Famicom in its last throes, the series was retired for three years, making the N64 the only Nintendo console not to see a ''Fire Emblem'' release, though one had been announced (different accounts have this as either becoming ''The Sword of Seals'', ''Path of Radiance'', or a completely-abandoned fourth game in the Akaneia saga). The series reemerged in a new world and in portable form, on the Game Boy Advance.
* ''Fire Emblem: The Sword of Seals'' (also translated as ''The Binding Blade'') stars Roy, ''Fire Emblem'''s other representative in ''SuperSmashBros Melee'', as he attempts to repel the invading forces of Bern. The game received a mixed reception among fans, as it was forced to drop (due to technological constraints) many of the complexities the series had picked up on consoles, and the characters lacked depth in the opinion of some players. It did, however, introduce the super-popular "[[RelationshipValues Support]]" feature, which allows characters to build their relationships by spending a lot of time together in battle and remains a big draw for the series.
* ''Fire Emblem'', known as ''Fire Emblem: The Sword of Flame'' in Japan, was the first ''Fire Emblem'' game to see release outside Japan; thus, it was simply called ''Fire Emblem'' internationally. A {{prequel}} to ''Sword of Seals'', it stars Roy's father, Eliwood, as he investigates the actions of the Black Fang brotherhood of assassins with his friends Hector and Lyn. This game remains the favorite of many western gamers because it features the longest quest and most replay value by far of the English-language games.
* ''Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones'' took place on a new world, Magvel, and starred the [[{{Twincest}} vaguely incestuous twins]] Eirika and Ephraim as they tried to stop the resurrection of the [[SealedEvilInACan Demon King]]. While by no means bad, the game is derided by fans because the story mode is comparatively short and rather easy, especially due to the ease of LevelGrinding.

The series made its long-awaited return to consoles in 2005 with the release of...
*''Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance'', for the [=GameCube=]. Switching universes again, this installment stars mercenary Ike, the first non-noble main character of the series (and who replaces Roy as a Fire Emblem representative in ''SuperSmashBros. Brawl''), as he aids Princess Elincia in reclaiming her kingdom of Crimea from the militaristic nation of Daein. Introduced in this universe are the Laguz, a human-like race with the abilities to shapeshift into animals. The series brought back many of the gameplay elements from the Super Famicom games that had to be dropped from the GBA ones, such as the skill system and hit-and-run tactics.
*''Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn'' is the tenth title in the series, released in 2007 for the Wii. Taking place three years after the conclusion of ''Path of Radiance'', the title features many characters of the previous game and is divided into four plot arcs with each part having a different main character. The game starts with a new character, Micaiah, the leader of the Dawn Brigade, and her friend Sothe, who was a minor character in Path of Radiance. Their goal is to liberate the country of Daein (the enemy nation in the previous title), from the Begnion Empire (who aided Ike in the previous title). Following {{arc}}s feature Elincia, now queen of Crimea, dealing with rebellious nobles, and Ike and his mercenaries aiding the Laguz Kingdoms against an apparently corrupt Begnion, with the final arc bringing all the characters together in order to avert the destruction of their world.

*''Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon'', is a Nintendo DS remake of the original Fire Emblem. It is the first game in the series to have a half decent multiplayer, complete with online play, and has a new feature that lets the player switch the classes of their units. With the release of ''Shadow Dragon'', [[MarthDebutedInSmashBros Marth is now the record holder for "longest delayed solo debut after a debut in another series"]].
** Incidentally, it also means that poor [[{{Mother3}} Lucas]] is now the only [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] playable character in ''SuperSmashBros Brawl''.

In addition, as noted above, ''Fire Emblem'' is one of the featured series in SuperSmashBros. ''Melee'' had Marth and Roy, ''Brawl'' has Marth and Ike, Lyn (''Fire Emblem'') as an Assist Trophy, and the Castle Siege stage that features some of the typical locales encountered in the games.

See also: [[Characters/FireEmblem Fire Emblem Character Sheet]]

----

This series provides examples of:
* AChildShallLeadThem (Sanaki, the 10-year-old empress of [[TheEmpire Begnion]] in ''Path of Radiance'', who was 13 in ''Radiant Dawn'')
* AerithAndBob (One one hand you have names like Guy, Joshua, Mia and Edward on the other you have names that are rarly used modernly like Kieran and on yet another mythological references like Oguma and Roland and THEN you have biblical names that are rarely used (for good reasons, most of them were smote) like Nabal (or however you translate it).
** When you have have LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters and OneSteveLimit in effect [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality you need every name you can get]].
** Still, Dorcas?
*** Oh, it's a real name.
*** For a female, that is.
*** Micaiah is also a boy's name. It's from the [[http://www.answers.com/topic/micaiah Old Testament]].
* AffectionateParody (Radiant Dumb, a webcomic which can be found here [[http://lone-archer.deviantart.com/ here]].)
* AliensMadeThemDoIt ([[spoiler:Manfroy brainwashs two half-siblings into breeding as part of his plan]] in ''Genealogy of Holy War'')
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent (done in many of the games)
* {{Animorphism}} (Various titles in the series feature characters that can shapeshift into dragons, with ''Path of Radiance'' adding different species of felines and birds, and the ''Radiant Dawn'' adding wolves).
* AntiClimaxBoss (Quite a few. ''The Sacred Stones'' give you a bunch of weapons super effective against the final boss. A decent mage takes no damage from the [[TheDragon dragon]] in ''Shadow Dragon'' and you merely need a special spell to bypass his damage immunity, the final boss is either easy or stupidly easy depending on marth's speed, with the Falchion he goes down in two hits. Then there's ''The Sword of Seals'', where you have nine weapons that are super-effective against every enemy in the final two levels.)
* {{Anvilicious}} (''Path of Radiance'' and ''[=Radiant Dawn's=]'' "racism is bad, mmkay?" [[AnAesop Aesop]] can be pretty annoying especially since nothing new is really done with it)
* AnyoneCanDie (With how they treat death, the game was apparently designed with that thought in mind. The player ''can'' avert this, but it becomes irritatingly difficult.)
* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit (Both used and averted depending on the game)
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking (''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'': Elincia, first Princess and later Queen, is a phenomenally useful and powerful unit; the Laguz Royals seem to follow this as well, although in the case of the Beast and Bird Tribes it is stated to be more AsskickingEqualsAuthority)
* AwesomeButImpractical (Triangle attacks)
* BadassAdorable (Several, but Amelia from Fire Emblem 8: The Sacred Stones stands out)
* BadassLongcoat (Raven's Hero outfit, Lloyd the Swordmaster, Soren and Sothe's 3rd tier outfits, etc.)
* BigDamnHeroes (At the end of Act 2 of Radiant Dawn, Lucia is about to be executed by rebel Crimean forces with Queen Elincia looking on helplessly. Just as Lucia is about to be hung, the Greil Mercenaries show up out of nowhere to rescue her in such a heroic fashion that it really counts as CrowningMomentofAwesome as well.)
* BlackKnight: The [[ExactlyWhatitSaysOnTheTin Black Knight]] of Tellius.
* BlackScreenOfDeath
* BoisterousBruiser (Fargus and Dart in ''Fire Emblem''. Vaida ''might'' be a female version of this trope. And Ross from ''The Sacred Stones'' seems to be a BoisterousBruiser-in-training of sorts; just give him time.)
* {{Bowdlerise}}: Not as bad as other examples. Nintendo holds nothing back when it comes to death and the consequences of war (some dialogue can pretty descriptively violent for E-rated games). But other things such as drinking and swearing can be omitted. Best example is probably Lucia/Janaff's (''[=PoR=]'') support, in which any mention of drinking is instead replaced with "a night on the town" or something similar. In the same vein, some of the more explicit, unsavory messages are also ignored completely.
* BreakableWeapons
* BrokenRecord (This is a message from Lord Nergal. "I await you on the Dread Isle". Denning is one of the more popular characters because of it.)
* BrotherSisterIncest (Disturbingly enough, a recurring theme in the series. Toned down in the localizations [presumably to give Nintendo plausible deniability], but still noticeable.)
** In fact, part of Manfroy's plot in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' is to [[spoiler:use his mind control powers to have half-siblings Alvis and Diadora breed to create a vessel for their ancestor, a dark god. AND IT WORKS.]]
** [[http://serenesforest.net/fe4/Jugdral%20Holy%20Blood%20Family%20Tree.PNG And here is the 4th games family tree]], and that's just that is absolute going by fixed/Thracia 776.
** How has no one mentioned Raven and Priscilla? She tries to get him to follow through with a childhood promise to marry her, in addition to caring for her big brother just a little too much and actually trying to scare off his [[HeterosexualLifePartners friend]], Lucius.
*** Klein and Clarine in that same universe. What is it with troubadours and their older brothers?
** Ephraim and Eirika, anyone? Technically qualifies as "twincest", but it sure is heavily implied in their support talks and ending.
* CallARabbitASmeerp (In ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', normal humans are referred to as "beorc," though beorc usually refer to themselves as humans, while laguz (the game world's other humanoid race), who dislike beorc, use the word "human" as an insult.)
* CallForward (Plenty of them exist in ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''The Sword of Flame'', neither of them make sense to non-japan players, as they [[NoExportForYou never got released outside of Japan]]
* {{Cap}} (Typically, characters can level up to level 20 in a base class before promoting to a higher class and again going to level 20. In ''Genealogy of Holy War'', however, promotion occurred at level 20 and the character then went on to 30. In addition, each class has stat caps that play a large part in determining CharacterTiers)
** And in ''Radiant Dawn'', laguz go up to 40, while beorc go to 20, promote, go to 20, promote ''again'', and then cap at 20.
** And in ''Shadow Dragon'', Marth, ballista users and thieves can go up level 30 to make up for not promoting - funnily enough, units with a level 20 cap but can promote are ''always'' (barring [[GameBreaker certain exceptions]]) superior since they get more stats, total.
* CharacterDevelopment (One of the reasons why the series is such a hit)
* CharacterLevel
* CharacterTiers (Debates over this encompass a big part of the fandom)
* CripplingOverspecialization (Archers are helpless in a melee unless they're Rangers/Nomadic Troopers, and some classes like Clerics and Priests have no combat skills whatsoever.)
** ''Radiant Dawn'' attempted to balance this more by giving Crossbows to Archers and allowing staves to be used as weapons should a staff-user be attacked (though [[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: "No damage!" ]]
is a common reaction to getting hit with a staff). That being said, Healers should still never be attacked, and the Marksman class is almost a GameBreaker.
* CrystalDragonJesus (The churches in most of the games are vaguely Roman Catholic in organization, but they usually worship "saints" -- i.e., legendary heroes.)
* DemonicSpider (The Dark Magi with their "reduce to 1 HP" spell in the ''Genealogy of Holy War''. Despite the low accuracy, it still seems to [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard hit you very often for some reason.]])
* DoomedHometown (Most of the games begin with the heroes' entire ''country'' being invaded.)
* DoWellButNotPerfect (the Gaiden Chapters in DS require that you sacrifice troops, no doubt to a dark god)
* DragonRider
* DroppedABridgetOnHim (Lucius...Just, Lucius. [[http://fireemblemblog.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/lucius.jpg]])
* DroughtLevelOfDoom
* DualWielding (Assassins and Pirates, purely aesthetic)
* DynamicDifficulty
* ElementalCrafting (Typical order is Iron < Steel < Silver in terms of damage output and the reverse for durability, so weapon selection is not as straightfoward as in some other games. Legendary or unique weapons typically have high damage and decent durability. In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', all weapons had a flat 50 uses, so there was no reason not to switch to silver weapons when available except maybe the cost of keeping them in good repair.)
* ElementalRockPaperScissors (The weapon and spell triangles.)
* EnsembleDarkhorse ([[MemeticRapist Gheb]] especially but Batta The Beast and Glass also qualify)
** [[BrokenRecord Denning]] qualifies more.
* EscortMission (Sort of; some missions have you defending [=NPCs=], but the [=NPCs=] in question are either irrelevant to your success, powerful fighters in their own right, or very easy to defend, so it's not really all that frustrating.)
** One notable exception: The chapter in Burning Sword where you have to cross the map covered in darkness and fight your way through a significant number of enemies to rescue the Prince, who has poor combat skills and one defender. Thankfully, his defender is an awesome Assassin, but he's only got so much durability on that sword. And if the Prince dies, you lose.
*** Did I mention the boss has a spell that hits you from 1/3 of the map away?
*** The game throws you a bone though - you can get a staff from a chest on the same level that teleports him nearby your staff user, making him much easier to defend.
*** You also recruit a LethalJokeCharacter on that mission. [[AirshipCanon This Troper]] finds she is harder to defend than the Prince.
* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning (Many, many critical hit animations in some way)
* EvilOverlooker
* ExclusiveEnemyEquipment (Lots of 'em. You can tell whether or not you can obtain an item from an enemy if the name is flashing in its menu.)
* {{Expy}} (The Archetypes)
** Ike was also at least partially based on Hector (http://www.nintendo.co.jp/nom/0505/1_3/index.html )
* EyepatchOfPower ([[strike:Lawrence]] [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Lorenz]], Sevr, Haar, Zephiel)
* FakeDifficulty (''Radiant Dawn'', where Hard Mode disables the ability to check the enemy's movement and attack range. You have to count them yourself.)
* FantasticRacism (The various shapeshifting Laguz tribes are called "sub-humans" by many beorc/humans. This is not limited to your enemies; some between chapter dialogue has ''your own characters'' referencing ''your own laguz characters'' as sub-humans. And it goes both ways, too... a laguz calling a beorc 'human' is the same as a beorc calling a laguz 'sub-human', and it happens more than once.)
** Most characters get better though except Shinon who is a {{Jerkass}} and never learns the lesson, not even by the end ''Radiant Dawn'')
*** While Lethe learns to treat beorc better, she still makes sweeping generalizations about them, implies they are inferior in their customs, and the word "human" escapes her lips sometimes. It's why Shinon/Lethe is this troper's favorite CrackPairing. RACISTS IN LUV!
** There's also the Sacaens in ''The Sword of Flame'', which are referred to as "nomadic mongrels" and such by the villains
* FanTranslation (Given that all the ''Fire Emblem'' games from ''The Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light'' to ''The Sword of Seals'' were never released outside of Japan...)
* FinalDeath (''Everyone'', if you're careless enough to lose them.)
** Though important non-Lord characters just get a major injury so they can still participate in the plot.
** Or so they can return in the {{Prequel}}.
*** You've got that backwards; it's because it ''is'' the prequel that they're not dying, because they've already been confirmed to live. Except some characters avert this for no apparent reason.
** In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', one of the characters in the first party has a staff that can bring a character back to life. It only has one use, though.
* FogOfWar (Some stages are covered in fog. Be sure to bring Torches, a StaffChick with a Torch staff and/or Thieves and Rogues. You'll NEED them.)
* ForcedTutorial (''The Sword of Flame'')
* FragileSpeedster (Myrmidons, Pegasus Knights, Thieves)
* GaidenGame (''Fire Emblem Gaiden'' and ''Thracia 776''; the former actually has the word Gaiden on its title)
* GameBreaker (Certain units can become this with the right development.)
** Sety is a good example, you actually have to be careful not to get his stats too high, or the enemies won't attack them, meaning he will only kill 1 a turn.
** Many times it's just an item. Roy is usually pretty mediocre, but once he gets the Sword of Seals, he can pretty much kill anything in the game single-handedly, including the final boss. The Luna tome in Fire Emblem 7 may be even worse, as it enables Canas to destroy essentially any enemy or boss, even those that are at a much higher level than him (the company adjusted the stats of the Luna tome in subsequent games, not surprisingly).
**Ike in "Radiant Dawn", after going to his max level with a certain sword, basically becomes a ridiculously powerful Battle God. The funny thing is that by the time you reach the final boss, that's pretty much what it takes to win.
*** Ike was more of a GameBreaker in ''Path of Radiance.'' The game in general is easier, Ike has absurd growths for a non-prepromote beorc character, his affinity is regarded as being the best in the game ({{YMMV}} of course), and Aether is just silly broken. It's important for [[spoiler: the Black Knight]] and final boss fights, but aside from those two dudes he laughs in the face of most maps, even on hard mode.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation (Those who are implied powerful in the story tend to be the {{Jeigan Character}}s, except for that final character you get that can kill everything. Also, the defining characteristic of the two different types of fans of the games.)
* GeoEffects
* GlobalCurrency (Some nations are implied to use different coinage, but the merchants there take your money just the same.)
* GoddamnedBats (Enemy magic users with Sleep or Berserk staves. Especially in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', where enemy-exclusive Sleep staves had [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard near-perfect accuracy and unlimited uses]].)
* GoodScarsEvilScars (Legault has good scars. Nergal has evil scars.)
** Dieck also has good scars. Garret too, kinda.
** Vaida...well, she ''can'' be made to do a HeelFaceTurn, but she still doesn't look so good. WellIntentionedExtremist Scars?
** Brendan Reed and Fargus also have good-ish scars all over the place. Same with Uther's across-the-nose and forehead scars.
** Oguma's [[XMarksTheHero X-shaped scar on his cheek]].
* GoshdangItToHeck (Variation, characters use archaic slurs like "Craven cur!" "Blackheart!" and "dastard!" (the root of dastardly))
**It seems Nintendo was slipping in Radiant Dawn, however.
***Then again, a Soldier does say "Moldey Onions".
** "What in the blazes?" is also pretty common
* HeelFaceTurn (If one of your enemies has a name and a face, either they are a boss or they will join your party if you fulfill certain conditions (usually just talking to them with a certain character in your party). Occasionally both.)
* HeKnowsAboutTimedHits (''The Sword of Flame'', the first game in the series released outside Japan, contained "Lyn's Tale", an unskippable ten-chapter prologue to the main quest that [[ExpositionBreak explained the game's mechanics in excruciating detail]], complete with forced moves and luck manipulation. Japanese veterans of the series were none too pleased with it, and American players who had read the manual routinely curse it as well. Later games made the tutorials optional, and replaying Lyn's quest in "Hard Mode" allows the player to ignore the tutorials.)
* HeKnowsTooMuch (in ''Seisen no Keifu'', this is certainly [[spoiler:Alvis]]'s excuse for killing [[spoiler:Sigurd]] at the end of Chapter 5)
* HeroicBastard (Guinivere in ''Fuuin no Tsurugi'' is a female version of this trope; Soren and Stefan in ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' are also both heroic and illegitimate.)
* HeroicLineage (Every lord except Ike, ''Genealogy of Holy War'' has this as a game mechanic)
** Even Ike has a somewhat heroic lineage, as his father was [[spoiler: one of Daein's best generals, and one of Tellius' best swordsmen.]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners (A surprisingly large number of characters in the games are like this. Lucius and Raven are the obvious example, but the red and green knights are almost always HeterosexualLifePartners, as are the best friends of any lord)
* HiddenElfVillage (Arcadia)
* HideYourLesbians (Strangely enough Heather has a line about "joining because of all the pretty girls" removed in the localizations, but her homosexuality is still kept obvious)
** Also, Florina's horrific androphobia, in addition to the way that she flat-out says "I love you!" to Lyn at the end of Lyn's Mode...
* HitPoints
* HoYay (Every game...''every'' game)
** In Radiant Dawn, Micaiah lampshades it: "general Ike: Leader of the Greil mercenaries, "Hero"" of the Crimean liberation, and father of Sothe's children..."
* ILetYouWin (the Black Knight in ''Path of Radiance'', according to a {{Woolseyism}})
* InfallibleBabble
* InterchangeableAntimatterKeys
* InsufferableGenius (Lute from ''The Sacred Stones'' comes off like this)
* ItemCrafting (''Path of Radiance'', ''Radiant Dawn'', and ''Shadow Dragon'' )
* JeiganCharacter (The TropeNamer, with examples in every title)
* JustifiedTutorial (Lyn's story)
* JustThinkOfThePotential (Lyon and the sacred stone of Grado)
* LeftJustifiedFantasyMap (Elibe and Tellius. Archanea, Jugdral, and Magvel avert this, though.)
* LesYay (Not as common as the HoYay, but still in pretty much every game)
* LevelFiveOnix
* LevelGrinding (Arena Abusing, though ''Sacred Stones'' also had the Tower of Valni and various Revenant skirmishes to use between chapters)
** If you have a healer and attacker with several spare staves and weapons, you can trade hits with a (not overpowering) boss and gain experience for participating in combat and healing your attacker. Lots of conditions, though.
* LightIsNotGood (''Radiant Dawn'' and to a lesser extent ''Sword of Seals'')
** Also Kenneth, who says that he delights in the suffering of man, then proceeds to pull out some holy spells on you.
** Riev, an evil bishop of Grado.
* LightningBruiser (Social Knights, or Cavaliers as they are called this side of the Pacific)
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters (thus invoking CharacterMagneticTeam and HitchhikerHeroes)
* LuckBasedMission (In Battle Before Dawn, there's no physical way to reach Jaffar in time to guarantee that he will live on Hector's Hard Mode. If he dies, you don't get a side chapter)
** Also Ike's fight with the Black Knight in ''Path of Radiance''. Ike at {{cap}}ed strength does 9 damage, you have 6 blows (if you rasied Mist and Ike doesn't have to waste a turn on an elixir), the Black Knight has 60 HP. It involves no skill whatsoever and hinges entirely on whether his Aether skill activates more than once. If it does, you win. If it doesn't, you don't. Simple as that. The odds are a bit better (but still random) if you use the Wrath/Resolve combo instead of Aether, but the opinions for giving that to Ike are mixed.
* LuckStat (Vaguely described, it increases accuracy and evasion while lowering the enemy's chance of landing a critical hit.)
* MadLibFantasyTitle (Try typing "''The Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light''" with a straight face. It's not easy.)
** Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light is much easier, but still an example.
* MagnificentSeven (the mercenary group in ''Path of Radiance'')
* MarthDebutedInSmashBros (The other side of the TropeNamer, of course; two Smash games, and it still look Marth eight years from the the release of Melee and '''''nineteen years''''' from his original Famicom debut to finally jump the Pacific solo!)
** Quit forgetting that OVA!
* MeaningfulName (Roy has origins in words meaning both red (hair) and king, Ayra/Ira, while not the names real life origin, is wrath in Latin. These may be coincidental though.)
** Marth is a weird example, early translations gave his name as Mars (you know, after the god of war?) but now Marth seems to be the primary translation
** Most of the common names have meaning, too. Hector was named for Hector of Troy, Leila was named for a harem girl in a poem, Raven was named for the titular raven from Edgar Allen Poe's poem, etc.
*** Hector has a double-meaning; since he has a brother named Uther (you know, like the biological father of KingArthur), he might also be named after Ector, Arthur's foster father.
* MedievalEuropeanFantasy
* MercyRewarded (in particular, the Capture feature of ''Thracia 776'')
* MightyGlacier (Knights. Clad in full plate armor, wielding heavy spears. Very hard to kill without magic, powerful enough to one shot many other classes, but slow as molasses.)
* MisanthropeSupreme (Zephiel in ''The Sword of Seals'')
* MonsterArena
* MultipleEndings (Usually determined by specific character supports)
** ''Mystery of the Emblem'' and ''The Sword of Seals'' both end early if you didn't get all of the items you need.
* MusicalNod (The Arena themes are the battle music from previous games, and that is just one of the smaller examples.)
* MyCountryRightOrWrong (Pretty much every single game)
* NostalgiaLevel (Chapter 14, with 1-10 being a tutorial, of the 7th game is in the same place and identical to chapter 4 of the 6th with the same character as the boss. Hector chapter 25 of the 7th game has an objective, capture every castle, mirroring the objective of every chapter from the 4th game)
* NintendoHard - (Especially the ones released only in Japan (before ''The Sword of Flame'')
** Even amongst them, ''Thracia 776'' should be the winner of NintendoHard for its "unique" flavor of difficulty. Seriously.
* NoCasualtiesRun (thanks to FinalDeath)
* NoExportForYou (The entire series until, [[MarthDebutedInSmashBros you know...]])
* NonEntityGeneral
* NonLinearSequel
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat (the Black Knight is buried under Nados Castle when it collapses. [[spoiler:He survives.]])
* TheObiWrong (Titania in ''Path of Radiance''. While never actually demoted, her subordinate and student Ike gets promoted to leadership. Unlike most examples, this was actually a source of conflict and everyone there had to choose whether to follow him or not. Some of them don't. Titania does.)
* OneSteveLimit (A few exceptions exist, like Aran from ''Radiant Dawn'' and Arran from ''Shadow Dragon'', but the first was named Brad in the Japanese version. A legitimate exception is Lynn from ''Genealogy of Holy War'' and Lyn from ''The Sword of Flame'' as well as Linde/Linda from Akaneia and Linda from ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' (recurring NPC Jake will comment on her familiarity.)
** Though Lyn from the sword of flame/ rekka no ken was actually named Lyndis.
** ''Radiant Dawn'' has Amy and Aimee ''in the same game''. This is another example of a name change clash, the 2nd originally (she keeps this original name in ''Shadow Dragon'') being Larabel
* OptionalPartyMember (If you didn't steal soldiers from the opposing side, you'd almost never make it through the game.)
* OurDragonsAreDifferent (And not even consistent across the various games.)
* OverlyLongFightingAnimation (Some of the stronger spells in each game. Luckily, you can turn off battle animations.)
** It doesn't help that the animations for everything but ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' are all so stiff, making every animation overly long.
* OverratedAndUnderleveled (Too many examples to name, although there are several notable exceptions too, like Sety, Percival, Lord Pent, etc.)
* PantyShot (a few characters in ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', Ilyana is very prone to them in ''Path of Radiance'')
** One of Eirika's support conversations questions the [[LampshadeHanging practicality of wearing a miniskirt on a battle field]], this leads to her flashing Forde.
* PerfectRunFinalBoss (''Sword of Seals'': defeating Zephiel with all legendary weapons intact unlocks a few extra chapters, including the real final boss fight)
** This troper thinks that this also constitutes an instance of AnticlimaxBoss. Those legendary weapons make Idoun a pushover compared to Zephiel.
* PersonalityBloodTypes (The Japanese version of ''The Sword of Flame'' allows you to ''choose''' the blood type of Mark, the player character. To absolutely no effect.)
* PlotlineDeath ([[spoiler: Sigurd and almost all of his army halfway through ''Genealogy of Holy War''; Ninian towards the end of ''The Sword of Flame''; Greil and Rajaion in ''Path of Radiance''; Pelleas in ''Radiant Dawn'' under most circumstances; your [[SomeoneHasToDie decoy]] in ''Shadow Dragon''.]])
** [[spoiler:Leila is killed by Jaffar halfway through ''The Sword of Flame'']]
* PowerUpLetDown: Kieran's Gamble. Not so much if you take it off of him and give it to someone with a high accuracy.
** Snipers in ''The Sacred Stones'' have a skill that randomly activates, ensuring a hit... but the game is so easy and Snipers typically have a very high Skill stat that they almost always have 100% accuracy anyway.
* PsychoSerum (The drugs used by Daein on the laguz)
* PrecursorHeroes ([[http://www.serenesforest.net/general/heroes.htm Ahem]])
* PurelyAestheticGender (Aside from very minor stat {{cap}} variations, gender is irrelevant.)
**Gender comes into play when comparing to characters of the same class. If you notice, the female characters often have lower constitution (Wendy,Lilina) than their male counterparts.
** Though given the number of characters, even a minor variation can [[CharacterTiers bump someone up a rank]].
* RageQuit: Game mechanic ensuring your allies stay DeaderThanDead when they hit 0 HP conflicts with those who don't want to see their allies die.
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits (The player usually starts with a small core of professionals that know each other, but by the end will have recruited and used a a whole bunch of miscellaneous weirdoes.)
** In ''The Sword of Flame'', the player is given both the magic general of all of Etruria (the most magically proficient country in the world) and an illiterate fourteen-year-old girl you recruit from the bad guys. The girl has the potential to be one of the best magic users in the game (It is debatable if she has enough time to reach it).
*RandomNumberGod (In addition to the usual complaints about misses and critical hits, the levelling/stats system used in many of the games can, at the whim of the [=RNG=], turn a character into an unstoppable monster or a useless waste of space. Characters with 'average' stat growths (around 30%) are particularly prone to this.)
*RedBaron: (Nearly everyone has a nickname, from Karel "The Sword Demon" to most of the bosses you face (any Black Fang worth his/her salt has a nickname, from Jaffar, "Angel of Death" to Lloyd the "White Wolf". Even the weaker members get their own nicknames, like Teodor the Shrike, that that they prefer to go by rather than their real names.)
** This troper recalls the Shrike being Kenneth's nickname though.
* RedEyesTakeWarning (Averted: red-eyed characters are not necessarily evil. On the other hand, they do tend to be [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]], or at least related to dragons.)
* ReincarnationRomance: (Julius and Ishtar is essentially Azel and Tiltyu's romance reincarnated, one born from an bastard child and the other forced to continue the bitter legacy.)
* TheRedMage
* RedemptionEarnsLife (For all the mooks who perform a HeelFaceTurn.)
* RelationshipValues (The support conversations)
* TheRemnant ("The Ghosts of Bern" in ''The Sword of Seals''. Also, the remaining forces of Grado in ''The Sacred Stones'' are actually called TheRemnant)
* RestoredMyFaithInHumanity (Gotoh's lost his belief in humans because they used the magic he gave them for fighting wars. Marth restores his faith by... fighting a war (for a virtuous cause but...).)
**Ike can also restore Lehran's faith in humanity in Radiant Dawn, albeit only on the second playthrough, and after fulfilling an [[GuideDangIt insane amount of requirements besides.]]
* RPGElements
* SaveScumming ("Start-of-turn-save" in ''Genealogy of Holy War'', "Battle Save" in ''Radiant Dawn'', and to a lesser extent, the save points in ''Shadow Dragon'' at least make Save Scumming possible. Path of Radiance let's you reset if bonus XP doesn't result in enough level ups. On the other hand, the trope is averted in all other games.)
* SavingTheWorld
* SayMyName (In ''Radiant Dawn'', Tormod yells "SOOOOOOOOOTHE", leading up to a conversation making this editor absolutely love Tormod's character)
** Also, in ''The Sword of Flame'', a good half of the dialogue between Eliwood and Ninian consists of them saying each other's name
* SealedEvilInACan (The titular [[MacGuffin Fire Emblem]] in three games!)
* SealedGoodInACan (...Except that one time the titular object [[TwistEnding wasn't what we thought it was]])
* SheIsAllGrownUp (Many characters between the various direct sequels. Mia is flat chested in Path of Radiance, but has [[GagBoobs memetic boob size in Radiant Dawn]])
*ShiptoShipCombat (Every single game. Example: In ''The Sword of Flame'', the Lyn x Hector vs Eliwood vs Kent vs Rath vs Florina + whatever else comes to mind. And please, for the love of peace on the internet, do not bring up Roy's heritage...)
* Shotacon ([[http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/File:Micaiahs_Sacrifice.png Look]] where Micaiah has her HealingHands)
* ShootTheMedicFirst (This would be a straighter example if the enemy has more and effective healers on their side; alas, they usually don't. Rest assured, put your own Clerics in harm's way, and the enemy will go right after them.)
* SlapSlapKiss (Lyn and Hector, Farina and Dart, Serra and Erk/Matthew, L'Arachel and Innes/Rennac/Ephraim, Clarine and Rutger...)
** Rebecca and Wil even has her kick him in the stomach
* SortingAlgorithmOfWeaponEffectiveness
* SpellMyNameWithAnS (Except for ''Shadow Dragon'', a Nintendo DS remake of the Famicom game ''The Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light'', none of the titles before ''Fire Emblem'' have official English releases. Due to the vagaries of Japanese transliteration of foreign names (usually of legendary weapons), this troper has seen the Gae Bolg referred to as the Gay Borg in more than one FAQ for ''Genealogy of the Holy War''. For that matter, Nintendo themselves seem to have trouble, turning Turpin into Durban and Almace into Armads. Admittedly, once Archbishop Turpin from the Song of Roland became an axewielding berserker, all bets were off.)
** [[strike:Nabal]] [[strike:Nabarl]] [[strike:Nabaaru]] [[strike:Navahl]] [[strike:Navarre]] The guy with the killing edge in chapter 3 of the original game that you can recruit, takes the cake. He doesn't even have the same translation in the American and European releases of ''Shadow Dragon''.
*** Neither does Shiida/Caeda. Sigh.
**** Which possibly clears up the proper pronunciation of Caelin...or is that Ciaran?
*** The character in the Book of Samuel is generally accepted as Nabal, but Navarre is also a location in Spain, so going by meaningful names does not really help.
** [[strike:Kyza]] [[strike:Kysha]] Ranulf's asskissing subordinate in ''Radiant Dawn'' was definitely the precursor to our ''Shadow Dragon'' woes.
* SpikesOfVillainy (Ashnard, subverted by Harken, Echidna, Jeigan...)
* SpiritualSuccessor - (''Tear Ring Saga'' for the {{PlayStation}}, which was designed by ''Fire Emblem'' creator Shozo Kaga. In fact, Nintendo sued Enterbrain, the publisher of the game, for copyrights infringement, but lost the case.)
* SquishyWizard (Most magic users have terrible defense. Some try to compensate with [[FragileSpeedster crazy dodging skills]].)
* StoneWall (Armor Knights--although their attack power is average at worst, they have the mobility of a whale)
* StupidSexyFlanders (Lucius)
** Also Soren to a degree.
** And Legault
* {{Subtext}} (Florina and Lyn from ''Fire Emblem'' certainly seem to share a [[XenaWarriorPrincess Xena/Gabrielle]] dynamic early on in the game. Well, mostly Florina, a ShrinkingViolet who admits to [[DoesNotLikeMen being afraid of men]]. She eventually [[CharacterDevelopment matures]] and recovers from it, but the subtext is still clearly there, so much that she and Lyn have an ending. Heather from ''Radiant Dawn'' joins because "of all the pretty girls" and refers to every female she has a conversation with (and one she doesn't) as cute or lovely. For dudes, look no further than Raven and Lucius, or Legault mock-flirting with Heath.)
** How could anyone leave out the (admittedly dulled down) subtext between Ike and Soren in Radiant Dawn? Along with Ike's nearly painful discomfort with the various women who express interest in him (and Soren's uncharacteristically explosive reactions), if their support level is high enough, the pair have a special ending that gives a serious "more than just friends" vibe. Besides, they just fit so comfortably into the {{Yaoi}} archetype…
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome (Inverted, many of the characters from 7, a prequel, are [[DoomedByCanon explained as not appearing in 6 by dieing]]. Canas [[strike:[[MemeticMutation is killed by continuity errors]]]] dies in a blizzard in his ending. Shin's recruitment has Sue express concern about her grandfather, but not her father (her mother can be explained as being sent away with the woman and children like she was). Nino vanishes so her children can be left orphans. Hector started as a character who's main purpose was to die. Eliwood is ill and close to death.)
* TacticalRockPaperScissors (The weapon and magic triangles)
* TearJerker: (Just one too many...)
** To this troper, the death phrase of Lute in Sacred Stones is a big one.
* TheDragon: One per game, the most notable being the BlackKnight, who acts as TheDragon for Ashnard [[spoiler: and later, Micaiah and Sephiran.]]
* TierInducedScrappy - Low to bottom Tier characters are treated as trash by the fanbase regardless of their backstory. High to God tier characters however are worshipped.
* TheStrategist - (The player character in ''The Sword of Flame''.)
** Soren in ''Path of Radiance'' and Malledus in ''Shadow Dragon''
** August and Dorias in ''Thracia 776'' and Elphin in ''Sword of Seals'' as well.
* ThoseTwoGuys (Every game has two cavaliers, one red and one green, who fit this trope. They usually come as a pair. Oscar and Kieran, Kyle and Forde, Sain and Kent...)
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks (Ike's Aether, Mercenary and Hero critical hits)
** Oddly enough however, swords are the only weapon type that doesn't have a common throwable version. The rare sword types that do have a ranged option are usually magical.
* TimedMission (In terms of turns, not actual passing time.)
* TooAwesomeToUse (Legendary weapons, Hammerne staff, and more)
** ''Radiant Dawn'' averts this by giving a selected weapon for each character unlimited uses for the last 3 chapters.
** Manaketes seem to fall under this category too (once the Dragonstone runs out, they're useless). However, give one an endgame chapter and no doubt they'll near his/her level cap by the end with several charges to spare.
* TranslationStyleChoices (The various localizations offer different angles on characterization. It makes for a lot of Squee amongst fanfiction writers)
* UnexpectedSuccessor (Ashnard in ''Path of Radiance'')
* UnusualEuphemism (Marcia from ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' swears with food items. "Oh, crackers, I don't have time for this!")
* VaporWear (Ilyana's 3rd tier outfit in ''Radiant Dawn'', and in one drawing in the idle mode for ''Shadow Dragon'', Sheeda)
* VideogameCaringPotential
* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou (The death of your Lord character means an automatic game over.)
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic (A lot of characters are named after mythological figures, and while there are a few examples where they make sense, there's clearly some thrown in just for the hell of it. Please don't dig too deeply into why a guy would name his wyvern after the Greek God of Sun.)
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue
* TheWisePrince (Sigurd in ''Genealogy of Holy War'', Eliwood in ''The Sword of Flame'', Elincia in ''Path of Radiance'', and Pelleas in ''Radiant Dawn'')
* YouALLLookFamiliar (All generic enemies look the same. [[JustifiedTrope Justified -- sort of]] -- that nine times out of ten, you're fighting an opposing ''army'' and your enemies are uniformed soldiers. However, if there's an enemy unit that both has a name and isn't a boss, there's a very good chance they can be convinced to defect.)
** Indeed, it is almost ColorCodedForYourConvenience, with the change that rather than being 'white' and 'black' it is 'dead sexy' and 'generic or hideous'.
* YouALLShareMyStory
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair
* ZettaiRyouiki (Pegasus knights, most cavalry/aerie, and the occasional sage and swordmaster)
** Get over here, Nephenee!
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